Northern Lights

April 2008

A Resurrection

Wow. The response to our Easter invitations was more than I anticipated. Gathering together with over twenty people to see the sunrise at Redwood was inspiring, even though the temperature read 15 degrees. Then going on to see a happy response to the breakfast at Orleans and having people fill the Church for our Easter service was truly exciting. My return for a second service at Redwood also made me aware that we can fill both Churches every Sunday. My next step is to take seriously the responses people turned in for new ideas.

Many indicated an interest in helping as ushers and doing readings.

A Saturday evening service got some positive responses, but others see Sunday as the only real Sabbath day.

Several at Orleans would like to have more contemporary music.

A number were interested in Sunday School and youth at both Churches.

I received a Redwood request to start planning for the 150th Anniversary, 2010.

A list of good books and movies will be in next month’s newsletter.

As April continues I will be sharing specific ideas. But I still would like to hear from more people. So far I have only received 16 responses. If you lost yours or forgot to fill it out, I will be putting more copies out this month. I am especially interested in hearing from those who may be new or not active in the congregation. Yes a resurrection has begun but the real miracle would be to see it continue.

Pastor Jim

Missionary report March 2008

Confirmation class has changed once again with the majority of the youth meeting Thursday afternoon at the home of Rev. Norma Gee at 4 pm. Louise Faubert is helping by teaching a 9:30 class Sunday morning at the Fellowship Hall in Redwood for the ones who miss the Thursday afternoon classes because of sports or illness.

I have put the missionary folders out in the community to try and reach more people including the Chaplains at Fort Drum, Philadelphia, Evans Mills, Theresa, Redwood, LaFargeville, and Antwerp. I continue to knock on doors of new people in my neighborhood and hand out the folders. I do visit and offer prayer and communion to those who can not make it to church. I continue to offer support to families, by offering to teach first communion classes, and to offer instruction for baptism. Making sure they know the reason for these sacraments in the church. I am happy to announce that the youth seem to have a clear understanding of communion and an appreciation for baptism. I am working with two families now in helping to prepare for baptism and communion.

I'm encouraging women to join the ELLA at Evangelical and others to start their own group at St. Paul's.

There was not enough interest for me to offer a Sunday morning worship service at Riverside apartments in Clayton.

Rev. Norma Gee, deacon

—1---

News From The Pews

Evangelical

Have you heard the news? Christ has risen! He has risen indeed!

Thank you to everyone who brought plants to the church for Easter. They looked so pretty and sure smelled great. What a wonderful way to add to the celebration of Easter and Spring.

Speaking of Spring, it officially arrived on March 20, 2008 at 1:48 AM EDT. Congratulations to all of us who brave the North Country winters, we made it through another one!

The children who attended the Easter egg hunt on March 22 at Evangelical had a great time. Cindy Valin our Sunday school superintendent provided a wonderful afternoon for the children. Besides the egg hunt the children made a number of different crafts and then were treated to snacks.

The Easter breakfast put on by ELLA was a wonderful success. We would like to thank everyone who supported us by contributing food items or with a monetary donation. We would also like to thank Frank Arquittt, AJ and Josh Latel, Louise Faubert, and the Youth Group who along with chaperones and family members volunteered their time to help us. You all ROCK! We truly are grateful for all your help.

If you were unable to attend Easter services you missed a lovely solo by Nicole Valin. We thank Nicole for sharing her gift with us this Easter.

Congratulations are in order for Eric Hoselton. Eric has completed all required training is now a freight train engineer for CXS.

April 22nd is Earth Day. Please do your part to “Reduce, Recycle, and Re-use.” Let’s all take care of the earth, after all it is the only planet with chocolate!

St. Paul’s

Congratulations to Laura Cole for baking the prize-winning sponge cake at the local Kirkland Grange contest. At the county level Laura’s cake took second place.

February’s Cabin Fever potluck supper was enjoyed by a lively bunch, including ten kids. Everyone agreed that Lutherans are the best cooks (see above paragraph!) A Welcome Spring potluck is in the works. Stay tuned for the date.

Save the Earth and help the Youth Group. We are collecting anything small and electronic (cell phones, empty inkjet cartridges, digital cameras, empty laser print cartridges, video games, and PDAs) in the box at the back of the church. They will be turned in for recycling and the Youth Group receives money for your cast-offs.

Lisa Johnson and her three girls are awaiting word on their move. Until then, we enjoy their smiling faces every Sunday.

Have you met the following new faces at Sunday services? Please be welcoming to Pamela Sykes, Melanie Zapp and her son Dan, and the McMurdo family, Ron, Jennifer and their children John and Emmy.

On a snowy Sunday when Pastor Shaud’s car was marooned in the garage until evening, Rhonda Caziole and Laureen Bertram, along with a hardy bunch of Girl Scouts, enlivened the service with songs and information.

—2---

Redwood Food Pantry

The nations economy is going through troubled times. Fuel and gasoline prices continue to rise. We can help by keeping our food pantry fully stocked and ready to help those in need.

The Thousand Island Christian Church, the United Methodist Mission and members of the communities of Redwood and Plessis, helped us meet our goals in February and early March by donating food and money to purchase food. The Northern New York Community Foundation secured a grant, giving us three shipments of nutritious food, which the Food Bank of Central NY delivers to our door. The last shipment was for over $600.00 of food.

We give three days of food to each family. Each meal must include three of the five food groups, one of which must be a fruit or a vegetable.

If you know of anyone who is going through a difficult time because of the added expenses of day to day living, please have them call Shirley at 482-2931, Bobbi at 482-4029 or Jan at 482-2914 for an appointment. Walk in are welcome from 1:30 to 3:00 each Wednesday.

We need any help you can give us. Please consider donating next Sunday. There is a collection basket in the back of the church.

Jan Atkinson

Recipes for a Rainy Day

Silly Putty

Mix in one bowl:

3/4 cup water

1 cup glue (such as Elmers)

Dissolve in separate bowl:

1 cup water

1 tsp borax

Add both mixtures together and add any coloring you might want if any. You get a great shiny plastic like silly putty that is really fun.

Finger Paint

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 cups water

food coloring

Mix ingredients in saucepan. Boil mixture until it thickens. Allow to cool, then pour into jars or other storage containers and color with food coloring. Best used on glossy paper, such as butcher or shelf paper.

Bubbles

1 cup water

1/3 cup dish soap (Joy, Sunlight, etc.)

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Combine ingredients and enjoy. If you don’t have bubble blowers around the house, be creative and try using different objects from your utensil drawer, (e.g., apple corer, potato masher, handle of a basting brush, etc. They work!)

Playdough

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 cup salt

1 ½ - 2 cups boiling water

3-4 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Food coloring

Add oil and food coloring to boiling water. Combine remaining ingredients, and mix well. As you knead it, the dough will get smoother. Store in airtight container. Very pliable and easy to roll or sculpt.

~3~

Book Review

The Language of Baklava: A Memoir (Diana Abu-Jaber, 2006), reviewed by Dawn Staie. For the Jordanian-American author of this book (she grew up in Syracuse, but moved to Jordan for a while), food is heritage, and provides family structure. All family functions seem to revolve around olives and olive oil, and the book is full of recipes. What I got out of it is the spiritual importance of family customs; it made me realize I want to know more about my own.

St. Paul’s Sunday School

Right after Easter, students will start on their new unit, feeding the 5,000.

Ecumenical Bible Study

Bible Study has only happened twice in March through the 23 because of illnesses and doctor appointments. Hopefully April showers will find everyone healthy and meeting back at Hope Hall. Thank you to Dani LaClair for offering her home. Dawn and Janice also graciously offered but we went to Dani’s because of accessibility.

Women Of The Bible

Any time is a good time to start coming to this Monday night study, currently held in Hope Hall in Orleans at 7 pm. Did you know: Jewish men in Jesus’s time may have had only one chance to burn incense at the temple in their entire lives; Bethlehem was only six miles from Jerusalem; ;by Judaic law, the birth of a boy called for the sacrifice of two birds; the Jordan River is shallow and muddy all summer.

Youth Group

April 20, at 5 pm, the Youth group will meet at Hope Hall to plan the year's activities. We did not attend the Volleyball Marathon because of the weather. The Youth group did collect $346 for Lutheran Charities. Both congregations can be proud in the youths efforts, and the youth thank the congregations for their support. We are looking for adults who would like to assist the youth in their activities.

Church History Note Quiz

Redwood Lutherans first met for regular services at:

A) Lake Street

B) Stine Road

C) Limestone Road

D) Dutch Settlement Road

Answer to last month’s question: C - Orleans Four Corners was originally called Shantyville

—4---

Enlightening from ELLA

Evangelical Lutheran Ladies Aid met on March 19, 2008 at 6:00 pm. During this meeting plans for the Easter breakfast were finalized. As the head of the Easter breakfast committee, Dawn Staie worked very hard to ensure the success of this endeavor. ELLA thanks everyone who made donations and attended the Easter breakfast.

ELLA is working on changing the ribbons in the bookmarks for the hymnals. We thank Janice Davis and family for making these bookmarks. Over time some of the ribbons have begun to fray and we thought it would be a good time to replace them.

ELLA will meet next on April 16, 2008 at 6:00 pm in Hope Hall. We invite all interested ladies of the congregation to join us. Please note we will again be meeting earlier then usual.

Hope to see you at our next meeting!

God’s blessings to you and yours,

Barbara Thompson - president of ELLA

Pastor’s Greatest Hits

From Rev. Shaud’s recent sermons:

2/17/08: Historically, the church was the source of education. It’s kind of odd how that’s changed.

2/24/08: The Woman at the Well passage is the longest dialogue we have between Jesus and someone else.

3/2/08: There is a healing that goes on in church that cannot happen even in your local hospital.

3/9/08: The church is not about a building; it is about signs of new life.

Web Site

Each month our Evangelical Lutheran Church web site gains popularity. This month we will hit over 5700 compared to 5500 a month ago.

With the new web site address, more people can locate us easier on the net.

If you have anything you would like to share on the church website, like and upcoming event or benefit or maybe a spiritual story, poem, or what God means to you in your life, let me know by sending it to Lila at farquit1@twcny.rr.com or you can contact me by calling me at home @ 629-1414. We would love to hear from you.

Our church website is: www.lutheranorleans.com

Or www.freewebs.com/lutheranorleans

Stop by, take a look, and sign the guess book when you leave.

Thank you and God Bless

Lila J. Arquitt

Redwood’s website is:

www.stpaulsredwood.org .

If you have any questions please contact Bob Kuba for help.

~5~

Spiritual Quote of the month:

If God listened to every shepherd’s curse, our sheep would all be dead. ----Russian proverb

Three boys are in the school yard bragging about their fathers. The first boy says, “My dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, they give him $50.00.”

The second boy says, “That’s nothing. My dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a song, they give him $100.00.”

The third boy says, “I got you both beat. My dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a sermon, and it takes eight people to collect all the money!”

~8~