See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. -Isaiah 43:19 Siblings in Christ, Grace to you and peace and a Happy New Year! As people of faith we enter into each New Year with memory and hope. We remember what has been and look forward to what may be in the sure and certain knowledge that God has been, continues to be, and will be with us in all that we say and do. Many things happened at OSL in the past year - we searched for and finally found a part-time Youth Coordinator to help with our Wednesday night God Squad. Vicki Sawyer is a wonderful addition to the OSLC staff. She is full of good ideas and enthusiasm for sharing faith with our young people. We hosted the Cleveland Trunk- or-Treat for the second year in a row and worked on getting out into the community through Cherry Creek Days parade and leading the ecumenical services at Baccalaureate and Thanksgiving. I also had the opportunity to lead prayers at the Memorial Day program. The church council has started thinking about some strategic planning and building maintenance as well as how to best steward our time, resources, and talents for doing God’s work in our congregation, community, and the wider world. 2019 was a busy year! Looking forward to 2020, there are more exciting things to anticipate! First is the Annual Meeting at the end of this month where we will review ministry and business from 2019 and plan for this year. Please, join us to give your input! There will be some business, but also some fun and exciting discussion about the future of our church! Peace be yours, P.S. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love and support as your pastor these last couple of years. OSLC continually surprises me with it’s warmth and generosity. I especially want to offer my gratitude for the gift of loose change from the Christmas Eve services. Thank you! MISSION STATEMENT “We at Our Savior’s are called to let our light shine as instruments of the Holy Spirit so all may know God’s love.” CONTACT INFORMATION Our Savior’s Lutheran 305 Sixth St PO Box 277 Cleveland, MN 56017 507/931-1564 www.oursaviorscleveland.com [email protected]
Transcript
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive
it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
-Isaiah 43:19
Siblings in Christ,
Grace to you and peace and a Happy New Year! As people of faith
we enter into each New Year with memory and hope. We remember
what has been and look forward to what may be in the sure and
certain knowledge that God has been, continues to be, and will be
with us in all that we say and do.
Many things happened at OSL in the past year - we searched for and
finally found a part-time Youth Coordinator to help with our
Wednesday night God Squad. Vicki Sawyer is a wonderful addition
to the OSLC staff. She is full of good ideas and enthusiasm for
sharing faith with our young people. We hosted the Cleveland Trunk-
or-Treat for the second year in a row and worked on getting out into
the community through Cherry Creek Days parade and leading the
ecumenical services at Baccalaureate and Thanksgiving. I also had the
opportunity to lead prayers at the Memorial Day program. The church
council has started thinking about some strategic planning and
building maintenance as well as how to best steward our time, resources, and talents for doing God’s work in
our congregation, community, and the wider world. 2019 was a busy year!
Looking forward to 2020, there are more exciting things to anticipate! First is the Annual Meeting at the end of
this month where we will review ministry and business from 2019 and plan for this year. Please, join us to
give your input! There will be some business, but also some fun and exciting discussion about the future of our
church!
Peace be yours,
P.S. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love and support as your pastor these last couple of years.
OSLC continually surprises me with it’s warmth and generosity. I especially want to offer my gratitude for the
gift of loose change from the Christmas Eve services. Thank you!
Our Savior’s Lutheran
MISSION STATEMENT
“We at Our Savior’s are called to let our light shine as
instruments of the Holy Spirit so all may know God’s love.”
Present: Pastor Liz, Ginger McCabe, Kevin Hewitt, Deb Gehrke, Andi Lassiter , Br ian Block, Kay Wendelschafer
Absent: Terry Bateman, Ben Olsen
Secretary’s Report: October council meeting minutes reviewed and approved.
Financial Report: Approved by council.
● The general fund received gifts of $8,728.75 in November, versus last year of $8,627.00, giving us a difference of $101.75.
● Year to Date: The general fund received gifts of $107,066.03 versus last year of $1114,157.72, giving us a difference of ($7,091.69).
Old Business:
● Kevin bought the materials to finish the parsonage basement. Bob Gehrke and Jim Grabow will hang the sheetrock and we will hire someone to tape it.
● The school will plow the southside parking lot at the church this winter and Kevin will plow the northside and on weekends.
● We hosted another successful Trunk or Treat. 100 people were served dinner.
New Business:
● We will be sponsoring 20 children for the Giving Tree this year. Kay is organizing that.
● Pastor Liz will be posting a list of items congregation members can donate to care packages for all recent graduates.
● We need someone to clean up leaves on the North and East side of the church. Do we need to purchase a leaf blower for the future?
● Andi will write up a letter for the annual report and we will evaluate the things we did differently this year at our next meeting. The annual congregational meeting will be held on January 26, 2020.
● The church website needs to be updated. Scott Lassiter can help with this and give others administrative permission as needed. If there are high school students interested in learning about creating and updating websites, Scott is willing to teach them.
● A congregation member brought up a concern about a friend who came to worship and was not welcomed before or after the service. How do we address this? Should we have someone holding the outside door open for people and greet them as they come in?
Next meeting December 15th & January 12th @ 10:00 am
Our Savior’s Lutheran Church follows Cleveland
School District # 391 for all weather related
closings. If school is closed or dismissed early due
to weather, ALL church related activities are
cancelled. Our Sunday worship and other
scheduled meetings will be announced on our local
St. Peter station, KRBI --FM105.5 and KEYC
News Channel 12.
Thank You
Christmas Eve…
Annual MN River Conference On Sunday, February 9th at 1:30 pm, OSLC will be hosting the Annual Meeting of the MN River Conference of the SE MN Synod of the ELCA, which we belong to. This is the yearly meeting of churches in our conference, to discuss business of the synod, MN River conference, and set goals for 2020. The meeting is open to all ministry professionals and representatives from each congregation. We need your help! Please, contact Pr. Liz if you are available to help with refreshments, set-up/clean-up, and offering hospitality while the meeting takes place.
The OSLC Annual Meeting will take place on Sunday. January, 26th after worship. Topics of discussion include election of two new Church Council members, budget review from 2019 and proposal for 2020, and ministry reports. We will also be discussing needed updates to our church building and parsonage. The parsonage basement/foundation is still a work in progress. Other topics include the update about our part time youth leader and increasing outreach opportunities in our community.
Bible Study
Wednesdays at 7:00 pm
Bible Study will resume on January 8th. We’ll talk about New Year’s resolutions and how they might contribute to our faith and spiritual growth. We’ll also talk about topics for upcoming Bible Studies. Come share your ideas!
God Squad God Squad has been quite active this past Fall! Our weekly meal now includes a special place setting, welcoming Jesus to join us each week as we give thanks for the gifts of food and to the families that provided the meal. October held the annual Trunk-or-Treat with games, activities, and food. In November the older children put together care packages for church members in the military or are away at college. December brought the wonderful retelling of Jesus’ arrival through the play “A New Star”. Please remember to sign up for the Wednesday God Squad meal if you haven’t already. If you are able to provide a meal and wish to sign up, please contact the church office at 507-931-1564. Information for summer camp at Green Lake Bible Camp will be available soon! Update from Victoria Sawyer... Upcoming Dates: 1/8 Class resumes 1/29 Service Project
3rd Michelle Mettler, Michael Metzler
4th Kevin Johnson, Harrison Sexe
6th Porter Goettlicher
7th Ryan Evenson, Max Van Binsbergen
8th Kristi Goettlicher, Emma Hahn
9th Kathleen Davies
10th Avery Chavez-Broas, Kaitlyn Powers,
Jack Voit
13th Ryan Ponwith
15th Scott Davies, Lael Starkweather
16th Rhonda Johnson
17th Colin Krenik, Erin Larson
18th Sullivan Sexe
19th Dick Newbrough
20th Dennis Hiller
21st Harper Meyer
22nd Madisyn Woodrum
23rd Louise Goede
24th Jonathan Anderson, Jennifer Nelson
25th Victoria Jacoby, Theresa Jordan,
Tyler Piotter
26th Kade Miller
27th Lisa Will
28th Brandon Seitz
29th Kacy Queen
6th Bill & Nancy Hensel
8th Adam & Sue Wendelschafer
31st Adam & Kacy Queen
5th Samantha Baker
12th Anna Kawatski
19th Corbin Thompson
26th Volunteer Needed
Feb.
2nd Volunteer Needed
9th Volunteer Needed
16th Volunteer Needed
23rd Volunteer Needed
27th Greta & Ava Hahn Communion Servers Jan. Deb Gehrke
Feb. Volunteer Needed Readers Jan. Ginny Grabow
Feb. Linda Zuhlsdorf Ushers Jan. Bob & Deb Gehrke
Feb. Zuhlsdorf family & Greg Davis
Greeters Jan.
5th & 12th Bob & Deb Gehrke
19th & 26th Myron & Leanne Wolf
Feb.
2nd & 9th Jamie & Tonja Baker
16th & 23rd Cindy McCabe Altar Guild Jan. Bob & Deb Gehrke
