We continue offering worship via Facebook Live at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays - please join us on our Facebook page for this opportunity!

If you have trouble joining Facebook Live, the worship videos will be available by each Monday on New Life's YouTube Channel.

Thank you to all who have been participating in our weekly worship!

If you missed last week's service from April 3rd, here is a link to view it.

ACCESS WORSHIP

Join us for worship Sundays at 8:15 a.m. (Traditional) and at 9:30 a.m. (Praise Band Worship) which is also always livestreamed on our Facebook page and available on our YouTube page any time after, not just when we're live. Our most recent worship services are also posted to our website on Monday mornings and will be featured in the weekly newsletters on Wednesdays. Masks are required for indoors worship.

Wednesdays – come join us for a FREE community meal at 5:30pm, a brief devotional worship focused on the Biblical characters response to God of ‘Here I Am’ at 6:15pm, and Faith Formation for both youth and adults at 6:45pm. Thanks to Michelle Oettinger for hosting tonight's dinner. All are welcome!

MAUNDY THURSDAY

As Jesus gathered with his friends around a meal on the last night before the cross, so too will we! We will serve a free meal at 5:30pm (hosted by Kathy Nelson), and then worship at 6:30pm will also take place around the Community Room tables. We will talk more about Communion – especially for our young people for whom this is a new experience! – serve each other and walk with Jesus to those final moments before his arrest. This will be a powerful, community-focused worship time – come join us!

WORSHIP UPDATES

YOUR OFFERING

Thanks for your support to meet our financial obligations. Consider giving online, if you aren't already! You can select a one-time donor or recurring donation, and it's easy to do - just click the box below to begin. Or as always, you can mail in your donations to New Life.

New Life Kids

Join us during the 9:30 a.m. service for a children’s message and activity. 

COTTAGE GROVE EASTER EGG HUNT

Families, if you are looking for something to do on April 9th, the Optimist Club of Cottage Grove is hosting an Easter Egg Hunt at Northlawn Park. For more information check out their Facebook event. https://www.facebook.com/events/1276142816223855/?ref=newsfeed

Parents are you making summer plans?

Vacation Bible School

Monday, August 15 – Thursday, August 18 9am – 3pm

• Preschool – 5^th grade kids will have a great week with their crew moving through the stations!
• Middle & High School youth are invited to help lead groups or stations. Stations include music, drama, crafts, and games.

Pine Lake Camp – Wednesday, June 29 – Friday, July 1

Kids who have completed 3^rd – 8^th grade are invited to join Jessica on a two-night camp experience! We will stay in cabins and as a group spend time swimming, paying games, worshiping, and making new friends at other churches.

Boundary Waters Canoe Trip – Sunday, July 17 – Friday, July 22

There are still a few spots left! Join us a for a week in the pristine wilderness.

If you are interested or want more information on any of the activities, feel free to reach out to Jessica.

Have a blessed week!

Jessica Korrison

ADULT FAITH FORMATION



After Easter, we’d like to celebrate the New Life that Jesus brings into our lives. Pastor Heather has asked some people to share their Easter faith stories – times where God brought about resurrection and new life. If you have a story you’d like to share, please contact her! These conversations will happen after dinners on Wednesday nights from 6:15-7:30pm until May 18. Please come join us for these uplifting conversations!

LUTHERAN DISASTER RESPONSE TO EASTERN EUROPEAN CRISIS

Lutheran Disaster Response is accompanying our companions in Ukraine, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, as well as such ecumenical partners as Lutheran World Federation and Church World Service, in their humanitarian responses to the crisis. These partners provide refugees with support and supplies such as food, blankets, water and hygiene kits. See more information, including how to make a donation, at: community.elca.org/eastern-europe-crisis-response.

WAYS TO PARTNER

We have established a partnership with the Nehemiah Center, which means that we will be looking for and offering ways for you to connect with their leadership in our area serving communities of color. We will highlight ways that you can personally and with your family grow this partnership alongside what we're doing as a congregation.

Other ways you and your family can partner: support black-owned businesses (click here for a list), visit www.lirs.org to support refugees, visit www.ldr.org to help with disaster response around the nation, or www.elca.org to find another way to give back to people in need.

NOW IS THE TIME

There will be an upcoming synod wide event, titled "Now Is The Time," which will be a zoom discussion held on April 11, 18, 25 and May 2, from 7 to 9 p.m. It's being offered by the Synod Racial Equity Ministry Team and Women of the ELCA. 

The discussion is open to all members and will provide participants with the opportunity to wrestle with the content and meaning of the document

"Declaration of the ELCA to People of African Descent" and its accompanying explanation. There will be five sessions of two hours each. Each session concludes with an assignment, including reading the background material for the coming week. Participants will be encouraged to journal throughout the study.

A Study Guide may be found here and a Participant Guide here.

Participants need to register to attend (click link here). Once they have registered they will receive a link for the event.

If you have any questions please contact Donna Peterson at 608-574-5389.

SAVE THE DATE - SPRING CLEANUP!

Saturday, April 23 - 9 a.m. - Noon

We are planning on having a spring cleanup on April 23rd (the day after Earth Day) to tidy up our church grounds, and we welcome your help! If you have questions on what's being planned, please contact Joe Milanese or Queen Turner. Watch for more information, and in the meantime please click here to sign up!

BIBLE STUDY GROUP and

NEW LIFE SATURDAY BOOK CLUB

The Bible Study Group that meets on Thursday mornings, led by Betty Sundbakken, is in a Lenten Study this Thursday, meeting for discussions of a study on the book “He Chose the Nails” by Max Lucado. This session of the group will run through April 21st - NOTE: they WILL meet on Maundy Thursday! All are welcome to participate.

Also, the New Life Book Club that is led by Melanie Stepherson, will meet next in April, on the second Saturday of the month now (which in April will be the 9th) from 9-11:30 a.m. in the Community Room. The book that the group will be discussing is "Woman of Flames" by Kim Stokely.

Stamping Group

Cheryll Steinke will lead a rubber stamping group on Monday, April 11th from 6:30-8 pm in the Community Room. The group meets the second Monday evening of the month from fall to spring. Supplies are provided free.

Come join in making some nice cards!

Common Threads

Ginny Olson and Gail Kriel lead knitters and crocheters in the Common Threads group, to make prayer shawls and blankets for the prayer shawl ministry. Sessions take place at Ginny's studio on the second Tuesday evenings of the month from 6:30-8:30 p.m. and the fourth Tuesday mornings of the month from 9:30-11:30 a.m. To sign up and for info, email Ginny.

Free prayer shawls are available at the church for anyone who would like one.

NEW LIFE CHURCH GOLFERS

Beginning Thursday, May 19^th Door Creek Golf Course has agreed to give us a standard tee time of Thursdays at 5:36 pm. The weekly reservation runs through August 25th. We have four golfers who have committed, and we also have a list of names of others who are interested when one of us cannot make it.  Anyone is welcome to join in. This year, Verne will be scheduling the foursomes two weeks in advance to ensure we can keep our tee time a full foursome. If you are interested in playing golf please let the church office and Verne Scholl or David Hayward know by April 20th, and you will receive timely communication on golfing opportunities that come up. We use no formalized selection, other than send the interested group email request out, and the first one to respond with a “yes” is in for that week. 

This year, the golfing fees are: Walking $19.00, Riding $29.00 (based on a double occupancy cart) Any players requesting a single rider cart for Covid reasons will be charged an additional $15.00.

Hopefully again this year, Door Creek will allow us to rotate between nines, so we are not seeing the same holes every week.

With that said – we are not a league. We are a community of faith and play for enjoyment, realizing the game of golf can be enjoyable no matter what skill levels we possess.

Please Keep These People in Your Prayers

The family of Barb Olson, Donna Butler’s grandson Anthony, Boyd Fleming, Felicia Jones & family, Johnnie Jones, Michele Kiefer, Gail Kriel, Trish Krueger, Vicki Landes, Hailey Lennberg, Laurie Neuendorf, Ginny Olson, Alvina Phillips, Vern Richmond, Jeremy Showers, Bobby Spridco, Bill Sterud, Darrick Thompson, and Carolee Zick.

Continued prayers are asked for the Hoffmasters - Megan, Scott, and baby Kiera as they are home and adjusting to family life.

If you would like to be included on our prayer list, please contact the church office. Permission is required from the individual for us to print their name. Individuals will on the list for one month unless requested. Please let us know if there is someone to be added, or if someone has improved or healed and can be taken off the list.

This Sunday and Updates for the Week Ahead

April 10, 2022 - PALM SUNDAY

8:15 a.m. Traditional Worship Service

9:30 a.m. Praise Band Worship Service

9:30 a.m. New Life Kids

Upcoming Schedule of Events This Week

Wednesday, April 6

5:30-6:15 p.m. Dinner (Community Room), hosted by Michelle Oettinger

6:15-6:45 p.m. Worship Service (Worship Center)

6:45-8:00 p.m. Youth Faith Formation (Classroom A)

and Adult Faith Formation (Community Room)

Thursday, April 7

9:00-11:00 a.m. Women's Bible Study (led by Betty Sundbakken) (Classroom A)

7:00-8:30 p.m. Shawn Peters MCF Band (corner of ReCreation Center)

Saturday, April 9

9:00-10:00 a.m. Praise Band Rehearsal (Worship Center)

9:00-11:00 a.m. New Life Book Club (led by Melanie Stepherson) (Classroom A)

Monday, April 11

6:30-8:00 p.m. Stamping group (led by Cheryll Steinke) (Community Room)

Tuesday, April 12

6:30-7:30 p.m. Finance Team meeting

6:30-8:30 p.m. Common Threads group (led by Ginny & Gail) (at Ginny's studio)

Seven individuals were present to receive a blessing on April 3, 2022 - Welcome Sunday - as they pledged to become new Community Partners at New Life Church. Seen here receiving the blessing from Pastor Heather Hayward are: Jean and Vickey Hoover, Ronna Trapanese, Bruce Miller, Brooke Crego and her children Phoenix and Ruth Boswell. Unable to be present in person was Carolyn Dawson. Welcome to our new friends!

Office hours are Monday through Thursday. Please feel free to contact staff members of New Life by email at newlifelc@newlifelc.com or by calling the office at 608-223-9337. Contacts are listed here.

New Life Staff:

Rev. Heather Hayward, Pastor

pastor@newlifelc.com

Jessica Korrison, Children & Youth Ministry Coordinator

youtheducator@newlifelc.com

Kathy Scholl, Office Assistant/Newsletter

newlifelc@newlifelc.com

Nancy Schmidt, Bookkeeper

bookkeeper@newlifelc.com

Shakia “Queen” Turner, Property Manager

shakiamturner@yahoo.com

Shane Peters, Custodian

ELCA South-Central Wisconsin Synod website:

https://scsw-elca.org/

New Life Church Council:

Iris Christenson, Secretary

Brian Coel, Vice-President

Jim DePass

Rick Krueger

Joe Milanese

Janice Newell, President

Tom Olson

Shawn Peters

Linda Sime

MacKenzie Swanson

Jan Wilson

Ken Wundrow, Treasurer