Scripture Readings for August

August Message from Ralph

August Message from Ralph

 It seems like summer just arrived and now we’re entering what some call the “dog days” of summer, The time when the southern lakes of Minnesota turn green, cottonwood trees send their snowflakes all over, and in years past the weather turned hot and then cooler as we approached September. Really the dog days are from July 3 through August 11! The phrase traces back to ancient Greek and Roman astrology. They believed that the star Sirius – the Dog Star – rose alongside the sun, and its immense brightness combined with the sun’s hear caused the sweltering weather. But, like many things, what was the trend in the past is now changed. Mid July was a hot week of 90+ each day – and who knows what the climate will do in the future. 

Out church year also goes through a stretch that one might call “dog days.” Things tend to slow down in the summertime – confirmation awaits the fall, JAM awaits the new school year, VBS has ended and August just seems like a bridge to get us to the fall. Everyone takes as much advantage as they can to the warm Minnesota before the cold Minnesota strikes. And all of this is well and good as long as we don’t forget to thank the God who created us and the wonderful nature around us. 

The gospel texts for August begin to point us to the events of Advent, Christmas, and ultimately Lent and Easter. They begin with water – the water of life that we receive from Jesus. Then nature takes center stage as we once again witness Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee. And after feeling the effects of the storm – we hear of the great mercy of Jesus. On the 23rd Mya will be speaking – and I do not know her approach – but the text for the day has to do with the building of Christs’ church on a rock – the one called Peter. And we end the month on a theme of liberation! That theme alone points us ahead to the liberation we will find on the death and resurrection of our Lord next Easter season.

 Like everything in life, we have to sometimes go through a few potholes in the road to get to the smoother surfaces. The dog days of summer are necessary to get us to the autumn season. With autumn comes cooler temps, fall sports, and harvest for most of us in Minnesota. As avid as we are about our sports in the fall, let us be equally avid about harvesting the seeds that God has sown among us and in ourselves.

 Just one of you in Christ - Ralph

VBS News

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

June Message from Ralph

 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