Where Can I Serve?
Jesus told us, his disciples, to make disciples of all nations. One of the most important values of Petersburg Lutheran Church is our desire to share the Good News locally and globally. It begins here in Petersburg, and spreads overseas to every nation. PLC members are involved in a variety of ministries from things as simple as setting up for fellowship after our service, to helping our children at our VBS.
Media & Technology
Prayer Chain
Worship Committee
There are some 30 people who work each month to make our worship experience move along smoothly; the main person we see is Pastor Mike. The one we cannot see is the Holy Spirit, and we pray that His work will mold us all into the image of Christ.
The sub groups under worship are:
The Altar Guild, under Susan Holmes’ guidance, includes 13 women. They pour all the communion wine and clean up after communion. They also keep the altar, pulpit and lectern vestments clean and placed at the appropriate time of year. They keep the hollow candles filled with oil and keep the church secretary in the loop so she can order all the supplies for these functions. This committee welcomed new members: Sandy Volk, Jane Kawashima and Wendy Westre this year. There are several men who hang our beautiful banners and others who manage the speaker system.
We also train some 12 Acolytes. It is a pleasure to watch these young people become comfortable serving us and God.
Activity Bags are for kids to use during the church service. They are well used. Materials for them are kept in the bottom shelf of the cupboard in the room next to Secretary’s office. Pat Weaver keeps the bags supplied.
The Ushers and Cradle Roll are led by Shannon Peeler. Her resource for helpers is the Time and Talent Sheet, so please indicate your interest through that sheet. The usher team at Petersburg Lutheran Church fills an important role. They are involved in directing attendees to their seats, ensuring the safety of the building during services, guiding traffic, helping visitors, answering questions, providing direction, unlocking doors, locking doors, and generally ensuring that the service can proceed problem-free. The usher team is a servant-hearted group of men and women whose ministry is integral to church life.The Cradle Roll aspect of her responsibility keeps track of new mothers in our congregation. She sends out an informative newsletter to these new mothers for the first three years of the child’s life.
The Counters are the group of people who count the money from all our offerings. This is done following each service. It is done in conjunction with the church treasurer. We need someone to now take over the role of organizing this group, so there is always someone available to count. That person does not need to count, they just make sure someone is there to do so. Please let our church secretary know if you are interested in that responsibility.
Hymns are picked by Pastor and two or three others who meet monthly.
Music includes those who play the organ and piano. Miriam Swanson organizes this ministry. She still suggests that we try to find a full time person to full these vital positions.
Kitchen Supplies is almost as vital as our music. What would we do with all our food if those supplies were not always readily available? Stacey Madsen checks both our kitchens every month to make sure all the paper plates, towels, cups, napkins, and plastic utensils are there, as well as cleaning supplies.
We give all of you hearty thanks. You work with a gracious spirit. Thank you to all those whose names are not mentioned who assist on these teams. Together
Property Management / Facility Advisory
In 2014 there were three main projects on the agenda to complete. One was the replacement /repair of a few windows in the Holy Cross House and to repair air leaks around existing doors where the weather stripping had been damaged. Another project was to replace the basement windows in the fellowship hall and two doors, the entry door into the fellowship hall kitchen and into the sacristy. The third was to landscape the yard by the Holy Cross House. There were also a few odds and ends that needed some attention: a proper vent pipe for both the sink in the fellowship hall and the sacristy sink, a new front door for the Rebi Hus along with replacing the north-facing window and repairing any water damaged around it.
The Holy Cross House: Local contractors were very busy, however Rick Wikan stepped up and met with Vint Woodyard and myself to do a walk through. A bid was given to repair two compromised windows, seal all doors in the Church, the Fellowship Hall, and the Holy Cross House which had air leaks, replace the fellowship hall windows, including the Kitchen window, and replace two entry doors in the Sacristy and Fellowship Hall kitchen area. The bid came to just under $10,000 to do the work. The work was approved by a unanimous vote in a special congregational meeting held on July 20, 2014. Rick Wikan is currently working on the repairs and hopes to have them completed by early spring in 2015.
Not included in the bid was the replacement of 6 large casement windows in the Holy Cross House whose mechanisms where broken so the windows did not work. These windows were part of the original meeting with Rick. At that time we were still researching a possibly warranty on them, so the replacement cost was not included in the original bid. It was discovered the windows no longer had a warranty, however they could sell us new mechanisms. Due to the size and weight of the windows, the potential for the mechanism’s to break again is high; replacing the 6 casement windows with sliders would be a better option to permanently deal with the issue. This will be looked at in 2015.
Holy Cross House Lawn Landscaping: This project has been talked about for quite some time and as an outgoing council member I wanted to make sure this project was set in motion. The HCH Lawn Nicholson Memorial fund gave us a starting point, so a committee was formed. We met to go over plans that had been previous designed by Dave Riemer, brainstorm options and discuss issues related to landscaping the lawn area. It was decided to break the project up into phases, as the cost to complete it would be much higher than the funds currently available. Proper site preparation, leveling and drainage was determined to be the key issue to the overall project and would be the first phase. Local contractors were called and Reid Brothers Construction responded with a bid to do the work within our current available funds. Phase one will hopefully be completed by early spring of 2015. Discussion on the second phase will begin after that.
Good Beginnings/Rebi Hus: The north-facing window was replaced and no rot was found underneath. The doorframe was resealed and seems to be doing fine. It will be replaced later if necessary. It was also suggested that the other windows be replaced in the near future. An Energy Audit is being looked into.
Future items: Verify the vent for the sink in the fellowship hall and the sacristy has been repaired. Completion of the projects listed above, Phase two of the HCH lawn landscaping, paving the parking areas around the church, Energy Audit and window replacement of the Rebi Hus, and beefing up participation in PLC maintenance, property management and the Facility Advisory Committee.
Youth Committee
Our PLC youth group is preparing for another mission trip. This will be for students who are currently in the 8th grade to 12th grade.
Evangelism Committee
We are now planning another session of Financial Peace University, by Dave Ramsey, a well-known financial planner. We have already had a great interest from the community, and we are looking forward to a great outreach event.
Congregational Care Committee
Our goal is to learn of the needs of members of the church and their families and to reach out to them with care and support and our prayers.
One of the main aspects of our mission has been to send cards to folks who are ill or have experienced other difficulties that have come to our attention. We have been helping with meals and visiting those who are homebound or hospitalized.
Acknowledging the efforts of those who quietly do so much for our church has become a priority for us. In order to do that in a special way we asked Karen Cornelius to design a greeting card for us to use. It has been printed and will be used in the coming year.
Fellowship Committee
Fellowship began the year with our annual birthday party pot luck. Soup and bread on Thursdays in Lent. Easter breakfast was wonderful, as always. We tried to revive our Little Norway coffee hour. We had our church picnic at Sandy Beach. Then soup and bread for Advent. We will try out a new system for Sunday morning coffee hour and see if we like it or not.
Stewardship Committee
Stewardship is not the work of one committee but the work of all members of the congregation. Through the Time and Talent sheets each member has the opportunity to share their gifts with the church by volunteering to help with various jobs that help our church run smoothly. The information from these sheets are tallied by our church secretary and distributed to each council member who then passes the information onto the person in charge of various jobs.
Another part of stewardship is the giving of our offerings to help support the church and our missions. We continue to give 13% of our offerings to the Alaska Synod. As Carol Beckett reminded us during her temple talk, “Everyone is part of a congregation, part of a Synod, and part of the worldwide organization.” Our contributions to the Alaska Synod reach far and wide. We also continue to give 3% of our offerings to various local, state, and national organizations.
We continue to support the Moringe Soikoine Secondary School and Rogathe Kambwe in Monduli, Tanzania with our Christmas offerings. Using a portion of the earnings from the basement sale we support the local Salvation Army through the purchase of turkeys for Thanksgivings, as well as fuel vouchers.
Mission Committee
It is the job of the Mission Committee to coordinate outreach mission opportunities for Petersburg Lutheran. This year we have participated in a variety of outreach ministries:
Operation Christmas Child — sending 27 shoeboxes out.
We bought turkeys at Thanksgiving for all of the Salvation Army baskets and provided over $2000 in fuel vouchers for needy families, using money from the basement sale. In addition to this, money from the basement sale also provided money for the quilters to buy batting and help in the cost of shipping quilts; there was extra money for the pastor’s discretionary fund which helps individuals in need of housing or food.
We also work with the Monday Night meal program. A portion of the basement sale also went to help buy supplies for that. We also have tried to encourage members to individually provide food to hungry people in our committee. This is a weekly opportunity.
We continue to support Moringe Sokoine School in Monduli and also Rogathe in educating her children. Last year we provided some new beds, new tables for the cafeteria, and some new books. This year the headmaster says they need to start building another classroom for level 6 students. This is a positive sign that students are able to stay in school longer because of the support that we give. The cost of a new classroom is about $15,000 and we will be able to provide about one-third of those funds this year.
We also continue with our usual 3% benevolence each month. One of the new ones this year was a needlework ministry for women in prison in Alaska. We were able to provide yarn for their projects. Inmates are taught how to knit or crochet and then they make items to give away to other needy people. The supervisor of the program says that the most positive outcome of this ministry is women being able to sit and talk with other women– something they may never have really done. It is changing their lives.
These are only some of the larger outreach programs that we do, but each of us on our own way can reach out to others in need right here. We thank you for all that you do to show the love of Christ to our neighbors.
Ruth Circle
Well, we seem to say the same thing each year, but I guess it holds true. We want to thank all who help us by donating all the wonderful fabric (even cutting it into squares for us), sheets, and sewing machines. We couldn’t do what we do if it wasn’t for your generosity. I also want to thank Sandra Edgars for her knitted baby afghans, which go out when we send the quilts, and her hats and socks that go into the Christmas boxes. Thanks to those who will just drop off a quilt top or two (60 by 80 inches). Once again AML sent out our quilts for free, which helps out a lot. Thank you AML. Please read the poem written by Marj Oines, who is our temple talk gal; we greatly appreciate her and she helps complete our day of quilting. We are a dedicated group and welcome all who need a day of companionship and service to others. We try to meet every second and fourth Wednesday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.
Good Beginnings Preschool
The Good Beginnings Board is pleased to report that the school is thriving. We are very pleased by the leadership of Director Barb Steltz.
We have added an afternoon class for four – five year old children in response to an overwhelming need in the community. We currently have fifteen children in the morning class for four – five year olds, eleven in the afternoon class for four – five year olds, and thirteen in the three – four year old class. We have one child on a partial scholarship this year.
