Events

RALLY DAY IS SET FOR SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12...On Sunday, September 12, our Christian education program will begin full force, with Rally Day. One joint worship service will be held at 9:30am at ENL. Our theme is “God’s Work...Our Hands.” Following worship and the Rally Day activities, all are welcome to a potluck meal and the opportunity to meet and greet our new seminary intern, Paul Shumaker, and his family. We look forward to an exciting year of growing in faith and exploring the theme, of “God’s Work...Our Hands.”

CONFIRMATION ORIENTATION PLANNED FOR SEPTEMBER 8...All eighth and ninth grade confirmation students and their parents are asked to attend an orientation meeting on Wednesday, September 8 at 7:00pm at First Lutheran in the fellowship hall. These students have completed one year of confirmation where they studied an overview of the Bible with the “Chosen” series. At this meeting the schedule for the entire school year will be shared. Expectations, memory work, and the mentoring program will be discussed, questions will be answered, and the “Free To Be” materials based on Luther’s Small Catechism will be distributed. This class will be confirmed on Reformation Sunday, October 30, 2011 A.D. Confirmation classes will begin on Wednesday, September 15. Students will meet from 6:30-7:30pm each Wednesday evening at FL in the Family Room. (Letters have been sent.)

THE LWT BIBLE STUDY... The 2010-2011 LWT Bible study is entitled, “The People of God: Unity in the Midst of Diversity.” The study looks at what unites us and defines us as people of faith. Our tendency is to stay focused on the issues that divide us. The goal of this study is to help us understand how our different backgrounds, life experiences, and perspectives can be shared as we study the Bible together and focus on our common faith in Jesus Christ. On Tuesday, September 14, we will meet at 1pm in the fellowship hall at ENL, to discuss session 1, “The Book of Faith-Reading the Bible.” With reading the Bible as our foundation, during this next year we will examine ideas like the body of Christ, evangelism and stewardship, spiritual gifts, race and culture, loving relationships in the context of the community of the church, difficulties that keep us from experiencing wholeness of resurrection life, and what is at the heart of Lutheran worship. Please join us – all are welcome!! The coffee pot will be on!

5TH GRADE ACOLYTE TRAINING MINI-RETREAT will be held on Sunday afternoon, September 26, at ENL following the FL meatball dinner. Instruction will take place from 1:00-3:30pm. Parents of 5th graders are also welcome to attend. (Following the 11:00am worship we encourage the 5th grade students and their families to eat at FL and then gather before 1:00pm at ENL. Perhaps these families could go to the front of the line!) (Letters will be sent.)

WELCA LAKELAND CONF. FALL GATHERING will be held on Thursday, September 23rd. Registration and supper begins at 5:00p at Hope Lutheran, Sunburg. The speaker is Rev. Joyce Graue. Cost is $7 per person. Please register by Sept. 16th. All are welcome!

SUNDAY MORNING SENIOR HIGH/ADULT EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES...
“EarthBound – Created + Called
to Care for Creation”
This fall we begin a 6-part series exploring the care of creation as Christian vocation. Lutheran theologians and teachers (on DVD) will uncover a number of barriers that have kept us from being faithful to that calling. “EarthBound” looks at the ways we have misread Scripture, misunderstood dominion, misunderstood our identity, misread biblical visions of heaven, forgotten our place in the long timeline of God’s story and misunderstood God’s abundance in a world of scarce resources.
Come join us on Sunday mornings for some thought-provoking discussion. We meet around 10am each Sunday morning in the family room at FL.
Sept. 12 – Rally Sunday
Sept. 19 – Created/Called We are created co-creators, partnering with God in the ongoing care of God’s good creation.
Sept. 26 – Here/There Some consider earth to be a temporary stop on the way to heaven, so what happens on earth is not important. God’s saving activity is for the whole of creation and takes place on earth.
Oct. 3 – Domination/Dominion In Genesis, God calls us to have dominion. We will explore the difference between domination and dominion.
Oct. 10 – Me/We God knows and values each of us personally, yet we exist as interdependent members of the web of creation.
Oct. 17 – Now/Forever Thinking and acting on a longer timescale considers the consequences of our actions on future generations, and puts us back into the overarching biblical story.
Oct. 24 – Enough/Too Much God’s abundance is sufficiency for all, not excess for some and scarcity for many.
Oct. 31 – Wrap up

VISITS AND HOME COMMUNION
If you are aware of people with special celebrations coming up, or with special needs, please contact the parish office. We want to be informed about the births, deaths, hospitalizations, illnesses, accidents, anniversaries and special birthdays - so that we can uphold one another in prayer. Also call the parish office to request home communion. Feel free to leave a message on the answering machine.

REMINDER ABOUT HIPAA RULES…
In April 2003, rules went into effect under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA). As part of this act, privacy rules restrict the use of and access to medical records and health information maintained by hospitals and other health care providers. As a result, it is at times, more challenging for clergy to obtain information about parishioners who are hospitalized and in need of pastoral care. (For your information, at Rice Hospital, Lutheran clergy have access to names and room numbers of patients who designate “Lutheran” or a Lutheran church upon admission.) If you are hospitalized and wish to be visited or called (especially if you are hospitalized outside of the Willmar area), please have someone contact the Parish Office or call Pastor Wayne on his cell phone (320-841-1951). Please leave your name, the hospital you are at, the reason for being there, and the room number. Thank you!