God's Word is the foundation of our faith and our living here at Immanuel and so we value being in His Word with devotions, small groups and large groups. Come join us as we seek to grow in our personal relationship with Christ and also as a family of believers.   

Our Sunday morning Bible study will re-start in September. 

Our Tuesday morning Bible study is on a short break, but will be resuming late June early July.  Watch for an update here!

Our Young Adult group meets on Sunday afternoons at 140 10th Street at noon for lunch and Bible study.  

Small Groups Studies are also held for Adults, Junior High, High School, and Young Adults on a regular basis during the academic school year. 

Youth nights (7th - 12th grade) are happening throughout the summer, which include spiritual formation time as well as time to hang out, do service projects and have fun. 

*** Confirmation classes will resume September 14 & 15, 2010!***

Registration meetings: Youth and at least one parent are to attend one meeting:

Monday, August 30th 6-7pm           or          Wednesday, September 8th, 5:15-6:15

Both are in the Church Fellowship Hall

Confirmation is a 3.25 year ministry that, by the power of the Holy Spirit and God's Word, strengthens youth in their faith and in their knowledge of Christianity so that they may personally grasp and proclaim their faith before their faith family. 

Confirmation starts in the winter of the 5th grade year with the Welcome to the Lord's Table class.  This is the only portion that is held on Sundays and the only portion which has different guidlines from the other years.  Welcome to the Lord's Table is a six week class on communion taught by the pastor, which ends with the student's first communion on Maundy Thursday.  This class is traditionally held on Sunday mornings and designed for parents and 5th graders to complete together. 

In the fall of sixth grade, regular education classes begin.  These classes focus on Bible basics, the Old Testament and the New Testament.  In seventh and eighth grade, classes focus on the six chief parts: the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, Apostle's Creed, Confession, and Baptism, with a refresher on the Lord's Supper. 

• Complete 10 hours of service yearly (either through the church or through the community)
• Attend designated fellowship activites
• Attend the fall confirmation retreat (7th and/or 8th grade)
• Complete 15 sermon notes
• Attend at least one winter/spring Jr High lock-in during their three years
• Attend the one day spring mini-retreat (6th grade only)
• And participate in the acolyting schedule. 

Classes are held on a shortened school calendar basis. 

• Public School Wednesay Evening Class schedule (coming soon)
• Day School Class Schedule (coming soon)

Public Confirmation is held in May of each year for students who have completed the requirements and wish to publically proclaim their faith. 

If you have questions about Confirmation, please contact Melissa Peet, Dir. of Family Ministry, mpeet@immanuelrapids.com or Pastor John Grohs, pjohn@immanuelrapids.com

Family Ministry at Immanuel Ev. Lutheran Church seeks to strengthen the faith of the Immanuel family and to equip family units to teach and share their faith in their homes and beyond. 

We have begun to offer yearly classes and studies to help the families at Immanuel and in the community.  All of our classes center around God's Word and His Living Truth for each and everyone of us.  We offer these short-term family classes annually:

• Marriage Enrichment
• Baptism Classes
• Little Tykes & God's Word (parents of 2 year old children)
• Let's Worship Together (parents of 4 year old children)
• Faith & Service (parents of 6 year old children)
• Welcome to God's Word (parents & 3rd graders)
• Welcome to the Lord's Table (parents & 5th graders)  *This is also the first class of our Confirmation Ministry*

Immanuel's Family Life Team is going through the Family Friendly Partners Network training offered by the North Wisconsin District -  though you'll only hear us call it Family Life Training, because it falls off the tongue easier!  Through this program, our core team becomes equipped in various family ministry areas and also trains 'champion teams' in specialized ministry areas to strenghten or create these ministries at Immauel. 

The specialized areas are:

• Training Parents in Faith Formation
• Marriage Ministry
• Parent Education
• Human Sexuality
• Non-Nuclear Families

To learn more about Family Ministry at Immanuel, contact any member of our Family Life Team: Gail Amacher (Worship Director), Brian Betts (Principal), Pastor John Grohs, Melissa Peet (Dir. of Family Ministry), Tom Putskey (Parish Education Director) and Ann Schlice (Marriage Champion). 

Other ministry areas within Family Life Ministry are:

• Children's Ministry (Sunday School, VBS & Cradle Roll)
• 5th & 6th Grade Youth & Parent Group quartery activities
• Family Life Nights (quarterly gatherings for families with children ages 4-12)
• Youth Ministry (for and by 7th through 12th graders)
• Young Adult Ministry ( post-high school through late 20's)

Men's ministry is a growing ministry at Immanuel.  It is a ministry by men, for men to encourage, strengthen and empower Godly men to grow in faith, serve in abundance and witness in strength.  God made man in His image and askes men to act and love as His example.  Through fellowship, the Holy Spirit and God's Word, it is our prayer that men can find their faith home here at Immanuel. 

Currently, we have an annual fishing trip to Camp Luther in May. 

To get involved, become a leader or just find out more, contact Pastor John Grohs at 423-3260 or pjohn@immanuelrapids.com

Immanuel currently has several women's ministry service organizations.

Ladies Aid meets on the last Wednesday of each month at 1:30pm. They have several service areas which include quilting (Tuesdays at 8:30am) and funeral ministry. Jean Fritz serves as chairperson and can be reached at 421.3497.

Evening Guild meets on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00pm. Pauline Szelagowski (423.0767) serves as Chairperson with Carol Huf serving as VP. They offer fellowship, Bible study, monthly programs and many service opportunities including: funeral ministry, basic necessities for families, card ministry and other minitsry areas.

Friendship Circle meets on the second Monday of the month at 6:30pm. They have several service events as well as a yearly Bible study.  The Friendship Circle also seeks to reach out to families in various ways.  

• We match the dates and times of education classes offered on Sunday mornings so parents can attend Bible studies at the same time as their children.  Parents are also highly encouraged to volunteer on a long-term or short-term basis with the Sunday School Ministry. 
• Sunday School Ministry has exciting updates coming in the Fall of 2009 as we move toward a VBS-style curriculum. 

Cradle Roll is our ministry for parents of newborns through 3 year olds.  In partnership with our Family Ministry Classes, Cradle Roll provides age appropriate faith teaching tools to parents as well as a bi-mothly newsletter with tips and fun activities for parents and children to do together. 

Our Church Nursery has been updated and looks and functions beautifully.  It is located around the corner from the north stairwell on the lower level and has the sound from the service upstairs piped in.  If your little one just isn't having it with sitting still, please feel welcome and comfortable to use our nursery.  We are also hoping to establish a nursery ministry team that can take turns supervising the nursery during Sunday morning events so parents can have a quick break during a service and have childcare during the education hour.  If you are interested in this ministry team, please contact Melissa Peet, Dir. of Family Life Ministry. 

Have questions about or want to get involved with any area of Children's Ministry?  Contact our Parish Education Team Leader Tom Putskey or Melissa Peet, Dir. of Family Ministry at 423-3260 ext. 12 or mpeet@immanuelrapids.com