NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2012

Church Office Phone: 715.473.3603Lori Brooks, Admin. Assistant/Newsletter Editor

Krystal Statezny, Graphic Designer

From the Administrative Assistant:Since no one else needed this spot in

the newsletter, and it’s the time of yearwe focus on giving thanks, I decided totake the opportunity to share with you allthe things FLPPC has to be thankful for.

Though many are discouraged by ourlack of a pastor at this time, you shouldknow that this church is truly blessedwith great leadership. At a time when wecould be uncertain of who will be in thepulpit from week-to-week, God has givenus people who have the gift of writingand delivering a sermon right in our owncongregation! Ray Appel, Suzanne Bell, Dick Kendall, andJim Mathe (Listed alphabetically to minimize hard feel-ings!) have been a true blessing to FLPPC and to me, per-sonally. Instead of going from week-to-week with anunfamiliar face and voice in the pulpit, we have actuallybeen able to schedule pulpit supply more than a month inadvance with the cooperation of these four people. Each ofthem have been accommodating, caring, timely in seeingthat I have what I need from them, supportive, loving, andsometimes even FUN to work with these past five months.They aren’t just committing a few hours on a Sunday.They’re devoting MANY hours each week they preach.Make sure you thank them when you see them!

We are blessed with a church Session that cares aboutthe future of each and every one of us. They faithfully meetevery month to plan and pray for FLPPC. The Session hasbeen blessed with Pastor Jon Nelson from Marinette andMenominee Presbyterian Churches and Pastor Craig Alwinfrom First Presbyterian Church of Oconto as moderators oftheir meetings. Both pastors have taken time out of theirbusy schedules to travel to Wabeno to moderate our Sessionmeetings with compassion, understanding and humor forthe past several months.

We are blessed with deacons who make sure that we allare cared for and prayed for in our times of need.

We are blessed with the musical talents of too many to

name, and many regular accompanists who arealways willing to “pinch hit” for each otherwhen necessary.

We are blessed with Sunday school, afterschool program teachers and youth leaders whoare there for our children each week, no matterwhat the number, because they know how im-portant it is to teach them about what it meansto be a Christian.

We are blessed with committees that workhard in all areas to keep FLPPC runningsmoothly.

We are blessed by a Pastor NominatingCommittee that is working very hard to find someone whois a good fit for our congregation to provide us with leader-ship beyond that of our own means. Please continue to prayfor their search!

So, whether whatever category you find yourself in —worship leading, church cleaning, lawn mowing, being onthe prayer chain, serving coffee hour, baking for fundrais-ers, teaching our children, praying for those in need, wor-shiping on Sundays and singing your heart out, or anynumber of other things—YOU are a blessing! Not everyoneis cut out to be a leader, but we can ALL be followers ofChrist.

Only God knows what the plan is for Forest LargerParish Presbyterian Church, but I know that each and everyone of you is an important part of that plan!

My prayers to all of you for continued blessingsthroughout the Thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas seasonand always.

LoriBrooks

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MEMBERS & FRIENDS - Prayers of Concern:

Clara Koskella, Matthew Lemke, Anders Olsen, Logan Wamego,

Mary Ann Genke, Jane Albers, Rita Pierce, Lucille Stauber, Zetta

Bangert, Pat Rasmussen, Jim Plymire, Kim Odekirk, Mary Statezny,

Linda Lafferty, Jan Atkinson, Bill Shonning, the family of Vic Brown,

Kim Schelfhout, Kathy Shrake, Dawn Jakubiec, Lori Exferd,

Levi Poppinworth, Lyle Weyers, Jackie Kelm, Arlene Kempen,

Mary Reigle, Jenny Gilligan, Jay Mattick, Don Harris, Jim Hixon,

Allan Mentz, the family of Lynn Giese, the family of Pete Pemma,

John Lodall, Gordon Merkel, Erica Keller, Laurie DeRemer,

Ruth Mathews, Lorraine Market, Tammy McAdams, the family of

Colleen Connors, the family of Laurie Luedeman, Mary Lealou,

Judy Burkel, the family of Sjana Farr, Mary Kendall

NU-ROC RESIDENTS: Charlotte Synon, Jeanne Haskins

"SHUT-IN" MEMBERS: Laurie Luedeman, Sylvia Markusen

SERVING IN THE MILITARY*

Michael Schmitt, Eric Peterson, Doug Smith, Scott Swann, Nick

Swanda, Zack Ashbeck, Dakota Reynolds, Nicholas Pichotta

COMMUNION DATES:

November 4*: All three locations

November 21†: Thanksgiving Eve

December 2*: All three locations

December 24*: All three locations

*Served traditionally †Served by intinction

Wabeno only – If you would like to receive communionplease attend the Wabeno service.

Parents of baptized children: Baptized children who arebeing nurtured and instructed in the significance of the invitation tothe Table and the meaning of their response are invited to receivethe Lord’s Supper, recognizing that their understanding of participa-tion will vary according to their maturity.

rayer Requests

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the Federal Privacy Regulations, we encourage you to seek an individual’s permission before submitting their name to our printed prayer list.

*If you would like to add a family member serving in the military to the prayer list, please fill out a prayer card and note “military” and give it to the pastors or call the

church office.

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Birthdays & AnniversariesListed below are the reported birthdays and anniversaries of our members and friends.

If your birthday or anniversary has never been listed and you would like it to be, please write it in on the Birthday Calendar posted at your church, so the list can be updated.

NOVEMBERKelly Boor 4Linnae Statezny 4John McCulloch 5Betty Scholz 6Bill Truttman 7Roberta Mooney 7Nancy Rehbein 9Max Donaldson 10Chyanne Elbe 11Karen Jorgensen 11Joe Peterson 12Bob Rohe 12Mary Scheuerman 12Nancy Symes 14Marilyn Elbe 14Vivian Prince 14Donna Larsen 14

Don Prueter 18Jim HixonPam McCulloch 24Jeanette Dreckschmidt 26Guenter Dreckschmidt 26Laurie Leudeman 28Madilyn Roberts 28Sharlene Kresse 29Glenn Ness 30

DECEMBERZetta Bangert 1Katie Collins 7Raletta Ashbeck 7Mary Dresie 9Troy Hoffmann 10Linda Mentz 11Steven Klingensmith 11

Dan Sisler 11JoAnn Gipp 15Marjorie Neddo 16Pam Schroeder 22Jolene Elbe 22Evan Hart 22Kelly Roy 25Sheri Hauch 25Joy Sisler 26Carol Swim 26Bruce Rasmussen 27Joan Grady 27Bell’s Anniversary 27Scott Shaffer, Sr. 28Katie J. Collins 28Beth Fuller 29Louis Spaude 30Janina Elbe 30

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LAKEWOOD CRAFT

FAIR & LUNCHEON:

Nov. 24, 2012

OPERATION

CHRISTMAS CHILD:

Nov. 11, 2012

Return filled shoeboxes

to your church

UPCOMING EVENTS

What Is theChristmas Joy Offering?

A Presbyteriantradition for almost

70 years, the ChristmasJoy Offering is one of the four specialofferings designated by the General As-sembly of the Presbyterian Church(U.S.A.) to provide congregations directways of supporting specific causes thathelp those in need.

You are encouraged to support theChristmas Joy Offering through gifts toyour congregation’s offering. If for somereason that is not convenient, feel freeto support the offering directly.

ABOUT THE OFFERINGHistory of the Christmas JoyOffering

Presbyterians have long celebratedthe birth of Jesus Christ by giving gener-ously to an Advent offering. The Christ-mas Joy Offering dates back to the1930s when the former PresbyterianChurch in the United States (PCUS)began an offering to supplement inade-quate retirement income and providesupplemental medical insurance for for-mer ministers, missionaries, churchworkers, and their families. It was firstofficially called the Joy Gift in 1949.

In the former United Presbyterian

Church in the United States of America(UPCUSA), a Christmas offering was firsttaken in 1960. Called the White Gift, itsfunds were used for general missionand world relief. In 1964 the name waschanged to the Christmas Offering, andreceipts provided support for healthand welfare concerns related to chil-dren. The emphasis on global workwith children continued until 1973,when the offering was used to assistformer servants of the church whowere living on inadequate pensions. In1974 racial ethnic education wasadded, and in 1979 nursing home careassistance was also included. Fundswere distributed evenly between theBoard of Pensions and racial ethnic ed-ucation.

In 1988, the PCUS and the UPCUSAofferings were joined into one offering,the Christmas Offering Joy Gift. It wasagreed that neither the Board of Pen-sions nor the racial ethnic schoolswould suffer in the merger of the JoyGift and the Christmas Offering. In1989, the offering was renamed theChristmas Joy Offering, and in 1991,the 203rd General Assembly changedthe distribution of funds to 50 percentto the Board of Pensions and 50 per-cent to the Presbyterian racial ethnicschools and colleges.

Christmas Joy Offering

HolidayServiceTimes

THANKSGIVING EVE SERVICE November 21– 7 p.m. – Wabeno

Pie and coffee following worship

FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENTDecember 2 – ADVENTure Sunday –

Help decorate your church for the Advent/Christmas season!

JOINT CHRISTMAS PRAISE SERVICELakewood – 10:30 a.m. Please bring a few ofyour favorite Christmas Cookies to share during

coffee hour! No Laona or Wabeno Service

CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT SERVICESLaona – 3:30 p.m. • Wabeno – 5:30 p.m.

Lakewood – 7:30 p.m.

Pamela Schroeder – Children’sMinistries

Cindy Hart – After School Program (ASP)

Deb Kempf – Awesome Presbyterian Youth (APY)

Lori Brooks – AdministrativeAssistant

Jim Mathe – Church Treasurer

Patty Earnest – Clerk of Session

Bette Hoytink – Presbytery Liaison

Office Phone: 715-473-3603

Website:www.forestlargerparish.comIf you would like to submitsomething for the website orhave a suggestion, email JoyceWarnacut atjwarnacut@yahoo.com. All submissions are subject to Communications Committeeapproval.

Church Staff

FLPPC will again be filling shoeboxesduring this Christmas season withappropriate presents to send toneedy children around the world.Pick up your shoebox and all thedirections at your church building.Boxes must be returned filled nolater than Nov. 11, as they begintheir (long) journey to their intendedrecipients. Don’t forget to include a

check for $7 in the top of the box (payableto Operation Christmas Child — NOT

FLPPC!) for shipping costs (or followthe directions to donate on-line at theOCC website.) If you prefer NOT toshop yourself, give your donation toany Mission/Evangelism committee

member before Nov. 11 and the shop-ping will be done for you.

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

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The annual Craft Fair Luncheonwill be held on the Saturday afterThanksgiving, November 24, from10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the LakewoodPresbyterian Church. Lunch items willinclude sandwiches, barbeques, a

choice of homemade soups, bever-ages and an incredible assortment ofhomemade pies! Hunters are alsowelcome to come in from the huntto have a hot meal and the pie oftheir dreams. “Gramma’s Attic” will

also offer for sale crafts and Christmasitems as well as some collectibles. Asin years past, trays of assorted home-baked Christmas cookies will be avail-able to take home. Come get a starton your Christmas season planning!

LAKEWOOD CHURCH PLANS LUNCHEONOffering A Quiet Place To Have Lunch After The Craft Fair

As a response to the requests of many parishioners, the Committee onMinistry for Winnebago Presbytery has arranged for training for three members ofFLPPC to be able to consecrate the elements for a term of one year. Presbyteryvoted (and approved) this term of service at the September Presbytery meeting.The hope is that this should be plenty of time to have a permanent pastor in place.Training should be completed in time for the month of November.

Communion

Pastor NominatingCommittee Update

A joint congregational meeting was held onOct. 7 to create a bigger PNC to shift the searchfrom an interim pastor to a designated (morepermanent) pastor. The new committee is: MaryScheuerman, Joanne Gipp, Karen Prueter, PamSchroeder, Mike Mentz, Linda Mentz and SuzanneBell. Although the committee is bound by rules ofconfidentiality, they hope to have some newsabout our search sooner instead of later. Pleasepray for the PNC.

Peace OfferingThe Session has designated the

Mission/Evangelism Committee to administerthe local portion of the Peace Offering topromote peace in our communities. M/E willagain be purchasing hard cover, large printBibles to be made available at the ChristianThrift Store in December. These Bibles werewarmly received last year and offer the onlyREAL peace there is in this world!

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Alpha Courses Update

The final session of the Laona Alpha Coursewas held on Oct. 2 with 15 people in attendance.Everyone seemed to enjoy the fellowship and themessages. Comments from attendees included:“I felt reaffirmed in my beliefs,” and, “It causedme to do some serious soul-searching.” The AlphaTeam leading the course included Mike and LindaMentz, Jim Mathe and Suzanne Bell along withseveral “helpers” who made contributions of foodprep (and some jokes!). Let the office know if youwould like to be included in any future Alphacourses at FLPPC.

The Alpha Course at the Forest County Jailcontinues until Nov. 5. Initially, there were 20male inmates attending, but that has dropped tonine because of release dates. We were not ableto run a separate course for females becausethere were so many males! Also, the males aremore likely to have longer sentences and be therefor more of the entire course.

The Alpha Team leading the course consists ofJim Lentz and Suzanne Bell with Joan Hansenhandling the prayer requests. You can be proud toknow that the jail administration welcomesFLPPC as a positive influence on the inmates.

Fall Evangelism Concert

The Fall Evangelism Concert was heldon Sept. 30 for the eighth consecutive year.Highlighting the professional entertainmentwas Ansil Harpold, a talented singer, whosupports his extensive prison ministrythrough his performances. Everyone at theconcert was thrilled with the entire programas it was a very energized performance.Motivational speakers Dennis and WendyMannering served as emcees; the PraiseBand, the Northwoods Gospel Quartet andthe Presbyterian Puppets also performed tothe delight of the crowd. The audience wasvery ecumenical and many of those folksoffered to help “get the word out” about aconcert performance for 2013!

Book Review: God’s Smuggler byBrother Andrew submitted by Suzanne Bell

The original version of God’s Smuggler was releasedalmost 45 years ago, but this re-issue still tells a relevantstory of the power of God.

As a young boy, growing up in Europe during the hor-rors of WWII, Andrew dreamed of being a secret agent andfighting the powers of evil. As a young adult, a serious in-jury closes that door. but God’s plan for Andrew was tosmuggle Bibles behind the Iron Curtain. The book readsas much like a spy novel as an inspirational book. Thedangers Andrew faced crossing the borders into unfriendlyterritory were very real — so real that Andrew does notreveal his last name in the book in an effort to protecthimself from retaliation.

The new release of the book also contains a messagefrom Andrew about the threat of radical Islam and howwe, as Christians, should address that threat. A goodread…very reaffirming of how God is still at work in ourmodern world!

Annual SpaghettiSuppersubmitted by The Lakewood Presbyterian Women

It was a beautiful fall day. People wereall around and we had a very successfulSpaghetti Supper at the Lakewood locationon October 6. The lights were low, and thecandles were burning. The music was play-ing, and all was lovely. The food was special,and the workers gave of their time and had agreat time doing it.

We thank all who made it a success, andthe money we made will be spent wisely onour many mission concerns. We are blessedwith so may kind people that gave of theirtime and money to come and join us. Thankyou again!

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Forest Larger Parish Presbyterian Church Session Minutes

SEPTEMBER 2012

REGULAR SESSION MEETING • WABENO

Personnel Committee:• Changes to the operating principles of FLPPC:

1. The Personnel Committee is accountable to the Session,

consisting of at least two Session members and moderated

by an elder.

2. This committee is responsible for the job description of

each staff member and assures that an annual performance

evaluation of each staff member is completed. Job descrip-

tions will be on file in the church office.

3. This committee is responsible for writing and reviewing

personnel policies. Personnel policies are approved by the

Session.

4. At least annually this committee meets with the pastor

to conduct a review of the work of the congregation, the

church and the pastor. Additionally this committee makes

“Terms of Call’ recommendations to the Session to assist

with the annual budget

5. The meetings between the Personnel Committee, the

pastor and/or staff members are confidential. Only matters

pertaining to the life of the church are reported to the ses-

sion.

6. The role of the Personnal Committee is to be a support-

ive and encouraging presence for all staff members and the

pastor. Motion to approve these changes. M/S/A

Worship Committee:• COM Chairperson Betty Hoytink explained that one or

two Elders can be trained to give communion for one year.

Suzanne Bell, Linda Mentz and possibly Louis Spaude will

take this training.

• Committee also recommended purchasing additional Sing

The Faith songbooks for Laona. Motion to approve these

recommendations from the Worship Committee.

M/S/A

• Jim Mathe recommended we purchase a monitor and

stand for the Laona location. Motion was made to make

this purchase, the same size as the other two. M/S/A –

1 OPPOSED.

Pastoral Nominating Committee:• Suzanne Bell reported that a previous candidate is now

back in the picture for our parish. Bette Hoytink explained

what needs to happen at this point. Perhaps a Designated

Pastor may be the best route for us to go for a one or two

yr. contract. At our congregational meeting on Oct. 7,

2012, our congregation needs to vote for an expanded

PCN committee. Volunteers to serve on this committee are

Suzanne Bell, Mike Mentz, Pam Schroeder, Karen Prueter,

Mary Scheuerman and Linda Mentz. Nominations will also

be accepted from the floor. Motion to approve the six

people who have volunteered to serve on this expanded

PCN committee. M/S/A. A motion was also made to

authorize this committee to negotiate for a Designated

Pastor. M/S/A

Pastoral Nominating Committee:• Suzanne Bell reported on the status of the search for an

interim pastor. Other options were discussed, such as the

pros and cons of a designated pastor option, or perhaps

going straight to looking for a full-time pastor. The PNC

needs to be expanded for the search for a full-time pastor.

The announcement will be made at church.

Old Business:• Suzanne Bell reported the ring is back in our possession.

Motion to allow a friend of FLPPC to try to sell this ring

on E-bay or Craig’s list. M/S/A

New Business:• Motion to buy a new laptop for the office from Jason

Boor. M/S/A

OCTOBER 2012

REGULAR SESSION MEETING • WABENO

Mission/Evangelism Committee:• Suzanne Bell reported that due to the low attendance at

the Ansil Harpold concert, she added $300 to the love of-

fering and gave Ansil a check for $766 for his Prison Min-

istry. She also sent flowers to Mary Ellen Keller for all her

hard work and gave the Mannerings a $50 Gift Card.

Christian Ed: Committee:• Jim Mathe gave an update on the continuing Wed.

evening Bible Study.

Pastoral Nominating Committee:• Suzanne Bell reported that our prospective pastor and

his wife will be visiting us next week and will meet with

COM. He will have to make a second trip here, probably in

November, and asked the Session if we want to bring his

wife at that time. Motion to invite his wife to come with

him for the 2nd trip and we will pay her expenses as

well. M/S/A.

• Suzanne also told the group that she and Linda Mentz

will take their training for communion on Oct. 26, 2012.

Old Business:• Jim Mathe reported the purchase of a monitor at the

Laona location has been put on hold.

New Business:• Our Recording Treasurer has said she does not wish to

continue with this position next year. Linda Kortbein and

Lori Brooks will try to find someone from the Wabeno loca-

tion to take this over.

• Mike Mentz said the Nominating Committee is working

on finding members who will accept the nomination to

Elder position for 2013.

• Next Meeting: Nov. 5

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PO Box 129 • Wabeno, WI 54566