December What’s the hardest thing about Christmas? Finding time to enjoy it. Every year I tell myself, “This time it’s going to be different.” And every year it passes in a blur. It’s It’s easy to fall into that trap. Christmas is the most blessed and sacred (and commercial!) of holidays, and it’s also when we’re at our busiest. We rack our brains to think of the perfect gifts for our loved ones. We’re forced to make our own wish lists. We battle crowds, plan meals, make travel plans—trying our hardest not to exclude any family members (well, except maybe for that weird uncle). What day can we all get together? What should we bring? Are we having turkey again? Are the in-laws bringing their dogs? Should we plan on spending the night? Etc. Etc. Etc. We deal with all of this and more. And, oh yeah, by the way, isn’t it supposed to be Jesus’ birthday or something? Yes, it’s easy to “miss” Christmas—but it’s even easier to forget why we celebrate in the first place. It’s not about Santa Claus or getting presents. It isn’t travel plans and So how do we remember this? How do we keep Christ at the forefront of our thoughts when we have enough trouble taking time to enjoy the holiday? For my family, the answer is “tradition.” Christmas as a whole can feel like a flash, but there are several little Of course, we all have plenty of secular Christmas traditions, from decorating the tree to visits from Santa. Hopefully, you have at least a few traditions that celebrate the reason for the season. If not, this is a great year to start. Merry Christmas and God’s blessings to you and your family! Ryan Jacobson, Council President
November “So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.” Galatians 6:9-10 Greetings, This time of the year, more so than the rest of the year, we tend to be thankful for everything we have in our lives – family, friends, “stuff”. While it is good to thank God for the blessings he has given us, we also need to be thankful for the opportunities that God gives us to share our blessings with others. Most of us view sharing as giving of money, which is needed, but we should also consider sharing our time and talents. Some of the opportunities for Sharing your time will come back to you with boundless blessings. Have a “thank-filled” holiday season. -Lisa Holcomb
October I have learned a lot about how a Church functions after being on Church Council for a couple years now. I really appreciate getting to know other Council members, our Church Staff and especially Pastor Dean !! Council meetings can be a great time to: learn, experience committee format, devotions that teach members how God works with us, record the history of the church, and have a fun time laughing with each other. Especially it is good to know that God's Spirit is with us as we do His work within our Church, within our community and our world. So my thoughts are: by taking time to be on Council or other committees, I want to promote that using our time, our talent and our finances within our Church benefits YOU and EVERYONE!!! Yes, I am promoting STEWARDSHIP!!! Stewardship is giving of yourself to the benefits for others. God wants us to give from our 'heart' or our inner desires to care for God's work. I hope Church members will reach out by volunteering at worship services as: Greeters, Ushers, provide Fellowship treats, and Readers. Help serve at funerals, provide cake, belong to committees like Evangelism, Altar Guild, or even be on Council. The talents of singing and providing music benefit our worship experiences. You will be blessed by your time spent on Financial resources benefit even more of God's work in our Church and the benevolence gifting to mission work. Helping the mission of our NE Minnesota Synod, Lutheran Social Services, Simpson House in Minneapolis, and international mission of Honduras and Russia. Continue to be a good steward. Our churches mission statement is: Commitment to Christ-Compassion for Others-Community of Faith. May God bless you for your service!! Karen Larson Leave those excuses at the door. When you’ve thought about getting involved at church, or been asked by someone to do something, have you had a ready excuse for not getting Yes, we’re all busy. Life today is like that, but the truth is that we make time for the things that are important to us – things we are passionate about. God wants us to be impassioned about spreading His Word and caring for His people and creation by using our God-given talents and passion. Passion
always trumps excuses! He wants us to be creative, to try new things. We must not fall into the trap of complacency: “we already tried that, it’s always been done that way, there’s not enough money or people to do that, that’s a As we re-start the Fall activities, think about your passions and talents. Listen to God’s call to you to get involved. Support a new program, encourage new ideas, join a new group, be willing to pursue that “ridiculous” idea. Then God can work His miracles. Remember, without U there is no CH_RCH, so leave those excuses at the door. - BJ Dalsveen, Church Council August Hope everyone is having a great summer. It's the start of a busy time for travel, As members of the church council we spend some time in our meetings looking over the church's financial reports, reviewing balance sheets and comparing with times past. It's part of the councils responsibility. During these summer months giving tends to be leaner and church attendance becomes less. I'm one of those church members who is gone in the winter and half of the summer, but my commitment to Calvary is always here at my home church. My first visit at the church I attended in Arizona was a surprise when it came time for the pastor to announce the taking of the offering, everyone started clapping as though the choir had just sung a beautiful song. After the clapping and celebration the pastor got up and explained to visitors that they weren't crazy but they had added a new attitude to As we serve and support Calvary with a serious committed attitude, let us add a joyous celebration. 2 Corinthians 8:11-14. Have a great summer! July I recently watched a TV interview with one of my favorite actors, Tom Hanks, and he said something that really struck me. He said 80% of people are good, and 20% aren’t. That’s a scary thought. It means one out of every five people is more than willing to hurt/deceive/damage/destroy others for their own selfish reasons. Now, I hope the percentage isn’t nearly that high. But none of us can dispute the notion that some Think long and hard before sending anyone money for any reason. Scam artists appeal to our emotions. They want us to act impulsively and/or in secret. They tell 1. Congratulations, you’ve won a prize! They want you to send money to cover taxes, shipping and processing fees, and then the prize will be shipped to you immediately. (Yeah, right!) 2. Grandma, I’m in jail! Those sneaky scam artists know your relatives’ names and can even sound like them. But when they tell you not to tell anyone else, you can be 99.9% sure that you’re being conned. Call a few of your loved ones before falling for this scam. May Hi! Do I know you? I think I do!? Is that what you wonder in church sometimes? Well, it happened to me too. It's hard to know everyone in the congregation! It is important work to leave our comfort zones and introduce ourselves, even if we have already done so, this small gesture allows us to be stewards of Gods love!! There are a few things going on at the church right now. Expenses are up and funds are down. We have had to go into some reserve funds to meet our obligations. Our council meetings have involved discussion around how to trim the budget, and these measures have helped but have not solved the shortfalls. Any giving would be greatly appreciated. Jumping into the 21st Century and using the internet for the newsletter on line for those who have access is one way to save on paper, printing costs and postage. Thank you for your willingness to give this a try. This month everyone will receive a copy of the newsletter in their church mailbox as well as email to those we have email addresses for. Any that are not pick up after a few weeks will be delivered. Next month those with email access, who have stated the desire to receive the newsletter this way, will not receive a hard copy in their mailbox at church . Council members look forward to input from you on how this process is going. The sun has finally arrived!! ENJOY! Jake Peterson, Council Vice President April At our Annual Meeting, the budget for the coming year was approved at $212,218.00. Monthly giving for the General fund needs to average $17,409.25 to meet this budget. The General fund expenses are for the general operations of the church such as: benevolence, salaries for all staff, committee expenses, utilities (electric, water, telephone, garbage), insurance and office supplies (copier, office paper and equipment, and postage). There was a lot of hard work and discussion on the budget this year to bring it to a “bare bones/ necessities only” budget. Congregation giving, to date, is approximately $4,500 behind budget. In a month such as this March, when there are 3 payroll periods in a month, there is a need for extra support to keep the check book funded. More expenses than congregation giving, means reserve funds in the checking account are depleted from the checkbook. If funds are not available, monies are transferred from the Reserve CD Account, to the General fund, for the operations of the church. Since the accounting policy was put into effect four years ago, February 2011was the first time we have had to transfer monies from the Reserve CD account to the checkbook. $5,000.00 has been transferred and $17,171.26 is left in the Reserve Fund. If you have any questions about the finances of Calvary, please contact our treasurer, Janet Martens. We are proud of the support that this Congregation has shown, over the years, to the ministries here at Calvary, and to the larger ministries of our Community and our World. We asked for your continued financial support, so the mission we are called to do, through Calvary Lutheran Church, for Christ Jesus, may continue and grow. Thank your for your support to the general fund and the mission of our Church. Brothers and Sisters in Christ: Janet Johnson and Janet Martens February Improvements to the facility have gone well. With the basement project completed another area that will need attention is the North Entrance and input and assistance will be sought after. Hopefully spring will be “just around the corner” and it will be time to look at clean-up and help with summer yard work!! It has come up that the Library is not regularly being utilized, so just a reminder that it is full of books for all ages and is open for all to use!! January |
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Council Corner |