May 21-25

~Pentecost~

~Memorial Day~

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

– 1 Timothy 2:1-2

THURSDAY:
7:00 pm – PLS All Grades Spring Program

SUNDAY: Pentecost
9:30 am – Divine Service / Communion
11:00 am – Choir

MONDAY: Memorial Day

NO Vespers Service

THOSE SERVING US THIS WEEK: 05/24 (Pentecost)

Ushers: David Kreienbrink, Mike O’Neill, Rob Easley & Jon Kvale

Altar Guild: Delcia Rosenow

Organist: Michelle Minton
Live Stream: Abel Gullixson

Acolyte | Crucifer: Ryan Gutberth |  Elisha Gullixson

THOSE SERVING US NEXT WEEK: 05/31  (Trinity Sunday)

Ushers: David Harris, Chuck Daniels, Jim Sundby and Peter Sundby

Altar Guild: Wulf Werner

Organist: Albert Harris
Vespers Accompanist: Mallory Daniels
Live Stream: Matt Kopf

Acolyte | Crucifer: Ayden Ault | Abel Gullixson

ALTAR FLOWERS: The Seaton’s, in celebration of May birthdays for Andrew Wade & Adam Green.

Please contact the church office at office@parklandlutheran.org if you would like to supply flowers. We will ask for the date you would like to give flowers and the reason (if there is one). These upcoming dates are available/reserved:

May 31 (Trinity – paraments are white) – Reserved
Jun. 7 (Trinity 1 – paraments are green) – Reserved
Jun. 14 (Trinity 2 – paraments are green) – Available
Jun. 21 (Trinity 3 – paraments are green) – Available

HISTORY OF MEMORIAL DAY

“Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.”

“It was not until after World War I, however, that the day was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress, though it is still often called Decoration Day. It was then also placed on the last Monday in May, as were some other federal holidays.”

Excerpts from article Memorial Day History, https://www.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/history.asp 5.20.19

Notes!

LYS PIZZA ORDERS
Thank you to those who ordered pizzas from the LYS. Your pizzas are ready! Please pick them up at the time and place you indicated at the time of your order:

  • In the PLS pickup line on Thursday, May 21st
  • In the PLS pickup line on Friday, 22nd
  • At PLC after the service on Sunday, May 24th

Don’t forget to bring your payment at time of pickup – CASH or CHECK – made out to Lutheran Youth Society. Enjoy your pizza night!

PLS ALL-SCHOOL SPRING PROGRAM:
Get ready for an evening of fun and entertainment in the PLS Ark (gym) on Thursday, May 21, at 7:00pm! Everyone is invited to this year’s all-school spring program as we celebrate our country’s 250th anniversary! We can’t wait to see you there!

PRAYER FOR MEMORIAL DAY:
Merciful God and Father, we pray You to comfort the hearts of those whose loved ones laid down their lives for their country on the field of battle. Help us to appreciate the freedom for which they have offered the supreme sacrifice. May we show our thankfulness to You for all the blessings we enjoy in this free land by living pure and righteous lives and by doing our duty as citizens of our country and as members of the Church. Bless our government. Destroy the power of those who would plunge the nations into war. Grant peace to our country and to the world.  Help us to spread the Gospel everywhere and to gladden the hearts of sinners with the good news of Your redeeming love. Hear us for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.

MEMORIAL DAY AMMO OFFERINGS MAY:On
Memorial Day Weekend, the Lutheran Military Support Group has asked that Ammo cans be placed in the narthex of our Evangelical Lutheran Synod parishes across the country in which donations may be made to support their work. The Lutheran Military Support Group offers spiritual counseling, Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome counseling and many other important programs for chaplains, military personnel, veterans, and their families. Please consider supporting the work of the Lutheran Military Support Group. We will also make the ammo can available at the PLS Spring Program.

MEMBERSHIP CHANGES:
This past week, we were blessed to have a number of confirmations:

On Sunday, May 17, three off our youth:

  • Elisha G.
  • McKinnen I.
  • Gracie S.

On Tuesday, May 19, three adults joined our communicant membership by confirmation:

  • Michael B.
  • Shayla P.
  • Ulises P.

Welcome to our communicant membership!

NO SERVICE~ MEMORIAL DAY
There will be no Vespers Service on Monday, May 25, due to Memorial Day.

UPDATE FROM THE CZECH REPUBLIC BINDER:
If you may have missed an UPDATE from the Sparleys from the Czech Republic there is a binder on the round table on the Narthex that has all the weekly updates along with some pictures. Please feel free to take a look and find out about their journey so far.

PLC SERVICE TIME CHANGES:
Please note the following changes to Parkland Lutheran Church’s service schedule for the summer months:

Summer Schedule: June 14 – September 6

  • Sundays
    • Divine Service: 9:00am
  • Mondays
    • Vespers Service: 6:30pm (No change)

School Year Schedule: Beginning September 13

  • Sundays
    • Sunday School & Adult Bible Class: 8:15am
    • Divine Service: 9:30am
  • Mondays
    • Vespers Service: 6:30pm

LUTHERAN SENTINEL:
The March-April edition of the Lutheran Sentinel is on the Narthex table for you to take and read.

PLC JUNE CALENDAR:
Please find the PLC June calendar on the News/Events page of our website.

MAY GIVING FOR BUDGET AND MORTGAGE:
Please see the Midweek Update for details.

Reminder Notes!

MEMBERSHIP CHANGES:
On Tuesday, the Board of Elders met and took action on a number of membership items.

  • The Rev. Homer and Sheila Mosley requested to transfer their membership to Christ Lutheran Church in Sutherlin/Roseburg, OR where Rev. Mosley has been serving a long-term vacancy. They are permanently relocating there and are selling their WA house.
  • After working with Pr. Gullixson through the ELS publication “This We Believe, Teach, and Confess”, Ernie Blackburn has applied for (and been granted) membership by Profession of Faith.

CAMPUS CLEAN-UP DAY:
The Board of Christian Education and Board of Trustees is hosting a Campus Clean-Up Day on Saturday, May 30, beginning at 9:00 am to 12 pm. There will be plenty of indoor and outdoor tasks, so please bring your favorite tools and a willing spirit! This is a great opportunity to help beautify our campus  and enjoy the company of others. A second Campus Clean-Up Day will be held on Saturday, June 6, to complete any unfinished projects. We hope to see you there!

MOVIE NIGHT:
On Sunday, May 31st at 7pm, there is a group of PLC members going to see a movie at the theater in Yelm, and the invitation is open to all who would like to attend. For more information, contact Michelle Minton at 253-341-0568 or mnm2012@comcast.net

UPDATE FROM THE CZECH REPUBLIC 5/14:
Greetings from Plzeň!

This is our last full week in Plzeň. But first we must tell you about last week. Our daughter Kirsten was able to be present with us as her job with the U.S. Olympic Committee brought her to Belgium for World Cup competition. When she finished her work there, she flew from Belgium to spend a week with us. Together with Kirsten we visited and/or had dinner with seven different families over each of the regular weekdays, Monday through Friday, four are parents of former students of ours and two are current members of our congregation here, and the other an old friend. It was amazing to see that, in a sense, little has changed from 30 years ago. The people whose friendship we enjoyed 30 years ago are the same people whose friendship we enjoyed last week. The only difference is that they are older … and so are we. Added to this were spouses we met for the first time, children who hadn’t yet been born, and now a few grandchildren as well.

As far as the school goes, we have now sat in on 31 classes with 4 more to come tomorrow and Friday. There is no doubt that the school’s religion curriculum needs improvement, and we will try to supply them with a better curriculum for the coming fall. Input from teachers in the USA would be very welcome … PLS teachers? They certainly could also use another American teacher for English (as a foreign language), since they will be losing a younger grade English teacher this summer. She is moving to Prague for family reasons. Steve was asked to do the two Wednesday chapel services since Martin Vršecký, who usually does them, was unexpectedly called out of town. It went well even though it has been a long time since he conducted a service in Czech.

We haven’t had communion since leaving WA. We are yearning to come to the Lord’s table at PLC again. The church services they have here at the school are offered only once per month. The only one we will be able to attend will be this Sunday. This is another of many things that need redirection around here.

We have been attending the Monday night service that is held in town by Pastor Dominek Žbanek of the Evangelické Církev Augsburského Vyznáni (translation: Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession, which is the way Lutherans in Europe are identified). It follows the same order of service to which we are accustomed. Several of our former members from the 1990’s attend there, as do others we have come to know.  They do have Communion every Monday night, but we have declined as we are not in fellowship with them at this time. But we have hope that this will happen in the future. Thankfully we can get some of the recorded services from Parkland.

We had been hoping to get into the Jewish Synagogue here in town, which was the second largest in Europe. Almost all of the members (over 3000) were sent to the concentration camp at Terezin (Theresienstadt). Only about 200 survived and most of those emigrated to the US or Israel.  It remained locked when we were here but was renovated after we left in 1997. We noticed a flyer on the door a few weeks ago that advertised a concert. Jan went online and found it. The ensemble is called Cello Republic. You can find their website on the net. So, last Monday night we attended their concert AND got to see the inside of the synagogue (and have many pictures_. The four Cellists gave an excellent 2 hours of music!

Alert! All plastic bottles in Europe here now have a cover that does not completely twist off. The European Union has put many restrictions on ‘green’ items. We wonder how long it will take to sweep into the USA. They are a real pain to use. They make pouring liquid out of a bottle a bigger challenge than it needs to be. Another new item we found was an outdoor laundromat connected to a grocery store parking lot. It had three machines of different sizes to choose from. Not sure how you keep an eye on it. Maybe it alerts you by text when it is done.

Some other big news here in Europe is that the British prime minister’s political party got absolutely destroyed in the municipal and council elections last week, as well as in the Welsh and Scottish parliaments. His party wants him to resign, but he is resisting. It has been an interesting current event to watch on the news.

PLS 8TH GRADE CLASS OF 2026:
The following students will graduate on June 7 with a graduation reception to follow in the Ark.

  • Henry B.
  • Elisha G. (PLC member)
  • Shane L.
  • Makenna R.
  • Gracie S. (PLC member)

ELECTRONIC GIVING:
Parkland Lutheran Church has a convenient way to make your regular offerings. With our electronic giving program, you can easily set up a recurring giving schedule or make one-time contributions. Visit our church website for more information or go straight to it by clicking on this link.

  1. This is optional; the old system of contributing by check and cash still works.
  2. Members can still set something up through their banks so that regular checks are mailed in.
  3. If members choose this new option, they might wish to consider still using their envelopes and indicate on them that contributions are given electronically (not necessary, but that way a young confirmation student sees regular contributions going into the offering plate.