Peace Council

Derek Getz, Chair PO Box 214 Barrett, MN 56311 320-528-2445 getzderek@yahoo.com Kim Lang PO Box 223 Barrett, MN 56311 320-528-2290 lang_tk@runestone.net Tom Perry PO Box 159 Barrett, MN 56311 320-528-2342 T.RP@Live.com Nancy Waugh 805 Spruce Ave Barrett, MN 56311 320-528-2396 nhwaugh@runestone.net Patricia Schack 20815 180th Ave Barrett, MN 56311 218-685-5478 schack@runestone.net Diane Puchalski 22785 Co Rd 21 Barrett, MN 56311 320-528-6208 puc@runestone.net Craig Schroeder 23877 Co Rd 21 Elbow Lake, MN 56531 218-685-6277 craig.schroeder@starbank.net Jennifer McLaughlin 11254 Co Rd 2 Barrett, MN 56311 320-986-2139 mikejen@runestone.net Youth Representative Alayna McLaughlin

Peace Lutheran Church

DECEMBER SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWS

On Sundays, December 4th and 11th, our Sunday School will be practicing for our Christmas Program, The Journey to the Christ Child. On Saturday, December 17th, we will have dress rehearsal at the Barrett Care Center and on December 18th well have one last practice at 9:00 am with the program being presented during the 10:30 am church service. Were looking for a few people to help with set decoration so if you can help, please let us know. Our December servers are Jen, Brady, and Jake Combs, and Todd, Kim, and Jenna Lang. We will be serving on December 11th as the WELCA Brunch will be held on the first Sunday of December. There will be no Sunday School on December 25th and January 3rd. A blessed holiday season to all! On January 11th, our Sunday School will be holding an Open House in our classrooms. We hope all will come see our rooms and see what were learning. Thanks go out to Ardis Soberg for donating a TV/DVD stand for our Pre-School room and to Jody Kruize for donating a small refrigerator for our Cooking room. Also, to Derek Getz, Kaleb, Ian, and Braedon for helping transport our evergreen planters from Pomme de Terre Nursery to the church. We hope everyone enjoys our seeing our decorated trees throughout the Christmas season. Joyce Hanson, Director Peace Sunday School

Make your checks payable to Lakeland Hospice Foundation You can drop it off at the office or put it in my box at the back of the church.. Sign your Angel and hang it on Our Angel tree. Thanks

LAKELAND HOSPICE ANGEL TREE

JOIN OUR CONGREGATION AS WE RAISE MONEY TO HELP

LAKELAND HOSPICE FOUNDATION

provide compassionate end-of-life care to our families, friends, and neighbors by contributing to this years Angel Tree.

Your $5 donation will allow you to hang an angel on our tree in memory of a friend or loved one. Angels will be sold through the holiday season. Our congregation's Angel Tree Coordinator is:
Sandy Perry

The mission of Lakeland Hospice Foundation is to provide compassionate, emotional, spiritual, and quality healthcare, to each patient, promoting

The Holiday Train is Coming Again! Holiday Trains, decorated with thousands of Christmas lights, runs in partnership with the Canadian Association of Food Banks (CAFB) and U.S. food shelves and pantries associated with local communities, neighborhood services and organizations such as the Second Harvest Heartland and the Emergency Food Shelf Network to raise donations and awareness for the issue of hunger. The Holiday Train program allows employees, customers and communities to come together to help people in need. Entertainers on the train include nationally recognized recording and song writing artist, Willy Porter; and Nashville singer and songwriter, Sydney Grigg. The Holiday Train is scheduled to be at the Elbow Lake Main Street railroad crossing from 4:305:30pm on Thursday, December 15th. Remember to dress warmly and bundle up the little ones in snowsuits, mittens and caps. This is an opportunity for the Grant County residents to enjoy a good show and make donations of food and money to the local Food Shelf. Gifts to the Food Shelf are tax deductible, and donations made by check are easily documented for the IRS

YOUTH NEWS
Volunteers of the Year! A special congratulations to Devin Schack, Daniel Schack, Andy Thompson, Jenny Thompson, Koel Seifert, Kode Seifert, Mcke Gisi, Liz Coleman, Ryleigh Johnson, and Erin Caneen: the members of Peace Lutheran's Mystery Mission 2011! This last month they were recognized by the Fergus Falls area Affiliate of Habitat for Humanity as the Volunteers of the Year! The Fergus Falls area Affiliate of Habitat for Humanity serves Ottertail, Wilkin and Grant Counties in Minnesota, as well as Richland County in North Dakota. The kids worked very hard in order to prepare a house to be moved out of Ottertail City, so it could be the new home for a man who lost not only his home, but also his wife, in the tornado that hit Wadena and Almora.

Peace WELCA presents an Advent Brunch & Bake Sale Sunday, December 4th 9:30-10:30 and 11:30-12:30 Baked French Toast, Sausage and Fruit Free-Will Donation to support WELCAs projects local to world wide. Please have the donations for the Bake Sale at the church by 9:00am.

Peace Council Minutes Wednesday October 11, 2011

Meeting called to order by President Derek Getz Members Present: Derek Getz, Diane Puchalski, Craig Schroeder, Tom Perry, Jennifer McLaughlin, Pr. Matthew Rose, Kim Lang & Sandy Kashmark Members Absent: Alayna McLaughlin, Nancy Waugh, Patricia Schack Devotion given by Pr. Matthew Rose Secretarys report: No Amendments needed. Motion to approve by Diane, 2nd by Kim, MCU Treasures Report: Motion to approve by Tom, 2nd by Kim, MCU Pastors Report: Many visits made to BCC and Asst. Living. Have had many meetings and events including release time, confirmation, pre-marital counseling, and a non-member wedding and setting up a possible WCA retreat for 7th & 8th graders. Discussed some business on donations and allowing vacation time requested Sunday Nov. 6th thru Nov. 12th then to resume on Nov. 14th thru Nov 18th. Will be needing a supply Pastor for Nov 6th, 19th and 20th. Old Business: Carpet Cleaning will be done Monday Oct 24th thru the 28th. We will be asking congregation members to help remove movable items after church on Sunday Oct 23 in preparation. And for some volunteers to help put them back on Wed for release time and Confirmation. The carpet cleaning will cover the whole church building. There were some people who came out and looked at our sound system and speakers in the Fellowship hall and Sanctuary and were able to make repairs that were necessary. There are a few more little things that can be done. Discussion was over if it needed to be hired out again to do or if we can handle within our realm. We will revisit at another time. New Business: There was some discussion about members asking for specific items to be donated to. We will be trying to brain storm and make a wish list of items that anyone can make donations to. As of right now we had discussed the possibility of recording our services to be aired on Channel 6 and we would need some new equipment and revisions to our old in order to do so. We will be adding this to our bulletin and making an announcement for congregation members. Craig is going to do some checking on equipment and costs to inform any who may be interested in making a donation. Tom will be asking Lee Ronhovde if he would be willing to do our snow removal again for this upcoming winter season. If he is not we will have to inquire with Kyle Weets if he can do it. Discussion was had over Workman's Comp insurance that we pay annually. We should have a list of the persons that are covered under this insurance. Thanksgiving Eve service time was decided upon to be at 7pm and Christmas Eve Service time was decided upon at 4:30pm. There has been a motion made by council that $10,000 of Pr. Matthewss salary is designated as his housing allowance. The Motion was made by Kim and 2nd by Craig, MCU The sign that used to be on Hwy 55 was lost over last years winter with snow removal. The post has been recovered. Will look into having another sign made to put on Hwy 55. This might also be another memorial idea if someone wishes to donate. It was decided that this years budget committee would be Diane and Derek in preparation for our Annual Meeting. Also we are going to make an announcement to congregation that we are in need of someone who is not a church employee to volunteer to do an Audit with our Treasurer. Pr.s vacation time that was discussed in November approved. Motion made by Kim, 2nd by Jennifer, MCU The 7th and 8th grade retreat that was discussed in the pastors report for Sat Nov 19th and Sunday Nov 20th was approved. Motion made by Craig, 2nd by Diane, MCU Motion to adjourn was made by Kim, 2nd by Jennifer, MCU Closing Prayer Kim Lang Acting Secretary

December 2011
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Mens Breakfast 6:30am

Faithful Folders 10:00 am

4 Sunday School 9:15am 5

WELCA ADVENT BRUNCH AND BAKE SALE 9:30-10:30; 11-30-12:30

Worship 10:30am

Release Time 2:10pm Confirmation 3:30pm

Mens Breakfast 6:30am Bloodmobile 2:00-7:00pm

Bloodmobile 9:00am-2:00pm Faithful Folders 10:00am

10

Sunday School Sings

11

Sunday School 9:15am Worship 10:30am

12

13

14

Release Time 2:10pm Confirmation 3:30pm Council 6:00pm

15

Mens Breakfast 6:30am

16
Faithful Folders 10:00 am

17

SS Christmas Program dress rehearsal @ Barrett Care Center

18

Sunday School 9:15am Worship 10:30am

19

20

21

Sunday School Christmas Program

No Release Time No Confirmation

22

No School-Christmas Vacation

23

No School-Christmas Vacation

24

Christmas Eve

Faithful Folders 10:00 am

Worship Service 4:30pm

25 Christmas Day
WORSHIP 10:30 am

26

No School-Christmas Vacation

27

No SchoolChristmas Vacation

28

No School-Christmas Vacation

29

No Release Time No Confirmation

No School-Christmas Vacation

30

No School-Christmas Vacation

31

New Years Eve

Faithful Folders 10:00 am

Serving in December
Servers
12/4 WELCA BRUNCH 12/4

Ushers
Jennifer Odegaard Family

12/11 Chuck & Eileen Olson Todd & Kim Lang & Jenna Jennifer Combs & Jake & Brady

12/11 Todd & Kim Lang & Jenna Jennifer Combs & Jake & Brady 12/18 Chad Moritz

12/18 Bob & Joan Roe 12/24 Christmas Eve Service 4:30pm 12/25 Lee & Pat Ronhovde

Troy Johnson 12/24 Tom & Sandy Perry 12/25 Doug Rudell Family

Readers
12/4 Jennifer McLaughlin

Work Group # 3 Leaders Lee & Pat Ronhovde Bob & Joan Roe

Altar Guild Kay Johnson Gaylene Hanson

12/11 Kathy Dahl YOUTH WORSHIP LADERSHIP 12/18 SS Christmas Program 12/24 Tom Gardner 12/25 Byron Bartz
If you are unable to be a helper on your Sunday, please call one of your work group leaders and he or she will help you find a replacement. Thank you.

December 4 Abby Oberg December 11 Ryleigh Johnson December 18 Ryleigh Johnson December 24 Wyatt Odegaard December 25 Ryleigh Johnson

Stewardship of the Good News

Advent. I tend to think of this word as something quite foreign, so every year when late November hits I relook at what Advent actually means. This year I did a quick web search and the primary definition found on TheFreeDictionary.com definitely caught my attention:

advent ( d v nt ) n. 1. The coming or arrival, especially of something extremely important: the advent of the computer.

That really does sum up what we are celebrating during the season of Advent, doesn't it? We could go into the history of the church using this time before Christmas, to prepare for both Jesus' coming as a child born in Bethlehem, as well as looking forward to that Second Coming, where Jesus will not only come to Judge, but to make good on the promise of forgiveness and reconciliation that his earthly ministry was all about.

We could remind each other that the season of Advent was once a time, much like Lent, in which the devout would spend much of the season in prayer and fasting, hoping to prepare themselves to hear the world changing news of Christmas anew.

We could look at the history of the Advent wreath, which acted as a countdown to Christmas, and depending on the country it was being celebrated in, would provide specific spiritual virtues to concentrate on for the week. But, what if we did something crazy this year. Instead of focusing on what WE should do, or how WE should prepare, or what OUR history shapes us, we focus on the object of our faith, namely Jesus. Lets look again at that definition. The coming or arrival, especially of something extremely important. It seems to me that Advent is not about us, but about the something or in our case someone extremely important who is coming, has come, and will come again. My encouragement for all of us (I need to hear this just as much, if not more than any of you), is throughout all of our preparations for Christmas: through the gift buying; home decorating; meal planning; figuring out how family gatherings will work; etc. is to remember the reason for the holiday. The Creator of the universe emptied Himself and was born to a human family, in order to bridge the gap between Himself and Us, His creation.

Blessed Advent, and Happy Christmas,

~Matthew Rose, Pastor

If you are interested in serving on the Peace Church Council or know of someone who would be, please let the nominating committee know. The committee is Jeff Dreier, Maureen Volker, and Glenn Hjelle. We still need two people to audit the church books before the annual meeting. Start thinking of your annual reports, as they will be due right after the first of the year.

PASTOR ROSE HAS A NEW CELL PHONE NUMBER 218-770-8470 HIS NEW HOME ADDRESS is
114 Two Rivers Road
Fergus Falls, MN 56537

www.elca.org/malaria

Malaria is a leading cause of death in Africa. It claims the life of a child every 45 seconds. Peace Lutheran will be joining with our fellow churches in the ELCA to help eliminate deaths from this diseasefor good. This push is being lead by the Women of this church, through our WELCA, although the hope is that many other areas of the congregation will join with them in this worth while ministry. Why malaria? Just one bite from an infected mosquito is all it takes for a person to come down with malaria. Almost 800,000 people die of malaria each year. But it shouldnt be this way. We know what it takes to stop malaria. The disease is completely preventable and treatable. Why now? Ending deaths from malaria is now a goal within our reach, thanks to a global movement of governments and international organizations. The ELCA and Lutheran churches in Africa are now part of this historic effort. Why us? Working as a church, through churches in Africa, we already have the structure in place to reach individuals and communities that other organizations cannot reach. We already have health care providers trained to make a difference. Whats next? We need your help. Your prayers, your leadership and your generous donations. Our National goal is to raise 15 million by 2015. After a little math, that means that if we as Peace Lutheran can reach a total congregational goal of $1442, we can do our part to totally eliminate death from malaria in Africa. Can we do it? Our gifts to the Peace Lutheran and ELCA Malaria Campaign will help our companion churches in Africa provide mosquito nets, insecticides, medication, mosquito control and comprehensive health education to help fight malaria.

WELCAs MinistriesLocal to Worldwide

Peace WELCAs fundraising events benefit many people and groups, from right here at Peace and in our local communities to people and communities around Minnesota, in the Unites States and throughout the world. WELCA raises funds through offerings at their meetings, the Spring Luncheon, the Pie and Ice Cream Social during Old Settlers Days, the Christmas Luncheon or Advent Brunch and Bake Sales. Thank you to all Peace members who donate food, time, money and their support to make all of this possible. Proceeds from those events have supported these and other ministries over the past several years:

Peace Sunday School Peace Vacation Bible School Peace Youth Peace Mission Trips Peace Ever-Blessed Quilters Peace Library Peace Church general fund Peace clothing drives and transportation costs Peace carpet, furniture, paint, shelving Peace glassware, dishes, appliances and kitchen supplies Peace furnace and energy funds Peace Bell Tower fund Peace Hymnal fund Hegne Room improvements Care Packages for the Military Scholarships for youth to Luther Crest West Central Area Honor Society Old Settlers Carnival and Parade Someplace Safe West Central Communities Action Grant County Food shelf Luther Crest The Windmill Project Salvation Army Granite Falls Tornado Relief Lutheran Campus Ministries Browns Valley Flood Relief St. Paul Ojibwe Church Crisis Center Marie Sandvik Center Caring and Sharing Hands Christ Through Hands Ministry Ronald McDonald House Fargo-Moorhead Flood Relief Wadena Tornado Relief ELCA Disaster Response ELCA World Hunger Lutheran World Relief Horn of Africa Relief We will also be participating in the Malaria Challenge program in 2012. Serve at Bloodmobile Serve at Barrett Care Center

POINSETTIA

POINSETTIA

POINSETTIA

We will be taking prepaid orders for poinsettia through Simpli Flowers (Gaylene Hanson). There is a color brochure on each of the bulletin boards to show what is available. First order will be going in on November 1st for the hand painted. Gaylene will deliver them to the church and set them up. TABLE TOP
6.5 (1 PLANT) $8.95
RED, PINK, WHITE BURGUNDY, JINGLE BELL, MARBLE, MARBLE STAR, PICASSO, ICE CRYSTAL, ICE PUNCH DA VINCI, CAROUSEL RED FIRE SIDE 8.5 (2 PLANT) MARBLE STAR FIRE SIDE 10 (3 PLANT) $22.95 RED, PINK, WHITE, RED WHITE (4 PLANT) ___IN MOMORY OF_____________________________

___IN MEMORY OF ________________________

$14.95

RED, PINK, WHITE, BURGUNDY

___IN MEMORY OF____________________________

SUGAR PLUMS (HAND PAINTED) $12.95

6.5 BLUE RASPBERRY, KEY LIME, LEMON CHIFFON, MULBERRY MYST, GRAPE SODA, CHERRY CHOCOLATE, CHID MOUSSE, STRAWBERRY SORBET, SPICED APPLE SUGAR PLUMS (HAND PAINTED) 8.5 BLUE RASPBERRY, KEY LIME, LEMON CHIFFON, CHERRY CHOCOLATE, ORCHID MOUSSE

___IN MEMORY OF___________________________

OR-

$20.95

___IN MEMORY OF __________________________

PEACE LUTHERAN CHURCH PO Box 206 Barrett MN 56311

DECEMBER 2011
Rev. Matthew Rose, Pastor revmatthew@runestone.net cell phone: 218-770-8470 Office: 320-528-2536 email: peacelca@runestone.net

Sunday School Christmas Program Sunday, December 18th, 10:30am Christmas Eve Service, Saturday, December 24th at 4:30pm Christmas Day Service Sunday, December 25th at 10:30am