A LAUGHING CHRISTMAS

The Sunday School Christmas Pageant, A Laughing Christmas, was presented during worship on Sunday, December 20th. A marvelously large group of 25 children were involved. They are pictured above—double click the photo to see an enlargement.

The original pageant was written by Pastor Laura Gentry. It presented the Christmas story in a joyful way with lots of laughter. Below are photos taken by Pastor and her father, Burnell Smith.

CAST & CREW

Laughing Narrators—Ellicha Gage, Kaylee Lawson, Mason Libke, Louis Nguyen, Melony Orr, Sean Peters, Nicole Vinson

Mary— Allana Pleasants

Elizabeth—Emily Rethwisch

Joseph & Adult Jesus—Caelin Peters

Donkey—Nicholas Rethwisch

Baby Jesus—Chloe Magnusson

Sheep—Eden James, Ethan Schweitzer, Jack Schweitzer,

Kai Timmerman, Zoey Timmerman

Angels—Makayla Peters, Jazmine Rathbun, Soraya, Reyes, Laurel Scott, Hallie Vinson

Wise Men—Kyle Hitchins, Lucas Kerndt, Emilio Rathbun

Writer/Director—Pastor Laura Gentry

Assistant Directors/Costumers—Susan Finley, Jamie Horkheimer, Wendy Morris, Carla Pleasants, Lisa Rethwisch, Mike Schweitzer, LaVern & Kim Timmerman

Costumers—Wendy Morris, Judy Wood

Gift Bag Makers—Chris & Daryl Bolson

Pastor prays at the Advent Wreath to begin the pageant.

The whole cast assembles for the opening number: "We Wish You a Laughing Christmas!"

The confirmation class, adorned in "laughter hats" narrate the pageant.

Zoey and Kai Timmerman are smiling sheep.

The congregation looks on as kids perform.

A very "pregnant" Mary and a very "pregnant" Elizabeth act out the scene where the unborn John the Baptist leaps for joy in his mother's womb.

Joseph, Mary, the Baby Jesus and a dancing donkey (you know, just the way it is told in the gospels!).

The Holy Family

Angels, sheep and wise men congregate around the Holy Family.

Melanie Magnusson looks on proudly as her daughter plays Baby Jesus.

Mary struggles to hold up the Baby Jesus.

The view from the balcony

The wise men follow the star to Jesus, where they offer their gifts.

The confirmation class singing their number: "Do You Hear What I Hear?"

Jesus as an adult, talking about joy.

An ensemble sings "The Jamaican Noel" during the offering.

The cast sings the final number: "Merry, Merry Christmas" written by William & Laura Gentry.

Wise Man, Emilio Rathbun, smiles for the camera.

The cast re-assembles for the post-performance photo shoot.

Donkey, Nicholas Rethwish.

The grinning sheep.

Baby Jesus, Chloe Magnusson, is still on her best behavior as more photos are taken.

The baby is laid in the manger.

Gayle & Pastor goofing around.

The cold snow outside that morning.

The assortment of Christmas cookies served at the reception following.

Melanie Magnusson with her daughter, Chloe (a.k.a. Baby Jesus).

Thanks to everyone who helped make this year's pageant a laughing success! Ha ha ha!

WOMEN OF THE ELCA CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS

The Women of the ELCA at Our Savior's have been joyfully celebrating the season. The Rebecca Circle met for a celebration at the home of Dick and Donna Reed on December 15th and the entire Women of the ELCA group gathered for a Christmas Party at the home of Jan and Mary Schweitzer on December 16th.

At the Rebecca Circle gathering, host Donna Reed invited members to bring special stories of Christmas to share. Afterwards, she served a buffet of hors d'ouevrs and desserts. Below are pictures from that event.

Back Row: Lee Bjerke, Jean Meyer, Judy Schild, Gayle Bahlmann, Dorothy Becker, Donna Reed

Front Row: Grace Ziegelmaier, Pastor Laura Gentry

Donna Reed, the gracious hostess

Danielle Gabel-Wittman and Grace Ziegelaier help themselves to the beautiful array of food prepared by Donna.

A plate full of goodies!

At the Women of the ELCA party, members held a business meeting then played a Christmas version of Bible Bingo, complete with prizes provided by Gayle Bahlmann. They sang some Christmas carols played on guitar by Pastor. Finally, they enjoyed the potluck of Christmas treats during the fellowship time. Chris Bolson gave out jingle bells for ornaments.

JAZZED ABOUT CHRISTMAS

Our Savior's Lutheran church in Lansing, 480 Diagonal Street (a block north of Main Street at 5th), will be hosting a holiday concert entitled “Jazzed about Christmas” at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 20th with a reception following. The concert will feature the church’s worship musician, celebrated Iowa jazz composer and pianist Tom Bourcier, on their new baby grand piano.

A freewill offering will be taken at the event to support a local outreach program known as the "Giving Tree" program, which provides gifts of toys, clothing, food and other resources to local families in need of assistance.

The Giving Tree began over 25 years ago. At that time, it was called the Toy Tree and it simply provided gifts for children of low income families at Christmas time. It was developed by the youth group of Lansing United Methodist Church. As the outreach project grew, additional support developed from individuals of other Lansing congregations. "Sister Kathyrn" of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church was actively involved as well as friends from Our Savior’s Lutheran who have made financial contributions over the years. This local outreach continues to be sponsored by the United Methodist congregation and is chaired by Angie Colsch. It serves families in Lansing, New Albin, Harpers Ferry, Waukon, Waterville, and surrounding rural areas.

As the needs of Allamakee County have grown, so has the program. Now the assistance is provided year round and it includes not only toys, but other necessities as well.

A lot of clothing items are given to kids. Colsch explains: “It is surprising how many kids in the area come to school in the winter without adequate socks, mittens, boots, or headwear because their families can't afford them.”

The Giving Tree provides socks, mittens, gloves, hats, scarves, winter coats, boots and other clothing items. They also donate towels, laundry detergent, clothes baskets, hygiene products and food for families who may not otherwise have these basic resources. And yes, toys, games, coloring books, dolls, balls are purchased, wrapped and given to brighten Christmas morning for many youngsters.

Allamakee County is already served by the food shelf in Waukon but the struggling economy has led to record numbers served. As of April, the unemployment rate of Allamakee County was 10%—the highest level in the state. Prior to the recent factory layoffs, the Allamakee County Food Shelf served about 80 households per month. Now it serves over 100 every month.

Furthermore, many families do not have transportation to Waukon and so the need for food assistance in Lansing, Harpers Ferry and New Albin as well as rural areas is an issue.

Throughout its history, the Giving Tree has operated on a volunteer basis. This enables every dollar given to go directly to Allamakee families, rather than to administrative costs. With a very modest budget, they were able to serve around 70 individuals last year.

“The purpose of the ‘Jazzed About Christmas’ concert is two-fold,” Pastor Laura Gentry explains. “We want to offer the community a wonderful Christmas concert while raising funds as well as awareness about the needs of our county. At this time of year, people are eager to be generous and this is an exciting opportunity for them to make a difference right here.”

This is the second benefit concert hosted by Our Savior’s Lutheran this year. In July, the church opened their doors to the public for a summer jazz concert featuring Bourcier to raise money for the Lansing Fire Department Building Fund. Between the concert and the additional funds contributed by the church, $1,000 was gathered for this cause.

Now, with the acquisition of a new instrument (pictured below), the church hopes to bring many people in to enjoy the music of the season while again, raising funds for a worthy cause.

For more information, please visit the church website, www.laughinglutherans.com, or call 538-4664.

A THANK YOU NOTE TO GOD

During the children's sermon at the Thanksgiving Eve service last night, Pastor Laura challenged the children to thank God more. As an object lesson, she gave them each a thank you card. At the end of the service, Clare Wittman had written out the whole card expressing her thanks and love. So today on Thanksgiving day, we share this lovely card in hopes it inspires you.

Clare Wittman

This blog entry was featured at the independent news site www.prettygoodlutherans.com on Thanksgiving day. Click here to visit this link.

SUNDAY SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PAGEANT ANNOUNCED

"A Laughing Christmas." That's the name of year's Sunday school Christmas pageant. An original twist on the traditional manger scene program, this pageant promises to be the happiest you've ever seen with lots of laughs for everyone. It was written by Pastor Laura with an original song she composed with her husband. This and the other songs will be played live by our worship musician, Tom Bourcier. Pastor and the Sunday school teachers will be putting the pageant together in the next few weeks.

Though the kids have already started rehearsing the music for the pageant, the official rehearsals will be held December 6th and 13th from 10:00 a.m. until noon with lunch following. They will perform it for the congregation during worship on Sunday, December 20th at 9:00 a.m.

All kids ages 3 through 15 are welcome to participate. Please help spread the word so we can have a wonderfully large group this year. If you'd like to help by making and/or washing costumes, making lunch on the rehearsal days or putting together the treat bags, please let Susan Finley know. She can be reached at: 538-4625.