Zion Notes & News

Harvest Festival

Worship will begin at 10:30am on Sunday, November 10th for our annual Harvest Festival.

The meal will take place immediately following Worship.

There will be no Adult Bible Class nor Sunday School.

Praise God for our bountiful harvest!

Please plan to join us! 

Church Office Hours

Regular Church Office hours are 10:00a - 3:00p Mondays thru Thursdays, closed on Fridays.

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All exterior doors to the building will be locked while School is in session.  Please call the Church Office at 949-3910 to be let in, or 949-3915 for the School Office.

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As always, for any pastoral concerns, feel free to call Pastor Meyer on his cell @ 712-261-1774.

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Upcoming Meetings

*Monday November 4 @ 7:00p Elders

*Monday November 4 @ 7:30p Council

Thursday November 7 @ 6:00p Women of Faith

Tuesday November 12 @ 7:00p ZSJ School Board

Thursday November 14 @ 7:00p Christian Life

Thursday November 21 @ 7:00p Men's B & B

Thursday November 21 @ 7:00p Parish Education

Friday November 29 @ 5:00p Pairs & Spares

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* Elders & Council meet earlier than usual this month.

Please see the November Calendar for other events and activities!

Daylight Savings Time Ends

… Sunday, November 3rd at 2:00am.

Remember to set your clocks BACK one hour before going to bed Saturday night. This is also the perfect time to year to replace the batteries in all of your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your home. 

Adult Bible Class & Sunday School

Adult Bible Class begins at 10:45am each Sunday. Junior High and High School Youth are welcome at our Adult Bible Class as well.  

Sunday School, for children ages preschool to 6th grade, begins at 10:30 each Sunday.  We always welcome more substitute teacher volunteers for Sunday School.  All teaching materials are provided.

Take advantage of this opportunity to grow in your faith! 

Did You Know?

You have access to the full Membership Directory, church calendar (including birthday and wedding anniversaries), current prayer concerns, and the current week's Messenger.  All of this is available right here on our website!  However, you need to set up a member login in order to view these "member only" features.  To get a login, please send an email to zionsec@tcaexpress.net (be sure to include your name in the email), then just follow the instructions from there to set your own username and password.  

The rest of the website is visible to the public (no login required).

Winter Clothing Collection

We are collecting winter clothing items only through the end of this October!  Christian Life committee is collecting new and slightly used KIDS' coats, snowpants, hats & gloves.  We are collecting these items through the month of October.  There will be a tub in the back of church to place the items.  We will also take monetary donations that we can use to purchase new coats/snowpants.  These items will be given to Upper Des Moines and then distributed to children in O'Brien county.

Choir Notes

Practices are held once or twice each month at 8:45a, before the worship service.  The choir will then during the worship service on those same mornings. All voices are welcome to join us a make a joyful noise!  Contact Susan Heeren for more information.

Prayer Chain

Periodically we receive a prayer request to be sent out to Zion's Prayer Chain.  Currently there is a list of members who receive a text message with these prayer concerns. That way, the saints of Zion can take those petitions before God on behalf of their fellow members.  If you would like to be added to that text message list, all you need to do is pass along your cell number to June or Pastor and we'll take care of it! 

Caring & Sharing

Christian Life Committee's "Caring & Sharing" monthly meal delivery program is an incredible blessing to so many people in our church and our community.  The recipients express so much appreciation - not just for the meal, but also for the phone call, the personal connection, and the time spent visiting together while delivering the food.  This ministry continues to provide caring service to others in Christian love.  If you would like to make a financial donation toward this effort, please designate your offering "Christian Life Meals".  Thank you for your continued support of this growing ministry! 

Celebrate Thanksgiving With Us!

Thanksgiving Day Service

with Holy Communion

Thursday, November 28th at 9:30am

Church Offerings Through e-Giving

Look for the "Joyful Response - Electronic Offering Program" forms located in the narthex.  Please fill this out and return it to the church office in order to set up a new e-giving schedule for yourself!                               You can sign up at any time!

You can also set up e-giving for yourself right here!  Giving options have been updated to include Christian Life Meals and Sunday School / Parish Education, in addition to regular Sunday offerings.  You can choose a one-time gift or a recurring gift.

Of course if you have questions or would like help in setting up e-giving, please feel free to contact June in the church office.

Printed Sermons and Regular Mailings

Pastor Meyer continues to make printed copies of his sermons available each week.  These copies are available for you in the narthex each Sunday.  In addition, the printed sermon along with a copy of the worship bulletin and Messenger are being mailed out each week to a fair number of our members who are homebound or residing in care centers.  If you know of any members who would enjoy receiving these weekly mailings, please let the Church Office know.

You can find copies of Pastor Meyer's typed sermons on this website.  Click the "Sermons and Services" link under the "Worship Resources" tab at the top of this page.  Clicking each date will then open a new tab with the Sermon text for that Sunday.  

Monthly Newsletters are being distributed at church, usually on the last Sunday of the month.  If you are unable to attend Church on that Sunday, your Newsletter can be mailed to you if you’d like.  Just give a call to the Church Office to let us know. 

Memorial Guides

Not many people think ahead to write down their personal information and wishes to help plan for their visitation and funeral when God calls them home to heaven.  In order to help with that, we've put together a folder that allows you to record this vital info.  They are in the rack at the back of church and you're welcome to take one home.  Once you've filled it out, please tell your family where the booklet is kept so that they can easily access it when the time comes.

Zion St John RaiseRight

RaiseRight (formerly Scrip) is a great way to raise money for Zion Church's ongoing commitment to Zion St John School.  The dicsount/rebate earned is designated to the fund(s) of your choice: tution for your family, tuition assistance for another family, general school improvements, or any combination of these funds.  It's your choice!  You do not need to have a student enrolled at ZSJ to participate in the program - extended family and friends are welcome to participate, too. 

RaiseRight can be used for just about any purchase including groceries, clothing, gasoline, entertainment, dining out and travel, etc.  Any sales or coupons offered by the businesses can be used at the same time - RaiseRight is just your form of payment.

Example:  You purchase a Prairie Market RaiseRight gift card at face value, and spend it at face value.  Prairie Market donates the 5% rebate to ZSJ, saved in the fund(s) of your choice.  Prairie Market RaiseRight cards can be applied as payment on your account there, if any.  If you prefer, payments on account of $500 or more can be handled for you.

Joe's TV & Appliance in Orange City and Greenworld in Sioux Center and Orange City will send a rebate check if you mention ZSJ RaiseRight at the time of purchase, and pay for your item(s) in cash or check before you leave the store.

More info can be found on the School website: https://zsjpaullina.org/scrip.php   If you have any other questions, please contact Paul & Janet Miller, or Kari Kent - RaiseRight Coordinator.

NLSA Accreditation for ZSJ

On March 21-23 (2021) Zion St John Lutheran School hosted six members from the National Lutheran Schools Association (NLSA) site accreditation team.  The members represented Lutheran schools from Iowa and South Dakota along with representatives of Iowa District West and East.  The purpose of their visit was to review the school's self-study report and evaluate the school on seven key standards related to NLSA accreditation.

The standards in which the school was evaluated on were: 1) Purpose, 2) Relationships, 3) Leadership, 4) Professional Personnel, 5) Teaching and Learning, 6) Student Services, and 7) Facilities.

These standards were evaluated via interviews with staff, parents, pastors, principal, and constituents of the school.  Outcomes related to Christian perspective and student learning were also evaluated through many classroom observations.

Principal Schouten is happy to report that after a thorough evaluation process Zion St John Lutheran School has been accredited by the NLSA, which is also recognized by the state of Iowa.  We received an overall score of 2.63 which is comparable to the national average of 2.67 for accredited Lutheran schools.  As a school we were able to reaffirm the positive things we are currently doing and also plan to improve in certain areas moving forward so that we can continue, in partnership with parents and congregations, to provide a Christ-centered educational program that educates the whole child.