So what is your story?
We are ‘story’ people! If you want to know someone, you need more than their name and address—you need their story! The questions we ask: where are you from? how many children do you have? where did you meet your spouse? have you always lived in Minnesota? are you a Vikings or Packer fan? All these questions seek to discover a portion of a person’s story—who another person is and what defines them. We are story people!
So what is your Bible story? What is the story from God’s Good Book which speaks to you in good times and bad? Is there a story you have found yourself thinking about at different stages in your life? Is there a passage from the Scriptures which seems to come to you when you need it the most? My hope is that during the Season of Lent, we would have a host of people willing to name their favorite story and in a couple of minutes during worship, explain why this story/passage is so important to them. Let me know if you are interested…remember, everyone has a story to share.
So what is your story?
Pastor J
Women’s Bible Study Resumes
We have resumed the Women's Bible Study again each Sunday morning during the fellowship hour. We are following the same type of study as we did in the fall. It is VERY easy to do, you can find out all the information at www.goodmorninggirls.org. On this site we will be studying the book of Ephesians. Rather than posting the worksheets each week for you, I have compiled all the worksheets into one simple document for you to download and print. Even if you can't always make it on Sundays, please consider being part of the group-we can always communicate via email.
WACKY Volunteers Needed
This great mission opportunity is in need of more adults to assist. Please consider helping out with this wonderful group. Being present for even an hour on Wednesdays from 4:00-5:00 on occasion would help out a lot! Contact Pastor Justin (pjboeding@yahoo.com) or Terri Hallaway (terrihallaway23@gmail.com or 507-273-1941).
Communion Assistants
We are going to be making some changes to the way we assign communion assistants every two weeks. In the past we have typically had someone contact people via phone/e-mail until the spots were filled. Beginning February 1st we are going to be using a new system. We are going to assign people to a Sunday who have expressed an interest in serving communion (during your preferred worship time). If you are unable to keep the date/time that you are scheduled for, we ask that you contact someone from the volunteer list (that we will be sending out soon) and find a replacement or make a switch with someone else.
Needed: 40 Mentors!
We need roughly 40 adults willing to meet with one confirmation youth throughout the season of Lent on Wednesday Nights. This is a great way to get to know a young people from the congregation and make an impact great than you can imagine. Contact sld_dewitz@yahoo.com or 374-2174 to sign up.
Choir to Resume!
Choir practice will resume on February 5th at 9:20 following coffee cup fills! Please join us and share your voice in song & praise. No try-outs – all are welcome! Share your talent and join us beginning Feb. 5th.
Conference Reps
Zumbro Conference Gathering is Sunday, February 12th at 2:00 in Austin. Pastor Justin is looking for members willing to represent Faith and learn about the exciting ministries happening in & around our synod.
Sunday School Volunteers Wanted and (Greatly Needed ASAP!!)
Sunday school volunteers for 1-3 weeks of a time commitment - anytime from now through May. The last day is May 13th. Please email styndl.michele@mayo.edu or jayneboeding@yahoo.com. Thank you to all who keep the Sunday School program in their thoughts and prayers. We appreciate this, and many thanks to those who have volunteered! It is a great joy to see the youth each Sunday singing and having fun learning about God's great love for them.
Are You With the Band?
Faith is looking for instrumentalist and vocalists to join the Praise Band. Practice begins at 7:15 the 8th and 22nd. People of all abilities are welcome!
February 14 - Fireflies in December by Jennifer Erin Valent
Jessilyn Lassiter never knew that hatred could lurk in the human heart until the summer of 1932 when she turned 13. When her best friend, Gemma, loses her parents in a tragic fire, Jessilyn's father vows to care for her as one of his own, despite the fact that Gemma is black and prejudice is prevalent in their southern Virginia town. Violence springs up as a ragtag band of Ku Klux Klan members unite and decide to take matters into their own hands. As tensions mount in the small community, loyalties are tested and Jessilyn is forced to say good-bye to the carefree days of her youth.
March 13 - The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew - Three Women Search for Understanding by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver and Priscilla Warner
A groundbreaking book about Americans searching for faith and mutual respect, The Faith Club weaves the story of three women, their three religions, and their urgent quest to understand one another. When an American Muslim woman befriends two other mothers, one Jewish and one Christian, they decide to educate their children about their respective religions. None of them guessed their regular meetings would provide life-changing answers and form bonds that would forever alter their struggles with prejudice, fear, and anger. Personal, powerful, and compelling, The Faith Club forces readers to face the tough questions about their own religions.
April 10 - The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow
Meet the Ames Girls: eleven childhood friends who formed a special bond growing up in Ames, Iowa. As young women, they moved to eight different states, yet managed to maintain an enduring friendship that would carry them through college and careers, marriage and motherhood, dating and divorce, a child's illness and the mysterious death of one member of their group. Capturing their remarkable story, The Girls from Ames is a testament to the deep bonds of women as they experience life's joys and challenges -- and the power of friendship to triumph over heartbreak and unexpected tragedy.
May 8 - A Long Way from Chicago AND A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
Set in the 1930s, the book follows Joe and Mary Alice Dowdel as they make their annual August trek to visit their grandmother who lives in a sleepy Illinois town. A woman with plenty of moxie, she keeps to herself, a difficult task in this small community. However, Grandma Dowdel uses her wit and ability to tell whoppers to get the best of manipulative people or those who put on airs. Whether it's scaring a pretentious newspaper man back to the city or stealing the sheriff's boat and sailing right past him as he drunkenly dances with his buddies at the Rod & Gun Club, she never ceases to amaze her grandchildren with her gall and cunning behavior.
AND
Mary Alice's childhood summers in Grandma Dowdel's sleepy Illinois town were packed with enough drama to fill the double bill of any picture show. But now she is fifteen, and faces a whole long year with Grandma, a woman well known for shaking up her neighbors-and everyone else! All Mary Alice can know for certain is this: when trying to predict how life with Grandma might turn out . . . better not.
Anyone wishing to view the most current church council minutes can pick up a copy on the table in the narthex.
Faith is looking for instrumentalist and vocalists to join the Praise Band. Practice begins at 7:15 the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month. People of all abilities are welcome!
Have you picked up your Golden Ticket yet? Beginning January 1st and concluding Easter Sunday, I am challenging the People of Faith Lutheran to read through the entire New Testament. Special bookmarks—Golden Tickets—are now available. For most people, the daily reading will take 5 to 10 minutes. Trust me, when it comes to New Year’s Resolutions, reading a couple of chapters from the Bible is much easier than all the other commitments we make this time of the year.
Golden Tickets can be picked up in the narthex or found on the church’s website. Bibles are available for those who need one. This is a great opportunity for you to familiarize yourself with God’s Word. In addition, I will be sharing my reflections—I promise to keep them brief!—online at pastorjsblog.com. We have 700 members….can we get 100 people to try read the New Testament by Easter?
This ministry is a faith based, moral support program to encourage participants to establish new lifestyle eating habits, which will provide weight loss and maintenance on a long-term basis. Ideas to help attain goals are shared. Although it was started by Faith Lutheran members it has evolved into a non-denominational group and we now have members from other churches as well. We meet every Tuesday morning at 8:00am. A typical meeting lasts from half an hour to an hour and is mainly a social time preceded by a mandatory weigh in for those wishing to be a part of a weight loss support group. You are free to come and go as you wish. Contact Bill Ketchum at 374-6049 or ketch22@mchsi.com.
Deborah Circle
This ministry will resume meeting the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30pm. It rotates at the homes of the circle members. This ministry is a time of fellowship and Bible study for women. We would enjoy having new members join us in these relaxed evenings of friendship. Contact Carol Johnson at 374-2343 or cajohnson@kmtel.com with questions.
Ruth Circle
This women's ministry meets the first Tuesday of each month at 1:30pm for approximately one to two hours. We gather at the church or sometimes at one of the member?s homes. The Bible Study that we do is from "Lutheran Women Today" and members take turns with devotions, presenting the Bible study lesson and being hostess. We have coffee and dessert following the meeting. Contact Charlott Wilhelm at 374-6696 or wilhfarm@yahoo.com or contact Ellie Barber at 374-6732 or eldorab@yahoo.com.
WiseGuys
This ministry is very informal and generally revolves around the issues of the day. We have no set goals or responsibilities other than general camaraderie. We have fun and are usually joined by both Pastors. Pastor Justin ends the meeting with a short Bible verse. We meet on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 9:00am and a typical meeting lasts about an hour to an hour and a half. Contact Bill Ketchum at 374-6049 or ketch22@mchsi.com.
Women of Wednesday
This group of women meets every Wednesday at 10:00am. The group begins with a short social (coffee) time to start with, followed by the discussion of some Bible Study book chosen by the group. The meetings last approximately one hour with conversation about the book along with talk about our daily lives and our walk of faith. New members are always welcome to join us! Contact Carol Ann Thompson at 374-6687 or carrodthom@myclearwave.net.
Altar Care Team
The Altar Care Team is a group of families or individuals who take care of altar needs for a specific period of time. Volunteers generally take a month at a time, but the schedule can be adjusted to fit individual needs. The Altar Care Team sets up the bread and wine for communion twice a month, sets up for a baptism as needed, changes the paraments and candles as needed and changes the eternity candle each week. The step by step instructions are in a binder in the SACR/MEC room by the sound control booth and can be e-mailed to anyone who is interested.
We still have room for additional participants on our team. If anyone is interested you may contact Mary Stoddard at dmstoddard@ kmtel.com or phone 507-633-6796. The time investment is minimal on the "non-communion" weeks. When there is communion scheduled it will take a bit more time to set up (generally done on Saturday) and to put things away after church on Sunday. Altar Care has been a good family activity for some of our members but can also easily be done by an individual.
Praise Band
We need singers as well as instrumentalists in order to continue to grow the quality of our leadership. Please speak with Nadine if you would like to become part of this exciting ministry. The Praise Team will be practicing on the 4th Wednesday of each month at 7:15pm.
Save Your Tape
When you do grocery shopping at Erdman’s please save your cash register receipts and bring them to the church. We receive a rebate of the percentage of the totals of the tapes that we turn back in. Pails for these tapes are labeled and kept in the fellowship hall. The tapes are collected twice a year – the next collection will be on or before January 1, 2011 for tapes dated between July 1, 2010—December 31, 2010. Please do not include tapes that do not fall into that timeframe. We receive one-half of one percent of the total tapes turned in. Our last collection earned us $76.51. Let’s see if we can beat that number for the next collection!. Please note, we no longer receive a rebate for the John’s tapes, therefore we are no longer collecting John’s tapes. If you have questions you can contact Shirley Chapin at 527-2615.
Faith once again had a group of highly committed adults sign up for this incredible 13 Week Class. We will offer it again for members of our congregation and the community. Watch upcoming newsletters for more information.
The next new member orientation will run at 9:05 on February 12, 19, 26. This class is for anyone who is interested in joining Faith or for anyone who would like to learn more about Faith and the beliefs and history of the church! Sign up by calling 374-2174 or e-mail sld_dewitz@yahoo.com.
