November 2025

In the month of October we held several mission events in and around our congregation. I think it’s worth highlighting the work of our congregation. On October 12th, we hosted our annual Mission Festival. We had NALC Development Director Maddie Benson speak to us about the work on the NALC. She focused on Youth and Family Ministry and the formation process for new pastors. She chose to speak on these ministries because they are areas where ALC has done good work. Our Foundation Scholarship has supported many seminarians from our mission district (myself included). When there is more than enough money for local seminarians, the rest goes to the North American Lutheran Seminary Network for other NALC seminarians.

As for youth ministry, our Congregation helped to support the BYLD event in July. I’ve previously written about Andrew and Aubrie’s experience at this discernment event. We had several young adults, including Andrew, who have stated their interest in becoming pastors because of this event. We also hosted a mission district wide youth lock-in on October 17th and 18th. 22 youth representing 7 churches attended the event. As this was the first event like this, we all felt it was a huge success. Our support of these events helps to make them possible.

We also have ministries that support people outside our walls. On Monday the 27th, the canteen run team from ALC served 83 people from around Champaign, Illinois. With the Government shut-downs this ministry is more crucial than ever. The food and clothing for this ministry is mostly donated by the ALC and Immanuel Lutheran Church. During the lock-in, we had the youth work with Terry and the disaster relief team to make over a hundred flood buckets and health kits. This helped to refill our depleted store house.

Finally, our Youth and Outreach trustees Joyce Holland and Deanne Rosenbeck organized a Trunk or Treat event. On Sunday, October 26th, we had 19 cars and 1 Semi-truck parked around Eden Park to hand out candy, play games, and serve hotdogs. While we were not able to get an exact count of people who attended the event, we know that over 270 hotdogs were served. I spoke with two couples about membership at the event and was able to share my contact with a few more.

These events demonstrate the life and vitality of our congregation. You have all heard me constantly saying that God does not need our good works, but the neighbor surely does. God has given us the command to love Him and love the neighbor above all else. These events and ministries give us opportunities to care for our neighbors and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I commend the diligent serpents in this congregation. Let’s keep these ministries going. If you have ideas or would like to see other ministries formed within the congregation, please reach out to me.