Mission Statement:   
Emanuel Lutheran Church is rich in heritage, spreading the Word of God through service, education and fellowship as we break bread together in the company of Christ. 

The Pastor’s Piece for November 2026

You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
2 Corinthians 9:11 NIV

I think our sense of anticipation increases during the month of November. I’m sure this is related to a variety of reasons, such as the changing of the seasons and the coming snowfall, or perhaps it’s having just celebrated Halloween and now we are looking forward to the Christmas shopping season, or maybe we are preparing for the upcoming deer hunting season, or perhaps it’s the fall sports schedule with the World Series having just ended and football in full swing and basketball and hockey just getting started, or it could be that church is on our minds and the Thanksgiving holiday is just around the corner and we are getting ready for Advent and involved in organizing and participating in many outreach ministries for this year’s giving season? What would your sense of this growing anticipation be?

This year our congregations of Emanuel and Bethany will be celebrating Thanksgiving with a Prayer and Pie worship service in which other local congregations will be celebrating with us. I am looking forward to these services at each location (check the weekly bulleting for more information) and I hope you will be able to attend also! So, while all of these possibilities for November interest me, this year, I think I am mostly filled with anticipation for these Thanksgiving services! Perhaps this is because Thanksgiving has a deep and rich legacy, not only in our society, but in the church also. While Thanksgiving Day is a time set apart for family, food, football, and counting our blessings among other things, for Christians, every day has an element of thanksgiving in it where we can feel free to respond graciously to God for the way that God has been generous to us in our lives. As the Apostle Paul writes above in the verse from his second letter to the Corinthian congregation, we too have been enriched in every way, and our generosity allows for others to show thanksgiving to God also through their efforts empowered by ours.

Thinking of this I am reminded that stewardship is another area of anticipation which becomes more prevalent during this month of November as we start to plan for our ministry in 2027.  It is often said that stewardship is just about paying our bills at church?  And I wonder if this is true then why are there so many other things that we have to worry about at church all year long, like who will be our readers, ushers, and worship assistants, and who will provide fellowship goodies each week, or who will serve on our Council, or at our funerals, or provide music in worship, or visit our homebound, or organize fellowship and outreach events and who will make sure our building is in good working order, and all the other countless things that need to happen for our ministries to continue to be what they are?  This is why I think stewardship is more than just about paying our bills each month and worrying about what we can or cannot afford. Over the last 20 years or so that I have been involved in congregational ministry I have learned to talk about our stewardship in terms of our discipleship, because stewardship is more than just giving money and funding budgets. I have come to learn that stewardship is a way of life – a way of life that Jesus taught and modeled for us, and encouraged us to participate in with the gifts that God had entrusted to us, and therefore it is how we are found to be faithful to God everyday as disciples of his Son. Maybe that’s why I am anticipating and looking forward to our Thanksgiving services this year?  Besides all the tasty pies and ice cream and wonderful singing and fellowship that we will enjoy together on those evenings, it will be a special time where I can be intentional about giving thanks to God for all the ways that mine and Amy’s lives have been enriched by being a part of our ministries and communities at Emanuel and Bethany Lutheran churches! Thank you for being generous with all that you share and do!

Happy Thanksgiving! May God continue to bless you and your family in the days ahead!
Pastor Lloyd