Monthly Newsletter of Elk River Lutheran Church April 2016 Pastor s Message Trusting in God s grace, an accepting, joyful community, serving God and neighbor. Lutheran Tradition: Worship A month or so ago I asked the Worship Committee, Why Worship? which led to a conversation regarding the rich tradition of Lutheran worship and music. Elk River Lutheran Church, as a church in the ELCA, is called to proclaim the unchanging Gospel of Jesus Christ in an ever-changing world. Worship is the action of God we experience in the four parts of worship. 1. The Holy Spirit calls us together as the people of God (Gathering). 2. God speaks to us in Scripture in reading, preaching, and music. 3. God feeds us with the presence of Jesus Christ (Sacrament of Holy Communion). 4. God blesses and sends us in mission to the world (Sending). Worship includes all members of the body of Christ. Worship is the mission of God for the sake of the world. We are to serve and participate by singing, responding, serving as readers, ushers, communion servers, etc. Worship attempts to engage all of our senses. Lutheran worship has long celebrated the verbal proclamation of the Word of God and has rich musical history. I wonder how are we using our other senses of touch, taste, sight, and smell. Worship is part of a line that is connected to the past, but leans forward to the future. The body of Christ has been alive for centuries and continues to live in the gathered church in worship. Thus our worship maintains a tension between elements handed down through the history of the church and the contextualization of worship to a particular community in time and place. During the month of April, we will be focusing on the different parts of a worship service and learning about their meaning. Christ is Risen! Alleluia!! Contents Table of Contents Pastor s Message... 1 Update from the President... 2 Treasurer s Report... 2 Children, Youth & Family... 3-4 Music Ministry... 5 ERLC Ministry News... 6 Calendar... 7 Contact Information Pastor Michelene Verlautz (612) 810-5923 mkverlautz@yahoo.com Children, Youth & Family Laura Babneau...(763) 232-4274 Laura.babneau@gmail.com Director of Music Ministry Taylor Quinn...(816) 519-2719 directorofmusicministry09@gmail.com Church Office (763) 595-1216 Info.elkriverlutheran@gmail.com Bookkeeper Patti Howard...(763) 438-0069 Bkkpr.erlc@hotmail.com
ELK RIVER LUTHERAN CHURCH Update from the President The ERLC Executive Committee ended the employment of Loren Green as the ERLC Office Manager on March 24, 2016. We thank Loren for her 5 years of service. Currently, office duties are for the short-term being covered by ERLC Staff and volunteers. The Executive Committee is evaluating the congregation and staff needs, and will move forward after that. Please contact myself or your other ERLC Council Members with questions via our emails listed on the ERLC Website. March 22 Council Update Youth Camp Scholarship procedure proposal from CYF Land of Lakes Boys Choir signage proposal reviewed Review of the Ministry Site Profile for the Call Process Selection of ERLC member candidates for Call Committee Praise and Glory to God! Brad Tesdahl ERLC Council President councilpresident.erlc@gmail.com Coming in April Treasurer s Report Installation of ERLC Call Committee at both worship services on April 3rd Call Committee begins Call Process with candidates referred by Bishop Ann Svennungsen The 2016 Approved Budget total is $388,911.00. Average Weekly Giving Needed: $7,480.00 February Total Expenses: February Total Income: $29,856 $39,071 $9,215 Giving YTD Operating Deficit: -$2,614 March General Income: $35,164 Worship! Building Fund Balance: Dedicated Fund Balance: $87,737 $18,264 is part of Adam Horner ERLC Council Treasurer Counciltreasurer.erlc@gmail.com 2
ELK RIVER LUTHERAN CHURCH Don t Miss These Summer Camp Opportunities! Pioneer s Camp Great first time camp experience for younger campers ready to be away from home for a few days! Camp is filled with fun, games, s mores, songs, crafts, swimming and faith building. Bring the Bible alive through stories. Session runs Sunday 3pm to Tuesday 7pm. Completed grades 1 st 3 rd. Program is June 19 th June 21 st. Fee is $225. CYF is so grateful for all members of ERLC for your support of our fundraiser events. We have many kids in need of scholarships for camp and this has helped immensely. Grandparent Camp Spend some time sharing stories, playing games and having fun with your grandkids. You will stay in the retreat center with your grandchild and have three days of getting to know each other in a new way, with God in the mix as you mentor faith. Session runs Wed. 3pm to Friday 1pm. Completed grades K 4 th and their grandparents. Offered June 22 nd June 24 th. Fee is $220 per person. Beginner s Camp Explore camp with a parent through a short overnight camp experience. Campers attend camp with their guardian and enjoy games and activities with other kids and will stay in the Retreat Center. Session runs Sunday 3pm to Monday 3pm. Completed grades K-2 with parent. Program fee is $50 per person. Deposit is $50. Explorer s Camp All of the best stuff camp has to offer is packed into a week of awesome activities and new friends! We will be busy with crafts, games, swimming, other rec options, and worship and bible lessons. Completed grades 3 rd 6 th. Program is June 19 th 24 th. Fee is $440. Confirmation Camp Those who are currently in confirmation, take your faith to the next level! Join others as we dig deeper in your faith while enjoying our canoes and paddle boards or spend some quality time kicking back with friends. Program is June 12 th 17 th program fee is $440. For more information, check on the web at www.camponomia.org Please turn in registration and deposits to Laura Babneau. We will have plenty of fundraising opportunities, and bring a friend to camp! Family Game Night will be postponed to an evening in May. Alternative date will be announced when the facility is available. 3
ELK RIVER LUTHERAN CHURCH More Opportunities for All Generations Come As You Are Come as you are is our theme for Summer 2016! We have so many service and camp opportunities this summer! Sunday school is hopping as well. It was so much fun watching the children sing on Palm Sunday and then enjoying themselves eating pancakes afterwards. All of the families here are ERLC are such a blessing from God! Sky Ranch in Colorado! Summer Mission Works Events Summer mission works events are an intergenerational opportunity and will occur on June 27th, July 27th, and August 8th. More details will soon follow. Mark these dates. Summer VBS will be at ERLC on August 1st August 4th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. The high school kids will be attending camp in Colorado! We will be staying at Sky Ranch. The camp is located in the heart of Roosevelt National Forest and Rocky Mountains National Park. We will meet new friends and develop new skills while discovering our gifts and growing in faith. We will experience high and low ropes courses, spend a day serving others, and finish the week white water rafting! We will attend camp on July 9th July 16th. The cost of camp is $410 plus the cost of transportation and spending money. A $100 deposit is required. Please see Laura for registration information. Come discover what God has given you! And finally, calling all singers and/or drama kids! We will have a music/drama camp from August 15th August 19th. We will be preforming our musical on Sunday August 21st. I am so excited to see what God has planned for us all this summer! God is good all of the time! 4
ELK RIVER LUTHERAN CHURCH I Know that My Redeemer Liveth Happy Spring! What a wonderful Lenten season we had! I want to thank all those who participated in the music ministry. For the final Wednesday night Lenten service, Kristina Erickson and Kara Hennig sang a very meaningful song If We re Honest. On Palm Sunday, we welcomed the Central Minnesota Boy s Choir at the 8:15 service; and at the 10:30 service we enjoyed the ministry of Joyce Hels and Ron Sass. Maundy Thursday was a pleasantly simple service with Bea and the choir, and that led into Good Friday. JaneAnn Settergren joined the choir that evening on harp; setting a gentle, reflective mood. It was a quiet Saturday, and then all the vaults opened on Sunday morning. Kara Hennig, Laura Babneau, and Bea joined me to sing a jazzy arrangement of Joyful, Joyful for the early service. The choir sang the ever-rousing Hallelujah Chorus with the kids at the 8:15 and 10:30 services. Dale Ziner and Kristina Erickson both contributed their talents singing solos with the choir for the 8:15 service. We welcomed a special guest, Sydney Heinen, for both the 6:30 and 8:15 services as well. And for the 10:30 service, Kari Osmek lead worship with the Praise Team, and reprised Joyful, Joyful with Laura and Kara. Also, Grace Weber skillfully played Joyful, Joyful on the cello with her mom, Becca, at the piano. My deepest gratitude to all of you. My goal as Director of Music Ministry is to create meaningful worship services for everyone who attends ERLC. It would be IMPOSSIBLE to do it without everyone listed above; especially Bea Bastyr, the choir, and our Praise Team (Kara Hennig, Ben Weber, and Austin Follmer.) Without the help of musically gifted volunteers with hearts of gold, Bea and I couldn t do our jobs. Thank you again. You made Lent, Holy Week, and Easter tremendous. We are now in the season of Easter! For six Sundays we celebrate the resurrection power of God and Christ s victory over the grave. I don t know why, but I ve been touched by the term, redeemer, this season. I m grateful for redemption. Simply put, redemption is deliverance; rescue. I feel like I ve been delivered from things in my life, and I m very grateful for it. I don t know exactly why my heart (my emotional center) is resonating with redemption right now, but I accept this emotional state as it is. One of my favorite songs is I Know That My Redeemer Liveth from Handel s Messiah. I rejoice that there is a Redeemer, and that this Redeemer has set me free of things that once encased me. For these six Sundays of Easter, we rejoice that God gave us a Redeemer; one who delivers us. Let your mind ponder this wonder, and let your heart receive this gift. I want to tell every one of some things coming to our worship services this month. Praise Team 2 (Mark Amborn, Stephanie Blaska, Dan Johnson, Tom Hels, AND Mike Wadzink) will be leading worship on April 10th while I m gone. A men s quartet from ERLC will sing on April 17th for the 8:15 service. And, on April 24th, the Land of Lakes Choirboys Training Choir and the Land of Lakes Men s Chorus will be singing for both services. Enjoy the Resurrection and the spring! Taylor Quinn Director of Music Ministries Directorofmusicministry09@gmail.com 5
Volunteers, Thank You! Our Volunteer Scheduler maintains a list of about 125 worship service volunteers for our two services who act as lectors, greeters, ushers, communion servers, communion stewards, basket holders, hospitality treats providers and servers, communion preparation teams, and communion clean up teams. These folks all help to keep our services running smoothly. A HUGE thank you for their efforts! HOW DOES IT WORK? In an upcoming month, the scheduler randomly assigns volunteers to the various tasks they have agreed to do, basing service dates on the last time they served on that task. Once the month is planned, the church secretary emails the next month's calendar to all those scheduled to serve. That way everyone gets advance notice for planning purposes. Note: If you receive a monthly volunteer calendar in your email or in the mail, it means you are on it! Please check it over and call/email Pam Black at pammiepuddin@yahoo.com or 763-441-5255 if changes are needed. Thank you! Easter Sunday at ERLC was a wonderful celebration of our Risen Lord from the Hallelujah performance by the ERLC Choir to the ERLC Youth, the readings, the performance of Ode to Joy by Grace and Becca Webber, Pastor Michelene s message, the Sanctuary decorations and colorful flowers, the sharing of Peace and all responding as one, He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia! Thank you to all who contributed to the three Easter Services. Easter Sunday and every Sunday at ERLC is a blessing and joyful experience. Brad Tesdahl ERLC Council President Scrapbooking & Craft Day Spring Fellowship April 16, 2016 8am 5pm Elk River Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall (Café) Snacks provided. Contact Laura Babneau or Joe Livingston (612 963-3664).
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 Pastor Michelene Verlautz (612) 810-5923 9am- Concert Choir 9am- Training Choir Elk River Lutheran Church (763) 595-1216 12:15pm- Officer Info.elkriverlutheran@gmail.com Meeting 1:30pm- Dares 3 8:15am- Install Call Comm. 4 8:15am- Traditional 10am- Elk River Business 10:30am- Install Call Comm. 5:30pm- Hospitality 6:30pm- Facilities 5 6 7 8 9 9:30am- Bible 9:30am- Quilting 3pm- Small Group Bible 10 8:15am- Traditional 11 12 13 14 15 16 9:30am- Bible 9:30am - Quilting 6:30pm- CSO Mtg 6pm- Worship Comm. 8am-5pm- Scrapbooking 9am-12pm- LOLCB 12:30pm- LOLCB Staff 17 18 19 20 21 8am- Educational 22 23 8:15am- Traditional 9:30am- Bible 9:30am- Quilting 3pm- Small Group Bible 6pm- Exec Council 7pm- Church Council 9am-12pm- LOLCB 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 8:15am- Traditional 11:30am- New Members 9:30am- Bible 9:30am - Quilting 3pm Sm. Gr. Bible Lene Rehearsal 9am-12pm- LOLCB 2:30pm- Lene Wed.