St Paul Church

During worship on Sunday, July 26th.

Sunday, May 10th.

May 25th during worship.

Crafts for preschool-5th grade and egg hunt on March 29th, starting at 9:15 am.

During worship on May 17th.

March Meeting: Joanne Meinert was worship leader at the March 4th meeting of Women’s Fellowship. Bible study was from Luke 8, describing the grief of Jairus, whose daughter has died and how he appeals to Jesus as a last resort. Then later, a long-suffering woman is healed by Jesus, to her great joy for the miracle.

April Meeting: Women’s Fellowship will meet on Wednesday afternoon, April 1st, at 1:30pm — No foolin’! Pat Smith will lead Bible study from the Gospel of Luke, and Dorothy Schlueter will serve refreshments. St. Paul women are invited for Bible study and fellowship.

Youth Fellowship will meet on Sunday, April 5th at 6:30pm. We will be planning the upcoming Easter Sunrise service and breakfast. We will set up and prepare for the breakfast on Saturday, April 11th at 9am. We will be contacting each family to help provide items for the breakfast. We will also meet on April 19th at 6:30pm. Please mark your calendars!

The Church Council is calling a brief congregational meeting following worship on Sunday, April 5th regarding the church cemetery. Please take note of this meeting and plan to attend.

The St. Paul Church COuncil met on March 16th and discussed the following:

• The purchase of a new copy machine for the office.
• Newsletter mailings - decided to see if people would be willing to receive via email or pick it up at church the last Sunday of the month. This would help reduce expenses.
• Offerings for bicycles for pastors in India totaled $1,617.00 or approximately 30 bikes. Thank you to all those that contributed to this mission outreach.
• Dianna Geiseman will serve on the Worship Committee. All committees have been filled! Thank you to those that have chosen to serve the Lord in this way.
• Fred Smith is willing to make wooden markers to mark the different sections of the cemetery.
• Discussed some wrok that needs to be done on the boiler. Wayne Blocker has been checking on the boilers regularly.
• Okayed the Sunshine Club from Davis to meet at the church due to future construction at the State Bank of Davis.
• Looked at proposals for projectors and screens from Raymond Electronics.
• Confirmation Sunday will be on April 26th with Statements of Faith being presented that day also. Holy Communionon April 26th will serve as our Communion for the month of May.

The next meeting is set for Monday, April 20th at 7pm.

Just a reminder that the times for Sunday School and Worship will change on Sunday, May 3rd. Sunday School will begin at 9am with Worship at 10am. Please mark your calendars now!

The Freeport Choral Society is presenting its spring concert Sunday, March 29th at 3pm at St. John UCC Church in Freeport. It is an interesting mix of music fitting for the Easter and spring season.

Our women’s ministry group will be starting an exciting series called The Bucket List. We’d like to encourage all women to be a part of this series. Amy McKee will host our kick-off night on April 3rd at 7pm. If you would like to carpool, meet at the church by 6:30pm. We will be watching the movie The Bucket List. This will lead into a 5-part study. Please consider being a part of this series. You might be amazed at what God will do in your life. There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board and a clipboard will go around during worship on Sunday, March 29th.

** One question we’d like you to think about is this: Are you living out God’s purpose here on earth before you ‘kick the bucket’?

Sunday, April 26th will be Confirmation Sunday here at St. Paul. There are just two confirmands this year, so we will be having their Faith Statements that day as well as celebrating together their first communion. Our 2009 confirmands are Dustin Barnes and Lukas Wymer. Please plan to be in attendance for this special service.

Easter lilies orders (with payment) are due by April 5th.

The Youth Fellowship will be leading our Easter Sunrise service on April 12th beginning at 7:30am. The service will be followed by breakfast. Please sign up on the bulletin board so that we can plan accordingly. Thank you for supporting the youth of St. Paul.

Our Maundy Thursday service will be held at 7pm on April 9th. This will be a service of song and reflection as well as Holy Communion. Please plan to attend this service. Confirmation students are expected to attend this service.

Come to SonRock Kids Camp — an adventure camp like no other! Mark your calendars now to join us for a week of fun and adventure July 20-24, 9am-noon! Kids ages 3 by January 1st through 7th grade completed, will participate in fun-filled activities and learn how each one of them is loved by Jesus! We will haev a great time with lively songs, hilarious skits, creative crafts, Bible stories and tasty snacks — all of the things that make Vacation Bible School so much fun for children!

If you would ike to help out at VBS this year, please contact the church office or watch for a sign-up sheet in the narthex. We can’t do this without you, so please pray about this wonderful opportunity to share God’s love with our kids! If you have questions or concerns, please call April at 815-865-5314. We are looking forward to a truly exciting week!

Please help us welcome the newest additions to St. Paul by joining us in Greeting our Families of the newborns immediately following our morning worship service on Sunday, April 5th.

There is a container in the hallway for your monetary donation, as well as a signature card to wish them a special greeting. A group gift will be purchased with all donations.

Please help welcome them with your presence on Sunday, April 5th!!

St. Paul will be hosting Life Line Screenings again this year on Tuesday, June 2nd. Please share this information with your family and friends.

These health screenings will be offered for people 40 years old and older. The vascular screenings are performed using Doppler color flow ultrasound and include the following:

1. A Carotid Artery Screening - visualizes the buildup of plaque in the carotid arteries, which leads to stroke. (Most strokes are linked to carotid artery blockage.)
2. An Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) test - looks for an enlargement in the abdominal aorta that could lead to a ruptured aortic artery. The vast majority of people who have an aneurysm have no symptoms.
3. An Ankle Brachial Index (ABI) - screens for peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in the lower extremities, which is closely linked to coronary artery disease.
4. Bone density screenings - which tests for the early signs of osteoporosis.
5. Atrial Fibrillation (Afib) - a test to measure irregular heart beat, may be added to any vascular package for only $20.
6. Complete Lipid panel and Glucose blood tests are also available for an additional $50 when added to a vascular package. These blood tests require an 8 hour fast.

You must pre-register by calling 1-800-324-1851. These screenings are completely painless, non-invasive and require 60-90 minutes of your time. The cost for all 4 vasular screenings is 4139, or all five tests (which includes the osteoporosis screening) for only $149.

7-10% of all screenings result in ABNORMAL TO CRITICAL FINDINGS. The screenings are effective and are saving lives!!!

St. Paul’s 7th Annual Garage Sale is scheduled for April 17th and 18th from 8 AM to 4 PM.

Spring cleaning? Don’t forget your church. We will be having our annual garage sale again this year. You may drop off your items April 12th (pm) - 15th (noon) in the choir room.

Here are some helpful hints to make it easier:

1. Separate our clothes by women, girls, men, boys and infants.
2. Put all household items in a separate box.

These two minor requests would make our job of setting up much easier.

We again this year will be offering Bake Sale & Lunch Stand.

If anyone is interested in helping this year, please sign up on a volunteer sheet posted on the bulletin board. If you would like flyers to distribute at your place of work or business, they are located under the bulletin board. Please contact the church office at 815-865-5314 with any questions you may have.

– Your Finance Committee

As our AWANA year comes to a close, we would like to invite all of the congregation and friends of our students to join us the evening of March 18th for our final club night of 2009. At 6:30 there will be a time for the club members to share favorite verses and some of the other things they have learned this year. We will also have refreshments and a chance for fellowship. We hope that you will come and offer your support and encouragement for these dedicated young people of our congregation and community!

The Father-Son Banquet will be held on Saturday evening, April 4th. This will be a time of food and fellowship along with an inspiring messaeg from Terry Simmons, Vice President of Student Success at Gateway Technical College. Terry is the son-in-law of Fred and Pat Smith and the topic for the evening will be “Mett my Father’s Fathers and Sons.” Tickets for the event will be on sale before and after worship on Sunday March 22nd and 29th. Please watch the bulletin for further details.

The Committees for the banquet are as follows:

• Program: Fred & Pat Smith, Gil & Darlene Koch, Russ & Carol Ellis
• Food: Dennis & Mary Jane Zimmerman, Rich & Jeanne Fiene, Cliff & Cheryl Bradt
• Decorations: Cathy Ludeking (chair), Sarah Holweg, Diane Hayes
• Tables: Jerry & Carol Olsen, Ralph & Loretta Jones, Jim & Barb Leifheit
• Chairwoman of Waitresses: Connie Marty
• Reservations: Ruth M. Fiene, Helen Schneeberger

This is a reminder that all winter items need to be removed from the cemetery by April 1st. New items may be placed after May 1st. Thank you for your cooperation!

The Board of Christian Education met on February 9th discussing the following:

• Secretary and Treasurer reports read and approved with a treasury balance of $1,578.35
• Angel tree misssion project — $900 given to the Geiseman Family
•  College boxes — 26 boxes sent. Will ty and organize earlier for 2009
• Christmas Eve refreshments
• Sunday School Secretary update
• Salvation Army collection for March — pastas, mac & cheese, canned meats
• Rotation Sunday School — could still use more teachers, specifically for Geography room for March/April
• Teacher Recognition — May 17th during worship
• Easter Outreach — March 29th as this is a 5th Sunday and works well with the rotation schedule
• Election ofOfficers — Karen Kleckner, President; Brooks Henneman, Vice President; Ann Kriens, Secretary and she will serve thru 2009
• Bible School — dates are being discussed with decision to be made at the March meeting

Next meeting will be March 9th at 7pm.

It’s time to start thinking about things you can donate for the church garage sale set for April 17th and 18th. Start cleaning those closets, dressers, cupboards and basements and start sorting. Please box your items accordingly, label them and after Easter Sunday bring those boxes to the church! Thank you in advance for your willingness to donate items that you no longer want or need.