The St. Olaf Caller

January 2009

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From the Desk of Pastor Matt

God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.

2 Corinthians 9:8

                        The word "stewardship" usually causes most people to cringe, grab their wallets tightly and run away.  As soon as the word "stewardship" hits your eyes or ears, your mouth is uttering, “I don’t have anymore to give.”  Stewardship and the financial concerns of the church are so tightly knit in our minds that they are often uneasy partners.  However, the truth of stewardship is far broader than simple dollars and cents.  Christian stewardship is about living and knowing whose we are.  Christian stewardship is the way we respond to being God's people.

            We are richly blessed by God.  Our life is a gift, a blessing.  As members of a community of faith, we share our life in many and various ways.  We share God's blessing in our actions.  We give time to the ministry of St. Olaf.  We share our talents and skills and participate in God's work.  We offer a portion of our money to further God’s mission at St. Olaf.  We are richly blessed by God and thanks is shown in our sharing.  This activity is a truth of Christian faith and living.

            Many people have discovered this amazing truth, as we give thanks through our sharing, we experience greater blessing.  Through our very living, we receive blessings as we give.  This lifestyle is stewardship.  Stewardship is about blessing and giving and life.

            Pastor Matt, the council and committees would like to offer the community of St. Olaf one way to experience and grow in this amazing blessing of giving and life. Beginning in Epiphany and continuing on the first week of each month, a "blessing bowl" will be available.  There actually will be two large glass bowls filled with "blessings."  As you leave the altar, following Holy Communion, you are invited to take a blessing.  The blessings are pieces of paper.  On them you will find ways to reflect on how God has blessed you and ways to share with others.  You will find suggestions for giving to others.

            Your blessing may be to introduce yourself to someone you don't know.  Perhaps, the blessing will be to call a shut-in or to pray.  Your blessing may be special words to think about or a wise quote.  The blessing bowl provides opportunity for each of us to practice the stewardship of Christian living.

            Stewardship is about blessing and giving and life. Our prayer is that as you receive these blessings, God works in your life, growing your acts of giving into blessing—both for you and for others.

Amen!

Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might

be to our God forever and ever!

Revelation 7:12

In God’s eternal blessings,  

Pastor Matthew Lee

Annual Meeting of the Congregation

Our annual meeting is coming up on Sunday, January 19, 2009 at noon .  The meeting will be preceded by activities at 10:15 and a potluck dinner from 11:00 a.m. to noon .  This year, we will be voting on revisions to the constitution to get it up to date with the ELCA model.  If you have any business that you would like to bring up at the meeting, please contact Bruce Benson at 262-224-3070 to reserve a spot on the agenda.

Lutefisk Dinner Information

453 tickets were sold (85 less than last year); income from bake sale was $1,958.75 (about the same in 2007); net profit from dinner sales was $2,635.58.  Some guests entered the building with frowns on their faces, having endured treacherous driving conditions.  However, ALL left with smiles, their tummies filled with delicious food and minds enriched with pleasant conversations.  Once again, St. Olaf Church is Sharing God's Love . . . Caring for Community."

January Birthdays
1    Jake Homulos, Elizabeth Schlehlein
2    Melissa Meier, Renee Solveson
2    Debra Uhlman, Kelsey Uhlman
3    Joshua Leinberger
4    Gertrude Buth, Larry Rolefson, Deborah Voight
5    RaeAnn Eggert
7    Zachary Brewer, Logan DeBack,
7    Matthew Guenther
9    Caroline Kraemer
10  Kathleen Fritche, Rachel Roth
11  Jennifer Guenther, Vicky St.George
12  Sandra Gannon
13  Brandon St.George
14  Andrew Wegenke
16  Madelyn Schutze
18  Alexander Becker, Mark Much
19  Makensie Christel
20  Denise Benson, Linda Henninger
21  Milton Bliss, Annah Guenther, Catherine Lee
22  Andrew Schlehlein
24  Andrew Becker, Gregory Ritger, Jacob Ritger
25  Joel Beierle, Mary Buth, Brandon Kielisch
27  Gerald Bohen, Donna Brady, Jeff Cowell
28  Earl Christenson
29  Jon Evert, John Reed
30  Rose Holbrook

January Anniversaries
14   Matthew and Laura Lee                                  
23   Marilyn and David Carlson                             
28   Jon and Carol Evert                                        
30   Kenneth and Hertha Ziebell

Cemetery Plots Available

The church has two cemetery plots for sale in Wisconsin Memorial Park on West Capitol Drive in Brookfield .  The gravesites are $1695 each and are in a valued part of the park which is almost filled. If you or someone you know is interested in these plots, please call the church office.

DATES TO REMEMBER

Please mark your calendars for the following dates:

 January 5, 2009 :  Committee Annual Reports due to Michelle

January 18, 2009 :  Annual Meeting @ 12:00 p.m.

January Lay Ministry Schedule

Altar Guild: Paula Olson & Joan Uhlman
Counters:  Rob Howell, Jim Lumsden & Dareld Riemer
For questions regarding the following, please call:
Acolytes:   Robyn Cowell 262-673-9693
Assisting Ministers: Gwen Downing 262-673-6717

Taking Faith Home
Abundance

By Marilyn Sharpe (TYFI.org)

The harvest is in, a celebration of God’s abundance. Creation’s smorgasbord groans under the weight of God’s lavishness. Farmers’ market yields bags heavy with squash, pumpkins, potatoes, onions and apples. No wonder the early settlers celebrated this abundance with thanksgiving.

But what does abundance have to do with families? Is this going to be a riff on consumerism or hyper-busyness? No, this is an opportunity to pause; look, really look at our lives; and say “thank you” to a God whose signature is abundance.

So often, adults and children alike recount a litany of scarcity – we want more possessions, different relationships, gifts that aren’t ours, skills we haven’t acquired, travel we haven’t done, more money in the bank, a job or school that suits us better, recognition for who we are and what we have accomplished, and time. Oh, would we like more time! Looking a life through the lens of scarcity makes us dissatisfied and miserably unaware of all of the good things in our lives.

But, God has showered us with abundance. All we have to do is open our eyes, our minds and our hearts to it. Satisfaction, delight, and gratitude are ours, if only we pause in the headlong rush for “more”, to celebrate “enough”.

How might we begin?

• Instead of a New Years resolution list, create a family thankfulness list.
• Celebrate the differences within your family. Give each family member a meal when everyone else says a prayer of thanks for the unique gifts of that person, expressing gratitude for all that person means to them individually and to the family as a whole.
• Set aside some Christmas money you have gotten to share with a person, organization, or cause about which your family is passionate.
• Plan to share the part of New Years with those who don’t have others with whom to celebrate.
• Find warm winter clothes that your family can give to others who don’t have adequate cold weather clothing.
• Walk or drive around your community, pointing out the gifts that recent immigrants bring to your community.
• Attend a cultural event of a culture that is new to you.
• Remember the elders in your family, congregation or community. Visit them and learn from their stories.

FAMILY ACTIVITIES:

1. Pick a variety of fruits. Do an “apple tasting”, thanking God for this luscious abundance.
2. Bake two batches of cookies, asking, “Who would really appreciate a plate of homemade cookies?” As a family, deliver them to a new neighbor, a widower, a family with a new baby.
3. Do an afternoon family-shovel-a-thon. Bring out a boom box and take turns listening to each person’s favorite music. Celebrate with a pizza dinner.
4. As a family, cook a vat of soup or stew. Invite another family or two to join you for dinner, games and conversation. Light a candle before dinner, thanking God for the gift of friendship.
5. On New Year’s, invite each person to name one thing for which they thank God.

Thanks
A special thank you to Linda Fredrick for making our new Christmas Eve banner and to Jeff Brewer who designed it.

 Thank you to both Jeff and Linda for a job well done and appreciated!

Siegmann Family Performs

Remember the Siegmann Family who performed here at St. Olaf a few years ago?  They will be at the Cedar Lake Campus Theater in West Bend from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 7, 2009 .  This family of 14 reflects Christ’s love on stage and off when running their family farm and organic food store in Rubicon.  This will be a fun afternoon filled with good old bluegrass gospel music, some favorite traditional hymns and a dash of country gospel.

Cedar Lake Campus * 5595 Cty Z, West Bend .

Thanks for the Help in the Snow

A special thanks to John Christenson and Viking Brothers for keeping the church driveway and parking lot free of snow during our rather snowy winter.  And thanks to Jerry Schlieve and others on the Church Property committee who keep the sidewalks shoveled.  We truly appreciate your work and are blessed by your willingness to help.

Women of Grace

Women of Grace will meet on Monday January 26^th to discuss the money from the Lutefisk Diner.  Please join us at 7:00 p.m.

Together in Faith

In January our Sunday School will be starting a new program called Together in Faith.  During our regular Sunday School hour we will have classes for our students and their parents.  Each grade level focuses on a different topic: The Keys, The Lord’s Prayer, The 10 Commandments, What’s Fair?”, Opening the Bible, The Apostles’ Creed and Martin Luther.  Each year we will offer these classes so our families learn more about the catechism.  Take the time to talk to some of our students to see what they are learning.  It will be a fun and interactive time for us to learn about our faith.

Lutheran World Relief

Lutheran World Relief has published its annual report that shows the number of quilts, school kits, health kids, sewing kits, layettes and soap that were donated by the ELCA and the Lutheran-Church Missouri Synod, individuals and groups.  The Women of the ELCA provides the largest portion of that donation.

This year:    452, 870 quilts

                   194,825 school kits

                   114,300 health kits

                   48.300 sewing kits

                   105,800 layettes

                   73,059 pounds of soap

Our quilters at St. Olaf added 101 quilts to that total.  We also sent 20 layettes, 34 school kits and one health kit.  In addition, 2 quilts and baby clothes were sent to Reformation Church .  When we work together we can have wonderful results.  All of the donations added up to more than $14 million which was distributed to 23 countries around the world.  Thanks for making a difference!  

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