Pastor’s Notes
First a reminder to set your
clocks back one hour on November 1st, All Saints Day, so you won’t
be sitting by yourself Sunday morning waiting for everyone else to arrive.
The church calendar is fast
approaching the end of Ordinary Time; the church year ends with Christ the King
Sunday, November 23rd. The following Sunday is the beginning of
Advent.
Advent is that time when we begin,
again, to prepare for the arrival of the Messiah into our broken and sinful
world.
It’s also a good time for the
Church to consider how to prepare for the arrival of new things like new
worshippers, new ideas, new folks in the community, new businesses, a new
school system, new technology and whatever else that comes to us that we’ve not
expected.
I’ve a friend who just can’t wait
to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We have seen many posts on Facebook telling us
how many days until Christmas. Summer wasn’t over and already the days were
being counted down. This friend was excited and could hardly stand waiting for
Christmas.
So, what about you? Are you
excited? Are you looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Lord, Jesus
Christ again this year? Yes….no?
How about if we think about Advent
and Christmas as not only a time to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus
but as the ‘advent’ of Christ’s coming again. How about, this year, along with
celebrating the baby Jesus’ birth we also look forward with joyful anticipation
the return of our Lord.
Friends, at this time of year
quite a few folks are planning for family gatherings at Thanksgiving and
Christmas. Shopping lists are being made for food and decorations and who to be
sure to invite to the feast that’s planned.
So, my friends, how do we prepare
for Christ’s second coming? Maybe that’s one reason the church calendar is
divided into festivals and seasons that are different than those on our
Gregorian calendar.
As people of the reformation we
believe that God is continually at work reforming and redeeming his creation.
Being in a relationship with God we therefore celebrate and remember
significant times in the life of Jesus and the people of God.
So, what are the times in Jesus’
life that we celebrate? I’ve given you one, Advent, now it’s your turn to go to
the church calendar or Google and find the other significant occasions the
Church celebrates. There are 7, but it’s possible that you may find as many as
5 more.
Friends, this journey we’re all on
has many seasons. When we’re young we don’t think about that very much but as
our hair turns gray, or white, we begin to think about how quickly the seasons
pass by.
Jesus told his disciples that he
was going away but that one day he would return. This Advent season think about
Christ coming back and, with me, prepare yourselves to see Him again.
God’s grace and peace be with you
all,
Pastor
David
Fall supper work
schedule is included in this Gleaner.
Please check to see your duties.
The Bazaar/Supper is November 19th.
If you have been asked to roast a turkey please thaw them
before roasting and then cook them in a cooking bag. Deliver them to the church on the day of the
supper by 3:30-4:00.
Thank you for your help.
Food Pantry
The Food Pantry has a need for these items in November
Macaroni
& Cheese
Jelly
Hamburger
helper
Canned
fruit and veggies
Toothpaste
and toothbrushes
Paper
products
Anything
is appreciated
Put them in the basket at the back of the
sanctuary and Pastor David will be happy to deliver them to the Food Pantry.
Minden United Church of Christ Dinner and Sale
Nov. 16th
At the Minden Community Hall
Turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, corn, rolls, and dessert
Dinner 11:00-1:00
Auction 12:30
Freewill Offering
“We’re all just walking each other home.” Ram Dass
December
Ushers and Communion Servers
Ushers: Jean Bornholdt, Craig &
Linda Woltmann
Communion Servers:
Michelle Mertz-chm, Jean Bornholdt, Allan Sievers, Gloria Walter
November ushers and communion servers are at the bottom
of calendar.
Christmas
Poinsettias
If you contribute a poinsettia for the church alter
please let me know so I can acknowledge it.
“If you think you’re enlightened go spend a week
with your family.” Ram Dass
Presbyterian Women
Presbyterian Women will meet Wednesday, Nov. 5th
at 1:00 at the church. Principal Sarah Kock will join us after our meeting to
give a talk on “Our School – Today and Tomorrow.”
Flowers for Pulpit
November 2 -------Margo Matthies
November 9--------Cathy Shutters
November 16 ------Darlene Stuart
November 23-------Darlene Stuart
November 30-------Linda Woltmann
Save the
earth…..It’s the only planet with chocolate!!
Thank You
Thank you to Jim and Bobbie McDermott and their family for hosting a
fish fry for our church family on Oct. 18th. Once again, everything was delicious and good
fellowship was enjoyed by all. Thank-you
to Kathy Hansen also for the fun decorations and door prizes.
“Service is the rent we pay for living in this
world of ours.” Nathan Eldon Tanner
November 2nd Daylight Savings
Time Ends
SPECIAL
CONGREGATIONAL MEETING
OCTOBER 12, 2014
Immediately
following the October 12, 2014 church service, Pastor and moderator David
Krueger called a special congregational meeting to order. The purpose of the meeting was to vote on
accepting candidate Joel Jackle-Hugh as our new pastor.
With a good
attendance, we had a quorum present. Jim
McDermott moved that we cast a unanimous ballot to accept Joel in lieu of using
a paper ballot. Larry Shepherd 2nd
the motion. Motion carried. After a unanimous show of hands, it was voted
to accept Joel as our new pastor. Joel
then accepted our call.
Meeting
adjourned.
Linda Ploen
Clerk of Session
Session Minutes
October 14, 2014
The session of Walnut First
Presbyterian church met in regular session on October 14, 2014 at 7:00 pm in
the Sunday School south annex. Session
members present were: Allan Sievers, Cathy Shutters, Dustin Jensen and clerk of
session-Linda Ploen. Absent were:
Michelle & Greg Mertz, Kathy Hansen, Jim Tooley, and Gloria Walter.
Moderator David Krueger opened the
meeting with prayer and a reflection entitled “Time” from Psalm 31:1-15. We also watched a brief clip from a video on
hope and healing. David asked for
permission to purchase the video. It was
approved to allow him to do so.
The minutes of the September meeting were read and approved.
There was no Treasurer’s report available this month.
Pastor David’s report was given and approved. He traveled 448 miles this month. He had a funeral and many visitations.
Linda read a letter on the minimum compensation for 2015 and
also reported on our General Mission Pledge. We will discuss this next month.
There was one death, that of Eldon Ranney. He died on September 6, 2014 in Cambridge,
Minnesota. Funeral service was here with
interment in Evergreen cemetery in red Oak, Iowa.
We need to set a date to receive Jolene Jensen as a member.
New Business
The nominating committee for 2014 is Linda Ploen, Jim
McDermott and Margo Matthies. They will
need to find new elders and make sure all other offices will continue their
jobs. We also need to look for a new
secretary and someone to run the computer at church.
MRV Presbytery meeting is October 25th at Korean
P.C.
Cathy reported for the PNC.
It was moved and 2nd to split moving costs for our new pastor
evenly between the two churches. The
pastor’s salary will be $400 less than reported. The pay package for Joel was approved by the
session.
Stewardship and
Mission
Kathy and Greg will be working on our stewardship
campaign. We also need to find out which
church is in charge of UNICEF this
year. We will be collecting hats, gloves
and mittens and coats for Castelor P.C.
For mission ideas you can look at http://www.pmrv.org/index.php/newsletters/monday-morning.
Christian Education
Sunday School is slowly growing. Youth group is going well. It meets every Sunday evening. Average attendance is about eight. There was a good attendance for the concert
they attended. They will be helping with
the fish fry on Oct. 18. It was moved
and 2nd to allow them to go to a Haunted House. Motion carried.
Worship
David stated that it had been a pleasure to work with our
new pastor Joel Jackle-Hugh.
Finance and Property
Our new heating and AC installation is complete. We also need another dehumidifier. Chuck
Ploen will purchase this.
Personnel
Work on By-laws!!
The meeting was adjourned and closed with prayer.
Next meeting will be November 11, 2014 at 7:00 pm.
Linda Ploen
Clerk of Session
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November 2014 ~
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Sun
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Mon
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Tue
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Wed
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Thu
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Fri
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Sat
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1
Kent Johnk
Preston Tooley
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2
Time Change (fall back)
Church 9:00
Communion
Sunday School 10:15
Peace Haven 11:00
Youth Group 6:00
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3
Brittni (Johnk) Van Woesik
Dennis Jensen
Dave/Robin Heilig
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4
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5
Morning worship at Salem Lutheran Homes, 9 AM
U.P.W. 1:00 @ Church
Sarah Ehlers
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6
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7
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8
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9
Church 9:00
Sunday School 10:15
Youth Group 6:00
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10
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11
Morning worship at Allen House, 11 AM
Session mtg. 7 PM
Karla Helms
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12
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13
Jeff Nielsen
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14
Betty Griffith
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15
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16
Church 9:00
Sunday School 10:15
Youth Group 6:00
Mason Griffith
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18
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19
Fall Supper
Bazaar 3 PM
Supper 4:30-7:00 PM
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20
Jessica Helms
Evening worship at Peace Haven, 7 PM
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22
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23
Church 9:00
Sunday School 10:15
Youth Group 6:00
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24
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25
Cole Sievers
Michelle Tooley
Tuesday McDonald
Dennis/Connie Jensen
Avoca Nursing, 2 PM
COM mtg., 4:30 PM
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26
Joint Thanksgiving service with Trinity Lutheran here 7 PM
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Thanksgiving
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28
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29
Doug Matthies
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30
Church 9:00
Sunday School 10:15
Youth Group 6:00
Lily Anderson (Megan’s)
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Notes:
November Communion Servers – Cathy
Shutters, chm; Bobbie & Jim McDermott, Teri Abel
November Ushers – Teri Abel, Darlene
Stuart, Margo Matthies & Cathy Shutters
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