CCB Directory

MISSIONS

Lutheran World Relief (LWR)

Quilts awaiting processing, and white bundles of kits and supplies ready for shipping.

Each September we sponsor an Intergenerational event for Lutheran World Relief (LWR) packing school kits.

Education is one of the strongest tools a community has for breaking the cycle of poverty. Ensuring that girls attend school, especially in places where their access is deprioritized, has even stronger results. Lutheran World Relief School Kits contain essential supplies to help children — and in some cases, adults — continue learning in the face of serious obstacles. That learning leads to a better life for them, their families and their communities. These kits join tens of thousands of other kits from Lutheran churches across the nation and are sent to countries around the globe. We even packed over two hundred school kits during the pandemic in 2020:

  

Our Knitters!

These darling infant and toddler sweaters, knit by St. John’s Women, are made for LWR baby care kits, and World Vision Knit for Kids.

Our Quilters

GLOBAL HEALTH MINISTRIES

We pack hospice kits, and roll bandages for Global Health Ministries.  Twice a year a group of women volunteer at the headquarters in Minneapolis, sorting and packing supplies.

 

TORCH

St. John’s Women donate to TORCH, whose  mission is to support and empower students in graduating from high school and pursuing future goals, with an intentional focus on partnering with Northfield’s students of color, youth from low income families, and first-generation college attendees.

 

Mission Mornings

Twice each year St. John’s Women compile all our kits and quilts for Lutheran World Relief, Global Health Ministries, and World Vision on a Saturday morning!

Coffee, muffins, and a short program kick off the event at 9:00am.

This event is for all St. John’s Women. Come for the fellowship, get to know other women, and be God’s hands for the world.

Please consider  donating supplies, and joining us in person compiling kits, as well as helping quilters and knitters that morning.

Donation lists are available here, and at the Women’s bulletin board in the Commons between worship services. Donations can be dropped off any time in the baskets under the Women’s bulletin board.

 

Missions

St. John’s Women give back to their community, nation and the world through projects donated locally and worldwide. Many projects are sent to Lutheran World Relief (LWR) and World Vision, and distributed where needs are greatest. St. John’s Women also sell Fair Trade and Thistle Farm products, supporting trade, based on fairness, environmental sustainability and strong relationships between farmers and consumers.

  • Fair Trade Coffee & Chocolate

    Equal Exchange is a democratically organized worker-owned co-operative dedicated to building a new model of trade based on fairness, environmental sustainability and strong relationships between farmers and consumers. Farmers earn a fair price for their crops, have access to affordable credit, and can invest in education, health care and sustainable agriculture, building a better future for their families.

    St. John’s women sell fair trade coffee, tea, hot chocolate and chocolate bars from EE. 1st Sunday of the month during the school year, between worship services, in the Commons.

    Contact Dawn Tommerdahl
    women.stjohns500@gmail.com

    equalexchange.coop/

  • Thistle Farms

    The Community of Magdalene, founded in 1997 by Rev. Becca Stevens, provides housing, food, medical and dental care, therapy, education and job training free of charge for up to two years to women who have survived lives of prostitution, trafficking and addiction. Thistle Farms, a social enterprise started in 2001, provides employment for the women of Magdalene. By hand, the women create natural bath and body products that are as good for the earth as they are for the body.  Magdalene’s core belief is that “in the end love is the most powerful force for change.”

    St. John’s women sell bath and body products from Thistle Farms. 1st Sunday of the month during the school year, between worship services, in the Commons.

    Contact Dawn Tommerdahl
    women.stjohns500@gmail.com

    thistlefarms.org/

  • Quilters

    Imagine the comfort that comes from a hug at the time when you need it most. That’s the feeling you can share with an LWR (Lutheran World Relief) Quilt. Through a simple combination of fabric and thread, you can reach out to people in their time of greatest need with a strong message of hope — you are not alone.

    First and foremost, recipients use their LWR Quilts to shield against the cold and rain, and for warm bedding. But their versatility also makes Quilts useful as simple tents, floor coverings, or a wrap to hold a baby on a mother’s back.

    St. John’s Women make and send over 200 quilts each year. You can help by donating fabric, cutting, sewing, or tying knots.  They meet to tie and finish quilts every Thursday morning from 9:00 a.m. to noon in the Fellowship Hall.  Enter the church at door #10 on the corner of Poplar and third street.

    Contact: Jane Rinehart

    women.stjohns500@gmail.com

    LWR Quilts

  • Knitters

    St. John’s Women knit for the world and knit for home with two knitting ministries.

    World Vision: Knit for Kids 

    Knitters meet on the first and third Wednesdays at 10:00 am -12:00 noon, September to May, to make simple baby sweaters and hats for children. Clothing is distributed by World Vision. St. John’s Women knitted 107 sweaters and 75 caps from May 2015-May 2016.

    Contact: Kathy Vang
    women.stjohns500@gmail.com

    Knit for Kids

    Prayer and Baptism Shawl Ministry

    This group knits prayer shawls for those in need of comfort within our church community and baptism shawls for those children baptized at St. John’s.

    Daytime: 2nd & 4th Thursday each month, 10:00am, in the Library.

    All skill levels welcome, even beginners!

    Contact: Sue Sharrow
    women.stjohns500@gmail.com

    Night Knitters

    Meet 1st & 3rd Wednesday in the church library 6:00pm

    Contact: Jill Enesvedt
    women.stjohns500@gmail.com

  • School Kits

    Imagine having to choose between a meal or purchasing a notebook. Project Promise School Kits are sent to places where even the few required school supplies may be more than a family can afford. Pencils and paper can help write a positive future. Every year St. John’s Women and Sunday School sponsor an Intergenerational Event. The congregation donates school supplies and works together to fill backpacks one Sunday each Fall.

    Contact: Jane Rinehart
    women.stjohns500@gmail.com

    LWR School Kits

  • Baby Care Kits

    Baby Care Kits are distributed as part of emergency relief efforts but they are also given to encourage expectant women to seek prenatal care. Help welcome the littlest ones into a caring international community and swaddle them with love!

    Contact: Pam Groves-Gaggioli
    women.stjohns500@gmail.com

    Baby Care Kits

  • Personal Care Kits

    Personal Care Kits are shared with people who have lost everything from a natural disaster or life-threatening violence. Give hope through a bar of soap.

    Contact: Julie Zdenek
    women.stjohns500@gmail.com

    Personal Care Kits

  • Hospice Kits

    Hospice kits are compiled during Mission Mornings, and brought to Global Health Ministries for shipping around the globe.

    Contact: Jane Rinehart

    women.stjohns500@gmail.com

    Hospice Kits

  • Bandage Rolling

    St. John’s Women cut white sheets into strips and roll into bandages for Global Health Ministries. Most times this is done on Thursday mornings with the Quilters.

    Contact: Sara Bright

    women.stjohns500@gmail.com