Peace Lutheran Church

October 2018
Peace Church Council
Joyce Hanson
PO Box 164
Barrett, MN 56311 OCTOBER SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWS
baskets@runestone.net
320-424-9726
Gaylene Hanson Our first few weeks of Sunday School have been great! We are
222 Central Ave N
learning the Lord’s Prayer and for the older students we will
Elbow Lake, MN 56531
gaylenehanson@aol.com touch on the meaning.
218-685-4610
Lois Scherer We are excited to have SIX preschoolers this year! We only have
26873 Grand View Road #1 three older students but we’re hoping that number increases
Elbow Lake, MN 56531
loisscherer@gmail.com soon (especially for our Christmas Program)!
218-685-4465
Todd Schneeberger On October 14th we’ll have our first community service project.
26875 Oak Point Rd We welcome ideas for projects.
Elbow Lake, MN 56531
tbschnee@runestone.net
218-685-5210 In late October and early November our rotation will be “Jesus
Robert Shervey Is Born.”
21738 180th Ave
Barrett, MN 56311
November 11th is Veteran’s Day and we will celebrate our service
rshervey@runestone.net
218-685-4309 persons with cake and coffee at 10 am.
Kim Lang
504 3rd Street Christmas Program practice begins November 18th and runs
Barret, MN 56311 through December 9th. Our program will be held on Sunday,
Urbangirl77@hotmail.com
320-528-2290 December 16th.
Lexi Danner
PO Box 152 There will be no Sunday School on December 23 and 30th.
Hoffman, MN 56339
alexis.danner@hotmail.com
320-986-2222
Remember that Sunday School is held from 9:15-10:15 am and
church services at 10:30 am. It has been so good to see our
Sunday School kids helping at our church service!
Reverend Denise C. Croskey
6441 Country Lane SW
Farwell MN 56327 Joyce Hanson, Director
320-886-9495 (Home) Peace Sunday School
320-267-3893 (Cell)
revdenise1@gctel.net 320-424-9726
 Peace Church Council Meeting, August 7, 2018
Members Present: Joyce Hanson, Lois Scherer, Bob Shervey, Kim Lang, Gaylene Hanson, Lexi Danner, Sandy Kashmark &
Todd Schneeberger
Absent: Jim Johnson
Visitors Attending: Heather Danner
Meeting called to order by President Joyce Hanson at 6:30 pm
Devotion: none due to no pastor
Secretary Report:
Motion to approve last meeting minutes made by Todd, seconded by Gaylene, MCU
Treasures Report
Transaction Report: Some discrepancy on the electric bill. We will check into OTP for an ideas on what is using power.
Motion to approve by Kim, 2nd by Lois, MCU. Treasures Report approved by Gaylene, 2 nd by Kim, MCU
Motion made by Bob, 2nd by Gaylene, to pay the bill to the photographer for her work on the church directory. MCU
Resignation was given by Treasurer Sandy Kashmark. Motion made by Todd accept her resignation, 2 nd by Gaylene, MCU.
Motion to approve extending position made by Kim 2 nd by Bob, MCU to Tami Jo Weigel and was accepted. She will be given a
job description and will train some with Sandy. A Motion also made by Kim and 2 nd by Gaylene, MCU to purchase the software
necessary for Tami to complete the reports and transactions.
Old Business:
Mission Trip- Had an accident with a deer on the road, very small damage. Was reported to Heartland and there is not a
claim being filed to our insurance. 11 kids went with to the mission trip in CO. Very good growth in faith experience.
Confirmation- Heather would like to sit down with the Interim Pastor to discuss the expectations for her as the Youth
Director. We will be extending the opportunity to 7 th-9th graders.
Release Time-At the end of last school year there was only about 9 students that were involved in release time. It is now
done over the lunch period and it just is not working well anymore. The school is somewhat resistant to give a better
time for the students to come. Joyce will talk to Claire at the school about change in time.
Dance- Sat Sept 22nd at the pavilion. 6-10, Heather, Lexie and the youth will try to come up with a theme.
Projector- Quote from Ben is very high. We need to get a few more quotes and in lieu of not being settled in leadership, we
will table the projector at this time. We did get a quote for head-set microphones for approximately 100.00. Motion was
made by Todd, 2nd by Bob to approve, MCU.
Directory- 1687.50 to redo the directory. We will need to table this due to not being able to decide on a resolution.
Stove-Vulcan service has cleaned and reworked the burners, needing to check on parts; narrowed down to two thermostats.
We can use it, gas is turned off now. Approximate cost so far has been over 400.00. Todd will continue to work with
him. If we go with a new comparable stove it’d be over 5000.00. Men’s breakfast will help contribute to repair costs.
Brochure/Business Cards- We are going to table until the next meeting.
Fuel contract now is 1.27 per gallon for a year. We used 4,200 gallons last year. Bob makes a motion for accepting the bid
of 1.27 per gallon for the winter season. Lois 2 nd, MCU.
New Business:
Letter from the City of Barrett- The water fountain would be far too expensive to fix, so they are returning our loose offer-
ing from the Old Settlers Reunion. We will brainstorm as to where to dedicate these funds for the community.
Job Descriptions-we will work on these for all of our hired employees.
Application forms- made up for information for the church
Marriage Policy- we have one in place.
Service Times & Praise Service Motion was made to set the service times for Labor Day to Memorial day at 10:30 with
Sunday school at 9:15 and to change to 9:00 am in the summer months. Motion made by Bob, 2 nd by Lexie, MCU.
Surveys- a few were returned we will ask for the surveys to be returned. We will put a stack out for anyone to pick up if one
was replaced.
Supply Pastor- John Zdrazil and Sally Tolifson will take the services thru the month of August until we have an Interim.
Interim Pastor Contract- If Contract is accepted Pr. Denise Croskey will start Sept 1 st. She will be willing to meet most of
our needs. We need to call Pr. Keith Zeh at the synod to see what is next for wages and benefit compensation.
Call Committee- we are hoping for volunteers, we have two already.
A very nice letter from Sarah Evenson with her 30 day notice was received and accepted.
Motion to adjourn at 8:22 pm by Kim, 2 nd by Lexie, MCU
Kim Lang, Secretary
Crossings from Pastor Denise

I don’t know....I hear a lot of people say, “I love fall.” However, when pressed regard-
ing what is it that you like about fall they sometimes have a difficult time putting it in-
to words.
What do you like about fall? Certainly it’s the view of God’s creation, including
the magnificent colors of leaves. I especially like the tall, fat maples and the sumac
along the fence lines and ditches. Moreover, there’s the cool evenings and sometimes
warm days. Notwithstanding, there’s the rush and excitement of getting everything
done before the cold weather hits us. For my husband, Phil, its the seemingly endless
trips to his deer camp making preparations for the hunting season. I’ve noticed that
our dogs seem to have more energy because of the cooler weather. In addition, our
neighbors and friends ask if we would like tomatoes or squash delivered to our house.
Yummy!!
One of our last chores for the fall is usually an event held around the end of
October. We drain our koi pond and try to find every single koi fish and remove
them from the pond. Next, we move them by fish nets and large buckets into our
heated garage for the winter. The descendants of carp they fight to the last drop of
water. They play an endless game of hiding behind rocks in the pond so we can’t find
them. We have to separate the babies and put the youngest in aquariums because the
big fish eat the little fish. We don’t feed the big fish for the entire winter. We keep the
garage at about forty degrees. The koi become stagnant and very quiet. We always
have one or two who try to escape out of our large stock tanks. Sometimes we re-
trieve them just in the nick of time, sometimes we arrive too late. Fish like to
jump....did you know that???
We have learned several different things about koi over the last 17 years. They
can’t be safely kept at temperatures over fifty degrees because they become too active.
We can’t feed them because they get “rot gut” and die. They like a little bit of sof-
tened water. We drain the water from the pond into the stock tanks, however, we still
have to add additional water to the tanks over the winter. We have large circulation/
aerator systems in each of the tanks that run 24/7. We have about fifty koi and they
come in a variety of sizes and colors. Their life expectancy is 25-35 years, some live
100-200 years and the oldest koi recorded in history was 225 years old. Uffda, why
didn’t someone tells us all this before we began raising them? Now we have to in-
clude fish in our will!!
Many of our koi have names. Yes, we have named our fish!! As a result, we are
attached to them and can’t give them away. Yes, every once in a while one goes miss-
ing and we figure that a critter got them! We look and look for them. Hoping we
might catch a glimpse of one that was hiding, however, most of the time they are
gone for good.
(over)
You see, for about five months a year, (May-Sept.) we feed the fish every day. They
come to us. They aren’t afraid of our two dogs or us. As a matter of fact, when they
see us that signals that they will be fed. If I stand at our second story living room
window and look at the pond they can see me and they swim to the edge of the
pond where we always feed them. Amazing!

If I put it all in a personal perspective we certainly know when we are going to be

fed and by whom. It really doesn’t matter if its fall or not, or if its apples or squash,
its about the fact that we will be fed. There’s a great deal of reassurance in that fact.
The above description is in terms of the human body and its needs. Now think
about our spiritual needs. Do you need Holy Communion? Baptism? Do you need
prayer? Do you need a smile or a hug? How about fellowship? Community? Be-
lief ? Faith? Are you missing something in your life? Are you tired of trying to
“make it on your own?” Have you given up trying to find what is lacking?

You know what’s wonderful about fall? Peace Lutheran Church!! At Peace they will
welcome you with open arms. You will be fed with the bread and wine at the altar of
the Lord. You will be assured of God’s grace and forgiveness. You will receive the
blessing of faith and assurance of life everlasting. You will find a home among your
neighbors. You will be called as one of the meek, you will receive mercy, you will re-
ceive comfort, you will be called a child of God. Moreover, you will find what
you’ve been missing, and searching for in your life.

Yes, I too love fall. I think of all the possibilities of helping make this life count,
helping the world become a better place one person at a time. Praying for peace,
love, joy, contentment, inspiration, being thankful, loving God’s creation, enjoying
each day. There, I managed to put fall into a lot of words. (Remember I’m a
preacher) How do you describe fall? Remember, fall is very colorful with endless
possibilities.
Thanks be to God. Amen
We have been hearing Mark’s Gospel on Sunday mornings. I would like to emphasize the
point that we are disciples of Christ. I am including what the overview tells us from The New
Student Bible NRSV.

It begins, “Training the 12 Disciples: A skilled dramatist, Mark describes the crowd re-
actions to Jesus all through his account. He shows people astonished, confused, and upset by
Jesus’ actions. Always, twelve people, the disciples linger in the background, working out the
logistics of Jesus’ ministry. At first, the disciples did not distinguish themselves-to put it mild-
ly. Their most obvious trait was denseness: “Do you also fail to understand?” Jesus asked
(7:18), and again, “How much longer must I put up with you?” (9:19).

About halfway through the book of Mark (chapter 8), the focus shifts away from the
crowds and onto the disciples. In spite of their erratic performance, Jesus devoted much of his
time to them. Outsiders still gathered to watch and listen, but Jesus concentrated on training
the Twelve, preparing them to carry on his work after his departure.

How did the disciples handle the increased attention? If anything, they proved even
more inept. When Jesus referred to his coming death, they either missed the point or foolishly
protested his plans. Sometimes they squabbled about who deserved the most favored position.
They obviously didn’t understand the dazzling events going on around them. In short, the dis-
ciples amply demonstrated the mixture of good and bad present in all of us.

Near the end of Mark, as events conspired toward Jesus’ death, the disciples grew more
anxious, and assertive. Jesus singled out two followers in particular, John and Peter, for his
strongest reprimands. Ultimately, despite vigorous pronouncements of loyalty, each one of the
Twelve sneaked quietly and ashamedly away from Jesus in his moment of deepest need.
One event, however, dramatically altered them. Something passed through their lives
like a flame. Jesus’ resurrection from death. After that, Jesus’ patient hours of training
seemed to bear fruit at last.

The disciples’ change in behavior is astonishing. Of the proofs for the resurrection of
Jesus, one of the most compelling is simply to compare these cowering disciples as portrayed
in a Gospel like Mark with the bold, confident figures in the book of Acts. There, in a remark-
able irony, we see the incredible advance of the early church being led by the two disciples
with the thickest heads of all: Peter and John.

LIFE QUESTIONS: Sometimes we think of the disciples as saints or heroes, but Mark
shows their weak spots. What weak spots keep you from following Jesus as you might?” (Pg.
1038)

That’s us.....we are His disciples...sometimes good, sometimes not so good....however,

as followers of Christ we are called to action: to be bold in our commitment to witness to the
grace of God. Though we may be looking the other way at times, His love always prevails.
We are saints in training. Hallelujah!! Thanks be to God!! Amen!!
This is an oldie but goodie from Facebook:

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin!

1. God picks you from the patch and brings you in (John 15:16) “You did not chose me but I
chose you.”
2. Then washes all the dirt off of you. (2 Corinthians 5:17) “So if anyone is in Christ, there is
a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”
3. He opens you up and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate,
reed, etc. (Romans 6:6). “ We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of
sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.”
4. Then He carves you a new smiling face. (Psalm 71:23). “My lips will shout for joy when I
sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have rescued.”
5. And He puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see. (Matthew 5:16). In the
same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give
glory to your Father in heaven.”

Mindful Christianity Today (Facebook)

“Okay, I know that there are terrible, terrible people out there, but listen. I also know
that there are people who stop and smile at tiny plants growing out of sidewalk cracks, people
who laugh so loud they snort, people who compliment others randomly, people who take
pictures of their friends because they love seeing their friends happy, people who ramble about
things that they’re passionate about, people who blush and stutter, people who are kind, people
who are warm, people who love and love and love and love.”
-unknown

Reformation Sunday is October 28th.

 Thank you to everyone who donated to the Lutheran
World Relief Kits. We are done collecting. If anyone
would like to volunteer to deliver them to Oakis at
the end of October please contact Bea DeFrance.

During the October 14 worship service a representative from the Gideon’s

will be here to speak at the close of the worship service. Please bring your
loose change and we will have a noisy offering taken at the end of the
service. Thank you, Pastor Denise Croskey.

Music, Music, Music

Calling all men and high school students to join the men’s choir. Do you
like to sing? Do you have time one Sunday each month to lend your gifts
and talents to the worship and praise of our Lord? Please see
Leon Johnson and give him a call for details about joining the men’s choir.

The Sunday School children are practicing songs and are doing a great job.
Thanks to Deb Erickson for all the work and patience in teaching the
children.

Are you interested in solo work or providing music for Peace Lutheran?
Do you play the guitar or keyboard, banjo, drums, etc. We would love to
get a gospel group started. Do you have ideas? See Pastor Denise.
 October 2018
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Sat
1 2 3 4 5 6
3:30pm 10am
Confirmation Faithful Folders

7 8 9 10 11 12 13
9:15am Sunday School 1pm WELCA 10am
10:30am Worship 3:30pm Faithful Folders
Confirmation
6:30pm Council

14 15 16 17 18 19 20
9:15am Sunday School 9am Ever 9am Ever Blessed 10am
10:30am Worship Blessed Quilters Quilters Faithful Folders

No Confirmation

Pastor Denise Gone Over MEA 17-20th

21 22 23 24 25 26 27
9:15am Sunday School 3:30pm 10am
10:30am Worship Confirmation Faithful Folders

28 29 30 31
Reformation Sunday 3:30pm
9:15am Sunday School Confirmation
10:30am Worship
 Serving in October

October 7th Marilyn Leraas

Roger Knapp
Brenda and Clyde Long

October 14th Irene and Bob Shervey

Marlene and Jeff Dreier

October 21st Marilyn and Doug Frykman

October 28th Karen and Les Alvstad

Annabelle and Dwaine Olson

Work Group # 1 Leaders Altar Guild

Doug & Marilyn Frykman Heather Danner
Bob & Irene Shervey Brenda Long

Confirmation News
Confirmation is for grades 7-9. All are welcome including parents!! We will meet on
Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5:00. The students will be fed a light meal at the beginning
of each class. We will start this year with Martin Luther and why we are called
Lutherans. We will also learn to participate in worship including instructions with
Acolyte duties.
Please note if there is a school break or vacation time it will be the same for
confirmation. If school is released early because of weather there will not be
confirmation if it is on a Wednesday.
Lets look forward to a great year!
If you have questions, call me.
Pastor Denise Croskey
320-886-9495 home
320-267-3893 cell
PEACE LUTHERAN CHURCH
PO Box 206
Barrett MN 56311

October 2018

Office: 320-528-2536 email: Office@PeaceBarrett.org

218 Church Street PO Box 206 Barrett, MN 56311
Reverend Denise C. Croskey
6441 Country Lane SW
Farwell MN 56327
320-886-9495 (Home)
320-267-3893 (Cell)
revdenise1@gctel.net