United Lutheran Church, ELCA 21 Mesnard St. L Anse, MI 49946 The Connection DECMEBER 2017 United Lutheran Church, ELCA 21 Mesnard St., L Anse, Michigan Ph: (906) 524-6484; Email: ulc_lanse40@yahoo.com Website: www.unitedlutheranchurchlanse.org Pastor: John Ansell; (906) 201-2864 Come and Worship! We celebrate with worship on Sunday worship at 10 a.m. Sunday School at 10 a.m. and Mondays at 6 p.m. OFFICE HOURS: Monday: 9 am 12 noon Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday: 9 a.m. 1 p.m. Wednesday: 1 p.m. 4 p.m.
Greetings Everyone, December has finally come upon us and with it the Advent and Christmas seasons. During these seasons one of my favorite traditions, and believe me there are many, is the lighting of the advent wreath. As a kid, not only in our church but also in our home we had an advent wreath. The advent wreath in our home sat on our kitchen table and each Sunday in advent we would light one candle. As it turns out just recently as I was looking around in St. Vinnie s I was able to buy a nice advent wreath so I can carry on that tradition in my own home. Now some of you folks might be wondering about the history and meaning behind the advent wreath and I feel this might be a good time to explore it in this letter. The advent wreath predates Christianity. Both Scandinavian and German peoples would use wreaths with lit candles during the darker parts of December as a prayer offering to the Norse God of light. By the Middle Ages, German and Scandinavian Christians adopted the wreath as a part of the advent season to prepare for Christmas. Today the advent wreath has a variety of spiritual representations. First of all the wreath is really a weekly count down to what the Gospel of John points to as the light of the world the birth of Christ. Most wreaths have four candles on the outer edges but sometimes there will be a fifth in the center. The four candles are lit one for each week during the season of advent while the fifth center candle is lit on Christmas eve. This progression of light through the season ultimately leads to the bright, victorious coming of the light of Christ penetrating into a world that is full of death, evil, and darkness. The circular nature of the wreath represents the eternal victory over death through Jesus. The evergreen boughs wrapped around the wreath represent the faithfulness of God to his people. Even though originally wreaths did not have Christian origins the Advent Wreath beautifully represents our belief in Christ, our light shining in the darkness. If you need to find the Light of Christ in our world today, especially in the darker days of the year, look at the Advent Wreath as a bright reminder that Christ is always with us and His love for us glows like a candle on a dark winter night. TELLERS for DECEMBER Sunday, December 3 Leann Davis & Evelyn Welch Monday, December 4 Jan Cram & Jeannie Gourneau Sunday, December 10 Leann Davis & Evelyn Welch Monday, December 11 No Worship Sunday, December 17 Margo Jentoft & Annette Lindstrom Monday, December 18 Sue Copley & Jeannie Gourneau Sunday, December 24 10 am Ruth Anne Connor & Kris Kokko 5 pm Joan Bugni & Ruth Anne Connor Monday, December 25 10 am Ruth Anne Connor & Kris Kokko Sunday, December 31 Leann Davis & Evelyn Welch Monday, January 1 No Worship USHERS for DECEMBER Sunday, December 3 Audrey Niemi Sunday, December 10 Need someone Sunday, December 17 Kayla Hoffman Sunday, December 24 10 am Need someone 5 pm Need someone Monday, December 25 10 am Need someone Sunday, December 31 Need someone May God s blessing be with everyone during this our Advent and Christmas seasons. Sincerely, Pastor John.
COFFEE HOUR for December December 3 Need someone December 10 Shawn Gibbons December 17 Need someone December 31 Need someone READERS for December December 3 Need someone December 10 Need someone December 17 Need someone December 24 10 am Need someone 5 pm Need someone December 25 10 am Need someone December 31 Need someone Christmas Eve Worship 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Christmas Day Worship 10 a.m. Come and join us to celebrate Jesus Birth!! ANNUAL REPORT DEADLINE: The Annual Report deadline will be January 10, 2018. Please mark your calendar and have your report turned in to the office by that date! Thank you! MARK YOUR CALENDARS: The Annual Meeting will be on January 28 th with a potluck brunch and the meeting all following worship..
Sunday School! Sunday School 3 rd, 4 th, and 5 th grade students will be reading an Advent dialog on Sunday, December 3 rd, 10 th, and 17 th at the beginning of worship. Come and join us for worship and hear our Advent dialog Bethlehem Barnyard during Advent. There will be NO Sunday School on Sunday, December 24 th and Sunday, December 31 st. Sunday School will resume on Sunday, January 7 th. Please mark your calendars! Sunday School is open to all children ages 3 years old through 5 th grade. 3 rd 5 th Grade students need to bring their Bibles. All children will have Bible stories and fun-filled activities every Sunday. Come and join us! Pastor on Vacation Pastor John will be on Vacation beginning December 8 th through December 11 th and December 26 th through December 28 th. In case of emergency, please call Rev. Julie Belew (353-6541 or 370-5301). FARMERS MARKET COFFEE In June, Lutheran World Relief (LWR) launched Farmers Market Coffee and it is now available to get coffee sourced directly from farmers participating in LWR projects! The coffee is produced in partnership with THRIVE Farmers, a coffee roaster that shares the passion for helping farmers lift themselves out of poverty and become selfsufficient. Their Farmer Direct model eliminates the middleman in the coffee value chain to provide farmers with greater earnings. As a result, LWR farmer partners not only get support from LWR projects they also receive a strong up-front price for their beans. Once those beans are sold as coffee, farmers will receive a portion of the profits as well. LWR Farmers Market Coffee forges a relationship between farmers and people like you by offering a direct connection with those who grow the coffee we drink. For every pound of coffee purchased, THRIVE Farmers will donate 80 cents back to LWR to continue reaching out to farmers all over the world. Learn more about LWR Farmers Market Coffee and order coffee today at lwr.org/coffee. OFFICE CLOSED The office will be closed on Tuesday, December 26 th. Regular office hours will resume on Wednesday, December 27 th.
The Annual Cookie Walk will be held on Saturday, December 2 nd from 9:30 12 noon. Set up will be on Friday, December 1 st from 5-7:30 p.m. A light supper will be provided. Thank you to all who volunteer and have volunteered in our congregation to help out around the church and the community. During this season of Christmas, let us remember all who give of their time to help others! Your help is greatly appreciated! Congregation members are asked to bring 5 dozen cookies (or more) to the church on Friday, December 1 st. The church will be open at 9 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. The Women are asking for extra cookies to be delivered to our shut-ins. If you have any questions, please call Joanne Kemppainen. Thanks! Let us pray and give thanks to all those who have heeded the call to volunteer in our churches! Everlasting God, strengthen and sustain all those who volunteer in our churches; that with patience and understanding they may love and care for your people; and grant that together they may follow Jesus Christ, offering to you their gifts and talents; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (adapted from the Collect at a New Ministry, 1979 Book of Common Prayer) WOMEN of UNITED CHRISTMAS PARTY The Women of United Lutheran Church will hold their Annual Christmas Party on Thursday, December 7 th at 6 p.m. in the fellowship hall at United. Please bring Finger Food to share. All are welcome to join us for a wonderful time of food and fellowship! Women s Bible Study Sarah Circle will meet on Tuesday, December 5 th at 10 a.m. The ladies will be going out to lunch following the Bible Study.
Letter from the Bishop s Desk Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, This year is a series of new beginnings for me, one of which is introducing this effort to be in more direct communication with the people of the Northern Great Lakes Synod. While we have our 6X a year newsletter, Notes and Quotes, and we have our 2x monthly electronic newsletter, E- Notes, and our Facebook Page and website, www.nglsynod.org., asking for room in congregational newsletters will even further our connection to each other. As people of faith, this month we observe Advent together. If Advent was a moment at a dinner party, it would be that space of time between when everything is ready, and you are watching and waiting for the guests to arrive. Advent is expectation, anticipation, the tension of the in-between space where we are waiting for what is to come. But we re not very good at waiting. Fast food is fast because people do not have time to wait. We have drive through hamburgers, drive through banks, and drive through coffee. Time is money, money is time, and the savvy business owner caters to the consumer who s in a perpetual hurry. We demand and are used to instant gratification. From text messages to high speed internet, we do not like to wait for results. We even binge watch favorite television shows because we cannot wait for the next episode. Is there anything that we wait for? Where the waiting provides blessing? Where the waiting is productive? Even necessary? Some have called Advent the pregnancy of the Church. Certainly, we would want the growth of a yet to be born child to be given all the time that is needed. But what of the gestation of an idea? Or a mission? The discernment of direction? A search for clarity of the will of God? I believe these also cannot be rushed. Our Church is on the cusp of becoming something new. We do not yet know what that is. We may not even live to see the complete transformation, although we are witnessing the labor pains now. We see the changes, even grieve the changes, as we continue put our efforts into ministry and meet the challenges of a transforming church in a shifting world. SHUT-INS Please remember our shut-ins. Keep them in your prayers. If you have a moment, stop and visit them. At Bayside: Art Allert, Beatrice Harju, Margaret Marquardt, and Joyce Taipalus. At home: Ellen Biekkola, Ruth Ranta Art Allert, Donna Almli, Pat Carmody, Tom DesRochers, Janel LaPlante, PJ LeClaire, Lonnie Nagele, Brian O Connor, Bill Rousseau, Jennifer Salo, Sandy Schafer, Kathy Teddy. The family and friends of Sharon Kangas. The family and friends of Homer Smokey Collins The family and friends of Evelyn Turpeinen ALTAR GUILD The Altar Guild is looking for new members to help on the Altar Guild one month during the year. Responsibilities are to change the altar cloths (when necessary), put out and clean up communion, check the candles, etc. We need two people per month to serve on the Altar Guild. If you are interested or have any questions, please contact Joan Bugni 524-4866 or Kris Kokko 524-6555.
In its essence, Advent is not such an easy place to be. This place of waiting and uncertainty, of wanting to do something to prepare, and not being sure what that is. 6 th, 7 th, and 8 th Grade Confirmation Class NOTE: There will be NO Confirmation class on December 3 rd. The next Confirmation class will be on Sunday, December 17 th following the 10 a.m. Worship service. ACOLYTES for December December 3 Kayla Hoffman December 10 Shawn Gibbons December 17 Olivia Carr December 24 10 am Need someone 5 pm Need someone December 25 10 am Need someone December 31 Need someone But scripture proclaims that there is blessing in the waiting. Advent invites us to percolate in the Spirit, to feel the suspense of unresolved tension, and still place our trust in the one who holds our future. We cannot binge on Advent so Christmas gets here sooner, and neither can we fast forward the present so that we arrive at the future before its time. Some things some God things. simply cannot be rushed. So together we wait and watch. We make ready for our Lord Jesus to come to us and we prepare for his coming. Together we wait for God to speak the Word Christ into our lives and into the hopes we have for our Church. And then together we will sing - Joy to the World, the Lord is come, let earth receive its king. Let every heart prepare him room, And heav n and nature sing! Yours in Christ, Bishop Katherine Finegan You are Invited to a Synod Office Open House! During the week of December 11-15, Monday through Friday, YOU are invited to stop by! Come visit with the Synod Staff, nibble on Christmas treats, and take the tour! If you've never been to the Synod Office before, this week is a good week to pop in. See you soon!
Poinsettias for Christmas If you would like to contribute a poinsettia to enhance the worship area, please arrange to have it to the church by Friday, Dec. 22 nd. Poinsettias for Christmas If you would like to contribute a poinsettia to enhance the worship area, please arrange to have it to the church by Friday, Dec. 22 nd. Bulletin should read (please write legibly): Bulletin should read (please write legibly): In loving memory of In loving memory of Other (ie, In Celebration of my granddaughter s birthday ) Other (ie, In Celebration of my granddaughter s birthday ) From: Your name (if other than from ): (So I can contact you if I have a question about spelling, etc.) From: Your name (if other than from ): (So I can contact you if I have a question about spelling, etc.) After Christmas. I will take my plant(s) home. I would like my plant(s) given to a shut-in I would be willing to help deliver plants to the shut-ins. After Christmas. I will take my plant(s) home. I would like my plant(s) given to a shut-in I would be willing to help deliver plants to the shut-ins.