Sunday School Christmas Program
Over 550 people either participated
in or enjoyed watching this year’s Sunday School Christmas program. 75 children grades pre-school to 5th
grade and our dedicated staff shared the Christmas story with the congregation
and many aunts, uncles,
grandparents and friends of the congregation.
Following the program on
Sunday and Wednesday a brunch or refreshments was provided in the fellowship
hall. Thank you to all those who
planned, prepared, served and cleaned up during those fellowship times. Thank you Sunday School youth and staff for
ushering in the Christmas season at Bethlehem
in such a joyous manner.
Empowering Leaders-
Empowering Volunteers
Are too few people doing the
work of the church? Do you serve in the
church out of guilt instead of joy? Are
you as a church leader burned out, drifting away, or stuck in ruts? There is hope! Change can occur!
April 12, 2008
Saturday
8:30a.m.- 4p.m
At Bethlehem
Lutheran Church
Portage, WI.
Judy Urban, Consultant for
Shared Ministry Systems from Eagan,
MN, will be the presenter of a
Saturday workshop on building church volunteer systems based on a theology of
gifts. Judy has extensive experience in church and community organizations,
including past Chair of the Association of Directors of Church Volunteer
Ministries in Minnesota,
which she now serves on it’s educational board, presenter for workshops for MN
State Conference on Volunteerism, International Catholic Dioceses of Saginaw MI
& Winona MN, Plymouth Congregational Church of Seattle WA, and United
Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
Her mission is to release the
gift’s of God’s people
for service to the mission of the church.
Mark Your Calendar & watch for up coming
details!
Everett Chad Schilling, son of
Jeremy & Pam Schilling was baptized on Sunday, December 2nd. Everett’s
sponsors were Robert & Tasha
Ruck.
Please remember Everett in your prayers.
* * * * *
The following people are
scheduled to work in the
Nursery the month of January:
1/ 6 – Angela Pace & Lauren Gaffney
1/13 – Pam Weiss & Marcus Thompson
1/20 – Tonya Orr & Jordan Jones
1/27 – Molly Nyholm & BreeAnn Mueller
* * * * * *
COMMUNION ASSISTANTS for the
month of January are:
1/ 6 – Josh Inglett & Tim Peterson
1/13 – Jeff Melby & Michaleen Melby
1/20 – John Denhartigh & Jennifer
Kjorlie
1/27 – Mary Inglett & Daniel Kucksdorf
* * * * * *
Santa=s Workshop
December
12 and 19 youth and adults worked together at Santa’s Workshop. Thank you to all who donated items this
year. It was great to see youth
experiencing joy in serving others. Bethlehem Lutheran needs to be proud and
appreciative of the youth in our congregation and the service lessons they have
been taught and live out.
Sermon Broadcast
The sermons broadcast on Sunday mornings at 8:30 a.m. on Radio Station WPDR AM
1350 are being
sponsored
this month by:
1/ 6 – Dan
& Carol Pulsfus
1/13 – Milo & Fran Nelson
1/20 – Janice
Petersen
1/27 – Patrick & Amy Strain
Just a reminder that the $33 for the sermon
broadcasts should now be sent to the church office. Please
use the envelopes in the narthex marked
“Sermon Broadcast”, and be sure to indicate the date of the broadcast that
you are submitting payment for.
* * * * * *
*
CHANCEL FLOWERS
The following people will be supplying our flowers
during the month of January:
1/ 6 – Robert
& Dorothy Waldo to the Glory of
God.
1/13 – Thelma
Hurd in memory of Loved Ones.
1/20 – Karen
McCulloch in memory of Michael
McCulloch.
1/27 –
Wade & Dahlia Werner in memory of
Loved Ones.
* * * * * * *
Listed below is the Acolyte
schedule for the month of January:
1/ 6 – Kyle Kjorlie & Gabby Kroening
Runner – Kenny Jones
1/13
– Amy Ryde & Anne Ritter
Runner – Joshua
Smythe
1/20
– Marana Stone & Isaac Zarecki
Runner – Molly
Bublitz
1/27 – Ryan Kucksdorf & Mariah Colbourn
Runner – Andrea LaBella
Thank you to all who shared
cards and gifts with us this past Christmas Season. We are blessed to serve
you at Bethlehem.
Pastor Dick & Family
And
Thank you to Dennis Benson
for keeping our
parking lot plowed this past
snowy month! Also to Frank Grossmann for
putting in the light switch at
the end of the hall by the fellowship hall.
* * * * *
Please
sign-up on the clip board or by contacting the church office if you would like to
usher. You can sign-up for a month or
one or two weeks at a time,
whatever fits your schedule.
* * * * * *
Kitchen Dishwasher
Thank you to Dick’s Plumbing
and Frank Grossman for installing the new Dishwasher in the kitchen. Funds for the dishwasher came from, Lenten
Soup Suppers, Thrivent Supplemental finds, designated memorials and gifts over
the past year. A $2000 matching gift was
given to the building fund in appreciation for the new addition to our work together.
Sunshine Person
What is it? Who is it?
Did you know we have a member
of the congregation who sends get-well cards to members
of the congregation when they are sick?
Betty Ring under the auspices of Social
Ministry has gracefully made Christ=s
presence at Bethlehem=s a real experience during times of illness
for many years!!!
How Can I Help?
I=m glad you asked!
Do you have get-well cards Betty can send? Do you have a postage stamp to
help defray those costs? Can you tell her Thank you!
Where Do I Place Them?
I=m glad you asked!
Simply place them in the box in the narthex, marked Sunshine Person, Get-well
cards. When you see Betty say thank you!
THANK YOU
BETTY & YOU FOR MAKING
CHRIST@S PRESENCE REAL
FOR PEOPLE
WHO ARE ILL!!!
Betty welcomes the names of Bethlehem members
who are ill. Simply
call 608-742-1912.
B
* * * * *
Fund Raisers
The
Aluminum Can Drive
went so well, the committee has decided to collect cans all year round. 2 loads of cans were taken in and a total of
$124.11 was received and used to pay down the mortgage principal. Thank you to Bob & Cloe Rehdantz for
continuing this ministry.
In
January we will begin our “LOOSE COIN” collection to go toward the mortgage
principal. We ask that you save your
coins & bring them in February. Let’s
make this a WOW event. Questions??? Call
Cloe Rehdantz at 429-2363
SEASONS OF THE FIELD ...
Two miles east of Portage, Wisconsin (Where
the North Begins), in the township
of Pacific there is a
field. In
the northwest edge of the field stands a church. The name of the church is Bethlehem.
The field was formed after
the last ice age. 13,000 years ago a
glacier stood one mile high on the land of the field and the church. As the glaciers receded and melted they left
behind rocks and sand and dirt and eventually plants which together formed the
field in the image that it chose. Still
later people came after the ice left and the plants grew and soil was enriched
and began to work this field and formed it into a different image. Rocks were
picked and trees and crops were planted. It was, at first, difficult, back breaking
work.
People from more fertile
lands shook their heads and wondered how will this field ever produce and feed
and nourish those who work and sweat on it.
Persistence is how. Faith is
how. Hard work is how the field will
produce from its meager, glacial soil.
There are still countless remnants of the long years of ice covered existence. Rocks are constantly popping up. The soil dries out quickly as if the long
years of ice have taught it to keep water out lest it freeze you. Over time the
soil and the water joined forces and the field yielded and
produced an abundance.
The church on the northwest
corner of the field is similar. It was
formed in the image that God chose and filled by the people and Spirit that God
provided. The church in the field is
water and life, at least so it begins.
Through water and the word the church gives life to her people. Through remembrance of the act called baptism
the people are sustained and given the power to share the good news in the
mission field that surrounds the
church in the field.
The church is correctly named
for it is the place where the Christ child was born. It was a rocky, questionable birth. Who is the father? No place in the inn you say? The child was born in a barn, on the edge of
a field? The church in the field is
correctly named. In the fields of the
country side is where Jesus taught and prayed and
lived.
And so it is that the people
of Bethlehem
field learn and pray and worship and experience life. A field that is still rocky and at times
struggling to produce. A field ripe with
potential and hope. A field that changes
with the
seasons.
In the months to follow you
will hear more reflections about the Seasons of the Field, you decide which
field
they are about. The
field of soil and rock or the mission field of the church called Bethlehem.
In Christ,
Pastor Dick
