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October

2016

Monthly

Newsletter

Every time I turn on the news I am reminded of the chaos that ravages our communities in this country and throughout our world: the shootings in Tulsa and Charlotte; the painful and divisive rhetoric on both sides of the presidential race; the unraveling of a cease-fire in Syria; I could go on and on. And those are just the crises that our media decide to bring to our attention. There are many more injustices and tragedies that we don’t hear from them: the ongoing extremism on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that creates fear and oppression for many, the civil dis-rest that continues in the Ukraine, the stories of those who are abused that remain utterly silenced to name a few. I think of these things and it is easy for me to imagine the mountains shaking, the waters roaring and foaming, the mountains trembling with tumult. Our world is being shaken to its core by acts of hatred and evil. The nations are truly in an uproar. Many are even divided against them-selves.

These are the situations we are called to respond to as Christians. And there are so many things going on that we may feel overwhelmed by them and wonder how it is possible for us to do something. Or maybe we feel that we are isolated from these things in Muscatine. However, even here in Muscatine we have people who every day struggle to find meals and shelter. We have people who fall prey to overly complicated systems that hinder them from becoming educating and finding jobs. We have people who don’t have the means to cope with their situations and turn to drugs or violence. Even here in Muscatine we are not removed or immune to the injustices that permeate our society.

From the Pastor’s Desk

Grace, mercy, and peace be with you all in the name of Jesus Christ!

In last month’s newsletter, we began a journey through some of the psalms together by looking at Psalm 103. One of the things that I appreciate the most about the psalms is the breadth of human expression and

1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;

3though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.

5God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.

6The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.

7The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

8Come, behold the works of the LORD; see what desolations he has brought on the earth. 9He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields

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And yet, we are called. We are called out of the chaos to gather and be reminded that God is our refuge and strength. We are called to experience the grace and love of a God who makes order out of chaos. We are called to see people in the way that God sees them: as beloved children. We are called to recognize and not ignore the brokenness of the world. And we are called to go out into the midst of the chaos, to speak a word that counters the rhetoric of fear and hatred, to actively oppose violence and hatred, to love those who feel that they are not lovable. And this is a scary enterprise. It is not easy. It is frightening to go into the midst of shaking mountains and raging waters. But that is exactly how we are to respond to the grace of God, by unreservedly scattering God’s gifts in a world that doesn’t seem to want them.

When you are overwhelmed by the brokenness, the evil in the world, we hear in psalm 46 the call from God in the midst of the chaos: “Be still and know that I am God.” When we go into the world, we do not go alone. Even though the world seems to overwhelm us, God is still God and God goes with us. The psalmist reminds us God is present with us, that God’s promises remain true, that in God there is peace that passes all human understanding. Reminded of this, we can go. We can go into the world. We can face adversity. We can love unashamedly. For the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

God bless you all,

Pastor Dan

GLC Ministry of Literacy

We are very excited about the progress of our students in the Literacy program. With our first graders re-

turning now as second grade students we have been able to see the growth in their reading skills. We have

three new students so far: two first grade and one second grade student all girls. We currently have a total

of 7 students and expect our numbers to grow to 12 as teachers identify those with the greatest need. We

are so blessed to be able to get a school bus to bring them again this year.

Watch for our bulletin board in the front lobby with projects the students have completed. Their projects

reflect a story or theme from areas on which we are currently working. The students work on their spelling

words with games and practice comprehension skills and fluency along with their reading. They are en-

thusiastic and full of energy.

The program has been blessed with many people willing to help. There is always a need for volunteers to

help with the reading and treats. Currently we have snacks and volunteers through October but we will

soon be looking at November.

The signup sheet for treats is on the bulletin board across from the literacy office. The treats can be home-

made or store bought and for one or both sessions in a week. A half gallon of drink, milk or juice is

enough for one session and then treats for 12 students.

This program could not run without so many wonderful volunteers and we thank you for all the time you

put into the program. Additional information for treats is on the signup sheet or contact Karen Hessel,

263-6970. If you would like to volunteer to help with reading program please contact Debbie Holiday at

563-299-2145. If you are unsure about volunteering let us know and come for a visit. We would love to

have you. Thank you for all of your support!

PLEASE MARK OCTOBER 25TH AFTER 5 p.m. TO JOIN US FOR A FUND RAISER AT BOONIES.

MONEY RAISED WILL GO TO HELP SUPPORT THE LITERACY PROGRAM.

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Grace Women News by Mary Hovick & Karen Hessel Grace Women News by Mary Hovick & Karen Hessel

An Invitation – All women of Grace are invited to join us on Tuesday October 11th at 9:30. We will meet at Church in the lounge and continue with our Bible study series. This month our lesson and dis-cussion is titled “Jesus and the evil eye: when God blesses the undeserving. In life we can’t escape a focus on “what’s rightfully mine” in relation to “what’s yours”. Jesus’ parables show us a God who has ditched the scales and the scoreboard in favor of generosity for all - deserving or not. How do we come to terms with this? The fall topic is “When God’s not fair.” The goal is for the women gathered to gain a sense of biblical time and how the gifts of God’s grace unfold. Please join us in this time of fellowship and sharing. People share as they are comfortable in doing so. You are invited to just come and listen or join in the discus-sion. All are welcome!

Box Tops for Education – Please save Box Top Coupons and/or UPC Codes found throughout your local grocery store. Visit www.boxtops4education.com for a current list of participating products. Clipped coupons can be placed in the “Box Tops for Education” folder on the bulletin board across the hall from Pas-tor’s office. The money earned by this project will be sent to Bethphage School in Axtell, Nebraska for chil-dren and adults with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

BOARD MEETING AT 8:30 ON OCTOBER 11TH.

A Fall Song by Ellen Robena Field

Golden and red trees Nod to the soft breeze, As it whispers, “Winter is near;” And the brown nuts fall At the wind’s loud call, For this is the Fall of the year. Goodbye, sweet flowers! Through bright Summer hours You have filled our hearts with cheer We shall miss you so, And yet you must go, For this is the Fall of the year. Now the days grow cold, As the year grows old, And the meadows are brown and sere; Brave robin redbreast Has gone from his nest, For this is the Fall of the year. I do softly pray At the close of day, That the little children, so dear, May as purely grow As the fleecy snow That follows the Fall of the year.

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October 2016 LSI Bulletin/Newsletter Article and Story

Warming Hearts with God’s Love and a Good Pair of Mittens

Far too often, there are children who arrive at LSI’s Beloit and Bremwood Residential Treat-ment Centers with almost nothing in their possession. And for children or youth who have been in the foster care system, it’s not uncommon for them to arrive with everything they own in a single garbage bag.

We give thanks for Iowa congregations because you faithfully respond to these needs, year after year! As win-ter approaches, LSI relies on your loving support to meet the demand for hats, gloves and mittens for children and youth at Beloit and Bremwood. With your generous donation, each child can have the chance to shop for their own winter clothing.

Your church has likely received or will soon be receiving a letter inviting you to participate in LSI’s hats and mittens appeal. If you would like more information, please contact Deb Whitford, LSI director of philanthropy and church relations, at deborah.whitford@LSIowa.org or 563-676-2065.

Our Mission: Lutheran Services in Iowa responds to the love of Jesus Christ through compassionate service. LSI is an affiliated social ministry partner of the Iowa congregations of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) and a member of LSA (Lutheran Services in America). We proudly serve people of all ag-es, abilities, religions, sexes, gender identities, national origins, ethnicities, races, and sexual orientations. Learn more at www.LSIowa.org and www.facebook.com/LSI.iowa. Seeds of Hope The kids at the Beloit Residential Treatment Center in Ames have been hard at work this year in the Beloit Learning Garden. The space gives kids the chance to learn new skills each week, like gardening and growing healthy foods. “I love seeing how excited the kids get about the vegetables and picking them. Any time the kids are around healthy food, it’s really great,” says garden volunteer Rachel. Kyanni has learned plenty of new lessons about farming. When she’s in the garden, she’s hard at work finding her favorite vegetable—broccoli—or helping the younger kids find good foods to pick and send back to Beloit’s dining room.

Loaves & Fishes Meal

Grace will be serving the Loaves and Fishes meal on October 22nd at the MCSA Building, 312 Iowa Avenue (lower level). We are in need of monetary donations to buy the supplies for our meatloaf dinner. We also need homemade cookies or bars and volunteers to help with the following;

9:00 a.m. Meal Preparation 11:30 a.m. — 1:00 p.m. Serving 1:00 p.m. Clean Up

Please contact Vicki & Carlin Lawhead if you would like to help or donate. 263-8012 or cclawhead@machlink.com.

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God’s Work Our Hands Results from September 11th, 2016

Kids like Paul have found a passion for farming and a love of vegetables thanks to the garden and its volun-teers. Paul has been working in the garden throughout the year, and he loves learning about nature and making new food every week. His favorite vegetable is zucchini, which he now gets to grow in the garden. When he grows up, Paul wants to be a farmer and plant “a whole bunch of stuff” for his family. Thanks to the generous gifts of our donors, kids like Paul are growing up with access to healthy foods and a love of the outdoors.

Here are the results from today (2016) collecting for five (5) hours:

Pounds of food collected: 3,000

Total Cash Donations: $1,000

In 2015, we collected for SIX hours:

Pounds of food (approximately) 3,000 +/-

Cash Donations: $900 +/-

Please keep in mind in 2015 we collected for six hours and today we collected for five hours. So, not too bad for 5 hours of fun!

The Boy Scout troupe from Grace was at the Food Pantry to help unload the pickup trucks and assist the food pantry in the storage of the items collected! THANK YOU!

THANKS EVERYONE FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS WORTHWHILE EVENT!

JoAnne

Oktoberfest Potluck

Oktoberfest Potluck will be Sunday, October 2nd, following second service.

Brats, hot dogs, beverages, and tableware provided by the Congregational

Life Board. Bring your favorite side dish or dessert to share and your appe-

tite!!!

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Actions and Highlights Council Meeting

September 22, 2016

MEMBERS PRESENT: Don Ager , Ramona Allenbaugh, Pr . Baldwin, J im Edgmond, Brenda Erber , JoAnne Fisher, Karen Hessel, Cindy Hermann, and Sam Paul. MEMBERS EXCUSED: Connor Lawhead and Shir lee Staley CHRISTIAN EDUCATION: Confirmation Pictures: Christian Ed and members of the WELCA (Women of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) group will be working together to get this project completed. Youth Trips: Plans and fundraisers are being discussed for a youth mission trip in 2017 and attending the Youth Gathering in Houston, TX in July 2018. CONGREGATIONAL LIFE: Oktoberfest Potluck will be Sunday, October 2nd, after second service. The GLO (Graceful Living Opportu-nities) Sheets will be available on 9/25 for members to sign up for various upcoming events. COUNCIL MEMBER TERMS: A roll call was taken of the council members asking if they would be returning for 2017 with all members returning except for Hospitality. The Council Secretary will conclude her 3-year term the end of December; however, if no replacement is found, she will continue for another year. This information will be forwarded to the Nominating Committee. COUNCIL RETREAT: On October 8th from 9-2, Council members will gather for their annual retreat at the Muscatine County Ex-tension Office on Isett Avenue. GOD’S WORK OUR HANDS: On Sunday, 9/11, Grace, New Era, Shepherd of the Cross, and Zion Lutheran churches collected approxi-mately 3,000 lb of food and $964 in cash donations for the Muscatine Food Pantry in a 5-hour timeframe. A total of 46 volunteers participated in the event; 23 of whom were from Grace. The Boy Scout Troop of Grace also assisted with this event by unloading the pickup trucks and helping the staff of the Food Pantry to sort and store the donated items. ONE SERVICE OR TWO: This will be discussed in more detail at the Council Retreat on October 8th. PROPERTY BOARD: Items discussed were the status of the boiler, repair or replacement of the sloping roof, and resurfacing of the entry drives and parking areas. The Board will include in their 2017 budget the amounts needed to resurface the driveways and repairs to the sloping roof. SOCIAL MINISTRY:

The Literacy Program will be awarded on September 28th a $3,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine to defray some of the expenses of their ministry. Congratulations! A Home-Bound Ministry has been established and five volunteers will meet on October 14th to discuss visit times and voice any concerns or questions.

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TREASURER: The Board Chairs were provided a copy of their year-to-date expenses for 2016 and were asked to use this as a guide for determining their 2017 budget needs. They were asked to discuss their expenses at their October meetings and provide to Council on October 27th their budget, which will then be reviewed by the Executive Committee. WORSHIP AND MUSIC: A new order of worship for the 8:15 service was discussed and will be implemented very soon. MEETING ADJOURNED: 8:10 p.m. (One hour , 40 minutes) Respectfully submitted, JoAnne Fisher, Council Secretary

GLY Group

Who: Middle School and High School aged youth

Where: Grace Lutheran Church, in the YOT

When: Every Sunday afternoon from 3:30-5:00

What: We will gather together to have some fun, friendship,

and time to explore our faith together! Join Pastor Dan and

Traci Lippelgoes for some games, fun activities, and good

conversation!

It is our hope that GLY Group will provide a safe space for us

to develop relationships with one another, to practice what it means

to be in Christian community with one another, to ask questions about

our faith, and to support one another in our faith journeys.

We want you to have the opportunity to shape your experience, so we welcome your feedback and input on

what we could do together as a group. Also, you are welcome to invite friends to come along.

We don’t expect you to come all the time or for the full time each week, but we encourage you to come

whenever you can as long as you can. We invite you to come check it out and hope to see you soon!

Worship Leadership Volunteers

Pastor Dan and the Worship and Music Board are still looking for volunteers to share their gifts with the con-

gregation in our worship together. We are looking for people with musical talent who would be willing to

serve on a Worship Team to help lead our song at the Abundant Life Service (8:15) and for people who would

be willing to lead portions of the worship service, either sung or spoken, at the Amazing Grace Service (10:45)

by serving in the role of Assisting Minister. If you are interested in sharing in this ministry, please contact

Pastor Dan or Ramona Allenbaugh. If you know someone who has the gifts to serve in any of these capacities,

we ask you to encourage them to share their gifts with the congregation. Thank you for the ways you already

participate in worship and thank you for considering these opportunities!

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Anniversaries and Birthdays

Please save the next page to use for your prayer list. Pray for each person on their birthday and anniversary. By the end of the year, you would have prayed for everyone in the congregation. If we have missed a birthday or anniversary or if corrections need to be made, please call the church office at 263-5680. Thank you.

October Anniversaries

Dan & Jodi Newsom 10-01 Clinton & Krista Finley 10-13 Cory & Molly Bachman 10-06 Roger & Brenda Erber 10-16 Don & Janet Duncan 10-07 Chad & Amy Hessel 10-17 Jim & Cindy Edgmond 10-10 Raymond & Marcy Curtis 10-19 Charles & Shannon Lewis 10-12 Vinton & Nancy Cromer 10-30 Harry & JoAnn Christofferson 10-13 Wendell & Kim Thompson 10-31

October Birthdays

Cathy Goonetilleke 10-01 David Sulzberger 10-09 Achmed Johnson III 10-22 Betty Hoffman 10-01 Tami Houmiel 10-10 Devin Purdy 10-23 Amy Holliday 10-01 Kristen Miller 10-11 Catie Clemens 10-23 Rod Lippelgoes 10-01 Hope Pohl 10-11 Christy Johnson 10-24 Kaylie Miller 10-01 Jacob Schlutz 10-11 Ron Hage 10-25 Logan Wagner 10-02 Margaret Goddard 10-12 Jacob Hartsock 10-25 Marilyn Weber 10-02 Joseph Manriquez 10-13 Holly Ramirez 10-25 Darrell Olderog 10-04 Brooklyn Bermel 10-15 Keri Langan 10-26 Sharon Ellefson 10-05 Greyson Jones 10-15 Abby Rusch 10-26 Kara Hage 10-05 Jeffrey Jones 10-15 Tammy Walsh 10-26 Lindsay Moeller 10-05 William Nus 10-16 Connor Christiansen 10-27

Dorothy Schmoldt 10-05 Sophie Gabriel 10-17 Karen Hessel 10-27 Austin Wagner 10-05 Anna Masengarb 10-17 Almeda Rich 10-27 Wade Bruns 10-06 Ian Naber 10-17 Codi Holmes 10-28 Mitch Sturtz 10-06 Katherine Melson 10-18 Megan Pohl 10-28 Don Kelly III 10-07 Morgan Schmidt 10-19 Carolyn Ford 10-29 Natilie Maxwell-McDonald 10-07 Anna Sparks 10-19 Makinley Hage 10-29 Curtis Olswold 10-07 Cameron Christiansen 10-20 Kevin Hughes 10-29 Jack Zorich 10-07 Julia Moravec 10-20 Tjode Nus 10-30 Willa Drake 10-08 Matthew Morgan 10-20 Cliff Scherrer St. 10-30 Haven Henningsen 10-08 Bryan Schmelzer 10-20 Lucas Sears 10-30 Tony Woods 10-08 Jamie Bantz 10-21 Janet Graham 10-31 Isabel Little 10-09 Chalynn Hampton 10-21 Jeff Sorensen 10-31 Brian Green 10-22

REMINDER

Please remember to provide the office with any name, address, email changes, or other pertinent infor-mation, so that we have correct information in our Shepherds Staff member file system and email sys-tem. Call the office at 263-5680 or email us at with changes. Thank you.