From Our

Associate Pastor

Luke 2:10 . . . the angel said to them, “Do not be

afraid.”

Is being afraid one of the emotions you associate

with Christmas? Maybe afraid that you will not be

able to find the all important gift for some child, or

afraid that you will only get around to baking one

kind of Christmas cookie instead of several kinds

or afraid that someone will not get to come home

for the holidays or afraid you can’t memorize your

lines for the Christmas program or afraid of

standing in front to say them.

When the angel says, “Do not be afraid,” it is not

because something might happen or not happen in

the future, it is because sometime is happening, in

that moment.

Angels were in the field about to sing to shepherds,

in that moment.

A baby was about to be born and be named Jesus,

in that moment.

A young girl was becoming a mother, in that

moment.

Bethlehem was over-run with people, in that

moment.

Herod was a mean king with no concerns for the

people he ruled, in that moment.

The light of God was flooding the night sky, in that

moment.

Jesus, the savior for all humanity was being born,

in that moment.

Right now, this millennium, this year, this

Christmas, it matters that a baby named Jesus was

born in that moment. It matters for the world, those

you love and you.

Lord Jesus, help us to be more joyful in sharing the

Good News of salvation on

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and every day. Amen

Merry Christmas Pastor Marie AK Anderson marieannka@aol.com

About Your Kids We hope you were able to attend

Faith Formation’s Christmas

Program “Jesus - My Superhero.”

We feel very blessed to have so

many stars in our Faith Formation

program. Thank you to all our

Faith Formation children who

participated and the cast of characters (Ryan

Borgschatz, Aubrey Harbaugh, Ella Diskerud, Bennett

Matzek, Grace Duncan, MacKenzie Deyo, Will

Houdek, Ella Leiferman, Abby Hunzelman, Samantha

Schettl, and Ruby Okstad), parent volunteers, and

Tianyao Xie for her musical accompaniment. We

greatly appreciate everyone who helped make the

Christmas program happen!

Please note Faith Formation will not be held now until

January 6, 2019. We will continue our Ronald

McDonald House mission work and the Spark program.

More good things to come!!

Merry Christmas to everyone and have a blessed and

Happy New Year!!

Dates to Remember:

Sundays, December 23 and 30 – NO FAITH

FORMATION

Sunday, January 6, 2019 – Return for Faith Formation

Don’t forget to check out Saint Paul Lutheran Church

Faith Formation Facebook page for news and updates.

Ashly and Cindy

Confirmation

Mentorship

Program The long awaited Confirmation

Mentorship Program will start

early in 2019. Before Mentors and

Mentees begin to meet there will be an orientation

which will include a schedule and program expectations

for everyone. If you have volunteered to be a mentor

please contact the church office with your name,

contact information and the name of the student you

will be mentoring. We will use this information to keep

you updated on the Mentorship Program. If you are a

Confirmand or parents of a Confirmand, and the mentor

is not a member of Saint Paul’s, please provide us with

this information. Until the official Mentorship Program

begins and after it has, you can support your Mentee

through prayer and showing an interest in their worship

and school activities.

2019 Offering Envelopes The 2019 offering envelopes are

here and in the fellowship hall. We

ask that you please pick up the

envelopes for all of your

immediate family members, and use them to insure

proper credit of your financial givings to your personal

statements.

Thank You,

Decorating

Committee Thank you to Carolyn Blankenship for the

beautiful “Prepare” Advent banner that is hanging

in the sanctuary, and thank you to Becky Lohmeyer,

Linda Krambeer and Tracy Barsness for beautifying

our church building for Advent & Christmas.

Everything is so very festive!

Also thanks to Ken DeBoer and Bob Holets for

setting up the Sharing Tree in the fellowship hall, and

for once again hanging our garland and wreaths outside.

We appreciate ALL of our volunteers! Thank you for

your good work!

Readers Needed

for December 30th

Worship We are still in need of readers (and other worship

volunteers) for our Sunday, December 30 Lessons

and Carols worship service. We will have only ONE

service that Sunday at 9:00 am. Please sign up on the

clipboards during worship, or call or email the church

office if you can help out.

L.O.V.E. Project THANK YOU for your generosity

with the L.O.V.E. project again this

year. We had 100+ tags on the tree

with gift requests for those less

fortunate, and all the tags were taken,

and gifts lovingly purchased.

Thank you to Joyce Lanners, Sandy

Schroeder and Val Larson for their hard work

coordinating this worthwhile project.

January Missions The Mission Coffee Hour donations

on Sunday, January 6 will go to

Family Promise Rochester.

This organization helps homeless

families find jobs, go to school,

and relocate to a home. Please consider signing up in

the fellowship hall to bring some baked goodies for

coffee hour that day. Also keep their mission in your

mind when leaving your coffee hour donation that day.

January 6 is also “Helper” and “Mac & Cheese”

Sunday for the PI Sharing Shelves. Please consider

donating boxes of Hamburger, Chicken or Tuna Helper,

as well as boxes of Mac & Cheese for our local food

shelf. Boxes may be left in the shopping carts in either

of our church entrances.

Thank you for your generous donations to these two

much-needed services in our community.

________________________________________

Confirmation Photos

If you were confirmed this fall and ordered

photos from Anne Maley, your package is in the

church office. Please pick them up at your

earliest convenience.

Mark Your Calendars! Congregational Annual Meeting

Sunday, January 20, 2019

9:30 am - ONE Worship service with communion

10:30 am – Annual Meeting

11:30 am – Potluck meal

NO Sunday School

NO Handbell Rehearsal

Kitchen Cleaning: Each month's service group

leaders should check kitchen for towels to wash

periodically and especially after planned events.

Please clean the kitchen at the end of the month. December – Group 1 – Nadeen Lunde & Judy Hartl

January – Group 6 – Barb VanDeWalker & Linda

Krambeer

*January Circle meeting:

The Elizabeth and Lydia Circles will meet together

on Tues., January 8 (note this is the 2nd

Tuesday of the

month) at 1:30 pm. for Bible Study. We invite you to

bring your left-over Christmas goodies to share

following Bible study!

Position for Director of

Music We are seeking to hire a part-time

Director of Music. This person would

oversee all vocal & instrumental programs,

including the directing of the Chancel Choir and Praise

Team. Piano proficiency preferred but not required.

Interested applicants should submit a resume with

references to the church office email:

saintpaulpi@yahoo.com or call 356-8925 if you have

questions.

PowerPoint Team Members

Needed The PowerPoint Team is looking for two additional

members to join them in creating the worship

PowerPoints. The commitment is for an average of one

Sunday a month. We will train you. Did you know you

can do this from your home? If you are familiar with the

PowerPoint program, we sure could use your talents!

Please contact the church office if you are interested.

_____________________________________________

There will NOT be an end of December church newsletter. The next newsletter

will go out on January 15, 2019.

Online Giving Instructions Saint Paul Lutheran Church offers an easy way to

manage your giving online! Online Giving is convenient

and allows you to set up automatic recurring

contributions and view your complete online giving

history from anywhere you have access to the Internet.

Simply follow these easy steps:

1. Visit the church website at http://www.saintpaulpi.org 2. Click on the Online Giving button at the bottom right of the home page 3. Click on the Create Profile button, then 4. Follow the onscreen instructions to create an online profile and to schedule your recurring contributions.

If you have questions or need assistance setting up

your account, check with Kari Toft.

Upcoming Wednesday evening meals: Dec. 19 – Soup & Sandwiches

Dec. 26 – NO DINNER (NO Service)

NEWSLETTER Saint Paul Lutheran Church

214 Third Street SW, PO Box 708

Pine Island, MN 55963

Address Service Requested

Staff – Darby Lawrence, Senior Pastor

Marie AK Anderson, Interim Associate Pastor

Website: saintpaulpi.org 507-356-8925

Worship Schedule

Sunday Worship – 8:15 & 10:30 am

Coffee fellowship following Sunday worship

Communion Served on 1st, 3rd and 5th weeks

Wednesday Evening Oasis –

Meal served - 5:15-6:00 pm

Worship with communion - 6:15 pm

7th & 8

th grade Confirmation class - 7:00 pm

Faith Formation (formerly Sunday School) –

Sundays at 9:30 am (for all children 3-years-old

through 6th grade)

_______________________________________

December 18, 2018 - God’s work. Our hands.

___________________________________________

End of the Year

Worship and Office

Schedule Sunday, December 23 – 4

th Sunday in

Advent – one service at 9:00 am. NO

Faith Formation classes. NO Handbell

Rehearsal.

Monday, December 24 - Candlelight Christmas Eve

services at 3:00 pm, 5:00 pm and 10:00 pm

NO Christmas Day worship service

Office hours – closes at noon on Dec. 24, closed

December 25 and 26

NO Wednesday night Oasis worship (Dec. 26)

Lessons and Carols worship services, Sunday,

December 30 – one service only at 9:00am. NO Faith

Formation classes. NO Handbell Rehearsal. Coffee hour

will follow worship.

Office Closed: Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Merry Christmas from the

Church Staff

Anita Witthoeft, Tianyao Xie

Cindy Dentz, Ashly Matzek

Lonnie and Audrey Sather

Jeremy Marquardt, Jodie Shanahan,

Diane Webb, Lori Weis

Pastor Marie and Pastor Darby

________________________ Year-End Givings

Monday, December 31 will be the last day to make a contribution to the church to get on this year’s books. Please have your donations to the

church office no later than noon on Dec. 31st. Thank you for your generous giving!

Non-profit Organization

U.S. Postage Paid

Pine Island, MN 55963

Permit # 17