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5/23/2024 June NewsletterSt. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church
109 S. Elm, Kewanee, Illinois 61443 Newsletter Volume 36 June 2024 No. 6 Special Voters’ Meeting to Extend a Call to a Pastor Announced A special voters’ assembly is hereby announced and scheduled for Wednesday evening, May 29th, at 7 pm, for the purpose of choosing and extending a call to our next Pastor. Your elders, who have been appointed as the search committee, having received a list of names from the District, have dutifully trimmed that list down to three they deem most fit for St. Paul’s. Information about each of these three men is available at the church for you to read in advance of the meeting, to aid you in your making of a selection at the meeting. The usual time of Midweek Mass is 7 pm on Wednesdays; for the 29th, the time of mass is moved to 6 pm, and the meeting will follow. A Fond Farewell The time has arrived, and on June 9th I will preach and celebrate as pastor of St. Paul’s for the last time, as I enter into my retirement. The founding father of the Missouri Synod, C. F. W. Walther, once said that a pastor ought to regard his parish as his heaven on earth, and so I have learned that this has been most especially true when I have been with you to serve you and to find in you most willing recipients of my ministry here. In the 28th chapter of Acts, St. Paul bid farewell to the church at Ephesus, after which, we read, “he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.” My departure from this parish is certainly not nearly as dramatic or gripping as that, yet I am sure we can relate on some level. In my case, as you know, we have no immediate plans to leave Kewanee. It’s even possible we will stay here, although it seems more likely at this point that we will be moving nearer to our children. Either way, at least for awhile we’ll still be around; I may even be called on to fill in here at some point, much as Pastor Wegener, of blessed memory, came to fill in here on occasion when I was away. But changes often bring sorrow with them. It’s unavoidable sometimes. One thing I know, nevertheless, is that the Lord Jesus will care for us all in accordance with His will. One proof of that is in the very fact that during my 29 years here He has done just that. Certainly it was not because of me that St. Paul’s has been blessed. More accurately I’d say that there were times when it was in spite of me. For every pastor has his weaknesses, and I am sometimes acutely aware of my own. Yet the Lord has always chosen earthen, fallible vessels, such as I am, to cause His will to be done. My fervent prayer is that He will soon send you a faithful shepherd to be your next pastor. Receive him as a gift from the Lord’s hand, for that is what he will be. Give honor where honor is due, and remember the Apostle Paul’s words, copied also in Luther’s Small Catechism, Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel. 1 Cor. 9:14. Let him that is taught in the Word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Gal. 6:6. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the Word and doctrine. For the Scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn; and the laborer is worthy of his reward. 1 Tim. 5:17-18. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves; for they watch for your souls as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief; for that is unprofitable for you. Heb. 13:17. The next pastor will no doubt have differences from my own way of doing things, and you must expect that and accept it, though by grace you can also expect that he will share with you the very same Gospel and Gifts of God as you have received from me. Farewell, dear flock of God, I commend you to His unspeakable mercy and grace in Jesus Christ the Chief Shepherd of the Sheep. + Pastor Eckardt Retirement Service and Celebration The final Sunday mass of Pastor Eckardt’s ministry as the called pastor of this parish is set for June 9th. Hopefully all members can be here! The time of this service has been moved to 10:00 am instead of the usual time of 9:00 am, to accommodate our many guests and to fit the special schedule for the day. We anticipate a large crowd and a festive atmosphere. Among our guests will be my friend the Rev. Benjamin Ball, the Second Vice President of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. He will be serving as Deacon and will officiate at the rite at the close of the Mass, Farewell and Godspeed to a Pastor Entering Retirement. Directly following the Divine Service we will be holding a luncheon and reception in the gym. Write this down! Vacancy Pastor The elders have tentatively arranged for Rev. Philip Fischaber, pastor at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Walnut, to serve as our vacancy pastor. His phone number is 513-384-4651. The details of this arrangement, including whether we will be able to hold our Sunday mass as the usual time, are due to be worked out on May 30th. This will all be published in upcoming bulletins for Sunday morning masses. The vacancy pastor will be responsible for pulpit supply on Sunday mornings, whether he will be here himself or arrange for someone to be here on the Sundays he cannot be here. Our prayers are that the vacancy will be short, and that God will soon provide us with a new pastor. But His will shall be done. June Ushers Jim Hornback, Steve Kraklow, Tom Wells. June Birthdays 6/5 Linda Rowe 6/16 Berniece Harris 6/29 Jim Watson June Anniversaries 6/17/1967 Robert and Mary Beth Jones 6/18/1960 Sandra and John Verplaetse 6/18/1977 Fr. Burnell and Carol Eckardt 6/18/1966 Don and Sue Murphy 6/19/1977 Dana and Carol McReynolds 6/19/1966 Bill and Judy Thompson Shut ins Jewneel Walker at Kewanee Care in Kewanee; Emmy Wear at Williamsfield retirement home; Pat Lagerhausen at Royal Oaks in Kewanee; Bea Harris (occasionally) at home; Jim Watson (occasionally) at home. Ladies’ Luncheon The June Ladies’ Luncheon is scheduled for Wednesday, June 5th at Sweet Peas in Geneseo. Ladies who want to carpool, meat at the church at 11:15 am. Each month a different restaurant is chosen by one of the ladies. All St. Paul’s’ ladies are welcome! Kris Harden is in charge of scheduling. Her number is 309-883-6596. Altar Guild Notes
In Our Prayers Our current list of prayer intentions at mass includes the names on the lists here following. Anyone wishing to update the list by addition or subtraction, please inform the pastor. in our parish: Sharon Hartz, Bea Harris, Don and Sue Murphy, John Sovanski, Sandra VerPlaetse, John Ricknell, Linda Rowe, Jewneel Walker, Emmy Wear, Pat Lagerhausen, Jim Watson, Judy Thompson, Otis Anderson, Brett Monson, and Father Eckardt and beyond our parish: Anna, Katie, and Jodi Rutowicz, Julie Ross, Elizabeth Godke, Oneida Hendrickson, Janice Hart, Kathy Boeger, Allison Leezer, Shannon Watson, Karen Parker, Deloris Bitting, John VerPlaetse, Becca Adler, Glenda Miller, Sue Berg [wife of Pastor Peter Berg], Ray Moreland, Deric Keefauver [Kris Harden’s grandson], Kathy Hopkins [Diana Shreck’s cousin], Gary Gresholdt, Rose Anderman, Judy Johnson [relative of Diana Shreck], Pastor Justin Kane in the military: John Eckardt, Richard Heiden, Traven Wetzel, Eric Verplaetse, Jake Mahaffey, James and Ann Lee Armstrong, Marcus Prentice in trouble: any unborn children in danger of abortion; Debra Reeves’s children Rae Beth and Drew Wayne, those suffering from unrest, persecution, and imprisonment in Israel, Nigeria, Ukraine, Pakistan, Libya, China, North Korea, and elsewhere. St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church 109 S. Elm Street Kewanee, IL 61443 4/25/2024 May NewsletterSt. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church
109 S. Elm, Kewanee, Illinois 61443 Newsletter Volume 36 May 2024 No. 5 Retirement service at 10:00 a.m.; Luncheon and reception following The final Sunday mass of Pastor Eckardt’s ministry as the called pastor of this parish is set for June 9th. Hopefully all members can be here! The time of this service has been moved to 10:00 am instead of the usual time of 9:00 am, to accommodate our many guests and to fit the special schedule for the day. We anticipate a large crowd and a festive atmosphere. Directly following the Divine Service we will be holding a luncheon and reception in the gym. Write this down! Reflections on My Tenure here Twenty-nine ago this July I began to serve as your pastor here at St. Paul’s. Little did anyone know that it was the beginning of a remarkable three decades. So many things have changed since then! There was in the first five years after I arrived a great strife, whose history is in the little sesquicentennial booklet that I prepared for a congregational anniversary in 2012. A confessional and liturgical awakening that had been happening in various places throughout the Missouri Synod was now at the doorstep of St. Paul’s. The rebirth of a strong confessional commitment was not something I or anyone had planned or expected, and when it happened it wasn’t easy for anyone to endure. Explained simply, some welcomed it, others did not. But after those years of strife, when the smoke began to settle, in the years following the congregation emerged as a smaller parish, but one firmly committed to each other, and to the liturgical and Sacramental marks of a strong Lutheran confession and faith. And there was peace. One of the fascinating things one can read in that sesquicentennial booklet is the history of the congregation going back to its birth in the mid nineteenth century, and in particular another very painful period that led to a congregational split in the early part of the twentieth century. The parallels are striking. In particular there grew up in the post-controversy peace that ensued after both periods a renewed resolve and energy rooted in a solidly Lutheran confession and identity. What grew up in both cases, nearly a hundred years apart, was a small but vibrant congregation whose identity was bound up in our confession of Jesus Christ and Him crucified for us, and in the blessed Sacraments that He gave us. Conspicuously absent was any rancor or division. There were no serious debates about anything. And that has been the joyful condition of this congregation in all the years following up to the present date. As a result, we were able by the grace of God to embark on a mammoth remodeling campaign in 2016. The church building was in serious disrepair. Plaster was cracking and falling down in the nave. During one Sunday service a piece of plaster fell on an empty pew (thank heaven it was an empty one!). The walls were dirty, and parts of the chancel floor were sinking. So the dedicated members put their heads together and determined they had to act, and the project was begun. We didn’t have a contractor, but what we did have were people who knew what was needed, and with a lot of prayer and dedication we simply began to do it ourselves. We hired a man to help with the plaster and painting, who was willing to work with us, but we put up the scaffolding ourselves, we planned the new color scheme ourselves, we did what painting we could ourselves, we got others to volunteer to help us rebuild the chancel floor, and bit by bit made progress. We came to worship for weeks on end with scaffolding in the church, until it became time to move the pews to the gym and set up a temporary worship space there. The entire project took three years, and we had a joyous rededication service in 2019. We did it! And yet it was clear to us that the grace of God was with us all the way. In the five years that followed, many of us have expressed a sense of amazement that the project was accomplished in such a small congregation. In the end, it isn’t pride that descended upon us, but humility. For who can deny that God was with us? During the same years something else was happening. The little liturgical journal Gottesdienst, which I had been asked to edit just prior to moving here in 1995, was also growing. A good number of faithful confessional pastors got involved. The purpose of the journal, which soon blossomed into a web site with an active blog and podcast, and a host of liturgical conferences here and elsewhere, was the advancement and defense of the Lutheran liturgy and its proper use. Right worship was at the heart of it all: an awareness that since Christ Himself is the active one in our worship, we need to be conducting our worship practice accordingly. The bond between Lutheran confessional identity and Lutheran liturgical practice was highlighted by the men of Gottesdienst, and that bond was evident and abundantly clear in the liturgical worship of St. Paul’s. And this, too, has not been an occasion for pride, but thankfulness. In short, what grew and flourished at St. Paul’s was parallel to what grew and flourished in Gottesdienst, and all of this has been because the grace of God descended on us, and God has answered our prayers in spades. And now we have come to the end of one chapter of our history and look toward the beginning of another, because as you know, the time has come for me to retire. In truth, I never envisioned the coming of the day; I never thought there was some retirement age I should adhere to just because that’s the way our society happens to be set up. That’s not why I decided it was time. Rather, it was because age has been creeping up on me. A (thankfully) slow progression of Parkinson’s Disease and other medical issues have teamed up to slow me down to the point where I began to realize that there are after all some legitimate reasons to retire. And I know that this has been an occasion for sorrow, in many ways. We have been together—you parishioners and I—for a long time. We have felt the pains together and we have enjoyed the benefits together. So now we must endure these changes as well. But let us not lose hope. For just as clearly as the Lord has blessed us in our trials and in our successes, so clear ought it to be that it is He, and not we ourselves, whose grace alone is our reliance. He has helped us hitherto; shall He not also help us now? So, dearly beloved flock of His, pray to the Lord of harvest, that He will continue to bless; that He will send a faithful pastor to take the baton I pass to him. Have we not been amazed to behold what He has done among us? Let not your hearts be troubled, then, but eager. Let them not be weighed down, but expectant. Moses once said, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you today; but the Lord replied, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: but lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. As heirs of the children of Israel, let us also go forward then, confident that it is the Lord alone by whose blessing we must live. + Pastor Eckardt The Changing of the Guard The date for my retirement is very near, being scheduled for Sunday, June 9th, and the following things are developing as we prepare for the future of St. Paul’s. As you may recall, we had made an overture to the church in Brimfield to consider joining us as a dual parish. They have decided against this, and called a pastor on their own, who has accepted their call and is to be installed on Memorial Day, at 3:00 in the afternoon. So we are on our own. A list of five names of pastors that various friends and pastors gave me, which I shared with the elders, was sent to the district just before Easter. More recently I spoke with the District President who has expedited the sending it back to us with some names he will be recommending. When we have that list, the elders (who are the call committee) will be going over it and preparing for a call meeting soon thereafter. The call meeting is a special and important congregational assembly for the purpose of voting on the candidate we would like to call and extending him a call. When a pastor receives a call it generally takes him anywhere from one to four weeks to decide whether to accept the call, which would make him the next pastor at St. Paul’s, to be installed here at the earliest agreeable time. If he declines or returns the call, we go back to the drawing board, so-to-speak, and preparations continue toward calling someone else. Sometimes a congregation can be vacant for years, but hopefully that will not be the case here. Ideally St. Paul’s would have her next pastor by this summer. God knows and directs all things, so continue to pray for His will to be done! + Pastor Eckardt Elders and Altar Guild May 14th The regular schedule is for elders to meet on the first Tuesday of the month, but this month it is moved to the second week, Tuesday, April 14th, including Vespers at 6:45 pm (all are welcome) and Elders at 7:15. Please note! We are also scheduling a special meeting of the altar guild ladies to go over our various duties. Hopefully many if not all can come, at 6:00 pm on the 14th. We used to schedule it this way years ago, as it enabled both altar guild members and elders then to meet for Vespers, between meetings. May Anniversaries May 28, 1982 Chris & Garry Erickson May 28, 1977 John and Charlene Sovanski Shut ins Jewneel Walker at Kewanee Care in Kewanee; Emmy Wear at Williamsfield retirement home; Pat Lagerhausen at Royal Oaks in Kewanee; Bea Harris (occasionally) at home; Jim Watson (occasionally) at home. In Our Prayers Our current list of prayer intentions at mass includes the names on the lists here following. Anyone wishing to update the list by addition or subtraction, please inform the pastor. in our parish: Sharon Hartz, Bea Harris, Don and Sue Murphy, John Sovanski, Sandra VerPlaetse, John Ricknell, Linda Rowe, Jewneel Walker, Emmy Wear, Pat Lagerhausen, Jim Watson, Judy Thompson, Otis Anderson, and Father Eckardt and beyond our parish: Anna, Katie, and Jodi Rutowicz, Julie Ross, Elizabeth Godke, Oneida Hendrickson, Janice Hart, Kathy Boeger, Allison Leezer, Shannon Watson, Karen Parker, Deloris Bitting, John VerPlaetse, Becca Adler, Glenda Miller, Sue Berg [wife of Pastor Peter Berg], Ray Moreland, Deric Keefauver [Kris Harden’s grandson], Kathy Hopkins [Diana Shreck’s cousin], Gary Gresholdt, Rose Anderman, Judy Johnson [relative of Diana Shreck], Albennit Terrell, Mary Eckardt, Brett Monson [son of the Wagenknechts], Pastor Justin Kane in the military: John Eckardt, Richard Heiden, Traven Wetzel, Eric Verplaetse, Jake Mahaffey, James and Ann Lee Armstrong, Marcus Prentice in trouble: any unborn children in danger of abortion; Debra Reeves’s children Rae Beth and Drew Wayne, those suffering from unrest, persecution, and imprisonment in Israel, Nigeria, Ukraine, Pakistan, Libya, China, North Korea, and elsewhere. Ladies’ Luncheon The ladies’ luncheon is scheduled for May 1st, being the first Wednesday in the month. This month’s location is Cerno’s, and the ladies meet at noon. Each month a different restaurant is chosen by one of the ladies. All St. Paul’s’ ladies are welcome! Kris Harden is in charge of scheduling. Her number is 309-883-6596. Volunteers Needed! We’re looking for volunteers to cover needed tasks after Pastor’s retirement. These tasks are various things Pastor often did himself, as well as some secretarial things. We are thankful that Michelle Armstrong has graciously stepped up to take care of many of the tasks that were done for years by Judy Thompson, but which Judy can no longer do. Judy volunteered and took care of so many things for many years, and now that she is no longer able, we are seeing just how much we benefitted from her tireless work! For that we are thankful to her and grateful to God. But it would be good if now, as we move forward, we could spread various tasks among several volunteers. Some have begun to step up already, and that’s great. If you think you might be able to help as well, please contact Pastor for how-to details. Here’s the list so far; an X indicates that a volunteer has already been assigned: Keeping of attendance records Preparation and printing of bulletins X Purchase of communion supplies X Choir director Newsletter preparation Monitor of St. Paul’s facebook page Altar Guild organization and calendar Opening and preparing the church on Sunday mornings. May Ushers Jim Hornback, Steve Kraklow, Tom Wells. May Birthdays 5/2 Sheri Kraklow 5/10 Bill Thompson 5/24 Jeff Wagenknecht Church Council The Church Council meets Wednesday, May 22nd, at 5:30. Altar Guild Notes Derrick and Felicia Baker have agreed to be responsible for purchasing Altar Guild supplies. Pay attention to the amount of supplies we have when you set up the altar. As you have been doing, always watch for when the regular communion hosts run low, when the celebrant’s hosts run low, and when the wine supply runs low. Instead of advising the Pastor, please call Felicia Baker at 773-614-1887. The altar guild calendar assignments need to be cleared up. Confusion resulted from a failure to distinguish which Wednesday is which. In the past, the Wednesday assignment went to the team for the previous Sunday. So the counting of which Wednesday is which becomes confusing. The assignments listed in last month’s calendar need a little updating: First Sunday of the month, Chris Erickson Second Sunday of the month, Sue Murphy and Sheri Kraklow Third Sunday of the month, Linda Rowe Fourth Sunday of the month, Carol Eckardt Fifth Sunday of the month, Debra Reeves Wednesdays are counted from the week of the previous Sunday: Wednesdays after the first, second, and fifth Sundays, Debra Reeves Wednesday after the third Sunday, Linda Rowe Wednesday after the fourth Sunday, Carol Eckardt When color changing is required, other altar guild members, if available, should offer assistance. To make things clear, the calendar itself must be routinely published. This we will be doing from now on in the newsletter calendar. Members, please look for the designation AG (altar guild) and your own initials. A special altar guild meeting is scheduled for May 14th at 6:00 pm to go over all these things. Vespers follows at 6:45 pm. Please make every effort to attend. This month, note the following:
The Church’s Sign Sharon Hartz finished the repainting of the church’s sign, and it looks good! Thanks to Sharon. Easter Breakfast Kudos Debra Reeves handled the Easter breakfast for the first time this year, and it was a great success! Thanks to Debra. The Roof We had roofers up on the school’s roof making repairs, which they have completed; no more leaks! Thanks to the trustees for that. St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church 109 S. Elm Street Kewanee, IL 61443 3/21/2024 April NewsletterEaster and the resurrection of the body
It’s not uncommon for people to be confused about eternal life. Pop culture has been given to fantasies about it that have no basis in truth. Some say that when you die, you become an angel. Others say you live on in an eternal afterworld that will never again be bound to physicality. And generally it’s held that heaven is open to everyone, if only they haven’t lived too heinous or wicked a life on earth. But the truth is quite different. Angels are not the same as human beings who have left earth. The popular movie It’s a Wonderful Life, for all its fine elements, has this quite wrong. You’ll recall that the character Clarence, a second-class angel who hadn’t yet earned his wings, used to be a clockmaker when he lived as a human on earth. That has no basis in Scripture or any legitimate Christian tradition. The catechism explains that angels are the foremost invisible creatures, in agreement with the book of Hebrews, which explains that angels are “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (1:14). And the idea that heaven is something we must earn, or that will only exclude those who are too undeserving, is contrary to the grace of God. For while indeed heaven must be earned, we confess that it has been earned for us by Jesus Christ who gave his life for us to pay what we owe. And it is only by faith in him that anyone gains access to heaven. Finally, the idea that death frees us forever from physicality, from our bodies, is utterly opposed to the very heart of Easter. Jesus rose bodily from the dead. He appeared bodily to his disciples, dispelling their grief. And after 40 days he ascended bodily to the right hand of the Father, where he now reigns and governs all things, still very much as the Incarnate One. And he is the first fruits of them that sleep (I Cor. 15:20). Because he lives, we shall live; that is to say, not only is our soul translated to paradise when we die, but on the Last Day, our bodies shall rise again incorruptible, and we shall be changed. This corruptible must put on incorruption (I Cor. 15:53-55). As surely as Jesus rose bodily from the grave on Easter, so shall we rise bodily from the grave at the Last Day. And this is what we mean when we confess in the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe in the resurrection of the body.” It’s our body we believe shall be resurrected. And in the Nicene Creed, it says “I believe in the resurrection of the dead”; that, too, though it doesn’t specifically mention the body, clearly implies it, using the term in the same way it was used to confess that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day. So let us glorify God in our bodies, and learn a bodily piety that regards them as sacred. For these bodies of ours shall put off their corruptible state, and their mortality, and rise from the grave. Alleluia! Christ is risen! And so, too, we shall rise in Him! + Pastor Eckardt Holy Week and Easter As usual, there will be special masses every day of Holy Week: Holy Monday, 7 pm; Holy Tuesday, 7 pm; Holy Wednesday, 7 pm; Maundy Thursday, 7 pm; Good Friday, 7 pm, and Holy Saturday the Vigil of Easter, 7 pm. There will also be a praying of the litany at noon on Good Friday. Holy Week is the most important time of the Church’s year, and we take time to listen to the four Passion accounts during this week. It’s like entering into the Holy of Holies. THE GREAT VIGIL OF EASTER is on Saturday at 7 pm. It marks the entrance of the greatest celebration of the entire year, with the dramatic Service of Light, Service of Readings, Service of Baptismal Remembrance, and finally, welcoming Easter with the Service of Holy Communion. Be sure to come! Easter Sunrise mass at 7 am is a continuation of the celebration! Easter breakfast after Sunrise mass next Sunday. Volunteers needed Saturday. Willing to donate? Write Easter Breakfast on your check. Easter Bonnet Celebration! Ladies, join in the Easter bonnet celebration! Find yourself a nice hat or bonnet to wear to church and breakfast on Easter Sunday! April Anniversary Steve and Sheri Kraklow (4/13/2002) Congratulations Elizabeth Dooley Elizabeth Dooley has been studying her catechism diligently in preparation for her confirmation. On Palm Sunday during the Bible Class hour is her public examination, and at the Vigil of Easter (Saturday, March 30th at 7 pm) she will receive the rite of confirmation. Congratulations Elizabeth! The Church’s Sign Thanks to Tom Wells and his helper Tim for taking down the fire-ruined church sign. Meanwhile the other sign, to the east, has been taken down for a new paint job, which Sharon Hartz is currently working on; it should soon be back up, good as new! Thanks to Sharon for that. Save the Date! The retirement of Pastor Eckardt is quickly approaching. June 9th is his last Sunday, and the end of nearly 29 years as our pastor. We hope everyone will be here for worship, and for the luncheon reception afterwards. April Ushers Jim Hornback, Steve Kraklow, Tom Wells. Church Council Council meets Wednesday, April 24th, at 5:30. Elders on April 9th The regular schedule is for elders to meet on the first Tuesday of the month, but this month it is moved to the second week, Tuesday, April 9th, including Vespers at 6:45 pm (all are welcome) and Elders at 7:15. Please note! Shut ins Jewneel Walker at Kewanee Care in Kewanee, Emmy Wear at Williamsfield Retirement Home, Pat Lagerhausen at Royal Oaks Nursing Home in Kewanee. Also occasionally Jim Watson, Berniece Harris, and Don Murphy, at home. Ladies’ Luncheon The monthly ladies’ luncheon is normally scheduled for the first Wednesday in the month, but this month we’re moving it to the second Wednesday, which is April 10th. Location is Los Ranchitos, at noon. Each month a different restaurant is chosen by one of the ladies. All St. Paul’s’ ladies are welcome! Kris Harden is in charge of scheduling. In Our Prayers Our current list of prayer intentions at mass includes the names on the lists here following. Anyone wishing to update the list by addition or subtraction, please inform the pastor. in our parish: Sharon Hartz, Bea Harris, Don and Sue Murphy, John Sovanski, Sandra VerPlaetse, John Ricknell, Linda Rowe, Jewneel Walker, Emmy Wear, Pat Lagerhausen, Jim Watson, Judy Thompson, and Father Eckardt and beyond our parish: Anna, Katie, and Jodi Rutowicz, Julie Ross, Elizabeth Godke, Oneida Hendrickson, Janice Hart, Kathy Boeger, Allison Leezer, Shannon Watson, Karen Parker, Deloris Bitting, John VerPlaetse, Becca Adler, Glenda Miller, Sue Berg [wife of Pastor Peter Berg], Ray Moreland, Loren Hartz, Deric Keefauver [Kris Harden’s grandson], Kathy Hopkins [Diana Shreck’s cousin], Gary Gresholdt, Rose Anderman, Kathy Hopkins, [Derrick Baker’s cousin] Albennit Terrell, Barb Doermann [friend of the Eckardts who has cancer], Pastor Justin Kane in the military: John Eckardt, Richard Heiden, Traven Wetzel, Eric Verplaetse, Jake Mahaffey, James and Ann Lee Armstrong, Marcus Prentice in trouble: any unborn children in danger of abortion; Debra Reeves’s children Rae Beth and Drew Wayne, those suffering from unrest, persecution, and imprisonment in Israel, Nigeria, Ukraine, Pakistan, Libya, China, North Korea, and elsewhere. The Feast of the Annunciation The Church celebrates the Feast of the Annunciation nine months before Christmas, the gestational period for a child in the womb. This First Class Feast observes the moment when God became man, in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when the Angel Gabriel came to her and announced that she would be the mother of our Lord Jesus, and therefore the mother of God. Since Christmas is December 25th, the Annunciation is March 25th. But when that date falls within Holy Week, as was the case this year, the feast is transferred to the first available time for having it. That puts it on the Monday after the Easter Octave. This year that makes it April 8th. Since our local custom is to observe important midweek feasts on Wednesday, we’ll be observing it on Wednesday, March 10th, at 7 p.m. In short, rather than omit it altogether due to the ‘intrusion’ of Holy Week, it gets moved to the week after the Easter Octave. Altar Guild Notes The assignments for Altar Guild members have been updated. The following schedule of who is assigned for altar duty on which day is current, please make a note of it. Altar Guild members are asked to be flexible, and these dates are subject to change as needed.
Pastor to be Away Some Days in April When Carol Eckardt’s father died last winter, the family planned a gathering to remember him in April, and the burial of his remains. Pastor and Carol will be going to New Hampshire the Tuesday after Easter to do this, and returning Saturday of the same week. There is no midweek mass that week. Pastor must also attend a free conference in Collinsville, Illinois, from April 11th to the 13th (Thursday to Saturday), but that won’t result in any cancellation. Again he must attend the District Pastoral Conference in Springield, the following week, April 15th to the 17th, but that won’t result in any cancellation either. None of this scheduling affects Sundays. The April Calendar contains all of this information. New Table Talks/Bible Study We’ve scheduled “table talks” on Saturday mornings for several years, but it has been reduced to a few of us sitting for awhile in the cafeteria with no real agenda. We’re going to try something new. The Saturday Bible class on the Gospel of Matthew has just finished. It was at noon. Now, beginning in April, we’re going to have new table talks, consisting of a real scheduled study of a Biblical or catechetical theme. The hour will be structured and conducted like a Bible Class. The time is moved to 11 am instead of noon. The tentative schedule for April is as follows: Saturday April 6th, the topic is the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Pastor will be discussing the relation of Jesus’ resurrection to our own, and we’ll talk about misconceptions concerning this subject. Join us! Saturday April 13th, no class Saturday April 20th,, the topic is glorifying God in your body. We’ll talk about the meaning of Paul’s exhortation and how our body is critical to our life of faith, and the various ramifications of this for Christian life. Join us! Saturday April 27th,, the topic is men and women. We’ll talk about our created flesh and our gender as a part of that creation, and the destructiveness of the parts of our culture that reject this. Join us! St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church 109 S. Elm Street Kewanee, IL 61443 2/29/2024 March 2024St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church
109 S. Elm, Kewanee, Illinois 61443 Newsletter Volume 36 March 2024 No. 3 Lent and Easter It’s an unfortunate thing that while everyone knows something about Easter, there are so few who know much if anything about Lent. The two belong together, for Lent is our preparation for Easter. Indeed it is our preparation for the final Easter triumph when Jesus returns in glory to take us to himself in his eternal kingdom that has no end. Lent is for training in righteousness. When we force our bodies to live without some of the things they crave, we learn to lay up for ourselves, rather, treasures in heaven, as Jesus said. And those who take Lent seriously are much better prepared to grasp and appreciate the true joys of Easter. By attending to this yearly discipline and its resolution at Easter, we become the more instinctively aware of the difference between this life and the life of the world to come. We learn, that is, to look for and yearn for that life, by hearing and meditating on the Gospel and the Sacred Scriptures. For our true life is hid with God, and it is in so many ways contrary to the life we live in the flesh in this life. But that is a lesson that is so hard to learn, because our true life is hid from our sight What we see, what we experience day after day, are the things of this life only, and hence there is a constant temptation to think only on those things. But Lent forces us to turn from them to the hidden truths of the Gospel. The season is subdivided, with the last two weeks designated as Passiontide, and the images are veiled. This two-week period is itself subdivided, because the second of those two weeks is Holy Week, the most important week of the entire year. And Holy Week is then subdivided, because the period from Maundy Thursday until the Vigil of Easter is called the Triduum Sacrum, or the Holy Three Days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, the very deepest part of Lent. All this leads to the sharp and immediate contrast with Easter, which is ushered in at the Holy Saturday Vigil itself. Moving directly from the throes of Lent’s deepest moments to the heights of Christianity’s most joyous day, we can the more easily recall the great wonder and joy experienced by the apostles upon suddenly seeing the risen Christ, as he stood before them, alive. All of this teaches us that the Christian faith is rooted in real-life events, things that actually happened, and have made all the difference to us, sealing our eternal salvation. The physical disciplines of Lent also give way on Easter to some physical joys at that time. Easter is of course about the resurrection of our Lord from the grave, but when Easter comes after a serious and dedicated Lent, then the breaking forth of Easter Day is also about our coming to an end of the fast, and our bodies physically enjoy the return of some of the things from which they were for a time deprived. And in this way Easter is a time of bodily rejoicing as well as spiritual. And then in turn we become instinctively aware of the connection between the spiritual truths of the Gospel and our own physical life. For in the end, Jesus’ resurrection is intimately tied to our own resurrection and life. + Pastor Eckardt Midweek Lenten and Holy Week Services Following an old Lutheran custom, we suggest people to make a little more effort to come out for midweek masses during Lent, as another laudable way of observing the season. It’s a good part of the Lenten season. 7:00 Wednesday evenings. And this year in particular we are also having soup suppers on Wednesdays, from 4;30 - 5:30 (not all the Wednesdays have volunteers yet), up until Palm Sunday. Then at Holy Week we follow our usual custom of having Masses every night Monday through Saturday at 7 pm. A main feature of Holy Week is the hearing of the Passion accounts. On Palm Sunday is the St. Matthew Passion, then St. Mark on Tuesday, St. Luke on Holy Wednesday, and St. John on Good Friday. On Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday these readings involve the participation of the congregation, which is reminiscent of a common choral practice during Reformation times. The subdeacon reads the narrator’s part, the pastor reads the part of Christ, and the congregation reads the parts of groups or crowds of people. These readings are found in special booklets which are handed out with the bulletins. The Triduum Sacrum (holy three days) is the deepest point of Lent, giving way all at once to Easter. It starts on Maundy Thursday with mass at 7 p.m. There is no benediction for this service, as it is understood to continue on Good Friday and until the Great Vigil. As soon as the last part of the Maundy Thursday mass is sung (the Benedicamus: V: Bless we the Lord. R: Thanks be to God), the pastor and subdeacon remove their sacramental vestments while the choir sings a psalm. They then strip the altar, pulpit, and lectern of all their paraments, remove the reserved Sacrament, take out the torches, and leave the sanctuary bare. Following the congregational singing of another psalm, all depart in silence. On Good Friday, there is an opportunity to pray the Litany at 12 noon, the hour of crucifixion. Then at 7 pm is the Good Friday Solemn Liturgy with Holy Communion. On Holy Saturday, the third day, the Great Vigil commences at 7 p.m. with a newly lit fire outside (near the kitchen doors), from which the new paschal candle is lit. The congregation follows into the church in procession. The Vigil is in four parts, the first three of which anticipate Easter: the Service of Light, the Service of Readings, the Service of Baptismal Remembrance (which includes one confirmation this year). And then comes part four, when the lights go up, the pastor wears his white chasuble, and he announces, “Alleluia! Christ is Risen!” to which all robustly reply, “He is risen indeed! Alleluia!” This is an ancient versicle and response dating to the early church. It is still used around the world, in virtually all languages. This is followed by Easter Day, and the Easter Sunrise Mass: March 31st, at 7 a.m. (Easter breakfast following) March Birthday 3/25 Carol Eckardt March Anniversary 3/19/1977 Jeff and Diana Shreck Easter Preparations Look for sign-up sheets that will be appearing soon in preparation for Easter: the opportunity to purchase lilies, and a sheet to sign up for the Easter breakfast. Mighty are the preparations! Debra Reeves has taken on the planning of the Easter breakfast this year, for which we are thankful. The Easter Breakfast sign-up sheet is in the cafeteria, and there are opportunities to sign up for juice, coffee cakes, breads, cinnamon rolls, egg casseroles (crock pot style or pan), hard boiled dyed eggs (1 dozen), or fruit salad. Questions, call at 309-883-6040. Choir rehearsals again! In preparation for special music during Holy Week and Easter, choir rehearsals have started up again on Wednesdays at 5:30 pm. Check the calendar and make a special note of it: February 28th, March 6th, 14th, and 21st. We will not rehearse after that unless we decide we need it. Church Council Council meets Wednesday, March 27th, at 5:30. March Ushers Jim Hornback, Steve Kraklow, Tom Wells. First Tuesday The regular schedule for the first Tuesday of the month (March 6th) includes Vespers at 6:45 pm (all are welcome) and Elders at 7:15. Confirmation: Congratulations Elizabeth Dooley! We have one catechumen due to be confirmed this year, Elizabeth Dooley. She has been preparing through several years of catechesis. Her public examination is to be held during the Bible Class hour on Palm Sunday, March 24th, and her confirmation is set to take place during the Easter Vigil on Saturday evening March 30th. We look forward to this event! Easter Lilies There’s a sign-up sheet for Easter lilies. Cost. $15.00 apiece Shut ins Jewneel Walker at Kewanee Care in Kewanee, Emmy Wear at Williamsfield retirement home, Pat Lagerhausen at Royal Oaks Nursing Home in Kewanee. Also occasionally Jim Watson and Berniece Harris at home. Easter Hats Ladies, remember our hats tradition! Easter is the time to wear your best, and if you are able, set it off with a handsome hat! And by all means, leave them on for the Easter breakfast. Church Council to Meet Wednesday, March 27th The monthly meeting of the Council is scheduled, as usual, for the fourth week of March, on Wednesday the 27th, at the usual 5:30 time. In Our Prayers Our current list of prayer intentions at mass includes the names on the lists here following. Anyone wishing to update the list by addition or subtraction, please inform the pastor. in our parish: Sharon Hartz, Bea Harris, Don and Sue Murphy, John Sovanski, Sandra VerPlaetse, John Ricknell, Linda Rowe, Jewneel Walker, Emmy Wear, Pat Lagerhausen, Jim Watson, Bill Thompson, Otis Anderson, Kris Harden, and Father Eckardt and beyond our parish: Anna, Katie, and Jodi Rutowicz, Julie Ross, Elizabeth Godke, Oneida Hendrickson, Janice Hart, Tim Newman, Kathy Boeger, Allison Leezer, Shannon Watson, Karen Parker, Deloris Bitting, John VerPlaetse, Becca Adler, Glenda Miller, Sue Berg [wife of Pastor Peter Berg], Ray Moreland, Loren Hartz, Deric Keefauver [Kris Harden’s grandson], Kathy Hopkins [Diana Shreck’s cousin], Gary Gresholdt, Pastor David Anderman and his wife Rose, Pastor Justin Kane in the military: John Eckardt, Richard Heiden, Traven Wetzel, Eric Verplaetse, Jake Mahaffey, James and Ann Lee Armstrong, Marcus Prentice in trouble: any unborn children in danger of abortion; Debra Reeves’s children Rae Beth and Drew Wayne, those suffering from unrest, persecution, and imprisonment in Israel, Nigeria, Ukraine, Pakistan, Libya, China, North Korea, and elsewhere. Altar Guild Notes
Ladies’ Luncheons Continue The monthly ladies’ luncheon is scheduled regularly for the first Wednesday in the month. There is always a good turnout. For the month of March , the luncheon is set for Wednesday, March 6th, at noon. Each month a different restaurant is chosen by one of the ladies. This time La Gondola has been chosen. All St. Paul’s’ ladies are welcome! Barbra Kraklow Falls Asleep in Jesus; Sheri Kraklow Replaces Her as Finance Committee Chairman We laid our beloved longtime member Barbra Kraklow to rest on February 10th, just weeks after she was reelected Finance Committee Chairman. Her daughter-in-law Sheri Kraklow agreed to take her place and was appointed and installed on Sunday, February 18th. Barbra was also present at Bible Class every Sunday for years, and kept track of exactly where we were in the catechism and in the Bible book we were studying. Sheri has taken this over as well. Barbra will surely be missed, but we know she is safe in the everlasting arms. R.I.P. Barbra Kraklow. Lenten Soup Suppers Wednesdays at 4:30, but we need someone to volunteer for March 6th and March 20th. Please speak to Debra Reeves or call her at 309-883-6040. St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church 109 S. Elm Street Kewanee, IL 61443 1/25/2024 February 2024St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church
109 S. Elm, Kewanee, Illinois 61443 Newsletter Volume 36 February 2024 No. 2 OUR ORGANIST IS BACK! Most of you will recall that we had lost our organist Ryan Van Wassenhove several years ago when he went off to college and we couldn’t find a replacement. He had played for us for several years, even since his childhood—a fact that was not lost on Channel 6 News in the Quad Cities who had produced a special on him—and we were certainly blessed during those years. Following his departure, we managed to have organ accompaniment on Sundays by my playing of simple preludes and the opening hymn on our majestic Casavant organ (though I’m not really an organist, and never use foot pedals or make extensive use of the different stops on the organ). Following the opening hymn I have been processing in silence, and after that we have been accompanied by the playing of recordings I had made of parts of the service from our little electric keyboard. It was acceptable, of course, and pretty much the best we could do, but how fine it was when occasionally one of my organist sons would visit on a Sunday and play the beautiful Casavant for us and make it sound as it is meant to sound. Even as recently as last Sunday, January 21st, we had Andy Eckardt filling in, and how nice it was, and a reminder of what we could have if we had an organist again. The wonderful news is that we do! And it is none other than Ryan Van Wassenhove himself, who has moved back to the area! Otis Anderson happened to run into him at OSF in Peoria, which is where he now works; he now lives in Peoria, but still has family here in Kewanee. And one thing led to another, and now we have learned that he is happy to return and play for us again on Sundays, beginning this Sunday, January 28th! The importance of good church music cannot be overemphasized. Martin Luther considered music second only to the Word of God in importance. He saw music theologically, as a fitting tool to accompany the Gospel. He claimed that music was a gift from God, capable of fighting evil and promoting good. Our Casavant pipe organ is also a gem, as any organist can attest. Installed in the 1960s under the capable direction of Paul Bunjes of Concordia College in River Forest, it has served us well for some 60 years. Now, thanks be to God, we can look forward to its regular use again. Be sure to welcome Ryan back, and let him know how much his being here means to us! + Pastor Eckardt Shrove Tuesday February 13th A good opportunity to make confession privately in preparation for Lent. Pastor is available Tuesday afternoon until 5 pm and, as always, by appointment. Ash Wednesday February 14th On Ash Wednesday, February 22nd, we will congregate at 7:00 pm to mark the beginning of Lent. The rite of imposition of ashes precedes the Mass. Lent The season of Lent emphasizes penitence, in preparation for Easter. Its span is forty days, like the forty days in which Jesus fasted in the wilderness, in fulfillment of the fast of Moses and Elijah on Mount Horeb. But the penitential season is not meant to be sad; it is joyful. For true joy of heart, born of the suffering and resurrection of Christ, transcends all parts of Christian life. Even the deepest of sorrows we have joy, as we confess with David that weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Thus the forty days of Lent is followed by a contrastingly festive forty-day season from Easter until Ascension Day. During the Lenten fast, two things are to be noted. First, the Apostles themselves left the specific manner of observance to Christian liberty, saying, Let each be convinced in his own mind. Second, leaving aside the question of what things one should fast from (whether sweets, or meats, or milk products, etc.), what is clear is that the custom of fasting itself is quite biblical. If Moses, Elijah, and Jesus himself fasted, certainly it must be a good practice. Indeed, on Ash Wednesday we hear Jesus saying, “When ye fast, be not as the hypocrites,” etc. Luther’s Small Catechism also declares, “Fasting and other bodily preparation is indeed a fine outward training.” Therefore we conclude two things: first, that fasting is a good thing, and second, that it is a matter left to Christian liberty. Liturgically the Church fasts during Lent (as Israel fasted forty years in the wilderness). The color is penitential violet. Alleluias are not sung, and there is less music; flowers are absent, and weddings are not to be scheduled. Then, the last two weeks of Lent are designated as “passiontide,” when statutes, images, and crosses in the churches are veiled, and no Glorias are sung at all, except in the Gloria in Excelsis on Maundy Thursday. But again, in the midst of this penitential mood there is joy, and the fourth Sunday in Lent, Laetare Sunday, calls attention to it. Laetare means ‘rejoice’, and so in the midst of the penitential season we even emphasize our perpetual joy by the observance of this Sunday. Ladies’ Luncheon February 7th The monthly ladies’ luncheon is scheduled regularly for the first Wednesday in the month. There is always a good turnout. For the month of February, the luncheon is set for Wednesday, February 7th, at noon. Each month a different restaurant is chosen by one of the ladies. This time the Barnhouse Restaurant has been chosen. All St. Paul’s’ Ladies are welcome! February Birthdays 2/2 Mindie Fisher2/4 Joshua Kraklow2/5 Tom Wells2/23 Carol McReynolds February Anniversaries None First Tuesday The first Tuesday events (vespers, elders) will be held, God willing, on Tuesday, February 6th. Vespers at 6:45; Elders at 7:15. All members are always encouraged to join us for First Tuesday Vespers, as you are able. The Altar Guild may be scheduling a meeting soon. Watch the bulletin. Ushers Jim Hornback, Steve Kraklow, Tom Wells Highlights from the Annual Voters’ Assembly The annual voters’ assembly was held on January 21st. The congregation passed a resolution, without dissent, to indicate our willingness to explore the possibility of joining as a dual parish with St. Paul’s in Brimfield. A dual parish is not two parishes merged into one. Rather, it is two parishes that share a single pastor. If Brimfield is willing, we would then consider calling a single pastor to serve both parishes, as we look ahead to future after Pastor Eckardt’s retirement on June 9th. The congregation also elected officers, scheduled to be installed on Sunday, January 28th. Here is a list of our officers for 2024. List of Officers and Elections at January 2024 voters’ assembly Chairman Tom Wells Completed 2 1 yr terms ELECTED Vice-chairman Bill Thompson Completed 2 1 yr terms ELECTED Recording secretary Charlene Sovanski Completed 10 1-yr terms ELECTED SS chairman Sheri Kraklow Completed 10 1-year terms ELECTED Trustees John Sovanski Completed 2 of 3 yrs No election needed Otis Anderson Completed 2 of 3 yrs No election needed Derrick Baker Completed 2 of 3 yrs No election needed Treasurer Diana Shreck Completed 1 yr ELECTED Missions Chairman Judy Thompson Completed 2 of 2 yrs ELECTED Stewardship Chrmn Jan Schoen Completed 2 of 2 yrs ELECTED Finance Chairman Barb Kraklow Completed 1 yr ELECTED Finance Committee Michelle Armstrong Completed 1 yr ELECTED Finance Committee Judy Thompson Completed 1 yr ELECTED Sarah Kraklow New candidate ELECTED Elders Steve Kraklow Completed 1 of 3 yrs No election needed Tom Wells Completed 1 of 3 yrs No election needed Steve Harris Completed 1 of 3 yrs No election needed Larry Campbell Completed 1 of 3 yrs No election needed Jeff Wagenknecht Completed 1 of 3 yrs No election needed Voters affirmed in 2023 that one person may hold two offices. There are no term limitations on any offices. Reaffirmed in 2012. In Our Prayers Our current list of prayer intentions at mass includes the names on the lists here following. Anyone wishing to update the list by addition or subtraction, please inform the pastor. in our parish: Sharon Hartz, Bea Harris, Don and Sue Murphy, John Sovanski, Sandra VerPlaetse, John Ricknell, Linda Rowe, Jewneel Walker, Emmy Wear, Pat Lagerhausen, Jim Watson, Bill Thompson, Otis Anderson, and Father Eckardt and beyond our parish: Anna, Katie, and Jodi Rutowicz, Julie Ross, Elizabeth Godke, Oneida Hendrickson, Janice Hart, Tim Newman, Kathy Boeger, Allison Leezer, Shannon Watson, Karen Parker, Deloris Bitting, Jane Mueller, John VerPlaetse, Becca Adler, Glenda Miller, Wayne Becker, Sue Berg [wife of Pastor Peter Berg], Ray Moreland, Loren Hartz, Deric Keefauver [Kris Harden’s grandson], Pastor Justin Kane in the military: John Eckardt, Richard Heiden, Traven Wetzel, Eric Verplaetse, Jake Mahaffey, James and Ann Lee Armstrong, Marcus Prentice in trouble: any unborn children in danger of abortion; Debra Reeves’s children Rae Beth and Drew Wayne; those suffering from unrest, persecution, and imprisonment in Venezuela, Iran, Pakistan, India, China, North Korea, and elsewhere. From www.persecution.net China: Christians Facing the Worst Persecution in 40 Years (Date: November 2023) “The persecution of God’s people has entered into the worst time we’ve seen in 40 years.” These are the words of Dr. Bob Fu, who serves as the founder and president of ChinaAid. Dr. Fu provides insight into the methods being used by the Chinese Communist Party to oppress and harass the country’s Christians – including forcing children to renounce their faith in Jesus, installing facial recognition cameras in churches (and arresting pastors who refuse them), as well as rewriting and distorting the Bible. In addition, Dr. Fu addresses why the church continues to grow despite the many challenges facing followers of Jesus in this Communist nation. Choir Rehearsals Choir rehearsals will be starting again this month, beginning on Wednesday, February 28th at 5:30 p.m. Let’s get started preparing for Holy Week; see you there! Robin Sighting Contest: Over Early Again Every year we hold the robin sighting contest about this time, asking who can find the first robin of spring. But once again, as last year, we had an early bird (pun intended). Last year, you might recall, we had a sighting in Peoria in January. This year, we received a report from Diana Shreck or a sighting in Elmwood on January 4th, setting a new record. “Couldn’t believe my eyes,” she said. This is the eleventh year of the contest, and now for two years in a row we had sightings in January. The winner of this year’s contest gets an all-expenses paid Caribbean Cruise for two . . . or not. Our list of winners: 2024 Diana Shreck 2023 Michele Keehner 2022 Steve Kraklow 2021 Andy Eckardt 2020 Michele Keehner 2019 Steve Kraklow 2018 Steve Kraklow 2017 Barbra Kraklow 2016 Judy Thompson 2015 Carol Eckardt 2014 Michele Keehner A sign of spring, the robin may also help us think of the approach of Easter! From the desk of Cantor Peter Eckardt of St. John Lutheran Church in Mattoon, Ill., February 2023 February Hymn of the Month Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice [TLH #387] A valiant knight is sent out to slay the dragon laying waste to the homes of his people. A gallant prince battles the tyrant who has taken his bride. A brave young lad proves himself against the evil giant none yet has challenged. So goes the classic fairy tale, legend, epic: the hero fights and defeats the foe for the sake of his beloved. So goes every good and noble story, for they are echoes—whether wittingly or not—of the one, great, true story of man’s redemption—the story that all of Scripture, and our hymn this month, tell: God sends His Son to fight and defeat the foe that torments and enslaves us His beloved people. The first stanza of Luther's “Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice” sets the stage for the epic to be told in the ensuing nine stanzas. God's victory, and out reason for exultation, is proclaimed already from the outset. After stanzas two and three define how hopelessly we were beset by sin, death, and the “pangs of hell” before Christ came, stanza four then announces God's plan for our salvation and what it would cost Him. And so God sends His Son, our prince and hero, to “bring to man salvation” (st. 5). “Slay bitter death for him,” the Father charges His Son, “that he may live with Thee forever.” Indeed, “the Son obeyed His Father’s will” (st. 6), took on a servant’s form, and came to our rescue. The drama of our salvation story unfolds further in the remaining four stanzas (6-10), all told in quotations as the words of our hero to us. We, the beloved, are not idle observers far away from the battlefield but are there in the thick of it all with Christ. “Hold fast to Me, He tells us, as any noble protector would tell his loved ones in the face of danger, “I am thy Rock and Castle . . . the foe shall not divide us” (st. 7). Perhaps no other hymn so poignantly encapsulates the story. the drama—and the reality—of our salvation from sin, death, and the devil. Any time spent singing, learning, teaching, and memorizing this marvelous hymn, is time well spent, and your labors will not be in vain. This is Luther's first congregational hymn, written in 1523, appearing in Etlich Cristlich lider, Wittenberg, 1524, entitled, “A Christian hymn of of Martin Luther, setting forth the unspeakable grace of God and the true faith,” and set to the same tune that we know it by today, Nun freut euch. St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church 109 S. Elm Street Kewanee, IL 61443 11/22/2023 December 2023St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church
109 S. Elm, Kewanee, Illinois 61443 Newsletter Volume 35 December 2023 No. 12 Pastor’s Retirement Set for June 9th As I indicated when I addressed the people at our special meeting a few weeks ago, I have settled on a date for my retirement. The date for my last Sunday and a retirement reception is set for June 9th, 2024. This is the Sunday after Trinity. The Board of Elders has been appointed by the Church Council to serve as the search committee. Anyone wishing to provide input as we look toward securing our next pastor is encouraged to speak to one of them (Tom Wells, Larry Campbell, Steve Harris, Steve Kraklow, Jeff Wagenknecht) or Pastor. Although retirement isn’t something I had planned on when I was younger, the encroachment of age and its limitations have become clear to me, and I determined it is best for me to retire before it would be forced upon me by circumstances beyond my control. One advantage of this is that the congregation has time to prepare for a new pastor, and I am going to be able to help that transition happen. But I am determined that when a new pastor comes, I will want to step out of his way. When a pastor has a long tenure—mine set a record for St. Paul’s, and will be just shy of 29 years—it’s all the more difficult for the next man to step in. Every pastor has different strengths and weaknesses, and members must expect that and be ready to welcome the new man with open arms, whoever he is. The District is willing to help us determine the best path forward, and a meeting with the district president and the elders has already been set. We have begun to prepare a list of items we will be seeking in a pastor; the list is nearby and is not a final draft. District advice will be helfpful especially in view of the fact that we are small, and would have difficulty supporting a full-time pastoral replacement. My own situation was enabled, you may recall, but the fact that I was also moonlighting as an online professor; something like that might be possible again. It might be possible to call a graduating seminarian, which would be less expensive than someone from the field. Another option would be to become a dual parish. We are told that the congregation in Brimfield, just a half hour away, is vacant now, and does not have sufficient resources to have a pastor on their own either. We have in the past looked toward the church in Walnut, which is also small, and remarkably similar to ours in many ways, although they have a pastor. Regarding my own plans, I have no immediate plans to move away, though that day will likely appear on the horizon, probably within a few years at most. I may be available during the vacancy in some capacity, and I’ll do what I can during that transitional period. The days of my tenure here are drawing so a close, and this is indeed a sad reality in many ways. I know it will be difficult for all of us, though time marches on and changes like this always come. This congregation has been a wonderful piece of heaven to me, and in many ways is a immensely honored to be the spiritual father by the grace of God. And I am certain that he who has been gracious to us thus far will continue to be for us the Giver of all good things. As we all continue our pilgrimage through life in this vale of tears, I will offer the same confidence toward you that St. Paul expressed to the Philippians, that he who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. + Pastor Eckardt Our Commitment to Doctrine and Practice at St. Paul’s (may still be revised) As we seek to call a pastor to serve us with Word and Sacrament, we want any candidates for this holy Office to be aware of our commitment to the following doctrine and practice: 1. We are committed without any reservation to the Divine inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility of Holy Scripture and to the doctrine and practice of the Lutheran Church as confessed in the confessional writings of the Lutheran Church as contained in the Book of Concord. 2. We are also committed without reservation to the practice of closed communion as expressed in our public statement: “Holy Communion is a confession of the faith which is confessed at this altar. Therefore, any who are not yet instructed, in doubt, or who hold a confession differing from that of this congregation and The Lutheran Church ‑ Missouri Synod, and yet desire to receive the sacrament, are asked first to speak with the pastor . . . This is in accord with Article XXIV of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession: ‘We do not abolish the Mass, but religiously maintain and defend it. For among us masses are celebrated every Lord’s Day and on the other festivals, in which the Sacrament is offered to those who wish to use it, after they have been examined and absolved.’” 3. We are committed to using only orthodox Lutheran worship and hymnody in the Divine Service. We use the Lutheran Hymnal, though we are not opposed to the use of LSB, but we would be committed exclusively to Setting Three (the common service) for the Divine Service. 4. We believe that the proper elements to use in the Lord’s Supper are unleavened bread and wine (grape juice or non-alcoholic wine should not be used) since these are the elements our Lord used when He instituted this blessed Sacrament on the night He was betrayed. 5. We use the Chalice to distribute our Lord’s blood in the Sacrament and do not offer individual cups. 6. We reserve elements (reliquae) from Mass for the pastor’s use in carrying to the sick. For this reason we routinely employ a tabernacle to reserve the elements. We also use the eternal light (the sanctuary lamp) according to its traditional purpose, namely to designate when reserved elements are present. In rare instances where there is not reservation, such as when the pastor is away, the sanctuary lamp is unlit. 7. We follow the liturgical tradition of routinely using a subdeacon at Mass. His duties are limited. A subdeacon is a man who is consecrated, vested, and carefully trained by the pastor for the reading of the Old Testament and Epistle. He does not read the Gospel, which is appropriate only for an ordained deacon or the pastor. The subdeacon also assists with the distribution, though his assistance is limited to carrying items to the pastor, assisting at the altar, and filling the chalice as needed. The pastor distributes both kinds himself. We follow these practices in accordance with the words of St. Paul to Timothy regarding the Office of the Ministry, “Give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (I Tim. 4:13), and following the Augsburg Confession’s words, “no one should publicly teach in the Church, or administer the Sacraments, without a rightly ordered call” (AC XIV). 8. We celebrate the Lord’s Supper every Lord’s Day, also normally on Wednesdays, and on special Feast Days. 9. We appreciate the fact that faithful pastors will differ in details of how they conduct the Divine Service, and we understand that a new pastor must be expected to differ from his predecessor in legitimate ways, as declared in AC VII: “And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies, instituted by men, should be everywhere alike.” We offer here the details of the liturgical practice to which we have grown accustomed primarily as a way of being helpful to a new pastor. These details may be viewed at the Gottesdienst website, employed there in a training video: The Form of the Divine Service: Small Congregational Settings, see https://www.gottesdienst.org/videos 10. We believe that Bible classes should ordinarily be taught by those serving in the Public Ministry (AC XIV). 11. A pastor with some musical aptitude would be beneficial to us, since we are accustomed to a sung liturgy (including the pastor chanting) on Sundays and Feast Days, and we have a small liturgical choir that has been led by the pastor for some time that leads singing the Propers. 12. We desire a pastor who will aggressively reach out into our community, though without compromising our Lutheran doctrine and practice, willing to bring the Gospel to people in our community so that they might seek instruction in Lutheran doctrine towards membership in our congregation. 13. We believe that the Church’s mission, or purpose, is the preaching of repentance and the forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus to all nations (St. Luke 24:27). 14. Our congregation’s purpose is first of all to receive the mercy of God through the Gospel, and, in receiving this mercy to live by it as we conduct ourselves toward one another and our neighbors (1 John 4:9-10). We wish to offer to a dying world the truth of Christ as the Scriptures reveal Him. 15. We believe that the Office of the Public Ministry is a gift from Christ, and we thank Him for having sent us faithful ministers to preach the law and the Gospel and administer His Sacraments. We pray for Him to send us another, and look forward to receiving his ministry among us with gladness of heart. Additional information about our congregation and community: 16. Our community is a relatively small town. Though there are many churches, there are also many unchurched people. Many are aimless. There is also evidence of poverty in some parts of town. 17. Our congregation’s history can be learned from consulting the booklet A Sesquicentennial Commemorative History 1862-2012: St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Kewanee, Illinois. 18. We do not offer weddings or funerals to non-members, although exceptions to this rule are the prerogative of the pastor as he may find them open to membership. 19. We offer first communion before confirmation to any children who satisfy the pastor that they know at least the principle texts of the chief parts of the catechism and demonstrate a desire to receive the Sacrament. We have no minimal age requirements for first communion, though we maintain the customary confirmation age as coinciding with the end of junior high school. 20. We have women’s suffrage and women members of our church council, but not as Chairman or Vice-chairman. Only men may serve as elders or subdeacons. 21. Our congregation’s weaknesses: We will need a pastor! (our current pastor is to retire) We are small, and have gradually lost members as the community itself has shrunk in population and decreased in commerce. We have been frustrated meanwhile by a relative lack of success in gaining many new members. We do not currently have a Sunday School for children; we are open to fresh ideas toward pursuing this goal. 22. Our congregation’s strengths: We believe that our church is especially gifted in its offering of the full counsel of God with no gimmicks. We like to think of St. Paul’s as a place “where you know you’ve been to church!” This congregation has a long history of members willing to attend Sunday Bible Class and thereby continue to be catechized. Over the past three decades we have seen well over half of those in attendance at Divine Service on Sundays remaining for the class which follows. This congregation sees itself as a family, and has a fervent love for one another and is thankful that for many years we have not had to suffer the kinds of painful divisions as sometimes afflict congregations. Our leaders earnestly desire that all people learn of Jesus, and as we interact with the community we are pleased when we can invite them to visit us. 23. We believe in the power of the Word of God to create and sustain faith, and while we seek to do His will, we do not believe that any successes of the Church are ever creditable to our works. Rather, we pray that He would shower His mercy on us to grant us His grace in all our needs, so that we may continue to be a light and beacon of His Gospel in this place in the time to come, granting us wisdom and confidence to meet the challenges ahead. First draft November 15, 2023 Revised November 22, 2023 Choir Rehearsals Again Choir rehearsals are scheduled in preparation for Christmas, and as we did last year, we will be scheduling these rehearsals at 5:30 pm on Wednesdays, except on December 13th, when we intend to go caroling (see below). Choir members, please put these Wednesdays in December on your calendar: November 29th, December 6th, and we will possibly schedule a third rehearsal. Caroling and Party Dec. 13th We plan to go caroling on Wednesday, December 13th. Meet at the church at 5 p.m. We will visit some shut-ins, and end up at the church for Mass at 7. Afterwards all are invited to the Eckardts’ annual Christmas Party at their home. Shut ins Emmy Wear is at Williamsfield Retirement Center, 112 IL-180, Williamsfield, IL 61489; and Jewneel Walker is at Kewanee Care, 144 South Junior Ave, Kewanee, IL 61443. Pat Lagerhausen is at Royal Oaks, 605 E Church St, Kewanee IL 61443. Jim Watson is at home, 911 Zang Ave., Kewanee, IL 61443. Cookie Walk Sunday Dec. 10th Bring a batch of cookies to Bible Class on the 12th of December, and prepare to exchange for others. Cookie walk after church! Bible class follows. The Bell Tolls On the last Sunday of the year, we customarily toll the bell at prayers for each member of our parish who has died during the year. This year there was one death at St. Paul’s. At the prayer of the church, the bell tolls once for each of our dear members who fell asleep in Jesus, so it will toll once this year.
December Anniversaries none December Birthday 12/11 Kris Harden Special Masses Wednesdays Our 7 p.m. Wednesday masses during Advent will each observe a special day in the church’s year. Wednesday masses during Advent:
On December 13th we will also have caroling and a party, as explained in a nearby article. Another special mass will occur on Wednesday December 27th, which is St. John’s Day. Our midweek mass will observe that feast. Also, just prior to Advent, on November 29th we will observe St. Andrew’s Day (the actual day is November 30th). Decorating During Advent As is our custom, we decorate little by little during Advent, until finally all is complete for Christmas. This year we plan to put up the Advent wreath and the Christmas tree on Saturday, December 2nd (extra volunteers are sought for this). On Saturday, December 9th we will put up any remaining decorations needed, except that the array of poinsettias will not be set out until Christmas Eve. Advent III (Sunday, December 10th) is also called “Gaudete” or Joy Sunday, set in the midst of Advent. Roses are customarily set in place if available, and the rose (pink) candle on the wreath is lit. If you can, please put Saturday December 2nd on your calendar to help with the tree. It’s an opportunity for gathering with your fellow members for a little project. In Our Prayers Our current list of prayer intentions at mass includes the names on the lists here following. Anyone wishing to update the list by addition or subtraction, please inform the pastor. in our parish: Sharon Hartz, Bea Harris, Don and Sue Murphy, John Sovanski, Sandra VerPlaetse, John Ricknell, Linda Rowe, Jewneel Walker, Emmy Wear, Jim Watson, Bill Thompson, and Father Eckardt and beyond our parish: Jude Clapper, Anna, Katie, and Jodi Rutowicz, Julie Ross, Elizabeth Godke, Oneida Hendrickson, Janice Hart, Tim Newman, Theresa Moore, Kathy Boeger, Allison Leezer, Shannon Watson, Karen Parker, Richard Heiden, Jeanna Moore, Deloris Bitting, Jane Mueller, Denise VerPlaetse [Sandra’s daughter-in-law], Becca Adler, Glenda Miller, Wayne Becker, Sue Berg [wife of Pastor Peter Berg], Ray Moreland, Sandy Epperly [niece of the Murphys, having surgery],Pastor Justin Kane in the military: John Eckardt, Richard Heiden, Eli Wetzel, Traven Wetzel, Eric Verplaetse, Jake Mahaffey, James and Ann Lee Armstrong, Marcus Prentice in trouble: any unborn children in danger of abortion; Debra Reeves’s children Rae Beth and Drew Wayne, that they may be reunited; those suffering from unrest, persecution, and imprisonment in Israel, Nigeria, Ukraine, Pakistan, Belarus, China, North Korea, and elsewhere. Church Council As usual, the Church Council will meet the third Wednesday in the month, which is December 20th, 5:30. New Year’s Mass New Year’s Eve 7 pm on December 31st. We observe the Circumcision and Name of Jesus (January 1st). Altar Guild Notes Advent begins the first Sunday in December. The four Advent Sundays’ color is violet. If roses are obtained, they may be placed for the Third Sunday in Advent, December 17th. For midweek masses, the color changes each week: November 29th is red for St. Andrew (who was martyred); December 6th is white for St. Nicholas (who was not martyred); December 13th is red for St. Lucia (who was martyred); and December 20st is also red, for St. Thomas (who was martyred). Christmas Eve is on a Sunday. The morning mass is Advent IV, still violet, and then the first Christ Mass is at 7 p.m., and the color is changed to white. There is no Midnight Mass. On Christmas Day there is a 10 am mass also with white. St. John’s Day will be celebrated on the Wednesday after Christmas, December 27th. Color remains white. For New Year’s Eve (at 7:00 p.m.) the color is white. The color remains white in January. Poinsettias There will be a signup sheet in the narthex for poinsettias for Christmas. Help adorn our chancel with poinsettias by purchasing one for $18.00. You may then bring it home after Christmas Day (or anytime until Epiphany. St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church 109 S. Elm Street Kewanee, IL 61443 10/26/2023 November 2023St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church
109 S. Elm, Kewanee, Illinois 61443 Newsletter Volume 35 November 2023 No. 11 The End of All Things Adapted from an article written in 2007. There is a tendency among all of us, I think, to forget that Christ has made a definite promise to return in glory. If we don’t forget it, at least we put it off, thinking that it won’t happen anytime near our lifetimes. But this was not the thinking of the apostles, and if one takes seriously the words of our Lord pertaining to these things, then we’d have to conclude that it ought not to be in our thinking either. Jesus said, “Watch and pray,” and “the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.,” and gave other such warnings. For this reason the time of the church year which comes upon us during November and Advent is a helpful time. The emphasis in the readings is on the end of days, the end of all things. One can see in the thematic unity between the last three Sundays of the church year and the time of Advent that there was a time when it was all part of Advent, a seven-Sunday season, just about like Lent. The last few Sundays of the church year are sometimes referred to as All Saints’ tide, the time following All Saints Day; but really it’s hard to distinguish this from Advent, except that the paraments color is still green. It is in fact entirely possible that the end of all things could come during this generation. The signs are all fulfilled (actually they have been fulfilled since the first coming of Christ, which is why the apostles were so expectant); and in fact there are indications that the return of Christ is imminent. We don’t know when He will come, of course. It could be in hundreds of years, to be sure. But it also might be in twenty years, or ten years, or next year, or tomorrow. It really could be. As an interesting aside, a little-known writing of Martin Luther indicates that although he did not put much emphasis on guessing when Christ would return in glory, and recommended that in preparation one might well plant a tree (that is, be watchful but be responsible in this life as well, for he may not come as soon as you hope), nevertheless he did make a guess which he based on considerations of the breakdown of Biblical eras and the significant events of Scripture. His guess? Two thousand years after the Council of Jerusalem, which would be A.D. 2040. That would be just seventeen years from now! But it is most important to know not so much when He will return as that He will return, and judge the living and the dead, as we confess in our Creeds. Our preparation for this is therefore not in the ascertainment of possible dates, but in our most holy faith. Indeed Christ comes every Sunday, in the Blessed Sacrament. This, received in faith, is our best and noblest preparation against that day. + Pastor Eckardt On Immorality: The Way of the Lord and the Way of the WorldIn catechism class the other day we were considering the Sixth Commandment: You shall not commit adultery. It occurred to me afterwards that the things pertaining to that commandment are worth repeating. It’s worth constantly remembering that the Lord’s ways are not our ways, as He has said.: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8).That fact is nowhere more evident than when considering entertainment, particularly TV shows and movies. We are bombarded more than at any time in history with a way of life that is entirely contrary to what Scripture lays out as proper and good. Consider the matter of the sexual revolution which blew up to giant proportions in the 1960s, and in whose context we now still find ourselves. It is a common manner of life that men and women live together without marrying first. A generation ago there was still a sense of shame when people did this, generally in secret, because everyone understood the immorality of sharing a bed with someone not your spouse. That is no longer the case. In fact it is often assumed in our day that the idea of marrying first before living together is not a good idea! It’s said that you should find out if it’ll work before you get married. Such thinking is not only wrong, it is also misinformed, because statistics have been clear on this for a long time: marriages which occur after people live together without marriage are more likely to fail. What’s necessary as part of the Church’s outreach to this fallen world, therefore, is a call to repentance, just as was evident even in the preaching of John the Baptist and of Jesus Himself. The first matter when it comes to repentance is always a recognition that you have sinned. This is true of everyone, and is why we open every Sunday with confession and absolution. In the case of sexual immorality in particular one cannot be a follower of Jesus, a Christian, without first repenting and turning from a life of immorality, as Jesus Himself said, “You cannot serve God and mammon.” St. Paul makes it abundantly clear that Christian people must have a clear understanding of this: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. . . . The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? . . . Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin] a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (I Corinthians 6:9-20). Sexual immorality is in fact a form of idolatry, even the most commonly evident form of it. Even when the Israelites made a golden calf in the wilderness, there was sexual immorality involved. As soon as Aaron made the calf for them, we are told, “they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play” (Exodus 32:6. The “play” to which they rose up was specifically sexual immorality, according to the term). Repentance must necessarily include a renunciation of one’s idols, whatever they are. And since only the one true God can give true peace and life, he who turns from serving idols to the true God finds in Him a new life of promise of everlasting life and abiding joy. No idol can provide this. Christ our Savior has purchased us with His own Blood, which is an undeniable demonstration of His eternal love. Such poor substitutes for the true God and Lord Jesus are all idols, whose allurements of happiness are fleeting and false. + Pastor Eckardt Special Voters’ Meeting SetYour Church Council has set a time for a special voters’ meeting on Sunday, November 5th during the Bible Class hour after mass. The single item on the agenda is a discussion of the matter of Pastor’s retirement in 2024. KFUO Radio Is Worth a ListenThe Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has its own radio station, which is KFUO in St. Louis. It can be accessed anywhere in the world if you have a computer, at www.KFUO.org. One of its programs is called “Thy Strong Word,” which is hosted by Pastor Phil Booe of Minnesota. He has a different guest with him for each program, as together they study chapters of the Bible. Pastor Eckardt has been on the program several times, including most recently in late October. These programs can be accessed in their archive at any time. At the top, find, “Study,” and scroll down to “Thy Strong Word.” There you can find specific programs. This most recent time I was a guest was on Mark 2:13--3:6: Jesus calls Levi and has Dinner with Sinners. Have a listen, any time! Our Ushers:Jim Hornback, Steve Kraklow, Tom Wells November Anniversary 11/5 Steve and Berniece Harris November Birthdays 11/11 Tara Wagenknecht 11/19 Steve Kraklow 11/20 Jewneel Walker 11/30 Charlene Sovanski Elders and Vespers Elders meet on Tuesday, November 7th, the first Tuesday of the month, following Vespers at 6:45 pm. Church Council The monthly meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 15th, at 5:30 pm. Altar Guild Notes
Women’s Lunch Group Meets Every First Wednesday This month the group meets November 1st at Downtown Bakery in Kewanee, 206 N. Tremont. The first meeting was a great success. Several of our women met at Co Co’s in Kewanee for conversation and time together. To discuss further or share more ideas, talk to Carol Eckardt or call her at 309-852-2460. Mark your calendar! Pastor Eckardt’s Health - update Since I received a cortisone injection early in October I am pleased to say that my sciatica seems to have subsided. Thanks be to God! Although I am still dealing with spinal issues associated with aging, they are under control for now. And as for my Parkinson’s Disease, it seems to be still in the early stages, as it has been for about four years, another reason to be thankful. Your prayers have produced some welcome fruit! It’s a Matter of What You Believe Burnell Eckardt Gottesblog, 25 October 2023 People notice how pastors conduct the ceremonies of the Divine Service, though they generally aren’t likely to put what they notice into words. One pastor tends to be folksy in his conduct, another formal. One service is conducted with great solemnity, another with more of a sense of familiarity and of a personal touch. I think it’s all a matter of what you believe. Put bluntly, if you really believe that the Incarnate One is present in your ceremony, you will act accordingly. Suddenly it’s no longer just a matter of talking about Jesus but of actually being in His presence, as though He were standing right next to you. And even, to venture deeper into this idea, it’s a matter of understanding just who He is who is, as it were, standing right next to you. He is loving, but He who is loving is the Almighty. He is kind, yet His kindness is not merely that of a close friend, but an expression of His eternal attribute of mercy. He is God. That’s not just a catechism answer; it’s a reality. And since, as God, He is indeed present in a very personal way at the altar—in the Holy Sacrament in particular—His presence ought never be denigrated in the slightest way when aspects of His humanity are emphasized. If we expend all our efforts in attempting to portray Him as being very personal, we will necessarily run the risk of losing sight of the fact that He is also eternal. He is a consuming fire. He is the one who appeared to Moses in the burning bush. And even now, that He has become Incarnate, He sits at the right hand of the Father in glory. This is impossible fully to grasp, as the Apostle indicates: O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! (Romans 11:33). I fear that when pastors expend all their liturgical energy trying to make people feel comfortable in the presence of a personally friendly Jesus, they end up planting in the minds and hearts of their people a sense that He is actually less than their Creator, the One in whom they live and move and have their being. And they do their people a great disservice thereby. Examples of this abound, and nowhere more clearly than in this extreme case, though even the less extreme cases are problematic. But maybe it’s because pastors who behave this way haven’t quite come to terms with the reality themselves. I for one have a very hard time believing that a liturgist whose first desire is to impress friendliness and ease upon the people, to make them laugh, feel comfortable, invited, and welcome, believes that he is actually standing next to the eternal God in the flesh. Get on your knees, man! Don’t you know who is present here? In the end, it’s all a matter of what you really believe. Are you or are you not standing on holy ground, in the presence of the Incarnate God? Thanksgiving Mass As usual we will observe Thanksgiving on the Wednesday Evening before the day, which will be November 22nd, at 7 pm. This is an important occasion for giving thanks to the Lord for all His benefits. Shut ins Emmy Wear at Williamsfield Home in Williamsfield; Jewneel Walker at Kewanee Care, Pathina Lagerhausen (new Kewanee resident) at Royal Oaks in Kewanee, Jim Watson, occasionally, at home. Bea Hassis, occasionally, at home. In Our Prayers Our current list of prayer intentions at mass includes the names on the lists here following. To update the list please inform the pastor in our parish: Sharon Hartz, Bea Harris, Don and Sue Murphy, John Sovanski, Sandra VerPlaetse, John Ricknell, Linda Rowe, Jewneel Walker, Emmy Wear, Jim Watson, Bill Thompson, and Father Eckardt and beyond our parish: Jude Clapper, Anna, Katie, and Jodi Rutowicz, Julie Ross, Elizabeth Godke, Oneida Hendrickson, Janice Hart, Tim Newman, Theresa Moore, Kathy Boeger, Allison Leezer, Shannon Watson, Karen Parker, Richard Heiden, Jeanna Moore, Deloris Bitting, Jane Mueller, Denise VerPlaetse [Sandra’s daughter-in-law], Becca Adler, Glenda Miller, Wayne Becker, Sue Berg [wife of Pastor Peter Berg], Ray Moreland, Sandy Epperly [niece of the Murphys, having surgery],Pastor Justin Kane in the military: John Eckardt, Richard Heiden, Eli Wetzel, Traven Wetzel, Eric Verplaetse, Jake Mahaffey, James and Ann Lee Armstrong, Marcus Prentice in trouble: any unborn children in danger of abortion; Debra Reeves’s children Rae Beth and Drew Wayne, that they may be reunited; those suffering from unrest, persecution, and imprisonment in Israel, Nigeria, Ukraine, Pakistan, Belarus, China, North Korea, and elsewhere. Persecution Details (from Voice of the Martyrs Canada www.vomcanada.com) NIGERIA 12 October 2023 Dozens of Christians Kidnapped, Others Killed Violence against Christians continues unabated in many areas of Nigeria, as recently published reports indicate that militants are increasingly invading villages to kill, injure and kidnap dozens of believers – destroying their homes and church buildings in the process. While the kidnappings are frequently financially motivated, Christians are often the primary targets of radical Islamists' attacks. PAKISTAN 5 October 2023 Christian Boy Beaten for Alleged Blasphemy A young Christian boy was recently badly beaten by his Muslim schoolteacher after he allegedly committed a blasphemous act in class. The incident, which took place in the Pakistani city of Khanewal, has raised concerns about the lack of religious tolerance and justice in the community. On September 7th, the student was sitting in class with a workbook in front of him. Unable to properly read it, he fiddled with the book and ended up making some rips and tears of its pages. When the teacher saw what he had done, the boy was severely beaten and accused of blasphemy because the book included verses from the Quran. The child was so badly injured during the beating that he ended up in hospital fighting for his life. At last report, the boy was recuperating at home with his family. No further reports on his present condition, and the safety of this Christian family, have been provided. Regrettably, such incidents frequently result in social stigma, as well as physical dangers from potential mob violence. In addition, there have been no reports of any police action being taken against the abusive teacher. St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church 109 S. Elm Street Kewanee, IL 61443 10/26/2023 October 26th, 2023St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church
109 S. Elm, Kewanee, Illinois 61443 Newsletter Volume 35 October 2023 No. 10 The Great King Josiah From Gottesblog, September 15, 2023 I continue to find extraordinary things to ponder when I read the Bible. Just the other day I reread the account of the good king Josiah and his sweeping reforms (2 Kings 21 – 23). What a spectacular reformation that was! No doubt because his reign began when he was only eight years old, it was begun at an age of the innocence of his childhood, that is, of unfamiliarity with the wickedness of his father Amon. Amon’s wickedness, by contrast, was a continuation of the wickedness of his father Manasseh, whose reputation in Holy Writ is that in his abominations he has done “wickedly above all that the Amorites did, with were before him,” and that he “made Judah also to sin with his idols,” Including the shedding of innocent blood, most especially the blood of his own children in sacrifice to his idols. Like father, like son: Amon was just as bad. But not Josiah; he was profoundly different. He had not been with his father long enough to learn from him the perverse ways of wickedness. Here we note in passing the profound responsibility fathers have in setting an example for their children. Josiah was determined to do what was right. In his eighteenth year he began to enact some transformational changes. Whether that was when he was 18 years old or when he was king for 18 years is unclear; since his reign in total was 31 years, I’m guessing these reforms began earlier rather than later. His biblical legacy is that there was no king before or after him that turned to the Lord like he did, with all his heart, soul, and might (2 Kings 23:25). So he ordered the high priest and company to begin needed repairs and cleansing of the temple, and these repairs were to be thorough. And it happened that in the process of cleaning things out, Hilkiah the high priest found the book of the law in the house of the Lord, and brought it to the king. And Josiah was overwhelmed at this discovery and rent his clothes, and became convinced that the wickedness of the people the wrath of God had been kindled against them, “because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book” (2 Kings 22:13). And he sent the high priest to inquire about this among the people, who did so, until he found Huldah the prophetess who came with the Lord’s reply. Perhaps an indication of how badly the people had turned is in this rare instance a prophetess, a female, being used to give the Lord’s reply. And the reply from the Lord was one of mercy toward Josiah “because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD . . . and hast rent thy clothes” (2 Kings 22:19). And so it was that Josiah in this humility ordered the utter destruction of all idolatrous altars, and high places, and groves, and the killing of the priests of Baal. He even exhumed the bodies of idolatrous priests and burned them to ashes (We note in passing how burial is clearly respect for the dead and cremation is not!). And then followed a great Passover, that was greater than any Passover prior in all the history of Israel (2 Kings 23:22). All these great reforms happened due to the humble, honest, faithful determination of one young King Josiah, a great example for faith to follow. And in this too, he took no credit for any of it, but instead owned the wickedness reputation he had inherited by rending his clothes. And why not be humble? For even our Lord Jesus followed this pattern of humility, for He was after all the Son of Josiah, and in a more profound way owned the wicked reputation of all mankind that He inherited, and also more profoundly than in the case of Josiah had His garments torn from Him, and was crucified. We may also compare the fact that Josiah’s faithfulness was recognizable early in his life, as was Jesus’ faithfulness: recall how the doctors of the law were so impressed with him in the temple at age twelve. And as Josiah barely knew his father, Jesus who is greater, knew no earthly father at all, being virgin-born. And as faith in Israel was rare in Josiah’s day, so also in Jesus’ day: He once declared that He had not seen faith like that of the centurion in all Israel (Matthew 8:10). And as the writer declares that Josiah’s heart was toward the Lord, so Jesus, who is greater, hears a declaration from heaven that God is well pleased with Him. And He also, in a greater way than Josiah, had a great Passover, namely the greatest of all, by the institution of the Blessed Sacrament. And in a greater way than the people benefitted from Josiah’s great reforms, the Church of all history benefits eternally from the great deeds of our Lord Jesus Christ and His resurrection from the dead. So in many ways Josiah, whose reign was late in the history of the kings of Israel, was a final and clear harbinger of the coming of the King of kings and His eternal kingdom. For a greater than Josiah is here. + Pastor Eckardt Our Ushers:Jim Hornback, Steve Kraklow, Tom Wells October Anniversary 10/4 Linda and Larry Rowe October Birthdays 10/1 Sue Murphy 10/2 Diana Shreck 10/24 Eric Meaker 10/28 Carmen Sovanski 10/29 Svetlana Meaker 10/30 Sharon Hartz Altar Guild Notes
Shut ins Emmy Wear at Williamsfield Home in Williamsfield; Jewneel Walker at Kewanee Care, Pathina Lagerhausen (new Kewanee resident) at Royal Oaks in Kewanee, Jim Watson, occasionally, at home. Elders and Vespers Elders meet on Tuesday, October 11th (moved to the second Tuesday this month, following Vespers at 6:45 pm. Church Council The monthly meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 18th at 5:30 pm. Our Lectionary Most of those at worship won’t even notice, but we have made a slight alteration in the lectionary beginning this year. (The Lectionary is the appointed readings for the year). We will no longer be observing the ‘Michaelmas skip’ which, beginning on September 29th (Michaelmas) skips a number of Sundays depending on how long the Trinity season is in any given year. The reason for this was published in the Christmas 2022 issue of Gottesdienst: The article explaining it follows here: A Change in the Calendar Burnell F Eckardt Since the year 2008, Gottesdienst has been providing annually a sanctoral calendar for Sundays throughout the year for our readers. Every Christmas issue since then, a calendar has been made available for the following year. As those who have used the calendar are aware, we have observed what’s called the “Michaelmas skip” when coming to the Sundays after Michaelmas, September 29th. But recently new evidence has come to light that has led to a change for 2023. Exhaustive research has been done by Fr. Stefan Gramenz and Fr. Evan Scamman, representatives from the Lutheran Missal editorial board, leading toward the production of a new Lutheran Missal, and the results of this research were presented at the St. Michael Conference at Zion in Detroit this year. We learned from them that there was a much greater consensus among dioceses of Western Christendom than previously thought regarding the lectionary for the church year. These men, with whom I spoke the next day, also indicated to me that they found no authority for the Michaelmas skip anywhere among the historic sources, a consensus of which instead simply count the Sundays after Trinity in order until the last, when finally a skip to Trinity 27 is made. In addition, the editors of Gottesdienst share a desire that it’s helpful to move toward uniformity in such matters, and inasmuch as a great number of our churches have never included the skip, we thought it would be prudent for us at this time to discontinue it as well. The calendar provided in this issue does not make the Michaelmas skip, though readers who wish to continue using it will find an asterisk where it would take place; of course they will need to find their own information for some of the Sundays. In addition, we are recommending that the Festival of the Reformation be observed on its day, October 31st, though the option of observing it on the last Sunday of October, an American custom, is also indicated with an asterisk. [note: at St. Paul’s we will continue to follow the option of observing Reformation Day on the last Sunday of October] In Our Prayers Our current list of prayer intentions at mass includes the names on the lists here following. To update the list please inform the pastor in our parish: Sharon Hartz, Bea Harris, Don and Sue Murphy, John Sovanski, Sandra VerPlaetse, John Ricknell, Linda Rowe, Jewneel Walker, Emmy Wear, Jim Watson, Bill Thompson and Father Eckardt and beyond our parish: Jude Clapper, Anna, Katie, and Jodi Rutowicz, Julie Ross, Elizabeth Godke, Oneida Hendrickson, Janice Hart, Tim Newman, Theresa Moore, Kathy Boeger, Allison Leezer, Shannon Watson, Karen Parker, Richard Heiden, Jeanna Moore, Deloris Bitting, Jane Mueller, Denise VerPlaetse [Sandra’s daughter-in-law], David Ricknell, Sarah Massey [Larry Campbell’s daughter], Becca Adler, Glenda Miller, Wayne Becker, Sue Berg [wife of Pastor Peter Berg], Pastor Justin Kane in the military: John Eckardt, Richard Heiden, Eli Wetzel, Traven Wetzel, Eric Verplaetse, Jake Mahaffey, James and Ann Lee Armstrong, Marcus Prentice in trouble any unborn children in danger of abortion Debra Reeves’s children Rae Beth and Drew Wayne, flood victims in Libya, those suffering from unrest, persecution, and imprisonment in Pakistan, Libya, China, North Korea, and elsewhere. Pastor Eckardt’s Health - update I’ve been dealing with a pinched sciatic nerve for the past several weeks. I also have spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal column that leads to this kind of thing. Not too long ago I was under the impression that this was all a rapid increase in Parkinson’s, but that turned out, thankfully, not to be the case. What I must deal with instead is this sciatica, caused by an extruded disk, which is essentially a slipped disc that can’t go back where it should be. Often this sort of thing requires surgery. But in the middle of September I met with a surgeon who advised me that the kind of surgery that would correct this impingement is a great risk for Parkinson’s patients. He spoke to me about two patients he had, who were in the early stage of Parkinson’s (as I am) but who came out of the surgery suddenly finding themselves in a greatly advanced condition. It has become clear to me that this is not a risk I am prepared to take, and the surgeon himself advised against the surgery. Instead, I have been directed to a pain specialist who is prepared to give me a cortisone injection to help with the symptoms of the impingement. It is possible that over time the disk extrusion I have will be absorbed into my body as I heal. There is also the further hope that by taking care not to lift heavy things and get some core strengthening exercises I’ll be in much better condition. If that happens, it will be a very good thing indeed that I didn’t have the surgery! Won’t have needed it, perhaps! In the meantime, as I await the injection (scheduled for the first week in October), I have already noticed some great improvements in my mobility. I am very thankful for that, and also convinced that your prayers played a big role in it. Thank you all for your prayers and concern. God is good! A Women’s Lunch Group Is in the Works Carol Eckardt would like to see if something regular can be arranged, whether monthly or bimonthly, at a time and place most convenient for everyone. The tentative place for the first gathering is Co Co’s in Kewanee, at 12 noon on Wednesday, October 4th. To discuss further or share ideas, talk to Carol or call her at 309-852-2460. St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church 109 S. Elm Street Kewanee, IL 61443 8/30/2023 September 2023Family Prayers
We of course understand that weekly worship is critical for Christian people, and we assemble every Sunday for just that reason, Sunday being the best day on which to do it because that is the day on which Jesus rose from the dead. And some of us take advantage also of Wednesday evening masses here at St. Paul’s, a second opportunity in the week to hear the word and receive the Blessed Sacrament. But Christian habits pertaining to the necessity that the Word of God should always be on our hearts, in our minds, and on our lips need to take it further than that, as also every Christian should know. It is critical to send time every day paying heed to the Word of God, as the Psalmist also says, “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice” (Psalm 55:117), and again, “Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever” (Psalm 145:2). There is also an entire Psalm—the 119th—that dedicates eight lines to each of the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and drives home how high and noble and worthy of continual meditation is the Word of God. There the Psalmist waxes eloquent about the value of the Word, repeating the point in a myriad of ways: “I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. . . . Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors. . . . I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. . . . My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes. . . . How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! . . . I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. . . .” The Psalmist goes on and on about the inestimable value and riches of the Word of God. That is why, in practical terms, Christian people need to form some good habits that have them returning daily to the Word of God and prayer. Sundays only are not nearly enough. So, as I have put forth on other occasions some simple orders of family prayer to use at home, the most traditional being a simplified order of Matins or Vespers that is found in the hymnal. One person alone may follow the order, or a family together. Or, here’s another idea: this is a basic outline that plays off the Morning and Evening Prayer section we find in the catechism. There we simply have this: Morning Prayer In the morning, when you get up, make the sign of the holy cross and say: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Then, kneeling or standing, repeat the [Apostles’] Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. If you choose, you may also say this little prayer . . . And then follows what is commonly known as “Luther’s Morning Prayer.” Evening Prayer is identical, except that the little prayer at the end is “Luther’s Evening Prayer.” In addition, once a day, either of these simple forms can be expanded. At our home, Carol and I sit down every morning and expand the Morning Prayer, by inserting after the opening invocation the words of a Psalm, a section of Scripture, and one of the meditations in my book Every Day Will I Bless Thee, which provides an appointed psalm and reading (copies are available for purchase at church). Or you could simply add to your prayers a chapter of the Bible every day, following the chapters in order. You may also add a hymn. Choose, for a suggestion, the Hymn of the Day from Sunday and sing that, right out of your home hymnal. It’s important to choose your order and follow it every day, because that way you get in the habit; we are all creatures of habit. So let’s cultivate the best of habits in our daily prayers. For, as the Psalmist says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” + Pastor Eckardt All Scheduling Tentative, Pending Pastor’s Test Results and Scheduling Due to the pending results of Pastor’s MRI procedure, we will await confirmation of all scheduled events in September. As most of you know, the initial diagnosis is of a pinched sciatic nerve, the result of which is impaired ability to walk. At this point we are unsure of whether there will be a need for surgery, and if so, what the scheduling will look like. Our hope and expectation, and prayer, is that the condition can be corrected, but we do not know whether, if there is surgery, there may be a weeks-long recovery process. Special Voters Assembly The Council has scheduled a Special Voters’ Meetijng for Sunday, September 10th, as the first portion of Bible Class hour, to decide on the matter of the church’s sign. Our Ushers: Jim Hornback, Tom Wells, Steve Kraklow. September Anniversaries 9/18/1976 Tom and Sue Ann Wells 9/19/1993 Jeff and Tara Wagenknecht Wednesday Evening Masses We observe Holy Cross Day (September 145h) on Wednesday, September 13th; and St. Matthew’s Day (September 21st) on Wednesday, September 20th. Wednesday masses are scheduled every Wednesday at 7 pm. Sources of Western Culture By Stefan Gramenz, at Gottesblog (www.gottesdienst.org) August 11, 2023 I think it’s a fairly common occurrence for anyone who has spent a great deal of time and energy in a particular field — any field, really — to wonder, after a while, if he has really just been wasting his time. When you focus intently on something so seemingly minute for so long, it can be quite difficult to see how it fits into the broader world and the wider scope of reality. After spending years sifting through sometimes nearly indecipherable documents with frustrating lacunae and unspoken underlying assumptions, and subsequently comparing lectionary and textual traditions across countries and centuries, the whole endeavor of liturgical scholarship can seem a bit feeble in the face of the daunting challenges in front of us, both within the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and in the Church and world at large. But then you stumble across something like this: “The history of medieval liturgy must be treated as one of the main sources of western culture." This judgment, by eminent contemporary liturgists, must be endorsed by all who deal with the medieval world. Christian civilization and devotion were based on and inspired by the liturgy: the development of chivalry and ethics to some extent stems from the 12th-century growth of Marian worship. 'The clergy ... absorbed all the functions of a literary class’ since the arts of drawing, writing, and painting were confined almost exclusively to liturgical books prepared by clerics, and since medieval writers examined the principles of thought, language, speech, and grammar through the exegesis of liturgical texts. The influence of the Franciscans on poetry, at least in England, has been widely explored; largely unknown is the influence of truly liturgical poetry in such genres as the prosa and rhymed office. Education began with the Psalter, and readings and chants were carried into daily life to inspire love songs and epics: computation, formula, and calculation derive from work with problems of the calendar. From the need to explain and summarize the increasing complexity of the services, the principles of organization, abstraction, and generalization were worked out. Whether cloistered or not, man ordered his day by the services and the church bell signalling them, and his year by the succession of church feasts, and he examined all his actions and related them to his religion.” (Medieval Manuscripts for Mass and Office: A Guide to their Organization and Terminology by Andrew Hughes, par. 10) The western world, as we know it, finds much of its origin in not only a generic Christian faith, together with a conscience informed by that faith, but also in the lived reality of that faith, ordered and structured and governed as it was by the liturgical life of the Church. And while this could lead simply to a nostalgia for “a loveliness irreparably lost,” it is also, I think, a reminder of what could be. I don’t expect that the 21st century western world will suddenly turn on its heels and once again order its life around the ebb and flow of the Church’s life, but I do think that Christian life and culture, lived in their fullness, can have an extraordinary influence on the course of the world once again, even as we have seen in the past. The end of all liturgy is to do just this — to bring people to Christ, to open up for the people of God His saving works, and then to order their lives according to this faith, whether in the daily rhythms of the Divine Office, the weekly ritual of the Sunday mass, or the times and tides of the Church’s year. To put it quite simply, the telos of the liturgy is making Christians and preserving them in the faith. That is why, of course, we have such battles over the liturgy and various forms and manners of worship — because we all know implicitly that Prosper of Aquitaine’s maxim is true, and that the real concern is never really what kind of songs we are going to sing, but what kind of Christians we are going to form and what kind of lives those Christians will lead. The foundational question is finally not about what we are going to pray, but about who we are going to be. That, as Hughes makes rather clear, is the outcome of all the church’s worship, whether we realize it or not. Pastor and Carol to Family Reunion September 6-9 An Eckardt family reunion in Wisconsin is planned, meaning that Pastor and Carol will be away from Wednesday September 6th to Saturday September 9th. there are no activities Wednesday, and no Bible Class on Saturday. September Elders, Vespers First Tuesday Vespers and Elders is scheduled for September 5th, with Vespers at 6:45 (for anyone who wants to attend) and the meeting following. Shut ins Emmy Wear at Williamsfield Home in Williamsfield; Jewneel Walker, at Kewanee Care; Bea Harris and Jim Watson, from time to time, at home. St Michael Conference The annual St. Michael Conference is scheduled in Detroit on Monday, September 25th. Rev. Dr. Karl Fabrizius is to be the keynote speaker, speaking on “Water Flowing from the Temple: Bringing Life to Every Creature” Fr. Fabrizius will explore and expound on the importance of Ezekiel's river from the temple in connection with your preaching. The preacher should not be content with the stagnant pools at the edge of the river of life, but swim in the rushing currents that bring life to the nations. As usual, our pastor is scheduled for a workshop as well, leaving Sunday afternoon the 24th and returning on Tuesday. Catechism is canceled on Tuesday, the 26th. Altar Guild Sundays in September are all GREEN. Wednesdays September 7th, GREEN September 13th, RED (for Holy Cross Day) September 20th, RED (for St. Matthew’s Day) September Birthdays 9/1 John Ricknell 9/10 Jan Schoen 9/19 Jaclyn Kraklow 9/19 Jamie Kraklow 9/20 Derrick Baker September Council Meeting The September Council meeting is set for the third Wednesday (as usual), which is September 20th, at 5:30 p.m. In Our Prayers Our list of prayer intentions at mass includes the names on the lists below. To update the lists please inform pastor.in our parish: Sharon Hartz, Bea Harris, Don and Sue Murphy, John Sovanski, Sandra VerPlaetse, John Ricknell, Linda Rowe, Jewneel Walker, Emmy Wear, Jim Watson, Bill Thompson and Father Eckardt and beyond our parish: Jude Clapper, Anna, Katie, and Jodi Rutowicz, Julie Ross, Elizabeth Godke, Oneida Hendrickson, Janice Hart, Tim Newman, Theresa Moore, Kathy Boeger, Allison Leezer, Shannon Watson, Karen Parker, Richard Heiden, Brock Tumbleson, Jeanna Moore, Deloris Bitting, Jane Mueller, Jessica Wetzel [Kris Harden’s Daughter], Megan Rowe [Linda’s daughter-in-law], Pastor Justin Kane in the military: John Eckardt, Richard Heiden, Eli Wetzel, Traven Wetzel, Eric Verplaetse, Jake Mahaffey, James and Ann Lee Armstrong, Marcus Prentice in trouble: unborn children in danger of abortion; Debra Reeves’s children Rae Beth and Drew Wayne, that they may be reunited; those suffering from unrest, persecution, and imprisonment in Pakistan, Belarus, China, North Korea, and elsewhere. Persecution Details (from www.persecution.net) PAKISTAN: Mass Violence After Blasphemy Accusations 24 August 2023 On August 16th, thousands of people stormed a Christian colony in Jaranwala, a town located in the Faisalabad district of Punjab. Angered by allegations of blasphemy, and spurred on by urgent announcements that had been broadcasted over mosque loudspeakers, the incited mob either damaged or utterly destroyed up to 26 church buildings and as many as 400 homes. Thankfully, there were no reports of casualties following this recent attack. Please take the time to view the informative video alert that VOMC released the next day, which includes footage of the actual attacks. This incident was sparked after two Christian brothers, named Rocky Saleem Masih and Raja Amir Saleem Masih, had been burning waste paper. Accusations that they were desecrating pages of the Quran ensued. Three local men also produced a letter that allegedly contained blasphemous comments about Muhammad. The brothers have been detained and charged under Pakistan's blasphemy laws. Members of the military and police force were called in to stop the rampage, and their emergency intervention eventually settled the protestors. While the violence had abated in the days that followed, underlying tensions remain. The government has publicly condemned the attacks, and more than 100 warrants of arrest have been issued against the rioters. Governing leaders have promised to help the victims rebuild, but the survivors are sceptical. BELARUS: More Harassment and Sentences for New Life Church 24 August 2023 For several years, the New Life Church in Minsk has faced opposition from the government, including the complete destruction of their place of worship on June 20th. (For more details, click here.) That act of destruction, however, did not stop ongoing harassment from government officials. Each summer, the church organizes camps for children. Unfortunately, on July 10th, a bus carrying 50 children overturned on a poorly maintained road. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries nor any complaints. Even the state-controlled media published a report blaming the poor road conditions for the accident. However, the next day, the district tax office demanded financial reports from the church, along with any records between the church and the bus company. It is believed that the accident is now being used as an excuse to further harass the church. On July 25th, the church's website was blocked by the government without warning. It was discovered that the prosecutor has banned the website for six months, alleging that the church was publishing "extremist" information, along with inciting threats to national security. A hearing regarding this case was scheduled for August 25th. The government's opposition continued on August 14th when Pastor Vyacheslav Goncharenko's house was searched by officers from the Organized Crime and Corruption Department. The pastor, along with his son-in-law, Ilya Budai, who serves as the church's youth pastor, were arrested. The next day, Pastor Ilya was sentenced to five days' detention for allegedly waving his arms and swearing at the police – an accusation strongly denied by a witness. The sentencing for Pastor Vyacheslav's detention was ten days. The authorities gave no explanation for the senior pastor's arrest, but it is believed that his detention may have been extended in order to keep him from attending the August 25th hearing in regards to the alleged publishing of "extremist materials." CHINA: Infirmed Pastor Handcuffed in Hospital 24 August 2023 Pastor Ru Zongren, who suffers from kidney failure, was in the hospital for kidney dialysis on July 30th when police handcuffed him to his bed. He was detained in the hospital for five hours before finally being released. Originally from a rural area of Anhui Province, Pastor Ru came to faith in Christ at an early age through the Christian witness of his parents. He eventually went on to study theology, graduating from seminary in 2007, prior to returning to his hometown where he has compassionately served the community since. Through his faithful ministry over the years, the Chengxi Christian Church has grown to establish a membership presently consisting of about 400 believers. In May 2015, when local urban management officials entered the community, they destroyed the church's building. As Pastor Ru attempted to stop them, he was strangled and badly beaten. His injuries resulted in the permanent kidney damage he is dealing with today. The reasons behind his recent detention in the hospital are unclear. Over the years, Pastor Ru has frequently encountered harassment from government officials, including added surveillance during times that were considered by authorities as "sensitive." St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church 109 S. Elm Street Kewanee, IL 61443 6/19/2023 July - August 2023St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church
109 S. Elm, Kewanee, Illinois 61443 Newsletter Volume 35 July, August 2023 No. 7-8 The Great Commission and the Ordination of Women This is a blog post I published at Gottesdienst.org in May – Pastor Evidently the Southern Baptists are still trying valiantly to hold the line against the ordination of women. The latest has been the expulsion of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, where Rick Warren took the brazen step of ordaining three women, in direct opposition to the Southern Baptist’s declaration, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by scripture.” Warren’s response to the expulsion was to take to Tweet, “Friends worldwide: I’m so touched by your love! Kay and I love you back!” Whether that’s meant sarcastically for the leadership or as a thank you toward those who have reached out to them since their expulsion is unclear. What is clear is that Warren, who had previously opposed women’s ordination, changed his mind. And the reason, he said, is not that he had been “caving in to culture . . . becoming a liberal.” Rather, it’s because of the Great Commission. Here’s his view of Matthew 28:18: "There are four verbs in the Great Commission: go, make disciples, baptise and teach. Men and women are to do all four things. Women are to go, women are to make disciples. Women are to baptise and women are to teach. You can’t say: 'Well, the first two are for men and women, but the second two are only for men.' The Great Commission was given to every person; not just men and not just ordained people." So here’s a guy who claims he believes the Bible saying he’s convinced by the Bible that women should be ordained. The Southern Baptist Convention disagrees, and so far have held sway, but some pretty powerful voices are convincing a great number of people that the ordination of women is the right way to go. And that kind of logic ought to make Missouri Synod Lutherans sit up and take notice. Because the very same kind of language has been central to Missouri Synod thinking for some time now. The Great Commission has for years been a kind of shibboleth for the Missouri Synod. It’s a trump card in debates; it overrides reasoned arguments and is almost ubiquitous in congregational statements about who they are. Virtually everybody bows and scrapes to the Great Commission. And the Great Commission itself is almost universally misunderstood and misapplied in the Missouri Synod, in pretty much the same way as Rick Warren has done. Warren’s fatal error is in his first assumption. The Great Commission was not given to every person. It was given to the Apostles. There was no multitude, no assembly of Christians. Not even the Blessed Virgin was present on the mountain where Jesus gave it. Only “the eleven disciples.” Strictly speaking, this is about His authority: “all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore . . .” He makes these specific disciples His sent ones, His Apostles, fully enduing them with His own authority. Specifically, His authority to teach, as He says here. And in that He says “lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world,” He clearly means that this teaching office and authority will continue through the ones they will ordain after them, and so also until the end of the world. And so they themselves rightly determined, or rather assumed, that the ones they will ordain must be men like themselves, as the leadership of Israel were throughout history, going right back to the Creation, when God made Adam first, and then Eve out of his side. Since Christ also is male, being the Second Adam, any personal representative of Him could hardly be female, because that’s simply not the way things were made. Accordingly, St. Peter’s first requirement for a replacement for Judas was that it be a male: “Wherefore of these men (ανδρων) which have companied with us . . .” (Acts 1:21). This interpretation is of course fully consistent with St. Paul’s strict proscription: “I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence” (I Tim. 2:12). Warren’s interpretation says nothing at all about the Pauline proscription, and not surprisingly, because it’s in direct contradiction to what he says. But it doesn’t matter, because Warren played the trump card. All this is recounted here to demonstrate how very vulnerable we have become in our own churches to similar forays of faulty logic. Let the Great Commission govern everything, and soon you’ll find yourself ordaining women. Just follow Warren’s logic. It’s only a matter of time. + Pastor Eckardt Wednesday Evening Masses There is no mass scheduled on Wednesday, July 12t or July 19th. Pastor and Carol will be on vacation. Tentatively Wednesday masses are scheduled at 7 pm on all the other Wednesdays in July and August. July, August Anniversaries August: 8/1/2009 Chris and Trista Dooley 8/1/1981 Larry and Michele Campbell 8/13/2022 Derek and Felicia Baker Altar Guild Notes
Catechism Resumes in August Junior Catechism will resume on Tuesday, August 22nd, at 5:00 in the afternoon. Church Council The council will be meeting on July 26th, the fourth Wednesday in the month, as Pastor will be away on the 19th. In August, the scheduled meeting is for Wednesday, August 16th, the usual time. July and August Birthdays July: 7/2 Dana McReynolds 7/4 Sarah Kraklow 7/5 Sandra Verplaetse 7/7 Stephen Harris 7/9 Michelle Armstrong 7/10 Otis Anderson 7/13 Gayle Beauprez 7/14 Father Eckardt 7/14 Elizabeth Dooley August: 8/11 Sam Fisher 8/11 Judy Thompson 8/13 Donald Murphy 8/16 Trista Dooley 8/21 John Sovanski On Vacation I will be away for vacation from July 10th to the 21st. Matins will be held on Sunday the 16th, a service without communion. The subdeacons will lead the service which consists of psalms, hymns, canticles, readings, and the reading of a sermon by pastor. There is no mass on Wednesday the 12t or the 19th. I return on Friday the 21st.. This matins service will again be offered on Sunday, July 30th, when Pastor will be at the LCMS Convention in Milwaukee. + Pastor Eckardt In Our Prayers Our list of prayer intentions at mass includes the names on the lists below. To update the lists please inform pastor. in our parish: Sharon Hartz, Bea Harris, Don and Sue Murphy, John Sovanski, Sandra VerPlaetse, John Ricknell, Linda Rowe, Jewneel Walker, Emmy Wear, Jim Watson, Bill Thompson and beyond our parish: Jude Clapper, Anna, Katie, and Jodi Rutowicz, Julie Ross, Elizabeth Godke, Oneida Hendrickson, Janice Hart, Tim Newman, Theresa Moore, Kathy Boeger, Allison Leezer, Shannon Watson, Karen Parker, Richard Heiden, Brock Tumbleson, Jeanna Moore, Don Bitting, Jane Mueller, Jessica Wetzel [Kris Harden’s Daughter], Megan Rowe [Linda’s daughter-in-law], Pastor Justin Kane in the military: John Eckardt, Richard Heiden, Eli Wetzel, Traven Wetzel, Eric Verplaetse, Jake Mahaffey, James and Ann Lee Armstrong, Marcus Prentice in trouble: unborn children in danger of abortion; Debra Reeves’s children Rae Beth and Drew Wayne, that they may be reunited; those suffering from unrest, persecution, and imprisonment in Pakistan, Libya, China, North Korea, and elsewhere. Church Picnic Our picnic is scheduled for Sunday, July 9th, at Windmont Park. Same place as last year, and again a potluck. Mark your calendar. Our Ushers: Jim Hornback, Tom Wells, Steve Kraklow. Elders Our June elders meeting was late in the month, and July is looking very difficult for finding an open Tuesday, so our next elders meeting will not be until Tuesday, August 1st at the usual time. Vespers at 6:45 (for anyone who wants to attend); meeting at 7:15. Persecution Details (from Voice of the Martyrs Canada www.vomcanada.com) PAKISTAN 8 June 2023 A 22-year-old Pakistani Christian was sentenced to death for blasphemy on May 30th. Noman Masih was found guilty of blaspheming against the Muslim prophet Muhammad because of the pictures he was accused of distributing in 2019. The incident began when Noman’s cousin, Sunny Waqas, was taken into custody on June 29th, 2019. The police claimed to have received “secret information” proving that Sunny had printed blasphemous sketches of Muhammad and was carrying them in a bag to show others. While under interrogation, Sunny allegedly told the police he had received the images from Noman through WhatsApp. Police claim that Noman was sitting in a public park at 3:30 a.m. on July 1st, showing images to people gathered around him, when he was arrested. However, his father denies those allegations, stating that Noman was asleep in bed when police entered the home to arrest him. All allegations against Sunny and Noman have been denied by their family members. Sunny was released from prison on February 3rd of this year since the trial had not concluded within the mandatory two-year period. Noman’s family intends to appeal the conviction. Between January 1st and May 10th, 2023, at least 57 cases of alleged blasphemy have been reported in Pakistan, with four of the accused individuals having since been lynched or otherwise killed because of those allegations. LIBYA 1 June 2023 Six Libyans may face the death penalty for converting to Christianity and encouraging others to do the same. The believers were charged under Article 207 of Libya’s penal code, which punishes any attempt to spread views that aim to “alter fundamental constitutional principles, or the fundamental structures of the social order, or overthrow the state, and anyone who possesses books, leaflets, drawings, slogans or any other items that promote their cause.” The Christians, who are from western Libya, had been detained by the authorities in March. One of the believers is a 22-year-old woman who released a video explaining her conversion which took place when she was 15 years of age. In a statement from Libya’s Internal Security Agency, it was reported that the arrests were made to “stop an organized gang action aiming to solicit and make people leave Islam.” According to the interim constitution of Libya, while Islam is the state religion and the principal source of legislation, non-Muslims in the country are guaranteed the freedom to practice their religion. CHINA 8 June 2023 On May 24th, police raided the Shengjia Christian Education and Help Centre in Shunde City, which is located within the Chinese province of Guangdong. After forcibly entering the building, the authorities searched the premises and confiscated all the teaching materials. Pastor Deng was arrested, along with four of his coworkers. The following day, the families of the detained Christians received official notifications stating that each believer had been given a 30-day detention for conducting “illegal business operations." “When Pastor Deng’s wife, Shaoting, went to the detention centre on May 26th to bring clothing for her husband, she asked the police officers to pass along a Bible to him. They refused to do so. The officers also informed her that the pastor had blisters on his back due to an infection and the resulting inflammation. At the time, she was not told if Pastor Deng would be receiving any medical treatment. Thankfully, Shaoting was able to deliver letters of encouragement to her husband. In one of them she wrote: “All [of this] happened to us with God’s goodwill and for the good of us. Honey, you retreat into God with peace and enjoy the rest while being detained. We can take good care of ourselves, strive to preach the Gospel, and wait for you to come back!” St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church 109 S. Elm Street Kewanee, IL 61443 |
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