Sunday School begins on Sunday, September 7th. We are excited to get started and have the classrooms filled with children! If you haven’t already done so, please register your children using the online form by clicking here. Sunday School is offered for children who are age 3 (by Sept. 1) through those entering 6th grade.
Here are a few things to note for the month of September:
Thursday, Sept. 4: Teacher training 7-8pm in the Christy Room.
Sept. 7: Sunday School begins
Sept. 14: Bibles are presented to 3 yr olds, 3rd graders and new families
The complete schedule for the program year can be found on the website (www.loti.org)
Volunteers Welcome! If you love working with children and would like to get involved in our Sunday School program, please sign up to volunteer as a teacher or substitute. Adult volunteers click here to sign up. High school youth click here to sign up. Adult volunteers will be required to complete a background check. Training is provided for all volunteers on Thursday, September 4 from 7:00-8:00 p.m. in the Christy Room.
Please contact Diane LaMere, Children’s Ministry Director with any questions at dlamere.loti@yahoo.com.
May 26, 1917 – May 23, 2014
Dr. Frederic J. “Fritz” Kottke, long-time member at Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church, passed away on May 23, 2014 at Walker Methodist Home. He was preceded in death by his wife, Astrid Kottke and a son, James. He is survived by a sister, Harriet Sells, his daughters, Jane (Lau) de Vries, Mary Vincent and a son, Thomas (Leslie) Kottke, 6 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at Walker Methodist Home, 3737 Bryant Ave. South, Minneapolis, on Saturday, July 12 at 1:00 p.m. Memorials to Habitat for Humanity.
Cards to the family can be sent to the address below:
Thomas E. Kottke, MD
571 Otis Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55104
Conversation and Cuisine is a casual evening of getting better acquainted while enjoying a meal in our homes (or choice of a restaurant). Groups of 5-7 members and friends of Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church gather for three meals during the course of the year. Four groups were formed this year and from all reports, it sounds like they really enjoyed their time together. They have either had their last meal together or will be doing so over the summer months. In the late summer/early fall, new groups will be formed so that everyone will have a chance to get to know some more Lake of the Isles members. If you would like to participate in next year’s groups, please talk to Janna Haug during church coffee or contact her by phone (651-497-0099) or email ([email protected])
LOTI celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution on Sunday, 
May 18th with Norwegian music by Edvard Grieg and folk hymns, as well as costumes and desserts during the coffee hour. Congregation members brought traditional Norwegian foods like rosettes, sandbakkel cookies, rice pudding, fruit soup and lefse. Pastor Haug and Janna Haug prepared a delicious wreath cake or “kransekake” which is usually made to celebrate special occasions like weddings, baptisms or Christmas.
Pastor Haug’s was vested in the historic robe and white ruffled collar of the Norwegian and Danish Lutheran churches. He wore this on special occasions 30 years ago when he served as the pastor at the Norwegian Lutheran Church on East Franklin. Janna’s folk costume, made of handwoven Norwegian fabric, is a traditional design used in eastern Norway. It was presented to her by their former congregation in Marine on St. Croix.
O Holy Spirit, root of life, creator, cleanser of all things;
Anoint our wounds, awaken us with lustrous movement of your wings.
O holy Wisdom, soaring power, encompass us with wings unfurled, And carry us, encircling all above, below, and through the world.
The colorful work of Chinese artist He Qi attests to the mysterious and unpredictable movement of the Holy Spirit. As a child growing up in China, it was forbidden to study the Bible. Oddly, it was not illegal to study Christian art. Qi became curious about the Christian faith through art. Even though, he didn’t know the scriptures behind the images, he recognized that there was an unspoken power and presence inherent in the art. In time he began to understand color and symbolism, and after emigrating from China to the US, he learned the biblical stories as well.
Qi’s portrayal of the Day of Pentecost, the birth of the church, and the giving of the Holy Spirit, poignantly draws these themes together. The gift of the Holy Spirit, which appears upon the disciples’ head as flames of fire, is represented by doves. This captures both the movement and intensity of the Spirit. The Chinese lanterns as well as the candle portray the festive and celebratory nature of Pentecost. Perhaps the most intriguing details are buildings. The closed doors of the Upper Room, Jerusalem’s temple columns and peasant homes are to be seen, as well as a stone bridge.
For Qi, the meaning of the story of Pentecost rests on this bridge. It seems to state that the entire movement of the Holy Spirit crosses back and forth atop this bridge. Our prayers rise to God by the Spirit across the bridge, and God’s story of grace and salvation comes to us by the power of the Spirit across this bridge. It is a helpful metaphor in understanding the work of the Holy Spirit. The story of Jesus Christ and his love is carried across the bridge to us by the Spirit.
On Pentecost Sunday, June 8th, we celebrate again the mysterious movement of the Holy Spirit across that bridge into to our lives. Martin Luther understood the meaning of the Spirit’s movement across the bridge in his Explanation to the Apostles’ Creed. “I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or strength believe in Jesus Christ or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called through the gospel.”
Come, Holy Spirit, Come!
Peace, Pastor Arden Haug
Thank you!
On Sunday, April 27th, the special organ concert “A New Dimension” was held at Lake of the Isles. The musical program highlighted the possibilities of sound that can be played from the newly regulated and re-tuned organ. We received over $1,400 in offerings and memorial gifts which covered the cost of the work. The organ sounds magnificent.
Special thanks to our musicians who performed at the concert: Isaac Drews, Kenneth Vigne, Gary Lynn, Debra Gilroy, Arden Haug, Alexandra Mauney and Matthew Bacon.
And, thank you to Susanne Haas, Michelle McCreery, Marty Carlson and Mary Knoblauch for the post concert refreshments.
Camp Amnicon is a high adventure camp affiliated with the ELCA and located on the south shore of Lake Superior. The summer camping season will soon begin and there is much preparation to do. The Family Camp wall tents must be put up and furniture moved in. Staff cabins in the woods need to be cleaned and made ready for the summer staff. Meals must be prepacked for camping trips. In exchange for your volunteer labor, you have a bed to sleep in (bunk rooms) and delicious meals. No special talents are necessary and all ages are welcome. This would be an excellent opportunity for families or a group of young people. There is also time to explore the 700 acres of wilderness. You may even choose to spend a night sleeping on the beach or in a family camp tent. Camp Amnicon depends on volunteer labor to make it possible to serve the many at-risk youth who attend camp on scholarships. If you are interested or want to learn more, talk to or call Cheri Moe or Margaret Coleman.
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| “Camp Carpenters”. |
Amnicon Information
715-364-2602 – [email protected] – www.amnicon.org
Alana Butler, director, & Bethany Ringdal, associate director
It is hard to believe how fast this year has gone and we are wrapping up the program year on May 18! I would like to take this time to say a very HUGE thank you to our amazing teachers who have been so dedicated to teaching Sunday School this year. It has been a delight to work with you and watch you share your faith with our Sunday School kids.
Please join me in thanking and giving thanks for these teachers:
- Preschool/Kindergarten: Sheridan Swee and Max Formell
- 1st/2nd Grade: Susan and Abby Melbye and Reagan Riddle
- 3rd/4th Grade: Justin Kappel and Nancy Lupardus-Twitchell
- 5th/6th Grade: John Sundeen and Angie Smedlund
We give thanks to you for your commitment to this ministry!
We are looking for musicians who would like to participate in the service during the summer months. If you are interested, please call Kenneth Vigne at 612 356-3501 or Dawn Allan at 612 874-0208.
This joyful Eastertide, away with sin and sorrow!
My love, the Crucified, has sprung to life this morrow.
Had Christ, who once was slain, not burst his three-day prison,
Our faith had been in vain. But now has Christ arisen.
ELW 391, vs 1
In 1894, an Anglican priest and church musician George R. Woodward beautifully captured the spirit of the season of Easter in his hymn, “This Joyful Eastertide.” After all, the festival of Easter, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, is more than a one day event. The joy of Easter is spread across 50 days until next church festival of Pentecost. It is interesting to note that Woodward left two equally sprightly Christmas carols, “Ding-Dong, Merrily on High” and “Past Three O’Clock.” All three of Woodward’s songs remind us that the life we have been called to experience in Christ is not a dour, sad funeral dirge, but rather, we have been invited to experience an uplifting melody of rhythm and movement.
According to St. Luke’s gospel, Jesus appeared for 40 days after his resurrection of the dead. Together with St. John’s gospel we read stories of Jesus being seen over and over again, eating meals with his disciples, walking with them on deserted roads and teaching them about the meaning of his life and death. On one occasion, Jesus returns to the Sea of Galilee to see his disciples return to their former vocations. As much as they recognized the miraculous nature of Jesus’ rising from the dead, they couldn’t quite imagine what this would mean for their lives and their futures. Perhaps, you can’t make that connection either.
Martin Luther once said, “It really doesn’t matter if Jesus rose from the dead if He isn’t risen in you!” That is what we are to discover in this “joyous Eastertide.” It was what Jesus’s followers experienced as they were being transformed from disciples into apostles- the one who are sent. That is what we meditate on in our Easter music, lessons and worship. We are trying to capture the energy of the resurrection within each one of us.
There are of course, many other ways in which we can experience the miracle of Easter. Luther himself stated, that, “Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.” It is the miracle that we celebrate in “the breaking of the bread” and in the sharing of the peace. But principally, we experience the wonder and joy of Jesus’ resurrection in the words of Scripture. For it is Scripture we are assured that the resurrection is not an empty vain hope, but it is Christ’s resurrection that holds the promise that casts away our sin and sorrow.
Peace, Pastor Arden Haug