We are an affirming, "open-table" congregration and all are welcome.
They are located in a clear wall holder to the right or (west) of the church mailboxes.
These were provided by SERC (Sexual Education Resource Centre) Brandon office at one of the Open Futures sessions that Krisjanis Kaktins-Gorsline organized this past month at the church.
Substance Use and the impact it has on an individual, their family and community can be a life-or-death matter. Naloxone is safe to administer and having a Naloxone kit available can save a life. Also, a frequent cause of overdose is opioid toxicity, ie: people who take prescription opioids by accident thinking they're another drug.
The kit comes with an instructional pamphlet and there is also a video to show you exactly what to watch out for if you feel someone has had an overdose, and shows you all the steps including checking for breathing, calling 911, and using the kit itself. The link to the video is included here and we hope that it won’t be needed but in case it is, we would like to be prepared. Also, please let us know if you are interested in further training, or feel that you need to take a kit with you to have on hand. Thank you
https://www.naloxonetraining.com/training/save-me-steps
Pastor Heather’s Newsletter message is from Rev Erik Parker’s blog post on April 23rd about Electing Bishops in a time of change. He is the Pastor at Sherwood Park Lutheran Church in Winnipeg. His message also includes a link to the Discernment Guide for electing our own Bishop at this May’s MNO Convention in Selkirk. We will need to pray and be guided by the Holy Spirit for today’s context. I am not only sharing this message because it is so important at this time, but I am also just completing my 8 month Spiritual Care Course and have not had time to be original. 😊
Just as my congregation is in a time of discerning God’s future for us, so it is with many of our sibling congregations, synods and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) as a whole.
In fact, over the coming weeks and months, four of the five ELCIC Synods will be electing bishops. In all but ours, the incumbent bishops have announced they will not be serving another term. Stepping down will be Bishop Larry Kochendorfer in Alberta and Bishop Sid Haugen in Saskatchewan who have each served 12 years and Bishop Michael Pryse of the Eastern Synod who has served 26 years! Additionally, after 18 years National Bishop Susan Johnson will be stepping down as National Bishop after the National Convention next summer.
By next summer, four of six Bishops will be in the first year of their first terms. Bishop Kathy Martin of BC will have been serving for three years and Bishop Jason will be the old experienced hand with six years of service.
This will represent a significant change in leadership among Lutherans in the ELCIC, especially so in a time of significant change for the church.
Unlike the calling of a pastor, where a congregation or ministry enters into an intentional time of discernment through an extensive call process, where candidates are considered and interviewed before being voted on, Bishops are elected in the space of a few days at a Synod or National Convention. In the ecclesiastical election process, any pastor on the roster of the church is eligible to be elected.
In advance of these upcoming elections, materials for discernment have been provided and some synods are soliciting nominations ahead of time – though still any pastor can be nominated on the first ballot. After that, successive rounds of balloting occur with only the top vote-getters proceeding to the next round. It is similar to processes used by political parties electing leaders except without campaigning and hopefully more of the Holy Spirit.
The task of stepping into the leadership roles of newly elected Bishops (and relatively recently elected ones) will be to help guide the church through the rough waters ahead. It won’t be enough to simply keep our ship of the church steady ahead, as we already know that we need to change and adapt. Bishops will be called to lead the transformation of the church, envisioning new directions, lifting up and amplifying innovators, and making space for those who have been historically excluded from leading.
The task of conventions discerning and electing new bishops will be to avoid seeking safe and comfortable choices. When it feels like we are in crisis, we long for things that make us feel comfortable and safe. We long for easy and known choices. When faced with the need to change, options that feel like the least amount of change or the easiest path to change can be very tempting.
But the reality is that God is calling us to transformation that will not be easy or comfortable. Bishops and other leaders who will guide us through will need to be willing to push us to uncomfortable and difficult places.
They will need to help us seek faithfulness. And faithfulness will mean giving up a lot of ourselves and a lot of our baggage as the church.
But faithful is what God continues to call us to be, even in this changing world.
And faithful is what God promises to be, especially in the time of change ahead.
Pastor Erik+
PS The MNO Synod has prepared some materials for discernment here:
Click to access Discernment-Guide-for-Electing-a-Bishop-FINAL.pdf
https://millennialpastor.ca/2024/04/23/electing-bishops-in-a-time-of-change-pastor-thoughts/
In Peace
Rev Heather Parrott-Howdle
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Council met on Thursday, April 18, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. in Erickson Lutheran Church Boardroom. Cathy Hackenschmidt, Benita Nylen, Shaun Oakley, Earl Wickdahl, Raymond Rossnagel and Pastor Heather Parrott-Howdle were present. Shaun shared a reflection of his week. Cathy lead Opening Prayer.
The minutes of the March 25th meeting approved as distributed.
MNO Synod: Congregational Leaders Toolkit Meeting Thursday, April 25, 7 p.m.via Zoom. Congregational Chair Persons Toolkit meeting Thursday, May 2, 7 p.m. via Zoom.
Next Meeting: Thursday, May 16, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. in ELC Lower Hall (to use TV to view Financial Reports, etc and not print paper copies)
. In closing the Lord’s Prayer was repeated in unison. Adjournment at 7:59 p.m.
Submitted by Benita Nylen, Secretary
Now that we’re firmly into spring (aside from the snow on the ground) the Parklands Youth Hub is looking intently towards the summer months and beyond. We’re expecting a bit of a bumpy start to the summer as we continue to look for funding, however there are some promising leads that we’re pursuing.
As I’ve mentioned before the After-School Club and S’upper Club have essentially merged at this point. We’ve been making some amazing snacks lately. We made Korean Corndogs, Bannock Tacos, Bannock Burgers, Ramen, Spaghetti and Garlic Bread, all manner of tasty treats.
More exciting than the food is that we’ve also seen an uptick in the kids attending. Word seems to be finally getting around that we’re making some great food. This is a very encouraging sign. These things take time, but our perseverance is paying off. It’s a great program and I think the more that people learn about it the more interest there will be.
ARThub is trucking along. It’s been a little quiet lately. Some of the youth have conflicting engagements and our star artist Dominique has moved to Brandon. Hopefully this is not a permanent move. We miss him and his talents.
Live Loud has been on hold due to scheduling with most of the kids. They have conflicting extra-curricular activities with the time of the program. I also feel that if the program goes forward we really need to asses a way of paying the person running it. I think Meg has done a great job with it, however it’s hard for her to prioritize it. I do think some amount of pay would improve this.
Open Gyms also continues to be on hold due to a lack of students in our target age range in Onanole. Going forward I would like to reassess this program. I think we have all of the pieces in place to provide really great physical activity-based programing, however, there are not enough youth in the age range in Onanole right now, and many of them are already enrolled in organized sports. Erickson is another matter, however, in that case, the school has stepped up and is providing its own extra-curricular open gyms program. If we go forward with this direction I would like to look at offering more fixed term programs, and look at the possibility of family based physical activity programs. This way parents could come with younger children and participate in activities together.
This month Open Futures continues April 18th at 7pm with a presentation by Riley Nicholis from Prairie Mountain Health’s Mental Health division. She will give a presentation on the mental health resources that are available to us in our community. This should be a great and informative presentation.
We’re currently looking at several possibilities for May and June but nothing solid is confirmed yet.
Currently we’re looking at our summer schedule. We’re nearing the end of our current budget so there may be a holding period for the programs while we wait to find out about funding.
As I’ve mentioned in previous reports, we have a major grant submitted to the Synod. We’ve been informed that they will review the grant applications in April and hopefully return their decisions in good time after that. I believe that the proposal we submitted was a very good one, but I would hazard to guess which way that wind will blow.
In the meantime, I’m preparing to submit a grant proposal to Healthy Together Now, a government sponsored agency that funds programs that that address healthy living and chronic disease. I have spoken with Tara Smith, their representative in our region and she seems to think we stand a really good chance of receiving some funding from them. She has also reviewed a draft of our grant application and given it a big thumbs up.
I’m also in the process of applying to the Manitoba Arts Council for an Artists in Communities Grant to run the ARThub through the summer months.
The next Bible study will be on Thursday, APRIL 11TH at 7 pm at Dolores’s house. The topic will be JOY. Please find meaningful Bible verses to share.
The remainder of articles for layettes and quilts were donated to the local food bank. They were greatly appreciated by the clients.
Blessings on Pastor Heather as she has completed the Pastoral Clinical Experience.June – “Humility“
Report Submitted by Dolores Hall
We have a YouTube Channel - Erickson Lutheran Church -
where you may access online services.
ELC Service links will be posted on our Facebook page.
We pray for healthcare providers, vaccine suppliers, those who are ill and those who are mourning the loss of loved ones.
REMEMBER... GOD IS WITH US; WE ARE NOT ALONE.
Click here to access a Manitoba/NWOntario Lutheran service on the internet.
To receive more updates, please go to the ELC Facebook Page or sign-up for MNO Synod Newsletter for virtual services that are available at www.mnosynod.org.
Click here for information from the MNO Synod and ELCIC regarding regulations surrounding Covid-19.
Thank you for donations to our ministry and others
If you would like to support our outreach, you can make a donation or an online offering A) via etransfer to tres@ericksonlutheranchurch.ca or B) through Canada Helps by clicking the link below.
If you wish to donate to The Bethel Society, please do not use Canada Helps but forward said donation by way of cheque c/o Erickson Lutheran Church. All donations using the Donate Button will go directly to Erickson Lutheran Church.
Sunday worship is conducted with the Lutheran Order of Worship. On the third Sunday of the month, a Hymn Sing is held before worship. On the second Sunday of the month there is a Communion Service.
Located just south of beautiful Riding Mountain National Park on Highway 10, Erickson Lutheran Church holds services every Sunday at 10:00am from May to September, and 11:00am from October to April.
All are welcome to the worship services.
We will be using Facebook, our website and our newsletter as our primary ways of communicating with members and want everyone to be informed in a timely manner.
While we are back into in-person services, our services will be available online on the church's Facebook site for those who are unable to come to our in-person services
Anyone wishing to be more involved with our faith community and advocacy please call us at 1-204-636-2259. May the Peace of Christ be with you!
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