YELLOWSTONE – ARGYLE/APPLE GROVE
   PARISH NEWSLETTER
Office Phone: 608-543-3088
Web Site: www.YellowstoneArgyleAppleGrove.com

Our Ministry Focus: "Sharing God's grace from a hopeful place​

 

Pastor's Letter

Dear friends in Christ, 
                                                  BEGIN AGAIN!

    We had a Bible study this past summer that focused on the writings of Bruno Lanteri. Lanteri was born in northern Italy in 1759.  He became a priest, and worked diligently to share the good news of Jesus’ grace and forgiveness with the people.
   His signature statement was, “Begin again.” No matter what failure we make, misdeed we do, Bruno reminds us that, through the grace and forgiveness of Jesus, we can ALWAYS begin again. Let me share three quotes from his writings:
   “Say then with boldness [after a failure],“Now I begin,” and go forward constantly in God’s service. Do not look back so often, because one who looks back cannot run.” 
   “Keep constantly before you these two proposals that I urge you to renew often and with a holy persistence: first, never to offend God knowingly, and, secondly, if you should fall, never to persevere in this with your will, but, with humility and courage, to rise immediately and begin again.” 
   “If I should fall a thousand times a day, a thousand times a day I will begin again, with new awareness of my weakness, promising God, with a peaceful heart, to amend my life. I will never think of God as if he tires of our condition and grows weary of our wavering, weakness, and negligence. Rather, I will think of what is truly characteristic of him and what he prizes most highly, that is, his goodness and mercy, knowing that he is a loving Father who understands our weakness, is patient with us, and forgives us.” 
   Like the people he ministered to in his parish, at our Bible study, we also felt the great hope of Jesus that tells us that we can “begin again,” or in layman’s terms, “We can have a fresh start.” 
   There is no better time than at the end of one year and the beginning of another to spend time in reflection and note the things we would like to leave behind. After doing this, lift up Lanteri’s mantra and shout, “I’m going to begin again!” and then spend time reflecting on how you want to live your lives in this new year.
   I will pray that you all take time to do this reflection, receive Christ’s grace, and begin again with new commitments to one another and God.       

                                                                       ~ God bless, Dan

 

The WELCA’s from both churches want to thank everyone for helping out and making this years cookie walk another success.

 

Argyle-Apple Grove Congregational Meeting, with a possible proposal to look at in our decision making process, will take place on Sunday, January 5th following the late service at Argyle Lutheran. 

 

Our FINANCIAL BOOKS FOR 2024 WILL CLOSE ON SUNDAY,  DECEMBER 29th Any offering you want to count towards the 2024 calendar year must be received by this time. Thank you for your continued support of the ongoing ministries.

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Winter Book Club: The book “When the Heart Waits” by Sue Monk Kidd, is on backorder, so we will be delayed in starting. They are supposed to be sent out on January 4th. Once we get them, we’ll decide on a January day to meet for all who want to discuss the first third of the book. Stay tuned! 

 

Church Council/budget meetings: The Yellowstone council will meet following the service on Sunday, January 12th. The Argyle-Apple Grove council will meet on Sunday, January 19th following the service.

Quilters will meet on Tuesday, January 21st at 9:00 a.m. at Argyle Lutheran. All are welcome! 

 

Bulletin Sponsors 2025 – If you are interested in sponsoring the bulletin, please sign-up in the narthex. The cost is $25 for two weeks. 

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FIRST COMMUNION CLASSES will be held in January. Our constitution does not have a required age. If you believe that your child understands what Communion is about and is ready to partake in His meal, please sign up in the narthex. 
   We will meet on January 15th and 29th from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at the parsonage (508 Monroe St., Argyle). One parent is required to attend the first 20 minutes of the first class and a parent needs to be present at 6:50 p.m. at the end of the second meeting. If you have questions, talk to Pastor Dan.

 

November Treasurers’ and Pastor’s reports:
                Yellowstone                                        Argyle-Apple Grove 
  Beginning balance:   $12,689.44     Beginning Balance:  $18,191.74
                    Income:     $19,097.57                           Income:  $5,388.19                      

                  Expenses    $14,775.37                       Expenses:   $5,329.60
   Ending Balance        $17,011.65             Ending Balance: $18,250.33

   

Stewardship: We thank everyone for your generous support of the ministries of our congregations. If you are unable make it to church to give your offering, you may mail it to the following address: Yellowstone/Argyle-Apple Grove; Box 217; Argyle, WI 53504.

 

If you haven’t given your special offering gift to support InterVarsity Ministry and Shannon and Scott Marion yet, please do so as soon as possible.

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Confirmation classes: Because the first Wednesday of the month falls on New Year’s Day, we will be having confirmation this month on the second and fourth Wednesday – January 8th and 22nd. 
 
Coffee hour returns! On the first early service of each month, we will have coffee hour. We need people to sign up to bring goodies.

 

Annual report information should be given to Ann Bohlman by Tuesday, January 21st. Please have it ready to be copied directly into the annual report. 

Annual meetings: Argyle-Apple Grove’s annual meeting will be Sunday, February 2nd. Yellowstone’s annual meeting will be on Sunday, February 9th.  
   Both meetings will take place after the late service.

SNOW ON SUNDAY If we cancel church due to bad weather, Pastor Dan will send out an email (if you aren’t on the church email list, please let Dan know and he’ll get you on it). There will also be a posting on our church website (www.YellowstoneArgyleAppleGrove.com). 
   If you aren’t using any of that technology and you are in doubt about worship, please call the parsonage at 608-543-3088. If church is cancelled, there will be a message on the phone. If there is church, Dan or Ann, will give an update on what the road conditions are like. 
   We will not be calling any radio stations this year.

A/APplestone Youth News
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   Youth Quake details:
   *Quake weekend is February 14th – 16th at the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells. This is for youth in grades 6 – 12; friends are welcome. We have a great group going and you don’t want to miss out on an awesome weekend!!
   *Sign-up: It’s not too late to sign-up for Quake! The standard program fee is $129 per youth and is due at the time of sign-up. The last day to sign-up is Monday, January 6th – call Ann for questions or to register at 608-214-1531. 
   *Housing: Once we have the final count, we will let you know the amount due for housing (approximately $80). This includes wrist bands for the water parks.    

*Follow us on FaceBook and Instagram!

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