November 2016 Trinity Lutheran Church and School

As I write to you this day, we are about to celebrate Reformation Sunday. Perhaps you look at Reformation as the forming of the Lutheran Church, or you consider it breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church. You may think it is about Martin Luther and his teaching, his doctrine. But first and foremost, the Reformation is about the Word of God. The reason there was a reformation was that God’s Word was being obscured by human thought and teaching. I don’t mean to go into every detail of the events of 499 years ago, but suffice it to say that the grace of God through our Savior, Jesus Christ was at the heart of the matter. This time in history had all the markings of another time in history when the church was more focused on human understanding than on God revealing His love for us. We hear these words from John’s account of the Gospel, “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, “You will become free”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’” (John 8:31-36) We are always being tempted to place our own thoughts and interpretations on top of God’s Word and thus hide His Word. It is a daily battle to avoid insisting on our way and instead let God’s Word speak to us to show us His way. Our ways enslave us in our sinfulness, but God’s way, the way of Christ dying for us and rising for us, sets us free for all eternity with Him. By His Holy Spirit, we go forth in faith each day. It’s like the verse my pastor gave me for confirmation, “Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be men of courage, be strong. Do everything in love.” (1 Cor. 16:13-14). Jesus Christ is the Savior on whom our hope rests as we await his promised return. As we continue to be in God’s Word together, we look forward to hearing from missionary Fungchatou Lo on October 29 & 30 and from missionary Jana Inglehart on November 5 & 6 about telling others about Jesus in all the world. The end of November ushers in the season of Advent. We will be worshiping at 7:00 p.m. at St. John-Green Garden on Thanksgiving Eve, here at Trinity on 11/30, back to St. John on 12/7, and conclude our Advent Wednesday services here at Trinity on 12/14. For the Advent services, we welcome volunteers to provide a pre-service meal. Please let the church office know you are willing to cook and serve. The Advent Saturday/Sunday worship schedule will remain the same as before. In Christ,

Pastor Williams

NEWSLETTER HIGHLIGHTS

Message from Pastor

* Finance Facts

* Trinity Ladies’ Aid

* Poinsettia’s

* Youth Group

* Board of Education Minutes

* Lutheran High Northeast

News *

November Birthdays, Anniversaries, Baptisms

* November Volunteers

* November Calendar

****************************** Trinity Tidings

Published Monthly by: Trinity Lutheran Church

508 South Jackson St. PO Box 367

Madison, NE 68748-0367 Phone: 402-454-3532 Fax: 402-454-3476 e-mail: trinitylutheran

@cableone.net website:

trinitylutheranmadison.com

Vacancy Pastor Barry Williams 402-454-2823

Trinity Lutheran School 705 West Sixth

PO Box 969 Madison, NE 68748

Phone: 402-454-2651 Fax: 402-454-3476

e-mail: trinmad@esu8.org Principal

Bill Masters

Trinity Ladies’ Aid October 20 Meeting

Linda Godemann led the prayers and devotion based on the book of James—chapters 1 and 3 especially—describing the type of life a Christian should lead—some common sins we should overcome—with his life molded by the gospel of God’s grace.

President Margo Dawson presided—Roll Call was answered by indicating whether we were an organizer or not.

Minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.

Anne Blank, Treasurer, reported receipts in the amount of $293.54 from member mites, LWML Sunday mites, 3 cookbooks sold & Volsicka memorial. Disbursements in the amount of $176.22 were derived from mites, SMILE (monthly donation) and cutlery for the church kitchen. LWML Sunday mites, $121.20 to be disbursed. Operating balance $477.99. There were no bills.

Correspondence and reports: A thank you from SMILE and report on paper products for the church kitchen.

As a delegate to the Fall Rally - Margo reported: Rev. Ryan Taylor lead the Bible Study, the In-gathering was designated for the NE Veterans’ Home, Norfolk. A report on needs and services was given by the director.

Collections at the Rally were as follows: 1) $503.72 for mites (75% of our mites stay in the Nebraska North District/25% goes toward National Goals) 2) $120.25 free-will offering 3) $398.25 In-gathering for the Norfolk Veterans Home

Attendance: 26 delegates, 18 guests, 1 pastor.

Election resulted in: President—Monique Wolske (Tilden) Treasurer—Gloria Knapp (Green Garden) Christian Growth Chairman (Lynette Koehler, Zion, Pierce) Vice President—1– year term due to move of current VP, Jacque Collison, Zion Pierce. Old business: Further discussion in regard to paper products for funerals was held. New business: A discussion regarding where we might hang a large banner that had been made for the NE District North was held.

Election of President & Treasurer will be held next month.

Motion was made, seconded and carried to give $50 monthly donation to the Nebraska Veterans Home.

October birthdays were cited: Ruth Oswald, Liela Berends, Gloria Long. (Cards will be sent to shut-ins.)

We sang the Happy Anniversary song to Anne (and Bill) Blank.

November Hostess and devotion leader will be Margo Dawson.

We prayed the Lord’ Prayer as we adjourned.

Genene Sjuts, Secretary

Post meeting: We discussed whether to continue sending holiday cards to service-men. No decision was made.

Trinity Tidings—Nov 2016

Finance Facts – a note from your Treasurer Current debt level is staying steady at around $90,000 for the last 3 months. While it is encouraging that our debt isn’t growing, we still have a lot of work to do to overcome this deficit. The main reasons we have been about to maintain our debt level is from extra gifts, school tuition, and also less expenses due to our vacancy. May God work through us all to do what we can to serve Him here at Trinity!! Jennifer Zessin

Trinity Tidings—Nov 2016

Pews for Sale Trinity has a number of church pews for sale. If you are interested, please contact Mary Sorensen or Werner Blank.

Thank You To the Weldon Rakowsky family for the beautiful, new entrance doors. They are a wonderful addition to the church. The south ramp now has a handicap button for entry.

The Madison Food Pantry Is in need of toilet paper and peanut butter. Anything you can contribute would be appreciated. You can leave the items in the narthex or take them to the pantry on Saturday mornings.

Poinsettia The sign-up sheet for purchasing Poinsettia’s will be in the narthex the first weekend of November and will be there for 3 weeks only. The Poinsettia’s are $13 this year.

Youth Group Several things are happening with the Youth Group. They are going to have a monthly meeting on November 6, at 6:00 p.m. in the Church basement. They are also planning a day time event on December 4. More to follow on that. They are also selling Sherwood Forest Farms Greenery. Six different items are available. You can order from LeAnn Frauendorfer (992-0683) or any of the youth members of our church. The items are:

22” Mixed Evergreen Wreath $25

10’ Western Cedar Garland $24

Noble Fir Door Swag $21

Mixed Green Centerpiece $18

Red & Gold Snowflake Bow $7.50

Decoration Set $12.50

Trinity Lutheran School Board of Education Minutes

October 5, 2016 Present: Mr. Masters, Mike Holdorf, Ron Nykodym, Amanda Siecke, Jean Blank Absent: Brian Zessin Guests: None Minutes: Minutes from the September meeting were reviewed and stand as read. Financial Report: September report was reviewed and accepted. Reviewed Bills: None Parish Education Report: Children’s Church and Men’s & Women’s Bible studies have started. Old Business: 1. Mike Holdorf is going to visit with Judy Jurgens about alumni. 2. Budget will be forwarded to voters. 3. Mike called Eakes for a quote on a new copier for the school. Jean made a motion that if we

don’t hear from Eakes by the 10th of the month, we accept the bid from One Office Solutions. Seconded by Ron, motion passed.

4. Mr. Masters shared information about SCRIP. Bill and Shelley will try and get it started as soon as possible.

5. Discussion was had on the need for Sports Physicals. It was decided that a little more research would be done by Mike, Bill and Amanda.

New Business: 1. Mr. Masters reported on the Administrative Conference he attended in Seward. He explained

that the main topic was Protecting Your Ministry and gave us handouts on this subject. 2. Yearly Agenda: Mr. Masters will apply to Thrivent for funds for Christmas Bags. Principals’ Report: 1. Game night was held with approximately 55 people attending. 2. Mr. Masters received a call from Margie Brisco about being included in the lunch schedule for

the school. Calendar: October 10—Choral Clinic at LHNE at 3:00 p.m. October 11—1st quarter ends. Volleyball against Madison Jr. High @ 4:00 p.m. October 12-15—LEA in Grand Rapids, MI October 18-19—PT Conferences October 19—11:30 dismissal. PTL Skating Party @ 6:00 p.m. October 20—JV Volleyball at home @ 5:45 p.m. October 20—8th grade visitation at LHNE, 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. October 26—11:30 dismissal. Father Fall Festival at 6:00 p.m. October 27—Bob Ziegler—9:00 a.m. Next Meeting: November 7, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. Meeting was adjourned and closed with the Lord’s Prayer. Respectfully submitted, Jean Blank Board of Education Secretary

Trinity Tidings—Nov 2016

Birthdays Nov 2 Michael Orlowski, Elsa Sommer Nov 3 Zolana Doupnik-Costello, Jason Witzel Nov 4 Dolores Glasser, Alyssa Meyer Nov 5 Enjoli Donner, Tessa Kruger Nov 6 Chelsey Hartner Nov 8 Melissa Jones, Cori Nathan Nov 9 Randall Schlueter Nov 10 Linda Church Nov 11 Chet Bickley, Darrell Dawson, Niko Gronenthal Nov 19 Morgan Holdorf Nov 20 Tami Fredrickson Nov 23 Dennis Witzel Nov 27 Kipp Kolm, Scott Sjuts Nov 29 John Orlowski III Nov 30 Heather Drahota, Savana Koss, Sarah Masters

November Baptism Anniversaries

Nov 1 Gladys Christiansen Nov 2 Jesse Orlowski, Dona Sunderman Nov 3 Haley Dittberner, Kyndall Holdorf Nov 4 Trenton Ganskow, Angela Lich, Ruth Oswald Nov 5 Kenney Blank, Kimberly Blank Nov 6 Angela Nathan Nov 7 Dexter Anderson, Kamdyn Anderson, Lucy Ray Nov 8 Jacob Klein Nov 11 Lisa Wolken Nov 18 Dolores Glasser Nov 19 Morgan Holdorf, Janel Klawitter, Tessa Kruger Nov 20 Michael Hoffart Nov 21 Marilyn Ray Nov 22 Liela Berends, Terrence Hartner, Jason Witzel Nov 28 Kay Albus, Lucy Nathan, Dennis Witzel Nov 29 Duane Zessin Nov 30 Sarah Masters

Trinity Tidings—Nov 2016

November Wedding

Anniversaries 11/19/1983 Steven & Kathy Hintz 11/27/2010 Warren & Jean Blank 11/27/1965 William & Marilyn Wetjen

6 Riley Jurgens/Eli Knapp

13 James Wright/Elijiah DelaCruz

20 Shakiera Gronenthal/Andre Kittle

27 Pacey Koss/Trystan Koss

30 Trent Sommer/Whitney Zessin

Acolytes

November Volunteers

Elders on Duty Al Demmel Larry Sjuts

6 Blake Freudenburg/Brittney Jurgens

13 Kortni Kasik/Jacob Kittle

20 Seth Knapp/Cole Sommer

27 Scott Sjuts/Alyssa Meyer

30 Booklynne Flynn/Trenton Ganskow

Ushers

5 Ruth Oswald

6 Vicki Blank

12 Lareesa Greunke

13 Holly Kolm

19 Sharon Wright

20 Emily White

26 Vicky Demmel

27 Pam Busteed

30 Vicki Blank

Screen Team Scripture Readers

6 Annie Rumsey

13 Sharon Wright

20 Brenda Borchers

27 Bill Masters

6 Suzette Jurgens

13 John & Jeri Orlowski

20 Al & Mary Sorensen

23 To Be Determined

27 Don & Donna Knapp

30 Lisa & Doug Wolken

Altar Guild Servants

Charlie Rakowsky Marilyn Ray

Trinity Tidings—Nov 2016

Countryside Assistants

Greeters Sheila Koss & Family

Bobbi Koss