Finding Faith ... in the Spirit-filled activities that keep church vital

By Pastor Devlyn Brooks

Wait … what? … December newsletter? … Are we serious, here? I’m writing the December newsletter article already!?!?

I’m not sure where the past three months since we kicked off our church year have gone, Faith Family, but here we are turning the corner and headed toward Advent season. Ready or not, here we come! 

A bit of a hodgepodge for the newsletter this month; lots to cover! Here we go …

Rural Revival program

I hope that you have heard by now that our Faith Lutheran Council at the November meeting voted to enter into the Northwestern Minnesota Synod’s “Rural “Revival” program. I wrote about this in detail for last month’s newsletter. So if you want more information, please refer back to that! 

Pastor Melissa Pickering, who oversees the program, will be visiting our congregation on Sunday, Dec. 3, to share more about the program, but also to preach about what revitalization may look like. 

Pastor Pickering has been busy reviewing statistical information about our congregation, as well as setting up one-on-one interviews with some folks in our congregation over the past month. She will use this information, as well as further conversations with folks here at Faith, in the eventual possible plans that she submits to us.

All of this will play out over the next couple of months, with the goal of eventually determining what next steps, if any, we should be thinking about for the future of our church.

This is a holy process that we are entering into with our synod partners, and I continue to pray that the Holy Spirit guides us toward whatever our next chapter as church will look like! 

If you have any questions about this process, do not hesitate to reach out! Thank you! 

LYO fundraising

I am writing on behalf of our LYO youth group organization to say thank you for the amazing generosity displayed during the Annual LYO Pie Auction on Sunday, Nov. 19. Thanks to your generosity on the day, between the soup luncheon and the pie auction, the LYO raised more than $1,600. That is awesome! Thank you so much! 

As the youth mentioned during the pie auction, the money will be going toward their trip to the ELCA’s National Youth Gathering next summer in New Orleans. So, as you can imagine, there is much more fundraising to come in the months leading up to July. 

The youth, and their parents, are hard at work finding other avenues to raise funds, such as volunteering to work concessions at Fargodome events and also scheduling a “Waffles with Santa” event at Crooked Lane Farm over by Colfax. The goal is to try to raise funds that don’t always rely on the generosity of our church and community. 

However, please know that they have some very exciting events that will be taking place here at the church in the coming months as well, and I’m hoping that the congregation “turns out and shows up,” as the kids these days say! The kids aren’t taking this opportunity to travel to the National Youth Gathering for granted, and they are putting in the work! We are grateful in advance for all of your support! Thank you!

Keep this one on your radar! … The LYO’s next event is a Bingo & Bake Sale on Sunday, Dec. 3, after church! The LYO families also will provide lunch! … Please put this on your calendars, and tell all your friends! 

Sunday School Christmas program

Finally, please keep on your calendar the FLC Sunday School Christmas program on Sunday, Dec. 19. 

This should be a memorable one, as our LYO students have volunteered to participate with our Sunday Schoolers in this year’s program. So we’ll have all of our youth working toward a program that reminds us all of the true reason for the season! 

After the program, the LYO families will be providing a Sunday brunch. So please stick around for a great meal, and for the wonderful fellowship that will take place in our fellowship hall! 

Blessings to you all this month, Faith Family! … See you in church! We have a busy month together! 

Amen!