April 9, 2026 Faith Lutheran Council Minutes

 Faith Lutheran Church Council Minutes-April 9, 2026 

Vice President: Randy Gustafson             S.A.M. – Ralph Flitter
Treasurers: Jane Piepgras, Kathy Guyer
Deacons: Sherri Gustafson, Mary Feder
Trustees: Chad Becker, Pam Bocock
BOE: Patti Young 

Secretary’s Report:
  Reviewed March minutes as printed in the newsletter.

Treasurer’s Report:
  March expenses were $11,787.63 and receipts $10,183.41. 

Trustees Report:
  The organ has been repaired $560.67 with a good share of the expense being covered through donations. Boiler room door has been unlocked. A new office e-mail has been established for the church office; faithofficemadelia@gmail.com. Total Lawn Care has generously donated their lawn care service for the 2026 season. A big thank you to Dustin and Sarah VanHale. Council approved a request of Wellspring in Action to host a seminar “First Aid for Older Adults. 

Deacon’s Report:
  May 10th-Mother’s Day, carnations will be ordered and handed out that Sunday.
 May 17th Senior Recognition Sunday-invite letters will be sent to the graduates.
  April 12th- Two communion options will be offered, intinction or wine cups.
  April 29th- Outside church clean-up. Confirmation students are required to help. 

Board of Ed:
 Last day of JAM, April 29th, will also be a Family Night with a short program and a meal. Looking at some additional activities when JAM is not in session.

 S.A.M. Report:
 Ralph co-hosted with Janet Adams (5 times) “Pray without Ceasing” at Living Meadows, visited non-members while there. Made telephone visits with members. Attended the SW MN Synod Council on March 14th and the Watonwan River Conference on March 19th. Held a First Communion class for 4 students on March 21st. A second class is scheduled for April 25th. Lenten Services and Easter Services went well. 

Motion to approve all reports was made by Patti Young and seconded by Pam Bocock. 

Old Business:
 Chad Becker and Stacy Reed will attend a Church Safety Meeting May 14th.
 61Key Service repaired the organ. 

New Business:
  Executive Council will meet Thursday April 16th, 5:30 p.m. at Faith. Thank you to the Todd Simpson family who donated memorial funds in memory of Todd Simpson. 

Thank you to Ralph Flitter for Lenten and Easter services, Pam Bocock for playing the trumpet Easter Sunday and Sherri Gustafson for organizing the Easter Garden. 

Upcoming Children’s sermons will be April 21st, May 10th and June 14th. 

Ralph recommended the following students for May 3rd Confirmation: Brook Rannow, Kendra Rannow, Addison Odegard, Alayna Caraway, Khloe Johnson, Kendra Frederickson. 

 A meeting will be scheduled for October 7th welcoming new members and October 11th will be New Member recognition Sunday. 

With no further business before the Council, a motion was made by Pam Bocock and seconded by Mary Feder to adjourn the meeting.

 The meeting was closed with the Lord’s Prayer.

 Respectfully submitted, Jane Piepgras - Treasurer

June News From Lake Hanska Lutheran Church

 News From Lake Hanska Lutheran Church 

Settler’s Service - We have enjoyed using the School House for our worship service for the past several years. Sunday, June 14, we will once again have our Sunday morning worship service in the schoolhouse. Please come join us for this worship. 

First Communion Service - On Sunday, May 17th we will be observing First Communion service for 4 children from our congregation. Those being honored are Kellan Kamm, Nolan Kamm, Nadia Goblirsch and Paxton Schmiesing. 

Our Church Building - Our church building will be used this year for 4 weddings besides other worship and events. Please help keep our building neat and clean by helping to keep the carpets and bathrooms clean. Call Melissa Engelhart at 920-836-9564 if you can pitch-in. 

Food Shelf Report - We delivered 27 lbs. of products last month. We are so grateful to deliver goods at the end of each month. It is so easy to drop any non-perishable groceries, cleaning supplies, or hygiene supplies into the box provided in the Narthex of the church. 

WELCA Quilters Report - 5 ladies met on Wednesday, May 6th for another get-together. They prepared 2 more quilts. We’d love for you to come join us. If you have any materials good shape, or donating cash to buy more materials as our resources for funds are limited. If interested, we do also sell our quilts for $25 each. 

Bible Study - Ralph Flitter leads us in a more in-depth look of the Gospel from the worship the Sunday before we meet. Everyone (men-women-Faith Lutheran members and non-members) are welcome to join us. You do not have to do quilting if you come for the Bible Study. We will enjoy coffee and treats (optional: bring a treat to share) during the study. We look forward to seeing you. 

Living Meadows General Store - The Living Meadows at Luther celebrated the Spring Fundraiser on Tuesday, April 14th at Trinity Lutheran Church in Madelia. It was a full luncheon with so much food. The Auxiliary will be able to provide several activities for the residents during this coming year. Much ‘Thank You’s’ to those that provided a salad and those ladies that worked at the luncheon. 

Lawn Mowing Time - This time is here. A list of mowing schedule will be sent out to everyone. Please respect your time slot. If for some reason you can not mow during that time slot, please trade with another person to keep our property looking excellent all summer. Thank you for your help. 

Altar Committee - Pam Kjelshus and Jane Ahlness
 Ushers - June 7th and 14th - Renee Bertilson and Roxy Oscarson 
                 June 21st and 28th - Kevin Byro and Tim Peterson

 Lawn Mowers - This schedule is on a 2-week schedule
May 29 thru June 11- Daniel Grothem and Taylor Ahlness
 June 12 thru June 25 - Andrew Lilleodden and Norm Skarphol
 June 26 thru July 10 - Mike Paulson and Bradley Paulson

May 12, 2026 Faith Lutheran Council Minutes

 Faith Lutheran Church Council Minutes –May 12, 2026

 President - Lori Pietsch                 Treasurers - Kathy Guyer, Jane Piepgras
V President - Randy Gustafson     Secretary - Stacy Reed
Trustees - Ben Odegard, Chad Becker, Pam Bocock
Deacons - Sherri Gustafson, Cindy Lehman, Mary Feder 

Secretary’s Report: April minutes were not printed in the newsletter. Lori printed and distributed for everyone to read.

 Treasurer’s Report: April expenses were $13,826.12 and receipts $12,370.03. 

Trustees Report: The glass panel is in and needs to be installed. We would like to have a security camera system installed and we will look into Christensen Communications offer more closely and discuss next meeting. Securing Sacred Places meeting was moved to June. 

Deacons: Graduation Sunday and 1st Communion will be held this Sunday, May 17th. Will have chocolate kisses for Father’s Day in June. Deacons will cover July and August Alter Guild. Ralph will be away May 31st, the Deacons will need to cover the Order of Worship, and sermon is covered. Park Days Sunday, July 12th , will be a Peace of the Prairie service, one service only that day. Bible Sunday is set for Sept. 27th. New Member Sunday will be Oct. 11th . 

Board of Ed: Last day of Jam was April 29th, 29 students attended. BOE will meet in June to review the family surveys.

 Ralph’s Report: Ralph led 4- Pray without Ceasing at Living Meadows; 1 communion service at Living Meadows along with some individual visits. 2 Baptisms at Faith, attended Watonwan River Conference at Our Savior’s in New Ulm, the Gustavus Adolphus College Association of Congregations annual meeting and participated in the S.A.M. and mentor retreat at Salom Hill Farm. He held the 2nd communion class with 9 attendees; 4 from Lake Hanska and 5 from Faith. Final confirmation class was on April 29th - with 6 young ladies to be confirmed May 3rd at Faith. Synod Assembly is June 5-6; Ralph will be commissioned as a SAM at the worship service on June 6th . 

Motion to accept reports was made by Kathy/seconded by Ben. 

Old Business: Mary inquired about the church bell; we will get a service call scheduled as it has been determined it is an electrical issue. Randy and Chad will coordinate this. We have received lots of good comments on the organ. 

New Business: Need a new cart for the tables, the old one broke. Mary made a motion to purchase a new cart, Ben seconded. Lori will purchase the cart. A large donation of miscellaneous items was donated to the shopping with Mrs. Claus event. The nursery has 2 large tables, we only need 1, will look at donating the other one. There was a $1200.00 memorial donated to the church, there have been several requests to establish a free library with the use of these funds. There will be a committee to maintain the upkeep of this library. Lori will bring a proposal to the next meeting. 

Thank you to Lynne Hoeft for continuing to handcraft the beautiful quilts
 that are given at baptisms and to the graduating seniors. 

Motion to adjourn was made by Kathy and seconded by Ralph.
Respectfully submitted, Stacy Reed - Secretary

May 3, 2026 Lake Hanska Church Council Meeting Minutes

 Lake Hanska Lutheran Church Council Meeting May 3, 2026 The Lake Hanska Lutheran Church Council met on Sunday, May 3, 2026. President Melissa Engelhart brought the meeting to order at 10:10 AM following worship service. 

 Special Sunday services were discussed with the following days scheduled. 

 ⁜ May 17 - First Communion Service for Kellan Kamm, Nolan Kamm, Nadia Goblirsch, & Paxton Schmiesing 

 ⁜ June 14 - 9:00 AM -- Settler’s Service in the School House

 ⁜ July 5 --- 9:00 AM Coffee & 10:00 AM - 4th of July Service at Lake Hanska County Park 

 ⁜ September 27 --- 10:30 AM -- 3 year olds and 3rd Graders receive Bibles 

 ⁜ October 11 --- 10:30 AM -- New Member Sunday 

 July 5th at the county park will be our 50th year of doing this. Necessities (altar, flags, keyboard, etc.) were discussed and assigned for person to be in charge of getting them to the park. Coffee hour is at 9:00 AM in the park shelter. Faith Lutheran will provide the rolls. Bring your lawn chairs or blankets to sit on. In case of inclement weather conditions, the service will then be held at Lake Hanska Lutheran Church. 

 On May 14th, there will be a Securing Sacred Spaces meeting in Mankato from 5:30 – 8:30 PM. This will discuss the safety of attendees at worship services. Melissa and Jim will consider going to this event. 

 The new contract for Ralph Flitter ending his contract on December 31, 2027 has not been received and signed at this point.

 Lenten Service for 2027 have been set with 3:30 PM service at Lake Hanska Lutheran Church, and Good Friday worship will be at Lake Hanska. 

 A Clean-Up date to clean outside and inside was discussed. Melissa will deal with it and let us know when.

 A new Water Heater was installed on March 27 by Vee Plumbing and Heating. This one is a 50-gallon tank. There have been some issues with the old one. When plumbing in the new one, they found that there needed be new wiring done before getting it started. The project is completed. 

 Our church will be used for four wedding, so far, in 2026. The narthex carpet needs to be cleaned drastically, so 3 estimates were gotten. GW Cleaning will do the cleaning. Jim Lilleodden m/m and Norm Skarphol s/m, with the cleaning approved. 

 The tree situation was discussed again. We need to go out and observe the situation and decide what we want to do. Pete has given Norm some estimates on various evergreens. 

 Harvest Festival will be celebrated on September 13th. There will not be a morning service as the service will be held at 6:00 PM in the parking lot. A meal will be served in the church basement at 5:00 PM. We will hope to be able to use Thrivent dollars to help with the costs. More details will be planned closer to the date. 

 Bonnie Lilleodden m/m and Melissa Englehart s/m to adjourn the meeting.

June Message from Minister

 Summer is upon us and with it comes vacation time, trips to the beach, Valleyfair, cookouts, town celebrations, the State Fair and much more. It is a time when activities in the church community take a break from the hectic pace of confirmation, JAM, Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter. But soon we will ramp up again with our fabulous Vacation Bible School which this year will feature the “Rainforest.” I can’t wait to see what great designs take over our fellowship hall and altar area. It is jam packed within a five-evening timeframe – exhausting for many, exhilarating for many more. 

June brings the annual Synod Assembly the first Friday and Saturday. This year will be extra special and humbling for me personally as I will be commissioned as a Synod Authorized Minister at the worship service on Saturday. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that someday I would be asked to:

  Commit myself to the new trust and responsibility in the confidence that it comes from God. 

 Preach and teach in accordance with the holy scriptures and with the confession of the Lutheran church. 

 Carry out this ministry in harmony with the constitution of the ELCA.

  Be diligent in my study of the holy scriptures and faithful in my use of the means of grace. 

 To love, serve, and pray for God’s people, nourish them with the word and sacraments, and lead them by my own example in faithful and holy living, and

  To give faithful witness in the world, that God’s love may be known in all I do. 

And I will with great emotion answer: “Yes, with the help of God.” 

I definitely rely heavily on the help of God in this role I have been blessed to do, but I also know that I can only do it with the help of each one of you. Your encouragement and support over these last two years and hopefully for many more to come is what makes this life journey I have embarked on so enjoyable and I am thankful every day for the ability God gave me to do it. 

So as the summer many times brings fewer people to church each Sunday morning because of activities we only get to take on in the short time of nice weather, take time to thank the God that gave us this creation to enjoy the beaches, the prairies, the picnics (ants included) and remember he is always with you. As we do every Tuesday at Living Meadows, remember to pray without ceasing. 

My goal for the summer is to take time in meditation and reflection with God, to thank him for allowing me this responsibility. And to ask him to give me the words he wishes me to share with you each time we are together. Also to thank him for what he has given me. I sometimes wake up and wonder – what did God see in me that he chooses me to be on Jesus’ team. Whatever it was, may I always be a good teammate.

 Enjoy the summer, in Minnesota we never know how long the warm weather will last. Thank God we get what we get, and we cannot have a fit! (Per Mary F.)

Just one of you in Christ - Ralph

April 2026 Lake Hanska News

 

News from Lake Hanska Lutheran Church

 

Food Shelf Report

We were able to once again bring 23# of supplies to the Brown County Food Shelf at the end of

February. We are so grateful to deliver goods at the end of each month. It is so easy to drop any

non-perishable groceries, cleaning supplies, or hygiene supplies into the box provided in the Narthex of the church.    

 

WELCA Quilters Report 

5 ladies met on Wednesday, March 4th for a fun get-together. They were able to make 2 quilts during the morning hours plus assist with another quilt. We’d love for you to come join us. Another way to help out is to donate materials of old sheets or good materials in good shape, or donating cash to buy more materials as our resources for funds are limited. If interested, we do also sell our quilts for $25 each. Any quilts we have are donated to NUMAS Haus, Brown County Human Services, Watonwan Human Services, Senior Homes, NOVA House, and more.

 

Bible Study

Ralph Flitter leads us in a more in-depth look of the Gospel from the worship the Sunday before we meet. This is a very relaxed, informal discussion of the Gospel. Everyone (men-women-Faith

Lutheran members and non-members) are welcome to join us. You do not have to do quilting if you come for the Bible Study. We will enjoy coffee and treats (optional: bring a treat to share) during the study. We look forward to seeing you. 

 

Living Meadows General Store

The Living Meadows at Luther Spring Festival will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church in Madelia on Tuesday, April 14th. The public is encouraged to come and support Living Meadows. We continue to have a basket located in the narthex to receive small gift items to be donated to Living Meadows

General Store for bingo prizes and other things. Items can be lotions and cremes, soaps, body

sprays, hygiene care items, toothpaste, coloring books, large sized crayons, Word Finds, greeting cards, snacks and sugar-free candies, room décor and other small items.

 

Snow Removal Season

Like it or not we are in the season of possible snow removal. Please be considerate of the need and pitch in when you can. A shovel, broom, and salt is provided near the west door of the Narthex. If you have a blower or scoop, the trustees will be forever grateful for the help.

 

April Message from Minister

 

Here we are at April and we think spring is here to stay – but we have been fooled before. Easter is early this year, and I can remember as a kid playing with a cousin out in the snow on Easter – hopefully we won’t see that.

April is primarily a feminine given name of a Latin origin meaning “to open” which is very symbolic of what we think of spring. We think of the new buds on trees, of the grass beginning to turn green, of ice-covered lakes opening up and of course April showers so that we can have May flowers. Back to the Latin origin, it refers to the opening of nature during springtime.

During our Easter season, we can relate these meanings to our celebration of our Lord’s resurrection on Easter morning. However, we don’t look at the opening of nature – we look at the opening of the tomb and finding it empty! I think we all have experienced the feeling of opening a gift box, a package, that tub of ice cream in the freezer and finding that it is empty! We don’t rejoice at that time and neither did the women who had come in the early hours of Easter morning. They were very concerned with where their Lord had been taken – but their concerns were soon to turn to celebration when they discovered that Jesus was with them still. In his human form, nail holes in his hands and the spear slice in his side.

At this time of spring, when we get back outdoors to enjoy the warmer weather with walks, bike rides, lawn work or just sitting on a deck taking in the new beginnings after the winter – let us take in all the wonder around us and take time to rejoice that our Savior died and rose again for us.  

A proper prayer for spring – “As the sun rises, you are ever near us, risen Christ. We give you thanks and praise for your presence in all its surprising forms.” Let us truly revel and enjoy what God has done for us this Easter and every day of the year.

 

Just one of you in Christ - Ralph