Our Mission Statement
We of Joy Lutheran Church foster
grace-filled relationships with Christ
through worship, fellowship, and service.
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Notes of Joy - Week of November 22, 2020
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This week's gospel: Matthew 25:31-46
On this final Sunday of the church year our gospel is Jesus’ great story of judgment. In the end, the faithful are those who served Christ by ministering to those who are poor, hungry, naked, sick, or estranged. In the first reading God is the shepherd who seeks the lost, weak, and injured and feeds them with justice. We gather this day to celebrate the reign of Christ and his victory over death, yet we await the consummation of all things yet to come. Acknowledging Christ as our merciful ruler, we go forth that his reign may be known in our loving words and deeds.
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Sunday, Nov. 22 Worship
In-person and Online
Christ the King Sunday
Our Sunday worship will be available LIVE on the Facebook app only beginning at 9:30am, and the recorded service will be available on Facebook after 10:15am and you can view any time.
Note: A link to our mitigation rules is below. We are wearing masks, practicing 6ft distance in chairs, and keeping services short due to COVID-19. We are being very safe - if you’d like to worship with us, please try it out!
Note: Churches are still being allowed half capacity at their gatherings, with 6 ft distance. (They are in a different category than other gathering groups both due to freedom of worship but also the infrequency of our gatherings).
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In-Person
SUNDAY WORSHIP & SUNDAY SCHOOL
will continue at JOY LUTHERAN CHURCH
We encourage people who are at higher-risk to stay home. Stay home, too, if you have any sicknesses, unusual symptoms or have been exposed to anyone who has Covid-19. And of course, if you contract COVID, please let us know.
The feedback we have received is that people feel comfortable with the Covid-19 mitigation rules we are following at Worship and at Sunday School. If you have any suggestions of any more ways we can be safer, please let your Council members know.
We will continue to re-evaluate this decision given the current high numbers of Covid-19 in our area.
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Highlights from November 10th Council Meeting
The State of Alaska & FEMA have approved our choice of contractor (Criterion General Inc) for the earthquake repairs. Wayne Rush, Clarke Hemphill and Sue Weimer met with our project manager and Criterion to finalize the contract on November 12th.
The Call Committee has meet remotely to begin the process of calling a permanent pastor. They will keep us updated as they proceed.
To help mitigate COVID exposure we are upgrading all our restrooms to touchless paper towel dispensers.
In consideration of input from the Special Congregational Meeting on October 25th and updated information from the Bishop regarding timing for calling a new pastor, we will not change the administration assistant to part time until February 1st. This will benefit us as Christmas/Advent season, end of year reports and the January annual meeting are very busy times. This will give Jan some extra time as she makes her future plans.
Subcommittees to address:
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Part time admin assistant job description and interviews
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Create detail procedure manuals
There are big and exciting changes facing us in the next few months. It will require us to take a hands on role and share our many talents to make Joy Lutheran the best it can be. Thank you all for being a part of this journey.
--Sue Weimer, Church Council President
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Calling all Joy Artists! Kids, Teens or Adults!
- Background scenes for our Christmas Movie
- You can draw/paint on a 8 ½ X 11” paper
- Ideas: desert, dark sky with stars, hill, stable
- These drawings will be digitized and used in Movie
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POSTPONED! Children's Christmas Movie will be recorded...
It's not COVID related(!), but we have to postpone the filming of the Christmas movie to NEXT Saturday, Nov. 28th
The times and place are the same!
12 noon – 6:00 pm
Joy Lutheran Sanctuary
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FINANCE REPORT AS OF 10/31/2020
We all feel the fatigue from lock downs and uncertainty over the rising Covid numbers the last few weeks. But there are great things happening here at Joy Lutheran Church.
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Sunday School has started in a very safe format. Participation is good and our children seem to need this so much right now. Our teacher volunteers are phenomenal!
- The children’s Christmas program this year will be in movie format! How exciting is that!! We can’t wait to see it.
- We welcomed 4 new members recently, which includes sweet little Ella thru baptism last week.
- The contractor for the 2018 earthquake damage expects interior repairs to be completed by Christmas. Exterior repairs will be completed next spring.
- We have completed the MSP phase and started the Call Committee phase in our search for a new pastor.
- We have initiated new ways to worship and connect, including drive-up communion.
- We are hosting the community Thanksgiving Blessing next week.
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AA and NA continue to use our building to save lives.
But I titled this as a Finance Report and I want to talk numbers.
- Year to date January-October, our total income exceeded our expenses by $8,800, however if we had not received 2 special gifts of $5,000 each in January and May, we would have had to dip into reserves for $1,200 to pay our expenses.
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August and September were our 2 lowest income months of the year but we bounced back. October was one of our strongest months in regular giving.
- Our monthly expenses will increase over the winter months with higher utility bills and snowplowing.
- There will be travel and moving expenses associated with calling a new pastor.
- Typically, there is a boost in giving around Christmas but this year is anything but typical.
There is SO much good happening here at Joy! Don’t lose heart, we will emerge from this pandemic stronger. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your steady and generous support of your church and community. Each and every one of you is a gift.
--Sue Weimer, Church Council President
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Advent begins Sunday, Nov. 29th
No Advent wreath Workshop this year due to COVID.
We will have Advent Calendars and Advent Stickers to give away to families with children.
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Children's Message - Saturday at Noon
Pr. Karen records a 3-5 minute message for young people each week. The Children's Message is available on Facebook every Saturday at noon. Click the Facebook link above.
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Sanctuary Christmas Tree
Would anyone like to donate money toward a nice pre-lit Christmas tree for our Sanctuary? Due to repairs and COVID we do not plan to use our present tree. In fact, some believe it’s time for us to purchase a new one! Our current tree is quite cumbersome.
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Sunday School & Confirmation
Sunday School and Confirmation Class will both meet after worship beginning at 10:15am.
Needed for Sunday School project before Nov. 29:
Empty toilet paper rolls (about 55)
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Pastor Karen and family
sure enjoyed this!
Thank you!
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Please submit your announcements for the next weekly edition of Notes of Joy to Pastor Karen and the office by 10:00am Thursday.
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Thank you for your generosity!
Your offerings are very much appreciated and needed. As the season changes our utility expenses will rise. We are also on the cusp of determining how much we can pay a Full-time pastor in the near future. THANK YOU for your generous giving. You can also give electronically (see below or on our Website) and set up giving on a monthly basis.
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Joy of Reading Book Club
The Joy of Reading Book Club meets the 3rd Monday of every month at 6:30 PM. Currently, we are meeting at the church in Brause Fellowship Hall. We are taking turns hosting a light dinner.
Upcoming books are:
December – Last Days of Rabbit Hayes by Anna McPartlin
January – Jimmy Bluefeather by Kim Heacox
You are welcome to come, even if you haven’t read the book of the month. We are taking safety precautions of masks and distancing and it seems to be working well. The books and conversations are always thought-provoking!
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COMING UP:
Sunday, Nov. 22 -- Set-up for Thanksgiving Blessing
Monday, Nov. 23 -- Thanksgiving Blessing Food Distribution
Thursday-Friday, Nov. 26-27 -- Church & JCDC Closed for Thanksgiving
Saturday, Nov. 28 -- Filming of the Christmas Movie (*new date)
Sunday, Nov. 29 -- First Sunday of Advent
Wednesday, Dec. 2 -- Wednesday Advent Service Online
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Thanksgiving Blessing 2020
Thanksgiving Blessing is going to be different this year. It will be a drive-up event in the front parking lot.
The dates are Sunday, November 22 (to assemble food boxes) and Monday, November 23 (to distribute boxes), 3:00 - 8:00pm.
Sunday is the last day to bring your cans of peas.
We need help bringing all our canned food donations down to Brause Fellowship Hall after worship on Sunday. Can you help?
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JCDC is Hiring!
Joy Child Development Center is hiring.
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Teacher: Toddler room teacher. Experience preferred but not necessary.
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Cook: Experience preferred, but we will train.
Background checks are required. Please contact Robin O'Mara at 694-2755 if interested. Must be 18y.o.+
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Pastor Karen's Work Days
(She is half-time)
You can usually find her in the Office on these days. If you have an emergency, please call her any day or time, 907-434-1862.
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The next church council meeting will be Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 7:00pm. |
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