December 2016

Chaska Moravian Church A Word from Rev. Mike Eder

Well, as I knew it would, November has quickly slipped the surly bonds of time and gone into the record book. But not without a few notable entries: The Moravian Women took Jesus’ words to heart and once again fed the masses at their annual Soup, Sandwich and Sweet luncheon. They also took over the worship for Moravian Women’s Sunday, which included a visit by the “Partners in Praise” women’s choir, some 40 voices strong. The Christmas decorations are now hung with great care and our annual church council has passed a budget for 2017 and elected 3 new board members. Tammy Riesgraf returns to the board of elders after a one year sabbatical and two new first-timers have been elected to the Board of Trustees; Karl Taylor and Phil Schramm. We wait with great anticipation to see where these new voices take us in 2017! Finally, Tom and Jodi Barnett gifted us with their prodigious vocal skills in worship on the First Sunday of Advent. Advent is the annual reboot of our liturgical calendar where the one we declared as the Reigning King last week gets recycled as an innocent, helpless newborn for whom we must wait and prepare, wait and prepare, wait and prepare… May we all be astonished at the new ways that the Christ child engages our hearts and minds and spirits this Advent season!

Waiting and Preparing, Pastor Mike

JOIN US FOR EARLY BIRD SUNDAY SCHOOL!

Children ages 3 & up, join us before worship, 9am

Dec. 11 More dates coming in 2017

Register now & join in the fun! Registrations on hallway table.

Can you help? We need volunteers to assist with Sunday School. If you’d like to help, sign up on hallway table. Contact Katie Nordby with questions.

CMC Joint Board

Board of Elders Rev. Mike Eder Chair Jill Edwardsen Vice Chair Jennifer Jeremiason Secretary Deb Zwart Katie Nordby Joint Board Recording Secretary Trustees Kelly Jeremiason President Steve Devore Vice President Dwight Crisman Secretary John Ryski

Sheryl’s soon to be soup

Tammy and Reese share

some Christmas Spirit

The Barnetts

December 2016

2

“SOUPER” OUTCOME!

The Chaska Moravian Women's Group would like to THANK YOU for your support of our Annual SSS Luncheon on Wednesday, Nov. 2nd. We were scheduled to serve our Soup, Sandwich, Sweets luncheon from 11: 00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We had just begun serving , when at 11:10 a.m. the city had a power outage which caused the church to be without power. Our workers were grateful that we at least had daylight coming through our windows so that our attendees could enjoy an unexpected "candlelight atmosphere" lunch. The power was conveniently restored at 12:50 p.m., just in time to begin our clean-up. Candles were placed in the restrooms for "some" light. To those that were able to attend, THANK YOU for your patience & gracious understanding should your soup not have been quite as hot as it should have been. Our new Service Coordinator, Sheryl Miller, was definitely put to the test for her first Annual Soup Luncheon! Donations were down, but we were able to still see a profit of approximately $900.00, which will help to support our community/mission projects. God Bless You! A "big" THANK YOU to all the workers, food preparers/dessert donators, Jen's assistance and those supporters with their attendance &/or

donation. You helped to make a successful luncheon. Blessings to all!

Thank you to Pat & Sheila Davis, for sponsoring

December’s newsletter in memory of Henriette &

Walter Davis, Everett & Mildred Zimmermann. “God has given us memories

that we might have roses in December.”

~ S. M. Barrie You may make a donation of $60.00 to dedicate a monthly newsletter “in honor of” or “in memory of” a loved one. Sign up on the hallway table or call the church office.

*** YEAR-END CONTRIBUTIONS*** Checks need to be received at church or postmarked before December 31, 2016 to qualify for the tax year 2016. Checks received after December 31, 2016 must be applied to the tax year 2017 regardless when they are dated. Thank you!

December 2016

S AND ANNIVERSARIES

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MORAVIAN WOMEN’S NEWS

Calendar (No December Meetings…see you next year!) January 9 7pm Board Meeting January 19 11:30am Birthday Outing January 23 9:30am Bible Study

BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES

Happy Birthday to you,

to Jesus be true. May God’s richest blessings

abide upon you. Lillian Kemkes

MAD HATTERS

December Birthdays 1 Chris Devore 1 Chris Lenius 2 Kourtnee Gladney 4 Linda Ryski 4 Ray Felmlee 7 Audra Jung 8 Dwight Crisman 8 Kellie Seberson 9 Jace Zwart 16 Emma Conti 17 Vonn Bonnema 22 Eunice West 24 Benjamin Henricks 28 Reese Jeremiason 29 Tom Riesgraf

December Anniversaries 13 Norma and Doug Schwalbe 20 Pam and Don Ostman 21 Katie and Chris Lenius 31 Trudy and Tom Jung

Now meeting at 10am on Tuesdays. Location varies each week. Questions or for directions, call Janet Nelson at 368-4245.

BIBLE STUDY

Bible Study has begun again. We will meet at 9:30am, the 4th Monday of each month. All women are welcome! We will be studying the series: When God Forgives the Guilty – The Study of Jonah by Rev. Meghan Aelabouni Mark your calendar! Our next meeting is Monday, January 23. Facilitated by Trudy Papke Jung.

Chaska Moravian Women - Board Terry Rank President Pam Ostman Vice President Norma Schwalbe Secretary Gwen Lenius Treasurer Trudy Papke-Jung Mission Coordinator Rose Allison Outreach Coordinator Sheryl Miller Service Coordinator Lyla Peterson Spiritual Life

OFFERING ENVELOPES

MORAVIAN CHRISTMAS STARS

Stars are provided by the Moravian Women 12” Plastic $24 or 21” Plastic $25 Inquire in the church office or see Pam Ostman or Gwen Lenius.

UNITY PRAYER WATCH–DECEMBER 30

We are getting ready to distribute offering envelopes for 2017. We have envelopes for all members. However, if you choose to give your tithes and offerings monthly or quarterly to CMC (rather than weekly), and have a lot of envelopes left from 2016, we are asking you to use what you have left. (The envelopes are not dated other than 1st Sunday, 2nd Sunday, etc. of each month.) If you have enough 2016(or older) giving envelopes left to use in 2017, please let Gwen or the church office know, and we will not issue new ones for you. We will give new envelopes to everyone, unless they tell Gwen/church office they do not need envelopes for 2017. Any questions? Contact Gwen or CMC office.

Please sign up for prayer time on the sheet in the lobby. This tradition was started in 1727 and reignited in 1957. We are part of a world- wide prayer experience on Dec. 30, sharing our prayer day with Lake Auburn, Christ’s Community, & Waconia Moravian Churches. Prayer times are 20-minute increments.

December 2016

The Jail Ministry Team will serve at Carver County Jail : Tuesday, December 6, 1-4pm Saturday, December 17, 1-4pm Tuesday, December 27, 1-4pm “Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together

with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” Hebrews 13:3

JAIL MINISTRY

4

BOUNTIFUL BASKET FOOD OF THE MONTH

Place donations in the cart in the John Hus Room. To volunteer or coordinate a food drive call (952) 556-0244.

DECEMBER: Rice / Noodles JANUARY: Soup

Volunteer to pack meals at FMSC Tuesday, December 6 at 6:00-7:30pm. December’s scheduled volunteers are: Gwen Lenius, Norma Schwalbe, Doug Schwalbe, Deb Schwalbe, Terry Rank, Linda Zimmerman, Donna Hovland, Nanette Olberg, Sharon Benson, Pinky Woytckey. Anyone is welcome! Bring a friend! Questions? Please talk to Gwen Lenius.

FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN

MEALS ON WHEELS

Volunteer to be a driver! (once every 5 weeks)

Contact Norma Schwalbe. Our next scheduled dates

are November 28-December 2.

Chaska Moravian Church’s Linen Closet is a ministry that partners with Love INC to provide bedding /linens to our neighbors in need in Eastern Carver County.

Please bring new or gently used (clean; no stains or tears) linens to the church office. At this time, we particularly need: Twin Sheet Sets, Full Sheet Sets, Queen Sheet Sets, Queen Blankets

Thank you!

THE LINEN CLOSET

Summary of our annual Church Council, held November 20: - 39 Communicant members attended & signed the roll. - Pastor Mike Eder opened with a State of the Community address to show where the church is compared to last year. - Election of New Board Members:

a) Jennifer Jeremiason has served 3 years as an Elder and chose not to run for a second term. Steve Devore has served 4 years as a Trustee and chose not to run for a 3rd term. John Ryski fulfilled a vacant Trustee position and chose not to run. b) Tammy Riesgraf agreed to run for Elder and Karl Taylor and Phil Schramm agreed to run for Trustee, Reverend Mike asked if there were any other nominations from the floor, there were none. c) The slate was approved unanimously.

- Arvin Zwart came forward to present the budget that was put together by himself and Rev. Mike Eder.

a) Motion was made by Phil Schramm to accept the budget as, Emily Stern 2nd the motion, motion passed.

CHURCH COUNCIL 2016

The MORAVIAN DAILY TEXTS is a daily devotional guide published yearly since 1731. It is the oldest such guide in continu- ous use. Begun in Germany as a daily oral tradition, it soon became a regularly printed set of texts for each day of the year. 2017 Daily Texts are available for purchase in the church office. Large-$15.00 Small $13.00

2016 MORAVIAN DAILY TEXTS

A REMINDER FOR ALL…

Reminder: If you are conducting business at church outside of office hours, be sure to turn off all the lights and securely lock all doors tightly.

Thank you!

December 2016

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3

11am Chaska River Valley AA 2-5pm Homeless Youth Drop-In 6pm N – Counsel 6:30pm Celebrate Recovery

8pm Phoenix AA

2-5pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In

815pm River City

Roundup AA

10am Girl Scout

Boutique

2pm Hometown

Holidays

Comfort

Station

4 5

6

7

8

9 10

9:30am Worship

With Holy

Communion

7pm Gamblers

Anonymous

2-5pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In

2-9pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In 6pm Feed My

Starving Children

6pm Coed AA

6-9pm N - Counsel

7:30PM Alanon Mtg

8pm NA Basic Text

2-5pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In

6 pm N - Counsel

6:30pm NA Mtg 7pm Worthy Women

Big Book AA

11am Chaska River Valley AA 2-5pm Homeless Youth Drop-In 6pm N – Counsel 6:30pm Celebrate Recovery

8pm Phoenix AA

2-5pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In 815pm River City Roundup AA

10am-9pm

Norma – Counsel

11

12 13 14 15 16 17

9am Early Bird

Sunday School

9:30am Worship

11am Caroling

At Auburn

7pm Gamblers

Anonymous

2-5pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In

6:30pm NAMI

1pm Jail Ministry 2-9pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In

6pm Coed AA

6-9pm N - Counsel

7:30PM Alanon Mtg

8pm NA Basic Text

2-5pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In

6 pm N - Counsel

6:30pm NA Mtg 7pm Worthy Women

Big Book AA

11am Chaska River Valley AA 2-5pm Homeless Youth Drop-In 6pm N – Counsel 6:30pm Celebrate Recovery 8pm Phoenix AA

10am Mom’s Club

2-5pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In 815pm River City Roundup AA

10am-9pm

Norma – Counsel

1pm Jail Ministry

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

9:30am Worship

7pm Gamblers

Anonymous

2-5pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In

2-9pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In

6pm Coed AA

6-9pm N - Counsel

7:30PM Alanon Mtg

8pm NA Basic Text

2-5pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In

6 pm N – Counsel

6:30pm NA Mtg 7pm Worthy Women

Big Book AA

11am Chaska River Valley AA 2-5pm Homeless Youth Drop-In 6pm N – Counsel 6:30pm Celebrate Recovery

8pm Phoenix AA

2-5pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In 815pm River City Roundup AA

5:00pm Worship

25 26

27 28 29 30 31 CHRISTMAS

No Worship

Service Today

7pm Gamblers

Anonymous

6:30pm NAMI

2-5pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In

1pm Jail Ministry

2-9pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In

6pm Coed AA

6-9pm N - Counsel

7:30PM Alanon Mtg

8pm NA Basic Text

2-5pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In

6 pm N – Counsel

6:30pm NA Mtg 7pm Worthy Women

Big Book AA

11am Chaska River Valley AA 2-5pm Homeless Youth Drop-In 6pm N – Counsel 6:30pm Celebrate Recovery

8pm Phoenix AA

2-5pm Homeless

Youth Drop-In 815pm River City Roundup AA

10am-9pm

Norma – Counsel

1pm Watchword

Service

M E A L S O N W H E E L S

Launch Ministry/Homeless Youth events:

please use side door for entry

12-Step and NAMI Meetings:

please use back/kitchen door for entry

CHRISTMAS

EVE

UNITY

PRAYER

WATCH

December 2016

In essentials, unity. In nonessentials, liberty. In all things, love.

Chaska Moravian Church 115 East 4th Street Chaska, MN 55318 RETURN ADDRESS REQUESTED

CHURCH STAFF

SUNDAY WORSHIP SCHEDULE Ministers All Who Serve Jesus Pastor Reverend Mike Eder Office Administrator Jennifer Welvaert Music Coordinator Tammy Riesgraf Pianist Rachel Boucher Guitarist Alan Taylor Custodian Pam Ostman Offering Treasurer Gwen Lenius Church Treasurer Arvin Zwart

8:00am Worship Team Rehearsal 9:30am Worship Service 10:30am Fellowship/Refreshments Holy Communion 1st Sunday/Month Sunday School 2nd & 4th Sunday/Month (Sept.-May, 9:00am)

www.chaskamoravian.org office@chaskamoravian.org Phone 952.448.4000