Announcements for December 1, 2019

New Member Sunday: Today the St. John’s church family are blessed to receive two families into our fellowship. We welcome John and Marcia Giordano and Bill and Connie Deehr and their daughters, Christina and Valerie. Please take time to welcome and get to know them better. Plan to stay for a meet and greet fellowship immediately following worship. 

It's a busy time of year as we plan for the coming of our Lord. We wait with anticipation, with hope, with longing. As we plan for Christ to come, we also look ahead. January 12th is the Baptism of our Lord. On this day, Tavilyn Dillender will receive a Bible from the St. John's congregation. We will all remember our baptisms and give thanks that our God has claimed us and continues to call us beloved children. During Sunday School classes when Pastor Stacy is scheduled to teach the older youth, we have catechism class. If there are any additional youth who would like to be part of this, please let Pastor Stacy know soon. In the meantime, there is a Bible in the upper room. Please underline your favorite verse or leave a note in the Bible for Tavi so she knows that God's word is alive and full of love for her when she receives her Bible. Thank you for being an important part of her life and helping her grow into her baptismal promise.

Weather reminder: Winter hit early this year. If there is a level two or three snow emergency for Erie county, worship is cancelled. If you are unsure of a cancellation, please check our website or Facebook page.

Teams and Committees: Team/committee reports for 2019 annual congregational booklet due not later than January 15th to Sandy Thompson. Deadline extended.

Mark your calendars: St John's 2019 Annual meeting is February 9, 2020, after worship with potluck following.

St. John’s Christmas Party Saturday, Dec. 7th. 1-3 p.m. 

Families and Friends of all sizes and ages are wanted!! Help us start off the Christmas Season at St. John’s with a Christmas Celebration of fun and fellowship. Hope to see you there!

Second Tuesday Small Group: The “youngish” families are still gathering for second Tuesdays! You are invited to Chet and Matt’s on Dec 10 at 530 for dinner. Kids get to bring a less than $5 gift to exchange. Parents are invited to bring a white elephant gift (something you found around the house). Buffet is $12 for adults (kids are much cheaper) and we have the banquet room reserved. 

Attention Thrivent Members: If you are a Thrivent member, please contact Peg Kingsley. Peg would like to share information about Thrivent’s Action Team program.

Take A Tag: The Giving Tree will again be a collection for residents at 2 local nursing homes Concord Care and Providence Care Center. Please take a tag or tags from the tree and return wrapped gift with the tag on the outside of the present. The gifts need to be returned by December 8th.

The first Sundays in December, January, February, March, and April will be intergenerational Sunday School. We gather at 9 and all ages are invited. Breakfast will be provided. 

Sunday School: We give thanks for time to grow together as disciples during the Sunday School hour. September-May we gather at 9 AM for prayer, Bible study, and sometimes music. Youth of all ages gather in the basement. Adults gather in the upper room and at Panera. Current teachers include Rita Zorn, Jerrie Krewetski, Yvonne Semon, Heather and Chuck Ruggles, Jason Steckel, and Pastor Stacy. The first Sunday of the month we have inter-generational Sunday school, where all ages gather together to learn and get to know each other. Please join us!

We continue to have an active prayer chain. If you are willing to be a part of the chain and pray for others during their time of need, please let Pastor Stacy know. As a part of the chain, you receive a phone call and then call the next person. And you pray. Thank you!

Ladies you are invited: The women of Grace Lutheran, Castalia, invite you to join this year's Women's Gathering, 'Silver Belles' on Sunday, December 1st at 6pm. Doors open at 5:30 and the $5 donation benefits Project Share. Please bring a gift to share and be ready to have FUN with our silver belles!

Small Group Bible Reading:
Dec. 1 1 Cor. 9-11,
Dec. 2 1 Cor. 12-14,
Dec. 3 1 Cor. 15-16,
Dec. 4 2 Cor. 1-4,
Dec. 5 2 Cor. 5-9,
Dec. 6 2 Cor. 10-13,
Dec. 7 Gal. 1-3

Happy Anniversary to David and Mary K Schlessman.

In our prayers: Prayer is one of the most beautiful and meaningful gifts we can offer one another. Occasionally there are folks in this congregation, or friends of relatives of members, in need of prayer for various reasons. Your prayers needed for:
Caitlin Berg - friend of Samantha Lane
Ray Neate – after five surgeries and chemo, cancer is now terminal. Please include his sons, Ben and Dan and wife Shelia in your prayers.
Aileen Wilson - prayers for a cure.
Donna Morrissey - Healing prayers - friend of the Voights
Larry Schlessman – Continued prayers for comfort and healing. Prayers also for Dawn for strength and rest.
“Happy Thanksgiving - Council requests St. John’s congregation members each prayerfully gives thanks for 3 things every day.”

St. Stephen UCC Christmas Bazaar: Bazaar will be held on Saturday, December 7^th from 9 am to 3 pm in the Fellowship Hall and Chapel at 905 E Perkins Ave. Sandusky.

Reading through the Bible: If you have been reading through the Bible in a year with the congregation and will be completing the reading next month, please send Pastor Stacy a text, note, email, or phone call to let her know. Thank you!

OHgo: Oh-go is committed to inspiring life-long contributors to society by facilitating acts of kindness within the community, delivering goods through a mobile service to disadvantaged families, and offering learning experiences within their local environments that encourages every individual to become a catalyst for positive change. Would you like to help?

St. John's will be providing 10 volunteers on December 13th from 5-7 at Faith Memorial Church to help wrap and sort thousands of Christmas gifts for kids in Erie and Huron counties. You are invited to be part of the fun! A sign-up sheet is in the back. OHgo also offers a mobile food pantry on the first and third Thursday of the month. They leave at 3:30 from OHgo warehouse at 2304 East Perkins and make three stops. This is another great opportunity to serve our Lord, and you are invited. Please see Pastor Stacy for more information.

Sandusky Artisans Recovery Community Center New Year's Eve Dinner: Since 1966 the Sandusky Artisans Recovery Community Center, a peer driven, peer supported, grass roots non-profit, has brought recovery to those with substance use and/ or mental health disorders by using peer recovery supporters. Many people who are in recovery are not able to celebrate holidays with their families and have few places to turn. Sandusky Artisans offers meals to all people in recovery during the holidays. We are going to provide our specialty *sloppy joes* for the New Year's Eve dinner. There is a sign-up sheet in the back. Meal items need to be dropped off by noon on December 29th at the church. They will be delivered on the 30th to Sandusky Artisans. Thank you for reaching out in love.

 

ST. JOHN’S CALENDAR DECEMBER 1^st THRU DECEMBER 15^th

Sunday, December 1	9:00 am 10:30 am	Intergenerational Sunday School Sunday Worship New Member Sunday
Tuesday, December 3	7:00 pm	Church Council
Wednesday, December 4	6:30 pm	Choir Practice
Thursday, December 5	7:00 pm	Property Team Meeting in Upper Room
Saturday, December 7	1-3 pm	St. John’s Christmas Party
Sunday, December 8	9:00 am 10:30 am	Sunday School Sunday Worship
Monday, December 9	9:00 am 5:45 pm	Quilting Session Read Through the Bible Study meets at Daily’s in Sandusky
Tuesday, December 10	5:30 pm	Second Tuesday Small Group meets at Chet and Matt’s for pizza and gift exchange
Wednesday, December 11	10:00 am 6:30 pm	Book Club meets at Vine andOlice Choir Practice
Thursday, December 12	10:00 am	Faith Life Team
Saturday, December 14	2:00 pm	Christmas Caroling at Admiral’s Pointe Huron
Sunday, December 15	9:00 am 10:30 am	Sunday School Sunday Worship/Youth Program Sandwich/Cookie Fellowship

St John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sandusky, Ohio is pleased to offer a new electronic option to safely make regular offerings and special donations to our church.

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Or if you like to give a RECURRING GIFT, you can now contribute automatically from your checking or savings account through your credit/debit card or by a text message. Our new electronic giving program offers convenience for you and provides much-needed donation consistency for our congregation. But remember, if you are happy with your current giving method, you do not have to change a thing.

If you no longer want to write 52 checks a year or prepare 52 envelopes, this is a new option for you to consider. And, when travel, illness or other circumstances prevent you from attending services, this program will allow your weekly offerings to continue on an uninterrupted basis.

This new electronic option allows donations to an array of items via a drop-down menu. Some examples are flowers, the cemetery fund, memorials, endowments, scholarships, fuel, and others.

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Signing up for giving through tithe.ly

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1. Go to get.tithe.ly

2. Click on “sign up free”

3. Click on “GIVE TO CHURCH”

4. Click on “GIVE ONLINE”

5. Click on “Create Account”

6, Fill out form. Click “Submit”

7. You will see a screen that says “Your account has been created successfully!” Click “OK”

8. At the bottom of the following page, you may choose either “credit/debit” or “bank account.” Click on the one you prefer to set up for making your donations. Whichever you choose, you will be prompted to enter your information on the next page.

9. Enter your information for either “credit/debit card or bank account.” You will get a screen confirming that either your card or bank account info has been successfully saved! Click “OK”

10. Enter the pin number you set in step 6 up here.

11. Enter “St John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sandusky, Ohio” The
Church should appear in the list generated. Click on it, then click
“Give Now”

12. Now you can enter the dollar amount you would like to give. It will
come out of your bank account, or be charged to your credit/debit
card, whichever you have set up. If you wish to cover the
processing fee as part of your giving, please check the box that says
“Cover Fees.” (Fees are .25 per transaction, plus 2.4% of the total.
Ex.: on a $100 donation, fees would be $2.65.)

13. Click “Give”

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Give Now BY TEXT

1. Text “give” to:
        614-389-9681
2. When prompted, enter your information (email, bank or credit card information, etc.) and the dollar amount you would like to donate. You will receive a text receipt verifying your donation.

This phone number is specific to St. John only, so your donation will go directly to our tithe.ly account.

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If you need any other help with the initial setup, please feel free to contact Melinda Zorn at 412-639-5477.

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