E-Voice: weekly news & updates
Note: anything that is underlined is a link you can click on!
Friday, July 16, 2021
UPDATED 07/09/21
Case rates in La Crosse County have been less than 1 per 100,000 people for a complete month, meaning there is currently low risk. The following changes are recommended for worship and groups at ELC:

  • Fully vaccinated individuals do not need to mask as they are low risk for acquiring or spreading COVID. Vaccinated individuals may continue to mask if they choose for any reason. Masks are recomm-ended for unvaccinated individuals, including children under 12.
  • We encourage worshippers to continue to sing softly, sit distanced in the sanctuary (and within any group), and practice good hand hygiene.
  • The King Street doors (by the office and the Fellowship Hall entry) will now be open to enter/exit for worship services.
  • Fellowship will continue to be held outside in the parking lot entry after Sunday worship, weather permitting.
  • We recommend that individuals stay home if COVID-like symptoms are present, and continue to follow CDC safety guidelines (click here for more information).
  • There is no longer a need to sign in upon entry to the church, but anyone holding a meeting or group activity should keep attendance records for at least two weeks.
Please be aware that the church may need to go back to more universal mask wearing if local cases spike due to the more contagious variants like the Delta variant. As always, if you have any questions or concerns about English's re-opening plan, please contact a member of the Re-Opening Team: Pastor Glen Bickford, Pastor Becky Goche, Karl Green, David Bleidorn, Mary Mueller, Brenda Rooney, Mark Flaten, Jennifer Jones, or Niki Pohnl.
We have another outdoor worship opportunity for you! Join us in the newly paved King Street courtyard for Holden Evening Prayer on Saturday, July 24 at 5pm. Bring your own chair if possible (we'll have some available at church for those who don't have a camping chair). In case of inclement weather, we will move inside.

This is a wonderful opportunity to bring a friend with you to church!
Due to ventilation concerns in our Sunday School wing, we have set up a temporary nursery in the conference room, tucked back in the corner of the narthex near Pastor Becky's office.

Please feel free to make use of the nursery during worship services.
As we open for services and begin to add in regular programming, we remind everyone that we need volunteers to assist! One of the things we have learned is that Sign Up Genius is a good system to use. We need ushers, lectors, tech booth assistants, and eventually by fall, communion servers and servers for coffee fellowship. During the summer, we ask that you utilize the online sign ups.

One particular need we have is for ushers for Saturday evening service.

As we have been opening up more, the same members have graciously volunteered, but we need more of you to join us! Any questions, contact Carol at 784-9335. Thanks for your service!


Gift card sales to benefit ELC youth are starting up again! Bring your cash or check after service on Sundays to the card table outside. Gift cards may be used as gifts or you can use them yourself to purchase groceries (Festival, Woodmans), gas (Kwik Trip), restaurants meals (Noodles, Panera), coffee (MOKA, Caribou, Starbucks), or for use in stores (Walmart, Menards, Old Navy). Come and check out our selection. ELC youth buy the cards at a discount and sell them at face value and the youth program benefits! You can also stop by the church office during the week.
ELC's Cancer Support Group is always welcome to new group members. We meet the fourth Wednesday of every month at 6:30pm at church, starting again in August (no meeting in July). Please reach out to Irene TenEyck at 784-9335 x304 for more information.

This is an established, wonderful group of people from our own congregation that meet to pray together and support one another through difficult journeys.
Coffee Fellowship is back on Sundays following worship! Grab a cup of coffee or lemonade outside and visit with your church family. If you'd like to volunteer for Coffee Fellowship, contact Carol at the church office.
ELC's Ministry Council invites you all to help reach their goal of 820 LWR School Kits! Each week we will report how much we have collected of each item so you will know what we still need. The numbers indicate how many school kits we can fill with this item. So, as you can see, we need lots of everything to fill backpacks!

As of July 15, we have enough:
  • Notebooks (4) to fill 200 backpacks
  • Rulers (1) to fill 107 backpacks
  • Sharpeners (1) to fill 12 backpacks
  • Scissors (1) to fill 1 backpack
  • Pencils (5) to fill 105 backpacks
  • Pens (5) to fill 1 backpack
  • Crayons (1 box) to fill 10 backpacks
  • Erasers (1) to fill 143 backpacks

Our pack-out event is scheduled for Sunday, August 22nd after the church service.