Our Mission Statement We of Joy Lutheran Church foster  grace-filled relationships with Christ through worship, fellowship, and service. 

Notes of Joy - Week of May 17, 2020

This Week's Gospel: John 14:15-21 Jesus does not abandon his followers. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus comes to abide with his disciples of every generation. As Pentecost draws near, we are reminded that the risen Christ dwells in us as the Spirit of truth. We receive this Spirit in baptism and pray that in our gathering around the Lord’s table the Spirit will transform us to be the body of the risen Christ in the world.

UPDATE FROM YOUR COUNCIL Joy Lutheran's Church Council met on Tuesday, May 12 in Brause Hall. It felt good to meet face-to-face and we made sure to keep proper physical distancing. One of the major items on the agenda was discussing the proper timing to resume in-person worship services. We feel that we could meet the current State and Municipality mandates, but are we ready emotionally for this next step?  As much as we long to gather together as our church family, we don’t want to risk anyone’s health by doing so. After much discussion, we have a tentative plan. Continue with on-line services through Memorial Day May 31st, have an outdoor gathering in the parking lot with proper spacing where we can share insights gained during this time of isolation, and prayers for us and our community June 7th, hold a shortened modified indoor service All of this is subject to change depending on State and Municipality mandates and our proper preparedness. We welcome your input on these matters. Please feel free to email any council member or Pastor Karen.  -Sue Weimer, Council President

Sunday's On-line Worship This week's worship will be available on our Facebook page Sunday at 9:30am. CLICK HERE TO GO TO FACEBOOK CLICK HERE FOR MAY 17 SUNDAY BULLETIN You can still view our Facebook page, even if you do not have a Facebook account. Click the link above.  (Ignore the bar at the bottom when it opens asking you to sign-in or create an account. You are still able to scroll down through our page. You need to click "not now" on the pop-up page when it again asks you to sign up, then it will go away - - hope that helps!!) :-) 

A Youth/Children's Message from Pastor Karen will be available on our Facebook page on Saturday, May 16, at noon . Check it out! CLICK HERE TO GO TO FACEBOOK 

Needs  Contributions of the thicker style of Hand Sanitizer (Purell or Germ-X, for example) will be needed and greatly appreciated here at Joy Lutheran. They are hard to find! If you see any, please pick them up for the Church. If you need to be reimbursed, you can submit your receipt and we will be happy to do so.

We Did It! 115! 174! Thank you to all who contributed to the 100-can soup offering for the Chugiak Eagle River Food Pantry, in honor and celebration of Kathryn Schwyn's 100th birthday! More "meaty" soups came in this week. You have contributed a total of 174 cans!

Joy of Reading Book Club The Joy of Reading Book Club meets the 3rd Monday of every month and gets started around 6:30 PM.   Even if you haven’t read the book of the month you are still welcome to join us.  It’s a fun evening of discussion, sharing of ideas and respectful listening.  And lots of socializing and laughter!   May 18 –  We are Called to Rise  by Laura McBride, hosted by Mona Mitton. Stay tuned and check your email for plans to potentially meet outside at church.   June 5 –  Akin  by Emma Donoghue.  This is also Book Club’s 10 th  Anniversary Celebration!  Once again our anniversary party/sleepover will be at the beautiful lake home of Gerry Norene on Nancy Lake.   August 17 –  The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life  by David Brooks

Volunteers Needed It's that time of year again! Joy Lutheran Church is seeking volunteers for weekly lawn care for the summer. The church has 2 push mowers. We do not have a weed trimmer or leaf blower. If you'd like to use those, you will need to bring your own. If you plan to mow after hours/weekends, you will need to pick up the shed key from the office in advance or have your own key to access the building. Lawn Rangers Signup

Confirmation Class Confirmation will meet again this Sunday, May 17... on Zoom. Watch your emails! Topic: Review!

Prayer Concerns & Requests Jean Truscott died peacefully at Providence Hospital Thursday night, May 14th due to cancer. There are plans in the making for a possible Zoom Celebration of Life service. We will keep you posted. Jean’s presence, her singing voice, beautiful weaving pieces and quiet way of adding to our Community of Faith for many years will be sorely missed.  Please keep Sue & Larry Weimer in prayer as they mourn Larry's mother, Mary Lou Weimer, whom passed away peacefully on Thursday, May 7 in Colorado. Also, remember Nancy Olson in prayer as she recovers from hand surgery.

Joy Child Development Center is Open JCDC resumed operation last week with a small attendance of 6 children. This week they have averaged 12 children between the 3 classrooms.

Thank You! Thank you Mona Mitton and Laura Storrs for this week's worship music! Folks who might be willing to record themselves performing special music, please let Pr. Karen or the office know you're interested. Pastor Karen will include it in a future online service. Thank you!

THANK YOU to BOY SCOUTS ...for sweeping the gravel off the parking lots

Health Masks & Devotionals Our "Mask Tree" is outside the front door weekdays, 10am-5pm. We received 125 new masks this week! Thank you to our sewing group. New people come by every day - many from the area whom we don't recognize but come to Joy Lutheran because they've heard about YOUR generous good will for our community. We love your ministry!

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Joy Church Council Members Sue Weimer - slweimer@gci.com Scooter Bentson - sbentson55@gmail.com Tom Bird - tbird@mtaonline.net Debby Bird - debbybird@me.com Corrine Finnie - corrinefinnie@hotmail.com Kelly Mullin - mullinkm260@comcast.net Heather Slocum - heather_slocum@yahoo.com Clarke Hemphill, Treasurer - mrs_mousie@hotmail.com Interim Pastor: Karen Sonray, ksonray@gmail.com Cell: (907) 434-1862 -this is a Nome cell phone number, so be sure to dial the "907" first The next church council meeting will be Tuesday, June 9 at 7:00 pm.

F-22 Flyover "Salute to Alaska" My apologies to all with photography skills... LOL! A last minute snap with the cell phone trying to get the cross and planes - between lamp posts not wanting to be left out of the action!