The Messenger
Monthly news for Emmanuel Lutheran Church - Menominee, Michigan
NOVEMBER 2018
November 25
November 4 Commitment Sunday November 11
November 21 - 6:00 p.m.
At Bethel Lutheran Church
With Pie Social to follow
This month’s Messenger is sponsored by
TEST 2
JOHN’S TAXIDERMY State and Federal Licensed since 1960
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Fish Mammals Birds
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John Helfert
906-863-8609
Thank you , John, for sponsoring the Messenger Emmanuel members who own or operate their own business or members
who would like to recognize a significant event in their lives are invited
to sponsor the Messenger. Full sponsorship of the Messenger is $100.
This covers a portion of the cost of mailing the Messenger each month.
from the pastor
Brothers and Sisters in Christ;
On September 30th, Emmanuel participated in the ELCA Funds
for Young Leaders offering. The purpose of this offering was to
raise money to offset costs for those who are enrolling into
seminary to prepare themselves as leaders in the church. Your
response was awesome - $564 was raised and sent to the Synod
Office to be joined with other monies in giving our future leaders
in the church a head start in their seminary careers.
But what also transpired on this particular Sunday was a Pastor
Appreciation event in which 113 “Thank You” cards were handed
to me by Deb Villas prior to our worship services. To say that I
was humbled was an understatement of enormous proportions.
You could have knocked me over with a feather when I received
those cards (and, based on my girth, that’s saying a lot!). I have
read each one of them over and your words, encouragement,
messages and invitations remind me why I am so blessed to call
Emmanuel my home. Thank you.
It feels so wonderful to say “thank you” as we transition into this
season of thanks in our nation, as well as in our church. For the
past two months our sanctuary has been ordained with two banners
which celebrate what God provides with the words of Psalm 107:1
“O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love
endures forever.” On Sunday, November 4th, All Saints Sunday,
we not only recognize those saints who have been born into their
eternal homes during the past year, but also give thanks for their
lives of faithfulness and passing along that faith to those of us who
yet carry out the ongoing work of God’s kingdom. On Tuesday,
November 6th we have the opportunity to go to the polls and to
cast our ballots for those who we want to represent us on local,
state, and national levels. We give thanks because there are so
many places around the world where citizens don’t have this
opportunity. On Sunday, November 11th, we celebrate Veterans
Day, and will do so in the church as well, taking time to recognize
those among us who have so selflessly given of their selves.
Thank you veterans; your commitment to a greater cause has not
gone unnoticed. On that same Sunday, November 11th, we collect
our 2019 Stewardship pledges, our theme being, “God’s Gift to
Me, My Gift to God.” As a congregation we give thanks for the
continuing work of the church the following Sunday, November
18th as we announce our pledge total. Lastly, on November 22nd,
Thanksgiving Day, we give thanks for abundance that we have and
share. The church will give thanks in worship when we join with
our brothers and sisters down the street at Bethel Lutheran on
Thanksgiving Eve, November 21st. Our church certainly has
much to give thanks for!
My encouragement for you all in the coming weeks is to be
intentionally mindful of these various opportunities to give thanks
for what God has so graciously and generously provided for us.
For each one of these days that I have listed, as well as every day
that God gives you breath and sustenance, live in the moment and
allow the thanksgiving to wash over you. Because, unfortunately,
as our culture dictates, before the Thanksgiving turkey settles, the
big Christmas machine will already be moving full steam ahead
and these moments for giving thanks may be more difficult to
come by as we get swept up into it.
I pray every one of you has a most blessed November, that deer
hunters may be safe and bounteous, that those traveling will arrive
at their destinations without incident, and that your turkeys may be
filling and our fellowship more so. Be reminded that God is
present in it all, for without God’s generosity, we would have
nothing to give thanks for. Thanks be to a God who provides, and
does so always; never giving too little, never giving too late.
In Christ,
Pastor Mark
This time of year brings our focus to giving thanks
and serving others. As we celebrate Thanksgiving and give thanks
to God for all we receive, we also think of ways we can give to
each other.
In the November issue of Parenting Christian Kids we learn
the importance of making acts of serving others a family affair.
The main article of this newsletter points out that “when we teach
children to serve, we’re also teaching them to become servants for
life….kids who serve, become adults who serve.” Fitting big service events into busy family schedules isn’t
always possible. The good news is that not every service project
must be a large affair. The truth is, Jesus loves and honors service
of every size. As we model the giving of aid and encouragement in
our homes and in the community, children learn that service is a
way of life, not necessarily just a single event. The November
Parenting Christian Kids has a wonderful list of service ideas you
can do with your family along with the service activities we offer
here at Emmanuel. Read through this month’s Messenger for fun
ways you can get involved and serve others!
3rd
Grade Bible
Presentation
Pastor Mark and
Sunday School
teacher, Margaret
Stewart present the
3rd
grade class with
their Bibles on
Sunday, October 14th
during the 10:00 a.m.
worship service.
Thank you congregation for your gift of Bibles for our children!
Those receiving Bibles were: Brody Daigneau, Brayden Daigneau,
Oliver Jones, David Machalk, Madi Christiansen, and Mylie Slawinski.
Missing from the photo are: Kaden Hoppe and Lilli Menza.
From the Director: Patti Treptow
Youth and Family Ministry
Sunday School
Children’s Christmas Program
Sunday, December 16th during the
10:00 a.m. worship service
Program Dress Rehearsal and Christmas Party
Saturday, December 15th, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Program practices will begin on Sunday November
25th
during the last part of the Sunday School class time.
Because we have limited practice time, it is important to have
your child at Sunday school as much as possible. If you
know that your child will not be able to participate in the
Christmas Program on December 16th
, please let Patti
Treptow know as soon as possible so a speaking role is not
given to your child.
This year, the Youth Committee/Little Lutherans will be
providing the Christmas party that
immediately follows the children’s
program dress rehearsal on
December 15th
. The party will be
from 11:30-1:00 p.m. This allows
parents free time from 9:00 a.m.
until 1:00 p.m. to get those holiday
chores accomplished!
Children will enjoy pizza, cookies, and beverages. They will
also make Christmas ornaments and receive a gift from the
congregation.
Upcoming Classes – November 4th and
December 2nd
. 4:00 -6:00 p.m.
Leaf Raking – Sunday, November 4th
11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. confirmation
students will be raking the leaves of our members who need assistance.
A lunch will be provided before we head out. Youth should bring a rake,
gloves, and dress weather appropriate. Parents who can help drive and
chaperone are needed – please let Patti Treptow know if you can help.
Reminder to confirmation students - this activity will count toward your
community service requirement for confirmation.
Baking for the Church bake sale – Confirmation students will join with
our members of the Youth Advisory Council to bake cookies and other
yummy treats on Saturday, December 8th, 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon.
A sign-up sheet will be handed out during confirmation class. Parents
are encouraged to help!
Emmanuel's High School Youth!
Emmanuel’s Youth Advisory Council – GLOW invites you to a bonfire
party to kick off our fall program year.
When: Sunday, November 18th
Time: 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Where: At the home of Olivia Engman
N1753 County Road BB, Marinette
Please RSVP to Patti Treptow at the church office.
GLOW Youth Advisory Council is open
to all of Emmanuel’s high school youth and is a
great way to grow in faith and engage in fun and
meaningful activities. Please contact Youth
Council Representative Anna Magrane or Patti
Treptow at the church office for more information.
Rite of Confirmation
Our 2018 confirmands who were instructed in the Word of God and the
teachings of the Lutheran Church affirmed their baptism on Reformation
Sunday, October 28th
during the 10:00 a.m. worship service.
Congratulations Confirmands!
This year’s confirmands are (back row, left to right) Laura Magrane, Aidan
Bellisle, Mason Heckel, Molly Knutson, Dylan Ziemke, Rylee Wickstrom,
Layla Weissgerber, (front row, left to right) Kade Lesperance, Seth Johnson,
Nick Kriedeman, Collin Engman, Alex Engman, and Max Heckel.
FOR ALL THE SAINTS
WHO FROM THEIR LABORS REST. . .
Sunday, November 4th, is All Saints’ Sunday in the church. On this festival day we remember Emmanuel’s members who during the past year have died to Christ in the waters of baptism and those who have risen to new life eternal with Christ. If you would like to add a loved one’s name, in addition to Emmanuel’s members, to this list of those to be remembered, please contact the church office this week. As their names are read, a bell will toll in their memory.
Larry Eatherton 3-10-1942 / 11-28-2017
Leona Webber 9-5-1917 / 3-7-2018
Ellen Raygo 3-27-1924 / 6-1-2018
Nathalie LaPlante 10-28-1930 / 6-16-2018
Carol Klumb 2-13-1938 / 7-2-2018
Shirley Pedersen 5-5-1933 / 9-21-2018
William Swanson 6-6-1932 / 9-29-2018
Scott Klitzke 8-29-1958 / 10-8-2018
Wayne Louis 10-20-1937 / 10-12-2018
Christmas Food Baskets
The collection of food and non-food items for the Christmas food
boxes will take place November 18th
through December 16th
. The
donated items will be given to individuals
and families in our community who are in
need. This gift will help bring some joy
and hope to them at Christmas. Donated
goods may be placed in the marked area
in the narthex.
Food items needed include
canned meats (tuna and chicken), canned
dinners, complete meal foods like spaghetti sauce with meat,
peanut butter, soups, canned fruits and vegetables, pasta and rice
including boxed meals, pancake mixes and syrup, cereal, and
juices. Please no expired foods – we cannot include them in the
food boxes.
Non-food items needed include toothbrushes, deodorant,
soap and shampoo, paper towels, toilet tissue, dish soap, laundry
soap, and general cleaning supplies. Please note when buying in
bulk, items must be individually wrapped.
Local Tree of Love
Emmanuel's local Tree of Love will be located
in the narthex from November 18th
through
December 16th
. The Rainbow House, Haven
of Hope, and Abundant Life Homeless Shelter
will provide us with information about
individuals and families in need of support from our community.
If you wish to purchase a gift to help make someone’s holiday
brighter, take a tag from the tree and sign up on the sheet provided.
Please return wrapped gifts to the church office by December 16th
.
Emmanuel's Outreach Projects
Christmas Bake Sale….. We Need Your Help! Our annual Christmas bake sale will be held on Sunday,
December 9th between worship services. Our youth will
be baking cookies on Saturday, December 8th
to sell, but
we need your help to make this sale a success! Our youth
will be baking 24 dozen cookies and we are asking the
congregation to match or exceed that amount. If each person could bake
one or two dozen cookies or baked items, we will easily meet our goal.
Proceeds from the bake sale go to support the Christmas food basket
project. Please bring your baked goods for the bake sale to the
fellowship hall on Saturday, December 8th
by 11:00 a.m.
Salvation Army Bell Ringing! Saturday, December 1
st, 12:00 noon – 3:00 p.m.
Emmanuel will be ringing bells for Salvation Army. We
are seeking members of all ages to sign up for a shift of ringing and
maybe even some singing! A sign-up sheet will be made available in the
narthex where you can sign up for one hour shifts or more. Let’s make it
a great turnout and show our community Emmanuel cares!
Thank you! to everyone who donated for this
year’s Coats for Kids drive. Your response was
tremendous! You have made a warm and wonderful
difference for the children in need in our community.
Celebrate Community Day! – Sunday, November 18th
Menominee Marina 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Come celebrate our community and learn more about what our
local organizations are doing. Along with fun activities for the entire
family, non-profit organizations, churches, and schools will provide
information on their programs and projects in booths that will be inside a
large heated tent. Emmanuel will be participating. We are hoping that
you will come and enjoy this fun community event and help us by
manning our booth. We will have handouts and a photo board to help
you tell Emmanuel’s story.
Please sign up in the narthex if you are interested in working the
booth. We are asking for only ½ hour of your time. You may, of course,
sign up for more. If you have questions, please see Patti Treptow.
Emmanuel Lutheran Church
“Little Lutherans”
will be participating in the
10th Annual Downtown Parade
When: Friday, November 16th, 2018
Where: Line up will be on 7th street & we will walk to
the front steps of Spies Public Library
Time: 5:15pm (line-up) parade at 6pm
Who: PreK - 6th Graders
There will be a sign-in sheet at the lineup area for your child
and a sign-out sheet at the library when the parade is done. You
are welcome to walk in the parade with your child.
You are invited stay to enjoy free hot chocolate and/or cider,
dancing and singing performances, the giving of the First gift of
Christmas, and the lighting of Tree Ceremony.
Please dress your child for the weather. Any costume we may
wear will go over their coats/hats.
Sign-up in the narthex so we know how many children will be
participating.
OUR EMMANUEL Family
CALLED HOME BY God. . .
The funeral for William Swanson, who was called to his eternal home on
September 29, was held at Emmanuel on October 5. Our sympathy to his
wife, Marilyn, and children Terry Wickman and Kristin Easter and their
families.
The funeral for Scott Klitzke, who was called to his eternal home on
October 8, was held at Emmanuel on October 11. Our sympathy to his
wife, Kelly, and children, Tyler Klitzke, Mandi Thoune and Amber
Berman and their families. We also want to extend our sympathy to
Scott’s parents, Warren and Mary Ann Klitzke, and brother, Randy, and
sisters, Wendi Nolde and Sally Nielsen-Conklin.
The funeral for Wayne Louis, who was called to his eternal home on
October 12, was held at Emmanuel on October 17. Our sympathy to his
wife, Carol, and children, Terri Sue Krause, Kellie Hartman, Mike Louis
and Gary Louis, and their families
MARRIAGE. . .
Ken Landree and Lori Ceesay were united in marriage on October 19.
BAPTIZED. . .
Wyatt Michael Schmidt was claimed in the waters of baptism at
Emmanuel on Saturday, October 20th. Wyatt’s parents are Cody &
Jessica, and his sponsors, Lacy Schmidt and Jacob Kaster.
Thank you to the members of Emmanuel
Isabel Haulotte would like to thank everyone who sent cards while she
was in the hospital and nursing home.
To my fellow members of Emmanuel. I would like to thank you all for
your kind thoughts and prayers. Thanks to you, I am now home and on
my way to recovery. Hearing from so many of you really warms my
heart and gives me strength. Thank you so much! Bonnie Jackson
STEWARDSHIP MESSAGE
The following is a copy of Stewardship Committee member Cookie
Kramer’s 2018 Kick-off temple talk during church services on
September 23. We have received many comments from members of the
congregation about how Cookie’s speech has touched them, how
meaningful and inspirational it was to them. We thought we would share
it here for those that might have missed it that day.
Today is Sunday, September 23, 2018. I have the privilege and honor
to introduce to you our 2018 Fall Stewardship message to prepare for our
lives in Christ in 2019.
The Stewardship Committee selected a theme called “God's Gift to
me.... my gift to God.” With this theme there is a picture of a treasure
chest placed securely in the hands of God, one hand on top one on the
bottom of the treasure chest. The Bible verse is Matthew 10:8 - “Freely
you have received, freely give”. Throughout the next few months, we
will hear from others about their walks with God. We will have a church
committee information Sunday, a packet distribution Sunday, a
commitment Sunday, and a Celebration Sunday.
For a moment now, I'd like to flash back to a horrible tragic date that I
have talked about a lot, March 9, 1979 the day my husband died in a car
accident. I had a 2 and half year-old daughter, Kelly, and I was about 2
months pregnant. This tragic day touched the lives of many people in our
family, especially my mother-in-law, June Kramer. Because of my
pregnancy, I held back a lot of grief to keep from losing my baby, but my
mother-in-law, June, did not. She lost her way and became very angry
with God. My pregnancy went well and I was expected to have my baby
in October.
Let's forward to Sunday, September 23, 1979. Pastor Al Beyer, our
associate Pastor, was giving a sermon that day about my mother-in-law
and how her anger toward God for taking her son was destroying her life.
I have a copy of Pastor Beyer's sermon and I'd like to read just a short
part of the sermon to you.
He starts out his sermon with a prophesy about not hearing or seeing
God and how God's word comes to us, in reference to my mother-in-
law's experience. After the part about her, this is what Pastor Beyer
wrote:
“Less than a year ago a young man from our congregation was killed
in a tragic auto accident. Now, months later, what was once a complete
family is now a young widow, a young daughter and a child soon to be
born.”
At that moment, that he said those words, September 23, 1979, I was
at the hospital giving birth to my son, Michael. Michael was born at 9:34
that Sunday morning when Pastor Beyer was preaching this sermon.
Throughout childhood, confirmation, High School graduation, College
graduation and a Master’s degree in History, through ups and downs of
life, Michael has been carried in God's hands every day, just as he freely
received his Gift of life in 1979. Today is his 39th birthday. The Flowers
(on the alter) are for him. He is my treasure. He is a gift from God, freely
received. Think about it for a moment . . . do you have a treasure? Do
you have a gift from God freely received? Let's keep these questions and
answers in our minds as we journey together on our Stewardship path,
freely receiving and freely giving.
Thank you.
Commitment Sunday is November 11. We will receive the pledge
responses during worship at each service. We invite you to prayerfully
consider your 2019 Plan for Giving, and deepen your relationship with
God. “And 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
ADULT CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
WEDNESDAY MORNING MEN’S GROUP
Join us each Wednesday, 7:30 a.m., at the Serving Spoon for a time of
fellowship with friends, sharing stories and enjoying a cup of coffee.
Bring a friend!
WOMEN’S MINISTRIES
The Sarah Circle will meet on Tuesday, November 13 at 1:00 p.m.
hosted by Ivon Butman
Seeking Enlightenment Group will be meeting on Thursday,
November 15, at 6:30pm. It is a time of sharing and encouraging each
other on our Christian journey, contact Robin Gustafson at 906-290-1003
for location details.
SUNDAY MORNINGS AT EMMANUEL Worship at
8:00 & 10:00am Nursery care provided at 10:00am
Sunday School at 10:00am
CONTACT US:
Phone: (906) 863-3431 Fax: (906) 863-4193
Email: [email protected] Council President, Debbie Villas
Email: [email protected] or
Visit us on the Web at www.e-mmanuel.com Follow us on Facebook at
Emmanuel Lutheran Church Menominee Michigan ELCA
STAFF: Pastor
The Rev. Mark Laatsch - Cell Phone: 906-424-0003
Director of Youth & Family Ministry Mrs. Patti Treptow
Church Secretary Mrs. Judy Raygo
Custodian- inside Mrs. Carol Parrish Custodian – outside Mr. Lee Parrish
We are a congregation of the Northern Great Lakes Synod Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
