BAPTISM OF CHLOË MAGNUSSON

Chloë Diane, daughter of Melanie and Carl Magnusson was baptized on Sunday, October 11, 2009. Her sponsors are Ashley Chappell and Clayton Burke. We warmly welcome her into the family of God!

GEARING UP FOR RALLY DAY

It is Sunday school time at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church and we hope you and your children will join us for a lively year of learning. Sunday, September 13 is Rally Day—the kick off of our Christian education program. There will be an installation of our teachers in worship at 9:00 a.m. The classes will then begin at 10:00 a.m. They will continue to meet each Sunday until Christmas break, then resume again until the end of the school year.

Sunday school is an important way that our church community can help support the faith development of all it’s members. Each week, kids learn about God’s love for them through the Bible’s many stories. They make connections between the Bible and their own lives in a fun learning environment. Over the summer, the young people were given Spark Bibles or Spark Story Bibles, depending upon their age. If you child hasn’t gotten one yet, we’ll see to it that he or she gets one this fall.

As an incentive to get and keep kids involved in this program, we offer a free week at a Lutheran Bible camp to students who attend 20 Sunday school classes or more. This is approximately a $300 value. We are excited to make this opportunity available for our students. The on-camp programs at Sugar Creek Bible Camp in Ferryville, Wisconsin and Camp EWALU in Strawberry Point, Iowa are for students who have completed the 3rd grade through 12th grade.

We also produce a Christmas program each year in December, which features the Sunday school children. This is a special treat for our congregation. It makes the Christmas story come alive in a wonderful way.

This year, we’ll begin each Sunday school hour by meeting in the church sanctuary for a group singing session. We’ll also be collecting Sunday school offering for a special project. We are excited to announce that we have enough students to break into several age classes in our newly refurbished basement learning center. They include:


The Sunshine Class—for kids 3 years old through Kindergarten taught by Mike Schweitzer

The Celebration Class—for kids first grade through fourth taught by Susan Finley and Lisa Rethwisch

The Cool Kids Class—for those in fifth and sixth grade taught by Carla Pleasants and Wendy Morris

The Confirmation Class—for seventh grade and older taught by Jamie Horkheimer (on Sunday mornings) and Pastor Laura (for extended classes which meet monthly)

Meanwhile, the confirmed teenagers and adults meet upstairs for Bible study.

Would you be interested in helping? If you’d like to be an adult volunteer, please contact Mary Schweitzer at 538-4710. We look forward to a great year!

FIRE DEPARTMENT RECEIVES BIG CHECK

Pastor Laura Gentry and members of Our Savior's Lutheran Church attended the Lansing Fire Department meeting on September 3, 2009 to present a "big check" in the amount of one thousand dollars for the building fund. This money was raised at the benefit concert by Tom Bourcier held in July. Additionally, the Women of the ELCA and the church council added contributions. With the check, Our Savior's brought thanks for the outstanding work of both the Lansing Fire Department and the EMT.

Pictured above are Lansing Fire Chief, Dave Mortiz; Firefighter John Rea; Pastor Laura Gentry; President of the Women of the ELCA, Kim Timmerman; Firefighter Kenny Becker; Our Savior's church council member and EMT, Wendy Morris. (double click to enlarge)

RIVERBOAT WORSHIP SERVICE

Our congregation held the second annual Riverboat Worship Service on Sunday, August 23, 2009. The large group of worshippers set sail at 9:00 a.m. aboard a 98-passenger boat from the fleet of The Mississippi River Explorer Cruises for a morning of worship and fellowship in the great outdoors. 

Our worship accompanist, Tom Bourcier, played the church's electronic keyboard and Pastor Laura played guitar while the children aboard played percussion instruments as we sailed around the worship. Together, it made for a joyful musical experience.

Kaylee Kristyn, the 13 year-old daughter of Reggie and Dawn Lawson of Waukon, was baptized by full immersion in the river. Captain Jack Libbey brought the boat into a sandbar at the time of the baptism so people could disembark to more closely witness the baptism. This tradition of baptizing in the river began last summer when Danielle Gabel-Wittman and her son, Cameron, were baptized during the riverboat service.

Following the service, Tom continued to play music. A surprise party was held to celebrate the 80th birthday of Bob Grover. Cupcakes, coffee and soda were served during the fellowship time. Pastor Laura made balloon hats on the front deck for the kids.

The slideshow below is made of photos from Burnell Smith and various youth group members. The soundtrack is from the new album by Hory Magnusson.

ALBUM HAS BEEN RECORDED

Our Savior's is in the midst of producing an album called "Gather at the River" of Horace Magnusson playing hymns on piano. As a congregation that values the ministry of music, we've decided to embark upon this unique project in order to share the great hymns of faith with our community.

Hory was chosen to be the artist of this recording because he has a long history playing music both in and out of the church in Lansing. He performed in dance bands throughout the region for many years. As a life-long citizen of Lansing and long-time member of our congregation, he has shared his musical gifts by singing in the choir and periodically playing piano and organ for worship. He also plays weekly at the nursing home in town. He is currently 90 years old and still playing the piano with his own, unique flare. The council decided it was high time we preserve Hory's music and share it.

This full-length album was recorded at Sound Strations Recording Studio in LaCrosse, Wisconsin on August 6, 2009. It was the first time Hory had been in a recording studio and also the first time he'd played a baby grand piano. Yet he made those keys sing. Give him a listen by playing the brief video clip below.

Here are some other photos from the recording session including some with grammy award-winning sound engineer, Brett Huus.

The finished album will be released sometime before the end of the year. We'll be posting another blog when that happens. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOE!

Our Savior's member, Dorothy Becker, organized a surprise party for her the 80th birthday of her husband, Joe. Indeed, she pulled it off and truly surprised him. Here he is blowing out all those candles—not an easy task. We wish him a happy birthday!

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT

We congratulate our members, Carl and Melanie, upon the birth of their baby girl Chloë Diane. Double click the photo above to enlarge.  Our prayers of joy and gratitude are with them as they celebrate this blessing. 

Here's Melanie in the nursery the week before she delivered.

And here she is with Chloë.

Carl with his daughter.