Children & Youth He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in  his  arms,  he  said  to  them,  “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”  Mark 9:36-37

My family came to Memorial from Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Rapid City, South Dakota in the summer of 2012. Before we purchased a house, my husband looked for a  church  (he  came  before  the  rest  of  us).  We  didn’t  just  want  a  church, but a congregation, a family. One of the most important things  that  we  looked  for  in  a  church  as  we  did  our  “Church  

Shopping”  (  which  is  an  odd  phrase to use when you are looking for a family) was the education opportunities for our children. Memorial seemed to fit the bill in a variety of aspects. One of several, was  the  enthusiasm  of  Ms.  April,  children’s  discipleship  coordinator.    She  just  draws  you in with her excitement  of  teaching  the  children  about  Jesus  and  Jesus’s  love  for  all  of  the  children.    Our  boys  were in confirmation and it was reassuring to us that they would be able to continue on their confirmation in a broader learning arena, and with a great teaching team with Nathan, family discipleship coordinator, Pastor Davis and Vicar Ken. In contrast our previous congregation was smaller and had just the pastor to serve as the teacher/instructor to the catechism. I was very excited to learn of the UP, IN, and OUT concept. Mainly the OUT component intrigued and excited me the most because I knew that my family would be involved in a more rounded education that encompassed all the things that God expected from us. We try to participate in as many things that Memorial has to offer our children as we can, because it is the most important thing we can do for our children,  for  they  are  God’s  children,  is  to  entrust  them  to  Him.

Included are the educational and service related activities of Memorial for our children and youth. Whether you have children or not, please put these events on your calendar. Knowing what it is that our children are doing will allow you to partake in all that they do, whether if it be volunteer your time with them, entrusting them to Him, listening to them, enjoying them, or just WELCOMING them.

Traci Whittecar

CHILDREN’S SCHEDULE Mondays - Kid's Hand bells 6:15-7pm. Wednesday (through May 22)- Livin' in 3D 6-8pm. Sunday Opportunities- Family Discipleship Hour 9:30-10:30am Children’s  message  during  worship  8:00  and  10:45

THE DISCIPLES’ DIGEST NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR AND FROM THE DISCIPLES OF

MEMORIAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, KATY, TX

UPCOMING EVENTS

Sunday May 12th- Mother's Day (the children's choir and hand bells will be singing and playing in 2nd service)

Malaria Initiative Offering Contest- 3rd- 5th grades are leading with $9.93, K-2nd has $ $6.16, and Pre-K has $4.02. We now have enough for two mosquito nets thus saving two families. We remember our missionaries from Memorial who are serving this very moment in Kenya. Pray that God would give them strength and courage as they share His word of hope with many people. Pray also for God to bless the vision clinic and restore sight physically and spiritually to the people of Kenya.

Music & Missions (VBS) June 10-14th. There is still time to register your child and also to sign up to help. We are still in need of team leaders for pre-school and elementary to help groups rotate through games, crafts, music, culture, and Bible time. There are sign up's in the Welcome Center. YOUTH

Prayer Retreat-The confirmation students attended a prayer retreat in Giddings, April 26-27.

Sunday Opportunities- Sunday School at 930 a.m. GLC (Girls Group); Iron  Men  (Guy’s  Group)

Wednesday- Confirmation 7:00-8:00 (come early for family worship and meal-6:00-7:00)

1st year students (6th graders)-Commandments 7-10 2nd year students (7th graders)- 2nd Article Part II 3rd year students (8th graders)- The  Lord  ’s  Supper

UPCOMING EVENTS

3rd Year confirmation students Testimonies of Faith – May 9- May 16

Rite Of Confirmation May 26TH 10:45 am. Congratulations!!!!!

Preschool We are excited to announce that the preschool has collected a total of $2190.30 for the Lutheran Malaria Initiative from both chapel offering and the Malaria walk/run. Our students have shown a heart of giving as they help families in Africa from malaria. The school year is approaching an end, yet the preschool is still quite busy with many activities.

May 7-10- Mother’s  Tea May 9- Preschool Staff Meeting May 6-10 Teacher appreciation week May 21- 7:00pm  4’s  Graduation May 23 & 24- Last Days of Preschool

If you have a preschool prayer partner, please make sure you sign a prayer card for  the  end  of  the  year.    Let’s  pray  for  a  fun and safe summer for all of our preschool students.

Elders

Altar Guild

The purpose of the Altar Guild is to serve the Lord by helping to prepare the sanctuary for the worship  and  celebration  of  God’s  people  together. The members of the Altar Guild work in cooperation with the Pastors and leaders of the congregation to ensure that our corporate worship honors God and strengthens His people and builds up the Kingdom of God. We currently have 31 members that are divided up into 7 teams. Six of those teams rotate each month to care for the Altar in preparation of all worship services. The seventh team serves as our flower team with responsibilities for coordinating the ordering and placing of the Altar flowers each week. Our meetings are held every other month generally on the third Tuesday. A special thank you to everyone that helped to make our Holy Week and Easter services more beautiful through the care of the Altar. You may have noticed the new cross at the front of the sanctuary. It was dedicated on Sunday, April 28th. The Altar Guild worked with Scott Pinkley and Damian Peckenpaugh to choose the design and colors of this beautiful piece. If you would like to join us as we serve or just have a question about an area the Altar Guild handles please contact Tracie Arldt, Mildred Nietsche, Robin Stankus or any member of the Altar Guild. We would gladly welcome you to join us as we serve God in this capacity. No previous experience is required to serve on the Altar Guild. You only need a heart to serve our Lord. The  Disciples’  Digest  will  be  a  periodic  publication  designed  to  keep  one  another  informed  of  a  few  of the many happenings at Memorial Lutheran Church. If you have something you would like to contribute, please send it to the church office, preferably in a document format. If there is something more you would like to see in the Digest, then please contact the leader of that ministry area, and politely mention to them what you would like to see—or even better yet, perhaps you could help them in getting that information to print! This information will also be available electronically through the church web site, e-mail, and social media.