M a y 2 0 1 5

U s h e r T e a m

C a p t a i n

S u n d a y ,

M a y 1 7

9 : 0 0 a m

C o m m u n i o n

V o l u n t e e r

M e e t i n g .

S u n d a y ,

M a y 1 7 & 2 4

9 : 0 0 a m

I n t h e

S a n c t u a r y .

I ns i de t h i s i s s ue :

Pastor Sarah 1

Pastor Ashley 2

Office Reconfigura-

tion

4

Congregational Life 5

Book Club 6

Reflection from

Peggy Paulson

7

Youth Ministry 8

Children’s Ministry 9

Community Out-

reach Opportunities

11

Volunteers 12

A Word from Pr. Sarah "April Showers Bring May Flowers." It is a phrase that came to my mind when my five year old brought home both an umbrella art project and a giant construction paper flower in his preschool backpack this week. The phrase may be an old cliche, but as it popped into my mind, I realized that it is an apt description of the climate I am sens-ing here at Our Savior's this month. If the month of March brought financial discoveries about our life together, and the month of April brought difficult conversations and the implementation of deep budget cuts, it seems that the month of May is promising to bring new life and joy to our church doorstep! I shared a conversation with a gentleman new to the congregation after Wednesday night worship not long ago. He shared a sentiment that I am hearing often these days, "There's an energy here that I have not felt for a long time. And I'd like to find a way to be involved". Several Sunday morning worshippers have also made hopeful comments: "We are praying for a revival." "It is good to hear the laughter in the sanctuary." "I used to look at change with apprehension, but life has taught me that change can also bring new life and new opportunities. Now I look at change with anticipation and even excite-ment". Though we are traveling through a time of change, there are many things that hold the promise of newly blossoming life at Our Savior's. Moving to one Sunday morning worship service will allow us to see people we have not seen in a while. A variety of music at summer worship will allow us to hear our faith in God expressed in a variety of powerful ways. Coffee time will hold the chance to converse about the core activi-ties of church as found in the book of Acts. A new education schedule for next fall will invite Sunday school families back into the sanctuary and provide opportunities for people of all age groups to gather together to enjoy one another's company. It feels like God is at work! You will find many pieces of information in the pages to come: what to expect out of a new one- service worship schedule, news of a fundraising challenge for office recon-figuration, a wonderful reflection by one of our council members and great infor-mation on summer youth activities. In all of these areas, new life is budding and bursting forth in our midst. In this season after Easter, we remember that Christ burst forth from the tomb, that life might emerge after death. So it is at Our Savior's. Spring is coming, and so are the signs of God's involvement amongst us. In Christ, Pr. Sarah

P a g e 2

Office Reconfiguration!

You have heard plans, heard rumors, heard about moving furniture but we are excited to announce the Cam-

paign for Office Reconfiguration!

A congregation member has donated a generous gift of $1,500! This member will only give the gift if the

funds are matched! We are asking congregation members to raise $1,500 in the Month of May so that we can

move forward with the Office Reconfiguration.

What is involved in the Office Reconfiguration?

Moving office for Director of Operations!

Georganne Danielson will move from her current location to the open office near Pr. Ashley.

Moving office for Children’s Director!

Kira Anderson will move from her current location to a Sunday School room near the Youth Director.

Moving Sunday School Supply Room!

We will convert a Sunday School room near Kira’s new office for a supply room.

Adding Doors!

Kira’s new office and the supply room will have doors that connect to the Fireworks Room.

Moving Front Office!

We will move Wendy in the front office to the current office of Kira Anderson. We will install a pass

through window in this office to allow for greeting visitors as they enter our building!

Moving Lutheran Social Services and Christ through Hands!

These offices will be moved to the current front offices, giving them more space and the private entry

with the outside door.

Why are we doing this now?

There are questions around why are we moving forward with the Office Reconfiguration in the middle of the

recent financial discoveries and budget cuts. There are three main reasons why we have decided to move for-

ward with the Office Reconfiguration.

1. The plan for the Office Reconfiguration was introduced prior to the financial discoveries and budget

cuts.

2. The staff are very excited about the possibilities that will be available by working closely together,

welcoming visitors to our building and the use of the building space.

3. We are also moving ahead because someone has come forward with a financial gift to begin this pro-

ject. This financial gift reveals that there is passion for the project and a willingness to move forward.

Timeline

We hope to raise the funds for the Office Reconfiguration in May and begin work in early June. This specific

project and fundraiser does not include the costs for Handicap Doors. We will continue to raise money for the

Handicap Doors and hopefully have the cash in place to move forward with Handicap Doors in the coming

months.

How Can I Give?

If you would like to give to this matching fundraiser for the Office Reconfiguration please make sure to mark

on donations that this goes to the Office Reconfiguration Matching Fund. Thank you!

P a g e 5

C o n g r e g a t i o n a l L i f e

Our Sympathy to:

Frank and Joyce Ahlman

James and Nikki Lemke Family

In the death of Joyce’s father,

John Fligge.

Al and Vicki Matzke

In the death of

Al’s mother,

Loretta Matzke.

Doris Mestad

In the death of her husband,

Del Mestad.

Gerry Sherwood

In the death of his wife,

Karen Sherwood.

May the promise of the resurrec-tion into eternal life give you much hope and comfort in this time of loss.

Baptisms

April 26, 2015

Isabella Thompson

Daughter of

Josie Schultz

Welcome to

Our Family

Little One!

First Communion

Class 2015

These students received their First Communion Dur-

ing Holy Week.

Elise Andersen

Isabella Bokman

Adriana Borka

Carlie Caron

Alexis Finstuen

Slade Gregersen

Nicholas Kaderlik

Sevin Kane

Riley Langenfeld

Lauren Meier

Jack Meyer

Gracie Moldan

Madison Olson

Zachary Paquette

Noah Pientka

Carson Schema

Beau Schrot

Annabel Sorensen

Emily Soukup

Taylor Sterling

Lauren Stroup

Thalia Trebelhorn

Regan Vogelsberg

Owen Whitney

Grace Yetzer

Brooklyn Zrust

Lamplighter’s Meeting

May 5

1:00pm

Visitors are always

welcome.

From SE Mn Synod

Today's Bright Spot comes from

Pastor Mark Johnson and Bish-

op Steve Delzer who both at-

tended the Assembly of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in

Colombia (IELCO) from March

11-15 in Bogota. At the assem-

bly, Pastor Gustavo Torres was

elected bishop. Bishop Delzer

took Spanish lessons from Sis-

ter Ruth at Assisi Heights for

several months so that he could

bring greetings and preach in

Spanish at the assembly. This

delighted the delegates and he

was even asked if he would

consider being nominated for

bishop in Colombia! Thankfully

he declined. During the assem-

bly English/Spanish Bibles were

presented by Bishop Delzer and

Pastor Johnson to each of IEL-

CO's congregations, missions

and schools on behalf of the

Southeastern Minnesota Syn-

od's Global Mission/Companion

Synods Table.

P a g e 6

Update on handicap accessibility:

We have received three bids for work to make our building a more welcoming place for those who use walkers and wheelchairs! The Church Council reviewed the three bids at the April Council Meeting. A decision on awarding the bid was tabled until funds are raised for this project. Any donations are more than welcome at this time and will be set aside until work begins. Work will not begin until we have collected the entire cost of the project. We welcome your participa-tion in this process! THANK YOU!

Attention Our Savior’s

Book Readers:

Attention Our Savior’s Book lover: Join us on Monday May 18th at 7:30 in the Library when we will be discussing Antho-ny Doerr’s book All the Light We Cannot See.

About the BooK: From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the beautiful, stunningly ambi-tious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Muse-um of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the mu-seum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel. In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.

F a c t s a n d F i g u r e s f o r M a r c h 2 0 1 5

3 Y e a r C o m p a r i s o n

M a r c h O f f e r i n g 2 0 1 5 $ 6 2 , 4 2 4 . 0 0 2 0 1 4 $ 6 0 , 8 0 9 . 0 0 2 0 1 3 $ 6 8 , 6 1 0 . 0 0

M a r c h E x p e n s e 2 0 1 5 $ 5 0 , 7 3 6 . 0 0 2 0 1 4 $ 5 5 , 5 5 2 . 0 0 2 0 1 3 $ 5 9 , 0 7 6 . 0 0 A t t h e e n d o f M a r c h o u r Y e a r t o D a t e o f -f e r i n g s w e r e $ 1 , 9 9 3 . 0 0 a b o v e p r o j e c t e d b u d g e t , o u r e x p e n s e s w e r e $ 7 . 0 0 o v e r b u d g e t . T h a n k f o r y o u r c o n t i n u e d s u p -p o r t o f O u r S a v i o r ’ s !

P a g e 7 ‘More than Enough’ A Reflection on our Family of Faith

Our conversations for the last several months have traveled from themes of ‘More than Enough’ time,

talents and money to the recent financial news of ‘Not Having Enough’ to sustain our current budget.

As a result of these conversations we have now focused our attention on congregational finances, one wor-ship service and conversation on where is God leading us.

I believe that the conversation around money and budgets, worship and music, education and Bible studies are really speaking deeply into who are we as a community of faith. We are asking questions of ‘Where is God leading us?’ and ‘What is God calling our church to be and to do?’

This has not been an easy time but I have already glimpsed conversations and energy around moving forward as a united community of faith. During the next few months I encourage you to share your reflections and your hopes for Our Savior’s Lutheran Church.

At our recent council meeting, Peggy Paulson shared a moving reflection as she talked about her own family and their decision to attend Our Savior’s Lutheran Church and the family that has been created in this con-gregation.

A Devotion from Peggy Paulson

Here is my journey story to OSLC:

Our family journey to OSLC started when we moved back to Faribault in 1991. We had Nathan who was about 1 year old and very shy. We weren’t convinced which denomination we would go with since I was Catholic and Don was Lutheran, we were even open to denominations that neither of us had participated in before. We explored our options, attended several different services, and landed at OSLC. From the very beginning we found ourselves welcome by the church community and Nathan was comfortable from day 1. There was a variety of activities for the kids and although we ebbed and waned due to lead pastor chang-es we stuck with it because we wanted our children to feel at home when they went to church. Eventually having a total of 4 children go through the experience I find us very satisfied with the choice we made so long ago. We made a choice to change a strategic decision and stuck with it.

We came because of our family and the kids, we stay because of the family we now feel a part of. We have come to a place over the past few years where we can now turn from our family needs to the needs of others, those who are part of this church community and others outside of these walls. Each of us has experiences to bring and times when we can offer to others. Times are changing for us as a family, my personal family as well as our family within the church. We all get to choose the path we take. Let us move forward as a community leading OSLC to guide others to choose us.

Youth Update and Reflections

With May arriving you may think that youth programming may be slowing down. Although this is the case a little bit it’s not all true. Please take some time and read through the information below as I recap spring and look forward to summer.

May 9th 6:30 PM Youth Room Confirmation Camp Counselor Meeting:

We are about one month away from our annual confirmation camp held at Interstate State Park in Taylors Falls. Please mark this date on your calendar if you are a high school/college aged counselor this year. Thank you for all of those who applied to be apart of this experience. We have a great group of adults and counselors this year I am excited to see what’s in store for us during that week.

May 10th Youth Service 9:30 AM

To kick off the one service transition here at Our Savior’s we begin with our annual Youth Sunday fundraiser. Students from elementary to high school will be involved someway throughout the service. It is also Mother’s Day that Sunday and Fishing Opener in the State of Minnesota. Take a break from the water if you can and bring your mother/ family to experience a great worship service as we kick off our new schedule. Again worship is at 9:30 AM. See you there!!!

Thank You Program Volunteer

With school programing winding down for the year, our final Wednesday night being May6th I want to thank everyone who has been involved with the youth programming this year. There have been many of you that have helped out along the way. I would like to specifically thank my confirmation leaders who have given of their time and themselves to the program along with the students this year.

Emilee Kasper, Beth Fette, Amanda Kolling, Scott Klecker, Tim Becker, Jeri Simons, Tracy Hunt, Kaylin Vinar, Morgan Hanegraaf, Nathan Sorensen, Julie Bongers, Declan Bongers, Becky Krogh, Laura Burkhartzmeyer, Jean Moriarity. Without the hours that the volunteers put in the programming would not be where it is today.

Final Wednesday Night: MAY 6th

As we begin our summer season I hope we are able to stay connected and if at any time you are wondering about the opportunities for the youth of OSLC please contact me.

Timmy Slinger

Youth Director

P a g e 8

C h i l d r e n ’s M i n i s t r y

P a g e 9

As this year comes to an end I wanted to make sure we say thanks to our WONDER-FUL volunteers that help with the Children’s Programming! I truly could not run the children’s programming each week without their help. They come each week ready to teach a lesson to all of our youth about God’s great love! Please thank them for their service if you see them!

Sunday Teachers: Karen Huberty, Katie Ernste, Wayne Mueller, Linda Mueller, Candace Gray, Katelyn Jensen, Megan Hedenstrom, Emilee Kasper, Hannah Bokel-mann, Morgan Hanegraaf, Lisa Humfeld-Wilson, Amanda, Novotny, Summer Voegel, Patty Kolling, Jocelyn Lansing, Kennedy Lansing

Wednesday Teachers: Jane Whitney, Lisa Meier, Alyssa Grinde, Samantha Pierce, Emily Stadler, Anna Nietz, Marnie Roiger, Cece Wood, David Klapperich, Derek Bokelmann, Rachel Yetzer, Amy Stroup

Last Day of Sunday School is Sunday, May 3rd

This will be your last Sunday in your small group class rooms. Beginning Sunday, May 10th we will be going to one service at 9:30am. This is also our Mission Trip Sunday. The students going on the mission trip will be leading this service for the congregation. The Sunday School kids will be participating in this service as well!!! The Music Man will be playing a couple of songs with the Sunday School kids during worship so the congregation can hear some of the songs the kids have been singing through out the year! I hope you will all join us!!

Last Day of Wednesday School & Confirmation is Wednesday, May 6th

*******REGISTRATION*******

Registration for the 2015-2016 school year has begun, the Road Map and all Summer Registration forms are available outside the Fire Works room. A re-minder that the Road Map lists all of your Stepping Stone dates for 2015-2016!! So mark your calendars early!!!

Summer Dates:

June 22nd-26th:

8:30-11:00am

VBS for 3 year olds

through graduated

kindergarten.

June 22nd-25th:

6:30-8:00pm

VBS for 1st - 5th

grade (graduated)

July 14th-18th:

9:00-4:00pm

Good Earth Village

On the Road

(aka Day Camp)

graduated Kindergar-

ten through 5th

Grade.

Vacation Bible School 2015 – EVEREST

June 22nd-26th 8:30-11:00am

(3 yrs. old through completed Kind.)

June 22nd – 25th 6:30 – 8:00pm

(Completed 1st through 5th grade)

Embark on an icy expedition where kids overcome obstacles with God’s awesome power. Anchor kids in rock-solid Bible truths that will guide them through life’s challenges!

We are also looking for volunteers to help with the week-long VBS the week of June 22nd from 8:30-11:00 AM for 3yrs – graduated Kindergarten and 6:30-8:00pm for 1st – 5th graders. Areas available to volunteer for are:

Small group helper

Craft Coordinator and helpers

Game coordinator and helpers

Snack coordinator and servers

This camp is open to any family, so please invite other families you may know outside of Our Savior’s to join us for a fantastic week!

On the Road aka Day Camp 2015 – Good Earth Village

July 12th (Sunday Evening Worship and Registration)

July 13th – 16th 9:00am-4:00pm (Kindergarten through completed 5th Grade)

One the Road G.E.V.

The registration is already on line at the Good Earth Village website. Check it out at;

http://www.goodearthvillage.org/summer-camp/on-line-registration/

You may register your child directly on line through Good Earth Village. The cost is $70 payable to Good Earth Village. On Sunday night of regis-tration we are asking each camper to pay an additional $10 per child payable to OSLC to cover the cost of the child’s lunch for the week.

We have filled all of the housing needs for our Camp Counselors already!! I am so excited about this!! We are now looking for anyone to sponsor an evening meal for the counselors? If you would like to make dinner for the counselors at church please let me know! We are in need of dinner Sunday, Monday, Tuesday &Wednesday evening! You don’t have to have a student involved in this camp to provide a meal.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!!

Supply Our Children, also known as SOC, is a collaborative project to create a community wide effort to collect and distribute school supplies to the children of the Faribault. The purpose of SOC is to provide ade-quate school supplies to every child, giving them an opportunity to be prepared and increase their success in school. My hope is that you will want to join in and help us supply our children.

The committee is in need of several volunteers to help organize their supply drive. They meet monthly dur-ing the school year and twice a month in June & July in preparation for the event in August. Volunteers who help with this organization; solicit monitory donation, encourage community support through organizing supply contests, assist in grant writing to receive funding to continue the efforts of the organization, and help distribute the supplies on distribution day. Over the past 3 years I have been apart of this organization. I would love for some members of our congregation to take my place in participating in this community effort. Please contact me to find out more information about joining!!

Kira Anderson

We will be creating newcomer centers within our schools. We will have one at the high school, the middle school and probably Jefferson (might be Lincoln and/or both elementary schools, we are waiting for the board to decide). The volunteers can decide what age group they want to work with. We need MANY volun-teers from our community to make this work. A volunteer would be working with newcomers (new to the country) children. They speak very little English. You would be working with individual students or in small groups (whatever you are comfortable with). A teacher will prepare all the materials and show you what to do with the students. You might be reading with them, counting blocks, playing games, helping them with worksheets, showing them how to talk with a friend, rules in schools, etc. Things a person who just moves to the United States needs to know. Most newcomers are very friendly, curious and like coming to school. The volunteers would need a background check and could decide how often they want to volunteer. They could come daily, once a week or bi-weekly-whatever works with their schedule. We will be grateful for any hours, although a regular schedule-once a week at least-would be best.

Please forward any questions to me:

Barbara Ritchey 763-607-1413

britchey@faribault.k12.mn.us

Thank you

May Volunteers

Ushers (teams will share responsibilities beginning May 10th for 9:30 worship)

Team 6 8:30 am 10:30 am

Cindy Schuenke © Rick Bartness ©

Stewart Schuenke Jan & Shirley Luikens

Dave Henry Duane & Janice Reichl

Sheila Roehrick Linda Mueller

Cheri Sterling Lori Tuff

George & Shirley Galvin

Welcome Center Greeters

8:30 10:30

May 3 Julie Bongers Family Carol Fahrenholtz

9:30

May 10 Youth

May 17 Lyle and Ruth Olson

May 24 Clarence and Vivian Anderson

May 31 Ted and Corinne Thompson

Attention Welcome Center Greeters: We would like to place the greeters in the new narthex behind or by the Wel-come Counter. This will give the greeters a central place for new people to find them for information and to welcome them to Our Savior’s as they enter the church building. Please be at the Welcome Counter 15 min. before service and right after service for about 15 min. Thank you.

Communion May 3 & 17

8:30 (May 3) 10:30 (May 3) 9:30 (May 17)

Comm. Prep Volunteer needed Beth Moore Beth Moore

Servers Ellen Bisping Fred & Barb Grote Ellen Bisping

Barb Karli Tara Dunn Tara Dunn

Cindy Schuenke Shari & Harry Dell Keith and Karen Larson

Cheri Sterling Linda Mueller Fred and Barb Grote

Keith & Karen Larson

Readers 8:30 10:30

May 3 Denese Bremer Todd Markman

9:30

May 10 Youth

May 17 Barb Karli

May 24 Buzz Kornmann

May 31 Dorothy Sampson

Tech Team

Sound / Media Shout & Lights 8:30 10:30

May 3 Mark Zentner/Ken Butzow Mark Zentner/Ken Butzow

9:30

May 10 Roger Meyer/Dick Lawson

May 17 Curt and Georganne Danielson

May 24 Troy and Carol Caron

May 31 Chris and Blake Trebelhorn

Nursery

8:30 10:30

May 3 Mindy Whitney Anne & Naomi Pientka

9:30

May 10 Youth Sunday, No Nursery

May 17 Brendan and Krista Cox

May 24 Volunteer Needed

May 31 Alisha Hildebrandt

C a f é M i d w e e k M a y M e n u

Serving from 5:00-6:00pm

M a y 6 L a s t n i g h t o f C a f é M i d w e e k

F o r t h e S c h o o l Y e a r .

P i z z a S a l a d

D e s s e r t B e v e r a g e s .

T h a n k y o u t o e v e r y o n e w h o j o i n e d

U s o n W e d n e s d a y e v e n i n g s f o r F o o d a n d f e l l o w s h i p .

S e e y o u i n S e p t e m b e r !

V i s i t u s o n t h e w e b !

w w w. o u r s a v i o r s f b o . o r g

O u r S a v i o r ’ s L u t h e r a n C h u r c h 1207 Prairie Ave South

Faribault, MN 55021

Nonprofit Or.

Bulk Rate

U.S. Postage Paid

Faribault, MN 55021

Permit No. 81

Change Service Requested

Café Midweek

Cost is $3.00 per person

with a family maximum

Of $15.00.

Come enjoy great food and fellowship with your

Our Savior’s family!