Newsletter
The Voice
The Valley of Peace congregational newsletter, The Voice, contains news of the congregation, upcoming events and other items of interest. Published monthly, it is also posted on this web site on a monthly basis. The current issue of The Voice follows.
Page Index
About Us
 | Bill and Anna Halvorson, Tom Untiedt, Elaine Huotari, Morgan Tuff, Bob
and Lorraine Mueller, and Ralph and Mary Hancock |
| We welcome Doug and Jan Stepanek and their adult sons, Matt and Jake
back to active membership. We are glad you are back with us! |
| Thanks once again to Ron Anderson for repairing one of our round tables
and the flagpole! |
| ‘Christ in our Home’ devotional booklets are available at the Welcome
Center for you to pick up |
| Directories of our congregation are available at the Welcome Center |
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President's Pen
A Message from Your Council and Transition Team
January has been another exceptionally eventful time at VOP! Of course, the
biggest event was the farewell and happy retirement for our beloved Pastor John
and spouse Gayle which took place on January 24. What a wonderful, memorable
worship service and lunch we had that day.
Meanwhile, the transition team has been busy meeting and making plans for this
interim time before our next pastor is called and now we are pleased to announce
that Pastor Richard (Dick) Magnus has accepted the call as an interim pastor.
While his official start with us will be March 8, after he and his spouse,
Kathy, return from a planned cruise, he has already presided over Ash Wednesday
services and worship on Sunday, February 21st. Pastor Magnus comes to us with a
wealth of past experience in the ministry including calls doing urban ministry
in Denver, Colorado as well as campus ministry in Denver and Boulder and working
as a mission director for the Rocky Mountain synod in Denver. More recently in
his retirement he has been serving as interim pastor here in the Minneapolis
area for a couple different congregations and recently served as acting bishop
for our Minneapolis synod during the bishop’s sabbatical. We look forward to
getting to know him better.
We also wish to give thanks for a few others who have stepped up to lead worship
for us during this past month. Pastor Jim Almquist, an old friend, former member
and former interim pastor at VOP lead worship for us one week as did our own Tim
Hepner along with Nathan Tuff (son of our own Dave Tuff.) We also enjoyed
hearing from a recent grad from Luther Seminary, David Arends, while he awaits
his first call to ministry.
On February 17 we enjoyed another Gulf Coast Mission potluck as we sent Tim
Hepner and his teams of workers off to do another few weeks of construction work
in New Orleans and now as we move into the season of Lent we look forward to our
weekly suppers and Holden Evening prayer each Wednesday evening.
The Transition Team will continue to meet on a weekly basis over the next few
weeks. We encourage you to check the bulletin board outside the Fireside Room
for updates. We thank you for your prayers for VOP during this time of
transition and for the nominations put forth for the Call Committee. Together
with the Church Council we hope to bring forward a call committee ballot for
congregational vote soon.
Meanwhile if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to ask. We
promise to do our best to answer them!
Iris Johnson, Council President
on behalf of the Transition Team and Church Council of VOP
Thanks!!
Worship in March
The Sunday schedule will continue as usual:
| 9:00 AM | Adult Education |
| Sunday School | |
| Voices of Peace | |
| 9:30 AM | Youth Group |
| 10:15 AM | Worship (Holy Communion the 1st Sunday) |
| 11:15 AM | Refreshments in the Fireside Room |
Wednesdays In Lent:
| 5:45 PM | God's Children |
| 6:00 PM | Soup Supper |
| 6:15 PM | God's Gospel Kids |
| 6:30 PM | Book Group |
| 7:15 PM | Worship - Holden Evening Prayer |
| After... | Chancel Choir |
Holy Week Worship
| 11:30 AM | Maundy Thursday Devotions |
| 12:00 PM | Soup/Sandwich Lunch |
| 7:15 PM | Maundy Thursday Worship |
| 7:15 PM | Good Friday Worship |
Easter Sunday
| 10:15 AM | Festival Worship with Holy Communion |
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Fellowship Hall
TAKE A LOOK AT THE REFRESHED FELLOWSHIP HALL!!!!
Thanks to a gift from Kathy Boesen from memorials to her late husband,
Paul, fresh paint has been applied to the ceiling and walls of
fellowship hall. Additional monies from Paul’s memorial have been given
to enhance some of the classrooms of All God’s Children Learning Center.
Thank you, Kathy!!
Adult Forums in March
| March 7 | Don Shannon, a volunteer with “Feed My Starving Children,” will talk about the work of this organization and how they feed the world in a very effective, yet efficient way. This organization was featured in recent newspaper articles and on TV programs. |
| March 14 | Sara Hoge will present Part 3 of the DVD series “Mission Shift: Reaching the World Next Door.” The topic will be “The Challenge of Race.” This is a continuation of the impact of immigration on our country, state, and cities. |
| March 21 | The topic will be “Lutheran World Relief Bangladesh,” presented by Pastor David Holm. |
| March 28 | Nancy Rogness will present Part 4 of the DVD series “Mission Shift: Reaching the World Next Door.” This session will deal with “The Acculturation Process and how it Affects Ministry to Immigrants.” |
Join us for coffee and discussion on Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m. in the Fireside Room.
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Peace With Justice Forum
You are invited to a Peace with Justice Forum on Sunday, March 21,
2010
A WELCOMING GOD
Presenter: David Weiss, author of To the Tune of a Welcoming God
Sunday March 21, 2010 - Central Lutheran Church, 12:30-2:00 p.m.
David Weiss is a theologian, writer, poet and hymnist committed to doing
“public theology” around issues of sexuality, justice, diversity, and
peace. In his work he seeks to use his gifts as a writer and poet to
bring the strength of his academic training into fruitful conversation
with the wider audiences of church and society. A graduate of Wartburg
College, Wartburg Seminary, and the University of Notre Dame, he has
taught religion and theology. David is a lifelong Lutheran and is
presently devoting his primary time and energy to writing for and
speaking in communities of faith about issues of faith, sexuality, and
welcome.
Twin Cities Peace with Justice Forum Series from 12:30-2:00 p.m.
Sunday,
March 21, 2010 at Central Lutheran Church, 3rd Ave and 12th St.,
Minneapolis, next to the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Lunch is available ($7.00). Validated parking is available in the
Central parking lot/ramp on the south side of the church.
This forum is sponsored by the ELCA Minneapolis and Saint Paul Are
Synods Peace with Justice Committee.
Up-coming forum April 18 – Colombia Memories Museum
For more information on this series visit our Peace with Justice website
www.pwjc.org
or call Mary Amdahl at 651-698-6441 or via e-mail at
mamdahl6441@msn.com
All God's Children Learning Center
| Once again, we are grateful for the tremendous support from
Valley of Peace members for our Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction on January
30. The fundraising results were terrific – we are just about $110 shy of
$12,000 in funding! This includes a generous matching grant from Thrivent
Financial for Lutherans for $1600. Again, thank you all!| Our new website is up and running, and thanks to Norm Orstad, is a wonderful
representation of all the good things that happen at Valley of Peace and at All
God’s Children! Norm has spent many volunteer hours since September to develop
the website, and we are glad to have his expertise to create this updated method
of communication. Look us up at
http://allgodschildrenlearningcenter.org. Thank
you again to Norm! | February was education month for our staff! We had ten teachers attend the two
day Evangelical Lutheran Education Association early childhood conference
earlier in the month. This conference brings together early childhood
professionals from all over the state. The seminars and speakers cover a wide
range of topics, from preschool math to positive behavior to exploring nature to
child development, as well as time for worship and to consider faith development
at school. | We also had our winter Staff In-Service Day, during which we all were re-qualified for First Aid, and also took time to touch base on how things are going at school. Coming soon! The Spring Flower and Garden Sale! I know there is still a lot of
snow on the ground, but won’t it be refreshing to plan ahead for your garden,
your deck and your front steps, and to put in your order for plants from Gerten’s? Order forms will be available in mid March! | The next AGCLC day at CiCi’s Pizza in Plymouth in on Thursday, March 11! The
second Thursday of every month, CiCi’s will give a percentage of sales to All
God’s Children. So give yourself a night off from cooking and go to enjoy the
salad, pasta, pizza and very yummy desserts! | |
Blessings, Barb Mikelson
Chess Castle of Minnesota
SEE WHAT OUR YOUTH ARE PLANNING FOR YOU
FRANKY WINS THE OPEN [2/22]
His given name is Francis. And he goes now by Frank. But those who have known
him for years, and watched him grow as a chess player, may still find themselves
referring to him as Franky. But after this weekend it will have to be Mr.
Johnson to you. For Frank Johnson faced off against Sean Nagle in the last round
of the 2010 Minnesota Open, as the only two with four straight wins, and
defeated him in a long tough game. Nagle is our current state champ, notable
lately for hogging first place in just about every tournament he entered in
2009. And he went up the exchange against Frank on the last move of the first
time control. But his castle position was locked up by enemy pawns, and Frank
went from defending well to pressuring hard. The game lasted a few minutes short
of six hours, and all of them were on Frank’s clock! Congratulations to our new
Minnesota Open Champ, especially given the strong field of three IMs and ten
other Masters.
Formal Dinner/Auction
VOP FORMAL DINNER AND SILENT AUCTION
The VOP Formal Dinner and Silent Auction will be on Saturday, March 6. All
proceeds go for the summer youth mission trip and camps. We would appreciate any
donations for the silent auction – homemade items, gifts of services, gift
baskets, gift certificates, etc. If you are able to donate, please contact the
church office, Ruth Larson, or Nancy Clemens. You may sign up on the poster in
the Bridgeway and choose your food items. The youth will serve and will
appreciate your participation.
Scout Pancake Breakfast
Boy Scout Troop 268 thanks you for your continued support. Troop
268 has been a ministry of Valley of Peace for more than 40 years. You have made
a difference in the lives of many boys and continue to do so year after year!
Please join us for our annual pancake breakfast and silent auction on Saturday,
March 20 from 7:30 to noon in Fellowship Hall. Tickets are $5 Tickets and
children age four and under are free. The Troop will be selling tickets after
church services on March 14. Tickets will also be available at the door. Please
come and enjoy a meal with us!
E-Mails Would Be Helpful
It would be streamline our communications, as well as saving paper and postage, if we had e-mail addresses for most of you. One example of how that would be helpful is in the monthly Service Team letter. In order to implement this method, we need your e-mail addresses. When you sign the Welcome Pad, please include your e-mail address, even if you think we have it. I will make sure your current address is in our system. Of course, if you don’t have e-mail, we will continue to send your Service Team letter by mail. Thanks for your cooperation!
Mission Work in Honduras
Kathe Peterson of the NE Area Synod recently sent this letter
with an update on the Mission work in Honduras by forwarding a letter from
Pastor Dave Mesner. Here is a brief excerpt from Pastor Mesner's letter:
Despite the well-documented political instability in the country, our ministry
partnership with Iglesia Cristiana Luterana de Honduras (ICLH) experienced
significant growth in the past year. Although a fall theological workshop with
ICLH had to be cancelled for security reasons, we were able to share in
important Liturgy and Homiletics workshops in the spring. We also participated
in the first ICLH Summit in Michigan, as the leaders of ICLH met with their
three ELCA companion synods for a time of visioning, worship and planning.
"Pentecost" was the theme of a series of workshops and teaching opportunities in
April and May. This was our sixth shared ministry event with ICLH. We are
humbled with how the accompaniment partnership is developing......
Thanks be to God for the door that has opened for shared ministry in Honduras!
We continue to look for opportunities for sustainability projects,
medical/dental teams and theological workshops with our brothers and sisters in
Honduras. Plans are in place for two theological workshops this year (May and
October). We give special thanks to all those who have participated in this
ministry through prayer, gifts, and being part of the teams. Please prayerfully
consider whether God is be leading you to share in this exciting ministry. We
have an urgent need of funding for the theological workshops and for the Bibles
and hymnals that are so essential for ministry. Financial gifts marked for
Honduras can be sent to the Northeastern Minnesota Synod, 1105 E. Superior
Street, Upper Suite, Duluth, MN 55802.
For the Honduras Leadership Team,
Pastor Dave Mesner
You can read the complete letter with all the details of what has been happening
with our mission in Honduras by going to the Valley of Peace website and click
on the "World Mission" link.