Ministries of St. Paul Lutheran

Paul wrote to the Corinthians (I Cor. 12:4-7) and said “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

Here are some of the ways that the gifts of the body continue to be used in the ministry and mission of St. Paul Lutheran.

Ministry of the Office
The office of the church is where the coordination of all of the ministries of the church takes place. The committees and various groups of the church do the variety of ministries, but all of that gets coordinated through the office. The office is where the calendar’s of the activities are kept. The office is where the LampLighter is prepared and sent out. The office is where the bulletins are prepared for worship services. The office is where people call and come with their concerns for themselves and others. The office is where all of the records are kept. Shirley Germscheid has been in the office almost all of the time since 1973. Mary Palmquist and a couple of others were in the office from 1979 to 1981, otherwise, Shirley has served in the office and continues today. Thanks Shirley for your ministry in the office.

St. Paul Lutheran Banner Committee
The St. Paul Banner Committee was formed in May 1988. The Committee consisted of Cathy Carlson, Leona Hefti, Lorraine Shippman, & Dorothy Simonsen. Banners were made with Memorial Gift money and were often dedicated to members who had died. One banner was made for a Pastor’s installation and one for a gift to German Lake Lutheran Church in November 1989 in honor of their 100th anniversary.
Approximately 49 banners were made prior to January 2003. In 2003 Bonnie and Les Hartwig agreed to change the banners as needed during the church year.

The Altar Guild
Pastor Palmquist started the altar guild. The changes during the past 25 years include new paraments for each season of the church year, linens that are easier to care for, plastic communion cups, and oil filled candles. The altar guild for many years sold Claxton fruit cakes during the Christmas season as a fund raiser. The Altar Guild continue to be a most active committee. This committee also decorates during the Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving seasons and for All Saints Sunday.

The Sympathy Committee
This group has been in existence for many years. For a long time there were only four ladies who served for funerals. The past quarter century has seen that number increase from 8 – 12 ladies. The families are very appreciative of this service. New helpers are always welcome. This committee along with other committees of our church work at saying, “all are welcome, to the love of God”. This continues to be a great way for us to support families in their time of sorrow.

The Steeple Restoration Project
The congregation recognized since 1996 that the towers/steeples needed to be repaired. A steeple research committee was formed; after several years of study, the committee made the recommendation to repair the steeples.
The recommendation was approved in January of 1999 and the work began in the spring. The work was completed by the end of 1999 by Buzz Matz construction of Arlington, MN.

Additional improvements were also made:
1. re-leading of all of the big stained glass windows in church.
2. painting of the frames and installation of glass storm window behind the organ pipes.
3. refinishing and varnishing of main church floor.
4. refinishing and varnishing pews.
5. sealing the outside north wall of the church.
6. installation of asphalt driveway west side of the church.
7. replacing windows in the social hall.
8. repairing of stucco on sides of front steps.

The Friendship Group
The Friendship Group continues to gather seniors together for a worship, program and a delicious lunch. The Friendship Group has continued to meet at least 3 times each year. Lois Struck has been the person who has gathered the group together and planned the programs over the years. Just recently, Deloris Streich has taken the lead. Many thanks to Lois for her dedicated service to our seniors through the Friendship Group. Always good stories and lots of great food.

Election Night Suppers
“Back in the early and mid 1900’s, churches provided most of the social life of the communities. Church suppers (or luncheons) and church bazaars were gala events everyone expected the church to put on for the sake of the community. Ecumenism began, not over relaxed dogma; but over baked beans and potato salad.” – A Century of Grace Historical Book.

A Many Nations Supper was the first big fund raiser put on by the church. Monthly meals were served to the community at St. Paul’s for many years. We are not sure when the first Election Night Supper started, but we believe that it began in the early 1950’s. The records show that we first offered take out dinners in 1992.

Our churches no longer provide most of the social life for our communities, but our spring luncheon and the Election Night Supper have provided good fellowship for those working as well as those who come to enjoy the fellowship and good food. The Election Night supper is held on election day, the first Tuesday of November every year. This past November a total of 1100 meals were served.

The Quilters
The Quilters continue to meet and work on quilts and other projects. Recently, they began sewing baby quilts for all of the babies that are baptized at St. Paul Lutheran. Quilts continue to be sent to Green Lake Ministries auction and there are always quilts available for fire victims, Salvation Army, Santa Anonymous, and Lutheran World Relief. The Quilters might be a small group, but what a mighty work for others.

SPY Kids
Our Sunday School (SPY Kids) continues to proclaim that all are welcome to 50 – 70 kids. There have been 4 curriculum changes during that last 25 years. For the past 3 years we have proclaimed that all are welcome and that there is hope for the children as we have been using a Rotation Model. This model shares a certain part of the Gospel story in 4 or 5 different ways. This has been a very effective way to proclaim to our children that they are welcome. About 10 years ago we started supporting a designated missionary and our offerings from Sunday School and the mission bowl on Sundays now go for that support. Our support has increased each year. We have continued to proclaim the Christmas message with a Christmas program. During the summer we have continued to have Vacation Bible School and a number of children from other churches join us in that activity.

Confirmation & SPY
We have used for many years confirmation material from Faith Inkubators. This is a multi-media presentation of the scriptures and the catechism. We also have several mentors that are part of the support system for confirmation. The 7th and 8th grade students meet on Wednesday evenings and the 9th graders meet once a month on Sundays and then are confirmed near the end of May.
Brian Nehring has joined us in saying welcome to our young people. He comes from the Seminary in St. Paul and shares with our junior high and senior high students in Bible Study and in a number of servant activities.

St. Paul Devotion Line – 651-203-4195
In 2006 we began to provide a devotion line from St. Paul Lutheran. Each day there is a two minutes devotion that is available for anyone to call 24 hours a day. People throughout the community have commented about their use of this devotion line.

National Youth Gathering
In 2006 seven youths and four adults attended the National Youth Gathering in San Antonio, TX. We gathered under the theme Cruzando – Journey With Jesus. More than 1 million dollars were raised by the Gathering. Each of us were challenged to bring “Hamilton’s for Hunger” (A Hamilton is a $10. bill). So each of us brought $30. for our Gathering offering.

In 2009 four of us will be traveling to New Orleans for the National Youth Gathering. We will gather under the theme of Jesus, Justice and Jazz. We will be learning and growing and serving in New Orleans while we are there.

Community Ministries
We continue to share communion and worship with the folks at Central Health Care, Country Neighbors, and Centennial Plaza once a month. We always have a fun time together in those times.

Homebound Communion
A number of our folks are homebound. Every attempt is made to provide communion to each of them once a month, including those who live out of town.
This is another way of saying that “all are welcome to the love of God”.

Le Center Food Shelf
Several of our members serve on the board of the Le Center Food Shelf and participate in helping make food available when the Food Shelf is open. Once a month we receive food which is delivered to the Food Shelf.

Meals on Wheels
During the months of July through December we as a church provide drivers to deliver Meals on Wheels to several homes in our community. We partner with St. Mary’s Catholic Church as they provide drivers from January through the end of June. Again, we have many servants who extend the message of the Gospel and proclaim all are welcome and there is food for the hungry.

Ministry of Music

Traditional Worship
During the summer months we worship at 9 A.M. We mostly follow the regular liturgy of the church. Holy Communion is meal that is offered to everyone. We seek to proclaim in the meal and throughout our worship that “all are welcome”. Children are encouraged to come to communion with the permission from their parents.

Contemporary Worship
Once a month a number of our members lead us in a contemporary worship, with keyboards, guitars, and drums. This worship adds a different flavor and continues to be a popular worship service for many folk. Those who prepare the service spend a lot of time and care planning the music along with the lessons for the day and for the season of the church year.

Jolly Ramblers
Polka music was introduced to St. Paul Lutheran through a member band in the middle 1980’s and they shared their gifts during times of worship. In 1995 the Jolly Ramblers lead the entire worship service. Since 2000 the Jolly Ramblers have been with us every year during the fall and plans are in place for them to return this coming fall. This is always a popular worship service and people come from other churches and other communities to share in this time.

The Carillon Bell System
Music over the outside speakers has been a part of St. Paul Lutheran for many years. A Carillon Bell System was purchased in 1968. After several years when the system didn’t work, it was updated in 1983 and continued to provide music for the Le Center community for many years. The system has not worked again for a number of years and now a computerized, digital system has been put in place once again to provide music at noon time and again around 6 P.M. in the evening and following worship services on Sunday mornings and other special occasions.

Broadcast of Worship Services
Each Sunday the worship services are recorded and then placed on the local television cable channel 57. People throughout the community who have cable TV have access to this worship service on Wednesdays and Fridays at 7 P.M.