YELLOWSTONE – ARGYLE/APPLE GROVE
   PARISH NEWSLETTER
Office Phone: 608-543-3088
Web Site: www.YellowstoneArgyleAppleGrove.com

Our Ministry Focus: "Sharing God's grace from a hopeful place​

 

Pastor's Letter

    I’ve been reading through J.B. Cowman’s classic devotional Streams in the Desert. She was a missionary with her husband in Japan and China from 1901-1917. One devotion really struck me and I’d like to share it with you: “‘Left alone!’ What different emotions these words bring to mind for each of us! To some, they mean loneliness and grief, but to others, they may mean rest and quiet. To be left alone without God would be too horrible for words, while being left alone with Him is a taste of heaven! And if his followers spent more time alone with Him, we would have spiritual giants again ... The greatest miracles of Elijah and Elisha took place when they were alone with God. Jacob was alone with God when he became a prince. In the same way, we too may become royalty. Joshua was alone when the Lord came to him. Gideon and Jephthah were by themselves when commissioned to save Israel. Moses was by himself at the burning bush. Cornelius was praying by himself when the Angel of God came to him. No one was with Peter on the housetop when he was instructed to go to the Gentiles. John the Baptist was alone in the wilderness, and John the Beloved was alone on the island of Patmos when he as the closest to God.
   “Earnestly desire to get alone with God. If we neglect to do so, we may not only rob ourselves of a blessing but rob others as well, since we will have no blessing to pass on to them. It may mean that we do less outward, visible work, but the work we do will have more depth and power. Another wonderful result will be that people will see ‘no one except Jesus’ in our lives.
   “The impact of being alone with God in prayer cannot be overemphasized: If chosen men had never been alone, in deepest silence open-doored to God, no greatness would ever have been dreamed or done” 
   Give God ten minutes of silence a day – pray and listen – and find out what the Lord’s plans are for you          

           ~ God bless, Dan

 

Coming in May – “Befriending Study.” 
   How can we best serve others? How can we best use our gifts? How can we fulfill our ministries? How do we help someone in emotional and spiritual pain? What new ministries can be born in our parish? Which ones should I get involved in? 
   All these questions are essential. We’ll look at them in this up-coming study which will call you to see where you can best serve the Lord and others, and how to do it in the best and most helpful ways. 
   We will have both a morning and evening option. The morning group will meet from 9:30-10:45 a.m. and the evening group will meet from 6:45-8:00 p.m. We will meet at Argyle Lutheran. We will meet on Wednesdays, May 13th, 20th and 27th. All the material will be provided. Hope to see you there!

 

The first of our summer joint outdoor worship services will take place at Yellowstone on Saturday, May 23rd at 6:30 p.m. to celebrate God’s presence in our lives and land on the Memorial Day weekend. 
   Please bring a lawn chair and join in this wonderful service. And, don’t forget to bring friends and family! We will have a coffee time before (6:00-6:30 p.m.) and after the service, so join in the fellowship. A sign-up to bring goodies for the coffee time will take place later in May. 

 

New member class: If you are interested in joining our parish, or would like to get more information about joining, we will have a new member class on Tuesday, May 5th from 6:30-7:15 p.m. at the parsonage (508 Monroe St. Argyle – come to the back door). If you have any questions, please talk to Pastor Dan.

 

Attention women all ages: Argyle-Apple Grove, Yellowstone: Come explore how we can bring women together (again) for Bible study and fellowship. Rita Stanton and Joanne Gouge are inviting everyone to meet at the Argyle Café April 29 and May 6 at 1:00 p.m. 
   Joanne and Rita welcome all ideas. If a ride needed, call Rita @ 608-438-6958.

​

The Quilters will meet on Tuesday, May 26th at Yellowstone. Quilting begins at 9 a.m. Everyone is welcome. No experience necessary.

 

Argyle-Apple Grove is in charge of the Argyle Food Pantry in May. The pantry will be open on Thursday: May 7, and 21. If you can help, please contact Beth Fransen at 608-558-8603. 

 

GAP Faith Night – God Always Present (GAP) now has 20 children involved! This new venture for our parish is having some great results. GAP lifts up the need to fill the gap between the child’s everyday life and their faith life. The final class of the season will take place on Wednesday, May 6th from 5:30-7:00 p.m.

 

The A/Applestone Youth want to thank everyone for your generous support of our youth group. We are gearing up for the National Youth Gathering in Minneapolis next year. Your gifts of food, finances and presence has helped us make this trip possible. 

 

Easter offering: Our Easter offering will go to support Paige (Soper) Rogers and her year-long ministry of educational immersion at Indiana University. Paige got involved with the Christian group “Chi Alpha” while in college. Please give generously to help support one of our “home grown” youth who is now involved in ministry! Easter offering envelopes can be found by the offering plates in the narthex, or you can write a check and put in the memo line: “Paige Rogers.” 

 

Stewardship: We thank everyone for your generous support of the ministries of our congregations. If you are unable make it to church to give your offering, you may mail it to the following address: Yellowstone/Argyle-Apple Grove, Box 217, Argyle, WI  53504.

 

March Treasurers’ and Pastor’s reports:                 
                Yellowstone                                 Argyle-Apple Grove 
  Beginning balance: $20,579.66     Beginning Balance:    $20,039.54
                     Income: $  6,895.14                      Income:         $5,910.00
              Expenses:    $13,844.14*                     Expenses:   $11,740.45*
       Ending Balance: $13,630.66           Ending Balance:    $14,209.09
 

*Higher expenses due to annual insurance package on the church.
*The expense line for Argyle/Apple Grove included a $6,000 withdrawal from the general fund that was put into the reserve account.

Cookies Needed for InterVarsity: Shannon and Scott Marion will be helping to host three InterVarsity meetings in June: June 5-6 is the Board of Trustees Meeting; June 11 is Orientation for New Campus Ministers; and June 16-18 is the National Leadership Team Meeting.
   We’re wondering if people would be willing to bake cookies for these meetings. The previous times our churches baked cookies, it was a huge hit! People keep asking us, “Where do you go to church?”!
   We can pick up the cookies on Sunday, May 31st  at both services, or anytime up to Wednesday, June 3rd  if you want to drop them off at the parsonage. We’ll have a sign-up sheet earlier in May. We will freeze the cookies and bring them out for each meeting. Thank you! We’ll have a sign up in May. 

Yellowstone council will meet following the late service on Sunday, May 3rd. Argyle-Apple Grove council will meet on Tuesday, May 12th at 6:30 at the church.

 

Worship Assistant Sign-up: If you would like to help with the worship service as a Scripture reader, Communion assistant, or greeter, look for the sign-up at church.
   
A/APPLESTONE YOUTH
   *Sunday School: We will be meeting on the 3th Sunday this month,
   Sunday, May 17th at Yellowstone at 11:15 a.m. to noon.
*May Fun Event: Progressive Dinner! Details to be announced.
   *Summer Retreat at Dan and Ann’s lake house: We will send out a poll to get a date for this summer retreat. We’ll most likely send it through SnapChat; be on the look-out!