February 2013

Hope Lutheran ChurchHope Lutheran Church

Hello from Suriname

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year friends in Milton: I just received word that you have become a missionary sponsoring congregation of mine. I am from Wisconsin, grew up in Blair (yes good basketball teams from Blair), went to Viterbo University in La Crosse, taught in Whitehall Elementary Schools for a few years before dabbling in international work through the US Peace Corps in Liberia. Then I completed seminary at Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul, was a missionary for 8 years in Papua New Guinea, worked in the ELCA Lutheran Center for 11 years in Global Mission and finally ended back out as a mis-sionary in Paramaribo, Suriname in South America. I'm attaching a copy of my latest news-letter to help you get started in learning more about me and the Lutheran Church in Suri-name. (Copies are available in the narthex) Godspeed and I look forward to our distance re-lationship. Peace, Kevin Jacobson

Pr. Kevin L. Jacobson Aboenawrokostraat no. 32 Paramaribo, SURINAME (597)0872-2793(cell)

Seeking Servants

Salary: $0.00

Rewards: Heavenly

No experience necessary. Just a desire to serve God and the community of Hope. Positions on the congregational council will be available come Spring. The presidency, vice-presidency, several chair positions and Outreach meeting representatives are needed. Please contact a nominating committee member with questions or for more information.

Nominating committee members are: Vicki Stigsen - 931-9870 Pat Parsons - 868-3997 Marilyn Bittner - 868-7023 Jerry Arneson - 754-4180

Please call one of us or talk with us after service if you're interested.

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Finding a New Pastor

The Church Council has taken the first step toward finding a new pastor for Hope Lutheran Church. They have invited 8 members to be a part of the Call Committee. They have met for the first time with the Synod Bishop, who has started them on their way. This is what they will have to do:

First, they will fill out the Congregational Profile. This is a form that asks about your con-gregation. They will answer questions about the history of this church and the challenges you have had. There are questions about the community, demographics, industry, and me-dian income of the area. An important part of the Profile is asking about the kinds of gifts and talents the congregation is looking for in their new pastor. The Call Committee will be coming to you for help with this part of the Profile.

All of this usually takes 3 to 4 months to complete, especially if they are going to give every-one a chance to respond about gifts and talents for the new pastor. The paper work is then submitted to the Synod, who may have some questions for clarification. The Synod staff will bring the names of 3 to 5 pastors to the Call Committee for their consideration.

The Call Committee can then review the profiles, and decide who they would like to inter-view. It is common to hold a first interview over the phone or on Skype, and then invite the most promising pastors here for face to face meetings. If they choose one of these, they will come to the Church Council. The Church Council then announces a Congregational Meet-ing to hear the recommendation. Only the Congregation has the power to approve a Letter of Call. The pastor you are Calling then has 30 days to accept or reject your Letter.

If the Call Committee does not feel strongly about any of these candidates, they will ask the Synod for more names. Then the interview process begins again.

What can you do in this process? First of all, pray for the Call Committee. They will need God’s guidance to choose well. Second, respond thoughtfully when they ask your help about gifts and talents for the new pastor. Third, trust that they are working diligently, and doing their best to find the right pastor to lead Hope into the future.

Please include the members of the Call Committee in your prayers: Brian Benson, Karl Westlund, Mark Muth, Dan Bilz, Lois Turk, Kelly Delaney-Klinger, Pat Parsons and Allison Bender.

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Stable Service in the Pines

A Word of Thanks . . . . To Adam, Tara and Stella Albrecht for being a beautiful Holy Family . . . To our youth for their Narrating, Directing, Ushering and Shepherd acting . . . To El Bellinger, Ron Parsons and Ken Holland for being our wise men. . . To Julia Wasemiller, Sam and Seth McCumber, Andrew Klinger, Brandon Benson, David and Emma Kane for their musical offerings . . . To the wonderfully giving members of Hope for the cookies, hot chocolate and cider donations . . . To Marie Benson, Karen O'Rourke and their team for serving after the stable service . . . To the huge set-up crew Saturday before the service . . . Many hands made light work! . . . To Bob King for donating the bales of hay for us to sit on . . . To the Heinen-Brown family for providing the goats to help make our nativity come alive . . . To Brian and Brandon Benson for set-up and tear down of the portable garage for seating . . . To Phil Woodcock for setting up the walls for the stable under the pines . . .and taking down after . . . To Dave Warren / Dave's Ace Hardware for donating the plastic for wind break . . . To the Otises for supplying the heaters -- it was toasty warm . . . To Roger, Scott and David for all your help! . . . To all for your generosity of stable service offerings which will be donated to Love, Inc....over $371. . . Our Lord Jesus' birth came to life and the Christmas story retold so beautifully. Thanks be to God! Dawn Jensen, Leanne Wasemiller, Kris Kane

Christian Sympathy

Owen “Oats” Haugom was called to his eternal home in Christ on December 31st. Funeral services were held at Hope on January 5th. Please keep the entire Haugom family in your prayers.

Steve Peters was called to his eternal home in Christ on January 5th. Funeral services were held at Hope on January 9th. Please keep Jan and the Peters family in your prayers.

Thank you to all those who provided food and fellowship for the families during this time.

It’s Euchre Time!

The euchre players of Hope Lutheran Church will meet on February 8th at the church at 6:30 pm for a potluck and evening of cards and fellowship. The event will be hosted by Sherry Wille. Please RSVP at 608-289-5513. We’re looking forward to seeing you there.

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ACES fellowship planned

The ACES dinner group will meet at 5:30pm on Saturday, February 16th

at Steve & Holly’s, 13 N. Franklin in Janesville. All adults are welcome. Please RSVP to Jake and Jeanette Koele at 868-3496 by February 9th.

Men’s Devotional Breakfast

The Men’s Devotional Breakfast will gather again at Milton Family Restaurant at 7 am on Monday, February 18th. Men of all ages are invited. If you know you are planning to attend, please sign up in the narthex or call the office 868-3680. See you there.

Senior High Youth News

*Souper Bowl Sunday (February 3rd) we will be collecting canned goods and cash donations to help stock the shelves of the Milton Food Pantry.

*We will be packing College Care Boxes February 10th. Please send your student's current address to the church office by Jan. 31st if you haven't already done so...we would love to send a box to them too! office@hopemilton.org

*We are excited to put our faith into action and serve others on a mission trip this sum-mer! Plans are underway for this incredible experience! More information and fundraisers will be coming soon!

*Other upcoming activities: Rock and Worship Road Show concert, leading Sunday school activity day! We welcome new members any time (9th - 12th grades)...please join us!! Call Dawn at 718-1297 with questions

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I would like to thank who ever gave me the generous gift card for Christmas. Jerry Arneson

Come and Share your input regarding the new weekly Alternative Worship Service!

Your input is always valued and welcomed, and this will be a unique venue in which to share. Children and adults welcome, regardless of which service you usually attend. Please join us in discussion on February 10th, at 11:30a.m. in the Worship Space. Small group and large group discussions will be offered. If you have suggestions for discussion, questions or would like to help coordinate this please e-mail or call Ondra, the Minister of Music, ext. 225, ondra@hopemilton.org.

It’s Your Lucky Day

We have new sign-up sheets for our worship volunteers in the narthex under the nursery win-dow. We will be having some fun within the next month recruiting new volunteers, so please keep an eye out for more information on how you can become a worship volunteer here at Hope and you may be one of our lucky winners of some fun prizes. We will be having our

volunteer Appreciation on Thursday, March 14th and Sunday, March 17th, so keep your calendars open for these days. There will be some more information on this event coming soon.

Please continue to sign-up whenever you are available to help. Your help is greatly appreciated, you are truly a blessing to all of us here at Hope. If you are ever interested in becoming a volunteer you can con-tact me here at the church by phone 868-3680 ext. 223 or by e-mail kathy@hopemilton.org. We are always looking for new volunteers, so please don’t be afraid to try something new, it is a great way to get in-volved and meet new people here at Hope.

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An appeal to improve Hope’s “curb appeal”

As members of our decorating team walked up to the front doors of Hope at the end of the Christmas season, they couldn’t help noticing how tired the roping on the front railing looked.

The entrance is the first part of Hope Lutheran Church people see. It is our welcoming mat. Because it is a statement of who we are and reflects our values, we want it to be as welcoming and as beautiful as possible.

We suggest replacing the inexpensive, worn out roping with new rop-ing made of a beautiful wintery mix of evergreens that includes long-needled white pine boughs and pinecones. On the front doors will hang two matching wreaths with the same wintry mix. Using wintry rather than Christmas greens will enable their use from Thanksgiving up until Lent, when the focus shifts to penitence and sparseness.

Why interest now? The 2013 winter/Christmas merchandise exhibits are in February. Purchases for next Christmas are completed by March. Through the courtesy of K&W Greenery, pictures of exam-

ples of roping styles will be emailed to us from the exhibits. We may then place our order. Our last purchase of quality roping from K&W Greenery cost $25.00 per 8 foot length. They lasted 20 years.

Hope’s front entrance has two railings measuring approximately 57 feet and 31 feet. To drape roping requires an additional 20% of roping (70’ and 37’). Roping of this quality comes in 8 foot lengths and today costs about $40.00. The required 110’-125’ of roping for the two railings, the two 24” wreaths for the two front doors, plus shipping total $800-$1,000, providing shipping costs stay as low as they are now. An optional/optimal third wreath for the office door would be an additional cost.

When leaves fall and colors fade, adding wintry wreaths and roping will make the approach to our church inviting and vibrant. If you would like to participate in this ministry, please mark a blue Gift of Love envelope “garland fund” and write “garland fund” in the memo line of your check. Thank you so much for your contribution.

Carol Polarski Head of Sanctuary Decoration Committee

G.I.F.T.S. Men’s Shelter

Beginning Thursday, January 31 through Sunday, February 24, there will be donation boxes in the solarium for the shelter. This time, there will be an additional box to fill. There will be a sock drawer. My challenge for the Hope Lutheran Church congregation is to donate 50 pair of new, warm, men’s socks along with 50 new, men’s underwear (large and x-large suggested size, in any style). This past week the shel-ter averaged 27 men per night with a total of 41 men staying at the shel-ter. Some men stay long-term while others pass through, staying a few weeks or a few nights until circumstances improve. Knowing some of the men come to the shelter with no socks is what prompted my chal-lenge. The generosity and support shown to the shelter the past

couple years has been amazing and I’d like to present another challenge, The Sock Drawer. Please consider the sock drawer when you make your donations to the shelter. Thank you for your continued support. Janet Ellefson

Hospice and Midwife Kits

Starting on Ash Wednesday, Hope Lutheran will begin preparing Hospice Kits and Midwife

Kits. We are still waiting on word from the Synod as to what exactly will be going into the kits as they have changed over the last few years. A display will be in the narthex explaining what is needed for each kit. Donations can be completed kits, any item used to make a full kit, or monetary donations to purchase items and for the cost of shipping the kits. Kits/items will be collected through April 21st and sent to Synod Assembly in May.

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KEY

Kids, Education, & You The

Third Grade Bibles At 10:30 worship on January 20, 2013, third grade students received "The New Adventure Bible". Third graders receiving Bibles include: Camille DeWilde, Holly Garber, Coy Kenyon, Morgan Kenyon, Rose Meyer, Brittany Peterson, Logan Peterson, Morgan Peterson, James Watson, Maverick Wileman and Dawson Wiswell. Thank you to the third grade teachers and helpers: Ann DeWilde, Wendy Meyer, Rebecca Garber, Ellie Peterson, Scott Meyer and Chloe Garber; for their work in preparing the students for this special day.

The Board of Education honored third grade students and families at a Bible Breakfast with over 60 people attending. Thank you to Janet Arndt, Caroline Britton, Ann DeWilde, Eileen Hansing, Wendy Meyer and Karen O'Rourke for organizing, decorating and preparing the delicious food for the Bible Breakfast; and, thank you to our clean-up helpers - Bill Arndt and Chuck Hansing.

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February Mission Focus The Milton Food Pantry is the mission focus for LRE and Sunday School this month. They can especially use donations of any non-perishable food items; any non-perishable items to prepare a family meal; cream soups; breakfast cereals and oatmeal; toiletries; and, household products, such as toilet paper, paper towels, and Kleenex.

Bring all donated items to Sunday School and LRE classes and place them in our yellow school bus downstairs or in the shopping cart in the solarium. We encourage the congregation to join Sunday School and LRE in donating these specific supplies to the Milton Food Pantry during February. Confirmation Service Projects

Are you aware that the 7th and 8th graders have given over 200 service hours so far this school year? Our 7th and 8th grade confirmation students participate in service projects as part of their confirmation curriculum “Faith Inkubators.” On the second Wednesday of each month the students and their Small Group Leaders choose a service project to do. It can be a service project for Hope or for the community.

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So far this year the students in their small groups have completed the following Community service projects: visited with seniors at Milton Senior Living; 3 small groups baked pumpkin bread for the Milton Food Pantry Thanksgiving baskets; created home-made greeting cards for the military; tied scarves and blankets; put together care packages to mail to overseas military; 3 groups rang bells for the Salvation Army; Christmas gifts for kids at Salvation Army; organized and sorted toys at the Toy Shop of the Salvation Army; played cards and visited with the elderly at Green Forest Run; helped stock shelves at the Milton Food Pantry; shopped and donated items to the Milton Food Pantry.

Service projects for Hope have included: restocking the children’s activity bags several times; updating the solarium bulletin board; cleaning and putting away the Christmas Eve candle holders; decorating the Sunday School bulletin boards; cleaning the toys in the nursery; sharpening the pew pencils; being the sacristans for a week, acolyting, ushering and reading the lessons.

Lutherdale Bible Camp – Is it Time Yet!

“Time for what?-Word, Worship, Prayer, Hospitality, and Service-This summer our Bible Study theme focuses on us taking time every day for God. Through five spiritual practices of the Christian tradition we see ways that Jesus lives in the lives of his followers. We have all heard that “practice makes perfect” but this summer at Lutherdale we will discover that “practice make permanent”!

Even though there is snow outside, it’s time to think about summer camp 2013 at

Lutherdale. Lutherdale Bible Camp in Elkhorn, WI has summer camping opportunities for elementary to high school students. For over 60 years Lutherdale has been a place to sing, worship, eat, laugh, play, swim, camp, pray together, and to hear the gospel. Come to Lutherdale and make connections with the wonder of God’s creation and the world you live in.

Hope continues to encourage participation at Lutherdale by offering $50.00 camperships to all students who attend summer camp. You can find more summer camp information on the website - www.lutherdale.org. Please let the church office know that your child will be attending summer camp at Lutherdale. Rite of Affirmation of Baptism

Current 8th grade families will want to mark their calendars for October 27, 2013. This is when the Rite of Affirmation of Baptism (confirmation) takes place. Rehearsal and the 9th grade Family Gathering will be on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013. 8th to 9th grade Orientation is on May 1, 2013 at 6:30 pm.

Education Calendar

Sunday School – Pre-K to 3rd grade Meet

at 9:15 – 10:15 am on Sundays

Feb. 3 - The Plagues Feb. 10 – The Red Sea Feb. 17 – The Red Sea Feb. 24 – Group Sunday School led by SHY – Senior High Youth March 3 – Palm Sunday to Easter LRE – Lutheran Religious Education, 4th,

5th, & 6th gr. Meet on Wednesday

afternoons

Feb. 6 - 4:00 – 5:10 pm Classes and Soup Supper for 5th grade families from 5:10 - 6:00 pm.

All 5th grade students and their families are invited. The 5th grade class will make a presentation. We look forward to seeing all our 5th grade families.

Feb. 13 – Ash Wednesday, No Classes so students may attend 6:30 pm worship with their families Feb. 20 - 4:00 – 5:10 pm Classes Feb. 27 – 4:00 – 5:10 pm Classes March 6 - 4:00 – 5:10 pm Classes

7th and 8th grade Confirmation Meet on

Wed. evenings, 6:30 – 8:00 pm

Feb. 6 - Learning Event Feb. 13 – Ash Wednesday, No Classes so students may attend 6:30 pm worship with their families Feb. 20 – Learning Event Feb. 27 – Students OFF, Small Group Leaders Meeting, 6:30 pm March 6 – Learning Event

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VOLUNTEER NEEDS: Cedar Crest Inc.

Enjoy building relationships with older adults and benefit from their lives rich with history and experiences. Acquire skills and make new friends while helping your community. Long-term volunteers are needed for rewarding work with older adults at Cedar Crest Inc., a con-tinuing care senior living community in Janesville. For more information, contact Cedar Crest’s Volunteer Coordinator, Linda Lyke, at 608-373-6327 or email llyke@cedarcrestnet.com.

• Bingo – Monday, Friday or Sat.10:00AM; help residents play bingo. • Assisted Living Bingo – 2nd or 4th Saturdays (once a month) at 10AM; lead bingo for residents. • Story Club – Evening (Wed., Thurs. or Fri.) at 6:15PM; read stories to residents and discuss. • Manicures – Any day of the week (morning or afternoon) or evening at 5:30 or 6:00PM; prepare and polish residents’ nails. • Indoor Sports –Tuesday 3:00PM; help with balloon volleyball. • Table Talk – Any weekday at 11:30AM for an hour, just prior to residents’ lunch time; read reminisce stories with a group of residents. • Evening Games volunteer – Wed., Thurs. or Fri. evening at 6:15PM; play board, card, dice, Wii or word games with residents. • Euchre volunteer – Mondays at 1:30 or 2:00PM, lead residents in euchre. • One to One Visits – Any day or early evening; must have good listening and interaction skills to visit with residents on an individual basis. • Letter Writer – Monday, Tuesday or Friday at 1:00PM; write letters for residents. • Adopt-A-Grandparent – Bring your family in to make regular visits with residents, any day of the week. • Roving Cart Visits – Any day or early evening; take “topical” carts from room to room with items to discuss and activities for residents to do. • Wheelchair Walks – Any day or early evening; take residents for a walk. • Weekend volunteer – Sat. or Sun afternoon; lead games – either shuffleboard, horse-shoes, bowling; board, dice, word or card games; Wii sports, or reading. • Activities volunteer – Days and times vary; assist with social hours, parties, games, in-door sports, crafts and other activities based on schedule. • Wii Sports – Monday afternoon, Wed. morning or evening; lead Wii sports with resi-dents.

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Thursday, February 7 Usher Acolyte Leah Foster Lector Altar Guild Bread

Sunday, February 3 8:00 10:30 Assisting Minster Bonnie Kegler Ushers Les Hartzell, Scott Wasemiller, Les Bob King Hanson, Eric DeWilde Acolytes Anna Bertiaume, Kate McKaig Lectors Sonja Pluess Camille DeWilde Gospel Readers Dawn Clark Altar Guild Marilyn Krause Bread Janet Parr Greeters Lonnie Brown Berthiaume Family Sacristan Glenn & Jordy Getchel

Sunday, February 17 8:00 10:30 Assisting Minster Ushers Les Hartzell, Scott Wasemiller, Les Bob King Hanson, Eric DeWilde Acolytes Sami Dahl, Alexis Henry, Logan Servin Grace Williams Lectors Sonja Pluess Randy Lebakken Gospel Readers Altar Guild Peggie Sersch Betty Coleman Bread Peggie Sersch Greeters Sacristan

Sunday, February 24 8:00 10:30 Assisting Minster Ushers Ken Pinnow Scott Wasemiller, Les Hanson, Eric DeWilde Acolytes Libby Dammen Sami Dahl Lectors Gospel Readers Altar Guild Bread Lois Mengoni Greeters Sacristan Rollie & Lois Mengoni

Sunday, February 10 8:00 10:30 Assisting Minster Ushers Ken Pinnow Les Hanson, Scott Wasemiller Acolytes Scott Meyer Ryley Thipphayoth Bryce Webb Lectors El Belanger Gospel Readers Bonnie Kegler Altar Guild Bread Greeters Sacristan

Thursday, February 28 Usher Acolyte Leah Foster Lector Pat Murphy Altar Guild Kathy Murphy Bread Kathy Murphy

Thursday, February 21 Usher Mark Muth Acolyte Leah Foster Lector Ellen Muth Altar Guild Bread

Wednesday, February 13 Usher David Benson Acolyte Megan Casper, Alexis Henry Lector Pat Murphy Gospel Reader Marie Benson Altar Guild Kathy Murphy Bread Kathy Murphy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!...Our records show that these brothers and sisters were born in February. We wish each of you a blessed birthday! (If your birthday in February is not listed, please call the church office, 868-3680, so we can correct our records.)

1 John Foster, Raymond Janisch 2 Jen Watson, Kaitlin Box, Misty Symkowski 3 Patricia Hubbard, Hallie Hullah Anna Plautz 4 Hunter Frey, Rob Malewicki 5 Jim Kern, Alexis Halma 6 Ron Sersch, Katherine Leverence Denise Blabaum 7 Jake Koele, 8 Kirsten Woodcock 9 Matthew Holtz, Dawson Wiswell, Matt Williams 10 Jordan Schliem, Sarah Harvatine 11 Jay Gasser 12 Linda Fisher, Rachel Reed, Shirley Koniecki 13 Xiem Au, Virginia Benash 14 Steven King, Marilyn Krause, David A. Anderson, Dan Berthiaume

15 Ellen Westlund, Hailey Keeser, Jasmine Brown, Austin Bergmann,

Kayleigh Roberts 16 Barbara Hartzell, Zach Stricker 17 Greg Walters, Barbara Essock, Landon Peterson-Hying 19 Bill Hughes, David Farnsworth 20 Sean Harvatine II, Caroline Watson 21 Arnold Garvert, Andrew Kraft 22 Julia Wasemiller, Tyler Kenyon 23 Gary Getchel, Marissa Johnson,

Debra Zitzke, Travis Knutson 25 Spencer Leverence 26 David Benson 27 Scott Randall, Cheryl Farnsworth,

Dean Brown, Connie Tranter, Jacqueline Pecor

28 Trisha Hall

Special Birthday Wishes to. . . Shirley Koniecki February 12 Virginia Benash February 13

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HOPE LUTHERAN CHURCH

MISSION STATEMENT

Being representatives of God's word the purpose of Hope Lutheran Church is to be a worshipping, learning, witnessing, and serving community of for-given followers of Jesus Christ. We strive to foster spiritual growth in ourselves and others through all our actions and decisions. We welcome and value the talents of all who are brought to us by God's will. Adopted by Hope Lutheran Church May 31, 1992

Hope Lutheran Church

335 Dairyland Drive Milton, WI 53563

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID Permit No. 16

Milton, WI

Hope Lutheran Church

335 Dairyland Drive

Milton, WI 53563 608-868-3680 office@hopemilton.org www.hopemilton.org Staff: Rev. Richard Collier, Interim Pastor Sue Chwala, Education Coordinator Ondra Williams, Minister of Music Kirsten Woodcock, Office Manager Kathy Wagner, Volunteer Coordinator David Benson, Lester Hartzell, Sextons Jayne Lubke, Choir Director Dawn Jensen, Coordinator Senior High Youth Pastor Kevin Jacobson, ELCA Missionary in

Suriname