ON MAKING THE GOSPEL INTO ANOTHER LAW
The devil will never stop trying new tricks, new ways to snare people for his domain, as it is written, The serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field. And again, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
In order to do this, he must remove the Gospel from the hearts of the hearers. If the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ our Lord can be snatched away, the devil will succeed, as Jesus said, the devil snatches away that which was sown (Mt 13.19).
Now it is also written that the devil disguises himself as an angel of light. So what is to be expected, but that he will be very attracted to the ploy of making the Gospel into another Law? This he does very well, and craftily, as can easily be seen.
Take, for example, Advent. During Advent’s days, the theme is penitence and expectation of the coming of Christ. We hear readings which prepare us both for Christmas and for the return of Christ in glory. That is, we hear the Gospel, which declares, in the words of St. John the Baptist, that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. So the appropriate response to this is repentance, as he said, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. To repent is to confess one’s sins and to believe in the announcement of absolution and forgiveness. In this way our hearts learn to be staid on Christ and His abundant mercy.
But what has the devil done with this? How crafty he is, who now pretends to agree, saying, O Yes, surely you will want to be Christ-centered, but what about the importance of sharing this Gospel? Don’t you want it shared with others? And of course, we do, for the Gospel is for all the world. So next he suggests that the real heart of the Gospel is to go out and share this news. And who can argue against the sharing of the Good News?
But what has really happened? By a subtle sleight-of-hand, now the Gospel has become something you must do, namely, share the Good News. And alas, for how will we ever be able to say that we have done this (or anything) as well as we ought? As soon as it is something I do which is central to the Gospel, then the Gospel becomes infected. Now I must wonder whether the necessary work of God is being or has been accomplished, for I can never be sure whether I have done it well. Heaven save us from this treachery! For the Gospel must always be Jesus Christ, but now trickery has made it ultimately about me, for it is I who must go out and tell the Gospel to other people, in order for it to be effective. Thanks be to God, this is not so!
It’s really a version of the old catch-22 at work: People come to churches and hear this message: Go out and tell people about Jesus, and bring them in! —which in itself is a worthwhile enough thing to do, but since this command has so saturated everything in these churches, what one actually hears about Jesus ends up being very little, for the knowledge of Jesus has been shoved aside by the constant drumming of tell, tell, tell! Moreover, whenever someone is successful in bringing some newcomer, what does the newcomer hear? More drumming: Tell, tell, tell! And thus the devil succeeds, for Jesus Christ imself is shoved out of view.
Rather, let us learn of Him, for He is gentle and lowly of heart, and we shall find rest for our souls. Let us learn of His mercy, how He clothes us poor sinners in His righteousness and purity, making us fully acceptable to God without our having done anything well. It is he who has done all things well, and who then gives to his people the credit for this, which is received by faith alone.
And when this Gospel is taken in and takes deep root, all the works of faith will follow.
For the Gospel is not tell, tell, tell, but Christ, Christ, and only Christ.
Far better, this Christmas, would it be for you simply to ponder the Christ-child Himself, than to hear some pep-talk about how the shepherds went out and shared with people, so now you should go and do likewise. Better to hear “To you is born this day a Savior,” than to hear “Tell, tell, tell!” For even the shepherds who went out and told what they had heard and seen needed no one to harangue them, saying, tell, tell, tell! All they needed was Christ in His manger.
+Pastor Eckardt
Reprinted from December 1997
St. Andrews Mass Dec. 2
St. Andrew’s Day is actually November 30th, but to enable more members to attend mass, we will observe it on the following Wednesday, at our regular 7 p.m time. Join us!
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
December Anniversaries
None
Shut ins
Mary Hamilton, Carole Sanders, Mark Baker, and Anna Baker at home; Mirilda Greiert at Kewanee Care; Ila Scaife at Courtyard Estates; Ruth Melchin at Hillcrest Home; Don Clapper and Ruth Snider at Royal Oaks; Elva Garrison at Avon Nursing Home.
Choir Rehearsals during December
O
ur Wednesday choir rehearsals during December are especially important as we prepare for our annual Christmas Choral Vespers, which is to be held the Sunday after Christmas, January 2nd. Choir members make every effort to attend them all. On Wednesday, December 30th, there is no mass scheduled, so choir rehearsal will begin at 7 pm. If our rehearsals run well through the month we will not need an extra one on Saturday the 2nd.
First Monday Dec. 7
On Monday, December 7th, Altar Guild meets as usual at 6 p.m., and Elders at 7:15 p.m. Between them is First Monday Vespers, conveniently placed so both groups can attend. All members are invited to attend.
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
Altar Guild Notes
Advent begins the last Sunday in November. The four Advent Sundays’ color is violet. If roses are obtained, they may be placed on the Third Sunday in Advent, December 13th.
The three Christ Masses will be held as usual, 7 pm Christmas Eve, 12 midnight, and 10 am Christmas Day.
St. Andrew’s Day will be observed Wednesday, December 2. Color is red. St. Stephen’s Day will be observed Saturday evening, December 26th. Color is red.
The Circumcision and Name of Jesus will be observed on New Year’s Eve, Thursday the 31st, at 7 pm. Color is White.
There is no mass scheduled for Tuesday morning December 29th or Wednesday evening December 30th.
Private Confession is always available to anyone between 6 and 6:30 pm on these Wednesdays, and also, as always, by appointment.
Advent for the church is a time of penitential preparation for the coming of Christ. It’s helpful to remember this as we also prepare our households for Christmas. Unlike the commercial and secular world, the Church’s celebration of Christmas begins with Christmas, and runs the twelve days of Christmas, until Epiphany (note, for instance, that our Christmas Choral Vespers is after Christmas). Advent has historically been a season of fasting, though not as profound a fast as in Lent. Some have fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays during Advent, others in other ways. The finest way to prepare for the coming of Christ is by contrition and confession (see the paragraph above this one).
Mark your calendars!
Christmas Choral Vespers
and
An Epiphany retreat:
two Days of Theological Reflection
3-5 January 2010
Our annual and festive Christmas Choral Vespers will be held on Sunday night, the 3rd of January, which is the Sunday after Christmas. Mark your calendar right away so you don’t forget it. Come out to support your choir and hear some lovely Christmas music.
The next two days we will be having another Days of Theological Reflection. On Monday and Tuesday, the 4th and 5th of January, from 8:30 – 3:30, our twelfth retreat in the series will focus on King Solomon. This retreat’s theme is
“He Shall Sit upon My Throne in My Stead.”
We’ll examine the first eleven chapters of the book of 1 Kings, with an eye to finding Christ there, as He himself said of the Scriptures, “They testify of me.”
Sunday evening’s 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 to play December 19th
Come see your pastor and subdeacon and a motley group of jazz aficionados perform at a community Christmas Party on Saturday night, December 19th, at the Flemish-American Club, for three hours from 7 till 10 pm. Pastor Eckardt is the pianist, and Steve Harris brings his tenor sax. There’s a cover charge, but it should be worth the fun!
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.
Catechesis now offered twice a week
Scheduling conflicts have led to the temporary provision of two opportunities to attend weekly catechesis. During the month of December, it will be offered both on Wednesdays at 4:30 pm and Saturdays at 9 am. Catechumens are required to attend one or the other, 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.
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 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, though of course not in Latin. That is not to say it is 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.
Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
November 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
October 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
September 2009
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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
May 2009
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
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
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
April 2009
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
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
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