Mobile Meals Drivers Needed in March

OSLC is responsible for delivering hot nutritious meals to residents in our area four times a year. Our first week is coming up in March. We are currently in need of drivers (and back-up drivers) for these deliveries.

Pick-up time is 11:30 a.m. at Gundersen/Lutheran and delivery takes about one hour. You may volunteer for one day or several during that week. If you have any questions, concerns, or would like to volunteer, please contact Betty Linse. This is a great way to get involved in the community!

LWR Health Kits Available Feb. 14th

Lutheran World Relief Health Kits will be available in the Narthex on February 14th. All you need to do is pick up a plastic bag and fill it with the items listed on the sheet inside. Items include:

• hand towel
• wash cloth
• a bath size soap bar in its original wrapping
• six Band Aids (½” to ¾”) held together with a rubber band
• a metal nail file (or nail clippers w/a file attached)
• toothbrush in its original packaging

Once again, toothpaste will NOT be included in the health kits this year. The completed health kits can be returned to the black cart located in the Narthex.

Please have the health kits back by Sunday March 28th (Palm Sunday). Thank you!

Spaghetti Dinner for WCC on February 14th

On Sunday February 14th, the Come For Supper Team will be holding a spaghetti and meatball supper from 4 pm to 7 pm in the Fellowship Hall here at OSLC.

The spaghetti meal is free; a free-will offering will be taken to benefit the Women’s Clothes Closet. Contact the Social Ministry Team with questions or if you would like to help out. All are welcome!

Toys Needed for Nursery

Our nursery is in need of gently used toys! Would you consider donating “gently-used” toys your children no longer use? Examples of items needed include:

• dolls of all sizes and ethnicities
• trucks and cars
• Bible story books
• wooden puzzles, especially things found in creation (animals, trees, people, etc.)
• “Fisher-Price” Little People: Noah’s Ark, Zoo and Nativity
• board games
• Home Living toys

Please, we do not need any stuffed animals or toys that are “character-related”, such as Mickey Mouse, Dora the Explorer, etc.

Drop off  items in the marked box in the nursery or at the church office during regular business hours. Contact the Family and Youth Team with questions. Thank you!

Ski With the Men’s Group on February 21st

The Men’s Group will be having an afternoon Ski Outing at Mount La Crosse on Sunday, February 21 from 2-7pm. In order to get the group discount we are opening up the outing to anyone in the congregation that would like to join us. The cost is $23 for the ski package and $33 for the snow board package. This covers the lift ticket, equipment rental, a free lesson for anyone 10 and up, and a hot dog dinner. If you have your own equipment the cost is $17.

Deadline for registration is February 14th. Please let Mikel Hampel know if you will be attending.

Lenten Service Schedule

Ash Wednesday (February 17th) and the five weeks of the Lenten season will soon be here. This year we
are going to use the Holden Evening Prayer service and will be having our services in the Fellowship Hall.

Soup suppers will again be offered on the 5 “between” weeks. Supper will be served from 6:00 p.m. until 6:45 p.m. (no later) in the Fellowship Hall and worship will begin at 7:00 p.m.

We will be kneeling for communion services during the Lenten season and Holy Week. It’s not too early for confirmation students to sign up for acolyting on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. The sign-up sheets are on the confirmation bulletin board. Worship Assistant sign-up sheets through Easter have been posted on the bulletin board near Pastor’s office.

Dorcas Potluck February 3rd

Dorcas Society will meet on Wednesday, February 3rd at 6:30pm (note time) for a potluck!

Besides a dish to share, we hope you bring ideas for the new year to discuss at our meeting. We look forward to seeing everyone. Come join us!

Dorcas Board

Tired and Retired Potluck on February 18th

WELCA’s Tired and Retired Potluck will be Thursday, February 18th at noon. Please bring a dish to pass. Utensils and beverage will be furnished.

Our entertainment will be Janice Fortney from Viroqua. Hope to see you all there!

WELCA Board

Give to Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund

The La Crosse Area Synod has this information for Haiti relief, also designated as a memorial for Ben Larson by his parents and wife. Thrivent members can have a $1 match for each $2 gift through the Thrivent website. Checks can also be sent through the synod office, with a notation in the memo line for “Haiti.”

• From the ELCA: ELCA website or call 800-638-3522
• From LWR (Lutheran World Relief) : On the LWR website, or by mailing a check or money order to: Lutheran World Relief Haiti Earthquake Relief, P.O. Box 17061, Baltimore, MD 21298-9832

Ben Larson’s Memorial Service was held at Luther College this past Friday. There is no La Crosse memorial planned. We grieve greatly for our friends and our Church which lost a tremendous voice and future pastor. Our former bishop’s family has released this statement:

“As an infant Benjamin Judd Ulring Splichal Larson was wrapped in the arms of God in the waters of baptism, and from those waters, his life was an outpouring of love and joy, laughter and play, in response to God first loving Ben. Ben’s love of God, walking in accompaniment, passionately loving others, listening and learning from those who are poor across the globe, drove his serving. We give thanks to God for the incredible joy of knowing Ben. His laughter, playfulness, passionate heart for those who are hurting was manifest in his daily life. He delighted in the privilege of serving and knowing God, laying out his life in joy.

We are blessed by still being able to hear Ben‘s music. His father Judd says, ‘If you want to know Ben, go to his music.’ In his tender music remains some of the treasure that is Ben: what he believes, what he cares about, his deepest soul. Most of the people who died in this deadly earthquake in Haiti are the poorest of the poor in this hemisphere. Ben went to Haiti to teach theology and scripture in the new Lutheran Church of Haiti; but more deeply to learn from these people loved by God. In his young death his life joins the bodies of the poor. In the Haitian rubble Ben’s life joins these dear beloved people of God: all those parents crying for their children; young widows calling out for their husbands; new orphans searching for their parents. God have mercy on us.”

Contact information for the Larsons is as follows:

6030 E Superior St #308
Duluth MN 55804-2567

Join Us For a Chocolate Extravaganza on February 14th

We are celebrating Valentine’s Day with a Chocolate Extravaganza! Please bring your favorite chocolate dessert to church on February 14th for a Valentine’s Day-themed coffee fellowship. Just how creative can you be with your chocolate concoction? We will have chocolate for dipping fruit and candy treats on the tables. Once everyone’s chocolate cravings are satisfied, you can select your own plate of chocolate goodies to take with you with a donation to the Women’s Clothes Closet.

This event is sponsored by the Membership Committee. All are welcome!

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