The Caller

A: When you think of Global Missions typical images come to mind: Missionaries taking Bibles and the Good News to people in a foreign land who look nothing like us and may never have heard of Christ Jesus; or building infrastructure for impoverished countries in dire need of basic resources, like water. While some of these conditions remain, the global picture of Christianity has certainly changed. Take a look at the dynamic shifts that have occurred throughout the world since 1900:

Missionaries usually devoted their entire lives to service and came home infrequently. Today, 70 percent of ELCA missionaries are lay people who are invited by companion churches to serve as specialized medical personnel, development workers, librarians, accountants and teachers of English, science, math and computers. They typically serve two to six years.

We all know times have changed in America, but they have globally, also. In response to this changing context is accompaniment. Accompaniment describes the way God walks with us, and the way our church therefore walks and works among Christian communities in other countries. Together we participate in God’s reconciling mission.

The ELCA Global Mission unit defines accompaniment as walking together in solidarity that practices interdependence and mutuality. In this walk, gifts, resources and experiences are shared with mutual advice and admonition to deepen and expand our work within God’s mission.

Last spring, I attended a couple workshops on Accompaniment, that were led by the ELCA Global mission. One of them began with an exercise where they had various regions around the world on the floor. We were asked to go stand on the area we are currently most interested in and tell why. I went and stood in the North America region. When it came for me to share, I told the group that when I was in seminary I worked for the Global Mission Institute. I found the experience enriching as I interacted and learned much about God’s work in the world. But I was also surprised when I learned that the United States is the number three mission field in the world. At that point the Global Mission leader began nodding her head. I mentioned that I learned this back in the 90s and I am sure things have not changed. I am now a pastor in Wisconsin and am interested in finding ways to apply the accompaniment model to the congregation I serve. The leader was intrigued and pulled me aside after the workshop to discuss the matter more. She concluded that she wanted updates as to how we are doing.

We are a part of Global Missions, and we are doing quite well in our walking together in solidarity with the organizations we interact with, as well as practicing interdependence and mutuality as we do so. Just look at how we operate with Family

Promise for an example. As we strengthen and grow with the number of relationships we have throughout our local communities, I see no reason why we will not see the same dynamic shift occurring over time as we have seen in other parts of the world.

In case you haven't noticed, we have a new secretary and financial secretary here at St. Olaf's. Shannon Lutz began as secretary in November and has quickly been learning what goes on here. She is very talented and able to help our communication within the church, so please feel free to contact her at the office. She is there on Monday and Wednesday mornings and fills in other times when she is needed. Nicole Lipske was recently hired as financial secretary. With a background in accounting, she will fulfill the duties of the job very well. We are please to have them with us and welcome them to St. Olaf.

Articles you want in the Caller should be put in Kathy Larson's church mailbox or email them to her at kathy.larson3@gmail.com .

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 Saturday 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.

Anyone who sang with the choir for the Christmas cantata and has not returned the music to the Music/Choir room, please leave the music and the CD on the desk in the music room or in Clara Birkel's mail box. The music was purchased by St. Olaf's and we would like to keep the copies for future use.

Alive In Faith: Coming February 5th, 12th and 19th (Education Hour 10:15 Sunday)

Once again we will be starting our Together in Faith classes with our Sunday School families. In February our students, along with parents, grandparents, baptismal sponsors and friends will be learning more about different aspects of our faith. Each grade focuses on a different topic, such as the Ten Commandments, Martin Luther, the Apostles’ Creed or the Lord’s Prayer. But for this class, the entire family is encouraged and instructed on how faith is something that we have every day and how we can learn to share that faith in our daily lives. The program is non-threatening and the students learn a lot, sometimes as much as the parents do! After we complete the classes, each group will be helping to lead a part in one of our Sunday worship services, so look forward to seeing our Sunday School in action!

Sunday, Feb. 5^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 take part in the National Souper Bowl of Caring, when we collect dollars and canned goods to help our local food pantries at a time when it is so critical to help those in need. The youth will volunteer to hold the soup pots, make a rice meal & serve it on Sunday morning at the end of our 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. worship service. Please sign up on the youth board for this.

Searchers Bible Study meets Tuesday morning at 8:45 at the Christenson home. We ARE studying the Bible. In fact, we are using Read the Bible in a Year. OneYearBibleOnline.com has the scripture to read each day. On Tuesdays we read and discuss ideas from the previous week's reading. Sound like an opportunity for you?? Please join us. The door is open!

Thursday, Feb. 9^th 6:30-8:00 p.m. at the Jackson Area Community Center. The topic will be “Trauma-Informed Care” with speaker Lisa Thill, a licensed Therapist. While our guests are with us, what can we do to lessen their trauma? How can we be more aware of the impact the trauma in their lives is having on them and what does this mean for us as

Volunteers? All those that volunteer when our Family Promise families are here are encouraged to attend or any others interested in this topic. See the kiosk for the info.

You are invited to the 32^nd Annual Women’s Ecumenical Breakfast at St. John’s Lutheran Church, W334 N6990 Stone Bank Rd, Stone Bank, on Sat., Feb. 11, 2012, 9-11:30 am. Speakers will be David Borash, Development Director of Rawhide Boys Ranch and Mike Rintelmann, Youth & Family Therapist at

QUILTS FOR LWR

Lutheran World Relief (LWR.ORG) is a large efficient organization of Lutherans promising sustainable development, lasting promise. We have supported LWR for many years in many ways including sending quilts and layettes, school kits and buying candy, coffee and tea, and more. We will have Divine Chocolate available for your Valentine after church at the coffee table. We assemble quilts now until Easter, or later if necessary.

St. Olaf has an unofficial goal of sending 100 quilts to LWR. These quilts are made to be useful, not necessarily beautiful.

LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS

1. Volunteers to sew tops and bottoms measuring 60" x 80". There is already donated material.

2. Volunteers to tie quilts. There is a sample set up in the fellowship hall that you can check out after worship. We meet Friday mornings at 9:00. It is relaxing and fun to tie and talk for 2 hours and know your are giving someone a warmer place to be!

DONATIONS

1. Material and thread. Anyone have large pieces of clean extra material, drapes, sheets, bed ruffles, etc.?

We CAN use them for quilts. Mark the packages for "quilts" and leave them in the coat closet closest to the fellowship hall by the tablecloths, or call Elaine Monis, 474-4092, to pick them up.

2. It costs LWR about $5 to store, ship, and deliver a quilt. If you want to donate to LWR for the delivery of quilts.... THANK YOU in advance.

On Sunday, February 12, 2012, at 10:30 a.m., we will be discussing Amish Religion and Culture. Lucy Braunschweig has an interest in the Amish and will be sharing some of the information she has learned about them. We will discuss some of the following items. When the Amish talk about “The Budget”, what are they talking about (hint, it’s not money)? A court decision known as “Yoder vs. the State of Wisconsin” affected Amish all over the United States. What did the Amish gain by this decision? Why don’t we see church buildings when driving in an Amish area?

To hear about answers to these questions, Amish history and more, please join us when we explore Amish Religion and Culture on February 12th at 10:30 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall.

Anyone interested in working to develop an outdoor informational sign for the church the next meeting of the Outreach Committee is on Monday, February 13th at 7:00pm in the library. If you are unable to attend, but have information or ideas to share with the committee, please contact Mary Hershoff - 630-441-8995.

The food pantry is still accepting non-perishable & paper product donations which you can bring & put in the entryway.

Our movie in February will be the documentary "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" (2008) about a group of women who help bring peace to their war torn country of Liberia. Leymah Gbowee, a leader in this movement, received the Nobel Peace prize this past year for her part in the process. Join us on Saturday, February 18 at 6:30pm for this inspiring true story! Bring a friend - we'll bring the popcorn and pop.

A huge Thank You to the many, many talented friends that baked and canned and helped raise over $2500 at our annual Holiday Bake Sale in December. This fund raiser gives us an opportunity to learn about and donate to organizations with a mission to identify and aid those in need.

In the past the Women of Grace have donated Bake Sale profits to local, national, and international projects. Examples of the organizations we have donated to include Lutheran World Relief, Lutheran Social Service, ELCA World Hunger, ELCA Fund for Leaders, PAVE, Food Pantries in Hartford and Oconomowoc, Lutherdale Bible Camp, Family Promise, Hebron House, LAMP, Plymouth Christian Youth Center, refugees that St. Olaf has sponsored, and many others.

On Sun., Feb. 19, Women of Grace is planning a gathering after church at 10:15 to learn about organizations that we donated to last year and to vote on the recipients of the 2011 Bake Sale Funds. If you are aware of a project that is deserving of monies from our Bake Sale, please talk to Elaine Monis or Cindy Schlieve.

Inviting Sunday School volunteer teachers, parents of youth of all ages, and any other interested adults to attend this valuable FREE workshop to help families grow in faith at home. Two dates are available: Sat. Feb 18^th 9:30 a.m. to Noon at Cross of Life in Brookfield or Sun. Feb 19^th 1:30-4:00 at Our Saviors in West Bend. Pastor Matt would like to encourage a group from St. Olaf to go. Please see the flyer on the kiosk & sign up. We will register as a group and will carpool together. If you have any questions, ask Pastor Matt or Justine.

Please join us for a short, meditative service to begin our Lenten Journey. It will be at 6:30 A.M. on Ash Wednesday, February 22, 2012. The service will include the imposition of ashes.

For those of you who are concerned about being late for work, the service will be concluded by 7:00 A.M.

Continue our Journey with our service at 7:00 P.M. with the imposition of ashes and Holy Communion.

Sunday School students and their families are invited to participate in the asset “Service to Others” by attending worship service at Shorehaven (in Oconomowoc) on Sunday, February 26^th. This year students will be singing at the opening and closing of the 10:30 service. After the closing song, students will give the crafts they made at last UFFDA to residents!

Families will meet at 9:40 at St. Olaf in order to follow down to Shorehaven. The worship service begins at 10:30. For supervision and safety purposes, Shorehaven has requested a parent attend with children under confirmation age. Also, this is the same day confirmation and high school students help transport residents to the service (they leave church at 9:00). Make it a service day for the whole family.

The number attending is needed by February 19^th. Please sign up at the kiosk or contact Jenni Guenther: jjtbguenther@aol.com or 920-474-7725.

Please note: This activity is in place of Sunday School on this day. No regular class will be held on Sunday, February 26^th.

*We are responsible for finger foods for our fellowship after the service. Please bring your finger foods, bars, and cookies to the Fellowship Hall by 6:15 P.M. on March 7^th.

Pick a day that works for you and sign up to go and help pack food packs “For the Love of Haiti” at St. Aidan’s.

You can go as a group or you can go as a family or individual or with friends. The dates in February & March are listed on the sign up sheets & poster in the Gathering area. Call (414)588-3788 for more information or to reserve your spot. A donation of $20.00 per person is needed to cover the cost of the food, packaging & shipping. You pay at the door on the day you check in to do the pack.

Our next week of hosting the families will be the week of March 4-11, 2012. There will be sign up sheets in the Gathering area for volunteering that week. It’s important to have some new volunteers for meals, evening fellowship, or overnight. (Some of the high school youth will be preparing the meal for the families on Sunday, March 4^th and help with the evening fellowship. We will finalize the plans for the meal at our Feb. 19^th meeting for high school youth & parents) A million thanks to all those that are so committed to helping the homeless families feel welcome here at St. Olaf.

March 18^th, at 10:15 a.m. after Worship Service. Reserve the date and enjoy some added features to the pie social. Entertainment provided and new this year will be theme decorated cakes. Any youth or adults that would like bake & decorate a special cake for the event are welcome to do so. Also, anyone wanting to take part in the talent portion of the entertainment for the auction should let Justine know. Proceeds help support the summer trip, camp, retreat & other youth events. It’s an all congregation event!

This is a 2 ½ day workshop sponsored by St. Mary’s Lutheran Church in Kenosha,

It is a practical training event for all those interested in choosing music and leading

community-sung prayer. The workshop will work with the historical pattern of Sunday

worship and see how musicians can support the singing that is done around Gathering,

If you would like more information and/or are Interested in attending, please contact

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.

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

Call John Christenson (920)474-4903, Roger Johnson (920)474-7318, or Karl Scheife (414)916-9920 for more info or to sign up.

Dave Johnston continues to improve the church website. One goal is to provide information on the website for all ongoing church programs and activities so that website visitors can see we are an active and vibrant congregation. A list of all programs and activities was sent to the church committee chairpersons. Chairpersons are requested to send their information about the programs listed under their committee to Dave at dkjohnston5@gmail.com

Milton Bliss and Oscar Kraft were ardent supporters of St. Olaf's during their many years of living in our neighborhood. So were their wives, Ethyl Bliss and Carolyn Kraft. Their support was evidenced not only by their regular financial contributions but by their participation in the programs and activities of their church and their work on various church committees.

Their exemplary stewardship did not stop at end of life. They can be added to the growing list of dedicated St. Olaf's members who chose to practice end of life stewardship by leaving a legacy to their beloved church.

St. Olaf's received a little over $80,000 from the Oscar Kraft estate. In accordance with the continuing resolution in place for undesignated estate gifts, Oscar and Carolyn's legacy, like Milton and Ethyl's, will be applied in the following fashion:

o Unpaid benevolences for this fiscal year of approximately $5,000 will be paid.

These numbers may vary slightly depending on the exact amount due to benevolences.

We are truly blessed to have had Mr. and Mrs. Bliss and Kraft, and others remember their church at end of life. Their wisdom in establishing estate plans and their inclusion of St. Olaf's in their plans has enabled us to reduce our mortgage debt to an amount that is approaching a manageable level.

Their love and dedication to their church should be an inspiration to us to support our church through regular worship, participation in its programs and activities, giving of our time and talents, and a rededication to the practice of "first fruits" in our financial support of both the General and Mortgage Reduction Funds.

Life Giving is an ongoing program of St. Olaf's which encourages the establishment of your estate plan and your consideration in including St. Olaf's in your estate plan. For further information, see or contact Roger Johnson 920-474-3168 farmstone@aol.com

TAKE A LOOK AT THE SIMPLY GIVING PROGRAM

So often we know that something is a good idea, but old habits prevail, or we just don't get around to it. The Simply Giving program is one of these good ideas. Through this program we make our regular plate offerings to the General Fund and Mortgage Reduction Fund through electronic withdrawal. You have heard Pastor talk of the First Fruits concept. Simply Giving is an effective and easy way to give of your first fruits and provide a steady income for our ministry

. The advantages of "Simply Giving" to you are:

ü No more thinking about how much you should put in the envelope this week

ü No checks to write

ü No more writing checks or looking for cash at the last minute

ü No playing catch-up at year's end

The advantages of "Simply Giving" to the church are:

ü The church will know that a certain amount of money will come in each week

ü regardless of snow storms, flu outbreaks, summer holidays, or whatever.

ü Helps the counters and makes church's book keeping easier

ü Encourages individuals to evaluate their giving habits and maybe make some

ü positive changes

Things you should know about "Simply Giving":

You pay no fees, and you determine the frequency of your pledge withdrawals.

You can choose deducting from a checking or savings account.

No one can deduct money from your account unless you authorize it.

Simply Giving is good for almost everyone. It is especially good for those who have steady income, do a lot of weekend traveling, go south for the winter or up north in the summer.

Simply Giving may not be good for you if your financial situation fluctuates wildly throughout the month, you anticipate being laid off, or your income is from part time or seasonal work.

Those who would like to put an envelope in the plate, can still do so. Simply Giving stamps will be provided at your request for the empty envelopes you put in the plate.

If I'm interested, what should I do?

Those families that use it like it very much. Ask them.

If you have questions, ask Ron Egelseer, Mark Larson, June Sumnicht, Karl Monis, or Roger Johnson.

Simply Giving brochures and applications are on the table in the foyer. Complete the authorization form & return to church office.

The large battery bank was placed just outside the sanctuary in October 2008 by the Finance Committee in an ongoing campaign to recharge the mortgage fund while the interest is low. For the first four months after it was placed there, spare change contributed by the congregation was averaging $250 / month. In the last year and a half, spare change contributions have diminished to an average of $60 / month.

Even though the mortgage fund has so far received a $4,479 boost through the battery recharge campaign, we could do so much more if more than just a few St. Olaf's families participated in this simple and painless way to support their church.

It may seem like a nickel and dime idea, but there is power in numbers. If only half of St. Olaf's families would take home one of the small battery banks and drop in their spare change, it would result in a $12,000 / year boost to the mortgage fund. Just think what a dent we could make in paying off our mortgage if EVERY family participated!

Its just a matter of putting a small battery bank in your car or just inside your back door and getting into the habit of depositing your spare change. Its so simple and painless. Instead of bringing out a dollar bill and digging around for $.79 in change for a $1.79 item at the store, why not put down two dollar bills and bring the change home for the battery bank? You will make a change without ever missing the change. Think of another of God's blessings as you drop in your spare change. It is also a great way to teach your kids about saving and good stewardship.

The St. Olaf's Stewards is a program in which congregation members serve their church one month a year by greeting, ushering, ringing the bell, serving beverages and treats, providing altar flowers, and tending the nursery on Sunday mornings. Originally the program was to include additional responsibilities, but because there are only about 60 families currently participating, the program is limited to handling the above jobs.

You are encouraged to participate in the Steward program. It is a good program for many reasons. Besides many hands making for light work, the program is a great way for members to become acquainted with each other. We need to know each other to be a church family. Most months are in need of additional people. We especially need a Head Steward and additional volunteers for the month of September.

The congregation is advised that, to participate in the stewards program, the entire family does not necessarily have to be involved. The 2012 St. Olaf's Stewards calendar is on the church bulletin board. If you decide to participate in this program of greeting, ushering, etc. for church services and are not on one of the monthly lists, contact Roger or Lyn Johnson 920-474-3168 or farmstone@aol.com.

If you are contacted by one of the Head Stewards, you can make their job so much easier if you respond to their attempts to reach you even if just to tell them that you can not or choose not to participate.

As the mortgage approaches a manageable amount, the attention of church leadership shifts to the condition of the General Fund. Everyone should be aware by now that, for some time now, income through the offering plate has been inadequate to operate the church, pay benevolences voted on by the congregation, and conduct the various ministries. It is a situation that is not seeing improvement.

Various fund raising efforts the last few years have, in large part, allowed us to continue being a viable congregation. Counting on fund raising to operate a church is not sustainable, but it is necessary in the short term to organize fund raisers to supplement the General Fund. It is hoped that giving to the General Fund will eventually increase to the point where the church can again be operated solely from that fund. Then fund raisers can be used as they should be i.e. for specific projects and ministries.

Information on an upcoming matching fund opportunity will be forthcoming shortly. The congregation is urged to review the level of support it can give the General Fund and to participate and support upcoming fund raisers.

We’ve all watched the news, listened to the radio, and read the newspaper... and the news about kids is not great. If you were to profile today’s kids, these news sources would tell you that youth are violent, self‐absorbed, lazy, unproductive, and rankly materialistic. This is the commonly held opinion of today’s kids. But I am here to tell you a different story.

On an early winter evening, I was working late at The Youth & Family Institute, when I heard the outside door open. In walked our beloved volunteer, Ginger, followed by her husband Larry, also a volunteer, and their eleven year old grandson, Corey Anderson. The door opened one more time, and in came Ginger and Larry’s son, Scott, with four high school youth from St. Luke’s Lutheran Church: Sam, Luke, Dana and Morgan. Within minutes, our reception area was transformed into a cross between Santa’s workshop, with elves in high gear, and the dwarves’ cottage, cleaned and transformed by Snow White. Laughter floated down the hall, sounds of high, holy hilarity. Snippets of engaged conversation were audible. I ventured out into the reception area and saw a flurry of busyness, everyone compiling resources at warp speed. The pile of components dwindled; the pile of completed resources reached toward the ceiling. Here were volunteers, with willing hearts and joyful attitudes. And they are kids, great kids!

Corey said, “Grampa, this is fun! This is more fun than going sledding. Can we do this again?” The high school youth smiled when I commented on how much I appreciated both their hard work and their awe-inspiring attitude.

When I left a little later, I bid them a fond farewell. Snow had fallen and I brushed it off my car, and drove off. Or, I intended to ... until my car slid into a snow bank. And who do you think rescued me? Yes, it was Sam, Luke, Dana, Morgan and Corey. It wasn’t just a push, but a push, shove, shovel, push, shove, shovel, and I was off, thanks to these five kids, great kids!

Why isn’t this the story you last heard or read about youth? So, let’s do it differently, on their behalf. I’d like to deputize each and every one of you adults who reads this column to go “catch” kids being great kids.

Catch your own kids! Don’t wait for the huge accomplishments; catch them being thoughtful, helpful, caring, kind...and tell them what they’ve done right and how much you appreciate it. Catch other kids doing the same things...and tell them. Then, go tell somebody else. Tell adults. Tell the media. Tell other kids. Let’s make the news.

God has created great kids and placed them in our midst. We just need to “catch” them and let the world know.

Catch each kid in your life doing something right. Describe the behavior. Thank them.

Let your kids overhear you speaking on the phone, or live to another adult, telling them what great kids you have.

Our Gift Card Program works with a company called SCRIPS where you buy a card for face value and the church gets a percentage from the company.

Order forms can be printed from the website (click here for order form), completed, and brought to the church with payment. You can also complete and mail to St Olaf with a check (checks made out to “St Olaf Scrip”). Mail to W653 Roosevelt Road, Rubicon, WI 53078.

Any questions call or see Laura Lee (#920-474-4317) or Sandy Friedl (#920-474-4275).

Date	Asst. Minister	Acolyte
Sat. Feb. 4 5:00 p.m.	Bernie Krahn
Sun. Feb. 5 9:00 a.m.	June Sumnicht	Lauren Slade
Sun. Feb. 5 10:30 a.m.	Bella Christopherson	Carlie DeBack
Sat. Feb. 11 5:00 p.m.	Mary Hershoff
Sun. Feb. 12 9:00 a.m.	Linda Fredrick	Elizabeth Schlehlein
Sat. Feb. 18 5:00 p.m.	Dave Johnston
Sun. Feb. 19 9:00 a.m.	Dave Kraemer	Alyssa Schutze
Wed. Feb. 22 Ash Wed.7pm		Gabe Hoffmann
Sat. Feb. 25 5:00 p.m.	Marie Galbraith
Sun. Feb. 26 9:00 a.m.	Cindy Schlieve	Destiny Krueger