Faith Connection

WORSHIP TIMES 8:00 a.m.

Traditional

10:30 a.m. Contemporary

9:15 a.m. Education Hour

Coffee Fellowship

Come and Join Us

How to contact us 715-387-3757

Pastor Gisele Berninghaus pastorgisele@yahoo.com Dar Schubert Secretary secretary@faithofmfld.org Richard Brunson Choir Director rbbrunson@gmail.com Kim Vrana Youth Director kvrana@charter.net Anne Weber Education & Family Ministry anneyfm16@juno.com Cheryl Zimmerman Communications Specialist czimmerman@wisconsinffa.org

Website faith@faithofmfld.org

Office Hours Monday—Thursday 9-3

Office and Building

Closed on Fridays and Saturdays

April 2018

Easter people and REVIVE WISCONSIN

With God all things are possible! Easter is the bedrock of our faith, nothing is stronger than God, not even death. In the cross and resurrection, we again see God doing something new, something totally unexpected and surprising. God continues this work of making us new and surprising us with God's living presence in new and unexpected ways - we need the eyes of faith to see God showing up and the heart of faith, open to trust God working in our daily lives. The challenge for us is to loosen the grip we have on our own routines, our habits, our way of doing things and the plans we make for our days in order to allow or invite God into the mix, giving God the space to do something new in us. REVIVE Wisconsin is an opportunity for God to do something new in and through us. April 27 - May 2, we are all invited to trust God and try something new. The schedule is listed on back page and you can attend for whatever amount of time works for you, an evening only, or mornings or the noon time gathering or all of it. The invitation is here for each of us to open ourselves to what the Spirit of the living and resurrected Jesus is doing here in our community NOW. The resurrection is not some past event, it is the living power of God's ongoing creativity. You can go online to learn more about Revive or ask Karen Bohm or Jan Taylor about their experience at some of the planning meetings. Karen and Jan have stepped out of their comfort zones and listened to what the Holy Spirit is leading them to do and so have I. This is an opportunity to work with other congregations in Marshfield and the surrounding communities, to learn from each other and to see how God works in different ways among God's people. It is an opportunity to put faith into action and into words as we pray with others and pray for our communities that God would use our lives to connect with someone who does not yet know the amazing love of our resurrected and living Lord Jesus. This revive process is NEW to everyone, except the team that comes in to lead the event, but we trust that this NEW thing is God's work here and now and you are invited into this growing experience.

God's Peace, Pastor Gisele

Upcoming Events:

May 6 Confirmation Sunday @ 10:30 worship.

May 13 8:00 Sunday School, 9:00 Youth/Baccalaureate Service

Worship times change to Summer schedule:

One Service 9:00

May 20 8:00 Last Sunday of Sunday School

9:00 Celebration Sunday

May 27 9:00 Worship

No Sunday School on Easter, April 1st

Mark your calendars!

On May 13th Sunday School/Confirmation will be from

8-8:45am with one worship service at 9am.

End of the year Celebration for Sunday School on May

20st. Last day of Sunday School will begin at 8am-8:45

with a celebration for the end of the year with games,

songs, and treats. One worship service to follow at 9am,

where kids will be singing during the service!

Confirmation Sunday

Confirmation for our 8th graders is fast approaching,

there are a few details that our 8th grade parents

should remember. Confirmation Sunday is May 6th

@ 10:30 service; confirmands should arrive at

church by 9am, for pictures. Please mark your

calendar.

Teacher Appreciation Sunday

Thank you to everyone who has

taught Sunday School and/or

confirmation this year! Thank you

for sharing your talents and gifts

with the kids at Faith Lutheran.

On May 20st (the last day of

Sunday school) we will be

recognizing teachers during the

worship service at 9am. If you

have taught all year, a month, or even just one day,

please come to this service so we can recognize and show

our appreciation for all you have done!

Kids Night Out on Friday May 11th!

Kids in 2nd

grade through 6th grade

are invited for a night of fun from

6pm-9pm. Games, songs, faith lesson,

snack, and more! Bring a friend…or two! Please let

Anne Weber know via email,

anneyfm16@gmail.com if you’re planning on

coming.

FLY News and

Upcoming Events

Check out the Faith Lutheran Church FaceBook page

for pictures from many of our meetings and events.

ELCA Youth Gathering

Only 2 ½ months remain

until 16 youth and 3 adult

leaders leave for the ELCA

Youth Gathering in

Houston. Every three years,

30,000 high school youth

and their adult leaders from

across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

gather for a week of faith formation known as the

Gathering. Through days spent in interactive

learning, worship, Bible study, service and fellowship,

young people grow in faith and are challenged and

inspired to live their faith in their daily lives. We are

excited to be finalizing our plans for this incredible

faith journey and look forward to keeping the

congregation connected with us during this time of

preparation, the event and our return.

Houston is one of the most multicultural cities in the

United States and has a rich history we can learn from

by being there. It is the 4th most populous city in the

US and has the most diverse US metropolitan area in

the US. At 655 square miles, Houston could fit the

cities of New York, Washington DC., Boston, San

Francisco, Seattle Minneapolis and Miami all within

its borders.

Faith Education &

Making Connections

2018 Council Representatives Gary Grassman— President ,Education garyg@c21goldkey.com Cheryl Ashbeck—Vice-President, Congregational Life, Evangelism clynnashbeck@gmail.com Treva Tisdell—Secretary, Education ttisdell@pdcmarshfield.com Bill Olsen — Treasurer billolsen@tds.net Karen Bohm—Property, W/ELCA dkrbohm@frontier.com Cole Hansen—Youth btzchanson@gmail.com Sue Vrana— svrana@charter.net Thom Gerretsen—Worship and Music

tgwert@hotmail.com Jim Legge – Sharing the Faith no email Jan Taylor—Social Concerns/Green Team jantaylor15@gmail.com

Call for scholarship applications Members

of Faith Lutheran Church planning to attend

a church college are invited to submit a

letter of application for a scholarship to the

FLC Endowment Fund Board.

Application deadline is April 30. You may request an

application by calling the church office.

Mark Your Calendars!

The Chequamegon Conference Spring Rally

will be held on Saturday, April 7, 2018. Theme: Shepherd Lead Us

Come travel to European cathedrals (and more)

with Pastor Gail Sowell

All women are invited to join us for a day of fellowship,

renewal and relaxation.

Registration: 8:30 am with refreshments.

Rally from 9:00 am-2:00 pm. Lunch served at noon.

Registration deadline: March 19th or at the door

Location: St John’s, Edgar

Cost: $15.00 per person-

Make checks payable to Women of the ELCA

$20 after March 19th

Registration forms and information sheets are in the

gathering space. Fill out your own form or contact Judy

Rhodes at 384-2784 or jrossrhod@charter.net.

There is a car-pooling sign-up on office window.

Soup Or Socks Food Drives Boy scouts--April 21 at First Presbyterian Church. Two shifts: 9:30-11:30, 11:30-1:30

Post Office--May 12 at the Community Center

Make sure to check expiration dates of food!

WHY Lutheran Christians?

We will discuss how Lutheran Christians

understand Holy Communion, Baptism, the Bible

as well as other questions that arise. This is an

opportunity for folks who may be interested in

joining this congregation and/or folks who have

questions or anyone who would like to join the

conversation. Maybe you have a friend who has

asked you questions about Lutheran teachings or

Christianity in general, please invite them to

attend.

Please contact the office or let Pastor Gisele know

if you are interested in attending and your

preference, daytime or evening time to meet.

Did you know that A Better Way Clubhouse

uses our parsonage? This program is run by the

National Alliance on Mental Illness Portage-

Wood County. This organization offers support

group meetings that help develop coping skills,

facilitate open discussion, find resources and

provide support for people with mental health

conditions. If you know of anyone who could

benefit from this program call Dixie Weber at

(715) 897-1108.

NOW (NUTRITION ON WEEKENDS) Do you know children who go to bed hungry? How does the Marshfield community feed hungry children?

The Nutrition On Weekends program (NOW) is a collaborative, community effort to target childhood hunger. The pro-

gram provides healthy, ready-to-eat nutritional foods for children during the weekend. NOW is a United Way program,

headed by coordinator Paula Jero.

From a pilot of the program that began serving 29 children in the Marshfield School District in October 2013, the need has

grown, and the program has expanded to answer the need…

By the numbers:

27% and 20%: students in Marshfield Middle School and Marshfield High School respectively who indicated he or she had

gone to bed hungry at least once in the past 30 days because there was not enough food in the home (Youth Risk Behavior

Survey, 2017)

450: total number of students currently enrolled in the program (2017-2018 school year)

210: number of students enrolled from the Marshfield School District

7: number of additional district that participate (Auburndale, Granton, Spencer, Loyal, Greenwood, Pittsville and Stratford)

Each child receives a weekly food pack containing:

2 peanut butter & jelly sandwiches

2 cups low-sugar cereal (Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Life)

2 pieces of fruit (apple, banana)

baby carrots

2 snack items (such as raisins, craisins, granola bars, pretzels, fruit snacks, goldfish or animal crackers, sugar-free Jello

cups, fruit or applesauce cups) cheese

Food packs are customized for children that have allergies.

Have the criteria for qualification for the program changed since the program was started? No; but the need has

greatly increased.

How is NOW made aware of a child’s need for food? Students are referred by guidance counselors in the schools.

Most of the children are on the Free and Reduced Cost Lunch program (there are 900 students on that program in the

Marshfield Public Schools).

How is the program organized? More than 600 local volunteers keep the program going. They represent many differ-

ent organizations, and work in shifts from 6-30 people at a time.

What is a typical weekly schedule? The trucks with the food arrive on Thursday morning. Groups of dedicated volun-

teers prepare the food for packing at other sites by other volunteers throughout the day. Foods are refrigerated over-

night, and distributed to schools in bins on Friday. Staff at the schools take care of distributing the packs to the chil-

dren. Other volunteers pick up the empty bins and return them to United Way in time for Thursday’s packing to be-

gin again. Some volunteers maintain ongoing monitoring of the nonperishable foods (like peanut butter and jelly)

for expiration dates. Expired products are not used by NOW. Instead, those near expiration or expired are donated

to SOS and made available to recipients as additional food that they may choose to receive.

How is the program financed? Some food is donated; some United Way funds are used (estimated at $500 / week).

The bread for the sandwiches is baked fresh and donated from the Marshfield High School kitchen.

How vital is this program? The food is very important to each individual child. They rely on this constant source of

food. Discretion is used so that children receiving packs are not singled out.

How do parents feel about the program? When parents of participating children were surveyed about the program,

they reported that their child had more energy; concentrated better; complained less about being hungry; slept better;

consumed more fruits and vegetables; showed improvement in school work; and overall mood improved. (From a

2016-17 survey)

What happens in the summer? There will be no summer NOW program this year as it is significantly more costly for

United Way, and has proven difficult to find effective distribution sites. However, there are summer breakfast and

lunch programs at the schools. Children need not be enrolled in summer school to qualify.

Is Faith Lutheran Church already involved in NOW? Yes! Our own FLY group is one of the volunteer groups, led

by Kim Vrana. They pack once a month.

How else can we help? Currently the biggest need for donated food is cereal (like Cheerios; any brand or generic is fine; any flavor) and

commercial jelly. They request “kid-friendly” jelly flavors (like strawberry or grape). They cannot accept homemade jelly

or jam. As part of the Earth Day activities in April, the social concerns/green team will be collecting kid friendly

jellies and cereals ( Life, Raisin Bran, Cheerios-generic okay.) There will be a receptacle in the Gathering Space.

NOW is able to recycle all the cardboard boxes that donations arrive in, but there is a need for help recycling the 80 +

jars of peanut butter and jelly that are generated each week (an estimated 12,800 jars this school year.) NOW does not

have the facilities or time to clean them so that they can be recycled. The FLC Green Team has volunteered to

facilitate the cleaning and recycling of these containers. Otherwise they are put in the trash, then landfills.

Members of the congregation can participate in the preparation of the bagged meals by joining the FLY group on

their packing day. New groups can be added for next fall if we wish to help in this way. See the church

calendar for the next FLY packing date.

Donations can be dropped off at Marshfield Area United Way, 156 S. Central Avenue. They are open Monday –

Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM.

You can choose to sponsor a child! $78 is enough to sponsor a child with food for the entire school year.

To sponsor a child, please visit marshfieldareaunitedway.org or call United Way at 715-384-9992.

God’s Work…our hands.