Non-denominational Christianity

Stelzer leads charge to gather donations for Haiti orphanage (03/11/10)
The congregation of St. John's Lutheran Church in Le Mars and member Kathy Stelzer are hoping they can make a difference for an orphanage in Haiti destroyed by the January earthquake. "After the earthquake, I wanted to find an orphanage in Haiti that needed some help," said Stelzer...

Gehlen student removed from school after e-threat (03/04/10)
An 18-year-old Gehlen Catholic Schools student who allegedly authored a message threatening other Gehlen students was removed from the school immediately Thursday. The student, an 18-year-old female, sent the alleged message via an electronic communication, according to the Le Mars Police...

Johnson, Albus prepare for Nigeria mission trip (02/16/10)
A commitment to global missions by members of United Methodist Church of Le Mars (UMCL) will be realized this summer as two members travel to Nigeria. Barb Johnson of Merrill and Chelsea Albus, 18, of Le Mars will be part of the Iowa United Methodist Conference's Iowa Volunteers in Mission group in June, working in a southern area of Nigeria in partnership with the United Methodist Church there...

Ten Le Mars scouts honored with Pope Pius XII emblem (02/08/10)
Ten local boys will be receiving the highest emblem in Catholic boy scouting. Michael Brandenburg, Tim Burwitz, Mitchel Christoffel, Preston Freking, Matt Klein, Kyle Mangerson, Zack Nemmers, Jonathan Puhl, Ryan Sitzmann and Andrew Theisen were honored Sunday at a Mass in Le Mars for earning the Pope Pius XII Emblem...

'Feed the Need' grocery project continues (02/04/10)
A successful food collection project started at the Christmas holiday season will continue on an as-needed basis. "Feed the Need for Christian Needs" was started by the United Church Women (UCW) organization at the Presbyterian United Church of Christ in cooperation with Fareway and Hy-Vee grocery stores in Le Mars...

Water for Life Honduras (02/03/10)
A local group is about to change the lives of people of five villages, plagued with parasites and other water-borne diseases. The Le Mars Rotary Club spearheaded fundraising for water projects in Honduras, pulling together more than $35,000. That's enough to build a water system in each of those five villages, bringing clean, potable water to more than 1,000 people's homes...

New Honduran president good news for mission group (02/02/10)
Will the inauguration of new Honduran president Porfirio Lobo Sosa mean restoration of the country's international aid, and with that return funding to Mission Honduras Le Mars programs? That's what Richard Seivert, director of Mission Honduras Le Mars and Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras, believes...

Gehlen opens Catholic Schools Week with special Mass (01/29/10)
A Mass at Gehlen Catholic Schools gymnasium at 8:45 a.m. Monday will kick off Catholic Schools Week under the theme, "Dividends for Life." The week will celebrate the life-long impact of a Catholic education. Catholic Schools Week is observed Jan 31 through Feb. 6 and is celebrated by the National Catholic Education Association and schools throughout the Diocese of Sioux City...

Gehlen kindergarten, TK round up dates set (01/25/10)
Plans are underway at Gehlen Catholic School to welcome the classes of 2023 and 2024. Catholic and non-Catholic parents of children who will be 5 years old by December 31, 2010, are invited to an information meeting on from 7-8 p.m. Tuesday, February 23 in the Gehlen Library...

Le Mars KCs celebrate 100 years of service (01/18/10)
A Le Mars organization with a history of service in the community will observe its 100th anniversary this month. The Knights of Columbus is a Catholic, family fraternal organization which support services programs in their churches and community. The Le Mars council, Trinity Council 1466, was instituted Jan. 23, 1910, with the first meeting held Feb. 4, 1910, in the office of Dr. Fitzgerald in Sioux City. Sponsoring council was Epiphany Council in Sioux City...

Sitzman joins Gehlen Catholic staff (01/14/10)
There's a new face in the halls of Gehlen Catholic Elementary School. Lisa Sitzman began her work as elementary guidance counselor in early December. Sitzman has been meeting with teachers and Elementary Principal Lorie Nussbaum to learn the specific needs of the elementary classes and individual students...

Rewind 2009: The worst of times and the best of times (12/31/09)

Churches hold Christmas Eve, Day services (12/23/09)
Churches in Le Mars and the area have set Christmas Eve services and Christmas Day services to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The following list includes those churches which have shared their service information. Christmas Eve Family Worship with Communion, 4 and 6 p.m...

Pioneer Village Christmas readies for weekend activities (12/10/09)
Pioneer Village Christmas will hold its second and final weekend of activities Saturday and Sunday evening, open from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. New this year are displays in the Round Barn, with the live nativity performed twice each evening at the barn's entrance. Displays of Santas, snowmen, lighted ceramic village pieces and animated Christmas figures are inside...

Six selected for 2009 Drake Honor Band (12/04/09)
Six Gehlen Catholic students are among the 200 musicians from Iowa and Nebraska who will perform this Saturday during the 2009 Drake Honor Band Festival in Des Moines. They include seniors, Sarah Jentz and Josh Schreiner; juniors, Christopher Eral and Matt Klein; freshman, Elisabeth Niebuhr; and foreign exchange student, Yerin Seo...

FVH Auxiliary stirs up sweets for Saturday sale (12/02/09)
A Christmastime tradition, the 23rd Annual Holiday Goodie Sale hosted by Floyd Valley Hospital Auxiliary will be 8 a.m to noon Saturday at the hospital's lower level Conference Center. The kettles have been bubbling at the Presbyterian United Church of Christ in Le Mars as batch after batch of chocolate fudge, white fudge, caramels and peanut clusters are prepared for the sale...

LCS, Gehlen students present holiday music concerts (12/01/09)

Family brings new life to former church (11/25/09)
The former St. Catherine Church in Westfield has a new calling -- to become a family's home. In September, Chris and Joni Vondrak purchased the former Catholic church and along with their children Emily, 14, Joe, 10, Frankie, 9, and Molly, 6, are working to make it into a home...

'Feed the Need' bags help Christian Needs Center (11/24/09)
It's called "Feed the Need for Christian Needs" and is a way to get much-needed food items to the center during the holiday season. This donation project teams up the United Church Women (UCW) organization at the Presbyterian United Church of Christ with Fareway and Hy-Vee grocery stores in Le Mars...

Fitzpatrick's love of music turned into choir director job (11/19/09)
Little did Marlene Fitzpatrick know when she tagged along with her dad as a child to choir rehearsal at St. James Catholic Church in Le Mars, she would one day be the choir's director. Sunday, she will be honored on her retirement after 35 years as choir director and liturgist at St. James Church. The open house will be held from 2-4 p.m. in the St. James parish hall...

Gehlen, LCS students selected for Opus Honor Choir Festival (11/09/09)
Students from Le Mars Community Schools and Gehlen Catholic School have been chosen to participate in the 23rd annual Opus Honor Choir Festival. Gehlen Catholic eighth grade student Sara Roder will make her fourth appearance in an Opus Honor Choir. She also received the high honor of being chosen as a solo finalist for the song, "Benedictus" in the 7th & 8th Grade Girls Honor Choir...

Gehlen Catholic hosts Veteran's Day Prayer Service (11/09/09)
Gehlen Catholic School will host a Veteran's Day Prayer Service at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday in the Gehlen Catholic gym. Members of the community, past and present servicemen and women and their families are invited to attend the service. Guest speaker will be Gary Tillman, nurse anesthetist at Floyd Valley Hospital in Le Mars. Gary and his wife, Elaine, are the parents of Michelle ('98), Jake ('01) Scott ('03) and David, a senior at Gehlen Catholic...

Mission Honduras production to air on local TV (10/30/09)
A slideshow and video production of 2009 Mission Honduras trips will be airing on Cable Access Channel 12 on Sundays during November. The production is named "Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras 2009: A Year In Review." Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras will present the DVD productions of each of...

Museum to host railroading program, ethnic food fair (10/19/09)
Railroading in Plymouth County and ethnic foods of the area will be the focus of a program Sunday at the Plymouth County Historical Museum. The Rev. Gary Landsness of St. John's Lutheran Church, ELCA, Le Mars, will present a program on railroading at 1:30 p.m. in the museum's Music Room on the main floor...

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Remsen, celebrates 125th anniversary (10/15/09)
Congregation members of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Remsen will celebrate its 125th anniversary Sunday, Oct. 18. St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, the oldest Christian congregation in Remsen, traces its history back to the 1880s. The missionary workers from the Evangelical Synod of North America visited the Remsen vicinity and occasionally conducted services in private homes...

New five-year plan shifts future for Catholic churches (10/12/09)
The Sioux City diocese bishop recently announced a new five-year plan that would keep weekend mass at Assumption of Our Lady Church in Merrill. An earlier plan issued by the diocese in February would have ended weekend mass at the Merrill church within 10 years due to a shortage of priests...

Goodwill trailer in Merrill next week (09/24/09)
Donations will be accepted at Goodwill's Ambassador trailer in Merrill next Wednesday through Oct. 7. The Ambassador trailer will be in the northwest corner of Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church's parking lot. Donations are to be placed as far to the front of the trailer as possible. Furniture and large appliances will not be accepted...

Presbyterian UCC celebrates 125 years of sharing faith (09/11/09)

Gehlen Catholic airs 9/11 program on Channel 12 (09/10/09)
As we remember the life changing events of 9/11, Gehlen Catholic will air a special program this Friday on Local Access Cable Channel 12 at 9am and again at 6pm. The program is also dedicated to the 9/11 victims, heroes, and their families; as well as our own local law enforcement, fire fighters, and medical professionals for their selfless service...

Local ELCA pastor present at vote on sexuality (09/03/09)

Holy rolling for hunger: Pastors cycle across U.S. (08/05/09)
A group of pastors are fighting hunger, but not from the pulpit. Instead of waiting for people to come to church, they're bringing the message to them on a bamboo bicycle built for three. Hitting every corner of the country, three Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) pastors and their support team from West Virginia put thousands of miles behind them to raise awareness of world hunger and how people can respond...

Gehlen students prepare for 2009-10 school year (08/03/09)
After many changes this summer, Gehlen Catholic Schools principals Lorie Nussbaum and Jeff Alesch say Gehlen Catholic is ready for the 2009-2010 school year. Those families who have not completed their registration should stop by the office Monday through Thursday, Aug. 3 through 6, between 9 a.m. and noon and 1 to 3 p.m...

Installation service Sunday for Grace Lutheran pastor (07/31/09)
The Rev. Timothy Geitz will be installed as pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Le Mars in a 3 p.m. service Sunday. The congregation welcomes all members, the Le Mars community, the Missouri Synod community and friends to the service. The Rev. Steve Schultz, second vice president of Iowa District West, will officiate the installation...

Presbyterian UCC hosts fair worship service (07/30/09)
The chapel bell will ring Sunday morning at the Plymouth County Fair, calling everyone to the 11 a.m. ecumenical church service in the air-conditioned Century Hall. Hosting the service this year is the Presbyterian United Church of Christ in Le Mars. The congregation members invite everyone to the "come as you are" service which will be a service of praise and thanksgiving...

Life Skills quilts features schools, tractors (07/29/09)
Thousands of stitches have put together colorful quilts for the 13th Annual Life Skills Foundation Quilt Auction. The auction will be at 2 p.m. Saturday in Century Hall on the Plymouth County Fairgrounds. More than 60 quilts, including pieced, appliqu�d, embroidered, frayed, hand-quilted, machine-quilted and tied, all of various sizes, as well as crocheted afghans will be on the auction block...

Ordination, consecration service set for new Lutheran clergy (07/10/09)
Three Lutheran congregations will celebrate together as their newly called pastor and diaconal minister will be ordained and consecrated in a 3 p.m. service Sunday, July 12, at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Craig. Sarah and Joel Nye have accepted a call to serve the three congregations of the newly-formed Plymouth Ministries. This includes St. John Evangelical Lutheran, rural Akron, St. John's Evangelical Lutheran, Craig, and St. John Lutheran Church, Merrill...

Ice Cream Days - what a flavor of home (06/12/09)
"It's all about Ice Cream!" is the theme for the 2009 Ice Cream Days celebration next week in Le Mars. The Ice Cream Capital of the World is ready to roll out the ice cream carts, cones, scoops and sandwiches. You name it. "Cone Sculptures" at the Arts Center and root beer floats at the Plymouth County Historical Museum start the day off Thursday, June 18, with both open from 1 to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday...

Museum to dedicate stained glass window (06/10/09)
Flag Day will take on a different twist at the Plymouth County Historical Museum in Le Mars this Sunday, June 14, when the museum hosts the dedication of a stained glass window. The window, which was in the former First United Methodist Church in Le Mars, will be dedicated in the museum's Religious Heritage Room following a brief program at 2 p.m. in the Music Room...

Pastor, brother remembered in scout's eagle project (06/08/09)
Can a 10th grader make a difference? Josh Jurgens did. The Le Mars Community Schools student coordinated the efforts to bring new playground equipment to Grace Lutheran Church and the surrounding neighborhood. And he did it in the memory of two people -- his brother Zachary, who died at the age of nearly 5 in 1991, and his pastor, the Rev. Larry Fett, who died during a youth trip Josh was on in Branson, Mo. in August 2008...

Fuentes places first in local Lions Peace Poster contest (06/05/09)
"Peace Begins With Me!" is the theme for the 2009 Lions International Peace Poster Contest. The Le Mars Lions Club annually sponsors the local contest for sixth grade students. Students from Gehlen Catholic Schools participated in this year's contest...

St. John's Lutheran celebrates sanctuary renovation (05/29/09)
A renovation project at a Le Mars church will be celebrated and dedicated this Sunday, May 31. "St. John's Revisited" will feature the sanctuary renovation at St. John's Lutheran Church, ELCA in Le Mars with an afternoon program and open house. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. with the Sanctuary Dedication Service at 2 p.m...

Floyd Valley Apartments nominated for Historic Register (05/28/09)

Gehlen Catholic, LCS graduation is Sunday (05/21/09)
Gehlen Catholic and Le Mars Community High School seniors will receive their diplomas during commencement ceremonies this Sunday, May 24. Gehlen Catholic's graduation ceremony is at 1:30 p.m. in the school gymnasium. This year's commencement speaker is Karen Schroeder. She was at Gehlen for 14 years, teaching English, speech and drama, retired one year and returned to the school. Although she retired in May 2007, she still frequently substitute teaches at the school...

Jennings leaves legacy of caring, learning (05/21/09)
Those who knew George Jennings remember him as a man who lived his Christian faith each day. He was a husband, a minister, an anthropologist, a university professor, a writer, and a friend. Jennings died Monday, at the age of 95. Born in Le Mars, Jennings spent his growing up years in Minnesota with an uncle and aunt. There he participated in 4-H. Years later, in August 1999, he was honored with the Honorary 4-H Alumni Award from the Plymouth County 4-H...

St. George's Episcopal Church a stop on historic tour (05/06/09)
(Second in a series) A church building, erected at a cost of $3,200 in 1881, is one of five stops on the Historic Tour of Homes and Churches Saturday, May 9. St. George' Episcopal Church at 400 First Ave. S.E. was built in response to the need for an Anglican church in Le Mars for the young British men who were being sent to this area to learn farming. In the next 10 years, an estimated 1,000 English colonists would use the building as a worship and social center...

St. Joseph rectory needs new home (05/01/09)
It looks like any other home for sale, although maybe a bit larger. There's a kitchen, a dining room, a living room and more. But the two-story brick house is the St. Joseph rectory, a fixture near St. Joseph Catholic Church since 1970 and home to priests serving the parish and will need to be moved...

Volunteers and Sitzmanns honored at Friends of Gehlen Catholic Ball (04/29/09)
Thanksgiving. For many, Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in November. But for Gehlen Catholic, this year's Friends of Gehlen Catholic Ball was the kick off for National Volunteer Appreciation Week, April 26-May 2. The gala, held Saturday, April 25, focused on thanking those individuals who give generously of their time, talents, and treasurers to the school...

Gehlen adds section to transitional kindergarten program (04/28/09)
Gehlen Catholic Schools will have a second transitional kindergarten section for the 2009-2010 school year. The Rev. Kevin Richter made the surprise announcement, met with applause and cheers, at the Friends of Gehlen Ball Saturday. The school is in the second year of a three-year pilot program for transitional kindergarten (TK) and currently has 30 students on the list for next year...

Rogation service asks blessing on seed and land (04/24/09)
There may be a few tractors and other pieces of farm equipment in the parking lot at Christ Lutheran Church, rural Le Mars this Sunday. A tractor or two may be parked on the street at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Brunsville, too. That machinery, along with seed and soil, will be blessed as part of the Rogation Sunday observance by the congregations...

Gehlen Ball sure to be 'a Grande Gala' (04/21/09)
There's still time to get tickets for the 2009 Friends of Gehlen Catholic Ball "a Grande Gala" set for this Saturday, April 25. Food, special presentations, and auction and live music highlight the evening which raises money for education of students at Gehlen Catholic Schools...

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