Sunday May 11, 2025

This Week's Message is:

"Letting the Shepherd Lead"

John 10:22-30

Happy Mother's Day

ACCESS WORSHIP

Join us for our Traditional worship Sundays at 8:00 a.m. and at 9:45 a.m. for Praise worship which is livestreamed on our Facebook and available on YouTube any time after. Our most recent worship services are also posted to our website. To view the last Sundays Service click here.

ADULT FAITH FORMATION RECAP

Thank you to Heather Strand for the recent conversation about communication in our relationships! What a blessing it was to gather and grow together as we learned how to communicate with grace, love, and purpose! If you missed either session—or just want to reflect on the tools we covered—you can access the workshop notes here.

STAMPING GROUP

On the second Monday of the month, New Life Church hosts a rubber stamping group in the Community Room. We make beautifully designed and crafted greeting cards. The next gathering is Monday, May 12 at 6:30pm in the Community Room. All are welcome to join in this fun evening. Contact Cheryll Steinke to let her know you'll be participating or with any questions. This is the last stamping group meeting till fall.

COMMON THREADS

Ginny Olson and Gail Kriel encourage anyone who'd like to learn how to knit or crochet to join in the Common Threads group. If you're experienced you could work on your own project as well as make prayer shawls and blankets for the prayer shawl ministry. Sessions take place at Ginny's studio on the second Tuesday evenings of the month from 6:30-8:30 p.m. and the fourth Tuesday mornings of the month from 9:30-11:30 a.m. To sign up and for info, email Ginny. Next Common Threads meeting is May 13 at 6:30-8:30 pm. There is no meeting on May 27th.

Prayer shawls are on the entrance table in the Community Room and are FREE for the taking by/for anyone who wants one.

MEN’S GROUP

The Men's Group meets every third Saturday of the month and will meet next on Saturday, May 17 at the church from 8:00-9:00 a.m. Please join us! All are welcome!

SABBATICAL UPDATE

Pastor Heather and the Sabbatical team chose to split up her sabbatical into two six-week leaves instead of one three-month leave. So her next time on sabbatical is coming up - May 19 through June 30. During this time we will have wonderful preachers, Sabbath activities as a community, and be praying for her experience in Paris with her mother and daughter. She will also be visiting Taize, the worship community that inspired our Lenten Wednesday worship. And stay tuned for some fun plans when Pastor Heather returns as well! Keep those Sabbath practices pictures coming too!

BRAT FEST

Don't forget that on Friday May 23rd at 1:40pm-2:20pm on the Everlight Solar Stage you will find the Mad City Funk band (Our council member Shawn Peters plays in). If you haven't already and still want to volunteer they are looking for more help for the brat fest. Sign up here and make sure you check St Matthews. We get $12 for every hour each of our volunteers do.

GOLF GROUP

NLC Golf begins on Thursday, May 22nd with the last week of play on Thursday, August 21. There will be no scheduled play on Thursday, July 3rd for the holiday celebration. Tee Times are 5:20 PM & 5:28 PM each week, rotating between the front and back nine.  I schedule two weeks out to ensure we know who is playing, so all can be prepared. We currently have room for one more full-time golfer and could always add more to the sub list, to cover for vacations and travels for the regulars. If anyone is interested they can reach out to Verne Scholl, David Hayward, or the church office.

OFFICE HELP NEEDED

Liz, our Office Manager, will be on vacation on July 2nd-3rd and 7th-8th and she is looking for some help in the office from the hours of 9am to noon on those dates. We'd ask you to answer phones, collect mail from the mailbox and check for urgent emails. Please email Liz if you are available and can help; she will train you and give you all the information you'd need.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS - MAY 18!

Please celebrate with us:

Senior Send-off and Affirmation of Faith!

Baptisms!

Last day of New Life Kids!

If you have a senior who would like to affirm their faith or you are interested in knowing more about baptism, please reach out to Ashley Reinke or Pastor Heather.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS - JUNE 26th!

Tween & Teen Event

Campfire, yard games, s'mores and more!

Rising 5th-8th graders: 5-8p

Rising 9th-12th graders: 8-11p

ALL ARE WELCOME- BRING A FRIEND!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS - AUGUST 4th-7th!

VBS - Vacation Bible School!

FREE EVENT!

ALL ARE WELCOME- BRING A FRIEND!

NEW LIFE KIDS needs YOU! VOLUNTEER!

If you would be interested in being a part of the New Life Kids teaching team, please let Ashley know and take a look at the sign up sheet.

NEW LIFE KIDS - Sundays at 8:50am.

Kids in Kindergarten through 5th grade are invited to join us each Sunday morning in the ReCreation Center! This week, they will create gifts for mom!

BABY TO 4K FAMILIES - Sunday at 8:50am Families with babies - 4K are invited to meet in the Kidzone to spend time together. This is a time for children to play together and for families to connect.

CARE PORTAL

Calling all those volunteers that are interested in our new ministry, CarePortal!

What: CarePortal + New Life Church

When: May 7, 6:30-7:30pm TONIGHT

Where: New Life Church

Join Nick Ertz, Madison CarePortal Coordinator, for a more in-depth conversation about what CarePortal is, ways to be involved, get your questions answered, and be part of the conversation about how this ministry will work at New Life Church. Also mark your calendars for May 28 from 6:30-8:30 at New Life Church for those CarePortal volunteers that would like the opportunity to interact directly with recipients of our ministry work. We'll complete a required training together. Remember, this training is only required for those that want to be recipient-facing. 

ST MARK'S FOOD PANTRY

The generosity of our congregation continues. Ed and I have been making deliveries to St Mark’s food pantry every 3 to 4 weeks since last fall. Thank you for your continued support of this ministry. Although any donations of shelf stable food are welcome, with the anticipated warmer temperatures, the requests for condiments (especially ketchup, mustard, hot sauce and barbecue sauce) increase. Donations can be placed on the table in the community room. Their need for plastic, paper and reusable bags is ongoing and they too can be placed on the table in the community room. 

SOCIAL PURPOSE FUND

We continue to need your help in order to be able to distribute gift cards to those in need - which totals on average about $1,000 every month! Because of the increased need, if you would be able to give to this fund, please submit checks with "Social Purpose Fund" in the memo or give online to that fund. Thank you! Also, please know that if you are experiencing any financial need (rent/mortgage, utilities, groceries, medical, unemployment/furlough, etc.) you only need to let Pastor Heather know. This information will be kept confidential to her and our financial officers (treasurer and bookkeeper).

Prayers needed for

Hospitalized, Injured, Ill or Medical Prayers



Jean Krebs, Ann Krebs Byrne's mother

Shirley Theel

Arielle and her family

Jean and Vickie Hoover

Don Skaar

Every Day Prayers

Connie Losse

Russ Theel

Barb Zimmerman

Condolences

Terry and Wayne Phillips- Passing of Stan Phillips

Vicki Schultz' Family

If you would like to be included on our prayer list, please contact the church office. Permission is required from the individual for us to print their name. Individuals will be on the list for one month unless requested to office.

Office hours are Monday through Thursday. Please feel free to contact staff members of New Life by email at newlifelc@newlifelc.com or by calling the office at 608-223-9337. Contacts are listed here.

New Life Staff:

Rev. Heather Hayward, Pastor

pastor@newlifelc.com

Ashley Reinke, Children & Youth Ministry Coordinator

youtheducator@newlifelc.com

Liz Rusch, Office Manager/Newsletter

newlifelc@newlifelc.com

Jim Manos, Bookkeeper

bookkeeper@newlifelc.com

Shakia “Queen” Turner, Property Manager

shakiamturner@yahoo.com

New Life Church Council:

Jillene Fisch, President

Linda Sime, Vice President

Tom Olson, Secretary

Ken Wundrow, Treasurer

Iris Christenson

Brian Coel

Shannon Erb

Deb Kohlwey

Louise Miller

Shawn Peters

Uriah Reppert

Russell Theel