ST PETER'S NEWS
June 25, 2020
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Thank you to all for the helpful feedback after our first live-stream worship last Sunday. We knew we would be a bit rusty as we get these new gears turning toward a future in-person worship. This week should be even smoother!
Don't miss worship this week, as we are doing a special BLESSING OF THE QUILTS that our Snip-it quilters have made for
Lutheran World Relief. I believe they boxed and shipped 126 quilts this year. What a labor of love!
The COVID trends in Texas continue to increase. A good reminder that we are all connected together is seeable and unseeable ways. Please practice physical distancing and wear your masks when in public as a sign of discipleship and love of neighbor. We continue only live-stream worship until we see a downward trend in new cases over 14 days. Refer to
MONDAY'S EMAIL for details on our phasing plan.
I will be on vacation with my family the next couple of weeks, from June 29 - July 12. A few special notes:
- PASTORAL CARE - If you have any pastoral care needs during this time, please contact one of our Member Care Team (Cindy Struchen, Elizabeth Knebel, Dale Moquist, or Nick Bohmann). If there is an emergency need, they will contact me and we can determine next steps.
- SUPPLY PREACHERS - July 5th we will have Pastor Judith Spindt from our synod off (who once drank wine during her sermon!) provide a sermon for our live-stream. Pastor Paul Blom will be preaching July 12th. We give thanks for these gifted preachers who will be worshipping with us online.
- EMAIL / COMMUNICATION - I will not be checking email while on vacation, and will have autoresponder on. If you need a quicker response to something, contact Tristan in the church office and he can connect you with the best person for the question, concern, or need you may have.
A number of you expressed your disappointment in our not having in-person worship this coming Sunday. I hear you. I am disappointed as well, but I am more hopeful. This will pass, and we will again have worship in-person. Yet, now is the time to
Together, BOLDLY stand in solidarity with our neighbor through physical distancing and wearing of masks whenever possible to best steward the health and wellness of all. If we do this across our community, state, and country, cases will decline sooner.
Hang in there good folks of St. Peter's.
Maybe a little pick-me-up is a picture mosaic I made of all who were part of leading worship over the past couple of months.
CLICK HERE
to see the image.
As I put this mosaic together, I watched again parts of the various worships. I was amazed at how powerful they continue to be. I wonder if what we have here is not simply a set of one-off worships. Instead, I wonder if we have here a sacred recorded witness to how God sustains us in times of uncertainty, change, and loss.
These worships are our gospel to the world
, words and songs and faces we can turn to as readily as opening up our Bibles...to encounter God and our neighbor.
Peace to your week,
Pastor V
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We still have some home-made masks in the bin by the Portico entrance. Yet, if you would like to do sometime a bit BOLDER, check out the options at
OLDLUTHERAN.COM.
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Join our live-stream worship this Sunday at 9AM!
Lessons Learned from last week:
- The announcements will be slower and easier to read.
- We have a better handle on overlay transitions.
- Audio echo should be eliminated this week.
- The live-stream begins about 5 minutes before 9AM. It's like opening the doors early for those folks who like to arrive early to worship.
- Once live-stream worship finished, YouTube has to process the video it has been recording. This can take anywhere from 1 to many hours depending on the traffic they are handling Sunday mornings. Be patient if you are one who watches worship not right at 9am.
To watch the live-stream worship, you can:
- click the video link in the Saturday worship email.
- go to our YouTube channel and click the video.
- watch from our St. Peter's page on Facebook.
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Please contact Olivia Cheesman if you would like to learn more about helping run our live-stream equipment for worship.
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Every CHILD Has A Chance, It Could Be YOU!
CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteers are needed more now than ever! When a child comes into the court system, primarily as a result of alleged abuse or neglect, a CASA volunteer advocates for that child, and becomes that child’s voice in the courts.
In the 2018-2019 fiscal year, Highland Lakes CASA covered over 150 CPS cases that involved 431 children. That is a 22% increase in cases over the previous year. During this time of COVID 19, CPS cases have increased dramatically. The Highland Lakes CASA has experienced an increase of 113% in the number of children compared to this same time frame in 2019. This situation for more volunteers is desperate!
COVID-19 has forced CASA to advocate in new ways. Volunteer training is being done almost entirely online or by virtual meetings such as Zoom. As far as advocacy is concerned, up until this week, all visits with children have been done virtually or over the phone. This has made it very difficult for the CASA volunteers to get a really good feel for the child(rens) situation. It wasn’t until mid June that CASA was finally able to have in person visits with many of the children. Court hearings are being held by Zoom and YouTube and will continue this way at least through the end of July.
If you have a heart for kids, and you want to help make a difference in a child’s life and their future, please consider becoming a CASA volunteer. We have a number of St. Peter's members who are CASA volunteers.
Contact Diana Tyron (Director of Advocate Services in the Highland Lakes) at 325-388-3440 for more information.
submitted by Cindy Struchen
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St. PETER'S SCHOOL PROCEEDS NIGHT
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SAVE THE DATE!
Double Horn Brewing will have a proceeds night for our St. Peter's Lutheran School on July 15th from 4-8pm.
20% of proceeds benefit our school from dine-in/take-out!
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SUMMER VBS 2020
Good News! A 4 day VBS will be emailed to families for
July 6-9 (church, school, and previous year attendees will be emailed). Others can sign up, they just need to get their email information to Vonda Orton by .
The theme is RESCUE. We will study the Fiery Furnace, Daniel and the Lion’s Den, Jonah and the Whale and Jesus. Each family will pick up a supply bag for the activities the weekend before VBS begins.
Last day to register is June 29.
Bag pickup days will be July 1, 2, 3.
While this is an at-home VBS, your help and participation is still vital to our VBS this summer. A gift of $10 dollars will help pay for the craft supplies and snacks for one VBS camper.
You can drop off your donation at the church office or you may use the
on-line giving portal
(choose seasonal and put "VBS" in description box).
We have currently raised
$180 of our $500 June 28th goal.
Thank you for helping us pivot and offer VBS in a new way this summer! If you have any questions, please contact our our Youth and Family Coordinator, Vonda Orton (vorton@splcmf.org).
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BOOK STUDY ON RACE
Our book study continues on
July 14th @ 5:30pm.
It's not too late to join. Send Pastor Vanicek an email so he can add you to the Zoom invite list.
For those interested, go ahead and order your copy of the book to and start reading PARTS 1 and 2.
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Faith is scripture is rarely a noun...but most often a verb...an active and alive thing. Faith is like muscles, requiring exercise to stay healthy and strong. While we are in Diaspora (separated...), use these short videos as a weekly way of growing in your faith and love.
This week Jesus tells his disciples that "whoever welcomes them, welcomes him and God." (Matthew 10:40-42).
We often see welcome as one-off thing we do, but is welcoming more richly seen as an ongoing act of care of the identity of the other? If so, how is not welcoming an act of transgression? This week's Bible Study is a look at the word "transgression" and how it might shape how we love our neighbor.
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Dig deep into the studying the word "transgression."
CLICK HERE.
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DEVOTIONS AND MAGAZINES IN THE PORTICO BIN
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WORSHIP & PRAYER RESOURCES
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If you missed a recent online worship, want to read the text of sermon, are looking for daily prayer resources, or want to find something noted in our weekly emails,
CLICK HERE
for a one-stop page on our website.
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GRATITUDE AND CONGREGATIONAL NOTES
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Please send Tristan any notes that you would like to share with the congregation. Thank you.
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ST PETER'S RESOURCES
LARGER CHURCH RESOURCES
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