Special Voter's Meeting Sun. June 12

ANNOUNCEMENT: A Special Voter's Meeting will be held on June 12th after church. The meeting is to seek approval  for Phase 4 of the Building Project.

Phases 1-3 (previously approved) included auctioning the contents of the old school building, renovation of the basement into classrooms and removing both the old school building and the current Sunday School (Kragel) House. Phase 4 involves building a new fellowship hall onto the church and raising funds to pay for it.

Who can vote? According to the congregation's constitution; eligible voting members include all active communicant members. In other words, if you have been confirmed, all you have to do it to attend a Voter's Meeting at which time you are asked to sign the constitution.  If you haven't been a voter before, you are invited to become one at this meeting.

Please attend and help make this decision.

This week at St. John

• Mon. May 30- Church Office closed for Memorial Day
• Tues. May 31- Pastor out of office
• Thurs. June 2- 1:30PM LWML meeting
• 7:00PM former St. John vicar Rev. Michael Awe will speak at Ascension Day services at Mission Central, Mapleton. There will be a dinner before, at 5:30PM
• Sat. June 4- 7:00PM Worship at St. Luke, Ricketts
• Sun. June 5- 8:00AM Adult Bible Class
• 9:00AM Worship with Communion (Mite Box Sunday)

PLEASE NOTE: Summer Hours, 8AM Bible Class, 9AM Worship, for June, July, & August.

Praise, Prayer, & Progress; Schedule

Lay leaders' Sunday pre-service Minute-Talks

• May 29- Bill Magill, Praise, celebrating God's work in our past
• June 5- Don Friedrichs, Prayer, seeking God's blessing & direction, for ourselves & others
• June 12- Byron Weiss, Progress, looking to the future

Memorial Day Observances

• Sunday, May 29- Remembering the fallen of the congregation, 21-gun salute
• Monday, May 30- VFW Commemoration at the Charter Oak Community Building

Special Voter's Meeting

• Sunday June 12- to decide on the new Fellowship Hall building project

St. John Day of Prayer- Saturday, June 11

• 9:00 a.m. Prayer & Praise Service
• 10:00 a.m. Prayer Walk
• Noon- 5:00 p.m. Prayer Vigil at church
• All Day- Please make a commitment to praying for St. John, Charter Oak and our community wherever you are!

Old Fashioned School Picnic- Sunday, June 19 (Father's Day)

• Come say farewell to St. John Lutheran School's Building, kick-off the summer, celebrate Dads, and join us in considering how to share the love of Jesus with open arms today and in the future!

Praise, Prayer, & Progress

This Summer St. John Lutheran, Charter Oak will be celebrating how God has used them to bless His people, asking Him to show them how they can share the love of Jesus with open arms today, and looking to how they can better serve the needs of their congregation and community in the future.

Several events will be happening at St. John that will help people to praise, pray, and make progress.

A number of members will be speaking about how God works in our lives at the beginning of services. These short talks are mean to draw attention to St. John's past, present, and future.

Congregation President Bill Magill will be speaking about praise on Sunday, May 29. That Sunday, American Legion Post #66 will hold Memorial Day observances at St. John, including a reading of the congregation's fallen and a 21 gun salute in front of the church after worship.

St. John's Missions Secretary, Don Fredriechs will be speaking about prayer on June 5. 


On Saturday, June 11, St. John will be holding a day of prayer. The day will begin with a Prayer&Praise service in the sanctuary at 9:00 a.m., followed by a Prayer-Walk beginning at 10:00 a.m. Prayer-walkers will begin inside the church and walk around the church property, making stops along the way to pray for various ministries of the St. John, for Charter Oak and surrounding communities, other churches in the area, the Lutheran Church -Missouri Synod and Iowa District-West, the nation and the world.

After the Prayer-Walk, a Prayer-Vigil will be held from Noon till 5:00 p.m. Volunteers can sign up ahead of time to pray in 15-minute shifts during the day at the Church. Members are encouraged to commit to pray on June 11, whether it be at the service, on the walk, during the vigil, on their own at home, work, or wherever they are- or some combination of any of these.

Sunday, June 12, Byron Weiss will give the third talk at the beginning of the service on progress. After worship this day there will be a special voter's meeting to decide whether or not to move ahead with the final phases of the building projects. The first phases included an auction of the contents and interior of the old Lutheran school building on the corner of First Street and Birch Avenue in Charter Oak, demolition and removal of the school and remodeling of the church basement to accommodate Sunday School class rooms. If approved, the final phase would add a new fellowship hall to the South side of the church building.

On Sunday, June 19 (Father's Day) St. John will say farewell to the old school building with an old fashioned School Picnic after church. It will be a great way to kick off the summer by remembering the past and looking forward to the future.

If the voters approve the building project, St. John expects to undertake a capital campaign to raise funding to defray the costs of the project. St. John voters offered to donate the Sunday School house located at 108 Birch Ave. to a family that lost their home in to the tornado in Mapleton. If there is a recipient family that will accept the house, Habitat for Humanity will assess the structure for the feasibility of a move.

Four LCMS teachers lost their homes and some 20+ members lost homes from various congregations

Below is a link to Immanuel in Joplin's website. The pastor is former Concordia University, Seward chaplain, Greg Mech. You can keep up with their needs by checking in on the website. Supporting the work of LCMS World Relief-Tornado Disaster Relief. Keep Pastor Mech, the members of Immauel and the people of Joplin in your prayers.

Immanuel Lutheran Church | TORNADO RECOVERY

www.immanueljoplin.com

This page details Immanuel's efforts to find and care for our members, and offer help to our community in Jesus' Name.

Special Voters' Meeting June 12

There will be a special voters meeting on June 12th after Church.
The purpose is to seek approval for Phase 4 of the building project. 

District Calendar

Here are some upcoming events from Iowa District-West

• June 4—LLL/Lutheran Hour Ministries Regional Outreach Convention, Clarinda
• June 11-20—IOWAY Mission Trip, Leadville, CO
• June 12—Joy in Ministry Banquet, Denison
• June 22—Lutheran Family Day at Adventureland
• July 4—Independence Day, District Office Closed
• July 7-10—"Sandals to Sneakers" National Children’s Ministry Conference, Orange, CA

Joplin, Missouri

Please keep Immanuel Lutheran Church in Joplin, MO and their pastor Gregory Mech in your thoughts and prayers in the wake of last night's devastating tornado.

Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod - Disaster Response

lcms.org

The LCMS responds to immediate and long-term needs following natural and man-made disasters, working through LCMS districts and congregations, international Lutheran churchs, and other partners.

This week at St. John

Congratulations High School Graduates; Anyssa Castillo, Seth Goslar, Brandon Krapfl, Amy Kuhlmann, Kysa Roberts, and Jon Steffen!

May God bless and keep you in your future endeavors. Please keep in touch; remember you can use this website and St. John's facebook page to do just that. Look for your local chapter of Lutheran Student Fellowship while you're at college, and keep yourself grounded in God's Word.

Family, Friends, and fellow members of St. John Lutheran, please keep these young men and women in your thoughts and prayers too. Remind them that they always have a loving church home in Charter Oak.

Weekly Schedule

• Monday, May 23- Pastor attending the Pastors' Golf Day
• Saturday, May 28- 7:00pm Worship at Immanuel, Soldier Township
• Sunday, May 29- 10:00am Communion Worship and Memorial Day observance by the American Legion

Other Announcements

• Missionary John Thomas is still looking for a car to purchase for driving while here in the U.S. Please call 712-267-2113
• Iowa District~West Joy in Ministry Banquet- Sunday June 12 at the Boulders in Denison, featuring Dr. Brian Friedrich, President of Concordia University in Seward, NE. and son of former pastor at St. John, Rev. Henry Friedrich. 
• Housing Needed- Missionary Dr. Lo and his daughter, Gaozong, will be here on June 28 for an evening presentation. They will need a place to stay the night. Anyone who can welcome them into your home, please contact either Pastor Merrill or the Church office. Thank You.
• Please save the date- Plans are coming together for a special celebration on Father's Day, Sunday, June 19 after Church. More information to come.

Watch us growPray for us as we do

In the next few months and years, St. John will be going through a lot of changes. The original school building will be taken down, then so will the house next door serving as a temporary Sunday school building. After that the plan is to remodel the church basement to accommodate Sunday school classes.

The Church Council will soon be undertaking a campaign to raise funds to add-on a new fellowship hall adjacent to the Church offices to the South.

Please keep St. John Lutheran Church in your prayers. May God guide our plans and decisions, and may He provide the resources to accomplish these projects so that St. John may best serve the needs of both our congregation and our community.

Offering with open arms- the love of Jesus!

Graduation Time; Did you know?

St. John Lutheran School students and teachers in 1915. (From the 125th Anniversary History Book)

Did you know that St. John Lutheran School opened in Charter Oak in 1890 with just TWO students!? 

Please come celebrate Baccalaureate services for CO-U HS students at St. John this Sunday, May 22! And please think about how you can support Christian education at St. John. 

• The most important way you can help is to support us with your prayers. Please pray regularly for our students, leaders and helpers.
• You can encouraging your children and grandchildren to attend Sunday School, Confirmation, and Vacation Bible School- or inviting your neighborhood children to attend. 
• You can support us support these ministries by volunteering your own time and talents to serve as a teacher, helper or memory-work listener. Call the church office to find out how.
• Of course you can always support these outreaches financially or by donating supplies. Ask Pastor, Sunday School Superintendents Trisha McDonald and Peggy Sue Henschen, or VBS Director Bethany Mallory. Be sure to designate your gift to the St. John Board of Education.
• You can also help by contributing to the campaign to raise funds to pay for razing and cleaning-up the old Education Building across from the church, moving or razing the Sunday School House next door, remodeling the basement into classrooms and/or the completion of a new handicap-accessible fellowship South of the church. Please consider prayerfully how much you can give.

Sharing the love of Jesus through His Word the Bible with our children is one of our greatest responsibilities as a congregation, as parents, and as a faith-community.Just because it's almost summer vacation, it's still the perfect time to ask God how you can support and promote the teaching about His love at St. John.

"Train up a child in the way he should go,Even when he is old he will not depart from it." ~Proverbs 22:6

Did you ever attend St. John Lutheran School as a student? Share some of your memories or tell us how God blessed you through Lutheran education. You can click on the "comments" link below this post, or post it on our facebook wall.

Share your memories

With the impending demolition and removal of the old St. John Education building, this may be a good time to share the memories and blessings. How did God touch your life through St. John Lutheran School, Noah's Ark Preschool, or St. John Sunday School throughout the years? Tell us either by posting comments on this post (click where it says "comments"), or on our facebook wall.

Spread the word about St.John

Are you a member of St. Johns, Charter Oak? Did you used to be? Do you know someone who is? Please share this website with other members who might not have seen it yet. Be sure to bookmark this page, or even sign up to follow it, on the right-hand menu.

Please "like" our facebook page and share it with others who may not have seen it yet. If you're a member of facebook and haven't seen St. Johns' page there yet, visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-John-Lutheran-Church-Charter-Oak/125146974185140

These are great ways to be updated on schedules and events, as well as to reminisce about old times, not just for current members, but also for students at college, active military personnel, and all the Charter Oak "diaspora," around the country and around the world. Please share these sites with everyone you think might be interested.

This week at St. John

• Mon-Sat May 16-20-  6:25AM Pastor Merrill hosts Thy Strong Word on KDSN 107.1fm/1530am
• Wed May18- 9:00am Women's Bible Study
• 8:00pm Elder's Meeting
• Sat May 20- 7:00pm Worship at Immanuel, Soldier Township
• Sun May 21- 8:45am Christian Education Hour
• 10:00am Baccalaureate Service
• 2:00pm Graduation at COU-U High School

SAVE THIS DATE:

JUNE 19, 2011

Council Minutes; Building Proje

Click here to open/download a PDF of the minutes of the Special Church Council Meeting, Wednesday May 11, 2011

At the last Voters’ Meeting the Church Council was made responsible for spearheading a fundraising campaign to finance the removal of the old school building, remodeling the church basement into classrooms for Sunday School and Confirmation, and building on an annex to the church which will serve as a fellowship Hall and multipurpose facility. The Church Council convened May 11 to discuss/decide how to financing will proceed.

The Council decided to write a letter to St. John members explaining the building project and fundraising needs, plan a prayer event offering our plans to God's direction (as well as to pray for other needs of the community and congregation), host a kick-off dinner this summer, begin a series of stewardship talks each Sunday, and promote a variety of means for members to contribute to the building campaign.

There was discussion about future responsibilities of a building committee, including having the initial estimate reviewed and itemized and eventually having work bid. Pastor suggested reconvening on the second Wednesday in June to report on progress on the delegated tasks and further discussion of the building committee’s further role and plans. It was agreed that the Council will meet at 7pm June 8th.

Be sure to watch this website to see how the Lord directs us in this new page in our church's history.

From IDW; Mapleton Update

Hi,

Thank you to those who have given generously to the relief efforts in Mapleton.  Others are wondering what you can do. You can help!  I have been in nearly daily contact with the leaders at St. Matthew Lutheran Church.  You may have read in Sunday’s Des Moines Register that Mapleton did not want donations.  That is true for the city of Mapleton but not for St Matthew’s.  St. Matthew’s will continue to be a beacon of hope for the relief efforts.

Furniture and appliances are needed!!  

Please call Nancy Albers at 712-880-0232 if you have furniture or appliances to donate. 

St Matthew has set up rooms in their church to accommodate the distribution of needed items. 

IMMEDIATE NEEDS:

Bath towels

Wash cloths

Laundry Detergent

Dish Soap

Canned food: fruit, vegetables, stew, soups etc

Cereal

Not flour and sugar

Brooms

If you are near Mapleton, just deliver the items to St Matthew at 504 Walnut (corner of Walnut and 5^th St.)  If you are not near Mapleton for delivery, you may send a Wal Mart gift card to me and I will see that the items are purchased for you.  

Send gift cards to:

Ellie Menz

807 W. South

Jefferson, IA 50129

Thank you for your generous hearts, Ellie Menz 515-386-8420

St. John Confirmation 2011

St. John Confirmation 2011, a set on Flickr.

See some pictures from the Confirmation class's recent photo shoot. CD's will be burnt and available for their parents in the Church office this week.

As long as you don't live in the Boyer Valley school district, see http://mal-com.blogspot.com for the lowest photography rates around.

This week at St. John

• Mon. May 2- 8:30AM Kitchen Clean-up, everyone invited
• Tues. May 3- 6:30AM Men's Bible Study at St. John
• Pastor at Spencer & Paulina- Cub Week programs
• Wed. May 4- 9:00AM Ladies Bible Study
• 3:30PM Confirmation Students to Mission Central
• Thurs. May 5- 1:30PM LWML Meeting
• 6:00PM Cub Scouts Meeting
• Sat. May 7- 5:00PM Benefit for Jim & Nancy Jurgens at Charter Oak Community Building
  If you'd like to volunteer to help at the dinner or auction, please sign up on the memorial stand
• 7:00PM Pastor preaching at Immanuel, Soldier
• Sun. May 8- 8:45AM Christian Education Hour
• 10:00AM Worship Service- Sunday School awards distributed
• 11:00Am Finance Board Meeting
• 2:00PM Cub Scouts Meeting
• Triple Parish Vacancy Details- Beginning May 2, Pastor Merrill will be serving the vacancy at the Triple Parish (St. Paul Hanover, St. Luke Ricketts, & Immanuel Soldier Township). The Triple Parish expects to be assigned a candidate from one of the seminaries so the vacancy is expected to last 2-3 months depending on how quickly the candidate is able to be ordained and installed after graduation.
  
  During this time, the Triple Parish will have one service on Saturday at 7:00PM, altering between the three sites. Services May 7, 14, & 21 will be at Immanuel; May 28 at St. Luke. This will not effect the Sunday schedule at St. John at all. There will be a Thursday morning Bible Study at Ricketts at least through May.
  
  Pastor will also be responsible for hospital visits & shut-in calls for the Triple Parish, along with any funerals if they are necessary. He will attend monthly LWML & Men's Cub meetings as time permits, although St. John needs will take precedent.

Confirmed in Christ

2011 St. John Confirmands
Back row; MaKarlie Smith, Pastor Richard Merrill, Korey Kuhlmann, and Ryan Vogt.
Front row; Levi Kragel and Amy Goslar.