In s i d e t h i s i s su e :

Pastor Sarah 1

Pastor Ashley 2

Congregational Life 3

Summer Wednesday

Worship Schedule

4

Kira Anderson 5

Book Club 7

SOC Fundraiser 8

Volunteers 10

Café Midweek 12

2016

But regardless of the model, catch phrase or strategy, our processes will always remain “different” be-cause we are the church. And as such, we will never lose our identity as a community blessed by the grace of God, justified by the life of Christ Je-sus and led by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

A Word from Pr. Sarah

Do you know that your Pastors and Staff members regularly pray for you? Each Tuesday when we gather for our weekly staff meet-ing, we raise up members by name, naming their needs before God before we enter conversation on the “work” of the week.

It is a blessing to lead within an organization where prayer has a place, where scripture is central to all that we do and where rela-tionships exist for more than just a utilitarian purpose.

In the church, even our most “business- like” meetings begin in prayer, center around the call of God and end in the affirmation of God’s actions among us.

As a Council and as Tables, we have been delving into some of the “business” of the church over the past months. Our Gather Table is reviewing plans for education and wor-ship during the 2016-2017 school year. Our Spring Table is leading an initiative to en-gage congregation members in conversation. The Root Table (alongside the Council) is beginning to look at financial priorities for 2016-2018.

As we continue to stabilize and strengthen, our Staff is also growing into the new roles we initiated in the staffing plan developed last fall.

In the midst of this work, I continue to ask one question: “What makes any of these pro-cesses different from those in any other organization in the community?” After all, every-one from local businesses to non-profits needs to craft budgets, set priorities and assure that their calendar for the next year is in proper order.

The answer I continue to revisit is this: The presence of God makes this work different. Prayer makes this different. Attentiveness to our Spiritual faithfulness makes this differ-ent. God’s willingness to partner with us day after day makes this different. Our common beliefs and actions make this different.

Whether you are a congregation member, a staff member or a part of the leadership team of Our Savior’s, you will hear me use a variety of language designed to invite you into ex-ploring, planning and visioning for the future of our life together.

But regardless of the model, catch phrase or strategy, our processes will always remain “different” because we are the church. And as such, we will never lose our identity as a community blessed by the grace of God, justified by the life of Christ Jesus and led by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

It is true joy to join with you in this common work. May God’s face con-tinue to shine upon us in graciousness as we move forward in the trust of God.

In Christ,

Pr. Sarah

A Word from Pr. Ashley

During summer Worship services at Our Savior’s we will be reading selections from a set of books in Scripture called “Wisdom Literature”. Wisdom Literature is a valuable part of the Bible but a part of Scripture that is not always familiar to us.

What is Wisdom Literature?

The books that make up Wisdom Literature contain stories and insights gained from everyday life that are shared as a way to convey the notion that moral virtues lead to success or a deeper faith. Wisdom Literature is very practical and uses components of daily life.

When I think of an example of wisdom literature I think of the story of the ‘Little Red Hen’. Perhaps you are familiar with this story of a little red hen asking help from her friends in planting a piece of grain, cutting the grain, taking the grain to the mill, and baking the grain. The lazy dog, the sleepy cat, and the noisy duck all refuse to help this little red hen until she asks for volunteers to enjoy the delicious end result. At this time when all of her friends enthusiastically say yes, she tells them that they cannot enjoy the delicious bread be-cause they did not help make the bread.

Of course, this is not a scriptural story, but it is an example of a piece of wisdom literature. The story of the ‘Little Red Hen’ teaches a lesson and has everyday components on what it means to live a moral life. Wisdom literature is practical, oriented toward action, and enables one to wise decisions for everyday life.

What books of the Bible make up “Wisdom Literature”?

The word ‘wisdom’ occurs 318 times in the Old Testament and over half of those times are in the books of Proverbs, Jobs, and Ecclesiastes. These are the book s of the Bible that are considered to be Wisdom Litera-ture. Parts of the Psalms are also categorized as Wisdom Literature. The best example of this would be Psalm 1; this psalm conveys a certain direct message and this message comes from observations and experiences.

Why are we reading Wisdom Literature?

Wisdom Literature is about every day life; naming daily realities and questions.

The authors of the book of Proverbs tuned into every day life and draw wisdom on how to get through daily living; how to make sense of the world, make sense of God, and make sense of one another.

Job is a book of the Bible filled with great wisdom and also great questions of evil, suffering, and ultimately, why do bad things happen to good people?

Ecclesiastes is a book about despair and questioning the meaning of life.

All of these pieces of Wisdom Literature bring to mind questions that we continue to ask of God and our-selves. As a church, we want to be a place where we can speak honestly about daily life and learn from the wisdom of Scripture and the wisdom of our community of faith.

Let us journey together this summer and continue to discover the wisdom of God for our daily life.

Pr. Ashley Osborn

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C o n g r e g a t i o n a l L i f e

Our Sympathy to:

Tom Ingram

Tara, Troy and Alex Dunn

Mary and Mark Zentner

In the death of their wife, mother,

grandmother and sister-in-law,

Vicki Ingram.

Jereme, CeCe, Evie and Ella Wood

Natalie, Kert, Mitchell and Hunter Nelson

In the death of Jereme and Natalie’s father,

Dale Wood.

Craig and Linda Aman family

In the death of Craig’s cousin,

Carol Kringstad.

Roger and Judy Storey

In the death of Roger’s brother,

Bruce Storey.

The family and friends of

Delores Sam.

May the promise of the resurrection into eternal life give you much hope and comfort in this time of loss.

April 10

Zoey Grace Jilek

Daughter of

Amanda and Jon Jilek.

April 24

Josie Mae VonRuden

Daughter of Kacy and Adam VonRuden.

Welcome to the family!

F a c t s a n d F i g u r e s f o r

M a r c h 2 0 1 6 3 Y e a r C o m p a r i s o n M a r c h O f f e r i n g 2 0 1 6 $ 6 2 , 6 8 1 2 0 1 5 $ 6 2 , 4 2 4 2 0 1 4 $ 6 0 , 8 0 9 M a r c h E x p e n s e 2 0 1 6 $ 5 4 , 1 9 8 2 0 1 5 $ 5 5 , 8 3 6 2 0 1 4 $ 5 5 , 5 5 2

Y e a r t o D a t e 3 Y e a r N e t C o m p a r i s o n

2 0 1 6 $ 2 0 , 8 5 9 2 0 1 5 $ 1 9 , 5 3 4 2 0 1 4 $ 1 8 , 5 8 3 T h a n k y o u f o r y o u r f a i t h f u l g i v i n g a n d f o r b e i n g w i l l i n g t o w o r k t o w a r d s f u l l f i n a n c i a l h e a l t h a t O u r S a v i o r ’ s !

Update on handicap accessibility:

The project was completed on April 5. On Sunday, April 10th a special blessing of the doors was held at 9:00am.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this very important project.

Mother’s Day Re-membrance

Mother’s Day can be a day of thanksgiving for many women. However, to some, it is a day that reminds us

of our loss or a piece of our lives that we never got to have.

Mother’s Day can be a painful day for those strug-gling to conceive, those who have experienced mis-carriage or the death of a child, those who are in a difficult relationship as a mother, or for those who have lost their mother. Pr. Ashley and Kira would like to invite all women, no matter what the situa-tion, to join us in a time of prayer, reflection, and remembrance as we gather as a community to sup-port one another. We will gather on Sunday, May 8th from 8:30-9:00 am in the Chapel. We look forward to joining together in support for one another on this Mother’s Day.

To Our Savior’s Lutheran Church,

A special thank you to all of our wonderful Christian friends at Our Savior’s for the love, prayers and concern shown to us in the death of our son Paul. We are

overwhelmed with your love. Many of you don’t know that Paul was a Pastor with ordination ser-vices taking place at Our Savior’s. He served at Trinity Lutheran churches in Cass Lake and Brain-erd, Minnesota. However due to health issues he was placed on disability and unable to carry out his beloved calling.

He went through many trials and tribulations, but kept following the Lord’s footsteps and served the Lord working at Magnum Trucking, recruiting and training. His greatest joy was in treating drivers with respect, thus retaining drivers while he taught and stressed safety to make the roads safe for all of us. He often said that, “you don’t have to stand in a pulpit to serve the Lord.”

Love in Christ,

Don and Carol Ellens

(former Members of Our Savior’s Lutheran)

Summer Wednesday

Worship Schedule

May 25

June 22

July 27

August 24 Our Savior's first Wednesday night summer worship service will be held on Wednesday, May 25th at 6:15 pm. We will be anticipating Memorial Day at this ser-vice and would like to invite all Veterans in the congre-gation to attend as special guests. If you have a family member who is currently serving in the armed forces you are also on the “guest list”. This is a time set aside for all to gather for prayers of thanksgiving, words of remembrance and songs of our Country. A “Card Sta-tion” will also be available before and after the service for congregation members to write notes of encourage-ment to those currently on our prayer list who are ser-vice men and women. There will be a time of fellowship following the worship service. Please contact Georganne at 331-2276 or geo@oursaviorsfbo.org. if you would like to help with this fellowship event. We look forward to seeing you on May 25th!

May Lamplighter’s Meeting

May 3, 2016

1:00pm

In the All Purpose Room.

CeCe Wood,

Coordinator of Children’s Ministry

Will be the guest speaker.

D i r e c t o r o f F a i t h F o r m a t i o n

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As this year comes to an end I wanted to make sure we thanked our WONDER-FUL volunteers that help with the Programming! We truly could not run the youth programming each week without their help. They come each week ready to teach a lesson to all of our youth about God’s great love! Please thank them for their service if you see them!

Wednesday School: Jill Newport, Ashley Andersen, Derek Bokelmann, Ra-chel Yetzer, Alyssa Grinde, Sam Pierce, Emily Stadler, Anna Nietz, Jane Whitney, Lisa Meier, Abby Stroup, Erin Grinde, Amy Stroup

Confirmation: Amanda Kolling, Emilee Kasper, Hannah Bokelmann, Julie Bongers, Kaylin Vinar, Laura Burkartzmeyer, Tracy Hunt, Marnie Roiger, Morgan Hanegraaf, Nathan Sorensen, Scott Klecker, Tammy Ross, Declan Bongers, Tim Becker

Sunday School: Courtney Cowan, Mary Tatge, Betsey Gerhke, MaKenzie Gerhke, Patty Kolling, Jessica Williams, Megan Tackman, Megan Hedenstrom, Katelyn Jensen, Emilee Kasper, Morgan Hanegraaf, Hannah Bokelman, Karen Huberty, Megan Gerhke, Krista Cox, Gretchen Sterling, Linda Mueller, Wayne Mueller

Last Day of Sunday School is Sunday, May 8th

This will be your last Sunday in your small group class rooms. We are excited to invite the Sunday School children to join the Our Savior’s Singers by singing in worship on Sunday, May 8th. The kids will be singing the chorus to a beautiful song, “The First Song of Isaiah.” We hope all the kids and their families will join us for a sending into summer by making beautiful music in worship.

Last Day of Wednesday School & Confirmation is Wednesday, May 4th

*******REGISTRATION*******

Registration for the 2016-2017 school year has begun, the Road Map and all Summer Registration forms are available outside the Fire Works room. A re-minder that the Road Map lists all of your Stepping Stone dates for next year!! So mark your calendars early!!!

SUMMER DATES TO

WRITE DOWN

Confirmation Camp

June 5—10 6th—8th graders

Day Camp “OTR”

June 12-16 For students who have

completed K-5th grade.

This summer OTR will be

hosted by First English.

VBS

June 20-24 For children 3 years old

through completed

Kindergarten.

Middle School

Mission Trip

July 8-10

High School

Mission Trip

July 30—August 6

VBS – Expedition Norway

This year we are excited to involve our whole congregation in “EXPEDITION NORWAY” !! The kids will spend time learning about how God is so good! Registration forms are available on a table outside the Fire Works room.

Monday through Thursday the kids will hear stories about how Daniel was taken to Babylon, how he faced a den of lions, how Jesus died and came back to life and how he made a beachside breakfast for his friends. They will be spending time learning songs and playing activities and games.

VBS- Faith Formation Event

On Friday, June 24th from 9:00-10:30am we are inviting members of our congregation to help make authentic Norwe-gian food to share with the students and their families. We are asking members of the congregation if you would be willing to teach our VBS students how to make the authentic food for the hour and a half and let them share in the activity of making the food! If you are interested in helping at this event, please let Kira know!

We will end the VBS week with a program at 10:30am. All of the families that attended the Faith Formation event are invited to see the kids from our VBS week perform a short program! They will show you what they learned during the week and sing some of the songs!

As always with VBS, I love to decorate to help create a true feeling of the scene the kids are in! If you have any Nor-wegian decorations or items you would like to donate for the week, please let Kira know! All items will be returned after VBS!

Snack and Supply list for VBS

Day 1—Monday, June 20 Day 2—Tuesday, June 21

(6) 4oz. blocks of mild cheddar cheese 1 1/2 lbs. of fully cooked diced ham

(2) loaves of white bread (2) 48 oz. containers of beef broth

(1) 12.5 oz. container of sour cream (2) 16 oz. bags of stew blend frozen vegetables

(1) 12.5 oz. container of cottage cheese (1) 32 oz. bag of cubed frozen hash brown potatoes

(1) 12.5 oz. container of fruit flavored yogurt Flatbread—enough for 45 children

Day 3—Wednesday, June 22 Day 4—Thursday, June 23

(90)Ginger Snap Cookies (45) plain frozen waffles

(2) Bottles of Molasses (4) containers fresh blueberries

(40) ginger roots (4) containers fresh blackberries

(70) cinnamon sticks (2) 12.5 oz. containers of sour cream

(35) nutmeg kernels

(90) whole cloves

(1) 5lb bag of flour

Supplies 100 plastic spoons 50 plastic forks 50 plastic knives

45 clothespins 100ft. Fish line or yarn 200 paper dessert plates

300 plastic cups (3oz.) 200 ziplock sandwich bags 150 craft sticks

500 napkins 50 disposable bowls 6 rolls paper towels

200 platter size plates 45 hand warmers Norwegian style cheese slicer plastic condiment bottles

You may drop your donations off in the church kitchen before June 15th. Thank you so much!

P a g e 7

On the Road aka Day Camp 2016 – Good Earth Village

June 12th (Sunday Evening Worship and Registration)

June 13th – 16th 9:00am-4:00pm (Kindergarten through completed 5th Grade)

On the Road G.E.V.

The registration is already on line at the Good Earth Village website. Check it out at;

http://www.goodearthvillage.org/summer-camp/on-line-registration/

We are excited to share in the hosting of Day Camp and the camp will be hosted by First English this year! They will provided all of the housing for the counselors this year. You may register your child directly on line through Good Earth Village. On Sunday night of registration we are asking each camper to pay an additional $10 per child payable to First English to cover the cost of the child’s lunch for the week.

OTR - Day Camp Request: We are blessed to partner with First English again this year for Day Camp. They have provided the housing for all 10 counselors along with the space for the kids to be. We would like to show our families that although their kids are at First English for the week, we are still present with them. We are looking for someone to sponsor the Supper for the counselors on Tuesday, June 14th. This would require the OSLC group to bring the whole dinner (plates, napkins, silverware, food, drink, dessert) for 10 hungry counselors to First English by 5pm on Tuesday, June 14th.

If your Bible Study group, music group, or family would like to cover this meal please let Kira know!

Graduation Recognition, Sunday, June 5th at 9:30 am

On Sunday, June 5th during worship we will be recognizing the 2016 High School Gradu-ates. We would like to show a slide presentation of the graduates during this recognition. If you have a son or daughter who is part the Class of

2016 please bring in or email (geo@oursaviorsfbo.org) your child’s picture to the church office by May 15th. Please include your child’s future plans with their picture. Thank you!

Attention Our Savior’s Book Readers: Our Saviors Book Club: Come join our discussion of Fredrick Backman’s book A Man Called Ove on May 16th at 7:30 pm in the Library. Everyone is welcome whether you read the whole book or not.

About the book: Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch princi-

ples, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him “the bitter neighbor from hell.” But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.

A feel-good story in the spirit of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, Fredrik Backman’s novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others. “If there was an award for ‘Most Charming Book of the Year,’ this first novel by a Swe-dish blogger-turned-overnight-sensation would win hands down” (Booklist, starred review).

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May Volunteers

Ushers

Team 6 Cindy Schuenke © Rick Bartness ©

Stewart Schuenke Dave Henry

Sheila Roehrick Cheri Sterling

George & Shirley Galvin Jan & Shirley Luikens

Duane & Janice Reichl Lori Tuff

Welcome Center Greeters

May 1 Julie Bongers & Kids

May 8 Bob Hetzler

May 15 Lyle & Ruth Olson

May 22 Andy & Viv Anderson

May 29 Jena & Brad Lombard

Attention Welcome Center Greeters: We would like to place the greeters in the new narthex be-

hind or by the Welcome Counter. This will give the greeters a central place for new people to find

them for information and to welcome them to Our Savior’s as they enter the church building. Please be

at the Welcome Counter 15 min. before service and right after service for about 15 min. Thank you.

Communion

May 1 & 15

May 1 May 15

Comm. Prep Beth Moore Dave & Shari Augustin

Servers Beth Moore Ellen Bisping

Becki Bender Barb Karli

Todd Markman Cindy Schuenke

Keith & Karen Larson Cheri Sterling

Dave Borka Dan & Karen Rasmussen

Readers

May 1 Lisa Quimby

May 8 John Mattson

May 15 Edie Mattson

May 22 Troy Dunn

May 29 Rick Bartness

Sound & Tech Team

Sound / Media Shout & Lights

May 1 Mark Zentner / Ken Butzow

May 8 Chris Trebelhorn / Gabe Trebelhorn

May 15 Roger Meyer / Dick Lawson

May 22 Mark Zentner / Ken Butzow

May 29 Volunteers needed

V i s i t u s o n t h e w e b !

w w w. o u r s a v i o r s f b o . o r g

O u r S a v i o r ’ s L u t h e r a n C h u r c h 1207 Prairie Ave South

Faribault, MN 55021

Nonprofit Or.

Bulk Rate

U.S. Postage Paid

Faribault, MN 55021

Permit No. 81

Change Service Requested

Serving is from

5:00-6:00pm

Café Midweek

Cost is $3.00

per person

with a family

maximum of $15.00.

Come enjoy great food

and fellowship with your

Our Savior’s family!

C a f é M i d w e e k M a y M e n u

May 4

Pizza

This will be the last night of Café Midweek

For the 2015-2016 school year!

Thank you to everyone who enjoys

Food and fellowship with us on

Wednesday evening!

We will see you on September 7th

When we reopen for another school year!