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Tuesday, September 19, 2017
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Dear Members & Friends of Our Savior's Lutheran Church,
First off, what a great start to our year of Faith Formation we had last Sunday. Many families and their children and youth were back in worship and enjoyed their time in their classrooms with their teachers and friends. We had an opportunity to bless the children and youth who were present in worship at both services. It was a blessing for us all to see their eager faces, ready to learn and grow in faith. Our adults also had opportunities for learning and sharing as we began our year of adult education. One group met with Chad as a parents group and will continue to meet throughout the year, and another met with Pr. Dale and a speaker from Lutheran Mideast Development. That same evening we celebrated our annual Burger Bash as we welcomed back our confirmation age youth and their parents to kick off another year of confirmation. This too, is an exciting group of young people with eagerness and energy for God and the Church that we love to see. Keep them all in your prayers as we learn and teach together this year.
Our theme for this Sunday is "It's Not Fair" and it's based on the gospel lesson for the day, the parable of the vineyard. In it, several workers are put to work at various times throughout the day and at the end of the day they are all paid equally. As we would likely, react, so did the workers. Some were pleased to get paid the same amount as the others, while some were disgruntled over getting paid the same amount as others. It's not fair! Or is it? God's grace isn't fair, but I am sure glad God offers it. A question for us all to consider this week is, "If God was fair and gave each person what he or she deserved, what would that mean for me?" Find out more this Sunday!
Come celebrate with us this Sunday as we worship together again and as we welcome another little one into the Body of Christ through baptism at our 10:30 a.m. service. Oh, and don't forget that our noisy offering (at both services - 8:00 & 10:30 a.m.) will go towards purchasing gifts for the children of our Tanzanian partner church in Mlafu!
Oh and one more thing ... Wednesday night worship begins this week!!
That is all for now! See you this week!
Pastor Dale Stiles
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WORSHIP & FAITH FORMATION SCHEDULE
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
5:00 pm Wednesday Dinner
Southwest Casserole & Green Salad
5:30 pm Contemporary Worship
Sermon by: Pastor Dale Stiles
Service led by the Praise Band
6:10 pm Faith Formation
Grades 1-6 (classrooms)
Grades 7-12 (Youth Room)
Confirmation (Grades 8, 9 & 10), 7:00 pm
Kingdom Choir Rehearsal, 7:00 pm
Liturgical Singers, 8:00 pm
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Sermon by: Pastor Dale Stiles
8:00 am Traditional Worship in the Sanctuary
Special Music:
Bells II
Liturgical Singers present to support ELW Setting 9
9:15 am Faith Formation
Family Activity Sunday, parents & children (CLC)
Adult Education (Family Room)
10:30 am Blended Worship in the CLC
Service led by the Praise Band
C
hildcare available for the 10:30 am service.
New Member Orientation, 11:45 am
Evolve Youth Group (Grades 7-9), 11:45 am
Activate Youth Group (Grades 10-12), 5:00 pm
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Adult Education Schedule
Sunday, September 24:
ISAIAH, Faith In Democracy - Guest Speaker, Tammi Thompson, ISAIAH Sanctuary Organizer. Tami will speak on Immigrants and the Role of Sanctuary in Minnesota.
Sunday, October 1:
Looking back before looking forward: Review of 2013 OSLC Church Assessment Tool Survey in preparation for 2017 resurvey. Guest Speakers: Ray Valley, OSLC President and John Lasswell, Board Member.
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New Member Orientation
Interested in becoming a member at Our Savior's Lutheran Church?
Please attend one of the New Member Orientation sessions on Sunday, Sept. 24, at 11:30 am or Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 6:30 pm. Please RSVP to the church office or call 651-439-5704, ext. 10 to let us know which session you would like to attend. New members will be received on Sunday, Oct. 8.
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Support for the Mlafu Mission Trip
Pastor Dale, Cindy Gackle and Sue Hedlund will be traveling to visit our Mlafu companion congregation in Tanzania October 23-November 3. They will be bringing gifts and offerings from our congregation to share with our brothers and sisters in Africa. There are 3 ways that you can help:
- Bring your coins to worship service on Sunday, Sept 24, for a "noisy offering" collection that will be used to off-set costs of the gifts.
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Donate 2018 wall calendars that have photos of places and people in the US and Minnesota. Please leave the calendars on the welcome desk.
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Donate up to 3 large, sturdy suitcases that can be left in Tanzania. They will be used to transport our gifts. Please leave them in the church office.
Thank you for your support!
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Walk & Talk Group
The "Walk & Talk" group will walk from the Autumn Hills Park shelter on Monday, September 25 at 5:30 - 6:30 pm. The park is located on Norwich Parkway in Oak Park Heights. Contact
Sue Hedlund for information.
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Book Club
Our Savior's Book Club
will meet on Monday, September 25 at 1:00 pm in the Family Room. We will be discussing the book "
The Well"
by Stephanie Landsem. Hope to see you there!
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Valley Outreach "Undie" Drive
'Undie' donations received from the faith community allow individuals to receive 5 pairs of socks and 5 pairs of underwear twice a year from Valley Outreach. A receptacle is placed in the Gathering Area for OSLC members to drop off their donations. Any new, in-the-package socks and underwear are needed. Please help OSLC make a LARGE contribution to this worthy cause. Final collection days will be Sunday, Oct. 1 and Wed., Oct. 4. Thank you!
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Children, Youth & Family Ministry
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Sunday Family Activity Day
Sunday, Sept. 24, will be our first Sunday Family Activity Day. Parents and children of all ages will meet at 9:15 am in the CLC. We will be doing two projects during the Family Activity. We will be making hand prints with paint on our new Parament to be used on the altar at our All Worship Sundays. We will also be using fabric crayons to draw pictures to be used on a banner for the CLC. I look forward to seeing all of our families at these important days of our Faith Formation curriculum this year! These Family Activity Days are meant to build community and support parents as they guide their children in their faith.
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Children's Choir
This fall we will be bringing back a children's choir to OSLC! This will give kids (1st-6th grade) who want to sing an opportunity to be active participants in worship, offering the gift of music. The plan is to practice on the all family worship Sundays at 9:15 am when there are no regular faith formation classes (Oct. 8, Nov. 19, Jan. 7, Feb. 11 & Apr. 8). You may sign kids up through the church website under
Children, Youth & Family Ministry. Questions? Please contact
Meredith Caskey.
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We Want To Know Your Story!
As you may already know, the OSLC Board recently decided to move forward with HolyCow! Consulting to help us plan our future. The first step in this process is to conduct a congregational assessment. This assessment will provide a clear picture of who we are as a church and what directions are most important for our future. The tool we'll use is the Congregation Assessment Tool (CAT), which will provide key indicators of our congrega-tional health along with areas of challenge and potential growth. It will help us to collect and understand the range of views that exist at Our Savior's and the possibilities, willingness, capacity, and energy for moving our ministry into the future. Our Savior's previously conducted this survey in 2013, and we are repeating it to measure the progress we have made since that time.
The plan is to release the survey after the Sunday, October 1 services, and to close the survey on Monday, October 30. If you have provided us with a current email address, you will receive a unique web link to complete the assessment online. Paper surveys will be available for those unable to participate using the on-line process.
Also, opportunities to complete the survey including assistance using the tool will be available between services and on
Wednesday evenings during the month of October.
Each confirmed adult member of your household including all young adults living in your home should have an opportunity to complete the survey. INDIVIDUAL INPUT is key to our gaining insight into overall perceptions and experiences. All answers are anonymous. We have no way of matching any assessment to a particular person, so please feel free to candidly share your perceptions, opinions and experiences. Our future together is dependent on your participation and honest answers.
Thank you for your willingness to be a part of this congregational assessment and for helping to build Our Savior's future.
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Time and Talent Survey!
A relative newcomer trying to find a place that "fits?" **A professional skilled in your trade but looking for a way to apply those skills serving Christ and the church? **Recently retired and looking for new volunteer opportunities? **Or, maybe you've been carrying a big volunteer load at OSLC already, and you need to pull back a bit. **Wherever you are, we want to meet you there and offer you the best opportunity to serve. Please fill out a time & talent survey
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OSLC is also moving to a more formal committee structure of governance. We will have 14 standing committees -- Art, Evangelism, Faith Formation and Development, Fellowship, Finance, Health and Caring, Giving Team, Legacy, Mission and Outreach, Personnel, Property and Grounds, Technology, Worship, & Women's Ministries. Please consider Signing Up
to serve on a committee. We all have a role to play. Where is God calling you?
Peace ~ Ray Valley, OSLC President
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Audio/Visual Technicians Needed!
We are looking for volunteers who would be willing to assist running the sound booth and screens for the Sun. 10:30 pm or Wed. 5:00 pm worship service. Training will be provided. If interested, please contact Chad Larson
or Tony Urban
. Thank you!
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October Ushers and Greeters Needed
If you worship with us on Sundays, please consider signing up to usher or greet at one of our services. There are greeter openings on Oct. 1, 15, 22, and 29. There are usher openings at the 10:30 service on Oct. 1, 22 and 29. Instructions are available (usher instructions are also posted in the narthex and CLC). On-the-job training is available. Please consider serving once, or even more, and join us in sharing hospitality! You can
view the openings and sign up online.
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Request for Prayers and Support
Everyday joys and sorrows...Once in a lifetime joys and sorrows. Your brothers and sisters at Our Savior's want to support you. Email or call Pastor Dale Stiles with any of your needs.
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The Sun Shines on Stillwater: Energy Conservation Event
The Stillwater community will engage on the discussion of clean energy and energy conservation every other Sunday in October and November. These events are to share information with Stillwater area residents on where our energy comes from and how Minnesota can move on a path towards more renewable energy, as well as how homeowners and business owners can access programs for energy updates.
Guest speakers include J. Drake Hamilton from the Minnesota-based clean energy science and policy organization, Fresh Energy, speaking on October 15; Diana McKeown from Clean Energy Resource Teams, a partnership organization that helps with energy updates, speaking on October 29; and the final event in the series will be a panel of local business owners, residents, clergy members, and city officials speaking on their energy update success stories. Locations: October events are at Trinity Lutheran Church (
115 4th St N); November event is at Ascension Episcopal Church (
214 3rd St N)
Interested Stillwater residents are asked to RSVP/ask questions to Julie Drennen
or (612) 767-1569.
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Simply Giving
A more convenient way to give! In a few short minutes, you can make a one-time gift or set up a donation that will process automatically on a recurring basis. Recurring donations are convenient and provide our church with much needed consistent support throughout the year.
To give online, visit our church's website and get set up!
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Stewardship is about love:
serving others through our time, talent, and treasure.
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