Worship Ministry is led by our Pastor and includes the Altar Guild, the Worship and Music Committee, the Worship Assistants and the Worship Accompanist. Altar Guild is a ministry that involves preparing the worship space with the furnishings, appointments, vessels, elements, linens, and paraments used in the service. The overall goal of the altar guild/sacristy is to see that the worship space is kept beautiful and in good order, both to glorify God and to provide a setting that helps enable the congregation to worship in a meaningful way. The Worship and Music Committee meets monthly to select hymns for the Sunday worship. They use “Sundays and Seasons” which has many suggestions for the theme of the day based on scriptures. They use many other resources as they plan the services. The Praise ensemble is also included in the planning. They welcome suggestions for the service. Worship Assistants are the volunteers that assist with the service each Sunday. This includes the Ushers, Greeters, Readers, Communion Assistants and Counters.
The Support Ministry includes Thrivent, Stewardship, Fellowship, WELCA, and Quilters. Stewardship educates the congregation about the importance of tithing, time and talents. They encourage the members to be involved in the activities in the church. Fellowship is important at Christ Lutheran Church. We have fellowship time after every worship service and have coffee, goodies and conversation. In addition, we have First Sunday Potluck every month. There are special events throughout the year. WELCA is the Women of the ELCA. The women participate in WELCA activities. CLCW (Christ Lutheran Church Women) are involved in many events and activities. All women of the church are invited to take part in CLCW. Quilters are going to be meeting in the lodge to work on quilts together. It will be a great time for fellowship and fun.
The Facilities Ministry consists of the Building and Grounds, the Memorial Garden, and the Food Garden ministries. Building and Grounds mows and maintains the church grounds, cleans up areas around the church, prepares and plants our planters, does maintenance on the church building and out buildings. Church volunteers do some of this work, but the major portion of this ministry comes from the Monday Morning Men. They are a group of men who meet on Mondays to work on a variety of projects. They are a group of “coffee drinking, donut eating” band of tool bearing volunteers. Ashes of members can be interred in the Memorial Garden, which is small plot on the church property. The Food Garden is a fenced in area with raised beds for planting vegetables each spring.
Witness Ministry includes Evangelism, Lay Outreach Ministry, and Missions Ministry. Our church members do evangelizing with caring. Lay Outreach Ministry team has a group of four people and the Pastor. They visit with, pray with and take communion to those in the hospital, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes and shut-ins. The Mission Ministry works on fund-raisers for Lutheran World Relief, ELCA Disaster Response, the Maasai School, and China Ventures. They pack up kits and quilts for LWR several times a year.
Learning Ministry includes Saturday Men’s Bible Study, Dorcas Circle Bible Study, Sunday School Teachers, Adult Education Teachers, and Book Club. Saturday Men’s Bible Study meets at 8:00am on one Saturday a month for breakfast and bible study. Pastor Clauson leads the bible study and the men in the group provide breakfast on a rotating basis. Dorcas Circle meets on the second Monday of every month at 9:30am at the church. They use the bible studies found in the Lutheran women’s magazine Gather. The Sunday School Teachers are made up of a group of women who provide Sunday School classes for the children during the worship service. They rotate so that they do not miss all of the worship services. We have an Adult Bible Study class at 9:00am before the worship service. The Pastor leads the Adult Bible Study. The Book Club meets about once a month. They have read a large variety of books chosen by those who participate in the book club. They have lively discussions when they meet. They have met in the evenings and have started meeting in the morning during the winter months.
Service Ministry is a very big part of the ministry at the church. It includes the North Mason Coalition of Churches & Community, Peace & Justice and Faith in Action. The Coalition of Churches is very involved in a community dinner once a month and a lunch every week. They do a backpack program during the school year to help feed needy families and summer lunches for kids who do not get free lunches when school is out. The need has grown rapidly. They also do a canning program using our lodge. Peace and Justice is involved with World Hunger, Fair Trade, Stand with Africa and ELCA Disaster Response. The Food Brigade distributes food for the hungry through the North Mason Resource Center. Christ Lutheran has supported Faith in Action financially and with volunteer time since its inception in 2001. It is a non-profit , interfaith and community organization whose mission is to support independent living for senior and disabled neighbors.
