april 2015 newsletter final - single...

where they laid

him.” (Mark 16:6) The women’s practical question had been answered and they had received remarkable good news – the resurrection of Jesus! Another practical question…who are you inviting to the Easter service at St. Paul’s? This is but a reminder for you to offer a simple no obligation invitation to a friend or family member to come and hear the most remarkable news the world has ever heard. A simple question – a practical question. The answer could have eternal consequences for those who respond to the resurrection. Have a blessed Easter! Pastor Vaughn

Dear Friends in Christ, It’s the art of asking practical questions. Questions like “What are we having for supper?” Practical. “Is there gas in the car?” Practical. “Do you have your homework done?” Practical. These kinds of questions are practical and necessary to learn certain information. The question about homework is not one parents like to ask but must ask and after asking hope for the right answer! The women going to the tomb on that first Easter morning had a practical ques-tion. St. Mark tells us that they asked, “Who will roll the

stone away from the entrance

of the tomb?” (16:3) A very practical question based on the fact that Mark tells us it “was

very large”. The question was practical because it was a reality for the women. If they

were to complete the burial process for Jesus they would need to get inside of the tomb. The tomb had been sealed for two days. How were they to get in if some-one didn’t remove the stone from in front of the tomb? As we know the stone had been rolled away, Jesus had risen from the dead (so there was no burial process to complete!), and the women come face to face with an angel who tells them not to be afraid. (Yeah, right! Let’s see how frightened you or I would be if we are ever face to face with an angel!) But the women get to experience the wonderful news of that first Easter when the angel tells them, “You are looking for

Jesus the Nazarene, who was

crucified. He has risen! He

is not here. See the place

Pastor’s Paragraph

April 2015

The Messenger

“Growing in Faith -

Reaching Others for Christ -

Serving One Another"

Inside this issue:

Ladies’ Brunch

Easter Breakfast

Financial Report

Opportunities to Serve

Volunteer Schedules

Youth Activities

2

3

4

5

6-7

8-9

10 –11 SPLS News

Pastor’s Anniversary Celebration

Let’s Celebrate!

Saturday, April 18, 1:00 PM

On February 18, 2015, Pastor Vaughn marked the 25th anniversary

of his serving St. Paul’s congregation.

Come join us for lunch as we honor Pastor for his 25 years of faithful service.

Please see enclosed letter for more details.

Canned Dinners Tuna

Personal Items Toothpaste, Dental Floss

Food Shelf

Anticipating a Baptism?

Ladies Spring Brunch

The Ladies’ Bible Study will resume on April 8th.

Wednesdays 5:30 PM

For more information, contact Tamara Lammers at [email protected].

Baptism Class Monday

April 20th

6:30 - 8:00pm

Call the church office at 952-447-2117 to register.

Men’s Bible Study

Ladies’ Bible Study

Monday, April 13

4:45 PM—7:00 PM Church of St. Mark In Shakopee

Adults and high school students

are needed to help serve the meal.

We also have available a “NEED BASKET” for items that

are needed for preparing the meal. Simply select an item

from the basket and return it to church by Sunday, April 12.

These items will help defray the cost of the meal.

Loaves and Fishes is a great opportunity

to serve our neighbors in need.

Fridays at 6:30 AM Perkins in Savage

We are currently reading The Christian Atheist by

Craig Groeschel.

Questions? Contact Ben Armitage at

[email protected]

Loaves and Fishes

Sunday, April 12 during Adult Bible Study.

Bring your questions!

Stump the Pastor

2015 Offering Envelopes

Offering Envelopes are in your mailboxes in the Fellowship Hall.

with Sarah Legband Follow Jesus....Fish for People

Saturday, May 9 2015

9:00-11:30

St. Paul's Lutheran Church, School & ECC

Tickets are $15.00.

Will be available for sale on Palm Sunday through the end of April.

Ladies, if you would like you may sponsor a whole table and decorate how you

choose with your own dishes and decorations.

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." Mark 1:17

Saturday April 4th 10:00am

Toddlers to 10 yrs old Bring your own basket

Sponsored by Thrivent Financial

Easter Egg Hunt

Join the St. Paul’s team. Sign up at the Information Center.

Cost is $60.00 to play. Any questions please contact Jon Kerkow at 952-451-9557 or at [email protected],

Once again we will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday, April 5th. As a part of our celebration the youth will be sponsor-ing the Easter Breakfast. We need your help in making this celebration breakfast a success. There are donation and volunteer sign-ups on the

table in the Narthex. If you would be willing and able to donate your time to help us with the breakfast we would appreciate it.

Donated food items need to be delivered to the church no later than Good Friday, April 3rd.

If you have any questions see Shannon. Please also join us for the breakfast. We will be serving from 7:30-8:30 am. Enjoy some food and fellowship as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ! There will be a free will

offering. All proceeds will go towards the youth mission trip to Weston, WI and youth programs.

Confirmation Sunday May 3rd

10:30 Service

Annual Congregational (Voters) Meeting

May 12th

6:30 PM

Summer Worship Schedule Begins May 24th

Sunday Worship 9:00 AM

Wednesday Worship

7:00 PM

Graduation Sunday June 7th

9:00 AM Service

There will be NO worship service Wednesday, April 1, during Holy Week.

Please join us Maundy Thursday,

Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

See the worship times on back page.

Church office will be closed

Good Friday, April 3rd and Easter Monday,

April 6th.

Saturday morning March 21, four members of our congregation, Dan Hennen, Cindy Janssen, Donna and Pastor Vaughn attended Lutheran Emergency Response Training (LERT). This training was designed to teach congregations how to respond to a natural or man-made disaster.

Men’s Church Softball

LERT TRAINING

Schedule Change

The next meeting of the congregation’s

Board of Directors

is April 6

6:30pm

in the Matthew-Mark Room.

The Congregational Forum where the congregation is invited to share with the Board is

from 6:45 to 7:00 p.m. All members of the congregation are

Pastor John Vaughn Senior Pastor [email protected]

Pastor John Stern Visitation Pastor

Shannon Hecksel Director of Youth Ministry [email protected]

Wendy Fitzwater Office Manager [email protected]

Cindy Janssen Church Secretary [email protected]

Mark Christiansen Music Ministry [email protected]

Susan Parrish Organist [email protected]

Financial Report

Board of Directors Meeting

February General Offerings were $44,968.15

March General Offerings Received-to-Date, are

$42,419.50

February School Tuition Received $17,283.91

March School Tuition Received-to-Date:

$10,829.46

Current Outstanding (unpaid) Invoices Amount to date

$28,399.37

February ECC Tuition Received $29,962.72

March ECC Tuition to date $21,603.84

Capital Campaign Received to date $359,443.69

The Administrative Services ministry is currently looking for someone within the congregation with experience in Human Resources. If you have experience in this area please reach out to Angie Anderson, Director of the Administrative Services ministry.

Thrivent Choice Dollars Received in 2014

January $0 $0

February $$595.00 $233.00

March $2,066.00 $362.00

April $1,386.00 $563.00

May $165.00 $133.00

June $702.00 $300.00

July $0 $0

August $597.00 $155.00

September $210.00 $242.00

October $58.00 $0

November $625.00 $286.00

December $498.00 $464.00

CHURCH SCHOOL

Total $6,902.00 $2,741.00

Human Resources Experience Wanted

Church Staff Contact Information

Pillowcase Dresses

Opportu

nitie

s to S

erve

We donated 100 dresses to Little Dresses for Africa! Our next group of dresses will be donated to LWML to support their LWML Conference Mission Pro-ject

Even though Eastern Europe has had some of the fasting growing economies within the European

Union, many of their citizens continue to struggle economically and most have been deprived of

spiritual feeding since the end of World War II.

So what can volunteers do for these countries and their citizens? The answer is two-fold. 1) Teach English, "the language of commerce and opportunity".

2) Present the Gospel message to those who have yet not heard the life-giving story.

Since the early 1990s MOST Ministries has been sending English as Second Language (ESL) Teams to

Eastern Europe. Unfortunately the last few years we have been unable to send any teams to this area due to a lack of mission-minded volunteers.

If you are interested in learning more about this tremendous outreach opportunity please contact Debby Suchyta (MOST Ministries' Team Administrator) at [email protected] or

734.994.7909 X11. Debby will be more than happy to provide you with all the information you will need to join a 2016 ESL Team.

With April Showers come May flowers! With April Showers come May flowers! With April Showers come May flowers! With April Showers come May flowers! Do you have a green thumb? Or just a passion for gardening? Then the Garden Club is a great way to serve the Lord. The Garden Club will be responsible for beautifying the church grounds with flowers, planting and maintaining throughout the season. If you are interested in joining this team, please sign up at the Information Desk.

It is time for Spring Cleaning! It is time for Spring Cleaning! It is time for Spring Cleaning! It is time for Spring Cleaning!

Please join us on Saturday, April 25th from 9-noon as we tackle some cleaning projects at the church. Last month the focus was on polishing up our beautiful sanctuary after months of construction. This month our focus will be on the Narthex, the balcony and the bathrooms.

If you are aware of any specific areas within the church that need attention, please contact either Angie Anderson or Cindy Janssen. Donuts and coffee will be provided...because what good Lutheran can clean without them?

Thank you for all the donations to support the Baskets of Promise. They will be assembled at the Ladies’ Spring Brunch in May. If you have not yet had the chance to donate to this Mission project, we are in need of additional bath towels.

Bath towels need to be – 20x40 to max of 52x27 . Lightweight fabric and dark colors are recommended.

Baskets of Promise

Garden Club Spring Cleaning

MOST Ministries - Short Term Mission Opportunity

Altar Guild 8:00 Ushers

8:00 10:30

Elder Alan Barney Steve Murphy

Screens Zena Schroeder Zena Schroeder

Lay Readers Mona Snell Tom Hanson

Information Center Darlene Simmering Julie Westman

Children’s Message Shannon Hecksel

Money Counters Diane Schroeder Zena Schroeder

Dave & Sue Hansen

Greeters Gene Schroeder Charles Segler

Tom & Sarah Hanson

TV Ministry Kevin Busse Shawn Schabert

Don Fristed Jerry Feldten Rick Menze

Milford Baggenstoss Gerald Raddatz

Zachary Cameron

AP

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V

OL

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ER

S

Ap

ril

5

Ap

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12

6:30 9:00

Elder Gary Hart Jay Janssen

Screens Jennifer Hart Zena Schroeder

Lay Readers Janet Raddatz

Information Center Judy Klingberg Donna Vaughn

Money Counters Carol Boltz Donna Wise

Verda Russo

Greeter Joe & Carolyn Morgan Bev Groth


10:30 Ushers

Allen Hill Daron Van Helden

Tim Hoeben Genna Schiller

Sherry Walen Darlene Simmering

8:00 10:30

Elder Brad Brown Glen Dahn

Screens Shelly Meier Colleen Hurlbert

Lay Readers Hunter Brown Shannon Hecksel

Information Center Sue Buckingham Dave & Veronica Schallenk-amp

Children’s Church Charlotte Penn

Money Counters Harlan & Barb Harms Dave & Kelly Wolter

Joe & Carolyn Morgan

Greeters Al & Mona Snell Daron & Beth Van Helden


Ap

ril

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A

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6

8:00 10:30

Elder Don Walen Jay Janssen

Screens Jennifer Hart Brie Walen

Lay Readers Darlene Simmering Tamara Lammers

Information Center Donna Vaughn Donna Vaughn

Children’s Church Shannon Hecksel

Money Counters Darlene Simmering Della Borchardt

Will & Gwen Brandt

Greeters Sheldon & Marian Sin-delar

Steve & Maranda Bergren


“And he sat down and called the twelve.

And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he

must be last of all and servant of

all.”

Mark 9:35

Maundy Thursday Worship April 2 at 7:00 PM

Good Friday Worship April 3 12:00 PM & 7:00 PM

Easter Sunday Worship April 5

6:30 AM & 9:00 AM Easter Breakfast between services

sponsored by the Youth.

YOUTH SPONSORED

EASTER BREAKFAST

Easter Sunday April 5th 7:30 - 8:30 am

Join us for our annual Easter Breakfast. Let’s celebrate Jesus’ resurrection with some fellowship and food in between the worship services.

The youth and their parents will be serving and all proceeds will go towards the youth and their mission trip to Weston, WI this summer.

Please see Shannon if you have any questions.

5th – 8th graders join us on Sunday April 12 from noon – 2pm at Triple Play.

Cost is $10/person, friends can join us for free. $10 will include unlimited la-ser tag, mini golf, gym, inflatable bouncers, 1 batting token, hot dog, and a soda. We will meet at Triple Play and parents can pick you up there also.

If there are any parents willing to help out please let Shannon know. Please sign up at the Information Center if you would like to join us.

If you have any questions see Shannon.

Yo

uth

Ev

ents

“God is our REFUGE and our strength…” Psalm 46:1a.

We will not be having The Refuge on Easter Sunday, April 5th.

On April 19th we will be going out to eat and then hanging out

back at church.

Sunday May 17th from 2pm-4pm

This is a joint event with youth from Holy Cross Lutheran church. Cost will be $10 and will cover

unlimited laser tag, a slice of pizza or hot dog, chips, drink, and 4 arcade tokens.

Please let Shannon know if you can make it.

VBS is for 3 year olds - 6th Grade

July 13-17 3 - 5 year olds 9 am - noon 1st - 6th grade 9 am - 3 pm

Registration will be available on our Website soon!

Cost is $10 for 3-5 year olds and $15 for 1st - 6th grade

7th and 8th grade youth, plan on joining us for a week of service and fun

July 20 - 24th

9 am - 2:30 pm

“218” is a new summer program for 7th and 8th grade youth. The program is based on James 2:18 which says, “But someone

will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.”

The FISH logo is used to help us focus on being

Faithful In Serving Him.

St. Paul’s will be sending 9 youth and 2 adults to Weston, WI on June 21 - 26.

Please pray for these individuals, that they may be the hands and feet of Jesus spreading His love and changing people’s hearts as they serve.

During this week our youth will join youth from 3 other churches in spreading the Gospel through

many different areas of ministry including: fixing lower income homes, building relationships with homeowners, sharing their faith, feeding

homeless through the Salvation Army, working with children with disabilities, and much more.

TEACHERS LOVE AND FEAR THE LORD Part of the reason why Christian students perform so well in the classroom is that they have a higher percentage of teachers who genuinely care about them. Most of these dedicated men and women sacrifice greater monetary rewards to serve where they can do the most intrinsic good. In addition to the passion they feel for their

students, the vast majority of Christian educators love God with equal inten-sity. And unlike some of their well-meaning public school colleagues, they are not prohibited by the United States government from making overt claims to that effect. Teachers are a school’s heartbeat. Its pulse. They are also among the most in-fluential role models in stu-dents’ lives. And while you can certainly find Christian educators at a

St. Paul’s Lutheran School News

The Messenger

On April 13, SPLS 6th-8th graders will leave for a four day trip to Washington DC. What a wonderful experience this will be for them. We pray for safe travels and a great time learning! Thank you members of St. Paul’s for all your financial support and prayers!

Why Should I Consider A Christian Education?

Mr. Strickland

It's been a few years since I was in your class and I thought that it was only right that you know how school has

been. The first thing, forcing us to do speech worked I've been in it for two years now and I love it. The best part

is that I don't have to write my own speech. Also, I'm taking a class in HTML and am going to a BPA (Business

Professionals of

America) competition for HTML tomorrow. School has been easier than I thought and I still excel at math, I'm in

enriched Algebra 2 this year, I'm also in knowledge bowl and it's really fun. I just want to say thank you for the

wonderful education that you gave me when I was in your class. I know that if it hadn't been for SPLS and your

teaching and

pushing me to be the best I can be I wouldn't be where I am now. I even have everything planned out for college,

which is better that some seniors can say. I almost forgot, but this semester I'm taking a college class. College

accounting and although I haven't done much yet I can tell that I'll be able to understand at least 75% of the ma-

terial. Again thank you so much for everything and sorry for not sending this email sooner I had planned to but

always forgot.

Washington DC Trip

public school, the best of all academic worlds exists when everyone – the school board, the principal, the teachers and the parents – is operating under the same educational paradigm. “For by wise guidance you will

wage war, and in abundance

of counselors there is

victory” (Proverbs 24:6).

SPLS 5th grade students will enjoy Camp Omega April 13-15 for some outdoor education in God’s creation. Have fun!

Camp Omega Bound

Letter from a Former SPLS Student

Congratulations to the SPLS Volleyball team.

They are working hard, improving rap-idly and hold a record of 1-3. Go Crusaders!

May 16, 11am-3pm St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and School

Mark your calendar now and plan on joining us for Praise Fest 2015

Four bands and four hours of music Concessions, games and more!

Need gas or groceries? Need a night out? Stop and check the Scrip choices and your purchase will benefit a student’s account, the scholarship fund or the building fund. Scrip is available for purchase on Sunday mornings and during school office hours (M & Th 8-3:30, T & W 8-12, F 8-10). To date $627 has been raised for the scholarship fund and $314 for the building fund. This is a great way to earn money for a great ministry!

It’s time to register for the 2015-2016 school year at St. Paul’s Lutheran School. Registration is open for

Kindergarten through 8th grade as well as for preschool (age 3 or older). We’ve had a great year this year with

field trips to the Mill City Museum, Camp Omega, Buck Hill, Stages Theater, Feed My Starving Children, and

lots of other activities and adventures! Soon the 6th through 8th graders will leave for their trip to

Washington DC. The girls volleyball team has gotten off to a great start and a golf league will be starting soon

with the great weather. St. Paul’s Lutheran is a fun and challenging place. It’s small so everyone knows all

the students and the kids love working together. If you’d like to find out more about St. Paul’s, please check

out our website (www.stpaulspriorlake.org), call for a tour, and talk with the parents and students who currently

attend. Forms and information for registering are located on the Admissions page of our website

(http://stpaulspriorlake.com/spls/admissions/). We’d love to see some new faces at St. Paul’s next year!!!

Praise Fest

Scrip Volleyball

Time to Register

April 2015 The Messenger

Phone: 952-447-2117 Fax: 952-447-2119

E-mail: [email protected]

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church

5634 Luther Road SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 4

RETURN SERVICE RE-

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church & School Non-Profit Organization

5634 Luther Road SE U.S. Postage Paid

Prior Lake, MN 55372-2031 Prior Lake, MN 55372

(952) 447-2117 Permit # 29

“Growing in Faith - Reaching Others for Christ -

Serving One Another"

HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE

Maundy Thursday Worship April 2 at 7:00 PM

Good Friday Worship April 3 12:00 PM & 7:00 PM

Easter Sunday Worship April 5

6:30 AM & 9:00 AM Easter Breakfast between services

sponsored by the Youth.

april 2015 newsletter final - single...

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