SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Sunday, August 14th
9:00am Worship – Sanctuary
11:00am Love Fellowship Church of God in Christ
Tuesday, August 16th
9:00am Quilting
6:00pm Council
Wednesday, August 17th
10:00am Bible Study
6:00pm Summer Book Study
Thursday, August 18th
10:00am Fidget Mats
Sunday, August 21st
9:00am Worship – Parking Lot
11:00am Love Fellowship Church of God in Christ
WORSHIP AND WITNESS MISSION NEWS
Introducing ‘Squishy Jesus!’
Take ‘Squishy Jesus’ with you during your summer. Take it on travels, on your everyday errands, to work, and on adventures. Be sure to take pictures and send them along with a caption to church (stpeter@stpetersheboygan.com). You can also post pictures on the St. Peter Facebook page or print them out and post them yourselves when you are at church. Remember that wherever you go, God is with you!
9:00am – Sunday morning alternating weeks worshipping in the parking lot and the sanctuary.
For parking lot worship bring a chair, blanket, or something comfy to sit on. Cones will be out to separate the worship and parking spaces. Kids can grab their Sunday School bins that will be stocked with bubbles and sidewalk chalk. If the weather does not cooperate, we will move into the sanctuary.
For worship in the sanctuary, children’s bulletins and crayons will be available, and families are welcome to use the Pray Ground.
9:00am Summer Worship Schedule
08/14 – Sanctuary
08/21 – Parking Lot
08/28 – Sanctuary
09/04 – Parking Lot
St. Peter Live
Our service is 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). The weekly bulletin is attached to this email if you would like to follow along with the online service.
St. Peter Choir
We continue to enhance our church services! If you have been singing with the choir for years, or if you would like to give us a try, please reply to this email or reach out to Myra and let us know you would like to participate. We would love to start rehearsing in the next few weeks.
Grace Notes
The band will be rehearsing beginning Tuesday, August 30th at 7:00pm and leading worship on Sunday, September 11th.
If you are interested in joining our praise band, we would love to have you! The only requirement is a desire to praise God through music. If you have questions, please feel free to talk to a band member, reach out to Lori, or reply to this email.
Sign up to be a Worship Assistant
It is now easier than ever to help with worship! Visit the Sign-Up Genius site to help with reading, ushering, outdoor set up and tech. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084aaaac2eaaf58-worship
SOCIAL OUTREACH MISSION NEWS
Lutheran World Relief
The Layette committee is in need of more nail clippers, combs, and white soap. Your donation of these items will be greatly appreciated.
Lutheran World Relief School Kits
School supplies are in stores and the weekly adds are offering sale prices. Please take advantage of these sale offerings and help us fill 300 school bags. So if you are out shopping please consider picking up some supplies and drop off in the fellowship hallway.
Each bag contains: 1- blunt scissors, 1 – pencil sharpener, 1 – boxes of 24 crayons, 1 – pink eraser, 1 – ruler, 4 – 70 sheet notebooks, 5 – pencils, and 5 – pens. Each filled bag will give a child the chance of going to school and the chance to change the world.
From Lutheran World Relief website: Help children thrive by making School Kits Education is one of the strongest tools a community has for breaking the cycle of poverty. Consider what happens when a family cannot afford school supplies for all of their children. Or, consider a family who lost everything in a hurricane or other disaster. How can they prioritize what their children need for school when they’re scrambling to find food and shelter?
Education is a critical tool to overcoming poverty All the data shows that education is a critical piece of the puzzle for creating healthier, more prosperous futures for children— and especially for girls. And did you know that returning children to school as soon as possible after a disaster reduces the long-term effects of trauma? Education is hope and empowerment. You can help more children access it by making Lutheran World Relief School Kits!
Make School its for children in need LWR School Kits contain essential supplies to help children — and in some cases, adults — continue learning in the face of serious obstacles. That learning leads to a better life for them, their families, and their communities.
Fidget Mats
We are able to accept doodads and gizmos once again. The basket is back on the small table as you enter the building across from the office. Spring cleaning is past but there are always those sneaky little forgotten things that just have a way of appearing! So please help them appear in our basket. We are in need of men’s watches especially so if they can’t be repaired please think of us. Thanks so much for all you do to keep us gifting our fidget mats. Peace, Joan
El Salvador News
As August approaches, we celebrate 22 years of involvement with Apostles of Christ in El Salvador. This year we took on 16 new students in the elementary level of school. Thanks to all of our sponsors, we are now sponsoring 49 students! We are always looking for new sponsors and would love for you to join us.
We received letters from all of our students in Apostles of Christ and would love to send letters back to each of our students. Would you be interested in writing a letter, or two, or more? If you like, you could purchase a card and write a short note of encouragement inside. You do not need to be a sponsor to send a letter, nor do you have to speak Spanish – we have volunteers willing to translate your messages!
If you have any questions about sponsorship or letter writing, please respond to this message for more information. Thank you! Jim S. and the El Salvador Team
Northside Christian Food Pantry
Thanks to the members of St. Peter for their partnership in providing food donations. Your donations are helping people in need. The August greatest needs are: Rice/Pasta Sides, Manwich, Cereal, Canned Fruit, Juice/Ice Tea, Baked Beans and 64 oz Laundry Detergent.
Quilting
Join us for quilting for Lutheran World Relief on Tuesdays from 9am– 12pm in the quad room. Please come, we have a lot of work to do. No experience necessary. We will teach you. See you there.
Dartball Aluminum Can Drive
St. Peter’s Dartball Team is sponsoring an aluminum can drive this summer. Bring your bags of aluminum cans (aluminum only – please continue to recycle your other items) to the kitchen entrance (north side) of the building on Sunday, August 28th and September 25th before worship. If you would like someone to pick up your aluminum, please reply to this email and we will coordinate a time for you. The proceeds from the can drive will be split with WELCA. The Dartball Team will use their portion to pay for entry fees and new shirts for the team – many are still wearing their St. Andrew shirts!
Community Resources
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is now operational. This lifeline provides care and support to people experiencing stressful situations. It is a free, confidential, and is available 24/7. People of all ages who need help for themselves or a loved one can access the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by: calling 988, sending a text message to 988, or using the chat feature at 988lifeline.org. People who contact 988 will be connected with a trained counselor who takes note of the person’s needs, understands how the person’s problem is affecting them, provides support, and, if needed, gets the person additional help.
A HELPFUL REMINDER ABOUT RESPECTFUL COMMUNICATION
The St. Peter Church Council uses the Respectful Communication Guidelines (developed by the Kaleidoscope Institute) and invites teams and individuals to practice the guidelines as well. Below is a brief explanation of the Respectful Communication Guidelines that would be helpful for you to look at as we continue to focus on being a healthy congregation that practices healthy communication.
Guidelines for communication are like the traffic rules that one has to understand and observe before getting a license to drive a car. We are required to pass a test proving that we know and will follow the rules in order to be safe. With interpersonal communication, we do not require people to pass a test but, we do need to remind people about how to interact respectfully. When we react to others with negative attitudes, put-downs, judgments, and dismissal, it is not helpful to the community.
Different communities use different versions of communication guidelines. The Respectful Communication Guidelines are written in an acronym that helps people remember them.
R = take RESPONSIBILITY for what you say and feel without blaming others.
E = use EMPATHETIC listening.
S = be SENSITIVE to differences in communication styles.
P = PONDER what you hear and feel before you speak.
E = EXAMINE your own assumptions and perceptions.
C = keep CONFIDENTIALITY.
T = TRUST ambiguity because we are not here to debate who is right or wrong.
Communication is an important element in building a more inclusive community. People of different backgrounds bring with them different communication styles. Sometimes these differences can cause conflicts among members of a community- often in an unconscious way.
If we are to express the essence of God’s inclusiveness, we need to agree to behave differently when we are attempting to build a more inclusive community. The Respectful Communication Guidelines provide a foundation to uphold the well-being of the community.
A resource of the Kaleidoscope Institute, found at: http://www.kscopeinstitute.org/respectful-communication-guidelines/
PRAYER REQUESTS
Please keep the following people in your prayers: Tracy, Bonnie, JoAnn’s Family, Edith’s family, Mya, Angie, Vi, Doris, Karen, Jim, Susie, Rog, Gary, Mike, Bobby, Jazzy, Dan, Kevin, and Apostles of Christ.
BULLETIN AND WEEKLY NEWSLETTER ARTICLE DATES
Announcements for the bulletin and weekly newsletter are due at noon each Wednesday. Please submit information to Carrie, at email address stpeter@stpetersheboygan.com. The staff will review and make final decisions based on clarity, space, content, timing, and needs of the community.