New Newsletter Format
For a long time, we have not been offering a newsletter for St. Paul’s in Stephensville. At first, as the Covid-19 pandemic started, it was because there wasn’t much to report other than that we were having worship services online and then in person. After a while, it was because I had gotten into the habit of not producing a newsletter at all. For that, I offer my apologies. This month, we are reinstituting the newsletter… with a couple of changes.
For one thing, we will not be producing a print version of the newsletter anymore. Since a great majority of our members have access to the internet and since we are able to reach most of our members through our message board at Facebook, we will be offering this newsletter online only. We will be making announcements at our worship services about this change and will be inviting anyone who would like to get the newsletter but who do not have access to the internet to get a printed copy of this newsletter which I will be putting into their mailboxes. This, we hope, will get all the pertinent news out to anyone who wants to get it.
Notice that, this month, we are offering a combined September and October newsletter. That’s because I’m composing this newsletter halfway through the month of September and I wanted to have enough news for a decent sized newsletter.
That being said, welcome to our new electronic newsletter! We hope that you enjoy it and find it interesting.
–Pastor Joel Lillo
Brewster Village Worship Services
We are in our second month of our return to helping the residents of Brewster Village worship their Lord again. We hadn’t been helping out at Brewster Village since the beginning of the pandemic and it is wonderful to get back to doing it.
There are a couple of changes to the way we handle these services, though. The biggest change is that those who want to help get the residents to and from the services have to register as volunteers at Brewster Village. This means contacting Brewster Village at (920) 832-5400 and asking for the paperwork necessary to be listed as a volunteer. They do require that volunteers either be vaccinated for Covid-19 or show a recent negative test.
Another change is the time and date of the service. Until the Covid-19 outbreak, we had been serving on the first Monday of each month and the service start time was 9:45 AM. As we return to Brewster Village, we are now serving on the third Monday of each month and the service start time is 10:00 AM.
The chapel at Brewster Village also has a new organ. Well, it’s not NEW, but it is of more recent vintage and it works a whole lot better than the old organ that they used to have.
That being said, one thing that hasn’t changed is that it is a wonderful opportunity to help the residents at Brewster Village connect with the Word of God on a regular basis. If you are interested in helping, please let Pastor Lillo know.
“Midweek” Worship Services & Online Services
We have returned to having our midweek worship services again. These services are on the regular day and time as before: Monday evenings at 6:30. We will be offering communion on the first and third Mondays of the month (after our regular communion Sundays). However, if you attend a Monday service and would like to receive communion, just ask Pastor Lillo and he will happily offer it to you. These services are usually very sparsely attended and are excellent for those who want to worship in person, but don’t want to be around larger crowds.
We will also continue to offer online worship services. These services are usually uploaded to YouTube on the Friday or Saturday before the service in question. A link to the service is always provided through our Facebook group message on the Sunday morning of the worship service. If you cannot attend a worship service on a given week, this will give you an opportunity to hear God’s Word.
Bible Class
We haven’t had Bible Class since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak back in March of 2020. We would like to get our class started up again in the near future. Our plan is to start Bible class on the first Sunday in October, the 3rd. These classes will be held at the regular time and place — immediately following the service in the back education room.
We will be picking up where we left off a year and a half ago, looking at the shorter books of the Bible. This fall, we will be looking at the shorter books of the New Testament: Philemon, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude. If you are interested in studying these books, please come and join us for our interesting and informative study.
Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society Fall Rally
St. Paul’s, Stephensville will be helping to host the Wolf River Circuit’s fall rally for the LWMS.
All are welcome to come to Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Hortonville on Saturday, October 16, 2021 for the Lutheran Women’s Mission Society’s fall rally, co-hosted by St. Paul Lutheran Church in Stephensville.
Registration opens at 8:15am and the event starts at 8:45am. Lunch will follow at noon.
Pastor William Dunn from St. Peter Luther an Church in South Milwaukee will present on “Language Immersion Training.”
FVL Sunday
On Sunday, September 19, we will be having our Fox Valley Lutheran Sunday at our regular service time of 8:30 AM. Our guest preacher will be Pastor Aaron Dolan. Pastor Dolan is the Coordinator for the Religion Department at FVL as well as the coach for baseball (JV1), and a class advisor He graduated from Martin Luther College in 2003 and from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2007.
On this Sunday, we will hear about the ministry of FVL and of our roll as a member of the FVL Federation. All are invited to come to this special service. The online version of this service will be posted after the service takes place (unlike the other online services which are posted before the services take place).
FVL Homecoming Activities
With the return to in-person schooling, it is time for the festivities that go along with the sports at FVL. Homecoming week at FVL will take place during the last full week of September this year. The students of FVL will be presenting their Frolic Talent Show on Wednesday, September 22 at 6:30 PM. It is at this event that the homecoming court is announced to the school. This event will be streamed on the FVL YouTube channel as it takes place.
The big event of the week is the varsity football game which will take place on Friday, September 24, at 7:00 PM. The FVL Foxes will be taking on the Thunder from Seymour high school. Tickets will be available on the day of the game at the stadium. Go get ’em!
FVL Schools Parent Night: Innocence Sold
Knowing how to help and guide our children through new (and some not-so-new) challenges can be difficult. FVL Schools Parent Night is designed to share information and provide a place for discussion about some of the difficult issues facing today’s families. Topics have included Cyberbullying, Teen Brain, Drug Danger, and Creating Kids of Character.
Our 2021 event is scheduled for Wednesday, September 29. It is a special viewing of “Innocence Sold,” dealing with the difficult topic of sex trafficking. All parents and students from grades 7 and up are invited to attend. This is a free event, but you do have to contact FVL and register for this event.
- WHERE – Fox Valley Lutheran High School
- ENTRANCE – Use Door K (near the football field) to access the auditorium
- WHEN – Wednesday, September 29, 2021
- TIME – 6:30 PM
FVL Fall Sacred Concert
On Sunday, October 10, at 4:00 PM, the choirs and bands of Fox Valley Lutheran High School will be presenting a fall concert of sacred music. This will include music from and about the Reformation. All are invited to attend this concert at the beautiful FVL auditorium.
FVL Fall Play: Play On!
The students of FVL will be presenting Play On! by Rick Abbot as their fall play. The play tells a hilarious story of a community theatre group desperately trying to put on a play in spite of maddening interference from a haughty author who keeps revising the script. Director Gerry thought she struck gold when she was able to produce a show at no cost, but she had no idea what disasters awaited them. Act I is a rehearsal of the dreadful show, Act II is the near disastrous dress rehearsal, and the final act is the actual performance, in which anything that can go wrong, does.
The performances will take place on Friday, October 22 at 7 PM, Saturday, October 23 at 4 PM, and Sunday, October 24 at 2 PM. As the time gets closer to the performances, we will provide you with further details about ticket prices and how to order them.
Reformation Movie — Return to Grace
Return to Grace chronicles the real life story of the seismic upheaval that rocked the western world in the early 1500s. Narrated by Hugh Bonneville (Downtown Abbey), the film brings to life the great adventure story of Luther’s struggle.
500 years ago, Martin Luther triggered a seismic upheaval that rocked the western world-with an impact that continues to reverberate to this day. This entertaining new film follows the great adventure story of Luther’s life, packed with political intrigue, kidnappings, secret hideouts, and life-or-death showdowns. At the same time, it’s a story about the most important questions of life. “Who am I?” “What is my purpose?” “How do I get right with God?”
We will be showing this movie to remember the work of Martin Luther on Monday, November 1, at 6:30 PM at church in place of our midweek worship service.
