Thursday, October 10, 2013

Week of October 13, 2013

This Week at St. Paul

Those Who Serve
  • Preacher:  Pastor Deen
  • Elder:  Aaron Temple at Central, Jon Schuknecht at NW
  • Ushers:  8am - Group 3, 10:30am - Group 7
  • Acolytes:  8am - Holly H. Abby T., 10:30am - Evan A. Michael R.


Saturday,  October 12th  LWML Weekend
  6:00pm - Contemporary Worship/Communion (Northwest Site)
Sunday, October 13th Blood Pressure Screening (Central)
          LWML Weekend
  8:00am & 10:30am – Worship (Central Site)
  9:15am -  Bible Class/Sunday School  (Central Site)
  9:15am – SPY Band
  9:15am – Worship/Communion (Northwest Site)
10:30am – Bible Study (Northwest Site)
  NO – Jr. Confirmation (Northwest Site)
Monday, October 14th  
10:00am – Monday Morning Bible Class
Tuesday, October 15th Market Day Orders Due
 “Epistle” Deadline
  9:00am – Piecemakers (Central Site)
Wednesday, October 16th
  7:00am – 7:45am -  Men’s Devo & Prayer (Stockholm Inn)
  8:25am – Chapel
  6:00pm – Chancel Choir (Northwest Site)
Friday, October 18th   7th – 8th Grade Girls Volleyball Tournament (Gym)
  8:00am Central Site Yard Clean-up
  6:30pm – Men’s Fall Retreat (Walcamp)
Saturday,  October 19th 7th – 8th Grade Girls Volleyball Tournament (Gym)
  8:30am – 9:15am – Market Day Pick-up (Gym)
  8:30am – 12:30pm – Strategic Ministry Planning (Undercroft)
  5:30pm – SPYS Raven’s Grin Haunted House
  6:00pm - Contemporary Worship (Northwest Site)
  7:00pm – Movie Night (Northwest Site)
Sunday, October 20th
  8:00am & 10:30am  – Worship/Communion (Central Site)
  9:15am -  Bible Class/Sunday School  (Central Site)
  9:15am – SPY Band
  9:15am – Worship (Northwest Site)
10:30am – Bible Study (Northwest Site)
  4:00pm – Elders Meeting (Northwest Site)

  6:30pm – Jr. Confirmation (Northwest Site)

Prayer for the Day is a daily devotional ministry. To hear a devotion recorded by Pastor Thies, please call the special Prayer for the Day phone number (963-7641) and then dial 3 when the call is answered.
St. Paul Care Cards – We hope you will fill yours out so we can take note that you were here. Please pass the completed cards toward the inside aisle during the offering for pickup by the usher. At the same time, please also pass in any unused cards so that we might reuse them another time. They will be picked up afterward as the usher comes back from the altar.
            Pastor Thies will be away this weekend serving our sister congregation in La Fox.  The pastor they have called has accepted so his service there is anticipated to end in the coming weeks.  Please continue to pray for us and them as we await a new servant to serve in the field of ministry near us.
            This weekend the LUTHERAN WOMEN'S MISSIONARY LEAGUE  is being recognized in all of our services.  The 2013 theme is "You are my Witnesses."  Women are lead by Christ out of their homes into their local congregations and to every continent on earth because they heard Him say, "You are my Witnesses."  Today we celebrate how Christ blesses the LWML through the hands of women who have shared the gifts of God.  Coins saved in our MITE boxes help fund Mission Grants to be used throughout the world.  Schools have been supported, outreach centers funded and lives have been transformed.  Christ says through His servants in the LUTHERAN WOMEN'S MISSIONARY LEAGUE, "You are my Witnesses" and that witness of Christ is world wide.   Join with the Ladies Guild and the LWML here at St. Paul and share your witness to the people of the world.
            Monday Bible Class will meet this Monday at 10am with our own parish nurse, Sue Scott, as she leads us through the strategy for “Successful Aging.”  Pastor Thies will be away at NID Pastors Conference but will return the following week to resume our study of the Bible basis for the Nicene Creed.  Try coming, even for just once, this week or any week!
Strategic Ministry Planning: These are really important times for our church and school as we look at viability and sustainability of ministry!  Our 2nd Strategic Ministry Planning session will take place on this Saturday, October 19 from 8:30 am to Noon.  What will we be doing?  First, review the first draft of the plan from our session in September.  Second, glean additional information we have learned from the analysis data, which is useful to turn around our financial and workforce situation.  Third, begin to fill in the blanks to create a new draft to share with the entire congregation.  Everyone is invited!  Child Care provided.  Meeting in the Undercroft.
Sermon Series by Pastor Thies – As part of our effort to transform our church and school ministry with some planning, Pastor Thies will lead us through the remaining themes in the prayer journal: 3) Money and the following weekend 4) Courage.  You are invited each of these weeks to prayerfully work through the journal with five personal and/or family devotions and to keep some notes on your thoughts.  The hope is that these weeks serve to bring us together in reflecting on the Lord’s things in our lives as we prayerfully attempt to plan our ministry together as a church.  Everyone can participate in this!
St Paul Lutheran church is joining with Pecatonica Methodist church in a joint project for Christmas stocking for the Military. The sewing group from Pecatonica are making the Christmas stockings. Our project involves filling the stocking for 30 people in the military that will be deployed at Christmas time. We are looking for names from our St Paul family that will be overseas during Christmas. I need their names and mailing address.
We need to fill 30 stocking with  goodies from home. , hard candy, gum, nuts, suckers, rice krispie treats, packages of crackers, cookies, drink mixes like lemonade, fruit punch, tea, instant coffee. We can use new crossword books, seek and find puzzles.
We will also take gifts of cash to purchase the above items and to use for postage. The price of postage for the boxes we will be using is $14.95 a box. Last date to bring items is October 27, 2013 We will be mailing them out the first week of Nov.
The Board of Social Ministry is collecting food items now through November 17th. We are collecting typical thanksgiving dinner items: vegetables, gravy, cranberries, stuffing, etc. Please NO glass jars of any kind. Look for the container marked “Annual Thanksgiving – Board of Social Ministry” in the narthex at both sites. If you wish to make a monetary  donation we will purchase food for the boxes. If you have any questions, please call Dan or Nancy Collins at 815-398-0129. Thank you in advance!
What if we got every person at St. Paul witness training in proclaiming Christ to the community?  Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 23, for our first of five witness training seminars through “MISSION U,” Lutheran Hour Ministries lay training.  Let’s dedicate part of that Saturday to looking how the Lord can use us more effectively in reaching out in His Name.  The training will be from 9am to 2pm, with lunch & childcare provided.  Watch for more!
            You are still invited to tell others about enrolling their children in St. Paul School next Fall.  Seats are available in most classes.  We think we are the best deal in town - tuition is only $2,700 a year for Community Members.  That is less than $68 a week for a quality education in a small school setting.  Remember to tell them that the children learn of Jesus each and every day!  That is priceless!  Interested families can call 815-965-3335 or email Lynn Warner at stpaulrockford@gmail.com.
"8 oh 4 St. Paul".  This is our new method to remind ourselves to take time from our busy lives to bow our heads in prayers to our Father.  Last Spring we used "stop at 1:30 to pray for 130 students" for our school .  We want to continue the habit of the St. Paul Family uniting in prayer at the same time.  You are welcomed to set your alarm or phone for 8:04 (AM or PM) and join us to pray at 8 oh 4 St. Paul.  Pray that God continues to guide and bless the ministry of St. Paul Lutheran School.  Pray for our students, families, and teachers… and anything else that is on your heart.  Jesus promises to hear our prayers!
Perhaps you have a musical instrument at your house that is no longer being used.  If it is donated to our band program we can guarantee that it will once again produce beautiful music!  Donated instruments are used by our students for no charge.  For many students, being able to use a "school instrument" is what allows them to join our band.  Talk to Mr. Volkert if you have any questions.
       Little Lambs is now accepting applications for fall enrollment. Please call Jan Morton at 815-965-3335, ext. 218.
Here is a real way for any congregation or school member to assist the funding of the ministry of St. Paul Lutheran School - and it does not cost anyone anything!  This project has the potential to bring in tens of thousands of dollars each year to St. Paul!  Intrigued?  St. Paul is working with a company that processes credit cards who will give a gift to St. Paul that represents a large amount of their profits.  We need an "army" of people in the St. Paul family to represent us in the community as we provide businesses with the opportunity to partner with us as we strive to make Christian education more affordable.  One company has already signed up!  Anytime you make a purchase at Guler Appliance Company you are also funding Christian education.  This is a definite "win-win" situation!  You are invited and encouraged to attend an informational meeting on Thursday, October 17 at 6:30 PM in the Central Site church undercroft (basement).  We need your help to make this dream become a real way to bring in needed funds for our school ministry.  This could be one of the methods which allows St. Paul to maintain low tuition and fees for our families.  Please talk to Bruce Volkert if you have any questions.
St. Paul Movie Night – Join us on October 19th at 7:00pm following the 6:00 service at Northwest Site for family fun! Popcorn and lemonade will be provided. Feel welcome to bring a snack to share. The featured movie will be, “ The Croods.” Hope to see you there!