ACT PARISH MURDOCK-DEGRAFF CLUSTER NEWSLETTER

BETHESDA AND BUFFALO LAKE OF GRACE CHURCHES

JANUARY 2017 PASTOR DAN CROONQUIST , PASTOR M ICHELLE KLEENE

PASTOR DAN : 320-220-3055 (CELL) ; OFFICE : 320-599-4548; HOME : 320-382-9099

CROON@FRONTIERNET .NET

PASTOR M ICHELLE : 320-226-3535 (CELL) ; OFFICE : 366-3426; HOME : 320-847-2572

MKLEENE89@GMAIL .COM

ACT WEBSITE : WWW .ACTPARISH .COM ; ACT ALSO HAS FACEBOOK

FROM PASTOR DAN . . .

Pastor Dan 1

Bethesda announcements;

library news

2 &

3

Bethesda church Missions

of the month; January

Preaching schedule

4

ACT Parish Activities 5

Web page announcement;

west lake church an-

nouncement; January 1st

worship announcements

6

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that it is already time to say goodbye to 2016 and usher in a brand new year full of opportunities and possibilities. I pray that this New Year will bring many blessings and much peace to you and your family.

One of the traditions of celebrating New Year’s is the singing of Auld Lang Syne, a Scottish poem attributed to Robert Burns. The words auld lang syne are sometimes translated to mean long, long ago or days gone by. The singing of this song issues a call to remember our past as well as long-standing friendships. Each January we bid farewell to the old year while hailing the new. It is a time both of reflection and anticipation. We remember significant people, places, events, and experiences, while also looking forward to turning the page and beginning a new chapter in our lives.

New Year celebrations offer us the opportunity to accept all that has gone before us while at the same time looking with hope to what is ahead. While we can’t change our past, our past doesn’t have to hold us back. It is important for us to remember that we are not our past. Through our faith we are given the promise that in Christ all things are made new. Thanks be to God for new beginnings.

Wishing you and yours a very blessed and happy new year.

Peace,

Pastor Dan

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BETHESDA ESTHER QUILTING CIRCLE

Esther Circle will be quilting on January 5th at 9:30. Following quilting, we will be addressing Christmas cards. Offering will be taken. Potluck lunch will follow.

The Bethesda coffee dollars received each Sunday at the coffee hour will be designated to one specific area each month. Watch for the monthly list in the newsletter and on the bulletin.

January coffee dollars will be given to the ACT KMS Area MOPS.

Next month’s coffee dollars will be given to-ward the Bethesda Library.

Ushers for January Carla and Jesse Olson Dorinda and Al Olson Usher/Alter Guild Guide and Duties will be included in the new Bethesda directory which will be available at the end of January. Please be sure to look at these care-fully. We have become a very busy church and there are duties that are needed to be done weekly. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact someone.

Sarah Circle Bible study will be off until April 2017.

Bethesda Announcements

MARK YOUR JANUARY CALENDAR

* Bethesda Annual Meeting *

January 15th

The Bethesda annual meeting and the Ceme-tery meeting will be held following worship.

Bethesda Council Meeting

Because of condensation on the cement blocks in the back entry, we have changed the policy of keeping the door closed to keeping the door OPEN into the back entry. However, that also means it is very important to keep the door from the back entry into the sacristy closed at all times.

Bethesda Women of the ELCA

No meetings until May 2017, but there are plenty of opportunities to help and keep us busy.

January pot luck is the annual meeting

February will be a fund raiser for the library.

March will have a breakfast bake-off following worship.

In April we will have our annual Spring Brunch.

Bethesda members —

PLEASE check your mail boxes following each worship service.

** Your offering envelopes have placed in your mailboxes.

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MARK YOUR JANUARY CALENDAR

* Buffalo Lake Annual Meeting *

The Buffalo Lake church annual meeting will be held following worship on January 15th.

(Time to be determined and announced later)

From the library . . .

“Shades of Blue” by Karen Kingsbury. Brad Cutler, twenty-eight, is a rising star at his New York ad agency, about to marry the girl of his dreams. Any-one would agree he has it all - a great career, a beautiful and loving fiancé, and a fairy tale life ahead of him when memories of a high school girl-friend begin to torment him. Lost innocence and one very difficult choice flood his conscience, and he is no longer sure what the future will bring ex-cept for this: He must find his old love and make amends. Haunted by the past and confused about the future, he turns to God seeking forgiveness and redemption. (Find it in Section 1Ki)

Bethesda members — Thank you to those who have donated to the Giving Tree. Items will be continued until January 1st at which time the caps, scarves, mittens and gloves will be taken to the Women’s Shel-ter in Willmar.

BETHESDA ANNUAL MEETINGS

January 15, 2017

Following worship, both the church and cemetery annual meetings will be held.

Auditors: Gary Bjorngjeld, Sue Thorson, Ron Thorseth

Nominating Committee: Harold Nilson, Cindy Olson, Carmen Froehlich

Positions to be filled are:

Two Council positions for 3 yr. terms

Financial Secretary

Synod Assembly (June 10-12) St. Peter

Lakeland Conference (spring and fall) 2 positions

ACT Parish Council for 2 year term

We will share a pulled pork sandwich din-ner. There will be a sign-up sheet will be on the bulletin board for side dishes and desserts

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Mission of the Month for January

Each month a list of giving opportunities in the parish will be included in the newsletter. Monetary donations are always welcome as well.

Bethesda

We will be collecting donations for the Cindy and Grant Krieger family. This is our oppor-tunity to take part in the “giving back” movement for a family that gave to us. You will find envelopes under the tree. Your donations should be put in an envelope and placed in the box that is labeled “Krieger family donations”.

Romans 12:8 “If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”

January 2017 Preaching Schedule

Pastor Dan Croonquist Pastor Michelle Kleene Narrative Lectionary Readings Jan. 1 Lay Led Services at 9am - Buffalo Lake and 10:30am - Bethesda Jan. 8 St. Johns – 8am Buffalo Lake – 8:15am Psalm 51:6-17, Luke 3:1-22 West Lake – 9:30am Bethesda – 9:30am Hope – 10:45am Mamrelund– 11am Jan. 15 St. Johns – 8am Buffalo Lake – 8:15am Psalm 146, Luke 4:14-30 Monson Lake – 9:30am Bethesda – 9:30am Hope – 10:45am Mamrelund – 11am Jan. 22 Buffalo Lake – 8:15am St. Johns – 8am Psalm 90:14-17, Luke 5:1-11 Bethesda – 9:30am West Lake – 9:30am Mamrelund – 11am Hope – 10:45am Jan. 29 Buffalo Lake – 8:15am St. Johns – 8am Psalm 92, Luke 6:1-16 Bethesda – 9:30am Monson Lake – 9:30am Mamrelund – 11am Hope – 10:45am

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** Caffeine & Conversation **

CAFFEINE & CONVERSATION will be held on Tuesdays at 9:30 at the Bethesda and at 1:00 at Hope.

If you have not been able to join us yet, PLEASE consider coming- we have great conversation about Scripture and life, yum-my goodies and wonderful fellowship (and coffee!)

ACT PARISH ACTIVITIES

** MEN’S BREAKFAST **

Men’s breakfast will be starting again on Saturday morning, January 7th at 7am at Sherrie’s Café in Kerkhoven.

Hope to see you then

REMINDER to Confirmation Students:

The Sermon Notes outline form is in a folder on the Credenza in the Bethesda Narthex.

KMS Area MOPS

MOPS will meet January 19th with supper at 5, meeting from 5:30-7 at Bethesda.

Childcare will be provided, plus evening snack for children. Please consider giving a couple of hours of your time each month to help out with childcare. This is an ACT sponsored mission. If you would like to volunteer for childcare, it would be much appreciated. Please contact Carla Olson @ 320-875-4595 or Pastors Dan or Michelle.

January Confirmation Schedule

at Hope Lutheran

6:30-8pm

January 4th—7th grade

January 11th—8th and 9th grades

January 18th—7th grade

January 25th—8 and 9th grades

WEATHER RELATED CANCELLATION

Each church in the ACT Parish is responsible to cancel its own worship or activities due to bad weather. Contact will be made with Pastor Dan and the notification of cancellation will be on the KWLM radio station/internet and on the ACT Parish website. Telephone calls will be made as deemed necessary.

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Special ACT Worship Services

On Sunday, January 1, 2017 there will be two worship ser-vices within the ACT Parish. Please see in 2017 at a special lay-led service at either:

9:00am at Buffalo Lake, or

10:30 at Bethesda

ACT Announcement

West Lake Lutheran, Sunburg

The West Lake Congregation has given notice to the ACT Council and member churches that on June 1, 2017, the church will close its doors. Please keep the congregation in prayer as they walk through this process. It is never an easy decision to close a church.

The ACT website position is now being handled by Nancy Stredde of St. John Lu-theran at Pennock. If you have church announcements/pictures for the website,

please contact Nancy at:

firststep@charter.net

Find the ACT website at:

www.actparish.com

The ACT Facebook site is also being managed by Nancy, along with Pastor

Michelle. Items for the Facebook page may be sent to either one.

Thank you to Bobbie Jones from Bethesda who has previously handled his position

for the last couple of years.