The biennial online convocation of the NALC takes place this month on August 9th. Joining Pastor David Nuottila will be Sherry and Brandon who will participate as St. Jacob’s delegates. Please pray for the leadership of our denomination and for all delegates as they conduct the business of the NALC.
South Carolina Mission District Archive
NALC Mission Convocation
Posted July 31, 2024 By adminMore Youth Group News
Posted June 17, 2024 By adminJust as the Carolinas Mission Region Convocation had an emphasis on Youth Ministry, this edition of our newsletter focuses on the activities of our St. Jacob’s Youth. Our youth are certainly a busy and active bunch. They enjoy providing music for our congregation, engaging in mission events, and leading worship on the last Sunday of those months with a fifth Sunday. Our Youth members will lead worship again on June 30th. Please support our youth members with your prayers and congratulate them by commenting on their dedication and love for the ministry here at St. Jacob’s.
Music Notes
Posted April 10, 2024 By adminPsalm 150
Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
2
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
3
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
4
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
5
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
Teaching our children and youth to use their voices and instruments to praise the Lord is one of my favorite things. I think we can all agree that our youngest choristers did a wonderful job on Palm Sunday sharing the message, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We learned again the story of Palm Sunday as we got messy with paint and sang. They even started ringing bells. We look forward to them helping to lead worship through song in the future.
Our youth handbell choir are hard at work as well. We have been invited to participate in worship at the annual Carolina’s Mission District convocation the first weekend in May. The 2024 convocation
is being held at Holy Trinity in Little Mountain. Our youth handbell choir is playing the prelude for the Saturday morning worship service.
We are also gearing up for our summer handbell camp which will be held on Tuesdays this summer. There will be more information in the May newsletter
NALC Disaster Response Shed
Posted April 5, 2024 By adminOur NALC Disaster Response shed (our former bus shed) is up and running. So far, we have received flood buckets, Health and Hygiene kits, Kitchen kits, and School kits from neighboring congregations. Glenn Shealy has taken on the role of “warehouse manager” and is standing by to schedule drop off times and dates for those church groups who would have materials for us to store. Many thanks to Gerald, Robert, and Billy who constructed the necessary shelving for the response shed.
South Carolina Mission District Youth
Posted April 2, 2024 By adminPastor David Nuottila has been meeting with and working with the pastors of St. Peter’s, St. Paul’s, and Holy Trinity Lutheran Churches to establish a new Youth Ministry initiative among the NALC congregations for South Carolina. Such collaboration has proved beneficial for NALC congregations in North Carolina and we hope to replicate their success here. Gathering our youth members in grades 6-12, we will share the Gospel, grow in discipleship, and have loads of fun together. Our first project is to support We Care of Chapin. Each youth group is challenged to collect jars of peanut butter and jelly to donate to We Care. This is meant as a fun competition among our youth groups, but primarily we want to tend to the needs of our neighbors. The first gathering of our South Carolina Mission District Youth will be on April 28 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Pomaria. All youth members in grades 6-12 are encouraged to attend. More information will be given as the date draws nearer.
Solid Rock Day Camp
Posted May 20, 2023 By adminThis June, St. Jacob’s is partnering with St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Chapin, and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Little Mountain to bring summer camp to Chapin. The Solid Rock Day Camp (June 11-16) is for elementary school aged children (grades 1-5). They will have the full camp experience of games, fun, food and make plenty of new friends, all in a Christian atmosphere. This is a great experience and blessing for our families. Please take advantage of this day camp opportunity which is sponsored by the NALC Carolinas Mission Region. Cost of the camp is $50.00 per child payable at St. Jacob’s. Anyone requiring assistance to cover registration fees should contact Pastor David Nuottila to make these confidential arrangements. By the way, the Solid Rock Camp Counselors will be worshiping with us at St. Jacob’s on June 11, so your camper will be able to meet them. Contact Pastor David for registration information as it is done via email. Hurry, the camp will fill up quickly.
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
The NALC Fresh Eyes for Mission Summit
Posted December 5, 2022 By adminMany congregations struggle with decline in attendance and income, transitioning neighborhood and context, lack of coherent and appropriate vision for mission. Time and time again congregational leaders make efforts to re-tool and re-shape the congregation’s life and ministry, only to find resistance to change, lack of commitment and little positive result. One of the challenges to renewal and re-formation is our closeness to our congregation’s history, culture and current practices. As with any family system, we can be so involved that we are blinded to the reality of our situation, unable to see clearly God’s will for new direction and transformation.
In ongoing reflection and conversation, leadership of the North American Lutheran Church have been seeking an integrative approach to congregational assessment, evaluation and renewal. Working together, several member’s of the NALC Executive staff have developed such an approach, appropriately titled, the “Fresh Eyes for Mission Summit.
The goal of the summit is to involve appropriate leadership in the NALC, together with congregational pastor and leaders, praying first, “Lord, let our eyes be opened!” We then trust that the Lord will give participants fresh eyes to receive new insight and understanding, all aimed at new or renewed direction for mission and ministry as the congregation seeks to follow Jesus firmly and faithfully.
On Monday evening, November 21st, several members of St. Jacob’s met with Pastor David Wendel, NALC assistant to the bishop for ministry, to explore the prospects of our congregation participating in the “Fresh eyes for Mission Summit.”
One need only look around to see that St. Jacob’s is not the congregation we once were. In these days of declining church attendance and membership, the Fresh Eyes Summit is designed to help congregations such as ours take a critical look at how their ministry is going and what key factors should be addressed. Congregations engaging in the summit look at the community’s growth and other factors, and weigh their giftedness to determine the capacity each church has for mission and ministry.
Several NALC congregations in the Carolinas (including local congregations such as Holy Trinity in Little Mountain) have participated and come away with renewed energy and excitement about their church’s Ministry.
More information will be shared during our Congregation Meeting on December 4th.
NALC Disaster Response Event
Posted December 5, 2022 By adminWhat a great time we had during our NALC Disaster Response project in November! So many of our church family members helped us collect items to assemble health and hygiene kits for the Disaster Response warehouse. Our Goal was to collect enough materials to assemble fifty kits. That goal was certainly met. Along with health kits, St. Jacob’s collected about forty-five blankets, and several packages of adult disposable undergarments. Pastor David also furnished a case of Bibles to be donated to the warehouse.
At the completion of our project, one question remained. Who is the champion chili chef at St. Jacob’s? That question was answered as June went home with the honors (and the Chili Champion apron and trophy). Thank you to all who supplied chili with all the fixings. Thank you also to everyone who made a donation of time and talent in collecting and assembling the health kits for the NALC Disaster Response Warehouse. All in all, it was a fun night of mission and fellowship. Well done St. Jacob’s!
NALC Disaster Response
Posted October 31, 2022 By adminDue to response to Hurricane Ian, both Carolinas Disaster Response Warehouses are empty and in great need. As such, St. Jacob’s is collecting blankets and assembling Health Kits. A list of items for health kits is provided below.
Men, women, and youth members of St, Jacob’s are encouraged to participate in the assembly of health kits on Sunday, November 6th in the Fellowship Hall beginning at 5:00PM.
DISASTER RESPONSE HEALTH KIT CONTENTS 1 bath towel, 1 wash cloth, 1 travel size shampoo (3 oz), 1 bar bath soap, 1 tooth brush, 1 tube toothpaste (2 if travel size), 1 comb, 1 hairbrush, 1 deodorant, 1 nail clippers (optional), 1 dental floss
ITEMS ALSO NEEDED: Trough November 20th, we will collect Blankets, Adult disposable underwear, And children’s and infant disposable diapers
