October 2013

Ja! Oktoberfest!

  

Your Presence Is Respectfully Requested!  

Sunday, October 13th, Choral Vespers is at 5 pm, followed by our bratwurst banquet. Rev. Todd Wilken, host of Issues, Etc. and manager of the popular blog, “The Bare Bulb,” will be speaking on

“What’s So Special about Being Lutheran?”

TAKE NOTE: Members of St. Paul’s go free! 

FREE! 

We always take donations, and need them, but DON’T LET LACK OF FUNDS KEEP YOU FROM COMING! JUST COME! This is your big event for your church, so be a part of it! If you bring a friend, it’s just $15.00 for your friend.

On Monday October 14th, the day begins with mass at 9:00 a.m. Following mass and a continental breakfast, Pastor Wilken will hold forth for the rest of the day, in two sessions running until about followed by vespers.

On Tuesday October 15th, the conference will continue without Pastor Wilken, as those who remain will discuss the use and purpose of the Lord’s Prayer in the Liturgy of the Divine Service.  The Tuesday sessions, will be framed by morning low mass (spoken Divine Service) and Vespers. 

Support your congregation! Set aside Sunday and Monday, October 13^th and 14^h for Oktoberfest! And Tuesday too, if you can do it!

Volunteers sought! If you are able, we could really use your help.  We are a small congregation, and lots of folks attend.  So please step forward and offer your help: everyone pulling together makes the preparations a lot easier.  We need volunteers!

Mighty are the preparations

Many volunteers have been working overtime to get things looking good not only for Oktoberfest, but for the good of the congregation.   Here’s a sampling:

The planning of a frontal was discussed at several altar guild meetings, and finally the material was purchased and the sewing was done.  The frontal is the altar paraments that hangs all the way to the floor, giving it a look of elegance befitting a feast.  We have never had a full frontal at St. Paul’s.  The superfrontal, having the color of its season or feast, hangs over the frontal.  The dedication of the new frontal is set for Sunday, September 29^th.

Meanwhile the trustees and volunteers have been hard at work painting outside, the windowsills and doors, all around the church, and our horticulturalist continues her careful labor of gardening.

Volunteering abounds at St. Paul’s: besides our secretarial work, and the service of our subdeacon and servers, there are also special cleaning days, to name a few more areas. A lot of work goes into the care of a beautiful church like ours and the duties of this parish; let’s remember that the willingness of our many volunteers is a great blessing that Almighty God has laid on their hearts. 

October Ushers: Steve Peart, Grant Andresen, Larry Campbell

October Birthdays

10/1 Richard Melchin

10/1 Sue Murphy

10/2 Diana Shreck

10/3 Matthew Fisher

10/9 Mary Hamilton

10/20 Ed Woller

10/24 Robert Jones

10/24 Corey Peart

10/28 Carmen Sovanski

10/30 Sharon Hartz

October Anniversaries

10/4 Linda and Larry Rowe

10/23 Otis and Deanne Anderson

Shut ins

Mary Hamilton at home; Mark Baker at home; Anna Baker at home; Mirilda Greiert at Kewanee Care; Ruth Snider at Hillcrest Home in Geneseo; Emmy Wear at Williamsfield Home in Williamsfield.

Altar Guild News

We will be skipping our October altar guild meeting, because Pastor will be away.  

Here are some notes:

The first four Sundays are green, but October 27^th is Reformation Sunday and the color is red (including Saturday the 26^th).

Oktoberfest is Sunday, October 13^th.  Choral vespers is Sunday night; no communion ware should be set out until afterwards, for Monday morning mass on the 14^th.  There is also morning mass on Tuesday the 15^th. All days remain green.

Wednesday the 16^th we will observe St. Luke the Evangelist’s Day (transf., Oct 18); color is red.

Wednesday the 30^th we will observe All Saints’ Day (transf., Nov. 1); color is red.

Pastor’s Travels

On Sunday the 29^th I will be leaving in the afternoon for the annual St. Michael conference the next day at Zion in Detroit, where I will again be a speaker this year; on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 1^st and 2^nd of October, I will be in Lincoln, Illinois, at the CID Fall Pastors’ Conference.  I will return Wednesday afternoon

- Pastor

First Tuesday

First Tuesday Altar Guild and Elders meetings are cancelled for this month.

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 pastor. 

 The afflicted:

In our parish:

Mark Baker, Ann Baker, Sara Bidni, Emilie Ricknell, Ruth Snider, Linda Rowe, Sharon Hartz, John Sovanski, and all of our shut-ins.

And also:

David Dakin [request of Harrises]; Anna Rutowicz [request of Harrises]; Julie Ross [Svetlana Meaker’s daughter, cancer]

Caleb Cleaver [request of Ricknells]; Christian Johnson [request of Kemerlings]; Madison Lindsay [request of Andersons]; Tom Fornoff [Jean Russell’s brother-in-law]; Rev. Don Chambers [formerly of Manito]; Rev. Brian Feicho [E. St. Louis]; Stacie Liese [wife of Rev. Michael Liese]; Lisa Gustafson [with Thyroid cancer – request of Harlow]; Michelle Steuber [request of Fischers]; Marilyn Johnson [relative of the Kemerlings]; Richard Day [request of Chris Harden]; Jill Matchett [request of Diana Shreck]; Chad Winegard; Michele Dador [d’-door] [friend of Kemerlings]

Those who are in the military:

John Eckardt; Donny Appleman [request of Ricknells]; Thomas Kim [request of Shrecks]; Jaclyn Harden Alvarez

and Michael Creech [request of Murphys]

Those who are in trouble:

including especially any unborn children in danger of abortion, and those suffering from unrest, persecution, and imprisonment in Egypt, Nigeria, Eritrea, Guinea, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, China, the Philippines, Laos, and elsewhere.  

Some persecution details are on the next page.

Persecution details (from prayer list):

PAKISTAN: Suicide Attack on Pakistani Church Kills at Least 70 People

At least 70 people attending Sunday church services in September were killed by twin suicide bombings in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar, officials said, in one of the bloodiest attacks against the country's Christian minority. More than 100 people were injured in the attack, carried out by two militants wearing explosive vests who had managed to enter the church. A group allied with the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. "I've never seen such piles of human bodies," said Arshad Javed, chief executive of Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital. Christians, a small minority in overwhelmingly Muslim Pakistan, hadn't up until now been a focus of the campaign of violence that has been unleashed in recent years by the Pakistani Taliban and their al Qaeda-affiliated allies. That campaign has claimed thousands of lives, with government officials, soldiers, secular politicians and members of the Shiite Muslim minority among the victims.

LAOS: Christian Families Facing Expulsion and Abuse
Eleven Laotian families, about fifty people in all, face expulsion from Nongdaeng village (Borikan District, central province of Bolikhamsai) because of their conversion to Christianity. On August 30th, village authorities issued an order to family representatives, stating that they must abjure their faith and return to the local traditional religion of animism within three days to avoid expulsion. Despite the impending threat, the Laotian believers plan to continue conducting worship services, insisting that the Laos constitution protects their religious rights.

PHILIPPINES: Christian Villages Attacked

Two Christian villages in Midsayap, Cotabato, were attacked by the Muslim Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) on July 29th and July 31st, according to VOM sources. More than 70 armed men attacked the villages, using four boats to reach the villages and carry away their spoils. They ransacked the villagers' homes, taking belongings such as rice, clothing and utensils. The attackers also took all the animals from the village, including goats, pigs and more than 300 ducks.

ERITREA: Christians Arrested During Prayer Meeting

On August 24th, Eritrean authorities arrested members of the Church of the Living God in Kushet, a village near the capital city of Asmara, as they met for evening prayer. Among the 30 arrested were 12 women. Although the circumstances of their arrest are not known, sources state that these believers are now under pressure to recant their faith during detainment.

GUINEA: Methodist church burned in Nzérékoré
Judicial authorities are investigating a series of violent outbursts that left 95 people dead and 130 wounded. Since the murder of a suspected thief on July 14th in Koulé, a town located 40 kilometres from Nzérékoré (the second largest city of Guinea), angry clashes have ensued between members of Guerzé and Konianké ethnic groups. In the city of Nzérékoré, about five churches, four pastors' homes, and an undetermined number of shops and properties were burned or looted.

IRAN: Christian Female Incarceration Rate Increases

Reports are indicating that a growing number of Iranian Christian women are being incarcerated. The increase has gained momentum since Iran's most recent Persian New Year. While religious minorities are frequently harassed by Iranian police, the most severe police brutality is inflicted on female believers who are targeted for their violation of Iran's strict protocols. Being few in number, Christian activists have had trouble raising awareness about the harassment.

SYRIA: Missing Clergymen Reveal Dangers Facing Christians

The disappearance of an Italian Jesuit priest on July 29th, following the kidnapping of two other clergymen in April, reflects the dangers Christians are facing in this war-torn country. Rev. Paolo Dall'Oglio, who spent three decades in Syria before the government deported him last year for helping victims of President Bashar al-Assad's military crackdown, re-entered the country in late July. The reverend's disappearance comes three months after the kidnapping of the Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox archbishops of Aleppo.

Sources: www.persecution.net, excepting the Pakistan story, which is from the Wall Street Journal.

The New Testament in His Blood

This series contains brief liturgical explanations which appear in Pastor Eckardt’s book The New Testament in His Blood (Gottesdienst, 2010).

Prayer of the Church

The Prayer of the Church has a very long history. Also called the General Prayer, it is a prayer meant to petition generally for the needs of the whole church. Hence the prayer does not, as a rule, bear any particular thematic connection to the theme of the day’s Propers or sermon. The true necessities of the people of God are perennial and unchanging: we need the mercies of God, as Jesus explained to Martha: “one thing is  needful” (St. Luke 10:42). Yet there are specific needs that are felt in the hearts of God’s people as well. St. Paul exhorted the churches to whom he wrote, saying “pray for us,” and also reminded them that he prayed for them. Hence the Prayer of the Church, while being general or all-encompassing in its scope, also provides for the opportunity of specific requests, particularly requests of mercy pertaining to specific persons. These specific requests are also called “prayer intentions.” Early church liturgies referred with regularity to the “diptychs,” which were two standing cards, or a card folded in half hence the term, derived from di-ptychos, meaning two folds). The two cards had lists on them, the first a list of the living, and the other a list of the dead. The first was for prayers for the living; the second was “prayers” or perhaps better put, ‘remembrances’ of the dead. The latter list was mentioned later in the Mass.  

It is highly significant that the Prayer of the Church comes at the juncture in the service immediately prior to the liturgy and consecration of the Sacrament of the Altar, as this juxtaposition implies the connection between the prayers of faith which we offer to God and the Body of Christ which was offered for us: our petitions are linked to our Lord’s crucified Body and shed Blood. The implication which ought to be understood by this is that it is precisely because of His sacrifice for us that these petitions are heard. This is the most distinctively Christian element of all of our prayers, that they are offered in Christ, and understood as being heard because of Christ’s Body and Blood.

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church

   109 S. Elm Street

   Kewanee, IL 61443