The Shepherd’s Post A monthly publication of Shepherd of the Prairie Lutheran Parish

Pastor’s message p. 2 Parish News p. 3-4 Parish Minutes p. 5 Christine News p. 6-7 Hickson News p. 8 Walcott News p. 9 Walcott Minutes p. 10 January Calendar

January Events

January 2015

Shepherd of the Prairie Lutheran Parish 537 3rd Street

Walcott, ND 58077

T he feast of the Epiphany is the

celebration of the God who comes among us. God’s love, incarnate in Jesus, captures all of creation in its embrace and we, God’s witness-es, call others to embrace that love made manifest in us and in all the works of God’s hands. - Excerpt from ELCA.org

“The Epiphany”

WORSHIP

January 4 9 am Christine* 11 am Walcott* January 11 9 am Christine 11 am Hickson* January 18 9 am Christine 11 am Walcott January 25 9 am Christine 11 am Hickson

*Communion Worship

EVENTS Tues-Thurs 9:00 am-1:00 pm Parish office hours Wednesdays Confirmation—Christine (Starting date/time hasn’t been determined at time of publication). Thursdays 9:00 am Bulletin announcements due January 3 2:00-4:00 pm Allen & Linda Stone 50th Anniversary

Open house—Walcott January 13 1:30 pm Hickson Bible study

—Irene Backlund’s home January 17 10:00 am Walcott WELCA meeting/brunch January 20 9:00 am February newsletter info due

ANNUAL MEETING SCHEDULE WALCOTT

January 6 Annual reports due to parish office January 11 Annual report booklets available January 18 Potluck dinner & annual meeting

HICKSON January 13 Annual reports due to parish office January 18 Annual report booklets available January 25 Potluck dinner & annual meeting

CHRISTINE January 20 Annual reports due to parish office January 25 Annual report booklets available February 1 Potluck dinner and annual meeting

Welcome Pastor Karin Moberg!

Page 2 Pastor’s Message

“Isn’t it a splendid thing that there are mornings? There is something so fresh about morning, so utterly new and untried.

Morning is a Sacrament of Hope; she is a gift of beginning. Morning looks at me with eyes of expectancy.

She slips through the darkness on tiptoe.” - Macrina Wiederkehr, Seasons of Your Heart

I am a morning person. I usually wake up happy and ready to begin a new day. When my kids were growing up, and to their chagrin, I would wake them with a

song. It was (is) called Good Morning. I first heard it performed in the musical, Singing in the Rain. My version of the refrain was, “Good morning, good morning, it’s great to be alive, good morning, good morning to you...”

Some days I wonder at the surprise of this new day with Shepherd of the Prairie Parish!! When Pastor Kathryn called me to supply preach several months ago, I wasn’t looking for a new call. In fact, I did supply preaching almost every Sunday for the last seven years and never once experienced a sense that God was calling me away from Hospice Chaplaincy to congregational ministry-UNTIL that morning when Laura asked me if I was open to call. I remember saying something like, “No, I don’t think so.” “I don’t know, maybe I am?” Our conversation went no further that day. I realized, however, that something had shifted in me and I went home and emailed Bishop Terry that evening. Laura also followed through on the slight opening my response indicated, and the rest is history.

In surprising fashion, I experienced God calling me to wake up to this new adventure with you. I know it will take some time for us to get to know one another and to discern the way forward. You have said some significant goodbyes in the past year and so have I. And so there may be a mingling of emotions for us as we begin to share this new day.

In this morning of a new year, just days after Christmas, I am gladdened by the promise that Jesus was born so that we would know God is not far off, not in some other place, but here in this place – and at this time… Emmanuel, God-is-with-us, and because God is with us…we can look to this new beginning with expectancy and hope.

Good morning, Pastor Karin Moberg

My email address is: pastorkarin14@gmail.com

A few facts & tidbits: (Besides being a morning

person)

I have three adult children, David, Johnna, and Daniel and one beautiful grand-daughter – Haven. Haven and her parents (Johnna and Dom) live in Dilworth, while my sons live in the Bemidji area where they grew up. Haven is three- and a complete joy! I will show her picture and talk about her to anyone who will listen!!!

I also have two cats: Frostbite and Gizmo.

I have a favorite coffee drink and love reading the paper

I walk regularly I have two brothers and

two sisters – all still living I am in a small book

group I was born in Minneap-

olis, graduated from Coon Rapids Senior High and lived in Bemidji for almost 30 years on and off

I treasure my friendships I believe beginnings and

endings are important I love the craft of writing I am of German Russian

descent I love popcorn and

movies (in the theatre) I was raised Catholic

...And I truly believe that Christ has no hands, no heart, no feet, no body but ours!

Offerings as of 10/31/14

Congregation 2014 Monthly November Y-T-D Totals

Budget Offering needed Offering

Christine $ 25,800.00 $ 2,150.00 $ 1,838.00 $ 15,667.00

Hickson $ 68,450.00 $ 5,700.00 $ 4,764.00 $ 66,478.00

Walcott $ 59,880.00 $ 4,990.00 $ 7,231.74 $ 56,066.89

Parish News

January Wish List

1. Devotional materials for the parish 2. Weekly bulletin mailing to homebound/nursing

home members: $7.50/wk/$30/mo 3. Sponsor February newsletter: $50 4. Sponsor weekly bulletin: $25 5. Mileage for Pastoral visits: **any amount

Please make check payable and mail to: Shepherd of the Prairie Lutheran Parish, 537 3rd Street,

Walcott, ND 58077

Wish List gifts received in 2014: $ 885.00

Parish Nurse Fund gifts received in 2014: $ 50.00 The following gifts were received in December after the parish books were closed. They will be included in the January 2015 gifts:

Lillian Johnson—to be used where needed: $ 100 Sonja Amundson—Parish Nurse Fund, In memory of Rev. Stanley Larsen: $25

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Thanksgiving offering

T hanks to everyone who contributed to the special Thanksgiving offering. Parish members generously responded by contributing $787 to Churches

Sheltering the Homeless. Your gifts will be of great help to the churches in Fargo-Moorhead who generously donate space to house the overflow of homeless people during the cold winter months. Blessings to all for your contributions to this important ministry!

The Christmas offering total for Churches Sheltering the Homeless will be included in the February newsletter.

If you are interested

in sponsoring one of

these items, please

contact LeAnn

Toppen at 469-

2183 or email her at

shepluthpar@wtc-

mail.net Gifts will be

acknowledged in the

following newsletter.

Page 3

Our new pastor, Karin Moberg begins her call here on January 1st! Welcome, Pastor Karin!

Parish office hours: 9 am– 1 pm Tues.-Thurs.

Bulletin printed: 9 am Thursdays

February newsletter info due: 1/20

January Prayer Ventures and Christ In Our Home daily devotionals are available in the church entrances

CHRISTMAS FOOD BASKETS

Thanks to everyone who contributed canned green beans to be included in the local Christmas Food Baskets sponsored by the Kindred Ministerial Assn. A total of 44 cans were donated by parish members.

Special thanks to Carter & Carol Sharff of Christine and to Mike & Laurie Brakke of Walcott for distributing the baskets!

Page 4 Parish News

Update from Pastor Kathryn

A loha from O'ahu! Mahalo (thank you) to all of you who

have sent cards, emailed and been praying for me! Grandma Kitty and I arrived safely by plane on November 29th. She was whisked off to what I not-so-fondly refer to as "kitty jail". Her release date is February 19th. She is not thrilled about it, but is healthy and doing fine. The day she comes home will be the day everything falls into place here for me!

Several congregation members met me at the airport with leis, hugs and warm greetings. I liked them right away. We traveled across the mountain from "town" (Honolulu) to St. John Lutheran where more members of the congregation showed up with more leis, hugs and kisses (they are very affection-ate here!). I spent the first two nights with a congregational member and her parents. Then moved into my new home (a small apartment by ND standards, but just perfect for me and kitty here in Hawaii!). The container that held all my things including my car arrived two weeks later and several congregation members came out to help unload everything into my new home.

Thank you again to everyone from the Parish who showed up (some of you three times!) to help me

move all my stuff including heavy boxes of books into the container. Everything arrived in perfect condition!

Worship has been going well at St. John. They are excited I'm here and I'm excited to be here. I'm spending my first several months visiting with every member of the congregation which helps me get to know them, their names, and the island.

The weather is beautiful by Mid-western standards for this time of year...but it is winter here. That means some lovely days and some chilly (70s!) days that are rainy and overcast. And it is windy here...I guess I can't escape that!

I'm so excited for Pastor Karin to join all of you and for Shepherd of the Prairie to move into the next chapter of your ministry in God's name. I told you before I left and I tell the folks here at St. John: with-out all of you, I would never have been able to accept this call in Hawaii. I feel so blessed by my time with all of you and continue to hold you all in my prayers. Keep the prayers headed my way...prayers from Hawaii are sent your way each day. Many blessings in the New Year!

With a heart full of gratitude, Pastor Kathryn

Page 5 Parish Council Minutes

(Unapproved) MINUTES of the ANNUAL BUDGET MEETING SHEPHERD OF THE PRAIRIE LUTHERAN PARISH COUNCIL

December 3, 2014

The annual Shepherd of the Prairie Parish Council Budget meeting, was called to order by Council President Greg Ostreich (W) at 7:02 PM, December 3, 2014, in Walcott. Other members present included parish treasurer, Renee Anderson and Shelly Swandal (W); Josh Granholt and recording secretary, Joe Wallevand (C); Jodi Freitag, Kent Rademacher, and Dawn Schaffer (H). Absent was Carter Sharff (C).

No minutes were available from the December, 2013, budget meeting.

Renee was given the floor. So far, no replacement for her position has come up; both Jodi and Kent indicated an interest. Renee summarized the duties, bill payment, and time involved.

The current parish balance on hand is $25,227.41, which is about $13,000 higher than previous years, due to being under-budget this past year. A portion of this will be applied as revenue for the coming year.

Long discussions ensued regarding increased medical premiums for the new pastor. And since she will be living in Fargo, not the Walcott parsonage, increased housing allowance had to be made. Pastor will be provided an electronic tablet as part of her compensation. Pastor’s mileage will be determined with the starting point being within the Parish, commensurate with IRS rules. The annual defined compensa-tion for Pr. Karin Marie Moberg will be $64,321, and a benefits package of $21,097 which includes a $12,092 single rate annual medical insurance through the auspices of the Eastern North Dakota Synod; it was agreed the budget be given contingent approval “as is,” and that a medical insurance plan be shopped for that is less expensive than that offered through the synod.

In other areas, parish administrative assistant LeAnn Toppen had put in extra hours this year, so she will have these paid at her current salary, plus her hours will be raised to 14 hours per week for the coming year (appropriate with the inception of the new pastor), and a $0.50 per hour raise. Kent inquired about “parish liability” and the need for insurance—no answer was provided at this time. The giving units for the three congregations are as follows: Christine (18), Hickson (38), and Walcott (45) with each sharing in the total budget proportionately. (Motion to accept the 2015 Shepherd of the Prairie proposed budget of $114,500: Jodi/Josh, MSP.)

The next regular council meeting will be in Christine, February 10, 2015 at 7:00 PM with Christine providing the 2015 council president.

(Motion to adjourn: Jodi/Josh, MSP.)—adjourned at 8:50 PM. Lord’s Prayer was recited. Respectfully submitted, Parish Council Secretary Joe Wallevand

Page 6 Christine News

Christine WELCA

T he Christine WELCA joined together for a Christmas Tea

at the home of Darla Rufer on Sunday, December 14th. Attending were: Kay Skoog, Jen & Lily Skoog, Jane Schwan, Janie Johnson, Carole Sharff, Marilyn Hendrick-

son, Linda Wallevand, Donna Dufner, and our friend Sue James. Linda started us off with a devotion geared to the Christmas season and Reed Rufer played several songs for us on the piano.

- Darla Rufer

L ike our sister churches, the Christine congregation was

sad to say goodbye to Pastor Kathryn. At the end of her last service, the Sunday School children presented her with leis and we all sang her a song to the tune of “My Darling Clementine.” She and her mother joined us for cake and coffee following the service. We wish her all the best!

- Darla Rufer (Photos are courtesy of Darla)

T hanks to Darla for hosting the nice farewell party for Pastor

Kathryn following worship on November 23rd. The cake was delicious and the fellowship was great!

- Marilyn Hendrickson

(See photos of the party on the following page)

Farewell to Pastor Kathryn

THIS MONTH IN CHRISTINE

WORSHIP Sundays at 9 am

COFFEE SERVERS January 4

Suzie & Lavonne Granholt

January 11 Nellie Olsgaard & Jill

Granholt

January 18 OPEN

January 25 OPEN

BIRTHDAYS 1/11: Shelby Granholt

ANNUAL MEETING DEADLINES

1/20: Reports due 1/25: Annual Report

booklets available 2/1: Annual meeting

follows potluck

Page 7 Christine News

Photos from Pastor Kathryn’s farewell party

CHRISTINE

LUTHERAN

CHURCH

MISSION

STATEMENT Together we are

C laimed by God’s

Grace

L iving in Faith and

Fellowship

C ommanded to

Serve others and

Share the Gospel

Christmas program photos

C hristmas in Rhyme was performed by

the Sunday School children during worship on December 21st. Great job, teachers and kids! Thanks to Darla Rufer for the great photos!

Page 8 Hickson News

THIS MONTH IN HICKSON

WORSHIP 11:00 am

Jan. 11 (communion) Food Pantry Day

Work Group: Nicole Bice family Acolyte: Kaitlyn

Jan. 25 Work Group:

Allen & Diane Ricker Acolyte: Morgan

BIBLE STUDY Jan. 13 at 1:30 pm

Irene Backlund’s home (Lorraine Read, hostess)

ANNUAL MEETING DEADLINES

1/13: Reports due 1/18: Annual report booklets available

1/25: Annual meeting follows potluck

1/3: Vicki Bauman 1/5: Alice Mathison 1/6: Sheila Halverson 1/12: Leah Vikander 1/13: Gail Leikas Michael Sorby 1/14: Debra Larson 1/15: Neal Roesler 1/17: Diane Ricker 1/21: Rosemary Raastad 1/23: Kristen Rademacher 1/27: Vern Leikas

Sunday School Christmas program

T he Hickson Sunday School held their annual Christmas

program during worship on December 14th. The parish office received rave reviews from several Hickson members about how great the program was and how cute the children were. A potluck dinner followed.

Thanks to the Sunday School teachers and children for all your work that went into this great program. Thanks also to Melissa Rademacher & Penny Jo Vikander for the great photos!

- LeAnn Toppen, Editor

Left photo: McKenna Braaten, Morgan Retzlaff, Solvay Ingebrigtson, Max Vikander & Ethan Schaffer.

Below right: Elsa Inge-brigtson, Sophie Brakke, Ali Henke & Cella Nettestad

Above: Siera Nipstad

Page 9 Walcott News

50th Anniversary party planned

T here will be a 50th Anniver-sary Open House in honor of

Allen and Linda Stone on Saturday, January 3rd from 2-4 pm at the Walcott Lutheran Church. Please stop by for cake and coffee!

The event is hosted by their children—Michael (Laura) Stone, Nina Stone, Sandra (Mike) Kundert—and grandchildren.

In case of inclement weather, an alternate date will be chosen.

- Nina Stone

THIS MONTH IN WALCOTT

WORSHIP 11:00 am

January 4 (communion) January 18

USHER 2015 schedule not

available at time of printing

LYO MEETING 1/4: Service Project

ANNUAL MEETING DEADLINES

1/6: Reports due 1/11: Annual report booklets available

1/18: Annual meeting follows potluck

BIRTHDAYS 1/1: Brady Anderson

1/2: Shaina Austin 1/9: Lois Heyen

1/30: LaMae Iwen

Super hero Christmas

PRAYER PARTNERS If you haven’t revealed yourself to your Prayer Partner, please do so as soon as possible. Thank you!

- Rita Amundson

The Walcott Sunday School Christmas program, entitled “A Super Hero Christmas” was held Sunday, December 21st during worship. Thanks to the teachers & children for a great message! Thanks also to Tasha Heglie for the great photos!

Page 10 Walcott Council Minutes

Unapproved Walcott Church Council Minutes December 11, 2014

Walcott Church Council met Thursday, December 11. Present were Greg Oestreich, Shelly Swandal, Stu Swandal, Arnold Jordheim, Allen Stone, and Leeanne Girodat. Secretary Nina Stone was not able to attend. Greg opened the meeting. We did not have a Secretary’s Report or Pastor’s Report. The treasurer’s report was moved to the budget discussion. OLD BUSINESS Greg reported that the new pastor’s salary was approved by the Synod office after a suggestion to increase the dollar amount budgeted to cell phone and continuing education. The Parish Council approved increasing the amounts budgeted to these items. NEW BUSINESS 1. Discussed what measures could be taken to monitor the heat in the vacant

parsonage. A monitoring system that would call 3 phone numbers was suggested for a cost of approximately $100. Decided the simplest way to monitor was to install a thermometer in the window. We can watch to make sure temperature stays above freezing mark.

2. Reminded everyone that changing the worship times on the outside sign was the ushers job.

3. The nominating committee consists of outgoing trustee, Allen Stone and outgoing deacon, Mark Rieger. No one else was found to serve on the nominating committee. Calls will be made to fill vacant positions and presented at Annual Meeting.

4. The council reviewed the 2014 revenue and expenses. A proposed 2015 budget will be presented at the annual meeting.

5. Annual meeting will be January 18th following worship and potluck dinner. ADJOURNMENT Stu moved to adjourn, and Leeanne seconded. We closed with the Lord’s Prayer. Respectfully submitted, V. President Shelly Swandal

BETHANY… DID YOU KNOW

That Bethany Retire-ment Living is owned by 38 congregations of the ELCA including ours? Delegates from spon-soring churches elect the board of trustees at the annual meeting in April. The board is charged with oversee-ing the policies and operations of Bethany Retirement Living. AND, members of our congregations are donors, advocates for Bethany and active in the auxiliary that helps enhance the quality of life for the residents. To learn more, visit Bethany’s website at www.bethanynd.org.

Page 11 January Calendar

Shepherd of the

Prairie

Lutheran Parish

537 3rd Street

Walcott, ND 58077

The Shepherd’s Post is published monthly for members and friends of

Shepherd of the Prairie Lutheran Parish.

CHURCH STAFF

Pastor ................................................................................. Karin Moberg

Administrative Assistant ................................................. LeAnn Toppen

Organists ................................................................. Kay Skoog, Christine

................................................................... Nora Hyde, Hickson & Walcott

Newsletter Editor .............................................................. LeAnn Toppen

Production Assistants ................. Marilyn Jordheim & Howard Ellenson

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Office Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 9:00 am-1:00 pm

Parish Office Phone (and Walcott Office): 701.469.2183

Hickson Office Phone: 701.588.4354

Pastor’s Phone:

Pastor’s Email: pastorkarin14@gmail.com

Parish Office Email: shepluthpar@wtc-mail.net

Parish Website: www.lutheransonline.com/shepluthpar

Facebook: www.facebook.com/shepluthpar

NON-PROFIT ORG.

US POSTAGE PAID

PERMIT #2

WALCOTT, ND 58077

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Serving the ELCA Congregations of

Christine, Hickson & Walcott