January 2010

Eckardt family Christmas greetings


The passing years bequeath a toll,
As well we know, on every soul,
But in the midst of earthly cares,
We dwell with angels unawares.

And we recall the heav’nly grace,
Of Jesus sent to bless our race,
And pray He’d crown our future days
With love and happiness always:

For Burnie, in July to wed,
To his Amanda betroth-ed,
May all their days as man and wife
Be marked with cheer of joyful life.

Let their new life together be
Filled with hope, and charity
And let them each to other be
A blest companion constantly.

For Andy, Kristy and their child,
Sweet Sarah, hoping in a little while
To have a brother, may he be
As tenderhearted as is she.

As next month she’s turning two
About the same time he is due
May love and cheer be theirs always
And trust in Jesus all their days.

For Peter, may his lovely wife,
His Megan, have a healthy life,*
May God provide them extra grace
For strength of faith, whate’er they face.

And may his seminary years
Prove strengthening in all their fears.
May joy, contentment, and resolve
Around them constantly revolve.

For Johnny, may the angels keep
Him safe from harm, awake, asleep
Now in the Air Force he must learn
To be alert at every turn.

And to Alissa, hear her pray,
As she with him awaits their day
Day 1, month 1, 2-0-1-1,
Their wedding waiting will be done.

For Joey, let his studies pay
In college as he makes his way.
And may he learn whate’er he needs
To mix integrity with deeds,

Let him above all he may learn
Remember that he’ll never earn
All that the Christ Child has bestowed,
And paid the Father, that we owed.

And so may Michael also find
That faith must e’er be intertwined,
In all high school’s activities
And even trivialities.

For there will never be a day
When vigilance will cease to pay
Rich dividends in days of youth
To those who ponder heaven’s truth.

Like frankincense our prayer ascends
Not just for fam’ly, but for friends
And also for our dearest kin
A glad new year soon to begin.

And may the shepherds, wisemen, beasts,
Joseph, and Mary join your feasts,
And may the Babe whom they adore
Bless you and yours forevermore.

God rest you merry, this Christmas 2009
and always. -The Eckardt family.

*to keep up with Megan and Peter, visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/meganeckardt



Announcing:
An Epiphany retreat:

two Days of Theological Reflection: Monday and Tuesday, January 4th and 5th.

We are pleased to announce our January Days of Theological Reflection, a retreat on Monday and Tuesday, the 4th and 5th, from 8:30 – 3:30 (mass each morning is at 9:00), our twelfth retreat in the series will focus on King Solomon. This retreat’s theme is

“He Shall Sit upon My Throne in My Stead.”

We’ll examine the first eleven chapters of the book of 1 Kings, with an eye to finding Christ there, as He himself said of the Scriptures, “They testify of me.”
Sunday evening’s annual Choral Vespers, at 7 p.m. (see below, next page), is always followed by our wine and cheese reception in the school cafeteria, another annual tradition. If there is inclement weather, a snow date is scheduled for Monday, January 4th, at 7 p.m.
from 9:00 – 3:30 (starting each day with Mass at 9). Admission is free.





Announcing:

Christmas
Choral
Vespers

at St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Sunday, January 3, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

Every year, St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Kewanee puts on an event you might not expect to hear in a town our size, especially when you consider the small size of their choirs. Our Choral Vespers, besides being a prayer service as vespers always is, is an event of high cultural significance. This is the twelfth year the parish has held this event for the Kewanee community. Their Mixed Choir is small, but with the splendid acoustical setting under the Gothic arches at St. Paul’s, people have often commented that the choir sounds two or three times larger. These are quality singers as well, having sung together for many years, and hence they are able to provide those in attendance with a real musical treat. The choir is under the direction of the church’s pastor, the Reverend Dr. Burnell Eckardt, who has over twenty-five years of experience as a choirmaster and composer. St. Paul’s looks forward to this event every year, as a last opportunity in the year to present some lovely traditional Christmas carols in a setting for which those carols were written.

The evening’s music is always augmented by the parish’s wine and cheese reception in the school cafeteria, another annual tradition. There is no admission fee; a freewill offering will be taken. If there is inclement weather, a snow date is scheduled for Monday, January 4th, at 7 p.m.



www.caringbridge.org/visit/meganeckardt
1/1 Christine Erickson
1/4 Lucille Kemerling
1/9 Deloris (Mae) Noll
1/13 James Hornback
1/18 Scott Clapper
1/20 Brandon Erickson
1/24 Sarah Eckardt

www.caringbridge.org/visit/meganeckardt
Steve Peart, Grant Andresen, Larry Campbell

www.caringbridge.org/visit/meganeckardt
none

Shut ins

Mary Hamilton at home; ; Mark Baker at home, and Anna Baker at home. Don Clapper and Ruth Snider at Royal Oaks. Mirilda Greiert at Kewanee Care; Ila Scaife at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home.

Ruth Melchin, age 94, passed away on the 27th of November, and was given Christian burial on December 1st.


A special choir rehearsal will be held on Wednesday, December 30th, at 7 pm (there is no mass scheduled for that date).

Since Choral Vespers will be held January 3rd, there will be no choir rehearsal the following Wednesday. Rehearsal resumes on Wednesday evening, January 13th. Pastor will be gone the following week, however, so the only January rehearsals will be the 13th and the 27th.

Altar Guild Notes

Altar color for January is white, until the last weekend of the month. This includes Epiphany, Wednesday January 6th, and the Baptism of our Lord, Wednesday, January 13th. There is no mass on Tuesday January 19th or Wednesday January 20th.

On Saturday, January 30th for evening mass the color changes to violet for Septuagesima (observed then and on the next day, Sunday, January 31st. The 2010 calendar is posted in the sacristy.


Looking into our options for the chancel, and un-decorating the Church

The removal of the Christmas decorations is scheduled for Saturday, January 9, at 9 a.m. Volunteers are sought!
Also on that day, we (anyone interested) hope to look into the possibility of removing or somehow covering the wall panels behind the altar.

2010 Envelopes
The offering envelopes have been delivered to the mailboxes.


Annual Voters’ Meeting
Our Voters’ Meeting is scheduled for Sunday, January 31st, at 7:30 p.m. Council is scheduled for 7:00, just prior to the meeting.






Keeping the Feast: A Study of the Holy Liturgy (continued)

The canon of the mass.

In the historic Lutheran Liturgy, as opposed to the Latin Mass, there is no so called “Canon of the Mass,” an extended prayer following the words of Institution.
The Canon of the Mass, which has historically included the Anamnesis, a remembrance or commemoration of the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ, has been an integral part of most liturgies throughout the history of Christendom, and may appropriately be seen as an embellishment or frame for the words of Christ, much in the manner that the entire liturgy serves this purpose. The Western omission of the Epiclesis from the Canon seems to have arisen out of a concern, originating in Gregory, that care needs to be taken that what is meant to embellish does not rather obscure, and as such the Epiclesis was best removed. The subsequent Lutheran removal of the entire canon, while not necessarily an additional alteration in the manner of reform, can certainly be understood from this perspective. There are more modern Lutheran liturgies which have to some degree restored omitted ingredients, most especially the Anamnesis, and while the rationale for this restoration appears sound enough, it bears remembering that the tension which first led to its removal has by no means been resolved, particularly if an understanding of the consecratory nature of the Our Father is lost. Certainly the Epiclesis would still be a major impediment to restoring such an understanding, for if the Epiclesis is to be seen as consecratory, there is all the less reason for applying that understanding to the Our Father.

There is also an additional effect we may come to see, something Luther helped to make clear in his removal of the Canon, whether or not that was his intention. The simple effect provided by taking the Lord’s Prayer and the Verba into consideration exclusively of any other prayers is that here we are asking for eternal salvation, and here eternal salvation is given.

If Luther was bold in preferring the bare words of Christ to the words of the canon, what can prevent us from recovering an understanding, consistent with the thought of Gregory, of the Our Father as consecratory? Thus we retain also a nuclear canon, consisting only of the Our Father and the Verba, and claim the very gist of Luther’s reasoning, which sets the dominical words apart from all others at this point. For although the entire liturgy is filled with the words of God, and is therefore salutary, it is also fitting and helpful to set Jesus’ own words apart from the all rest.





St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church
109 S. Elm Street
Kewanee, IL 61443