God’s People in Mission and Ministry - November 2009

Here are few pictures from the Birthday Dinner, the Confirmation Lock-in, the first practice for this year’s Christmas program, the Party with a Purpose and the Community Thanksgiving Meal.

This year’s Community Thanksgiving Meal at St. Michael was a tremendous success. Over 165 people sat down for for the meal and another 30 to 40 meals went home or were delivered to individuals in need. Thank you to all the volunteers who make this wonderful ministry possible.

Each year the Virginia Synod sponsors two events for High School students (9th through 12th Grade) called Winter Celebration. Winter Celebration is a gathering of several hundred youth and adults for large group and small group experiences with lots of worship, singing and faith sharing. If you are interested in attending, Lorin Crowder will be taking a group from St. Michael to the second weekend, January 29-31, 2010. Scholarship money is available to help with the cost of the weekend and you can download the registration form here. For more information, please talk to Pastor John.

At this year’s Party with a Purpose, over 40 volunteers prepared Christmas Shoe Boxes to be shipped to children in need. Approximately 250 boxes were donated by the people of St. Michael and a host of mission partners from around the area. Thank you for your generous stewardship of God’s gifts to you.

The Presiding Bishop of the ELCA, Mark Hansen, posted a message online and an open letter to all members of the ELCA. In the letter, he invited everyone to an online Town Hall meeting on Sunday, December 6at 5:30 PM EST. You can see Bishop Hansen’s message here and find out more information about the Town Hall meeting on www.elca.org

Here are few pictures from the Birthday Dinner and the Confirmation Lock-in.

Here is the Proposed 2010 Spending Plan for Ministry. It will be considered at our congregational meeting on Sunday, December 13 at 10 AM.

Here is an excellent online version of Luther’s Small Catechism.

Jo Burroughs, the Parish Nurse at Luther Memorial, has provided this information on how to tell the difference between a cold and the flu: Helpful Information on the Flu [PDF]