GOOD NEWS FROM S

September

2015

SUNDAY WORSHIP

9:00 am

Sunday School

9:15am—10:00am (during the school year)

Holy Communion

1st & 4th Sunday

PASTOR

Gail Sowell Office Hours: 9am-1pm

Tuesday-Friday

(And by appointment)

SECRETARY’S HOURS

Monday-Friday

9:00-1:00

ADDRESS

W1000 Hwy N

Edgar, WI 54426

PHONE/EMAIL

715-352-2524

EMERGENCY PHONE

715-352-2492

stjohnelca@gmail.com

WEBSITE

www.stjohnelcaedgar.org

Items for print MUST be

submitted by the 20th of

the preceding month.

NEWS FOR ALL

JOHN

Mission Statement: Getting to know Jesus and making Him known through our Worship and Serving.

Pastor’s Ponderings

There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk (by Portia Nelson)

I.I.I.I.

I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost . . . I am helpless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.

II. II. II. II.

I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I am in this same place. But it isn’t my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.

III. III. III. III.

I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in. . . it’s a habit. . . but, my eyes are open, I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately. (continued)

Page 2 GOOD NEWS FROM ST. JOHN Good News!

Reminder—Keep bringing in those aluminum cans, let’s fill up the shed! Remember

to bring them in PLASTIC BAGS...141 lbs. were taken in and $50 was received in

August. Thanks to all who brought in their cans and to Herbie & Mary Jo for hauling

them in!

Ponderings (continued)

IV. IV. IV. IV.

I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.

V.V.V.V. I walk down another street.

I’m not sure why I feel called to share this with you this month. This poem was a key part of

my healing when I was going through intensive counseling for depression in 1991. It

reminded me—taught me, actually—that I was in control of the choices I make, and that I

could learn to make better, healthier choices.

In chapter 6 of John’s gospel, the followers of Jesus are invited to make a choice: to follow

him, or to turn away. Jesus had told them several times that they had to eat his flesh and

drink his blood if they wanted to live forever.

Many of his disciples said, This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it? And from this time

many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. Jesus said to the Twelve, Do

you also wish to turn away? Peter answered him, in words we use almost every Sunday in

our liturgy, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life (John 6:67-68).

We Lutherans believe that faith is a gift. No one can come to God unless drawn by the

Father (John 6:65). We acknowledge (or we should) that we come to church because of

God’s call, God’s claim on us. (Maybe you thought you were just “being holy” when you

came to worship!)

Choices are something we make every day, dozens of times. Chocolate or vanilla ice cream?

green beans or carrots? Subway or pizza? this channel or that? Most of these have no im-

pact on our life as Christians “in, but not of” this world (John 17).

Faithfully reading the Bible, worshiping with fellow members of the body of Christ, singing

the songs of faith—these can help us recognize when a decision or choice is more significant

and may require prayerful consideration. – Have you asked God for help lately?

—Pastor Gail

Good News! GOOD NEWS from ST. JOHN Page 3

We enjoyed a joyful celebration of Kurt & Bev Umnus’ 20th wedding anniversary and

Kurt’s 86th birthday at “The Fresh Country Aire” on Saturday August 1. The was LOTS

of good music and dancing as well as delicious food and warm friendships. Congratulations to

both of you, and many more years of life, love and joyful celebrations to come!

We welcomed the beginning of a new school year with a good number of our

children at a BACKPACK BLESSING in the service on August 23. One youngster

wasn’t able to be in the service on that day, and upon her request, Pastor Gail

blessed her backpack the following Sunday. What a great way to begin a new

school year! Let’s remember to pray for our kids throughout the year.

To Craig & Valerie (Schmidt) Manecke

They were married at St. John on Saturday, August 22. God bless you as you begin your

journey together as husband & wife!

The Women of St. John sent off 12 of their beautiful quilts to the Salvation Army in

August to aid in the relief of the fire victims in Wausau. What a great example of

“God’s work, our Hands”. Much appreciation to those who have given of their time and

energy, in gathering supplies, doing the crafting, and packaging of these quilts so they are

ready to go to those in need.

The St. John concessions stands were HUGELY successful at the Steam Show this

year! Customer lines were BUSY, supplies ran out and needed to be replenished, and the

volunteer teams worked well together. It was overheard that St. John had the BEST coffee,

French fries, and the best deal on Ice cream cones for your money! HUGE thanks to all who

helped to make it happen!

On Thursday, August 27th we celebrated and honored the life of Leo Leffel in a Memorial

Service here at St. John. Leo had been baptized and affiliated here, but had been residing in

Tomahawk when he died in his home on Sunday August 23. Much appreciation to those who

set up and served for the luncheon downstairs after the service.

WOMEN OF THE ELCA NEWS

Page 4 GOOD NEWS FROM ST. JOHN Good News!

As a community of women, created in the image of God, called to discipleship in Jesus Christ, and

empowered by the Holy Spirit, we commit ourselves to grow in faith, affirm our gifts, support one

another in our callings, engage in ministry and action, and promote healing and wholeness in the

church, the society, and the world.

participate in our activities. Each woman of St.

John is assigned to a funeral group and is relied

upon to help serve in the time of need.

Every woman that is a member of St. John is a member of

the women’s group. All are WELCOME and encouraged to

Many thanks to all who have brought in supplies for the LWW school kits over the summer!

These will be packed in September to be shipped the beginning of October.

On September 9, the women will hold the quarterly meeting at 6:30 PM. All women are

invited and encouraged to attend. At this meeting we will be completing the plans for the

Fall Rally which will be held at our church on Saturday, October 17. The morning session of

the rally will feature Pati Kachel presenting Katie Luther in her costumed characterization.

This morning session will end with a lunch. If you are interested in hearing this presentation

and have lunch please register by October 5. The fee is $15. Check the bulletin board for the

poster with all the information. Everyone is invited to attend the afternoon free presenta-

tion. The presentation will be “A Patchwork Quilt of Heartwarming Stories”. This is open to

the public. The afternoon session begins at 1 PM and is scheduled for approximately one

hour.

At the September meeting we will be making plans for the lunch to be served on October

17. We will also be planning for the fall activities, such as the pie sale for the Pancake

Brunch, Thankoffering in November, cookie walk in December, and working on the 2016

Yearbook and any other plans to be considered. We will also discuss quilting – yes or no. We

need to know how many would be available to help with the quilting if we set it up.

Our next Bible Study will be held on Tuesday, October 6 at 1 PM. We invite more people,

men and women, to attend. —Bev Umnus

October 3rd, from 8am—12noon is the LOADING date & time for Lutheran World Relief

items this year in Wausau. Contributions of quilts, blankets, school kits, health kits, sewing

kits, and personal care kits must be taken to 143 W. Thomas St. (across the RR tracks from St.

Vincent’s). The women work on promoting, gathering, and assembling these items through-

out the year so they can be sent out to those in need. Many thanks to those who help and

contribute. Volunteers to help load at St. John and get the items to Wausau would be

appreciated. Could YOU help? Talk to Bev Umnus.

Good News! GOOD NEWS from ST. JOHN Page 5

The Sunday School students & teachers met three times during the Summer for

large group activities, just to stay in touch. Now they’re looking forward to be-

ginning to meet together in their usual format as they begin a new term on

September 13th. We will be commissioning our Sunday School teachers in the service. Rally

Day will become “Rally Sundae” as we celebrate this new beginning by building our own

SUNDAES and enjoying a piece of pie along with the rest of the congregation after church

services. (We’re counting on the volunteer bakers in the congregation to bless us with some

of their WONDERFLULLY TASTY pies!)

Our teachers this year are as follows; Nursery (3 & 4 yr. olds)—Vicky Finke, Morgan Mueller

K (5 yr. olds)—Michelle Hollatz, Niaomi Treankler, Grades 1 & 2—Bonnie Bargender

Grades 3 & 4—Colleen Dvorak Grade 5—Marianne Mueller

Grades 6, 7, 8—Lavone Runge (These classes are considered part of the Confirmation process)

Helpers in all classrooms will include Morgan Henrichs and Brianna Hoppenworth.

They are looking forward to teaching our children the truths of the Bible and nurturing them

in their faith. There remains a need for substitute teachers. Would YOU be willing to step in

and help once in awhile? Tell Bonnie Bargender & Lavone Runge, our Co-Superintendents!

Sunday, September 13th is also the kick-off for a joint Thrivent/United Way campaign to

collect cans of food, specifically soups (10-11 oz), and veggies (14-15 oz) for local pantries. Our

goal as a congregation is 200 cans by September 20th. The community goal is 2600 cans!

As part of participating in Rally Sundae, we ask you to generously bring canned vegetables and

canned soup in exchange for free ice cream and pie. Now, vegetables and soup for pie and ice

cream seems like a very sweet deal indeed! Thrivent has been very generous to our church in

the past with money donations and will do so again with the “can campaign”. LETS BUILD A

REALLY BIG CAN WALL TO STOP HUNGER IN THIS AREA.

*A BIG thank you to the St John’s ELCA Youth Group for donating all the ice cream for this

event!

Sept. 13th is also the ELCA’s national “God’s Work. Our Hands” day, when all Lutherans are in-

vited to participate in a community project. Please help us with your over the top contribu-

tions!

Another way you could support the Sunday School is by putting a donation

in the envelope marked “Money for Munching” that will be arriving in your church

mailbox soon. The money will be used to help provide snacks for our Sunday

School students. Envelopes can be placed in the offering plate. Thanks!

Have you seen the UPLIFTING Sunday School bulletin board Michelle Hollatz and family

put up in the office wing? If not, check it out!

Page 6 GOOD NEWS FROM ST. JOHN Good News!

Pastor’s Wanderings This month in addition to Pastor’s Ponderings, I want to share some upcoming wanderings

with you. On September 15th Rose and I will drop my doglets off at their kennel in Wausau

and drive down to Milwaukee, where we’ll spend the afternoon with Janet and Dudley and

their 3 dachshunds before they drive us to an airport hotel; our plane leaves at 6 a.m., so we’ll

have to be there very early.

We fly to Phoenix, where we’ll rent a car and drive to Sedona. The next morning we’re sched-

uled for a sunrise hot air balloon ride over the Red Rocks of southern Arizona! (When Rose

and I first met more than 6 years ago, a balloon ride was the only thing on each of our bucket

lists—finally it’ll come true!)

That’s the only scheduled event of our 2-week trip. We plan to see the Grand Canyon, Bryce

Canyon, and Arches National Park, taking time to explore each site well. If all goes according

to plan, we’ll be back in the office on October 1st.

Because of this trip, the October newsletter for St. John will be a bit late—so let me share my

travel plans for that month as well. Since I haven’t seen my grandsons since early January, I’ll

be flying out to L.A. on Monday, 10/12, returning Friday, 10/16. Unless there’s a horrible snag

with flights, I should be back for Sunday’s worship. – I may have as many pictures from my 4

days in L.A. as I do from the 2 weeks in the canyonlands!

St. John’s YOUTH Group!

EVERYONE showed up and worked together to help with this HUGELY

SUCCESSFUL event. WELL DONE!

They will be meeting after the services on September 13th & 27th as they continue their

new adventure together.

Also, MANY THANKS to the group for donating all the delicious ice cream we’ll be enjoying

on Rally Sundae!

The restructured, re-energized YOUTH of St. John

under the leadership of Shannon & Niaomi

Treankler did an OUTSTANDING job at the

Steam Show!

A Note of Sincere Thanks— Words can’t express my heartfelt gratitude for the recognition and appreciation expressed by

the Council & Congregation for the ministry of music I am delighted to add to our Worship.

Your kind words and gift of money were a real blessing and encouragement to me. Thank

you so much! Louann Miles

Good News! GOOD NEWS from ST. JOHN Page 7

Psst! Did you hear? Sunday School is starting on September 13th! Twink and I can hardly wait

for all those little feet (and some NOT so little!) to be running around again at St. John. We like

to play tag with the children, try to stay out of sight and get close to each one of them. (And of

course Sunday School means TREATS, and there’s always something left for us church mice.)

I hear Rose and Pastor Gail are going away for the last 2 weeks of September. It’s going to be

lonely here, I think. I wonder if I could stow away in a backpack again, the way I did when they

went to Alaska a few years ago? But I guess now that Twink is here too I better not leave. (Or

we could BOTH go, one in each backpack??) I’ll bet they’ll have a lot of pictures when they

come back from out west! Don’t forget us mice while they’re gone!

On September 20th we have the privilege of hosting two Gideons, LeRoy Miller and John

McAuley. Give yourself the pleasure of listening to these two faithful Christians share their

faith stories, how God has transformed their lives, and how the Gideons work throughout the

world to transform the lives of others. You’ll find their witness very moving.

On September 27th we’ll host a music/worship leadership group from Spencer United

Methodist Church, IRS (Inspired Revival System). Don’t be put off by the name—they’ll have

you dancing in the aisles as they praise God in word and song!

A free-will offering will be collected for each of these groups to help them continue their

ministry. Sometimes our opportunities for outreach are limited, living as we do in a rural area.

Here’s our chance to help sponsor life-changing worship in other communities. I invite you to

be generous in your giving.

Please pray for me while I vacation in national parks out west: a sunrise hot air balloon ride in

Sedona, AZ; Grand Canyon; Bryce Canyon; Zion and Arches National Parks; and places in

between.

If you have an emergency that requires pastoral care, Rev. David Harrison from Schofield is on

call for the Wausau area, and Rev. Tricia Turner will cover in Marshfield. Bev Umnus and

Steve Robers will be able to contact them if you have need.

Blessings to all of you! God be with you till we meet again!

NEWS FLASH! This just in—

Brother George and the Sisters in Song will

be joining us for worship on October 11 ! (That’s the day of the Pancake Brunch.)

The Summer is coming to a close. The kids are back to school, the trees are start-

ing to don their warm Fall colors, and the birds are flocking up. I’m feeling a little

befuddled, and pretty exhausted. This Summer was very busy, and although

we’re all moved, it still feels like I’m just away at summer camp.

Speaking of being away, it has finally hit me that Pastor Gail and I are leaving to

go on adventure again in less than 2 weeks. That’s crazy, in a wonderfully excit-

ing sort of way!

I’m so looking forward to this trip. We’ll be seeing things I’ve wanted to see for-

ever! The Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and Arches National Park— all in a part

of the country I’ve never seen before, but always wanted to. The icing on the

cake is A HOT-AIR BALLOON RIDE! I had kind of already crossed that off my

bucket-list, thinking I would just NEVER enjoy that experience. But here it is! To

be honest, it’s a little more unnerving than it might have been a few years ago,

but that just increases the thrill (if that’s possible). But I (we’d) sure appreciate

your prayers.

I can’t think of a better way to refresh and renew than enjoying pieces of God’s

creative genius that I’ve never seen before, with my dear friend who shares an

everyday walk with God as well. I am so blessed! Rose

Page 8 GOOD NEWS FROM ST. JOHN Good News!

School Poem

Author Unknown

Today I hurry off to school,

To work and learn and play

I'm in a brand new grade this year.

What a happy day!!!!!

A penny

to remind you that you are valuable,

A star

to remind you to always try your best,

An eraser

to remind you that it's okay to make mistakes,

A life saver

to let you know that you can always talk to me,

A tissue

for drying your tears and those of others,

A band-aid

to let you know that together we can make things better,

A chocolate hug

to remind you that you are cared for,

A sticker

to remind you that we always stick together.

~author unknown

Cindy & Dean Manecke

W4103 County Rd. M

Edgar, WI 54426

See Inside for Articles:

Page 1 Pastor’s Ponderings,

Page 2 Pastor’s Ponderings (Concl.)

Page 3 Family News

Page 4 Women of the ELCA at St. John

Page 5 Sunday School News

Page 6 St. John’s YOUTH, Pastor’s wanderings

A Note of Sincere Thanks

Page 7 coming SOON, From the Church Mouse

Page 8 NEWS FLASH!, Reflections

Page 9 Back to School, Directory Updates

REMINDER: September calendars were placed in your

Please remember to check your bulletin

for updates. If you would like to have us

e-mail the Newsletter to you, please let

us know.

GOOD NEWSGOOD NEWSGOOD NEWSGOOD NEWS St. John Lutheran Church ELCA W1000 Hwy N

Edgar, WI 54426

We’re on the Web

Www.stjohnelcaedgar.org