SIENNA ROSE ST. MARY BAPTISM

Sienna Rose St. Mary was baptized at Our Savior's Lutheran Church on Sunday, October 23rd. She is the daughter of Amanda Romie and Tyler St. Mary. Sienna's baptismal sponsors are Derek and Jenny St. Mary and Jacob and Marcella Dale.

Pictured left to right: Derek St. Mary, Jenny St. Mary, Pastor Laura Gentry, Austin St. Mary, Tyler St. Mary, Sienna Rose St. Mary, Paxton St. Mary, Amanda Romie, Marcella Dale, Jacob Dale

BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS 2016

Our 2nd Annual Blessing of the Animals Service was held on Sunday October 2, 2016. It was a beautiful day to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi and bless our pets. We thank all of you who came out to participate in our special service. An offering was taken to benefit the Humane Society of Northeast Iowa.

A short clip of an animal blessed by Pastor Laura

 Pastor Laura heads worship service

Pastor Laura blesses Cherri, a dog of the Piece family. She is held by Ardyn Pierce.

Pastor Laura with Sylvie and Ardyn piece and their Great Pyrenees puppies.

 Bentley (English Bulldog) and Porsche (Yorkie) patiently await their blessing

 Macy Vinson and her cat "Cotton"

Rick Gramlich and his dog, Duke

Roseanne Sweeney and her dog, Dolly

Cheerio gets a blessing

Daisy gets a blessing

Sylvie Pierce looks on has her new puppy, Arlo, gets a blessing.

Peggy Broadhead's dog, Maizee, get a blessing

 Mike Schweitzer and Debbie Sero had their dog "Buster" blessed

 Kristie Ringelstetter and her cat

Pastor Laura's puppy, Fuji, getting her blessing.

9TH ANNUAL HOLY HILARITY SUNDAY

On Sunday, April 12th, we celebrated our 9th annual Holy Hilarity Sunday, which draws upon the ancient European tradition of observing Easter with humor and revelry.  Below are some photographs from the day. We had a fun time and felt the joy of Christ's resurrection.

The song leaders

Funny-hat-wearing worshipers

Kim Timmerman with her nephew, Keith (in their pajamas!)

The banana who won the lip sync contest at half time (also known as Rick Gramlich)

Pastor Laura in her Croc-Me-Up suit leading songs

Isla, Ashlyn and Owen Henkes and Laurel Scott

Pastor Laura and Chloe Magnusson

Rande Gustafson and Barb Scottston—the dogs who came to worship!

THE BIBLE CABARET IS COMING TO LANSING

Comedian and United Methodist Church minister, Jane Voigts (janevoigts.com), will be debuting pieces of a variety show unlike any other.   The Bible Cabaret:  A Comedy and Music Revue Starring the Old and New Testaments is an exploration of how the Bible works as comedy, as a sacred text with a surprisingly playful spirit intended to make us laugh.  The Cabaret has appeared on stages in Los Angeles and Minneapolis and is now coming to Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 480 Diagonal Street in Lansing, Iowa on Sunday, May 18 at 9 a.m.

The Rev. Jane Voigts, Comedian and UMC Pastor

Says Rev. Voigts, "It's commonly understood that humor is one of the best avenues for delivering messages, especially serious ones.  This truth was not lost on the ancients.  There is actually a lot of delightful as well as stinging satire,  self-lampooning, goofy riddles, trickster adventures and more, and throughout the text, from beginning to end.  So much of the Bible is better suited to Saturday Night Live than the History Channel."

Jane will be performing a brief series of comic monologues and character sketches based on the Bible and its comedy.  This will be held within the context of worship. Watch an excerpt from the introduction to the show at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH44_C02ApA.

Jill Soloway, writer, director and producer of the TV show Six Feet Under, highly recommends the work of Rev. Voigts. She writes: "Nobody can bring out the spiritual potential—of polyester pant suits—and inspire others to do the same than Jane Voigts. Her imagination and soul are a wonder. And HILARIOUS! She's one of the great hopes for modern religious life."

In 2013 Rev. Voigts was pastor of the experimental "LA Comedy Church" in Toluca Lake (a neighborhood of Los Angeles).  She is currently residing in Iowa to care for her ailing parents and continue developing The Bible Cabaret and related projects. While in the area, Jane will also be performing at the Laugh-Fest of the Midwest, which is being held May 16-18 in Ferryville, Wisconsin. 

EVENT: The Bible Cabaret:  A Music and Comedy Revue Starring the Old & New 

WHEN: Sunday, May 18 at 9 a.m.

WHERE: Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 480 Diagonal Street, Lansing, Iowa

ADMISSION: A freewill offering will be taken, no tickets needed

WEB: www.LansingLutherans.org

LET'S GET CONNECTED

Hi Friends,
We are finally getting with the times! We now have a Facebook page and a Twitter account. In addition, we have a brand new, easier to navigate Web site. Please check out the following links and get connected so you don't miss anything going on at Our Savior's.

OFFICIAL WEB SITE: LansingLutherans.org

FACEBOOK PAGE: Facebook.com/LansingLutherans

TWITTER: Twitter.com/LansingLutheran

Thanks for connecting with us on-line. See you in person soon!

LENTEN OFFERINGS GO TO THE ELCA MALARIA CAMPAIGN

This year, the council of Our Savior's decided to send the Lenten service offerings to the ELCA Malaria Campaign. For the past several years, we have supported an important cause with the Lenten offerings. This is because almsgiving is an important tradition of Lent. This year, $609.28 was sent. We also learned more about the campaign during worship on April 29.

Watch the video below and read more about the ELCA Malaria Campaign, which is working to alleviate malaria by 2015 and is in the midst of raising $15 million to do so.

JAZZ CONCERT A SMASHING SUCCESS

On Thursday, July 16th, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church hosted a benefit concert for the Lansing Fire Department featuring jazz pianist and composer, Tom Bourcier. Tom, who is the congregation's worship musician, played to an enthusiastic, full house at an event that raised $634 for the fire department.

For the first hour, Tom performed a variety of jazz classics; jazzed up Christian spirituals such as “Jesus Lifted Me” and “I Want Jesus to Walk With Me”; originals; and a jazz improvisation on “The Tennessee Waltz” along with the story of how he'd met the song’s composer, Pee Wee King. Pastor Laura Gentry sang several interactive numbers from her debut jazz album, “Today isa Laughing Day,” which was recorded last summer in LaCrosse with Tom playing as part of the trio.

Following the formal part of the concert, the crowd mingled and enjoyed refreshments provided by the congregation. Tom continued to play as people gathered around the piano and submitted their requests. This informal segment of the evening lasted another hour.

"It was totally awesome!" says 13 year-old church member, Louis Nguyen. "I think everybody had a great time hearing Tom's music."

The $634, which was collected will be donated to the Lansing Fire Department for their building fund. The congregation of Our Savior’s Lutheran wishes to extend thanks to all those who attended and generously gave to this important cause.

Below are photos from the informal portion of the evening's performance.

Concert hostesses, Mary Schweitzer and Sharon Kiesau, coincidentally showed up wearing the same shirt—thus proving their equally great taste in fashion!

Photos by William Gentry II.