Schedule Changes and Updates Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic
*All in person Worship Services are cancelled through the month of April. This also means that confirmation day and questioning along with the April Voter’s meeting will be rescheduled.
*Holy Week Services: Our Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter services will be available online at the web site and You Tube on each of those days. As before, I will send a link.
*Food Bank: This week over 20 families received food from the congregation and the community. Thank you to all who continue to bring in donations.
*Bible Study: I would like to start some sort of video/online Bible Study the week after Easter. I am open to ideas on topics, and ways this might work best. Please send your thoughts my way.
*CPH Free Items: Check out the Concordia Publishing House Free Content Library. There are a number of devotional items, and wonderful items for children/grandchildren. A good book for those navigating grief is “Hope when your heart breaks”, and for those who would like a refresher on “key” Christian teachings check out “Dying to Live, the Power of Forgiveness”. These are not free, but reasonably priced on the CPH web site.
*Congregational Offerings: (The below information was taken from Mark Hofman who works at the LCMS International Center)
1. Mail your regular offering to the church office or drop it off at the church office or parsonage during the week.
2. Your bank or credit union may offer “online bill payment” services as financial tools. While our gifts to God are not paying a “bill” (because Jesus already did that for us), such tools can electronically deliver your offering without your having to write a check or use cash. Set up your congregation as you would a utility company or doctor’s office. Some of these tools also allow you to create a recurring gift (payment) made automatically.
3. If you are eligible, use the available IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution option and have your IRA trustee send a portion of your required minimum distribution (if not needed) to the church for you. If you have established a donor advised fund, continue to send or consider sending an advised grant to your congregation.
4. More congregations are offering an online donation option on their websites, and more are providing members with things like smartphone apps that support giving by credit or debit card. One such app is Give+ (Give Plus), which lets the user find a participating congregation. If your congregation does not have such an option, your parish leadership can contact the Lutheran Church Extension Fund or the Lutheran Federal Credit Union for help.
5. If your congregation doesn’t have a website with online donation tools, some community foundations (including Thrivent/InFaith) provide online donation tools that allow you to direct a gift to your congregation.
*Service Opportunity- If you are able and willing to bring groceries, medications, or other items to those who are in their homes because of vulnerability to this virus, please call the church office 618-281-4600. As of Friday, March 20th twelve people have signed up to participate in this service. Call church office if you are interested.
