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Called to ImaginePastor Tom WestcottOur Savior's Lutheran ChurchDevils Lake, ND Pub TheologyMembers gather monthly at a local bar/restaurant for discussion. A facilitator creates a quarter-sheet card containing questions and quotes to jump start conversation. Having these discussions outside of the church opened people to find that God is working outside of congregational walls and makes our church more visible in the community.? Holy Smokes BBQA few younger dads and I, all outdoor enthusiasts, got together to talk about grilling and smoking recipes one day. Before we knew it, we gathered every few weeks during the summer months. We incorporated scripture and devotion time while prepping our food, and spent time in fellowship during the cooking and eating. It has been a great opportunity to reach out to those who do not attend church often.?Timeout!A lot of our families are busy on the weekends with traveling sports teams and various tournaments. However, I noticed that our high school kids still crave some sort of faith formation opportunity that is at their level and engages their interest. As a pastor and football coach, I made a Bible Study opportunity called Timeout! We talk about something like "teamwork" or "practice". We discuss how it applies in life and in sports. We dive into one example of that concept in scripture and try to relate it to the students’ real life experiences.Leon PhilpotPortland Lutheran ParishPortland, ND Movie NightsThe recent viewing of the movie “I Can Only Imagine” was so powerful and impressive that our parish wanted all of our high school youth to see it. ?So we arranged for a night to come to the movie for FREE. ?Popcorn included. ?We intend to buy the DVD version of the movie and provide it to our troubled youth to keep the faith in their dreams and more importantly, God’s dream for them. Try renting the local theater for a special showing of upcoming movies that have a good Christian message to it. ?Have our members invite their neighbors to come with them. ?Great evangelism.Car CareOffer a FREE car wash to the elderly and those with handicap stickers. ?The local CENEX service donated a bay that we used as a drive through car wash so the project could go forward no matter the temperature outside. ?On their way out, we gave participants a $5 gift card from CENEX to top off their gas/diesel tanks.Pastor Bonnie WeaverCando Lutheran ChurchCando, ND Shopping with a ConsciencePurpose: Shopping with a conscience provides community education about Fair Trade, mission and entrepreneurship. Fair Trade sales educate the community about third world poverty. Rather than simply donating money, purchasing farm products and handmade items encourages self-sufficiency.Details: We purchase Fair Trade items through various resources, especially SERRV, and have a weekend Fair Trade Sale three or four times annually. We call it Shopping with a Conscience. Coffee, tea, chocolate, clothing, baskets, wall decorations, jewelry, spices, etc. are sold at cost as a mission project. Although SERRV allows you to pay for only the items you sell and return the rest, our congregation purchases all of the items outright. When congregation members or area residents need a gift they come to us to shop in-between sales. Project Origins: This started as a one-time Confirmation class project seven years ago with a grant from Lutheran World Relief to offset publicity costs the first year. Caution: When purchasing Fair Trade products, you need to be very careful that the resource is truly Fair Trade. There are dealers who provide items they title as some variation of Fair Trade, like Fairly Traded, but are not Fair Trade. Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers. Resources: the 5000Once a year, we invite people from the community to participate in a community fish fry to provide fellowship and mission. It started on a Sunday where the Gospel reading was the story of the Feeding of the 5000. People in the congregation who fished were invited to bring their fish. Church volunteers fried the fish and provided coleslaw, beet pickles, and tartar sauce to go with it. A freewill offering basket was available and donations designated to a community mission project. We’ve been doing this six years now. We do no publicity for it other than announce it in church and depend on the grapevine to get the word out. It has been very well attended by the community each year.Famous Artists’ SaleFor the annual closing activity of our Worship Wednesday Children’s Christian education program, the children create art projects to sell to congregation members as a mission teaching project. Art works include colored pictures, painted flower pots, and Popsicle picture frames plus many more. Each artist signs his/her works. The children select a charitable organization to receive the art sale proceeds. Bulletin announcements advertise the sale of ‘Signed Art Pieces Which May One Day be Worth a Lot’! The art objects are displayed in the sanctuary (on the windowsills) and offered for sale one Sunday. A donation of $5 is recommended and a basket is placed for the donations. Grandparents, parents, neighbors, and cousins scramble to get their favorite art objects after church. Breakfast with the _____________Purpose: Sharing the love of God across what we may perceive as boundariesDetails: This annual project started as a God’s Work Our Hands Sunday project. We arranged with the pastor from a neighboring church to bring breakfast to their congregation one Sunday. We now repeat this annually, serving breakfast to the Methodists, Catholics, and Assembly of God churches. We arrange it with the pastor and do as much or as little as they are willing to allow us to do. The Methodist pastor gave us a cue phrase in his sermon and we entered their sanctuary with coffee, juice, and muffins and served their members. The pastor’s message was about unexpected, extravagant grace. The Catholic priest invited us to set up in their basement to serve breakfast. After he did the final blessing, he invited the church members to the basement for a surprise. The Assembly of God church pastor asked us to drop everything off an hour before anyone else would be there. They set it up and served it. It doesn’t matter what the reception is, we enjoy spreading the love of God. The Catholics reciprocated with a breakfast for us on Reformation Sunday.Supper with the LuthersThe year before the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, we did a readers’ dinner theater. We called it ‘Supper with the Luthers’ and Martin and Katie hosted it. The script used dialog between various characters (Martin, Katie, seminary students, Tetzel, community members) to teach about the Luthers and the Reformation. The stage was the entire church dining room set as Luther’s dining room, and cast and guests were all together. It was full of wit and wisdom as Luther was. The characters had minimal costumes that we researched for appropriate 1500s clothing. The menu for the dinner theater was food that would have been served in a 1500s peasant home: pork chops, sauerkraut, pottage, bread, apple crisp, and root beer. We served fruit and nuts and pigs in a blanket (small sausages wrapped in dough) as appetizers. The tables were wrapped in brown paper, tied on with thin twine. The centerpieces were bowls of apples. Each place setting had a menu which humorously identified each menu item and why it was being served. The ticket price was purposely low so anyone could come and to be reminiscent of the costs of long ago. 25 Cent SaleFrequency: once (so far)Purpose: Children who may lack the resources to buy their families Christmas gifts or who may not get any gifts themselves will be able to celebrate with presents. The project helps children learn to make decisions on spending money and putting family members before self. Confirmation students learn compassion and practice being non-judgmental as they have fun.Each year our Confirmation Classes choose a group project. They’re encouraged to be creative. This year our 9th grade class had a 25 Cent Sale for children of the families who access the local food pantry. We arranged with the director of the Towner County Food Pantry to distribute sale invitations to families utilizing the food pantry. We asked congregation members to donate new or nearly new items that the children could give to their family members for Christmas. Donated items were sorted in the church dining room based on gender and age-appropriate gifts. When the food pantry families arrived, the parents helped their children fill out a form with the names, ages, and relationship for each person in the family. If there were specific interests they indicated them also. The parents waited in the narthex or took some time to do some shopping elsewhere as the children went into the dining room with their personal shopper (one of the Confirmation students, dressed as an elf) who helped them pick out one gift per family member. They took their purchases to the cashier where they paid 25? per gift. Their personal shopper helped them wrap the gifts. The children returned to their parents with a stack of wrapped gifts ready for Christmas. The money collected was donated to the Food Pantry.Giving TreePurpose: The project provides necessities to food pantry clients.Details: Annually, we erect a Christmas tree in the narthex. The tree is designated as a Giving Tree for Advent. The tree’s theme is announced in the newsletter – gloves, socks, hats, etc. Collected items are given to the county food pantry to distribute with their Christmas food box distribution. We have even had an ‘Undies Tree’. The pastor decorated a refrigerator box as a Christmas tree and packs of underwear were placed in the box.All the local churches are invited to participate each year, but the Cando Lutheran pastor serves as coordinator.Rev. Emmy SwedlundOur Saviour’s Lutheran ChurchValley City, NDCreating Prayer Stations with Confirmation StudentsDuring Lent, confirmation students are divided into small groups to create prayer stations. They create stations based on the Stations of the Cross, the Lord’s Prayer, and Psalm 23. Each group is assigned a station or portion of the prayer/psalm. One week, they do a Bible Study related to their assignment. Then, in weeks to follow, they work to create an interactive prayer station. The stations are set up in time for Holy Week, so that when people come for worship they can pray using the stations. We’ve found that this is a fun way to engage our confirmation students in a creative task. It contributes to the life of the whole congregation Video Commercial at Local Movie TheaterIn 2017, the Our Savior’s Lutheran Church Evangelism Committee worked to create a 30 second video commercial about the congregation. The video gives a glimpse of congregational life, including shots of coffee conversations, kids singing, examples of missions we support, and a shot of the whole congregation waving at the end of a worship service. We worked with Twin Tandem films to create the advertisement. We made arrangements with Parrot Films to run the advertisement at our local movie theater with the other ads that run before the movies start. This project has been a fun way to spread word about our congregation in a different venue in our community. We hear positive feedback, especially from children, who are excited to say, “Hey, that’s my church.” as they sit down for a movie. We shared the video through social media. Diane KrummLittle Forks Lutheran ChurchHatton, NDELCA WORLD HUNGER FUNDRAISER Some members of our congregation signed up for a Thrivent Action Team and used the seed money to purchase coffee, hot chocolate, and chocolate candy bars from Fair Trade. We received a free-will offering for these items – with all the proceeds going to ELCA World Hunger. We did this in November, so that people could use the products as Christmas gifts. The educational component to the project involved watching the video clip “DIKO Marie’s Story” . Viewers discussed the work of ELCA World Hunger programs and how Fair Trade and Equal Exchange work. We considered this project was a win-win-win! It was a win for people in Third World Countries who work with Fair Trade to help them become more financially stable. It was a win for those who participate in the ELCA World Hunger programs. And it was a win for all of us got COFFEE and/or CHOCOLATE! Because we used seed money from the Thrivent Action Team to purchase the products, there were no expenses, and we could be more generous in our giving to ELCA World Hunger.??? Giving Hearts DaySome members of our congregation signed up for a Thrivent Action Team and used the seed money to purchase hot chocolate and chocolate candy bars from Fair Trade.? We received free-will offerings for these items – with all the proceeds going to Eastern North Dakota Synod as part of Giving Hearts Day.? The timing worked out well because people purchased the hot chocolate and candy bars to give as Valentine gifts.? (One parent commented that it was great to have her kids give them to their teachers.)?We considered this project was a win-win-win!? It was a win for people in Third World Countries who work with Fair Trade to help them become more financially stable.? It was a win for Eastern North Dakota Synod and the ministries we support.? And it was a win for all of us who got CHOCOLATE! Because we used seed money from the Thrivent Action Team, there were no expenses, and we could be more generous in our giving to the synod. BOOK FAIR and BOOK SHARE?These two events were done together in March:Book Fair – featuring Sparkhouse Family books that could be ordered.Book Share – collecting new and gently used books to give to children staying at Churches United for the Homeless, Moorhead, MN.?BOOK FAIR: Our congregation signed up to host a Book Fair sponsored by Sparkhouse Family – .? As part of the Book Fair, Sparkhouse sent samples of their books for display use.? Order forms and other materials were downloaded from the link provided.? We had the book fair shortly before Easter so parents, grandparents, etc. could purchase the books (or DVD’s) to give as gifts to their children.? ?Positive outcomes:The host congregation retains the Sparkhouse display books free of charge. No shipping charge is billed to customers because the order comes to the church address and purchases are picked up there. The featured books, including the display books, were at discounted prices.Sparkhouse gave our congregation’s account a credit in the amount of 20% of the total purchase order which we applied to our fall confirmation materials.Families have the opportunity to purchase quality Christian books for home use.Discounted pricing and free shipping meant we were able to purchase more books for the Book Share part of this project.?BOOK SHARE: New and gently-used children and youth books were collected and given to Churches United for the Homeless in Moorhead, Minnesota.Several members from the congregation applied for and received seed money as a Thrivent Action Team, .? The seed money was used to purchase Psalm Book: Prayers and Poems for Kids (Sparkhouse).? The team took orders at the book fair – including other books that people purchased for Churches United.? They collected donated books, and delivered all the books to Moorhead.? A total of 33 new Psalm Books and over 90 other books were donated.On the Sunday before the books were delivered, all the books were distributed to the congregation during worship. Everyone held one or more books as they were blessed. The worshippers prayed for those who would receive the books.? Inside each book, this label was attached: We have blessed this book and prayed for whoever would receive it.? We prayed that you will have a safe place to call home, food to help you grow strong, and good friends to warm your heart.? May you enjoy this book and be blessed by God.? From Bethany Lutheran Church.? (We had the message approved by Churches United before attaching it.)A few months before this project, we learned that on any given day, about twenty of the ninety plus people finding shelter at Churches United are under eighteen.? Churches United staff encourages clients to read to/with their children.? Studies show that reading together improves children’s grades and opportunities for their future.? When a family leaves the shelter for more permanent housing, Churches United tries to give every child their own book.???? Positive outcomes:The congregation provided support for the work of Churches United in providing books to their clients.The project raised awareness among our adults and children of the services provided at Churches United and the great need that exists for those services.As children and parents went through their books at home or bought new ones, they engaged in meaningful dialogue about homelessness, service to others and the gift of literacy. It was a moving moment when the books were blessed. Our congregational members wrapped their arms around the books and envisioned providing hugs for the shelter’s children.The project inspired our men’s group to donate copies of the Psalm Book to each Sunday School student with a label inside that included a prayer similar to the blessing used in worship and a message encouraging them to pray for children who do not have adequate housing or food.? Ranch WorshipBethany Lutheran, a part of the Hatton Rural Parish, joins with the other churches in the parish for an outdoor service at the Rockin’-R-Ranch. The Rockin’-R-Ranch is a private park south of Hatton, ND with places for campers, a few cabins, golf carts and areas for horses. This is a delightful location for a mid-summer outdoor church service. It is wonderful to sing the old hymns while watching the horses who enjoy the music as much as we do. Old time costumes are encouraged but not required. Of course there is a pot luck dinner after church services. Great fellowship happens in a relaxed environment. Noisy OfferingOnce a month, the youngest congregational members assisted by older youth collect a “noisy offering” of loose change from the congregation in tin cans. They walk the aisles as they vigorously shake the cans. Their faces tell the congregation that the little ones feel very much a part of the service. They are needed for this job and perform it well. At the end of the school year, the children decide where the money will be distributed. Spring FlingBethany WELCA hosts a "Spring Fling". In April, we plan a ticketed public event. We choose a theme (Hawaiian, Tea Party, Treasures, Shoes). Pairs of members plan a theme-related decorative table and brunch/lunch is served. Following the meal, a theme-related program emphasizes how the theme fits in with our church lives. The program involves something interactive (Examples: Hawaiian dance, participants draw a picture to represent a Bible verse, treasure hunt). A few door prizes are given and we usually sell raffle tickets for a quilt. This has been a very successful event for us!Mary BagneLakota Lutheran Church Lakota, ND Parable of the Talents ProjectHave you ever considered encouraging your congregation to take money OUT of the offering plate instead of putting money IN the offering plate? This is the premise behind our very successful Parable of The Talents project which is now in its second year at Lakota Lutheran Church, Lakota, ND.Details: Prior to Mother’s Day, parishioners are encouraged to think of projects that they could do with a designated amount of cash. Then, each year on Mother’s Day, we pass baskets with $1,000 in $5, $10 and $20 denominations. We encourage parishioners to take out whatever they need for their planned project. Participants write their names and amounts received down on a clipboard that is passed around with the baskets. Based on the Parable of the Talents, those who take money plan projects multiply it and return the earnings in December. This year a child intends to purchase a piggy bank with his money and display it for donations. In 2017, the money increased 8 fold to $8,000.00. Members used a variety of ways to multiply money including:gardening baking crafting canning performing planting an acre a lemonade standreselling items for profit The church reserves a table at our local Farmers Market for members to sell their items.Judy HagerAtonement Lutheran ChurchJamestown, ND Project PlaygroundAtonement Lutheran?inhabits a large, beautiful, tree-lined plot of land in northeast Jamestown, ND. ?A few years ago, our church purchased new playground equipment, and assembled it last summer.? The old playground equipment is still in decent shape.? With the addition of the new equipment, we would like to use the $1000 Called to Imagine Funds to:landscape the playground area make the area more aesthetically appealingrender the playground environment safe for the kiddos using itKirstie DobsonTrinity LutheranJamestown, ND Lenten Imagery Projects Trinity Jamestown finds meaning in cooperative Lenten projects. During Lent each year, our youth lead the congregation in making a project. The projects consumes the Lenten season. All are invited and encouraged to participate. In 2017, we created a String Arm Connect Board. The 6 ft. x 7 ft. frame, 3000 nails and 6 miles of string gave us ample opportunity to connect with God and each other through this shared Lenten project.? During 2018 Lent, we created a Paper Chain Mosaic. Members and guests of Trinity fashioned and assembled about 7500 paper chains. This youth-led project brought people of all ages and stages together. Some families chose to take materials home to make chains together. Materials were available to take to our elderly, so that they could participate too, even if they couldn’t physically attend church. It took lots of tape, a 20 foot scaffold and an uncounted amount of hours, but the results are beautiful and meaningful. These projects are tangible reminders about the beauty that is created when a body of believers comes together in Jesus' name.? As we continue to strive to strengthen our bonds with Christ and with one another, our Lenten projects are one way that is working.?Pastor Julie Tillberg Mayville United Ministry, Micah Mission Mayville, NDGod's Work, Our Hand's Service Sunday - Ecumenical?What started out as a parish God's Work, Our Hand's Service Sunday in 2014, turned into a Mayville-Portland Community-Wide Service Sunday with 10 congregations participating on May 6, 2018!? On the last Sunday of April or first Sunday of May, we gather at our local middle school/ high school for a short worship service to send us out to serve our neighbors for two hours.? Then we come back for lunch to celebrate all that was accomplished!?We have large service sites across the community for the purpose of: picking up trash along the rural roads and in town raking and cleaning up our community parks washing windows at Luther Memorial's Assisted Living Apartments singing for & doing activities with the residents of Luther Memorial washing cars for senior citizensflipping woodchips in the playground and other work projects at our two Mayville State University Child Development Program sites? Service sites in the commons area of the school are designated for people who choose not to do such physical activity. They stay busy with:making up hygiene kits designing cards to give away cutting/tying/crocheting plastic grocery bags into plastic mats for homeless people Home service projects assist physically-challenged congregation members with household chores like cleaning gutters, raking and washing munity Service Day inspires members to serve God and serve our neighbors. It provides good fellowship, and builds relationships in our community!!? What an awesome way to serve with our sisters and brothers in Christ, no matter the denomination!! This year we had over 225 people participate with 21 service sites!Intern Pastor Jessica MillerGolden Ridge Lutheran ChurchFargo, ND 1st Wednesday Neighborhood DinnersOur congregation nestles into one of the most culturally and socio-economically diverse neighborhoods in our city. Neighborhood listening sessions indicated a recurring need for opportunities for neighbors to become acquainted. A sense of fear and uncertainty prevailed among neighbors because of language, cultural tradition, and pigmentation differences. A couple of people specifically said, “Help us get to know our neighbors!” Golden Ridge staff and parishioners kicked around ideas about best ways to help neighbors become acquainted. The consensus included three primary facets:Food: Sharing food equals sharing hospitality in many cultures. We hoped that a shared meal would give us the opportunity to sit down with each neighbors, make connections, and build relationships. With a main dish provided for a potluck-style meal, people could attend without an obligation to bring food, yet also give the opportunity for people who wanted to share food. We hoped the sharing of food would foster a sense of shared community and also help us learn about one another and our cultures/traditions. Ongoing relationships: We hoped that people would get to know each other and forge ongoing relationships. We wanted to build on an annual community event that we held at the end of the summer. We were inspired by a monthly International Potluck that remains a positive in our community. Considering all these things, we knew we wanted an ongoing monthly event. Easy to remember: We wanted people to be able to easily remember and communicate a regular monthly date, in the hopes that the dinner would more easily become a habit, a rhythm, in our neighborhood. So, with that, we began an experiment throughout this school year of the 1st Wednesday Neighborhood Dinners. It has been wonderful! Neighbors of various faith traditions and cultural backgrounds gathered in our lower level fellowship hall from 6-8 p.m. every first Wednesday from October to May 2017-2018. Sometimes, everyone introduced themselves and answered some sort of ice-breaker question. Other months, we simply had a brief welcome to all and encouraged people to introduce themselves at their table. In May, we hosted our last dinner of the school year, and requested feedback. 100% of people confirmed that YES, the Neighborhood Dinner was helping them to get to know their neighbors, and that YES, they would like for the Neighborhood Dinner to continue. We’re excited to see what this summer and the next year will bring as we keep finding ways to help our neighbors get to know one another. What did we learn?Focus on relationships and start small: We debated about how to go about inviting folks. Upon wise advice from a wise woman (Rev. Mytch Dorvilier), we centered ourselves on the value of relationship, and committed to starting small and focusing on relationships. Introduce ourselves: If the hope was to get to know our neighbors, I believed we needed to introduce ourselves as project organizers. I went door-to-door the week before the first dinner: knocking on doors, introducing myself, and sharing the invitation to the dinner. I returned the next week either on the day before or the day of the dinner. I knocked on doors again and invited neighbors to the dinner. This point of connection, along with relationship and personal invitation, has continued to be essential EVERY month. This introduction has at times required that I learn a few words in other languages, and has led to me being the recipient of quite generous hospitality and welcome by a number of neighbors. During the dinners, we encourage people to wear nametags. We inquire about why people come back or not? We discuss whether neighbors are getting to know each other? We talk about what we could do better or differently to help neighbors get to know each other? What can ministerial staff and parish members learn from what we hear and observe at the dinners? Stay connected: We used a printed feedback form on the tables each month to gather information to stay connected, to email, send printed invitations, etc. We asked people to indicate their willingness to help be part of a team for more planning and leadership for ongoing dinners and other ideas with the neighborhood. All Nations Celebration What: All Nations Community Celebration, featuring a multi-cultural music and dance, an all-beef hot-dog/fixings dinner, and international food samplesWhen: Sunday, August 12, 2018 Where: Golden Ridge Lutheran Church, 730 27th Street N, Fargo (inside and outdoors)Who: Free and open to the general public! Family fun for all ages!Why: A gathering to celebrate the rich diversity and multiculturalism of the Golden Ridge Neighborhood! Share music and dance from many cultures; sample food from around the world; enjoy a family day with fun games and activities for children; and meet residents and other neighbors of Golden Ridge.Details: Since 2015, the richly multi-cultural Golden Ridge neighborhood of Fargo holds an “All Nations Community Celebration” in early August on the grounds of Golden Ridge Lutheran Church. This celebration showcases the rich diversity of the Golden Ridge community. Entertainment includes games, bouncy houses, a petting zoo, carriage and train rides and more. The food, music and dances of many cultures entertain and nourish attendees. The FREE event is an educational, uplifting, fun, and participatory experience for all ages. It is open to the general public, with a special invitation extended to the residents of the Golden Ridge Neighborhood. The “All Nations Community Celebration” celebrates the music, culture, history, and community spirit of the Golden Ridge Neighborhood. It brings talented performers and community leaders together to represent the melting pot of cultures that define American identity. “The ‘All Nations Community Celebration’ is a continuation of the celebration of the music, culture, history, and community spirit that has always defined the Golden Ridge Neighborhood,” says Vicki Schmidt, one of the event’s planners. “The spirit of this neighborhood remains a vital part of what makes the Fargo-Moorhead area so special.”Golden Ridge Lutheran Church, Joy Gospel International Church, and Tri-City Haitian Ministry collaborate to plan and celebrate the neighborhood event. All three congregations share worship space at Gold Ridge Lutheran. We estimated that between 250-350 people attend each of the three annual events. In 2017, we began the day with a joint worship service, speaking, reading, praying and singing together in three different languages. A potluck followed worship. The remainder of the day flew by as the congregations preparing for and hosted the All Nations Celebration. It has been a celebratory event that neighbors talked about all year long, and we look forward to the next event this August! Pastor Jo A. GastAugustana Lutheran ChurchGrand Forks, ND Open Doors ~ Expanding Community”The mission statement, Come Grow with Us, drives everything at Augustana Lutheran Church. It serves as an outreach invitation as the congregation strives to be a Word and Sacrament faith community. Augustana is a faith community that is not only located “in” the immediate neighborhood, but a community that strives to do ministry service “with” the neighborhood. We actively listen to what God is up to in our congregation and neighborhood. Through the give and take of relationship building, we look for ways where our faith and service intersect with the needs around us. Thus, we discover opportunities to come together for the betterment of all. Our “Open Doors ~ Expanding Community” outreach program ministers to adults with physical and intellectual disabilities. Over the past few years, we have engaged in partnerships with University Lutheran Church in Grand Forks, Red Willow Ministries in Binford, ND, and Prairie Harvest Mental Health Center (located in our neighborhood) to serve and build community with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Examples follow: Custodial Staff: We work with Prairie Harvest Mental Health Center to contract the services of one of their clients to handle congregational custodial duties. The custodian’s work ethic is very satisfactory. The custodial service program builds a working relationship with the service organization. Blessing: Early in the program, a custodian engaged in casual conversation with the office manager as they worked. The office manager encouraged her to contact the community college and see what was needed to finish up the one class she needed for graduation. This person did just that and took the class. The Office Manager helped her with details so she could be approved for this degree and graduation. The office staff plans to attend her upcoming graduation ceremony and celebration.Creative Circles: Working with Prairie Harvest Mental Health Center, Creative Circles was born. The name comes from Creator (God) as well as the creativity that God has placed within us as we gather together in relationship.?Creative Circles meets the first and third Wednesday of each month. This time opens the doors for all (from the congregation, the community, and adults with physical and intellectual disabilities) to gather around a table and enjoy creative crafting, conversation, and relationship building. Enthusiastic participants refer to the event as “The best time we’ve had all month!” The staff and congregation appreciate working alongside these adults and enjoy the fruits of deepening relationships with those that attend. We teamed up twice with Thrivent utilizing their Action Team funds. These funds were utilized to purchase crafting supplies. The second Thrivent-related event was a morning spent making fleece blankets to be gifted back to Prairie Harvest Mental Health Center for clients in need. DISCO Day Camp: DISCO Day Camp evolved through a conversation over a cup coffee with Rick Fredericks from Red Willow Bible Ministries. Pastor Gast mentioned the number of adults with physical and intellectual disabilities who attend Augustana. They spoke about the lower numbers enrolling in regular VBS. The conversation sparked an idea to give a day camp experience for adults who traditionally are not able to travel to Red Willow and spend the week at camp. Augustana Lutheran teamed up with University Lutheran Church, Grand Forks, ND and tried it. The first year six campers and their staff attended. For 2018, we did a lot more pre-camp networking with local service providers like Development Homes, Listen Center, and Anne Carlson Center. We are very excited about the potential for this year’s camp set for June 17-19th at Augustana. As it stands currently, we will probably hit our max campership of 40 individuals with their staff. Indeed, God is opening doors. Pastor Theresa Brezenski Our Saviour’s Lutheran ChurchPark River, ND16 Ways to Serve!Holy Week Festival: on the afternoon of Palm Sunday, we hosted an intergenerational event, with seven stations of Holy Week. Families and individuals experienced the Easter story from beginning to end. Everyone gathered in the Fellowship Hall, began with prayer and heard an explanation of the art projects on the tables. A video presentation from a Holy Land visitor was viewed. Small groups of up to 10 viewed the stations at 10 to 15 minute intervals. The stations began with the Palm Sunday story and Palm Parade. Other “hands-on” sessions included tasting matzo; foot washing; going on trial with Pontius Pilate; praying in the garden; writing confessions onto wooden crosses. Sessions/Stations were led by biblical figures in costume.Installation Art Project for Easter: On Palm Sunday, anyone who wished to do so, decorated an 8” butterfly with provided recycled objects. The butterflies were collected, and framed an archway to enter worship on Easter, when all things are made new. The butterflies were decorated with items one might have intended to discard, such as fruit netting, plastic bottle tops, spare buttons and string.Summer Son Series: Family fun nights are held during the summer. They center on the elements: wind; earth; fire and water. Each week supper is provided, the focus Bible story is told with a skit or drama of some kind. Using a rotational Sunday School model, 3 sessions are offered. For instance, the week of “wind” included the story of Jesus calming the wind on the sea. There were styrofoam boat races down gutters (boats powered with wind); races with ping-pong balls and feathers; making pin wheels; bubble contests and more! The idea was to keep it intergenerational and utilize the outdoors more than indoors. The Wednesday evening theme is carried over into the following Sunday morning’s texts, liturgy and hymnody. Easter Baskets: Confirmation students packaged Easter Baskets for residents of the local care center and hand-delivered them. Baskets included hand-made Easter cards; handkerchiefs, playing cards, nail clippers, lotion, and hand sanitizer. Contact the activity director at your local care center and they’ll know what items residents will find useful.Easter Garden: Members were invited to bring cut flowers or potted plants from home for the Easter Garden. These were used in addition to purchased lilies, tulips, hydrangeas and palms for a garden in front of the altar. The garden surrounded a water fountain so the congregation could see and hear the water Easter morning.Graduation Gifts: The women of the congregation make quilts for every graduating senior. These quilts are used in a liturgy of blessing on the Sunday before graduation. The women include an embroidered tag on the quilt for the date, occasion and designating it as a gift from the students’ church family.Graduation Gifts: Each graduating senior receives a drawstring backpack with their name on it. Inside the bag, they receive a wooden cross,Cookbook, insulated coffee mug, travel sewing kit, highlighters, jump drive, ramen noodles, mac-n-cheese, toothbrush, toothpaste, Kleenex and Tide-To-Go stain stick.The Year of Bible Detectives/Rally Sunday: The theme for Sunday School was carried into worship. In front of the altar, we had life size black and white detective silhouettes. Someone dressed as Sherlock Holmes and served as greeter for worship. We had a photo booth with “Sherlock” and “Detective Props” for people to take selfies; and in advance all ages were invited to bring their Bible to church. We spent the sermon time (for several weeks), getting to know our Bibles better and “detecting” some stories we typically do not hear via the lectionary.Maundy Thursday: The altar was adorned as a banquet table with china, crystal, candlesticks, grapes, loaves of bread, and pomegranates, as well as the usual communion ware. The image of the feast/banquet was the focal point of worship. For Holy Communion, we gathered everyone in one large circle around the feasting table after the Communion liturgy was completed. For distribution, members served one another around the circle.Catechism Class with the Catholic Church: The local Catholic Church’s Wednesday educational class and the ELCA class in town, joined together to focus on hunger in North Dakota. We utilized free resources from The Great Plains Foodbank. With assistance from our local grocery store, the youth broke into small groups for an exercise in shopping and eating healthy. Small groups had a “family scenario” sheet with ages of household members, their budget for the next two weeks, and how many meals to provide. Students kept a list of items to be purchased. In conjunction with class, our churches did a joint food drive for the Walsh Co. Food Pantry.Bicycle Blessing: The local ministerial association planned a blessing of the bicycles at the beginning of summer, for adults and children. The idea included asking the local sheriff’s department to do a brief safety presentation for everyone, blessing the bicycles and then riding the bike trail together, or walking. Some folks would host water stations along the route, while others were busy at Homme Dam getting supper ready. On a late Sunday afternoon, after the ride, we would enjoy a grill out. Christmas Procession: Christmas Eve worship opened with children carrying the pieces of the nativity up to the front for the Nativity display. If we have multiple sets, with mismatched sheep and a dozen Magi, so be it. They get to connect with the story and adults love seeing the children process with the display pieces. (A 2-year-old carried in our oh-so-breakable baby Jesus, and it was a bit of a nail biter for a solemn processional moment.)Good Gifts Challenge: Our middle school youth, grades 5-7, challenged the congregation to raise enough money to purchase a pair of oxen and a plow for Christmas, through ELCA Good Gifts. The class picked an item from the catalogue for fundraising. They held bake sales, a garage sale, and decorated a tree with ornaments that the congregation could purchase as stocking stuffers. They made announcements and personal appeals. In the end, they nearly tripled their $1000.00 goal!Starwords: The first Sunday of Epiphany, everyone receives a star with a word printed on it. The “Starword” is to serve as their devotional guide through the next year. Through Epiphany, the sanctuary is decorated with stars, hanging, star banners, giant stars in front of the altar.Seasonal Devotional Booklets: The pastor wrote devotional booklets for Advent and for Lent using the appointed texts for the day. There is a scripture passage, reflection and prayer. This unifies the congregation when we are all reading the same devotion. They have been made available in hard copy booklet form, as well as online. (In time, pastor is going to ask the congregation to write short reflections on a text and compile those into a booklet.)Bible Gifting: Third Grade students typically receive a new Bible as a gift from their church family. The pastor holds a “Bible Basics” class for 3 weeks that involves students and parent(s) in which they cover Bible background. In worship, all those attending bring their Bibles and we practice looking things up together during worship. Colored pencils, post-it notes, and highlighter pens are given as free gifts. There is a cart of Bibles, including different versions for children and adults. Anyone can help themselves if they need a Bible. Worshippers invited to bring a Bible or take one. Beth Christianson-MelbyOur Savior’s Lutheran Church Hillsboro, NDMatthew 25 ProjectPurpose: Fundraising for youth and chaperones to attend ELCA Youth GatheringDuring Lent, Our Savior’s conducts the Matthew 25 Project based on the Parable of the Bags of Gold from Matthew 25:14-30. We distribute money to members of the congregation to try to multiply the funds for the trip. Steps: Decide how much money to use to kick off the event Put $50 bills in blank envelope for anybody in congregation to take as seed money for goods and/or services they’d like to provide during the Project timeA few weeks after giving out the envelopes with $50 bill (we used Palm Sunday), conduct a Matthew 25 Marketplace for people to shop for food (pies, cookies, beef jerky, banana bread, home grown beef), art (paintings, photography, jewelry, candles), services (raking leaves, shoveling snow, babysitting), and more. Matthew 25 projects can take place outside the actual day of the marketplace. Set deadline date for participants to turn in the money they raised.Thank and Tell SundayPurpose: Public acknowledgement of thankfulnessThank and Tell Sunday provides an opportunity to give thanks and tell stories about how God is at work in and through Our Savior’s Lutheran Church. Thanks were offered for gifts of time, in-kind service, financial gifts, and talents/abilities. The congregation rejoiced in its faithful response to the call to participate and partner in the Gospel. People attending the worship services were invited to write down one thing or some things for which they are thankful and the slips of paper were collected. These things will be shared during future Sunday worship services as Thanksgiving Moments.Mission MomentsPurpose: We work to uplift the mission and ministry taking place in and through Our Savior’s Lutheran Church and to bring awareness of the need for faithful stewardshipOn Sundays during Lent, there was a Mission Moment at each service. One or more of the ministries or missions of the congregation were highlighted, including: faithful giving, Sunday school, youth mission trips, serving meals for funerals, quilting, sound and technology, musicians, as well as many others.Cabin ChapelPurpose: The goal is to encourage people to worship while away from Hillsboro. Worship booklets were published for people to take with them to use throughout the summer. They included a full worship service, including texts, songs, and prayers. A companion CD was available for worshippers to listen or sing along. It has now evolved to Cabin Chapel to Go and includes a beach ball to enjoy God’s gift of nature, a flashlight for seeing the way in the dark, and a bag of marshmallows to have fellowship with neighbors around the campfire.Try Church AgainPurpose: The goal is to reconnect with people who have left the churchMany people leave the church. They may relocate and not find a new church. They may have been dissatisfied and quit attending. We put together a campaign titled Try Church Again. This sermon series immediately following Lent asked a number of questions to delve deeper into faith and what it means to be a part of the church.Local Missions BudgetPurpose: The goal is to reach out to those in the community who need a place to belong – the churched and the unchurched. Several years ago, we instituted a budget line for local missions. Funds are used to place advertising in our local paper, print posters, and market ourselves to the community as a whole. It started as $1,000 and has grown to $5,000 each year. We have seen an increase in attendance overall, with additional increases for Christmas and Easter.Pastor Rebecca BreddinUnited Lutheran Church Langdon, NDGrace MealsOur WELCA met a number of times throughout the year to prepare freezer meals to gift to members of our congregation and community. We gifted meals to elderly folks, widows, or those going through hospitalization. We donated meals to a family whose child was receiving treatment for cancer and a mom whose spouse was deployed. The meals were put together in our kitchen, packaged and then delivered! This was a great project for our WELCA to do together! We look forward to doing it again soon! Most of our meal ideas came from Pinterest and could be frozen and reheated for later!Baby Jesus and MeThis was a morning activity for toddlers and preschoolers. On a weekday, we met in the sanctuary by the Christmas tree, read the Christmas story and played with a nativity set. Participants sang songs, made a craft and had a snack! It was short but very sweet! We will definitely do this again and try to add a Good Friday version in the future. We also collected diapers the month of December for local organizations. Table TalksDuring Lent we offer lunch for our Senior High Youth over their school lunch hour. We gather around pizza and God’s word. We do the Faith 5:Share highs and lows Read a Bible verse/story TalkPray Bless one another.You can find Faith 5 information at or . Table talks provide a great means to connect. ................
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