February 2011

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From the Desk of Pastor Matt

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Mark 10:21)

Ministry to the poor is vital to our being a part of Christ. In fact, as Jesus points out in the above verse, our helping the poor has a direct connection to what heaven is all about.

            Here at St. Olaf we have an opportunity for such ministry by partnering with Family Promise.  Family Promise is an ecumenical national program whose focus is to eliminate family homelessness in the counties they serve.  They provide emergency shelter and management assistance immediately to families who walk through the door.  There are two parts that make this work.  One is Family Promise of Washington County who works with the parent(s) of each family to assist them in gaining skills, to register for the appropriate assistance programs, and to obtain whatever else is needed so that the parent(s) can acquire jobs for sustaining their own housing.  Once a family has housing they graduate from the program. 

The other part is the provision of shelter and food for families while they are in the program.  That is where local churches come in.  For each Family Promise program to function well, they ask for 13 congregations to assist with food and shelter.  Why thirteen?  There are 52 weeks per year.  Divide that by four weeks of assistance from each congregation and the number of congregations needed is 13.  Currently, Family Promise of Washington County has 9 congregations with 3 very solid leads for additional congregations and we are, fortunately, one of those leads.

So, what would be asked of us if partner in the ministry?  That for each of the four weeks we would house the families, providing shelter, access to bathrooms, dinner (leftovers provide lunch for the next day) and breakfast for the families from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. the next morning.  For each day we would need two people to spend the night at church as well as others to provide the two meals.  Family Promise strongly suggests that we have 50 people and two coordinators who will be active throughout the year so as to keep the workload for each person to a minimum.  There is the possibility to have people from other congregations join us to obtain the 50 people that are needed.

There are two attributes that I like about Family Promise.  First, they serve an often overlooked population by our federal and state programs—families who simply cannot afford housing.  Second, they screen the families to keep the program as safe possible.  Those who have addictions, are sex offenders, have criminal backgrounds, have recent violent tendencies including domestic abuse, and those with acute mental conditions are referred to other programs.  Family Promise aims to keep congregations safe as well as the program participants.

There is an old saying: It is better to teach a person how to fish than to give that person a fish.  In essence, that is what Family Promise does.  We will be having an educational event for the congregation concerning our participation with Family Promise as well as seeing how many volunteers might step forward to aid in this vital community ministry in serving the neighbor. Please look for upcoming information.  May God bless and inspire us as we seek to be active in “Sharing God’s Love, and Caring for Community!”

In the Hope of Christ’s Mission,

Pastor Matt

St Olaf Scrip

Don't forget you can place an order from St Olaf's Scrip.  It’s a great way to help St. Olaf as you purchase your groceries and gasoline.  It is also great for the kids for their needs.  Ask for an order form at the Scrip desk.  Also available at times are extra gift cards for gas and Walmart.  This is a great way for St. Olaf to fund our ministry plan while you do your everyday shopping.  

UFFDA at Shorehaven 2-5-11 

All families are invited to meet at Shorehaven on Saturday, February 5, 2011 at 12:45 in the Great Room. We will be spreading Valentine cheer by visiting with the residents and handing out the home-made valentines the Sunday school students created. Please contact Laura Lee or Jenni Guenther (jennig@bertramwireless.com or 474-7725) to sign up or if you have any questions.

Ash Wednesday - March 9

Sunrise service at 6:30 a.m.

Evening worship at 7:00 p.m.

Pick ‘n Save We Care Program Discontinued
Please note that the program that gave money back to St. Olaf from shopping at Pick ‘n Save is no longer running.  Instead, Pick ‘n Save gift cards are now available through Scrip.  So use the Scrip program for gift cards so our church still benefits from your grocery shopping. 

Contemporary Worship
Our Praise worship services will continue with the first Sunday of each month at 10:30 a.m.  Get the word out, pray for us, and join us! 

Joyous Light                  
 Join us every 3^rd Sunday of the month for our evening prayer service called "Joyous Light" written by Ray Makeever.  Ray is a graduate of Luther Seminary and a well-known musician.  This worship service is a beautiful way to center ourselves and celebrate God's Light in our life and in our world. 

Women of Grace
Mark your calendars for the next Women of Grace meeting to be held on Monday, February 28 at 7 p.m. 

Business Directory
St. Olaf’s is again offering advertising space in the upcoming St. Olaf’s Business Directory. Please contact John Christenson @ (920)474-4410 or (414)412-5530 to sign up. All the profits will go towards the General Fund.

   - 1/4 page advertisement in a Business Directory booklet sent to all the households in the congregation.
   - Advertisement in the weekly bulletin.
   - Monthly advertisement in the Caller.
   - Business related or charitable in nature.
Pricing……………………………………..$100/yr

   - Placement in a "Sponsor" page of the Church website with or without a link to your own website.
Pricing………………………………..unavailable

   - One line advertisement in a “Hobby Business” section.
Pricing………………………………………$25/yr

The profit after expenses would go towards the General Fund. Call John Christenson (920)474-4903, Roger Johnson (920)474-7318, or Karl Scheife (414)916-9920 for more info or to sign up.

Everyday at 6:33 p.m.
What are you doing at 6:33 p.m. each day?  We hope that you are praying.  We have recently started a set time for all of our members to pray so we can all be engaged with God at the same time.  What a powerful way to show our faith by dropping everything at 6:33 to stop and say a simple prayer each and every day.

So set your cell phone or clock or any other technological device you own to beep at 6:33 and get into the habit of praying.  Soon you won’t be able to stop!

Why 6:33?  It’s taken from Matthew 6:33 which states, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Jesus tells us that where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.  Prayer works miracles and if our congregation is united in prayer, there’s no telling what may happen. 

Souper Bowl of Caring,
Giving Tree and Food Pantry –   Sunday, Feb 6^th  is the day most people like to watch the Super Bowl game and enjoy food and fun with family and friends.  It’s also another day marked to remember those who are not able to provide enough food for their families, so therefore, we again will join youth all across the nation and take part in the National Souper Bowl of Caring.  We will have a time in worship to remember those less fortunate and theYouth will collect dollars and canned goods to help our local food pantries at a time when it is so critical to help those in need.   Parents: we need Confirmation Class and High School Youth to help with worship service that day.  We will be discussing this in our confirmation class and youth group time.  

We thank those that have been supporting our ongoing Food Drive and bringing non-perishable food items or paper products and putting them in the bin in the entryway.  We thank those that brought socks and other items for our Giving Tree.  We also thank those that brought items for our Thanksgiving Day collection and filled more than 3 grocery carts.   You are being the Hands & Feet of Jesus and blessing others with your generosity.

A few students and 2 adults took the items to the Food Pantry on Hwy P in Oconomowoc to deliver and stock the shelves.  We were educated about the operation of the Food Pantry and were informed that there were 365 families served in November of 2010 alone.  One day had a visit of 49 families.   If you know of anyone in need or are in need yourself, the hours of operation of the Food pantries are listed inside the bin in the hallway.

We should all pray and continue to help in any way we can to help end World Hunger.  A little goes a long way and God loves a cheerful giver!    

February Anniversaries
7     Mark Cameron and Lisa Iaquinta
15   Randall and Mary Buth

February Birthdays
  1         Gwen Downing, Colin Hautala
  3         Abbey Fick, Laura Lee
  4         Kelly Bates, Dave Johnston
  6         Katelyn Piller, Andrea Roth
  7         Braden Bohen
  8         Julia Benson
  9         Doris Bohen, Ronelle Christenson
  10       Marilyn Carlson, Christopher Dauss
  11       DeAnn Slade
  12       Blondie Green
  15       Dawn Christ, Shawn Piller
  16       Scott Rohlffs
  17       Ronald Egelseer, John Roth
  18       Randall Bates, Caleb Christel, Christine Schultz
  19       Aldon Schlieve, Joseph St.George
  20       Pamela Eggert, Donald Freiburger
  21       Brian Solveson
  22       Eric Kraft
  24       Hannah Roraff
  26       Donald Henninger, Garrett Monis, Patricia Warnecke

February Lay Ministry Schedule

February Altar Guild: Kathie Howell & Kathy Larson
February Counters: Mark & Linda Fredrick and Al & Pat Davies

Together in Faith
Once again we will be starting our Together in Faith with our Sunday School families.  Each age group learns a specific topic, such as the Apostles’ Creed, about Martin Luther or the Lord’s Prayer.  They attend the classes with their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles or a special mentor in their lives.  It helps teach our families how to incorporate their faith in their daily lives.  After we finish our classes, our students will be sharing what they’ve learned in church.   Please encourage them as they learn and share with us.  The classes, which will be going on during Sunday School on Feb. 6, 13 & 20 are open to everyone because as a church we focus on being ‘together in faith.’  Join us!   

St. Mary of the Hill Parish presents
What: Winterfest & Fisheree

Where: Wally & Bee’s, 1571 Lake Drive,
              Friess Lake

When: Saturday, February 12

Time: 6am-3pm

Fun for the whole family! Hot food available, fishing prizes, raffle prizes, free games for kids, sledding, ice fishing, skating & snowmobiling. (Must supply own equipment). For further information, please contact Mary at St. Mary of the Hill Parish, 262-628-1838 ext 3.

CAMP SUNDAY- February 20^th  9:00 a.m. service
Summer camp can be an unforgettable, very meaningful life experience for many.  Since it’s already time to start making plans for summer camp, representatives from Lutherdale Bible Camp will join us for worship that morning and give us all the information we need for camp for all ages including camp for families.  There will be information available and a time for questions and signing up in the Gathering area following our worship service.  You can even talk to the kids from St. Olaf who went to camp and loved it. Early bird discounts will be offered as well as support from St. Olaf  to “help send a kid to camp”.  Let Justine know if you are interested in attending camp or have any questions.

Taking Faith Home  
Holy Ground
By Marilyn Sharpe (TYFI.org)

Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. Exodus 3:5

            One breathtaking evening, sitting on a friend’s deck overlooking a gorgeous lake, I put on a sweater to watch the sunset, listen to the quieting woodland sounds, hear a loon’s plaintive cry ... and I slipped off my sandals. I knew that I stood on holy ground.

         I grew up in Minnesota. The still water of an evening lake, surrounded by birch and pine, has always been holy ground. I see the fingerprints of the creator God there. First, my parents showed me awe, wrapped in their loving embrace. Then, my husband and I discovered it together, wilderness canoe camping on our honeymoon. Later, we shared it with our children, lying on a dock, much too late at night, watching the Northern Lights or huddled in an impromptu igloo in our front yard, marveling at the crystalline beauty of winter. Now, we hold our grandchildren and re-experience wonder and awe in their young eyes, and we give thanks for this holy ground.

         In Exodus, Moses slowed down to notice the burning bush, to hear God call him by name, to turn aside, to stand before God. What is the message for us in families?

         We need to slow down. Otherwise, we will speed past the holy. We need to notice. Children help us do that with their lively sense of wonder and their questions. It can be contagious that wonder, seeing the world through the fresh eyes of a child. We need to listen for the voice of God, calling us by name, claiming us in the waters of our baptism. We need to stand before God, listening to the improbable things God will ask us to do, on behalf of the world He loved so much that He sent his only son. We need to thank God for the holy ground of our lives.

         So, what and where is holy ground for you and for your family? Sometimes it is a place apart. It may be the mountains or ocean or a quiet lake. It may be your grandparents’ home or the church you grew up in. It may be a country, whose beauty or the needs of its people, that calls you to come as a family. It most certainly is in the car with a proud teen, celebrating the story of their success; the bedside of a little one, after prayers and goodnight kisses; the delight of a toddler who has a sand castle to show you; a birthday party for one you weren’t sure would live until this day; the dinner table, the everydayness of it, wrapped in love.

         Thank God for this holy ground, and tell your children.