LCC Crosswords

December 2017

12/3 Advent Festival 2pm

12/7 Joyful Women’s Gathering 9:30am

12/10 Church School Program 1:30 & 3pm

12/13 Christmas Carol Festival 6:45pm

12/14 RRR Readers 1pm

12/17 Christmas Gala 5:30pm

12/20 No Classes/No Worship

12/21 Travelers’ Christmas 6:30pm

12/24 Worship 2pm, 3:30pm, 5pm

12/27 Worship 6:45/No Classes

12/31 Worship 10am/No Classes

Weekly Activities Sundays: Church School 9am and 10:10am, Worship 9am and 11am

Mondays: Bell Choir Rehearsal 6pm, Choir Rehearsal 7:15pm

Tuesdays: Men’s Bible Study 6:30am, Sunday Worship Rehearsal 5:30pm, Wednes-day Worship Rehearsal 6:30pm, Yoga with Jessica 6:30pm

Wednesdays: Wednesday Meal 5:15pm-6:45pm, Church School 5:45pm and 6:45pm, Worship 5:45pm and 6:45pm, Confirmation 7:30pm

Thursdays: Women’s Bible Study 12:00pm and 6:30pm, Youth Band 6:00pm

December

Christmas Worship Schedule Traveler’s Christmas Eve: 6:30pm Thursday Dec. 21st Christmas Eve: 2pm | 3:30pm | 5:00pm Christmas Day: 10am Lessons & Carols

Pastor’s Message It’s that time of year! The time of year that we can love so much… the lights, the music, the cookies, the fellowship, the food, the trees… and at the same time we can dread it so much too… the busyness, the money, the expecta-tions. As Advent is right around the corner, we are inviting you to relax, take time to breath, and think about what this season is all about. Advent is a season of hopeful waiting as the Messiah, God in the flesh, Emmanuel, breaks forth and into humanity.

Picture Advent as a time to prepare our hearts and minds to take in Jesus’ be-ginning, a life filled with joy and hope.

Picture Advent as a time of wonder about the mystery of Christ’s birth, the love that was shown through our God coming to us so that no barrier is ever too high.

Picture Advent as a time to breath and relax, to live into the promise of God’s love being born.

Picture Advent as a time of hopeful waiting and expectation met through the birth of a baby.

Picture Advent!

This Advent, we will be posting daily words and Bible verses on Facebook and Instagram inviting you to find where and how you see this word in the world around you. We ask you to share with us and your friends the joy and hope of the season. Nothing fancy or professional is need. Just let us know where you see God's presence! Make sure to use the hashtag #pictureadvent and #liveandloveLCC, as well as tag us in the post!

A Message from the Growing Givers Group We would like to express our thanks to everyone who listened to the recent "Temple Talks." We know that hearing a message regarding church finances can be uncomfortable. However, we believe this message must be conveyed periodically so our members know and under-stand the financial health of the congregation.

Like many congregations, we are facing short-term and long-term challenges. Over the sum-mer months, the church depleted our savings of $28,000 and maxed out our line of credit of $50,000. Even though some generous donors responded to Pastor Laura's call for help, we have not been able to replenish the savings account or pay off the line of credit. We ask eve-ryone to prayerfully consider increasing their financial support to the "general giving" fund so we can climb out of our current hole and enter 2018 with a positive balance in our ac-count. If we do not address this short-term challenge, we will face some unpleasant program and staff changes in the near future.

We also face a long-term challenge with our current staffing level. Quite simply, it is unsus-tainable. Our pastors and program-related staff are spread too thin and in danger of burn-out. In order to understand the realistic staff number for the size of our congregation, we an-alyzed approximately 20 local Lutheran churches. We learned that our staff level (two pas-tors, two program-related employees, and one office assistant) is the equivalent of a congre-gation which has weekly attendance of approximately 275 people, compared to our weekly attendance of 825 people. Instead of our current five staff members, a congregation our size should have approximately ten staff members (three pastors, five program-related employ-ees and two office assistants). With additional staff, we can enhance our existing programs and introduce new programs for our continually growing membership.

This letter is not intended to relay a "gloom and doom" message. To the contrary, our total giving over the last five years has grown impressively but it has been split between the We Are Called Campaign and the general giving fund. To address our short-term and long-term challenges, we are asking our members to recommit their pledge to the We Are Called Cam-paign but direct those funds to the general offering. As a congregation, if we commit all, or a significant portion, of those appeal funds to the general giving fund, we would not have a budget deficit and we would be able to afford the additional staff needed for our church.

Finally, thank you for reading and prayerfully considering our request.

Holly Hegstad

Paul Zenker

Chris McShane

Dan Dunn

Pastor Joel Baranko

See the next page for the slides from our recent Temple Talks

October Finance Report

Oct. Actual Oct. Budget YTD Actual YTD Budget

General Offering $43,809 $45,756 $404,239 $429,562

Other income to general $320 $13,486

Appeal reimbursement $0 $0 $4,181 $0

General expenses $43,957 $49,495 $478,529 $508,427

Mortgage Principal $2,784 $27,469

Cash Flow -$2,612 -$84,092

Appeal Income $5,414 $138,071

Appeal Expenses $0 $42,364

Borrowed from savings $0

Borrowed from bank $0

Paid back to savings $0

Paid back to bank

Net amount owed savings $27,519

Net amount owed bank $50,000

Church School Christmas Programs

Sunday, December 10th

1:30pm—Sunday Kids

3:30pm—Wednesday Kids

All Preschool—5th Grade students

are a part of the Christmas Pro-

gram ‘choir’ this year!

Thanks for practicing the songs and actions at

home! It has definitely helped the kids learn

and remember the songs. Links are up on the

website.

What to wear to the Christmas program... your

Christmas best! Or a favorite outfit!

Please be here on time! Kids will gather in the

classrooms and get lined up...

1:30pm Program: Be here by 1:10pm

3:30pm Program: Be here by 3:10pm

We will celebrate the program with a Fellow-

ship! If you are able to help provide treats,

please sign-up at http://signup.com/go/

CJvRBEB.

Church School Supply Needs:

*Packing Tape *Pipe Cleaners (all colors)

*PlayDoh *Buttons

*Craft Gems and Jewels *Sequins (all colors)

*Cardboard tubes (toilet paper, paper towel, etc.)

Thrivent Action Teams

Are you a Thrivent member? Have you used your

TWO Thrivent Action Teams yet this year? If you

haven’t (or aren’t sure what this is), we have sever-

al upcoming events that could use help.

Education Team

The Education Team would like to invite new mem-

bers to the team! We are a group that meets once

a month (Aug.-May) to plan, discuss, and invest in

Church School and family events. If you would be

interested in joining our team, please join us at our

next meeting, January 28th at 6:30pm.

Advent Festival Sunday, December 3rd from 2-4pm

This event is for all—families, couples, friends, family,

neighbors...ALL! Come and enjoy crafts, singing,

Bingo, Lefse making (and tasting!), and a time of

fellowship. The event is open house style, come

and stay for as long or short as you want. Can’t

wait to see you!

No Church School: December 20th-31st

Classes Resume: January 3rd/7th

Looking Ahead…

Dec. 3rd Sun. Church School Sings @ 9 & 11am

Advent Festival 2:00-4:00pm

Dec. 10th Church School Christmas Programs

Sunday Kids at 1:30pm

Wednesday Kids at 3:30pm

Dec. 13th Giving Tree Gifts DUE!

Christmas Carol Festival at 6:45pm.

5:45pm: regular class & sing at 6:45pm

6:45pm: no class, attend worship & sing

Dec. 20/24 No Church School and Confirmation

Dec. 24th Worship at 2:00, 3:30, & 5:00pm

Dec. 27/31 No Church School and Confirmation

Jan 3rd /7th Church School & Confirmation Resume

Jan. 14th 9th Grade Retreat

Jan. 26th Family Date Night

Children & Family Ministries

6th-9th Grade Confirmation Families…

Wednesday Meal Servers…

Nov. 29th: Jack P, Simon B, Jamison B, Aiden P, Oakely E, and Chris S.

Dec. 6th: Jayda S, Nicollette T, Alyssa S, Justin S, Joey Z., and Luke O.

Dec. 13th: Kelsa S, Emma P, Lily M, DelRae S, Maiya H., and Serenna G.

Jan. 3rd: Wed. Meal Servers NEEDED—let Chelsi know.

Confirmation Schedule, Wednesday Meal Schedule, and event dates are on the Confirmation Board in the

Cross Ways Center. If you have any questions about Confirmation, contact Pastor Laura or Chelsi Martian.

9th Grade Retreat

Sunday, January 14th from 11:00am-7:30pm

The 9th Grade Confirmation Retreat serves as a time to reflect on their time in Confirmation,

process all that has been learned and taught, and a time to prepare for faith beyond Confir-

mation classes. The retreat is Sunday, January 14th from 11:00am-7:30pm at LCC. Program-

ing, meals, and snacks will be provided. Please have your $20 fee to the church by

December 13th. If you have any questions about this event, please contact Chelsi Martian.

No Confirmation: Dec. 20th, 27th & Jan. 3rd

Resumes: January 10th.

Confirmation Ministries

The LCC youth group meets almost every Wednesday from 8:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. This pro-gram is directed around and for youth in grades 10-12. Some weeks we may have some chill fellowship, other weeks we may be serving our community, but every week we will be building our relationship with each other and with Jesus. All are invited! Contact Carson at carson@lcc-wf.com with any questions.

Youth Group News

PieceMaker Quilt Group

The PieceMaker quilt group will be meeting December 6th at 6:30pm & December 14th & 28th at 9:30am. We are currently making quilts for the Red River Children's Advocacy Program. Any questions, please email pkmaas@yahoo.com. All are welcome.

Attention Amazon Shoppers! Support Lutheran Church of the Cross by shopping with Amazon Smile! Just enter "Lutheran Church of the Cross West Fargo“ as your charity prior to shopping. (Must check out through Amazon Smile) After that, Amazon donates 0.5% of all eligible purchases to the church! Use the link below to get connected.

https://smile.amazon.com/ch/45-0360370

Family Fare Receipts Our current total for the Family Fare receipt project is $145,392.90 . Keep on saving your Family Fare receipts and place in the box located in the entryway of the church. We are working towards the goal of $150,000 in receipts. In return, we will re-ceive $1000 from Family Fare, which will be used for LCC youth related activities. Thank you for your continued support on this project.

Coffee Bar Beanediction Coffee Bar is open! It is staffed by volunteers and we need lots more to keep it running. We have short 90-minute shifts for baristas and cashiers, plus you get a free coffee for working. Training only takes about 1 hour and we can work around your availability for day- or night-time sessions. No big commitments needed, just come check it out and see

if it’s a way for you to serve LCC. If interested please e-mail the church office at office@lcc-wf.com http://signup.com/go/CnxnTuu

Come Sing with the LCC Choir Here is an opportunity to sing with our choir with only a few rehearsals beforehand. Re-hearsals will be on: Monday, December 4th, 11th, and 18th at 7:15pm. The anthems/carols will be performed on Wednesday, December 13th at the Christmas Carol Festival and on Sunday, Christmas Eve at the 3pm & 5pm worship. Different music for the two events. Please email maxbeseler@gmail.com if you’re interested or if you have any questions. No experience necessary!

JOIN US FOR LCC’S

CHRISTMAS CAROL FESTIVAL Wednesday, December 13th

D o n ’ t j u s t e n j o y t h e s e a s o n , S I N G t h e s e a s o n ! A l l a r e w e l c o m e t o

c o m e a n d s i n g a t t h e L C C C h r i s t -m a s C a r o l F e s t i v a l t o b e h e l d a t 6 : 4 5 p m o n W e d n e s d a y , D e c e m b e r 1 3 t h ( d u r i n g w o r s h i p ) . T h e C h o i r ,

B e l l C h o i r , W e d n e s d a y B a n d , C h u r c h S c h o o l k i d s , a n d Y O U w i l l l i f t u p o u r v o i c e s i n c e l e b r a t i o n

o f t h e b i r t h o f J e s u s . I t ’ s a p e r -f e c t e v e n t t o i n v i t e a f r i e n d t o

c h u r c h . F a l a l a l a l a . . .

Annual Christmas Gala Sunday, December 17th

5:30pm social • 6:30pm dinner

_______

Come to LCC for an evening of joyful celebration in Jesus’ name! This special evening will feature fellowship, cocktails, hors d’oeu-vres, entertainment, and a delectable dinner prepared by, LCC’s own, Executive Chef Greg Gefroh. During the evening’s festivi-

ties, you are invited to bless your church with a special Christmas Love Offering as an expression of your gratitude to God for the

mission of LCC.

Please RSVP by December 11, 2017 to Kylee: Call 701.282.0514

Email office@lcc-wf.com

Make it an LCC DATE NIGHT! Childcare will be provided

Invite your LCC Friends

LCC

Directory

Update

New to LCC? New Family Photo? Need to update New to LCC? New Family Photo? Need to update your address? Would you like to be added to the your address? Would you like to be added to the

online church directory?online church directory?

If you answered “YES” to any of these If you answered “YES” to any of these

questions contact office@lccquestions contact office@lcc--wf.com and wf.com and

we will update your information!we will update your information!

Current needs are short 90-minute shifts for baristas and cashiers, plus you get a free coffee for working. Training only takes 1 hour and we can

work around your availability for day- or night-time sessions. No big commitments needed, just come check it out and see if it's a way for

you to serve LCC. Contact offce@lcc-wf.com with any questions!

Volunteers Needed!

JOYFUL WOMEN’S COFFEE HOUR

Joyful Women will be meeting in the Hospitality Room on Thursday, Dec. 7th at 9:30am. The Dec. meeting will include a pot-luck brunch and a pro-gram featuring Advent Gifts. Bring an ornament for exchange if you’d like. We are postponing our journey thru The Story until January.

Joyful Women is a monthly event so plan to come and enjoy getting to know other women of LCC. Bring a friend and join us. Reservations are not necessary.

The next meeting of Novel Ideas will be Tuesday, Dec. 19th in the church li-brary at 7pm. We will be discussing An Invisible Thread by Alex Tresniowski & Laura Schroff. Future Reads Jan. 23 War Room by Chris Fabry Feb. 27 We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter Mar. 27 The Missing Kennedy by Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff Apr 24 Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann Anyone is welcome to attend; even if you just want to come once in a while to enjoy the dis-cussion of the book-of-the-month if that's what interests you.

RRR BOOK CLUB RRR Book Club meets on the second Thursday of the month at 1pm in the LCC Library. We dis-cuss a variety of books. All are welcome! If you have any questions, feel free to contact Maxine Beseler at 701-400–7760 or maxbeseler@gmail.com. Upcoming reads are : December: The Walnut Tree by Charles Todd (Erlene has) January 2018: Peach Cobbler Murder by Joanne Fluke (Erlene has) February: The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin (Erlene has) March: Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs April: Coral Glynn by Pete Cameron (Erlene has) May: Dinner with the Smileys by Sarah Smiley (Erlene has)

NOVEL IDEAS

Lutheran Church of the Cross 1402 16th St E ~ West Fargo, ND 58078

(701) 282-0514

www.lcc-wf.com

Contact Us:

Pastor Joel Baranko: jbaranko@lcc-wf.com

Pastor Laura Henrik: laura@lcc-wf.com

Kylee Lisburg, Office Administrator: office@lcc-wf.com

Chelsi Martian, Education Director: chelsi@lcc-wf.com

Carson Jennings, Director of Youth Ministry: carson@lcc-wf.com

Chad Svenby, Dir. of Music & Arts Ministry: csvenby@lcc-wf.com

Maxine Beseler, Choir Director: maxbeseler@gmail.com