Throughout October, the Adult Forum listened to and discussed a presentation entitled: "Theology & Spirituality in Times of Rupture." During the final session, the presenter, Diana Butler Bass, describes a number of hopeful signs she sees developing in this “Time of Rupture.” One of these hopeful signs is a renewed and more intentional use of spiritual practices. It is important to note that she sees this taking place in the lives of people who are often not church-goers. Those of us who are regular church-goers participate in spiritual practices whether or not we would describe what we're doing using that terminology. Prayer is a spiritual practice. Reading the Bible is a spiritual practice. Simply attending worship is a spiritual practice. The question for us church-going people is, "How well are these spiritual practices working for us?"

On Sunday mornings, we continue our journey through some of the most important stories from the Old Testament. Here are the stories we will looking at the first three weeks of November. We have two special worship services on November 24 & 28.

•    November 7: "God Speaks to Elijah"   1 Kings 19:1-16
•    November 14 "Amos: Justice Rolls Down"   Amos 5:14-24
•    November 21 "Ezekiel: Valley of Dry Bones"   Ezekiel 37:1-14
•    November 24 Thanksgiving Eve Worship/Service Projects (details below)
•    November 28 Hanging of the Greens/Advent Gathering (details below)

Thanksgiving Eve Worship/Service Projects 
Thanksgiving Eve Worship will be different this year. Instead of just giving thanks to God during a worship service, we will be putting our thankfulness into action by preparing a meal for a local homeless shelter and supporting Youth Emergency Services through a clothing drive and tying fleece blankets. We officially begin at 6:00 pm in the Sanctuary for a brief time of worship and then move into the Fellowship Hall and kitchen to work on the service projects. The service projects are designed so that people of all ages can participate. Our goal is to be done around 7:00 pm. People are also invited to come anytime between 5:00 and 6:00 pm to eat a meal together. People must bring their own meals as no food will be provided by Holy Cross.

Hanging of the Greens/Advent Gathering 
This is the first Sunday and Advent. During worship, we will decorate the sanctuary for the Advent and Christmas seasons. Following worship, there will be an Advent Gathering at which  Advent paper chain and/or new beeswax candles can be rolled for Advent wreaths. Other Advent crafts will also be available. 

Who said it couldn’t be done?!?!?  I tell you, “It can!  It can!!!!!!   Here is the story for inquiring minds. 

Sunday School Schedule, Thanksgiving Activity, and Advent Gathering!

God in the midst of your gratefulness...

Thursday, November 18 is our highly attended Thanksgiving Food Pantry.  This year we will be giving every household in need a turkey, bag of thanksgiving fixings, and two bags of every day food.  We are planning for 130 families!!

How can you help?  We are having a special food drive focusing on one specific item every week leading up to the Thanksgiving Pantry.  We are in need of 130 of the following -

Pie Shells - Week of November 7
Brown and Serve Rolls - Week of November 14

Donations can be placed in the Narthex in the big blue pantry bin.  Questions, please contact Kelley Kennedy or Dave Magnuson.

THANKS for GIVING food!

I would like to thank the church staff and members for the beautiful yellow roses and cards that were given to me for my 90th birthday. I truly have been blessed. Thanks so much!

Phyllis Beam

• Coveralls was hired as our new cleaning service.

• Due to the age and the cost to repair air condition furnace in the Fellowship Hall, we are replacing both the air conditioner and the furnace. 

“Individuality is the hard outer layer surrounding the inner spiritual life…We see it as the primary characteristic of a child, and rightly so… But our individuality must be yielded to God so that our spiritual life may be brought forth into fellowship with God….

“The characteristics of individuality are independence and self-will. We hinder our spiritual growth more than any other way by continually asserting our individuality . . . . Watch yourself carefully when the Spirit of God is at work in you. The Spirit pushes you to the limits of your individuality where a choice must be made. The choice is either to say, ‘I will not surrender,’ or to surrender, breaking the hard shell of individuality, which allows the spiritual life to emerge. The Holy Spirit narrows it down every time to one thing (see Matthew 5:23- 24). It is your individuality that refuses to ‘be reconciled to your brother’ (5:24). God wants to bring you into union with Godself, but unless you are willing to give up your right to yourself, God cannot. ‘…let him deny himself…’—deny his independent right to himself. Then the real life—the spiritual life—is allowed the opportunity to grow.” [My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers]

God helps to move us beyond our preoccupation with selfish individuality in several ways. Financial stewardship is one of those ways. By our giving, we move outside the hard shell of self and become spiritually one with God.

  Financial Update through September

                                                2021 Actuals        2020 Actuals
Beginning Balance              (36,017)                    (909)
Monthly Expenses             (32,881)                (33,044)
Monthly Income                   24,866                   28,106

Income (Deficit)                   (44,032)*                 (5,847)

*Keep in mind we passed a $32,000 deficit budget for 2021. (We did this with the knowledge that we have $59,000 left over from our 2020 Paycheck Protection Program funds. At the end of the year, we will make up our 2021 deficit using these funds.) Because we passed a $32,000 deficit budget, our monthly and year-to-date "actuals" will most likely always show a deficit. To keep things in perspective this year, it is more helpful to look at "budgeted" amounts as opposed to "actual" amounts, which are shown in the chart above.

With that in mind, while our actual deficit through September is $44,032, our budget deficit through September is $27,753. This means we are $16,279 behind where we budgeted to be at the end of September. 

Text to Give is just one of the new features that we offer here at Holy Cross Lutheran Church.  

Birthdays

Jacqueline Petersen.....................11/3
Joe Evans....................11/5
Ely Olson..............11/7
Madison Wajda...............11/8
Andrew Westenburg................11/8
Brad Yearwood...............11/9
Dick Klabunde...............11/10
Jonah Adams...............11/11
Sharon Kelley..............11/12
Tracey Duke..............11/13
Chris Ellis...................11/13
Emersen Ellis...............11/13
Sienna Gift....................11/14
Al Thomsen.................11/14
Ashley Lawton..............11/16
Madelyn Kreber.................11/19
Cynthia Schwieger.............11/20
Phyllis Choat..................11/21
Sophia Kennedy....................11/23
Wendy Brenner..................11/26
Judy Howard..................11/28
Geno Roberts.................11/28




Anniversaries

Josh & Akemi Adams...................11/1
Chris & Bobbi Hancock..............11/2
Andrew & Anne Schmidt....................11/30

November Meetings

Finance Committee Meeting - November 11 at 6:00 pm

Council Meeting - November 16 at 6:30 pm (in-person)

Do you have old strings of Christmas lights that no longer work? Again this year, our very own Joe Evans is taking old strings of lights to Scrap Central which provides recycling at no cost.  There will be a bin in the Narthex clearly marked to drop them off!