God's Word is the foundation of our faith and our living here at Immanuel and so we value being in His Word, Devotionally, small group and large group. Come Join us as we seek to grow.   

We finished our "Just Walk Across the Room" Bible Study and the stories from our disciples are beginning to come. "I never believed this kind of thing was for me. But I prayed about it and the very next day, God gave me the opportunity to talk to two different people about my faith. Wow, this is exciting."  OR: "God provided me the strength to get through a very difficutl time in my life and now I am was able to share this message with another person." OR: "I didn't tell my story with anyone yet, but I was able to take a chance and get to know someone I didn't know before."  We still have materials and you can use those materials to go through this life changing Bible Study on your own or in a small group of your own.

"Gospel of John"--We are currently going though the Gospel of John where Jesus is described as, "The Vine; The Bread of Life; Living Waters; The Light of the World; and more. We meet at 9:15 on Sunday Mornings. 

Revelation Study: Tuesday Mornings at 9:00 we are meeting in the Learning Center to Study the Hope of Salvation in Revelation. Come join us.  

Small Groups Studies are also held for Adults, Junior High, High School, and Young Adults: 

In sixth through eighth grade, for members who attend our day school, confirmation classes are held during the school day.  For members who attend public school, classes are held at 5:10 to 6:10pm on Wednesday evenings: 6th graders at the Immanuel School building and 7th & 8th at the Church building.  During Lent, public school students receive a home study packet to be completed with their families.  Regardless of which school a student attends, they will receive weekly instruction, one weekly assignment and memory work.  Students also need to:

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.  Starting in 2009, we will be offering these short-term family classes annually:

• Marriage Enrichment
• Baptism Classes
• Little Tykes & God's Word (parents & 2 year old children)
• Let's Worship Together (parents and 4 year old children)
• Faith & Service (parents & 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 monthly activities
• Family Life Nights (monthly 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 requires 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.  There is also a Monday evening Bible study starting soon. 

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