News & info for the family of St. John Lutheran Church of Prairie Hill

St. John Journal

A loving and welcoming family of faith, excited about what God has done (and continues to do!) for us

Volume 8, Number 7 July 2015

St John Lutheran Church is a congrega-tion of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran

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July 2015

Volume 8 Issue 7

St. John Journal

The deadline for the August newsletter is:

Monday July 20, 2015

Submissions received after this date will be

included if time and space allow. If material is still

relevant, late submissions will be included in the next month’s newsletter. Thank

you!

All Things New

Independence Day is our nation’s particular holiday, July 4 is

special. I clearly remember (no, not the day in 1776) the cele-

brations in 1976 of the 200th anniversary of that day. Cele-

brating our independence is an honored tradition. Yet if we

think about the celebrations of Independence day over the

last 239 years there have been tremendous changes. To cite

just one example: at the founding of our nation, only white

males who owned real property were allowed to vote; today

all citizens, regardless of gender, race, or economic status

may vote.

In much the same way, the church has special days and hon-

ored traditions, which, over the centuries, have been cele-

brated in new ways. We are approaching the 500th anniver-

sary of the Reformation, a renewal of the church. Paul wrote

to the Corinthians (2:17) So if anyone is in Christ, there is a

new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything

has become new.

As St John, Prairie Hill moves into the next few months you

will honor important traditions. And, you will do this in new

ways. Hold fast to that grace that comes in word and sacra-

ment, while inviting new people and finding new words to tell

the world of the wonder and joy of God’s new creation in you.

Peace, Jim

FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK

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READINGS FOR JULY

JULY OLD TESTAMENT RESPONSIVE NEW TESTAMENT GOSPEL

5th EZEKIEL 2:1-5 PSALM 123 2 CORINTHIANS 12:2-10

MARK 6:1-13

12th AMOS 7:7-15 PSALM 85:8-13 EPHESIANS 1:3-14

MARK 6:14-29

19th JEREMIAH 23:1-6

PSALM 23 EPHESIANS 2:11-22

MARK 6:30-34, 53-56

26th 2 KINGS 4:42-44 PSALM 145:10-18

EPHESIANS 3:14-21

JOHN 6:1-21

July Acolyte Layreader Flowers Given By

5th Wesley Neuendorff Bethany Janner

Glenda Stegent John Haarmeyer

Grandchildren of Henry Otto Herrmann

12th Haylie Tosta Kameron Ray

Jean Seeker Sandy Ordner

M/M Forrest Luce

19th Clay Boeker Riley Moehlmann

Delores Gaskamp Karen Rosenbaum

M/M Kevin Finke

26th Wesley Neuendorff Bethany Janner

Connor Himly Kallie Finke

Brandy Moehlmann

Men in Mission Upcoming Events

Saturday, July 11th 7:30AM Men’s Breakfast

The Men in Mission have decided to take a summer break from their

lunch meetings at Texas Seafood. The lunches will pick back up again

in September.

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SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWS Dear St. John, Many thanks again go to all that helped make Vacation Bible School happen here at St. John. Whether you planned and prepared meals, told stories, set-up, volunteered, or just came on June 14th to support the kids at the closing, I APPRECIATE you! Our children and adults that were involved had a blast. I also want to once again thank the Lackey family for graciously hosting all of VBS at their ranch and supplying hot dogs for everyone. It was a great way to end the week! In June, we were all together on Father's Day for donuts. We also had a chance to meet our prospective pastor Kyle. On June 28th we gathered at 4:00 to deliver our VBS offering to the State Supported Living Center. After our delivery we had ice cream to-gether. The Sunday school will only meet twice in July. On July 19th, we will have a pool party at Gun & Rod from 4-7. The Sunday school will provide sloppy joes and the life-guard. Families that want to come are asked to bring $3 per family member for swim-ming. We also ask that each family bring either chips or a dessert to complete our meal together. There will be a sign up sheet in the back of church for this event. Please sign your family up so that we can properly plan sloppy joes and our lifeguard needs. On July 26th, we will gather at 4:00 in the parish hall for a fun afternoon that has been planned by the women of St. John.

The Sunday school will kick off our normal Sunday schedule on August 23rd at 9:00. This will be Rally Day and a fun way to kick off the start of a new Sunday school year. On Rally Day, we will collect our school kit offering. Please consider donating one or some of the following items:

Pencil sharpeners, blunt safety scissors, #2 pencils, Black or Blue ballpoint pens

box of 24 crayons, pink pearl erasers, 70 sheet spiral notebooks

We are also starting to look at classes for the upcoming year. Please let Anna Finke know if you are interested in teaching Sunday school. We appreciate those of you who have been teaching and we would love to have you back for the year to come. Respectfully submitted in Christ's name, Stephanie Koehler

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July Quilting Schedule We will meet on July 21st. and July 28th.

Mary Hill and Nancy Sommer will be hostesses. We meet at 9 AM to noon. Please join us for quilting,

sewing, and tying LWR quilts.

WELCA BIBLE STUDY MEETING DATES

Tuesday, July 7th & 21st Rachel Circle 6:30 pm, Annex Thursday, July 9th Ladies Aid 2:00 pm, Activity Center Thursday, July 9th & 30th Ladies Communication Class 6:00 pm, Annex

The Women of St. John are hosting a Patriotic Picnic Party for all members, their guests, and Sunday School. Lawn games, family picnics, and an outdoor

movie are planned with more details to come. Join us at 4:00PM Sunday, July 26th

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JULY 2015

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1

Senior Party at 1:30PM

2 Office Closed

3 Office Closed

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5 8:00AM Holy Communion No Sunday School 10:05AM Service of the Word

6 6PM Executive Committee

7 6:30PM Rachel

8 9 2PM Ladies Aid

6PM Ladies Communication Class Office Closed

10 Office Closed

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7:30 Men’s Breakfast

12 8:00AM Service of the Word No Sunday School 10:05AM Holy Communion

13 6PM Council

14 15 16 Office Closed

17 Office Closed

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19 Guest Deaconess Tinker 8:00AM Service of the Word 10:05AM Service of the Word

4:00PM Sunday School

20

NEWSLETTER

DEADLINE

21 9AM Quilt 6:30PM Rachel

22 23 Office Closed

24 Office Closed

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26 Guest Rev. Borchardt 8:00AM Service of the Word 10:05AM Holy Communion

4:00PM Sunday School

27 28 9AM Quilt

29 30

6PM Ladies Communication Class Office Closed

31 Office Closed

Pastor Abbott at Continuing Education July 19-26th

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COUNCIL Steve Skrla

Connie Rohde

COMMUNION BREAD Deanna Giese

SCREEN

Janice Fairlie Barnay Glaesmann

ALTAR PREPARATION

Donna Bentke Deanna Giese

FAMILY AID

Mildred Kuecker

MEMORIAL COMMITTEE

Ruth Finke Mildred Kuecker

SANCTUARY PREP

Nina Little Phyllis Bickham

USHERS

Vernon Wagner, Chad Westerfeld

Willie & Karen Rosenbaum

JULY 2015

Special Envelope: Wartburg Theological Seminary

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1

Senior Party at 1:30PM

2 Office Closed

3 Office Closed

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5 8:00AM Holy Communion No Sunday School 10:05AM Service of the Word

6 6PM Executive Committee

7 6:30PM Rachel

8 9 2PM Ladies Aid

6PM Ladies Communication Class Office Closed

10 Office Closed

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7:30 Men’s Breakfast

12 8:00AM Service of the Word No Sunday School 10:05AM Holy Communion

13 6PM Council

14 15 16 Office Closed

17 Office Closed

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19 Guest Deaconess Tinker 8:00AM Service of the Word 10:05AM Service of the Word

4:00PM Sunday School

20

NEWSLETTER

DEADLINE

21 9AM Quilt 6:30PM Rachel

22 23 Office Closed

24 Office Closed

25

26 Guest Rev. Borchardt 8:00AM Service of the Word 10:05AM Holy Communion

4:00PM Sunday School

27 28 9AM Quilt

29 30

6PM Ladies Communication Class Office Closed

31 Office Closed

Pastor Abbott at Continuing Education July 19-26th

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Wedding Anniversaries

7/01/1948 Linda Bryan 7/05/1936 Christine Bentke 7/06/2008 Cameron Rosenbaum 7/07/1935 Adolphine Oevermann 7/08/1960 Carl Dahmann 7/10/2005 Braden Tosta 7/11/1934 Elsie Herrmann 7/14/2002 Christian Kuecker 7/14/1935 Elwood Oevermann 7/14/1974 Christin Seeker 7/14/2013 Alex Grote 7/16/1961 Becky Schulze 7/17/1970 Tina Seeker 7/18/1926 Gus Neumann 7/18/1926 Mavis Smith 7/20/1930 Clarence Witt

Baptismal Anniversaries

7/02/1977 Fred & Rosemary Gaskamp 7/03/1954 Alvin & Allene Holtkamp 7/12/2003 Forrest & Mary Luce 7/14/1984 Marcus & Brenda Randermann 7/19/1997 Kevin & Anna Finke 7/19/2003 Jerri & William Mitchell 7/20/1985 Mark & Shanan Marburger 7/26/1959 Kervin & Ruth Finke 7/29/1989 Barnay & Connie Glaesmann 7/30/1955 Clarence & Shirley Moehlmann

7/20/2008 Owen Finke 7/20/2014 Katie Estes 7/21/1950 Karen Rosenbaum 7/21/2013 Collyns Preuss 7/22/1979 Kyle Rosenbaum 7/22/2012 Presley Myers 7/23/1944 Milton Bosse 7/25/1954 Barnay Glaesmann 7/25/1982 Zachory Wagner 7/28/1929 Mae Ola Grebe 7/28/1929 Mary Ann Luce 7/28/1963 Johnny Randermann 7/28/2013 Karson Herrmann 7/30/1939 Marvin Wellmann 7/31/2005 Kailea Kuecker

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The Men in Mission

The month of June 2015 was a very busy time for The MIM of St. John Lutheran Church.

The first evening of Vacation Bible school the MIM provided hamburgers for the meal. A total 60 children and teachers were served. The Activity Center/Outdoor kitchen was a perfect place to BBQ the meat patties and ready the necessary vegetables. The MIM teamed up with the NAOMI circle to serve the meal. The NAOMI circle also provided chips and cookies and served the meal. The MIM want to say, many thanks ladies.

On the second Saturday morning the MIM breakfast was held. Gerald (our resident cook) made his famous old time breakfast that consisted of; fried eggs, pork chops, sausage gravy and his as-sistant baked the biscuits. Then with plenty of coffee and orange juice the room got very quiet. After a short MIM business meeting. Pastor Jim and the rest on the MIM discussed events we face in the future.

On Father’s Day, at the late service, MIM‘s Charles Giese presented the 2015 Scholarships to; Reagan Randermann and Dillon Randermann. These were the two St. John’s 2015 high school graduates. To date, the MIM have awarded 25 scholarships since 2008.

As always, the MIM is open to all St. John members who want to become part of this valuable or-ganization. The next scheduled MIM breakfast is on July 11. We start cooking at 5:30am and eat at 7:30am.

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Council Highlights The Church Council of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church met for its monthly meeting on June 8,

2015 at 6 pm in the Church Annex. Council President Jon Westerfeld called the meeting to order.

Jeannie Kroll helping with VBS.

MSC to approve, the May minutes.

Old Business

Kyle Merkle will visit and preach Sunday, June 21. There will be a Meet n Greet during the Dad’s

and Grad’s brunch during the Sunday school hour. Council to provide the refreshments.

New Business

MSC to approve holding a Special Called Congregational Meeting on Sunday, June 28 at 9:15

am. Agenda items will be 1) calling Kyle Merkle as pastor, and 2) to use Building Fund monies

to refurbish the parking lot.

MSC to approve give $500 of the Council Assistance Fund to Faith Mission for the use of the

recent layoffs in our community.

MSC to approve extend Pastor Jim Abbott’s contract until August 31, 2015

Items for Information:

Items still to be done in the parsonage. Close to completion.

Discussion to have a committee formed to help the Property Chair with all the projects that arise.

Pastor’s Report Pastor Jim Abbott

Report as submitted.

MSC to accept all reports.

MSC to Adjourn, closed with The Lord’s Prayer.

President ................................. Jon Westerfeld Vice-President ..................... Kenneth Seeker Treasurer .......................................... Lisa Finke Secretary .................................... Rita Gaskamp Community Concerns ....... Johanna Becker

Evangelism ......................... Herbert Klatte, Jr Financial Secretary ............... Connie Rohde Parish Ed ..................................... Jeannie Kroll Property .......................................... Steve Skrla Worship & Music ............... Cookie Engeling

2015 Church Council

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REACHING YOUR CHURCH OFFICE By Phone: 979-836-8666

Interim Pastor Cell 979-251-4992

Pastor Pecht Cell 979-421-2970

By E-mail: info@stjohnprairiehill.org

Interim Pastor pastorabbott@earthlink.net

Website: www.stjohnprairiehill.org

By Mail: 6605 Old Independence Rd.

Brenham, TX, 77833

The church office is open from 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM Monday-Wednesday

Find us on Facebook! http://facebook.com/prairie.hill

Senior Get Together Wednesday, July 1st

The seniors will be gathering in the Activity Center the first Wednesday of every month at

1:30PM-5:30PM. Join them for games, fellowship, and light

refreshments provided by the host!

St. John would like to say a huge thank

you to Pastor Abbott and Louise for hosting a wonderful church picnic! We are so glad we could join in celebrating

with you for your anniversary!

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