Living Faith Weekly News (Week of March 30, 2025)
- Kay Michaelson
- Mar 31
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 3
Last Week
Living Faith is grateful to Pastor Scott Egbers for presiding over worship on Sunday. His message of the "Story of the Family Reunited", better known as "The Prodigal Son", is archived on Living Faith's Facebook page - check it out!
Thank you also to Dawn Richards for accompanying us on the piano, Marley Stream for assisting with Communion, Kay Michaelson for reading scripture, Tim Kass for ushering and running the sound, Angela Catton for live streaming our service, John and Peg McAllister for supplying the communion bread and setting up our altar for communion, and Kinley and Anniston Van Otterloo for cleaning up after worship.
Last Week's Wednesday Lenten Services
Living Faith and the PUCC gathered on Wednesday for a service featuring the Holden Evening Prayer liturgy. Thank you to Kjersten Rathke and Rachel Cunningham for leading us in this reflective time. Our speaker for the service was Brenda Harms of Lutheran Services of Iowa. She works with supporting the refugees who come to the Siouxland area. Sadly, executive orders from the White House have eliminated this program which had a high success rate for offering support and then being able to withdraw this support when refugees had been set up with housing and jobs. Brenda's job has been eliminated in this executive order and she will be finished at LSI this week. Brenda spoke about refugees being held an average of 11 years in camps awaiting their turn to resettle in a different country as they flee a dangerous homeland. With the cut to the LSI program, this average wait time will only increase. We are grateful to Brenda for coming to Living Faith and raising our awareness about how executive actions are affecting our community.
Following our Lenten service, we enjoyed a pizza feed in the Fellowship Hall. Thank you to Judd and Kari Kopperud for arranging for the pizza, Kay Michaelson, Rachel Cunningham, Kay Allen - and others who brought a great array of desserts! Thank you also to Tim Kass for brewing the coffee!
Wednesday, April 2 Mid-Week Lenten Events
5:00 - 5:30 - Lenten services will feature the Holden Evening Prayer liturgy led by Kjersten Rathke and Rachel Cunningham. Jess Kopperud will be the scripture reader.
Our speaker for this time will be Carolyn Bickford who is instrumental in organizing the Mission Honduras trip each year.
Also assisting with the service will be Kenzie McLaughlin, Tim Kass and Jordan Kopperud.
5:30 - 6:15 - Taco Bar - Come have a crispy taco, softshell taco or nachos - or two or three!
Those bringing items are:
Taco Meat - Kay Michaelson, Cheryl Juhl, Sandy Heeren and Kim Lang
Taco Shells - Kay Michaelson and Dawn Richards
Soft Tortillas - Cheryl Juhl and Sue Stream
Tortilla Chips - Cheryl Juhl and Dawn Richards
Shredded Lettuce - Sharon Utesch and Sue Stream
Sour Cream - Cheryl Juhl
Shredded Cheese - Sharon Utesch, Sue Stream, and Kim Lang
Salsa - Kay Michaelson, Yvonne Law and Kate Melvin
Black beans - Cheryl Juhl and Dawn Richards
Taco Sauce - Sandy Heeren and Kim Lang
Jalapenos - Sue Stream
Queso - Kari Kopperud
Bottled Water - Sue Stream and Rachel Cunningham
Dessert - Kari Kopperud, Kay Michaelson, Kate Melvin and Gail Kass
Dakota Utesch and Nate Rathke will help serve the meal.
6:15 - 7:00 - Lenten Discussion - Our video series has referenced the Enneagram as a tool to help us discover more about ourselves and others and how we can relate to one another when we know how others instinctively react and relate. Kari Kopperud will tells us more about the Enneagram and lead us in an activity to learn about this.
The Lenten Offering box will be out on the Living Faith table in the narthex on Wednesday!
Saturday, April 5 - Vicar Paige's Ordination Day
All are invited to this special worship service of celebration at 11:00 on Saturday morning. Please wear red and you are invited to stay for the meal being served at St. Mark following worship. Those who are singing in the joint choir are to be at St. Mark's by 9:30 that morning for rehearsal!
Sunday, April 6th Worship with the PUCC!
Living Faith will join with the Presbyterian United Church of Christ (858 7th Ave. SE) to worship together on Sunday, April 6 at 9:00 AM in the sanctuary, Pastor Jan Christensen presiding. Holy Communion will be celebrated at this service. **Please note the 9:00 start time for this service.**
Plan to stay for a time of fellowship on Sunday morning following worship. The coffee will be on in the Fellowship Hall!
Holy Week and Easter Information
Palm Sunday is April 13 and this will be a doubly special Sunday worship as Paige McGrath will be presiding over worship at Living Faith for the first time!
The Leadership Team will be meeting with our new pastor the week of April 7 to finalize plans for the remainder of Holy Week. Please be watching your email for more information!
Easter Sunday is April 20 and Living Faith is partnering with the PUCC for a special Fellowship Hour at 10:00! Refreshments will be served in the Fellowship Hall and there will be a backdrop there for a photo opportunity with your family. There will also be some special things for Living Faith and PUCC children!
There is a sign up sheet on the PUCC table in the narthex for those who would like to donate a flowering plant for Easter decor in the sanctuary. At the time of sign up, you can indicate if you would like to donate your plant in honor or in memory of a loved one. Plants should be brought to the PUCC on Thursday, April 17th. (Please do not donate Easter lilies as there are worshipers who have an allergy to this flower.)
There are so many great donations under our Easter Egg tree in the narthex of the PUCC! Donations will continue to be taken up to Easter Sunday. Thank you for your generosity, Living Faith!
The Leadership Team is still looking for a male and female delegate to the Western Iowa Synod Assembly on June 13 and 14 to be held in Sioux City. A new bishop will be elected by the delegates who attend. Thank you to Travis Balt who will serve as our young adult delegate! Consider joining Travis at this important event!
The Leadership Team met last week to visit with Pastor Jan about the possibility of providing office space for Vicar Paige within the walls of the PUCC. The Session discussed it at their meeting last week and the Property and Maintenance Team will meet Tuesday for more discussion. All groups are supportive of making this happen and it is a matter of getting input and putting a plan together to make a space ready to move into. More details to come.
Living Faith's Annual Meeting will be held Sunday, April 27 following the 11:00 worship service with a meal and a meeting. The Annual Report is being compiled and will be emailed out as soon as possible.
In mid-April, a new Living Faith sign will be put up in place of the Noah's Ark sign that is along the street on the south side of the church property. Thank you to the PUCC and Noah's Ark for graciously allowing us to advertise our congregation in this way. Look for information in May as to how you can help with landscaping around this sign!
Living Faith will again have an entry in the annual Ice Cream Days Parade held this year on June 21. Mark your calendars to ride along and share our welcome to worship with our community!
Please pray this week for:
Judy Bowman - Judy is in the final stages of her fight with cancer.
Steve Beveridge - Steve is having shoulder surgery on Thursday at the Dakota Dunes. He is looking at a 6 week recovery time and a year long rehabilitation time.
John and Peg McAllister's niece and her husband
John and Peg McAllister's sister's sister-in-law and her family
Kristy Pecks
Karen Schroeder
Marilynn
Ali
Pixie
Bobbie
Mary
Beth
Vicar Paige
Living Faith
The Living Faith brother or sister you are praying for
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