The Prayer Blanket Ministry Needs You!
These special blankets are given to those who need a little TLC (tender loving care). We have steadily increased the number given each year to an average close to 150. Because of the extra interest and wonderful giving, we are in need of more people to assist with the blanket making. We will meet Thursday, November 5th, starting at 6:30 PM in the CWC. Anyone (female or male) who is interested is invited to attend, regardless of sewing ability. We will find something for you to do-we always need people to tie quilts. We have 2 sewing machines and supplies at the church or you may bring your own machine. You may stop by and pick up pre-cut quilting kits and work on them at home. If you have unused kits and aren’t going to complete them, please drop them off so someone else can make the blanket. If you have any questions, contact Mary Payne (282-4340), Glenda Nelson (277-8315), Barb Nelson (281-9513), Ann Dye (281-5698), Nancy Lee (282-8405), or Marlys Robertsdahl (281-3998). Please come and support this Ministry of Comfort.
Novel
Ideas Book Club
We meet the
fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:30pm.
November 24th
“That Old Cape Magic” by Richard Russo
December 22nd
“The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer
January 26th
“The Bones of Plenty” by Lois P. Hudson
Come join us. It’s FUN!!!!!! We
meet in the Hospitality Room at LCC.
Joy Bible Study
Join us on November 3rd in the Hospitality Room at 7:30pm for the third session of the 2009-2010 Bible Study “To God’s Beloved: Paul’s Letter to the Romans.” This lesson is based on Hope Does Not Disappoint and the theme verse is Romans 6:11 – So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ. In Romans 5, Paul explains why having been put right with God by Jesus’ faithfulness changes our lives forever.
No experience is necessary. Everyone, in some way, is an expert when it comes to the Bible. All we need do is encourage each other to share as much or as little of our own experiences ad we’d like. Please feel free to join the First Tuesday of any month in the Hospitality Room.
Have You Ever Wondered..….. WHAT’S NEXT?
Take some time for
yourself
and join other adults for some
discussion on how to improve your relationship with others. These sessions will
build an awareness of your own personal needs, the needs of others and the
differences between men and women. There will be 6 sessions that will meet once
a week. The session time will be from 6:30-7:30 pm and the dates are:
Thursday, November 12,19; December
3,10,17;Monday, December 21
Two books: (
The Five love
Languages by Gary Chapman &
Love and
Respect by Emerson Eggerichs).
Will be outside reading. Please come to laugh, learn, and build a better
relationship with others. Please call: Chirs Garrett 701-430-0721 for
information.
NOVEMBER IS KETCHUP MONTH
Pastor Jule’ and I along with the finance committee want to thank you for your financial support of your church. Year to date we are ahead of last years giving by about 4% and that is a good thing. However, our budget called for an 11% increase and that is information that was provided to you and, you voted to approve at the annual meeting of the congregation. Anything less then an 11% increase in revenues would leave us short of being able to pay our bills without borrowing money to continue to fund our operations. At this point in time we have had to borrow $23,000.00 and at the current rate of deficit we will be between $36,000.00 and $40,000.00 in the red by years end. Obviously we cannot continue that trend and remain financially viable as an institution.
Although I was unable to gather exact statistical income information for our region of the greater FM area I was told it is in access of $60,000.00 per household. Using that number if we were to use 2% of income (which is a national average of benevolence for religious institutions) and multiply that by our number of households we should be generating $780,000.00 of annual income. That number is well above our budget of approximately $460,000.00. Regrettably we are not any where near that number hence this letter is being forwarded to you.
What these numbers tell us is that the potential is there and quite honestly should be fairly easily attainable. Our worship attendance numbers are above national church averages, we have over 350 kids in our education programs which extend to the ninth grade and we are continuing to offer opportunities for personal involvement at many different levels. In other words we are a dynamic, fast growing congregation with wonderful vitality. And we are so thankful for the wonderful ways we see the spirit of God at work in this place. The biggest thing that is lacking is financial support of the facility and the ministries that take place here.
I hope I don’t need to convince you that you have one of the nicest facilities in the region to worship in. Our unique relationship with Holy Cross Catholic Church makes this an historic place with great implications for the future of religious cooperation between denominations. The staff that serves you and the program ministry offered is among the finest in the ELCA.
All of this was recognized by the National Church Office in Chicago when they offered us the Fast Growing Church Grant. The only negative noted was our lack of financial stewardship.
So now a little pleading: PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO BUILD ON OUR STRENGTHS AND ERASE THIS DEFICIT THROUGH YOUR FINANCIAL GIFTS. WE WANT TO BE FOCUSED ON MINISTRY AND NOT HOW WE ARE GOING TO PAY OUR BILLS.
The month of November is “KETCHUP MONTH.” It is our hope we erase the deficit or at a minimum greatly reduce it by the end of the month.
Yours in Christ,
Pastors Bill, Jule’ and the Finance Committee
(701) 282-0514
Sunday Service:
9 AM & 11 AM
Sunday School:
9 AM 3yrs-4th grd
10:10 AM 3yrs-4th grd
During the School Year
To register for Christian education CLICK HERE
Wednesday
7 PM
5th-9th grd
During the School Year
To register for Christian education CLICK HERE
To sign up for simply giving automatic withdrawl offering CLICK HERE
Come join us at Lutheran Church
of the Cross.
We are located at 1402 16th St. E West Fargo, ND, behind the Fargo Furniture Outlet and next to Gordmans just off 13th Ave.
Click the Expedia.com logo for a map to the church