ST. PAUL LUTHERAN CHURCH DECEMBER 2019 NEWSLETTER · Jeanine Yeager Wanda Gore Judith Lewing Meghan...

Newsletter, December 2019 St. Paul Lutheran Church

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A congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

4600 N. 9th Avenue, Pensacola, FL 32503

(850) 438-5229

www.stpaulpensacola.org

In this Issue Page Calendar……………………………………………………………...2 Pastor’s Corner……………………………………………………...3 Color a Christmas Tree…………………………………………….4 Notice of Special Congregation Meeting…………………….......5 Worship Assistants…………………………................................6 Social Ministry/ SPOT…………………......................................7 Women of St. Paul/ Memorial Comm./ Flower Guild………......8 Hospitality/ Ch. Ed./ Note from Council………………………….9 Note from Mutual Ministry………………………………………..10 Approved 2020 Budget………………………...........................11-12 Stewardship………………………………………………………..13

WORSHIP SERVICE SCHEDULE

SUNDAY: 9:30 A.M. WORSHIP SERVICE

Nursery available for children preschool age and younger

9:45 A.M. CHILDREN’S CHURCH

Following the Children’s Message

10:30 A.M. HOSPITALITY

10:50 A.M. ADULT EDUCATION

HOLY COMMUNION CELEBRATED

EACH SUNDAY

ST. PAUL LUTHERAN CHURCH

DECEMBER 2019

NEWSLETTER

DECEMBER 1 First SUNDAY OF ADVENT

DECEMBER 8 Second SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Mission Sunday/ WELCA Cookie Tasting

DECEMBER 15 Third SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Lessons and Carols/ Tree of Warmth ends

DECEMBER 22 Fourth SUNDAY OF ADVENT

DECEMBER 24 CHRISTMAS EVE

Candlelight Service (with Baptisms) at 6:30 p.m.

Candlelight Service at 9:00 p.m.

DECEMBER 29 First SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

http://www.stpaulpensacola.org/

Newsletter, December 2019 St. Paul Lutheran Church

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Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

8:30 a.m. Choir practice

9:30 a.m. Worship

10:30 a.m. Hospitality

2

1:00 p.m. Belles and Beaux

use of music room

3

9:15 a.m. Quilters

6:30 p.m. Girl Scouts

4

6:00 p.m. Social Ministry

meeting

6:30 p.m. Bible Study

5

6

PASTOR’S DAY OFF

OFFICE CLOSED

5:00 p.m. Wedding

rehearsal

7

8 – 10 a.m. Breakfast

with Santa

5:00 p.m. Sanctuary in

use-wedding

8 SECOND SUNDAY OF

ADVENT

Mission Sunday

8:30 a.m. Choir practice

9:30 a.m. Worship-Children’s

Church during Worship


10:50 a.m. Adult Sunday School

11:30 a.m. WELCA Cookie

Tasting

9


use of music room

10

9:15 a.m. Quilters

11:00 a.m. Faith Circle

Noon Faith and Eve Circle

lunch-Fellowship Hall

Noon Preschool Christmas

Program

11


Noon Preschool Christmas

Program

Newsletter Articles

Due

12

Noon Council reports due

6:00 p.m. Eve Circle

13

PASTOR’S DAY OFF

OFFICE CLOSED

14

5:00 p.m. Advent by

Candlelight

15 THIRD SUNDAY OF

ADVENT

Lessons and Carols

Tree of Warmth ends





16


use of music room

Preschool Christmas Break

begins

17

9:15 a.m. Quilters

6:15 p.m. Executive

Committee meeting

6:30 p.m. Girl Scouts

7:00 p.m. Council meeting

18


19

Noon SPOT

20

PASTOR’S DAY OFF

OFFICE CLOSED

21

22 FOURTH SUNDAY OF

ADVENT





23

24

8:30 a.m. -11:30 a.m.

Office Hours

6:30 p.m. Worship Service

with Baptisms

9:00 p.m. Worship Service

25

MERRY CHRISTMAS

OFFICE CLOSED

26

OFFICE CLOSED

27

PASTOR’S DAY OFF

OFFICE CLOSED

28

29 FIRST SUNDAY AFTER

CHRISTMAS

9:30 a.m. Worship


30

31

No Quilters

December 2019

Mission Statement

Living together in God’s grace, we worship, learn, and reach out as a caring

community to rejoice in, and share the love of Jesus Christ.

Newsletter December 2019 St. Paul Lutheran Church

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December 2019 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

“Merry Christmas!”

This month we celebrate and remember the birth of our Lord

and Savior, Jesus. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. As God’s people, we give thanks

for the love shown through his coming. I want to take this page to express what it means to be centered

on Christ. We celebrate the birth of the Savior like any other Christian community will do over the

month of December. The Christmas trees on this page, express our love for God’s people. In them you

can see that there are many different shapes, colors, and sizes. Paul teaches the followers of Jesus the

same thing that we ourselves learned from God’s Word. “Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor

Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

In January we take our 2nd vote to affiliate with the NALC.

When we change affiliation, we will continue to love all

people. Like the various Christmas tree pictures, God’s people

come in all shapes, forms, identities, and colors. St. Paul

Lutheran Church already loves and invites all people. Our

welcoming church community will not change as an NALC

congregation.

The true meaning of Christmas invites you to maintain a Christ centered life. I use the variety of

Christmas trees on this page as an example of how we are called to love. We find the foundation of love

not by denomination but in the person of Jesus.

For in Jesus, we find love beyond comparison. Paul

writes, “Romans 5:8 But God proves his love for us in

that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.”

Most of us have a Christmas tree in our home during

Christmas. I know that some have more than one tree and

although they are Christmas trees; each one is different

but each one is a reminder of Christmas. Like God’s

people, Christmas trees are not all the same and yet they are. “Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither

circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through

love.” That “Love” in Christ Jesus is our Christian identity especially at this time of year. “Love” is the

foundation of faith here at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church. “God proves his love for us in that

while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” There is no greater example of love then what God has

already showed you and me.

Merry Christmas

Pastor Frank


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Color a Christmas Tree to hang in the Sanctuary

To: The Children of God at St. Paul and the Young at Heart,

On the last Sunday of November, I will be passing out a paper Christmas tree to the

children. The Christmas tree will be larger than the one I have attached in this page.

The Christmas tree being passed out for the children or

young at heart will add decorations to the sanctuary.

The plan is to gather all the Christmas trees and add

them to a string of lights along the back wall of the

sanctuary. By having the decorative string of lights in

the back, the adults and children can see the trees each

week. If we get more trees than what the string of lights

can hold, we can add another string of lights to the

wall. My hope is for the Christmas tree to be theirs to

color or make unique in any way they wish.

We look forward to seeing the variety of Christmas

trees just as God looks forward to seeing the variety of

people coming to celebrate with Him in church each

week. I hope you can participate in this Christmas project and decorate the Lord’s house

with your love and the love of all of our children.

Please place your Christmas tree contribution in the basket located outside the

Gathering Space in the hallway near Fellowship Hall. Pastor will collect them and

hang them up each week

Merry Christmas Everyone!

With Love,

Pastor Frank


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NOTICE OF SPECIAL CONGREGATION MEETING


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DECEMBER WORSHIP ASSISTANTS

December

1 December

8 December

15 December

22

December

29

ASSISTING MINISTERS

Matthew White

Paul Marchant

Valeria Slotter

Alyssa Pascoe

John Ekstrom

LECTOR(S) Camille Kimmel

Pete Morgan Carol

Stevens Chuck

Glassmire

Amy Slusser

USHERS

Art Kimmel Dan Zeigler Aaron Smith

John Ekstrom

Steve & Marla Meyer

TBA

John & Brenda Ekstrom

John & Fe Kellas

Eddie & Regina Gibbons Chuck & Sidney

Glassmire

Harland &

Betty Bross Troy & Heidi

Long

ALTAR GUILD

Audrey Tinsley Carleen Bragan

Wanda Gore Debbie

Flanagan

Betty Bross Etta

McDonald

Brenda Ekstrom

Lori Overy

Sherry Schaeffer

Judy Taylor

COMMUNION ASSISTANTS

Jeanine Yeager

Wanda Gore

Judith Lewing

Meghan Marchant

Brad & Alice

Fludgate

Brian & Vanessa Pascoe

Brenda Ekstrom Jeanine Yeager

GREETERS AT THE PORTICO

Monica Moore

& Charlotte

Judith Lewing Emma & Madilyn

Faye

Robinson Sherry

Schaeffer

Theresa McDonald

Conner & Lily

Audrey Tinsley

Marliese Herrick

NURSERY ATTENDANT

Torryn Given

Torryn Given Torryn Given Torryn Given

Torryn Given


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SOCIAL MINISTRY

Social Ministry News December 2019

We Need You!

The Social Ministry Committee has a busy year planned, but we need you in order to be successful. Jesus

instructs us to love our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39) and to help those in need (Matthew 25:37-40). With

that in mind, our major project is to collect food for Manna. This is something that anyone can do, so please

contribute each Sunday! The food for Manna will be distributed by the second Sunday of each month. Also,

please sign up to help with the delivery of food to Manna. Our next Mission Sunday is December 8, 2019.

Current Events!

Manna Food Bank - We donated 545 lbs on November 10, 2019!!

Come on St. Paul...We can do better than that! Just pick up one flat

of vegetables or bags of rice when grocery shopping! Every little bit

helps!

Tree of Warmth –

The tree went up on November 10, 2019 and will stay up through

December 8-15, 2019…TBD. The giving ornaments have been

hung on the tree and are ready to be harvested! Please take an

ornament or two and bless someone less fortunate than you!

Please Continue to Collect These Items to donate!

Remember to save tab tops for Ronald McDonald House. These tabs...along with other donations help

the Ronald McDonald House pay the electric, and water bills! Save eyeglasses for the Lion’s Club,

paperback books for the prisons, and individual toiletry items for Waterfront Mission. Collection

containers for these items are located on or under the social ministries table across from the library.

Social Ministry is not just a committee responsibility. It is something the whole congregation can be

involved in, so please join us for one or more of the following activities.

Let’s see how many people we can get involved in social ministry this year.

SPOT

SPOT will celebrate the Christmas season on Thursday, December 19, at 12:00 noon. We will begin

with a Christmas potluck followed by a Dirty Santa gift exchange. If you wish to participate, please

bring a gift no more than $10-15. Anyone 55 and over is welcome to join us for fun, fellowship, and a

festive, delicious lunch. Hope to see you there!


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WOMEN OF ST. PAUL

Faith Circle

Faith circle will meet December 10th at 11:00. We will continue with our monthly study.

We will have potluck and fellowship after. Bring your bibles. All are welcome.

Advent by Candlelight

Advent By Candlelight program, “Moments with the Savior”, will be held Dec 14th at 5:00 PM. We are

looking for people to host a table. Your responsibility as a host will be as follows:

1) Bring decorations and decorate a table for six. Paper plates to crystal, your choice.

2) Bring hors d'oeuvre's and a desert for the those in attendance to enjoy.

3) If you are having candles on your table light 5 mins. before program starts.

4) Clean up your table and take your things home when program has ended.

There is a sign-up sheet for guests and hosts posted in the Fellowship Hall. Seating is limited so sign up

is a must!

Have fun, relax, enjoy the program and God's peace for the holidays. Any further questions contact

Brenda Ekstrom or Helen Magnuson.

MEMORIAL COMMITTEE

A huge thank you to Norm Beal for the many hours of hard

work he spent cleaning up the Memorial Garden and making it

look so special, especially for All Saints Sunday.

And to Harland Bross for the beautiful wreath placed on All

Saints Sunday.

FLOWER GUILD Those that have ordered poinsettias may take them home after the second service Christmas Eve or after

Sunday service on December 29. If you ordered a poinsettia but do not wish to take it home, please let

Carleen or Harland know. Any remaining poinsettias will be removed on December 29


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HOSPITALITY Thank you all for celebrating and honoring our Veterans on their special day. Let us, each day be

thankful for their sacrifice for the freedom we all cherish.

Hope everyone will enjoy/enjoyed the pie fest on Sunday, Nov. 24. Thank you to everyone who is

participating. Hanging of the Greens also takes place on Sunday, Nov. 24. What a privilege and honor

to prepare for the birth of our Lord. Your help is very much appreciated.

Please be reminded of the upcoming Advent by Candlelight on Saturday, December 14 at 5:00 pm.

As we prepare for a busy time of year, let us take time to remember why we celebrate!

JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!

God’s Peace,

Brenda

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Oh my! December is here already! It’s time to prepare for the celebration of our Lord’s birth and what

better way than with our children at St Paul. During Children’s Church we will have some special fun

this month. Along with the Bible stories, videos and music we will have some special crafts. The three

topics planned for the children are: Repentance - everyone makes mistakes, and everyone needs

forgiveness; Emmanuel - God is always with us; and Joy - the deep trust we have that God is making all

things new for us. All children in grades K-5th are welcome to attend right after the Children’s Message

on Sundays.

NOTE FROM COUNCIL On behalf of your Church Council, Dan Zeigler and Dick Kaminska want to wish the Congregation a

very Happy Thanksgiving and a very Merry Christmas holiday season.

The amount of volunteer help that takes place at our facilities each week is awesome. You, this

Congregation has much to be proud of. Again, Thank you!

Further, we can’t thank the Congregation enough for all your support during this challenging year. With

God’s help and guidance as well as the Congregation’s support and confidence, the next few months

will result in our common goals.

Your Congregation Council


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NOTE FROM MUTUAL MINISTRY

On the right path…. Some days at our church I get so full of the Holy Spirit that I just want to burst! Like getting up from

the pew and hugging every person in the sanctuary. With the Christmas season and Advent fast

approaching, it’s even more so. Maybe you feel that way too! Despite our concerns from our pending

affiliation change, I still feel the love and joy every Sunday! But I have to say there are times that try

our souls. And we live in some tough times. The view from Mutual Ministry Committee is that we

need to stay united in love for Christ and trust in the Lord. God will lead us through. So, I offer some

thoughts and requests for you, my dear friends at St. Paul Lutheran Church:

I am praying for you because so many of you have expressed thoughts and feelings similar to my own.

I am praying for you because we are engaged in something that is difficult but necessary.

I am praying for you because you love Christ and each other, finding great joy and peace in this.

I am praying for you because we are a faithful church and we must remain strong and all vote again in

January.

Pray for me, as I am suffering over what the ELCA has become. It is so different from what it was when

I came into it. They have left no place for me and I must leave.

Pray for me, at the loss I feel over our membership division. Though they are few, I will miss them as

parted family. Because for Camille and me, just loving people is not enough to stay in the erring ELCA.

Lastly, I ask you to pray for those who no longer see scripture in the way we do. Pray for the ELCA, as

it’s more extreme beliefs and policies are truly heresy and yet are accepted and pushed as acceptable

interpretations of "the Way".

May God help them into His Light, but until then, “Let my People go!”

Be strong and be committed you people of God, my friends, my church family. We are on the right

path.

Amen

Submitted by Art Kimmel, child of God.


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2020 APPROVED BUDGET


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STEWARDSHIP

Generous Giving & Your Pledge for God’s

Church

Psalm 20:3 May God remember all your

offerings, and regard with favor your sacrifices.

The finance team would like you to consider

your gift of love for St. Paul Lutheran Church.

Our goal for this pledge campaign is off to a great start. Our General Fund has been

sponsored so far with commitments of $115,208.00 by just 29 families. We’ve got a great

start for reaching our $400,000.00 goal this year.

We all need to make our mark with joyful hearts because we can do so much more when

we are all committed to Christ and his church. With everyone pledging, we can increase

outreach, increase mission, and increase our visibility in the community around us.

Please pledge!

Your pledge expresses love and commitment to God and His Church.

Peace,

The Financial Team at St. Paul Lutheran Church

Detach this section to make your pledge:

Name: ___________________________ 2020 Pledge Gen. Fund Love Offering: Monthly ________ Weekly_______ Debt Reduction Offering for 2020: write amount in or circle please $___________ /$250.00/ /$500.00/ /$750.00/ /$1000.00/

ST. PAUL LUTHERAN CHURCH DECEMBER 2019 NEWSLETTER · Jeanine Yeager Wanda Gore Judith Lewing Meghan...

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