March 2017

Church is about a lot of things --

Worship.
Service.
Scripture study.
Community.
A whole lot of other things too. You can likely add to my short list. But its that community piece that
has me reflecting this month. We are a community of Jesus-followers who mourn together, celebrate
together, journey in faith together. We do life together.
Ive been reminded of this fact in the last couple weeks as you celebrate with me my
engagement. You have been so kind and enthusiastic and celebratory - I thank you for that! Its a joy
to share life together!
At Red Oak Grove, I think we do this well. During coffee hour, Laura rings the bell and we celebrate
together birthdays and anniversaries. Ill be the first to admit - when I first arrived at Red Oak Grove,
this tradition was foreign to me! But you know what? Its completely grown on me! Celebrating
together is an important piece of who we are and why we gather.
As we celebrate together - birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, new jobs, childrens milestones -
we also grieve together. Lament together. You know this. We know this. Thats why we show up to
visitations and funerals. Thats why we start the prayer chain for families. Thats why we show up to
worship. We gather as a community in support, to sing louder when someone who is grieving cant
find the words, to be together.
We know it goes beyond this, too. When a member of our community is hurting, we reach out. When
someone needs help, we promise to be there. When someone new comes into our community, we
make an effort to introduce ourselves and welcome them.
I once heard that on those days when we feel like sleeping in, those Sundays when we might not feel
like heading to church, we go because of our neighbor. We might not want to be there but someone
else needs us to be there. What we do at church whether worship or service or learning we do in
community. Together we celebrate, share joy and sadness, and are present for each other.
Thank you for your presence in and commitment to our community at Red Oak Grove.
Pastor Lindsay
 WELCA Report

On Saturday, February 4, 2017, the Red Oak Grove Church Council had an all-day retreat 9 a.m. to 4:30
p.m. WELCA served coffee in the morning, dinner at 12:30 and treats for break in the afternoon. Five WELCA
ladies prepared tater tot hot dish, cabbage slaw, relishes, bars and biscuits. Ardell Swenson, Joyce Peterson,
Marlys Peterson, Karen Johnson and Linda Christianson served.

On Sunday, February 5, 2017, thirteen Red Oak Grove ladies met for our monthly meeting at 10:30 a.m.
Marlys Peterson opened the meeting in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. No opening hymn. The
purpose was read in unison. Devotions were read by Joyce Peterson from I Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is
patient Love is kind. Also a quote Love shares with others.

Secretarys Report and Treasurers Report were given and approved. Correspondence: Jim and Esther
Dalager - 76th anniversary. Thank you from Pastor Lindsay for birthday and Christmas gifts. Church Council
thank for WELCA serving dinner for Council retreat.

Committee Reports: Prairie Manor Ardell Swenson gave out Prairie Star. Next auxiliary meeting will be
February 27th at 1:30 p.m. WIT will meet on February 14th at Barleys. Visitation: Verna visited many at the
nursing home. New Business: Motion made by Marilyn Helleck and seconded by Dorothy Peterson to have a
Strawberry Social on Tuesday, June 13, 2017. Change from Festival to Social and other changes will take
place soon.

Adding Sharon Kurmis to list going to TG17 on Saturday July 15, 2017 in Minneapolis. Registration to be sent
in later this week. $1,230 to send for registration.

Lenten suppers starting to schedule as follows: March 1 GIFT

March 8 Dorcas Circle
March 15
March 22
March 29
April 5 GIFT
More discussion at the March WELCA meeting and circles can decide to serve if a Wednesday is open.

Marilyn Helleck helped with offering. Worship offering meditation was verses read of hymn Spirit Sends Us
Forth to Serve. Our Mission Statement is Gather in Grace Grow in Faith Going forth to serve.

Our next meeting will be Sunday, March 5, 2017 at 10:15 a.m.

Closed with the birthday song for Ardell Swenson and Linda Christianson. Prayed the Lords Prayer. Meeting
adjourned.

Linda Christianson
WELCA Secretary
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WELCA ladies - Quilting will start on March 20th at 8:30 a.m. followed by a potluck.

Thank you to my friends at Red Oak Grove for the many get-well and Christmas cards
and phone calls. Thank you, quilt ladies, for the beautiful quilt. After a slow recovery from the hip
and wrist fractures, I am now living in my apartment at Highview Hills in Lakeville. Dorothy Phipps
 Church Council Retreat- Saturday February 4

On Saturday February 4th the ROG church council held a day long work session, in the fellowship
room at ROG. The purpose of this work session was to establish some goals and a clear direction for
the year to come. We used a tool called the Annual Roadmap, to help guide us through this
process. The ladies of WELCA served us coffee and snacks, as well as a delicious noon time meal,
and we are grateful for their support and a wonderful meal.

During the work session, we followed the Annual Roadmap, which is a ministry tool provided by
WaytoLead.org. If you would like more information about their ministry, I encourage you to visit their
website. On this path we used 7 waymarks, to guide us. First, and most critically was the Values
waymark. Establishing a set of 4 core values to help guide us for the year ahead, but it is important
to understand, these are not the only values we have here at ROG, but the ones that we felt as a
group could best guide our ministry for the upcoming year.

Once these values were clarified, we moved onto identifying our strengths as a congregation. We
had very fluid discussions about what strengths we have and how they correlate to the values we
identified as important this coming year.

After that step, we moved onto identifying our opportunities. We took our values, and our strengths,
and examined where we could do better, and also where we saw an opportunity to fill a need in our
community. As a whole congregation it is important to recognize not only the needs of our
congregation, but the the needs of our friends and neighbors who we can help. We can't just look
inward, and focus on the people inside the walls of our church, but rather we need to be servants of
God, and help those who we can reach. Whether it is our younger families, who have busy lives, or
our friends and neighbors who may have limitations in their daily lives, we all have an opportunity to
give a helping hand and have a positive impact in our community, and truly be servants of God.

After discussing our opportunities, we moved onto the Aspirations waymark. This was our moment to
dream. We looked back at our values, and the needs we identified and put together a list of things
we would love to accomplish if we had no constraints. This was a great part of our day, as we truly
discovered many great ideas from our robust conversations.

That lead us perfectly into the goals portion of the day, or the Results waymark. This was when we
got down to business, and took everything into consideration we had discussed that day, and the
dreams we just discussed, and put that into tangible goals for 2017. Understanding our limitations,
using our values, we put together a list of goals we felt important and achievable for 2017.

The last two steps are where we still have some work to do. Putting together an action plan for each
goal, and communicating our plans with the congregation and giving you the opportunity to provide
feedback and help us along the journey. This is not just a church council plan, but an ROG plan. As
we finish up the process at the next meeting, we will then begin the communication step with the rest
of the congregation.

We ask for your continued support and prayer as we finish the process, and look forward to sharing
and working with everyone to achieve the goals we set forth. We have a good leadership team, a
wonderful pastor, and a great congregation, and together we can do the work God calls us to do. We
looking forward to sharing more about our plans in the very near future.

Jacob Ulland, Council President

 Lent at Red Oak Grove
This year, there are so many ways for you to participate in 40 days of reflection, worship, and learning
at Red Oak Grove!

ASH WEDNESDAY, March 1: There are two opportunities for you to worship on this, the first day of
Lent. Afternoon traditional worship with Holy Communion and the Imposition of Ashes is at
1:30. Because Ash Wednesday falls on a GIFT Wednesday (the first Wednesday of the month),
pizza supper will be served at 5:30. All are welcome! Following supper, there will be some self-
guided stations for families of all ages. Worship for all with Holy Communion and Imposition of Ashes
begins at 6:30 in the sanctuary.

DEVOTIONS: We have a limited number of devotions to guide your reflection this season. They are
available in the narthex.

SUNDAY LEARNING: On Sundays - March 12, 19, 26 - an opportunity to revisit the Small Catechism
and learn together is available. We will meet in the Fellowship Room after worship for study
together. Bring your Small Catechism and Bible. If you dont have a Small Catechism, extras will be
available.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT SUPPER & WORSHIP: We gather for supper together in the Fellowship Hall
beginning at 5:30. Worship in the sanctuary will begin at 6:30. Worship on Wednesday nights this
year will be a great, exciting experiment - let us come sing and clap to contemporary worship songs
and worship together. (CONFIRMATION STUDENTS: You are expected to attend Lenten services
on Wednesday nights.)

SUNDAY WORSHIP: On Sundays during Lent, we will explore the Lords Prayer during
worship. This will be done through song, Scripture, and activity together.

SERVICE: March is Minnesota Food Share month and so, for our service focus, we will be collecting
donations for our local food shelves. To add some fun, well make it a bit of a competition. Who will
donate the most - the people who sit on the north side, the south side, or the balcony? Contribute
your food/money donation to the proper labeled place (based on where you normally sit) and well
see who comes out on top!

ROG Ministry Spotlight: Prayer Chain

What is the Prayer Chain? The Prayer Chain at Red Oak Grove is a group of people who have
committed to pray for prayer requests as they arise. Its a phone chain; when a prayer request arises,
it will be passed down the chain. You receive a call with the request and are then responsible for
passing the request onto the next person on the list. This is a wonderful way that the people of Red
Oak Grove uphold one another and those we love in prayer!
How can I participate? If you would like to be a part of the prayer chain, please connect with Ardell
Swenson. (Pastor Lindsay can help you connect with her if needed!) If you would possibly be
interested in being a part of a new digital prayer chain segment (Email instead of phone calls.), let
Pastor Lindsay know.
 Book Fair coming to a narthex near you!
Book fair week in elementary school was one of Pastor Lindsays most favorite weeks! Great news
for fellow book fair lovers - were having a book fair at church! This March (12-26), check out the
books on display in the narthex from Sparkhouse Family, a division of Augsburg Fortress. (At
Sparkhouse Family, we believe faith formation happens in the big moments of life...and the small
ones. Bedtime, story time, play time, bath time, any time can be a chance to spark a child's spiritual
wonder and curiosity.) These are great books for the littlest people of faith. Think about gifts for your
children, grandchildren or godchildren - these are perfect! They are sold at a discounted price and
with free shipping to the church. Find more instructions for ordering at the book fair table.

Have you seen the new banner hanging in the sanctuary? It was made at our February GIFT.
People of all ages created hearts to add to the banner with our key verse for the evening Love one
another as I have loved you.