Thanksgiving Services at St. John's

Please join us for Thanksgiving worship services at St. John's!

Wednesday, November 25 at 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, November 26 at 9:00 a.m.

You can also stream the services at those times at stjohnsmilw.online.church.

No Midweek Advent Services

St. John's will not be offering midweek Advent services this year. Unlike "normal" years, we will have more opportunities to explore the themes of Advent on Sundays during our regular worship services since we will not be offering the Children's Christmas services or our "Lessons and Carols" song service.

In lieu of the midweek services, you are encouraged to find a good Advent devotional to read throughout the month December. You may pick up a free copy of an Advent devotional this weekend (while supplies last)! Or click on the button below to be taken to a webpage with several online devotion books.

CLICK HERE for information about midweek worship at other area WELS churches. You may also want to check out websites of area WELS churches not listed here.

Thank you for your understanding on this change, and please contact the church office with any questions.

Online Devotion Books for the Advent Season

Christmas at St. John's

Due to the restriction of 100 people maximum for gatherings in the City of Milwaukee, we will be asking people to sign up to attend services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Our goal is to accommodate everyone attending our Christmas services as much as possible given the limitation. A special email will go out on Monday, November 30 with a link to a sign-up. For those who do not have internet at home, you may call the office on that day or thereafter to sign up. Office hours that week will be Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to Noon.

Christmas Eve

Thursday, December 24 at 4:30 & 6:00 p.m.

If these services fill up, we will add an additional service at 3:00 p.m.

Christmas Day

The service time or times will be determined later based on interest. Sign up if you are interested in attending worship on that morning, and then look for a communication about it after December 8.

All services will also be streamed at various times, including late Christmas Eve for those who might be accustomed to the later service.

Again, you will receive on email on November 30 with information on how to sign up. Please do not call the office to sign up before that date.

If you have any questions, please contact Levi Nagel at levi.nagel@stjohnsmilw.org or 703-975-1319.

Office Hours

The office will be open until Noon today (Wednesday) and closed the remainder of this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

November 30 through December 4, office phone line will be open to receive calls 8 a.m. until Noon each day.

The office will be open on Monday, November 30 from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m., but closed Tuesday, December 1 through Friday, December 4.

2021 Altar Flowers

It's time to sign up to provide altar flowers in 2021. There are multiple convenient ways to sign up this year. CLICK HERE for more information.

Bountiful Harvest Food Drive

St. John’s Member Care Committee is asking you to donate items that they can pass on to members who are in need. The following items are needed:

• Items needed: canned tuna (or pouches), canned chicken or shrimp, chicken noodle soup, tomato soup, vegetable soup, fruit juice (large bottles or juice boxes), jelly, canned peaches, pancake mix and syrup, ramen noodles, snack crackers, brownie/cake mix, rolls of paper towels, 4-packs of toilet paper, facial tissue, small bottles of hand sanitizer
• In-person monetary donations: Make checks payable to “St. John’s,” write “Member Care Committee” on the memo line.
• Online donations: Donate through our website. Be sure to select "Member Care" in the Fund field.
• Gift cards (Ex: Pick & Save, Target and gas cards)
• You may place your food donations in the boxes located in the Welcome Center entry and school entry. Monetary and gift card donations can be given to office staff or placed in the box at the Welcome Center kiosk.

St. John's, let's take this opportunity to be generous and fill the containers to the brim so that we may continue to serve our neighbors through our food pantry ministry!

If your family could use a bag of groceries from the St. John's food bank this week, please call the church office at 414-541-5881.

Did you take a "Kitchen Card"?

Just a reminder that if you took a card to purchase a kitchen item, you are asked to return the item to either the Welcome Center kitchen or the new building kitchen by Sunday, November 29. Thank you!!!

School News

"Exemplary" Accreditation Result

This past week members of an outside accreditation team spent a couple of days at our school. Their visit began last spring in March but was shut down because of Covid-19. The team was able to complete much of their work virtually through our accreditation website. When their work was finally complete St. John’s received a 99% rating through WELSSA, an exemplary status.

Thank you to the St. John’s teachers and staff who participated in the self-study and a big "thank you" to the parents and volunteers who also helped us achieve such a high rating.

While it is again nice to see St. John’s continued operation of a top-quality school, our school exists to prepare children of our church and community for life and eternity through Jesus.

Call News

Mr. Paul Kanzenbach continues to hold a Call to serve as School Music Coordinator at Peace Lutheran School in Hartford, WI. The duties of this Call are K-8 music instruction, junior choir, adult choir and one or two courses of upper grade math. Please keep Mr. Kanzenbach and his family in your prayers as he deliberates where best to use his God-given gifts in the service of the Church.

Lyle and Christie Timm have accepted their Calls from Cornerstone Lutheran Network to serve as teachers at St. John's beginning July 2021. Mr. Timm will serve as grade 5 teacher--Mrs. Carlovsky will move to grade 6--and Mrs. Timm will serve as the teacher for our added grade 3 classroom. We are very excited and thankful to God that Mr. and Mrs. Timm will be joining us at St. John's!

Virtual Week

St. John's School will be 100% virtual the week immediately following Thanksgiving vacation (November 30 through December 4). The purpose of this is to avoid the spread of Covid-19 to more students and families after visiting with relatives at Thanksgiving.

Weekly Bible Study on the Gospel of John

"That you may believe … and have life"

As he ends his gospel John tells us why he wrote it: "so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31). With that purpose in mind John fills his gospel with carefully selected evidence to encourage our confidence in Jesus. Join us as we study the eyewitness evidence John provides concerning who Jesus is and why our lives can be entrusted to him.

Sundays at 9:30 a.m. ~ Community Room ~ Childcare available

Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. ~ Online