Devotional Thought

Last year our focus was “Look at what we have.” This gospel of Jesus in Word and Sacrament is what gives us our faith, life, power and hope. With those great gifts that come with the gospel, we also have received a calling to do the work our Lord Jesus has set before us.

To worship:

“Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have the habit of doing. Rather, let us encourage each other, and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

To teach and learn:

“As for you, continue in the things you have learned and about which you have become convinced. You know from whom you learned them” (2 Timothy 3:14).

To fellowship:

“They continued to hold firmly to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of the bread, and to the prayers” (Acts 2:42).

To service:

“Serve one another, each according to the gift you have received, as good stewards of the many forms of God’s grace” (1 Peter 4:10).

And to live our Christian lives and witness our faith where we are:

“You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14)

Worship Opportunities

First Friday Communion

The pastors often hear from our homebound members how they miss being with God’s people in God’s house. Some can still get out, but may not able to get to an early morning service or sit for a whole hour. We now have a brief (20-25 minutes) Communion Service on the first Friday afternoon of the month. Our First Friday Communions for the next months will be:

  • Friday, April 5 at 1:30pm
  • Friday, May 3 at 1:30pm

The ramp and elevator entrances will be open.

Prayer Service

During our Bible Class on prayer last fall, Pastor Stratman talked about how some of our churches have a monthly Prayer Service, a service focused on sharing and bringing concerns to the Lord in prayer, and the class experienced a sample Prayer Service. We now have a prayer service on the third Fridays of the month, also at 1:30pm. The service will also include a short Scripture reading and devotion. Our prayer services will be:

  • [Good Friday Service is April 19 at 1:30 p.m.]
  • Friday, May 17 at 1:30 p.m.

The ramp and elevator entrances will be open.

Lenten Midweek Services

“Three Words of Truth” is the theme of our midweek worship for the 2019 Lenten Season. Each service focuses on important three-word phrases from the record of Jesus’ passion and resurrection: “Is it I?” “Love One Another.” “Watch and Pray.” “I Am He.” “What Is Truth?” “Take Him Away!” Our pastors will be preaching in rotation with the pastors of St. John’s in Juneau and Good Shepherd in Beaver Dam. Worship services will be at 1:30 and 6:30pm on April 3 and 10.

Holy Week Services

Palm Sunday, April 14th. Procession with Palms at 9:00 (Sunday School) and 10:30 (Explorers).

Holy Week Confessional Service, Tuesday, April 16 at 1:30 and 6:30 p.m.

Holy (Maundy) Thursday Communion Worship, Thursday, April 18 at 1:30 and 6:30 p.m.

Good Friday Midday Worship, Friday, April 19 at 1:30 p.m.

Good Friday, Service of Darkness, Friday, April 20 at 7:00 p.m.

Easter Services

  • Easter Festival Services, April 21, 6:00 and 9:00 a.m.
  • Easter Communion Services, April 21, 7:30 and 10:30 a.m.

(Easter Breakfast will be served from 7:00 to 10:30 a.m.)

Confirmation

17 young people in our congregation will give public confession of their faith on May 5 in the 10:30 a.m. service. Public examination will be May 3 at 6:30 p.m.

Ascension Day

Our Ascension Day Worship with special music by the Junior and Senior Choirs will be Thursday, May 30 at 6:30 p.m.

Christian Education Opportunities

For all adults…

Our Monday and Wednesday classes continue the Bible studyof the Letters of Peter. We meet Mondays at 7:00pm and Wednesdays at 11:00pm.

For Women…

The Women’s Bible Study group meets Tuesdays (During Lent) 6:00-7:15pm in the room above the church office It’s open to all women of the congregation. After Easter, we will meet at the same time on Wednesdays.

Questions about the group or the study may be directed to Ranee Welch at 887-1624.

For Men…

The Men’s Bible Study will not meet February 3. We will meet all other Sunday evenings, 6:30-7:30pm. We will meet in the room above the church office. We are studying Jesus’ parables and word-pictures with the study “19 Minutes with the Messiah,” focusing on Jesus’ parables.

Fellowship Opportunities

Lutheran Explorers

The Explorers will host a swimming night at the YMCA along with the PTS on April 12, from 6:30 PM-8:30 PM. We can use the pools and the gym this night. Cost will be $3, unless you are a Y member. Come enjoy a night of fellowship.

May 7, will be the last meeting of the school year for the explorers. We will have a game night which the whole family can enjoy. It will start at 6:00 PM, in the church basement.

St. Stephen’s OWLS

St. Stephen’s OWLS (Organization of Wisconsin Lutheran Seniors) attempts to fulfill our motto: “Caring for Others.” Presentations keep us informed of the work carried on by our Synod and about interesting activity in our community.

The next OWLS meeting at St. Stephen’s will be on Tuesday, April 9. We’ll enjoy a potluck lunch at noon. Sarah Zondag will be with us at 1:00 p.m. for a presentation on mission work in Thailand. Please plan to join us.

The OWLS group has initiated a fellowship time following the Communion services on the first Friday of each month, providing light refreshments and a time of fellowship.

Lutheran Teens

The teens have some fun events coming up.

April 26, we will have an Un-Lock-In from 3:30 PM-9:00 PM. There will be games, food, fellowship, and Bible Study.

May 17, we will have a special teen event. More information will come at a later date.

June 19, is tentatively planned for our Six Flags trip. We leave around 7:00 AM and return about midnight.

Service Opportunities

Ladies’ Aid

Our Mission – To assist the congregation in maintaining and furthering the program of the Kingdom of our Lord.

During the first quarter of 2019, we have:

1. Sent a monetary gift to 16 students from our congregation who are away from home.

2. Voted unanimously to donate funds for the 8th grade Washington D.C. trip fund.

3. Voted unanimously to purchase crosses as a keepsake for our confirmands on an annual basis. The crosses will be given to each student on their Confirmation day. This gift had formerly been paid for by the Friendship League which has disbanded.

In May, we will host our annual Banquet as a “Thank You” to our pastors and their wives, our church secretary, and our custodial help and their spouses for their service to Ladies Aid as we carry out our duties. And also, to all our men and women who volunteer their time to serve and clean up for funeral meals. Thank you for your service.

Anyone who is interested in serving the Congregation through volunteering for funeral help may fill out a care card with your name and phone number. Please mark the card, “funeral volunteer”. Your information will be added to our list of volunteers. If you are unable to work a funeral when called, you may respond with a “no”; we just go to the next name on the list. If you have any questions, please call Bonnie Wagner at 557-1973 or Bev Haas at 382-7680.

We meet the first Thursday of every month at 1:30 in the church basement, except the May Banquet which is at noon. We do not meet during the summer months. Please join us for bible study, business meeting, food and fellowship.

We work, we laugh, we sing, we enjoy, and we would love to see you!

“O Lord, in your mercy bless these gifts, receive our offerings, and make us living sacrifices to you; through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.”

For more information please call Bonnie Wagner at 326-5872 or Bev Haas at 382-7680.

St. Stephen’s Radio Service

Since 1973 St. Stephen’s has provided a half-hour radio worship service primarily for our members who are homebound and in nursing homes, but also as a tool to share God’s Word with many others. This service provides the opportunity to hear God’s precious word and to sing with fellow Christians the hymns of the faith. It airs every Sunday at 9:30am on WBEV (1430 AM).

These services involve many people – our pastors, organist, and very importantly a volunteer congregation. We record two half-hour services on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month (September – May). We start at 7:00pm and finish around 8:10. It’s a simple and pleasant way to serve Jesus and his people. We record in the church. The Maple Ave, church office and ramp entrances will be open. Please join us! Another way to support this ministry, if you can’t participate, is with an offering. Each half-hour Sunday service on WBEV costs about $65. You can listen to our radio services over the internet. Go to our Radio Service Page and listen by streaming audio.

School News

Foundational Principles of Christian Education–

This is where we stand as a church and school that preaches God’s Word:

#1 WELS schools proclaim Jesus Christ for the salvation of souls

1 John 4:9 – This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

#2 WELS schools proclaim Jesus Christ to equip children for lives of Gospel-motivated service.

Ephesians 2:10 – For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

#3 WELS schools partner with parents and with the congregation.

Psalm 78:4 – We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.

#4 WELS schools are concerned with the quality of and care for called workers.

1 Corinthians 4:1-2 – So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

#5 WELS schools conduct all aspects of their ministry to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 – So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

To conclude, we pray with the Psalmist: May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us – yes, establish the work of our hands. (Psalm 90:16-17)

We have so many things to be thankful for in our lives. Christian education is one that we need to keep secured in our churches for many years to come. We will continue to face many of the devil’s forces in this world moving forward. We need to raise up young men and women who are prepared to take a stand and defend the Word of God in their lives. Utilizing the school at St. Stephen’s, Lakeside Lutheran High School, and Luther Preparatory School helps this to be done. Let us, as parents, use our schools to raise up God fearing young men and women that will continue to share God’s Word to future generations.

Leadership News

We continue in our triad of leaders at St. Stephen’s for the 2018-19 school year. The Lord is using his servants in a myriad of ways. Mr. Schulz, Mr. Schmidt and Pastor Dorn are all working together to help the school continue its ministry. The three gentlemen continue to do administration duties in addition to their regular calls. Mr. Schmidt helps with running the safety and curriculum meetings of the administration. Pastor Dorn is involved with the outreach arm of administration. Mr. Schulz deals with discipline and the rest of what helps keep our school moving forward. At this moment in time, we can only continue to pray that the Lord lead the person he wants to lead our school into the future. Please keep our church and school in your prayers as we look to fill the void we have in our school.

Kindergarten Round Up:

After the initial round-up was delayed due to weather, we held the Kindergarten Round-up on February 25. Four families showed up to get information on our Kindergarten program. If you know of any families that are interested in Christian education, please refer them to Mr. Schulz or Pastor Dorn.

Updates:

At our regularly scheduled Board of Education meetings we continue to discuss improvements that are going to be made to our school from a monetary grant we received from the state of Wisconsin. We also continue to discuss what is best for our school moving forward. The board also has discussed with the supervision of Mr. Schulz the implementation of a Student Information System to keep track of our day to day business, lunch accounts, student enrollment, and a number of other items. Parents please be on the look out for this as we roll it out in the next few months.

We have officially finished the first 3 quarters of our school year. We look forward to a strong finish to the 2018-2019 year.

Parents please remember that we will have school on Monday, April 22 due to the number of snow days that we had throughout the winter.

Upcoming Events:

  • April 6-7: LLHS Fine Arts Fair
  • April 24: Math Meet at LLHS
  • May 3: Public Confirmation Examination
  • May 5: Confirmation
  • May 10: Education Fair 6-8
  • May 12: Education Fair 8:30-12 (between services)
  • May 14: PTS Awards nights
  • May 20: Piano Recital
  • May 21: Band Concert
  • May 31: Last Day of School. Graduation Service at 6:30.

Help Our School by Saving Labels and Boxtops

We collect:

  • Boxtops for Education
  • Our Family UPC (proof of purchase labels). Please cut off the proof of purchase bar code and place it in the slot for St. Stephen’s at Recheck’s Food Pride or bring them directly to the school. The bar code # should key in with the #70253. Only Our Family Bar codes can be accepted.
  • There are containers in the church basement for these items or send them to school with your children. Thank you for your help!
  • For all you Amazon.com shoppers out there, please go to: www.smile.amazon.com When you sign in with your credentials, and select Saint Stephen’s Lutheran Church, Beaver Dam, as the benefactor. Every purchase will generate 0.5% to benefit our school. It may not seem like much, but every little bit helps our school.

Plan on Joining Us

The sixth annual WELS night at Miller Park will be taking place on July 12, 2019. Come cheer on the Milwaukee Brewers as they host the San Francisco Giants. Tickets are offered at 50% off to WELS members in 3 different sections. We will be putting in a group order, so you will not have to be a convenience fee.

We will also be arranging for a coach bus for transportation. In years past we have also had a tailgate with members from Good Shepherd and St. John’s in Juneau. Information and pricing will be announced in church soon. Make plans for some fellowship with fellow WELS members and cheer on the Brewers to victory!

From the Church Office

Update Your Information for Our Records We recently finished looking through old membership cards comparing, correcting and entering information into our new church database. Our church database now has the basic information it needs. But there’s other information that would make our database even more useful: contact information like cell numbers, email, second addresses (for snowbirds who fly south in the winter), student addresses. You can help us. Pick up a form and bring it to the Church Office, or update your information online at www.ssbdwels.com/updateinfo