Adult Formation Hour Options

9:20 a.m. 

12/25

Merry Christmas!!

Holiday Worship Service Schedule

Longest Night Service: 12/21 @ 7:00pm

Christmas Eve Service: 4:00, 7:00 and 10:00pm 

(with special music at all services)

Christmas Day Service (Lessons & Carols): 10:00am

New Year Day Service: 10:00am 

Longest Night: Blue Christmas Evening Prayer

While Advent is a season of hope and Christmas is a season of joy, not everyone feels hopeful or like celebrating. Grief, illness, aging, depression, loneliness, unemployment, and loss are magnified. Even those who are not struggling with losses may feel the stress of preparations and expectations around Christmas time. We come together seeking healing and room to share grief, sadness, loneliness, or confusion when these emotions often feel out of place during the holidays.

In the Northern Hemisphere, December 21 is the longest night, the winter solstice. It marks the shortest day of the year, the official start of winter. Tradition says that nature and all her creatures stop and hold their breath to see if the sun will turn back from its wanderings, if the days will lengthen and the earth will once again feel the sun’s warmth. On this darkest day of the year, we come with our honest yearnings seeking the return of light and hope.

2022 ANGEL TREE PROJECT A GREAT SUCCESS

THANKS TO VERY GENEROUS DONORS

Priscilla Bible Study is very grateful with the outcome of our 2022 Advent giving project.  The generosity of the donors exceeded our expectations!   We received donations during a 3-week giving window to be able to provide $25 gift cards for sponsored Porter County families.   Together, our generous donors & Priscilla Bible Study ladies were able to share God’s love with some wonderful adults & children.  Together, we spread even more joy over the birth of the Christ child to 80 adults & children in our community.

THANK YOU ANGEL TREE DONORS FOR YOUR  SUPPORT & GENEROSITY!!!

For this Advent Season, 51 adults & 29 children, living in Porter County, were sponsored by our nonprofit partner groups: Housing Opportunities & Caroline’s Place with Lisa Franko, Hilltop Neighborhood House with Amy Osburn, Disabled American Veterans of Porter County with Mr. Ed Seykowski, Little Lamb Preschool with Jen Gottlieb, as well as CLC Staff with Jenny Bias plus a Ukrainian family that came to Valparaiso last Fall with Julie Carter from Immanuel LC.  Priscilla Bible Study group really appreciates the wonderful helpfulness of these partners.

A total of $2,006 was donated for our service project, & just $6 remains in the Angel Tree Fund  (to be carried forward to 2023).  Members & friends confidentially donated money to the established 2022 Angel Tree Fund & then Walmart gift cards ($25 each) were purchased.  The gift cards were distributed to our nonprofit sponsors with a real Christmas card containing a cordial & personal holiday message in an envelope with the appropriate number of gift cards for each family unit.  Our sponsors then delivered the Christmas cards & gift cards to their recipient families on or before Christmas Day.

The generosity of our donors was overwhelming & heart-warming!  The path for sharing the joy of the birth of the Christ-child was 80 people wide! 

Getting to Know CLC

Join us to learn more about Christ Lutheran's ministry, history, and teaching.  We'll gather for a 3-week series during the Formation Hour on Sundays (9:20am-10:20) January 8, 15 and 22 in the Church Hall, followed by an opportunity to formally stand with the congregation, confess our faith together, and declare that "Yes! God has something for me here."  Register for our series here. 

2022 End of Year Contributions

As we approach the end of 2022, please take a moment to read the following guidelines for year-end giving.

All contributions received on Friday, December 30, will be recorded in 2022.  Please remember to clearly write your name, the amount of the contribution, and the purpose of the donation (operating budget, social ministry, etc.) on your envelope.  (Tip:  Several of our members use return address labels on their envelopes – quick and easy!)

Our envelopes have preprinted lines for Operating Budget, Social Ministry Monthly Emphasis, and Special Offering (for any other offerings).  Please indicate the amount for each fund on the appropriate line.  If your gift is designated for something other than the Operating Budget or Social Ministry Monthly Emphasis, please indicate the amount and the purpose.  Please note that all contributions that are not designated will be put towards the Operating Budget.  If you don’t have preprinted envelopes, feel free to use one of our pew envelopes (located in the pews and on top of the indoor lockbox outside the church office).

The church can accept gifts of securities!  If you would like to transfer securities to the church, or if you would like to transfer the proceeds from the sale of securities to the church, please contact the church office for more information.

Welcome Center Volunteers

Another volunteer opportunity awaits you.  If you would like to greet our visitors and make them feel like family, please sign up to be a Welcome Center Volunteer.

Here is the link to sign up:

   https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F054AAEA72EA1FC1-welcome

CLC RETREAT

WHAT DO YOU DO AT A RETREAT?  That’s an often-asked question.  In addition to listening to talks by our Pastor as well as some of your fellow church members, we worship, relax, visit and spend quiet time alone with God as well as time together with others from Christ Lutheran.  The Retreat begins on Friday evening, February 17, and ends on Sunday morning, February 19 at the Lindenwood Retreat Center in Donaldson, IN (near Plymouth).    Registration is now open.  Go to CLC’s website, or pick up a registration form from the Gathering Space at CLC.

Costa Rica

The Christ Lutheran Church Multigenerational Vision trip to Costa Rica is a go for 2023!  Join the team to learn about Christian responses to climate change and refugees in a mutual way with an intentional Christian community in Costa Rica - Casa Adobe.  The team will also visit a rural area to learn about coffee and pineapple production, and finish the visit with time at the beach.  The dates have been set for June 24- July 1, 2023.  The trip is open to families and individuals ages 12-99.  Registration will close December 30, 2022, and monthly team meetings will begin in January, 2023.  Team coordination by Lutheran Deaconess Kat Peters, M.Ed, M.A. in Rural Development. Costa Rica coordination by Lutheran Deaconess Heidi Michelsen, Director of The Praxis Center, Valparaiso University’s Costa Rica Study Center.

Our church is changing the lives of young people! CLC's youth ministry provides space for middle school kids and high school teens to find community, connection, and safety. We need your help to ensure it continues! We need caring adults to volunteer as adult leaders in our weekly programs. Please prayerfully consider this opportunity! You'll hear from us again in January!

In Christ,
The CLC Youth Board

December 2022

Bethel Lutheran Church – Miller/Gary

December’s Social Ministry emphasis is to provide monetary support, along with increasing partnership activities, for Bethel Lutheran Church, a diverse, urban ELCA congregation in the Miller neighborhood of Gary, Indiana (part of NW Indiana Conference of I-K Synod) http://bethelmiller.org and http://facebook.com/bethelmillerbeach    Bethel’s Pastor is Rev. Joy Heine, and Greg Bueltmann is Director of Music.  Bethel means "house of God" and members believe strongly “that the God of Jesus Christ truly is present as they regularly gather in fellowship around his Word and sacraments”.  CLC has partnered with Bethel over many years, including our 2^nd joint worship service at Lake Michigan this past summer, and it is wonderful to further increase relationships with a sister congregation.

· CLC began as an ELCA suburban mission congregation almost 52 years ago. 

The ELCA I-K Synod Mission and Urban Congregation programs some years ago

refocused on needs of urban, rural, and diverse congregations.

Help achieve our goal of $2500 in December (over and above giving combined with CLC’s budgeted amount of $1200).  By achieving our goal CLC will help Bethel Lutheran continue to thrive as a congregation with outreach activities to organizations such as Interfaith Action Network, Crisis Center, and Sojourner Truth House.  Use your weekly worship giving envelope mailed with check to CLC and indicate “Bethel” or contribute through Subsplash on the CLC website https://clcvalpo.org via the “Give” button.  Thank you to members for supporting monthly social ministry emphases.

CLC Recycling Project.  Dave Keammerer collects aluminum cans each Sunday morning.  Cans can be placed in Dave’s red Ford truck in the church parking lot or in the white basket in the Gathering Place.  The cans are collected, deposited, and then dollars obtained are given to LWR kit projects.  If you have any questions about logistics for contributing, you can find Dave at 9:20 Faith Formation hour.

Sandy & Dave Keammerer are always collecting the following items for Lutheran World Relief (LWR).  Please drop off at the church and put in white basket in Gathering Place and feel free to call the office if you have any questions.

Baby Care Project, Personal Care Kit, and Fabric Kit - there is a need for mailing tape. Each box must be taped before it can be shipped to the Lutheran World Relief warehouse.

Baby Care Kit Project

2023 Goal-570

Items collected - 100

BABY CARE KITS
All clothing items 6 months to 2T
(2) gowns or sleepers: long- or short-sleeved
(2) t-shirts: lightweight cotton
(1) jacket/sweater/sweatshirt: with hood, or include a baby cap
(2) pairs of socks
(2) receiving blankets: medium-weight cotton or flannel, or crocheted, or knitted with lightweight yarn, up to 52" square
(4) cloth diapers: flat fold preferred
(1) hand towel: dark color recommended
(2) gentle soap bars: 4oz., bath-size, in original wrapping
(2) diaper pins: or large safety pins
3-ply baby yarn and flannel fabric in increments of .75 yards.

Please indicate if items given are laundered. 
 

Fabric Kit Project

2023 Goal-150

Items collected - 24

Items Needed-cotton or cotton blend fabric in 3 yard lengths

FABRIC KITS
(2) spools of thread (250-300 yards)
(2) pieces of cotton/cotton blend fabric (3 yards)
 

Personal Care Kits

Item collected  - 135

PERSONAL CARE KITS
New and in original packaging
(1) bath towel: lightweight, dark color preferred (between 20' x 40" and 27" x 52")
(1) toothbrush: adult size
(1) nail clipper
(2) bars of soap (4 oz.)
(1) Sturdy comb

LWR QUILTERS 

2023 Goal:  500

2023 Quilt Count:  183