I have received some e-mails from our members warning about a children’s movie called The Golden Compass with an anti-Christian theme that’s being released December 7. I try to be diligent about checking things that are circulated on the internet, as many unfounded rumors are perpetuated this way. I use www.snopes.com routinely to debunk these “urban myths.” A similar website is http://www.truthorfiction.com. Both of these websites confirm the nature of this movie, which could also be viewed as an indictment of religious oppression in the institutionalized church. Adults can make up their own minds, but because children are impressionable, I would not recommend taking them to this movie. For further information, consult http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp or http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/g/golden-compass.htm.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
The Week of October 28, 2007
Greetings to Swedlanda family and friends,
Today at worship, we had some visitors who were here to celebrate special occasions. In addition to birthdays, we recognized recent and impending anniversaries: Doug & Darlene S. – 50th; Calvin & Mary A. – 19th; Erling & LaVaun D. – 50th. What a blessing to have these couples as a part of our faith community!
Hannah C. was with us to play on the piano for her grandparents’ anniversary; she is very accomplished. Megan S. also played the flute, accompanying the Swedlanda Choir—very beautiful piece. God has graced us with many musically talented people.
Two folks were added to our prayer list: Helen P., mother of Ruth A., who had a fall and resulting broken pelvis; she is recovering and doing well. We also added Rev. Joyce P., who is the Synod minister for our Conference; she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
The sermon for the day is What Does This Mean?—a title chosen to reflect the fact that this is Reformation Sunday. You should be able to access it if you chose to with the link on the sidebar.
I distributed an article encouraging daily prayer to the mailboxes of our members. We have been given permission to use it in our congregation, so I am copying it in a box on the sidebar. Just scroll down until you find it. It is copyrighted material, so please don’t redistribute it without permission. I encourage you to use it for fourteen days, as suggested by the author.
I have added a few announcements below. May you have a grace-filled week.
In Christ,
Pastor Stewart
Announcements:
A message from the Habitat For Humanity site co-supervisor, Ann: Well, I hope you have all missed my weekly updates!!! My computer was "down" for four weeks so I am glad to be up and running again. Eric Fennern finished the mudding, taping and spraying two weeks age, we completed the painting, installed the kitchen cabinets, and are now in the process of hanging doors and trim. We can REALLY use some extra hands as we finish up with the detail work. With our steady crew of retired farmers still out in the fields, we need some new volunteers. None of it is heavy, hard work so easily handled by women too. We are trying to get everything completed before Thanksgiving so PLEASE consider making time to join us for a day, or even half a day. We start about 8 AM. If anyone can come in the evening, give me a call at 320-523-1008 and I will be there. We should have ceiling lights installed this week so won't have to work in the dark!!! Blessings on all. Ann
The Swedlanda Women of the ELCA will have a Unit Meeting on Thursday, November 1 at 1:30 p.m.
The Wednesday morning Bible Study begins at 8:00 a.m. each week. Please bring your Bible and join us. No advance preparation.
Swedlanda has pledged $300 per year for 5 years to build a library for Melpattambakkam Girls School in
It’s time to begin practice on the 2007 Christmas cantata, Mary, Did you Know? by David Guthrie & Bruce Greer. Rehearsals are planned for 5:30 pm on Tuesdays & Wednesdays October 30, 31, Nov. 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, & 28, (if needed). Rehearsal location: Olivia’s
Pastor Stewart will be attending a Congregational Mission & Leadership meeting on Thursday evening at our Seminary in
The Swedlanda Luther League is planning a bonfire for Sunday, November 4 at 7:00 p.m.
The Luther League is also planning a service trip to “Kids Against Hunger” at Cactus Jack’s, Stewart on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 4-6 p.m. to help bag food. All are invited to join them!
The 2007 Advent Event Silent Auction will be held on Sunday, November 25, so now is the time to begin thinking of what you could contribute. Crafts, gifts, baked goods and services are welcome. Donations can be brought to the church beginning Nov. 18.
Habitat For Humanity Raffle tickets are now available!! This year, the Grand Prize is a candy apple red 2008 Ford Mustang convertible. Other prizes include a 15” Lap Top Computer, $500 cash, Apple I Pod 80 GB Video, and 27” Digital Color TV. Tickets are $50 and may be purchased from HFH Board members, Joyce Nyhus or Pastor Stewart. The drawing will be held on February 3, 2008.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Program: Efi Tembon, Wycliffe Missionary-
Coffee: 9:30 a.m. Program 10:00 a.m.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
The Week of October 21, 2007
Greetings in Christ!
Although I led worship at Swedlanda today, I am now writing from the site of the Theological Conference in
Today it seemed that our families were celebrating quite a few special events. Olga was still celebrating her 85th and brought along her granddaughter Alexis, who has a birthday on Monday. Ralph S celebrated his birthday today, so we sang for him in church. Zack N. and my daughter Teresa share a birthdate (the 19th). We congratulated Zack in church and I went to a party for my daughter later. There are also two anniversaries being celebrated this week: David & Mary L, who will have been married 37 years on Wednesday and Dough & Darlene S., who are celebrating a 50th on Friday. Quite an accomplishment! I heard that some of our families were in other churches celebrating baptisms today, too.
We added my daughter Jessica’s mother-in-law to our prayer list today-Lynn M. She has one of the defibrillators that will need to have leads replaced. You will note that in the Swedlanda Prayer List, I have chosen not to include names of individuals because this blog is public. If you wish to be placed on the e-mail prayer chain, please let me know.
It was cloudy today and the temperature seemed to be dropping as the wind picked up. It appears that much of the harvest has been completed, but there are still some corn and beets to be finished. Hopefully it will stay dry for a few days.
I have added today’s sermon to SkyDrive. If interested, try the link. You will need a hotmail or msn account to view it (available for free).
The Prayer for today:
O Lord God, tireless guardian of your people, you are always ready to hear our cries. Teach us to rely day and night on your care. Inspire us to seek your enduring justice for all this suffering world, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
Here are some of the announcements for the day. Some of these are repeated from last Sunday.
Announcements:
Pastor Stewart will be attending the SW MN Synod Fall Theological Conference in
The Swedlanda Women of the ELCA will have a Unit Meeting on Thursday, November 1 at 1:30 p.m. Jill Bruns has the program and hostesses are Jean Anderson and Keri Anderson.
Palmer and Haakon Vaadeland, the father-son vocalists from Park Rapids, will be with us on Reformation Sunday, October 28. They will need housing overnight on Saturday. If you would be willing, please let Pastor Stewart know. Thank you.
Congratulations to Nancy Stewart, who graduated from
The Fall edition of Mosaic is now available on VHS tape in the church library: Understanding Fundamentalism
Habitat For Humanity Raffle tickets are now available!! This year, the Grand Prize is a candy apple red 2008 Ford Mustang convertible. Other prizes include a 15” Lap Top Computer, $500 cash, Apple I Pod 80 GB Video, and 27” Digital Color TV. Tickets are $50 and may be purchased from HFH Board members, Joyce Nyhus or Pastor Stewart. The drawing will be held on February 3, 2008.
At a meeting held Oct. 7, the congregation voted to approve a recommendation from the council that covered several maintenance/repair projects: Replacement of the parsonage deck ($6-7,000); Church siding to be completed by 2009 ($23-25,000); Belfry floor maintenance; and a plan to replace shingles within 10 years. Your contributions toward these property items are much appreciated. Thank you.
The 2007 Advent Event Silent Auction will be held on Sunday, November 25, so now is the time to begin thinking of what you could contribute. Crafts, gifts, baked goods and services are welcome. Donations can be brought to the church beginning Nov. 18.
Monday, October 15, 2007
The Week of October 14, 2007
Greetings,
This is my first public post for the Swedlanda Blog. Hopefully, I will be able to keep up as the weeks progress. Several years ago, I began sending a weekly e-mail to college students from Swedlanda as a way of keeping them up to date with the latest at our congregation. I am not sure how many actually read these epistles, but a few would e-mail me back from time to time with a question.
Over the years, the e-mail list expanded to include Swedlanda members who no longer live close to the church. Some are young people who have graduated from college and have taken jobs elsewhere. Others have retired and moved away. Some are just gone from the Swedlanda community on a seasonal basis, but want to know what is happening back home.
As time went on, the e-mail list became more difficult to handle. For one thing, people began adding new e-mail addresses and I didn’t always know which ones were preferred or current. Also, as colleges became more security conscious, I didn’t always have access to e-mail addresses. A web site was added at www.lutheransonline.com/swedlanda but this did not prove a satisfactory way of sending out messages or announcements to the congregation.
After searching for a new way to provide this connection, I decided to try a blog. This seems a bit less intrusive than an e-mail. Those who are interested can access the blog at any time they choose and can even look at posts from previous weeks. It’s fairly easy to bookmark the site or even drag the link onto a toolbar or desktop. Or you can subscribe to the posts using a feed reader (click on the link at the bottom of the blog).
I also gave some thought to providing the weekly sermon to those who are interested. I didn’t really want to put my sermons on a public post or inflict them on those who didn’t ask for them. So I decided to try another option. My hotmail account is offering a free on-line storage called SkyDrive. Those invited can access a folder with the most recent sermons if they wish. So I put the e-mail addresses I have for Swedlanda “family and friends” on the invited list. A link was automatically sent out. The only qualification is that you have to have a hotmail or msn account to access the folder; these are available for free if you don’t already have one. If you are having problems in accessing the sermons, please let me know.
Thank you for your indulgence. I'm always open to suggestions. Here are some notes and announcements for this week.
In Christ,
Pastor Stewart
The boilers are on! It felt rather cool and damp when the choir began arriving on Sunday, so it was time to turn on the heat. Although much has been harvested, there is much yet to be done and the rainy weather has been slowing things down. All in all, we are grateful for what God has provided.
We sang “Happy Birthday” in church to Olga Shemukenas, who is 85 years young this week, and to Gail Dean, also celebrating a birthday.
Announcements:
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: Volunteers are needed for the project in
Larry and Bonnie Rettmann have purchased a home in Belview and need some assistance moving, as Larry continues to recover from a hip injury and surgery. If you could help on Saturday, October 20, please call them at 833-2395. Larry and Bonnie intend to retain their membership at Swedlanda and their daughter is moving into the house they now live in.
The quilting ladies still have some Apple Crisp and Homemade Frozen Apple Pies for
The Wednesday morning Bible Study meets at 8:00 a.m. Bring along your Bible and join us. We are discussing the appointed Gospel Lesson for the week.
After many years of faithful service, Theresa Fink, has tendered her resignation as the Swedlanda Church Secretary. The congregation offers thanks for her dedication and efficiency. She has generously offered to help with the publication of the Annual Reports, for which we are also grateful. At its October meeting, the Church Council accepted Nancy Stewart’s offer to take on the weekly secretarial duties. Because of her work schedule, it will not be possible for her to have regular hours, but messages can be left for her at the church office (320-848-2490) or at the parsonage (320-848-2444). Bulletin notices can also be left on the secretary’s desk or in the box on the wall by Pastor Stewart’s office door. Notices or requests can also be sent to him at his email address, ckstewart@hotmail.com. He can also be reached by cell phone at 612-770-6201. These phone numbers and the email address are on a business card which has been distributed to church mailboxes.
Swedlanda has pledged $300 per year for 5 years to build a library for
At the October Council Meeting, it was decided to send ½ of the interest ($393.21) from the Eddy Anderson and Oscar Kulberg Mission Investment Fund to the India Library Project and ½ to the Kent Hillman family (Wycliffe Bible Translators).
The
We are still in need of a Sunday School teacher to do some team teaching! Please contact Eileen Roebke (848-2356) or Gail Dean (320-583-2545) or leave a message at the church. Thank You!
Habitat For Humanity Raffle tickets are now available!! This year, the Grand Prize is a candy apple red 2008 Ford Mustang convertible. Other prizes include a 15” Lap Top Computer, $500 cash, Apple I Pod 80 GB Video, and 27” Digital Color TV. Tickets are $50 and may be purchased from HFH Board members, Joyce Nyhus or Pastor Stewart. The drawing will be held on February 3, 2008.
All are invited so please join us!
Palmer and Haakon Vaadeland, the father-son vocalists from Park Rapids, will be with us on Reformation Sunday, October 28. They will need housing overnight on Saturday. If you would be willing, please let Pastor Stewart know. Thank you.
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