Living Faith Weekly News (Week of October 8)
- Kay Michaelson
- Oct 12, 2023
- 6 min read
Last Week
Thank you to Pastor David Halaas who led worship and music for our service! Thank you to Kjersten Rathke and Conor Rathke for reading scripture and assisting with communion. Thank you to Angela Catton for live streaming our service and Tim Kass for ushering.
Following worship, we enjoyed a chili feed - THANK YOU to Mark and Cheryl Juhl and Mark and Angela Catton for providing the delicious chili! Everyone else came through with tasty side dishes and desserts - a fall feast indeed!
We conducted a business meeting after our meal. Mark Juhl led us in prayer and Kari Kopperud provided the group with a financial report. (This report is available on the sign up table for those who could not attend.) Then, four questions were posed to those in attendance: Who are the local benevolent partners you would like to monetarily support? What are the State/National/International benevolent partners you would like to monetarily support? What are local service projects you would actively like to participate in? What inward activities would you like to develop at Living Faith? Members gave input and feedback on all the suggestions made. We closed our meeting with the Lord's Prayer.
Based on input from members, the Leadership Team has designated the following benevolent partners: Spirit 712 Music Ministry, Le Mars Backpack program, Lutheran World Relief, Rejoice Church Food Pantry and the Western Iowa Synod.
The following are service projects members would like to actively be involved with on an ongoing basis: Le Mars Backpack program, Sleep in Heavenly Peace bed builds, support local families in need as needs become known to members, support Rejoice Church's food pantry in light of the closing of the Christian Needs Center, Habitat for Humanity work days, serve at the Siouxland Soup Kitchen, and help at Thanksgiving community meals.
Here are some ideas members would like to see developed for fellowship and faith building at Living Faith: Thirsty Souls fellowship, seasonal social get togethers, praying for each other, help with Meals on Wheels, establish a men's choir and regular choir, establish men's/women's fellowship/circles/coffee groups, continue activities with the PUCC, Sunday School and Confirmation youth activities, mentoring 9th - 12th graders, puppet show ministry, and develop stories of faith of members.
This Week
Pastor Joy Gonnerman will be back in the Chapel to preside over worship. Jordan Kopperud will read scripture, Kari Kopperud will serve communion and Gail Kass will accompany us on the piano.
We will honor Pastor Joy Gonnerman for Pastor Appreciation month.
Faith + Fellowship meets at 10:15 in Room 103 and we'd love to have you join us around the table where we pray together, share highs and lows and discuss the gospel for the day. We are in need of someone to provide treats for this Sunday's get together.
Our S'mores and Ashes event is rescheduled for this Sunday, October 15th at 6:00 PM at the Municipal Park near the shelter house!
Come help us prepare the ashes for our Ash Wednesday 2024 service, enjoy a bonfire, make s'mores, enjoy a game of bags and feel the warmth of the fire and hot apple cider!
Bring your lawn chair!
Coming Soon! There will be an opportunity to order Living Faith clothing if you didn't get one the first time around or if you would like to add to what you have! T-shirts, crew neck sweatshirts, and hooded sweatshirts will be offered! Look for the sign up for this soon!
Confirmation Sunday will be celebrated on Reformation Day, Sunday, October 29th!
Conor Rathke will be the first confirmand from Living Faith!
The Sunday service for this day will be held at 1:00 - please note the change of time for service that day!
Pastor Trish Underberg will be presiding at this special service in the Chapel. Plan to wear red for the day!
All Saints Sunday is coming the first Sunday in November. If you have a loved one who passed away towards the end of 2022 or in 2023 and you would like them to be remembered a the All Saints Sunday service at Living Faith, please contact Kay Michaelson.
Noisy offerings will be taken up on the last Sunday of every month! Drop your spare change into the box on the sign up table!
After a period of time, we will draw a charitable organization out of a hat to receive this offering. The organizations to draw from will be those that members mentioned at our meeting on October 8 that were not selected to be benevolent partners at this time: Sleep in Heavenly Peace, Mid Sioux Opportunity's Adopt-a-Family, SAFE Place, Lakeside Bible Camp, Church of the Damascus Road, Habitat for Humanity, United Way, Lutheran Mideast Development, and the Lundula Family Ministry.
After we make our first donation, we will continue collecting noisy offerings and draw another organization's name out of a hat to continue supporting those entities Living Faith is most interested in.
You are invited by Mark Stelzer to a Zoom Bible study on the book of Psalms:
Details: The First Lutheran Church of Milford, Iowa Growing Your Soul group will begin a study of the Psalms starting October 15 at 6:30 pm on Sunday evenings. There is no book and no homework. All you need is your Bible. Each session stands alone, so join as often as you are able. The hope is that we can together experience the Psalms and discuss their message, but also discern how the thoughts and words shape our spirituality and impact our lives. The group will meet via Zoom. Please contact Carol DeSchepper at cjdeschepper@gmail.com to indicate your interest so you receive the Zoom link. Please contact Carol, Jane Kruse (janek@commstock.com), or Mark Stelzer (markestelzer@hotmail.com) for more information.
The PUCC invites Living Faith to worship at Hillview Park in Hinton on October 22 at 10:00. Following worship, a brunch will be served.
Congratulations to Pastor Jan who is celebrating 15 years of ministry with the Presbyterian United Church here in Le Mars!
At Sunday's meeting Living Faith members celebrated the events and activities and accomplishments from December 2022 until September 2023. Here is a listing of what Living Faith has been busy with during those months!
What Living Faith has done outwardly:
· Helped a displaced family with monetary contributions and physical needs they had
· Collected Lenten offerings that went to:
o Sleep in Heavenly Peace
o Noah’s Ark Scholarship
o SAFE Place
o Center for Financial Education
· Participated in a Do-Day session with the PUCC
· Did a bed build with Sleep in Heavenly Peace
· Assisted at the Synod Assembly
· Rod in the Ice Cream Days parade
· Participated in the 4th of July parade
· Collected an offering for the Bishop’s RABRAI Hunger Challenge
· Collected a noisy offering for Arlinna Bowen’s ministry at SDSU
· Went to training to offer Home Communion
· Collected underwear for the nurse’s offices in the Middle School and High School
· Pack snack packs for the Le Mars Backpack program
· Sent a monthly donation to the Western Iowa Synod
What Living Faith has done inwardly:
· Lenten Season: Weekly Lenten services and meals
· Easter Breakfast
· Filed Articles of Incorporation and created and approved a Constitution
· Applied for a Mission Developer grant
· Researched and purchased liability insurance
· Created a Facebook account and page and live streamed Sunday services
· Established a Faith + Fellowship time each Sunday an hour before worship
· Distributed gift baskets for the young families of Living Faith
· Designed an All Pray Together program where each Living Faith member prays for someone in our faith community
· Joined a confirmation ministry with 4 other area churches
· Held an outdoor worship service and potluck
· Piloting a mentoring program for 10 – 12th graders
· Put together a ministry Site Profile
· Gave Bibles to Living Faith Confirmation students and newly baptized babies
· Had the Blessing of the Backpacks
· Applied for a Technology grant from the Western Iowa Synod for a simple sound system
· Gathered subscriptions for Christ in Our Home devotionals
· Participated in God’s Work Our Hands and supported Jim and Karen Schroeder
Please keep the following in your prayers:
Baby Morgan and her parents.
Mark Juhl's sister, Judy Plank, who is at Brentwood.
Kevin Olson who is fighting lung cancer.
Karen Schroeder's daughter who is experiencing health difficulties and problems with finding timely care.
Beth Kehrberg who experienced a fall recently.
The Living Faith member you are praying for.
Pastors who are providing pulpit supply for Living Faith.
Those who live in the Middle East and are experiencing loss and hardships in these days. Pray for peacekeepers to be heard and responded to.
Remember the new starting time for services on Sunday - 11:15 in the Chapel!
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