2/22/2023
2/22/2023 Ash Wednesday 12:00 PM and 6:30 PM church services are canceled due to weather.
 

1/19/2023
1/19/2023 Thursday night church service is canceled due to weather.
 

11/05/2022
Members of Peace,
For the good of my health, for the good of my marriage, for the good of my family, and for the good of the office of the Holy Ministry, I can no longer in good conscience serve as pastor of Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wautoma, Wisconsin.  I hereby submit my resignation, effective November 5, 2022.
In Christ,
Pastor Steven Tews
 

2/04/2021 update
Church services for Thursday evening 2/04/2021 have been canceled due to the snow storm.
 

7/31/2020 update
As of August 1st, 2020, we are required by Governor Evers' Emergency Order #1 to wear masks whenever we are gathered inside a public building in the State of Wisconsin.  This emergency order applies to gatherings at our church.  Therefore, unless you have a health condition which prohibits it, wearing of masks will be mandatory at our worship services until further notice.  Please bring your own mask.  We do have a limited supply of masks at church if you need one.  Pastor Tews continues to offer private communion in his office by appointment for anyone desiring it.
 

5/19/2020 update - From Pastor Tews
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ at Peace,

“I rejoiced with those who said to me, let us go to the house of the LORD!”  The time has come for us to once again begin worship in our church building.  Our regular worship schedule will resume on Thursday, May 28 at 7 PM, following the guidelines approved by our church council.  Some may feel that these measures are too extreme.  Such measures, however, may put other people’s minds at ease.  Let us all be patient and loving with one another as the family of faith that we are.  If new regulations are put in place by the government, we will make sure to follow them. 

Please, do not feel obligated to worship in person with us if you are fearful of getting sick, are not feeling well or are considered high risk.  We will continue to post worship videos and materials on our website, receive offerings through the mail, and take appointments for private communion if that is your desire at this time.

Continue to pray that the Lord keep us safe, that the pandemic passes quickly and that through these strange days, our faith is strengthened as we rely more firmly on God’s promises, and that many more turn to Jesus as their only hope and salvation.

In Christ,

Pastor Tews
 

5/18/2020 update - Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church recommendations concerning worship during COVID-19 pandemic as approved by Church Council May 18, 2020
• Resume worship services on May 28, 2020.
• Hold one worship service on Thursday night, using precautions outlined below.
• Hold one worship service on Sunday at 9:00 a.m.  If necessary, in order to limit gathering of more than 50 people, two worship services on Sunday will be considered, 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. in place of 9:00 a.m.
• If feasible, entrance doors will be propped open to allow continuous flow of fresh air and limit contact with door handles.  Sanctuary temperature and pest infiltration will need to be addressed.
• Wearing of masks and gloves will be optional.  Masks will be provided for those attendees requesting them.
• Four hand sanitizer stations will be placed at entrances.
• Service folders will not be handed out by ushers, but instead be placed in stacks for pickup by an individual from the back of the sanctuary.  Hymns and Liturgy will be included in the service folder so no hymnals will be needed.  Service folders should be taken home after the worship service, not left at church.  All hymnals will be removed from the sanctuary.  Music will be provided by an organist or a Hymnsoft Operator.
• The drinking fountain and kitchen will be roped off.  Individual bottles of drinking water will be provided.
• Tables and chairs will be removed from the Fellowship area.
• Usher(s) will guide people where to sit.  Seating will be in every third pew.  Households can sit together but others need to be spaced at least 6 feet apart.  Pews and bathrooms will be sanitized between worship services.
• Offering plates will not be passed, but will be posted at the back of the sanctuary.
• For Communion, Pastor may distribute both bread and wine.  The Communion wafer will be placed in the communicant’s hand by Pastor or a Lay Altar Assistant.  The individual cup of wine will be taken from the tray by the communicant.  Households can commune being next to each other but spacing will be provided for others when taking Communion.  Continuous distribution Communion will be evaluated, i.e. people approach using the center aisle, receive the bread and wine, and return to their respective pews using the side aisles.
• At the conclusion of worship, in order to provide safe spacing, Pastor or an usher will signal individuals when to leave their pew.  There will be no shaking of hands or congregating in the Fellowship hall.
 

5/14/2020 update - Announcement from Board of Elders
Regarding resuming worship services at our church, we need to be patient and await guidelines from the Waushara County Administrator.  As you may be aware, although the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Governor Evers' Stay-At-Home order yesterday, some counties in Wisconsin immediately reinstated the regulations for their particular county.  Our Board of Elders met on Tuesday, 5/12, and developed a detailed worship resumption plan for submission to our Church Council.  Implementation of this plan or parts of it is dependent on rules set by the County Administrator and County Board of Health.  We are monitoring this and will inform you as soon as we can resume some form of on-site worship.
 

4/01/2020 update - Synodwide Holy week services
More information on Synodwide Palm Sunday & Easter services can be found here: https://wels.net/synodwide-holy-week-messages/.
 

3/27/2020 update - Join the $1 million online donation challenge
From now through June 30, 2020, Thrivent will be providing an extra $1 for every $2 donated for the first $1 million in donations made through Thrivent.com.  Join us in making a combined impact of $1.5 million.*  Your donation can be made via Credit/Debit card or Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) through your Checking/Savings account.  You do not need to be a Thrivent member to utilize the donation portion of the website.

To donate to Peace, go to https://service.thrivent.com/apps/ThriventChoiceMemberWeb/public/organizationSearchHome and search for "Peace Wautoma" to filter results to church.  Click on "Make a Personal Donation".  You will receive an alert that you are leaving the Thrivent website, click "Continue" to proceed to the inFaith website where you will enter your credit card or checking/savings account information to process the donation.

* Matching donation details: Donations must be made online through our Thrivent Choice Giving Platform.  Search for your organization of choice and click "Make a Personal Donation" to get started.  Only donations made to organizations within the current Thrivent Choice Catalog are eligible for the match.  The matching opportunity will go until the $500,000 match is met or June 30, whichever comes first.  Thrivent will pay the online processing fees for personal donations made through InFaith Community Foundation, up to $100,000 in fees per calendar year.
 

3/25/2020 update
As a result of Governor Evers Emergency Health Order #12, the Waushara County Health Department has strongly advised us to suspend our offering of Drive-by Communion until further notice.  The rationale used by them is:
    1.  Pastor Tews and Bob Wedell would be coming in close contact with more than 5 people during each drive-by Communion session.
    2.  People are required to exit their home and drive to church to receive Communion.
In consultation with our Circuit Pastor John Stelter, we have made the decision to discontinue offering Drive-by Communion.

Following is a link to an article written by our Synod President Mark Schroeder dealing with how God feeds his flock in a time of crisis.  We encourage each of you to read it.  https://wels.net/god-feeds-his-flock-in-a-time-of-crisis/. 

We want to call your attention to a statement from the Council of Presidents quoted in the article.  “We encourage our congregations at this time to reserve the distribution of the Lord’s Supper for its regular and normal use within the gathering of the body of believers (realizing that some changes in procedure may be made) or distributed privately by the pastor to individuals in need, as is the customary practice.  We urge congregations to refrain from initiating novel approaches for celebration of the sacrament.”

If you would like to do so, you can mail your offerings to church and they will be handled there.

Pastor Tews is reachable by telephone, text message and email.  You can leave a message on the answering machine at church (920) 787-3856 or call him on his cell phone (507) 626-4476.

We know that our loving God is in complete control and will get us through this difficulty according to his gracious plan.

Since some of our members do not have email capabilities, please initiate the Calling Tree to share this information.  Remember if you are not able to reach an individual family on your download, please call any families, if any, that they are responsible to call.  Obviously, if the chain gets broken, the system will not work.

In His service,

Pastor Steven Tews
Terry Proctor, Congregation President
 

3/18/20 update
Starting now, until further notice, Pastor Tews plans to offer a brief devotion and Holy Communion at church every weekend.  You will not exit your vehicle.  You will drive under the covered entryway.  Pastor will see that you are there and will come out of church.  The hours are Saturday 1p.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday 8a.m.-12p.m.  Pastor plans to commune occupants of as many as three vehicles at a time, but will certainly do only one if that is all that is there at the time.  He will not have you wait until additional vehicles arrive.  He is very concerned that it be made as easy for you as can be accommodated.
 

3/17/2020 update
All church activities are cancelled until further notice.  You will receive an email with details.  We are exploring options for worship without having to be in the church.  This is only temporary to protect the immune-compromised and elderly among us.  Please listen to the local health officials, wash your hands and remember that, Jesus is with you.  Trust his promises and know that God works for the good of those who love him.