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!
May 2024 Friendship Circle News
Our next meeting is May 15th at 1:30 p.m. at St. John Memorial Hall.
DEVOTION: Don't Discard Me, God! - Joyce Diehl
ROLL CALL: Name a time when you saw or felt God's hand in your life.
BIBLE STUDY: "Destroying Walls" led by Janet Wertzberger
SPECIAL BUSINESS: June 2nd - 150th Anniversary of St. John Lutheran School
SERVICE ACTIVITY: No special activity for the month of May.
APARIL MEETING NOTES
1. We voted to donate $100 to the Wabaunsee High School FCCLA to assist with expenses for the members who won awards at the State level to attend the FCCLA National Convention in Seattle, Washington.
2. LWML Spring Manhattan Zone meeting was held at Duluth April 6th. Several of our members attended.
3. The Kansas District LWML Convention was held at Wichita April 12-14. Several of our members attended and reported that 319 members from the state attended. There were many speakers and Bible Study leaders that inspired those who attended.
THE NEXT NOISY SUNDAY for mission grants mite offering is the last Sunday in June.
THE FEATURED MISSION GRANT FOR MAY: MISSION GRANT NO. 11 – Ministry in Mission – Haiti - $85,000. This grant will help purchase needed supplies to finish the restoration work on the Lutheran Church in Haiti. The necessary materials are needed to finish floors, repair electrical work, install toilets, and complete furnishings.
2023-2025 Mission Grant No. 15 – Feeding Haitian Children Through Gospel and Meals, Trinity Hope - $58,082. This grant will be used to feed about 538 children, teachers, and cooks each school day for the next two academic years at Paul et Isabel Lutheran School in Hinche, Haiti. They are fed physically and spiritually every day and become missionaries to their families. Please keep the people in Haiti in your prayers as they continue to suffer through many devastations in their country.
TEENS FOR CHRIST: Teens for Christ will have a meeting Sunday, May 19 5-7 pm at Jim and Kim Diehl’s house 26803 Hessdale Rd. We would like to celebrate our graduates and welcome our new members that will be going into the 8th grade for the 2024-25 school year. Join us for pizza, lesson, information on the 2025 youth gathering in New Orleans, and games. Questions? Contact Kim (785)302-1492.
JUBELLATION: Handbells will not practice in May.
NEW LCMS MISSIONARIES: Five new missionaries and their families began their service in 2024. Rev. Jordon and Alison Andreasen will serve as missionaries in Romania; Rev. Jonah and Renee Domenichelli will serve in Germany; Rev. Ross and Kris Shaver will serve in the Dominican Republic as a church planter and theological educator; Stanley and Dana Stigdon will serve in the Dominican Republic as the regional business manager; and Rev. Roberto and Kathryn Weber will also serve in the Dominican Republic. Roberto will teach at Concordia the Reformer Seminary in Palmar Arriba and serve as a pastor at a mission station in Santiago. Please pray for them as they embark on this new journey.
THE HERITAGE HOME: The first spring carnival hosted by the Heritage Home will be held on Friday, May 10th from 5:30-7:30 p.m. There will be pony rides, a cake walk, bingo, face painting, and much more for a free will donation. Food will include pulled pork, a potato bar, and a nacho bar also for a free will donation. The proceeds will go toward the purchase of a wheelchair accessible vehicle to be used for senior outings and childcare field trips. For more information, call 785-910-1233.
MASTER GARDNER: The first garden tour of the Wabaunsee County Extension Master Gardeners will be held Saturday, June 15, 2024, in the Eskridge area from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The tour includes landscaping, annual and perennial flower beds, vegetable container garden, water features, a guest speaker and host with time for questions and answers. Tickets are on sale now by calling the Wabaunsee County Extension Office at 785-765-3821 or may be purchased online. The cost is $20 ages 12 and over, $15 for ages 7-11, and under 7 is $10. This includes lunch.
SINGING OF JESUS CHRIST: The Fifth Biennial Exhibition of Sacred Visual Art, sponsored by the Good Shepherd Institute of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne (CTFSW), invites artists to capture the spirit of “Singing of Jesus Christ” from thefollowing hymns, all of which appeared in the first Lutheran hymnal published in 1524:
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“Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice (Lutheran Service Book 556)
“Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice (Lutheran Service Book 556)•“Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord” (Lutheran Service Book 497)
“Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord” (Lutheran Service Book 497)•“In the Very Midst of Life” (Lutheran Service Book 755)
“In the Very Midst of Life” (Lutheran Service Book 755)•“We Praise You, Jesus at Your Birth” (Lutheran Service Book 382)
“We Praise You, Jesus at Your Birth” (Lutheran Service Book 382) Artists may submit up to three pieces of work for the exhibit. Submissions must include an explanation of how the artwork reflects the chosen hymn. Entries must have been completed within the last five years. Media that may be used include painting, prints, fiber, clay, wood, metal, and glass. All entries must be the original work of the submitting artist (or artists in collaboration) and not completed as part of a kit or in a classroom.
The entry deadline is July 10, 2024. Works will be displayed in the Wayne and Barbara Kroemer Library on the campus of CTSFW from October 31, 2024 to January 31, 2025.
For detailed information and an entry form, visit ctsfw.edu/gs-art-exhibit.
SONGS OF DELIVERANCE: Registration is now open for the 2024 Institute on Liturgy, Preaching and Church Music on July 9-12, 2024, at Concordian University, Nebraska (CUNE) in Seward, Neb.
The Institute, which is being presented by LCMS Worship, returns under the theme of “Songs of Deliverance: Psalms in the Great Congregation.” With the Psalter as its focal point, this conference will feature fresh and perennial topics on music, leadership, preaching, pastoral care, art, and spiritual growth in Lutheran worship. Participants will be able to choose from a variety of instructive and interactive sessions addressing practical topics of interest to musicians, pastors, teachers, interested laypersons , and many others. We’ll also take up a challenge together: pray at 150 psalms.
Registration is open through April 19th at the early-bird rate of $350 per adult. Regular registration is open from April 20th through May 17th at the adult attendee rate of $400. Two-day, one-day, and full-time student registrant options are also available. More information, including how to register, is available at lcms.org/2024-worship-institute.
LIFE CHOICE MINISTRIES: Be the Light, a walk for life in 2024 on Saturday, May 4, 2024, at 9 a.m. in Long’s Park at 17th and Yuma in Manhattan, KS. Be the Light of Christ in our community by meeting the needs of women and young families who need support! Registration deadline to guarantee a t-shirt is April 8th. Additional information about Life Choice Ministries can be found online at www.lifechoiceks.org. If you have questions, please call 785-776-9406.
MIDLAND CARE CELEBRATION WALK: Join the 28th annual celebration walk at Midland Care starting at 6 p.m. on May 10th. Take a peaceful stroll surrounded by 2,000 luminaries. Take advantage of the main stage events beginning at 7 p.m. Join in celebrating loved ones with activities like a butterfly release, leaving messages with sidewalk chalk, and a special reading of the names.
Bring your own lawn chairs and enjoy a variety of entertainment while children have fun with face painting, games, and memorial activities. Food trucks will be available offering a diverse selection of treats. For more information, contact Midland Care at midlandcare.org/events/24walk or call 785-232-2044.SPARK is Concordia University, Nebraska’s three-day academic summer camp focused on helping middle school students discern God’s calling in their lives. Through interactive sessions, fun group activities and daily chapel and devotion sessions, students can explore their interests, develop useful skills, and build meaningful connections with their fellow campers. The camp will be held June 4-6, 2024, in Seward, Nebraska. Session topics are: beekeeping 101, DNA: God’s molecule of life, low challenge elements, get graphical: the are of reading and creating graphic novels, mathematical modeling with Excel, model rockets, improv!, learning to code with scratch, flying high with drones, and dirt to dinner, recycling in agriculture. Registration deadline is May 3, 2024.
CAMP TRINITY ACADEMY: If you know of a young man who might be interested in becoming a pastor or in being a church leader, Camp Trinity Academy might be a place to start learning. Enrollment is open to boys ages 12 to 18. For more information, contact Pastor Andrew Preus with the subject line “Camp Trinity Academy” at ajpreus@gmail.com.
SERV’N IN THE HILLS: Camp Trinity is has scheduled a servant event for June 2-7, 2024. The events are to provide unique opportunities for spiritual, emotional, physical, and intellectual growth in a work setting and to provide participants with different cultural experiences. Participants will be working on several projects including new construction, reconstruction, and landscaping. The youth will also work with the elderly in the local community for two afternoon sessions. Adult leaders are needed as well as youth ages 13-18. For further information, call 573-237-2072 or email camptrinity73@yahoo.com.
HEIT’S POINT CAMP: It’s never too early to plan vacations and summer activities for your children. This summer Heit’s Point Lutheran Ministries in Lincoln, MO will be conducting two summer camps. The first camp is scheduled for June 9-14 and is for the entire family. The second camp is a middle school and high school LCMS Synodical Servant Event scheduled for June 24-28. For more information, you can contact them at info@heitspoint.com or call 660-668-2363.
CONCORDIA SEMINARY WORKSHIP SERIES: The Beginnings of Genesis and the Genesis of Beginnings is the topic of the workshop presented by Rev. Paul Landgraf who is pastor at Pilgrim Lutheran Church/Saint John Lutheran Church, Chamois/Drake, Missouri. The workshop will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church, 702 S. Ninth St., Salina, KS on June 3-5, 2024. Registration deadline is May 20, 2024 and costs $150. For more information, contact Rev. Dennis Kootz at pastordennis.kootz@gmail.com.
A second workshop will be held July 8-10, 2024 at Messiah Lutheran Church, 2000 Main St., Hays, KS. The topic is What Does It Mean to Be Lutheran in America?; Discord in the LCMS in the 1960s and 1970s presented by Dr. Gerhard Bode. The registration deadline is June 24, 2024 and costs $150. Contact Rev. Michael Schmidt at revschmidt@yahoo.com for more information. This workshop is also condensed into a one-day convocation on June 22, 2024, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Netawaka, KS. Five sessions will be led by Dr. Bode, and the day will concude with a German meal.From the Parish Nurse…
NATIONAL NURSES WEEK
National Nurses Week is being recognized May 6 – 12, 2024. I invite each of you to take a moment to recall how a nurse supported you in your health/recovery walk. Think about the gifts of love, support, kindness, and gentleness that you received. I further invite you to pray for your nurses and caregivers in the work, homes, and retirements. May God continue to bless each of you as we walk this life together. “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” Acts 20:28SUMMER PEST AWARENESS
Each year I try to reach out to inform others about the dangers that mosquito bites can inflict. I was reminded of the season of pests as I traveled home from the LWML convention in April and found a rather large mosquito buzzing in my car. I couldn’t believe the size of the mosquito, let alone the time of season that I was already witnessing it! It is definitely time to take precautions to prevent infections from airborne vectors (i.e., mosquitoes!) Mosquito-borne diseases are those spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. Diseases that are spread to people by mosquitoes include Zika virus, West Nile virus, Chikungunya virus, dengue, and malaria. Some mosquitoes lay eggs in or near standing water. You can decrease the mosquito breeding sites by:Removing, turning over, covering, or storing equipment
Removing, turning over, covering, or storing equipmentRemove debris from ditches
Remove debris from ditchesFilling in ruts and other areas that collect standing water
Filling in ruts and other areas that collect standing waterRemoving tires, buckets, bottles, and barrels that collect water
Removing tires, buckets, bottles, and barrels that collect waterPlacing drain holes in containers that collect water and cannot be discarded.
Placing drain holes in containers that collect water and cannot be discarded. You will want to keep mosquitoes and airborne vectors outside by ensuring that doors and windows have screens and are kept closed when possible. You can safely use EPA-registered repellants with one of these active ingredients: DEET, picaridin (known as KBR 3023 and icaridin outside the US), IR 3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE), para-methane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone. Permethrin can be applied to clothing and gear but should not be applied directly to the skin. Wear clothing that covers hands, arms, legs, and other exposed skin. Wear hats with mosquito netting to protect the face and neck, especially in the early evening and cark hours when outdoors.
West Nile virus is the most common mosquito-borne virus that we encounter in the United States. It may not cause any symptoms, or it can make a person feel feverish and have other symptoms. The Zika virus is more commonly seen in the tropical climates, such as the Caribbean Islands. The Zika virus is spread by the Aedes mosquitoes infected with the virus, and they usually bite during the daylight hours. Travelers, beware! Pregnant women should NOT travel to an area with active Zika virus transmission because infection during pregnancy could cause certain birth defects. For more information on mosquito and other vector-borne diseases and health risks, you are invited to visit www.cdc.gov.
Blessings in Christ,
Janet Wertzberger, RN
Parish Nurse
HEALTH CHECK: The Parish Nurse will be available after the service on May 12th to check blood pressures and address any health-related concerns. This is a free service and available for anyone.
In This Month's
St. John Witness
MAY WITNESS
Miscellaneous News
