Fulfill Your Calling and Serve in Our Church Ministries

Ministries

There are a number of opportunities to get involved in various ministries of St. James Lutheran Church. A Christian lives out her or his life in ministry at home, at work, in the community, and in the world. Your life in ministry will take on many forms. We hope that serving our ministries will be one of the ways you live out your life as a servant (the literal meaning of minister) of Jesus for the sake of the world.

Our mission at St. James is to Receive – Grow – Give. Ministries help us do this. The primary ministry of receiving is worship (yes, where we also grow and give), but we also focus on receiving in the ministries of hospitality, recreation, and fellowship.

Ministries of growing include those opportunities the help us mature in our lives as disciples of Jesus. Small group meetings, classes, retreats, and Bible studies are places we grow in faith, and as a community of sisters and brothers in Christ.

Ministries of giving are primarily focused on helping others in some way (always acknowledging that as we give, we receive and grow). There are many ways to serve.

Congregational Council

The Congregational Council is the governing board that represents the Congregation. Membership includes both pastors as well as lay leaders elected to two-year terms at the Semi-Annual Meeting in August.

The current members of the Congregational Council are Dennis Beres, Karen Breitnauer, Kim Feller, Rob Frederick, Christine Kemnitz, Julie Murphy, Mark Smith, Rebecca Woolums, and Susan Martin-Zernicke.

Ministry Teams

St. James has 8 Ministry Teams which meet on the 1st Thursday of each month. If you are interested in serving on one of these teams, please contact Pastor Peter Narum.

Parish Nursing

St James Parish Nurse is Barbara Rasmussen, RN. The Parish Nurse Role Includes:

Member visitation and communion in one’s home, nursing home, hospital or long term care facility.
Provides emotional support and information by phone.
Provides resources and problem-solves with parishioners as the need arises.
Is actively involved with the parishioners and families on the Prayer & Military list; offering visitation and a greeting card ministry.
Prayerfully provides prayer shawls for comfort as the need arises.
Offers parishioners educational handouts on current health issues.
Provides bereavement follow-up visits and grieving material mailings to family members.
Attends weekly staff meetings to keep the staff apprised of the ministry’s activities and receive staff feedback and input regarding parishioner needs.

Prayer Shawl

A dedicated member organizes and leads Prayer Shawl Workshops for some of our parishioners to gather together to knit or crochet prayer shawls and prayer squares. These shawls and squares provide comfort to others as they are surrounded in prayer during their time of need. All who are interested in a very meaningful ministry are encouraged to join us on the first and third Wednesday of the month from 9:30 am to 11:30 am at the St. James.

Quilting

The quilting group at St. James meets the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month at 9:00 am. Quilts are given to Lutheran World Relief and other charities and to families in need and are distributed both locally and nationally.

For more information, please contact the church office at
(608) 845-6922 or [email protected].

Women of St. James

The Women of the ELCA at St. James have 3 circles: