Upcoming Events
2018 Greater Milwaukee Synod Assembly – Summary & Resources
Check out the Summary and Resources Page from the GMS 2018 Synod Assembly.
June Special Giving – Greater Milwaukee Synod’s Makumira Farm Project
We are inspired by our Confirmation Students to help in Tanzania, Africa!! Let Redeemer help the farmer’s in this country support there families. We will use the June Special Giving to purchase Square Meter’s of farm land for them to work. This is a cool program offed through our Synod.
(From the Greater Milwaukee Synod Website:)
Makumira Farm Project Goals – The Makimura Farm Project is the Meru Committee effort to create jobs, improve agricultural development and raise money for the many agriculture, water, education and medical needs in the Diocese of Meru. The people of Tanzania can accomplish great things with some help and the seed money to get started. A great example is the Mt. Meru Coffee Project that has increased the income of coffee farmers in the region. Now we need to expand to new projects to continue the success. Purchase your little piece of Tanzania today and be a part of supporting HOPE for our brothers and sisters. You will have viewing and visitation rights, while your plot will be held in permanent trust and cared for by the Makumira Estate. For just $19.95 (plus a 5 cent handling fee) you can own one square meter of the farm. Act today and you may be the first in your family to own land in Africa. You can purchase land through a contribution to your local congregation designated for Meru Committee Makumira Farm Project. You can also make a contribution through the Greater Milwaukee Synod with a designation for the Makumira Farm Project. Our funding goal for the coming year is $250,000.
Anne Clasen – Estonia Fund
Everyone knows Anne. She has been serving faithfully in Redeemer’s church office since 1982. Last week, the UPS driver brought a package at lunch time; she seemed taken aback when I answered the door – “Where’s Anne?” So I invited her for Sunday, August 5th when, during and after worship, Redeemer will thank and celebrate Anne for her years of ministry in our midst. (She will continue to minister – each baptized Christian is a minister of the gospel – but in new ways.) Mark August 5th on your calendars now. Spread the word to all who know and love Anne and invite them to join us.
Anne’s last day in the office will be July 31st. Then, the second half of August plus early September Anne and two friends are traveling to Estonia, where Koidula, Anne’s mother, is from. You should hear Koi and Anne talking in Estonian, it is great. So, I encourage you all to contribute to the Estonia Fund, a thank you gift to Anne from Redeemer to cover her travel costs. We want to reach at least $1,000. Please give your gifts to me, in an envelope clearly marked Estonia Fund. If you are writing a check make it payable to Jonathan Breimeier. This way the amount folks give will be private. You can always tell Anne if you want to. Let’s start growing the Estonia Fund now!
– Pastor Jon
United Nations World Refugee Day – June 20th
Here are 10 facts about the global refugee crisis to share with your friends and family on World Refugee Day, observed every year on June 20th.
1. There are 65 million people around the world who have been forcibly displaced—one in every 100 people on the planet.
2. Among the forcibly displaced, there are 22.5 million refugees, 40.3 million people displaced in their own country, and 2.8 million asylum-seekers awaiting determination on refugee status.
3. Nearly half of the world’s 22 million refugees are under 18.
4. Developing countries house 84% of the world refugees.
5. Syrians now comprise one of the largest groups of refugees worldwide, making up 32% of the 16.5 million refugees under the mandate of UNHCR.
6. About six in 10 Syrians are now forcibly displaced from their homes.
7. In the last year, violence described as ethnic cleansing in Myanmar has driven over 693,000 Rohingya refugees across the border into Bangladesh.
8. One in four people in South Sudan, over 3 million people in total, have been forced from their homes since violent conflict intensified in the newly formed country in 2013. Now, more than 5 million Sudanese don’t have enough food to stay healthy.
9. For $10, a Syrian refugee girl can have a kit with basic menstrual hygiene supplies.
10. With $35, you can provide two weeks worth of food for a Rohingya refugee family in Bangladesh.
An unprecedented number of people around the world have been forced from their homes as a result of violence and instability. But the situation is not without hope. You can provide across life-saving assistance to someone in search of safety.
#WorldRefugeeDay
Casa Guadalupe Summer Spanish Camps for Kids
Casa Guadalupe will be offering summer Spanish camps for children ages 4-11 during in both West Bend and Hartford.
There are 4 separate week-long camps to choose from! Children will learn basic Spanish in a fun environment, and each camp ends with a piñata and fiesta!
Casa Guadalupe Spanish Camp Flyer
Only $15 per child!
West Bend Camps @ Casa Guadalupe (479 N. Main St.)
Monday-Friday, July 9-13, 10-11am (ages 4-7)
Monday-Friday, July 9-13, 11:05am-12:05pm (ages 8-11)
Monday-Friday, July 16-20, 5:15-6:15pm (ages 4-11)
Hartford Camp @ Hartford Boys and Girls Club (635 W. Sumner St.)
Monday-Friday, August 6-10, 5:15-6:15pm (ages 4-11)
Outreach for Hope Bike Rides
Confirmation – May 20th, 2018
Confirmation Presentation by Logan Faltersack
New Sermon Audio from Pastor Jon
Listen to Pastor Jon’s latest sermons here on our website. Please click on the “Sermon Audio” icon on the right side of this page. Past sermons are also included.
RLC Wellness Garden
If you love to garden, but struggle getting around – we can help.
If you love to garden, but can’t carry water – we can help.
If you have never grown a garden before and want to try – we can help.
If you have a hectic life/family/kids, but worry about time/commitment – we can definitely help!
Sponsored by Redeemer Lutheran Church this community garden is uniquely designed for all kinds of people of all ages.
Raised bed plots range from:
standard 4 x 4
Counter height for easy access and limited
bending over.
Water can also be included for your garden
of choice.
Call, email or stop in and visit Redeemer Lutheran Church to sign up: 255 W. Lincoln Ave., 262-673-2550.
Confirmation Students Lead Well Project
— Several local churches join in. —
By Gay Griesback – For the Daily News
HARTFORD — Redeemer Lutheran Church has its own “Fantastic Four” — confirmation students that have inspired a community to give a gift that will improve the lives those who face the daily struggle of getting clean drinking water.
Owen Otto, Madison Henning, Lindsay Arvidson and Logan Faltersack are barely into their teens, but their energy and wisdom inspired six Hartford-area churches to contribute collections from their Wednesday Lenten services to fund the construction of a well.
“They’re pretty sharp kids — it’s been a great opportunity to work with them,” confirmation mentor Scott Lopas said.
In addition to Redeemer Lutheran, St. Kilian and St. Mary of the Hill Catholic churches, First United Methodist, St. John’s United Church of Christ and St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church took part.
“It doesn’t matter what denominations came together — it was for the good of one project,” First United Methodist Church of Hartford Administrative Assistant Becki Swenson said.
Redeemer Lutheran’s Confirmation students Madison Henning, Lindsay Arvidson, Owen Otto and Logan Faltersack have become known as the “Fantastic Four” for their work on getting a community well to raise awareness about those without access to clean drinking water.
Confirmation mentor Sheila Bauer said funds will go to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Good Gifts program.
From vaccinations to trees, animals, water and education projects and small business loans, the Good Gifts program uses donations where they are needed most within the wider category of the gift chosen by donors.
At Christmas, the congregation donated $1,000 toward the Good Gifts program but for Lent, students wanted to donate $2,500 — enough money to construct a community well.
The students have helped out at church fish frys and recently raised $360 by collecting donations for the Hartford Food Pantry and Casa Guadalupe at a church Souper Bowl of Caring. Spearheading the well project was their most ambitious mission to date.
The Rev. Jon Breimeier, interim pastor at Redeemer, said the students studied scarcity of water in other parts of world.
“The more they looked into it, the more they found it sobering — how much water we have available and how much we use compared to other parts of the world,” Breimeier said.
The more they looked into it, the more they found it sobering — how much water we have available and how much we use compared to other parts of the world.
Henning said the class brought the fundraising idea to the congregation and Bauer said the group made a display representing water usage throughout the world.
Information included some somber statistics:
■ While 71 percent of the Earth is covered by water, only 51 percent of the earth’s population has access to it.
■ There are 780 million people that live without clean drinking water.
■ Although 12 gallons of water per day is considered a sustainable amount for a person, Americans use 158 gallons of water daily.
“We learned from the kids what a huge difference a well makes. It means that the children and adults don’t have to walk for hours to carry hundreds of pounds of water,” Breimeier said.
Students also shared the information with the other congregations.
“We used the opportunity to educate ourselves, not just at Redeemer but at all our churches,” Breimeier said.
“It was a group effort,” Faltersack said.
Breimeier said once the contribution is received by Good Gifts, there is a possibility the church will be notified of exactly where the well will be built, but finding out the location isn’t the point.
“Lack of clean drinking water is a problem that is pretty pervasive. To know we will be making a huge difference is what we are after,” Breimeier said.
Breimeier said they have received assurances that if there is a shortfall, different groups within the churches will make up the difference.
“We know we’re going to get there,” Breimeier said.
Otto recommends the project to future confirmation classes.
“Everyone deserves clean drinking water and a lot of people don’t have that,” Arvidson said.
Those interested in donating to the Redeemer confirmation students’ Good Gift well project can call Anne at 262-673-2550 or find out more online at the ELCA Good Gifts Web Page.
“It doesn’t matter what denominations came together — it was for the good of one project.” – Becki Swenson, First United Methodist Church of Hartford Administrative Assistant
Redeemer Lutheran confirmation students Madison Henning, Lindsay Arvidson, Owen Otto and Logan Faltersack lead effort joined by St. Kilian and St. Mary of the Hill Catholic churches, First United Methodist, St. John’s United Church of Christ and St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church to raise money to build a community well.
Redeemer’s Giving Tree
A permanent Giving Tree is now located in the Narthex! It’s simple to use and benefits many worthy causes in our community and at Redeemer. Simply remove a tag from the tree, bring in the donation on the tag and place it into the proper bin at the foot of the tree. Many thanks to Matt Nettesheim for constructing this amazing work of art (including LED lighting), to Jenny Nettesheim and Sheila Bauer for managing this project, and to Thrivent for providing a grant to help get in “off the ground”. We look forward to many years of use in service to others.
Community Free Lunch
Served the last Saturday of each month at St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church starting at 11:30 a.m. Come for community fellowship and a good meal. If you are interested in volunteering, please talk to Barb Menden.
Food Pantry Sunday
The third Sunday of each month has been designated as Food Pantry Sunday. Please bring non perishable items and place them in the barrel in the Information Area.
