St. JOhn’s Eagle
august, 2025 Edition
Volume 25, Issue 8
A Note from Pastor Bare
Dear precious people of God at St. John’s,
It’s good for me as your pastor to always regard you as precious! It’s good because it’s absolutely true! “You were bought at a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:20) That means the price tag on each of you is Jesus’ sacrifice, the remarkably huge price your Savior willingly paid to redeem you! Each one of you is that precious to God!
It’s good for me as your pastor to always remember how precious you are to God. That way I’ll work hard to serve you faithfully for Jesus’ sake. Faithful pastoral ministry basically has two main components: to feed you and to lead you, like a shepherd taking care of sheep.
CAREFULLY, PRAYERFULLY FEEDING YOUR FAITH
Church services and sermons are designed to do just that, carefully and prayerfully prepared by me to feed and nourish your soul, your faith. I want the sermons I prepare and preach to be relatable, personal, and most of all, evangelical, centered on Jesus and his saving work.
Bible study opportunities will begin in September as an added way to feed your faith. Here too I want to prepare studies that help you sink deeper roots into God’s Word. Questions and answers and the sharing of insights are all the working parts of a nourishing Bible study that will feed our faith together.
My encouragement to all of you is this: don’t neglect these opportunities to feed your faith! Like nourishing food that is left uneaten, sermons do you no good spiritually if you don’t listen to them in public worship or through the livestream on our website. And obviously, Bible classes only nourish those who are there to study.
CAREFULLY, PRAYERFULLY LEADING YOU TO EXERCISE YOUR FAITH
As physical exercise is necessary and beneficial for our bodies, so spiritual exercise is vital for our souls. This is a broad-ranging topic that covers acts of love and service at home, at work and school, and at church. It’s the basic question: Since Jesus rescued me from hell’s punishment and is giving me heaven as a free gift, what can I do to thank him? How can I reflect his love in my life?
My task as your pastor is to encourage you to ask those questions and answer them according to your God-given gifts and unique life situation. My task as your shepherd is to lead you by setting an example of humble and loving service to you, God’s precious people!
Serving you for our Savior,
Pastor Bare
Worship Update
This Month: We have come to the second half of the Church Year. In the first half we focused on the life of Christ. In this second half, we turn our attention to all the teachings of Christ. May we give them our undivided attention.
Greeters for this month:
Altar Committee for July
Becky Schwartz
Congregational Acts
Baptized, 7/5/25
Jonah Joseph Bushey, son of Luke & Alisha (Schuman) Bushey
Easton Kenneth Crawford, son of Drew & Sarah (Rossow) Crawford
Entered Eternal Life, 7/10/25
Randy O. Noffke
Transferred Out, 7/8/25
Klay & Rachel Gillham and children: Kameron, Kellen, Kooper, Lillian Reinhardt to St. Bartholomew, Kawkawlin
Zachary & Jaeland Schaaf to St. Paul’s, Saginaw
Pastor Paul & Kelley Schaewe to St. Paul’s, Stevensville
Married, 6/27/25
Dakota White & Uliana Wingeier - Joined in marriage by Pastor Pankow
Special Fundraiser
Two big projects are now done: the church roof has been repaired and the drain project at the parsonage (214 S. Mountain) has been completed. The Voters’ Assembly approved a fundraiser to cover the costs for both. We are now asking for your help. Please consider donating to a fund set up for these repairs; special envelopes are on the hall table and may be placed in the payment box. Remember, these contributions are to be over and above your regular offerings. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and Christian love.
Evangelism Committee
Would you love to meet a soul in heaven that you saved? The probability is very high that it can happen. Your evangelism committee tries many ways to reach out with the gospel message with little success, but recent statistics show favorable results when an individual talks about Jesus’ wonderful work as our redeemer.
Age is not a factor. An invitation to “come and hear” or “come and see” works. We know of a new St. John’s member who was sitting on his porch waiting for that invitation. There are other examples.
The days of knocking on doors in an old city like Bay City are over. Paid advertising and social media are on the far-back burner. You are a most important person to bring a new soul to salvation.
Event Group
Church Picnic: Please join us for our church picnic on Sunday, July 27th, at Williams Township Park, Auburn. Activities begin with an outdoor worship service at 11:30 am. We will have a potluck dinner following the service.
Hot dogs and brat will be provided. There are outlets there if you need to plug in a crock pot, etc. You may bring your own beverages (beer is OK for those of legal age); water and lemonade will be provided as well as table service. After the potluck, you are free to stay as long as you like until dark, taking a walk on the park’s paths, making use of the playground, participating in games, or just shootin’ the breeze. Come, and enjoy this big fellowship activity!
We are planning a Fall Bazaar on Saturday, September 27th, in our church Fellowship Hall. If you would like to rent a table to sell your crafts, there are forms available on the table in the church hallway. We are also opening this to our area WELS congregations.
Fall outdoor service: There will be no outdoor service at the State Park in September as planned; no pavilions are available.
Other Announcements
Pastor Emile Burgess, who was recently called to be our next pastor, has returned the call. The next call meeting will be August 6th at 6:30 pm. All are encouraged to attend.
Subscription renewals: If you currently subscribe to Forward in Christ or Meditations, please let the office know right away if you want to continue getting either/or both magazines. We have to renew our subscriptions next week.
School News
Our school is looking for someone to coach soccer this fall. If you are interested, please give the office a call: (989) 684-6791.
Family Fun Night: This Monday, July 28th, is our last Open Playground for the summer! Join us from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm; we will cancel if raining at 6:00 pm. Please, children must wear playground-appropriate shoes, and be accompanied by an adult.
The next Home & School Connect (HSC) meeting will be Tuesday, August 5th, at 5:00 pm. Please contact Kellie Pergande if you would like to be a part of this amazing group that supports all school and teacher events!
Back to School Night: Calling all school families! You are warmly invited to our Back to School Night event on Monday, August 11th, from 6:00 pm-8:00 pm. At this event you will be able sign up for parent-teacher school visits with your child(ren)’s teacher and sign up for all the extracurricular activities and committees. Students can find sign-ups for sports, choir, and handbell choir. Board of Ed members will be available for questions. Finally, enjoy some hot dogs and a Kona ice truck, courtesy of the Home-School Connect. Hope to see you and your family there!
The School Opening Chapel Service will be on the first day of school, Monday, August 25th, at 8:30 am. Parents, Grandparents, and other caregivers are encouraged to join us. This year’s school theme: God in Our Country, Home, and School based on Psalm 33:12: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”
Preschool packets for the 2025/2026 school year available in the church and school offices.
Around the WELS
MLS News
In Our Neighborhood
Vacation Bible School: Trinity Lutheran (1010 33rd St.) is holding their VBS July 29th – July 31st. They will begin with dinner at 5:15 pm. At 6:00 pm there will be a short skit and then the children (ages 3 to 7th grade), will be taken to their first area. You are invited to stay for the adult Bible class and Christian fellowship. Scan the QR Code to register.
Vacation Bible School: SAVE THE DATE! The Mt. Olive VBS is being planned for Wednesday, August 6th – Friday, August 8th under the theme: Soaring High! Enrollment is Preschool through the 6th grade. Contact the church office for an application (churchoffice@mtolivelutheranbc.org, or 989-684-0484). And if you would like to volunteer, please speak with Pastor Steinke.
Travel with WELS Groups: Interested in traveling with members of our faith family where WELS worship and Christian fellowship are integral parts of the itinerary? The OWLS (WELS Seniors) is partnering with Father's World Tours to offer trips every which way across the USA. Upcoming options include a Labor Day weekend show trip to the Ozarks (8/29-9/1), wildlife and waterfall viewing on Minnesota’s North Shore (9/2-5), a comprehensive New England autumn immersion (9/22-10/4), or a Southern California/Mexican coastal cruise combo (12/31-1/13). Trips are open to WELS members of all ages. Visit www.fathersworldtours.com or contact Steve Balza (steve@fathersworldtours.com or 507-217-1731) to learn more.
Church Council Notes:
From the meeting on July 8, 2025:
Start of meeting
President Lane called the meeting to order.
Pastor Bare read Psalm 121 to the council.
Elder’s Report
Changes in membership: Pastor and Kelley Schaewe to St. Paul’s Stevensville, Zach and Jaalen Schaaf to St. Paul’s Saginaw, and Klay and Rachel Gilham and children to St. Bartholomew. Easton Crawford and Jonah Bushey were baptized.
Pastor Steinke will again assist with Christ Light and Catechism lessons.
Reminder that the Church picnic is on July 27th beginning at 11:30 with a service followed by a potluck and fellowship. The Elders encourage everyone to attend.
We are still looking for volunteers to help with Power Point presentations for the services. If anyone is interested, they can get in touch with Mike Wingeier.
Pastor Bare will be provided with a laptop.
Elders offer encouragement to reach out to Pastor Burgess if you have not already done so.
Pastor Bare is planning to bring back our regular Wednesday Bible studies this fall.
Board of Education Report
Two members have resigned from their position by way of transferring to another congregation.
Evanelism Committee Report
Clements Electric is going to put in a bid to do the electrical work on the new digital sign due to permitting issues with the city.
Trustees’ Report
Year to date offerings are $1,610.53 below budget.
Year to date total income is $6,912.66 below budget.
Year to date spending is $2,041.99 below budget.
Financial disbursements have been made to our students attending MLS, MLC and WLS. We currently have no students attending WLC. The disbursements were made from the ministerial student trust.
Treasurer’s Report
Work on the parsonages has begun and volunteers are both needed and welcome.
Organ blower work has been completed.
Getting quotes for a fire alarm system for church and school.
A service builder program will be purchased from the synod for a cost of $425 per year
New Business
Since Pastor Schweppe has offered to help visit shut-ins during the vacancy, the Council approved compensating him $300/month plus mileage.
Meeting was adjourned with the Lord’s Prayer