602 West Townline Road

Creston, IA 50801

641.782.2920

Pastor Nathan Aaseng 641-782-0020

email salem@salemluth.net

website www.salemluth.net

Salem Church Council Minutes
February 9, 2006

The meeting was called to order by President Chuck Taylor with the following members present: Chuck Taylor, Bert Henry, Sherri Nissen, Claudia Peppers, Helen Mosman, Dave Riley, Raquel Linch, Bill Kunert, and Mike Linch (Treasurer). Also in attendance was Pastor Aaseng and Coral Smith.

Bill Kunert led us in devotions.

M/S/C by Sherri Nissen, Bert Henry to approve the January council minutes with one change: Bert Henry was present at the January council meeting.

M/S/C by Helen Mosman, Dave Riley to approve the January Treasurer’s report.

Pastor’s Report
Pastor felt the first blended service went well.
The worship teams worked well. Taking care of the flowers on the altar will be added to the worship teams tasks.
Lenten services will begin March 1 at 7:15 pm
Pastor will preach at the first Ecumenical Lenten service. Salem will host it on March 19. Supper will follow the service.

Old Business
a. The truck left for Louisiana with audio/visual items donated by Salem. The group was very appreciative of these items.

New Business
a. Approval of church use:
M/S/C by Bert Henry, Raquel Linch to approve use of the fellowship hall for the elections on June 6 and November 7.
M/S/C by Raquel Linch, Sherri Nissen to approve use of the fellowship hall for a 4-H meeting on February 14.
M/S/C by Dave Riley, Bill Kunert to approve use of the fellowship hall by the Federation Women’s Group as long as it doesn’t interfere with the quilters.
M/S/C by Sherri Nissen Claudia Peppers to approve use of the fellowship hall for Marathon Bridge on May 6.
M/S/C by Raquel Linch, Sherri Nissen to approve use of the church for the Spring Sale on May 5.
M/S/C by Raquel Linch, Dave Riley to approve a soup supper before the March 15 Lenten Service as a fundraiser for Summer Camp entrance fees. Supper will be served 5 pm to 6:30 pm
b. Committees were discussed. Terms end in June of each year. Coral needs current committee members and committee chairpersons for the church directory.
c. Sherri Nissen will make Usher/Greeter tags from transparencies to slip into our current name tags.

Committee Reports
Christian Ed: The LYO is hosting a Valentine Dinner on February 18 at 6 pm. Several kids want to go to summer camp this summer. Camp fees are $335 per person. Some discounts are available.
Finance: The committee is still discussing the Endowment Fund and Capital Investment Fund.

The next council meeting will be Thursday, March 9 at 6:30 pm. Sherri Nissen will lead devotions. Meeting adjourned. Closed with the Lord’s Prayer.

Respectfully submitted by Raquel Linch, Council Secretary

 

 

OUR RESPONSE TO GOD’S LOVE

Avg. February Attendance

114

February Offerings (Feb 1-Feb. 24)

Current & Loose $ 6,445.50

Replacement $ 80.00

World Hunger $ 130.00

Sunday School $ 93.40

FINANCIAL REPORT FOR FEBRUARY

Beginning Balance 2/1/06 $ 4584.93

Income

(current, loose,) $ 6445.50

Expenses $ 4813.22

Balance 2/28/06 $ 6217.21

Because God said, "Bring the whole tithe… Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." Malachi 3:10

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IN OUR PRAYERS

Sick & Shut-in:

Karmen Anderson Mattson, Top & Janice Peterson, Wanda Peterson, Greg Levine, Chuck & Mary Jo Foster, Marge Hanson, Dorothy Henry, Helen Schadde, Anna Swanson, Maxine Whan, Ella Groff, Liz McClain, and Gwen Skaggs, Diane Nielson (sister of Jerry Nissen) - We ask God to send His Holy Spirit to comfort and strengthen these individuals.

Our Country and its leaders and military – We ask God to lead our young men and women who are protecting our country and serving in the Middle East, and those who are helping in the areas affected by natural disasters. Guide those who are leading our country in a way that is pleasing to Him. Please keep the servicepersons and their families of our military in your prayers. We especially remember:

Chief MSgt. David Groff, Sr. Airman Travis Mathis, Sgt. Chass Ossian, Spec. Luke Kinkade, Col. Vic Wager III, Spec. Matt Tysdal, LCpl. James Paup, Pfc Matthew Cruse, Major David Cruse, M. Sgt. Mark Kinkade, Pvt. Aaron Cunningham, Spec. Luke Kinkade.

THANK YOU

I want to thank all of you who sent cards or called me to wish me a happy 94th birthday. Thanks to the Quilters who served birthday cake and ice cream at our lunch after a busy afternoon tying quilts.

Viola Johnson

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to your Sunday School class. I am thankful for such a large and attentive turnout. I am available to assist, if needed, in helping with a short term mission trip, if requested. Tom Young

Kid Squad kids and Confirmation students would like to thank everyone who has left us some snacks. Snacks are greatly appreciated! Attendance has been really great on Wednesday nights. Kid Squad averages 12 a week but could be as high as 16 if everyone attends! Confirmation class has 9. We continue to meet so continue to need snack donations. Items can be left in church kitchen marked "Kid Squad". Thank you!

 

In Sympathy

Our sympathy and prayers go out to Linda Huffman and family whose brother-in-law, Dale Laird passed away Feb. 20.

Address Changes

Ed & Frances Jungst have moved to Nevada, Iowa, and would like to hear from their Salem friends. Their new address is :  Please call the church office.

Mr. & Mrs. Ed Jungst

June Cole has moved to Perkins, Nebraska. Her niece wrote to say she enjoys getting mail and it should be sent to her niece at the following address:  Please call the church office

Ms. June Cole

Council has voted to sell the piano that is in the Jr. Choir area. Please see Elaine Neeley for details.

NEW SMILES, NEW FACES IN OUR NEW CHURCH PICTORIAL DIRECTORY!

Have you ever seen someone in church and wondered what their name is?

Have you ever been introduced to someone and forgotten their name by the following Sunday? This is a problem for some of us, but help is on the way! Our church will be publishing a new pictorial directory put together by Action Photo of Creston. The cost is just $5 per family. For that you will receive a full color directory and 8x10 photo. You will only make one trip to the church since you will be able to view your photos immediately. You will have the opportunity to select your pose for the directory and to purchase additional portraits, if desired. Photos will be taken April 6, 7 and 8 at the church. A sign up sheet will be in the narthex soon. If one of those dates don't work for your family you can also have your photo taken at Action Photo. If you would like to help in any way with the directory (filling time slots, checking families in, calling members) please contact Raquel Linch at 782-5482. We are looking forward to seeing your faces in our new directory!

 

God came and instructed the people to make their unleavened bread with fine grain and the finest of olive oil. He said that you are to season your bread with salt. (Leviticus 2:1)

All through the Lenten season, Donovan Richardson will be preparing real unleavened bread for communion and other Lenten services through Easter. (This is a 4-H Community Service project). He will be using a variety of unleavened bread recipes throughout this time period so that we may commune in a fashion similar to biblical times.

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Adult Ed

Adult Education in March will focus on the book of Job. That book was one of the first efforts to struggle with the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people in a world where God reigns?" In studying Job, we will try to determine where suffering fits into God’s plan for humanity.

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Alternatives for Simple Living in Sergeant Bluff has launched a new web site: SimpleLiving.org. Not familiar with this organization? Simple living is a "journey to find more meaning, more joy, more fun in life by getting out from under the burden of so much stuff, to remove the barrier of stuff that keeps us apart from other people, from God and even from ourselves." Check it out!

Lutheran Day on the Hill

Lutheran Services in Iowa is sponsoring a special day at the Capitol on March 21, 2006, and you are invited to attend! The Lutheran Day on the Hill will begin with a half day of advocacy training for the participants in the morning, followed by visits with legislators at the Capitol in the afternoon. The rotunda will have displays of the various services LSI provides. You will learn and discover, talk with your legislators and be a part of an important effort to advocate on behalf of services needed by Iowa’s children and families.

The day will begin a 9a.m. at Capitol Hill Lutheran Church, Des Moines & E. 5th St. The special day will conclude at 3 p.m. Come and learn about the importance of advocacy and how your voice can make a difference for people with special needs. Contact Pastor Jim Knudson 319-859-3531 for more information.

.Youth News/Christian Ed

Hello again to one and all. Wow! We had some great fun during February. First off, the Jr. and Sr. LYO would like to thank everyone who came to our Valentine’s Dinner and entertainment evening on February 18th. We served over 55 people. Thank you so much for your support. We had a great time. The food was great and the entertainment was spectacular!

Just a reminder that Sunday School meeting time has moved from 9:30 to 9:00 am. Hopefully, we can all get into this new routine. The youth sang at the February 19th worship service. They did a wonderful job of singing, "If I had a hammer". They had been disappointed that they could not sing all the verses at the Christmas program. Since February was Mission month, this was a great opportunity to sing it again in full. The youth will not sing during the month of March, since various people will be out of town for spring break at the end of the month. However, we are scheduled to sing on April 2nd. Please mark your calendars.

February 15th was the deadline for early registration to Bible Camp at Riverside Lutheran. We are happy to announce that we have nine campers who have signed up! Since we have such a large number of campers, we will be continuing to raise funds. One such time will be on Wednesday, March 15th. They will be serving a soup supper. They will be serving chili, chicken and noodles, and potato soup from 5-6:30 pm. We invite each of you to come and join us for supper and then attend the Lenten service at 7:15 pm.

We received a letter from Eddy, our mission child. He was very pleased to receive his Christmas gift, which allowed him to purchase a pair of tennis shoes in addition to his needed items for school. He wanted to let us know that he continues to pray for us and truly appreciates our support. The High School youth will be writing a letter to Eddy during the month of March.

Looking ahead, the confirmation class will be participating in the Relay for Life, which is scheduled for June 9-10 at the Panther Field. This will be another of their service projects. We welcome anyone else who should like to participate with us. Please watch for more details in upcoming newsletters.

 

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WOMEN OF THE ELCA

March 2006

Miriam Circle: Thursday, March 2 @ 5:30 PM Rebekah Circle: Thursday, March 9 @ 1:15 PM Hostess: Bev Butler Hostess: Breta Kinkade, in Fellowship Hall

Lesson Leader: Linda Huffman Lesson Leader: Barbara Bjorn

Bible Study: Act Boldly in the Fruit of the Spirit Session 7: Act Boldly with Faithfulness Galatians 5:22-23

Rebekah Circle is in charge of shut-ins and kitchen for March.

The 2006 Spring Cluster 13 Meeting will be at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Fontanelle on Saturday, April 22, @ 9:00 am. Salem ladies will be responsible for the morning coffee and rolls.

When you start your spring cleaning, remember that the Annual spring Sale at Salem will be Friday, May 5th. You may bring marked items to church beginning May 1st.

The Women’s Tri-Synodical Gathering will be June 23-24, 2006 at Wartburg College in Waverly, IA. This is a special gathering of all three synods in IA. If you would like to attend, contact Carolyn or Joyce.

The quilters will continue to meet very Tuesday through the month of May.

Carolyn Tim Biere, Co-chair of Women of the ELCA

 

March 2006

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

1 Marilyn Engelson

3 Ryan Cook

4 Sandy Gross

6 Lori Paup

9 David Abildtrup

10 Ray Courtney

12 Steven Shaffer

13 Carole Fox

14 Linda Mahn

15 James Paup

16 Suzie Stofferahn

19 Gail Peterson

20 Zach Henry

20 Janet Nesbit

21 Jerry Nissen

21 Donovan Richardson

23 Peggy Cass

25 Nick Henry

29 Roland Peterson

29 Eleanor Toycen

 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY !

25 M/M Mike Linch

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MARCH RESPONSIBILITES

Communion ass’t,:

3-5 - Helen Mosman

3-19 – Helen Mosman

Worship Ass’t:

3-5 – MaryJo Schroeder

3-19 – MaryJo Schroeder

Greeters:

3-5 – Pat Grumley, Lynn Schlaht; 3-12 – Judy Pringle, Linda Hultquist; 3-19 – Barb Abildtrup, Helen Mosman; 3-28 – Judy Pringle, Pat Grumley

Reader:

3-5 – Lynn Schlaht; 3-12 – Lynn Schlaht;

3-19 – Mike Miller; 3-28 – Mike Miller

Ushers: 3-5 – Don Mosman, Johns Schlaht, Paul Grumley, Troy Schroeder;

3-12 –Don Mosman, John Schlaht, Troy Schroeder

3-19 – Don Mosman, Lanny Herzberg, Dave Abildtrup, Mike Miller; 3-26 –Don Mosman, Lanny Herzberg, Paul Grumley, Mike Miller

Counters: Helen Mosman

Altar Guild: Barb Bjorn, Jane Youngdahl

Coffee/Cookies: 3-5 – Donna Schroeder, Helen Mosman; 3-12 – Donna Schroeder, Linda Hultquist; 3-19 –Donna Cunningham, Emily Miller.;

3-26 – Donna Cunningham, Emily Miller

Nursery: 3-5 –Judy Pringle; 3-12 –Helen Mosman; 3-19 –Donna Cunningham; 3-26 –Donna Cunningham

Flowers, Shut-ins, Kitchen:

Rebekah Circle

Wednesday (7:15 pm) Lenten Service Ushers: 3-1 –Don Mosman & John Schlaht; 3-8 –M/M L Herzberg; 3-15 –M/M T Schroeder; 3-22 – M/M P Grumley or M/M D Mosman; 3-29 - M/M P Grumley or M/M D Mosman