Cross of Christ Lutheran Church

204 South Chase Street       Houston, MN 55943        507-896-3102

             cofc@acegroup.cc

Council Staff W/ELCA News Pastor Lane Photos More Photos

Monthy Calendar

Weekly Sunday

Worship Schedule

Cross of Christ

9:30 a.m.

Saturday Services

Before 1st and 3rd Sundays

of the Month

Cross of Christ 5:00 p.m.

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Special June Events

June 16th

Pie & Ice Cream Social at Stone Church

3:30

 

June 19th

Youth & Family Event

Logger’s Game

Join us for a fun filled evening at Copeland Park on Wed., June 19th as the La Crosse Loggers take on the Eau Claire Express.  First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.  Cost is $5/person, which includes your seat and a concessions voucher.  A signup sheet will be in the narthex.  Please sign up no later than June 12th.  We will meet at the church at 6:00 p.m. for those that want to carpool.  Any questions contact Chris Kildahl @ 507-450-3171.  Hope to see you there!

 

 

Lutheran Night

at the Twins


Monday, August 12, 2013
Minnesota Twins

vs.

Cleveland Indians

 

Click for more info.

 

Click for

Cross of Christ

Council Minutes

 

Ikungi Lutheran Church

(Cross of Christ's

Partner Church  Tanzaniaz)

History of the Stone Church Cemetery

 

Stone Church Cemetery Data

 

 

As a fellowship of believers, it is our mission to joyfully proclaim the gospel of Christ in word and deed, inviting people to worship together, nurturing them in the Christian faith, loving one another, and serving a world in need. We invite you to visit us.

 

 

Summer Worship Schedule

 

8:30 a.m.

Stone Church

10:15 a.m.

Cross of Christ

 

I know there will be vacations and lots of things going on this summer; but don’t take a vacation from worship and God. After all God doesn’t take a vacation from you.

 

Pastor Lane



 

 
 

 


 

Pastor Lane speaking….

Matthew 26:30  
When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Singing hymns has been done since the beginning of the church. Each Christian denomination has its own unique style. There are some hymns such as Amazing Grace and Beautiful Savior which are appropriate for all denominations. Lutherans are known for their hymn singing. Traditionally they are four part harmony but that is beginning to change. Our hymnal contains many new hymns as well as many old familiar hymns. In order to get in our Lutheran hymnal they go through a theological and corporate vetting process. The hymns in our hymnal not only fit with Lutheran theology but were requested by members of Lutheran congregations throughout our nation.

There were many hymns that were left out of our hymnal for various reasons. Onward Christian Soldiers was left out because many people complained that it was too military. The Old Rugged Cross was left out because it doesn’t fit into pure Lutheran theology. Breath on Me Breathe of God was left out for the same reason (but it is one of my favorite hymns) the list goes on. We probably wouldn’t be able to lift a hymnal that had all the hymns that people would like to sing or hear.

Our hymnal has hymns for all different occasions and events throughout the church year. Some, while being difficult to sing have wonderful lyrics that have deep spiritual meaning. We have hymns for opening and closing of worship, Christmas, Easter, Lent, Pentecost and other church holidays.

It is my job to pick hymns for worship. I pick hymns the month before we worship. For instance, I pick June hymns in May. I read the lessons for the Sunday first. Then read notes about the lessons and do some scripture research. I check to see if the words of the hymn are found in the scriptures for that particular Sunday. I sing it myself to find out if it familiar to me and if it would be familiar to the congregation. For new hymns I may ask the choir to have the mikes on for the hymn upstairs and they may practice it before church. I want the Hymn of the Day (Hymn after the Sermon) to match what will be said during the sermon especially. I usually try to have the first and last hymn be upbeat for coming in and going out of worship. The musicians of the church get the list each month. They may ask me to change a hymn or give a different suggestion and I value that input. We try to put the more contemporary hymns in the contemporary worship Sunday. In the summer I try to pick the older familiar hymns to fit with the Stone Church Worship. When we start worship at the Stone church we begin with singing hymns that people pick out.

In the end, despite efforts sometimes a hymn is just yucky. If that happens please swallow hard and wade through it. Recently, someone complained about a hymn. Most of the time I try to explain the process and say we are trying our best. But this particular hymn happened to be a favorite of mine; I loved the words and the melody, so I wasn’t very patient. The thing is; we all have some hymns that are special to us. We all have hymns that we could sing every Sunday and never tire of them. We average 180 people who worship at Cross of Christ every Sunday. One hymn you may not particularly like but it may be special to someone else. Sooner or later we sing a favorite hymn of yours from our hymnal.

 

2012 - 2013 Sunday School

This year Sunday School  has been a journey. The story of Moses is very memorable for the kids. I believe the most enlightening story with the children has been the story of the ten plagues and what Passover means. When kids understand the correlation between stories it is amazing. I have seen excited children, eager to know what activity they have.  There have been so many volunteers this year. I am very thankful for all of their work and support. The last day of Sunday School is May 12. See you at Bible School!

                     

Lisa Schutte, Education Superintendent

 
 
 

Adult Bells and Contemporary Choir  Junior Bells   

(pics by Jean Halvorson)

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204 South Chase Street   Houston, MN 55943   507-896-3102

cofc@acegroup.cc 

 

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