december 2017 greetings from devlyn brooks · both shelley and i grew up and graduated in...
TRANSCRIPT
Greetings from Devlyn Brooks
Volume 20, Issue 11 December 2017
Faith Lutheran
Church
PO Box 175
Wolverton, MN 56594
(218) 995-2556
www.faithwolverton.org
Devlyn Brooks, Interim SAM
(701) 412-8733
It is the mission of Faith Lu-
theran Church:
To gather prayerfully as
the Body of Christ;
To grow in faith, love, and
service;
To go into the world
joyfully as disciples.
Sunday School &
Confirmation
9:00 a.m.
Sunday Worship
10:00 a.m.
Holy Communion on the first
and third Sunday of the
month.
Coffee Fellowship
11:00 a.m.
December Food Pantry
Item:
Holiday
Foods
Hello Faith Lutheran Church!
My name is Devlyn Brooks, and my family and I are honored to be on this journey
with everyone at Faith Lutheran! ... And I also am honored to be your synodically au-
thorized minister!
I have been grateful to get to meet the many folks here that I have so far, but I know
there are a great number more whom I have not yet met. And so I look forward to it.
Meanwhile, I'd to share a little bit about our family. First, we live in Moorhead, but
both Shelley and I grew up and graduated in northwestern Minnesota, me in Fertile,
and Shelley in Ada.
Shelley, in addition to running
our house likely a fine-tuned
instrument, works as a
paraprofessional at Horizon
Middle School in Moorhead.
Our oldest son, Garrett, is a
sophomore at Augustana Uni-
versity in Sioux Falls, S.D. He is
majoring in nursing.
Our next oldest, Carter, is a
freshman student at Moorhead
High School and is busy in sports year round. He currently is gearing up to play bas-
ketball this winter.
Next comes Ava, a seventh-grader at Horizon Middle School in Moorhead. She is a
swimmer and is busy with her competitive season, and she plays violin in the orches-
tra.
And finally, there is our little Siri, a fourth-grader at Ellen Hopkins Elementary in
Moorhead. She is our artist, enjoying music, style and theater.
We also have our trusty pets, our beloved Cody, who is a husky, and three cats, Gin-
ger, Sky and Grace.
We stay busy, of course, chasing after the kids, but occasionally when we get a free
moment, Shelley and I like to chase around looking for good used records!
Thank you all for the first wonderful month here at Faith Lutheran. And I can tell you
even after this short bit, that you have something special here at FLC. You all are so
very supportive and tightknit, and I can attest to the fact that not all congregations are.
In addition, your council is truly remarkable. They are engaged and active and are ex-
cellent servant leaders! ... Also, your worship and music committee
is more active than other churches even much bigger in size. And
you have a group of youth who are simply very great people. They
are going to make fine adults! ... You have much to be proud of
here! You have a strong congregation, a beautiful church and caring
(Continued on page 2)
The December newsletter is given in memory of
Orlyn Kragerud
by Jackie Kragerud.
Carter, Devlyn’s Mom, Devlyn, Siri, Shelly, and Ava
Faith Share and Care
Death: Prayers to the family of Marion Israelson whose
funeral was November 17 at Faith.
Death: Prayers to the family of Paul Aigner whose funeral
was November 25 at Faith.
Baptism: We celebrated the baptism of Brayden Wayne
Retzlaff, son of Alisha Freitag and Dylan Retzlaff, on
November 19.
Congregation Chooses Nelson Pipe Organ
A Congregational Meeting was held after worship on November
12. The congregation voted to replace the organ with a pipe or-
gan built by Nelson Organ. The congregation can donate to the
organ fund if they wish to contribute to the purchase. All other
funds will be taken from the Bertha Otteson bequeath. The cost
of the organ was bid at $98,000 and with a 15% contingency
added the cost is budgeted to be $112,700.
We are blessed with the opportunity to have Bertha’s gift and
Mike’s generous in-kind donations make it possible to have a
pipe organ installed in our sanctuary.
May God bless Mike as he creates an instrument for Faith Lu-
theran. Thank you to the Music and Worship Committee for their
work researching organ options for Faith.
leaders! That is a terrific recipe for a vi-
brant faith community!
I will continue to get involved in as
many activities as possible, and I look
forward to getting to meet many more of
you during the Christmas season! A
church never seems as beautiful as it
does during the advent season!
Starting this month, in addition to ser-
vices and other events, I will be schedul-
ing some time to spend at the church,
open for conversation or other visits. I
will be posting those times in advance on
our Facebook page, and communicating
them as widely as possible.
Additionally, you can reach me at my
email address [email protected]
or you can call me at 701.412.8733.
Thank you all for allowing me to be a
part of your community. I am honored to
be on this journey with you, and I look
forward to meeting many more of you
soon!
God's peace to you!
Devlyn
(Continued from page 1)
Greetings from the President
Hello Everybody and Greetings From the Wolverton Community Church,
OK, OK, I know that we are Faith Lutheran Church but sometimes when I think about everything that happens
and how we function around here, I suggest that Wolverton Community Church accurately describes who we
are and what we do.
Several years ago when we were considering how to best make our church accessible, we recognized that there
were fewer and fewer places in Wolverton for community gatherings. So we agreed that in addition to
accessibility, community usability would be a priority of our improvement project. I would say that we were
wildly successful on both counts. Some of the community activities that we have hosted in recent years include:
Rescue Squad bingo and brats, gun training, American Legion meetings, coffee ladies, local fund raisers, scrap
booking, exercise group, Christmas cantata, and a youth sleep over.
We also hosted three funerals in the past three months at Faith Lutheran Church: Myrtle Nord, Marion
Israelson, and Paul Aigner. Each of the departed were wonderful community members and led unique lives.
While these deaths engendered times of emotion, grief, and sorrow for their friends and family, they also
offered a time for reflection, thanksgiving, and joy. This was evident at all of the funerals, but it seems that the
Holy Spirit was particularly active and inspired many from our broader community to attend Paul’s funeral.
The funeral celebration transcended our congregation to the degree that it felt more like a community event –
truly a community celebration of life! And what better place to have our community celebrations than right here
at Faith Lutheran Church, or should I say, the Wolverton Community Church.
God’s blessings and thank you all for everything that you do.
RC Stein
December Birthdays
2 Ken Hodnefield 2 Frank Israelson 2 Duane Nelson 3 Dennis Getz 10 Terry Flemming 11 Sheri Buchholz 15 Ryan Nord 17 Leslie Johnson 19 Barry Ness 19 Jack Rohan 19 Katie Tuel 22 Garrett Nelson 25 Cindy Nord 26 Stephanie Beyer 26 Lowell Picotte 27 Michael Mastin 28 LaDawn Turner 30 Kathy Church
Jane Buchholz—Sheyenne Crossing Long Term Care West
Fargo, ND
Doris Dibley—at home Wolverton
Barney Edwards—Eventide, Moorhead, MN
Louie Gruenberg—River Pointe Moorhead, MN
Rose Hanson—Bethany Grace Pointe Fargo
Elaine Johnson—River Pointe Moorhead, MN
Linda Lucke—at home
Arlene Nelson—Eventide Senior Living Moorhead, MN
Keith Nelson—at home in Wolverton, MN
Please keep these people who are under medical care in your pray-ers. Let Devlyn Brooks know if you would like your name or that of a loved one added to this list.
Operation Christmas
Child—Thank you to all the
kids who packed a shoebox
size container with Christmas
presents for kids across the
globe. Sixteen boxes were
sent out to kids across the
globe! Thank you to Faith
Women for paying for the
shipping and boxes.
Merry Christmas to all of you from Faith’s
LYO! First, we would like to thank everyone that participated
in Bingo and Brats and our annual pie auction. Bingo
was so much fun we are planning another one soon! Stay
tuned for more information.
We would like to invite all of you to join us for brunch
following the Sunday School Christmas Program on De-
cember 17th. The youth look forward to these events and
enjoy serving the congregation, family and friends.
LYO Upcoming Events:
December 3: LYO meeting following the church service
December 3: National Youth Gathering Meeting, 7:00
p.m. at Faith Lutheran Church
December 17: Brunch following the Sunday School
Christmas Program
Christmas Program
Come here the Christmas Story told by our
Youth. Join angel agent Double O-Heaven and
a host of helpers in this delightful telling of
the Christmas story. Discover what happens when several
spies try to claim the newborn, Jesus for their own
countries. Double O-Heaven and his angel agents must
show them that Jesus is for everyone.
LYO will serve a Christmas brunch after the program.
So much happening in November! What will December bring???
LY
O B
ingo an
d B
rats
Doves of Peace sing during WELCA
Sunday
So much happening in November! What will December bring???
Devlyn introduced
Faith Women’s Annual
Auction
Old
est Faith
Mem
ber L
ouie
Gru
enberg
(96) h
old
ing o
ur
yo
un
gest B
rayden
Retzlaff (3
Month
s)
Don Nelson and Barney Edwards honored as members of
the American Legion for 75 continuous years.
Faith Women – Be Bold!
Highlights & Happenings:
Christmas Party—Sunday, December 3 after worship. All are welcome!
Book Club—Tuesday, December 12 at 9:00am (Chapters 7-12 of 50 Women Every Christian Should
Know)
Church Auction: Thank you to everyone who helped with and attended the Church Auction. Even though
the turn out was down this year with just 39 numbers assigned, we made $3,394. Faith women gave
Linda & Jim Lucke and Heidi & Jeff Rasmussen each $850. The remaining proceeds will support the
many organizations that Faith Women support such as Someplace Safe, Lutheran Campus Ministry,
Hospice as well as the quilting ministry. The quilt raffle made $500 for Lutheran Disaster Hurricane
Relief. Thanks again to all of you who contributed your time, talents and money to help out our Faith
family and community. We are very blessed!
Quilting will resume again in January 2018.
Save the Date—
Someplace Safe Purple Power Fundraiser—February 22 5:30pm at City
Brew Hall in Wahpeton $30/ticket
The Little Black Dress Fundraiser—March 9 10:30am-1:00 pm at Holiday
Inn in Fargo $50/ticket
Faith Women Christmas Party At Faith Lutheran Church Fellowship Room
Sunday, December 3
Following worship All women of Faith Lutheran are invited.
Please join us for food, fund and fellowship!
Faith Women Minutes
November 5, 2017
President Maryann Olthoff
called the meeting to order.
We recited the statement of
purpose.
There was no secretary’s
report. Cindy Nord gave
the treasurer’s report with a
balance of $5,283.33. A
motion was made by Lois
Picotte to accept the report.
It was seconded and car-
ried.
Old Business: Our up-
coming November 8 40th
annual auction was dis-
cussed.
A motion was made by
Cindy Nord to pay for
shipping of the Operation
Christmas Child boxes that
the Sunday School had
assembled. It was second-
ed and carried.
New Business: Another
hostess was needed for the
December 3 Christmas
meeting. Diane Nord vol-
unteered.
We had discussion on up-
coming events: MS Little
Black Dress, ideas for at-
tending other fund raisers,
Mother Daughter Other
brunch, book club.
There being no further
business, President Olthoff
adjourned the meeting.
Diane Nord, Secretary
NOTICE OF FLC Annual Meeting When: December 10 after worship
What: Distribution of Annual Reports, Summary of our year, election of council members, and approve a 2018 budget All members of Faith Lutheran Church are encouraged to attend. NOTICE OF Faith Lutheran Cemetery Annual Meeting
Saturday, December 9 at 10:00 am in fellowship room
Poinsettias Thank you to those who purchased poinsettias in memory or in honor of someone. They may be taken home after our Christmas Eve Service.
Ross and Christina Aigner (2) In honor of Doris Dibley and Marvin & Ann Peterson
Loren and Maurine Blilie (2) In memory of Sharon Blilie and Steve Blilie
Randy & Jann Emerson and In memory of Curtis & Winnie Emerson and Jeff Weik
LuAnn Weik (2)
Greg and Pat Freitag Family(2) In memory of deceased loved ones
Dennis and Jane Getz Family (4) In memory of Monte Getz, Burnell Schulz, Oswald & Marilyn Getz
In honor of Lyla Schulz
Judy Getz Family (3) In memory of Robert Getz, Ann & Leonard Getz, Russell & Clarina Hegge
Louie Gruenberg In memory of Betty Gruenberg
Rose Hanson Family In memory of Gerald Hanson
Jackie Kragerud In memory of Orlyn Kragerud
Jim and Linda Lucke In memory of Lester & Lucille Lucke, LeRoy & Marjean Miller, and Scott Miller
Lois Picotte (3) In honor of God’s greatest gift—Jesus!
FAITH LUTHERAN CHURCH COUNCIL
Meeting Minutes
November 1, 2017
Members Present: LaDawn Turner, Mark Miller, Debi
Byars, Chad Erickson, Ross Aigner, Scott Smith, Mike Aign-
er and Dave Matz
Others Present: Devlyn Brooks, Jill Steichen, Lisa Miller
Devotions – Dave Matz
Devotions for December 6: Debi Byars
Communion Assistant for November 5th: Lisa Miller
Communion Assistant for November 19th: LaDawn Turner
Communion Assistant for November 22: Debi Byars
Offering Counter: All of Council
Food Pantry Item for November: Holiday Foods
Secretary’s Report: Approved with no changes
Treasurer’s Report: Approved with no changes
Committee Reports:
Education- Chad Erickson- Shoe Box for Sunday school –
operation Christmas Child
Property and Maintenance- the sound system needs some
attention—the church will be locked from now on—see Lisa
if you want a key. Dave will get more made
Music and Worship Debi Byars -will be meeting Tuesday
Nov 7th in the evening. Christmas Eve. Service only
Youth- Mike Aigner –Nov. 5th regular meeting—Nov. 17th
Bingo and Brats fundraised—Nov. 19th Pie Auction
Faith Women and Decorating- LaDawn Turner— Church
Auction November 8th. Nov. 5th Faith Women doing the ser-
vice. Doves of Peace doing music.
Old Business:
Congregational Meeting – Nov. 12th to vote on Organ Re-
placement and Constitutional Amendment. There will be 3
ballots. 1-vote yes or no to replace the organ. 2- Nelson or
Rogers organ. 3- payment
Proposed 2018 Budget - motion to accept the proposed
budget for 2018 2nd and passed.
New Business:
Interim Documents: Motion to approve the Interim Docu-
ments – Attachment #4 - 2nd and passed
Adjourn -
The Lord’s Prayer
Submitted by Debi Byars
De
ce
mb
er
20
17
S
un
M
on
Tu
e
We
d
Th
u
Fri
S
at
Fa
ith
Lu
ther
an
Ch
urc
h
PO
Box 1
75
Wolv
erto
n,
MN
56
59
4
1
2
3
9:0
0 a
m S
S,
Confirm
atio
n
10
:00
am
Wo
rship
w/ co
mm
unio
n-
Devly
n B
rooks
11
:00
am
Fe
llow
sh
ip,
Fa
ith
Wo
me
n
Chri
stm
as P
art
y
11
:00
am
L
YO
Me
etin
g
7:0
0 p
m L
YO
Na
tio
nal Y
ou
th G
ath
-
eri
ng
Me
eting
4
5
6
7
7:0
0p
m F
itn
ess
at
Fa
ith
8
9
10
:0 a
m F
LC
Ce
me
tery
Me
etin
g
10
9:0
0 a
m S
S,
Confirm
atio
n
10
:00
am
Wo
rship
—L
ay S
erv
ice
11
:00
am
FL
C A
nn
ua
l M
ee
tin
g
11
1
2
9:0
0 a
m B
ook
Clu
b
7:0
0 p
m M
usic
& W
ors
hip
13
1
4
7:0
0p
m F
itn
ess
at
Fa
ith
15
1
6
17
9:0
0 a
m S
S,
Confirm
atio
n,
10
:00
am
Wo
rship
—S
un
day
Sch
ool P
rog
ram
18
1
9
20
2
1
7:0
0p
m F
itn
ess
at
Fa
ith
22
2
3
24
NO
MO
RN
ING
WO
RS
IP!
5:0
0 p
m C
hri
stm
as
Eve
Ca
nd
le-
lig
ht
Se
rvic
e
25
Me
rry
Ch
rist-
ma
s!
26
2
7
28
7:0
0p
m F
itn
ess
at
Fa
ith
29
3
0
31
10
:00
am
Wo
rship
—D
evly
n B
roo
ks
11
:00
am
Fe
llow
sh
ip
A
ltar
Com
mit
tee
LaD
aw
n T
urn
er
Nata
lie N
els
on
Jean
Aig
ner
D
ece
mb
er
Ush
ers
Mik
e B
ya
rs
Ch
ad
Erickso
n
Ca
lvin
An
ne
tte
FAITH LUTHERAN CHURCH PO BOX 175
302 1ST STREET WOLVERTON, MN 56594-0175
Return Service Requested
NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. Postage
PAID Permit No. 001
Wolverton, MN 56594
December Sunday Schedule December 3—Interim Devlyn Brooks Faith Women Christmas Party after worship
December 10—Lay Service FLC Annual Meeting after worship
December 17—Christmas Program during worship with LYO serving Holiday Brunch
December 24—No morning worship 5PM—Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
December 31—Interim Devlyn Brooks (no Sunday school, confirmation, adult forum)