St. Jacob’s Youth met with the youth groups from Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and St. Peter’s Lutheran Church at St Peter’s for an afternoon of fun and Christian fellowship. It was a great gathering and we look forward to even more as our Youth Groups begin meeting and working together in the mission of the church.
NALC Archive
South Carolina Mission Region District Youth
Posted March 2, 2024 By adminNALC Disaster Response
Posted October 24, 2023 By adminSt. Jacob’s is still collecting donations of new unused hot pads and new unused dish towels for the Carolinas Mission Region Disaster Response Warehouse Kitchen Kit Project. This project is a great opportunity for congregations to partner together. Kitchen Kits will be assembled at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Troutman, NC on October 28th. St. Jacob’s will be collecting these hot pads and dish towels until October 22nd. We would also like as many members of St. Jacob’s as possible to volunteer in this activity. As always, it will be a time of fun and fellowship as we work together to share the compassion of Christ for those in need. The project is scheduled for Saturday, October 28th. Members of St. Jacob’s who attend may carpool together and make a day of it.
Fresh Eyes for Mission Update
Posted September 20, 2023 By adminIn March, 2023, many members of our congregation met with Pastor David Wendell, Assistant to the Bishop for Ministry and Ecumenism, to take a hard look at our congregation and identify areas where we need to focus and grow. As a result, we came up with four main Vision Points and action steps for achieving each of these goals. It is important that we maintain our focus on these Vision Points and to do this Sherrie and Susan were appointed “Trailbosses.”
The four Vision Points are: Spiritual Awareness; Outreach – Visibility; Care Connections; and creating a Dutch Fork NALC Coalition. As a congregation, we have already worked toward growing in all of these areas.
Spiritual Awareness: Pastor led an adult Bible study during VBS that was well attended. We have a Men’s Bible study, a Women’s Bible study and Wednesday morning Bible study offered at our church.
Outreach – Visibility: The church office renovation has been completed! The office building is now a beautiful office space for our staff, but has also been designed for use for groups within our church to meet (Lutheran Women, youth, Sunday school, audit team, Council) and also groups outside of our church (Courage Center, Women’s AA). Coming soon: Parking lot for easier and safer access to our church buildings; updated website.
Care Connections: We have a greeting card ministry! This team has mailed cards to all young adults in our congregation at Easter and continues to stay in touch with these members throughout the year as well as others. Coming soon: Prayer Partners! In the next few weeks everyone will have an opportunity to sign up for and to receive a prayer partner/family so we can lift each other up in prayer.
Dutch Fork NALC Coalition: A recent Up and Going meeting of four NALC churches was a great success! We want to grow these relationships and hold joint activities with these churches.
All of these Vision Points will help St. Jacobs become the congregation that we envision. In order to achieve these goals, we need everyone to participate and work together toward these common goals!
There is a place for YOU at St. Jacobs!
NALC Disaster Response
Posted September 7, 2023 By adminThe Carolinas Mission Region will host another opportunity for congregations to engage the mission of Disaster Response. This opportunity will see congregations partnering together to assemble “Kitchen Kits.” In many areas of recovering from floods or hurricanes, families often need to replace simple, basic kitchen supplies. NALC Disaster Response has put together a list of items to be included in disaster response “Kitchen Kits” to assist families in their recovery.
Beginning on Sunday, September 3th, St. Jacob’s will Be collecting kitchen hot pads and dish towels. We will collect these items until Sunday, October 22 and will deliver them to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Troutman, NC, where the kits will be assembled. We would also like as many members of St. Jacob’s as possible to volunteer in this activity. As always, it will be a time of fun, and fellowship as we work together to share the compassion of Christ for those in need. The project is scheduled for Saturday, October 28th.
2023 Congo Mission Trip
Posted August 9, 2023 By adminWith Pastor David and Pastor Stephane Kalonji’s return from Africa, the Most recent Congo Mission Trip is now complete. This year’s trip was a successful mission of the Gospel. With God’s help and the support of so many people, we were able to feed well over 400 children, and free nearly two dozen mothers and their babies from detention in hospitals. We distributed will over 200 pairs of eyeglasses, led Christian education seminars in three locations, and worshipped with the people of Kinshasa and Mbuji-Mayi. Thank you to all who supported our mission with your donations and prayers. Plans are already being made for our 2024 trip. We pray that God will continue to bless the Congo Mission as we take Christ’s great commission seriously and go into the world sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
NALC Lutheran Week 2023 – Mission Dei (The Mission of God)
Posted August 7, 2023 By adminThis year’s NALC Lutheran Week completes a six-year focus on the Holy Trinity, concluding now with “God the Father Creates…in His Image,” as the theme for the Braaten-Benne Theological Lectures. However, it seems appropriate to conclude this cycle with the theme, Mission Dei, as we celebrate the fact that everything we do as a mission-driven Lutheran body comes from God and His mission—that we are to go into all the world, empowered by the Holy Spirit, preaching the good news of salvation in and through Jesus Christ—to the whole creation!
This year’s Mission Convocation will indeed be a mission-oriented and mission-driven gathering! While there will be necessary times dedicated to reports, actions and elections—including the election of a bishop—highlights will be the several “On Fire for Mission” sessions, focusing on domestic mission, international mission and mission related to congregational life. These will begin with brief Bible study and devotional periods, followed by presentations on the theme, with extended time for table talk, reflection, breakouts, and strategies for “taking it home!”
There will also be a Faith Formation Festival (“Everything You Want to Know About Youth & Family Ministry”) and the Gathering of the Women of the NALC (“Using Our Gifts to Serve”) earlier in the week.
The hope and prayer of all involved is that this will light a spark or fan the flame for mission, that we return home inspired and excited about Mission Dei—the work and mission of God in our local congregations, in North America and throughout the whole creation!
Larry Shull will serve as St. Jacob’s lay delegate to the convocation.
Congo Mission 2023
Posted July 7, 2023 By adminIn July, Pastor David Nuottila will be busy on his mission trip in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Traveling with his mission partner, Pastor Stephane Kalonji, Pastor David will be serving alongside pastors of the Community of Confessional Lutheran Churches of Congo.
Their mission work includes, but is not limited to, leading Christian Education seminars for Pastors, lay leaders, women’s groups, men’s groups, and young adults.
They will also minister to congregations by helping them feed the many orphaned children in the church’s care, provide eyeglasses for people with such need, provide Bibles for those who do not have access to them, and free mothers and their newborn babies from detention in hospitals.
The challenges of doing mission work in Congo are many, and difficult to overcome. Transportation is one of the biggest challenges that will be faced. Many of the towns and villages are miles apart from one another, and the roads are nearly impassable.
This year’s mission trip will last about three weeks. Pastor David will return to Chapin on Friday, July 21. Until then, pastoral services will be arranged on an as needed basis. Please call the church if you have such need. After hours you may call Congregation President Billy McTeer to arrange for pastoral care.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Congo Mission to make this trip possible. Thank you also for your many prayers.
Calling All St. Jacob’s Youth
Posted May 5, 2023 By adminYou are invited to participate in the Flood Bucket Mission Event at Advent Lutheran Church in King’s Mountain on May 20th. Several of the Mission Region Youth groups will be participating and it will be a great day of service to our neighbors in need. There is no cost for this event and it is guaranteed that it will be a good time. Join the fun! we will also be planning a few fun events for the summer so stay tuned.
NALC Carolinas Mission Event
Posted May 4, 2023 By adminThe Carolinas Mission region is hosting an event similar to the one last May in which we assembled health kits for the disaster response warehouse in King’s Mountain, NC. At this year’s event, volunteers will assemble flood buckets. As a part of the project, St. Jacob’s is collecting pairs of dishwashing gloves and scrub brushes. Our goal is 100 pairs of gloves and 100 scrub brushes by Sun day, May 14.
We also would like to have volunteers from our church family to participate in the event at Advent Lutheran Church in King’s Mountain. It will be a day filled with plenty of fellowship, music, fun, and of course, good food. You can drop off your donations of gloves and brushes in the designated boxes on the stage in the fellowship hall. Please consider attending the event at Advent Lutheran Church and help us help others.
2023 Ministry-Mission Update #4 – 4/17/23
Posted April 28, 2023 By admin“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’” (John 20:21)
Worship – Attendance is up in our new church building; We had 53 on Easter Sunday and 45 this past Sunday, and we received a new member by Baptism on Easter Sunday! If you are in the area and have a chance to stop by for a visit, please do. God has been so good to bless us with this new space for worship, fellowship, and discipleship. We will have a service of dedication and thanksgiving one Sunday afternoon, most likely in June and will keep you posted.
Fellowship – Our folks enjoy spending time together! We have coffee and fellowship time each Sunday between Sunday school and the worship service and had a wonderful breakfast together on Easter Sunday. We are hoping to have a fish fry in the next couple of months and will be hosting an open house appreciation drop-in for the folks from Thompson Funeral Home as a way of saying “thank you” for their years of generous hospitality.
Discipleship – Sunday school and Wednesday Bible study continue in Egermeier’s Bible Story Book. Mon day Bible study meets twice a month and is currently studying Hebrews. Lutheran Men of Joy meet monthly and have been working hard to get the church property and grounds in order. Prayer ministry and Senior Ministry also continue to meet monthly, though we did not visit with our friends at Lakeside in March. Our April ministry of the month is Medicine Mart of Lexington. We are assisting them in providing prescriptions to our neighbors in need. Our May ministry of the month will be the Carolinas Mission Region NALC Disaster Response flood bucket build at Advent, Kings Mountain on May 20th. We hope to see you there!
Continue to pray for us as we adjust to our new home. It is definitely a process. Please also pray for God to show us opportunities to engage with our community. We appreciate your partnership. Thank you and God bless you!
In Christ’s service and to His glory,
Pastor Paulette D. McHugh
Pastor, Joy Mission Church (803)767-7231 pdmchugh@mac.com, www.joymission.church
OUR NEW ADDRESS: 179 Midway Rd. Lexington, SC 29072
CHURCH PHONE NUMBER: 803-399-8183
