Family and friends of Kevin Anderson.
Family and friends of Paula Cope.
Family and friends of Bobbie Schmidt.
Jon Cook; Millie Mutka, Zima family friends Stefan Sladek, Dave Butschli, Mick, Steven and Marilyn Hummel; Gregory Bowens; Laurie Nelson; Amber Ross’s daughter Linda; Randy & Diane Niemczyk’s niece Sarah Joda, and their dear friend Denise Hazel; Valeria Hesselberg; Chris Markussen; Anne Verona’s sister/brother-in-law Pat & Woody Woodworth; Bobbie Schmidt’s brother William and her step-daughter Cheryl; Dawn Gonitzke’s brother Scott Premo; Pastor Grant’s friends Jane Trasosech and Wendie Libert; the Eberts friends Patricia Kulzick and John Oliver; the Waggoner’s sister-in-law Cheryl Busse; Karen Engels’ niece Lisa and friends Bob and Dawn and Gail Wogsland; Ann Carlson’s people Dwight, Staci, Curt, and Troy; and the people of Israel, Russia, Palestine and Ukraine. Those continuing to restore their communities after devastating floods around the world. The community of Madison. And everyone traveling to and fro over the holidays – safe travels.
PRAYER LIST PROCEDURE – Submit your prayer requests to the office in writing, by phone, by email or in person. If requesting prayers for someone other than yourself or an immediate family member, please obtain permission – unless the circumstances are public in nature.
WORSHIP ON FACEBOOK – Live on Facebook on Sundays at 9:00 am and posted for later viewing.
GUESTS – if you are visiting us today, please sign our book at the entrance to the sanctuary.
ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE BULLETIN – if you want to get announcements in the bulletin, please get your information to the Front Office Wednesday before noon.
BIRTHDAY SUNDAY – today we celebrate: (November birthdays because I didn’t have them in the bulletin for November) Paula Cope (in memoriam), Jerry Pearson, Diana Mehlhop, Mary Akins, Tim Wright and Dawn Copple. And our December birthdays: Waylon Clark, Mark Licktieg, Dick Anderson, Dale Sharpee, Dave Roberts and Chris Ebert.
LEFTOVER COOKIE SUNDAY – will be on Dec 29. To clarify – these are not (necessarily) leftover cookies from Cookie Sunday. This is our way of helping you clear your house of Christmas treats after the visiting hordes have left. We are here to help. Bring your calories to church and we will do our best to send you home with an empty plate. It is the Lutheran way.
PROTECT YOUR PEACE – when we share the peace at Prince of Peace – feel free to wave the peace sign; fist bump or avoid any sort of contact at all! We know you still share the love but want to protect YOUR peace and not get any cooties. There are mini-bottles of
OH ENDOWMENT TREE! OH ENDOWMENT TREE! You are invited to make a donation to our endowment fund. In the past, the endowment fund has contributed to –Caritas, Tri-County Council on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, Praise in the Pines, Northwoods Shares, Worship in the Wild, Sunshine for Humanity & more! All donations are tax-deductible and can be included in your 2024 taxes if received at the church by end of day on 12/31/24.
NEW! MARK YOUR CALENDARS! PRINCE OF PEACE WOMEN’S CHRISTMAS!
There are only THIRTEEN spots left to join us at our first ever Women’s Christmas. Sign up to join us on Sunday, Jan 12th from 5 to 8 pm for a gourmet meal prepared & served by the men of Prince of Peace. The cost of the dinner and special program is $40. Sign up sheet is in the Narthex or contact Ann in the Front Office.
FLAT LUTHER – Flat Luther has been traveling! Check out his adventures on the window to the Fellowship Hall! More adventures have been documented. AND we now have several Flat Luthers available to go out in the world.
COLLECTING HATS & GLOVES! – there is a tree in the Narthex. It is there to collect hats and gloves for the upcoming winter for people/children in our community. Items collected are currently designated for our local school district.
FUN FACTS: Funny enough – today (Dec 22) is Cookie Exchange Day. And as I looked forward on the calendar – I saw that Dec 23 is Festivus. That was all I needed.
Festivus (/ˈfɛstɪvəs/) is a secular holiday celebrated on December 23 as an alternative to the perceived pressures and commercialism of the Christmas season. Originally created by author Daniel O’Keefe, Festivus entered popular culture after it was made the focus of the 1997 Seinfeld episode “The Strike”, which O’Keefe’s son, Dan O’Keefe, co-wrote.
The holiday, as depicted on Seinfeld, includes a Festivus dinner, an unadorned aluminum Festivus pole, practices such as the “airing of grievances” and “feats of strength”, and the labeling of easily explainable events as “Festivus miracles”.
Festivus was conceived by author and editor Daniel O’Keefe, the father of television writer Dan O’Keefe, and was celebrated by his family as early as 1966. While the Latin word fēstīvus means “excellent, jovial, lively”, and derives from fēstus, meaning “joyous; holiday, feast day”, Festivus in this sense was coined by the elder O’Keefe. According to him, the name “just popped into my head”. In the original O’Keefe tradition, the holiday would take place to celebrate the anniversary of Daniel O’Keefe’s first date with his future wife, Deborah. The phrase “a Festivus for the rest of us” originally referred to those remaining after the death of the elder O’Keefe’s mother, Jeanette, in 1976; i.e., the “rest of us” are the living, as opposed to the dead.
O’Keefe’s father, who originated some of the now-recognized Festivus traditions, used a clock in a bag nailed to a wall, not an aluminum pole. It was never the same bag, rarely the same clock, but always the same wall. The nailing was most often done in secret and then revealed proudly to his family. The younger O’Keefe said: “The real symbol of the holiday was a clock that my dad put in a bag and nailed to the wall every year…I don’t know why I don’t know what it means, he would never tell me. He would always say, ‘That’s not for you to know.'”
Festivus dinner – The original holiday dinner in the O’Keefe household featured turkey or ham, a celebratory dinner is shown on the evening of Festivus prior to the feats of strength and during the airing of grievances.
Airing of grievances – The “airing of grievances” takes place immediately after the Festivus dinner has been served.
Feats of strength -The “feats of strength” are the final tradition observed in the celebration of Festivus, celebrated immediately following (or in the case of “The Strike”, during) the Festivus dinner. The head of the household selects one person at the Festivus celebration and challenges them to a wrestling match. Tradition states Festivus is not over until the head of the household has been pinned.
Festivus miracles – easily explainable events.
In 2005, Wisconsin governor Jim Doyle was declared “Governor Festivus”, and during the holiday season displayed a Festivus pole in the family room of the Executive Residence in Madison, Wisconsin. Doyle’s 2005 Festivus pole is now part of the collection of the Wisconsin Historical Museum.
Now – Festivus is definitely not the reason for the season – however, I appreciate it being around to take the pressure off for holiday perfection. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas without Norman Rockwell or Hallmark expectations. May your meal be good enough. May the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior make your day merry and bright. Not only for you but for the rest of us.
NOTES FROM ANN: It is hard sending out the announcements after the past couple of weeks we have had.
On one hand – what a joyous unrehearsed Christmas pageant we had – plus the Northwoods Singers – last weekend, along with our Advent services and all of our preparations at home for Christmas.
On the other hand – we have lost two members of our church family – both suddenly. It shakes us.
We all manage grief and loss differently. I hope, however, we all manage it – by continuing to find the joy in our memories – and keeping the faith in a love that never dies.
Pictures – we have pictures! (I have to get a BUNCH of pictures uploaded to our website). Thanks to our unofficial – official – photographers – Tim & Betty Wright – we have had our year well documented. I’ve attached a picture from our unrehearsed Christmas pageant. Thank you to everyone who participated. I had fun.
I opened with a picture from Greg Berman. He took a spectacular picture of the Cold Moon out in Boulder, CO. I do try and keep our pictures local – but this was too beautiful not to share.
I’m not going to write anything additional this week. Here is wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas. One filled with peace, love, joy and hope.
