Saint Matthew's

Vision Meeting!!

Vision meeting today after church – please come share your ideas and see what’s in store for St. Matthew’s!!

Shop-Rite Gift Cards

Just a reminder—we are selling Shop-Rite gift cards in $25, 50, and 100 denominations. Every time you purchase a card, you help Saint Matthew’s—we receive a 5% donation for each card purchase.

Please speak with Debbie or Lee Bigbee after church to purchase a card.

Chinese New Year’s Dinner

This festive dinner was held this past Saturday and catered to a packed house! Thank you to Stanley Eng and Ed Geiger for arranging the meal and for all volunteers that helped with setting up Thursday night. Once again everyone pitched in to make the event fun and a success.

Souper Suppers

This Wednesday is the first Souper Supper of this Lenten season.

Join us for this humble meal and the service to follow as we remember the suffering of our Savior, His sacrifice for us, and our own difficulties in eschewing sin and its allure.

Samaritans

Thank you to everyone who helped make our meal at the Walk in Kitchen a blessing to so many people. I will have a longer report next weekend. Again Thank you!!

-Evelyn Comer

Saint Matthew’s annual Ash Wednesday Pot Luck will be held this evening, February 17th beginning at 6:00pm. Following our dinner, our Divine Service will be held in the church sanctuary beginning at 7:30pm. All are invited.

Tonigh’s Wednesday Divine Service followed by Bible class is canceled this evening.

(Reprinted from LCMS.org website)

As news of what is being called the largest earthquake to hit Haiti in more than 200 years reached LCMS World Relief and Human Care (LCMS WR-HC) on Tuesday, the Synod’s mercy arm began preparing to reach out in the Caribbean nation with much needed assistance and working in cooperation with Lutheran partners.

Only hours after getting reports of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake, the Synod’s mercy arm announced it was making available funds to meet initial emergency needs. “The unfolding drama in Haiti calls for unlimited mercy on the part of the people of the LCMS. The needs are urgent and overwhelming right now,” said Glenn F. Merritt, LCMS WR-HC director of Disaster Response. “I appeal to God’s people to respond as generously as possible during this most difficult time.”

Early reports indicate extensive property damage and terrible suffering among people trapped in collapsed buildings in an impoverished country already challenged by longtime political strife and poverty. Haiti is widely known as the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

News of the devastation triggered numerous calls and e-mails to LCMS Life and Health Ministries Director Maggie Karner who, even before the earthquake, was preparing to send the first LCMS WR-HC Mercy Medical Team (MMT) to Haiti next month. Ironically, on Monday Karner sent a massive MMT recruitment appeal to LCMS pastors and congregations asking for physicians, pharmacists, and other medical professionals to volunteer for the team that is scheduled to serve in Haiti March 11-21.

“Our preliminary legwork for the first MMT team to Haiti in March will serve us well as we prepare to respond,” Karner said Tuesday night. “Perhaps now, because of this tragedy, people will see the desperate need in Haiti and prayerfully consider how they can use their gifts and talents.” (To learn more about the MMT trip to Haiti, contact LCMS WR-HC’s Jacob Fiene at 800-248-1930, ext. 1278, or jacob.fiene@lcms.org.)

LCMS WR-HC is working cooperatively with LCMS World Mission, Haitian missionaries, and partner churches to provide relief in a timely fashion. Funds are urgently needed to help Haitians who have lost loved ones and homes.

(To make a quick donation, please click this link and scroll to the bottom and click “Give Now”)

We begin our 2010 Wednesday night bible class this evening beginning at 7:00pm following our Divine Service. Our study topic is “Comparative Religions” as we’ll review various non-Christian religions. Tonight we begin our study with a look at Mormonism.

Again, we begin at 7:00pm with our Divine Service.

As we mentioned in a earlier news post, our Saturday Night Divine Service will go on as scheduled this evening at 5:00pm.

However, after discussing the snowstorm situation, we’ve decided to cancel church tomorrow morning. Traveling conditions will be worse than treacherous in the morning. With the storm starting later than was expected, the storm is going to stick around a lot longer. In addition, snow totals for our Bergen County area have been upped to nearly 15 inches. Clearing that amount of snow from the church will be impossible.

If you read this in time, please come to church this evening.

The sad part about canceling our worship service tomorrow is that it was scheduled to be our Children’s Christmas Program.

This is the second year in the row when weather has played havoc for our Sunday School program.

REMINDER – church is being held this evening at 5:00pm. Please join us.

Earlier today, weather forecasters said that the pending snowstorm would start around 11am, noon at the outside. However, as anyone can tell, it only really started in New Milford around 2:00pm.

Therefore, our Saturday Night Divine Service will be held its normal 5:00pm start time.

Tomorrow, that’s another story. According to Accuweather.com, the storm is taking its sweet time getting formed and is moving very slowly. Stay tuned to the blog for updates on tomorrow.

Good morning — due to the impending snowstorm/blizzard ready to wallop our region this afternoon, tonight and tomorrow, please be aware that WE MAY CANCEL our  Saturday Night Divine Service this evening at 5pm.

As pastor, I don’t come to this conclusion easily. I hate to cancel church.

But the snow is scheduled to start falling this morning and only pick up in intensity throughout the afternoon into tonight, ending sometime tomorrow morning. Traveling is going to extremely hazardous this afternoon and tonight; travel on Sunday morning is still up in the air, depending how the road crews clear the snow.

The only consideration for canceling the service tonight is due to travel conditions on the roads. Please keep an eye on this blog as we come close to a decision regarding our Saturday Night Divine Service.

Sunday Divine Service is still on.

Saint Matthew’s Sunday School will offer their Christmas program this coming Sunday during our Divine Service beginning at 10:00am. Following our worship service this morning, “The Coffee Hour” will be a Christmas Party celebration with our Sunday School.

Everyone at Saint Matthew’s is encouraged to attend this special Divine Service presented by our youth. And, of course, all who attend our worship service are urged to attend our Sunday School Christmas Party.

Fun will be served.

Get Your Christmas Cards TODAY!!

Do you send our Christmas cards? If you do, then this year you can send them out with a little “Saint Matthew’s” flavor. The children in our Sunday School designed a number of cards last year, and this year, five were chosen and were printed and now are available for purchase! We have set a suggested donation of $5 per pack of 5 with envelopes; but any donation will do!! Much thanks go out to Robert Belthoff for donating the printing of the cards.

Veteran’s Family Assistance Center

The Family Assistance Center  in Teaneck needs our help this holiday season! They provide food and Christmas gifts for the families of currently serving and returned vets. A list of items that are needed is located on the table in the narthex. Please note that toys for children and gift certificates for teens are also needed and everything needs to be brought here to the church by December 15. Help make Christmas special for a family of a US Veteran.

Shop-Rite Gift Cards – A Perfect Stocking Stuffer

With the Christmas holiday coming up fast, we’ll all end up eating more than we should (let’s just admit it now). How about helping your church as you move toward this eating goal by picking up a Shop-Rite Gift card? We are selling the cards in $25, 50, and 100 denominations. Every time you purchase a card, you help Saint Matthew’s—we receive a 5% donation for each card purchase.

And these cards make wonderful stocking stuffers.

Music  Patron for Lessons and Carols

This year’s music patron for the Lessons and Carols service is Fred Schmidt. Thank you, Fred for your generous donation!

Lessons and Carols Lectors

Lesson 1:  Samantha Coppola

Lesson 2:  Debbie Bigbee

Lesson 3:  Kim Onderdonk

Lesson 4:  Pat Masten

Lesson 5:  Scott Helming

Lesson 6:  Joan Holsten

Lesson 7:  Pastor Iovine

Altar Guild December

Dec 13 Kathy Levitzki

Dec 20 Lily Eng

Dec 24 Doris Traumuller

Dec 25 Inge Eicher

Dec 27 Pat Masten

Schedule of Events That Are Coming Up

Advent Midweek Services:

December 16 @ 7:00pm
December 23 @ 7:00pm

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service -

December 24th @ 8:00pm

Christmas Day Divine Service – December 25th @ 10am

New Year’s Eve Divine Service – December 31st @ 4:00pm

Zion Lutheran, Westwood

Zion Lutheran School

3 year old Nursery, pre-K, full day Kindergarten – 8th grade

After care

Small class sizes

Diverse and multicultural

“Train a child in the way he/she should go and when he/she is old, he/she will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

Telephone to set up a visit

Have your child spend a day or half day with us.

(201) 664-8060 for more information