He is Risen! "I doubt it." Sounds like a seal of denial on a certain activity or event. Such were the words of Thomas who said, "Unless I see the marks of crucifixion and touch His wounds, I will not believe." Perhaps we have never said exactly the same thing Thomas said, but maybe at some point in our lives we doubted that a particular sin was forgiven or that a certain prayer would be answered. As Jesus showed Himself alive and powerful to Thomas, so He shows Himself to us in Word and Sacrament. As Jesus gave peace and blessing to doubting Thomas, so Jesus can give peace and blessing to each of us during times of doubt.

Are you interested in joining St. John’s? Would you like a refresher course in some of the things our church believes and confesses? Our new Discipleship course, taught by Pastor Young, will begin Sunday, May 14 at 9:30 am during our Bible Class hour. Young and old alike are invited to this Bible class. Please contact the church office to sign up and for more details!

From the Altar Guild:

In addition to all the individuals, who generously donated Easter Lilies for our Easter Worship Services, we would also like to thank all of the organizations that made donations as well. They are; Circle 7, Newspaper Stuffers, Circle 8, Ladies Aid, Thrift Shop and Circle 6. Thanks to everyone! For those of you who indicated that you would like to keep your plant, please remember to pick it up after the second service today.

The Board of Social Ministry is need of your help again for our food pantry. We really need canned goods, especially canned fruit. We are also short on cereal. Thanks for any donation you can make.

Be sure to check your mailbox and review the minutes from January

prior to Tuesday’s council Meeting. Make note of any additions or corrections that will need to be made. Minutes will not be read at the meeting.

Thanks to the many generous donations of books, our Sunday School Library is beginning to take shape. We are now in need of some free-standing book shelves. If you have any that you aren’t using, and

would like to donate to the Sunday School, please call Rhonda McConnell at 369-9680 or Jim Peters at 393-3496. Thank you.

Mark your calendar—June 4 is the date of the Sunday School Picnic, held after the 10:45 am service. New this year will be a Fun Fair, with games, activities and fun for kids of all ages! Watch for more information in future bulletins and check the insert in this bulletin for more details.

Now that the “Faith-based Tuition” program has started, it is very important for the office to keep accurate attendance records. Parents, please help us out by making sure that everyone in your family is listed individually and legibly on the Fellowship Pad. Please use first and last names, so that the attendance posters know who you are! Thank you.

Start making plans now for the Annual Parking Lot Sale on Saturday, June 17 from 8 am–1 pm. For $7 you may rent a space to sell your garage sale items, crafts, plants, etc. Space rental proceeds go for advertising and to the church and school. You keep the profits from selling your wares!

An added feature this year will be a St. John’s Church/School Rummage Sale held outdoors at the same time as the parking lot sale. We need your help with this. Please look through your closets and basements for any items you could donate to the rummage sale. Proceeds from this sale will be shared equally between the church and school. We are looking for clean, sellable items that can be carried by one person—please, NO LARGE FURNITURE, LARGE APPLIANCES, and NO CLOTHING! Most importantly, bring your donations to the school after school is out for the summer (June 7-16). With your help, this can become an annual project to help your church and school.

Any group or class interested in selling refreshments at this sale, for their own profit, please call Ellen Heidel at 362-5694 for more information

From the Board of Parish Fellowship: We would like to thank everyone who participated in the Progressive Dinner on Friday evening. It was, as usual, a time of fun and fellowship!

We have a couple of “special” Sundays coming up soon.

On May 7, Confirmation Day, there will be no Fellowship Coffee or Adult Bible Study. Sunday School and Teen Bible Study will meet as usual.

On Sunday, May 21, we will be having a “Send-off” for Bill Trowbridge between services at 9:15 am. He will be leaving for the Seminary in June. Watch future bulletins for more information.

Then, on Sunday, June 4, we will be Honoring Marlene Will for her 40 years as a Lutheran School Teacher with a Retirement Open-house from

4-7:00 pm. More details are available in your May Newsletter.

Sunday, June 11, is Strawberry Shortcake Day—we will be serving strawberry shortcake at Fellowship Coffee!

From the Elders: In the April 2 Church bulletin there was a letter with the responses from our Pastors to the questions brought up at the “Town Hall Meeting.” For those of you who didn’t see the letter, copies are available in the Narthex and in the church office.

“His Word, Our Joy”: “His Word, Our Joy” will meet today at 6:30 pm in the music room.

Due to the Easter Holiday Services and the Confirmation Service on May 7, a few changes have been made in our Communion schedule for the next few weeks. Please refer to the schedule below.

7:00 pm, Saturday, April 29-Worship with Holy Communion

Donations: Mrs. Dorothy Salzwedel made a donation to the HVAC Fund in loving memory of her son, Robert, whose birth date was April 23.

Pastor: Rev. David M. Young

Pastor: Rev. Ronald A. Brauer

Organist: Susan Rosselli

Director of Music Matt Nelson

Altar Guild: Karen Piper, Lois Scott, Sherry Waters

Elders on Duty: 7:00 PM: Dean Ebbott, Jim Peters

8:00 AM: Jim Woodruff

10:45 AM: Jim Peters, Paul Tibbs

The flowers on the Altar this weekend were sponsored by Ann Schuster and family in loving memory of Lloyd Schuster, husband, father and grandfather, for his birth date of April 21 and his death day of May 5.