Author: Secretary

THE STORY

Gods Work. Our Hands.
Evangelical Lutheran Church of America

Bits and Pieces: In other words things to remember ;)
Mark your calendar's
Children's Christmas Program on December 14, 2025 during the 9:30 worship service.
December 24 Christmas Eve Service at 5:00
Compassion.. Commitment.. Community.. In Christ!

December 2025 St. John Lutheran Church
PO Box432 104 Central Avenue North Mapleton, MN 56065
Phone: 507-524-3615 * Email: stjohnslutheran.mapletonmn@gmail.com * Facebook: St. John’s Lutheran Church, ELCA
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A Christmas Dress for Ellen
(Summary: In the remote prairie town of Hillspring, Alberta, during a harsh Christmas in 1927, the Jeppson family faced despair until a Christmas miracle unfolded. George Schow, a blind mailman, battled a fierce snowstorm to deliver crates filled with necessities and gifts from their relatives in Idaho. This act of love and generosity restored the family’s hope and brought back the magic of Christmas, reminding them of the wondrous gift of kindness and the true spirit of the season. This heartwarming story emphasizes the importance of Christian service and the blessings it brings to both the giver and the receiver.)
Christmas is many things to many people — from the eager, materialistic grasping of a child for a present to the deep spiritual thankfulness of the mature heart for the gift of a Savior. If there is one common denominator, perhaps it is this: Christmas is love. Christmas is the time when the bonds of family love transcend distance and inconvenience. It is a time when love of neighbor rises above petty day-today irritations, and doors swing open to give and receive expressions of appreciation and affection.
If to our Christmas gift list is added the gift of service — not only to friends and family, but also to those who badly need help — then our giving can be complete.
It was December of 1927 in the remote prairie town of Hillspring, Alberta, Canada. A young mother, Mary Jeppson, was getting her six small children ready for bed. Her heart was so full of sorrow and concern that she felt it would surely break. It was Christmas Eve, and all of the children except for the oldest, Ellen, age ten, were dancing around excited to hang their stockings for Santa to come.
Ellen sat very subdued in a corner of the cold, small, two-room house. She felt that her mother was wrong to let the children build up their hopes for Santa to come, for there would be no Santa. There was nothing to fill the stockings. There would be only a little mush for breakfast Just a week earlier, the family’s only milk cow had died of starvation. The winter had just started, and already it was cold and harsh.
Times were hard, and Ellen, being the oldest, had too much responsibility put on her thin young shoulders. She had become very cynical, and childhood hopes and dreams and excitements had been put out of mind much too early.
Mary helped each one of her children to hang a little darned and mended stocking, but she couldn’t persuade Ellen to participate. All Ellen could say was, “Mother, don’t do this, don’t pretend.”
After the stockings had been hung, Mary read to the children the Christmas story from the Bible and then recited a few Christmas poems from memory –memories of her own happy childhood.
Mary had requested only necessities. She told them of their family’s urgent need for food, especially what, years, flour, an some cornmeal. She added that it would be a blessing if they could ship just a bit of coal, for it was so cold, and their fuel was down to almost nothing. She asked for some old, used quilts, for all of hers had worn thin and were full of holes, and they could no longer keep her children warm. Also she requested some worn-out pants to cut up and use to once again patch the pants her boys were wearing. She mentioned their desperate need for socks and shoes and gloves and warm hats and coats. As the close of the letter, she had written “If you could just find a dress that someone has outgrown, I could make it over to fit Ellen. She is far too somber for such a young girl. She worries so about the family and our needs. She has only one dress that she wears all the time, and it is patched and faded.”
The week before Christmas had found Leland daily hitching up the horse to the sleigh and making the three-hour round trip from Hillspring into the town of Cardston to check at the train station and post office for a package from Idaho. Each day he would receive the same disappointing answer. Finally, on the day of Christmas Eve, he left early in the morning, went into Cardston, and waited for the one daily train. He checked at the post office as well. He left at noon, however, to return home to Hillspring before dark. And he left without a package. As he rode home, he wept openly, knowing how sad Mary would be.
Now, as Mary ceased her reminiscing, she realized how cold she was; the fire in the stove was all but out. The clock on the wall showed that it was 3:30 A.M. She looked up at the sad little mended stockings still hanging empty and felt that her heart was hanging just as empty.
Outside the wind was blowing at about seventy miles an hour, and the snowstorm had intensified. She was about to put out the lantern and go to bed for a few hours when suddenly there was a knock at the door.
Mary opened the door to find a man standing there, and for all the world he looked exactly like what she would expect Santa himself to look like. He was covered with frozen snow and ice. For a moment Mary doubted her senses, but then she realized it was George Sidney Schow, the mailman from Cardston. He belonged to the Church, and he knew the plight o the family. He told Mary that he knew of their waiting for the package from Idaho and that he knew there would be no Christmas without it.
George Schow was a good man. A University of Utah graduate, he had years before been stricken with a disease that had caused him to gradually go blind. After receiving a priesthood blessing, he had miraculously regained partial sight in one eye.
Although he was unable to work in his chosen profession of engineering, he had found work as a postman to support his wife, Ingeborg, and their eight children.
On this particular day of Christmas Eve, George, with a team of horse pulling his sleigh had traveled through a violent snowstorm to deliver the mail to half a dozen or more communities near Cardston. When he returned to the post office that afternoon, he was cold and exhausted that he ached throughout his body. He longed to settle his horses for the night and join the family celebration in his warm, cozy home. But someone from the train station came by the post office to tell him that ten large crates had arrived from the States for the Jeppson family.
It was about four in the afternoon but already it was dark. The storm was getting worse. George’s horses shivering with cold, were not capable of making another trip. The mailman decided it was just too late. There wasn’t anything he could do about it.
George went home to his eager family. He placed the Christmas tree in the living room, and the children joyfully gathered around to decorate it. Although he was surrounded by happy activity and by the delicious aromas of traditional Danish holiday food, George could not shake off thoughts of the struggling Jeppson family and the packages waiting at the post office. He took Ingeborg aside, and the couple knelt in prayer for guidance. They decided that the only thing he could do was to take the crates out to Jeppsons’ little isolated farmhouse in Hillspring that very night. So with a borrowed team of horses and a borrowed sleight with sharper runners than his own, he set out for the Jeppson place, accompanied by his fifteen-year-old son, Sidney. Ingeborg insists that Sidney go along; although Georges’s eyesight was passable in the daytime, his wife knew he would not be able to see at night in the midst of a fierce prairie blizzard. Ingeborg and the children sent the father and son on their way with sandwiches and little candies and snacks, and hot rocks were wrapped in blankets to keep their feet warm through the long journey.
George and his son struggled to find their way through the blinding snowstorm. Several times they felt the guidance of the Spirit as they prayed that they would reach their destination safely. With the snowdrifts deepening hour by hour, the horses plodded along more and more slowly. At last they arrived at the farmhouse. They were relieved to see one small light still on in the house.
When George and Sidney entered the home and saw how bare and humble it was, they knew why they had felt so urgently prompted to make the trip. After the postman had told Mary about his decision to come, he and his son brought the crates into the house. Mary insisted that the two stand by the stove to get warm. She got some of Leland’s clothes to replace their frozen, wet clothing.
It was nearly five o’clock int he morning when the sleigh headed back into town. It had taken George and Sidney eight hours to get to the Jeppson’s place because of the severity of the storm. They wouldn’t get home until noon or later on Christmas day. Mary thanked them both as best she could, but she always said that there was just not words enough to express their thanks. After all, how do you thank a miracle, and a Christmas miracle at that?
Mary quickly began to unpack the crates, for she had only an hour or so before the children would awaken. At the top of one of the crates she found a letter from her sisters. They told her that quilting bees has been held all over the Malad Valley, and from these, six thick, warm, beautiful quilts had been made for them. They also told of the many women who had sewn shirts for the boys and dresses for the girls, and of others who had knitted warm gloves and hats.
The donation of socks and shoes had come from people for miles around. The Relief Society had held a bazaar to raise the money to buy the coats, and all of Mary Jeppson’s sisters, nieces, cousins, aunts, and uncles in Idaho had gotten together to bake the breads and make the candy to send. There was even a crate half full of beef that had been cured and packed so that it could be shipped along with two or three slabs of bacon and two hams.
The letter closed with these words: “We hope you have a Merry Christmas, and thank you so much for making our Christmas the best one we’ve ever had!”
Mary’s family awakened that Christmas morning to what to them was a miracle. Bacon sizzling on the stove, and hot muffins were ready to come out of the oven. There were jars of jams and jellies and canned fruit.
For each boy there was a bag of marbles, and each girl had a little rag doll made just for her. Every stocking that was hanging stuffed full of homemade taffy, fudge, divinity, and dried fruit of every kind Later, Mary and Leland were to find tucked in the toe of the stockings that had been sent for them, a few dollars with a little note that the money was to be used to buy coal for the rest of the winter.
The most wonderful miracle, though, occurred when Ellen, the very last to get up, rubbed her eyes in disbelief as she looked at the spot where her stocking was supposed to have been hung the night before and saw hanging there a beautiful red Christmas dress, trimmed with white and green satin ribbons. She later said it was the most wonderful Christmas ever. That morning, with the Christmas dress for Ellen, a childhood had been brought back, a childhood of hopes and dreams and Santa Claus and the miracle of Christmas.
From a beloved Christmas hymn we recall these lines:
How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is giv’n!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessing of His heav’n.
No ear may hear his coming;
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him, still
The dear Christ enters in.
May each of us welcome the Savior of the world into our hearts and into our Christmas celebration. May we experience the joy of setting aside convenience and personal comfort, if need be, in favor of Christian service. Then may we learn, as did an ancient prophet, that when we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are truly in the service of our God.
-President Thomas S. Monson
(adapted from the First Presidency Christmas Devotional 1997)

Hear ye hear ye

*Please have all items in the office for the December newsletter by December 19. PLEASE and Thank you!
A new calendar for 2025 is posted on the bulletin board in the hallway of the Education Lobby. This calendar is for the purpose of those who would like to reserve a space for some event. (These would need to be approved by the church council.) Other regular meetings will also be posted.
For more information, please see Anna in the church office.
Children's Christmas Program on December 14, 2025 during the 9:30 worship service.
Please have your child/ren in their rooms by 9:00am.
Christmas Eve service will be held at 5:00pm.
If you turn on a light, please turn it back off. Thank you!!
Sertoma Poinsettias that were ordered will be available for pick up on Tuesday December 2nd at the Mapleton Community Center from 2-7 pm and again on Wednesday, December 3 from 4-7 pm.
Note from Jason: Thank you to all who supported the St. John Youth breakfast fundraiser.
It was very successful. Funds raised will be used towards the youth mission trip to Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 2026.

WE HOLD IN PRAYER: Ashlyn Bennett, Ron Swift, Larry Albrecht, Marvel Peterson, Kirsten Becker, Darlene Miller, Deb Herber and Sybil Solting
HOMEBOUND MEMBERS: David Treanor, Audrey Annis, Earlynn Simonson, Cheryl Bergemann
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace. We pray for your peace to reign in our hearts and homes and for this message of peace to resonate in every heart and home around the world. Unite us in love and understanding, and help us to be instruments of your peace in our families, communities, and beyond. Amen

Liturgist
TBD
Church Council
December
Bev Raimann
Jen Marzen
January
Royce Woitas
Julie Lux

______________________________________________________________________________
The donation of socks and shoes had come from people for miles around. The Relief Society had held a bazaar to raise the money to buy the coats, and all of Mary Jeppson’s sisters, nieces, cousins, aunts, and uncles in Idaho had gotten together to bake the breads and make the candy to send. There was even a crate half full of beef that had been cured and packed so that it could be shipped along with two or three slabs of bacon and two hams.
The letter closed with these words: “We hope you have a Merry Christmas, and thank you so much for making our Christmas the best one we’ve ever had!”
Mary’s family awakened that Christmas morning to what to them was a miracle. Bacon sizzling on the stove, and hot muffins were ready to come out of the oven. There were jars of jams and jellies and canned fruit.
For each boy there was a bag of marbles, and each girl had a little rag doll made just for her. Every stocking that was hanging stuffed full of homemade taffy, fudge, divinity, and dried fruit of every kind. Later, Mary and Leland were to find tucked in the toe of the stockings that had been sent for them, a few dollars with a little note that the money was to be used to buy coal for the rest of the winter.
The most wonderful miracle, though, occurred when Ellen, the very last to get up, rubbed her eyes in disbelief as she looked at the spot where her stocking was supposed to have been hung the night before and saw hanging there a beautiful red Christmas dress, trimmed with white and green satin ribbons. She later said it was the most wonderful Christmas ever. That morning, with the Christmas dress for Ellen, a childhood had been brought back, a childhood of hopes and dreams and Santa Claus and the miracle of Christmas.
May each of us welcome the Savior of the world into our hearts and into our Christmas celebration. May we experience the joy of setting aside convenience and personal comfort, if need be, in favor of Christian service. Then may we learn, as did an ancient prophet, that when we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are truly in the service of our God.
-President Thomas S. Monson (printed as authored)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Merry Christmas

A Christmas Dress for Ellen continuted

On this particular day of Christmas Eve, George, with a team of horse pulling his sleigh had traveled through a violent snowstorm to deliver the mail to half a dozen or more communities near Cardston. When he returned to the post office that afternoon, he was cold and exhausted that he ached throughout his body. He longed to settle his horses for the night and join the family celebration in his warm, cozy home. But someone from the train station came by the post office to tell him that ten large crates had arrived from the States for the Jeppson family.
It was about four in the afternoon but already it was dark. The storm was getting worse. George’s horses shivering with cold, were not capable of making another trip. The mailman decided it was just too late. There wasn’t anything he could do about it.
George went home to his eager family. He placed the Christmas tree in the living room, and the children joyfully gathered around to decorate it. Although he was surrounded by happy activity and by the delicious aromas of traditional Danish holiday food, George could not shake off thoughts of the struggling Jeppson family and the packages waiting at the post office. He took Ingeborg aside, and the couple knelt in prayer for guidance. They decided that the only thing he could do was to take the crates out to Jeppsons’ little isolated farmhouse in Hillspring that very night. So with a borrowed team of horses and a borrowed sleight with sharper runners than his own, he set out for the Jeppson place, accompanied by his fifteen-year-old son, Sidney. Ingeborg insists that Sidney go along; although Georges eyesight was passable in the daytime, his wife knew he would not be able to see at night in the midst of a fierce prairie blizzard. Ingeborg and the children sent the father and son on their way with sandwiches and little candies and snacks, and hot rocks were wrapped in blankets to keep their feet warm through the long journey.
George and his son struggled to find their way through the blinding snowstorm. Several times they felt the guidance of the Spirit as they prayed that they would reach their destination safely. With the snowdrifts deepening hour by hour, the horses plodded along more and more slowly. At last they arrived at the farmhouse. They were relieved to see one small light still on in the house.
When George and Sidney entered the home and saw how bare and humble it was, they knew why they had felt so urgently prompted to make the trip. After the postman had told Mary about his decision to come, he and his son brought the crates into the house. Mary insisted that the two stand by the stove to get warm. She got some of Leland’s clothes to replace their frozen, wet clothing.
It was nearly five o’clock in the morning when the sleigh headed back into town. It had taken George and Sidney eight hours to get to the Jeppson’s place because of the severity of the storm. They wouldn’t get home until noon or later on Christmas day. Mary thanked them both as best she could, but she always said that there was just not words enough to express their thanks. After all, how do you thank a miracle, and a Christmas miracle at that?
Mary quickly began to unpack the crates, for she had only an hour or so before the children would awaken. At the top of one of the crates she found a letter from her sisters. They told her that quilting bees has been held all over the Malad Valley, and from these, six thick, warm, beautiful quilts had been made for them. They also told of the many women who had sewn shirts for the boys and dresses for the girls, and of others who had knitted warm gloves and hats.

A Christmas invitation
Dear Family and Friends of St. John Lutheran Church,
Hans Adolf Brorson (1694 – 1764) was a Danish pastor, hymn writer and later the bishop of Ribe, Denmark. In 1729, he was transferred from a church in Randrup to a parish in the Danish border town of Tonder. Because the parish was just a few kilometers from the German border, his congregation was made up of an equal number of both Danes and Germans. However, all the hymns that they sang were German hymns. Brorson set out to change that and began to write hymns for the Danish people to sing. One of the first hymns he wrote was a hymn entitled, “Her Kommer Jesus, Dina Smaa.” (Your Little Ones Dear Lord)
On the morning of Christmas Eve, 1729, Brorson brought his newly penned Christmas hymn down to the church where the children were practicing for the Christmas Eve service. Brorson taught them the song, and that night during the close of the service, the children led the entire congregation outside where they gathered around a manger scene in the front courtyard of the church. As they gathered and with the snow gently falling and the glow of the candles they carried lighting up their faces, the children sang these beautiful words:
“your little ones dear lord are we,
And come your lowly bed to see;
enlighten every soul and mind
that we the way to you may find”
Once again, we have that special opportunity to gather around the manger of our Lord and celebrate the greatest gift ever given – the gift of God’s only Son!
Join us for a very special CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLE LIGHT SERVICE at 5:00 P.M. on December 24th at St. John Lutheran Church. The service will feature all the great Christmas hymns you have come to enjoy, a very special children’s sermon and a Christmas message that you will not forget along with the glow of the candles as we sing the beloved Christmas carol, “Silent Night”!
COME AND JOIN US ON CHRISTMAS EVE AS WE CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF OUR LORD!

Pastor’s Page

Pastor David

St. John Information

Contact/Connect
Email:stjohnslutheran.mapletonmn@gmail.com
Website: www.stjohnlutheranelca.com
Streaming: Go to www.youtube.com (type in St. John’s Mapleton in the search box). From there you will find all the services.
Items for the newsletter can be emailed to:
thestory.stjohnlutheran@gmail.com

Spiritually Speaking
Please check out our congregation’s Facebook page and “like “ us. Check us out every few days and “like” some of the inspirational and encouraging pictures and share announcements about events with your friends. This is one easy way to share information about our church and God’s Word with others.

Mission Project Opportunity’s
Loaves and Fishes will once again be providing Holiday boxes to our community people. The food shelf has seen an increase in the use of the food shelf over this past year. Working families are having difficult times with providing the food needed to feed their families. If you would like to help with this service, please contact Mary, checks can also be left in the church office. Making checks payable to Loaves and fishes. Cost for a holiday box is 50 dollars and any amount is appreciated.
We are once again a part of the Christmas Blessing Project. We are in need of toys for all ages in the price range of $20.00 dollars. This has continued to be a great service in providing gifts to those who may not otherwise receive a special gift. Money can also be donated and the elves of St. John will do the shopping, checks can be made out to St. John and in the memo line write Christmas Blessings. Gifts that are brought: please have them to the church by the 15th of December and money donations by December 5th.
Last year Christmas Blessings gave gifts to 260 children, thank you for your part in making this happen!!
Contact Koni Preston or Mary Larson with any questions.
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Which one is she? A ten-year-old, under the tutelage of her grandmother, was becoming quite knowledgeable about the Bible. Then one day she floored her grandmother by asking, "Which virgin was the mother of Jesus? The virgin Mary or the King James Virgin?"

Now Mary sat alone by the dying fire. Her husband, Leland, had gone to bed several hours earlier, feeling sad and discouraged. Mary knew that he felt he had failed his wife and children. She thought of their plight here in this land of ice and snow. Spring had come very late and winter had come very early for the last two years, causing all of their crops to freeze and fail. In October Mary had received a letter from her sisters living in Idaho. They told her that they knew that things were very hard for her, and although they had suffered some setbacks themselves they wanted to know what they could send the family for Christmas. Mary hadn’t written back right away. She was reluctant to tell them how poor and destitute the family really was. Finally in November, seeing that things were not going to get any better, in desperation she had written. Mary had requested only necessities. She told them of their family’s urgent need for food, especially what, yeast, flour, an some cornmeal. She added that it would be a blessing if they could ship just a bit of coal, for it was so cold, and their fuel was down to almost nothing. She asked for some old, used quilts, for all of hers had worn thin and were full of holes, and they could no longer keep her children warm. Also she requested some worn-out pants to cut up and use to once again patch the pants her boys were wearing. She mentioned their desperate need for socks and shoes and gloves and warm hats and coats. As the close of the letter, she had written “If you could just find a dress that someone has outgrown, I could make it over to fit Ellen. She is far too somber for such a young girl. She worries so about the family and our needs. She has only one dress that she wears all the time, and it is patched and faded.”
The week before Christmas had found Leland daily hitching up the horse to the sleigh and making the three-hour round trip from Hillspring into the town of Cardston to check at the train station and post office for a package from Idaho. Each day he would receive the same disappointing answer. Finally, on the day of Christmas Eve, he left early in the morning, went into Cardston, and waited for the one daily train. He checked at the post office as well. He left at noon, however, to return home to Hillspring before dark. And he left without a package. As he rode home, he wept openly, knowing how sad Mary would be.
Now, as Mary ceased her reminiscing, she realized how cold she was; the fire in the stove was all but out. The clock on the wall showed that it was 3:30 A.M. She looked up at the sad little mended stockings still hanging empty and felt that her heart was hanging just as empty.Outside the wind was blowing at about seventy miles an hour, and the snowstorm had intensified. She was about to put out the lantern and go to bed for a few hours when suddenly there was a knock at the door.Mary opened the door to find a man standing there, and for all the world he looked exactly like what she would expect Santa himself to look like. He was covered with frozen snow and ice. For a moment Mary doubted her senses, but then she realized it was George Sidney Schow, the mailman from Cardston. He belonged to the Church, and he knew the plight o the family. He told Mary that he knew of their waiting for the package from Idaho and that he knew there would be no Christmas without it. Outside the wind was blowing at about seventy miles an hour, and the snowstorm had intensified. She was about to put out the lantern and go to bed for a few hours when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Mary opened the door to find a man standing there, and for all the world he looked exactly like what she would expect Santa himself to look like. He was covered with frozen snow and ice. For a moment Mary doubted her senses, but then she realized it was George Sidney Schow, the mailman from Cardston. He belonged to the Church, and he knew the plight o the family. He told Mary that he knew of their waiting for the package from Idaho and that he knew there would be no Christmas without it. George Schow was a good man. A University of Utah graduate, he had years before been stricken with a disease that had caused him to gradually go blind. After receiving a priesthood blessing, he had miraculously regained partial sight in one eye.
Although he was unable to work in his chosen profession of engineering, he had found work as a postman to support his wife, Ingeborg, and their eight children.

continued

Just a Little Humor
If you are not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don't want to go there. Martin Luther
Martin Luther

The Wrong Gift The parents began to assemble the special Christmas gift they had for their children. They had ordered a kit for a tree house and received the plans for it. However, the materials they received were for a sailboat. They wrote the company to complain. The company's reply: "While we regret the inconvenience this mistake must have cause you, it is nothing compared to that of the man who is out on a lake somewhere trying to sail your tree house." Bud Brooks, Stamping Ground, KY
_________________________________________________
Actual children's versions of Christmas Carols:
"...sleep in heavenly peas"; "Joy to the world, the Savior rains"; "This is he whom Sears of old..."; "Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o'er the plane"; "While shepherds washed their socks by night
_____________________________________________
According to my chocolate advent calendar, Christmas is only 5 days away.
________________________________________________

March 2025

December 2025

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
	1	2	3 / Confirmation 6:00 / Food starting at 5:30 / starts at 5:30pm Service at 6:30pm, Confirmation class to meet with mentors at 6:15pm	4 / Service 10:30am	5	6
7 8:30 Worship Choir practice / 9:30am Worship /communion / 10:30am Coffee HourSunday School	8	9	10 / Confirmation 6:00 / Food starting at 5:30	11 / Church council / 6:30pm	12	13
148:30 Worship Choir practice / 9:30am Worship/ Children's Christmas progam /Noisy Offering	15	16	17 / Confirmation 6:00 / Food starting at 5:30	18	19	20
218:30am Worship Choir practice / 9:30am Worship /communion / 10:30am coffee hour/Sunday School	22	23	24 / NO Confirmation / Christmas Eve Service / At 5:00pm	25 / Merry / Christmas	26	27
28 8:30 Worship Choir practice / 9:30am Worship / 10:30am coffee hour / Sunday School	29	30	31 / NO confirmation

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
						1
2 / 8:30 Worship Choir practice / 9:30am Worship /communion / 10:30am Sunday School/ coffee hour / coffcoffee hour	3	4	5 / Confirmation during Lenten Service / Ash Wednesday / Supper starts at 5:30	6 / Church council / 6:30pm	7	8 / Day light savings turn your clocks ahead
9 / 8:30 Worship Choir practice / 9:30 am Worship / 10:30 Sunday School/ coffee following worship	10	11	12 / Confirmation during / Lenten Services	13	14 / Happy Valentines Day	15
168:30 Worship Choir practice / 9:30am Worship/ communion / 10:30 Sunday School /coffee hour	17	18	19 / Confirmation during Lenten Service	20 / First Day of Spring	21	22
238:30 Worship Choir practice / 9:30 am Worship Sunday Children sing / 10:30 am Sunday School/coffee hour	24	25	26 / Confirmation during Lenten Service	27	28	29

ST JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH—Council Minutes

November 2025 Church Council Meeting Minutes
ST JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH The meeting was called to order by President Royce Woitas at 6:30 p.m. at St John Lutheran Church on November 13, 2025.
Council members present: Brent Fischer, Royce Woitas(President), Aaron Annis, Brianna Carey, Mike Ward(Non-Member),Julie Lux, Rita Caron, Josh Isebrand(Vice President), Bev Raimann, Jen Marzen, Pastor David.
Absent: Donna Pakkannon, Sunni Neegaard, Matt Marzen
Opening prayer: (Pastor David)
Secretary’s Report: Motion to approve the secretary’s report by Julie Lux, seconded by Rita Caron. Motion carried.
Use of building: Angel Blessing will be held on December 6th.
Committee reports & Council representation:
Parish Ed/Youth Committee: (Julie Lux, Brianna Carey) We met last Wednesday and discussed the Christmas program and music. Jason met a young man at Gustavus that is going into youth ministry. The committee is asking if we can hire someone to help with the music for the youth. Youth breakfast last Sunday was a hit and went very well.
Mutual Ministry Committee: (Rita Caron, Sunni Neegaard) We talked about the reviews of all the workers. They are having a meeting next Monday night to talk about all the reviews that went on.
Endowment Committee: (Mike Ward) Distribution checks have gone out.
Worship Committee: (Donna Paakkonnen, Josh Isebrand) Everyone added up at the end of the year.
Church Life Committee: (Julie Lux, Jen Marzen, Bev Raimann) No meeting.
Stewardship Committee: (Mike Ward) No meeting. Planning to work on the budget next week.
Trustees Committee: (Aaron Annis, Matt Marzen, Brent Fischer) Gary Denn came in and talked about the sinks in the bathrooms downstairs. He was going to order parts to have them fixed. Batteries are still in the works for the handicap buttons outside for the door. Both humidifiers are with Chad and are waiting on a part for the AC unit. Once the part is in he will put it all in at the same time. Wiring might be out of date, so he’s wanting to see if someone can come in and make sure they are up to code. The bells have been fixed by Jason. Brent did go up to the bank and signed his name on the save deposit box.
Deacons: (Royce Woitas) Patti and Paul are wanting to retire after the new council members have been added.
Church Basement Ladies: (Bev Raimann, Rita Caron) No meeting.

Pastor’s Report: Pastor is asking to have people signed up for his transitional task force. He’s asking that four council members and eight congregation members, along with one high school student be added to the task force. The task force would meet once a month with food of course on Sunday evenings. The first Sunday after Thanksgiving will be the start of Advent. On December 21st the confirmation students will be running the church service.
Treasurer's Report: Mike Ward gave detailed information on the church's finances. Motion to approve the treasurer’s report by Rita Caron, seconded by Josh Isebrand. Motion carried.
Motion to approve a $20,000 housing allowance for Pastor David starting January 2026 by Aaron Annis, seconded by Josh Isebrand. Motion carried.
Other:
Maple River Messenger Article - The Messenger is reaching out to the church if we would be interested in writing an article on food insecurities on our heart full thoughts on our community.
Adjourn: With no further business, motion to adjourn was made by Julie Lux, seconded by Brent Fischer. Motion carried.
Lord's Prayer
Respectfully submitted by Aaron Annis, Council Secretary.
The next meeting will be Thursday December 11, 2025 at 6:30pm.
(printed as authored).
2025 Gustavus Retreat

ELCA—FAITH and SOCIETY
The ELCA is a church that believes God is calling us into the world — together. As part of this call, we seek the common good for society, provide moral vision and are committed to addressing social and cultural injustices and issues. The ELCA participates in God’s just and loving purpose for all of creation in many different ways, from the daily actions of members as citizens, to efforts in social service, to public witness for justice. In response to God’s gracious love that seeks justice, the ELCA equips and nurtures us for our callings in the world, fosters social service and ministries of mercy, encourages learning and moral deliberation around social and cultural concerns, enacts social teaching and policy documents, interprets and applies social policy, and partners with agencies, organizations and institutions dedicated to service and justice. Resources and opportunities for participation in addressing social concerns are found on many ELCA Web pages; see especially those dedicated to "Publically Engaged Church."
This is Christ's church. There is a place for you here.

My dear precious Jesus, I did not mean to take your place,
I only bring toys and things and you bring love and grace.
People give me lists of wishes and hope that they came true;
But you hear prayers of the heart and promise your will to do.
Children try to be good and not to cry when I am coming to town;
But you love them unconditionally and that love will abound.
I leave only a bag of toys and temporary joy for a season;
But you leave a heart of love, full of purpose and reasons.
I have a lot of believers and what one might call fame;
But I never healed the blind or tried to help the lame.
I have rosy cheeks and a voice full of laughter;
But no nail—scarred hands or a promise of the hereafter.
You may find several of me in town or at a mall;
But there is only one omnipotent you, to answer a sinner’s call.
And so, my dear precious Jesus, I kneel here to pray;
To worship and adore you on this, your holy birthday.
Author unknown

It's In the Bible
One day, a little boy opened the big family Bible and was fingering through it. As he turned the page, out fell a leaf which had been pressed in it He picked up the leaf and ran to his mother. "Mom," he said. "Look what I found. I think it's Adams underwear!"

Spring cleaning: When we throw out family heirlooms, but keep 36 different kinds of tea

Spring cleaning: When we throw out family heirlooms, but keep 36 different kinds of tea

September can be a time of new beginnings and endless possibilities. For some, it’s a time to make New Year’s resolutions. For others, the beginning of the new year, could mean starting college, a new job, maybe moving. Every new beginning we face is a step of faith because we don’t know what events will transpire. But when you look back years from now, what do you want to see? We can look at the future and feel fear, worry, or get anxious about because we do not feel in control.
The good news: No matter what change may come and whatever new beginning awaits us, God is with us always. Know and believe God has put certain things in your path and has given you various opportunities so He could prepare you for your purpose. We need to learn and trust God and allow these opportunities to grow us, develop us, and increase our faith.
Think of Joshua when he took over the leadership of Israel from Moses. That was a huge new beginning and change for him and for the people of Israel. When that happened, God made a promise to Joshua, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage.” (Joshua 1:5-6, NKJV). Be encouraged – God is walking this journey with you. You are not alone

ELCA—FAITH and SOCIETY
The ELCA is a church that believes God is calling us into the world — together. As part of this call, we seehttps://www.pinterest.com/pin/563583340864547212/k the common good for society, provide moral vision and are committed to addressing social and cultural injustices and issues. The ELCA participates in God’s just and loving purpose for all of creation in many different ways, from the daily actions of members as citizens, to efforts in social service, to public witness for justice. In response to God’s gracious love that seeks justice, the ELCA equips and nurtures us for our callings in the world, fosters social service and ministries of mercy, encourages learning and moral deliberation around social and cultural concerns, enacts social teaching and policy documents, interprets and applies social policy, and partners with agencies, organizations and institutions dedicated to service and justice. Resources and opportunities for participation in addressing social concerns are found on many ELCA Web pages; see especially those dedicated to "Publically Engaged Church."
This is Christ's church. There is a place for you here.

How to Jump Start Your New Beginning
There are a few things you can do to make sure you make the most of your new beginning.
Guard your heart. This means being mindful of what you allow into your mind and heart and being purposeful about filtering out anything that doesn't align with God's truth.
Spend time in the Word. As you read and meditate on Scripture, renew your mind and align yourself with God's will for your life. This is such a vital part of the process!
Worship. When you worship, you're declaring your reliance on God and surrendering to His plans for you. It's a powerful way to set the tone for your new beginning.
Pray. Prayer is essential as you embark on this new journey. As you pray, ask God to lead and guide you and give you wisdom as you make decisions.
Attend a group or service. There's something special about being in a community with other Christians walking through this journey with you. It's a great way to stay accountable and supported as you navigate your new beginning.

“Faith is God’s work in us. It changes us and makes us to be born anew of God. This faith is a living, busy, active, mighty thing. It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly. Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that believers would stake their lives on it a thousand times.” Martin Luther

View More Short Stories
View more short stories on our Short Story blog and in our Newsletter Archive.

Now we know!!!
If you loose a sock in the dryer. It returns as a Tupperware lid that doesn't fit .

The story of Adam and Eve was being carefully explained in the children's Sunday School class. Following the story, the children were asked to draw some picture that would illustrate the story. Little Bobby drew a picture of a car with three people in it. In the front seat was a man and in the back seat, a man and a woman. The teacher was at a loss to understand how this illustrated the lesson of Adam and Eve. Little Bobby was prompt with his explanation. "Why, this is God driving Adam and Eve out of the garden!"

My ducks are absolutely not in a row, I don’t even know where some of them are….and I'm pretty sure one of them is a pigeon

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the
first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, 'Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait.' Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, 'Ryan, you be Jesus.'

This is Christ’s Ch Plan to be spontaneous tomorrow.
urch
There is a place for you here
We are the church that shares a living, daring confidence in God’s grace. Liberated by our faith , we embrace you as a whole person—questions, complexities and all. Join us as we do God’s work in Christ’s name for the life of the world. ELCA.org

Bigger

Today i learned that in order to open a zoo, you must have at least 4 pandas, 2 grizzlies, 3 black, 4 brown and 1 polar.

patheos.com

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Ingredients

“Faith is God’s work in us. It changes us and makes us to be born anew of daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that believers would stake their lives on it a thousand times.” Martin Luther

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Peace Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

Bible verses about love
First stop is God's Word! There are so many verses about the "heart" of Valentine's Day, which is L-O-V-E!
Probably the most well knownand one of the best Bible verses on love is John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
God is Love
1 John 4:8 - "The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love."
1 John 4:16 - "We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."
God's Love Described1 Corinthians 13 is typically called "The Love Chapter" because it describes love; verses 4-8 say - "Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails;" Verse 13 continues - "But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
Jeremiah 31:3 says God loves with a never ending love - "The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness."
Why we can love
Matthew 22:37-40 records when Jesus was asked which of the commandments was the greatest - "He replied And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Luke 10:27 records the same - "He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
How we should love
1 Corinthians 16:14 - "Let all that you do be done in love."
1 Peter 4:8 - "Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins."
John 13:34 - Jesus tells us to love others like He has loved us: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another."
John 13:35 - Jesus goes on to say that when we love each other as His followers, all men (both other believers and unbelievers will see & recognize: "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

A Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan, in which a man was beaten, robbed and left for dead. She described the situation in vivid detail so her students would catch the drama. Then she asked the class, “If you saw a person lying on the roadside all wounded and bleeding, what would you do?” A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence, “I think I’d throw up!”
One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex was staring up at the large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church. The plaque was covered with names, and small American flags were mounted on either side of it.
The seven-year old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside the boy, and said quietly, “Good morning Alex.” “Good morning pastor,” replied the young man, still focused on the plaque. “Pastor McGhee, what is this?” Alex asked. “Well, son, it’s a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service.” Soberly, they stood together, staring at the large plaque. Little Alex’s voice was barely audible when he asked, “Which service, the 8:30 or the 11:00?”
A Sunday school teacher asked her little children, as they were on the way to church service, “And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?” One bright little girl replied, “Because people are sleeping.”
A little boy opened the big and old family Bible with fascination, he looked at the old pages as he turned them. Then something fell out of the Bible and he picked up and looked at it closely. It was an old leaf from a tree that has been pressed in between pages. “Momma, look what I found,” the boy called out. “What have you got there, dear?” his mother asked. With astonishment in the young boy’s voice he answered: “It’s Adam’s suit!!!”
A mother was teaching her three-year-old the Lord’s prayer. For several evenings at bedtime she repeated it after her mother. One night she said she was ready to solo. The mother listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word, right up to the end of the prayer. “Lead us not into temptation,” she prayed, “but deliver us some E-mail, Amen.”
A father was reading Bible stories to his young son. He read, “The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to salt.” His son asked, “What happened to the flea?”
3-year-old Reese: “Our Father, Who does art in heaven, Harold is His name. Amen.”
A little boy was overheard praying: “Lord, if you can’t make me a better boy, don’t worry about it. I’m having a real good time like I am.”
After the christening of his baby brother in church, Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, “That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys.”
One particular four-year-old prayed, “And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.”
A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. “If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, ‘Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.’ Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, ” Ryan , you be Jesus !”
A father was at the beach with his children when the four-year-old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore where a seagull lay dead in the sand. “Daddy, what happened to him?” the son asked. “He died and went to Heaven,” the Dad replied. The boy thought a moment and then said, “Did God throw him back down?”
A wife invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said, “Would you like to say the blessing?” “I wouldn’t know what to say,” the girl replied. “Just say what you hear Mommy say,” the wife answered. The daughter bowed her head and said, “Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?”
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I’m a sinner saved by grace through Jesus Christ. I’m also a writer—I’ve been writing ever since I could hold a pen. I… Meet Katherine [Loop] Hannon.

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