Everyone is welcome to our Sunday worship service at 10:45am.

During this pandemic time, we will adjust our traditional worship service as follows:

• The service will be held outside (weather permitting) on the south lawn of the church for the month of September.  If it rains, services will move inside. Starting in October services will be inside.

• Everyone is to bring their own lawn chair. 

• Social distance (6 feet) is be followed

• Please refrain from forming group conversations

• Masks are optional (outside)

• Masks are required (inside)

• No singing (feel free to hum)

• No shaking hands

• No communion

• Bulletins are to go home with each member

• Offering will be collected (Not passed) 

• Hand sanitizer, soap and tissues will be available 

• Limit elevator passengers to family members only

• If you are not feeling well, please stay home

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Readings:

Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32

Psalm 25:1-9

            Philippians 2:1-13           Matthew 21:23-32

A Note from Pastor Ann

The Pastor in the orange lawn chair!

 If you would like me to visit you, give me a call. I will bring my lawn chair into your yard. You can bring a out chair and we can safely chat in the yard 10 feet apart. We won’t touch, share Communion, or any food. I’ll have my water bottle. We can see each other chat about whatever you wish and I’ll say a quick prayer before I leave.

Call me if you want a visit with the pastor in the orange lawn chair!

515-351-7727

379-3332

Members of St. John’s Lutheran Church recently planted a tree

on their church property.

The donation for the tree was from John & Rose Walter,

In memory of Pastor Willard Garred

  Rose (Garred) Walter is the daughter of Pastor Willard Garred,

who served  as pastor of St John’s from 1968-1980. 

  The project is in conjunction of the

Essex Sesquicentennial & 150 Trees initiative. 

Members of the congregation pictured are: 

Left side: Jolene & Roger Burns, Sherry Camilletti, Janet Walker, Karen Ahrens, Marie Patterson, Jake, Oliver & Arryn Gillespie, Pastor Ann Albert, Judy Lundgren, Candice, Parker, Piper & Drew Liljedahl.

 Right side: Judy Graham, Larry Glasgo, Sandy Johnson, Diane & Dennis Liljedahl, Marvin & Dorothy Wickersham, Renae Harberts, June McClintock, Peg Franks, Deb & Randy Wenstrand, and Jacob King. 

Your contributions to 

St. John’s Lutheran church 

& St. John’s cemetery to meet financial obligations

are very much appreciated!

Confirmation for three students will be held on Reformation Sunday, October 25th. 

Prayer Ventures -  September/October 2020 

These petitions are offered as guides to prayer for the global, social and outreach ministries of the ELCA, as well as for the needs and circumstances of our neighbors, communities and world. 

Thank you for your continued prayers for the life and mission of this church.

Reference:  ELCA.org

27 Pray for the Spirit to help us recognize, trust and appreciate God’s authority and power over all creation, the universe and our everyday lives.

28 Pray for our seminaries, colleges, universities and campus ministries as they work to create new approaches to education, fostering community among students and faculty when they cannot be physically present. Pray that we will be generous in supporting ELCA educational institutions and student ministries that are vital to our church and society.

29 Michael and All Angels  There is so much we do not fully comprehend about heaven, earth and the means ― including angels and divine beings ― by which God has interacted with us throughout human history. Pray that our faith and the inspiration of the Spirit will open our minds, hearts and imaginations to the infinite, mysterious and awesome ways that God is present and at work in the world.

30 Pray for individuals and families trying to immigrate to our nation or seeking asylum and safety as they face changing laws, complicated procedures and unwelcoming situations and people. Pray that the love of God dwelling within us will move us to step forward and practice hospitality, compassion, understanding and empathy as bold advocates who accompany immigrants and refugees during their difficult and confusing experiences.

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1 Give thanks for the gifts, witness, leadership and faith of our LGBTQIA+ siblings in Christ. Pray that we will continue to grow as a church centered in the gospel and committed to the inclusion of all people. Pray that we will recognize and challenge the dynamics of bias, fear, power and privilege that discourage participation and equity in this church and in society.

2 Ezekiel confronted the Israelites for their resistance to change and to God’s ways of fairness. He rejected their arguments that change was too difficult, that they were acting only as they were raised and that he needed to live in the real world. Pray that we will repent, embrace God’s peace and justice, and heed God’s command, through Ezekiel, to “get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!”

3 Francis of Assisi, renewer of the church (1181-1226)  Pray that we will greet each day with a sense of awe, gratitude and respect for creation, for the organisms and creatures that inhabit the earth and for humanity in all its diversity and complexity ― the handiwork of God

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