News and Updates – October 2026

🎂 Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to our members celebrating during October!

• Aidan LeBeau – October 17
• Emily LeBeau – October 5
• Lisa Owsiany – October 24
• Dallas Rodriguez – October 14

May God continue to bless each of you with health, joy, and abundant grace throughout the coming year.

Church Council & Property Updates

The Church Council met in August and continued its work with prayer, Bible study, and thoughtful discussion about the future of our congregation.

Some exciting updates include:

Dates of next meetings. Worship is on October 12th at 6 pm via Zoom.  Council is on October 19th at 10 am in the library.  

Stewardship. The stewardship/budget committee has been hard at work!  A few dates to keep in mind.  We will be having a speaker on Creation Sunday, September 13th (see below).  We will also have a speaker in October and November so please keep an eye out for them.  

Oct 18 – First temple talk

Oct 19 – Start to look for your letters and pledge cards in the mail

Oct 25 – Sign-up sheet out for Harvest Bowl

Nov 8 – Commitment Sunday and Harvest Bowl

Feb 7 – Annual Meeting 

 Green Team

Two Sundays ago we had David Karowe speak to us at coffee hour. David is a professor of biological sciences at WMU and he has spent many years doing research at the University of Michigan and here on the effect of a warming climate on plants and animals. His presentation was on the effect of the warming planet on human beings, especially those of us who live near the Great Lakes. We are hoping to get his presentation up on YouTube, and I for one I’m planning to watch it again. It was very hopeful and informative, and you won’t regret taking the time to watch and listen to him.

Knowledge about what is really happening gives us power to make changes, and he ended in speaking about things that we can all do to slow down what the world is experiencing in terms of fire, flood, wind, and temperature changes that are not good for our health or for the health of all plants and animals. One of his suggestions was that we talk more about what is happening to the climate.  Life-threatening extremes for us humans, many of us who are in our later years, might not happen in our lifetime, but they will surely happen to the younger generation. Therefore, it’s important that we talk to the youth about what’s happening.  David says that when he speaks to younger people, he often starts off with an apology. We are handing down the problems that we caused to the next generation.  Yet we are all willing to help to work and make changes. What we do now can have life changing effects.

As people of Faith, I believe that when we speak of hope, we know that God is with us and helps us in this work. Many people say that they’re working to help the environment because they want the creation that God gave us to be restored, so that the next generations do not experience the extreme heat that will threaten their lives and the lives of their children.  I believe that God has promised to always be with us, and that he made the creation to be pure and clean so that everyone can enjoy it and not be harmed by it.

As the election is coming up in about a month, we can all work and elect people who are positive about the environment. It is time for all people to join together and work as One for the well-being of all. I would like to end  with these verses from the Old Testament. In Isaiah 44, verses 3 to 4, God says, “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit  on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like willows on a riverbank.”

Let us go forth with hope and keep up the good work. 

Land Negotiation update.  LCS Land Negotiation Team report (31Sept2026)

As you know the LCS Land Negotiation team was formed by LCS to deal with entities interested in purchasing or leasing our building and/or property. Currently, we are in very early negotiations with Samaritas, a local non-profit dealing primarily with foster child and

refugee placement, who is interested in leasing our building for its local headquarters. At this stage, we are trying to determine if our building is adequate for their needs, determine what changes would be necessary to the building and grounds to meet those needs and soon, determine if the LCS congregation will accept those changes. We are not at liberty to discuss specifics because at this early stage every item is yet to be negotiated. Please be patient and aware that the LCS congregation will have input in the final decision. Thank you.

Kerry Thurn,

Chair

These ongoing efforts reflect our desire to strengthen our congregation while continuing to serve our community with faith and hospitality.

Reformation Day – Donna Thurn

Reformation day is celebrated on October 31 in remembrance of the onset of the Reformation. It is the day Marin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the All-Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, Electorate of the Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire

On 31 October 1517, Martin Luther wrote to Albrecht, Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg protesting against the sale of indulgences. He enclosed in his letter a copy of his “Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences’, which came to be known as the Ninety-five Theses. Hans Hillerbrand writes that Luther had no intention of confronting the church but saw his disputation as a scholarly objection to church practices, and the tone of the writing is accordingly “searching, rather than doctrinaire”.  Hillerbrand writes that there is nevertheless an undercurrent of challenge in several of the theses, particularly in Thesis 86, which asks: “Why does the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with the money of poor believers rather than with his own money?”

Luther objected to a saying attributed to Johann Tetzel that “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.”  He insisted that, since forgiveness was God’s alone to grant, those who claimed that indulgences absolved buyers from all punishments and granted them salvation were in error. Christians, he said, must not slacken in following Christ on account of such false assurances. [

The Ninety-five Theses were quickly translated from Latin into German, printed, and widely copied, making the controversy one of the first in history to be aided by the printing press. Within two weeks, copies of the theses had spread throughout Germany; within two months throughout Europe

Information from ELCA.org and Wikipedia

Submitted by Donna Thurn

Branches Ministry

October is a busy month for outreach!

Branches’ News:  2 Missions 

Our October mission is a Lutheran Church of the savior favorite – Kairos

Dwelling on Gull Road. It is an ecumenically sponsored home which is

supported entirely by donations, such as ours, and grants from local

sources.Kairos Dwelling provides sustenance for terminally ill persons and

their loved ones in a loving and compassionate environment, which looks

like and feels like a warm, cozy home with four bedrooms. Priority is given

to those with the greatest need. Patient’s family can come and go between

7:00 a.m. and 10p.m. as if they were in their own home. Each bedroom

has furnishing that accommodates family, but Kairos is entirely set up for

family use. A cozy kitchen always has beverages in the frig and

homemade snacks on the counter. The cheery sunroom is a favorite for

passing time. Most families are from this area but for those who travel a

distance there is an upstairs suite for their use as long as is needed and, as

with all other services, is offered at no charge. Kairos is not a hospice

house. Any services, such as hospice, needed by the patients may come

and go as needed.

There have always been a few LCS members that wanted to make

additional contributions for Kairos. If you are wanting to do that this year,

please, label your donations in an envelope by the end of October.

PRAYERS:

*Please note if you are submitting a prayer request on behalf of someone, make sure you have their permission to do so before adding them.

Please pray for Carole VanderLinden.  She has a lot of back pain, has had many back surgeries, and the doctor told her there is nothing they can do anymore but try to manage her pain with medicine.  She was a member of the church on Portage Road in Portage.  

Please add Jim Ishida and Christine Flagler as they continue to battle health issues.

Please add Lee Marsh to your prayers.  

Please pray for Lois Slaughter.

Please pray for Michael Schultz.

Please pray for Dave Rafferty.

Please Pray for Tom Oliver.

Please Pray for Sherry Fee.

Please Pray for Family of Mike Sonnenberg.

Please Pray for the family of Diane Reau.

Please Pray for the family of Donna Thurn’s mom, Betty

Please Pray for Phylis Randt.   She is being well cared for by her daughter and son-in-law in beautiful Traverse City

Please Pray for Matt Nieuwenhuis, the nephew of Deb Cook, who was in a very bad Truck vs. Semi accident.  

Please Pray for Gary and Debbie Foster.  Update on Gary and Deb Foster:

Gary has recovered fully physically, but still struggles with memory and thought processing. They have diagnosed him with Vascular Dementia. Deb has her hands full visiting him daily and seeing Gary’s elderly mother weekly in Lansing.

Please pray for Badria and her family who live in Lebanon.  Friend of Sue Schultz.

Please Pray for Erin Praedel

Please Pray for Lorraine Hills

Please Pray for the family of June Austin

Please Pray for Diane Woodruff who is recovering from sholder surgery

Please Pray for Deb Foster recovering from fractured arm surgery

All who are struggling with mental health issues.  

If you have a prayer request or update, please send it to the church email at lcoskalamazoo@gmail.com or call the office at 269-342-0069.

Closing Encouragement

Summer reminds us that growth often happens quietly—through faithful service, meaningful relationships, and trusting God one day at a time. Whether we gather for worship, volunteer in our community, study God’s Word, or simply encourage one another, every act of kindness reflects Christ’s love.

Thank you for being an important part of the Lutheran Church of the Savior family. Together, we continue growing in faith, hope, and love as we share God’s light with our neighbors.

“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” — Matthew 5:16