Our Savior Lutheran Church – October 2000 Newsletter



[pic]

Come and Learn . . . Go and Share . . . Honor and Serve

Our Savior Lutheran Church - March 2020 Newsletter

1010 – 8th St. South - Brookings, SD 57006

Church Office (605) 692-6989; Church e-mail – osavior@

Pastor Ken Brokmeier – Home – (605) 692-9249; e-mail – kenbrok@

Vicar Caleb Rothfuss – Home – 989-220-8833; e-mail: caleb.rothfuss@

“He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment

that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5

THE GREAT EXCHANGE

On the 3rd Sunday of the month in our worship service we have a confession of sins using a couple of hymn stanzas (cf. CW 306:1,3 – Before You, God, the Judge of All). The worship leader then pronounces God’s forgiveness to us and speaks the words from Isaiah that are listed above. Words rich in meaning! Words that God’s people have treasured for centuries! Words that are read in worship on Good Friday.

These words center on what we can call The Great Exchange. Life is filled with exchanges. Employees exchange forty hours for a paycheck. Fans exchange forty dollars for a seat at the game (and then exchange another ten dollars for a hotdog and drink)! Every day we exchange time, money, effort, and emotion for what we hope brings us joy, peace, and satisfaction.

The Bible speaks about exchanges, too. It says that God does not want us to have any sin. In fact, he says that if we do sin, we cannot live with him because he is a sinless, holy God. Sin is so serious to God that he pronounces the death penalty for anyone who sins. He says, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) and “The soul who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:20). So, who can ever hope to stand in God’s presence and enjoy his favor? For try as we might, we are not perfect. Sinful thoughts, words, and acts clutter our lives.

There is good news, however. In love for us, God made an exchange. Instead of holding us under his judgment for all our wrongdoing, he placed his Son under judgment instead of us. The Bible is speaking about Jesus when it says, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

That is a great exchange! Jesus came and exchanged his life for ours. Our transgressions (times when we fail to live according to God’s holy will) were taken away when Jesus was pierced on the cross. Our iniquities (all the things we think or do that don’t measure up to God’s perfect will) were taken away when Jesus was crushed in death. Our punishment was paid for by Jesus.

Through Jesus you have peace with God. Through his wounds you are given life with God. Through Jesus you are forgiven and loved by God. Yes, you! God chose to make that exchange for you.

We especially review that message during Lent as we see the wondrous love of Jesus on display as he makes the journey to Calvary’s cross to pay for each and every one of our sins! Jesus graciously did that not just for our sins but the sins of the whole world.

We hope that you can join worship so that you can hear, know and believe this Great Exchange.

DELEGATE FOR DISTRICT CONVENTION

The Dakota-Montana District Convention meets June 9-11 (Tue.-Thurs.) at Great Plains Lutheran High School. All congregation are to have a voting lay delegate attend.

Our congregation will pay the registration fee and any housing fee for our delegate to stay in the dorm at GPLHS during the convention. A delegate could also commute each day if he wishes. If you would be willing to serve in this capacity please speak with Pastor Brokmeier or our congregational chairman, Jordan Johnson, before our April Voters’ Meeting.

MADISON WORSHIP

We will continue to try and have worship on two weekends a month at 2PM.

For anyone interested, we meet in the Habeger Science Center (entering from the north side of the building right off NE 8th Street near Harth Ave North). There are a couple of entrances into the building on the North side. We use the one where the Handicapped parking and entrance is located. 

We meet in room 121 which is straight ahead on the right side when you enter the building. Sunday school will meet right after church and we also typically offer a brief Bible Study.

Looking ahead to next few months the tentative days for worship in Madison at 2PM are: March 8 and 22; April 5 and 19; May 3 and 17.

YOUTH RALLY

We are very excited that another group of teens is interested in attending the WELS International Youth Rally on June 23-June 26, 2020 at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Four boys and two girls along with Vicar and Becki Dahl are planning to make the trip.

This year we are planning to ride a bus with some other congregations. Mr. Matt Roberts, from St. Martin’s has been making arrangements. The cost for transportation will be about $250. The bus will be leaving sometime on Monday, June 22 and returning sometime on Saturday, June 27. The bus is a coach bus and will have two drivers so it will drive straight through to and from the rally.

To make things simple – a check for $250 per student can be made payable to Our Savior Youth Group. The congregation will than pay for the entire registration fee as well as a check to cover the bus ride. Students would still be responsible for meal money while traveling and other spending money along the way and any extra excursions you may take.

Registration will open on March 2 and closes on May 29. Vicar and Pastor will take care of getting those going registered by soon after registration opens on March 2.

We will have another 7-course meal as a fund raiser (cf. elsewhere in the newsletter for more information).

THRIVENT ACTION TEAMS

Just a reminder, if you are interested in leading a Thrivent Action Team or have questions about doing so, please speak with pastor. In 2019 our congregation received well over $12,000 of support to complete over 40 different projects utilizing hundreds of volunteer hours. We did this utilizing Thrivent Action Teams.

Again, here is how it works. Each Thrivent Member over the age of 16 can lead two action team events per calendar year. Associate Thrivent members are eligible to do one event per year. An Action Team can do one of the following three events. 1. A Fund Raiser 2. A Service Project or 3. An Educational Event. For each approved item the team leader receives a $250 gift card that can be used for expense for the event.

The deadline to apply for an event or project to receive a grant is no sooner than 120 days before the event and no later than about 20 days before the event. This means that you can sign up NOW to lead a Thrivent Action Team for events that will be held in March, April, May and June of 2020.

Check the back cabinet for projects you might be interested in leading. The sheet has been updated and we need your help to sign up! The proposed date for the event is listed as well as the application deadline. Pastor is willing to work with you to do the paper work. (Names) behind an event indicate someone has already signed up – we just need to do the paperwork before the deadline. We would also welcome other ideas our members may have for an Action Teams. Please check the clipboard and sign up if interested. Speak with pastor if you have questions.

PANTHER CAMP AND Camp Luther -

Information for Panther Camp (those entering Grades 6-9 this fall) and for Camp Luther those entering grades 5-9 this fall) was distributed several weeks ago. NOW IS THE TIME TO REGISTER. If you have misplaced your information please speak with Pastor A.S.A.P. If you are interested in being a counselor for Camp Luther (anyone who is sophomore in high school and older), please get an Application from Pastor.

MIDWEEK LENTEN SERVICES

Midweek Lenten Services begin on Wednesday, March 6, with an Ash Wednesday communion service at 7:00 PM. All Midweek services will begin at 7 PM. We will plan to again serve refreshments and time of fellowship after the services. The overall theme for our services this year will be: The Son of God Goes Off to War

← February 26 – The Promised Warrior

← March 4 – Hidden Warrior

← March 11 – Skirmishes

← March 18 – Reconnaissance Report: Know Your Enemy

← March 25 – The Warrior Rejected by Many Followers

← April 1 – The Warrior Faces Satan’s Ally, the World

← April 5 – (Palm Sunday)

← April 9– (Maundy Thursday @ 7PM) – The Battle is Personal

← April 10 – (Good Friday @ 7PM) –

← April 12 – There will be a song service at 7:15AM followed by Easter Breakfast. The Easter Sunday Festival service is at 9:30AM)

LWMS SPRING RALLY

The Minnekota Circuit of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society (LWMS) will be holding their Spring Rally on Saturday, April 4, 2020 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 4800 S. Southeastern Ave., Sioux Falls, SD. Remember that 26th St. has a detour when planning your route. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. with the meeting following from 9:00 a.m. – early afternoon, approximately 2:30.

The morning speaker for the Spring Rally will be Pastor Craig Wilke of Sure Foundation Lutheran Church, Brandon, SD. He will speak about the new church plant and how it is preparing for its first service in September of 2020. Pastor Ken Nelson of Our Savior Lutheran Church in South Shore, SD will speak in the afternoon about the informal outreach being done on the reservation areas near Sisseton, SD. A report about outreach work being done in Madison, SD will also be available.

The meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. with devotions, Bible Study, speaker presentations, lunch, and an election of new circuit officers. All men are welcome though they will not be allowed to vote during the business meeting.

We will once again have an opportunity to write notes of encouragement to missionaries. Please bring favorite Bible passages and/or prepare words of encouragement to include.

Offerings will be collected for the working fund, the speaker’s choice of missions, and the Minnekota “Send-One-Sister” fund."LWMS is women dedicated to serving Jesus by increasing awareness of, interest in, and support of the mission outreach of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS)."

At the Rally this year the following positions are up for election: Vice-President, Secretary, Spiritual Growth Woman, and Pastoral Advisor. Here is a description of the positions and where to send Nominations:

• There are two (2) board meetings per year, plus the spring and fall rallies. The duties of the needed officers are:

• Vice President: She shall serve as president in the absence of the president. She shall coordinate the work of the spiritual growth committee, including the Befriend a Mission program, and perform other duties as assigned by the president or board.

• Secretary: She shall serve as secretary to the board. She shall keep the minutes of all board meetings and any other meetings. She shall maintain a current membership list, be custodian of the circuit’s records, send notification of circuit meetings, perform other duties as directed by the board, and send a copy of all minutes to the LWMS president-elect after each meeting.

• Spiritual Growth Woman: The spiritual growth women shall serve on the Spiritual Growth Committee along with the vice president. The primary purpose of the SGC is to encourage spiritual growth and promote mission awareness in circuit congregations and perform duties as assigned by the president or board.

• Pastoral Advisor: The pastoral advisors shall attend the circuit board meetings and the circuit rallies. They shall be spiritual advisors and general counselors in all matters. They shall perform other duties as assigned by the president or board.    

Please send nominations to:

Kathy Krause

17271 480A Ave

Clear Lake, SD 57226

Call:605-874-2848 (H) 605-881-1613 (C)

Email: thetekaranch@

EASTER BREAKFAST

We will be serving Easter Breakfast again this year on April 12 between services – about 8:00-9:00 AM. Shortly there will be signup sheets on the back counter. One will be for signup to help set up and make breakfast and the other one will be for people to sign up so the cooks know how much food to prepare. The Easter Breakfast is a free will donation. We invite you to be generous with your donation as proceeds will go for the Vicar Fund.

SUPPORT GPL WITH AMAZONSMILE

While shopping on you can support Great Plains Lutheran High School (GPLHS). Simply use smile. and Amazon will make an automatic payment to a charity of your choice; Great Plains Lutheran High School is such a registered charity. Every dollar donated to GPLHS is important, and little amounts add up to bigger amounts. Questions? Speak with Pastor or David Davis.

CELEBRATION SERVICE PLANNED

The 50th Biennial Convention of the Dakota-Montana District will be held on June 9-11 at our Great Plains Lutheran High School in Watertown, SD. The opening service for the Convention will be held on Tuesday evening at St. Martin’s Lutheran Church. All congregation members and visitors of the district are invited to attend. Pastor Michael Enderle, the 1st Vice-President of the District, will be preacher for this service of celebration. The theme for the Service and Convention is: “O God, Our Help In Ages Past. Our Hope For Years To Come.”

Congregations in the District will be invited to hold a special service of celebration locally on our about the last Sunday of June.

Direct Thrivent Choice Dollars® by March 31

Eligible Thrivent Financial members who have available 2019 Choice Dollars® have until March 31, 2020, to direct them.

Not sure if you have any eligible Choice Dollars—call and find out. You will likely need to have your membership number when doing so. Our Savior Lutheran Church, Great Plains Lutheran High School. Martin Luther College and our WELS Lutheran Student Center are eligible to receive Choice Dollars.

In Calendar year 2019 Our Savior Lutheran Church received $1,106 and the WELS Lutheran Student Center received $943 Choice Dollars. Choice dollars given to those two accounts support the Vicar program. If you have an online account with Thrivent you can check by going to thriventchoice and logging into your account. Or you can call 800-847-4836 and say “Thrivent Choice” after the prompt. If you call you will likely need to have your Thrivent ID. If you have any questions, please ask your Thrivent Agent or Pastor Brokmeier

CAMPUS MINISTRY WILL CELEBRATE 100 YEARS

While Home Missions primary purpose is to plant missions, Home Missions also serves students on college campuses. For almost forty years this support has been offered through the Campus Ministry Committee, currently chaired by Pastor Scott Wolfram. Come September of 2020 campus ministry will reach a milestone as our church body will have been serving college students for 100 years. Here’s a brief history as to the origin of Campus Ministry (CM).

“On September 26, 1920, the first Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) and Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) Campus Ministry began in in the United States. During those Synodical Conference years, the LCMS South Wisconsin District and WELS Western Wisconsin District jointed called Dr. Adolph Haentzschel to serve the spiritual care of Lutheran Synodical Conference students at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He was the first full-time pastor for WELS-LCMS in the country. 48 were in attendance for the first service in 1920 which was held only one-half block from the current Chapel in Madison. Between 1920-1961 WELS students participated in churches near colleges or on campus with Gamma Delta, the college ministry of the Walther League which began in 1928. In 1961 WELS suspended fellowship with LCMS and WELS formed the Student Services Committee and Lutheran Collegians (1965-1982) to serve students. Since 1982 the Campus Ministry Committee of the WELS Board for Home Missions oversees our national student ministry.” (This paragraph was written by sainted Pastor Thomas Trapp who was called home to heaven on March 12, 2019. For thirty eight years of his ministry Pastor Trapp served at the Chapel at the University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Under the theme “Connecting Campus to Christ” and using Colossians 2:6-8 as the theme Bible verse, the Campus Ministry Committee is celebrating this milestone anniversary by putting together various resources for congregations to use to both celebrate the anniversary at their congregations and support campus ministry programs around North America. A new Campus Ministry Toolkit, filled with ideas and resources for individuals and congregations to use to get involved, can be found at cmtoolkit. In the toolkit congregations will also find worship resources to hold a special Campus Ministry Mission Festival service, which the Campus Ministry Committee is recommending churches celebrate on September 27, 2020. The Campus Ministry webpages have been refreshed to offer additional resources and links for both college students and campus ministry supporters at cm100. Campus Ministry will also be featured in the September 2020 WELS Connection. Forward in Christ articles, Missions Blogs, bulletin inserts, and other resources will be used to celebrate this milestone anniversary.

Currently CM financially supports 11 larger campus ministries and provides funding for another 18 smaller campus ministries. Both the Universities of Oshkosh and Stevens Point have seen increased support as these two ministries have worked to expand ministry. There are approximately 6325 names of college students in the CM data base. The Campus Ministry Committee is considering expanding its support of CM with a Campus Ministry Mission Counselor (CMMC). The primary focuses of a CMMC would be to support current CMs, encourage more WELS churches to be active in CM and assist them to that end and work to connect more international students who attend area Lutheran high schools, and continue education at a US college, to a WELS campus ministry.

Every two years in May the Campus Ministry Committee (CMC)sponsors a Campus Ministry Staff Conference. That conference will take pace in mid-May 2021. In the year when there is no Campus Ministry Staff Conference, the CMC plans to have a Pastor’s Conference for campus ministries which receive funding support. The prayer is that these annual conferences will assist more campus ministry activity.

APRIL QUARTERLY MEETING

The April Quarterly Meeting will be held on Sunday, April 19 right after the 11AM service. Voters, please mark this on your calendar and make plans to attend.

FEEDING BROOKINGS

This organization helps to feed the hungry of the Brookings area through a weekly grocery distribution. The following are some questions and their answers or you can ask Betty Sween, our member, who regularly volunteers:

• How Does Feeding Brookings Work? From 4:00-5:00pm each Thursday afternoon at Ascension Lutheran Church in Brookings, SD, volunteers distribute produce and bakery items provided by our local Wal-Mart and Hy-Vee stores, canned goods from The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), hygiene items, and a food item of the month. There is no need for guests to arrive early; random numbers for order of entry are drawn on the day of distribution at 3:50pm.

• Who Is Served? All in need are welcome. All guests must list the number of people living in the household and circle the income level. This is required by the Federal Government for TEFAP food. All forms are held in a locked cabinet with Feeding Brookings Documents.

• Where Is Feeding Brookings? Ascension Lutheran Church 2030 3rd Street Brookings, SD 57006 Phone: 605-692-6565 Email: ascension@ Website:

• How Can I Help? If you would like to get involved with Feeding Brookings, you could provide hygiene items or food of the month donations, or volunteer.

• FOOD OF THE MONTH or HYGIENE ITEMS: The Food of the Month is posted on the website, . Things that are regularly needed include: Bars of soap, large tubes of toothpaste, hand lotion and packs of toilet paper. Bring your contributions to Ascension at any time throughout the week. If you would like to make a monetary donation and have us do the shopping, you can mail a check to Feeding Brookings; c/o Ascension Lutheran Church; 2030 3rd St; Brookings, SD 57006. VOLUNTEER at Feeding Brookings:

Come on your own or bring a group! Sign up at . Specific volunteer opportunities are:

• Mondays at 8:30am for about 30 minutes.

• Thursdays at 2:00pm for set up.

• Thursdays at 3:45pm: Help with the distribution.

• Thursdays at 5:00pm: Clean-up and take trash out.

LOOKING AHEAD . . .

← New Friends – March 15

← March 20 – Collegian and Young Adult Gathering in Sioux Falls. Cf. back cabinet for sign-up sheet.

← Midweek Lenten Services on March 4, 11, 18, 25 and April 1. Maundy Thursday is April 9 and Good Friday on April 10. April 12 is Easter. A Song service is at 7:15AM; Easter Breakfast from 8:00-9:00AM and Festival Easter Service at 9:30AM.

← April 20-23 – Pastor and Vicar gone to District Pastors’ Conference in Missoula, MT

← April 26 - Great Plains Sunday and New Friends.

← May 2 – GPLHS Annual Delegate Meeting

← May 9 – SDSU Graduation – Fellowship Hall Reserved.

← May 10 will be Examination and Confirmation Sunday. This is also Mother’s Day.

← May 15-17 – Vicar gone for Amanda’s graduation.

← May 18-19 – Campus Ministry Conference (pastor will be attending) in Waukesha, WI.

← May 23 – Fellowship Hall reserved by Dykstra family.

← June 2-6 (Tuesday-Saturday) – Panther Camp

← June 9-11 – Dakota-Montana District Convention at GPLHS in Watertown.

← June 13-20 – Pastor gone for vacation

← June 21-26 (Sunday-Friday) – Camp Luther

← June 23-26 – Youth Rally in Knoxville, TN

← June 25-28 (Thursday-Sunday) – LWMS Convention in Athens, GA.

Check the bulletin for regular updates.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

Vicar Rothfuss is working on our 2020 Vacation Bible School. It will have an Olympic Theme – Ready, Set, Gold. If you have any input that you would like to share with Vicar regarding VBS please speak with him soon. We look forward to many people volunteering to help make our VBS successful.

HARVEST TABLE

Our congregation will plan to serve for the Harvest Table on Monday, April 13 (Easter Monday). We can use about 20 people to help with serving and clean-up. The meal is served from 5:30 – 6:30 PM at the United Methodist Church Living Center. Help is basically needed from 4:30 PM on. There is a signup sheet on the back counter. Because of safety concerns, children under 14 years old are usually not be allowed in the kitchen during meal preparation or serving time. They are welcome to participate in the activities in the children’s area, and with adult supervision, assist where needed outside of the kitchen area.

This year again we have again applied for and been approved for a Thrivent Action Team Card to help pay for some of the food; however, we are in need of desserts and buns. There is a signup sheet on the back counter.

100 YEAR HISTORY BOOKS FOR DAKOTA – MONTANA DISTRICT

As a part of its 100th anniversary celebration this summer, the Dakota-Montana District is publishing A Centennial History: The Dakota-Montana District 1920-2020. This perfect-bound, soft-cover volume includes a newly-written overview of the events, anecdotes, and reminisces that tell the district’s story. Also included are individual histories of each of the congregations and schools that make up of the district today.

Only a limited number of copies of A Centennial History are being produced. Pre-order yours today so you don’t miss out on this opportunity to own a unique remembrance of your district’s history. The cost for each copy is only $15.

We will be getting a copy for our church library. However, if you would like to purchase your own copy, you can pre-order A Centennial History by signing up on the sheet found on the back cabinet. The pre-order deadline is Sunday, April 12. We would ask that you pay by the order deadline of April 12, 2020. Checks can be made out to Pastor. Pastor will then place and pay for one order from our congregation and pick up the books when they become available at District Convention in June.

7-COURSE MEAL FUNDRAISER

The Youth Group will be holding a 7-Course Meal Fund Raiser on Friday, May 1. After the expenses of the meal the money made will be used to offset the cost for those who are attending the Youth Rally. We invite all of our youth in Grades 6-12 to consider volunteering to serve for this event.

Cal and Bev Cook are again volunteering their cooking skills for this meal. Seating will be given to the first 20 couples who sign up and pay. As the past the cost would be about $100-$110 per couple for a 7-Course Meal served to you by members of the Youth Group – an additional tips would go to the Youth Group.

In the past years, sometimes we have had members in the congregation offer to pay for another couple to attend (e.g. college students or young married couple). If you are interested in sponsoring someone like this (and it can be done anonymously) please speak with pastor.

We will also be looking for about 15-20 card tables to use that night. Save the date (and your money) to attend this evening of fine dining and raising money for a worthwhile cause.

LITTLE LAMBS

A winter session of Little Lambs is held on Fridays from 10:00-10:45AM – concluding on March 6. Watch the bulletin and newsletter for more information about a possible 3-5 week spring session after Easter.

WOMEN AND MEN’S BOOK CLUB

Our next read is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Based on the author’s own youthful experiences, the book describes the family life of the Marches in a small New England community. Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March are raised in genteel poverty by their loving mother while their father serves as a chaplain during the American Civil War. Jo, at 15, is ungainly, unconventional and enterprising, with an ambition to be an author. Meg, a year older is pretty and wishes to be a lady. Beth is a delicate child of 13 with a taste for music. Amy is a blonde beauty of 12. The story explores their domestic adventures, their attempts to increase the family’s small income, their friendship with the neighboring Laurence family and their later love affairs and destinies as women.

We plan to meet Thursday, March 26 6:30 PM, at Perkins. We welcome gentlemen to join us!

MARCH GREETERS

3/1, 8:30 – Clayton/Cal Cook; 11:00 – Bev Cook/Robert Bertelsen; 3/8, 8:30 – Mark Bren Family; 11:00 – Gladys Bren/Jean Landsman; 3/15, 8:30 – Ardis Geringer/Linda Schumacher; 11:00 – Darryl/Norma Ganter; 3/22, 8:30 – Mardell Colbeck/Arla Reed; 11:00 – Al/Linda Minor; 3/29, 8:30 – Terry/Annie Borns; 11:00 – Linda Schumacher

LENT SERVING GROUPS

The following serving groups are scheduled to serve after the Midweek Lenten Services: 2/23, Group 1 (Mona Tunender); 3/4 – Collegians; 3/11 – Group 2 (Laura Schwarz); Group 3, 3/18 (Kathy Winghart); Group 4, March 25 (Sue Brokmeier); Group 5, April 1 (Kathy Weitala); Group 6, April 9, Maundy Thursday) (Gail Seeklander).

BIBLE STUDY OPPORTUNIES

1. Sunday Morning Bible Study. Vicar continues to lead the Sunday morning Bible Study as study the New Testament Stories that Pre-Grade 5 Sunday school students are using.

2. Teen Bible Study – Pastor continues to lead the teens in a Bible study on the book of Revelation. The teens have given permission for a limited number of college students or other members who might be interested in studying this book to join them. Please speak with pastor if you are interested.

3. Thursday morning Breakfast Bible Studies (at 7AM and 9AM) – We continue with our Bible study on End Times. The following lessons remain: The Judgment; Millennialism; Dispensationalism; and The Present Life in Light of Jesus’ Future Coming. Please feel free to join us if you can.

4. Bible Information Class — Pastor and Vicar have a couple different BIC classes going right now. Please speak with them to join or start one.

WELS NEWS

← New Hymnal from Northwestern Publishing House coming soon - Northwestern Publishing House will be introducing the NEW Christian Worship and accompanying suite of musical and liturgical resources in 2021. You can learn more about it at .

← WELS Annual Report - The WELS Annual Report is now available. If you didn’t get a hard copy, you can find all the mission and ministry updates, stories, pictures, and more online at annualreport.

← Check out the NEW Forward in Christ magazine

Forward in Christ, the official magazine of WELS, has relaunched for 2020. Changes include:

• A redesigned cover and interior pages.

• Expanded Confessions of faith.

• This is WELS—photos from our readers.

• Q&A column with accompanying Bible study.

• A new website and weekly e-newsletter.

Subscribe at and check out the new website, .

← Equipping Christian Witnesses - Equipping Christian Witnesses, the new campaign from Martin Luther College, focuses on recruitment, financial aid, and facilities. By enrolling more future ministry workers, helping them fund their Christian education, and enhancing their learning environments across the campus, WELS strengthens the foundation for its future. Learn more at mlc-wels.edu/mlc-campaign.

← What’s happening in WELS? - Subscribe to the WELS Together e-newsletter to stay connected with the people of your synod and the ministry they serve. Also, don’t miss the twice-monthly videos, expanding on important and exciting synod news. Go to together to read more and subscribe today.

← Follow Missions on Facebook - Like the new WELS Missions Facebook page to stay up to date on news from Home and World Mission fields, read inspiring stories of the gospel at work, and take advantage of the many resources WELS Missions has to offer. Visit WELSMissions to get started.

← Know your synod - Your Sunday offerings help support the work of WELS, but do you know how? Go to to discover stories about the many WELS world and home mission fields; explore which ministries can support you and your congregation; enjoy daily devotions and Bible readings; and subscribe to stay up to date on the latest news from your synod. All of this and more is available on . Visit us online today and save us as a Favorite or a Bookmark!

← WELS App available - Nearly 20,000 people have downloaded the WELS app to their phone or tablet to access daily devotions, WELS Missions Blogs, synod news, and more wherever they go. Get the app for free by going to wels.app in your device’s web browser and "add to home screen" using your device’s method.

← Connecting WELS members - The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod offers many ways to connect members through social media. Join the WELS online community at welslutherans, welstweets, welslutherans, and wels.

LWMS

The Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society will be meeting on Monday, March 9, 7:15 PM. All ladies of the congregation are invited to come.

There are Greeting Cards including New sympathy cards located beside the mailboxes. Prices are marked on the boxes. Still selling other cards/napkins which are below the mailboxes as marked (below cost).

LIVE STREAMING

Normally we plan to Live Stream our 8:30AM service each Sunday and other special services as we are able.

What does live streaming mean? It means you should be able to go to our Website at 8:30AM on Sunday morning and click on the video service and watch it live. Or go to YouTube and search for Our Savior Lutheran Church, Brookings, SD and subscribe.

We will continue to also record the service so that is available for anyone to watch at a later time.

ALTAR GUILD

The sign-up sheet for 2020 is on the back cabinet. If you have questions or are not sure what is involved we invite you to ask Pastor or others who have served (check the sheet). If you live out of town and are concerned about driving in to set things up for communion weekend sometimes people have doubled with someone who lives in town and the out of town person will replenish the elements after the first service. Thanks for giving this your consideration. .

DEVOTIONS

If you are looking for topical devotions that are about 2-4 minutes long check out the following:

The Pastors who share these devotions are WELS pastors serving in several different parts of our country. You can watch them each day (get them delivered to your inbox) or watch all five messages for the week in one sitting.

THANKS TO

← All who make our visitors feel welcome.

← Our counting teams who count and record offerings.

← Helpers with recording/projecting the services.

← All who have led a Thrivent Action Team. Please speak with pastor if you have questions.

← Our ushers/greeters, and those who take care of the flowers and plants.

← Laura Seidl for tabulating our HyVee Reciepts.

← Seth Hansen for programming in all the worship services each week.

← Matt Anderson for his regular posting of items on our church’s Facebook Page.

← Those who have helped with New Friends

← Our organists for the all the hours they practice to lead us in worship.

← Our Sunday school teachers who faithfully prepare and teach lessons each week to the lambs of our Good Shepherd.

← Tim Leins and David Davis for serving on our Great Plains Lutheran High School Board of Control.

← Those who provide treats on Sunday mornings.

May the Lord richly bless these and so many other labors of love for his Kingdom!

ELECTRONIC GIVING

We continue to use the services of VANCO, a reputable company that assists organizations - including hundreds of churches with electronic giving. You can give a gift in one of several ways: 1. Automatic withdrawal weekly or monthly from a bank account. 2. Use a major credit/debit card to give a gift. We are in the process of currently reviewing of whether or not we wish to keep using: 3. Text to give. Or 4.Use a mobile App (download for free). Interested, but need help? Talk to Pastor.

FINANCIAL PEACE UNIVERSITY UPDATE

A reminder that for a few different reasons, we are putting a hold on The Financial Peace University (FPU) Class from the Dave Ramsey organization. One of the main reasons is to hopefully offer the class when we have a bit more interest.

If you are still interested in taking this class ASAP or wanting some tools to become a better Money Manager, please speak with Pastor about some alternative resources that he can share with you to get you started.

NEW FRIENDS

Most members of our congregation and returning college students are familiar with the New Friends. It is a program in which our college students, together with some of our members, prepare and serve a meal following the second service to other college students and members of our congregation. ALSO INVITED are about seven group homes who have residents with disabilities.

The remaining tentative dates for the second semester are: March 15 (pork loin and cheesy hashbrowns) and April 26 – Pizza.

We invite members of our congregation and students from the campus ministry to help with this rewarding event. If you are unsure of what takes place, stay for lunch and observe the first time.

MARCH MISSION BOARD UPDATE

• Amazing Grace in Dickenson, ND - On Feb. 28, our District Mission Board will be submitting a New Start request for Dickinson.  There is a strong core group that is currently being served by Pastors Moldenhauer and Wolfe from 90 miles away.  The congregations they serve, Redeemer and Our Saviour’s, have both pledge​d some financial support ​​​for the first two years once a missionary is on site.  Last year our request for a new start in Dickinson was deferred by the Board for Home Missions, so this is our second try.  We will find out if they got approved on March 27.

• Sure Foundation in Brandon, SD - The Brandon New Start is now named Sure Foundation Lutheran Church. The Core Group has been meeting twice a month since September. In that time, Sure Foundation even added their first new member. They have secured a worship location in the atrium of Robert Bennis Elementary School and set their Launch Date for September 20, 2020.

• Prayer Requests for March - 1)  That our request for a New Start mission in Dickinson, ND will be approved and funded. 2)  That our group gathered in Williston, ND will continue to grow as we look forward to the day when we are able to call a missionary to that field.

PRAYER REQUEST/UPDATE ON MEMBERS

Please remember in prayer our homebound. We also continue to pray for Brad Knutson (son-in-law of Ruth Lucas) dealing with cancer as well as Pastor John Carter (bone cancer) from St. Martin’s Lutheran Church in Watertown. Please continue to remember Gina Gonzalez in prayer that her foot would keep healing properly. Please get Newsletter prayer requests to Linda by the 20th of the month.

USHER LIST

Men, please check the usher list on the back counter. Some people have offered some feedback about when and how they are scheduled. Please note that if you have not checked a service preference, we are assuming you would be willing to usher for either first or second. Be sure your contact info is correct.

If, for some reason, you feel you cannot usher, please speak with Pastor so that we don’t schedule you.

CONFIRMATION DURING LENT

During Lent (beginning February 26), confirmation will be Wednesdays from 5:00 – 6:15 PM. During Lent, we invite parents of the confirmands to sign up to bring “supper” for the class and Pastor/Vicar. Signup sheet is on the back counter.

EXAMINATION/CONFIRMATION

Examination and confirmation will take place on Sunday, May 10. The examination will take place from about 9:45-10:25AM. Pictures will be taken immediately following this. Confirmation will take place at 11:00 AM service on that same day.

MARCH USHERS

3/1, 8:30 – Ray Rennich/Steve VanMaanen; 11:00 – Gaylord Haroldson/James Longhenry; 3/8, 8:30 – Rick/Cody Howey; 11:00 – Mark Johnson/Robert Bertelsen; 3/15, 8:30 – Chad Knutson/Brian Kramer; 11:00 – Mike Kramer/Steve Holmlund; 3/22, 8:30 – Corbin Kratovil/Greg Langland; 11:00 – Brian Krogman/Tim Leins; 3/29, 8:30 – Matt Leopold/Steve McCarthy; 11:00 – Russ/Don Lokken.

SUNDAY SCHOOL

There is no Sunday school on Easter Sunday, April 12.

Parents, if you are not planning on using the three-ring binders from the fall, please have your child(ren) return the binders to their respective rooms. That way the material can be used in the future.

CHOIR PRACTICE

Choir practices on Wednesday nights for about 10-15 minutes following each Lenten Service. We encourage our WELS college students and members of the congregation to join us. We have an enjoyable time at practice. Questions? – speak to Sue Brokmeier or Kathy Winghart.

HY-VEE RECEIPTS

Thanks to Laura Seidl for tabulating the HyVee receipts. Remember for every $150,000 of receipts turned in we receive a $1,000 check. Please note that Fuel and Pharmacy Receipts can also be included. Sales from the following must be deducted: tax, alcohol, lottery, postage, tobacco, gift cards, and dry cleaning.

HELP US WITH CONTACT INFORMATION

There are several members including children of current members for which we need contact information. Please help us keep or church records current. If you have questions, speak with Pastor Brokmeier. WE ESPECIALLY WANT ADDRESSES FOR STUDENTS IN COLLEGE!

MONDAY NIGHT WORSHIP

Because we have a Midweek Lenten service there are no Monday night services during March.

COLLEGE STUDENTS

If you have any questions about any of our activities, please contact Pastor Brokmeier or Vicar Rothfuss.

We ask the college students please go website: . On the home page there is a heading for COLLEGE STUDENTS and a link for us to obtain your contact information. Click on it and fill it in A.S.A.P. Or you can simply fill out a paper copy (see Pastor for a copy). Bottom line: please make sure Pastor Brokmeier has a phone #, school address and e-mail info for you!

Do you need a ride to church? Can you offer someone a ride to church? We invite you to communicate with other students so that no one is “Left Behind” because they didn’t have a ride to church!

Please join us this fall for various activities and functions.

• Bible study – During Lent we will not be meeting for Bible Study since we have church on Wednesday nights.

• New Friends events – This is a great way to get a free meal 3 times each semester and to help share Jesus with people who have special needs. There is more info elsewhere in the newsletter.

• Collegian-Young Adult Gathering - The March calendar lists another possible Friday night Young Adult & Collegian Fellowship for March 20. Please check your e-mail and bulletin for further information and verification. Please sign-up if you are interested in going.

• We invite you to consider volunteering to sing in choir, usher, run the software to project our worship services, teach Sunday school, attend Bible Class and a host of other activities.

• Save your HyVee Receipts – We invite our members and college students to save your HyVee receipts. They can be placed in the box under the mailboxes in the fellowship hall. For every $150,000 of receipts we turn in, our congregation receives a check for $1,000.

• SCRIP Cards - If you shop at HyVee or WalMart and use other Fast Food Places in Brookings, we invite you to consider buying Scrip cards. You simply purchase the card in between services on Sunday morning. Our Great Plains Lutheran High School receives a Rebate of usually 2-8% of the amount that is purchased. E.g. If you buy $100 HyVee gift card, Great Plains receives a rebate of 5% or $5. If you have questions, please speak with Pastor or Vicar.

-----------------------

- 6 -

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download