Guns to Gardens Safe Disposal Event

Saturday Oct 17, 2026 at Messiah

Gun disposal 9:00 am to 12:00 pm for those disposing of guns.

Forging demonstration open to the public from 12:00 PM to 12:45 pm.  

If you cannot attend the event but want information about future events, contact Elizabeth at volunteer@messiahchurch.com.



Trunk or Treat - Sunday, October 25th - during and after the 10:30 service

Trunk or Treat Family Ministry Event Open to All!

NO RSVP required - If possible, sign up on the Kiosk or contact Elizabeth to help us know how much pizza to order!

We need people to provide treats: decorate your car trunk in the lower parking lot, provide candy at a table in the education space, or dropoff candy in the office.

• 9:20 am- Sunday School special lesson on All Hallow’s Eve and All Saints’ Day
• Before 11:30 - Decorate trunk or classroom, get in costume, grab your candy (or all of the above!)
• 10:30 Service - Special blessing with glowsticks!
• 11:30 am - Join us for a pizza lunch with trunk-or-treat to follow.

Questions? Contact Elizabeth at volunteer@messiahchurch.com or call/text her at 608-235-6910.

Young Adult Ministry

Friendsgiving Game Night

Tuesday, November 17th at 7:00 pm

Bring your favorite Thanksgiving appetizer,

side dish or dessert

Adopt a School News - Messiah adds Ada Deer Elementary (Elvehjem Elementary)

Divine Yoga’s charity is Elvehjem Elementary, now called Ada Deer Elementary–see note below. Deer is located on the other side of Buckeye Road and like Kennedy, is in Messiah’s neighborhood. Families are starting to experience some financial challenges and our upcoming Adopt a School Partnership looks to help fill some of those gaps.

One thing that we can concretely support now is buying snacks and winter gear for the walking school bus. There are children who live within the walking zone of Ada Deer but have challenges getting to and from school unsupervised and in the cold weather. So a member of Messiah who works at the school started this walking school bus a couple years ago. Until recently, most of it was funded out of his own pocket.

*The Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education approved renaming Conrad A. Elvehjem Elementary School after UW School of Social Work alumna Ada Deer who died in 2023. Deer was a Menominee leader, tribal sovereignty advocate, and the first Native American woman to lead the Bureau of Indian Affairs. She was the first Menominee to earn an undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin and the first Native American to receive an MSW from the Columbia University School of Social Work. She was a key figure in the restoration of federal recognition to the Menominee Tribe and, while at the BIA, she helped set federal policy for more than 550 federally recognized tribes. Beyond her government service, Ada Deer was a teacher and director of the American Indian Studies Program at UW–Madison and served as the inaugural Elder-in-Residence for Native students.

RIC Team Meeting - If interested, please stop by.

Thursday, October 15th at 6 pm in the Meeting Room

All are welcome to join! We only meet 3 times a year to coordinate events and activities. This meeting will discuss what we will focus on during "RIC Sunday" in January. 

Messiah Fall Craft Fair & Bake Sale

Saturday, November 7 - 9:00 am - 3:00 pm

All proceeds will benefit Briarpatch, Friends of State Street Family, and Madison Street Medicine

Bake Sale: Donation sign up for baked goods is filling fast.

Contact Louise Fosdick fosdickmad@gmail.com for volunteer opportunities.

Click button under the Craft & Bake Sale Logo for information for baked goods drop off and packaging.

Book Nook: Book collection through October.

Donations-Favorite reads for children, teens, adults. Gift giving ready.

Drop books in “Book Nook” collection bin in the Community Room bin area. Please NO COOKBOOKS.

Questions contact Nancy Beszhak or Grace Kryllo

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:

SPACE SET UP Friday, November 6, 9 am to 11:30 am. Set up Rooms &Tables

FINAL CLEAN UP Sunday, November 8, 11:30 to 1 p.m.

Contact Dawn Olson olson_dawn54@sbcglobal.net for sign up or questions.

All Sign Up Boards for DONATIONS and VOLUNTEERS are in the Gathering Space on the easels outside the church office.

We hope everyone will take the opportunity to enjoy theMessiah hospitality of the Craft Fair & Bake Sale!

Craft Fair & Bake Sale - Gift Baskets

The sign up sheet for basket donations is on the easel near the office and there are already over 20 spaces filled! We would love to have more as your baskets have been very popular at the Craft Sale. Each basket we sell is matched by the Gundlach Fund and all the money goes to our chosen charities! Please click on the appropriate button if you need more information.

 Karen Verhagen is the contact person for questions: verhagen@charter.net or 608-335-6304.

Community Outreach Team Collections

We will start collecting for Virtual Pies on November 1st

for "Share Your Holidays" (Second Harvest Food Bank)

Stay tuned for more information!

St. Stephen's Food Pantry Item for October - Hot Cocoa, Coffee and Tea

If  you like to support the food pantry, they are trying something a little different with a monthly focus item that they are requesting along with the other items that you give so generously to support the pantry.

If you would like to see what they will be collecting in the months ahead, there are lists on the Kiosk, above the St. Stephen's Food Pantry Collection Bin in the Collection Area, and it will be in the Column Newsletter.

Check your voter registration

You can’t vote if you’re not registered!

Over 21 million voter registration records were removed from voter rolls between the 2022 midterms and the 2024 presidential election. Checking your registration status now gives you enough time to register — or re-register — before your state’s deadline. So if you’re not sure, check! And if you are sure? Check anyway at ​​https://www.vote.org/.

If you enter your information and don’t see a match or are listed as inactive, please register now to make sure you can vote.

Common reasons people aren’t found in the voter file:

• Your name is spelled differently than on file
• Your address has changed since you last registered

If any of this sounds like you, go ahead and re-register with your current information. It’s a quick way to ensure you can vote in the coming election.

Our Women’s Book Study started October 1st and continues for 6 weeks. We are reading and discussing : Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris.

2 more books are available for pick up during office hours or weekend services. Please consider a donation of $10 to offset the cost of the book and replenish our fund for the next book.

Meetings 10:30-12 in Room 3 in the Education Space

October 15

October 22

October 29

November 5

All women are welcome to attend this time of prayerful discussion, reflection, and support.

Adult Education October & November

October 11, 18, 25 – Christian Nationalism

What is it? - History and Today - A Biblical/Lutheran View – Pastor Renee

November 1 – Break – No Adult Ed.

November 8, 15, 22 – Soteriology (the study of Salvation)

Why did Jesus Die on the Cross? Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 – Pastor Renee

Ladies Lunch Bunch - October 14th - 11:15 am

Norske Nook

  100 E Holum St - DeForest, WI 53532

Please sign up on the Kiosk. There will be space for 25 women this month.

Please be there by 11:15 am - 1:15 pm.    Orders will be taken at 11:30.

 For questions call Claire at 920-319-6731 or Mary at 262-716-4600

The Ladies Lunch Bunch September Gathering collected $90.00 for the Dignity at School Collection and $60.00 for unscented laundry detergent for St. Stephen's Food Pantry. The volunteers at the pantry dispense the soap into smaller bottles so it is available for those who shop. Claire, Barb and Mary delivered the soap.

Staffed Nursery is available from 8:00 - 9:20 am and 10:15 - 11:35 am

(October 11 and November 1, only 10:15-11:35.)

You are always welcome to be in the nursery with your children and watch the stream on the TV.

Also consider using the activity bags located near the coat rack in the Gathering Space.

Sunday School Started Sunday, September 27th

Your child can still join!

Please use this LINK to register for Sunday School

Click HERE for the Sunday School Schedule

YOW - (Youth on Wednesday Nights)

We continue October 14 with an Online Lesson

In General:

• In-person time is 6:00 - 8:00 pm.
• Online times are:     Preconfirmation 6-6:45 p.m.
                                     Confirmation 7-7:45 p.m.

Click HERE for the schedule for the year

Click  HERE to Register for 2026-2027-Cost is $40.00.

The YOW retreat is November 14-15 at Bethel Horizons.

Registration QR Code

Women’s Conversation Group - will resume after the book study ends.

All are welcome to gather on the 3rd Thursday from 10:30 am to noon for prayerful conversation and fellowship.

Morning Bible Study Wednesdays 7 AM in the downstairs Meeting Room 

The Gospel of Luke invites readers to explore the story of Jesus as God's Chosen One (Messiah)

From the joyous account of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, the images of his crucifixion at Golgtha, to the "eye-opening" meal at Emmaus, we are invited into a remarkable story. 

Contact person – Ray Robinson rayerobinson13@gmail.com    608-695-5591

Divine Yoga Fall and Advent sessions

All Messiah folks and their friends are invited to attend on Tuesdays from 6-7:15 pm in the community room.

Bring your own mat.

Fall Sessions: October 13, 20, 27 and November 3

Advent Series: December 1,8, 15, 22

The next Healing House week is:

December 27 - January 2.

Please sign up on the kiosk if you are interested in preparing a meal. Contact Elizabeth at volunteer@messiahchurch.com for more information.

Justice for a New Day Shareout from October 12th Class

“What happens inside prisons comes home and should be everyone’s concern.”

A panel of 4 formerly incarcerated people shared their experiences about the poor living conditions and the lack of access to the programming they needed while in prison. 

• Can you imagine waking up to inches of snow on your bed or sleeping on a mat on the floor inches from a toilet? 
• Can you imagine being told you have a right to have inhumane living conditions addressed, yet when your group files a carefully researched lawsuit you are all suddenly scattered across several facilities and the complaint is lost?

We learned that 95% of people who are incarcerated eventually come home. As the society who receives them, we should care that they got the services they needed.

• However, the services they qualify for are most often based on addressing the crime they committed, rather than addressing the underlying trauma that led to the crime. 
• Even when their needs are correctly identified, getting access to the prescribed programming is not guaranteed. Prisons are so overcrowded that people are assigned to where there is an open bed (which most often is a 3rd person in a cell designed for 2) and that facility may not have the programming the person needs.

Justice for a New Day Share-out from October 5th Class

“Everyone knew the worst thing I had ever done and I kept getting reminded.”

It can be very difficult for formerly incarcerated people to leave that part of their lives behind and not have people constantly see them for who they were. We heard about the experiences of 2 individuals who have spent their lives after being released advocating for, building and gaining governmental support for new programs that would ultimately lower incarceration rates. However, neither was ever put into action because they were deemed to be “not economical.” Our corporate system is one large roadblock to great change.

We heard again about how early experiences have a profound effect on life outcomes. Severe trauma of his best friend’s murder completely changed one man’s off-to-a-good-start life and adverse childhood experiences contributed to the other man’s criminal history. Most incarcerated people have also been victims.

Access to healthcare could be an opportunity to decarcerate WI and to wrap support around those returning from incarceration to prevent their reentry into the criminal justice system. The biggest barrier is getting resources, which DO exist, to the people who need them. 

• One of the most important recent initiatives is ACT 233 which provides a caseworker to people in the final 3 months of incarceration. The caseworker not only paves the way for the individual to successfully reintegrate into society, they also work with the receiving county to ensure they will provide the resources to which the individual is entitled and eligible. 
• Educators and health care providers who comply with mental health service provisions and step up to implement them can make a big difference in outcomes both before, after, or instead of incarceration.
• Focussing on mental and behavioral health care and preventive services gives society much more bang for the buck than incarceration. We were urged to talk to 5 people about more effectively using health care dollars to treat or address the issues leading to charges and incarceration.
• However, the way our country currently does healthcare will never allow people in low economic classes to ever have access to the mental health plans that they need.