OSL News of the Week December 10, 2024
Monthly Men's Fellowship - Wed., Dec. 11, 9am
All men are encouraged to meet for breakfast and devotions on the second Wednesday of each month. This gathering is held in the dining room of the Hy-Vee in Mission KS. Contact Darwin B. or Joe S. for more info.
Preschool Christmas Program – Sat., Dec. 14 (11am in the Fellowship Hall)
Celebrate Christmas through songs and stories performed by our Preschool students. Come to meet the kids and their families, stay for the treats after the program. We’ll celebrate all kinds of ways – including with a birthday cake for Jesus!
Pastors who will lead services and Bible Class on upcoming Sundays
- Dec. 15: Rev. Phil Cook (Exec. Dir. of LUMA (Lutheran Urban Mission Agency) in KCMO)
- Dec. 22: Rev. Tom Harries (retired pastor from Hope Lutheran, Shawnee)
Thank you, volunteers
Huge thanks to all the people who are serving our church on Sunday mornings (to direct people in the parking lot, at our alternate door entrances & helping with stair glides), to everyone serving on Food Pantry Saturdays, and to the Education Team for a wonderful Advent Village celebration. We all appreciate you!
Winter newsletter with photos and info
Pick up a copy of the new, quarterly newsletter from the large table in the narthex. It has lots of info about December events and other recent happenings. Share a copy with a neighbor or friend.
December info: special services in our sanctuary
Rev. Phil Cook will lead Advent services at 7pm on Wednesdays. Rev. Jason Boetcher will lead our Christmas Eve candlelight service, with Holy Communion, on Tuesday, Dec. 24 at 8pm.
Update on our pastoral vacancy
Rev. Phil Cook will now be serving as our part-time vacancy pastor (in addition to his part-time role as Director of LUMA). He is our emergency contact and will give communion to homebound members and anyone who might be unable to attend services due to construction challenges. Contact Pastor Cook by sending a text message or leaving a voicemail at his number: 972-955-8801 (he will return your text/voicemail directly). You can also email him: and can make an appointment to meet with him. You can continue to call the church office with prayer requests (or email them to Lisa E. - ). Pastor Cook will rotate on Sundays with several other pastors during Dec. and Jan. The schedule for Feb. and beyond remains to be set but we expect to have Pastor Cook with us during that time. Rev. Jason Boetcher had previously been listed as our emergency contact - instead, please contact Rev. Cook now. Thanks be to God for the pastors whom we've met during the first portion of our vacancy and praise to God for the opportunity to have Pastor Cook serve us in this new way.
Prayer for our congregation
Gracious calling God, call on us with your grace again and again. Renew us daily in the peace,
hope, and eternal life we have been promised and which we have been called to proclaim. As we work to call a pastor to our congregation, may we count on the prayers of all members of this community of faith to uphold us, just as we trust your Spirit to guide us to give us patience, discernment and clarity. We remember, God, you are the One who called us first. Amen.
Tidings of Joy! concert, Sunday, Dec. 15 at 3pm
Mark your calendar for this free, annual concert at Village Presbyterian Church. Our congregation is encouraged to attend and enjoy Christmas favorites by voice and instrumental choirs. Please chat with your OS friends and make a plan to carpool for parking at 6641 Mission Rd, Prairie Village, KS. Someone from Our Saviour will go early to save space in several pews.
Lutheran High School Christmas Concert
Sunday, Dec. 15 at 7pm - Hope Lutheran Church (6308 Quivira Rd, Shawnee KS 66216)
Crown Center Atrium - free Christmas concerts:
Tuesday, Dec. 17 - Hope Lutheran School (5:45pm)
Wednesday, Dec. 18 - Calvary Lutheran School (1pm)
More than 80 school, church and community choirs perform Mon-Thurs, Dec. 2-19. There are other choirs performing before &/or after the performances detailed above. (Check https://www.crowncenter.com/holiday-choirs-2024-schedule for full schedules.)
Construction / renovation update (as of Fri, 12/6):
In late November our construction sub-committee accepted a recommendation to delay the work on lighting the stained-glass window. It is now anticipated to start sometime in March, weather permitting. The delay is due to the glass subcontractor's concern that extreme winter temps and moisture would be a risk for the stained-glass, which dates to 1957. The outer glass on the north wall of our church will need to be removed (and the hole covered with a tarp, or similar) for most of the duration of the lighting project. Temperatures have already been in the teens (Nov-Dec 2024) and are likely to get even colder. Expansion/contraction of the colored glass and lead is not good, nor are moisture and wind. Our contractor will monitor weather in the spring to start window work as soon as reasonable in March or April, depending on forecasts. It is likely that this phase of construction will still be underway at Easter (April 20). We feel that delaying the work until spring is better than risking damage to the stained-glass.
Sunday morning info during construction period
- Worship service: in the sanctuary at 9am.
- Fellowship (including coffee/treats): in the basement after the service.
- Adult Bible Class: basement Fellowship Hall at 10:15am.
- Sunday School for kids: blue classroom in basement at 10:15am.
Sunday parking during construction (church parking entrance is one-way, at north side of large parking lot; exit toward McDonald's)
- Use any spaces in our church's large parking lot.
- 8 spaces by our Preschool door should be used by people who had been using the upper parking lot (& any others who need an entrance with no stairs).
- 19 spaces are on east side of KU Endowment Building. Access these via the one-way drive adjacent to our north entrance ramp on Rainbow Blvd.
- 12 spaces are in a lot on north side of KU Endowment Building. Access these from Rainbow, directly into the lot.
- 15 spaces are in a lot on south side of Wendy's. Use caution parking here since you'll need to cross Rainbow on foot.
Sunday morning doors during construction (available before and after church & Bible Class); volunteers will be at the doors to help as you arrive for church
- Preschool door (available by 8:15am, through the entire service, and up to Sunday School time). Wheelchairs (& volunteers to push) are ready for anyone needing help to get down the basement hallway. The stair glides are used to get up to the sanctuary level (volunteers help operate them until 9am and then again after the service).
- Northeast door (east side of church, near large parking lot) - available 8:30-9am. Two internal flights of stairs here take you to the sanctuary (entering through door near pulpit).
- Playground door (west side of church) - available 8:20-9am. Used by people parking at Wendy's (go through playground gate on Rainbow Blvd & follow sidewalk to this door).
Food Pantry - volunteers needed
Our food pantry is serving on Saturday mornings (only) for a few more months. Please keep everyone who receives food in your prayers. Could you spare some time from 9 - 11:15am to help out on any Saturday? Contact Deanna B. for more info. Helping with the pantry is a way to show the love of Jesus to our community. It's also fun to spend time with the volunteer team.
Watching our Sunday services online
Click on this link to reach the YouTube page where our Sunday services are live-streamed: YouTube-OS Sunday service. If you miss the service on Sunday, each Monday a recording of the prior day will be posted to the site. You can also get to this webpage via a link on www.oskc.org/onlineworship.
Best Choice grocery labels
You can help fund mission projects at Our Saviour by using Best Choice groceries and saving the bar code from the label or package. Bring the bar codes to church and put them in the collection box on the table by member mailboxes. The box is green and has a Best Choice logo on it. Collected bar codes are submitted to the company and they provide a cash award, which is then used to fund various missions of our church. Please remember Best Choice as you're making your grocery list.
Construction Project - Capital Campaign (Nov. update)
The capital campaign for our construction project continues. Look for packets of the related forms and documents in the Narthex. The campaign goal is $250,000 and as of the end of November, $73,200 has been received. Thanks to Lauren S. for creating the monitoring board that is in our Narthex. We are grateful for everyone's prayerful consideration about making a contribution and also to those who have submitted gifts. If you have any questions, please email or speak to Debbie K. or Deborah D. If you would like a personal meeting to discuss questions or contributions, please contact Patty M. or Lou W.
Curtis Kenyon Memorial Information
In lieu of flowers the family suggests supporting the drilling of a water well where one is needed, or gift a charity of your choice. Contributions for a Living Water project may be made out to Lutheran Church of Our Saviour and will be combined and redirected appropriately. This choice was made based on how Curt always expressed his dismay when he read of people in third world countries having to walk miles for water to drink. During these past 2 years of his illness he saw many different doctors, each of whom said “Drink more water!” We feel that Curt’s efforts to follow this advice contributed better quality and several months to his life.
Prayers
Caroline Parks; Lucas Heinrich; Cheryl Scott; Claire Dodson’s family members- Sam Rohr, Mike Rohr; Becky Beilharz’s friend Caryl passed away; Sara Stevens; Patty Milbourn.
December Birthdays/Anniversaries
Katelyn Sylva Dec 1 Samuel Durairaj Dec 18
Sam Jarrett Dec 3 Joshua Samuel Dec 21
Ruth Ann Troop Dec 5 Ryan Hartje Dec 22
Drew Paulakovich Dec 13 Quinn Welch Dec 28
Deb Hartje Dec 14 Tom Eckard Dec 28
Marilyn Suman Dec 14 James Wetzel Dec 29
Jessica Samuel Dec 14 Roena Iiams Dec 30
Travis Lee Dec 16 Michael & Summer Bryant Dec 14
Jim Huston Dec 18 Travis & Tanner Lee Dec 31