From the Pastor's Desk

Joys and sorrows; our life together is filled with both of those things, and especially this past weekend.



As most of you know by now, our dear Ruth Ann Gasparik died unexpectedly Friday morning. She was the president of WELCA and one of our key volunteers in the office (coming in 3 full days a week), among other things. A service for Ruth Ann will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 11am here at the church.
Yesterday we held our annual congregational meeting. Copies of the reports are available in the church office. The main action taken was to approve the moving ahead of a proposed building program to expand the "gathering and sending" space for worship, which will also provide extra space for some classes and other gatherings both on Sunday and during the week. Much more information will be coming as we begin this 50th Anniversary Year for Our Savior Lutheran Church here in Vero Beach.

Our Wednesday suppers continue this Wednesday. The menu is: baked ham, pineapple casserole, parsley potatoes and "Lutheran Green Beans" (there's a story behind these!) Come and enjoy a meal and some great fellowship. Supper is served at 6pm. Helpers, especially for clean-up, are always welcome.

Last Wednesday after supper over 20 people gathered for an Enneagram presentation. This was a most enjoyable and interesting time of learning more about our various personality types and what our various gifts are. At the end of this email is some information on follow up gatherings on this topic at the Center for Spiritual Care here in Vero Beach.


Looking ahead, next Sunday, Feb. 6, it will be Scout Sunday nationwide. Here at Our Savior we will have a number of our scouts serving in worship in a number of ways along with our own scout troop providing a pancake breakfast, in appreciation for the support they receive here at Our Savior. The breakfast will be served from 8am til 11am in the Fellowship Hall.


Later on Sunday afternoon there will be a "Four Chaplain's Service", remembering the four chaplains, of four different faith communities, who gave their lives so that others could survive when the Dorchester was torpedoed and sunk during WW II. The service will be held at


Now, as this week unfolds, may we remember the words of the beatitudes from yesterday's Gospel reading (Mt. 5:1-12) where Jesus speaks words of blessing, then go out into the week both as God's children who are both blessed and called to be a blessing. Have a blessed week!

Pastor Jack Diehl +