Dear Friends,

I hope you are having a good week.

Tonight, we have a soup and sandwich supper at 5:30 pm, followed by Advent worship at 6:30 pm. I hope you will come out and join us!  We are also having an Advent Craft Night for our community!  Please join us tonight for Advent Craft Night at 6:00 pm in the Choir room.

Don’t miss the CODA concert this coming Saturday evening, December 10, at 7:00 pm. Come and enjoy the sounds of the season. Light refreshments will be served and a freewill offering will be taken.

This Sunday, December 11, is our Sunday School Christmas program at 10:00 am, followed by a visit from Santa. Come and meet Santa and have your pictures taken with him. I hope you will be in worship to support the children and their program, and to enjoy this time together!  In addition to this, we have the Women of Peace mini boutique this coming weekend, on Saturday, 9:00 am-1:00 pm, and Sunday morning before and after worship.

We moved the deadline for ordering poinsettias!   Please make your orders by this coming Sunday, December 11. The morning of the 11^th is the last opportunity to order flowers in honor and/or memory of loved ones!

Thank you for your donations to the Christmas basket ministry. We are accepting food donations and gift cards from Walmart and Target. Currently, we would appreciate donations of canned meats, fruit, brownie and cake mixes, frosting, holiday candy, boxed oatmeal packets, peanut butter and jelly and pancake mix. If you include a gift card, please turn it into the church office. Thank you so much for your generosities!

We have moved forward with our “Building for the Future” campaign!  Thank you so much to those of you who have stepped up with additional financial gifts to the mission and ministry of Peace Lutheran!

All around the news we are hearing of all the illnesses caused by the ‘triple pandemic.’  Apparently, influenza, RSV in every form, and of course COVID 19 and its variants are everywhere in our community.  Several in our worshipping community have come down with some form or other of these illnesses. I don’t have any plans for bringing back mask requirements for our members and friends but would encourage you to do whatever you need to do to keep yourself safe.  I will add, that for our larger gatherings and by Christmas Eve, and perhaps the few Sundays following, I will ask our staff to mask again. This is just a precaution for those who are leading worship in a public form or for our larger holiday gatherings and activities.  We won’t be changing or cancelling any events and want you to participate, mask or not mask, as you wish.

In other news, if you appreciate these emails, reach out to me and let me know. So far, I have written approximately 164 letters to you.  I hope you have a wonderful week as you prepare to celebrate our Lord’s birth.

Take care… be safe… Pastor Valerie

Pastor Valerie