Planning Ahead 2025

We have some outreach and evangelism efforts planned for the rest of the year. Take a look and mark your calendar because we’ll need help for these…

Church Family Night Tuesday August 26th

Next week we are having a church family night here at church.  Come on over at 5:30pm for food and then stay as we watch and discuss a presentation from the Lutheran Leadership Conference.  We will watch "Connecting to your Community" by Rev. Jonathan Bourman.  During the presentation Pastor Bourman shares experiences he has from starting a mission congregation and challenges us to consider how we can apply the ideas in our own community.

Fall Frenzy Saturday September 20th

We want to reach out to our community during the Fall Frenzy by having a booth at the event.  We'll have a bird feeder craft for the kids to make (for free).  The bird feeder will be laser cut so that it should be easy to assemble.  So to do this, we need your help and support.  We need to have several people there from 9am until 2pm (you don't have to be there the entire time, but we need coverage for those hours).  We also need a few more people there to talk to people, especially the parents while their children are making the craft.  


Please consider helping with this effort.  We need to know really soon if we have enough help.  If we don't, we won't do this event.  If we do move forward with this event, we'll need to register, we'll request Thrivent Action Money (which takes time) so that we can buy the materials for the craft (which we'll need time for).  

Trunk or Treat  October

Since the city is having Trick-or-Treat hours, and since hundreds of our neighbors will be walking past our church campus... we'll invite them to stop by!  As long as we have enough people willing to come hand out candy, we will have a Trunk-or-Treat event here.  We will also need help running the games so please consider helping that way as well.  More information will come.

Christmas for Kids  Saturday November 15th 

We want to have a Christmas for Kids event again.  The last few times we've tried this there have been scheduling problems and we canceled it.  This year the plan is to try this in November.  During the event the kids will make and decorate an Advent Calendar that they can use this year.  We will need your help, support, and ideas to make this happen.

Christmas Parade Saturday December 13th 

The plan is to have a float in the parade again.  We'll need help assembling a float and walking (or riding) the parade.  

Sunday School 2025

The next year of Sunday School starts September 7th! We are excited for this new year to start. Please talk with Dave or Pastor if you plan on sending your child(ren) to Sunday School. Each week we will have our service at 9am, snacks to follow and then Sunday School and Bible Study will start around 10:15. Bible Study will be in the worship area and Sunday School will be downstairs.

A HUGE thank you to the teachers and leaders who volunteered to help this year! We appreciate your time and effort for this all year! Thank You!

40 Years Ago

Did you know that our building used to have a simple steeple?  The spire was about 20ft tall and made of fiber glass.  On May 31, 1985, lightning struck the church causing over $10,000 in damage.  Unfortunately, the damage resulted in the spire being removed.  The timing seemed unfortunate because the church had already borrowed money from another church for something else, and the insurance covered most, but not all of the cost to repair the building.  Behind the scenes the Lord had been working.  In the church’s moment of need, they unexpectedly received a gift from someone who was not a member.  The amount given was even more than they were first told which allowed the church to repair the roof and pay off the other debt!

If you have more information about the spire, the lightning strike, or any of our church’s history, please let us know.  We would especially love to have photos of when the building was younger and had the spire. 

Ascension 2025

Help us celebrate Christ’s Ascension, His return to His Heavenly throne!  We will have a joint service with Grace Sugar Bush here this Thursday at 6:30pm.  

Offerings:  At His Ascension, Christ left the disciples with a calling, to go and spread the Gospel message.  In keeping with this, any undesignated offerings given during the Ascension service will be given to Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.

Pie:  Stay after for a pie social after the service!

Thank You Sunday School Teachers

A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped with Sunday School this last school year.  We appreciate all you have done, all the time and effort you gave, to teach the young ones about their Savior!  Thank you!

This past school year we had a great crew of kids who came to Sunday School, and even sang a few songs in church. The kids searched for hidden eggs, learned Bible passages, and learned more about their Savior. Our church family is so grateful for the Sunday School teachers, helpers, and leaders for all they have done!

 

Holy Week 2025

Join us for the heart of the Christian church year! Celebrate Holy Week with us. Each service is special and unique. Journey with us to the cross where we see our sin carried by our Savior. Witness God forsaken by God with the sacrifice of ages. Then celebrate Christ victorious! We would love for you to join your voices with ours as we proclaim and praise the undeserved love God shows us!

Sunday, April 13th

9am Sunday of the Passion Service with Palm procession

 

Thursday, April 17th

7pm Holy Thursday Worship with Holy Communion

 

Friday, April 18th

1pm  Worship at the Cross

7pm  Tenebrae, Service of Darkness

 

Sunday, April 20th

7am  Early Morning Hymn Sing Service

7:45am  Easter Breakfast

9am  Easter Festival Service

 

WELS Connection: March 2025

In October of 2024, we were blessed to have someone from the WELS Connection Team come and record for the March 2025 WELS Connection episode. The episode featured an interview with Pastor Rothfuss and his parents discussing how encouragements helped him pursue serving as a Pastor. Our synod has a shortage of Called Workers and lay leaders. It is important for us to remember and realize that encouraging and supporting the next generations to consider serving the church is something simple we can do now, and it is essential. About those who have the gifts to serve the church, Pastor Rothfuss says “I think it is the responsibility of everyone in a congregation, and really in our synod to encourage those people.” Our Pastor did not grow up in a family of Called Workers, which made the encouragement he received all the more important.

Thank you Pastor Rothfuss for sharing your story! Thank you Rusty and Cathy, his family, those at St. John’s Bay City, MLS, and everyone else who encouraged Caleb to serve as our Pastor! We are thankful to have him as our Pastor!