A NOTE FROM PASTOR KRISTIN
Dear Loving People of God,
I am guessing that you are all aware that our hospital systems are overwhelmed, and case numbers are at an all-time high. Yesterday, the Wisconsin Council of Churches (WICoC) released new recommendations suggesting that churches go back to their virtual platforms for the next 4-6 weeks. The St. Peter Task Force had an emergency meeting last night to discuss the new recommendations. We have stayed close to the WICoC’s recommendations in the past and have done well. We would like to continue to make decisions that take physical and mental health into consideration. Given the safety mitigation standards that we already have in place at St. Peter, the Task Force has decided to continue in-person worship, but we strongly encourage people to stay home and worship online. We also ask people to limit building use as much as possible and we must insist that everyone wear masks in the church building.
The current changes are temporary and short term. The research predicts a spike in cases in the next couple of weeks. We have vaccinations, treatment options, testing, and lots of resources that we did not have two years ago. However, we still need to do our part to live out the command we have to love each other. Please talk to me or a member of the task force if you have any questions. Task force members are Renee, Paul, Joy, Leslie, Carrie, and me. If you reply to this email Carrie can forward questions to them.
The council is scheduled to meet next week. Please respect our leadership as they continue to make difficult decisions. We are all doing our best. There are changes we can make right now to care for others, which is why we are asking people to stay home for a couple of weeks.
Small group team leaders have been contacted about suspending meetings for a couple of weeks. Sunday School and Confirmation families will be contacted also. Things are changing fast, and I ask that you please give me some time to share information.
I am grateful to be your pastor and am proud of the ways we have remained focused on the gospel, even when it is really hard. Remember that you are loved!
Pastor Kristin Berglund, M.Div., LPC, NCC
WORSHIP AND WITNESS MISSION NEWS
St Peter Live!!
You can now watch our worship service live! Our 8am service will now be livestreamed to our Facebook page (https://m.facebook.com/stpetersheboygan/) each Sunday morning. Following worship, the service will be uploaded to YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkvPIB8agxVhS72C5822etA) and our website (https://stpetersheboygan.com). In case of technical difficulty, the service will still be recorded and posted as soon as possible after worship.
8:00am & 10:00am – Worship in the sanctuary. We will wear masks and distance.
SOCIAL OUTREACH MISSION NEWS
Mitten Tree
The Mitten Tree is back and ready for your donations. We have LOTS of hats, but we could use more gloves/mittens and scarves. Please bring your new or gently used items to St. Peter and add them to the tree. We will then send them off to area elementary schools. Before we even get started this year, we are dropping off 126 hats, 25 pair of gloves and 3 scarves to 7 different elementary schools. Thank you so much for your generosity – please keep it coming!!
El Salvador News
Dear Brothers and Sisters of St. Peters Church:
I send to you warm hugs and I wish blessings in your lives. I give my regards to the congregation.
I sincerely apologize for the communication problems we have had lately and for the delay in sending the scholarship information. Many things have happened and it was not possible to send the information before because of the pandemic, the violence in the communities, the responsibility of my work at his time (which includes the migrant ministry in which I work) and also due to the lack of a computer for personal use.
At Apostles of Christ Church we are grateful for the support you give us in order that our children and youth can continue their studies. They are also excited because in December we will have a gathering and retreat thanks to the financial help that you always give us.
In January, God willing, I will send you a brief report of the main activities we have been doing this year, including the retreat, with photos and videos.
I also take this opportunity to ask when we can have a virtual meeting. I will wait for the dates when you can do it and if it is possible to do it at night it would be better.
Greetings from the Apostles of Christ Church and Pastor Cruz and family.
Blessings, Pastor Cruz Antonio Calles
Community Resources
The National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) has a helpline 800-950-6264 that is available M-F 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. This helpline provides the one-on-one help and information necessary to tackle tough challenges that you, your family or friends are facing. They also have 24/7 crisis support. Call 800-273-8255 or text NAMI to 741-741 to receive free support via text message.
PRAYER REQUESTS
Please keep the following people in your prayers: Delores’ Family, Dave, Brian, Jessie, Rudy, Lydia, Bruce’s family, Jazzy, Wina, Linda, Dianna, Rae-Ellen, Reed, Hannah, and Apostles of Christ.