Serve
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It is our hope that everyone might find life-giving ways of serving that line up with their gifts and passions. We invite you to reflect on this year's Volunteer Opportunities List and Volunteer Response Form which provides lots of ideas about how you might be involved at St. Peter and in service to our community.
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Some additional resources for discernment are the handouts from our "Spiritual Gifts: Wired to Make a Difference" Sermon Series: Passion Handout, Spiritual Gifts Handout and Inventory, and Gift of our Life Story Handout.
Opportunities to Serve at St. Peter
It takes many volunteers to enable us to conduct ministry here at St. Peter. Some of the volunteers such
as ushers or assisting ministers, we see each week during services. However, there are also volunteers
needed to serve behind the scenes and in preparation for the services. Take a few moments to consider
the gifts that you have and how they might be used to lead worship. Here are a few opportunities to serve:
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Usher: These are the faces that greet members and guests and make them feel welcome. They also
assist with seating, distributing bulletins and communion elements, collecting the offering, and picking up the pews at the end of the service. -
Assisting Ministers: The only real preparation for this role is to prepare the Prayers of Intercession. A
sample is provided each week and it is up to the Assisting minister to customize the prayers to fit our
congregation and our concerns for that week. Other duties include lighting candles, leading prayers or
readings, contacting the radio station on Sunday and assisting the pastor, as needed. -
Lector/Reader: The readers for each week receive the reading in advance to review them prior to the
service (in case there are challenging names or places included in the scripture for the week that you wish to practice reading). All you need to do is read, so it might be a good place for a young person to get involved.
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Altar Guild: They prepare the sanctuary in advance of services including decorating the altar, hanging
paraments, and filling communion cups. After the service on Sunday, they address the unused
communion elements and cleaning up. -
Easy Worship Projection Tech: Robbie takes care of all of the preparation and step by step instructions
are written out to assist the projection tech. The only challenge to this job is to pay close attention to
the service so that you advance to the next screen at the appropriate time. -
Streaming/ Facebook Tech: These tech volunteers use a desktop computer in choir loft to direct the
video camera and send a video feed out to Facebook for our weekly worship services. More people with familiarity with video streaming/ Facebook technology are needed to assist with our weekly broadcasts. -
Choir Members: No auditions are required. The only requirement is a desire to join with others in
fellowship to sing praises to God. It is not necessary that you participate at every practice/performance.
Opportunities to Serve in the Community
Volunteers throughout communities make them flourish, and we want our church to be a place for such outreach opportunities to be fostered. The following are some ways you can help us out in serving our community of Prairie du Chien, WI and the surrounding area:
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Quilting Group: This servant-hearted group crafts beautiful quilts to be sent overseas through Lutheran World Relief (www.lwr.org), and they provide quilts for families locally as well when needs arise.. Members work from home on cutting quilt squares and on quilt tops and gather once a month for a fun day of tying quilts, sewing, and fellowship.
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“God’s Work. Our Hands.” Days of Service:
On Sundays throughout the year, St. Peter volunteers to serve our community in practical ways. We
invite everyone interested to join in these “God’s work. Our hands.” Sundays. Service Projects are
organized for all ages. They are a great occasion for folks to spend some time improving our
neighborhood in a safe ways. Currently, we offer a “God’s Work. Our Hands.” Sunday in September and
April. Please sign-up for our monthly newsletter and weekly E-News to stay informed about upcoming
events. -
Weekly Radio Devotional on WPRE: St. Peter offers a weekly radio devotional each Wednesday morning at about 9:15 a.m. Our Evangelism Committee takes turns leading this important outreach of love into our surrounding community. Tune in to WPRE 104.3 FM or 980 AM on Wednesday for a short word of Scripture, encouragement, and prayer.
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Hungry Jar Offerings: Our Hungry Jar is used during worship to collect loose change and dollar bills (our children do the collecting during non-pandemic times); these monies are then provided to local and global recipients. Each month, we designate a different mission partner.
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Women of the ELCA: St. Peter’s active WELCA Chapter assists the poor and those affected by disasters through Lutheran World Relief kits and quilts, collections for the food pantry, and scholarships for Sugar Creek Bible Camp. They also offer a monthly Bible Study, the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 10a.m. at Bluff Haven
Assisted Living that is open to all women. -
Food Pantry Collections: At both entrances to St. Peter, we collect donations of items for our local Food Pantry to assist families in need. Items are regularly brought to our local Coulee Cap Food Pantry. They are also available for visitors to St. Peter that are in crisis.
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Monthly Worship Service at the Prairie du Chien Correctional Institution: St. Peter has led this monthly worship as a way to share the love of Jesus Christ with our community. The St. Peter team that leads worship with the prisoners reaches out with love, grace, and truth and has gone through a thorough background check and training process.
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Monthly Worship Services led at Bluff Haven (Independent and Assisted Living Apartments) and
Prairie Maison Nursing Home: It is a joy to worship with our elders in faith of St. Peter and their neighbors through these times of worship, learning, conversation, and Holy Communion. The service at Bluff Haven is offered at 10:00 a.m. on the 1st Wednesday of the month.