FEBRUARY 2020 Zion’s Good News

ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH

Sunday Morning Worship

9:00 a.m. February 2, 9, 16 and 23

Ash Wednesday 5:30 p.m. February 26

Confirmation Class Schedule

Core Class - The Bible

6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. on February 5th and 12th Elective - Meal at St. Vincent DePaul

February 19th ~ 4:00 - 6:30 p.m., plus travel time Retreat - Ten Commandments

5:30 p.m. on February 7th through 11:30 a.m. on February 8th

Practice Not Perfect! Walking Together at UW EC Davies Center February 22, 2020

35+ Workshops for: Worship, Social Justice, Faith Formation, Congregational Vitality & Stewardship, Local & Global Mission, Leadership, Technology, and Faith Practices. $25 Per Participant (includes lunch). Registration - 7:00-9:00 Event - 9:00-4:00.

Registration can be found at: nwswi.org/walking-together. Come and join us for the 11th annual Walking Together event! This day of learning and workshops is de-signed for people around the synod to collaborate, hear about best practices in congregational ministry, get in-spired, and explore new faith practices that connect us with one another and with God!

WELCOME! Bishop Laurie Skow-Anderson

February 9th

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“The Feast of Hearts”

February is the month of “the feast of hearts,” Valentine’s Day. It is a month in which many “I love yous” are heard and sent and many little red hearts appear everywhere. All the messages and symbols of love lead me to consider one of the aspects of the faith journey—love that never ends. The Apostle Paul penned those famous words that we hear at many weddings when he wrote to the believers in Corinth. “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about in-justice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” In 1Cor 13, Paul describes what many intuitively regard as an ideal understanding of romantic love. After all, who would not want one’s spouse to be an endless re-serve of patience, kindness, perseverance, and protection? Add to this idealistic thinking the eloquence of Paul’s description of love, and this text has all the ma-kings of a wedding-day Scripture reading. A main reason that Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthian Church is because the Corinthian church was a hot mess. The congregation was full of all kinds of dra-ma and sinful behavior that threatened to ruin the witness of the Church to Jesus Christ. This is the context that we must think of the love passage. It is meant to be a clever correction to the Corinthian church to stop them from misbehaving. This section about Love is all about how to correctly use the gifts that God has given all of us. Love is about how to correctly use the freedom that we have as Christians who have eternity to look forward to. Love is the more excellent way. And the love that Paul is speaking about is not the love of romance and infatua-tion. Paul is using the Greek word “Agape” which means self-sacrificing love. Agape love is behind all actions that put others first. This is the love with which God loves us by sending His son Jesus to die in order to restore our relationship with God.

As the “month of love” February moves along, take time to think about how the

love Paul so eloquently speaks of is a part of our daily walk with Christ and with

each other.

Pastor Sue

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Super Bowl of Caring In excitement for Super Bowl LIV, please bring non perishable food items or toiletries for the Stratford Food Pantry. Donations can be made between Sunday January 26 and February 2 in the narthex. One half of the table will be for supporters of the San Francisco 49ers, while fans of the Kansas City Chiefs can place their donations on the oth-er side. Regardless of what team you support, our food pantry will be the winner! This event was given to the Faith Formation Team by Zion member, Hud-son Ballerstein.

Worship 5:30-Soup and

Sandwich Following.

Wednesday Evening Lenten Services Weekly Themes from Philippians 2:5-11 Week 1 - Christ emptied and humbled himself Week 2 - Christ became obedient Week 3 - At the name of Jesus all knees shall bow Week 4 - Every tongue confesses Jesus Week 5 - Let the same mind be in you

Paul persecuted the early church before his life was radically altered by meeting the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. The church at Philippi, was the first congregation Paul founded in Europe during his second missionary journey. Paul writes this letter from prison and had three purposes for writing it: to acknowledge the believers’ gift to him with joy in his continued partnership, to explain his imprisonment, and address the issue of disunity. We will be focus-ing on the great Christ hymn of chapter two. Worship begins at 5:30 pm with soup and sand-wich following.

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COUNCIL MINUTES Zion Lutheran Church Council met on Monday, January 20, 2020

President Brenda Castellano called the meeting to order. Maryel led with devotions.

During the meeting the council:

• Approved the Secretary’s Report.

• Approved the Treasurer’s Report.

• Approved the Ministry Teams’ Reports.

• Lee reported on progress for Elevator Project.

• Approved donation of Building Tithe Funds.

• Approved matching Thrivent Choice Dollars request.

• Bishop Visit: Sunday, Feb 9th.

• Council Members Installation: Sunday, Feb 23rd.

Respectfully submitted by Carmella Moon, Secretary

* A full copy of the Secretary’s notes is in the office.

Building Update 2019 Payment Bi-Weekly Start Payment Interest Principal Ending Dates Balance Amount Paid Paid Balance 10/11 & 10/25 $301,804.97 $ 3,100.00 $ 907.95 $ 2,192.05 $ 299,612.92 1108 & 11/22 $299,612.92 $ 3,100.00 $ 901.34 $ 2,198.66 $ 297,414.26 12/04 $297,414.26 $16,000.00 $ .00 $ 16,000.00 $ 281,414.26 12/06 & 12/20 $281,414.26 $ 3,100.00 $ 867.15 $ 2,232.85 $ 279,181.41

Total monthly principal payments $ 22,623.56 Total monthly interest payments $ 2,676.44 Balance of loan as of 12-20-2019 $ 279,181.41

Partners Bank Building checking acct balance as of 12-31-2019 $ 11,281.95

PASTORAL ACTS

Pastor Sue officiated at the Baptism of Everett Boldig.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Each year Zion Lutheran Church offers scholarships to graduating high school seniors. Applicants are eligible for one of the three available scholarships. Applications will be mailed to Zion seniors. Completed applications must be submitted to the

church office by 5:00 p.m. on April 1st to be eligible. The scholarships will be awarded upon enrolling in the second semester of the first year of post-secondary education (January).

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Little Lutherans (K – 3rd Grade) and J-Team (4th – 6th Grade) will be held Wednesday, February 5th and 19th. After school until 5:15 p.m.

• Pumpkin • Blueberry • Raspberry • Blackberry • Pecan • Apple • Cherry • Caramel Apple • Custard • Peach Basket with order forms and $$ drop will be in the Narthex. Pay in advance or at delivery. Contact Keith at 715-650-1976 for more information.

$8 per π – Pre Order Now !!!!

Last day to order is

March 7th.

Delivered on 3/15/2020

February 4, 11, 18 and 25 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. in the

Conference Room.

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FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS 2 - Cari Frueh 3 - Angela Ford 4 - Bonnie Zawislan Kris Homann 6 - Kristine Blyton Patrick Greenberg Alex Pupp 7 - Tammy Draper 8 - Darin Grell 10 - Rob Hughes 12 - Doris Weber Wes Manecke Colin Rasmussen 13 - Kathy Ballerstein 14 - Darrel Schraeder Julia Nikolai 15 - Judy Polege Charlotte Schoenherr

John Schuette Bryce Ford

16 - Terry Hoesly Anika Weber

17 - Grayson Cole Cole Kramer Jordy Spindler 18 – Grace Kobs 19 - Brenda Van Der Leest

Mikayla Foley Troy Kuyoth

Piper Balz 20 - Jacob Federwitz Patrick Kilty

Melissa Meyer 21 - Robert Ulrich Dawson Moen 22 - Richard Anderson 23 – Jayme Hilgemann 24 - Eliot Waddell Brock Fischer Lee Spindler 25 - Jeanne Griesbach 26 - Amy Schoenfuss 27 - David Marg 28 - Karen Rock Keith Grell

FEBRUARY ANNIVERSARIES 2 – Brandon & Jordan Aschenbrenner 16 - Gary & Lori Lang 23 – Ted & Pam Wilde

Vacation Bible School dates have been set: Sunday, July 19th - Wednesday, July 22. All Aboard, the Rocky Railway for mountains of fun!

On this faith-filled adventure, kids discover that trusting Jesus helps pull us through life's ups and downs, and keeps us on track!

We will need volunteers to help, so please mark your calendars! More information to come!

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YOUR CHURCH STAFF

COUNCIL MEMBERS

President: Brenda Castellano

V. Pres.: Maryel Schoenfuss

Secretary: Carmella Moon

Treasurer: Marge Redetzke

Evangelism: Cory Wiesman

Faith Formation: Jackie Fischer & Isaac Thompson

Property: Lee Spindler

Stewardship: Amy Cournoyer

Worship: Lois Miller

PASTOR: Sue Eidahl Home Phone: 687-4381 E-mail: eides@zionlc.com

Secretary: Lori Lang E-mail: office@zionlc.com

WAYS TO CONNECT

WITH ZION

Write us at Zion Lutheran Church, 213501 Legacy Street, Stratford, WI 54484-9632

Phone us at 715-687-4110 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or leave a voice mail mes-sage.

Or email us at office@zionlc.com or directly to emails above. WEB SITE: www.zionlc.com

TRADITIONAL WORSHIP 9:00 a.m.

PLEASE keep the office updated: • Address, Phone & Email changes • Births, Deaths, Hospitalizations

INDEX Page 1 February Highlights 2 Pastor Sue’s Letter 3 Super Bowl of Caring / Wednesday Lenten Ser-

vices 4 Building Update / Pastoral Acts / Council

Minutes 5 Scholarship Information / Mmm Mmm Pie Sale /

J-Team and Little Lutherans / Bible Study 6 VBS / Birthdays &

Anniversaries 7 Church Staff & Index Pull out: February Calendar and Serving Schedule NEWSLETTER DEADLINE The 21st of each month. ANNOUNCEMENT DEADLINE Wednesdays by 9:00 a.m. WEEKLY E-MAIL Goes out on Monday morning. Email of-fice@zionlc.com to be added to the receiver list.

Zion is on Facebook.

You can go to our website at www.zionlc.com and click on the link to

the Facebook page.