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Click HERE to view pictures of the Habitat House constructed in Leesburg.
Click HERE to learn how you can support Lutheran schools and seminaries.
Shawl Ministry
Our Shawl Ministry meets at the church the first Tuesday of the month at 10:00 a.m. Prayers, blessings and religious symbolism are present in every stitch of the prayer shawl. Shawls are produced while you are in a prayerful, meditative state of mind. Pastor Jon blesses the shawls. They are distributed to those in need of spiritual comfort
In 1998 Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo gave birth to the National Shawl Ministry.
"Thank you .. I love .. my beautiful prayer shawl. Everyone in the hospital loved it and it gave me many chances to tell of your ministry and how the shawl is prayerfully made .. People would stop us in the halls .. admiring the shawl that I used as a spread on me and my bed as I was wheeled two and from. .. I will treasure it forever."
-- An ill parishoner
Lutheran Services of Florida
Faith Neighborhood Center
World Hunger
Click HERE to learn more about World Hunger
Food for the Poor
Food for the Poor distributes food to the hungry, primarily through the Caribbean. Donations are made directly to the organization.
Food Drive
Quilting Circle
Normally our Quilting Circle donates their quilts to Lutheran World Relief. However, in 2005, over 50 quilts made by our group were donated and taken to Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina. Quilts are blessed annually in February before distribution. A LWR quilt is special. It brings warmth on a cold night, shelter from the sun on a hot day. It becomes a bed, a room divider, a backpack, and at times, even a home. In 2003 over 40,000 quilts were distributed by Lutheran World Relief worldwide.
Quilts to be blessed before distribution
You don't have to be a woman to participate in our Tuesday meetings. Men are in our group, too We meet the third Tuesday of each month at 10:00 a.m. You can also volunteer to quilt at home.
Disaster Response
Our congregation responds to disaster by donations of money, food, and clothing, and personal help. The donations and method of distribution vary according to the disaster. In the past year, we have responded to the Tsunami in the Pacific, our Florida Hurricanes, and the Hurricane Katrina.
We sent a whole truck of possesions to Mississippi after 1995's hurricane there. Continuing contributions can be made to the ELCA Disaster Relief Fund.
ME Dolls
The Craft Circle began a new community outreach effort to medically ill children in the spring of 2006. They began crafting “ME Dolls”.
Florida Children’s Hospital gives hospitalized children a “ME Doll” upon admission. These are special dolls that have no face. The children can they draw their own face upon the doll. Some children prefer to leave the face blank, so they can imagine their doll’s face with different expressions. The doll is also unique because it has detachable hair. Hair is attached with Velcro; some children lose their hair due to medical treatments. Each doll wears a children themed fabric hospital gown and has a very special heart appliquéd on its chest. Florida Children’s Hospital was paying $15 for each doll. Proceeds from the dolls goes to charitable causes.
The Craft Circle is making and donating these dolls to the hospital as part of their outreach projects.
Talking Books
Each Tuesday at 9:00 a dedicated group of individuals meets in our educational area to repair Talking Book machines. Talking Books is a program administrated by the Library of Congress through the Florida Division of Blind Services, where impaired or handicapped persons can receive audio books free of charge.
Volunteers organized by the Telephone Pioneers and Lions Club receive broken audio machines from Daytona Beach and other cities, repair the machines, and send them back to be reused.
This is a wonderful ministry and volunteers are always needed. If you are interested in volunteering your services, please contact Andy or Florence Graff at 352-241-0083.
If you know of someone who may need to use the Talking Books Service or wish to find out more information about the program, click on the link at the left.
Lutheran Counseling Services
An Open Door for Help
Conflict, lonliness, guilt and anxiety can result in the door to peace, joy, and vitality being closed. Trained to listen, understand, and help, rather than to judge, LCS counselors help people to learn effective ways to face problems. They provide a safe and caring environment ... an open door to hope, dignity, growth, and grace.
They provide personal counseling, couples counseling, family therapy, group counseling, meditation, child and adolescent therapy, career assessment, spiritual direction, educational workshops, and supervision and consultation. Their services are available to the entire community.
A standard fee is charged for services. In many instances insurance pays for all or part of the services. Financial assistance is available and considered when there is difficulty in affording the standard fee.
LCS is located at 1600 S. Orlando Avenue in Winter Park (at St. Johns Lutheran Church). Phone: 407-644-4692. They also have an office location at Grace Lutheran Church in Lakeland, Florida.