Newsletter Article Jason Stanton Newsletter Article Jason Stanton

Message from Pastor Stanton for May 2017

May is full of celebrations at First, throughout our community and in our day-to-day lives. You can’t help but feel a personal thrill waking up to trees with leaves on them, birdsong in the air and warm sunshine. April showers are in the rear-view, and May’s flowers are the payoff. This is a month to celebrate Mom, graduates and give thanks on Memorial Day for all who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. Amidst the moments of thanksgiving, I encourage you to make worship a part of your many festivities. Trust me, I know there are dance recitals to attend, spring sports playoff games, grad parties and more (including my 40th birthday May 30. Guess where I’m going…). My experience is that all those blessed endings are put into perspective as I remember their source. The season of Easter is seven weeks long, which means the entire month of May is a time to celebrate new life! If Sunday morning doesn’t work for your schedule PLEASE CONSIDER WORSHIPING WEDNESDAY EVENINGS. I write that in bold because I hear many of you truly wishing you could attend Sunday worship

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Serve & Give, Clothes Closet, Newsletter Article Andrew Stutesman Serve & Give, Clothes Closet, Newsletter Article Andrew Stutesman

First Teen Clothes Closet Expands Reach Through Partnership

The First Teen Clothes Closet is expanding its reach through a partnership with the Children’s Clothes Closet, housed at Trinity Lutheran Church in La Crosse. We have recognized for some time that there are many families who struggle to access our facility because they lack transportation to Onalaska. Recently connecting with organizers from the Children’s Clothes Closet has presented an opportunity for us to bring more teens to our Closet as an extension of our recent decision to offer to pay for taxi or transit rides.

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Newsletter Article, God's Hands & Feet Kathryn Pedretti Newsletter Article, God's Hands & Feet Kathryn Pedretti

Making God’s Love Known

As I walked into a crowded room, I didn’t know where the person I was looking for was. My heart beat faster, I quickly scanned the room, as people looked at me, wondering who I was. I was unknown, but then my friend found me, calling me by name. I had become known. Have you ever experienced this, people wondering who you are, looking at you, but then looking away not bothering to help. What if this happened here at First Lutheran Church, where we are all too busy to notice or just not care that someone looks lost.

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Creative Work, Photos, Email Andrew Stutesman Creative Work, Photos, Email Andrew Stutesman

Life at Brick Making Pace…

The wall of bricks during Lent is a visual symbol of the nebulous walls that we create when we stop connecting with God and with one another… when we start turning ourselves inward. Walter Brueggemann, author of our Lenten study Sabbath as Resistance, talks about living in a world at "brick making speed" when we are always producing and always in this productivity mode and we don't take time to rest, which prevents us from being the neighbors that God calls us to be. So the wall was built up as a visual representation of what it looks like when walls begin to prevent us from doing the things we would normally do… such as worship in a regular way.

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Newsletter Article Karyn Bodenschatz Newsletter Article Karyn Bodenschatz

Message From Pastor Karyn for April 2017

Why is the work of the church worth funding?

This was the question asked of the Synod Council in March because despite good and hard and faithful work by our Mission Support team, giving to the synod has gone down, and it is getting harder and harder to do the work of the church. The reality is that a decrease in mission support to the synod indicates an overall decrease in the giving at our churches, First Lutheran Church included. So, as leaders in our synod, we were asked why is this work worth funding. Not worth doing but worth funding. As I pondered the answer to this question, I found myself going to places within me that I don’t often go. The truth is we can all give the pat answers to this question, but those answers aren’t working. Our Mission Support team wasn’t asking for those answers either; they want to know why are we doing this hard work, why is the work of our church worth funding. So deep reflection was required to come up with an answer that was real and honest.

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Newsletter Article, God's Hands & Feet Kathryn Pedretti Newsletter Article, God's Hands & Feet Kathryn Pedretti

All Hands on Deck

Summer is almost here! The weather is starting to get warmer and we are beginning to think about all the things we would like to do during summer. As a family, we love to take out our small boat to a sandbar and enjoy the sun and water while my husband fishes. When our girls were young it was essential that they had a job to do while we were getting the boat in the water. I would hold the rope while Perry put it in the water and he would park the truck and trailer. We would have the girls stand off to the side away from all other traffic, holding our very excited dog, who was a lab and loved the water. Each of us had a job and it was all hands on deck as we would get ready to go out on the water. I must say it went smoothly because all knew what they were supposed to do.

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