Last weekend we had a freaky spring blizzard and after conversation with the church council we decided to cancel worship services for Sunday morning.  (hopefully you still worshiped, you don't have to be in the church building to worship God).  

The call to cancel was made on Saturday night to give people enough warning so they could adjust they plans. Weather forecasts are not an exact science, but we make the best decision we can with the information we have.  The concern was whether we could get the word out to everyone on such short notice. 

Here is what did:  We sent out an email to everyone who is on our email list (if you are not on it, let us know so you can be included, if you have given it to us but did not receive the email please check your spam filter to make sure it is not being filtered out).  We also posted it on the opening screen of our web page  www.joy-church.org (if you don't have our page bookmarked please do so now for quick reference).  We also posted it on our Facebook page (if you haven't visited our facebook page and "liked" us please do so now so you don't miss important postings)  We also put the cancellation on the telephone answering machine ( we had a little trouble here, I accidentally put the message on a personal inbox instead of the initial greeting...but next time I will get it right). 

We know that not everyone is plugged in to electronic media, so we also depend on people being good neighbors and calling people who are not plugged in to let them know.  We did not call into TV and radio because there are so many options there.  If there is ever a question as to whether or not we will be cancelling worship please check your email, our webpage, our facebook, call the office or phone a friend.  

Hopefully we done with winter for a while...but who knows...keep in touch.

God's Story...Our Story

Click here for this week's home devotion.

Thank you to all the people who donated to the Global Health Ministries Hospice Kits and, to the youth and adults who assembled them.

41 kits were delivered to GHM this past week!

 

Thank you to all the women in the Joy Quilting Ministry who made 60 quilts this year for Lutheran World Relief.

 

Thank you to Pastor Steve for blessing all these items last Sunday.

 

Thank you to JWELCA for the donation of $150.00 to help pay for the shipping of the quilts and hospice kits.  

 

Thank you for helping Joy Lutheran Church to reach out beyond it's building to help people in need around the world!

It's time to begin donating to the Spring Mission Project. Our church will be collecting items for the Turning Point Shelter which provides support and resources for victims of domestic and sexual violence through its two centers-one in River Falls and one in New Richmond. One in three women will experience domestic violence so the need for services is great. The more sites and resources that are available to people, the more likely people are to get help and find safety for themselves and their family. Turning Point provides a number of services including a crisis shelter, sexual assault crisis support, 24-hour hotline and text hotline, safety planning, individual advocacy, support groups for victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence, legal system advocacy, and prevention education programs. Please consult the poster board in the Narthex for a listing of current needs and wish lists from Turning Point. Food items, hygiene supplies, cleaning supplies, and general shelter necessities are needed.  Thank you for your help with this project!

JWELCA UPCOMING DATES TO NOTE:  

Biennial Convention of the Northwest Wisconsin Synod Women to be Held in Rice Lake, Saturday, April 21, 2018, 8:00 AM - 3:30 PM

All women are invited to attend the Synod Women's Organization Convention on Saturday, April 21 at Bethany Lutheran Church in Rice Lake. The theme is "Transformed Anew." There will be singing, praying, fellowship, laughter, keynote speakers, awareness sessions, Take Faith Home Action Tables and more! The cost is only $35 until April 7th. Late registration and same day registration is $40. Special speakers include Deacon Amy Hartman, founding director of "Cherish All Children," and Rev. Laurie Skow-Anderson, Assistant to our Bishop in our Synod. Six Awareness Sessions will be held on topics such as Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence, Homelessness, Conversation with Bishop Hoyme, Water Quality Issues, and the Doctrine of Discovery. For more information about the Convention or for a Registration Form, consult the Special Convention Issue of "The Northwester" newsletter on the JWELCA bulletin board in the narthex hallway at church or call Marcia Lindseth (715-262-3498) or Emilie Horken (715-262-4728).
More information about the SWO Convention can be found on the JWELCA bulletin board in the narthex hallway or by accessing the SWO website:  www.nwswiswo.org.  

 

Thank you to all the people who responded to the request for more prayer shawls. We are now able to expand our ministry. A display has been set up on a ladder in the narthex of these prayer shawls that have been made by the people of Joy. You are invited, if you know of a family member, neighbor, friend or co-worker that is experiencing some sort of crisis in their life and could be comforted by the gift of a prayer shawl, to take a shawl to that person. Each shawl has a tag attached explaining the shawl that they are being given. We will need to have shawls made on a continuing basis so that this ministry will be able to touch the lives of all people in need. If you complete a shawl or if you need supplies to make a shawl, please contact Emilie Horken 262-4728.

A Memorial Service celebrating the life of Andrea Barstad-Aase will be held at Joy Lutheran Church on May 5th.  Details to be announced soon.

The Senior Gathering Place
The Senior Gathering Place along with Pierce County Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) is offering the "STEPPING ON" fall prevention series starting Thursday, April 12th.  The sessions will be held at the Gathering Place starting at 1:00 PM. Everyone is welcome. The series runs for 6 weeks. Even if you cannot attend all 6 sessions, you can enroll and attend as able. Preregistration is required. Call 715-273-6780 (ADRC) to preregister.  More information is posted on the bulletin board in the kitchen hallway.

7 of our youth will be traveling to Houston this summer to participate in the ELCA National Youth Gathering (a life transforming experience where they will join with 30,000 other youth from around the world to deepen their faith).

 To help offset the cost of this trip Joy youth will be selling "stock" to raise funds for this trip. Those who purchase "stock" will be investing in the future of our youth. As part of your investment you will receive exclusive and personal status reports before, during, and after the National Youth Gathering from those you invest in along with access to our online blog. You will also be invited to a stockholders appreciation event  on Wednesday, July 11 at 7 PM  the youth will share video, stories, music, and much more. 

Pick up a stock prospectus on Sunday and look it over to get to know the youth who are going and determine how you support them.  Questions? contact Christy, our Youth Director.

President-Joan Northouse

Vice President-Chris Stanke

Secretary-Bobbie Flatz

Treasurer-Kristin Tibayan *not voting member of Council

Faith Education-Josh Pender

Fellowship-Krista Mitzuk

Giving-Wayne Lundgaard

Outreach-Renee Braun

Service-Peter Gray

Worship-Phyllis Hoffmann

JWELCA-Hope Olson

 

Thank you for your service and commitment to Joy Lutheran Church!

Thrivent Financial Updates...

Updated YTD numbers as of April 1st for Thrivent and Joy activities are as follows:

• Thrivent Action Teams:  33 projects approved and $8,250 received.
• Thrivent Choice Dollars received year to date: $3,272.00.  (MORE THAN ALL LAST YEAR!)

Thrivent is looking for ways to give away millions of dollars with its non-profit status. Let's help them, which in turn supports Joy, the community and many of our outreach programs.

 

Action Team Projects: During this past year (2017) 60 Action Team projects were completed by members of Joy who are also Thrivent benefit and associate members. Thrivent provided $250 seed money for each of these events, thus giving us $15,000 that was used for service and outreach activities. Some of that money was used to offset budget expenditures and the rest used for programs that were not included in the 2017 budget. This surpassed our goal of 50 events and we have set our goal for 2018 for another 60 projects. As of March 1st we have already been approved for 20 projects for this year ($5,000) and are well on our way to meet our goal. Thank you to Thrivent Financial and everyone at Joy who has supported this program. I will update this message on the 1st Sunday of each month with new numbers. You can view all of last year's projects and 2018 projects that have been approved and anticipated for the entire year posted on the hallway bulletin board.

Choice Dollars: This is another Thrivent program available to eligible benefit members where they can direct Thrivent dollars to one or more non-profit organizations (including Joy Lutheran Church). These dollars become available throughout the year and you simply indicate where you would like the money to be sent. The process is easy and quick - either by phone or on-line. Remember, this is Thrivent's money (not yours) and they are giving it to a non-profit organization of your choice. During 2017 Joy members directed over $3,000 to Joy Lutheran Church of which over half was used to support the Capital Improvement Fund. This was a huge increase of Choice Dollars from previous years and is different from Action Team seed money in that the money can be used for whatever need we have at Joy. Thank you to Thrivent Financial and all Joy members who participated in this program. Let's make 2018 another great year with your continued involvement. Our goal for 2018 will again be $3,000. Please note: Choice dollars accumulated in any year must be used by March 31st of the following year or you will lose the dollars (e.g. money earned in 2017 must be used by 3/31/2018).

If you would like more information about Action Teams or Choice Dollars, check the weekly newsletter, Joy's web page, posted information in the church narthex & hallway bulletin board or contact Jim & Bobbie Flatz.

**Updated as of April 2018, directories (both picture and address) are ready to pick up...they are also available on the church web page on a password protected page (please call the office for the password).

If you have corrections please let the office know. 

**If you would like to update or add your picture, please send it to the office at any time.  It will be included in the next print!**

Name Tag s... are a great way to help people remember your name.  We are working on a system to have more permanent name tags available, but for now any time you can wear one helps the rest of us get to know you. Thank you.

and want to catch up or share it with someone who might appreciate it. We record our worship each week and post it on our web page as well as the bottom of this weekly electronic newsletter.  Just click on the YouTube button.                   

If you would like to give electronically you can do so through our web page

  Set up or manage my electronic giving

If you have a QR reader on your phone you can also access the page by scanning here

If you don't have a QR reader and still would like the convenience of working from your phone.  
We also have a church giving app called Give+  available as a free download.     How it works