On Wednesday evenings in Advent we will be observing Evening Prayer and learning about three women, Eve, Hannah, and Mary, as they had “Hope in God’s Promises.”

6 PM: Meal
7:00 PM: Hymn Sing
7:10 PM: Evening Prayer and Preaching

If you prefer to worship during the daytime, our sister congregation, St. John’s in Algoma, will have the same sermon, but with an abbreviated liturgy lasting no more than 40 minutes. You will be able to come, worship, and be back to work all within your lunch hour.

10:30: Meal
Noon: Responsive Prayer and Preaching

Special Presentation: Tradition and Revision in Sexual Ethics


Rev. Dr. Gilbert Meilaender

As part of the Hearts and Re-Creation series, our sister congregation, St. John’s Lutheran Church in Algoma, WI, will be hosting a special presentation from Rev. Dr. Gilbert Meilaender.

Dr. Meilaender summarizes: “Learning from Christian tradition how to think about ourselves as sexual beings, we can better understand the distortions of our culture.”

Gilbert Meilaender is the Richard and Phyllis Duesenberg Chair in Theological Ethics at Valparaiso University and the Paul Ramsey Fellow at the Center for Ethics and Culture at Notre Dame University. One of the nation’s preeminent bioethicists, Professor Meilaender has written extensively on the body, human identity, and the meaning of emerging technologies. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University. Professor Meilaender is a Fellow of the Hastings Center and was a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics from 2002 to 2008.

Date: Monday, October 5
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: St. John’s Lutheran Church, E5221 Church Road, Algoma, WI 54201
Contact: revcjackson@gmail.com, 920-365-2218

hearts and re-creation image

 
We live in an age of Tinder, Bruce Jenner, same-sex marriage, and hook-ups. Not to mention older challenges: divorce, cohabitation, and pornography. How has God’s re-creation of us in His image called us to a mind and life distinct in this world? The Hearts and Re-creation series will provide guidance through sermons, Bible studies, and a special presentation from renowned bioethicist Gilbert Meilaender.

I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2 ESV)

 

Today we focused on the theme “Jesus Give Me Faith,” and we learned about how Jesus gave Bartimaeus his sight.

  • Craft time

St. Peter’s recently completed a handicap accessibility project. Up until now, those with mobility problems could not easily participate in the life of the congregation. We had steps up into our sanctuary and down into our fellowship hall.  To fix this, we put in an elevator and automatic opening doors. There were a few other improvements made as well, such as the installation of a new tile floor. the renovation of a bathroom, and more.

To celebrate and to call attention to these improvements, we put on a great celebration. (Wisconsinites know how to party!) We hosted a chicken dinner, dedicated the elevator, and finally took in a great concert by Parks, Phillips, and Company. (Pastor Chris joined in to sing on the final song.)

We could not have done this without some incredible support from many people. Ruth Krueger very generously supported this project by a monetary donation. Don Krueger was an incredible leader in seeing this project through from beginning to end. Arnie Johnsrud, Nila Schley, and Joyce Bathke were the driving force behind the celebration. Many thanks to these and everyone else in this momentous point in St. Peter’s history!

  • Celebrating with a chicken dinner

Today we learned about Deborah and how, like her, God gives us wisdom to serve others. Today we hit the number of fifty kids involved. Pretty exciting for a little village church like us!

  • Bible Challenge time

What a wonderful first day of Camp Discovery Vacation Bible School! A great group gathered as we focused on how “God gives us courage.” We learned about how God gave David courage to face Goliath, and so our craft was a slingshot.

  • Opening

 

The Door County Advocate just published a great article about our youth mission trip to NYC. You can check it out here: http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/local/door-co/news/2015/06/30/newi-students-nyc-mission-work/29537577/

Our final full day in NYC, and we made every minute count.

We began the day with the children, once again. This day’s lesson was about Jesus’ Death and Resurrection, and we emphasized that Jesus takes away our sins. A real highlight of the day was our activity to reinforce the lesson: we planted flowers out in Christ Lutheran’s garden. As we planted the flowers, we reminded the children that, like flowers, Jesus came up out of the ground. He’s alive!

After working with the children, we finished up a few projects around the church, ate a little lunch, and then went to Manhattan for some sightseeing. We started out at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and spent two hours there. Pastor Jackson’s group even found Lucas Cranach the Elder’s painting of Martin Luther!

We then took a stroll through Central Park and proceeded to the Statton Island Ferry to get our pictures of the Statue of Liberty.

After the ferry, we traveled back to Woodside, and quick got ready to visit (not worship at!) the Sikh Gurdwara a couple of blocks away.

We finished out the day with our meeting and praying Vespers.