Important Dates Coming Up!
March 29, 2023
May 3: Youth Service Night-Buddy Bags
June 4: Confirmation Sunday
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May 3: Youth Service Night-Buddy Bags
June 4: Confirmation Sunday
Here is where our noisy offerings will be going over the next few months!
April: Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI). LSSI serves over 38,000 people annually, providing critical programs for Illinois residents each year, including foster care, mental health services, alcohol and drug treatment, affordable senior housing, residential programs for people with developmental disabilities, home care for seniors, and services that help families who have been impacted by incarceration. In preparation for Good Shepherd/LSSI Sunday (April 30, 2023) we’ll be collecting a Children’s Noisy Offering to help support the ministry of LSSI as it marks 155 years of responding to the Gospel to bring healing, justice, and wholeness to people and communities.
May: Let’s Feed Our Children. 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 and most of those children also make use of the Buddy Bags Program. However, when school is out, these kids no longer have access to those meals and their families’ budgets are often stretched to the breaking point. This program provides free meals to all children, helping kids who rely on school meals during the school year continue to receive healthy food during the summer without the need to register. Everyone is welcome, always.
June: Another Child Foundation (ACF). ACF stives to be faithful in the Just Cause of being a Voice for the Voiceless child. Some of this work happens through the Point of Hope Development Center (POH) located in Tarneveni, Romania. POH provides many essential services including, Education, Food, Hot showers, Medicine, Hygiene training, Christian Education, and Bible Study. ACF also provides an aid drive called Project Respond which provides humanitarian aid in Romania including the Shoe Collection Celebration. Donations for this month’s Children’s Noisy Offering helps to defray the cost of sending shoes and other humanitarian aid supplies to Romania.
Mark your calendars for April 2nd! The Youth Palm Sunday Breakfast is coming! This Youth lead event is always a highlight of our congregation. The free will offering collected during breakfast helps support programming for youth events like the Quake and National Youth Gathering. Families look for the crew sign-up on March 5th to indicate if you’d like to help with Set-up, Kitchen Team, Serving, and Clean-up Crew.
4/2-Palm Sunday Breakfast
4/9-Easter Sunday
4/16-Mary and Martha
4/23-Mary Magdalene
4/30-Saul/Paul
Tri-Church Teen Time open swim at the Duis Center on March 19th from 11:30am-2:00pm. St. John’s Jr/Sr High Sunday School & Confirmation students will have lunch after class and then car pool to the Duis Center. Students picked up from Duis Center after the event. Please let Pastor Jacob know if you’d like to attend.
We host Sunday School classes for all ages from mid-September to mid-May annually. Check the Calendar for exact dates and times of classes.
7th-9th grade students, staff and parent leaders gather each Wednesday evening from September through May with their peers from St. Paul Lutheran Church, Sterling, and Immanuel Lutheran Church, Rock Falls, using the “Co-laborate” Confirmation curriculum. This two-and-a-half-year program involves parent participation, learning, service to others, and safe, fun events led by caring adults.
Our junior high and high school students meet regularly throughout the year for classes, service events, fun events and trips. Events are updated and advertised on the Calendar, and on our Branches Youth & Family Ministries Facebook page.
Each summer St. John’s participates in the Sterling-Rock Falls CommUNITY VBS (a collaboration of local congregations providing VBS as a free 1-week event for families in our communities with Pre-K age 4 through fifth grade). Location moves to a new church location each year. VBS Meets in the evening, Sunday through Thursday, with a free dinner each night.
