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Devotion
on the Verse of the Month for July
Jesus Christ says: Him who comes to me
I will not cast out.
John 6, 37
Dear Members and Friends of Martin Luther Church,
just as
the soccer match reaches its high point and tension is unbearable, the
doorbell rings. I open the door. A man from the telephone company is
there and wants to recommend a new service to me. I do something which
actually even surprises me; I tell him that I really have not time for
him and shut the door. When I, a little while later, after the end of
the game – unfortunately, the German team lost – read the verse of the
month for this newsletter, I reflect on how this young man must have
felt. Many soccer fans live in my neighbourhood, and I can well imagine
that either nobody opened the door or that he faced more rejections “No
time!”
– “Come back another day!” – For his and my consolation, I tell myself
that I already have what he intended to offer me. In any case, there was
no business here for him. Furthermore, I hesitate to sign a contract at
the door. – Still, in retrospect I feel somewhat sorry for him. It is
not nice to have a door closed in one’s face. After all, everybody who
rings a doorbell has at least the expectation that the door will be
opened. Who likes to be turned away? – People are looking for Jesus.
Finally, they find him at the shore of the lak e, and he talks to them
about the “bread of life”. In this paragraph it is about following him
and about finding in him everything that we need. In the middle of that,
then this sentence, our verse of the month “Him who comes to me I will
not cast out”. What this means is that Jesus is always there for us. No
matter when we come – it can be in the middle of the night – at a time
when we need comfort or at the end of our life, when we finally deal
with our death and our faith. It is a certainty that Jesus will not slam
the door in our face or ask “What do you want here?” Jesus turns no one
away and excludes no one. He has always time for us. Jesus does not know
a sign like the one seen here. He is continually “open”.
With best regards for the months of July and August,
your Pastor Stefan Wolf
 "Inspiration"
As we walk along the path of life,
we often only see the necessities of the day until something crosses our
way to inspire us. This is what happened to me last fall when a friend
said: Let’s run a marathon together. I had been training my regular 5km,
3 or 4 times a week and thought: It just might work! Weeks and many
additional training hours later my friend hurt herself and couldn’t run
anymore. I wasn’t sure if I should continue by myself. In the midst of
my struggle for an answer our congregation had the annual meeting and I
got inspired for the second time on my way to run a marathon. The old
age home has been on our congregation’s wish list for a long time and
since a marathon takes a long time, I figured it could symbolically
stand for achieving this goal. This is where you entered the picture.
The run wasn’t about me anymore, it became “us”. During the past 6 weeks
I’ve noticed how much you all carried me with your prayers, well wishes
and belief. You were with me in spirit, and you were my inspiration. The race is behind me. Your cheers
heard over the phone are engraved in my memory and so are many lessons
learned along the way. Just to
mention a few:
1)
Get inspired, you never know where it might
lead to.
2)
For inspiration, one should really attend
the annual meeting, it works.
3)
It doesn’t matter how fast or slow you are,
- keep moving towards the finish line.
4)
There are obstacles along the way.
Don’t give up!
To finish on a funny note, this is
what a good friend wrote:
How is our Marathon SURVIVOR?
I'm sure it took a lot of WILL & GRACE
to complete this AMAZING RACE!
My answer: Pain is temporary,
finishing is forever. Thank you for your support and for carrying me
when the knees buckled. In spirit,
Iris Schweiger
Anmerkung:
Iris hat für den
Altenheimfonds der Gemeinde fast $ 2.000 „erlaufen“ – was für eine
großartige Idee und was für eine großartige Leistung! Ihr gebührt unsere
Anerkennung und Gratulation.
What will happen now?
…some
of you may have asked, after you received the letter in which it said
that Pastor Wolf and his family will return to Germany in August of next
year, that is in 2007(!). There is now one year left to find a suitable
Pastor for the congregation.
In detail,
the following steps have been taken so far:
·
In May Pastor Wolf has informed per letter,
besides the Church Council and the congregation, also the Bishop of the
Eastern Synod, Michael Pryse, and the „Außenamt der Evangelischen Kirche”
in Germany, EKD, of his decision to leave the congregation.
·
A committee was formed of Church Council
members, which will look after all necessary formal steps, (writing
letters, providing general information regarding the congregation,
telephone conversations with church offices.) Edmund Scholz,
Ernst-August Wienecke, Hans-Joachim Arndt and Heinz Gutsch belong to
this committee. The Church Council and the congregation will be kept
continually informed of all developments.
·
Members of this committee have met with
Bishop Pryse in Kitchener on June 8th, to find out how he views the
filling of the vacancy and if there may be suggestions for candidates
from the Synod. Bishop Pryse has clearly indicated that the Synod
cannot, at the moment, recommend suitable candidates. Due to the
bilingualism of the congregation, he advised to introduce the
application process through the EKD in Germany.
·
The Church Council has in its meeting on
June 14th discussed letters, which were then sent to the EKD and the
Eastern Synod, to introduce the application process.
·
Oberkirchenrat Weigand has per telephone
confirmed the receipt of the letters from Pastor Wolf and the Church
Council. He has forwarded the application to fill the vacancy in the
pastoral office by the EKD to the Council of the EKD.
·
The next step is to remit a congregational
profile with pictures of the church and the parsonage to the EKD.
The following is important:
·
The committee will immediately invite to a
congregational meeting as soon as decisions concerning the congregation
must be made.
·
The congregation will receive information
of the progress of events through announcements and the newsletter.
·
It is a transparent process following a
defined procedure.
·
So far, it was about contacting the
involved church offices.
·
Pastor Wolf will assist in the compiling of
information and producing of a congregational profile, but will not
participate in the decision regarding the successor. He has made it
clear that this is the business of the congregation.
In case you
have questions, please contact the members of the Church Council and the
above mentioned committee.
For the
Church Council and the Search Committee
Edmund Scholz,
President
 Mourning
for Karl-Ernst Kriese
He was a
long-standing member of the congregation and the Church Choir,
furthermore for decades responsible for the flowers on the altar and the
Advent wreath in the church. Mr. Kriese died suddenly and unexpectedly
on June 23rd at the age of 78 years, just a few months after the death
of his wife Erna. It is a great loss for the family and the
congregation. The funeral service took place at the church on June 27th,
2006.
Many congregational members said farewell to a friend and fellow member.
We mourn for him and wish the family comfort and assure them of our
support.
Congregational Picnic in Retrospect
The weather
was wonderful for our congregational picnic at Camp Edgewood. The Sunday
School children have once again presented a Biblical story „The
Conversion of Paul“ in an impressive way. The guests enjoyed their
lunch and felt invigorated. After that, four groups portrayed scenes
from Biblical stories for all picnic participants. This was informative
and funny. Then there ware activities for children, a puppet show and
the obligatory soccer match. Many thanks to all who were involved in the
preparations.
 Mona
Frantzke took official leave after leading Choir for 23 years
Mona
Frantzke has now put down her conductor’s hands. After directing the
Church Choir for 23 years, she was officially recognized in the church
service at Pentecost. The President of the Church Council thanked her
for her many years of faithful work, and a gift from the choir and the
congregation was presented to her. Mona, once again we thank you
cordially for your service and wish you the best and God’s blessing for
the future!
Thank you to the "Edelweiβ"
Choir
On June 11th,
the “Edelweiß”
Choir, who regularly practices in our church, has presented to us a
beautiful concert with homely melodies from Austria. The program was
livened up by humorous stories and poems, which the choir leader Manfred
Petz recited. After the hour-long program, the president of the choir,
Helmut Gschoesser, thanked the congregation. It was a successful
afternoon. Once again, our cordial thanks to the choir!
Thank you!
My family and
I want to thank the congregation for the completely sympathetic reaction
to our leaving the congregation. The decision, to leave the congregation,
was not easy. We knew that we would disappoint expectations. But many have
accepted this step, which is not to be meant against the work and
decidedly not against the people here, but which, in spite of the decrease
in positions in the church in Germany, opens a professional perspective.
As some people have not completely understood what my exact duties will
actually be in future, I want to explain this briefly here. I will
continue to be active as Pastor in the „Lippische Landeskirche“, however,
on a voluntary basis, conduct church services and be able to contribute my
experience to the work in the regional church. In what way this may
happen, has not yet been established. As manager of the foundation, I earn
our livelihood and will initiate programs for students in the region of
Eastern Westphalia and be responsible for awarding stipends and prizes to
university students. This work is concerned with the creation of
educational projects and the development of occupational perspectives for
youth and young adults. The foundation will place more importance on
social projects in 2007. I will be able to take advantage of the various
contacts to persons in responsible positions, which have already existed
before. That means, that I can help in doing good as before and to move
people.
Joint
Remembrance Service for Pastor Eberhard W. Schwantes followed by Lunch
On July
23rd, we want to remember our former Pastor Eberhard W. Schwantes who died
a year ago, and invite to a joint church service at 11:00 a.m., followed
by lunch at the church.
Pastor Eberhard W. Schwantes
*18. July 1929 – †18. July 2005
Summer Camp - Last Opportunity
Das Sommer Camp
findet vom 30. Juli bis 5. August statt. Bitte melden Sie sich bei Dan
Sommerfeld (905-274-6602) oder Pastor Wolf (Email:fralupus@rogers.com;
416-456-2487) an. Wie in den Vorjahren werden wir einen Bus für die Hin-
und Rückfahrt einsetzen.
Summer Vacation
All groups
and circles are on summer vacation. Activities and meetings will be
resumed in September.
We wish you all a good and relaxing summer!
Young
Woman in Need!
I want to ask for your help. Our
newsletter is printed in a UPS store. A young woman who works there, and
who has taken special care of our printing, has become very ill. Her
name is Amanda, she is in her early twenties and has suffered a stroke
caused by a blood clot in the brain. Her family cannot support
her financially. The treatment is expensive, and the road to
recuperation is still long. Would it not be nice if we could help? I
would enjoy presenting our donations personally. Every dollar helps. We
could collect money for this purpose till the end of August. Please
help!
In advance I say:
Heartfelt Thanks!
Pastor Wolf to attend the EKD -
Pastors' Meeting in New York City
From August 17th
to 19th, I will be at a meeting of the EKD Pastors in New York
City. Before and after, I will take a few vacation days. During this time,
Pastor Katharina Möller will fill in for me during
emergencies. Pastor Joachim Knaack will conduct the church service on August
20th, 2006.
We baptized...
Charlotte Pieckenhagen
Caillen Pieckenhagen
Nicholas Eble-Scott
Evan Leo Scheibelt
The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Psalm 27:1
Married were...
Monica Budnik und Paul Costello
Britta Jessen und Jay Charbonneau
So faith, hope and love abide, these
three; but the greatest of these is love.
1.
Corinthians 13, 13
We buried
Karl-Ernst Kriese
Gunter Nolte
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
Psalm 23, 4
The Last Word
Summer is the time, when it is too hot to do the things,
for which it was too cold in winter.
(Mark Twain) |
