Note: The documentary film screening, with discussion, is Saturday February 22 at Christ Lutheran.

Refugee Support Group Meeting

The Valparaiso Refugee Family Support Group will meet on Sunday, March 2 at 12pm in the Church Hall. Join us for an update and work coordination session as we support our refugee family. Contact Lucas Ecklund-Baker at lucas.ebaker@gmail.com or (219) 508-1497 for questions. See you then!

Scholarship Needs

There are several families this year that are in need of tuition scholarships for Little Lamb for the remainder of the 2024-2025 school year. There are different ways you can support a child, either by paying the monthly scholarship portion they have been awarded (4 months remain this school year) or by offering a donation to our scholarship fund. The needs for this year are:

2 - $50.00 Scholarship per month for 4 months.

Please let Jen Gottlieb, Director of LLP, know if you want to donate in this way by calling 462-6660, Ext 14 or emailing llp@clcvalpo.org.  Thank you for your consideration!

Attention All Thrivent Financial Members! 

Do you have any Thrivent Choice Dollars that have not been directed to the charity of our choice? 

Minimum and maximum Choice Dollars Designations 

Eligible clients will be designated a minimum of 25 Choice Dollars and a maximum of 5,000 Choice Dollars per eligibility period (Jan. 1 to Dec. 31). 

Choice Dollars designated during the calendar year can be directed until 

March 31, 2025. 

There are two ways of directing Choice Dollars to Christ Lutheran Church: 

Computer: Go to the Thrivent Financial web site (www.Thrivent.com) and direct the Choice Dollars on-line. 

Phone: Call Thrivent Financial at 1-800-847-4836. When prompted by the electronic answering system, say “Thrivent Choice.” Follow the remaining prompts, and a representative will come on the line to assist you. You will need your Thrivent membership ID number and will need to answer some other personal questions to verify that you are the Thrivent member who is on the line. 

Getting to Know CLC

Curious how God changes lives in and with this congregation?  Join us to for our “Getting to Know CLC” series as we explore 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) February 9, 16 and 23 in the Sanctuary, 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:

https://groups.planningcenteronline.com/groups/2494676/members

HELP NEEDED FOR ALTAR SERVICE AT CLC 

We are in great need of one or two people to help after the 10:30 service with altar work.  This service would be easy clean-up of the altar area and communion ware.  We would be happy to work with you until you are comfortable with these simple tasks.  We can accomplish this work in as little as 15 minutes with 3 people working together.  

Please consider this important work as your service to CLC.  This can be a mother- daughter team, mother-son team, father/combo team, 2 friends, a couple, or any combination of volunteers.  You can also offer your help as one person.  We like to have 3 people working together each week to make the work go quickly.  We work from a sign-up/ and sign/out board in the sacristy. 

If this is something you could do or would be willing to try, please contact: 

Marilyn McGawn at memcgawn@comcast.net or 

Marla Niksch at niksch1758@comcast.net.  

We would GREATLY APPRECIATE any time you can give. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

Marla and Marilyn 

Worship and Arts Committee 

CLC Social Ministry and Mission

February 2025

Speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all who are helpless.  (Proverbs 31:8)

Social Ministry Emphasis for February is Hilltop House www.hilltophouse.org and Refugee Family Support Fund.

February’s emphasis is to provide monetary and volunteer support for Hilltop House, Hilltop Food Pantry, and CLC’s Refugee Family Support Fund.  HH is located “on a hill” in a neighborhood west of Valparaiso U. where social service needs are real for the families and children living there.    HH can provide as a health care provider Medicare and Hoosier Healthwise benefits to those in Porter County living below the poverty level (estimated to be 9000 children and 4000 women in Porter County).  A gift of $50 permits Hilltop to provide childcare, health care, and community improvement activities within a child’s own family setting (also contributions may qualify for Indiana’s Neighborhood Assistance Tax Credit). 

Also, look for the Hilltop Soup dinner fundraiser Tuesday, March 18 at VU Union (volunteers from CLC will be solicited to help with setup, cleanup, and other activities).  And, the Hilltop Food Pantry Hilltop | Food Pantry (hilltophouse.org) welcomes food donations at 606 Union Street, Valpo,

CLC’s Refugee Family Support Fund has been a wonderful help to our local Refugee Family over the past year.  Our family has found housing, employment, a means of transportation, English language training, schools for the kids, faith communities, and more this past year.  As the family continues to transition to life in Valpo and Northwest Indiana, this Support Fund continues to help the family move towards independence and sustainability. Also, look for volunteer opportunities throughout the year to assist members of the family and to get to know the family better.

Help achieve our goal of $2500 in February (over and above giving combined with CLC’s budgeted amount of $1200).  By achieving our goal CLC will help Hilltop and our Refugee Family continue to thrive.  Use your weekly worship giving envelope with check to CLC and indicate “Hilltop/Refugee” or contribute through Subsplash on the CLC website clcvalpo.org via the “Give” button, choosing “Social Ministry Emphasis” from the pull down menu.  Thank you to members for supporting monthly social ministry emphases.

Daybreak Shelter

After 18 years of area churches hosting new creation men, 14 or those years at Christ Lutheran, the Daybreak Men's shelter and warming shelter for unhoused men and women has opened on Feb 1st.

Our help is still needed as the warming shelter for folks living in cars, tents, parks or generally on the street, cannot run without volunteers covering the three shifts. 

Those shifts are 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm, 11:00-3:00 am and 3:00 am to 7:00 am. There is a short training video or Don MacMillian, Diana Iltzsche or Lisa Owen can help you with details. 

Meals are also still needed for the men who were formerly in the new creation program. The men eat at 5:30 at the new shelter in its very nice dining hall. There is parking right in front of the glass doors going into the hall so you can bring easily park and bring your prepared meal right inside. There are dishes, silverware,  water, and salt and pepper for the meals. 

The first link below is to sign up to volunteer for a shift. The second if for a meal. You can sign up to prepare the meal or sign up to serve it too. If you want to just drop off the meal, just sign up to "prepare meal" . If you can stay the 30-40 minutes to serve it and help clean up, sign up to "serve meal" as well. 

Shawn Blank is the volunteer coordinator and you can also direct questions to him. He can be reached at 219-246-7173. 

The Daybreak shelter is located at:

505 Don Hovey Drive. 

Thank you, Christ Lutheran Church for caring for our vulnerable neighbors.

http://volunteersignup.org/DKPBF

http://volunteersignup.org/RKHY7

Diana Iltzsche (219-628-0950)

Don MacMillian ( 219-921-4305)

Lisa Owen ( 219-477-9240)

“Faith at Work” Participants needed!

In the spring 2025 months we are looking for CLC members, guests, & friends who would be willing to reflect and share about vocation, call, and their faith at work. We will likely have several people with similar work situations participate in the same week as a group panel to share their thoughts. Guiding questions will be provided before the sessions, such as : What called/calls to you in your work? Does your work give you a particular window on God at work in the world, or on the needs of the world? Is there a way that you understand your work as service to God and neighbor? Are there places in your field/your work that are a struggle to fit with your faith, or where you feel a tension/disconnect? How have your thoughts about your work changed as you’ve moved deeper into your field and grown in faith? 

Please talk to Pastor Erica or Karen Hernes karenhernes@gmail.com if you are interested in participating. 

Attention all Youth

If you are participating in the ISSMA program this year through your school, we would love to have you share your talents with us in worship. If you are interested, please contact or speak with Mr. Bartusch to schedule a time to play during our Sunday morning worship services.