ST. JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH
(The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod)
Alma, Kansas
A family united by faith in Christ gathering around God's Word and Sacraments.
To reach out in Christ-like concern and Christ-borne love to each other and to those without Christ!
ANNUAL REPORT 2022
Reports and Goals of the Church's Boards
BOARD OF ELDERS REPORT 2022
It has been an honor and privilege to serve our church family and assist Pastor Grimm this past year. With COVID for the most part behind us, we are pleased to see Sunday worship returning more to normal. Discussion of ways to reach out and encourage non-attendees continues.
Throughout the year the board continued to completion a study of Rick Marrs’ book Making Christian Counseling More Christ-Centered. Pastoral vacancies at neighboring congregations triggered questions and discussion between St. Paul, Alta Vista, St. Paul, Clarks Creek and Redeemer, Lake Wabaunsee. Our Board had representation at these meetings to observe ways, if any, that we might be able to assist. Having been given the opportunity to host a summer vicar, the Board recommended to Church Council that we cooperate with Trinity, McFarland and share a vicar for two months. Rod Stewart, a seminary student at Concordia Fort Wayne, alternated preaching at St. John and Trinity from June 12 to July 31. With the retirement of church secretary Janet Wertzberger, the elders hired Cheryl Buttenhoff to fill the vacancy. Thank you, Janet and Cheryl. As part of the budget process, the Board of Elders requested voter approval for the addition of annual membership in Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization established to assist church ministries and Church Schools to proactively prepare for potential legal threats. Elders planned a Leadership Retreat for January 6, 2023 with the desire that each board build a three-year revolving calendar for annual events and recurring tasks. January of 2022 marked 25 years that Pastor Grimm has provided faithful service and pastoral care to our congregation. We give thanks to God for blessing us with the opportunity to have Pastor as our Shepherd. Thank you, Pastor, Gayle, and family for the past 25 years sharing the Love of Christ with us. We pray for God’s continued blessing and guidance. Ken Smith, Chairman
BOARD OF TRUSTEES: 2022
2022 was a year that our Lord continued his never-ending flow of blessings on our congregation. The trustees worked to maintain and upgrade our facilities at SJL. In addition to regular maintenance, we completed the following projects both at the church and the school:
● Concrete paving between the church and school. ● Adding a fence on the south end of the school. ● Adding a gate to the south entrance to control traffic flow. ● Installing an electronic display sign/message board. ● Painting of exterior church doors. ● Roof repairs to the church and school ● Organ repair and tuning. ● Carillon repair. ● Retaining wall replacement at the school. ● Installation of exterior lights on Church sidewalks. ● Exterior rock repair The Lord has and will continue to bless us in many ways. We are all individually blessed with unique talents. May we all continue to serve our Lord in any way that we can. If you would like to help with Church work, please contact one of the Trustees as we continue to spread the Gospel.BOARD OF STEWARDSHIP – 2022
The duty of the Stewardship Board includes informing St. John congregation members concerning the gifts that have been given to support the work and upkeep of our congregation. Our church mission statement says that we are “a family united by faith in Christ gathering around God’s Word and Sacraments to reach out in Christ-like concern and Christ-borne love to each other and to those without Christ!” As Saints and Priests of God, we budget our tithes and offerings to ensure that we. . .
•have a preacher who preaches the life-saving and life-giving Word of God; •support the professional church workers who teach our school children; •contribute to the mission work in various ways and •support all who work to ensure that our facilities are maintained. How are we to support God’s work in the Church? The New Testament gives us four principles of giving…
1. Voluntarily and cheerfully. 2. Our first fruits. 3. Proportionally. 4. Faithfully. We ask our members to support the God given work we are here to do. The Board thanks all who assist us in accomplishing our duties and pray that His kingdom’s work be done.In His Service,
Your St. John Stewardship Board
Stacy Dreibelbis, Paula Moege and Judy Peddicord
Financial Secretary, Ryan Theel
BOARD OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 2022
The Board was busy planning, and overseeing Christian education for our congregation. Here are the highlights of our year:
-A pastor performance review was conducted, and results discussed.
-A successful game night was held on February 19th. -Confirmands continued to have their mentor program, meeting monthly during Wednesday confirma-
tion classes.
-VBS was once again a huge success, and was held May 23rd and 24th. An end of the summer pool party was held to celebrate. -Pastor taught a 6-week adult Bible study, “Everyone Your Witness.” -Bruce and Kathy Schultz started an in home, small group, book study class. -We are also actively looking for a youth leader to lead Teens for Christ. We will continue to look for creative ways to reach our congregation through Christian education.The 2022 Board of Christian Education
Cheryl Buttenhoff, Kara Mayer, Jim MacGregor, Rita Zeller, and Heather Orton
SUNDAY SCHOOL 2022
Thank you to the following for their help and support: Pastor Grimm, Cheryl Buttenhoff, Dennis Theel, Charley Gann, Ashton Torrey, Chelsie Hutchinson, and Lisa Thompson.
Knowledge of the Bible lesson is very important and so is showing and sharing your faith. We will be doing activities to help understand the lesson better. Sunday School is a place where the children can put their knowledge of God and their faith to work. The goal is to help faith grow, to support each other, live your faith, defend your faith, and be able to tell others. There are many things in the world around us that can and do mislead us. Sunday School is another way to help us stay focused on Jesus, our Savior! Parents, don’t “send” your children “bring” them and join us in class (some of the activities can use many hands) or you can join a class of your own. Sunday School is for all ages.May God bless us as we teach and learn.
Phillip Theel, S.S. Superintendent
Adult Bible Classes 2022
Bible Classes were conducted on Sunday mornings. Rev. Mayes concluded his walk through the Bible, with students in the sanctuary. Rev. Grimm continued and completed our study of Luther’s Small Catechism in Memorial Hall. We did a video study of “Every One His Witness” to help us see the importance of being ready to share faith.
On Thursday mornings, and some Sunday evenings in 2022, we met to review the teachings of Jesus, Heroes of the Faith, and the book of Ephesians. One course of Adult Information classes was held, with three members joining the church in May.
Vacation Bible School 2022
At Anchored By Faith VBS, 109 children from the community learned that about being disciples and obeying Christ. VBS was held on May 23rd & 24th, from 9am -3pm. We had 23 youth leaders and 17 adults that helped with VBS this year by leading lessons, serving lunches, preparing snacks, and creating moments the children can treasure. We truly appreciate all the children and volunteers that participated, as well as the generosity of all those that donated in one way or another to make this possible.
Day 1 focused on the verse- Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. John 13:35 In craft, we repurposed paper to create rolled ornaments and crosses! Our snack recognized the Fruit of the Spirit by making fruit pizzas. In Service Project, kids made bags and dog toys from old t-shirts.
Day 2- Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it. Luke 11:28 In Bible Connect youth created prayer prompts to help them connect to God through prayer! Instead of Dream Catchers, we made Faith Catchers to remind us that our Faith gets us through hard things. Both days kids had a blast in music with fun songs and plenty of opportunity to dance around in praise. Our games and recreation gave kids the opportunity to put their energy to good use and have fun with new friends. Children of all ages worked collectively; each bringing their special strengths, and reinforcing the importance of teamwork! We ended by singing songs of worship at the Alma Manor.
Rita Zeller, Director
Saint John Lutheran School Board – Calendar Year 2022
The mission of St. John Lutheran School is to provide a foundation in Jesus Christ
and to develop the God-given talents of learning.
We are pleased to report we completed our National Lutheran School Accreditation in 2022. Additionally, we have completed several projects around the school beginning with fencing, driveway concrete, entrance gate and basketball goal for recess. We are continuing to look at ways to improve our school both academically and aesthetically.
There has been some interest in children from Mt. Calvary in Wamego attending our school, talks continue with them and transportation / busing continues to be something the school board is looking at for the fall of 2023. The year was also busy getting teachers and classrooms set. We continue to look for a K-1 teacher for 2023-2024. We have met several times this past year, conducted interviews, and hope to have a K-1 teacher in place soon. A big thank you to Julie Butler for returning to the classroom to teach K-1 this year.Thank you for your support of SJLS. Perry Piper, School Board Chairman
EAGLE’S EYE VIEW FROM ST. JOHN LUTHERAN SCHOOL
The mission of our school is to provide a foundation in Jesus Christ and develop the God given talents of learning.
2022-23 School Year Theme: “Go and make disciples of all nations” Matthew 28:19-20
New Staff: In July Julie Butler agreed to fill the vacancy left by Robin Gray’s return to Iowa. She serves as kindergarten and 1st grade teacher. To increase one-on-one time for the students, Mrs. Howard teaches English Language Arts for the 1st grade (with the addition of an aide – Juliann Manka) and Mrs. Greene has 1st grade Math. Julie had taught kindergarten and preschool for a number of years and Mrs. Manka has worked in daycare centers. Replacing Mrs. Butler in the kitchen is James Walton (also a St. John grad). Thank you, Lord for blessing us with willing and capable staff members!
National Accreditation: Our five-year accreditation renewal is complete! With the onset of COVID restrictions in March of 2020, the accreditation renewal was extended to June of 2021 and then again to June of 2022. A visitation team spent time in Alma in the spring of 2022 to complete the process. We received the official approval in August.
New Students: The 2022-23 school year includes 42 (Kindergarten through 8th grade) students enrolled. New students include Ethan and Logan Haynos (K and 1), Riley Kyle (K), Wyatt Faulk (K), Meyer Pfannenstiel (K), Madeline Mayer (K), Sienna Bruning (K), Ivy Anderson (K), Barrett Maike (K), Kota McKinven (6 th ), and Brayden Thornton (8 th ).
Chapel Projects: Every Wednesday, we have Chapel in the sanctuary – please join us for any of our upcoming services. The 2021-2022 second semester projects were “Hearts for Jesus” and Lutheran Bible Translators. The chapel offerings for the first semester of the 2022-23 school year are being designated for the Lutheran Heritage Foundation and Santa’s Express.
2021-2022 Academic Awards: Perfect School Attendance Emma Seele; Honor Roll – Kalvin Lynch (7th), Jacob Debler (6th), Emma Seele (6th), Kameron Moege (5th), Eli Wertzberger (5th), Teddy Walton (4th), Alex Glotzbach (4th), Ellinor Pfannenstiel (4th), Anna Debler (3rd), Baylee Howard (3rd), Allison Hurla (3rd), Haley Shannon (3rd).
Children’s Christmas Service: Our Christmas service focused on the message of salvation from the perspective of the Magi. Students led us in worship with a full house in attendance. Mrs. Howard and Pastor Grimm led the program while Tara Murrow accompanied on the piano.
Thrivent Choice Dollars: We continue to receive “Choice Dollars” through a program sponsored by Thrivent. These donations have helped fund the lunch program, the AIDE position, and other projects. Thank you very much for remembering, helping with, and blessing the ministry of St. John Lutheran School.
Goals: Goals for the year 2023 continue to include: 1) Increase enrollment from St John and Trinity congregations, the city of Alma, Wabaunsee county, and the surrounding area; 2) being a pathway for the spiritual growth of students AND their families; 3) Expend our use of technology to enhance the learning environment for all students, and 4) updating and improving the school grounds.
Thank You! Thank you for your prayers! Thank you for your comments and suggestions! Thank you for your financial support! Thank you for allowing us to be a ministry of St. John Lutheran Church of Alma! Thank you for the blessing of 149 years of quality Christian education reaching the lives of children from Kindergarten through 8th grade.
Principal, Harmon Butler
