St. Paul Blog Post September 25, 2014

Sept. 28th is the 16th day after Pentecost

Pastor Schedule
Sept. 28th - Robin Abbott

Let's join in prayer. 
Dear Lord, bless our friends, help their worries be light and their joy be great. Please continue to watch over Leonard, Karen, Debbie, Brian, Rachel, Allison, Emily, Christian, Jodi, Dennis, Donald, Douglas, Del, John, Bob, Joe, Rick, Steve, Margaret, Barry, baby Mrak, Bob, Wendy, Chris, Mark, Ruth, and Mike.
We hold the same prayer for our Military. Lord, bless them and keep them; Brian, Barbara, Thad, Shanna, Ramon, Michael, Kyle, Bradley, Dennis, Ryan, and Christopher.

Recent Events

The Habitat for Humanity ReStore truck was parked at St. Paul's Sept. 20th and thanks to the help of Carl Beals, it was loaded with an amazing contribution of building supplies donated by our congregation. More photos are available on our Stewardship page, if you'd like to see the guys hard at work!

Saturday, September 20th was the Stewardship Retreat hosted by the Stewardship Committee and facilitated by Robin Abbott. The notes from the session have been turned into this months Feature Article. I encourage you to read and attend future workshops that the Stewardship Committee.

The Narthex has a wonderful Stewardship presentation on the wall. 

The Volga-Germans of Michigan's Thumb is available for purchase at St. Paul's. The cost is $30, please make checks out to St. Paul Lutheran. 

A copy is available for reading in our library.

Have you picked up a copy of The Lutheran? There are several copies in the Narthex. Subscriptions are available. The June 2014 magazine has some interesting information about churches utilizing information technology and the internet.

Praise the Lord!

The garden bounty has been 5,714 pounds thus far. The vegetables have been donated weekly to Mid-City to help feed our neighbors in need.

See new photos of our 
Fall Vegetable Garden.

Upcoming Events

September 27th is the Food Truck. Thanks to the generous $850 Grant from Zion Lutheran Church, we are able to host the Food Truck for our Evangelism & Social Ministry efforts.

September 27th is the Youth Group trip to Cedar Point. The weather should be a nice 70 degrees with 0% chance of rain. Have fun!!! Take some pictures to share with us!

September 28th is a 
Worship and Music Meeting 
between services.

September 30th is the 
deadline for the Annual Reports

September 27th is the 
Kids Against Hunger
fundraiser.

October 12th 
is the wedding of 
Melinda and Michael Duckworth 
at 12:00 noon
 The congregation is invited to attend 
the wedding and the reception at St. Paul's.

Apple Pies will be in the works soon. Keep your eye out for sign-up details and your rolling pins and apple peelers ready!

How do you prefer your pie? 
Ice Cream? Warm? Whipped Cream?

On October 12th, the Women of St. Paul will lead worship and celebrate Bold Women Sunday and Erntedankfest at both services. A WOW thank offering will also be collected. The Women of St. Paul do glorious things in His name, let's continue to support their efforts. For more information or to participate, please contact Sally Moldwin.
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What is Erntedankfest?
The 1621 harvest celebration of the Pilgrims in New England.
OH!
Is the celebration of offering thanks at harvest time unique to America?
No, ancient Egyptians, Greeks and other cultures have celebrated throughout history. 
How long has Thanksgiving been a national holiday in America?
Good question! 
Only since the 1940's. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the bill that created the holiday in 1941...but prior to that...President Lincoln declared October 3, 1863 was a national Day of Thanksgiving. Although Lincoln's declaration was a one time event, presidents following him also picked a day to celebrate, based on their whims...or when they got hungry for turkey and pumpkin pie.

Until Roosevelt, it was chaos, the grocers didn't know when to stockpile turkeys and offer them for cents on the dollar. 
*disclaimer...the last part may or may not be true.

Website News

The Technology Advisory Committee that first met to discuss ideas for the website is going to meet again. Do you have ideas to contribute? You can attend or email them to me [email protected]

I am putting together a survey regarding St. Paul's online presence to hand out in a (near future) church bulletin. I am looking forward to getting feedback from the congregation as a whole.
~Michelle