St. Matthew Ev. Lutheran Church 206 Hemlock Street PO Box 647 Marathon, WI 54448-0647 Website: stmatthewmarathon.org Phone: 715-443-2028
Jon W. Hadler, Pastor [email protected] Cell: 715-409-0898
Jackie Matthiae, Secretary [email protected] Cell: 715-370-8557
March 2017
The St. Matthew Communicator
2017 CHURCH COUNCIL Randy Hamann President Mike Matthiae Vice President Jim Zimmerman Secretary Jake Lemke Treasurer Brian Gumtz Christian Education Larry Block
Buildings & Grounds
Bruce Stelter
Buildings & Grounds
Dennis Cramer
Finance Committee
Simon Fuhrman
Finance Committee
Lent is a season of the church year lasting forty days, not counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday (this year March 1 – April 15). Lent comes from the Anglo Saxon word “lencten,” which means “spring.” The forty days represent the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptations of Satan and preparing to begin his public ministry. For the believer in Christ, Lent is a time of repentance, reflection on Jesus’ sufferings and death, and preparation for cele-brating the Savior’s resurrection on Easter. The Sundays in Lent are not counted in the forty days because each Sunday represents a “mini-Easter” in which we still rejoice in Jesus’ resur-rection despite the solemnity of the season. While some believers give something up for Lent, wouldn’t it be more advantageous for your faith in Christ to take something up that will feed and nourish your faith? After all, it is through Word and sacrament that the Lord strengthens faith, not through fasting or absti-nence. This year your congregation is offering you three unique opportunities to be in his Word.
Sunday Worship Series
Ever notice that there are many different styles of crosses? There’s often a reason for that – a meaning and symbolism within each cross pattern. This year Pastor Hadler and Pastor Andy Schmidt (Immanuel – Mosinee) will be rotating the Sun-day services and looking at six different styles: the Anchor Cross, the Tau Cross, the Greek Cross, the Saltire Cross, the Crosslet Cross, and the Maltese Cross. We will conclude this series on Easter Sunday with the Glory Cross.
Midweek Lenten Series
Pastor Hadler, along with Pastor Bob Edwards (Our Savior’s – Wausau), Pastor Andrew Franzo (Redeemer – Weston), and Pastor Glenn See-feldt (Grace – Ringle) will be leading the
LENTEN SERIES
Wednesday services un-der the theme: “Repent – Turn to Jesus.” This theme comes from the critical questions that occasioned Martin Lu-ther’s Ninety-five Theses
and thereby the Lutheran Reformation: What is the essence of repentance? Is repentance the act of “doing penance” – making satisfaction for sin? Or is repentance something else entirely? Repentance, Luther came to see, is God’s gra-cious gift to us. Luther proclaimed the biblical truth that the believer’s entire life is a life of repentance – a daily return to the saving waters of Baptism. Services will be on Wednesdays at 1:00 PM and 7:00 PM, beginning on Ash Wednesday, March 1, and running through April 5. There will be a time for fellowship after each of the Wednesday services. During Holy Week services we be on Maundy Thursday, April 13 (1:00 & 7:00 PM) and Good Friday, April 14 (1:00 & 8:00 PM).
Sunday Bible Class
Pastors Hadler and Schmidt will lead the Sunday Bible Classes (9:10 AM) during Lent as we study “Resurrection Fusions.” Fusion is the merging of diverse, distinct, or separate elements into a unified whole. God’s Word is filled with fusion. We will look at six resurrections – three from the Old Testament and three from the New Testament – and how they prefigure what has happened to every Christian. All are spiritually dead, yet, in Christ and the fusion into his death and resurrection, those once dead in sin are resurrected and made alive in him.
JOYCE OELKE
Member Since: Joyce has been a member
since 1974.
Family: Joyce has one son, Jerome, who is
married to Janice, and they have three children: Jordan (Corrections Officer for Lincoln County), Joel (Junior at UW River Falls), and Julia (Freshman at UW Madison). Their family resides in Merrill.
Hometown: She was born and raised in
Wausau, but is currently living in Merrill.
Interests/Hobbies: Joyce enjoys reading,
knitting, and doing word jumbles or crossword puzzles.
Favorite Food or Restaurant: Joyce’s favorites
include 2510 Restaurant or New Pine Ridge in Merrill.
Church Involvement: Joyce was a member of
the Altar Guild for 30 years, and served as President and Treasurer in the past. She also
served as the President and Treasurer for the Mission Circle ladies group. She is still involved in the Ladies Aid, and was one of the co-chairs for Serving Group I for many years.
Church Memory, Song or Bible Verse that Inspires You: Her favorite hymn is “Day by
Day” and her favorite Bible verse is Psalm 31:3.
Meet Our Members
T h e S t . M a t t h e w C o m m u n i c a t o r
Recent Baptism
On Sunday, January 29, Asher Michael Carr received the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit through the sacrament of Holy Baptism. Asher is the infant son of Kyle and Trisha Carr. He was born on December 29, 2016 at St. Clare’s Hospital. He joins big brother, Caison, who will be two this month. Serving as Asher’s godparents are Kody Carr, Garrett Carr, Kellie Carr, Brandon Pryes, and Brenna Sandberg.
WELS Nurses
The 2017 WELS Nurses Association Spring Conference will be held April 21 and 22 at the WELS Center for Mission and Ministry, Waukesha, Wis. The theme is "Christian Nurses Ministering to Those Who Struggle." We have a wide range of speakers, with topics on speech pathology, prison ministry, holistic care, PTSD, multiculturalism, and addictions. All WELS/ELS nurses are invited. Online regis-tration begins March 1.
Pictured from left: Brandon Pryes, Garrett Carr, Brenna Sandberg, Pastor Hadler, Kyle Carr holding Asher, Trisha Carr, and Kody Carr holding Caison.
Joyce Oelke
Joyce’s son, Jerome, & his family. Clockwise, standing: Jordan, Joel,
Julia, Jerome & Janice Oelke
On Tuesday March 14, 2017 the River Valley OWLS will meet at 1:30 PM to learn about the “Art of RightSized Living.” This program will focus on the positive and pleasant aspects of transition. Issues included in transition are: organizing, sorting, arranging, allocating, purg-ing, movpurg-ing, downsizpurg-ing, and preparing for moving day. Annette Krautkramer, President/ Owner of Caring Transitions of Central Wis-consin will conduct the program. The meeting will take place at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in the Fellowship Hall (lower level). Come, bring a friend, and get ready to organize your life!
Highlights of the Church Council Meeting
Council Meeting on Monday, February 13, 2017 Membership
Matthew Ahrens & Jackie Lang have reserved the church for their wedding on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017.
Funeral services for Clarence Hemmrich (date of death: Feb. 7, 2017) were held on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017.
Worship & Education
Circuit News: Pastor Bob Edwards (Our Savior’s, Wausau) was called to serve the vacancy at Grace (town of Maine & St. Paul, Naugart).
The Youth Group met on February 12. They are planning to host the Lenten fellowship on March 29 and the Easter breakfast.
Building and Grounds
The council approved spending up to $500 to replace the light fixtures in the kitchen with LED lights.
Elders
The Elders met on Jan. 23 and Feb. 6 to review the Purposes of the Church.
Finance Committee
The Finance chairs will meet with the church secretary to set the meetings for the remainder of 2017.
Old Business
The Council approved the proposal from Allied 100 of Wood-ruff, WI for LIFEPAK CF Plus AED for $1,551.92 that Darrin Hall received. This is approximately $150 less than the proposal
from AED First Response. This defibrillator is now identical to the one used by the Marathon First Responders.
New Business
We will increase our copy count contract with EO Johnson from 72,000 per year to 125,000 copies per year.
The Council approved having a pig roast again this year for the Family Day Picnic, which is scheduled for July 30.
Pastor has been taking part in a webinar hosted by Church Mutual discussing “Protection from Violence” on Tuesdays, Feb. 7, 14 & 21 at 1:00 PM.
The Church Council will host the last Lenten fellowship on Wed, April 5.
Confirmation examination will be held on Friday, April 28. Following the examination, the Church Council will host the fellowship.
The next Council meeting will be held on Monday, March 13 at 7:00 PM.
THANK YOU to Larry Block &
Bruce Stelter for spending their
Monday morning (February 20)
replacing all the light fixtures in
the church kitchen. Thank you for
helping to keep our church
efficiently well illuminated!
SCHEDULE
Friday Evening - Know you.
God wants you to better know him and each other. You can do both.
Saturday Breakfast (included). Appreciate you. A
healthy relationship is filled with appreciation. Practice expressing appreciation to God and each other. Gain trust. God has made deposits to your spiritual bank account. Learn how to make depos-its in your spouse’s emotional bank account and build trust. Lunch (included). Manage conflict (part
1). Eliminate four enemies of friendship and
replace them with their antidotes. Manage conflict
(part 2). Practice skills to fix your solvable
prob-lems and learn to use a new blueprint to overcome the gridlock of other problems. Date night (on your
own).
Sunday Breakfast (included). Connect with you.
Connect with our Lord and each other through shared faith, build rituals of connection with each other and build a life together. Closing worship. Mid-way between Chicago and Milwaukee and just blocks from the Lake Michigan Shore, the Inn at Market Square is an architectural tribute to the 1907 Zion Hotel. Your registration fee of $315 includes lodging for both nights, breakfast both days and lunch on Saturday.
Healthy Marriage - WELS Marriage Enrichment
March 17 - 19, 2017 Zion, Illinios
Public health leaders have identified “social determinants of health ” – things that affect a wide range of health, functioning and quality of life. Jesus has identified “determinants of a healthy marriage” – things that affect the health of your marriage. As it turns out, the same factors that contribute to a healthy life with Jesus contribute to a healthy marriage. Healthy Marriage will help you learn those “determinants of a healthy marriage.” More than that, Healthy Marriage will equip you to practice them and maintain the health of your marriage long after this memorable weekend get -away.
Frequently Asked Questions: Q: Do you have to be WELS?
A: No. This is for anyone who wants to pursue a biblical marriage.
Q: Will we be put “on the spot”?
A: No. Pastor Hunter is aware of the need for some conversations to be private. He helps you have them but in a safe way.
Q: Is this for troubled marriages?
A: No. This is routine maintenance for your marriage. Yes. The gospel changes us and moves us to a healthier and stronger marriage.
Q: Who is the teacher?
A: Pastor Hunter is a parish pastor, a denominational leader and a developer and teacher of Lutheran marriage resources. He has taught hundreds of pastors and thousands of people in person and through his website, gracefor-marriage.com. He and Karen have been glorifying God together for 32 years. Register at www.wels.net/adult-discipleship
Registration questions?
Contact Tammy Heckendorf at [email protected].
Content questions?
and April 5 - Church Council.
The following correspondence was shared: Card & monetary gift from Mary Ann
Walsh.
Thank you for the cookies from Leila Dirks.
Thank you for the cookies from Lorraine Romang.
Thank you from Pastor for the Christmas gift.
Bruce Lambrecht called Gloria Matthiae to express his thanks for the cookies. Motion carried to give the $100 monthly
mission gift to the Central Africa Medical Mission.
LWMS Rally preparations were discussed.
Highlights of the Ladies Aid Meeting
Meeting on February 2, 2017
Ten members and Pastor were in attend-ance.
The group thanked Darlene Hanke for her many years of service as Aid president and Joyce Oelke for all her years of service on the Ladies Serving Group.
New Baptism napkins are being made. The Ladies Aid will approach the Altar Guild about covering this cost.
Motion carried to apply $30 toward upgrad-ing the center pieces for the LWMS Rally. The Aid finalized the Lenten fellowship
serving schedule. They will be hosting on Ash Wednesday, March 1. The other fellow-ship hosts will be: March 8 - Altar Guild, March 15 - Potluck, March 22 - Christian Care Committee, March 29 - Youth Group,
WELS Missions is blessed with many active partners who help to support the proclamation of the gospel. The Lutheran Women’s Mission Society (LWMS) is one of those important contributors. The women of LWMS support WELS mission pastors and families, as well as help provide the means to continue gospel outreach worldwide.
At the 2016 annual convention, WELS Missions received generous gifts:
Home Missions: $41,529.28 – Summer Student Assistants
World Missions: $41,529.29 – Television Broadcast for Muslim World and Theological Seminars
kids c.a.r.e. mission project: $60,816.17 – Central Africa Medical Mission Orphan/ Infant Program
Worship Service Offerings: $51,620.29 – divided between home mission project Out-reach to Asians and world mission project Apache Leadership and Maintenance
Since August of 2015, Home Missions has authorized close to $150,000.00 to special projects to assist and enhance mission efforts. The majority of those funds have come from LWMS gifts. This year marks the 54th annual convention to be held in Orlando, Fl., June 22-25, 2017. For more visit
lwms.org.
Missions says “thanks ever so much” to LWMS for the generous and continued support of WELS Missions.
T h e S t . M a t t h e w C o m m u n i c a t o r
Next Ladies Aid Meeting:
Thurs, March 2
1:00 PM
The LWMS Spring Rally is planned for Saturday, April 22, 2017 here at St. Matthew’s. The theme for the rally will be “Across the Sea, Across the Street.” Pastor Richard Russow will speak on his recent trip to Albania for that mis-sion’s 20th anniversary. Pastor Jeff Mahnke will update us on news from the District Mis-sion Board and will share a presentation on "How to be a Home Missionary." Watch for more info to come!
Thank You LWMS
Save the Date!
Summer Camps
Interested in a summer camp experience? Camp Phillip in Wautoma, Wisconsin has many Christ-centered, WELS sponsored opportuni-ties available for students (K-12), families, and adults. Family and grandchildren & grandpar-ent camps offer a “camping” experience that is already organized for you! WELS also has other affiliated programs (i.e. Camp Bird for Lutherans in Two Rivers) that offer different options for summer fun to children of various ages and learning abilities. If interested in any of these, we place the materials we receive in the display case above the ushers’ table in the entryway. Or go to www.welscamps.com for more information.Choir practice
resumes on Sunday,
March 19 at 7:00
PM. The choir will
have four Sunday
evening practices
to prepare for the
upcoming Holy
week/easter
Schedule.
Any Questions,
please contact
choir director,
Brian Gumtz.
To the members of St. Matthew's:
“Are you giving up something for Lent?” This has been a question asked of me the last couple of weeks from co-workers. “I’m giving up chocolate, junk food or alcohol” is sometimes a reply I hear. My usual response is, “I’m giving up working overtime.” This usually gets a chuckle and the conversation changes. However, should we give something up for Lent? I know this isn’t a common practice for Lutherans, but should we? I have also heard people doing a practice called “Reverse Lent.” Rather than giving something up, do some-thing for someone else…a person might write 40 cards with words of encouragement for a friend for each day in Lent. What should our thoughts be for Lent? Where should our focus be? Let our focus and thoughts during this Lenten season provide an opportunity to reflect on our own sinful nature and point our eyes to the cross, where Christ secured our salvation and from which our service to others now flows.
The financials remain healthy and I am looking forward to a blessed 2017!!
In His Service,
Jake Lemke, Treasurer
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Missions - 2017
Missions
YTD Budget
WELS
$ 2,092 $ 27,416
NLHS
$ 232 $ 4,780
Door Offering
$ 350
$ 3,400
Total
$ 2,674 $ 35,596
8%
The Word in Stevens Point
20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000 160,000 180,000 200,000
Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep-17 Oct-17 Nov-17 Dec-17
2017 Expenses
Actuals Budget
Stewardship Report
Jan-16 Feb-16 Mar-16 Apr-16 May-16 Jun-16 Jul-16 Aug-16 Sept-16 Oct-16 Nov-16 Dec-16 Jan-17
General $ 5,329 $ 4,723 $ 2,593 $ 2,731 $ 3,776 $ 2,441 $ 3,348 $ 2,966 $ 1,301 $ 436 $ 967 $ 1,140 $ 2,153 Buildings & Grounds $ 7,454 $ 8,153 $ 8,631 $ 9,294 $ 9,302 $ 12,512 $ 13,119 $ 13,564 $ 12,275 $ 12,656 $ 11,837 $ 12,965 $ 13,430
Total $ 12,783 $ 12,876 $ 11,224 $ 12,024 $ 13,079 $ 14,953 $ 16,467 $ 16,529 $ 13,576 $ 13,093 $ 12,803 $ 14,105 $ 15,584
We acknowledge with thankfulness the special gifts and memorials we recently received.
In Memory of Nancy Lindsey
To Ladies Aid: Orville & Darlene Hanke
Special Gifts & Memorials
50 100 150 200 250 (30,000) 20,000 70,000 120,000 170,000 220,000
Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep-17 Oct-17 Nov-17 Dec-17
2017 Offerings
206 Hemlock Street PO Box 647
Marathon, WI 54448-0647
St. Matthew Ev. Lutheran Church
God’s Son Has
Made Me Free
Lent / Easter Concert
Northland Lutheran High
School Choir and Band
March 12, 2017
3:00 p.m.
Our March 26 freewill door offering will go to WELS Native American Projects, which includes the Apache Mission work being done. Just so you understand exactly where your gift goes, here are a few details about this mission.
The Apache Lutheran Mission field is located in eastern Arizona on the White Moun-tain Apache Reservation and the San Carlos Apache Reservation. Between the two reservations there are eight churches, one preaching station, and two Lutheran ele-mentary schools. WELS has been serving the Apache nation in Arizona since 1893, and it holds the honor of being the first world mission of WELS. Currently, the mis-sion field includes four mismis-sionaries, one full-time native pastor, a director for the Apache Christian Training School program, two native elementary teachers, six non-native teachers, and one part-time volunteer evangelist. The Apache Lutheran churches are currently training future leaders for work as evangelists, teachers, and pastors through the Apache Christian Training School located at the East Fork Mis-sion.
The Apache Christian Training School currently has about 100 students enrolled, with a handful of men enrolled in the pre-seminary program. Dan Rautenberg is serving as the director and professor. During the year, professors from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary visit the school to present seminars for the students.
Congregations at East Fork, Canyon Day, Whiteriver, Peridot, San Carlos, Bylas, Ci-becue, and McNary continue to be served by two WELS missionaries and one evan-gelist on the northern reservation and two WELS missionaries on the southern reser-vation. Each location continues to focus on building Christian leaders for the future long-term stability of the church. East Fork and Peridot schools both have dedicated staffs of teachers who are sharing God’s Word with about 80 and 65 students, re-spectively.
