Text Box: February 15, 2022 News Dear People of God, We are coming to you with some updates, information, and requests that we wanted to share with you today. Please take a moment to read through ALL of these updates and let me know if you have any questions. Cultivating Healthy Ministries is a combined ministry with Hebron United Methodist Church and our second event (A1C Screening) is scheduled for Thursday, February 24th. You must register by texting or call 815-355-5554 to schedule your appointment. An A1C test is a blood analysis that measures the average glucose level in the blood for the last 3 months. A1C tests can be used to diagnose diabetes and prediabetes. An A1C test is also the main test used to in the management of diabetes. Risk Test for Prediabetes 1. If you are a woman, at one time, were you diagnosed with gestational diabetes? 2. Do you have a mother, father, brother, or sister with diabetes? 3. Have you ever been diagnosed with high blood pressure? 4. Have you ever been told you have diabetes or prediabetes? If you responded YES to any of these questions, you may benefit from an A1C screening! NO FASTING – and it is FREE. Call today to set up your appointment! Council 2022 The following are our new council members for 2022. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, never hesitate to reach out to any council member or pastor. Representing St. John’s for 2022 are: Don Gritmacker President; Jim Lange Vice President; Deb Sorenson Secretary; Members at Large; Ken Winkelman; Sandy Drevalas; Dan Higgins; Laura Leedle; Treasure (non-voting member) Jan Winkelman. Join us this Sunday, February 20th, as we install our new council. Youth Group After much thought and prayer, Brook Winkelman has decided to step down from leading our youth program. This is sad news for our youth and for me. Brook grew up in the church and was very involved with our youth programs and loved it. She said many times that it helped shape her into the person she is today. This belief moved her forward to become involved in the youth program as an adult, wanting to be a part of shaping the lives of others. She always brought fun and laughter to every event. However, Brook’s personal life is getting a bit hectic and has decided it is time to step away from leading the youth program. We give Brook our thanks for her many years of service to this program. She will be missed! Personally, I will greatly miss Brook’s help, insight, and wit! When you see Brook, please thank her for her service! One of Brook’s life-long lessons she leaves us with is – how to peal a banana. Do you know the correct way? LOL at our trip to Michigan we found out we’ve been doing it the wrong our entire lives. Ask Brook, she’ll share it with you. With this news, brings changes. In the forefront of our minds is our youth and how important they are and how important a youth program is. But to have a vibrant youth program, we need our youth! We need involvement! I will be reaching out to a local church to see if they would be interested in a combined youth program for all ages. I will keep you informed on any new developments; however, we are still looking for someone to step in and help with our youth program. There must always be (at least) two adults present for every event. Please think about this and pray to see if you are that one. If you have any questions, please let Pastor know. Synod Assembly We are looking for two voting members who will commit to attending the annual Synod Assembly in June. The event (as of today) will be split between Zoom and in-person. Besides voting on the budget, council, etc., we will also be voting for a new bishop. **Per Synod – you must be vaccinated. The schedule as of today is as follows: (Each zoom event varies in time but assume 1-3 hours.) ZOOM events: Sunday, June 5th will meet via Zoom **required (Adopt rules of Assembly, Ecclesiastical Ballot; Adoption of minutes; Secretary’s report; Treasurer’s report; Vice President’s report; report results of the first ballot for synodical bishop.) Sunday, June 12th will meet via Zoom **required (Casting of the 2nd ballot for synodical bishop; reports of the ELCA Churchwide Representative; report results of 2nd ballot for synodical bishop – and if necessary, will go forward with 3rd ballot) Monday, June 13th, will meet (evening) via Zoom **OPTIONAL but advised (Resolution Forum; budget Forum) Thursday, June 16th will meet via Zoom **OPTIONAL but advised (A forum via Zoom with the remaining seven (plus ties) candidates for Bishop. It will be live streamed and hosted by the Synod Council Vice President. The Vice President will ask each candidate a series of predetermined questions. The in-person portion of the assembly begins the evening of Friday, June 17th at Augustana College The regular business of the assembly will continue. Casting of the 3rd ballot for synodical bishop will take place. Saturday, June 18th (Saturday) in person at Augustana College The regular business of the Assembly will continue. If needed a 4th ballot or 5th ballot for bishop will be held. Other business is completed and assembly closes. Please let the office know if you are interested as registration begins soon. Wednesday Worship One of the goals for St. John’s was to establish a second worship service in the hopes of meeting the needs of busy families. That goal became a reality in 2018 when we began worshiping on Wednesday at 7 pm. However, circumstances have changed and after a lot of prayer and conversation, it has been decided to stop our Wednesday Worship service. We will reevaluate having a second service in the future. Our final regular Wednesday service will be February 23rd, 2022. ***Please note that we will still have special services, such as Ash Wednesday service on March 2nd. This only pertains to regular worship on Wednesday. It is our hope that our Wednesday worshipers will join us on Sunday. If anyone has any questions or concerns, please talk with Pastor Debbie. Church Survey ~ something to think about This year, Christmas, and New Years fall on Sunday. Between the Worship team and Council, we have come up with a few choices and wanted your input. Have our Christmas Eve worship at 5 pm, as we always do. (This won’t change regardless of how everyone votes) What we would like your input on is this: Do we want to meet on Christmas day at 9:30 am, and New Year’s Day at 9:30? Or, Just like our Christmas Eve worship at 5 pm, we could meet on New Year’s Eve for a late afternoon service. Share in a devotional, pray for the blessings of 2022 and welcome and give thanks for the blessings to come in 2023. If we do this, we would not meet on either Sunday. Yes, I know it is early 2022, but Jess and I will start planning for the end of 2022 after Easter. We need your input. Please let the office know your thoughts. Thank you. Part-time position available After many years of dedicated service, Jean Hutchinson has decided it is time to retire from church custodian. This entire congregation wishes her well. Jean is a true blessing to the church, and she will be greatly missed. With Jean’s retirement, we are looking to fill this part-time position. The job description is attached here. If you are interested, or know someone who is interested, please let us know. You can email office@stjlutheran.com and it will then be forwarded to council to set up an interview. Thank you! Peace and Blessings, Pastor Debbie