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Immanuel Lutheran Church is a community of Christians who welcome all people to Gather in Worship, to Grow in God's Word & Grace and to Go forward in faith to serve others in Jesus name. For more information check out our web site at http://www.immanuelcrosby.org/ or call the church office at 218-546-6010.
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Service of Blessing by Judi Burson |
From Isaiah 9: "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; on those who lived in a land of deep shadow a light has shone."
 This verse from Isaiah reflects the theme of our 1st Annual "Service of Remembrance and Blessing" on January 31, 2012. As Pastor Paul said, it is a time to name those things that may be present, especially during theholidays;things that we struggle with such as feelings of grief and loss, loneliness, anxiety, health issues, and life changes. This service was a time to encounter "the One who came to dispel the darkness". We were invited to remember "Immanuel" - the God who is with us, regardless of our circumstances. Broken and hurting, we are able to deeply understand the true meaning of Christmas - restoration and healing for a broken world. Thanks be to God for the gift of His only Son! And the cross laying against the manger reminds us of the person of Jesus' ministry. What an amazing realization: God became flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, to "live a  human life and to share our human experience," says the Rev. Martha Gillette. "And the life Jesus lives was far from trouble-free; poverty, misunderstanding, rejection, betrayal, abuse, unjust trial and execution - God-in-Christ has 'been there and done that.' This is what makes the message of Christmas so powerful. This is what makes our God so amazing!
 It is our hope to make this an annual service as part of our Advent preparations again next year. A time for you to name your need, and lay it in the manger, or at Jesus' feet. And a time to receive a prayer of blessing and comfort as you prepare for the Christ Child. From John 1: The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has never overpowered it... And the word was made flesh and lived among us; and we saw his glory, full of grace and truth." |
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Malawi Well
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 The well project funded by Immanuel and First English Lutheran Church of Mansfield Ohio at a shared cost of $15,000 is now producing clean water for the people of
Kanyenyeva, Malawi.
 The well will affect the lives of about 2000 people in the Kanyenyeva community. The Kanyenyeva community has had impure water for centuries. Prior to the well, the women would spend many hours and much energy to collect water from remote areas.  For more information about the well and the Malawi Orphan Care Project check out the Malawi Orphan Care Project web site.  
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Youth and Children's Ministry
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 FINK: FINK, Immanuel's confirmation program meets every other Wednesday at Salem Lutheran in Deerwood. Students do not need to be members of Immanuel to attend FINK. The next FINK session will be Wednesday, January 23, 2013.
Please contact the church office 
at 218-546-6010 for more
information.
Sunday School: Sunday School is held during the 10:30am worship service. The children are dismissed following Children's Time in the service.
From Holly: We are back to weekly Sunday School classes. I hope everyone enjoyed the break over the holidays.
We have a need for some fill in Sunday school teachers. If any
one is interested, please let me know, h.jhunter@yahoo.com
 or you can contact Craig Lubovich, craiglubo@hotmail .com as well. Working with the kids is very fun and rewarding so please consider being a part of the program -no experience necessary!  Tubing: A tubing event has been organized at Prime Time Charlie's on Sunday, February 3rd. Anyone interested in going tubing should meet at church at 12:30pm that day. Plan on leaving the church at 1:00pm. Contact Craig Lubovich for more  information
Third Grade Bibles: There will be third grade bible study sessions in February, watch for info on that.
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| New Pathways
by Nancy Evans
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 The Board of New Pathways of Minnesota is looking for a new name for the church hospitality group to which we belong after ceasing their affiliation with the national group Family Promise/Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN). They based the decision to leave on the fact that the affiliation fee for 2012 was $6,536. This fee was for the use of the "Interfaith Hospitality Network" name only. They receive no other benefits from Family  Promise. The Board felt that taking this money away fromserving families was not sound fiscal policy. How does this decision affect us? As we go forward, we need to retrain ourselves to refer to our local mission as "New Pathways" instead of IHN.  Immanuel Lutheran welcomed three homeless families for the week of January 6-13. The three mothers and their children were very appreciative of the time and provisions we shared with them. Thank you to the setup/take-down teams, bedding providers, meal providers, drivers, evening and overnight hosts, and the activity time groups. The PBJ Puppet Ministry put on a performance which the children enjoyed.  We had quite a number of first time volunteers from our church - thanks for jumping in with both feet! We were assisted once again by volunteers from St. Joseph's Catholic Church - this collaboration has been very helpful! A big THANK YOU to all who served!
Please mark your calendar for our next hosting week, March 17-24. If you have any question or comments about our local mission, contact Nancy Evans or Bonnie LaPierre.
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Women of Immanuel
by Pat Neros
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Women's Retreat:
There will be a women's retreat March 22-23 at Clearwater Forest Presbyterian Retreat Center in Deerwood. Watch for more details.
2013 Events
 March - Women's Retreat May - Annual Rummage and Bake Sale June - Spring Salad Luncheon November - Holiday Bazaar December - Advent Luncheon |
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Ash Wednesday and Lent
|  Lent will begin on Ash Wednesday, February 13th with a worship service at 6:45pm. Each Wednesday during Lent there will be soup supper at 6:00pm followed by a worship service at 6:45pm.
 The FINK students will again have faith mentors during Lent. Please be open to mentoring a student if you are asked. |
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Piano
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 Addie Finck is now the proud owner of the piano that was in the balcony. As a thank you to all of the men who helped deliver the piano Addie is donating $100 to the camera fund.  |
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Immanuel's Facebook Page
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Check out Immanuel's Facebook page. Jon Hunter is maintaining this page. If you have information that you would like to see publicized on Facebook, please contact Jon at jhunter9826@yahoo.com. |
| Immanuel's E-News |
This n ewsletter is published the 15th of every month. If you have any photos or news items that would be of interest to the Immanuel family, please send them to msegersten@charter.net.
If you are having difficulty viewing the images in the newsletters, go to the E-Newsletter page on Immanuel's website.
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Christmas Eve
Photos by
John Klopfleisch
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Immanuel celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ with three worship services on Christmas Eve.
New Year's Eve
Photos by
John Klopfleisch
The Cuyuna Range Ministerial Association sponsored a New Year's celebration at the Hallett Community Center on December 31st. Those attending enjoyed ice skating, swimming, board games, food and fellowship.
Annual Meeting
The 100th annual meeting of Immanuel will be held Sunday, February 3rd at 11:30am with a potluck to follow.
The financial reports and teh 2013 proposed budget will be available for review on Sunday, January 20th. Immanuel's annual ministry reports will be available for review on Sunday, January 27th.
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