Times for Fellowship

Senior Moments	Senior Moments is a potluck at noon on the third Tuesday of every month. We gather to share food and conversation and a short and interesting program. There's even a door prize. The next Senior Moments potluck gathering is on March 16th. Carol Mueller, Director of the Milaca Area Food Pantry will be with us and will talk about the contributions the youth of Milaca make to the food shelf. February 16th - We ate a little food and played a little Bingo. January 19th - Ed Wentzlaff, one of the last survivors on the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941 spoke. November 17th - Pastor Tim Bauer talked about the Youth Gathering in New Orleans this past summer. we learned about the good experiences the youth had and good work they did. October 20th a few photos. September 15 - Attention class! Our guest was our new Superintendent of Schools, Jerry Hansen. Your attendance was noted in your Permanent Record! August 18th, our guest speaker was Dawn Slade, manager and ace reporter for the Mille Lacs County Times. John from the Rum River Interfaith Caregivers was our July 21st guest speaker. Visit their web site for ways you can help and be helped. June 16th we played a little Bingo. May 19th Linda Ransom told us about the Salvation Army - what they do and how it gets done.
Get to Know Zion! March 21st	Have you been worshiping here at Zion and would like to get to know more about the mission and ministry of this community of faith? Have you considered making Zion your church home? Zion's Evangelism Team would like to invite you to join us on Sunday, March 21 and learn more about how you can become an active and vital member of Zion! Mark your calendar and plan to join us! Please contact the Church Office (983-3368) or Pastor Blenkush if you plan to attend. Zion will receive new members on Sunday, May 2nd.
Easter Flower Garden	We are taking orders for potted flowers to enhance the sanctuary and narthex on Easter Sunday. If you'd like to order a plant, please fill out the info in the bulletin and place in the offering plate. Orders must be into the church office by March 18. Flowers may be picked up after the 10:30 am Easter service. Make checks payable to Zion Lutheran Church – note "Easter flowers" in memo blank.
Blessing of the Golden Couples	On Sunday, February 7th, we honored couples who have been married for 50 years or more. See photos of the couples who were at worship that day.
Young Adults Fellowship Group	March 7th - Have you been looking for a fellowship group for young adults (age 20-30's give or take)? If so, back in January a group of folks began such a group and they met here at Zion for and evening of pizza and games. And now in March they are going to meet again at the home of Jeremy and Andrea Mikla. This time it will be Wii games. Folk are invited to gather at the Mikla home around 5:00 PM. They live at 13248-130th Avenue on the west side of Milaca. Their home phone is 983-5616. Mark the date on your calendar and plan to join the fun! Child care is available!
Passing the Peace	With the continued outbreak of H1N1 Flu viruses going around the question has come up, “Should we continue to pass the peace and shake hands?” In lieu of “banning” people from greeting one another with a handshake, it might make sense to encourage each of us to appropriately diligent in matters of health. In other words, if you are not feeling well, stay home and get the needed rest and recuperation. If you need to cough or sneeze, make use of a tissue or cough in your sleeve. Be sure to diligently wash your hands or use something along the lines of Purell hand sanitizer to eliminate the spread of germs. Obviously you might want to reconsider sharing beverages containers. Let’s use some common sense and good hygiene during this time of concern. If you still feel uncomfortable shaking hands, try bowing, a gentle fist bump, a big smile or maybe even a wave! A related note … if you are experiencing a fever over 100.0 degrees and have a cough, sore throat, stuffy nose, and in some cases diarrhea and vomiting, you should not be outside your home or attending public activities like worship. If you or a family member is experiencing these flu like symptoms please call your clinic to get their recommendation. It would be prudent to stay home 24 hours after the fever is gone, without using fever-reducing medication, and be able to participate in normal daily activities before returning to public participation. New this week from the Minnesota Department of Health is the Minnesota Flu Hotline (1-866-259-4655). You may call this number 24 hours a day for medical advice if you have flu symptoms. For the most current and accurate flu information go to: Minnesota Department of Health or US Health Department Flu Site
Santa Lucia Luncheon	The Santa Lucia Luncheon was held December 11th. Seven girls who were Santa Lucia in previous years attended. See some photos of this year's luncheon and read the story of Santa Lucia.
"Supper’s Ready Already!"	Need a way to make your meal planning and preparing easier?… have you heard of (or tried) services like “Let’s Dish” to help reduce the amount of meal prep time? Are you looking for quick, healthy alternatives to fast food and frozen pizza dinners? If so, let us present you with an opportunity! We are looking for people who are interested in forming a meal-sharing group here at Zion. Ideally each group would have eight people. Each of these folks would bring the ingredients to make the recipe they've been given for eight families. We'd get together once a month and put them together assembly line style and leave with a cooler full of eight different dinner options for our families! Sessions would take approximately 1-2 hours each month. We’d ask that meals serve 6 – that way if smaller families or couples want to participate they can split each meal into two and go home with 16 meals! Recipes will be provided (no cooking will be done at church – any prep work including any pre-cooking ingredients would be done by the person providing the meal). If you are interested, please call the church office at 983-3368 and ask to be placed on the “Supper’s Ready Already” list, or sign up on the bulletin board in the narthex. If you have questions, please call Kari Erickson at 983-2541.
HomeTouch Ministry	Zion's Evangelism Team has begun a new ministry called HomeTouch. A weekly mailing is sent to Zion's members who are homebound or restricted in their ability to get around, The mailing includes a devotional reading and an activity page. If you know of anyone in the congregation who is not already getting the mailing and should, please alert the church office.
2009 Lutheran Links Golf Scramble "fore" Hunger was September 13th!	See photos ! We had 75 participants and raised over $3000! After the bills are paid, the proceeds will benefit the Milaca Food Pantry and our ELCA Hunger Appeal. Thanks to our Lutheran Links Planning Team: Wes and Carol Johnson, Rich and Shirley Perry, Andrea Mikla, Kari Erickson, Brad Maitland, Sam and Jennifer VanderPlaats, and Lyman Malberg. And thanks to everyone who participated and made it a wonderful day.
Meatball Supper & WELCA Bazaar Update	The meatball supper raised $2,269.72 plus $450 of supplementary funds from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bringing the total to $2,719.72. 10% will be donated to the Rum River Interfaith Caregivers and the remainder will go to the Zion Youth. The Silent Auction made $490, the Craft & Bake Sale made $570.25, the Raffle made $549 (tablecloth $195 & quilt $354), bringing the WELCA Bazaar’s total funds raised to $1,609.25. Winner of the quilt was Linda Nelson and Jeanette Hanenburg won the tablecloth. Thank you to everyone for your efforts.
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs	submitted by Randy Hemstad “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” is the current nation-wide hit movie that just made $25 Million this past week and was rated the top grossing movie. Well, the Men’s 16th Annual Meatball Supper didn't quite match the income as the above movie, but it was clear outside and brought over 470 meatball lovers inside for our annual fund raiser. We are still waiting for bills to come in, but the event grossed nearly $4,000! We will also be applying for Thrivent Funds which could add as much as $800 to the gross. Net funds raised will be used for the youth of Zion, with a portion being donated to the Milaca Food Shelf. Thanks are most certainly in order for the many people that made this another successful supper. The ladies of Zion helped in countless ways to make the supper run smoothly. If I started mentioning the many names and portions of the supper that they helped with I would certainly miss something or someone—so, thank you ladies very much for your continued support. Also, thanks guys for making a chairman’s job much easier for all the “yes I can help” responses I received. We had 18 men at the Legion working on peeling potatoes and making meatballs. The evening crew consisted of 40 men working as servers, dish washers, floor pick-up staff, and many other jobs throughout the evening. I was very glad to see several of our new/young members get very involved this year. The funds raised by this supper were an important objective of the event. But, I found the camaraderie amongst all the workers to be very inspiring and equally as important in making this another successful event for Zion. Thank you everyone. (photos)
Worship Schedule	The regular schedule is in effect. Worship is at 8 and 10:30 a.m. with fellowship in Centennial Hall between services.
Home Visits by Pastor Blenkush	Has Pastor Blenkush been invited to your home for a visit? If not, please feel free to give him a call, talk to him in person or fill out the blue communion card. He would love to stop in for a visit!
Coffee and Fellowship on Sunday Mornings	Stay after worship or come a little early and share coffee and fellowship with old and new friends at Zion. Have a treat and a cup of coffee and a little conversation. And please sign up to serve one Sunday morning soon.
Weekly Bible Studies	Learn and enjoy fellowship at the same time with Daily Discipleship Bible Study on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. More information Check the Learn This Month page for more learning opportunities
WELCA and Circles	Come to WELCA's bi-monthly meetings and be part of a Circle. You can enjoy serving and learning and fellowship all at one time! See the calendar for meeting times. More info about WELCA.
Cursillo Gatherings	The Cursillo group meets monthly on the first Saturday of the month at 8 a.m. The gathering rotates between Zion and Trinity. Any adult interested in this Christian renewal movement is invited to join us. Check the calendar for date and place.