News

Save the Date for Community VBS!

Registration is now OPEN for Community VBS 2025! Join us July 20–24 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Rock Falls for True North: Trusting Jesus in a Wild World—an unforgettable week of adventure, worship, and faith-building fun for kids entering Pre-K through 5th grade. VBS runs from 6:00–8:00 PM each night, with a free dinner served at 5:30 PM. We’re also looking for volunteers (6th grade through adult) to help lead games, crafts, music, Bible stories, and more. Whether you love being on stage or serving behind the scenes, there’s a place for you! Click this link to register kids or sign up to volunteer. Let’s help kids discover that when life gets wild, Jesus is our True North.

Barbershoppers to Share ‘Sermon in Song’

Plan to be in worship on Sunday, August 3rd when the Rock River Valley Barbershoppers will share a “Sermon in Song.” They are an incredibly fun, dynamic and talented group! You will not want to miss them!

Seeking Student Musicians

This summer, the UNITE churches are again hosting student musicians from the Sterling/Rock Falls area. This includes any student completing 7th grade – a just graduated college student. We ask that students share a piece with us at St. John’s and then arrange to play that piece at other UNITE congregations, where you will be paid $25/service as a guest musician. This is a chance to keep your music skills tip top over the summer, share an IMEA or audition piece you may be working on, or another special piece. Please contact Dawn Zeigler 815.275.3775 or dawn@stjohnsonthird.org for all of the details! We can’t wait to hear you!

Sign up to help with the Taste of Sterling Event

St. John’s is pleased to be included in our downtown area’s 2nd Annual Taste of Sterling on June 28th. We will have a designated spot and host a corn-hole game with small prizes. Some of our members will be available to speak with participants and welcome everyone to join our faith community. A sign-up is available in the sign-up area for those interested in helping during a short shift during the event. There will also be a drop-off bin for donations of small prizes to award to corn-hole winners. Please help us welcome our broader community into our worship community.

God’s Work Our Hands – Cledy’s House of Hope

Cledy’s House of Hope was introduced in the May newsletter as a Tri Church God’s Work Our Hands project.  Cledy’s is a sober living home for women with a current wait list of 10 women located in the former Arrowwood facility in Rock Falls and next to the former Rock Falls Rehab Nursing Home.  On Sunday, June 8th, Ashley Odell, a Cledy’s staff member, will give a brief temple talk on her recovery story.

How can you help? To help “furnish” this 42-bed facility, Cledy’s House of Hope has a needs list of new items as follows: bath towels and wash cloths, twin size sheet sets and comforters, pillows and pillowcases; cups, plates and bowls – sets of 4; cooking sheets and cooking utensils; and brooms and dustpans.  These items will be collected through the month of June and can be brought to the church.  Cash donations (check to Sauk Valley Voices of Recovery) or Thrivent cards are also welcome. Also, volunteer help can utilized to visit local thrift stores in search of gently used additional needs list items not mentioned above – contact Deb Keaschall at 815-718-5237 if interested.

In addition, there are still a variety of projects such as sanding and painting cabinets, tables and dressers.  They are also looking for someone to help with weekly mowing of the grounds (mower is provided).  While there is no designated date to help with these projects, please contact Deb Keaschall to help coordinate your availability with Cledy’s staff.

Thank you in advance for “your hands” to support God’s work in our local community.

~Deb Keaschall, Tri Church Convener

June Special Offerings

Summer is a critical time for children’s health and well-being. During the school year, many children receive free and reduced-price meals at school. However, when school is out, these kids no longer have access to those meals. Every summer, the United Way helps to provide meals for children through its Let’s Feed Our Children program. The Let’s Feed Our Children program offers free meals to all children, helping kids who rely on school meals during the school year receive healthy food during the summer. The need to feed the children of our community increases every year. For this reason, the Congregation Council has designated the Special Offerings for the month of June to be donated to the United Way’s Let’s Feed Our Children program. Please consider a generous donation to help provide these kid-friendly, ready-to-eat meals.

Caring Community Artful Party

Linda VonHolten will host a painting party on Saturday, June 28th at 10:30am at St. John’s. The event will take place in the church basement. The cost is $40, to be paid when you sign up. Checks should be made payable to St. John’s. Registration deadline: June 20th. Children age 8 and up are welcome if they have an adult present with them. Proceeds benefit the YWCA of the Sauk Valley Domestic Violence Program.

School Kits

The Social Ministry Committee will begin collecting items for school kits beginning May 18. The collection period will conclude September 14. We had a great response last year and have asked St. Paul and Immanuel to partner with us again this year for assembly. Our time together was an awesome time of fellowship and stewardship. Some of the kits will be shared again with the Regional Office of Education (ROE) in our community. Bins will be available to receive donations in the entry area outside the east sanctuary doors and the narthex. Monetary donations will be accepted if you prefer that we do the shopping for you. Please include these items for each kit:

• Four 70-sheet notebooks of wide or college-ruled paper
• One ruler with centimeters on one side and inches on the other
• One pencil sharpener
• One pair of blunt scissors
• Five unsharpened #2 pencils with erasers, secure with a rubber band
• Five black or blue ballpoint pens (no gel ink), secure with a rubber band
• One box of 16 or 24 crayons
• One 2½ inch eraser

St. John’s Yard Signs

Please help support the ministries of St. John’s by purchasing a yard sign! These durable and colorful signs will be available before and after Sunday church service. They are $25 each. For additional information or to purchase a sign, please contact Stewardship
Committee co-chairs.

Rhonda Stutzke – (815) 441-3264
Aislinn O’Connell – a.shae.oconnell@gmail.com

ELCA World Hunger Committee Speaker

Hunger has been a persistent challenge in our world. As Christians, we are called upon to follow the example and teachings of Jesus to help people in need. Beginning in 1974 the Lutheran Church in America has given special attention to reducing hunger for fifty years. While the money donated by a single congregation such as St. John’s may be small, when combined with the gifts received at congregations across the country, between $20 and 24 million is raised each year, resulting in many great projects. The ELCA is using this 50th anniversary year to increase explanations to congregations how the contributions have been used and to seek increased giving to its Hunger Appeal.
Dr. Norm Moline, Professor Emeritus of Geography at Augustana College and member of our synod’s world hunger committee, will be at our church on April 6 for an adult education program. He will review how our dollars are used for some “good news” projects. He will stress that if we move beyond the big numbers of starving people and focus on individuals who can be helped, we can realize how life-giving our gifts can be. AND he will thank this congregation for its regular participation in this hunger appeal.