News

Three program years ago, we moved our Sunday morning schedule earlier by 15 minutes in an effort to address the dropping attendance at the 11:00 service and especially in Sunday School at that hour. With worship and Sunday School now beginning at 10:45 we’ve been able to build both of those back up, but it has negatively affected what is now the 8:15 worship and Sunday School hour.

After listening to concerns from members and discussion within our Christian Education and Worship & Music committees, the council has decided that starting in Fall 2010 we will move the first Sunday service back to 8:30 a.m. and keep the second service at 10:45 a.m. This change will make it a little less “early” for young children (and a few adults!) and will also be easier for our choirs/musicians as they rehearse for the early service.

The new 8:30 service will be around 50 minutes in length to provide some transition for Sunday School classes and parking lot flow. If you will have a child in the age 3 through Grade 3 Sunday School next year, please give some thought to this new schedule before signing your child up for the Saturday 5 PM or Sunday 8:30 AM or 10:45 AM sections.

Aug 25, 2010, 14:02

Welcome Chris Bjorklund!
We are happy to announce that Gloria Dei Handbell Choir has a new director. She is our next-door neighbor, Christine Bjorklund. Some of you may know Christine from the many times she, her late husband Terry, and their son Ted have played at COL... the guys played violin, Christine piano. Since Terry's death, Christine has kept the family studio open... she continues teaching piano, and Ted has maintained some of the string lessons. She has a background in music education, and is excited about starting this new adventure. We also wish to express our appreciation to Mary Pulvermacher for her tenure as interim director of Gloria Dei. Although Mary has chosen to not make her directorship permanent, she will still be seen behind the bell tables, ringing with the group. Our thanks to you, Mary, for a job well done!

Sep 1, 2010, 11:43

Baby Shower, Sunday September 12 at 1:30 PM. Okay, we’ll tackle the basics. Baby Lorbeck is coming so we’re having a baby shower. Anyone is welcome to attend and/or to help with the baby gift. Chances are, most of those in attendance for the shower will be women, but men don’t let that Packer game at 3:15 PM distract you from attending!

Advance Plan? Stop in Debbie Riederer’s office at church (or e-mail debbie@crossoflife.org ) to let us know you’re attending. If you wish to give a money gift with which we’ll then buy one or more bigger items for the Lorbeck’s, drop the money (make checks payable to COL) in the envelope in Debbie’s office and sign the card you find there. The Shower will be in the Fellowship Hall on Sunday September 12 at 1:30 PM. Watch for future mailings or e-mails to let you know what else to bring (desserts) or do (want to star as “Sherrie” in a vignette?)

Baby Pool Begins! As many of you know, Baby Lorbeck is within about a month of appearing on the scene, so it’s time for the official COL Pastor’s Kid Baby Pool to kick in. You may recall we did this with Pastor Maria’s first-born and it worked so well that we’re pulling it back out for Pastor Sherrie.

Here’s how it works. Next time you’re at church, look for the large chart labeled Baby-Pool on an easel in the Fellowship Hall. Next, fill in the requested information: Your name, the date and time (hour and minute) you predict for the birth, and the gender. Next, drop $5 in the little box by the easel. That’s it. Then, when Baby Lorbeck is born, we’ll see who the winner is. The winner will be someone who gets the gender right and is the closest to the correct date and time of birth without going past it. Ties will be decided by rock-scissor-paper at the Children’s Time.

Now, since this is a church, the whole point of this “pool” is to have fun and do something good in the process. The winner of the pool will be contacted and can direct the winnings to whatever partnership ministry or need at Cross of Life they choose. With Maria, we raised a nice sum of money for a good cause. Hopefully we can do the same this time around! For informational purposes, Baby Lorbeck’s due date is October 1^st and the gender is not currently known.

Aug 30, 2010, 13:44

Servanthood Opportunities

Have you always wanted to help in services? A little bit? Or a lot? If you’re a ‘behind the scenes’ kind of helper, we can use you to help with ABC (that’s church speak for altar set-up, baptisms, and communion) or worship coordinator. If you are looking to make a big impact, we can always use more worship assistants. Contact Cindy Boyd (cindy@crossoflife.org) or either pastor if you’re ready to step up your church experience.

Thanks for Painting! As a service project to the congregation, the members of our Church Council painted the exterior of the north side of our building (sanctuary, fellowship hall and ed wing) this past week. Thank you to both the Council, and congregation members, who helped with this project. We built relationships with each other throughout the week, and saved a few dollars too.

Thank you to everyone that helped to make our partner weekend with Cross Lutheran Church such a special day. Partnerships exist in so many ways; worshipping together, sharing a meal together, serving together and giving the gift of time to each other. On Sunday, August 22 we experienced all of these. Our partner congregation Cross Lutheran Church chose to close its door for one Sunday and worship with their brothers and sisters at COL. Our sanctuary was abuzz with 353 members from both congregations. The Cross Gospel Choir sang, and two babies were baptized, Melissa Dressler from COL, and Pastor Michelle’s son Erendirani López-Townsend (Cross’ newest member). We moved from worship to the fellowship hall and enjoyed a delicious brunch filled with vibrant energy and lots of good conversation.

It took many people to make this day special. We thank our friends at Cross for their gift of time and presence, the gift of their music and for the pastries and fruit they added to the buffet. We thank Cross of Life members for their worship leadership, their welcoming hearts, their egg and potato dishes, and their helping hands. It was a day of great celebration and we are truly grateful to walk in partnership with Cross Lutheran Church.

Aug 30, 2010, 13:41

Are you on LinkedIn?

Are you interested in networking with other professionals at Cross of Life? We invite you to join the newly created Cross of Life Group on LinkedIn. There is no cost to join, and it is a great way to meet other members. If you want to find and join the group, simply use the LinkedIn group search for Cross of Life Lutheran. If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact Jason Weiss at jason.weiss@yahoo.com.

Jun 14, 2010, 14:08

New Small Group

Do you have an interest in photography?

We would like to start a COL photography group that would share and critique photos, offer tips and techniques, and discuss the latest equipment and editing software. All skill levels are welcome! The group would likely meet every other month. If you have an interest in joining this group, please contact Brad Wilkins at bwilkins1@wi.rr.com.

Jun 7, 2010, 15:05

Electronic Fund Transfer form

Here's a quick and easy way to stay current with your giving at Cross of Life:
automatic withdrawal from your checking account!
Just click on the "Download/View File" below to access a .pdf of the form you'll need to print out. Send or bring in the completed form and a voided check; put them on Holly Sorenson's desk - that's all there is to it! We'll take care of the rest.

[ Download/View File ]
Jun 2, 2010, 14:48

Contact Person for Web Site

If you want to comment, or provide news for the Web Site, please email cindy@crossoflife.org.
The website is generally updated on Mondays.

Jun 3, 2006, 13:19

Cross of Life is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.