April 1 Brent Jarosz Rich Aerni April 2 Roger Seefeld April 3 Jesse Hollendieck Paige Dye Cory Miller Karin Rieger Cindy Wagner Alisha Behnken Kellen Vetick April 4 Val Schardt Reid Fullner April 5 Jeanette Hoppmann Rick Sheets Renae Jaeger April 6 Haley Haefner Breanna Ruiz Kevin Stamm Ashton Macken Warren Kuhl April 7 Dorothy Elston Rick Walker John Kloppel April 8 Ron Schilling

Amy Miller Jesse Dittmar April 9 Mia Bridges Brian Brownlow Evan Hitz April 10 Chris Rutten Brian Herout Larry Schmidt Taya Jaeger April 11 Juanita Mueller April 12 Tyson Wagoner Rayleigh Johnson April 13 Jan Zaura April 14 Colin Clayburn Hannah Sealock April 15 Charlene Svoboda April 16 David Brandl Jr. Kay Rupp Ethan Crumley David Dye Keiton Stabb

April 17 Blake Thomas Adlinely Harris Delaney Snyder Mitch Freshour Bryson Jaeger April 18 Zandyr Kohl Kyle Ainsworth Leah Wagner Kyle Lingenfelter Barb Eberhart April 19 Pam Robinson Karen Scriven Jared Rieger Bob Cemper Martin Dominguez Jr. Eric Post Erik Johnson April 20 Carolyn Wagner Lane Kleckner Angie Olson Joe Campbell Jim Dietz April 21 Tom Theilen Terry Henke April 22 Calista Whitmore Deborah Becher Amy Maschmeier Rich Pehrson

Sharner Stucky April 23 Steve Dolezal Makenna Frenzen Terri Jelinek Leah Vetick Paige Esser April 24 Meghan Hake April 25 Nicholas Delozier Riley Levos Justin Lorenz Katelyn Nekl April 26 Jason Whitmore Joette Post April 27 Mark Westmeyer Travis Roth April 29 Ed Wagner Makenna Elton Steve Zaura Lorna Kapels -Rasmussen Lindsay Kaasch

BrynLee Hahne April 30 Andrew Eckart Dana Bailey Al Ronkar

APRIL

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2720 28th St

Columbus, Nebraska 68601

(402)564-8311

www.peacecolumbus.org

FaceBook: Peace Lutheran Church

GREATER LOVE

DOWN HIS LIFE

GREATER LOVE

DOWN HIS LIFE

Connections APRIL 2020

NOTHING!

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to

separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

As I write this, I am the only one in the church building on a weekday afternoon. The daycare is closed. Pastor Klatt is self-quarantined for a few more days. Elaine completed everything early and went home before noon. It is quiet. Too quiet. I miss the laughter coming from the fellowship hall as the daycare kids are playing. I miss the ‘interruptions’ to my day. I know. I’m an introvert. I should enjoy the quiet. But, I don’t. I was not made to be alone. I miss worship, Bible study, and especially confirmation class. It’s only been a couple weeks, but it has seemed like an eternity. When will it end?

The reality of the COVID-19 virus has many people worried. And it should. While most will only be mildly affected, others might be hospitalized and death is very possible. The medical professionals were concerned enough to request that the churches NOT hold worship services.

And now, as a result of the virus, the economy is grinding to a halt. The stock market is dropping only adding more fear.

Yet, even as bad as all this seems, we need not fear. As the Apostle Paul states, NOTHING can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus! In the midst of the worry and fear, He is with you. While you are self-quarantined or social distancing, He is with you. His love for you will never fail or fade away. Trust in HIM.

As we wait this out, be assured that we will continue to stream the services at www.peacecolumbus.org. We do not yet know what we will do about Easter services. At this time it looks as though we will not be able to gather together on Easter. However, we will continue to provide the service online. And when we ARE able to worship under the same roof, we WILL celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord with all joy. Because NOTHING can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. AMEN!

In His Peace,

Notes from the Staff OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW

APR 19 • 6:30 pm

MAY 3rd (TBA)

Tentative — S U N D A Y

Thanks to everyone who participated in the 2x4 Challenge. We surpassed our goal of $2100 by raising almost $2450 to support the building of the Habitat for Humanity houses in Columbus.

A Big THANK

YOU — from

Habitat for

Humanity

Habitat Build Suspended Habitat is suspending our current build schedule in order to do our part to combat the Coronavirus. Please know that we do this with deep re-gret, but hopefully, we can get back to work of building homes soon.

We are committed to finishing the build ASAP when the virus danger has passed. We are dedicated to fulfill our mission of Habitat and want to see our seven future family members in the safe and reliable homes as much as you do!

When we do resume, our build will probably look a little different. It will take a lot of people to make it hap-pen in an even shorter time span. I have no doubt the Columbus com-munity and our Habitat supporters will rally behind us and get those houses built.

Thank you for your support and please stay healthy!

The Habitat Board of Directors

OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW

The Nominating Committee will be accepting nominations for three open board positions on the Peace Governing Board until April 5

th. A list

of responsibilities of what the board position includes can be found in the church office. Anyone that is in-terested or has questions can con-tact a committee member. Thank you for your consideration of serv-ing in these positions. Cori Fullner, Tammy Dolezal, Val Schardt, Chuck Sahs, Dean Plummer, Steve Otten and Pastor Burma.

Accepting Nominations for Board Positions

We want to encourage you...

We will get through this uncertain period

of time! If you find yourself anxious, lonely

or afraid — get into worship. Worship and

praise lifts you up, encourages and edifies

you.

When you sing words of Praise to the King

of Kings, “He inhabits the praises of His

people!” Psalm 22:3.

During this pause in our normal routine,

seek Him. He wants you to, ”Draw near to

God and He will draw near to you,” James

4:8.

Reach out to others with a phone call to

friends and family who are isolated. Think

who would love to hear your voice, share

memories or an encouraging word.

The Family of Marian Rowoldt would like to thank all of those who attended and helped with her cele-bration of life service. Please remember the date of September 6th, 2020, which

would have been Marian’s 92nd birthday. There will be a Memorial Luncheon in her honor to share memories and fellowship.

Trust: Trust in the Lord completely!

Say: We trust You Lord for THIS day.

Rely: Don’t rely on your own opinions, rely

on God for every decision you have to make.

Understanding: Ask Him for His understand-

ing of what you are going through.

Stabilize: God will be a constant source of

stability in changing times.

Trust: Let all those who put their trust in

You REJOICE. It’s a promise!

April 27th 7-9 pm

Wilke Landscape Center will donate 10% of sales that night

to the Senior Youth Group Mission Trip.

Notes from the Staff

Official Acts – February 2020

Funerals: Vernon Stacy – (d) 2/4/20, (f) 2/10/20 Marcella Schmid – (d) 2/6/20, (f) 2/11/20

JoAnn Dunn - (d) 2/19/20, (f) 2/24/20

Transfers Out: Bob & Karla Ritze – transferred to 1C in Columbus on 2/12/20

Katheryn (Ruppecht) Friedrich to St. John Lutheran in Alta, IA 2/17/20 Lynette June, to St. John Lutheran in Crete, NE 2/17/20

Membership: 1276

Baptisms: 0 Confirmations: 0 Transfers in: 0 Deaths: 3 Transfers out: 4 Releases: 0 Conf. Members: 996 Bapt. Members: 1269

Worship Attendance: February 351 avg. / 1403 total (4 weekends) January 346 avg. / 1384 total (4 weekends) Last February 319 avg. / 1277 total (4 weekends) 2020 Avg.: 348 2019 Avg.: 335 Shut-in Services: 37 total

Official Stats – February 2020

Growing Attendance: 570 Adult Bible Study Total Attendance (Sunday, Wednesday, Real-life, Crown Villa, LLL):

February 59 avg. / 238 total (4 weeks) January 64 avg. / 258 total (4 weeks) Last February 56 avg. / 223 total (4 weeks)

Children’s Midweek Attendance: February 84 avg. / 252 total (3 weeks) January 83 avg. / 341 total (4 weeks) Last February 65 avg. / 131 total (2 weeks) Youth Attendance: February 27 avg. / 80 total (3 weeks) January 22 avg. / 87 total (4 weeks) Last February 28 avg. /55 total (2 weeks)

Financial Report – End of January 2020

Peace Lutheran Church

Income Jan Actual Jan Budget YTD Actual YTD Budget

Expenses

First Steps Daycare Jan Actual Jan Budget YTD Actual YTD Budget

A detailed financial report is available in the church office.

Offerings $ 71,682.76 $ 54,320.58 $ 391,400.22 $380,244.06

Other $ 243.72 $ - $ 1,225.85 $ -

Total Income $ 71,926.48 $ 54,320.58 $ 392,626.07 $ 380,244.06

Personnel $23,926.80 $28,129.16 $164,835.19 $184,904.12

Ministry $18,296.87 $21,633.33 $123,580.15 $141,408.31

Facil./Adm. $ 5,573.43 $ 5,537.50 $ 33,942.74 $ 39,612.50

Total Expenses $47,797.10 $55,299.99 $322,358.08 $365,924.93

Balance $24,129.38 $ (979.41) $ 70,267.99 $ 14,319.13

Income $19,537.52 $19,942.50 $131,693.56 $139,597.50

Expenses $20,509.82 $20,055.66 $138,236.15 $140,389.62

Balance $ (972.30) $ (113.16) $ (6,542.59) $ (792.12)

Total Balance $23,157.08 $ (1,092.57) $ 63,725.40 $ 13,527.01

Notes from the Staff

Offerings Still Needed! The business of the church continues to move on. The church staff is still work-ing. Bills are still coming in, and your offering is still appreciated. If you are able to continue giving your offerings, please consider signing up for electronic giv-ing at www.peacecolumbus.org. Or, you can continue to mail your offering to Peace, or drop it by the church office. May God continue to bless you and your family, our church and our community. Thanks for your continued support!

OPPORTUNITIES TO WORSHIP

Sunday Worship Online

Join us for worship on Peace Facebook page, YouTube, or

www.peacecolumbus.org. We are planning something

special for Easter! Stay tuned to the web site for updates.

Thank you to all who brought in bags of food for the SECOND SERV-ING outreach. Even through this uncertain time, we had 40+ meals to help fill Columbus Food

Panty’s shelves.

SECOND Serving “For I was hungry and you gave me food I was

thirsty and you gave me drink”

Join the Online Daily Bible Study

These Things are Writ-

ten … A Daily Bible

Study is a short video

study that goes

through a few verses,

as we study a chapter

each week. You can

find this study on the

Peace Facebook page,

YouTube, or peaceco-

lumbus.org. Join us as

we spend time in

God’s Word each day.

Matthew 25:35