Weekly Announcements from Pastor Valerie Brown-Greenly, Senior Pastor
Dear Friends,
I hope your week is going well! This communication contains a great deal of information for the coming days leading up to Christmas.
Advent worship continues this evening at 6:30pm. Advent crafting begins at 5:45pm. Come and join us for some intergenerational fun before worship. Our Advent worships are all in-person, no livestream on Wednesday evenings.
This Sunday is the Sunday School Christmas program at 10:00am. We moved it to the morning, so as many as possible could come out and support our Sunday School Children in worship with us! They are presenting “The Christmas Clinic”. It will be a wonderful program with lots of Christmas music! Special thanks to Karleen Fusenig and her team of leaders for all their work and effort!
The Women of Peace will have a Mini Boutique on Saturday, December 11, from 9:00am-1:00pm, and Sunday, December 12, from 9:00am-Noon. The Boutique will be closed during the Children’s Christmas Program at 10:00am.
We will have a brief National Youth Gathering meeting on Sunday, December 12, following worship. I have our shirts and a couple of announcements for an upcoming service event. I hope to see as many of you as possible. Again, this will only take a few minutes.
Poinsettias will decorate our Sanctuary for the Christmas holiday. Please make out a check in the amount of $10.00 per plant, and include your name(s) and in whose memory, honor or celebration the plant is being given. You may use a pew envelope and/or include the information on a sheet of paper. Please place it in the offering plate, mail it to church or drop it off at church. The last day to order is Sunday, December 12. Poinsettias may be picked up after the 10:00pm service ends on Christmas Eve or during holiday office hours.
First Communion/Advent Worship is Wednesday evening, December 15, at 6:30pm. We look forward to welcoming as many of you as possible to celebrate with the children as they celebrate their first Eucharist. Keep them and their families in your prayers.
Be sure to mark your calendars for Sunday, December 19, 10:00am, for Christmas Story Sunday! This year the theme is “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. We hope to see many of you in worship for this special morning! Special thanks to Trychia Borgstrom and her team for this creative and meaningful special worship!
Office hours are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 8:30am-Noon.
As you know, we are accepting $25 dollar gift cards from Walmart and Target to be included in the Holiday Christmas Baskets. Thank you for helping with this, as the gift cards will be used by families to purchase Christmas gifts. We are in need of the following food items: boxed oatmeal (30), jam and jelly (40), pancake syrup (30), kid friendly boxed cereal (30), canned tuna and chicken. The holidays can be especially difficult for those in our church, community and school families who are financially insecure, food insecure and struggling. We appreciate your generosity in your donations to the Holiday Christmas Baskets. Thank you for blessing so many children this season!
Our Christian Education Director, Karleen Fusenig, thanks you for supporting Operation Christmas Child with your donations of items and money. Peace provided and filled 94 boxes to bless children all over the world!!
Picture Directory Announcement: If you and/or your family would like to schedule a photography appointment, you can schedule your own appointment through the scheduling website: https://ucdir.com/schedule/
Photographers will be at Peace Lutheran Church on Monday, January 10, and Tuesday, January 11, 2022 from 2:00pm-8:30pm. You can also sign up for an appointment in the Fellowship Hall on Sundays, December 12 and 19, before or after church.
If you would like to supply a photo for the photo directory, you can email a digital copy to Pastor Tim Schroeder at [email protected] If you would like assistance scanning your photo, please place it in an envelope with your name on it and bring it to the Church Office. These photos will be returned to you after being scanned.
If you would like assistance scheduling your appointment, please call or text Pastor Tim on his cell phone 715-216-7799 and he will be happy to assist you. We would like to include all members in this new Photo Directory!
Covid update: The infection rate is still excessive in Minnesota. We continue to mask throughout the building for all worship services and all events. Appropriate masking is required, which means a mask fits over the nose and mouth. Masking makes it possible for everyone to attend worship and activities. We still have many among us who cannot be vaccinated, have chosen not to be vaccinated, and families with children under the age of 12. I realize masking is not ideal, but the reality of keeping one another safe is ideal. This will not last forever and until such time as infection numbers decrease, we will continue with the masking requirement. Please reach out to me and tell me your COVID 19 story. Many of you have shared stories of your loved ones, your perspective, and your insights. I truly appreciate hearing from you.
Financial update: Thank you for your ongoing generous giving! Briefly, we have been able to pay the line of credit down to $0. We believe we are trending in a strong financial position for the close of 2021. This strong financial position is a direct reflection of your faithful giving and stewardship of the church. As Christmas nears, we invite you to make an additional gift to the mission and ministry of Peace Lutheran. It’s wonderful to ‘trend’ towards financial strength and a joy to finish strong!
We also want to say something to those of you have struggled financially and personally. Your church is here for you! Please reach out to me to share your journey, and let’s discover together how Peace can support you and your family. All contacts are held in confidence.
I hope you have a great week! Take care…Be safe…
Pastor Valerie
Cell: 612-280-6493 Email: [email protected]
Church: 763-757-4459 Email: vbrown-greenly@