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From our Senior Pastor Christmas may not look or sound much like last year, but maybe it will be more like the first Christmas. Lots of people, fancy clothes, special foods and family
gatherings were not part of Christmas the first year or for ages to come. Invitations to attend the first Christmas gathering were sent to very few (shepherds and Wisemen) and were heavenly (angels and a star) instead of email or paper. It was a, come as you are and eat what you have, event. Christmas worship that night centered around a mother exhausted from giving birth, a dad anxious to provide for his family, a newborn child, guests who had to introduce themselves as they arrived, a manger and maybe a lantern. There were no candles, musical offerings, crowded pews or bulletins to share. None of these will be part of Christmas worship at Saint Paul this year either. At the November meeting the council decided to tie worship to the school. If school is remote so is worship and vise-a-versa. The school’s decision on November 30 was not helpful for planning worship as they decided pre-school thru 6th grades will be in person, but 7th grade and above will be distance learning the rest of the year. So the executive committee met and decided Saint Paul will not be hold in-person worship for the month of December. This decision is based on a couple of factors; Minnesota Department Health recommends all virtual worship; our Bishop recommends virtual worship, and Minnesota is currently ranked #4 as a hotspot in the nation. This was a hard decision for the council leaders to make, as balancing the strong desire of Christians to meet for worship at Christmas and the safety concerns of all during a pandemic is extremely difficult. Christmas worship has not been cancelled, but it will be held away from Saint Paul Lutheran. There is a live nativity worship offered the evening of December 13. We are recording two worship services to be used Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. One is traditional and the other family and younger child oriented. Holy Communion will be offered outdoor, weather permitting, December 20 and 24. None of the people in attendance the first Christmas expected a year earlier they would be blessed to be part of life-changing events for humankind. This Christmas is not what we imagined last year, but we will be blessed with God presence no matter where or how we worship and praise God. Shalom Pastor Marie [email protected]
From our Part-time
Associate Pastor Here we are – starting my 15th month with you in Pine Island. I’m
beginning to feel like a “fixture”. Folks have been very supportive of my ministry – and express it when we may meet or talk on the phone. We are also
back to having funerals (in a limited kinda way), so things are progressing. We’ll have to ask the Call Committee how their “Process” is progressing…but it looks like I’ll be around into January – perhaps. With all these “extensions” of my time here, I have quit making other plans for “after”. However, in these COVID-times, when I really think about it, I very much value our past 14 months together ~ not knowing how I would have fared without some responsibilities to be engaged in during lock-downs and social-distancing. I have shared the preaching duties with Pastor Marie, and learned a new skill = “illustrating” my DEVOs – which are like (mini-)sermons. I hope you are watching them, and being blest. Thanks to Myra and Jonathan for their “production” contributions. NOW, in December, we are in the Season of ADVENT…Preparing for 4 Sundays for the Arrival / Birth of Jesus ~ the Savior of the World. I am somewhat “surprised” – aren’t you? We have all found things to “do” to occupy our days and thoughts…so that I, at least, was surprised that it is Thanksgiving next week (at the time of my writing this). Why? Because Donna and I weren’t having to decide How or Where we were going to spend this Holiday – with our kids or travel, etc. And then Advent began on Sunday, November 29th – perhaps with in-person Sunday worship at SPLC. With any CHANGE OF Season or Circumstance, WE EACH NEED TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS. So too with Advent. We need to PREPARE our lives so that Jesus will find a Welcome Place in our Hearts and Homes (again?) this Christmas. It means MORE than just moving some furniture around to accommodate your purchase of a new sofa or home entertainment center ~ or to make room for your Christmas Tree. THESE accommodations should be MORE LIKE getting ready to Welcome a new baby (by birth or adoption) into your lives, OR for welcoming a new puppy into your family. These ADDITIONS CHANGE almost EVERYTHING – for the GOOD. So TOO: Christmas. So let Church help you Prepare. Best & Blessings. Pastor Chris Miller [email protected]
About Your Kids We have literally been ZOOMing through November with Faith Formation kids. Each Sunday morning we have been meeting online with preschool through 2nd grade and then 3rd through 6th grade to check in and talk about gratitude, being thankful in our daily lives, and reading relevant Bible stories and verses. We have also learned that playing games and getting up and moving around can be done with ZOOMing. We LOVE to see the smiles and hear giggles as we are praising and learning about God’s love for us. Our other BIG project in November has been helping prepare for the Advent season. With guidance from Pastor Marie, we put together an “Advent Pickup Week.” Congregation members who signed up have been able to add to their Nativity set they started last year or begin a set. Thank you again to Fred Knudsvig for his time and talent in creating the wooden pieces. Daily advent calendar, supplies for families to make a DIY Advent candle wreath, Advent box, and goodies for a candy nativity scene were also available for pickup. We wish we could all be together to enjoy assembling the items, but we truly hope you find comfort and joy in working on these with your families in your homes. We are excited about a new event being planned for this year. Mark your calendars for our first “Drive-through Live Nativity” which will be held Sunday, December 13 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Saint Paul’s parking lot. Nothing will stop us from a season of celebration! Ashly and Cindy
Thanksgiving Community
Message If you missed it, the Pine Island Area Ministerial Association and various community leaders shared video messages of hope, joy and thanks with the Pine Island area this Thanksgiving.
The COVID pandemic has taken away many of the things we enjoy in daily life, but it could not take away Thanksgiving. Thank you to all those who contributed their time and messages to make this video happen. Please check out the following link if you haven’t already done so: https://youtu.be/A1kciIOmIjc .
Call Committee Report The Call Committee met on November 20 to hold a second interview with a candidate for our associate pastor vacancy. After the interview the committee met briefly to discuss the candidate’s strengths compared to our needs for an associate pastor. The committee unanimously decided to bring to the church council a recommendation to issue a letter of call for the candidate. Doug Strandell, Jason Rossow and Mike Lunde met with the council at the monthly council meeting on November 24th to make the recommendation. The council accepted the committee’s recommendation and is starting the process of calling a congregational meeting for the purpose of voting to issue a letter of call. The Call Committee started this process in July and it has been a long road to get us to this point. Thank you everybody for your patience. Mike Lunde, Council Vice President
Baptism Blessings God’s blessings to these young ones who were baptized in Christ this past month: Grayson John Kelly, son of Nickolas and Trista (Mickelson) Kelly. Leah Marie Wiebrand, daughter of Mike and Tammy (Arndt) Wiebrand.
PI Sharing Shelves
Needs Donations for the Pine Island food shelf may be left in the book shelves inside the south doors of the church building, or at the food
shelf during their open hours: Wednesdays from 9-11am, or the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays from 5:30-7pm. Some of the current needs are canned pears, carrots, peas, flour, sugar, or anything you would feed your own family.
Thank You!
Because of your generous donations we were able to send $345 to the ELCA Disaster Response for the U.S. Wildfires. 100% of those funds will be used to assist those affected by the wildfires. God bless you all!
Scrip Gift Cards We order Scrip Gift cards on a monthly basis, and all proceeds go to youth and family mission events. The next deadline for ordering will be December 6 and you should be able to pick
up your cards the following week in the church office. Please note this is a week earlier than normal, to allow you to do your Christmas shopping! There are over 500 retailers available through Scrip! View the full list at www.glscrip.com. You receive full face value of the card, and our church receives a percentage of the sale. Order forms are available inside the south doors of the church building or on our church website: www.saintpaulpi.org. Our order forms contain a list of some of the popular places that our members order from, but only a fraction of the ones that are available. If you find something on the website that you’d like to order from, please write it on it the form and include it in your total.
L.O.V.E. Project – Panther
Holiday Helpers In November announcements, we asked for gift cards and cash donations for our L.O.V.E. project. Since that time it has come to our attention, that due to generous donations to the L.O.V.E. project, they do not need our assistance this year in purchasing clothing for those on their list. So we are directing our attention to our own school’s ECFE Holiday Helper list, with needs for families in our own school district. We are asking for monetary donations (cash or checks made out to the church) to help cover the cost of purchasing clothing for the children of these families. Donations may be mailed in or dropped off in the green box at church, earmarked for LOVE project donation. The deadline for donating is Monday, December 14. In the event we do not get enough donations, past donors may get a call from our project chairs, Sandy Schroeder 356-4946 or Joyce Lanners 356-4563. We appreciate your generous support as we safely try to care for families in need during this pandemic. Thank you and Christmas Blessings to you all! Please stay safe.
Prayer Concerns Please remember the following members and others in your prayers: Donna Egger, Sally, Wendy Morrison’s mom, Billy Woodward, Philip & Cheryl’s son, Jon Sanborn, Bill & Joanne’s son, Wally Klopp, Susan’s husband, Pastor Millious Rock, father of Pr. Marie’s friend, Sherry Karlen, Ray Lockwood, friend of Jerry & Verona Kruse, Annie, friend of Janice Bruce, Tony Wiseth, nephew of Gordon & Pat Anderson, Roy Larson
We pray for the families of: LaDonna Exe, mother of Glenn Exe, Patricia Mullinix, grandmother of Paige Callahan & Haily Murry, Bill Hayes, brother-in-law of Rick Murphy, Tom Cornwell, cousin of Lonnie Sather, Iris Minor, mother of Sherry Karlen, Ray Lockwood, friend of Jerry & Verona Kruse Virginia Zwart, sister-in-law of Wendell Zwart, Andy Romness, son of Janet Romness Please pray for those whose lives are being impacted by disasters at this time: wildfires, hurricanes, COVID-19, severe storms and more.
We continue to pray for these members: Roy Larson, Sherry Karlen, Joan Atkinson, Mike Koball, Gary Wees
Please remember members’ loved ones: Tony, Scott B., Clifford, Addison & Madelyn, Renee, Scott A., Patty, Danny, Irene, Chris, Katie, Brenda, Elliante, Patty, Randy We also keep in our prayers those in the military: Riley Weis, Dylan Holzer, Riley Koop, Anthony Olivero, Alec Smith, Mike Tripp, Ty Pike, Ethan Carney, Aaron Eldal, Andrew Dose, Dustin Witthoeft, Aaron Albrecht, Evan Schacht, Craig Stolp Global Mission Companion Synods: Haiti, Colombia, Central Diocese of Tanzania, South Sudan and Vicente Guerrero, Baja
_________________________________________
Anniversary Blessings to . . . -Gary and Janice Thompson as they celebrated 50 years of marriage on November 28!
-Larry & Joy Fraki as they celebrate 60 years of marriage on December 28!
The Tuesday morning Mission Quilters have discontinued their work until after the
new year. Please watch for more information regarding this in weeks to come, as we follow
the pandemic numbers.
NEWSLETTER Saint Paul Lutheran Church 214 Third Street SW, PO Box 708 Pine Island, MN 55963
Address Service Requested Staff – Marie AK Anderson, Senior Pastor
Chris Miller, Part-time Associate Pastor Website: saintpaulpi.org 507-356-8925 Office Hours: M-F 9:00am - 4:00pm The south doors off of 3
rd Street are unlocked during
our office hours
Online Worship Schedule continues – Check website and Facebook for links ____________________________________________
December 1, 2020 God’s work. Our hands. ____________________________________________
Special Congregational
Meeting
A special Congregational meeting has been scheduled for Sunday, December 13 at 10:00am for the purpose of voting to call an Associate Pastor. Details were included in a mailed letter to members.
Saint Paul’s First Annual
Live Nativity! COVID or not, we plan to celebrate the birth of Jesus in a new, safe way! Load up your family and come drive through Saint Paul’s parking lot on Sunday, December 13 from 6:30-7:30 pm for our first annual
live nativity! While driving through a few familiar Christmas scenes, you will hear Pastor Marie over the radio, reading the Christmas story to you . . . but watch out for those live animals. We look forward to seeing you at a safe distance!
________________________ See insert for Advent
Project for
Pine Island Sharing
Shelves
Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Pine Island, MN 55963 Permit # 17
Christmas Worship Virtual for 2020
Featuring two worship options
Family/child friendly service
Traditional worship service
Drive-through Holy Communion - December 20th & 24th
