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Calendar of Events

March 2026 Events – Jerusalem Lutheran Church

 

Date Time Event Details
Mar 1 9:45 AM Bible Study Social Hall
Mar 1 11:00 AM Worship Service Installation of Call Committee
Mar 3 10:00 AM Quilting Fellowship activity
Mar 4 4:00 PM Bell Practice Music rehearsal
Mar 4 5:00 PM Choir Practice Music rehearsal
Mar 4 6:15 PM Soup & Sandwich Lenten meal
Mar 4 7:00 PM Vespers Service Lenten worship
Mar 8 9:45 AM Bible Study Social Hall
Mar 8 11:00 AM Worship Service Weekly worship
Mar 9 1:00 PM Manna House Executive Committee Conference room meeting
Mar 10 10:00 AM Quilting Fellowship activity
Mar 12 1:00 PM WELCA Meeting Women of the ELCA gathering
Mar 14 All Day Landing Day Tour Old Ebenezer & Salzburger Museum
Mar 15 11:00 AM Worship Service Followed by potluck lunch and concert
Mar 21 9:00 AM Church Work Day Preparing church grounds for Easter
Mar 22 11:00 AM Worship Service Followed by church council
Mar 23 11:00 AM Singing at Lakeview Outreach activity
Mar 29 11:00 AM Palm Sunday Worship Holy Week begins

 

Amphitheater Revitalization

We have been blessed.

A special congregational meeting will be held Sunday, March 15 after worship to update the congregation on the revitalization of the amphitheater.

We have been blessed with donations from several sources that will cover the cost of repairs. Please plan to attend to hear about the plans and have your questions answered.

Call Committee Selection and Installation

Thank you to those who have agreed to serve on the Call Committee:

  • Amy Schnobrich

  • Chuck Holmes

  • Jane Zeigler

  • Tim Filipowski

  • Kerrie Thain

  • Lisa Repasy

The installation of the Call Committee will take place Sunday, March 1 during worship.

Annual Easter Egg Hunt and Picnic Lunch

Saturday, April 4

We are collecting items and candy small enough to fit inside plastic eggs.
Please bring donations to the church by March 28.

Thank you!

Church Work Day

Saturday, March 21 – 9:00 AM

Come help spruce things up for Easter. Bring your yard tools and join us for a fun morning of preparing the church grounds.

Landing Day – March 14, 2026

Come visit:

  • The Georgia Salzburger Museum

  • The 1850s Parsonage

  • The Salzburger House

You can also tour Old Ebenezer with Norman Turner on Landing Day.

The Piano Guy is Coming

March 15 – After Worship

Continuing the Landing Day celebration, everyone is invited to a potluck lunch after worship.

After lunch we will move to the church sanctuary for a musical performance by Simon Donaghue, known as “The Piano Guy.”

Simon Donaghue was born and educated in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is a trumpeter, pianist, teacher, Director of Music, and a member of the Piano Technicians Guild.

In Our Prayers

Members

Chip Lingle
Dianne Exley
Ed Lee
Fletcher Waldhour
Isabelle Shearouse
Johnnie Jordan
Marty and Dave Hendrix
Patrick, Margaret, Andrew, and Juliette Wheble
Virginia Spano

Friends and Family

Becky Malcolm – friend of Patsy
Beverly Mullen – sister of Chip Lingle
Brett Allen – grandson of Tommy and Kathy Allen
Emery Fennell – friend of Patsy and others
Hank Heller – relative of Jane and Ray Zeigler
Jay Walea – friend of Tracie Rahn & Sandy Gibson
Krista Seckinger – relative and friend of several
Linda Arnsdorff Murray – friend of Kathleen
Peggy Exley Anderson – family of several
Robert John – son of Jan Jovan
Stefanie Cole – niece of Lisa Repasy
Susan Exley – friend of Virginia Spano
Susan Waldhour – sister-in-law of Fletcher Waldhour and Carlene Coleman
Tony Plummer – son of Wanda Palmer, church sexton

Please notify Sandy if anyone should be added or removed from the list.

Serving in the Military, Law Enforcement & First Responders

Christopher Zeigler
Jack Thain
Kyle McCord
Morgan Milbrandt
Patrick Wheble
Thomas Smith

Message from the Council Vice Chair

I would like to thank Trellene Metzger for more than 60 years of service as our organist. She submitted her resignation to council on February 16, effective immediately. We are deeply grateful for her dedication and ask that you take time to personally thank her.

A Call Committee has now been formed and approved by the Church Council. We thank Chuck Holmes, Jane Zeigler, Amy Schnobrich, Tim Filipowski, Lisa Repasy, and Kerrie Thain. They will begin meeting to discern our vision and needs as we begin this transition toward calling our next pastor.

We have also received a gift of $100,000 from Mr. Richard Kessler and Mr. Lanier Porter for revitalization and growth. The council will carefully consider how these funds can best serve that purpose and will keep the congregation updated.

— Kathleen

Pastor’s Message

“The Hurrier I Go, the Behinder I Get.”

My mother had a plaque in her kitchen that read, “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.” As a child I didn’t understand it. My days seemed endless, and there was always tomorrow to finish whatever I had not done.

Today I understand the meaning all too well. Life moves faster. We run from task to task trying to keep up with our lists, yet the busier we get the more things seem to pile up.

Many people feel this way. We greet someone and ask how they are doing. The response is often, “Busy… busy.”

It can feel like the world has hit the fast-forward button.

Lent gives us a chance to press pause.

This season invites us to slow down, reflect, pray, and spend intentional time with God. That is why the church calls these practices Lenten disciplines. They require intention, but the reward is renewal.

So give yourself the gift of time this Lent. Join us on Wednesday evenings to worship, share a meal, and reconnect with God and one another.

Inviting you to take a slow ride this Lent,
Pastor Barb

“Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.”
— Psalm 62:5

WELCA

WELCA will begin incorporating a Concordia Bible Study into our monthly meetings.

The study is titled “Living a Chocolate Life.”

It explores how life contains both bitter and sweet moments, and how we live within God’s grace through them all. Each session includes fellowship and even a chocolate recipe to enjoy.

Meetings are held the second Thursday of each month.

All women are welcome.

Property Committee Updates

Thank you to:

  • Chuck, Todd, Gill, and Patsy for trimming shrubs along the walkway

  • Duck (Pastor Barb’s husband) for locating two gas tank leaks, replacing filters, and cleaning light fixtures in the Sunday School building

Thompson’s Gas Company installed a new gas tank on February 27.

Plans continue for the amphitheater renovation.

Website Update

The church website is nearly complete. Thank you to Sandy, Kathleen, and Ed Hitchcock for their work on this project.

The website will include interactive features and automatic updates for:

  • The Swan newsletter

  • Church calendar

  • News from Jerusalem

If you have photos from church events, please email them to the church office so they can be included.

Stewardship Corner

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do…”
— Matthew 6:16

Lent invites us to examine the things we hold dear—not out of guilt, but to see if something better may take their place.

That “something better” might include:

  • making time for others

  • helping at church

  • attending Lenten services

  • giving to charity

One thing I added this year is Sunday School. The discussions range from serious to hilarious, and the fellowship is wonderful.

Join us. It’s easy to add another table and chair.

Live generously, my friends.

Worship and Music

Our Lenten Journey began with Ash Wednesday and continues each week with:

Soup & Sandwich – 6:15 PM (Social Hall)
Vespers Service – 7:00 PM (Sanctuary)

We thank Leigh Martin for serving as accompanist during rehearsals and services.

Holy Week

  • Good Friday (April 3) – Seven Last Words of Christ with dramatic adoration of the cross

  • Maundy Thursday (April 2) – Feast of Friends Seder-style meal service

  • Easter Sunrise – 6:30 AM at the river (bring a lawn chair)

  • Flowering of the Cross – 9:45 AM

  • Festival Easter Service – 11:00 AM

Vacation Bible School

June 1 – June 5

Theme: Tropical Trek

Registration forms for Pre-K through 8th grade and volunteer forms for high school students are available in the sanctuary.

Registration opens to the public May 1.

Souper Bowl Sunday

Thank you to everyone who participated in Souper Bowl Sunday.

We raised $183 for Manna House, which will provide 1,830 pounds of food for neighbors in need.

Social Ministry

Plans are being made to celebrate birthdays for the young men at the Treutlen House.

If you have ideas for how this committee can serve others in the community, please share them.

Easter Lilies

Easter lilies will be $15 each. Order forms will be available soon.

March Birthdays

Helen Gnann – March 2
Rhiannon Cobb – March 3
Bill Hackworth – March 3
Angela Brown Lord – March 3
Tracie Rahn – March 3
Saige Silver – March 5
Johnnie Jordan – March 5
Dianne Exley – March 10
Morgan Milbrandt Brown – March 14
Fletcher Waldhour – March 19
Lynette Waldhour – March 27
Nilsa Montero – March 30

Altar Flowers for March

March 1 — In memory of Will Wendelken by Kathleen Wendelken
March 8 — In memory of Ila and Ralph Zeigler by Patsy and Gill Zeigler
March 15 — By Angela and Chip Lingle
March 22 — In celebration of Elena White’s birthday by Mary and Tim Filipowski
March 29 — In honor of my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren by Mary Sue Kessler

Volunteers for March

Lector – Pat Conway
Communion Prep – Chuck and Kristy Holmes
Lock-up – Gary Conway

Greeters:
March 1 – Mary Filipowski
March 8 – Open
March 15 – Open
March 22 – Open
March 29 – Open

Sign-up sheet available in the sanctuary.

Supporting the Ministry

You can support the ongoing ministries of Jerusalem Lutheran Church through our online giving portal:

https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZWM0

If you need assistance, please contact the church office.

Mission Statement

Jerusalem is a community in Christ whose mission and challenge as disciples is to:

  • Welcome all people

  • Worship by celebrating the Word and Sacraments

  • Witness the Gospel through sharing, loving, and service

With God’s grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit,
may we be strengthened for this mission.

If you'd like, I can also quickly:

• Format this as clean HTML (perfect for Tithely copy/paste)
• Create collapsible sections so the page isn’t extremely long
• Break it into separate website pages (Events, Prayer List, Newsletter, etc.)

That will make it feel much more like a modern church website instead of a pasted newsletter.

Are you able to provide a tabular summary chart of the the dates with events and publish that as a table below?

Yep — that’s a great idea for the website. A simple event table makes the newsletter much easier for people to scan quickly instead of reading the whole Swan. I pulled the event dates directly from the March calendar and announcements in your newsletter.

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