St. Paul's Newsletter

November 2009

2009-10-28T14:17:00.000-07:00

DID YOU KNOW?
CREMATION IS UNCHRISTIAN

From time to time it’s necessary to expose the unchristian elements of society which masquerade as Christian.

Among the more successful of such masqueraders is the practice of cremating the dead. A recent District Pastors’ Conference dealt with this topic in some detail, and I thought it might be good to recount here some of the discussion.

The origin of cremation is unques-tionably pagan. It is no secret to historians that the practice of crema-tion has been prevalent in many pagan societies dating back to 2000 BC, and remains a major practice associated with disposing of dead bodies among the Hindus and others to this day.

But contrast, the people of Israel never engaged in it, in spite of its use by nearby nations. The burials of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their wives are recorded in Genesis. Joseph’s burial is recorded in the last verse of Genesis. The burial of Moses by the LORD Himself is recorded in the final chapter of the Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 34).

So also in the New Testament, burial is assumed to be the proper means of treating the bodies of the dead. The body of John the Baptist was buried by his disciples (St. Mark 6:29), and the burial of Lazarus is well known, for Jesus called him out of the tomb (St. John 11). The graves of many saints are mentioned in St. Matthew 27. There is not a single instance of cremation of an Israelite or Christian throughout all of Scripture, in spite of the widespread prevalence of the practice elsewhere.

The incarnation of our Lord is at the heart of the Christian religion, and His sanctification of human flesh by His own union with it is at the heart of Christian respect for the body. The bodies of all saints have been honored by virtue of the fact that Jesus is God in the flesh.

Upon Jesus’ own death, the women bought spices to anoint Him, determined even in their grief to treat His holy body with dignity. His bodily resurrection from the dead is all the more reason to count the body as a sacred thing.
St. Paul consequently enjoins us, saying, your body is “the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you” I Cor. 6:19), and therefore exhorts, “Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (I Cor. 6:20). This certainly applies to the respect for which our bodies should be treated even after our souls have left them, and is the reason the Christian Church has historically forbidden cremation.

Only in very recent years have any Christian churches permitted cremation. Until the twentieth century, in all of Christendom cremation was strictly forbidden.
Some people today think cremation is an acceptable way to deal with the bodies of the dead for several reasons. These reasons should be considered and answered.

First, cremation tends to be cheaper, and so, the reasoning goes, it’s less burdensome on loved ones who remain.

Second, people say life is spiritual, and what’s spiritual about a dead body? Who needs it?

Third, bodies decay over time, and eventually end up just like ashes anyway, so, they say, what’s the difference?

And finally, people reason that the earth will run out of room for burying the dead.
These objections might be well-intentioned, but they are ill-informed.

The reference to savings of money is nothing new, and we recall the scorn with which the woman was treated who anointed Jesus with expensive ointment which “might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor” (St. Mark 14:5). Just as our offerings are in part used to honor our place of worship, so we ought to be willing to provide funds for the proper treatment of the bodies of Christians.

Secondly, “spiritual” Christian life does not mean anti-material. After all, the Christian faith is centered in the union of heaven and earth in the Person of Jesus Christ. It is improper to think of material substance as inherently evil.

Third, the fact that bodies decay over time does not provide us with reason to dishonor them.

Finally, any funeral director can tell you that there is abundance of room for proper burials; the notion that we’ll run out of space is not informed by actual statistics.

So when you plan to consider your own funeral, be sure above all that you do not agree to cremation. Though many have agreed to it in the past, and may have done so in complete ignorance of these matters, it is better to be well-informed and to let your faith be guided by the best in Christian tradition. Always remember the dignity of the human body. Always say no to cremation.

In fact, the best of Christian burial traditions includes having the funeral at the church, the very place where the Christian received the body of Christ.
Pastor Eckardt

Oktoberfest Thank You

A sincere thank you to everyone who helped with Oktoberfest 2009. to EVERYONE who brought desserts or other food, DeAnne Anderson and helpers who made the German potato salad (it was delicious), Jean Russell who makes the best homemade sauerkraut, those who helped with the decorating, those who helped with the serving of the food, those who helped with the c lean-up (sooo grateful), those who helped with monetary gifts and everyone who attended the Choral Vespers and banquet. Also thank you to all who helped with the breakfast and noon meal on Monday and helped with the clean-up on Monday. A special thank-you to Steve and Bea Harris and Sandra Verplaetse for taking care of the registration, folders, display and registration table, name tags, etc. Thanks to Tom Wells for all the pumpkins used for the decorations including the “Giant” pumpkin. And thank-you to our Master Chef, Father Eckardt, and his assistant Steve for cooking the brats to perfection! We are truly blessed to have such a loving church family here at St. Paul’s.

More Oktoberfest Thanks

To the men who, during and before the Oktoberfest preparations, worked on screening the bell tower (it took three Saturdays for Otis Anderson, Scott Clapper, Tom Wells, Allan Kraklow, and Steve Kraklow to do it): Thank you!

And One More Thank You

And back at you, Judy Thompson!: Thank you for all your tireless efforts to coordinate and plan and execute details down to the last. We couldn’t have pulled it off without you.

All Souls Mass Nov. 2
Between our regular first Monday Altar Guild an Elders meetings this month, we will observe All Souls Mass (Commemoration of the Faithful Departed) at 7 p.m. Join us!

November Birthdays
11/2 Jane Melchin
11/10 Cassandra Krueger
11/11 Ruth Melchin (93)
11/13 Shannon Peart
11/14 Carol Robinson
11/15 Kami Boswell
11/19 Steve Kraklow
11/20 Jewneel Walker
11/30 Adam Sovanski
11/30 Charlene Sovanski

November Anniversaries
11/5 Steve and Berniece Harris
11/11 Gayle and Phil Beauprez

November Ushers
Otis Anderson Scott Clapper, John Ricknell, Bill Thompson

Thanksgiving to be observed November 25th

As usual, we will celebrate Thanksgiving the night before Thanksgiving Day, Wednesday, November 26th, at our regular 7 pm hour. Come and worship, giving thanks to almighty God for His rich benevolence and grace.

Private Confession is always available to anyone between 6 and 6:30 pm on these Wednesdays, and also, as always, by appointment.

Shut ins

Carole Sanders at home; Mary Hamilton at home; Ruth Snider at home; Mark Baker at home, and Anna Baker at home. Mirilda Greiert at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Don Clapper at Royal Oaks; Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria.
Altar Guild Notes

All Saints Day will be observed Sunday, November 1. Color is red. All Souls Day (The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed) is a First Class Feast, Mass is scheduled for 7 pm (during first Monday meetings). Color is white. For Wednesday Mass that week, November 3rd, the color is green. Thanksgiving is observed Wednesday night, November 25th. Color is White. First Sunday in Advent is November 29th. Color is Purple beginning on Saturday, November 28th.

Daily Prayer
For daily prayer in the homes of members, the following helps are offered:
Use your hymnal. The order of matins (morning) or vespers (evening) is easily adoptable for personal use.

A more brief form of prayer, as given in the catechism, is to say the Invocation, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and as a closing option Luther’s morning or evening prayer.

The hymnal is also a good resource for a schedule of daily readings. See page 161. These readings correspond with the material in Every Day Will I Bless Thee: Meditations for the Daily Office, my book of meditations for daily use.
+ Pastor Eckardt

First Monday Nov. 2

On Monday, November 2nd, Altar Guild meets as usual at 6 p.m., and Elders at 7:45 p.m. Between them is All Souls Mass at 7 p.m., conveniently placed so both groups can attend. All members are invited to attend All Souls Mass.

Looking ahead: 3-5 January 2010

An Epiphany retreat:
two Days of Theological Reflection
starting with the
Annual Christmas Choral Vespers

The January Days of Theological Reflection will begin with our annual Christmas Choral Vespers on Sunday night the 3rd of January, and then Monday and Tuesday, the 4th and 5th, from 8:30 – 3:30. This 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 Choral Vespers, at 7 p.m., 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.

Jazz on the Side has become a regular hobby of your pastor and subdeacon. It’s the name of the Kewanee Community Jazz Ensemble. Pastor Eckardt is the pianist, and Steve Harris brings his tenor sax. And the group is scheduled to play on Saturday night, December 19th, at the Flemish-American Club. Don’t know the details yet, but it might be open to the public.

The Lighter Side

A man dies and goes to Heaven. He gets to meet God and asks if he can ask him a few questions.

"Sure," God says, "Go right ahead".

"OK," the man says. "Why did you make women so pretty?"

God says, "So you would like them."

"OK," the guy says. "But how come you made them so beautiful?"

"So you would love them", God replies.

The man ponders a moment and then asks, "But why did you make them such airheads?"

God says, "So they would love you!"

Tuesdays
Feel free to join us every Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. for low mass. The service runs a little over a half hour.

Wednesdays
Feel free to join us most Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m. for mid-day prayers, followed by our radio recording session at 2:30.

Saturdays
Catechesis for new members is on Saturdays at 9 am, but anyone can come (and some others do). Feel free to join us.

Keeping the Feast: A Study of the Holy Liturgy (continued)
The History of the Liturgy, cont.

Already as early as the end of the first century, there is evidence of a fixed order for the Eucharist. Ignatius of Antioch (d 107) insists on the one Eucharist in a way that implies a uniform rite. He renounces the Docetists, early heretics who denied the incarnation, by holding their sin to be that they abstain from the Catholic liturgy held in communion with the bishop. According to Fortescue, there is evidence of a constant belief among the early Fathers that even the arrangement of the liturgy was a tradition from Christ and His Apostles. Whether they were right about this is not as significant as the fact that they could not have thought so unless there was already in their time a fixed order. (Fortescue 15, 51-52).

This is not surprising, inasmuch as the heart of what it meant to be Christian was to be at worship. Anglican scholar Gregory Dix has aptly demonstrated that the very term “church” was not used in reference to the building, but rather to the solemn assembly for the liturgy, until the third century (Dix, the Shape of the Liturgy [London: Continuum, 2003; first printing 1945], 19-20).

Even though in the first three centuries there were no books or officially stereotyped rites, if we assume that very early there was primarily an oral tradition, a younger bishop when his turn came to celebrate, could do no better than to continue to use the very words, as far as he remembered them, of the venerable predecessor whose prayers the people, and perhaps himself as deacon, had so often followed and answered with reverent devotion. The strong feeling of loyalty to the mother-church from which they had received the faith is noticed in all the early missionary churches. (Fortescue, 55-56)

There is compelling evidence that the introductions of variations in the rite resulted from of a perceived need to confess against various heresies that arose. Under Leo the Great (d 461), for example, words were added to the canon to refer to the host as immaculate (sanctum sacrificium, immaculatam hostiam, Fortescue 137), no doubt directed against the Manichaeans who denied the possibility that any material substance could be good (and who thus rejected the incarnation itself). This is also evidence that a shift in the arrangement of the canon under Pope Gelasius in the late fifth century was due to the Acacian schism. Bishop Acacia of Constantinople was a member of the Monophysite party, which believed that Jesus had only one nature; his rival John Talaia, the Catholic bishop, had been exiled to Rome, where he became friends with Gelasius, whose consequent adjustments to the Roman liturgy to conform with that of Talaia (Fortescue 164f) indicate a theological unity against Monophysitism. By the sixth century, the filioque (the addition of the words “and the Son” to the third article of the Creed) was commonly said in many places, and at the council of Toledo was given official recognition, as a common confession to emphasize the full divinity of the Son, against the recalcitrant Arian heresy that denied it; this of course is in keeping with the very formation of the Creed itself, in the fourth century, against Arius. The elevation of the host arose in France in the 13th century against the teaching of one Peter the Stammerer who held a questionable view regarding the efficacy of the Words of Institution.

In short, the shape of the liturgy can be traced to the Church’s desire to confess liturgically what she believed, in the face of heresies which denied those things.

October 2009

2009-10-14T09:16:00.000-07:00

ON SAYING AMEN
From the September 1997 Newsletter

We have all learned the meaning of this word from the catechism, namely, “Yea, yea, it shall be so.” The word is actually a Greek word, which simply means “Truly.” When Jesus says, “Truly, truly I say unto you . . .” what is there being translated are the Greek words “Amen amen ego hymin.” The “amen” at the end of a prayer therefore means that we are not in doubt that God will hear our prayers and will grant us what we need for Jesus’ sake.

The congregation at worship has numerous opportunities to utter this important word, as a way of being involved in the service. Since we, according to the Apostle, desire that all things be done decently and in order, we therefore say Amen at set, appointed times. Such times, when it would be appropriate to say Amen are
1) after the Invocation (“In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
2) after this formula is spoken at any time, whether at the confession and absolution—”. . . I therefore forgive you your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”—or if the sermon opens or closes with these words. At such places, the congregation is saying, in effect, Yes, we agree that this absolution is God’s own word, or that we expect this sermon to be the word of God, and we desire that it be so.
3. After the benediction.
4. At the conclusion of any hymn which has as its last stanza a doxology to the Holy Trinity (whether or not this is printed out in the hymn).
5. When the pastor, after the words of Institution, turns to face the people, and says “The peace of the Lord be with you always,” and they respond “and also with you,” then he declares, raising the elements aloft, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Then, it is good for all to say loudly and clearly, Amen! Here, you are saying, Yes, I believe this, that these humble elements are indeed Christ’s body and blood; therefore this is indeed the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
6. When you have received the Sacrament, and hear the blessing: “The body and blood of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ strengthen and preserve you in the true faith unto life everlasting.” This is something each communing group receives as it kneels at the altar, so it would be appropriate for each group to say Amen when this blessing is heard. Here, it means, Yes, I believe that this is the body and blood of Christ, and that is shall strengthen me, etc.
So, whenever it would be appropriate to say (or sing) Amen, whether or not it’s printed out, feel free to go ahead and do it. Go ahead! Try it! This is a good way to be actively a part of good Christian worship, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
. . . (here, you say) Amen!
Pastor Eckardt

Announcing the Fourteenth Annual
Oktoberfest
and
Third Annual Liturgical Seminar
St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Kewanee, Illinois
October 11-13, 2009 (Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday)
Conference theme: Not a Matter of Indifferent Things

This year we are pleased to welcome as our guests the three men who have most recently joined the staff of Gottesdienst as our online editors.

Reverend Frs. Heath Curtis, Larry Beane, and Rick Stuckwisch will be joining us for a discussion of the Divine Liturgy of the Church, to provide their insights on the questions which arise in connection with the ongoing debates concerning why certain styles and elements may or may not be counted as permissible in worship, and what is at stake in the worship wars of the 21st century. Fr. Curtis is the pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Edwardsville, Illinois, and Trinity Lutheran Church, Worden, Illinois; Fr. Beane is pastor of Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, Louisiana; and Fr. Stuckwisch is pastor of Emmaus Lutheran Church, South Bend, Indiana.

Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m. is our Autumn Choral Vespers, followed by our annual bratwurst banquet (if you haven’t had our award-winning Sheboygan brats, it’s high time you did!). On Monday morning, following Holy Mass at 9:30, the Oktoberfest seminar runs until 3:15 p.m.

On Tuesday, matters raised in the Monday discussions will be considered further in a roundtable liturgical seminar designed to seek uniformity in our worship practices. Informed Lutheran clergy are particularly invited to provide input and exchange of ideas, although all are invited to stay for the day.
Lodging: AmericInn, 4823 US Hwy 34. 800-634-3444
Super 8 Motel, 901 S Tenney (Rt 78). 309-853-8800
Aunt Daisy’s B&B, 223 W Central Blvd. 888-422-4148
Kewanee Motor Lodge, 400 S Main St. 309-853-4000
Days Inn, I-80 & Rt 40, Sheffield. 815-454-2361
Holiday Inn Express, I-80 & Rt 78, Annawan. 309-935-6565

REGISTRATION: $25 per person* (students $20) $40 per couple — includes Sunday banquet and Monday continental and luncheon; no charge for children with parents.

*NOTICE: Members of St. Paul’s special rate: $15.00 per person, $25 per couple (children free), includes all meals. (and special funding is available if you can’t afford that)
Name(s): Phone:
Circle days you can attend: Sunday Monday Tuesday
Offer to help (please circle): ⁭ volunteer set up ⁭ volunteer clean up
provide food ⁭ donaton ______ ⁭ other_______________

Life Chain
On Sunday, October 4th, from 2:30-3:30 pm, in Peoria, the Peoria Area Lutherans for Life will again stand in the Life Chain that stretches from the abortion clinic on North University to Northmoor to Allen road and ester House (which makes the shape of a letter “J” for “Jesus”). We will gather at redeemer Lutehran Church, at 2:30 pm and quietly stand along the street, holding the signs provided by Central Illinois Right to Life. This will be the 21st annual observance of the Life chain, which is not unique to Peoria, but occurs simultaneously in ot her cities across the nation. Members of St. Paul’s are encouraged to attend, and join in standing for the lives of these little ones who cannot defend themselves.

October Ushers
Steve Peart, Grant Andresen, Larry Campbell

October Birthdays
10/1 Richard Melchin
10/1 Clara Murphy
10/2 Diana Shreck
10/3 Matthew Fisher
10/5 Michael McReynolds
10/9 Mary Ann Hamilton
10/9 Kevin Thompson
10/10 Stanley Janik
10/10 Paul Rowe
10/15 Dennis Schoen
10/20 Ed Woller
10/24 Robert Jones
10/24 Corey Peart
10/28 Carmen Sovanski
10/28 Collin Van Stechelman
10/30 Sharon Hartz
10/31 Marjorie Lamb

October Anniversaries
10/4 Linda and Larry Rowe
10/23 Otis and Deanne Anderson

Pastor to present at St. Michael Conference in Detroit

Following mass on Sunday, September 27th, pastor travels to Detroit for the St. Michael Conference at which he is leading a workshop, held on Monday, September 28th. For details see http://www.ziondetroit.org/index.php?page=conference.
He returns on Tuesday evening.

Pastor and Carol to Visit Son John

John Eckardt’s graduation from basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, is to be on Friday, October 2nd. Pastor and Carol plan to be in attendance, with Alissa Hammons, John’s fiancée. Sunday, October 4th, a guest preacher and celebrant, Rev. Glenn Niemann (who has been here many times) will fill in here on Sunday. Since Pastor will be gone until Monday night, the following events are cancelled:

There will be no mass on Saturday night, Oct. 3rd

There will be no Altar Guild, Elders, or First Monday vespers on Monday, October 5th. Altar Guild and Elders are cancelled for October.
Altar Guild Notes

In lieu of the Altar Guild meeting, here are some reminders of events we discussed in September.

Oktoberfest is Oct. 11-13. Sunday, Oct. 11, the color is still green for morning mass. It changes to red for the Choral vespers Sunday evening and for Mass on Monday, Oct 12 (votive mass: Beheading of St. John the Baptist). Following Monday mass (which is at 9:30), the color returns to green, for midday prayers. The color stays green for Tuesday and following.

On Saturday and Sunday, October 24th and 25th the color is Red (Reformation). It stays red throughout the week. Wednesday is SS Simon and Jude. Saturday and Sunday, Oct 31 and Nov. 1, we observe All Saints, which is also Red. On Monday the color changes to White, for All Souls, and stays white through Wednesday mass. Following mass on Wednesday November 4th, the color changes back to green.

Our Radio Broadcast

"This is St. Paul’s On the Air: a radio program brought to you by St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Kewanee, Illinois, where you know you’ve been to church: no gimmicks, no compromises, the talk is straight, and we feast on sacred things. We’re glad to have you with us. I am your host: Rev. Fr. Burnell Eckardt, pastor of St. Paul’s here in Kewanee, Illinois. I’m sitting with a small panel of listeners around a couple of microphones carefully positioned to help you get into the room with us and listen along. We’re here to talk about the Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the things that matter most to us."

With those words our weekly radio broadcast begins every Sunday morning at 7:35, on WKEI radio (AM 1450) in Kewanee. If you’d like to hear past broadcasts, you may log on at http://stpaulsontheair.blogspot.com.
If you’d like to join us for the recording session, it’s normally on Wednesdays at 2:30 p.m.
It’s also podcast on Pirate Christian Radio every Wednesday morning at 7:30 Central Time, at www.piratechristianradio.com.
Go ahead, have a listen!

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

In 1912, Roman Catholic historian Adrian Fortescue published an admirable study on the history of the liturgy, under the unassuming title The Mass: A Study of the Roman Liturgy. His meticulous attention to historical data makes the modest size of the work deceiving, and demonstrates the intensity of his desire to show that his work is all carefully documented: “Nothing is more useless or irritating than a vague allusion to early use or medieval practice, without a reference to control it” (Fortescue, x).

What Fortescue proceeds to show beyond all doubt is that the early liturgies were not created out of sheer cloth. The church was the outgrowth of the synagogue, and did not arise in a vacuum. Pentecost was not really the birth, but the transformation of the church.

What is especially informative about his accounts of the liturgy from Rome, Gaul, Africa, Alexandria, and Antioch, is that they all show a remarkable uniformity, at least to a basic structural outline containing first a ‘synaxis’, i.e., a ‘synagoguing’, or gathering for worship, based in a synagogue service and containing readings,psalms, hymns, prayers, almsgiving, profession of faith, and kiss of peace. Then followed a ‘Eucharist proper’, including a prayer of thanksgiving, the blessing of bread and wine, prayers of remembrance, and the eating and drinking. “The details developed naturally, the prayers and formulas, eventually the ceremonial actions crystallized into set forms. But the service is always the same. Different arrangements of subsidiary parts, greater insistence on certain elements in various places produced different liturgies; but all go back eventually to this outline” (Fortescue 6-7).

Fortescue quotes St. Clement (d. 101) to demonstrate that the first century prayers “that everyone admits to be full of liturgical forms . . . a regulated order for the worship of God.” He quotes from Clement’s well-known First Epistle to the Corinthians, written about a.d 98:

We must do all things that the Lord told us to do at stated times, in proper order. For he commanded that the offerings and services should be performed, not rashly nor in disorder, put at fixed times and hours. And he himself by his most high will arranged where and by whom they should be celebrated, so that everything should be done piously according to his command and should be agreeable to his will. Therefore those who make their offerings at the appointed times are well pleasing and blessed; they follow the command of the Lord and do not err. To the high priest his own services are appointed; a special place is given to the priests, and levites [i.e. deacons] have their offices. The layman is commanded by lay laws. Each of us, brothers, should please God honourably in his own place with a good conscience, not transgressing the appointed order of his services. (Chapters 40-41, quoted in Fortescue, 11-12).

What may be noted about this remarkable passage is that in Clement’s commendation of good order (Gk: taxis), there is an easily discernable echo of the counsel of the Apostle St. Paul, who also exhorted, “Let all things be done decently and in order (kata taxin, I Corinthans 14:40), and who spoke of “joying and beholding your order” (taxis, Colossians 2:5). The former reference is set within an unmistakably liturgical context.

(Incidentally it is also clear that for Clement a kind of hierarchy is already in place—not only the distinction between clergy and laity, but even a distinction between various ranks of clergy. A hierarchical arrangement seems in some way to be part and parcel of what good order meant to one writing less than fifty years after St. Paul. The purpose for the hierarchy was in any event clear: to contribute to the good order of worship.)

The evidence presented by Fortescue serves to dispel the notion that the liturgy of the apostolic age was one in which liturgical life was free-flowing and without form. The Church’s liturgy was essentially that of the synagogue, though now with its fulfillment and completion in view. As the name and revelation of God were incomplete until Christ came, so the liturgy of the faithful was incomplete until His arrival. From the days of His resurrection, therefore, these Jews who worshiped Him now began to do so from a new perspective.

September 2009

2009-09-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

THE GOSPEL IN ITS PURITY

Sometimes a false sense of piety causes people to say, or think, that we ought not be too quick about saying that we have the Gospel in its purity here. Who are we, the reasoning goes, to make such a claim? The reason this reasoning is false is that it rests on another falsehood, namely the false presupposition that the Gospel is something we have put together, or even that its purity among us is our own doing, or our own preaching. It is not. The Gospel is pure gift, in every sense of the word. Not only is the fact that Christ the incarnate Son of God has done the work of our salvation (the substance of the Gospel) pure gift, but also the very fact that we believe this is pure gift. Our faith is a gift. So also whenever a pastor preaches the Gospel, that is a gift as well. We may take no credit at all, either for pure preaching, or right believing, or right worship, or the work of salvation which Christ accomplished for us. It is all purely His gift.

This is in essence what we confess in the Third Article of the Creed. For when we say, “I believe in the Holy Spirit,” we immediately follow with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, namely, “the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” None of these things is in any way the result of anything we have done.

This is why the Small Catechism, in explaining the meaning of the Third Article of the Creed, says, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel,” etc. To confess the Holy Spirit is to confess Him as the Giver of the Gospel and the one who causes us to believe it.

Hence it is entirely appropriate for us to say that in our midst the Gospel is proclaimed in its purity. This is not boasting in ourselves; it is the very opposite. We are not pure; the Gospel is pure. We are not worthy in ourselves; the Gospel bestows upon us the worthiness of Christ. And knowing this is what makes us glad to be members of His Church, and active in it.

Even locally, here at St. Paul’s, we are bold to say that our primary reason for being members and participating in worship here is that here the Gospel is preached in its purity. This is a heavenly gift for which none of us dare take credit. It is also a point to remember whenever we have opportunity to invite friends to come visit our parish and see, or rather, hear, for themselves. It is the Gospel’s power that has attracted us to Christ and made us His own; and that same power is present for everyone who hears.

In a society so filled with aimlessness and emptiness, we will do well to offer what we have: the Gospel in its purity.
+ Pastor Eckardt

Announcing the Fourteenth Annual
Oktoberfest
and
Third Annual Liturgical Seminar
St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Kewanee, Illinois
October 11-13, 2009 (Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday)
Conference theme: Not a Matter of Indifferent Things

This year we are pleased to welcome as our guests the three men who have most recently joined the staff of Gottesdienst as our online editors.

Reverend Frs. Heath Curtis, Larry Beane, and Rick Stuckwisch will be joining us for a discussion of the Divine Liturgy of the Church, to provide their insights on the questions which arise in connection with the ongoing debates concerning why certain styles and elements may or may not be counted as permissible in worship, and what is at stake in the worship wars of the 21st century. Fr. Curtis is the pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Edwardsville, Illinois, and Trinity Lutheran Church, Worden, Illinois; Fr. Beane is pastor of Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, Louisiana; and Fr. Stuckwisch is pastor of Emmaus Lutheran Church, South Bend, Indiana.

Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m. is our Autumn Choral Vespers, followed by our annual bratwurst banquet (if you haven’t had our award-winning Sheboygan brats, it’s high time you did!). On Monday morning, following Holy Mass at 9:30, the Oktoberfest seminar runs until 3:15 p.m.

On Tuesday, matters raised in the Monday discussions will be considered further in a roundtable liturgical seminar designed to seek uniformity in our worship practices. Informed Lutheran clergy are particularly invited to provide input and exchange of ideas, although all are invited to stay for the day.

Lodging: AmericInn, 4823 US Hwy 34. 800-634-3444
Super 8 Motel, 901 S Tenney (Rt 78). 309-853-8800
Aunt Daisy’s B&B, 223 W Central Blvd. 888-422-4148
Kewanee Motor Lodge, 400 S Main St. 309-853-4000
Days Inn, I-80 & Rt 40, Sheffield. 815-454-2361
Holiday Inn Express, I-80 & Rt 78, Annawan. 309-935-6565

REGISTRATION: $25 per person* (students $20) $40 per couple — includes Sunday banquet and Monday continental and luncheon; no charge for children with parents.

*NOTICE: Members of St. Paul’s special rate: $15.00 per person, $25 per couple (children free), includes all meals. (and special funding is available if you can’t afford that)

A Potluck to Honor Our New Members

A special Luncheon is scheduled for Sunday, September 13th (Rally Day) at noon. Everyone! Join your fellow members in welcoming our new people (don’t worry about missing the Packer-Bear game, it’s in the evening).

Private Confession is always available to anyone between 6 and 6:30 pm on these Wednesdays, and also, as always, by appointment.

September Ushers
Allan Kraklow, Steve Kraklow, Tom Wells, Bob Bock

September Anniversaries

9/18/1976 Tom and Sue Ann Wells
9/24/1977 Dennis and Janice Schoen

September Birthdays
9/1 John Ricknell
9/1 Laticia Van Stechelman
9/10 Jan Schoen
9/15 Chuck Russell
9/17 Mary Beth Jones
9/18 DeAnne Anderson
9/19 Jaclyn Kraklow
9/19 Jamie Kraklow
9/24 Stephanie Davis
9/26 Duane Sanders
9/28 Allan Kraklow

Shut ins
At home: Mark Baker, Anna Baker, Carole Sanders, Mary Hamilton, and Ruth Snider; Mirilda Greiert is at Kewanee Care; Lorraine Mohr and Ila Scaife are at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison is at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin is at Hillcrest Home; and Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria.

Rally Day September 13

A new Sunday school session begins coordinated with the new catechesis class, as adult Bible Class continues to study II Samuel. Potluck too, at noon. Plenty of opportunities!

First Monday Vespers
This service, held on the first Monday of every month, includes as a special focal emphasis prayers for this parish and her members. In September it is moved to the second Monday, due to Labor Day. Anyone may attend this service, which normally lasts about 20 minutes.

The schedule for September 14th:
6 pm Altar Guild meets in Conference Room
7 pm Mass: Holy Cross Day (open to all)
Following Vespers: Elders meet

Altar Guild Notes

The Altar Guild met on Monday, August 3rd.
A few changes have come about since the meeting: on Saturday, Aug. 29 we will not be observing the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, since that will be the theme of Mass for Oktoberfest this year. So on Saturday the 29th, the Altar color is green.
Special masses noted below.

September Special Masses
Monday, September 14th: Holy Cross Day. Mass at 7 p.m. (in place of First Monday Vespers)
Wednesday, September 23rd: St. Matthew (transf. from Sept. 21) Mass at 7 p.m.
Wednesday, September 30th: Michaelmas (transf. from Sept. 29) Mass at 7 p.m.

Junior Catechism on Saturdays
Beginning September 12th, the Saturday before Rally Day, Catechism class will be held at 9 a.m. on Saturdays, for juniors and adults. (This is a change from the original plan, which had catechesis beginning a week later.) Anyone is welcome to join us.

Gottesdienst
Copies of the journal are available in the narthex. Feel free to take one.
Better yet, why not subscribe to the journal sponsored by your own parish. Four times a year, Gottesdienst aims to kindle a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the Divine Service and the Holy Gospel in which our Holy and Triune God enlightens us with His gifts, sanctifies, and keeps us in the true faith.
A one year’s subscription is only $15 (four issues); $25 gets you two years. To get yours, see pastor or log on at www.gottesdienst.org.

St. Michael Conference in Detroit
The annual St. Michael Conference has moved back to Zion in Detroit, where it originated. For a number of years it was held in Fort Wayne, but this year’s conference marks a return. Pastor Eckardt is again a featured workshop leader at the conference, held on Monday, September 28th. For details see http://www.ziondetroit.org/index.php?page=conference.

Our Radio Broadcast
"This is St. Paul’s On the Air: a radio program brought to you by St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Kewanee, Illinois, where you know you’ve been to church: no gimmicks, no compromises, the talk is straight, and we feast on sacred things. We’re glad to have you with us. I am your host: Rev. Fr. Burnell Eckardt, pastor of St. Paul’s here in Kewanee, Illinois. I’m sitting with a small panel of listeners around a couple of microphones carefully positioned to help you get into the room with us and listen along. We’re here to talk about the Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the things that matter most to us."

With those words our weekly radio broadcast begins every Sunday morning at 7:35, on WKEI radio (AM 1450) in Kewanee. If you’d like to hear past broadcasts, you may log on at http://stpaulsontheair.blogspot.com.

If you’d like to join us for the recording session, it’s normally on Wednesdays at 2:30 p.m.

It’s also podcast on Pirate Christian Radio every Wednesday morning at 7:30 Central Time, at www.piratechristianradio.com.

Go ahead, have a listen!

The Lighter Side
Three Lutheran ministers answered a Roman Catholic priest’s invitation to visit. They arrived late, and the church was full. The priest saw them looking for a place to sit, so whispered to the altar boy to find them three chairs. To which the acolyte, not having heard correctly, rose and announced, “Three Cheers for the Lutherans!”

Keeping the Feast: A Study of the Holy Liturgy (continued)
Post-Communion, continued

The versicle, “Oh give thanks unto the LORD for he is good, and his mercy endureth forever,” though found in several Psalms, is taken contextually from I Chronicles 16, where it is seen to be part of a festive response to the placing of the ark of the covenant in the tent. Since likewise now Christ has sacramentally established His dwelling among His people, the singing of this versicle is most appropriate. Its use at this point in the Service comes from a Coburg order of 1626 (Reed, 383).
The use of a standard and invariable collect here, the most common being that composed by Martin Luther, is a kind of Lutheran revision to the custom of the early Eastern liturgies as distinct from Rome, which has at this point a variable collect, proper to the day. Luther’s “We give thanks to Thee, Almighty God, that Thou hast refreshed us . . .” is from his German Mass of 1526, employing similar expressions from earlier texts.

The Benedicamus (“V: Bless we the Lord. R: Thanks be to God.”) recaps the same idea, and the use of the passive “thanks be” rather than the active “we give thanks” serves to emphasize the entirely gracious nature of God’s gift, as the first person is removed altogether from the utterance, and consequently more glory implicitly expressed to God who is being thanked.

The Benediction, which in Lutheran usage is the Aaronic Blessing (“The LORD bless thee and keep thee . . . ,” Numbers 6:24-26), is reserved for Mass alone; it is not used at any of the prayer offices. It is the final sacramental feature of the Mass. This Old Testament passage has a distinctly Trinitarian flavor, being a threefold blessing from “the LORD” who is, nevertheless, one Lord, one God.

Moreover it has the effect of imparting this unity to the hearers, and making them one in the one God, by referring to them (who are plural, the people of God) in the collective singular person (“Thee”). This provides a subtle reminder to the people that they are also one, the body of Christ. This finer point of the liturgy is only heard where the King James English is used, in which the distinction between the singular and the plural second person is maintained.

Although there is a strong tradition which holds that the arms of the celebrant are not to be extended for the benediction, but rather that only the right hand is extended to make the sign of the cross, it is also helpful to remember the more venerable tradition, dating to Moses himself, of extending both arms in the blessing of the people. The manner in which they are extended ought to be cruciform, therefore—extended as if in a “Y”—rather than directly out toward the people. This is in imitation of Moses himself, as we know from the fact that when his arms became heavy, Aaron and Hur supported them on either side (Exodus 17:12). That is, Moses’ arms were cruciform, in anticipation of the extension of Christ’s (“heavy”) arms on the cross. The celebrant’s arms are likewise cruciform, in rememberence of the same.

When the benediction is nearly complete, the celebrant lowers his left arm, and with the right makes the sign of the cross, at the very conclusion holding his pose for just a moment, a subtle reminder to the people of what he is in this function, namely a living icon of Christ Himself.

July and August 2009

2009-09-23T15:53:00.000-07:00

SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES

THE Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles, is the only saint’s day which is classified as a first-class feast, because of the prominence of these two apostles. The day of the feast is June 29th, which is a Monday this year. To make it possible for more members to attend, we are transferring it to our regular Wednesday evening mass, at 7:00, on July 1st.

It has been said that these two saints are preeminent-ly the apostles to the Jews and Gentiles respectively, so it is appropriate that their feasts be held concurrently, though one might not expect these pillars of the church to have to share a feast. Actually, there are other feasts which commemorate these apostles as well. The Conversion of St. Paul and the Confession of St. Peter are also separate days observed in January.

For us in this parish there is an added significance to the day, since our congregation is named for St. Paul. This is the reason his image always appears on this page of the newsletter.

I am pleased that our parish is named for a particular saint, as was once rather universally the custom. Modern churches have been less keen on the traditional idea, naming their churches after a quality or condition (e.g., “Peace Lutheran Church,” “Faith Lutheran Church,” or “Grace Lutheran Church”) or, more recently, in an entirely new manner of speaking (e.g., “Joy of Jesus Lutheran Church”). While of course congregations are more or less free to choose their own names, I think something important has been lost. It is far less common than it once was to name a church for a particular saint. The unintentional result of that has been another lost link to the storied—and even biblical—history of the Christian Church.

In short, there really was a person named St. Paul, and we are pleased to honor his memory by naming our church after him. This venerable tradition has served the Church well for most of its history. Too bad it seems to be in remission.

In keeping with the benefit of having our church named after an Apostle, we do well to make it a special point to attend Mass for his feast day. Join your fellow parishioners on Wednesday night for the Feast of SS Peter and Paul.

- Pastor Eckardt

Sesquicentennial News: Roof Repairs Begin!

Krause Construction Company is scheduled to begin repairs on our roof on Monday, June 29th. Their equipment will probably be on our property for about two weeks. At last we are tending to some badly needed repairs. The funding for this was made available out of the Mildred Eckhardt estate. (Memo to all members: remember your parish in your will! We’re sure glad she did!) Meanwhile, we now have a hydrolic lift inside the church, courtesy of a friend of Tom Wells, and hope to do some touching up of spots still left unpainted from plaster repair over ten years ago.

Color schemes are being considered, and we’re exploring ways of remodeling our interior on a very limited budget. It may take years, but at least we have begun thinking about these things.

There is no news yet about various committees being formed.

July, August Anniversaries

July:
7/1/1951 John and Emilie Ricknell
7/23/1955 Donald and Carol Kegebein
7/30/1965 Jewneel and Don Walker

August:
8/1/2009 Chris and Trista Dooley
8/2/1975 Raymond and Carol Robinson
8/21/1998 Daniel and Jill Powers

July Ushers: Steve Peart, Grant Andresen, Larry Campbell
August Ushers: Otis Anderson, Scott Clapper, John Ricknell, Bill Thompson

July and August Birthdays

July:
7/2 Jean Russell
7/2 Dana McReynolds
7/4 Sarah Kraklow
7/4 Jacki Boswell
7/5 Sandra Verplaetse
7/7 Joyce Baetens
7/7 Andrew Clapper
7/7 Stephen Harris
7/10 Otis Anderson
7/10 Dale Baker
7/13 Gayle Beauprez
7/14 Pastor Eckardt
7/16 Robert Schoen
7/20 Julie Janik
7/23 Donna Harlow
7/20 Anna Baker
7/30 Peggy Janik

August:
8/1 Robert Bock
8/2 Shania Kraklow
8/2 Joyce Long
8/8 Lorraine Mohr
8/9 Donald Kegebein
8/11 Samuel Fisher
8/11 Judy Thompson
8/13 Donald Murphy
8/15 Elva Garrison
8/16 Trista Schoen
8/17 Steven Peart
8/19 Amy McReynolds
8/21 John Sovanski
8/24 Rebecca Russell
8/24 Ruth VerShaw
8/27 Steve Peart
8/30 Alyssa Van Stechelman

Church Picnic Sunday, June 28th

Mark your calendars! Our annual church picnic is scheduled for Sunday, June 29th, at the shelterhouse at Northeast Park. We’ll head out there right after church for brats etc. as usual, and a day of frolick in the sun and some good times together. Bring your Frisbees, your swimsuits, your tennis rackets, your bats and balls, or whatever else you’d like to bring, to have some fun.

Shut ins

Carole Sanders and Mary Hamilton at home; Mirilda Greiert and Lorraine Mohr, at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria., Mark Baker and Anna Baker at home.

Special Saints’ Days in July and August

Wednesday, July 1: SS Peter and Paul (observed), 7 pm (color: red)

Saturday, July 25: S James the Elder, 5:30 pm (color: red)

Wednesday, July 29: S Mary Magdalene (observed), 7 pm

Wednesday, August 12: S Laurence (observed), 7 pm (color: red)

Wednesday, August 26: S Bartholomew (observed), 7 pm (color: red)

Saturday, August 29: Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, 5:30 pm (color: red)

Some of these special days are scheduled for our regular Saturday mass time. Members are invited, as you are able, to attend these and come again on Sunday morning.

Gottesdienst
Copies of the journal are still available in the narthex. Feel free to take one.

Check out Gottesdienst Online too. Find the link at www.gottesdienst.org.

Better yet, why not subscribe to the journal sponsored by your own parish. Four times a year, Gottesdienst aims to kindle a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the Divine Service and the Holy Gospel in which our Holy and Triune God enlightens us with His gifts, sanctifies, and keeps us in the true faith.

A one year’s subscription is only $15 (four issues); $25 gets you two years. To get yours, see pastor or log on at www.gottesdienst.org.

First Monday

There will be no First Monday meetings (Altar Guild or Elders) or First Monday Vespers in July, due to the District Convention. In August, our regular first Monday meetings will be held on the 3rd: Altar Guild at 6 pm; Vespers at 6:45; Elders following.

Altar Guild News
Members of the Altar Guild, please pay special attention to the nearby list of special saints’ days, for your preparations. Note that occasional Saturday feasts (July 25 and August 29) require the changing of parament colors Saturday night after mass.

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

The versicle, “Oh give thanks unto the LORD for he is good, and his mercy endureth forever,” though found in several Psalms, is taken contextually from I Chronicles 16, where it is seen to be part of a festive response to the placing of the ark of the covenant in the tent. Since likewise now Christ has sacramentally established His dwelling among His people, the singing of this versicle is most appropriate. Its use at this point in the Service comes from a Coburg order of 1626 (Reed, 383).
The use of a standard and invariable collect here, the most common being that composed by Martin Luther, is a kind of Lutheran revision to the custom of the early Eastern liturgies as distinct from Rome, which has at this point a variable collect, proper to the day. Luther’s “We give thanks to Thee, Almighty God, that Thou hast refreshed us . . .” is from his German Mass of 1526, employing similar expressions from earlier texts.

The Benedicamus (“V: Bless we the Lord. R: Thanks be to God.”) recaps the same idea, and the use of the passive “thanks be” rather than the active “we give thanks” serves to emphasize the entirely gracious nature of God’s gift, as the first person is removed altogether from the utterance, and consequently more glory implicitly expressed to God who is being thanked.

The Benediction, which in Lutheran usage is the Aaronic Blessing (“The LORD bless thee and keep thee . . . ,” Numbers 6:24-26), is reserved for Mass alone; it is not used at any of the prayer offices. It is the final sacramental feature of the Mass. This Old Testament passage has a distinctly Trinitarian flavor, being a threefold blessing from “the LORD” who is, nevertheless, one Lord, one God. Moreover it has the effect of imparting this unity to the hearers, and making them one in the one God, by referring to them (who are plural, the people of God) in the collective singular person (“Thee”). This provides a subtle reminder to the people that they are also one, the body of Christ, thought this finer point of the liturgy is only heard where the King James English is used, with its distinction between the singular and the plural second person is maintained.

Although there is a strong tradition which holds that the arms of the celebrant are not extended for the benediction, but rather that only the right hand is extended to make the sign of the cross, it is also helpful to remember the more venerable tradition, dating to Moses himself, of extending both arms in the blessing of the people. The manner in which they are extended ought to cruciform, therefore, and not directly out toward the people. This is in imitation of Moses himself, as we know from the fact that when his arms became heavy, Aaron and Hur supported them on either side (Exodus 17:12). That is, Moses’ arms were cruciform, in anticipation of the extension of Christ’s (“heavy”) arms on the cross, and the celebrant’s arms are likewise cruciform, in remembrance of the same.

When the benediction is nearly complete, the celebrant lowers his left arm, and with the right makes the sign of the cross, at the very conclusion holding his pose for just a moment, a subtle reminder to the people of what he is in this function, namely a living icon of Christ Himself.

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

June 2009

2009-09-23T15:49:00.000-07:00

Newsletter
Volume 21 June 2009 No. 6

EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS, INNOCENCE, AND BLESSEDNESS

This really should not need saying, but alas, it does, for I keep running across, every now and then, demonic drivel about what the so-called RIB (Righteousness, Innocence, and Blessedness) clause in Luther’s explanation to Second Article is purported to mean; drivel, I say, which is most cer¬tainly not true.

The phrase is from the last part of the explana¬tion to the Second Article, which appears nearby. These words could be, I might even be so bold as to sug¬gest, the most abused words Luther ever wrote: “that I may be His own, and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteous¬ness, innocence, and blessedness . . .”

The words do not mean that since Christ has redeemed me, therefore I owe him this, to have righteous behavior and life, and I ought to be able to assert my innocence because when I live for Jesus I don’t do bad things. Good grief, no, a thou¬sand times.

Grammatical considerations of this clause will bear out the impropriety of such a reading. The words “that I may live under him” do not mean “that I ought therefore to live under him” as if this is some sort of Law of the Kingdom, as in, “Thou shalt go and live under Christ, since He has done all this for thee.” Although it is true that I ought to live for Him, that is not what these words are about, coming as they do in the explanation of the meaning of the Gospel. With such an idea the likes of John Calvin, father of a number of Protestant—but not Lutheran—churches, would certainly be comfort¬able, namely the idea that the Gospel must again be followed by law in order that it produce good effects. Calvin indeed declared, that to the preaching of doctine must be added “admonitions, corrections, and other aids of the sort that sustain doctrine and do not let it remain idle” (Institutes of the Christian Religion [1559], 4.12.1). So yes, Calvin would like an interpretation of these words which see them as providing admonition at once to go and live for Christ, hardly a wink after hearing of the blessed Gospel of His marvelous works, as if indeed to snatch the Gospel quickly away, much as the birds of the air in Jesus' parable of the Sower. Nothing could be more demonic than such theft from the ears of the faithful hearers.

Thus I declare: No, rather, “that I may live” is a purpose clause of the sort that according to the rules of grammar declares the result, i.e., the achievement of what logically precedes the clause. Christ, that is, purchased and won me in order that this may obtain, namely my status of living under Him in His kingdom. See, it is not what I do that causes my living under him, but what He has done. This, the work of Christ, and no deed which the addition of a new imperative might hope to accomplish, is what now enables the state of affairs to obtain, my living under Him. Christ has accomplished His blessed work that I may live under him: that I am free to count myself in His kingdom, that I am granted the blessed grace of living under Him, that mercy has blessed me to live in this inheritance of the kingdom of Christ.

So also, equally so, is it by grace, that I may “serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.” The emphasis here, then, is not on my serving of Him, but on the state of grace in which I am found serving Him: righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. These are descriptive of Christ alone, Christ the Righteous, as the Apostle calls Him; Christ the Innocent, as the Centurion at the cross called Him, and Christ who is forever Blessed, as again the Apostle declares.

But see, now due to the works of God in Christ (which are marvelous in our eyes), I live under Him, as certainly as we say that Christ's body and blood are “under” the bread and wine, so also as certainly do I now say that I am “under” him; that is, that He and I are united in one communion, sharing all things in common: He taking my sin, and I taking His righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. For this is what it means to live “under Him.”

And this is as sure as it is sure that He is risen from the dead, which is what the following clause declares by the words “even as He is risen from the dead . . .” The resurrection of Christ is the guarantee that this state of affairs is so, that I am righteous, innocent, and blessed in Christ and only because I am in Christ, And conversely, the resurrection of Christ is a thousand times, ten thousand times not a mere imprimatur on some new imperative to me to go and become Christ's servant and “live for Him,” as though this were part and parcel of the Gospel of His righteousness given to me. May all such demonic and worthless teaching be forever damned and condemned, driven far from the precious ears of Christ's own beloved. Never could there be an assertion further from the truth, and never could one assert something against a truth greater than this, that the righteousness of the Christian is Christ's Righteousness, and is received alone through faith.

- Pastor Eckardt

Sesquicentennial News

Committee members are needed for the following committees. It was noted that a note will be published in the newsletter asking for volunteers for the following committees and suggestions for monthly celebrations and fundraising ideas. Suggestions and volunteers should report to Sue Murphy, chairman, or Pastor Eckardt. Volunteers are needed for all the following committees.
1. Fund raiser ideas and planning
2. Church history
a. Barb Kraklow
b. Grant Andreson
c. Sue Murphy
3. Picture directory
a. Jean Russell
b. Sheri Kraklow
4. Choir robes
a. Sue Murphy
b. Jean Russell
5. Interior of the church project
6. Monthly celebrations

Sue Murphy was placed on the Church Council to report as needed to the Council.
Possible dates for the celebration in 2012 (any or all)
Conversion of St. Paul (January 23); Feast of SS Peter and Paul (June 29); Oktoberfest; The actual date of the congregation’s founding.

Ideas for goals: church directory; church history; choir robes; acolyte robes; painting the interior of the church; floor in church; altar wall; altar linens to replace the violet, red, and green; floor in gym; move and repair baptismal font.

A Day of Theological Reflection
11th in the series

“A Man after My Own Heart”
The Christology of David

Tuesday, 2 June 2009 (the date was changed)

This day of reflection will consider the themes of I Samuel, particularly as it relates to the rise of David until his coronation as King (in II Samuel). How do these things proclaim Christ?

Schedule:
8:30 - 9:00 registration
9:00 Mass
9:30 Session 1: David replaces Saul, I Sam. 9 and 16; and I Sam. 13:14
10:50 Break
11:00 Session 2: David and Goliath, I Sam. 17
11:50 Break
12:00 Noonday prayers (Office at Sext)
12:15 Lunch
1:30 Session 3: David and Saul, I Sam. 18-26
2:20 Break
2:30 Session 4: Saul dies, David coronated, I Sam. 31- II Sam. 1-2
3:15 Midafternoon prayers (Office at Vespers)

Church Picnic June 28th
Mark your calendars! Our annual church picnic is scheduled for Sunday, June 29th, at the shelterhouse at Northeast Park. We’ll head out there right after church for brats etc. as usual, and a day of frolick in the sun and some good times together.

As is also our custom, we have no Saturday evening mass that weekend, to encourage everyone to come on Sunday morning and then head out to the park.

Bring your Frisbees, your swimsuits, your tennis rackets, your bats and balls, or whatever else you’d like to bring, to have some fun.
June Ushers: Alan Kraklow (chairman), Steve Kraklow, Tom Wells, Bob Bock

June Birthdays:
6/5 Mirilda Greiert
6/5 Linda Rowe
6/15 Jill Powers
6/16 Berniece Harris
6/29 Sara Timberlake

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 William and Judy Thompson
6/24/1989 Tony and Mindie Fisher
6/25/2005 Andy and Kristy Eckardt
6/27/1954 Monroe and Lucille Kemerling
6/27/1981 Steve and Gail Peart
6/28/1958 Dale and Anna Baker

Altar Guild Notes
Altar preparation is for chalice only on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. The only time we still provide some individual cups is on Sunday mornings.

Please see that the sacristy door is closed for mass, unless fans are being used in hot weather.

Oil candles are to be used again in the candelabra, beginning Saturday, June 6th), as we enter Ordinary Time (Trinity and the Sundays after Trinity).

Next meeting: Monday, June 1st, 6 p.m.

Shut ins
Carole Sanders and Mary Hamilton at home; Mirilda Greiert and Lorraine Mohr, at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria., Mark Baker and Anna Baker at home.

Gottesdienst
Copies of the journal are still available in the narthex. Feel free to take one.

Better yet, why not subscribe to the journal sponsored by your own parish. Four times a year, Gottesdienst aims to kindle a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the Divine Service and the Holy Gospel in which our Holy and Triune God enlightens us with His gifts, sanctifies, and keeps us in the true faith.

A one year’s subscription is only $15 (four issues); $25 gets you two years. To get yours, see pastor or log on at www.gottesdienst.org.

Keeping the Feast: A Study of the Holy Liturgy (continued)
Post-Communion
It is appropriate that the altar be left neat and in order following the distribution of the Sacrament, and that attention to ceremonial detail be kept throughout the Mass, in keeping with the fact that this is the highest of all kinds of feasts. The Apostolic admonition that all things be done decently and in order (I Corinthians 14:40) should certainly apply first to all things pertaining to the distribution of the Blessed Sacrament.

Yet the post-communion (also called the Thanksgiving) has always been brief, as is fitting, since any extended liturgical ceremonies after the reception of the Sacrament would have the effect of making it anticlimactic. The tenor of thankfulness for the rich and free Gifts received is evident here, yet the emphasis remains on the Gifts themselves.

The post-communion generally includes the canticle Nunc Dimittis, a versicle and closing collect, the Benedicamus, and the Benediction.

The most salient part of the post-communion is seen in its references to peace. Peace was encountered first in the Gloria in Excelsis (which some traditions have unfortunately moved to this last part, thus affecting adversely the balance latent in the tradition); this anticipated the great Pax (Latin for Peace), during which Host and Cup were held forth while the celebrant announced, “The Peace of the Lord be with you alway,” in likeness to Jesus’ words in the upper room on Easter. Now peace reappears in the Nunc Dimittis (“Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace . . .”), and is referenced last of all in the Benediction (whose last word is “peace”).

The Nunc Dimittis was not originally part of the Mass, but is properly a canticle first seen liturgically in the Office of Compline (prayers at the close of the day), from which it was imported into Vespers in the Lutheran rite. It began to appear in certain German orders of the sixteenth century, following the precedent set by the ancient Mozarbic Liturgy (Reed, 379).

Its appropriateness as a post-communion canticle is easily discerned, as it is of course the song of Simeon, who held the Child Jesus in his arms and declared then his complete readiness to die in peace. This is most helpful for communicants to sing, therefore, inasmuch as now that we have likewise receive Christ at the altar, in every sense as real a manner, we too are privileged to make the same declaration: we too can die in peace, for our Salvation is with us. Whereas Simeon declared that his “eyes” have seen God’s Salvation, in fact it was the Gospel which informed his eyes that this Child they beheld was the Incarnate God. So too, the Gospel informs our eyes and senses that the Sacrament they see and perceive is indeed the same Christ, the Salvation of God.

May 2009

2009-04-25T14:34:00.000-07:00

Sesquicentennial Plans Begun

Our organizational meeting 19 April 2009

Committee chairman: Sue Murphy

No secretary has been appointed yet; the following are Pastor’s notes

Possible dates for the celebration in 2012 (use any or all)
Conversion of St. Paul (January 23)
Feast of SS Peter and Paul (June 29)
Oktoberfest
The actual date of the congregation’s founding (?)

Updated list of potential items to target for accomplishment by that year: each item will need a person in charge

1. New church directory
2. Updated church history
3. New choir robes – sew our own?
4. New or repaired altar boy robes
5. Painting of the church
6. New floor in cafeteria: perhaps with mosaic picture?
7. New altar wall
8. New altar linens to replace the violet, red, and green
9. New floor / carpet for church
10. New or repaired baptismal font

Fundraising ideas were discussed

It was suggested that Sue Murphy stay in contact with the Council, and attend from time to time.

We have a bid from a contractor to repair the roof, and the trustees were empowered by the voters (this meeting was just prior to the sesquicentennial meeting) to consider the references the contractor gave, and if satisfied, to proceed with the contract.

Since then we also obtained a bid from a man in the cities who restores statuary. The old statue of Jesus (which had been stored in the basement) had been taken to him, and he is confident it can be restored, and his price seems reasonable, though we are not quite ready to proceed yet, so we’ll have to discuss options.

Updates and brief discussion can be expected at the start of Sunday morning Bible Classes, as these seem to be the time when most people are assembled.

Kraklow 50th Anniversary

The congregation is invited to the 50th wedding anniversary open house for Allan and Barbra Kraklow on Sunday, May 17th, from 2-5 pm, at

Lavender Crest Winery
5401 US Hwy 6
Colona, Illinois

NO gifts, please!

May Anniversaries
5/17/1959 Allan and Barbra Kraklow
(50 years!)
5/19/1979 Chuck and Jean Russell
5/22/1976 Ed and Lynn Woller
5/27/1961 Duane and Carole Sanders
5/28/1982 Christine and Garry Erickson
5/28/1977 John and Charlene Sovanski

May Birthdays:
5/2 Sheri Kraklow
5/6 Emilie Ricknell
5/10 William Thompson
5/16 John Eckardt
5/17 Jeffery Boswell
5/26 Preston Powers
5/27 Donald Clapper
5/31 Justin Van Stechelman

May Ushers
Otis Anderson, Scott Clapper, John Ricknell, Bill Thompson

First Monday Vespers

The schedule for May 4th:
6 pm Altar Guild meets in Conference Room
6:45 Vespers (open to all)
Following Vespers: Elders meet

Important Events

St. Phillip and St. James, Apostles
May 1st
Observed Wednesday, April 29th, at 7 pm.

Day of Theological Reflection
Monday, May 18th, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
After Matins, an extended class on the Christology of David.

Ascension Day
Thursday, May 21st, 7:00 pm
NOTE: there is no Mass on Wednesday evening this week.

Vigil of Pentecost Saturday, May 30th, at 5:30 p.m.

Pentecost
Sunday, May 31st, 9:00 a.m.

Monday of Whitsun Week
Monday, June 1st, 8:30 a.m.

Tuesday of Whitsun Week
Tuesday, June 2nd, 9:00 a.m.

Pentecost Midweek
Wednesday, June 3rd (The Pentecost Octave is of the First Class)

Trinity
Sunday, June 7th, 9:00 a.m. (and prior Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

Shut ins
Mary Hamilton at home; Ruth Snider at home; Mark Baker at home, and Anna Baker at home. Jack Stewart at Kewanee Care; Mirilda Greiert at Courtyard Estates; Ila Scaife at Courtyard Estates; Lorraine Mohr at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria.

A Letter to St. John’s in Edford

Dear Pastor Bushre,

The members of St. Paul’s are saddened to hear of the fire which damaged your building. Some of your members are relatives and friends of ours, which is all the more reason the news distresses us. We are glad to hear that no one was hurt.

If you have any needs we might be able to supply, we’d be happy to try. We have, for instance, a closet full of Lutheran Worship hymnals which are not being used at all, and you are welcome to them. Perhaps other items could be of use to you as well.

Your parish will certainly be in our prayers, and we trust that our Savior will be gracious to you as you plan to rebuild.

Sincerely in Christ,

+ Burnell Eckardt, pastor
On behalf of the members here

A Letter to the Government

Congress is considering the enactment of new regulations that would require health professionals to participate in abortions against their conscience. I submitted the following comment to the US government on 31 March 2009:

I urge the government in the strongest terms not to rescind the regulation
entitled "Ensuring That Department of Health and Human Services Funds Do Not
Support Coercive or Discriminatory Policies or Practices in Violation of Federal
Law," especially since it contains the conscience clauses with which health
professionals could be required by law to participate in a procedure they
consider morally unacceptable. The US Constitution is supposed to be the
guarantor of basic freedoms, but how can a person be considered free if he would
be required to act contrary to conscience? Please reconsider.

- Rev. Burnell Eckardt, Pastor
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Kewanee, Illinois

The Lighter Side

WALKING THE DOG

A WOMAN was flying from Seattle to San Francisco. Unexpectedly, the plane was diverted to Sacramento along the way. The flight attendant explained that there would be a delay, and if the passengers wanted to get off the aircraft the plane would re-board in 50 minutes.

Everybody got off the plane except one lady who was blind. The man had noticed her as he walked by and could tell the lady was blind because her Seeing Eye dog lay quietly underneath the seats in front of her throughout the entire flight.

He could also tell she had flown this very flight before because the pilot approached her, and calling her by name, said, 'Kathy, we are in Sacramento for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?'

The blind lady replied, 'No thanks, but maybe Buddy would like to stretch his legs.'

Picture this: All the people in the gate area came to a complete stand still when they looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with a Seeing Eye dog! The pilot was even wearing sunglasses. People scattered. They not only tried to change planes, but they were trying to change airlines!

They say this is a true story. Whether it is or not, it’s a good one.

A Day of Theological Reflection
11th in the series

“A Man after the Lord’s Own Heart”
The Christology of David

Tuesday, 2 June 2009 (date changed again!)

This day of reflection will consider the themes of I Samuel, particularly as it relates to the rise of David until his coronation as King (in II Samuel). How do these things proclaim Christ?

Schedule:
8:30 - 9:00 registration
9:00 Mass: Monday of Whitsun Week
9:30 Session 1: David replaces Saul, I Sam. 9 and 16; and I Sam. 13:14
10:50 Break
11:00 Session 2: David and Goliath, I Sam. 17
11:50 Break
12:00 Noonday prayers (Office at Sext)
12:15 Lunch
1:30 Session 3: David and Saul, I Sam. 18-26
2:20 Break
2:30 Session 4: Saul dies, David coronated, I Sam. 31- II Sam. 1-2
3:15 Midafternoon prayers (Office at Vespers)

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

The distribution of the Blessed Sacrament is the primary reason clergymen are sometimes called ministers. They administer the Holy Gifts of God.

It is uniformly traditional and preferable that the celebrant administer the Blessed Sacrament to himself, before he communes the congregation. This has been the consistent practice of the Church from her earliest days. The reason for this is twofold: first, the celebrant is here receiving the Gifts for himself; and second, he is here serving to signify Christ, who partook with His disciples in the other room. There is no valid reason for the historically novel practice of having someone else commune the celebrant, and it is positively improper that a lay assistant commune him.

The rise of the historically recent practice of the use of lay assistants at all for the physical distribution of the Sacrament, is a most unfortunate development, and is to be discouraged in the strongest terms. Besides being virtually unnecessary in that it scarcely saves time, it is more importantly a practice which belies a failure to understand the very nature and primary function of the pastoral office.

The physical act of giving the Holy Sacrament to the people of God is the central feature of the pastoral office. For although it is also rightly said that preaching is central to the Office, yet the very Christ whose Gospel is preached is Himself given to the people here.

The reality of the Gospel is that it is about a Savior who truly came in the flesh and dwelt among us; and this Christ also just as truly gives His Body and Blood to His people in the Supper. In the same way, the Office of the Ministry is a real flesh-and-blood office: real duly-ordained men carry its duties out. Therefore although one may also rightly list many other duties that a pastor does, this is the one which most clearly defines his office, by the very doing of the act. The sheep of Christ’s pasture are fed from the hand of His under-shepherds here.

For this reason, Article XIV of the Augsburg Confession declares that “no one should publicly teach in the Church or administer the Sacraments unless he be regularly called.” There are those who would say that a pastor who has a lay assistant physically assisting him in the handing out of the Holy Elements is not thereby relinquishing his own duty to oversee the administration of them, but this point of view is problematic, since clearly “administration” here has to do with a physical act, which would entail the physical handing out of the Elements.

If there should be a second ordained clergyman present to assist in the distribution, it is always proper that the celebrant distribute the Hosts, and that his assistant distribute the Cup. This is because it is the celebrant’s duty, on the one hand, to be the chief and therefore first person to bless each communicant by the administration, and on the other hand, to see that no unworthy communicant receive the Sacrament.

Although the practice of receiving the Host in the hand may be traced to early church usage, it is nevertheless better that the Host be received directly on the tongue, as it emphasizes the purely receptive character of faith, as well as eliminating any possibility of tiny fragments of the Host remaining on the hand of the communicant after he communes.

The celebrant, by contrast, is careful to see that no crumbs are lost in the distribution of the Host, as he holds his thumb and forefinger together except when holding a Host, and, after the distribution, to take the ablutions, that no fragments are lost.

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

April 2009

2009-03-25T14:02:00.000-07:00

Training for the Great Vigil

From the 2007 newsletter

There seems to be a need for some training of the mind in preparation for our Easter celebrations, especially when it comes to the Great Vigil, which is the solemn service of Saturday night before Easter morning, in which we welcome the end of Lent and the coming of Easter.

One of the elements of the liturgical reform which has taken hold in many segments of Christendom is the recovery of the Great Vigil. For a very long time there was little or no concept of what the Great Vigil was, or what it was for. Indeed The Lutheran Hymnal itself has no propers listed for the Great Vigil. There’s only a little reference to “Holy Saturday, Easter Eve,” having only a collect and two readings, the Gospel being a reference to the burial of Jesus (St. Matthew 27). So even there, although the collect for Easter Eve contains the traditional reference to “the glory of the Lord’s resurrection” on “this most holy night,” nothing else does. There was no Great Vigil among Lutherans in the early 20th century.

The recovery of this ancient and venerable tradition has been a key ingredient in the rediscovery of liturgical beauty and importance for Lutherans.

But still there is resistance, particularly among people who hadn’t grown up with the tradition, and for whom therefore it represented something new. Actually it’s something very old, which, like many venerable traditions, fell into disuse between the 17th and 19th centuries when Rationalism was on the rise. The recovery of Confessional Lutheranism has brought with it an awakening of liturgical piety, and a renewed appreciation for the Great Vigil.

The Vigil is a bit lengthier than a regular Sunday mass, but for those who are aware and appreciative of what’s going on, time does not seem to be a factor. It requires a little disciplining, a little training of the mind to grasp and appreciate the majesty of this holy night, but when that discipline is achieved, the Great Vigil begins to stand apart as an awe-inspiring ceremony, a high point of the year.

Holy Week and Easter Schedule April 4-13

Palm Sunday 9 am
(NO mass Saturday night, April 4!)
Holy Monday Mass 7 pm
Holy Tuesday Mass 7 pm
Holy Wednesday Mass 7 pm
Maundy Thursday Mass 7 pm
Good Friday Solemn Liturgy and Mass 7 pm

Holy Saturday , April 11
Great Vigil of Easter 7 pm

Easter Day, April 12:
Sunrise Mass 7 am
(Easter breakfast 8:30 am)
NO late Mass on Easter!

NEW: Easter Monday, April 13: Mass at 8:30 am

Easter change of schedule!

In case you haven’t yet heard,

There will be NO 10 a.m. mass on Easter Sunday this year. Please plan accordingly.

Sunrise mass is moved to 7 am, and will be followed by the Easter breakfast and a special Bible class.

In addition, as usual:
Mass every night Monday through Saturday during Holy Week, at 7 pm.
Holy Monday
Holy Tuesday
Holy Wednesday
Maundy Thursday
Good Friday
Holy Saturday Easter Vigil (7 pm, not 5:30)
(No morning masses during Holy Week.)

First Monday Vespers
In April this service moves to the second Monday, since Holy Monday is on the first Monday. Anyone may attend this service, which normally lasts about 20 minutes.

The schedule for April 13th:

6 pm Altar Guild meets in Conference Room
6:45 Vespers (open to all)
Following Vespers: Elders meet

April Anniversaries
4/1/1988 William and Beth Dolieslager
4/13/2002 Steve and Sheri Kraklow
4/29/1989 Scott and Jude Clapper

Sesquicentennial Project Underway
The sesquicentennial (150 years) anniversary of the founding of this parish is in 2012. Your Church Council has nominated Sue Murphy as the chairman in charge of plans for this event. But all members of the parish are encouraged to participate.

The first meeting for our sesquicentennial plans has been set for Sunday, April 19th, after our quarterly voters’ assembly. For this reason, we are rescheduling the time for voters to begin at 6 pm. We expect the voters’ meeting to be short, and with a short interlude for vespers, we could expect the sesquicentennial meeting to begin around 7:15. Everyone is invited to come and begin planning for what we hope will be an exciting 150th year, 2012.

Sue and Pastor had a first meeting to discuss some possible goals for that year. We came up with this very tentative list.

1. New church directory
2. Updated church history
3. New choir robes – sew our own?
4. New or repaired server/acolyte robes
5. Painting of the church (big expense)
6. New floor in cafeteria: perhaps with mosaic picture?
7. New altar wall (big expense)

April Voters and 150th
As indicated in the previous article, our schedule for Sunday, April 12th, is as follows:

6:00 p.m. Voters’ Assembly (note time)
After voters, a brief Vespers service
7:15 p.m. (time approximate) 150th anniversary meeting

April Ushers Steve Peart, Grant Andreson, Larry Campbell

April Birthdays:
4/3 Adam Shreck
4/7 Carole Sanders
4/12 Steven Grier
4/16 Andrew Eckardt
4/17 Jude Clapper
4/19 Luke Wells
4/22 Grant Andreson

Altar Guild notes from March 2, 2009

There are four months during the year which have five Sundays, so each of the four teams will take the fifth Sunday once in the year. March has five Sundays; team 1 (Chris and Bea) will take the fifth Sunday.

We need some volunteers on Sat 28th of March after morning mass to put up the Passiontide veils.

Holy week masses only in the evening, Monday through Saturday.

Always check pyx containing extra hosts before setting it out

Altar Guild for April changed to second Monday (13th) because of Holy Week.

Maundy Thursday evening white. Two ladies needed to help with the stripping of the altar at the close of the service.

Be sure to dry the sacrarium (the sink for sacred rinsing) after use.

Mass on Saturday evening, April 25: St. Mark, Evangelist. Color is RED. Change back to WHITE for Sunday the 26th.

New Members and Newly Confirmand

We rejoice over the exciting things planned for Holy Week this year.

On Maundy Thursday, we welcome by reaffirmation of faith
Jill Engstrom

. . . and we welcome back her baptized children with her:
Ashton
Preston
Kylie

On Holy Saturday, at the Vigil of Easter, we also look forward to the confirmation of
Shania Kraklow

Congratulations to all!

Work day

Saturday, April 4 starting 8 AM (break for church at 9 am). Clean up and repair. If you know of something that needs to be done and you would like to work at that project and would need some equipment or parts to fix the item let one of your trustee know and we will help you find what you need

Thanks for the help -Your Trustees

Shut ins

Mary Hamilton at home; Ruth Snider at home; Mark Baker at home, and Anna Baker at home. Jack Stewart at Kewanee Care; Mirilda Greiert at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria. Lorraine Mohr is recovering from back surgery at home.

The Lighter Side
An oldie but goodie, always worth a reprint . . .

WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE LUTHERAN AIRLINES IS NOW OPERATING IN MINNY SOTA! ALSO SERVING VISCONSIN, NORDERN MITCHIGEN , NORT & SOUT DAKOTA.

If you are travelin soon, consider Lutran Air, the no-frills airline. You're all in da same boat on Lutran Air, here flyin is a upliftin experience. Dair is no first class on any Lutran Air flight.

Meals are potluck. Rows 1 tru 6, bring rolls; 7 tru 15, bring a salad; 16 tru 21, a hot dish, and 22-30, a dessert.

Basses and tenors please sit in da rear of da aircraft.
Everyone is responsible for his or her own baggage.

All fares are by free will offering, and da plane will not land til da budget is met.

Pay attention to your flight attendant, who vill acquaint you wit da safety system aboard dis Lutran Air. Okay den, listen up; I'm only gonna say dis vonce:

In da event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, I am frankly gonna be real surprised and so vill Captain Olson, because ve fly right around two tousand feet, so loss of cabin pressure would probably mean da Second Coming or someting of dat nature, and I wouldn't bodder with doze liddle masks on da rubber tubes--you're gonna have bigger tings to worry about den dat.. Just stuff doze back up in dair liddle holes.

Probably da masks fell out because of turbulence which, to be honest wit you, we're gonna have quite a bit of at two tousand feet, sorta like driving across a plowed field, but after a while you get used to it.

In da event of a water landing, I'd say forget it. Start saying da Lord's Prayer and just hope you get to da part about forgive us our sins as we forgive dose who sin against us, which some people say 'trespass against us,' but what can you do?

Da use of cell phones on da plane is strictly forbidden, not because day may confuse da plane's navigation system, which is by da pants all da way. No, it's because cell phones are a pain in da wazoo, and if God had meant you to use a cell phone, He wudda put your mout on da side of your head.

We start lunch right about noon and it's buffet style wit da coffeepot up front.

Den we'll have da hymn sing; hymnals are in da seat pockets in front of you. Don't take yours wit you when you go or I am gonna be real upset and I am not kiddin!

Right now I'll say Grace :

Come, Lord Jesus , be our guest
and let deze gifts to us be blessed.
Fader, Son, and Holy Ghost,
May we land in Dulut or pretty close.

New to the worship schedule: Tuesday mornings
After Lent, in which there is daily mass, a change in the schedule will become noticeable. Since we are no longer having communion at the nursing home at the regular Tuesday morning time (shut-ins are being seen individually), a regular Tuesday morning mass has been added to the schedule. Every Tuesday at 8:30, we will have Low Mass (spoken).

The one exception is Easter week. Pastor will be out of town from Monday afternoon until Thursday. Therefore there will be a Monday morning mass on April 13th (with propers for Easter Monday), but no mass on Tuesday. Also, there will be no midweek mass that week.

No Saturday evening Mass April 4th

No Late Mass Easter Morning, April 12th (Sunrise only, at 7 am)

Easter Monday, May 13th: Mass at 8:30 am

No Mass Easter Tuesday, May 14th

No Midweek Mass Easter Wednesday, May 15th

Keeping the Feast: A Study of the Holy Liturgy (continued)
Agnus Dei and Secrets

As soon as the elements have been consecrated and adored, the congregation breaks into singing the Agnus Dei: O Christ Thou Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us . . . These words are an echo of the words of John the Baptist who pointed Christ out to his disciples, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world” (St. John 1:19) Thus the assembled Church also, who likewise have just been shown Christ the Lamb in the consecrated Elements, now confess that He is truly there. Thus it is toward the Sacrament that these words are sung, a subtle but profound movement of heart and mind during this singing. That is, we do not here merely pray to Christ in the same way as we do at other times. The Agnus Dei (which is Latin for “Lamb of God”) is directed specifically toward Christ on the altar.

In this way we make another subtle confession against receptionism. Receptionism is an error by which some hold that the Body and Blood of Christ are not actually present until or unless they are received. The receptionist error seeks to slice and divide which of the consecrated elements are Jesus’ Body and Blood and which are not, or worse, to put off the moment of the change until the bread is received. It amounts to a new reading of Christ=s words, as if He had said, This will become my Body when you eat it, but is not yet at this moment of consecration my body. But Christ said is, and He cannot lie. The Zwinglians of Luther’s day denied altogether that the Sacrament is truly Christ’s Body and Blood, but that is only a difference in degree: the receptionists put off the effect of is until later, whereas the Zwinglians put it off until never.

The sophistry of receptionism is far worse than transubstantiation, which is merely a philosophical construct by which it is held that the essence or substance of the elements changes while the attributes or accidents of them stay the same, with the result that bread and wine are no longer essentially present at all. Though we reject also transubstantiation as a philosophical attempt to unravel the mystery, we find receptionism to be much more offensive, since a wholesale rejection of Christ=s is is worse than the impropriety of its philosophical analysis. As Luther once put it, "I would rather eat only the Body of Christ with the Pope than to eat only bread with the Zwinglians."

Hence we are given a most fitting opportunity to confess especially against the receptionists at the Agnus Dei: we are kneeling, adoring, and praying to Christ whom we believe to be truly present in the Sacrament as it sits on the altar, His true Body and Blood.

A helpful rubric during the singing of this canticle is to strike the breast with closed fist each time the word “sin” is said, an acknowledgement by the one singing: the sin of the world is also my sin.

Meanwhile the celebrant is praying the Secrets, which are different but similar prayers. He is also kneeling and privately praying, “. . . Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof; only say the word and my soul shall be healed . . .”

In this way the Church is reenacting the events of Gethsemane, wherein Jesus instructed His disciples to watch and pray as he went a stone’s throw from them and prayed privately. The Celebrant, who represents Jesus here, does in essence the same thing.

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

March 2009

2009-02-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

The Sacrifices of Lent

Ash Wednesday falls on Feb-ruary 25th this year, and so begins another Lenten season.

Lent finds itself competing with American traditions during March, and has been losing ground to them of late.

There’s nothing wrong with following the “March Madness” of college basketball playoffs, or making plans for Spring break, of course, but there is something wrong with setting Lent aside while attending to other things. What’s wrong is that a wonderful and very personal opportunity for the enrichment of faith is missed if Lent is ignored.

Lent is so much more than six Sundays in which one happens to notice the Lenten hymns, the violet paraments, and the lack of alleluias and flowers. Lent is meant to be a period of very personal involvement in the faith.

Fasting is the first ingredient in the journey, a kind of little personal sacrifice of sorts, in which one puts on a bodily reminder of the humiliation of Christ. The existence of minor hunger pangs resulting from the fast serves to keep the season in your consciousness throughout the day. This is also a subtle way of telling yourself that the Christian faith is of profound significance for body and soul, according the Scripture Jesus quoted in the wilderness: “Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Secondly, there is an increased opportunity for worship, particularly here at St. Paul’s. We have made some changes in the schedule to facilitate attendance at Lenten daily mass.

Following Ash Wednesday, whose schedule remains the same (masses at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., with the imposition of ashes), daily mass will be at 8:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, and at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

The shift in schedule at the nursing home has helped to enable this change; the Tuesday morning service at Kewanee Care has been discontinued, as the few members there will be ministered to individually.

So if you are able, take time in the morning during Lent to come to daily mass at 8:30 every weekday. The service, a low mass, lasts about a half hour.

In addition, you might consider making a special donation to the alms box during Lent, to help the poor in our community. I keep those funds on hand, and use them to provide help for indigent people who pass through every so often, asking for help.

The benefits of Lenten sacrifices are somewhat intangible, but they are very real, in that they help provide an awareness of the journey of Christ to Jerusalem to sacrifice Himself for the sin of the world.

+ Pastor Eckardt

March Anniversaries

3/10/1990 Steve and Melinda Grier
3/19/1977 Jeff and Diana Shreck

March Birthdays

3/1 Barbra Kraklow
3/2 Joseph Eckardt
3/3 Kerry Sovanski
3/7 Amber McReynolds
3/8 Carol Kegebein
3/8 Connie Von Holton
3/10 Cindy Von Holton
3/13 Brent (Dylan) Davis
3/16 Ila Scaife
3/21 Kristy Eckardt
3/23 Marvin Jagers
3/25 Carol Eckardt

March Ushers
Allan Kraklow, Steve Kraklow, Tom Wells, Bob Bock

Daily Mass for Lent, note time change (again):

The daily mass schedule for Lent is as follows.
Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.
Saturday, 9:00 a.m.

Midweek mass still Wednesday at 7 p.m. as usual (in addition to Wednesday morning)

This does not apply to Ash Wednesday, which, as noted above, will be observed at 7 am and 7 pm

During Lent, Saturday (Junior) catechesis follows morning mass.

The Lighter Side
JESUS' REPORT CARD
Interim Report Student: J. CHRIST Form: III Term: 1

SUBJECT / GRADE / TEACHER’S COMMENT

Religion D To the question "Who made the world?" persisted in answering 'My dad and I did'.

English D+ Tends to speak and write in archaic forms and uses outmoded figures of speech.

History A Excellent pupil of ancient and religious history.

Geography C- Assignment on 'Hot, dry lands' was excellent, but shows little interest in the rest. In geology, keeps talking about the Rock of Ages instead of the ages of Rock.

Social Studies B+ Keen interest in social issues.

Mathematics F Lacks basics. Keeps muttering about 'Three in one' and 'I and the father are one'.

General Science D Lacks discipline - eg, when asked to repeat the experiment for making hydrogen, claims he knew a better way.

Graphic Communication D Prefers to draw with a stick in the sand to pencil and paper.

Consumer Education C+ Interesting ideas about alternative life style: Something about living like sparrows and lilies of the fields...too impractical.

Art Craft B Obviously has imagination and creativity, a good potter – works well with dirt and water.

Material Studies A Excellent in woodwork section. Obviously receives help and stimulation at home.

Music/Drama B+ A keen member of the school choir. On occasions can be frighteningly dramatic.

Physical Education D- A trouble maker - eg during the learn-to-swim campaign insisted on trying to walk across the pool.

Health Classes A Shows a remarkable aptitude for first aid and knowledge of the body.

Home Economics A+ This kid really knows how to stretch a loaf of bread and a fish!

CLASS TEACHERS COMMENT: This boy has a very unhealthy tendency to form gangs. He has organized twelve of his friends into a gang and is seen constantly in the company of the children of publicans and sinners. He needs to be more selective in his choice of friends. Also, he should learn to keep his hair at a tidy length and not wear sandals with the school uniform.

Lenten Soup Suppers
Beginning on March 4th, a team of volunteers is planning to provide soup suppers for Lent at 5:30 p.m. every Wednesday. Members are encouraged to come and enjoy one another’s company for supper in the cafeteria, and then hang around for the Wednesday midweek masses for Lent at 7.

Soup, salad, bread, etc. is the expected menu. No desserts, though. (Well, it’s Lent!)

A freewill offering will be taken.

A Change in the Easter Schedule:
SUNRISE MASS AT 7 A.M.;
NO LATE MASS

As previously announced, this year we are initiating a change in schedule for Easter. The Sunrise Mass will be moved to 7 am Sunday morning, rather than 6 am. This moves the Easter breakfast to about 8:30. There will be no late Easter Mass, however.

Therefore, plan ahead: only one Mass on Easter morning, at 7 a.m., followed by the Easter breakfast.

As in the past, the Easter Vigil will be held at 7 pm on Saturday, the day before Easter.

Altar Guild Notes
In our February meeting we did some alterations to some of the altar superfrontals, which were a bit too long.

Our next meeting is March 2nd at 6 p.m.

Shut ins
Mary Hamilton at home; Ruth Snider at home; Mark Baker at home, and Anna Baker at home. Jack Stewart at Kewanee Care; Mirilda Greiert at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria. Lorraine Mohr will be recovering from back surgery at home.

Private Confession is always available to anyone between 6 and 6:30 pm on these Wednesdays (and also, as always, by appointment). Pastor is usually available as well on Saturdays, from about 4 pm until Mass.

Ash Wednesday, February 25:
On this first day of Lent, we will celebrate Mass twice, both at 7 a.m. and at 7 p.m. On both occasions we will observe the imposition of ashes, to mark the first day of this holy season of fasting and prayer.

Wednesday Radio Bible Class
Every Wednesday at 2:30 a Bible class is held in pastor’s study, and recorded as St. Paul’s on the Air, which airs on WKEI Sunday mornings at 7:30. Programs are also available on the internet at www.stpaulsonthair.blogspot.com.

Anyone’s welcome.

Financial News

Dear members of St. Paul’s:

Your church council decided it would be helpful if a letter were included in this newsletter to bring two matters to your attention.

First, the good news: the estate of Mildred Eckhardt (no relation to Pastor) has left a sum of just over $40,000 to St. Paul’s, which we received during February. We hope to put this money to the best use. We would love to be able to paint the church ceiling, or renew the chancel, but first we need to attend to some badly needed repairs at the south end of the roof. We also have about $82,000 left on our loan from several years ago, which we’ve been paying off little by little. We expect to discuss the matter at our quarterly voters’ assembly in April. All members are welcomed to attend and give their input. With thankful hearts we receive this inheritance, continually aware that God in His grace has always provided for His little flock at St. Paul’s.

Second, the challenge. While we are aware that a small portion of this amount is needed for some short-term obligations, we certainly do not want to see it get depleted with operating expenses. Our sesquicentennial is just around the corner: in 2012 we will be celebrating our 150th anniversary. A new committee is being formed to make plans, including a new directory, a new parish history, and, hopefully, the raising of funds for beautifying of our church as mentioned above. But we face a challenge in the meantime, which is that we are not quite making ends meet, and must dip into our savings little by little. So here is the challenge for you, the members of St. Paul’s: make a new assessment of your giving pattern, and consider whether you can manage to eke out a larger portion for your offerings. Many of our families are already giving sacrificially, out of love for the Savior and this parish, and so we are confident that the inheritance we received will not be seen as justification for giving less. Were that to happen, as most everyone is likely aware, it would disappear in no time! Rather, we are hopeful that it will serve as incentive.

The Lord has blessed us here in many ways: the Gospel is preached in its purity, the Sacraments are rightly administered, our choir is a brilliant enhancement for our liturgy, and our family of believers is close-knit and tenderhearted toward one another. It is in the spirit of thankfulness to God that we appeal to you, the members, to consider this challenge.

Sincerely in Christ,

Jan Schoen, Stewardship Chairman
Pastor Eckardt

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

Elevation and Adoration

The placement of the elevation of the Host immediately after its consecration seems to have begun at the close of the twelfth century in Paris, where the bishop directed it, probably in response to the offensive and curious view of some at the university there, who held that bread only became the Body of Christ after the words of consecration had been spoken over both the bread and the wine. Since this view aroused considerable opposition, this practice of elevating the Host immediately after its consecration arose as a kind of protest, a confession that it was the word of Christ which made it immediately so. By the end of the thirteenth century it was ordered throughout the Continent and England that one of the great bells of the church should be tolled at the moment of the elevation, in order that even those at work in the fields might kneel down and adore at the same time as the assembled congregation is doing so.

The elevation of the Elements after their consecration is meant to be a wordless confession of what they are: the true Body and Blood of Christ. Here we raise our eyes to look upon and adore the elements, quite simply because we know them to be what Christ has declared them to be, which is a most salutary thing to remember before receiving the Sacrament. One does not elevate symbols or mere tokens of Christ, nor should we kneel before mere ordinary things such as bread and wine. But here is no ordinary bread and wine! According to Jesus’ own words, this bread is His body, and this wine is His blood.

Although, to be sure, the Lutheran Church has always considered the practice of elevating the consecrated elements an optional thing, there is also the matter of the adiaphoristic controversy of the sixteenth century, in which the fathers declared, “when a plain and steadfast confession is required of us, we should not yield to the enemies in regard to such adiaphora” (Formula of Concord, Epitome X:6). So although we would not wish to condemn those who do not elevate the elements, we also ought to regard the current state of affairs in the churches, where even in our own circles there have been found those who deny that the Sacrament is Christ Himself, and others who say that the Sacrament does not become the body of Christ until it is consumed—an odd interpretation of is if ever there was one!—and so also deny that the consecrated elements are truly Christ’s body before they are consumed.

Hence it becomes even more appropriate and fitting to elevate the elements and adore them with the eyes, and so declare that we know them to be what Christ says they are; for surely we cannot think it wrong to adore Christ=s Body, which is Christ Himself. To be sure, His purpose is not to present His Body here for adoration but for oral reception, but is it not fitting to emphasize in our ceremony the truth that it is His Body that we are about to receive? Do we not agree that his true Body is where He says that it is? These ceremonies, then, are no mere smoke and fire, but most appropriate settings for the Mystery that is Christ among us, and for us. ANo one, unless he be an Arian heretic, can and will deny that Christ Himself, true God and man, who is truly and essentially present in the Supper, should be adored in spirit and in truth in the true use of the same, as also in all other places, especially where His congregation is assembled@ (Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, VII.126).

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

February 2009

2009-01-17T14:56:00.000-08:00

February 2: Candlemas

Most people recognize February 2nd as Groundhog's Day. The Church from antiquity has recognized it as a special day for another reason, as according to the liturgical calendar it is The Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord and the Purification of Mary. This day has also from antiquity been called by another name as well: Candlemas. This is because of the sublime custom of distributing, blessing, and lighting of candles during the Mass appointed for that day.

A high point is the lighting of the candles from the Preface through the Consecration, a visually moving way of signifying the high point of the service. At St. Paul's we have been observing Candlemas for a number of years, but most people didn't notice it because it didn't fall on a Sunday. Whenever it fell on a weekday (liturgically, feria), it was generally observed in the morning, when only a few people would be in attendance. Since it is a Feast of our Lord, when in 2003 it fell on Sunday, it took precedence over the regularly scheduled Sunday Mass, and therefore was observed and the entire worshiping congregation was present and able to appreciate it.

Since then we’ve been altering our observance a bit to enable more people to attend this Feast, by moving it to the Wednesday Midweek Mass whenever it did not happen to fall on a Sunday. This year February 2nd falls on Monday, and although we will be having First Monday Vespers that night, we will not observe Candlemas until Wednesday night, the 3rd.

Every member of St. Paul's is encouraged to come to this beautiful and dignified ceremony and Mass. February 2nd is the fortieth day from Christmas, which makes it the day when any woman who gave birth was required to come for her rite of purification. Thus the Blessed Virgin Mary came, and when she came she presented her first born Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, as she was also required to do by the law.

When Jesus was presented in the temple, the priest Simeon also came in and declared, in the words of the Nunc Dimittis,

Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.

This declaration of the Christ Child as a Light is the reason for the ceremonial use of candles at this Mass. The use of these lights in connection with the Blessed Sacrament emphasizes the analogy of Simeon's exultation on receiving the Child with our own reception of Christ at the altar. This connection is made at every Mass, of course, in our own recitation of the Nunc Dimittis. At Candlemas, the connection is highlighted because the Gospel appointed for the day is this very Gospel.

The name of this Feast, Candlemas, also subtly provides a link to the Feast from which it springs, that great feast of forty days earlier, namely Christmas.

+ Pastor Eckardt

February Birthdays

2/2 Mindie Fisher
2.3 Joshua Kraklow
2/5 Tom Wells
2/17 Monroe Kemerling
2/23 Carol McReynolds
2/24 Ruth Snider

February Ushers
Otis Anderson, Scott Clapper, John Ricknell, Bill Thompson

February Anniversaries
none

A Letter from Kewanee Food Pantry
Received 10 January 2009

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your generous contribution of 22 bags of food to the Kewanee Food Pantry from Sept. 2 – Dec. 31, 21008. God bless.
Marjorie Davis, Director

Daily Mass for Lent, note time change:
The daily mass schedule for Lent is as follows.
Mondays, 8 am.
Tuesdays, 9:30 am (Kewanee Care)
Wednesdays, 7 pm (as usual).
Thursdays, 8 am
Fridays, 8 am
Saturdays, 9 am.

Note the time change for Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays: 8 am. This does not apply to Ash Wednesday, which, as noted above, will be observed at 7 am and 7 pm
During Lent, Saturday (Junior) catechesis follows morning mass.

The Lighter Side
– on Marriage
* They call our language the mother tongue because the father seldom gets to speak.
* It doesn't matter how often a married man changes his job, he still ends up with the same boss.
* My wife and I always compromise; I admit I'm wrong and she agrees with me.
* Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right and the other is a husband.
* A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
* A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
* A husband said to his wife,
* “No, I don't hate your relatives. In fact, I like your mother-in-law better than I like mine.”
* A man said his credit card was stolen but he decided not to report it because the thief was spending less than his wife did.
* The most effective way to remember your wife's birthday is to forget it once.
* Cosmetics: A woman's way of keeping a man from reading between the lines.
* Married life is very frustrating. In the first year of marriage, the man speaks and the woman listens. In the second year, the woman speaks and the man listens. In the third year, they both speak and the neighbors listen.

Shut ins

Mary Hamilton at home; Ruth Snider at home; Mark Baker at home, and Anna Baker at home. Jack Stewart at Kewanee Care; Mirilda Greiert at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria. At printing, Lorraine Mohr was temporarily at Kewanee Care, expecting to move back home in a few days.

Altar Guild Notes

Weather intruded in our plans for a January meeting, so we plan again, to do some sewing at our meeting, set now for February 2nd, and we will be doing some sewing on the altar linens. Jan is bringing her sewing machine; some will bring pins.

Please note that the amount of wine set out for Sunday mornings has sometimes been a bit scant, and should be increased just a bit. Also, the purificators set out for Mass should be the ones with the fancier cross; the others are for Pastor’s private calls.

Septuagesima Season
(Pre-lent)
This season includes the three Sundays prior to Lent. February 8th is Septuagesima Sunday, February 15th is Sexagesima Sunday, and February 22nd is Quinquagesima Sunday. These names mean seventieth, sixtieth, and fiftieth, respectively, and indicate the anticipation of Easter by as many days, approximated on the Sunday that falls nearest to the seventieth, sixtieth, or fiftieth day before Easter.

Wednesday afternoons
are now reserved for a meeting of volunteers to work on preparation of new Ordos, an, at 2:30, to record St. Paul’s on the Air. Anyone may join us, especially for the recording, which is really a Bible Class.

Ash Wednesday, February 25:
On this first day of Lent, we will celebrate Mass twice, both at 7 a.m. and at 7 p.m. On both occasions we will observe the imposition of ashes, to mark the first day of this holy season of fasting and prayer.

Looking Ahead: A Change in the Easter Schedule

This year, we are initiating a change in schedule for Easter. The Sunrise Mass will be moved to 7 am Sunday morning, rather than 6 am. This moves the Easter breakfast to about 8:30. There will be no late Easter Mass, however.

Therefore, plan ahead: only one Mass on Easter morning, at 7 a.m., followed by the Easter breakfast.

As in the past, the Easter Vigil will be held at 7 pm on Saturday, the day before Easter.

Keeping the Feast: A Study of the Holy Liturgy (continued)
Our Father and Words of Institution

At this point in the Mass—from the Our Father and Words of Institution until the time of distribution, it is fitting for the entire congregation to kneel, in humble acknowledgment that here Christ is condescending to come to us in pity and mercy.

During the Our Father, the Celebrant holds his hands out or up high, and chants what, together with the Verba, forms the central ingredient of the canon. Jesus instructed His disciples to pray using these words. He did not offer that command in a vacuum, but, we may rightly assume, meant for it to be used especially in connection with His Supper.

Next, the celebrant sings or speaks the words of institution, as the Formula of Concord insists: “the words of institution are to be publicly spoken or sung before the congregation distinctly and clearly, and should in no way be omitted” (SD, VII, 79).

This is said in opposition to the practice which arose in the sixth or seventh century, of the celebrant’s saying the canon of the mass (which includes the Our Father and the Words of Institution) silently. The people knew the words were being said, but they could not hear them.

This was likely an outgrowth of a venerable third century practice called the disciplina arcani in which the catechumenate were not allowed even to remain present for the liturgy of the faithful, when the Our Father and the Verba were said. There was a very close scrutiny kept regarding those who could even hear those words in the liturgy. And even when they were preached or written about, it was done only obliquely, using intentionally vague expressions. The idea behind this practice was a worthy one, namely to uphold the sanctity and holiness of the Sacrament, in much the same way as the name of God was not to be spoken aloud during Old Testament times. There was even a practice among women of donning their veils at this time, and the doors of the church are watched so that no one but the communicants may be present. The overall idea at work was that a great mystery is here, at which we bend the knee and worship with sighs too deep for words. This understanding is actually considered by many to have been a key contributing factor in the appeal of the church in its early centuries. Although we no longer have the disciplina arcani, we can learn from its use. There is no need, for example, to take school children into the sacristy and have them taste unconsecrated bread before their first communion, as if to remove the mystery. The mystery ought to be preserved; after all, that’s why we call it a sacrament.

Yet as we consider this history we also find an instance of a noble idea taken too far, particularly in the rise of the “secret” utterance of the canon. For by the seventh century, nobody at all was able to hear the clearest expression of the Holy Gospel. Virtually every instance of the arising of a faulty or poor practice in the history of the Church can be traced to some pious or decent idea or purpose now come to be abused, and this is no exception. The removal from the hearing of the people of the Words of Institution—which Luther regarded as the purest expression of the Gospel—should not be taken otherwise than as a diabolical robbery of the words of our Lord from His people. One of the salient features of the Reformation was to provide that the Gospel was heard. Often this is misunderstood to mean merely that Bibles were put in to the hands of the people. Although the printing press was certainly a tremendous invention which aided the success of the Reformation, the primary place for the hearing of the Gospel was at mass. The Gospel was to be preached, and, most prominently, to be clearly and distinctly heard most especially in the Word of Institution.

There is on the other hand no warrant for providing that all the people say the Our Father aloud at this point. Although certainly the Our Father is and ought to be chief among the daily prayers of Christian people, and therefore is properly said by all during the prayer offices (matins, vespers, etc.), yet at mass it takes on an additional, consecratory purpose, and therefore ought to be said by the celebrant alone. Although the custom of congregational recitation of the Our Father with the celebrant at mass is common in the twenty-first century, is a Roman Catholic innovation from De Musica Sacra, issued on 3 Sept.1958 by the Sacred Congregation of Rites. This ruling authorized the faithful to say the Our Father with the celebrant (in Latin: the Pater Noster), but only at a Low, i.e., spoken Mass. Since Vatican II, in the 1960s, even that restriction was lifted. But it was not so prior. From antiquity the Church has sung aloud only its response to the Our Father, saying “For Thine is the kingdom,” etc.

By this rubric a reminder of the connection between the Our Father and the Words of Institution made: the Our Father always belongs with the Words of Institution, and, together with them, effects the very consecration of the elements. Moreover, in this we also have a hint of respect toward the old disciplina arcanum. That is to say, while it is important that these words be heard clearly and distinctly; yet their removal from the lips of the people at this point is a subtle reminder of their profound sacredness. All of these words are therefore uttered by the celebrant alone, and thus the holiness of the moment is accentuated.

Private Confession is always available to anyone between 6 and 6:30 pm on these Wednesdays (and also, as always, by appointment).

Pastor is usually available as well on Saturdays, from about 4 pm until Mass.

Know Anyone Who Might Need a Visit?
If ever you become aware of a member who might have a special need or desire for a pastoral visit, please contact Pastor to let him know. 852-2460.

On the Lookout for Visitors
Don’t be shy about inviting visitors to join you when you come to church. Brochures are available in the hallway to give friends, associates, relatives, etc. If you think someone might be interested but is hesitating, offer to pick him up and bring him with you. Offer your assistance if the liturgy is unfamiliar.

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

January 2009

2009-01-03T12:38:00.000-08:00

The Twelve Days of Christmas

WE find ourselves embedded in the midst of the twelve days of Christmas as this newsletter is being distributed and read. The masses and mer-chants of the market-place don’t know much about this, since all the gifts have been ex-changed by Christmas, and therefore there is no longer much incentive to dress the stores in holiday wreaths and bows any longer. But honestly, we can’t blame them for trying to make a living. We do, however, need to recognize the stark difference that sometimes exists between cultural and spiritual observances.

So while much of the Christmasing was going on in the secular spheres during most of December, the Church meanwhile was observing Advent, for the simple reason that the cultural preparations for a big cultural event like Christmas are quite another thing than spiritual preparations for a big spiritual event like Christmas. Christmas is a grand intersection of two major events of the same name. Secular preparations involve the purchasing and wrapping of gifts, cleaning the house, getting ready for company, and so forth. Spiritual preparation involves self-examination and penitence. It also involves the learning of the important discipline of patience. We wait patiently for the coming of the Lord, not only as Advent awaits Christmas, but as the Church awaits Jesus’ return in glory.

So also now that Christmas has arrived, in the period of time after Christmas, we are observing the twelve days of Christmas, while at the same time the secular spheres are finished with their observances. They’re putting away their holiday trappings, but we don’t. The world may be finished with Christmas, but we’re just getting started.

The twelve days of Christmas are only known to most because of the popular carol by that name, though most do not know what twelve days they are. (In case you need to know, they are the twelve days beginning with Christmas Day and leading to the day before Epiphany.)

It’s fitting that we should sing our Christmas carols on Christmas and also on the Sundays after Christmas, and that our big annual choral vespers should always take place after, not before, Christmas. This year, it’s even before Epiphany. So much the better. O come, all ye faithful! Joyful and triumphant!

+ Pastor Eckardt

Announcing:

Christmas
Choral
Vespers

at St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Sunday, January 4, 2009 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 Wednesday, January 7th, at 7 p.m.

Also announcing:
An Epiphany retreat:

two Days of Theological Reflection: Monday and Tuesday, January 5th and 6th.

For the first time, we are pleased to announce that our January Day of Theological Reflection will actually be two days—two!—of retreat, Monday and Tuesday, the 5th and 6th, from 9:00 – 3:30 (starting each day with Mass at 9, the second day, January 6th, being Epiphany Day), Two Days of Theological Reflection is also scheduled, the tenth retreat in the series. This retreat’s theme is

“A Prophet Like unto Me: The Christology of the Moses and the Exodus.”

We’ll examine the book of Exodus, particularly the first 15 chapters, with an eye to finding Christ there, so that we may declare, as the disciples did, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Admission is free.

January Birthdays
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

January Ushers
Steve Peart, Grant Andresen, Larry Campbell

January Anniversaries
none

Shut ins

Mary Hamilton at home; Ruth Snider at home; Mark Baker at home, and Anna Baker at home. Jack Stewart at Kewanee Care; Mirilda Greiert at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria.

Evelyn Heinrich, age 102, passed away on the 20th of December and was given Christian burial on the 23rd.

Choir Rehearsals during January

Obviously there won’t be Choir on New Year’s Eve: it’s right after our Choral Vespers, and besides, it’s New Year’s Eve! Since our choral vespers is coming up, we need a special choir rehearsal on Tuesday, December 30th, at 7 p.m. It will be our last before the big night. Then we’ll take January 7th off (as we usually do the Wednesday after a big event), and resume rehearsal on the 14th.

Altar Guild Notes

The Altar Guild met on Monday, December 8th. Some calendar adjustments were discussed.

The next meeting is set for January 12th (second Monday) and we will be doing some sewing on the altar linens. Jan is bringing her sewing machine; some will bring pins.

The 2009 Calendar is posted in the sacristy. Some of the ink ran out, so the later Trinity months are bluish green rather than green.

A memo was sent to each Altar Guild member’s mailbox with some other details.

The Lighter Side

JUST LOVE A GOOD PUN

1. The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.

3. She was only a whisky maker, but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because - it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. The butcher backed into the meat grinder - and got a little behind in his work.

6. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

7. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road - and was cited for littering.

8. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in - Linoleum Blownapart.

9. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

[that one reminds me of this puzzler: Time flies. No man can. They move at irregular intervals.]

11. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.

12. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

13. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, 'You stay here, I'll go on a head.'

14. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.

15. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab centre said: 'Keep off the Grass.'

16. A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, 'No change yet.'

17. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.

19. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was - a small medium at large.

20. The man who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now - a seasoned veteran.

21. A backward poet writes inverse.

22. In democracy it's your vote that counts. - In feudalism it's your count that votes.

23. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

24. Don't join dangerous cults: Practice safe sects!

Un-Decorating the Church

The removal of the Christmas decorations is scheduled for Saturday, January 10, at 9 a.m. Volunteers are sought!

Our Latest Brochure

The latest update to our brochure is inserted in the newsletter this month. Use it! Take it with you and find someone to give it to, with an invitation to join us as a visitor to St. Paul’s!

2009 Envelopes
The offering envelopes should be available and in your mailbox by December 28th.

Annual Voters’ Meeting
Our Voters’ Meeting is scheduled for Sunday, January 25st, at 7:30 p.m. Council is scheduled for 7:00, just prior to the meeting. Note the time change.

Keeping the Feast: A Study of the Holy Liturgy (continued)
From the Preface until the Communion
After the Preface, when the celebrant turns toward the altar for the Sanctus, the Mass re-presents the passion of our Lord and His resurrection. The celebrant does not turn again to the faithful until after his own communion. He now enters, as it were, into the secret of the sanctuary, there to treat alone with God, much as Moses did on the mountain, or as the high priest would do in the temple, or ultimately, as those instances foretell, as Jesus did on the cross. He now says the Secret, so-called because he says it in a low voice like Jesus Christ Who, in the Garden of Olives, who moved a stone’s throw away from His disciples, in order to enter into the silence of recollection and prayer.

At the Consecration the celebrant takes the Host into his hands, just as Jesus Christ, at the Last Supper, took the bread and wine into His holy and venerable hands. There was a Roman Catholic French cleric, Father Charles Arminjon (1824-1885), who was noted for declaring that here the priest’s words cease, his personality disappears and the voice of Jesus Christ replaces that of His minister. Father Arminjon was right: here the minister is doing his ministering in a most fundamental and Biblical sense.

Hence the celebrant has his back to the people during the Sanctus, the Our Father, the Verba, and his own self-communion, as if
to hide the face of Christ, who died and thus was hidden from His people; but when the celebrant turns to them again for the Pax, saying, “The peace of the Lord be with you alway,” he is essentially repeating the words of Jesus who thus spoke to His disciples in the upper room on the day of His resurrection. Indeed there is a rubric that provides simply that the words “Pax vobiscum (peace be with you),” dropping “of the Lord” when spoken by a bishop, which provides a verbatim repetition of the the words of the risen Lord,
and some early councils (for instance, that of Braga in 563) allowed that both bishops and priests should employ the same form of salutation (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11595a.htm).

Similarly we may note the anecdotal account from Bishop Vsevolod Lytkin of the Siberian Lutheran Church of an elderly woman in a remote village in Siberia who, upon gaining form him her first opportunity to receive the Sacrament, whispered to him after the service, “almost literally repeating the words of Saint Simeon (Luke 2:29-30): ‘Through all my life I reamed to meet a Lutheran pastor. Now I can depart in peace because my eyes have seen the Pastor” (Siberian Lutheran Mission Society, Vol. 7.3, December 2008, p. 6).

It is particularly here, when the Holy Elements are consecrated, that the pastor may be seen as a living icon of Jesus.

December 2008

2008-11-26T08:34:00.001-08:00

Set Sorrow Aside

One of my own favorite lines from a Christmas Carol in our choir’s repertoire is from the Sans Day Carol “Aye, and therefore be merry; set sorrow aside! Christ Jesus our Savior was born at this tide.” We have even named our recent Christmas CD from those lines: Set Sorrow Aside! St. Paul’s Mixed Chorus at Christmas.

Many people say that Christmas is a more difficult time of year for them, particularly if they have lost loved ones during that time, since at times when families traditionally gather, an absence will be more acutely felt. That is all quite understandable, of course, and our hearts always go out to those who are sad.

For them in particular, a question arises. How are we to set sorrow aside, when it can be so acutely felt at Christmas? What is the secret of doing this? Can it be done?

St. Paul’s answer is to say, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. . . . I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11). So it can be done. To any who find Christmastime difficult, I would suggest first that they come to believe this: there is a way in which contentment can gained, or, to put it another way, Yes, there is a way to set sorrow aside when sorrow wants to descend and intrude during the holidays.

That way is the way of faith. Faith is the Christian heart’s battle and war against sorrow. And faith’s struggle with sorrows is bolstered by attention to the words of the Gospel: “Christ Jesus our Savior was born at this tide.”

If that sounds trite, perhaps it is because it is not quite understood. The appearance of Christ in the flesh, in the humble and troubled times and land around Bethlehem, means that He has most certainly come to the rescue of all who are troubled. He has come to do for us what none of us can do for ourselves. His poverty is to provide us with the otherwise unattainable heavenly riches. His humility is to set us at last in the Kingdom of His glory, where every tear is wiped away. His suffering in our flesh is to bring healing to our flesh. And His resurrection is a foretaste of the resurrection of our own flesh.

So therefore all things—yes, all things—are under the dominion of His grace, so that we may have confidence that every sorrow shall be done away at last. To know this is to find courage to weather whatever sorrow may come to assail us. Think of sorrow as an unwelcome interloper in your heart and then take up the armor of God, and be confident that it can and shall be overcome. If we must sorrow, it will be but for a little while, as He Himself has said.

Christmas is a time of year which is brimming with these tidings. It is the tidings of Christ and His holy nativity which are precisely the balm for sorrowing souls! Here is strength for the battle, and encouragement for the weary fighter.

Aye, and therefore be merry; set sorrow aside! Christ Jesus our Savior was born at this tide.

+ Pastor Eckardt

December Birthdays

12/13 Michael Eckardt
12/13 Lynn Woller
12/15 Andrew Carlson
12/16 Lillian Freeburg
12/20 Peter Eckardt
12/20 Rachel Rowe
12/22 William Dolieslager
12/25 Robert Melchin
12/30 Matthew Woller
12/31 Scott Schoen

December Ushers

Allan Kraklow, Steve Kraklow, Tom Wells, Bob Bock

Shut ins

Mary Hamilton at home; Ruth Snider at home; Mark Baker at home, and Anna Baker at home. Jack Stewart and Evelyn Heinrich at Kewanee Care; Mirilda Greiert at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria.

Choir Rehearsals during December

Since Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve fall on Wednesdays this year, thus eliminating choir rehearsals on both of those nights, we had to schedule a couple special choir rehearsals to make up for time which would be lost. Therefore all choir members please note the two special choir rehearsals set for Tuesday evening, December 23rd, and Tuesday evening, December 30th, both at 7:00. PLEASE make every effort to attend: our Choral Vespers is scheduled a little early this year, on January 4th, the first Sunday in January.

December Anniversaries
none

Altar Guild Notes

For Advent, the color is Violet throughout. We will be observing St. Nicholas’ Day at the 5:30 mass on the Saturday, December 6th and St. Lucia’s day at the 5:30 mass on Saturday, December 13th, but since these are not major Saints’ Days (they are Third Class), the altar color will remain violet.

The altar color changes to white beginning on Christmas Eve, December 24th and remains white through the end of the month.

There are three Christ Masses: the first is at 7pm on Christmas Eve, the second follows at Midnight, and the third is at 10 am on Christmas Day.

At the 5:30 p.m. Saturday mass on December 27th, we will observe St. John the Evangelist’s Day (color is white).

On New Year’s Eve, December 31st, we will observe the Circumcision and Name of Jesus at 7 p.m. There is no mass scheduled for New Year’s Day.

Individual cups are in less demand as more people are becoming accustomed to the use of the chalice. Therefore it is only necessary to set out six individual cups on a normal Sunday.

Christmas Choral Vespers

Plan ahead! This year’s Choral Vespers is scheduled a little earlier: Sunday night, January 4th, with two days of Theological Reflection to follow, culminating on Epiphany, January 6th. The Them for the retreat is “A Prophet Like unto Me: The Christology of the Moses and the Exodus.”

Sealing the Driveway

Your trustees have arranged for the patching and sealing of the driveway (it should be done by the time this newsletter is in your hands) for the economical sum of $2,000.00. As economical as this is, it still places a strain on the budget. Any special offering to help offset this cost would be greatly appreciated. -The Trustees

Megan Eckardt Update

Since we learned on November 1st of the diagnosis of Megan Eckardt (Peter’s wife) with cancer, we have been overwhelmed with kind wishes and the news of how many people have been praying for her. We are all confident of God’s lovingkindness and mercy, and do not doubt that He hears our prayers and will grant us His help in time of need, in accordance with His goodwill in Christ.

A website has been set up in Megan’s name for anyone who would like to express well wishes and comments. Click here.

Heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been so thoughtful to our family in this challenging and difficult time.

+ Pastor Eckardt

Poinsettias

To order Poinettias, please contact Judy in the office or sign up on the sheet in the narthex. Cost is $12.00. You may order as many as you like!

Decorating the Church

The decorating of the church is going to happen in stages throughout Advent, as an extension of the idea of lighting a new candle on the Advent wreath each succeeding Sunday.

The first Sunday in Advent (Nov. 30) you will see the garland and Advent wreath only. The second Sunday (Dec. 7) the window decorations will be in place as well. The third Sunday (Dec. 14) the tree will be up, but unlit. The fourth Sunday (Dec. 21) the ornaments will be on the tree and the Nativity will be in place. On Christmas Eve (Dec. 24 in the evening) the poinsettias will adorn the chancel.

Volunteers are sought to help with the putting up of the tree, which is scheduled for Saturday, December 13th at 9:00 in the morning.

Our servers

We have added Phil Johnson to our list of regular acolytes, with Michael Eckardt, Joey Eckardt, and Drew Clapper.

Our Latest Brochure

The latest update to our brochure is inserted in the newsletter this month. Use it! Take it with you and find someone to give it to, with an invitation to join us as a visitor to St. Paul’s!

The Lighter Side

Only in America

Only in America......can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.
Only in America......are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.
Only in America......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
Only in America......do people order double cheese burgers, large fries, and a diet coke.
Only in America......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.
Only in America......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
Only in America......do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.
Only in America......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.
Only in America.....do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well: 'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'.
Only in America......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.

Making Evangelism Simpler?

Burnell F Eckardt Jr.
A reprint from Gottesdienst Christmas 1997

There have been various attempts, through the years, to condense the fundamentals of the Gospel into simple words for the purposes of evangelism. We think, for example, of the Kennedy evangelism outline, or of the Five Spiritual Laws once quite popular among fundamentalists. Much has also been said about John 3.16 as the Gospel in a nutshell, since it is so simple, which is probably the rationale behind the expenditure of great sums of money on the part of some to get end zone seats at Super Bowls so we can all see such a Bible reference between the goal posts every time an extra point is kicked.

The appeal of making the Gospel simple is great, especially in a culture where virtually everything is made simple. Dinners, computers, cars, and modes of entertainment are all made simple. The pace of our culture does not provide time for the undertaking of too much complicated stuff. Even a consideration of the most popular types of movies suggests that what attracts us most is what is easiest to follow. Complicated, intricate plots might win Academy Awards, but it's the special effects that score at the box office. Instant gratification sells.

It is therefore quite understandable that the culture of the Christian liturgy should be attacked for its increasing irrelevancy, and especially its alleged inability to be helpful for evangelism. It's simply too complicated. Where meditation is required, instant results will not be realized. So, the gurus of contemporary worship claim, we must hit people with sound bites and repeated attention-capturing devices, and above all, keep everything as simple as it can be. Remove all big words, use only familiar, lilting tunes, and, in essence, follow the bouncing ball.

This calls for a reply, especially from a journal which is quite ostensibly dedicated to the preservation of Gottesdienst, the Divine Service, in all its liturgical ceremony.

O.K.

Keep it simple, they insist, at all cost.

Well, what if we follow that line of reasoning, of keeping it simple, in the name of evangelizing, teaching, and helping people to keep the simple faith?

First we'd have to take out all the hymns with any kind of depth, in preference for those with simple mantras repeated over and over. One example which comes to mind is the popular praise song "Alleluia." The first two stanzas go like this:

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

How I love Him. How I love Him. How I love Him. How I love Him.
How I love Him. How I love Him. How I love Him. How I love Him.

Next, we'd have to remove any Scripture readings which are too complicated or lengthy. (Never mind that it's the Word of God; we're interested in getting people saved!)

As for the sermons, they must take care not to be too scriptural, because the Bible is just too often too deep. Instead, give them simple stories and easy-to-remember outlines. Something bite-sized for the newcomer to take home and retain.

The drift of these instructions, one can easily see, is simplicity. After all, the reasoning goes, Christianity is simple. All ya gotta do is believe, as it has often been opined, against what is thought to be excessive ceremony. Why make it any more complicated than that?

Well then, why stop here? If it's that simple (which, of course, it isn't), perhaps life in the Church would be much easier if we adopted a yet simpler approach to reaching the lost. Maybe we could do something radically simpler.

That is, why have church at all? Whoever insists on raw simplicity above all things will have to answer this question, for the moment one adds anything at all to all ya gotta do is believe, it will have to be justified for anyone who insists on this kind of simplicity. Want to sing a hymn? Whatever for? All ya gotta do is believe! Or why sit there and listen to someone preach a twenty-minute sermon? All ya gotta do is believe! Even the mindless chatter of How I love Him, How I love Him, etc. will have to be justified. What if I should simply decide to stay home altogether? What's wrong with that? All ya gotta do is believe! What if, while having firmly planted in my mind the fact that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life, I choose to go fishing or golfing? I left home believing, and I returned home believing. See, it's simple! Why, one could even claim that one who goes to church might just be denying the great simplicity of all ya gotta do is believe. If it's that simple, then stay home! Stay in bed! Or go play! But don't come to church, because if you do, you might just be implying that it's not all that simple.

Perhaps, rather than building all those churches, going to all the trouble of conducting all those services, preaching all those sermons, and administering the Sacrament to all those people, we ought simply to appoint phone brigades. The pastor (or telephone minister) of a congregation could simply retain a membership list from which, once a year, to make brief telephone calls to every member. The exchange could go something like this:

Pastor: Hi, this is Pastor Bob. Say, I'm just calling to make sure you still believe in Jesus. Do you?
Member: Yep, still do!
Pastor: Great! Keep it up. I'll call again next year.
Member: Thanks, Pastor!

Imagine all the trouble avoided by such an approach! No delinquent lists, no meetings, no calls, no conflicts, no problems, no organist, no choirs, no preachers. How much simpler life would be for the Church, if we'd all just take to heart the simplicity of all ya gotta do is believe!

(Of course, there would be no funding for the position of telephone minister, but perhaps none would be needed. Such simple phone calls would surely not take up much of his time, most of which could therefore be spent in some other means of self-support. Perhaps he could earn a living working for some firm which employs telephone solicitation, and then his calls could serve both purposes at once.

Pastor: Say, by the way, before I hang up, have you ever given serious thought to putting thermal windows in your home? Prices will never be lower; if I could have just a few minutes of your time . . .)

The flaw in this line of thinking is, in fact, contained within the sentence: All ya gotta do is believe! Since believing is itself the antithesis of doing, as St. Paul makes abundantly clear in his epistle to the Romans, therefore believing cannot be something ya gotta do. Indeed, what ya gotta do is keep the Commandments! And since ya cannot do that as God requires, faith becomes requisite for anyone who would be saved. But faith is not doing; faith is being still and knowing that God is God. Faith is trusting the doing of Another, namely, of Christ.

Moreover, faith is not innate, does not come from within. It is born of the Word: Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10.17). Faith and the Word of God are always found together, therefore. Faith, born of the Word, ever desires to hear the Word, as it is written: The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes (Song of Songs 2.8).

But the Word, it happens, is not entirely simple. In fact, it is incomprehensible to innate reason. Christian people and pastors must therefore be ever wary of appeals to simplicity, for while it is true that the Gospel may in some respects be called simple (since it is a unity), the simplicity of it is only comprehended by those who believe; as for those who do not believe, it must be maintained that no amount of reasoned simplicity will bring them to faith. Only the Gospel itself will do that, and by its own power. Let us stick to the liturgy, therefore, for therein is the Gospel abundantly and clearly stated, working to bring faith and life to a lost and dying humanity.

St. Paul’s On the Air

Every Sunday morning at 7:35 on WKEI, AM radio 1450. We keep hearing kudos from folks who listen regularly, so tune in, and spread the word!

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

November 2008

2008-10-22T10:56:00.001-07:00

Stewardship?

So this stewardship guy gets up and chides the seminaries for not teaching stewardship, suggesting that this is the reason our offerings are low. I'm sitting in the back of the room thinking, Nope.

I don't preach stewardship sermons. Ever. You know, the standard "Look at all Jesus has done for you, now what are you going to give Him in return?" I've always had a sense that your basic stewardship sermon is really a neatly disguised (or not-so-neatly, if you've heard it all before) plea for cash. The old "time, talents, and treasures" outline was really nothing but a ruse. You knew you were really only shooting for that last one about the treasures. The time and talents part was a way of trying to convince people that the whole stewardship gig was really oh, so much more than money. Bah. It's all about money, and who is being fooled?

Anyhow, I don't preach them. Once long ago, a fellow pastor, on hearing me say this, complained, "Well, what are you going to replace them with?!" To which I, having just seen the old black-and-white Luther film with a similar scene, replied, "Christ!"

But to return to the point, there was a false premise in this guy's question. I don't know about you, but our offerings are not low. I mean, overall they're not anything great, because our parish is rather small, but when that factor is taken into account, our people do quite well, I'd say. And why? Because they love their parish. They rejoice over the preaching of Christ in their church. They want to see their church thrive and the Gospel to be given free course, to the joy and edifying of Christ's holy people.

Eat your heart out, stewardship guy. I don't preach stewardship sermons. And my people are really exemplary in their offerings. Can you explain that? I can.

Pastor Eckardt

Added thoughts . . .

Although, as I said, I don’t preach about this, I’ll add a guideline here for the benefit of any who might be wondering how much they ought to give.

My own general rule of thumb has always been a rough ten per-cent, a tithe, for all charitable giving. This is no hard rule, of course, but it is a nice guideline, I think.

The Apostle does speak of setting aside a proportion of one’s income “on the first day of the week,” which means it ought to be more than the giving of mere pocket change as an afterthought.

It seems to me that most of our active membership is already well aware of these guidelines.

-BFE

Food Pantry

Kewanee Food Pantry has indicated that there is a shortage in their supply. Our own food pantry is in a box in the hallway. Items are occasionally taken by needy people who come for help; when the box gets full, the items are taken to the Kewanee Food Pantry. It’s a good way to help the needy in our community. Our alms box is also available for cash donations.

November Birthdays

11/2 Jane Melchin

11/10 Cassandra Krueger

11/11 Ruth Melchin (92)

11/13 Shannon Peart

11/14 Carol Robinson

11/15 Kami Boswell

11/19 Steve Kraklow

11/20 Jewneel Walker

11/27 Evelyn Heinrich (102)

11/30 Adam Sovanski

11/30 Charlene Sovanski

November Anniversaries

11/5 Steve and Berniece Harris

11/11 Gayle and Phil Beauprez

November Ushers

Otis Anderson Scott Clapper, John Ricknell, Bill Thompson

Thanksgiving to be observed November 26^th

As usual, we will celebrate Thanksgiving the night before Thanksgiving Day, Wednesday, November 26^th, at our regular 7 pm hour. Come and worship, giving thanks to almighty God for His rich benevolence and grace.

All Souls Mass

Between our regular first Monday Altar Guild an Elders meetings this month, we will observe All Souls Mass (Commemoration of the Faithful Departed) at 7 p.m. Join us!

Shut ins

Mary Hamilton at home; Ruth Snider at home; Mark Baker at home, and Anna Baker at home. Jack Stewart and Evelyn Heinrich at Kewanee Care; Mirilda Greiert at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria. Carole Sanders is no longer a shut in.

Altar Guild Notes

All Saints Day will be observed Saturday evening, November 1, at our 5:30 hour. Color is red. All Souls Day (The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed) is a First Class Feast, but never observed on a Sunday. Therefore Sunday, November 2^nd will be the 24^th Sunday after Trinity. Color is green. The following Day, November 2^nd is All Souls Day; Mass is scheduled for 7 pm (during first Monday meetings). Color is white. For Wednesday Mass that week, November 4^th, the color is green.

Thanksgiving is observed Wednesday night, November 26^th. Color is White.

First Sunday in Advent is November 30^th. Color is Purple beginning on Satuday, November 29^th.

The Lighter Side

Ole Olson's Ten Commandments:

1. Der's only vun God, don't ya know.

2. Cussing ain't Minnesota nice.

3. Go to church even vhen you're up nort' fishin'.

4. Take care of dah folks vhen dey get old.

5. Don't kill. Practice catch and release.

6. Der's only vun Lena for every Ole. No cheatin'.

7. If it ain't your lutefisk, don't take it.

8. Don't be talkin' about Sven behind his back

9. Keep your mind off Sven's new vinyl siding.

10. Keep your mind off Sven's wife, Hilda, and his farmhand Lars, and their cleanin' lady, Selma, and Bessie, his best milker, and his new boat and all of Sven's odder stuff, too.

Responding to Romaphobia: The Reason for Liturgical Piety

Reprinted from Gottesdienst 2008:4, by Pastor Eckardt

Legalism! Legalism! So runs the protest of a horde gathering outside the walls of liturgical piety and renewal, a cry of outrage growing ever louder, either due to an increase in numbers, or (more likely), intensity. The intensity increases as it gains false conviction that its cause is just, which seeks to oppress and suppress a liturgical life being renewed among us. They shudder when they hear Christian people being instructed in the traditions of faith which they have grown to despise, probably for no greater reason than that they find themselves unaccustomed to those traditions. They were not themselves raised making the sign of the holy cross, so they look askance at those who do. They never saw a Lutheran pastor genuflect at the altar, and were never taught to genuflect themselves, so they assume he must be a closet Romanist. And they certainly never saw a Lutheran pastor commune himself, so they conclude he thinks too highly of himself to let someone else do that for him.

So even though no such Lutheran pastorsCat least neither your scribe nor anyone he has ever knownC have ever thought of themselves in these terms, yet the others, who themselves either misunderstood the liturgical renewal or refused to consider its purpose, routinely find the cry of Alegalism@ a convenient mantra to repeat, enabling them to dismiss the whole enterprise as a charade.

By Alegalism@ they generally mean a loveless enforcement of rules without regard for the Gospel, where the Gospel is defined as freedom from the straitjacket of tradition. Those who promote the historic liturgical tradition are not unfrequently labeled as arrogant or lacking humility. It is odd that Roman Catholic priests, whom we are accused of being like, are not generally labeled as arrogant or lacking humility. Rather, they are expected to act the way they do, and when they do not act that wayCas has been more frequently seen since Vatican IICthey are wondered about. Perhaps it is Romaphobia, if I may coin the term, which is driving the ad hominem attacks against the representatives of liturgical piety. Our opponents don=t really mind if Roman priests genuflect or commune themselves; they just don=t want to see any of that sort of thing in Lutheran churches. That=s too close to home.

Stories are still told among the laity about the days of a generation or so ago when in your typical Midwestern town having a Catholic church at one end and a Lutheran church at the other, schoolboys from one side would engage those from the other in some serious snowball fights on the Main Street bridge. The Catholic kids were the bad guys, and that was that. Lutheran pastors in some ways actually promoted this sort of thinking in those days: they would themselves not be seen wearing so much as a white surplice, to say nothing of an alb or (heaven forbid!) a chasuble. Geneva gowns were everywhere fashionable for the pulpit and the altar. The men who liked to wear them routinely catechized their students by telling them that although Lutherans are not Methodists who believe the Sacrament is just a symbol, they are certainly not Catholics who believe in transubstantiation! Somehow Catholics were thought to be too superstitious for us, with their smells and bells, their altar boys and flowing vestments, their genuflexions and signs of the cross. A Lutheran on vacation might have to attend a Reformed or Baptist church if no Lutheran church could be found, but never a Catholic church. Those people were just too weird, at least when it came to worship. And now there are Lutherans doing Catholic things? Well! One might as well raise the Confederate flag in Philadelphia, and see how people react! No wonder we get grief. Thus we find still today, as Father Richard John Neuhaus is inclined to say, that anti-Catholicism is the last acceptable form of bigotry.

The problem is far more serious than aesthetics, however, since it is notCcontrary to what they are sayingCa love of Rome which drives this liturgical renewal among us. To be sure, there are surely some who think of these things in no more than aesthetic terms, who just like liturgical ceremony because, as they say, it=s cool, way cool. But those miss the point of it just as surely as the Romaphobic community. What drives, or ought to drive, liturgical renewal is a renewal of understanding of the Holy Sacrament. Catechetical renewal must begin with a renewed awareness that the Sacrament is truly Christ on the altar.

It is informative, I believe, that one will often find a well-entrenched receptionism alongside the low-church mentality which opposes liturgical renewal. The receptionist position holds that the words of Christ apply only to those parts of the elements which are actually received. Lutheran pastors can easily be found who say that the Sacrament is truly Christ=s Body and Blood, as He said, but only if it is eaten and drunk. That is, whatever remains is mere bread and wine, since it is not included in the entire sacramental action. They like to point to the Formula of Concord=s Article VII (AOf the Holy Supper@) which declares that this blessing, or the recitation of the words of institution of Christ alone does not make it a sacrament if the entire action of the Supper, as it was instituted by Christ, is not observed (as when the consecrated bread is not distributed, received, and partaken of, but is enclosed, sacrificed, or carried about), but the command of Christ, This do (which embraces the entire action or administration in this Sacrament, that in an assembly of Christians bread and wine are taken, consecrated, distributed, received, eaten, drunk, and the Lord=s death is shown forth at the same time) must be observed unseparated and inviolate, as also St. Paul places before our eyes the entire action of the breaking of the bread or of distribution and reception, 1 Cor. 10,16. . . .

If the institution of Christ be not observed as He appointed it, there is no sacrament. This is by no means to be rejected, but can and should be urged and maintained with profit in the Church of God. And the use or action here does not mean chiefly faith, neither the oral participation only, but the entire external, visible action of the Lord=s Supper instituted by Christ, the consecration, or words of institution, the distribution and reception, or oral partaking of the consecrated bread and wine, of the body and blood of Christ. And apart from this use, when in the papistic mass the bread is not distributed, but offered up or enclosed, borne about, and exhibited for adoration, it is to be regarded as no sacrament; just as the water of baptism, when used to consecrate bells or to cure leprosy, or otherwise exhibited for worship, is no sacrament or baptism. (Solid Declaration, par. 83-87)

By a careful examination of this passage, one can ascertain that what the Formula means to reject is the abuse of the Sacrament, inasmuch as This do refers to the entire sacramental action. The Corpus Christi festival is in view here, where the host is enclosed in a monstrance for adoration only and is never eaten. ANothing is a sacrament apart from the use@ means nothing more than that no one may make of Christ=s institution something of his own choosing. It is quite a stretch to suggest that this proscription of the Sacrament=s abuse may also be taken to mean that only that portion of the elements actually used in the distribution are truly Christ=s Body and Blood. With that sort of reasoning, one ends up with the impossible conclusion that when Christ said, This is My Body, He really only meant Athat portion of this bread which you actually consume is My Body,@ or, even more worthy of ridicule, the notion that This is My Blood applied only to those molecules of wine floating about with the rest in the same cup which would end up being drunk. What is the communicant to think? Not only that Jesus=s words do not mean what they say, but that they have to be contorted in a way worse than the most flagrant sacramentarian ever imagined.

Yet the receptionists among us believe this very thing, and although we don=t really know why, we are hard-pressed not to suspect Romaphobia driving also this belief. For if the Sacrament is truly Christ=s Body, according to His words, then no amount of (mis)reading of the Formula of Concord can alter the fact that it is not only that portion which is actually eaten that is Christ=s Body, but also that which is left, that which remains, that which sits on the altarB-even before, after, and apart from the distribution. For it is indeed meant for distribution, and hence no abuse can be found here, such as what the Formula rejects. And therefore we are left having to regard the elements as such, due to Christ=s own words; and this will in turn mean bowing, genuflecting, and even adoring; and we end up looking like the very Catholics we feared. For where the Sacrament is being rightly administered, then it most clearly must be seen as the Body and Blood of Christ, and we are left with no options but to behave accordingly.

It is surely no accident that liturgical piety remains strongest among churches who have the strongest view of what the Sacrament is. Nor is it happenstance that liturgical renewal is found among those of us who have learned to take Christ=s words seriously. No amount of insistence on the part of low-church receptionists that they really, really do believe in the Real Presence can countervail the contradictory message they send loudly and clearly. Their obstinate refusals to take some lessons in how to behave reverently at the altar tell us they must think that there=s really nothing extraordinary going on up here. Their use of plastic individual communion cups will never permit us to take them too seriously when they say it truly is Christ=s own very blood in there. That these cups are disposable demands one of two points of view: that the element they contain is only wine and nothing more, or that there is an unspeakable sacrilege at work among them. It must be the former view which prevails here, for it surely cannot be the latter. Yet the former must simply be recognized for what it is: wrong. And then, when this recognition begins to sink in, perhaps we will begin to see more knees touching the ground.

But now we are called legalists for encouraging such things and speaking this way. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is faith and confession which are at stake here: faith in Christ=s own words and confession of the same. We take Him at His word: This is my body. But Christians are free, comes the retort. Yes, we reply, free indeed, free to take Him at His word. He does not say This is partly My Body, or This is My Body if you eat it, or This will become My Body as soon as it passes through your lips, or, This is My Body in such a bizzare way that you needn=t bother thinking about it too much. He simply says is, is! Thus we are free to believe Him, and we begin to learn by this a certain freedom from idolatry in all its forms. We died to sin! How can we live in it any longer? How can weChow dare weCcarry on as if Christ were absent? Does our freedom mean we may reject His Word and Sacrament? Are we free to abandon Him? Imagine Moses, on coming down the mountain and seeing the Israelites frolicking around their golden calf, saying to them, AIt=s all right, folks! You=re free to do that!@ Now consider the Divine Service. Are we free to pay little or no attention to ChristCChrist on the altar? What does our posture say? What do our actions say?

And how, for that matter, is honoring Christ a show of arrogance? Who is truly being arrogant but the one who refuses, maybe just because he=s afraid he might have to admit he could have been wrong about some of his long-held stereotypes, to give an honest consideration and evaluation of these most sacred things. These things most certainly do need careful consideration, rooted as they are in a conviction that Christ meant what He said when He said,This is My Body. We mean no one harm in confessing these things in words and actions. We mean only to be true to Christ in every way. Liturgically, this means in particular that we must behave at the altar in such a way as to reflect our convictions about what sits on it. Our liturgical actions portray our confession of faith.

In short, since we believe, teach, and confess that Christ=s Body and Blood are truly present in the Sacrament, therefore we also believe, teach, and confess that the Holy Liturgy of the Church is most certainly not a matter of indifferent things.

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church

109 S. Elm Street

Kewanee, IL 61443

October 2008

2008-09-22T15:06:00.000-07:00

Oktoberfest!

Sunday, October 12, is the opening day of our thirteenth annual Oktoberfest. At 5 p.m. is our Autumn Choral Vespers, followed by our annual bratwurst banquet (we call it the best party in town!). Members, if you’ve never yet come to this gala affair, it’s past time you did. Let’s see all of our members enjoying the festive occasion together this year!

On Monday morning, following Holy Mass at 9:30, the Oktoberfest seminar runs until 3:15 p.m.

On Tuesday, a liturgical seminar is again planned for a roundtable discussion seeking uniformity in our worship practices. Informed Lutheran clergy are particularly invited to provide input and exchange of ideas, although all are invited to stay for the day.

This year we are pleased to welcome four guests who have in recent years taken the walk across the rickety bridge from Wisconsin to Missouri. Our conference theme is “A Tale of Two Synods.”

Several years ago the Reverend Fr. Peter Berg, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Chicago, having been removed from the roster of the WELS, was received into the LCMS. This year his brother, the Reverend Fr. John Berg, pastor of Hope Ev. Lutheran Church in Fremont, California, has taken the same trek. In the meantime the Reverend Fr. Aaron Moldenhauer, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Beecher, Illinois, made the same move during his seminary training. He will be accompanied by his wife Tabitha, a scholar in her own right, who will provide a confessional Lutheran perspective on women’s issues. This year both Berg brothers became associate editors of Gottesdienst, and Fr. Moldenhauer received the journal’s Sabre of Boldness award for 2008.

REGISTRATION: $25 per person (students $20) $40 per couple — includes Sunday banquet and Monday continental and luncheon; no charge for children with parents.

To register, send an email with Oktoberfest as the subject. Give us your name, title, address, and intentions: coming Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, or portions thereof. We'll sign you up; you may pay the registration fee when you arrive. Click here.

October Ushers
Steve Peart, Grant Andresen, Larry Campbell

October Birthdays
10/1 Richard Melchin
10/1 Clara Murphy
10/2 Diana Shreck
10/3 Matthew Fisher
10/5 Michael McReynolds
10/9 Mary Ann Hamilton
10/9 Kevin Thompson
10/10 Stanley Janik
10/10 Paul Rowe
10/15 Dennis Schoen
10/20 Ed Woller
10/24 Robert Jones
10/24 Corey Peart
10/28 Carmen Sovanski
10/28 Collin Van Stechelman
10/30 Sharon Hartz
10/31 Marjorie Lamb

October Anniversaries
10/4 Linda and Larry Rowe
10/23 Otis and Deanne Anderson

Shut ins
Carole Sanders at home (update: expected to move back home Sunday, September 28th; hoping to be back in church the following Sunday!);
Mary Hamilton at home; Ruth Snider at home; Mark Baker at home, and Anna Baker at home. Jack Stewart and Evelyn Heinrich at Kewanee Care; Mirilda Greiert at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria.

Mary Hamilton at home; Ruth Snider at home; Mark Baker at home, and Anna Baker at home. Jack Stewart and Evelyn Heinrich at Kewanee Care; Mirilda Greiert at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria.

First Monday Meetings

Our first Monday meetings for October will not be in session; all Altar Guild members and Elders are urged to attend Oktoberfest the following weekend.

Altar Guild Notes

The Altar Guild met on Monday, September 15th. The number of hosts to put out for Wednesdays was set at 14. Some calendar adjustments were discussed, but not all matters were decided; and since the Altar Guild will not be meeting in October, the following schedule is needed.

Special note: at two Saturday masses (5:30 pm), October 18th and November 1st, special saints’ days are going to be observed. The altar color is red for those days, and changes to green for the following day, Sunday

Wednesday, October 1: of Michaelmas: White

Sat and Sun, October 4 and 5: Green
Sat and Sun, October 11 and 12 (am): Green

Oktoberfest: October 12 (pm) and 13, Mission Festival: Red

Octoberfest: Tuesday, October 14: Green
Wednesday, October 15: Green

Saturday, October 18 (5:30 Mass only), St. Luke: Red

Sunday, October 19: Green

Sat and Sun, October 25-26, Reformation: Red
Wednesday, October 29, SS Simon and Jude: Red
Saturday, November 1 (5:30 Mass only), All Saints: Red

Sunday, November 2: Green

Wednesday, November 5, All Souls: White

Then Green until Wednesday, November 26: Eve of Thanksgiving: White

Sat and Sun, Nov 29 and 30, Advent: Purple

Know Anyone Who Might Need a Visit?

If ever you become aware of a member who might have a special need or desire for a pastoral visit, please contact Pastor to let him know. 852-2460.

A Letter from Siberian Lutheran Mission Society

Dear friends at St. Paul’s,
Your continued support is a blessing. Thank you for your faithfulness. Your recent donation of $100.oo has been designated for the congregation in Chita.
I’ve enclosed a copy of a recent newsletter from Siberia [this is posted in the hallway] that chronicles Bishop Lytkin’s recent visit to Eastern Siberia, including the congregation in Chita. The enclosed photos show the entry into the village of Edininie and parishioners in Edininie, parishioners after the worship service in Chita and a view of Edininie. Bishop Lytkin, Pastor Igor Kizyaev and Pastor Khramov can be seen in these shots. The second page includes a photo of an outdoor site where pagans worship even today, a shot of at Trans-Siberian railroad station, a picture of Pastor Pavel Zayakin with t ever present statues of the communist era, reminders of the dictatorship of the proletariat and finally, an example of the dirt and gravel roads that must be traversed to reach some of these remote parishes.

Thank you, especially for remembering the SLMS at this time. I can assure you that your gift will be used very carefully by Christ’s stewards in Siberia and will help to support them in their most basic daily needs. Please keep these faithful servants in your prayers.
In Christ,
Elizabeth A. Meyer
Secretary/Treasurer

Junior Catechism on Saturdays

Beginning September 13th, Catechism class has been held at 9 a.m. on Saturdays. Anyone is welcome to join us.

Kimball Organ Available

Anyone interested in a Kimball organ for home use, contact Duane Sanders, who has one to unload.

The Lighter Side

Ya Gotta Luv The South

ALABAMA
The Sheriff pulled up next to the guy unloading garbage out of his pick-up into the ditch. The Sheriff asked, 'Why are you dumping garbage in the ditch? Don't you see that sign right over your head'. 'Yep', he replied. 'That's why I'ma dumpin it here, cause it says 'Fine For Dumping Garbage'.

LOUISIANA
A senior at LSU was overheard saying... 'When the end of the world comes, I hope to be in Louisiana.' When asked why, he replied he'd rather be in Louisiana because everything happens in Louisiana 20 years later than in the rest of the civilized world.

MISSISSIPPI
The young man from Mississippi came running into the store and said to his buddy, 'Bubba, somebody just stole your pickup truck from the parking lot!' Bubba replied, 'Did you see who it was?' The young man answered, 'I couldn't tell, but I got his license number.'

GEORGIA
A Georgia State trooper pulled over a pickup on I-75. The trooper asked, 'Got any I. D.?' The driver replied, 'Bout whut?'

TENNESSEE
A man in Tennessee had a flat tire, pulled off on the side of the road, and proceeded to put a bouquet of flowers in front of the car and one behind it. Then he got back in the car to wait. A passerby studied the scene as he drove by and was so curious he turned around and went back. He asked the fellow what the problem was. The man replied, 'I got a flat tare.' The passerby asked, 'But what's with the flowers?' The man responded, 'When you break down they tell ya to put flares in the front and flares in the back. Hey, it don't make no sense to me neither.'

ARKANSAS
'You can say what you want about the South, but I ain't never heard of anyone wanting to retire to the North!

The Lutheran Variation of the Canon of the Mass

Preliminary matters for discussion at our liturgical seminar at Oktoberfest at St. Paul’s, Tuesday, October 14th, 2008.

The Roman Canon of the Mass

Since the time of Gregory the Great (AD 590-604), the liturgy of the Western Church, centered in Rome, has been marked by a uniform liturgy with respect to the consecration and distribution of the Holy Sacrament. This liturgy has been called the Canon of the Mass, probably because the term “canon” means rule. This is the regulation by which all their churches are to celebrate the Mass.
The canon is introduced by the Preface, which centers in the words “Lift up your hearts” and concludes with the Santus (“Holy, holy, holy,” etc.).
The entire canon is set into the form of a prayer, and is structured as follows:

I. The prayers before the consecration
A. Te Igitur. “We therefore humbly pray . . . accept and bless these gifts, these presents, these holy unspotted Sacrifices, which . . . we offer Thee for Thy holy Catholic Church . . . with N. our Pope, and N. our Bishop, and all orthodox believers . . .
B. Commenorations for the Living [including intentions for the sick and others]
C. Invocation of the saints [including the B.V.M., the twelve apostles, and twelve early saints]
D. Proper communicantes for the season

II. the prayers at the Consecration
A. Hanc igitur. “We therefore beseech Thee, O Lord, graciously to accept this oblation of our service . . .
B. Quam oblationem. “Which oblation . . . make worthy . . . that it may be made for us the Body and Blod of thy most beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
C. Consecration of the Host. “Who, the day before He suffered, took bread in His holy and venerable hands, and with His eyes lifted up toward heaven . . . blessed it, broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, Take and eat . . . FOR THIS IS MY BODY.
D. Concecration of the Wine. “In like manner . . . FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD . . .”
E. Oblation of the victim to God. “Wherefore, L Lord, we Thy servants . . . do offer unto Thy most excellentMajesty of Thine own Gifts bestowed upon us, a pure Host . . and the Chalice of everlasting salvation.
F. Supra quae propitio. Upon this vouchsafe to look . . . as thou wert graciously pleased to accept the gifts of thy just servant Abel, and the sacrifice of our patriarch Abraham, and that which Thy high priest Melchisedech offered to Thee, a holy Sacrifice, an unspotted Victim.
G. Supplices te. We most humbly beseech Thee, almighty God, command these offerings to be borne by the hands of Thy holy Angels to Thine altar on high . . .

III. The prayers after the consecration.
A. Commenoration of the dead.
B. Invocation of the Sants [including fifteen other early saints]
C. Minor elevation.
D. the Communion: “Let us pray. Instructed by Thy saving precepts . . . bold to say: Our Father . . .
E. Libera Nos and Division of the Host “ . . . grant peace in our days . . .
F. Mixture of the Body and Blood. [the Pax, then, “May this mixture and consecration . . .”

Then follows the Agnus Dei, etc.

The Lutheran Variation

Anyone familiar with the Lutheran Liturgy will be able, upon even a cursory consideration of the Roman Mass, to see that what Luther did was radically to reduce and omit entire sections of this canon. In his mind the greatest obstacle to the freedom of the Gospel was its obscuration by the layers upon layers of mystery and regulation. Much of what the priest said was in a low voice, barely heard, and all of it was in Latin, which, while once the language of the people, had by his day become another layer of impediment. One had to learn Latin in school in order to understand the Mass.

Hence, when he learned of the free gift of the mercy of God in Christ and His Gospel, and found that the entire medieval labyrinth of various levels of merits and works was working directly against the proclamation of Christ, he not only rejected the system of merits altogether, but took himself to removing the impediments to this proclamation in the Mass as well.

And so by this bold move of stripping away all of what he saw as unnecessary preparations and prayers, he sought to leave only the words of Christ at the heart of the Mass.

When seen in the context of his other reforms, it is perhaps not too difficult to see him as having done this not merely because he thought the mass was too long or laborious as it was, but because he saw it as having too much by way of preliminaries. Rather like our Lord Himself who drove the moneychangers out of the Temple, Luther drove away indulgences, merits, works of supererogation, and, in the same vein, the extraneous prayers of the canon.

All that remained when he was finished were the Words of Institution (the Verba) and the Our Father, the latter of which he moved in front of the Verba and more as an ingredient or summary of the Prayer of the Church than as a part of the Canon.

A Lutheran Canon

Though it is commonly said that Luther thus removed the Canon of the Mass in its entirety, it bears remembering that the original sense of the term canon was likely to have been behind its use here: something uniform and regulated.

In our day this has been largely lost, and even among confessional Lutherans there is a considerable amount of variation regarding what constitutes the invariables of the Mass.

In the name of Luther many have slashed away much more than he did, and replaced it with the fruits of their own whims and imaginations. Here is where the battle is being raged in our day. Therefore it has become necessary for us Lutheran Christians, who desire, in the spirit of the Gospel which Luther sought to promote and proclaim, to seek to recover some of the uniformity which has eroded or become altogether lost.

The Lutheran Liturgy has been abandoned in many of our own circles.

The pendulum has, as it were, swung too far in the other direction. Hence our desire and efforts to begin in earnest to determine what we might agree upon for the reestablishment of a common liturgical rule and uniformity for our celebration of the Sacrament of the Altar.

September 2008

2008-08-26T10:16:00.000-07:00

The Carole Sanders Story

No one expected her to live this long, let alone improve. But Carole Sanders continues to defy the predictions and prognostications of everyone, whether family or medical personnel.

Several years ago she was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a rare lung disease that gradually (so we are told) renders the lungs nonfunctional, bit by bit, as scars continue to replace healthy tissue. We watched her go downhill, just as they said she would. They gave her two years to live at the most.

And so we began to pray for her, as Christians do, both privately and at Mass, for we knew that her dear Lord would deal with her as He saw fit, according to His own unsearchable wisdom and infinite power. With God all things are possible.

Soon she became confined to her home, and unable, except on a rare occasion, to go out. She loved her church, but was now a shut-in. Once in a great while we’d see her in church, if only on a Saturday night when less people are present. Yet her determination to keep up the fight was always evident, as we saw her, oxygen tank and all, approach the altar for the Blessed Sacrament. I could have brought it to her in the first pew, as I customarily do for some who have difficulty walking, but she preferred if at all possible to approach, climb the three steps, and make it to the altar.

Usually she had to receive her communion at home, where her husband Duane waited on her daily, an unflinching if weary angel always at her side. Duane was better for her than any nurse could have been, around the clock, constantly there for her, to be her stay. Months passed. Soon she entered Hospice care. She was losing her breath, she was going downhill. She was dying.

And so our prayers for her continued, even as we continued to expect the inevitable.

But she did not die. Six months passed, and so did the Hospice nurse. They don’t keep people on longer than six months; they’re expected to be dead by that time. And Duane and Carole decided it was easier and cheaper to manage things without Hospice, staying in close touch with medical personnel. I remember opining that none of us has any business predicting when she will die. Only God knows, in spite of what any professionals might think.

So she kept on at home, yet still going downhill. She routinely fell, even though she had a walker, and even though she never had far to walk. She just didn’t have the strength, because she didn’t have the breath. Her lungs were giving out. She fell, and bruised, and once or twice even cracked a bone. Her pain was mitigated some by pain medications, which made her groggy. I remember thinking that I had never seen someone dying so slowly.

Then one day last winter I got a call late in the evening from Duane. He couldn’t wake her. It seemed as though the end was finally at hand. I raced over to the house. Poor Duane was beside himself. We prayed. I brought to bear some of the most comforting passages of Scripture, of psalms, and of hymns. The nurse arrived, as did a family friend or two. After two or three hours, she did not stir, and her breathing was shallow. I had been at deathbeds before. Some days prior, she had already received her last communion, her viaticum, and now we were bidding her farewell. We were bracing ourselves for her last breath. Finally, when several people were keeping vigil, I decided I could leave for awhile, fully expecting to be called back shortly when death was more clearly at hand.

The call never came.

Next morning I puzzled over this, and went back to the house. There she was, to my great surprise, sitting up and smiling at me. Her hour had not yet come. Somehow, miraculously, she had revived during the night. Now doubly I know that nobody knows the hour of death. She had defied all predictions distant and recent. It was already well over the two years they had given her; I think it was almost twice that long. And still she drew her breath, and continued doggedly on.

Winter turned to spring, and spring to summer. My visits settled roughly into a weekly pattern. But my prayers, and the church’s prayers, continued at a daily pace, as ever.

Then came July. Another frantic call brought me out quickly to the house. This time she was losing her mind, quite literally. She was delirious, and completely unlike the Carole I knew. Suddenly she trusted no one but me, yet even I could not reason well with her. It was evident to me that her brain needed more oxygen, as I explained to her distraught husband. She was not herself.

Duane came to realize that she had to be moved, as she would not even let him care for her. This was the last thing this dedicated husband wanted to do; he had promised himself he would not let her live out her days in a nursing home somewhere, yet now he had no choice. It was a heartbreaking and agonizing decision. The years of care, and his labor of love, had taken their toll on him already. He had lost altogether too much weight, and was reduced to a mere shadow of himself. Now, in spite of his valiant determination month after month to continue the marathon, he was faced with defeat. Poor Duane! Poor Carole!

Yet we continued to pray, daily.

Then, in the past several weeks, something astounding began to happen. We had thought the move to Toulon Health Care would be the last straw. Perhaps it was for this reason, because every earthly prop had given way, that all at once things changed. She began the transformation from someone who was dying to someone who was living. Every time I saw her, which at first was daily, she was better than the time before. Not only was she no longer dying, she began improving, to the amazement of everyone. This was not supposed to happen. So extraordinary is her progress that even Duane, who visits her daily, is again gaining weight and strength.

Today Carole Sanders is again in her right mind, having not only accepted her lot in life, but rejoicing continually in the mercy of her Savior. Jesus has been with her, not only to comfort, but to strengthen both in body and soul. In therapy she walks farther than they tell her to walk. She is no longer waiting to die. She is living and breathing, and improving daily. She even hopes to return home some day, and to start coming to church again. Her remarkable convalescence to date really gives her no reason to expect otherwise. I can scarcely believe my eyes.

To be sure, it doesn’t generally happen like this. Faithful Christians die daily; they fall asleep in Jesus, and we mourn their loss, with the assurance that, as St. Paul has said, if in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable. So we don’t despair when earthly things are passed; we know of a life of the world to come; we know Jesus the Crucified, who was raised from the dead, and lives and reigns to all eternity. And we know we shall reign with Him. So we learn not to sorrow as others who have no hope, no matter whether we live or die. And we learn that this life is a vale of tears. Disease strikes and mortality makes itself known to us all.

Yet once in a while our Lord deigns to remind us, in sometimes remarkable ways, that He is in command of all things, and that He does indeed hear our prayers. In Him we live and move and have our being. And so it is that He has determined in His wisdom and mercy that it is not time for Carole Sanders to die. Not yet. In fact, she’s even showing signs of beginning to thrive.

If you wish to pay her a call, feel free. She’ll gladly visit with you and tell you all these things herself. She is a living miracle, and reminder to us all that our God is always able to do abundantly more than we either ask or think.

+ Pastor Eckardt

Announcing the Thirteenth Annual
Oktoberfest
and
Second Annual Liturgical Seminar
St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Kewanee, Illinois
October 12-14, 2008 (Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday)

Conference theme: A Tale of Two Synods

This year we are pleased to welcome four guests who have in recent years taken the walk across the rickety bridge from Wisconsin to Missouri.

Several years ago the Reverend Fr. Peter Berg, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Chicago, having been removed from the roster of the WELS, was received into the LCMS. This year his brother, the Reverend Fr. John Berg, pastor of Hope Ev. Lutheran Church in Fremont, California, has taken the same trek. In the meantime the Reverend Fr. Aaron Moldenhauer, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Beecher, Illinois, made the same move during his seminary training. He will be accompanied by his wife Tabitha, a scholar in her own right, who will provide a confessional Lutheran perspective on women’s issues. This year both Berg brothers became associate editors of Gottesdienst, and Fr. Moldenhauer received the journal’s Sabre of Boldness award for 2008.

Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m. is our Autumn Choral Vespers, followed by our annual bratwurst banquet (we call it the best party in town!). Then on Monday morning, following Holy Mass at 9:30, the Oktoberfest seminar runs until 3:15 p.m.

On Tuesday, a liturgical seminar is again planned for a roundtable discussion seeking uniformity in our worship practices. Informed Lutheran clergy are particularly invited to provide input and exchange of ideas, although all are invited to stay for the day.

Lodging: AmericInn, 4823 US Hwy 34. 800-634-3444
Super 8 Motel, 901 S Tenney (Rt 78). 309-853-8800
Aunt Daisy’s B&B, 223 W Central Blvd. 888-422-4148
Kewanee Motor Lodge, 400 S Main St. 309-853-4000
Days Inn, I-80 & Rt 40, Sheffield. 815-454-2361
Holiday Inn Express, I-80 & Rt 78, Annawan. 309-935-6565

REGISTRATION: $25 per person (students $20) $40 per couple — includes Sunday banquet and Monday continental and luncheon; no charge for children with parents.

email the information to eckardt@kewanee.com, or call 309-852-2461.

PLEASE INDICATE:
Title
Email
Name(s)
Church
Wife’s first name if applicable
Attending (check all that apply): Sun, Mon, Tue
Address
Phone

Flowers
Our flower lady is Trista Schoen, who has provided a flower chart for members to sign. If you wish to provide flowers for any particular weekend, check the chart and sign up. Your signature means that you will provide the flowers for that weekend, whether by contacting a florist, or by providing your own arrangement. If you wish to provide your own, please speak to Trista about how to do this.
July and August Ushers
July: Steve Peart, Grant Andresen, Larry Campbell
August: Otis Anderson, Scott Clapper, John Ricknell, Bill Thompson

September Anniversaries

9/18/1976 Tom and Sue Ann Wells
9/24/1977 Dennis and Janice Schoen

September Birthdays

9/1 John Ricknell
9/1 Laticia Van Stechelman
9/6 Alice Rosenberger
9/9 Barbara Murphy
9/10 Jan Schoen
9/15 Charles Russell
9/17 Mary Beth Jones
9/18 DeAnne Anderson
9/19 Jaclyn Kraklow
9/19 Jamie Kraklow
9/24 Stephanie Davis
9/26 Duane Sanders
9/28 Allan Kraklow

Rally Day September 7

A new Sunday school session begins, new midweek catechesis, and new adult Bible Class: St. Matthew. Plenty of opportunities await!

Shut ins

Carole Sanders at Toulon Health Care; Mary Hamilton at home; Jack Stewart, and Evelyn Heinrich at Kewanee Care; Mirilda Greiert at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria., Mark Baker at home, and Anna Baker (temporarily) also at home.

First Monday Vespers

This service, held on the first Monday of every month, includes as a special focal emphasis prayers for this parish and her members. In September it is moved to the second Monday, due to Labor Day. Anyone may attend this service, which normally lasts about 20 minutes.

The schedule for September 8th:
6 pm Altar Guild meets in Conference Room
6:45 Vespers (open to all)
Following Vespers: Elders meet

Altar Guild Notes

The Altar Guild met on Monday, August 11th. Among items discussed was the desire of the women to find a way to beautify our chancel. No one seems to like the large vertical panels on the wall. It was suggested that if we should get to the point of seriously considering their removal, the entire congregation should be involved, at a future voters’ assembly.

Crystal Stoll Recovering

Early this summer Crystal (now living in Kenosha, Wis.) had a little fall, and after tests learned that she had a fracture in her pelvic bone, for which no surgery could be helpful. She has been taking meds for pain and slowly healing at home. It’s been a tough summer, but she’s doing better now, hoping soon to get off the pain medication altogether. If you’d like to give her a call, the number is (262) 551-7635.

Junior Catechism on Saturdays
Beginning September 13th, the Saturday after Rally Day, Catechism class will be held at 9 a.m. on Saturdays. Anyone is welcome to join us.

Keeping the Feast: A Study of the Holy Liturgy (continued)
The history of the liturgy
Gregory the Great

St. Gregory was the Bishop of Rome from AD 590-604, and is remembered most of all for his codifying and reform of the Roman Mass. His Mass stayed constant for Rome until Vatican II in the 20th century, a truly remarkable thing. Much controversy still exists as to the exact extent of Gregory’s reforms of the Roman Liturgy, but all admit to certain changes he ordered (for instance, he ordered that the Our Father be recited before the breaking of the bread rather than afterwards).

A millennium later, the sixteenth-century Council of Trent affirmed Gregory’s Mass, which has given to it the name “Tridentine,” literally, “pertaining to Trent.” The Roman Tridentine Mass, also called the “Latin Mass,” is really Gregory’s. Although in the 1960s, Vatican II made some rather wholesale changes, there remains a healthy regard and desire among many of the people for a revival of the Tridentine Mass, for which Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 began to make provisions.

The Lutheran rite, as it is found in The Lutheran Hymnal, and in Lutheran Service Book, is based on the Tridentine Mass, that is, St. Gregory’s Mass, though of course not in Latin. Nor is it by any means identical. Luther’s own conservative reforms are incorporated. Yet it is helpful to know the basis upon which our masses rests, since it is often that our own rubrics and altar books do not provide details we would like to see when planning the service or learning our own conduct of the liturgy. For these we look beyond them to the tradition, and that we find in the Tridentine Mass of Gregory.

This is an important thing to know, for if we relied solely on what is specifically “Lutheran” in name, we would not only be true to what is Lutheran in spirit (since our Lutheran forefathers made it their point to keep what was laudable and edifying wherever they could), but would be left with a less than complete understanding of the conduct of the liturgy. True Lutherans seek to be catholic in outlook, that is, having an eye to the universal conduct of the Church of all time.

So we hold St. Gregory in high regard. Not only did he codify and catalog the liturgy of his time for posterity, but he was himself a conservative reformer, taking what he had and making adjustments for the good of the people, yet always with an eye to preserving the integrity of the tradition he had received. The same may be said of Martin Luther.

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

July-August 2008

2008-06-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

Pirate Christian Radio

There’s no telling what the future of audio media will be, because it’s happening so fast. But it so happens that now, by a rather happy turn of events, we at St. Paul’s suddenly find ourselves on the cutting edge of it. Back in March of this year, the St. Louis radio station KFUO, which is owned by the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, abruptly and unexpectedly cancelled its most popular program, “Issues, Etc.”, hosted by Rev. Jeff Wilken and produced by Jeff Schwartz. An outcry ensued, and because of it, the program immediately became even better known, now among people who had never heard of it.

Then in May, the program found its own privately owned niche, a new radio home in Southern California. Now it would be free of Synodical shackles, but as dedicated as ever to producing sound confessional Lutheran theology on the air.

Not only on the air, as it turns out, but on the internet. Now, under the new name Pirate Christian Radio (I still haven’t found out the reason for that name), it is not merely a radio program, but a radio station, hoping to broadcast and podcast (streaming on the internet) every day, sixteen hours a day.

And, as it turns out, they need material to fill those hours. So it was that I was contacted in the middle of June by Rev. Craig Donofrio, who is now onboard there to come up with material, who had heard that I had some recorded sermons which had gained some popularity (among pastors looking to sharpen their own preaching skills by listening to others). Did I have any material to offer?

Did I? Little did he know that I had not merely sermons, but well over a year of previously recorded radio programs, each 25 minutes long! So I am right now in the process of sending these to him, that he may have material to fill the hours.

In addition, our little radio program will begin producing programs tailor-made for Pirate Christian Radio, as well as continuing to go out on our local radio station WKEI (1450 on the AM dial, 7:38 a.m. every Sunday). In short, our little program has suddenly gone into syndication! We’re going out to all the world.

Pirate Christian Radio begins broadcasting on June 30th, and its shows may be accessed all day long, in realtime, by going online to www.piratechristianradio.com. Right now they have no set scheduling, as it is very new, but we will be prominently featured, and may expect to become a regularly featured program on their station very soon. Stay tuned.

+ Pastor Eckardt

Foster Care Needed

Recent correspondence with Catholic Charities of Peoria has indicated a need for foster caregivers. Anyone interested in becoming a foster parent may contact pastor for further information and brochures.

Flowers

Our new flower lady is Trista Schoen, who has provided a flower chart for members to sign. If you wish to provide flowers for any particular weekend, check the chart and sign up. Your signature means that you will provide the flowers for that weekend, whether by contacting a florist, or by providing your own arrangement. If you wish to provide your own, please speak to Trista about how to do this.

July and August Ushers
July: Steve Peart, Grant Andresen, Larry Campbell
August: Otis Anderson, Scott Clapper, John Ricknell, Bill Thompson

Quarterly Voters Meeting
will be on the second Sunday in July (the 13nd), at 7 pm. Council to precede, at 6:30. Mark your calendars!

Private Confession is always available to anyone between 6 and 6:30 pm on these Wednesdays (and also, as always, by appointment).

Altar Guild Notes
The altar guild met on Monday, June 2nd. Among items discussed was the fact that a CD player has been placed in the sacristy to provide plainchant of psalms while altar guild members perform their duties. Follow the instructions provided and you will have meditative material to accompany your work. The next meeting is scheduled for July 7 at 6 pm. The August meeting is set for August 4 at 6 p.m.

July and August Birthdays

July:
7/1 Brittany Grier
7/2 Jean Russell
7/2 Dana McReynolds
7/4 Jacki Boswell
7/5 Sandra Verplaetse
7/7 Joyce Baetens
7/7 Andrew Clapper
7/7 Stephen Harris
7/9 Michelle Parks
7/10 Otis Anderson
7/10 Dale Baker
7/13 Gayle Beauprez
7/14 Pastor Eckardt
7/16 Robert Schoen
7/20 Julie Janik
7/23 Donna Harlow
7/24 Melinda Grier
7/29 Jack Stewart
7/20 Anna Baker
7/30 Peggy Janik

August:
8/1 Philip Beauprez
8/1 Robert Bock
8/2 Shania Kraklow
8/2 Joyce Long
8/7 Jessica Grier
8/8 Lorraine Mohr
8/9 Donald Kegebein
8/11 Samuel Fisher
8/11 Judy Thompson
8/13 Donald Murphy
8/15 Elva Garrison
8/16 Trista Schoen
8/17 Steven Peart
8/19 Amy McReynolds
8/20 Nicholas Grier
8/21 John Sovanski
8/24 Rebecca Russell
8/24 Ruth VerShaw
8/27 Leland Heaton
8/27 Steve Peart
8/30 Alyssa Van Stechelman

Calling all Singers!

Start tuning up your voice again, as the choir will be meeting for regular rehearsals again beginning the second Wednesday in August: August 13th, at approximately 7:45 pm, right after midweek mass.

We have a lot of preparation to do for Oktoberfest, which will be hear before we know it.

Make a note on your calendar! August 13th: First choir rehearsal!

July, August Anniversaries

July:
7/1/1951 John and Emilie Ricknell
7/23/1955 Donald and Carol Kegebein
7/30/1965 Jewneel and Don Walker

August:
8/2/ 1975 Raymond and Carol Robinson

Shut ins
Carole Sanders and Mary Hamilton at home; Jack Stewart, and Evelyn Heinrich at Kewanee Care; Mirilda Greiert, at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria., Mark Baker at home, and Anna Baker (temporarily) also at home.

First Monday Vespers
This service, held on the first Monday of every month, includes as a special focal emphasis prayers for this parish and her members. Anyone may attend this service, which normally lasts about 20 minutes.

The schedule for July 7th and August 4th:
6 pm Altar Guild meets in Conference Room
6:45 Vespers (open to all)
Following Vespers: Elders meet

America

Excerpt from “The Times that Try Men’s Souls,” Burnell F Eckardt Jr., Gottesdienst 2001:4

America is an historical anomaly, being the first successful experiment in civic republican liberty, though the evolution of this system of government can be traced as far back as the days of the Magna Carta (1297), whose preamble declares certain liberties under law "to the advancement of holy Church, and amendment of our Realm . . . to be kept in our kingdom of England for ever, the very first of which is that the Church of England shall be free, and shall have her whole rights and liberties inviolable." Out of the religious wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries arose the dictum cuius regio, eius religio, allowing that whoever rules a region, his is its religion. But inasmuch as this was intolerable for many who found themselves living in the wrong region, what soon evolved out of this was migration to the New World. The colonies there had been established by Englishmen who brought with them charters patterned after the Magna Carta, charters which guaranteed that they and their heirs would Ahave and enjoy all liberties and immunities of free and natural subjects.

A few generations later, when their heirs raised arms against their mother country, they were fighting not for new freedoms but to preserve liberties that dated to the thirteenth century, freedoms guaranteed by the very monarchy against whom they were now constrained to oppose, as it had by now turned tyrannical. As the Magna Carta had placed even the king beneath the law (with the king's own consent), so now, the law, in particular, English common law as evolved from the Magna Carta, dictated that their revolution was in truth not a matter of rebellion but of loyalty.

There is a kinship in spirit between that kind of thinking and the thinking of Martin Luther and his followers against the pope and the king, although in their case the loyalty was not to common law, but to the Gospel of Christ. Martin Luther was not a disobedient radical, but ever a loyal son of the Church catholic. The tyranny of the pope had robbed the people of Christ. That tyranny was itself a long time in evolving, and can be traced over hundreds of years of the enlargement of papal power. When the time was ripe for the Reformation, that power had waxed fully perverse, and the children of the Reformation learned that it was necessary for them to disavow the tyranny if they would be faithful to Christ.

It is always dangerous to paint broad historical strokes. Yet what emerges from such strokes can be both compelling and worthy of acceptation. In this case, what emerges is the case for a certain link between the Reformation and the formation of the United States of America. The link is certainly not an identification of one with the other, as we are speaking here of two separate kingdoms, pertaining to the right hand and to the left hand of God. In both cases, however, what has emerged is opposition to tyranny. When the pope placed himself above the Gospel and oppressed the churches, the churches by recourse to the Gospel recognized new bishops; when the king placed himself above the law and oppressed the people, the people by recourse to the law established new government.

This is why America is beautiful. It is not the spacious skies and amber waves of grain that are germane to her beauty, but the fact that God shed His grace on her. Nor is the grace that God shed evident in the liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. This grace is preached only in the Gospel, which the law of the land insists must have free course, that it might be preached to the joy and edifying of Christ's holy people. The republic's liberty does not guarantee that the Gospel is preached; it only allows for its preaching. But since this republic does allow for it, we must thank God for the special character of this republic, just as I'm sure Luther and his Saxon friends thanked God for Elector Frederick the Wise. There is something exceedingly good about America, in spite of all her flaws, and it is not simply her wealth or prosperity. It is the fact that she is free.

Most Americans, it is true, do not know what is most especially glorious about American freedom. Far above all other things, it is that the Gospel may sound forth here unhindered by tyranny. What the pope refused to permit, Lady Liberty insists on permitting. The Lutheran Confessors would gladly have submitted to the pope if only he would allow the Gospel. He did not, so they could not. How bitter was the struggle for their freedom only for this one thing, to have the Gospel. And here we stand, on America=s free soil, not only unhindered by tyranny, but living under a constitution which guarantees perpetual liberty from it. . . .

For my part, therefore, I will laud patriotism while rejecting all idolatry. I will count all patriots my compatriots, but I will not be partaker with men who deceive with vain words (Ephesians 5:6-7). I will kneel in my church as an American Christian, but I will stand up in the public square as a Christian American. There will I gladly wave my flag with the rest of America, as I cheer her soldiers on to victory. From childhood I have pledged allegiance to that flag, and to the republic for which it stands; we must always take our vows seriously if we are to retain our integrity. But the flag does not coerce my veneration of it; most gladly do I stand with my hand on my heart when the flag marches by, for I perceive something very good, very blessed, about this nation which transcends the sum of its parts: here my government pledges to me that its purpose is to defend me in my free confession of Christ my Lord. I would, of course, have to confess Him even if the government forbad it, as tyrannical governments often have; how much better a government it is which supports my freedom to have my convictions.

But that goodness, that freedom, is not itself the freedom of the Gospel, and therefore I will not adore the flag or its republic, nor does the flag seek to exact adoration; this one nation is rightly said to be under God, since adoration, as we know, is due only to God Himself: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Therefore I must stand opposed to every infraction of His Second Commandment: You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. My country provides me the freedom thus to stand, confessing the name of Jesus against all who would do it dishonor. For in that name alone is the salvation of the world.

The Lighter Side
These sentences actually appeared in church bulletins
or were announced in church services: They’re oldies, but they make me chuckle every time. . .

Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Methodist. Come hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.

Announcement in a church bulletin for a national PRAYER & FASTING Conference: "The cost for attending the Fasting and Prayer conference includes meals."

The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water."
The sermon tonight: "Searching for Jesus."

Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 PM in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.

"Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don't forget your husbands."

The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict.

Remember in prayer the many that are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say "hell" to someone who doesn't care much about you.

Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.

Miss Charlene Mason sang "I will not pass this way again", giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.

Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack's sermons.

During the absence of our Pastor, we enjoyed the rare privilege of hearing a good sermon when J.F. Stubbs supplied our pulpit.

The Rector will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing "Break Forth into Joy."

Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.

At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.

Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

The Lutheran men's group will meet at 6 pm. Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread and dessert will be served for a nominal feel.

Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.

Attend and you will hear an excellent speaker and heave a healthy lunch.

The church will host an evening of fine dining, superb entertainment, and gracious hostility.

Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 pm - prayer and medication to follow.

The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

This evening at 7 pm there will be a hymn sing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done.

The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.

Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use back door.

Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.

Keeping the Feast: A Study of the Holy Liturgy (continued)
The history of the liturgy
The Early Church, continued

Already as early as the end of the first century, there is evidence of a fixed order for the Eucharist. Ignatius of Antioch (d 107) insists on the one Eucharist in a way that implies a uniform rite. He renounces the Docetists, early heretics who denied the incarnation, by holding their sin to be that they abstain from the Catholic liturgy held in communion with the bishop According to Fortescue, the evidence of a constant belief among the early Fathers that even the arrangement of the liturgy was a tradition from Christ and His Apostles. Whether they were right about this is not as significant as the fact that they could not have thought so unless there was already in their time a fixed order. (Fortescue 15, 51-52).

This is not surprising, inasmuch as the heart of what it meant to be Christian was to be at worship. Anglican scholar Gregory Dix has aptly demonstrated that the very term “church” was not used in reference to the building, but rather to the solemn assembly for the liturgy, until the third century (Dix, the Shape of the Liturgy [London: Continuum, 2003; first printing 1945], 19-20).

Even though in the first three centuries there were no books or officially stereotyped rites, if we assume that very early there was primarily an oral tradition, a younger bishop when his turn came to celebrate, could do no better than to continue to use the very words, as far as he remembered them, of the venerable predecessor whose prayers the people, and perhaps himself as deacon, had so often followed and answered with reverent devotion. The strong feeling of loyalty to the mother-church from which they had received the faith is noticed in all the early missionary churches. (Fortescue, 55-56)

There is compelling evidence that the introductions of variations in the rite resulted from of a perceived need to confess against various heresies that arose. Under Leo the Great (d 461), for example, words were added to the canon to refer to the host as immaculate (sanctum sacrificium, immaculatam hostiam, Fortescue 137), no doubt directed against the Manichaeans who denied the possibility that any material substance could be good (and thus rejected the incarnation). This is also evidence that a shift in the arrangement of the canon under Pope Gelasius in the late fifth century was due to the Acacian schism. Bishop Acacia of Constantinople was a member of the Monophysite party, which believed that Jesus had only one nature; his rival John Talaia, the Catholic bishop, had been exiled to Rome, where he became friends with Gelasius, whose consequent adjustments to the Roman liturgy to conform with that of Talaia (Fortescue 164f) indicate a theological unity against Monophysitism. By the sixth century, the filioque (the addition of the words “and the Son” to the third article of the Creed) was commonly said in many places, and at the council of Toledo was given official recognition, as a common confession to emphasize the full divinity of the Son, against the recalcitrant Arian heresy that denied it; this of course is in keeping with the very formation of the Creed itself, in the fourth century, against Arius. The elevation of the host arose in France in the 13th century against the teaching of one Peter the Stammerer who held a questionable view regarding the efficacy of the Word of Institution.

In short, the shape of the liturgy can be traced to the Church’s desire to confess liturgically what she believed, in the face of heresies which denied those things.

June 2008

2008-05-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

A Feast of Title

The Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul the Apostles is June 29th. This is a very important day for our congregation, for two reasons.

First, it is what is called a Feast of the First Class. An old tradition of the church is to rank the importance of days as First, Second, Third, or Fourth. First Class Feasts are the highest. Although generally Apostles’ Days are of the Second Class—and consequently are not celebrated if they should happen to fall on a Sunday, which is of higher rank—this is not the case regarding this feast. It is of higher rank, because it is the feast of two apostles at once, and very important apostles at that. St. Peter was the leader of the Apostolic Band, and St. Paul was called Apostle to the Gentiles. Therefore the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul is a Feast of the First Class.

Secondly, for us here locally, it is called a Feast of Title. Our parish is named for St. Paul, as the icon which always graces this newsletter’s first page reminds us. Therefore, even if this feast were not a Feast of the First Class, for us it would be one.

Therefore we have twice the reason to celebrate.

How fitting that this day happens to fall on the day of our annual church picnic as well. Sunday afternoon we’ll be at the park for a day of time together (see more on this below).

The greatest part of this day will be our attendance at the altar, of course, when we feast on Christ the Bread of Life during Holy Mass. There we will also commune “with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven” – including these two great apostles.

St. Peter was among the first to suffer for the name of Jesus, and gladly did he suffer. He was imprisoned, beaten, and finally crucified. But he counted crucifixion as such a great honor that he did not think himself worthy to die in such a noble way as his Lord Jesus had died; therefore at his own request he was impaled with head downwards.

St. Paul likewise suffered greatly, though gladly, for the sake of Jesus whom he preached. Throughout his ministry he was persecuted, until finally in Rome he was martyred.

So the color for the day is red, and so we rejoice, since we know that these men were so courageous in the face of death for one reason: they had seen the risen Lord Jesus, and so were utterly convinced of His truth. They knew that they would live and reign with Him forever, and so had no fear of death – and therefore, neither need we fear the grave, having confidence in the same Lord Jesus.

So let us rejoice on June 29th: in church and in the park. A great day indeed.

+ Pastor Eckardt
To return to the St. Paul's Website, click here.

Church Picnic June 29th
Mark your calendars! Our annual church picnic is scheduled for Sunday, June 29th, at the shelterhouse at Northeast Park. We’ll head out there right after church for brats etc. as usual, and a day of frolick in the sun and some good times together.

As is also our custom, we have no Saturday evening mass that weekend, to encourage everyone to come on Sunday morning and then head out to the park.

Bring your Frisbees, your swimsuits, your tennis rackets, your bats and balls, or whatever else you’d like to bring, to have some fun.
June Ushers: Alan Kraklow (chairman), Steve Kraklow, Tom Wells, Bob Bock

June Birthdays:
6/5 Mirilda Greiert
6/5 Linda Rowe
6/11 Burnell R Eckardt
6/16 Berniece Harris
6/16 Betty Heaton
6/29 Sara Timberlake

June Anniversaries:
6/17/1967 Robert and Mary Beth Jones
6/18/1960 Sandra and John Verplaetse
6/18/1977 Rev. Fr. Burnell and Carol Eckardt
6/18/1966 Don and Sue Murphy
6/19/1977 Dana and Carol McReynolds
6/19/1966 William and Judy Thompson
6/24/1950 Leland and Betty Heaton
6/24/1989 Tony and Mindie Fisher
6/25/2005 Andy and Kristy Eckardt
6/27/1954 Monroe and Lucille Kemerling
6/27/1981 Steve and Gail Peart
6/28/1958 Dale and Anna Baker

Private Confession is always available to anyone between 6 and 6:30 pm on these Wednesdays (and also, as always, by appointment).

Altar Guild Notes
There was no meeting in May. A memo was provided for the members instead. Any member who did not get, or who lost the memo, contact pastor.

Oil candles are now being used again in the candelabra (beginning Saturday, May 24th), as we enter Ordinary Time (the Sundays after Trinity).

Trista Schoen has agreed to take over flower duties for Ruth VerShaw. Special thanks to Ruth for her years of service.

A CD player is in the sacristy with a new recording of Psalm 1, which may be played during the preparation of the altar.

Next meeting: Monday, June 1st, 6 p.m.

Shut ins
Carole Sanders and Mary Hamilton at home; Jack Stewart, and Evelyn Heinrich at Kewanee Care; Mirilda Greiert, at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Leland Heaton at Toulon Care Center; Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria., Mark Baker at home, and Anna Baker (temporarily) also at home.

Thank you
Dear members of the St. Paul council,

As a senior now, I would like to thank you for making the Kersten Fund available to me as a scholarship in the past four years. It has been extremely helpful to me in receiving a great undergraduate education at Augustana College. My education here, with majors in German and Music and a minor in Classics, has been preparing me well for my future studies at the seminary. I am very excited to be graduating soon and to be starting a new chapter in my life. Thank you again!

Sincerely, Peter Eckardt

Gottesdienst
The Trinity issue of Gottesdienst had another beautiful cover, to match the quality contents on the inside.

Copies of the journal are still available in the narthex. Feel free to take one.

Better yet, why not subscribe to the journal sponsored by your own parish. Four times a year, Gottesdienst aims to kindle a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the Divine Service and the Holy Gospel in which our Holy and Triune God enlightens us with His gifts, sanctifies, and keeps us in the true faith.

A one year’s subscription is only $15 (four issues); $25 gets you two years. To get yours, see pastor or log on at www.gottesdienst.org.

First Monday Vespers
This service, held on the first Monday of every month, includes as a special focal emphasis prayers for this parish and her members. Anyone may attend this service, which normally lasts about 20 minutes.

The schedule for June 2nd :
6 pm Altar Guild meets in Conference Room
6:45 Vespers (open to all)
Following Vespers: Elders meet

Pastor doing some teaching on the side

A teaching opportunity has recently presented itself for Pastor. Starting on June 9th, he’ll be teaching a Philosophy 101 course at the Blackhawk East campus.

This has resulted a temporary schedule change for the Tuesday nursing home communion schedule. For June and July it is moved to 11 a.m.

This course, according to college’s contact person, is usually taught by a local minister.

Pastor has also been teaching an online World Religions course in connection with John Wood Community College in Quincy, Illinois.

Fifteenth annual CCA Symposium on Catechesis

Each year in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the Concordia Catechetical Academy holds a three-day symposium on catechesis. This year’s topic is “The Sanctity of Life: Catechesis under the Fifth Commandment.” The Conference is set for June 18-20. Pastor Eckardt will be in attendance. For details, see him, or log on at www.peacesussex.org/CCA.

The Lighter Side

Church Announcement
There is the story of a preacher who got up one Sunday and announced to his congregation: "I have good news and bad news. The good news is, we have enough money to pay for our new building program. The bad news is, it's still out there in your pockets."
________________________________________
Instruction about Church
A Sunday school teacher asked the children just before she dismissed them to go to church, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?"
Annie replied, "Because people are sleeping."
________________________________________
The Sermon Preparation
A boy was watching his father, a pastor, write a sermon.
"How do you know what to say?" he asked.
"Why, God tells me."
"Oh, then why do you keep crossing things out?"
________________________________________
Bible Lesson
A Sunday School teacher asked her class why Joseph and Mary took Jesus with them to Jerusalem.
A small child replied: "They couldn't get a baby sitter."
________________________________________
The Ten Commandments
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to "honor thy father and thy mother," she asked,"Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"
Without missing a beat one little boy answered, "Thou shall not kill."
________________________________________
The Creation of Wives
At Sunday School they were teaching how God created everything, including human beings. Little Johnny seemed especially intent when they told him how Eve was created out of one of Adam's ribs. Later in the week his mother noticed him lying down as though he were ill, and said, "Johnny, what is the matter?"
Little Johnny responded, "I have pain in my side. I think I'm going to have a wife."
________________________________________
Money for the Pastor
A little boy was given a five dollar bill to put in the collection plate. When the offering came around, he wouldn't put it in. But after the end of the service, when he went to shake the pastor's hand, he pulled out the five dollar bill and gave it to the pastor. The pastor asked him, "Why are you giving me this money? Why didn't you put it in the offering plate?"
And the boy answered, "Because my mommy told me you're the poorest pastor we've ever had!"

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

The history of the liturgy

The Early Church

In 1912, Roman Catholic historian Adrian Fortescue published an admirable study on the history of the liturgy, under the unassuming title The Mass: A Study of the Roman Liturgy. His meticulous attention to historical data makes the modest size of the work deceiving, and demonstrates the intensity of his desire to show that his work is all carefully documented: “Nothing is more useless or irritating than a vague allusion to early use or medieval practice, without a reference to control it” (Fortescue, x).

What Fortescue proceeds to show beyond all doubt is that the early liturgies were not created out of sheer cloth. The church was the outgrowth of the synagogue, and did not arise in a vacuum. Pentecost was not really the birth, but the transformation of the church.

What is especially informative about his accounts of the liturgy from Rome, Gaul, Africa, Alexandria, and Antioch, is that they all show a remarkable uniformity, at least to a basic structural outline containing first a ‘synaxis’, i.e., a ‘synagoguing’, or gathering for worship, based in a synagogue service and containing readings, psalms, hymns, prayers, almsgiving, profession of faith, and kiss of peace. Then followed a ‘Eucharist proper’, including a prayer of thanksgiving, the blessing of bread and wine, prayers of remembrance, and the eating and drinking. “The details developed naturally, the prayers and formulas, eventually the ceremonial actions crystallized into set forms. But the service is always the same. Different arrangements of subsidiary parts, greater insistence on certain elements in various places produced different liturgies; but all go back eventually to this outline” (Fortescue 6-7).

Fortescue quotes St. Clement (d 101) to demonstrate that the first century prayers “that everyone admits to be full of liturgical forms . . . a regulated order for the worship of God.” He quotes from Clement’s well-known First Epistle to the Corinthians, written about a.d 98:

We must do all things that the Lord told us to do at stated times, in proper order. For he commanded that the offerings and services should be performed, not rashly nor in disorder, put at fixed times and hours. And he himself by his most high will arranged where and by whom they should be celebrated, so that everything should be done piously according to his command and should be agreeable to his will. Therefore those who make their offerings at the appointed times are well pleasing and blessed; they follow the command of the Lord and do not err. To the high priest his own services are appointed; a special place is given to the priests, and levites [i.e. deacons] have their offices. The layman is commanded by lay laws. Each of us, brothers, should please God honourably in his own place with a good conscience, not transgressing the appointed order of his services. (Chapters 40-41, quoted in Fortescue, 11-12).

What may be noted about this remarkable passage is that in Clement’s commendation of good order (Gk: taxis), there is an easily discernable echo of the counsel of the Apostle St. Paul, who also exhorted, “Let all things be done decently and in order (kata taxin, I Corinthans 14:40), and who spoke of “joying and beholding your order” (taxis, Colossians 2:5). The former reference is set within an unmistakably liturgical context.

(Incidentally it is also clear that for Clement a kind of hierarchy is already in place—not only the distinction between clergy and laity, but even a distinction between various ranks of clergy. A hierarchical arrangement seems in some way to be part and parcel of what good order meant to one writing less than fifty years after St. Paul. The purpose for the hierarchy was in any event clear: to contribute to the good order of worship.)

The evidence presented by Fortescue serves to dispel the notion that the liturgy of the apostolic age was one in which liturgical life was free-flowing and without form. The Church’s liturgy was essentially that of the synagogue, though now with its fulfillment and completion in view. As the name and revelation of God were incomplete until Christ came, so the liturgy of the faithful was incomplete until His arrival. From the days of His resurrection, therefore, these Jews who worshiped Him now began to do so from a new perspective.

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May 2008

2008-05-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

ON TONGUES OF FIRE

What is the meaning of those cloven tongues of fire resting on the heads of the apostles on Pentecost Day? It would be easy to give a quick, knee-jerk answer and think nothing more: Well, it just shows that they were on fire for the Lord! -or some such unthinking commentary. But the Scriptures do not lend themselves to such a notion. Indeed the Scriptures warn against unbridled emotionalism, saying, He that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly (Prov. 14.29).

So what can we say about these divided, fiery tongues? The Scriptures consistently show us that fire is found in connection with judgment. Many pagan cities whom Joshua's army overran were to be burned with fire; Sodom was destroyed with fire; John the Baptist speaks of fire in connection with the imagery of the Son of Man coming to judge the earth (Matthew 3); and finally, fire shall destroy the earth at the Last Day. Therefore it would be better for us to think of the tongues of fire to be, first of all, a picture of judgment.

Yet this is also the coming of the Holy Ghost, as John had said, He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire. So also John had been baptizing all Jerusalem who came to him repenting of their sins, and John refused to baptize the Pharisees in their hardness of heart; he denied them this means to flee from the coming wrath (St. Matthew 3).

Now, on Pentecost, the Spirit comes to the Apostles, and they begin from that day to preach and to baptize. Here, then, is the significance of the fact that the tongues were cloven, that is, split in two. As the tongues were in two parts, so the apostolic preaching would have two parts: first, of law and judgment; second, of Gospel and the grace of God. Since the Judgment is coming, therefore everyone must acknowledge and repent of his sinfulness; those who do will then be ready to hear of Christ, and of Baptism in His name, as a means of fleeing from the coming wrath, into the arms of mercy.

So Pentecost marks not only the birth of the Church, but the birth of the preaching of the Gospel, for this preaching is God's means of bringing life to the Church. This very thought is reflected well in the Fifth Article of the Augsburg Confession: That we may obtain this faith, God has instituted the Preaching-Office to give us the Gospel and the Sacraments. Moreover, all Christian preaching must be cloven, that is, divided between law and Gospel. For the law must be preached to show us our sins and the wrath of God; then the Gospel must be preached to show us our Savior and the grace of God. By this preaching the Church is born and lives, for, as the Apostle declares, the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes.

+ Pastor Eckardt

TRINITY IN UNITY AND UNITY IN TRINITY

The Church has since its early centuries known and confessed three ecumenical creeds. To call a creed ecumenical is to say it has always belonged to the whole church, and has always been recognized by the whole church as belonging to the whole church. Oekomene is a Greek word meaning the whole inhabited earth. So the ecumenical creeds are creeds which the whole church has recognized since the early centuries. These three creeds are the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. Of these three, the Athanasian Creed is the least well-known, probably because it is the youngest and the longest. It is a long-held tradition that the Church will reserve Trinity Sunday (the Sunday after Pentecost) to confess the Athanasian Creed, since it is such a full and careful confession of the Triune God.

It is named after the early father Athanasius, though it was not actually written by him. Yet is said to be fittingly named for him, since he was a stalwart defender of the doctrine of the Trinity. For there have been numerous trinitarian controversies in the history of the Church. There were some who denied that God is one, saying, rather, that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are three distinct deities. Others denied that God is three Persons, likewise failing to understand who Jesus is, for they said he was not one with the Father, that he was not the same God, not the one by whom the heavens and earth were made. As a result of these errors, one could be found thinking that the Son, Jesus, is less than the Father, and that therefore his humiliation was not as profound as it was. In short, the Gospel itself is at stake whenever there is a false confession of the Godhead.

Therefore the Church confesses that the whole three persons are coeternal together and coequal, so that in all things, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshiped. And since this is the faith of the whole Christian Church, that is, of all times, therefore it is rightly called catholic, a word which means "according to the whole." So we confess that this is the catholic faith which, except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.

+ Pastor Eckardt

Food for Thought from Cyril of Alexandria (5th Century)

“[C]ertain monks were propagating [the theory] to the effect that the eucharistic elements lost their efficacy if they were reserved in the churches after the liturgy had finished, and in response Cyril restated his lifelong concern for the importance of orthodox eucharistic theology: ‘They are insane who say these things. Christ is not altered, nor is the holy body changed, but the power of this consecration, his life-giving grace, is perpetual in his body.’ ” (“Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy” by John McGuckin (SVS, 2004), 121-122).

Welcome Back Jim Watson

On Rogate Sunday, 27 April, we were pleased to receive back into membership by transfer our old friend Jim Watson. Jim, who is married and lives on Zang Avenue in town, has been attending regularly on Wednesdays for some time. Welcome back, Jim!

Work Day Saturday, May 10th; Mowing Volunteers Sought

Cleaning and repairs inside and out; please let your trustees know you are coming and what you want to do so we can have items ready that you will need. Items that could use some care: Outside – painting trim, bushes trimmed, yard raked, windows washed. Inside – replace some tile in gym; spring cleaning in church balcony, and in church basement. If you see something that needs to be done and you want to do it just let us know.

Also we need to set up people to do mowing. We’d like people to sign up for a month at a time, or maybe two people could work together; should take less than an hour. We would like to thank everyone who helped with the last clean up day.

– Your Trustees.

Mark your calendars!

The Church Picnic is coming soon!
Come one! Come all!

When? Sunday, the 29th of June, right after church (Unity Sunday: one service, at 9:00CSt. Peter and St. Paul the Apostles= Day), about 11:30 a.m., until whenever.

Where? At the Northeast Park Shelterhouse

What to bring? Your own table service,
A dish to pass,
Any bats and balls you want to bring,
Frisbees, etc., and, most importantly,
Swimsuit if you want to swim
Tennis racquet if you want to play tennis
Deck of cards, etc.
A happy face.

What to expect? Games and fun.
Drinks will be provided.

May Ushers
Otis Anderson Scott Clapper, John Ricknell, Bill Thompson

May Anniversaries
5/17/1959 Allan and Barbra Kraklow
5/19/1979 Chuck and Jean Russell
5/22/1976 Ed and Lynn Woller
5/27/1961 Duane and Carole Sanders
5/28/1982 Christine and Garry Erickson
5/28/1977 John and Charlene Sovanski

May Birthdays
5/2 Sheri Kraklow
5/6 Emilie Ricknell
5/10 William Thompson
5/16 John Eckardt
5/17 Jeffery Boswell
5/27 Donald Clapper
5/31 Justin Van Stechelman

Private Confession is always available to anyone between 6 and 6:30 pm on these Wednesdays (and also, as always, by appointment).

Important Events
Pentecost
Sunday, May 11th, 9:00 a.m.
Vigil of Pentecost Saturday, May 10th, at 5:30 p.m.
Pentecost Midweek
Wednesday, May 14th (The Pentecost Octave is of the First Class)
Trinity
Sunday, May 18th., 9:00 a.m. (and prior Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
First Monday Vespers
This service, held on the first Monday of every month, includes as a special focal emphasis prayers for this parish and her members. Anyone may attend this service, which normally lasts about 20 minutes.

May 5th Monday evening meetings are cancelled, as Pastor will be out of town.

Shut ins

Carole Sanders and Mary Hamilton at home; Jack Stewart, and Evelyn Heinrich at Kewanee Care; Mirilda Greiert, at Courtyard Estates; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Betty Heaton at Toulon Care Center; Jane Melchin at Lutheran Home, Peoria., Mark Baker at home, and Anna Baker (temporarily) also at home. Monroe Kemerling is laid up at Henry-Hammond Hospital in Geneseo, as he recovers from hip surgery.

Adopt-a-Bill

At our Voters’ Assembly, Adopt-a-Bill was discussed as a small way to help out the finances. Envelopes will be posted in the narthex and in the hallway.

Members may take a look at them, and determine to remove a “bill” (the amount and purpose is listed on an envelope) to “adopt.” For instance, someone might see that the candles cost so much to replenish; that person could adopt the bill, agreeing to pay the amount by inserting payment into the envelope and the envelope into the next offering plate. One may also simply turn it in to the secretary.

Members who do this are kindly requested not to reduce their regular offerings to offset this, however, since that would defeat the purpose.

The Lighter Side

At the Wedding
Attending a wedding for the first time, a little girl whispered to her mother, "Why is the bride dressed in white?"
"Because white is the color of happiness, and today is the happiest day of her life."
The child thought about this for a moment, then said "So why is the groom wearing black?"
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Late for Bible Class
A little girl, dressed in her Sunday best, was running as fast as she could, trying not to be late for Bible class. As she ran she prayed, "Dear Lord, please don't let me be late! Dear Lord, please don't let me be late!"
While she was running and praying, she tripped on a curb and fell, getting her clothes dirty and tearing her dress. She got up, brushed herself off, and started running again. As she ran she once again began to pray, "Dear Lord, please don't let me be late...But please don't shove me either!"
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New in Church
After the service a young couple talked to a church member about joining the church. He hadn't met the husband before, and he asked what church he was transferring from.
After a short hesitation, he replied,"I am transferring from the Municipal Golf Course."

The Sermon
A little girl became restless as the preacher's sermon dragged on and on. Finally, she leaned over to her mother and whispered, "Mommy, if we give him the money now, will he let us go?"
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The Boasting Boys
Three boys are in the schoolyard bragging about their fathers. The first boy says, "My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, they give him $50."
The second boy says, "That's nothing. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a song, they give him $100."
The third boy says, "I got you both beat. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a sermon. And it takes eight people to collect all the money!"
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Funeral Instructions
An elderly woman died last month. Having never married, she requested no male pallbearers. In her handwritten instructions for her memorial service, she wrote, "They wouldn't take me out while I was alive, I don't want them to take me out when I'm dead."

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

Post-Communion
It is appropriate that the altar be left neat and in order following the distribution of the Sacrament, and that attention to ceremonial detail be kept throughout the Mass, in keeping with the fact that this is the highest of all kinds of feasts. The Apostolic admonition that all things be done decently and in order (I Corinthians 14:40) should certainly apply first to all things pertaining to the distribution of the Blessed Sacrament.

Yet the post-communion (also called the Thanksgiving) has always been brief, as is fitting, since any extended liturgical ceremonies after the reception of the Sacrament would have the effect of making it anticlimactic. The tenor of thankfulness for the rich and free Gifts received is evident here, yet the emphasis remains on the Gifts themselves.

The post-communion generally includes the canticle Nunc Dimittis, a versicle and closing collect, the Benedicamus, and the Benediction.

The most salient part of the post-communion is seen in its references to peace. Peace was encountered first in the Gloria in Excelsis (which some traditions have unfortunately moved to this last part, thus affecting adversely the balance latent in the tradition); this anticipated the great Pax (Latin for Peace), during which Host and Cup were held forth while the celebrant announced, “The Peace of the Lord be with you alway,” in likeness to Jesus’ words in the upper room on Easter. Now peace reappears in the Nunc Dimittis (“Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace . . .”), and is referenced last of all in the Benediction (whose last word is “peace”).
The Nunc Dimittis was not originally part of the Mass, but is properly a canticle first seen liturgically in the Office of Compline (prayers at the close of the day), from which it was imported into Vespers in the Lutheran rite. It began to appear in certain German orders of the sixteenth century, following the precedent set by the ancient Mozarbic Liturgy (Reed, 379).

Its appropriateness as a post-communion canticle is easily discerned, as it is of course the song of Simeon, who held the Child Jesus in his arms and declared then his complete readiness to die in peace. This is most helpful for communicants to sing, therefore, inasmuch as now that we have likewise receive Christ at the altar, in every sense as real a manner, we too are privileged to make the same declaration: we too can die in peace, for our Salvation is with us. Whereas Simeon declared that his “eyes” have seen God’s Salvation, in fact it was the Gospel which informed his eyes that this Child they beheld was the Incarnate God. So too, the Gospel informs our eyes and senses that the Sacrament they see and perceive is indeed the same Christ, the Salvation of God.

The versicle, “Oh give thanks unto the LORD for he is good, and his mercy endureth forever,” though found in several Psalms, is taken contextually from I Chronicles 16, where it is seen to be part of a festive response to the placing of the ark of the covenant in the tent. Since likewise now Christ has sacramentally established His dwelling among His people, the singing of this versicle is most appropriate. Its use at this point in the Service comes from a Coburg order of 1626 (ibid., 383).
The use of a standard and invariable collect here, the most common being that composed by Martin Luther, is a kind of Lutheran revision to the custom of the early Eastern liturgies as distinct from Rome, which has at this point a variable collect, proper to the day. Luther’s “We give thanks to Thee, Almighty God, that Thou hast refreshed us . . .” is from his German Mass of 1526, employing similar expressions from earlier texts.

The Benedicamus (“V: Bless we the Lord. R: Thanks be to God.”) recaps the same idea, and the use of the passive “thanks be” rather than the active “we give thanks” serves to emphasize the entirely gracious nature of God’s gift, as the first person is removed altogether from the utterance, and consequently more glory implicitly expressed to God who is being thanked.

The Benediction, which in Lutheran usage is the Aaronic Blessing (“The LORD bless thee and keep thee . . . ,” Numbers 6:24-26”), is reserved for Mass alone; it is not used at any of the prayer offices. It is the final sacramental feature of the Mass. This Old Testament passage has a distinctly Trinitarian flavor, being a threefold blessing from “the LORD” who is, nevertheless, one Lord, one God. Moreover it has the effect of imparting this unity to the hearers, and making them one in the one God, by referring to them (who are plural, the people of God) in the collective singular person (“Thee”). This provides a subtle reminder to the people that they are also one, the body of Christ, thought this finer point of the liturgy is only heard where the King James English, with its distinction between the singular and the plural second person is maintained.

Although there is a strong tradition which holds that the arms of the celebrant are not extended for the benediction, but rather that only the right hand is
extended to make the sign of the cross, it is also helpful to remember the more venerable tradition, dating to Moses himself, of extending both arms in the blessing of the people. The manner in which they are extended ought to cruciform, therefore, and not directly out toward the people. This is in imitation of Moses himself, as we know from the fact that when his arms became heavy, Aaron and Hur supported them on either side (Exodus 17:12). That is, Moses’ arms were cruciform, in anticipation of the extension of Christ’s (“heavy”) arms on the cross, and the celebrant’s arms are likewise cruciform, in rememberence of the same.

When the benediction is nearly complete, the celebrant lowers his left arm, and with the right makes the sign of the cross, at the very conclusion holding his pose for just a moment, a subtle reminder to the people of what he is in this function, namely a living icon of Christ Himself.

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