St. John’s United Church of Christ, Schwarzwald “The Small Church with the Big Heart That Does Great Things!” W3401 Orchard Road, Elkhart Lake, WI 53020 Phone: 920-565-2631 Email: Schwarzwald@tds.net Website: Schwarzwalducc.org facebook.com/StJohnsUCCSchwarzwald Pastor Melinda Feller 920-809-7265 revfellerucc@gmail.com.

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost September 6, 2020 

Exodus 12:1‐14 Psalm 149 

Ezekiel 33:7‐11 Psalm 119:33‐40 

Romans 13:8‐14  Matthew 18:15‐20 

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost September 13, 2020 

Exodus 14:19‐31 Psalm 114 Exodus 15:1b‐11, 20‐21 

Genesis 50:15‐21 Psalm 103:(1‐7), 8‐13 

Romans 14:1‐12  Matthew 18:21‐35 

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost September 20, 2020 

Exodus 16:2‐15 Psalm 105:1‐6, 37‐45 

Jonah 3:10‐4:11 Psalm 145:1‐8 

Philippians 1:21‐30  Matthew 20:1‐16 

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost September 27, 2020 

Exodus 17:1‐7 Psalm 78:1‐4, 12‐16 

Ezekiel 18:1‐4, 25‐32 Psalm 25:1‐9 

Philippians 2:1‐13  Matthew 21:23‐32 

September Lectionary Readings

At their August Church Council meeting, the group decided to continue with our Outdoor Worship Services through September. We will worship virtually Labor Day Weekend as many folks may have other activities planned. Our outdoor setting has enabled us to worship with more people than an indoor setting. The Sheboygan County Health Department has Sheboygan County in Phase 2 which asks us to limit indoor gatherings to 25 people. We were blessed with 36 people worshipping on

August 2 and 34 people worshipping on August 16. Thank you for showing up and supporting our endeavors while worshipping and praising God.

In this newsletter, you will find a reprint of our Outdoor Worship Guidelines. Please read through it carefully. If you have questions, do not hesitate to call me or a member of the Church Council. Please remember that you will need to wear a mask that covers both your nose and mouth for our services. We have struggled with this a bit and I ask that you make sure you are following the guidelines which exist to protect us all. COVID-19 seems far from our reality but already one member of St. John’s has been diagnosed with the virus and another member has two family members with it. Currently, the Howards Grove area has had 27 cases of COVID-19. Wearing our masks properly is a sign of love as we look out for each other.

You will find the September Worship Opportunities below. When we gather for our Outdoor Worship Service on August 30, we will witness Erick Westermeyer confirm his faith. He and Mackenzie Wagner (from St. Paul’s) had quite the adventure this year when we had to transition away from in-person classes in April. Then, we scheduled and cancelled several dates for Confirmation Sunday. Both youth and families handled all with grace and resiliency...wonderful attributes for all Christians to nurture in their lives. This year, Olivia Leider (daughter of Jenny & Ben Rietbrock) will be in Confirmation. Her Faith Mentor is Judy Wagner. Judy and I will be meeting with Olivia virtually via Zoom at least through the end of the year. Please hold Olivia in your prayers as she experiences her Confirmation journey differently than her siblings.

Shalom, Pastor Melinda

SEPTEMBER WORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Sunday, September 6 Zoom Service at 9:00 am Recorded Worship on YouTube Worship at Home mailed & available on church website

Sunday, September 13 Outdoor Worship at Church with Communion at 8:30 am Recorded Worship on YouTube with Communion Worship at Home mailed & available on church website

Sunday, Sept. 20 Outdoor Worship at Church with Communion at 8:30 am Recorded Worship on YouTube with Communion Worship at Home mailed & available on church website

Sunday, Sept. 27 Outdoor Worship at Church with Communion at 8:30 am Recorded Worship on YouTube with Communion Worship at Home mailed & available on church website

OUTDOOR WORSHIP GUIDELINES As we prepare for our outdoor worship services, the Church Council is following the guidelines offered by the Sheboygan County Public Health Department, Church Mutual (our insurance carrier), the WI Conference of the UCC, the WI Council of Churches, and the CDC. PRIOR TO WORSHIP…

Though not required, please consider pre-registering by calling the Church Office at 920-565-2631 by 11:00 am the Friday before. Let us know who is attending from your household. Why?

o We will call you if worship is cancelled at the last minute due to rain. o Church Mutual has asked us to keep a list of worshippers for contact tracing if someone comes down with

COVID-19. WHAT TO BRING…

A mask that covers your nose and mouth. Please put it on before leaving your car. We will have a few extras just in case. The CDC recommends individuals age two and older wear masks.

A lawn chair to sit on. Bread and juice/wine for communion or you may use the prepackaged communion set that will be provided. The

prepackaged communion set includes a wafer (not gluten-free) and grape juice. If you have difficulty removing the paper tabs from food products or vitamin bottles, you may have difficulty opening this and want to bring your own.

Your offering for church. There will be a box for you to deposit it in. WHEN YOU ARRIVE…

Park on the west side of church. Worship will be on the south side of church. There will be Council members to assist and give direction.

Look for the chalk “X’s” that will help us maintain physical distancing. Members of the same household are welcome to gather their chairs around an “X” or you can sit separate!

WORSHIP WILL INCLUDE… A Prelude with a medley of familiar hymns A Call to Worship An Opening Prayer, The Reading of Scripture A Message, A Closing Prayer & The Lord’s Prayer The Celebration of the Lord’s Supper A Benediction, A Postlude with a medley of familiar hymns

ANYTHING ELSE? Please do not come to the outdoor worship service if you are not feeling well, have a fever, or experiencing symptoms

of a cold, the flu, or allergies. Consider observing the Sheboygan County Public Health Department recommendation for Phase 2 which is, “Those

65 or older or medically vulnerable should limit travel and remain at home as much as possible.”

THANK YOU’S TO…..

Helen Schmitz for making 5 adult cloth masks for anyone in the congregation who needs one for worship. LaVerne Laack for making 5 children’s cloth masks for anyone in the congregation who needs one for

worship. Don Fischer for making the beautiful offering box we are using for our outdoor worship services. Randy and Lynn Busse who spent two days removing and cutting up two trees that had fallen on our

church’s mound system back in the woods. They then cleaned up and mowed the grass on the mound. It had been very neglected and was in need of attention. It looks great now!

Connie Hahn for using her creative talents to design, make and mail her lovely handmade cards to church members to let us know we are missed and are in the thoughts and prayers of the members of St. John’s.

Judy Wagner for all her work in completing our Paycheck Protection Program loan application. (See the related article about the Paycheck Protection Program in this newsletter.)

We appreciate these members who share their time and talents with our church or see something that needs doing and simply take care of it. If you know of others who have done something for our church, please let us know so that we can express our appreciation.

THANK YOU!

Our thoughts are with the family of Bev Lange, who passed away on Saturday, August 8, 2020 at Aurora Baycare Medical Center in Green Bay.

She is survived by five daughters, thirteen grandchildren, fifteen great-grandchildren, other family and many friends. Our prayers are with Bev’s

family. A private service with the family was held.

RETIREMENT After many years of faithfully playing the organ for St. John’s, Janet Wesener has decided that it is time to retire. It is with great regret that we honor her desire to retire.

We want to express our appreciation to Janet for the many hours she spent selecting just the right pieces of music to complement our worship, the many hours of practicing, and the many Sundays and other special worship services, devoted to playing inspiring preludes, postludes, offering and communion music, and accompanying the congregational singing.

We will miss seeing Janet at the organ, but know that Karl will be glad to have her able to sit next to him in worship. On behalf of the congregation, a thank you card and a small gift has been given to Janet.

NEW CHURCH TREASURER Lynn Busse is our new church treasurer and officially began her duties

on August 1. Many of you probably remember that Lynn previously served as our church treasurer in the past from June of 2011 through December of 2017. When her work responsibilities increased, Lynn felt the need to give up the church treasurer position. Lynn is now retired and applied for the position again when Tanya Gosse submitted her resignation this summer. We are pleased to work again with Lynn.

We want to express our appreciation to Tanya for her two and a half years of service as St. John’s treasurer, from January of 2018 through July of 2020. As most of you know, Tanya and her family have moved up north to Crivitz and she has been fulfilling her treasurer duties by remote access for the last year and a half. Now for Tanya too, increased work responsibilities as well as growing

responsibilities caring for her aging parents have led to her resignation as our church treasurer. We thank Tanya for her dedication to fulfilling her treasurer duties. During her two and a half years, several new financial duties have been added to the treasurer position; online giving and the Shared Ministry finances are two examples. Tanya handled these new duties with grace.

On Sunday, August 16th at the Outdoor Worship Service at St.

John’s. Tim Keenan was recognized for graduating from Lay

Academy!

Congratulations Tim on all of your hard work!

St John's UCC Church Council Meeting Minutes

August 18, 2020 at 5:00 PM Held by Zoom

Attendance: Pastor Melinda Feller, Diane Weiland President, Fritz Westermeyer Vice President, Carol Hemb secretary, Kathy Aulik, Don Fischer, Karl Wesener council representatives and Lynn Busse, Treasurer.

Meeting was opened with a prayer from Pastor Melinda.

Discussion and evaluation of the two outside services that we had in August:

We have received positive feedback from the people who have attended and attendance has been good. The sun can be problematic for Pastor Melinda; as a result, we are looking into purchasing a portable canopy. Lynn Busse will be looking into and purchasing the canopy. We have agreed to continue outside service through September, with no changes in the guidelines. There will be no outdoor service on Labor Day weekend; however, ZOOM worship, a recorded service on YouTube, and written worship materials will be mailed that weekend. Outside services will be September 13th, 20th, and the 27th. Communion will continue to be available at every service to meet everyone’s needs.

Council members responsible for outside services:

Sept. 13: Carol Hemb; Sept. 20th: Diane Weiland and Fritz Westermeyer; Sept, 27: Kathy Aulik.

Two council members need to be present to count and deposit the weekly offerings.

The Consent Agenda: Diane Weiland asked that the roofing project be moved from the Consent Agenda to the Discussion Agenda so there could be further discussion regarding the roofing and siding project: The roof bid from Luecke Roofing and Siding was $9380. We already have received $1,225 donated by members of the congregation and $2,500 donated by Doris Schueler in memory of her husband, Wilmer Schueler. The remaining balance of $5655.00 will be paid out of our United Church Fund investment. We will continue to accept donations for the roofing project.

The remaining Consent Agenda consisted of: The Church Council Meeting Minutes from July 21, 2020. The Treasurer’s reports and the Pastor's July statistical and shared ministry reports. Kathy made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda and Karl seconded it; motion passed.

Next meeting will be September 15, 2020 at 5:00 PM. We closed with the Lord's Prayer.

Respectfully submitted, Carol Hemb

 

   

St. John's UCC - Monthly Report of Income / Expense

2020 Actual July Actual 7 Mos.

Total Income $ 10,282.29 $ 75,421.89

Total Expense 8,286.34 64,769.22

Difference $ 1,995.95 $ 10,652.67

Projected July Projected 12 Months

Total Income $ 9,739.29 $ 137,119.26

Total Expense 10,051.00 142,098.97

Variance $ (311.71) $ (4,979.71)

PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM LOAN

On Friday, March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the CARES Act, which contained several different emergency relief resources for American workers and small businesses. One of these programs is called the Paycheck Protection Program. The Paycheck Protection Program is a Small Business Administration loan that helps businesses keep their workforce employed during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. Nonprofit organizations, including churches, were eligible to apply for these forgivable loans to help pay their employee’s salaries as well as some utility or mortgage costs.

Shortly after this program was announced, your Church Council, as well as other churches, looked into applying for a PPP loan to pay for the salaries as well as benefits of our 4 paid employees - our pastor, our secretary, our treasurer and our custodian. At that time, when we looked at the giving of our members, it was generous and it looked like we would no need additional funding. So we decided to not apply and that first application deadline closed.

However, since then, giving has slowed down and we became aware that there was still money left in the PPP program with a new application deadline of August 8, so our Church Council approved applying again. Judy Wagner, a former Church Council member, graciously agreed to do the bulk of the work for the application with a lot of help from our treasurer, Tanya Gosse.

As Council President, I submitted our Paycheck Protection Program application to the Cleveland State Bank on Thurs, July 23. It was immediately approved by the Small Business Administration for the amount of $20,231.00. This amount was based on a formula on the application based on our payroll and benefit expenses. On July 29, I signed the loan papers & picked up a cashier's check for $20,231.00 and deposited it in our Kohler Credit union checking account.

It is a forgivable loan as long as we use the funds to only pay for the salaries of Pastor Melinda, Vicki Wagner (our church secretary), Lynn Busse (our new treasurer effective Aug. 1) and Kay Fischer (our custodian). Pastor Melinda's insurances & St. John's utilities (propane, electricity, phone & Internet) are also eligible expenses. We have 24 weeks to use it. We need to keep copies of invoices, check numbers, etc. to prove our expenditures at the end of the 24 weeks or when we use up all of the money (whichever comes first) If, by chance, we do not use all of it by the end of the 24 week period, then we pay back what's left with 1% interest. However, this is very unlikely to happen based on the formula calculations. We will start using the PPP loan funds on Aug. 1, for the next 24 weeks or as long as the money lasts.

Because we are the fiscal agent and pay all of Pastor Melinda's salary & insurances through our accounts and then bill St. Paul's for 30%, St. Paul's will indirectly benefit by not paying for Pastor Melinda’s salary & insurance costs for the duration of this loan. St. Paul's will continue to pay their full 30% share of any mileage, professional expenses, or any other shared expenses not covered by the loan guidelines that Pastor Melinda may incur.

We still strongly encourage all our members to continue supporting our church’s ministry and mission by giving on a regular basis. However, having this extra money will help the stress of remaining financially solvent during this difficult time.

If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Diane L. Weiland; 920-565-3278 (home); 920-207-2103 (cell)

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION COMMITTEE

The Christian Education Committee met via Zoom several times this summer to discuss and brainstorm on what Sunday School could look like as we come back into the fall season. We decided to send out a short survey to those families with school age children and we thank you for your responses. On August 4th, the committee met to review the survey results. The consensus was to meet via Zoom twice a month during normal Sunday School time, as well as to send Sunday School packets to each family with this semesters’ curriculum. During the Zoom meeting we will most likely do some singing, watch short videos, as well as talk about the week’s bible story! Then also each Sunday or as time permits, each family can re-read the bible story and do the activity sheets with their children. Although we would all rather be meeting in person, we will try our best to keep the kids interested and continuing their faith journey at St. Johns. Following is our tentative schedule for the Zoom Sunday School meetings, roughly every other week, with a few changes due to other church activities: During our first Zoom Meeting, we would like the kids to have their school backpacks, book bags or lunch boxes ready for a Blessing from Pastor Melinda!

Date Time Date Time Sept. 13 Backpack Blessing

9:45 am – 10:15 am Nov 1 9:45 am – 10:15 am

Sept. 27 9:45 am – 10:15 am Nov 15 9:45 am – 10:15 am Oct. 11 9:45 am – 10:15 am Dec 6 9:45 am – 10:15 am Oct 25 9:45 am – 10:15 am Dec 20 9:45 am – 10:15 am

Thank you, The Christian Education Committee, Jessica Barts, Melissa Bender, Joan Bender and Denise Thiel

CHURCH ROOF REPAIR UPDATE Luecke Roofing has completed replacing shingles and repairing the roof located over the north end of the building. The cost of the repair was $9380.00. We have been blessed with generous donations of $3725.00 to this project with the remaining balance to be paid from our investments with the United Church Foundation. However, it’s not too late to support this important project for your church.

To give, you may send your offering to church (W3401 Orchard Road, Elkhart Lake WI 53020) and note “Roof Fund” on your check or envelope. You may also give on-line at the church website or using the GivePlus app on your phone. Choose “Roof Fund” from the giving options. Thank you for your generosity to your church! Your Church Council.

Download the Scrip app called RaiseRight! With every purchase, St. John’s receives a percent of your total purchase!

Shop gift cards from more than 750 top brands—right from your phone; whether you’re at home or at the store. Get started with on-the-go fundraising that creates opportunities for

the people that matter most to you.  

Easily browse brands offering bonus earnings! Add brands you love to your Favorites for faster shopping. Manage your gift cards in one place: your Wallet.

St. John’s United Church of Christ, Schwarzwald Enrollment Code: 8A5B37A67L23

www.RaiseRight.com

Any questions, please contact Vicki at 920-565-2631 or 920-331-4586.

Checkout the Back to School Giveway!

09/02 Delores Wehmeier Thomas Grupe Kristine Knickelbein 09/04 Charlotte Werdeo 09/07 Bob Vogel 09/09 Doris Schueler 09/10 Terrance Brockmann Peter Luebke 09/11 Rebecca Young 09/12 Heidi Haack 09/14 Dennis Voss Michael Wehmeier 09/15 Dayton Barts 09/17 Betty Winkel 09/19 Rhonda Brockmann Danice Rietbrock Ben Rietbrock 09/23 Nicole Schmitz 09/26 Herb Dickman Judy Westermeyer 09/27 Annette Holtz 09/29 Diane Weiland

09/06 Timothy & Ann Buechel-Haack 09/07 Gerald & Danice Rietbrock 09/08 Randal & Sherry Stuckmann 09/09 David & Helen Schmitz 09/11 Mark & Rene' Kleinhans 09/15 Tim & Denise Thiel 09/17 Mike & Kendra Hersey 09/19 Don & Kay Fischer 09/21 Andrew & Ashley Heling 09/23 Michael & Megan Wehmeier 09/24 Wallace & Marilyn Roethel

Good news! AmazonSmile is now available in the Amazon Shopping app on iOS and

Android mobile phones.

AmazonSmile customers can now support St. John's United Church of Christ in the Amazon shopping app on iOS and Android

mobile phones! Simply follow these instructions to turn on AmazonSmile and

start generating donations.

The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate

0.5% of the purchase price from customers'

eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the

charitable organizations they select.

Good News! St. John’s has been issued an $18.28 donation from the AmazonSmile Foundation as a result of AmazonSmile program

activity between April 1 and June 30, 2020.

Great job Church!

Do we have your email? If not, just send a note to our

email and ask to be put on the directory email list called Mailchimp.

You will receive the monthly newsletter, Pastor Melinda’s articles, weather related cancellations and more! Just email: Schwarzwald@tds.net. Also, if your email changes, please let us know!

If you have moved or are planning on moving or

changing your telephone number, PLEASE send

your changes to Schwarzwald@tds.net.