On August 12, 2018 Megan Pedersen gave a presentation on Alzheimer’s disease during coffee hour in Luther Hall. Here is the two part video in which she not only presents, but also answers questions that different people had about the disease.

Here are the highlights from Holy Week at Augustana!

If you would like to know what Holy Week was like at ALC than here is a recap.

Maundy Thursday

On this night the church heard a message from Pastor Reed focused on the Last Supper. Then the congregation gathered around the rail for the service of Holy Communion. Lastly, the altar was stripped as Pastor Reed improvised musically on Psalm 22.

Good Friday

The people listened to Pastor Reed preach on how the cross is a sign of love. The people went through bidding prayers to God. Lastly, before leaving in silence, the people were given time to reverence the cross while three men from ALC sang “Were You There?”

Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday the congregation had a sunrise service at Jenny Lind at 7 a.m. and then a service in the cathedral at 10:30 a.m. During the children’s message there was an alleluia shouting match between the congregants led by the youth. The cherub and youth choir sand “This is the Day”. The Adult Choir sang “O Glorious Day”. There was a message from Pastor Reed about how every day is Easter for Christians. There was a baptism of an adult who wished to be welcomed into the waters of baptism. Then almost all of the approximately 160 people at worship came up for communion.

Aerial View of Augustana Lutheran Church – Easter Sunday, April 1st, 2018

May 7 and 8 – Garage Sale

June 5 – Food Stand at More Fun on 81

November 13 – Trivia Night

Ash Wednesday is February 14

Ash Wednesday worship service will be held at Augustana Lutheran Church on February 14, 7:00 PM in Luther Hall. The service will include Imposition of Ashes and Holy Communion. All are invited to attend this worship service that marks the beginning of the season of Lent.

Midweek Lenten Worship – Luther Hall

“A Lenten Journey to the Easter Vigil”

Wednesday evenings in Lent at 6:15 PM,

February 21, February 28, March 7, March 14, March 21

Schedule

6:15 pm   Soup, Sandwich, and Dessert

Served by the youth attending the ELCA Youth Gathering (Free-will offering)

7:00 pm   Service

Pastors participating:

Prs. Matt and Laura Kamprath, First, Geneseo
Pr. Mike Lawyer, St. Paul, Orion
Pr. Wayne Melaas-Swanson, Messiah, Port Byron
Pr. Reed Pedersen, Augustana, Andover
Pr. Gwen Sefrhans-Murphy, Peace, Port Byron
Pr. Randy Swanson, Cambridge, Cambridge

Overview:

Readings will be drawn from the Vigil of Easter service. Each reading offers a description of God, a metaphor of the resurrection, and a reference to Baptism.

Come and hear the stories of  creation, the flood, deliverance at the Red Sea, Salvation freely offered to all, and delivery from the fiery furnace.

All are welcome!

Community Lenten Worship

Services and Luncheons 

The Orion Area Ministerial Association is once again sponsoring Friday noontime worship services and soup/sandwich luncheons during Lent. Different area churches will host each of the gatherings. All are  invited to join their sisters and brothers in Christ for worship, good food and fellowship. A donation of $2.00 per person is requested for each Lenten luncheon to help offset the cost of the meal. The theme this year is drawn from 1 Corinthians 13. “Agape is…”.

Date                            Host Church

February 16                 Orion Methodist Sanctuary          Fr. Jim DeBisschop preaching

February 23                 Mary, Our Lady of Peace             Pr. Sharon Wilbur preaching

March 2                        Augustana Lutheran                   World Day of Prayer                                 

March 9                        St. Paul Lutheran                        Pr. Reed Pedersen preaching

March 16                      Beulah Presbyterian                   Pr. Mike Lawyer preaching

March 23                      Faith Family Church                   Pr. Sheila Sheer

Good Friday: to be determined

Dear Brother and/or Sister in Christ,

Augustana Lutheran Church is beginning a three year pledge drive of $125,000 for our Church Modernization Project. The Church Modernization Project will go towards:

1. Repainting the Sanctuary Walls and Ceiling
2. Installing Air Conditioning (with heat pumps) in the Sanctuary.

Our hope is that when these two projects are done a person can walk into our building and see a lovely painted sanctuary while also feeling comfortable of the indoor temperature year round. The last time the ceiling was painted was in 2000 and the sanctuary walls were painted somewhere in the 70s or 80s. If anyone has gone to church service in August then you know how uncomfortably warm our sanctuary can be.

The Church Council is excited for the Church Modernization Project and the congregation agreed to go forward with it at the annual meeting on January 21^st. The Endowment Fund will pay for the projects to take place and hopefully, with your help, we can replenish the money taken out of the Endowment Fund within 3 years.

The Endowment Fund committee has offered up a great first donation of $20,000 from the Endowment Fund to kick start this pledge drive. So here is where we are at already:

Church Modernization Project     $125,000

Endowment Fund                         -$20,000

Remaining Total                           $105,000

We are sending out this letter and a pledge card to our mailing list. If you do not receive that and would like to donate to this project please contact the church! We are inviting people to give a monthly or yearly pledge towards the project. You can also give one lump sum towards this great opportunity for Augustana Lutheran Church. Thank you for the consideration!

In humble service,

Pastor Reed Lee Pedersen

Pledge Drive Progress

WE MADE IT!

Our 3 year Church Modernization drive was reached on Nov.8, 2020.
The graph below shows the journey over the past three years.
The Church Modernization Account will continue for future property improvements.

Thank You for your Support!

Blue Line = $ Received for Week
Red Line = Total $ Received
Green Line = Total Pledges
Purple Line = Goal

Goal = $125,000 

# Pledges Received = 31
$ Pledged =     $ 65,590
Total $ =           $133,087*
% of Goal (Pledges) = 53.3 %
% of Goal ($) =            106.5 %

• Includes $20,00 From ELCA Endowment Principal and  LaVerna Stromquist Insurance Gift in November and a generous $5,000 donation in December

If you would like to give to the Church Modernization Fund electronically, please click on the button below:

Give


Click Here for Give Help

At our Thanksgiving Eve Service shared between Augustana Lutheran Church, Cambridge Lutheran Church, and St. Paul Lutheran Church there was a person from each congregation who gave a personal witness of Thanksgiving. Give them a look!

2022 Stewardship 

Click on the links below to open the Form needed, complete and submit. Results go directly to the church office.

Pledge Form

Time & Talent

Pictures from Old Wittenberg, Germany

Site of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses posted October 31, 1517 at
Castle Church where Martin Luther primarily preached & is buried
In Recognition of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation 

Also pictures of the City Church in Wittenburg

Pictures & Virtual Reality View provided by Dr. Thomas Schulze & Dr. Peter Lorenz of Fraunhofer Institute, Magdeburg Germany…treasured friends of Gordon Rehn 

Pictures taken June 10th, 2010

See more information on Martin Luther

Pictures from Pastor Reed’s Ordination

Synod Reformation/Ordination Service at
St. John’s Lutheran Church, Mendota Illinois
October 29, 2017

Pictures provided by Mindy Poppy

Did you know where Augustana Lutheran Church got its name? Augustana is named after the Confessio Augustana, commonly known as the Augsburg Confession. This document is a statement of faith made by the early reformers that is still very much applicable to how we talk about God today. This document is a foundation of the Christian faith, not just Lutheran. This text study will dive deep into how we can talk about our faith, our church, and our role as Christians using this great bit of literature.

The text study of the Augsburg Confession will begin Monday, November 6th. I will be leading the study at 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Mondays. 

We will look together at the document by the topics that it discusses. This will not just be lectures. It will involve real discussion from participants about faith. This will be a six week study. To get a full taste of the Augsburg Confession try and make all six weeks of the study. If you can only make a few that is fine because the lessons are not dependent of one another.

Here is a map of the 6 weeks:

Nov. 6^th: History of the Augsburg Confession and a Look at the Preface

Nov. 13^th: The Triune God

Nov. 20^th: Faith, Good Works, and Justification

Nov. 27^th: Sin and Free Will

Dec. 4^th: Worship and Sacraments

Dec. 11^th: Church, Church Authority, and Secular Authority