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South Wisconsin District - LCMS
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MERCY FOREVER
"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Mark 10:45 (ESV)
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Stay Connected
 
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How soon you forget!
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. You are worth more than many sparrows.
Luke 12:6-7b
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So what was your favorite Super Bowl commercial? Do you remember all of them? Some of them? Didn't even watch the game because the Packers weren't playing? You may have seen that this years Super Bowl commercials were priced at a whopping $9 million for one minute! Now the real question, did the commercials influence you to purchase their product - whether it's Doritos, Mercedes, Budweiser, McDonald's, Geico, Sprint, or Jublia (as well as others)? Like most of you, commercials typically won't change what I eat, drive or buy. What's worse? I've already forgotten most of the commercials! I would say that's a lousy investment.
 Jesus reminds us in Luke 12 that He doesn't forget His people, regardless of how insignificant they may think they are. To Him, you're not a lousy investment, regardless of the cost, even of His life! While the entertainment industry banks on greater profit margins by trying to convince people to purchase their product, God banks on us to share the Gospel - which is what our Lutheran Schools are best know for. What's better? The Gospel message never changes, it's the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. May we be fervent, and never forget to tell His story.
Serving Together,
Mark
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 Lutheran Schools Night at Miller Park - SAVE THE DATE |
| Concordia Plan Services - CRSP |
Concordia Plan Services recently announced that we will be changing 403(b) plan service providers from MetLife to Fidelity Investments effective July 1, 2015, and we wanted to share information about your CRSP payroll contribution remittance process:
- At this time, employers currently using EBSO to process their contributions will not have to take any action as a result of the transition to Fidelity.
- Employers who are currently using the MetLife Plan Service Center to process contributions will need to switch to using EBSO. These employers will be receiving a packet of information in early March to help them make this change prior to May 31, 2015.
We also understand your workers may have questions or concerns about the transition and what they may need to do. Help us spread the news about this important change by sharing the following information with your workers.
Concordia Retirement Savings Plan Moving to Fidelity Investments
The Concordia Retirement Savings Plan (CRSP) will be changing service providers to Fidelity Investments, effective July 1, 2015. Fidelity is one of the largest mutual fund and financial service groups in the world, and has resources dedicated to serving church plans who understand the unique needs of those in ministry.
Concordia Plan Services will be sharing information directly with organizations and members as the transition nears, however, here are few key points which may answer some initial questions about the move to Fidelity:
- Workers will not be required to take any action. Worker accounts will be transferred from one service provider to another automatically and will maintain the allocation each worker had prior to the move
- If a worker is in the ProManage PROgram™, ProManage will continue to provide asset allocation services.
- Once the transition is made, workers will be able to register on the Fidelity participant website and sign in to view all the details of their account.
- Since Concordia Plan Services selects the funds line-up for the CRSP, the investment funds will not change as a result of the move to Fidelity.
- There will be a short 'blackout' period when workers will not be able to access their accounts. Concordia Plan Services anticipates sharing detailed information about this period in May.
If you have any questions, please call a CRSP representative at 888-927-7526 extension 6008.
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| ClassBundl |
Partnership with new company helps parents and schools
Messiah Lutheran School in Lincoln, Neb., recently partnered with a new company, ClassBundl, to make purchasing school supplies for the 2014-15 school year easy, or as ClassBundl puts it, "ridiculously easy." According to the company, the shopping experience can take as little as five minutes.
The core element of ClassBundl's business philosophy is simple: families would rather spend their time doing something other than shopping for school supplies. ClassBundl gets its name from the 'bundles' of school supplies it sells. Each bundle contains classroom-specific school supplies requested by teachers on their individual supply lists. The ClassBundl website makes it possible for parents to buy school supplies for the entire family.
"It really is an interesting approach to making the yearly task of school supply shopping easier for parents," said Principal Matt Stueber of Messiah Lutheran. "The supplies we want are the supplies on ClassBundl's website."
On the website, parents find the school and grade or grades, and review a shopping cart of the required supplies. Parents can change item quantities or remove items entirely before making the purchase via credit card. With ClassBundl, shipping is free.
ClassBundl is a service developed by Nelnet, Inc., through a new team called the Innovation Hub. Messiah Lutheran was one of a group of about nine private and public schools in Nebraska working with ClassBundl for the 2014-15 school year.
ClassBundl's goal of making school supply shopping easy is already getting noticed, with interest for the next school year coming from as far away as Florida and Hawaii.
"In addition to giving us all, as parents, some time back at a busy part of the year, ClassBundl offers a lot of fundraising benefits to schools," said Principal Stueber. "This dedication to helping its partner schools is what really drew our attention to ClassBundl."
For ClassBundl, this dedication to helping schools takes several forms. Each school working with ClassBundl receives a cash reward equal to five percent of the total purchases associated with the school. The ClassBundl website also has features that allow parents to make an additional donation to the school with their purchases and to make a contribution to a supply drive to help students in need at the school get their school supplies.
Parents are noticing the benefits of shopping with ClassBundl. One parent said she was, "so excited to have this option." Another parent, in reviewing the ClassBundl website experience said, "It was perfect. Smooth. Fast. Easy."
You can learn more about ClassBundl at its website, www.classbundl.com, or by calling Marcus at 402-458-3083.
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| Concordia Promise |
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 Dr. Ferry, President, Concordia University Wisconsin, has officially announced the Concordia Promise.
We have a bold vision. We want Christians everywhere to have access to the highest quality education at the most affordable prices possible. More than that, we want to be the Church's school, equipping the faithful to make an impact for Christ in ways they never imagined. A significant step towards this goal is removing the financial barriers to lifelong education.
"Essentially, a student has the potential to get their first year of college for completely free." Under the Concordia Promise, high schools students, either home schooled or at Christian schools, can enroll in online dual credit courses for a reduced tuition cost of $50 per credit hour. This means that they earn high school and college credit simultaneously. These students are then eligible to participate in the Concordia Promise Plus. The Concordia Promise Plus is a scholarship in the amount paid for the dual credit courses that is applied toward their undergraduate tuition if the students choose to attend Concordia University Wisconsin or Ann Arbor. Essentially, students receive their first year of college completely for free.
You will also find a downloadable Media Kit available through the website.
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| Hearts for Jesus |
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The 2014/2015 Hearts for Jesus recipient is:
CPTLN (Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones or "Christ for all nations").
Click on the links below for resources to share with your students.
Video for chapel
Flyer to send home with students
Donation form
(use this form when you send your check to the District office)
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Around the District
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 Prayer Request
Please keep Wally Haas in your prayers as he goes through chemo.
Please keep Pastor Totsky, Sherman Park Lutheran Church and School, in your prayers as he recovers from bypass surgery.
Please keep Roger Laesch in your prayers as he recovers from hip surgery.
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Upcoming Events
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 2015
February 6 - WCRIS Administrators Conference, Sheraton Hotel, Madison
February 6-7 - CLECT Seminar, St. John Lutheran Church, Portage
February 12-14 - LEA National Administrators' Conference, Orlando, Florida
February 13 - Firm Foundations, Martin Luther High School, Greendale
April 11 - Lutheran School Night at Miller Park - Brewers vs. Pirates
June 7-9 - District Convention, Concordia University Wisconsin
August 7 - Early Childhood Literacy Festival, CUW
August 14 - New Worker Orientation, District office
August 14 - Firm Foundations
November 6 - Firm Foundations
November 12-13 - NWD/SWD Teachers' Conference, Kalahari Resort, WI Dells
2016
February 12 - Firm Foundations
July 9-14 - Synod Convention, Mlwaukee
Click on the link to register for any of these events. If the event is not open yet, we will communicate when it will be.
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Passionate Believers...Confessing Christ for the Next Generation!
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Mark L'Heureux
Education Executive
The South Wisconsin District does not endorse businesses that are not under the umbrella of
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
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Copyright © 20XX. All Rights Reserved.
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