Messiah Helps Build Children's Health Facility

One of the local community organizations that Messiah Lutheran Church sponsors as part of our outreach ministry is the HEALS program.  HEALS stands for Health Establishments at Local Schools.  HEALS provides free medical and dental care, mental health counseling and social services to low-income children at Martin Luther King Jr., Morris and University Place elementary schools.

To support their mission, the HEALS program is constructing a new pediatric clinic on the campus of Madison Cross Roads Elementary School.  Fifty-four percent of the school's 1,100 students live below the poverty line. The new pediatric facility will share a ranch-style house on the campus with the nonprofit Huntsville Assistance Program, which provides food and other basic needs.

Messiah Lutheran Church is supporting HEALS with a monentary donation of one-half of the offerings collected during each of the Advent Worship Services this year.

Milestone Christian Academy

During this Christmas Season, the congregation of Messiah Lutheran Church has been busy sharing gifts with a number of Huntsville area organizations.  One of these organizations is the Milestone Christian Academy.

Milestone Christian Academy, is a Christian based non-profit organization that provides childcare for approximately 100 children. Milestone is unique, in that they offer a sliding fee scale based on income. For qualifying parents, who are employed or attending an educational institution, help is provided in the form donations and grants.

Members of the Messiah Lutheran Church Congregation have visited Milestone on many occasions.  We are committed to helping Milestone in their mission to provide not only child care, but also a rich nuturing environment to help children grown cognitively, socially and physically.

This month, several members of the Messiah Congregation delivered gifts to the children of Milestone.  They also gave a special gift to Milestone's administrative staff.  This gift was a brand new copier which will save them countless trips to the local copy shop.

We wish all of the staff, parents and children of Milestone Christian Academy a very Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas from all of your friends at Messiah Lutheran Church.  Today we celebrate the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ.  Please take a moment as you enjoy this performance of Still, Still, Still by the Messiah Adult Choir to reflect on the awesome gift given to us by God.

Luke 2:8  

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,  ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!’

Seraph Choir - O Come Little Children

The Seraph Choir of Messiah Lutheran Church in Madison Alabama performs "O Come Little Children" as part of the contemporary worship service on December 19th, 2010. Messiah Lutheran Church offers many opportunities to make a joyful noise and we believe in giving our youth members an early start in developing their musical talents. The Seraph Choir is directed by Claire Strand.

Related Articles:

• "Lord, Use Me" - Music Camp 2010
• Notabella Bell Choir
• Contemporary Worship Service

Sunday School Christmas Program

On Wednesday, December 22nd, the Children of Messiah Lutheran Church's Sunday School presented a special program during the Advent Worship Service.  They did an awesome job with bible readings, explanations of Christmas traditions and several musical performances.  This video is their performance of Silent Night.

Pastor Amanda Olson Visits December 2010

On Sunday, December 12th, Messiah Lutheran Church was blessed with a visit from Pastor Amanda Olson and her husband Horatio de Castillo. Pastor Amanda is a missionary and along with her husband Horatio is a Pastor in the Iglesia Luterana Agustina de Guatemala (ILAG).

Pastor Amanda led an adult forum during the Sunday School hour and preached at both services.



Pastor Amanda and her husband Horatio have visited Messiah numerous times in the past and their visits are always welcomed just as we welcome home close family members.  Messiah Lutheran Church along with other Churches in the ELCA proudly sponsor Pastor Amanda and ILAG as they work to spread God's word in Guatemala.

The Iglesia Luterana Agustina de Guatemala (Augustinian Lutheran Church of Guatemala) was founded in 1991 by Padre Horacio Castillo and his family. The members come from the margins of the Guatemalan society, people of few resources and are predominantly indigenous.

Guatemala suffered through a 36 year internal war. This war ended in 1996 with the signing of the peace accords. Padre Horacio Castillo helped write and later was among those who signed the peace accords.

The first churches of the ILAG were formed in Guatemala City among the internally displaced, those who fled into the City during the war, who were (and still are) living in the ravines of the City.  The ILAG also operates two elementary schools which serve children and families in these marginalized areas of the City.

As refuges began to return from Mexico, they contacted Padre Horacio as they had known him from his visits to some of the camps.  Through these contacts the ILAG grew in the rural areas of the country among the resettled refuges.

The ILAG continues to grow each year by a few mission sites and churches as communities hear that the ILAG walks with people delivering the gospel freely to all people and visits the communities regularly.

The philosophy of the ILAG is to provide pastoral accompaniment and holistic development.  The center of the ILAG is Christ and from this center we seek to provide for all aspects of the life of our members and their communities - the spiritual, physical, emotional and material.

The church has about 3,000 members in nearly 20 congregations spread throughout Guatemala.  ILAG also operates two elementary schools in Guatemala City.

Elfin Magic

On Friday night, the elves of Messiah Lutheran Church were busy creating handcrafted Christmas gifts.  Each year Messiah Lutheran Church sponsors an event called Elfin Magic.  This event provides the kids with craft supplies and supervision so that they can create Christmas gifts of their selection.  The kids selected from 5 crafts including: Tile Coasters, Christmas Ornaments, Pendants, Christmas Wreath with Candle and a Bucket of Goodies.  The children also participated in an Outreach Project in which they constructed Fruit Baskets. Twenty-one Children participated in this year's event.  Many thanks to all the parents, senior and junior youth and sponsors who helped make the event such a success.

Operation Christmas Child 2010

The Youth of Messiah Lutheran Church participated again this year in a workshop for Operation Christmas Child.  They wrapped presents for the Foster Children's Alliance, packed and wrapped shoebox packages for Samaritan's Purse, decorated cookies for military personnel and college students and made food tray savers for Meals on Wheels clients. The North Alabama Thrivent Chapter along with the Grace Lutheran Church youth hosted the event at Grace Lutheran Church in Huntsville, AL. Thanks to all of the youth members, parents, and sponsors who participated in this year's event.  Their efforts will certainly help brighten Christmas for many members of our community and those in need around the World.

Related Articles:

• Operation Christmas Child 2009, November 15th, 2009

Silent Quilt Auction

This month, the Comforters of Messiah Lutheran Church are conducting a silent quilt auction.  The auction includes ten beautiful handmade quilts that were lovingly created by the comforters.  The funds raised from this auction will be used throughout the year to support the comforter ministries.

The Comforters having been making quilts for those in need since 2003.  During their first year, they made 63 quilts.  This year they have created over 100 quilts which will be donated to a number of worthy causes.

The Comforters are a self sustaining ministry.  Each year in November, they raffle off some of their quilts in order to raise the funds needed to continue their ministry.  They are always in need of supplies and would welcome any donations of  Fabric (no knits or stretch fabric), Thread, Twin sheets for backs.  Cash can also be donated for supplies.

The group meets each Tuesday at 9 AM until 3 PM.  You are welcome to participate during any portion of the day.  The group will also be happy to teach you some quilting skills.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Annette Joens or the Church Office for more information.

Notabella Bell Choir

Messiah Lutheran Church is blessed with many talented musicians.  Last week we highlighted the talents of the Contemporary Worship Service Band.  This week we are focusing the spotlight on the Notabella Bell Choir which performed "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken" as part of the Reformation Sunday Service.  The Notabella Bell Choir is the most advanced of Messiah's Bell Choirs.  This group is directed by Rhonda Gaede.  In an exclusive interview with the Messiah Lutheran Blog, Rhonda stated that she got her start in the Bell Choir by accident.  While she was rehearsing with the vocal choir, the director asked her if she could read music.  When she acknowledged that she could read music, she was invited to fill in during a bells rehearsal.  She was immediately hooked on bells and the rest is history.

Messiah has many bell choirs for all age groups and for all skill levels.  If you have ever listened to the bell choir perform and thought it might be fun to try, Rhonda could probably find just the right bells group for you.

Your next opportunity to hear the bells perform will be at Messiah's annual Ring and Sing concert on Sunday, December 12th at 6:30 p.m.  Music from the Notabella Bell Choir, Cantabile Bell Choir, Children's and Adult Chime and vocal groups will be featured.  Audience hand chime participation for ringing of Christmas carols is also on the program!  We hope to see you there.

Samaritan's Purse - Operation Christmas Child 2010

Jr. and Sr. Youth are invited to participate in the annual Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child event Sunday, November 14 from 4-7 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church in Huntsville. Youth will be collecting and preparing Operation Christmas Child boxes for shipment, along with frosting cookies and wrapping Christmas gifts for local children in need. Youth from all north Alabama Lutheran churches participate in this event. This service and social event ends with a pizza party sponsored by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Please see Pastor Mark or Dan Casey for more information.

Tweens - Saturday, Nov 13, 2p.m. – Operation Christmas Child - Samaritan’s Purse Shoebox Mission. Bring a shoebox full of items for either a boy or a girl your age or younger. Small toys, clothing, personal supplies or candy (that won’t melt) work well. We will wrap them and hand them off to the Jr and Sr Youth
to take to Grace Lutheran.


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Related Article:

• Christmas Workshop 2009

Halloween Party And Chili Cook-Off 2010

Today was Messiah Lutheran Church's Annual Halloween Party and Chili Cook-Off.  This is always a great event, but this year the Fellowship Committee out-did themselves.  Everyone had a ghoulishly good time.  The decorations were great.  The food was delicious.  There were a ton of great costumes, and not just on the kids.  Many of the adults also dressed for the event.  After the opening Halloween Parade, the kids got down to some serious activities including pin the wart on the witch, guess the goo, jack-o-lantern toss, fishing and the ever popular Halloween Cake Walk.  While the kids were winning lots of prizes, the adults were taking part in some very serious Chili Judging.  There were 12 entries this year, and it was very difficult to select a winner from all of the very tasty chili.  In the end, the grand prize went to Chili Master Dan Byers.  Second Place went to Emily Householder and Third Place went to Stephen Strand.  The winner of the hottest chili contest was Stephen Strand with an entry so hot that it had to be kept in a special container for fear of spontaneous combustion.  Many thanks to everyone on the Fellowship Committee for making the Halloween Party so much fun!

Related Articles:

• 2009 Halloween Party and Chili Cook-Off

Contemporary Worship Service

Worship at Messiah Lutheran Church is enjoyed in many styles and formats. Our services include the traditional Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW), the With One Voice (WOV) book, and The Chicago Folk Service.  Messiah also offers a contemporary service that includes hymns of praise and worship led by our very own Messiah Contemporary Worship Service Band.  This talented group of musicians provides an inspiration backdrop to the Contemporary Worship Service with their high energy songs.  The song performed in this video clip is "Blessed Be Your Name" which was written and released by Matt Redman in 2005.

We know that people respond in positive ways to many different styles of music, and we work to incorporate those styles in our worship.

Messiah's worship life is enhanced by the vocal and instrumental gifts of many people through our adult and youth choirs, children’s choirs, bell choirs, and instrument ensembles, adding to the beauty and enjoyment of worship each week.

If you would like to learn how you can lend your musical talent to one of Messiah's many musical groups, please contact Messiah's music director Lois Graff or the Church Office at (256) 721-0041.

OWLS Social Event October 2010

The Older Wiser Lutherans (OWLS) of Messiah Lutheran Church had a Dominos Party for their October 2010 get together.  And by Dominos, we mean the 1000 year old board game and not the similarly named pizza chain.  Not that we have anything against pizza.

The event was hosted by Ed and Mary Ann Stasiak.  It was a beautiful evening and everyone enjoyed visiting in their very lovely garden and patio area. The very delicious snacks everyone brought were enjoyed by all. 

Several games of Dominoes ensued.  Some of the experts were teaching the others how to play their favorite game.  Some of the rules had to be checked out and there was lots of good humored bickering about this.

Some members of the group found the University of Alabama football game on TV and couldn't be coaxed away to play Dominos.

Everyone had a good evening and we thank the Stasiak's for inviting us to their beautiful home.


The OWLS are a loosely knit group of folks (over 50 years of age) who get together once a month for an activity.  These activities vary from a potluck at the church, Sunday brunch at a restaurant, miniature golf, a visit to the Botanical Garden, to attending the "Living Christmas Tree" concert.  Both men and women are welcome.  And don’t let our name fool you.  We may call ourselves the “Older” Wiser Lutherans, but we know we’re all young at heart.

Please call Jan Murphy or the Church Office for more information about the OWLS.

Handmade Market 2010

On Saturday, 23 October 2010, Messiah Lutheran Church conducted a Handmade Market to raise funds for our Lunches For Learning Ministry.  During this second year of the Handmade Market, the talented artists and craftsmen of the Messiah congregation donated over 700 items.  The donated items include every imaginable manner of handicraft including paintings, photographs, sewed and knitted items, woodwork, food, seasonal decorations and much, much more. A host of volunteers organized the donations and manned the cash registers.  The community turned out in full force to support the event.  Additionally, a delicious taco lunch was prepared to raise additional funds.  In total, over $3,750 was raised, which will allow Messiah Lutheran Church to continue supporting this awesome program for next year.

Lunches for Learning exists to help break the cycle of poverty by providing nutrition and nutritional supplements to the very poor children in public schools in the Republic of Honduras.  It costs approximately $15 per month to feed one child a nutritious meal each day of the school year.  In the schools where the Lunches for Learning program have been in place, the results have been outstanding.  The children are coming to school to receive a meal, but they are also receiving an education.  And those children who receive an elementary school education in Honduras are much more likely to be able to get a well paying job and end the cycle of poverty.

If you would like to learn more about Lunches For Learning, please visit the Lunches For Learn Page on the Messiah Lutheran Church Website.  You can also donate to Lunches For Learn by designating your weekly offering to Lunches For Learning.

Related Articles:

• What's Happening at Benito Montoya? September 2010
• Handmade Market 2009
• Mission To Honduras April 2010
• Lunches For Learning Graduates November 2010