BAPTISMS FOR MAY:  

Inspired by the congregational pledge made in the service of Holy Baptism (see page 228, EvLW), we will be including names of those baptized at St. Luke's Zion in our monthly newsletters. 

We hope this will be a reminder to lift them up in prayer, wherever they may be in their faith-walk. The following were baptized in the month of May in previous years: 

Brittney E. M.                           Thompson M. W.
Driano D. S.                             Jordan A. A
Molly M. S.                               Jaxon T. L.
Brooke D. A. W.                        Sharon E. A. 
Chloe A. M.                              Tayla D. A.
Slater C. S.                              Nicholas W. E. S.
Austin C. S.                             Madelyn M. K.

IN OUR PRAYERS: 

Please remember in your prayers our shut-ins in long term care:                            

Phyllis A. - Concordia Place  

Doreen S. - Luther Home 

Alfred T. - Red River Place, Selkirk  

Melita T. - Luther Home  

COVID COVENANT:

At this point in time, our St. Luke’s Zion Covid Covenant is still in effect.  We will only be changing things when it seems prudent to do so.

ONLINE WORSHIP:

For those who would like to join in our online worship, here's how to do it:

1. If you have a Facebook account, sign into Facebook and search for @stlukeszion.  The video will not appear until the live stream begins, which is usually a few minutes before 10:30 am.  You can also view it any time after that.

2. With no Facebook account, go to Facebook.com/stlukeszion.  Click on "Not now" when it asks you to sign in or to sign up.  You should be able to view the service any time after 10:30 on the same day as it is recorded. 

WORSHIPING IN PERSON:

While we do continue to livestream our Sunday worship, here are a few things you might want to know about coming in person:

-Our Covid Covenant is in effect, available in the previous newsletter or on the St. Luke’s Zion website.

-Every other pew is roped off so that nobody is sitting directly behind you.

-You may wish to bring your own elements for communion, especially if you a) have allergies, or b) are concerned about plastic waste.  Otherwise, prefilled cups containing a wafer and red grape juice are available.

-Most of the service can be followed on the screen, but a small number of printed bulletins are available for those who require them.

OPTIONS FOR OFFERINGS DURING COVID:

1. Sign up for PAR.  This is an automatic debit on the 20th of each month.  It costs 50 cents a month. 

2. Give through the MNO synod website (mnosynod.org).  However, Canada Helps receives 4% of each donation.

3. E-transfers are now available by contacting Sharon Appler.

4. Send in the mail.

5. Drop them off at the church.  Thank you!

SUNDAY SCHOOL:

We are currently meeting in-person and will continue to wear masks and practice physical distancing except when eating and drinking and reading.

May   1st  –  regular class

May   8th   –  regular class

May 15th   –  regular class

May 22nd  –  no class

May  29th  –  12:45 p.m. - Sunday School Wind-up – bowling at Billy Mosianko Lanes (Main & Redwood)

**we will be meeting at Billy Mosianko Lanes – no regular class at SLZ.

YOUTH:

Emma Kushnier from Abundant Life will be the new interim youth leader until such time as a new person is hired. Our junior leaders will be Colin and Jill.

Contact Emma at:  emmakushnier@hotmail.com

UPCOMING YOUTH EVENTS:

Sunday  May 15th  Scavenger Hunt at the Forks and Spaghetti Factory for dinner.

We will meet at Tim Horton's on Headmaster at 4:00 p.m. and return to Tim's at 7:30 p.m.

If meeting us at the Forks please be there at 4:15- 4:20 in front of the Pancake House entrance (but confirm so we know to watch for you)

Cost: $20.00 all inclusive meal including drink taxes and gratuity.  Please dress to be inside and possibly outside at the Forks.

Sunday June 12th Luther Village Bike a thon 

Where: Bird's Hill Park

Watch for an email from Emma with details

Luther village Summer Youth Retreat

When: Friday August 26- Sunday August 28th

Rides will be provided 

Cost $25.00 person rest will be covered by our  fundraising account

Plan is to stay in Beaver's Lodge

Time: Friday leave from the Tim's at approx. 6:00 pm tba

more details will come and what to bring etc.

LUTHER VILLAGE:

Staff Applications 2022

Application are now open on-line. Apply to join the 2022 staff team at Luther Village.

Looking for spring/summer and fall staff in maintenance, program/ kitchen/ housekeeping and office.  For more info please contact the Co- Executive Director Lisa van Dijk executivedirector@luthervillage.ca

Luther Village Work Weekend

May Long Weekend – May 20-23, 2022

Bring the family and join us for a weekend of preparing the camp for the season. Meals and lodging are provided for volunteers in exchange for work. Work Weekend begins Friday evening with snack at 8:00 p.m. and ends Monday mid-afternoon. Free time, campfire, and community worship will also be part of the weekend.

Bike-a-Thon

When: June 3-5, 2022

Where: at Luther Village (pending COVID-19 restrictions)

Why: To help raise funds for the ministry of LV.

What: Join us for this fundraiser and bring the whole family to enjoy Luther Village. Its a great way to combine being active, fellowship and raising money for LV. Cost includes all meals, accommodations and use of the camp facility. Our Bike-a-thon is one of our largest fundraisers of the year and we still need your support to help keep the camp operating. 

Fee: Registration Fee $55.00 - Non-participant fees: Adult $75; 6-12 year olds $35 3-5 year olds $25 2 and under – free

Here is how you can participate:

-Register before May 30th - picking the cycle length that best suits you. Non-riding family members can also register for an additional fee.                       

-Raise funds for the camp by directing your supports to our donation link on the main page of our website. Send the link to all your friends and family, add it to your social media, ask to be added to your church bulletin, and tell anyone that you can to donate in your name.

-Show up for the Bike-a-thon weekend and we will take care of all the details.

-We will track your pledges for you and send you a weekly summary of where you are at with your fundraising goals. All your donors will get a Charitable Tax Receipt for their gift and if you raise over $100, you will get a FREE 2022 Luther Village Bike-a-thon Shirt. If you want to participate as a TEAM, you can do that. Come up with a great team name and get EACH member of the team to register and indicate their Team Name on their registration form. Ask your community to donate to your Team Name instead of to you as individuals. Don’t forget to post on social medias.

Goodbye Mark!
Mark the LV camp goat, will not be joining us a camp this summer. Though many of you have come to love Mark and I know you will be sad to see him go, there were also many concerns that Mark was no longer the easy going goat, that he was, when he was younger and that Luther Village was no longer the best home for him. Mark has been placed in a wonderful family home with several young children. They live on a hobby farm with many other goats, chickens, ducks and more. We wish Mark and his new family many wonderful times and happy memories, just as he has brought to Luther Village.

PAR CHALLANGE UPDATE
About a month ago, we challenged the Luther Village community to support Luther Village by joining PAR (pre-authorized remittance).
Anyone who signed up by March 31st 2022 was entered into a draw.
Congratulations to our winners 
Shirley Hay - New 2022 LV hoodie
Michelle McConomy - 2 night cabin stay at Luther Village

For those of you who missed out on the Challenge, you are still encouraged to sign up for PAR and support Luther Village on a monthly basis. 
All you need to do is fill out the form and send to me via email and attach a void cheque. I will do the rest- it's that simple!
You can choose you amount (as little as $10 month) and it will be withdrawn from your bank account on the 20th of every month.

The form can be found on the LV website
www.luthervillage.ca

LUM (Lutheran Urban Ministry):

April 2022 News from your Ministry Manager

Our Winnipeg winter doesn’t seem to be ending! As I write this, a winter storm is moving toward the city for mid-week with a prediction a lot of snow and impassable roads and sidewalks! For the past six months, our Urban community have done their best to soldier on through icy sidewalks and a lot of windy. An elderly lady with a walker came by the Urban yesterday to pick up the Sunday bagged meal and I mentioned that I hadn’t seen her for a while. She replied, “I’ve hardly been out”!

Food insecurity is increasing because of the rising cost of groceries. Families and individuals existing on minimum wage incomes, social assistance or disability, find it difficult to stretch their food budgets even further. The Urban is currently providing approximately 1,000 bagged meals per month (4 times per week). We are so very grateful to the meal teams who put together many of these bagged meals. During our distribution of bagged meals, we are fortunate to augment this with:

• bread, buns and packages of pastries every Wednesday afternoon donated to the Urban from the Southeast Helping Hands foodbank and brought by van to our parking lot by wonderful volunteer drivers from St. Paul’s Lutheran in Steinbach;

• canned goods and food items donated from many MNO congregations;

• and every two weeks I am fortunate to have an appointment at Harvest Manitoba for their Thursday Surplus and the Urban is the recipient of some additional food items as extras to include during our bagged meal distributions.

 Fellowship is routinely happening while waiting on the church sidewalk for us to bring everything outdoors to the step! Lots of sidewalk hello’s, conversations, and weather jokes – especially between many of the guys who routinely arrive early and have conversed outside during our cold and windy weather! When our men’s group lunch and sharing circles begin again, faces will be familiar and new friendships will form once again!

Pandemic Notes: Pandemic worries are not yet over in Winnipeg and the Urban continues with the following: Until Further Notice: the Urban is continuing the suspension of all regular programming (coffee hours, sharing circles, men’s group, worship services, etc.) in the lower level of Lutheran Church of the Cross, due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Struggling and vulnerable single people and families (in the same numbers as pre-pandemic times when we were open downstairs) are continuing to come to the Urban - bagged lunches 4x/week are distributed outside (Wednesday men’s lunch, Wednesday & Thursday supper times and Sunday lunch). Our meal teams are happy to help us in this way and we are so very grateful for this. Our website calendar shows available dates for meal teams. Fellowship is happening briefly in the parking lot as long as weather permits! Worship services and sharing circles will resume when the pandemic is over.

We have changed our pre-pandemic emergency food bags to an equitable “one food item” (if enough in our pantry) per person (two items if a family) once or twice each week during the distribution of bagged lunches. Gloves, socks, seasonal jackets etc. (and weekly bread/pastries) are also distributed outside.

Masks and 2 m social distancing continue to be mandatory on the church sidewalk and parking lot. The line sometimes overflows to the city sidewalk if necessary and all current gathering sizes are enforced as per provincial regulations. The Urban provides a disposable mask if needed.

The Lutheran Urban Ministry has so much gratitude for our volunteers and the meal teams; for the pantry donations, for the prayers; and for all those who donate financial support toward our operating expenses.

Our website: www.theurban.ca. Check out our new video on our website, “Urban Gratitude”! Please keep our vulnerable Lutheran Urban Ministry community in your prayers. Please contact me: rhonda@theurban.ca for additional information, or to have your meal team added to the calendar.

Kind regards,

Rhonda Gorham,

Ministry Manager, Lutheran Urban Ministry Corp