The Peace Messenger Peace Lutheran Church 2090 Commerce Drive North Mankato MN 56003

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1 The Peace Messenger Peace Lutheran Church 2090 Commerce Drive North Mankato MN Newsletter July 2014 Worship Schedule 5/18/14 8/17/14 Sundays 9:00 a.m. Bible Class & Sunday School Recessed until September 7 th Wednesdays 6:30 p.m. Serving Peace Pastor Tim Hartwig Office Cell Pastorhartwig@gmail.com Office - Karen Wold karen@peacemankato.com Church Council President: Eric Woller Vice President: Chris Harstad Secretary: Matt Riehl Spiritual Leadership: Paul Wold Christian Education: Ted Manthe Property Management: Jim Howson Stewardship: Brian Koch Gospel Outreach: Nick Peters Jesus Lambs Preschool Joslyn Moldstad Crossed - Youth Group crossedyouth@gmail.com Special Interest Dates 2 nd, 9 th, 16 th, 23 rd, 30 th 6:30p Wednesday Worship Service 6 th -11 th Camp Indianhead 15 th Council Meeting 6:30p 20 th Outdoor Service 9a Fellowship Fun & Picnic Lunch following service CROSSED Car Wash 10:15a CROSSED - Madison Lake 1p 23 rd -28 th LYA Convention BUILT ON THE ROCK (Continuing a series of articles on the history of the ELS, based on the book, Built On The Rock.) It wasn't exactly a Hilton or a Radisson, but in the history of the ELS the Aberdeen Hotel in St. Paul, MN held a special significance. It was here that a small group of pastors and laymen met one day in June 1917, to discuss the future of their confessional group called the Minority. These undaunted confessors of the faith had decided on the basis of God's Word not to compromise the teaching of salvation by grace alone with those who taught falsely on this matter. Others gave lip service to the right teaching but were willing to let the false teaching stand. Not so with the men meeting in the Aberdeen Hotel. The truth could not be compromised. For them, the Minority, this meant that a hard road lay ahead. But, as one of them said, We were free, we were unafraid, and we were happy. We felt that the Lord was with us and that His grace was abundant... This little group chose to set up a temporary organization until they could hold a convention of the minority pastors and congregations involved. They recognized the importance of publicizing their position and therefore began to publish a bi-monthly periodical called the Luthersk Tidende (Lutheran Times), forerunner of today's Lutheran Sentinel. On April, l9l8, this publication announced that there would be an annual meeting of the newly organized group, to be held at the Lime Creek church in Iowa. Former commentator, Paul Harvey, would have A New Beginning said at this point, And now you know the rest of the story. What we know as the rest of the story, is what is now known as our Evangelical Lutheran Synod. And it is worth our telling here a little more of that story. In response to the notice in the Tidende, thirteen pastors and about two hundred people gathered at the Lime Creek Lutheran Church in Winnebago County, Iowa. World War I was in progress and anything spoken in German was not very popular in this country. How about Norwegian? Since we weren't at war with Norway, that should be all right. However, it wasn't all right with the hypersensitive governor of Iowa. He forbade the use of any language other than English at public gatherings. Since Norwegian was still the language of choice for some of its services and sessions, the Lime Creek assembly outwitted the governor by meeting in a tent just across the state line in Minnesota. After all, they were busied about the Lord's business, and no language barrier was going to stop them. Their first synod president, Rev. Bjug Harstad, stated in his opening address that they had gathered in the spirit of Jeremiah who said: Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls (Jeremiah 6:16). Continued on page 2

2 Built on the Rock A New Beginning Continued from page 1 There was a lot of skepticism as to whether this little group would exist for very long. A leader in the majority group, sometimes referred to as the Merger, belittled the minority group and called it a plucked chicken. One of the members in the minority calmly replied: But if the chicken is healthy, it will grow feathers again. And it indeed did just that. The little synod remained faithful to God's Word, and under God's blessing it weathered many a struggle and continued to grow. Of much encouragement to the fledgling synod was the fellowship of likeminded confessional Lutherans in the Missouri and Wisconsin synods. In ten years the number of pastors and professors who embraced the synod's confession had grown from thirteen to more than fifty. The reorganized Norwegian Synod decided it would be good to hold conventions annually. These were held in different parishes of the synod where the congregation was large enough to host such an event. After the purchase of Bethany College in Mankato (1927) most of the conventions were held there. These meetings strengthened the bonds between the congregations and served to reinforce them in their joint work as a synod. Besides strengthening its bonds at home the young synod also ventured into foreign mission work together with its sister synods in what was called the Synodical Conference. It sent missionaries to places like China, India and Nigeria. High on its agenda was the training of its children and youth. Whereas the church body that had been formed by the merger largely lost its interest in maintaining Christian Day Schools, the little synod gave high priority to such schools from its very beginning. Its devoted interest in Christian education also led it to the founding of Bethany Lutheran College. Meanwhile, as the little synod grew, it never forgot the importance of pure teaching. To briefly summarize this portion of its history (to be expanded on later), we quote from the anniversary book, Built on the Rock : Because the new Norwegian Synod was born out of controversy over matters that relate to the fundamental doctrines of man's salvation, it is understandable that this keen awareness of error should remain as its heritage for some time. PM Our Mission The purpose of our congregation is to worship God, who gives life through Word and Sacrament; to serve one another in love and fellowship; and to proclaim forgiveness and salvation to all through Jesus Christ alone. DATES & EVENTS July 20 th Car Wash after the outdoor service. After the picnic lunch CROSSED will head to Madison Lake for a fun afternoon from 1:00-4:30pm. August 10 th More fun on Madison Lake from 11:30 4:30pm. All youth in 7 th through 12 th grade are invited to attend CROSSED! Watch for more information in the bulletins & the CROSSED Facebook page. If you would like to receive information via your or phone, please give that information to the office, Josh or Matt & Carol. Any questions, call Josh Mayer at The following was taken from Martin Luther s Little Instruction Book : DON T WAIT TO PRAY! Guard yourself carefully against those false, deluding ideas which tell you, Wait a little while. I will pray in an hour; first I must attend to this or that.

3 The Mission & Ministry Coordination Council (MMCC) meeting of Peace Lutheran Church was held on June 24, 2014, at Peace and called to order by President Woller. Council members present were: Pastor Hartwig, Eric Woller President, Chris Harstad Vice President, Paul Wold Spiritual Leadership, Nick Peters Gospel Outreach, Brian Koch Stewardship, Jim Howson Property Management. Absent and excused: Ted Manthe Christian Education. Meeting opened with devotion and prayer. Agenda Agenda was approved. Minutes of Previous Meeting Approved as amended. Pastor s Report (Pastor Hartwig) Average May attendance 236, June to date 217 (175 last year). Three new people in instruction, 4 who have indicated interest and a number of transfers. VBS was a great success. Planners are already thinking about next year. A $530 donation was received to help defray the cost of t-shirts. Bible Study topics for next year are being considered. Pastor will be gone July 8-18 th. Guest preacher on July 13 th and 20 th. August 31 st guest preacher (Pastor in Lake City to officiate at a wedding). Members added: Benjamin Petzel, Janeen Schultz (transferred out: Paul & Rebecca Lange, Zachary). Two weddings (Ben Schultz/Janeen Leisses & Joshua Mayer/Jonnica Norell). Spiritual Leadership (Coordinator ~ Paul Wold) 418 souls, 304 communicants, voters, 141. In May, there were 10 regular services (10 Sunday, 4 Wednesday), 5 communion services (three Sunday, two Wednesday), and 321 communed. Gospel Outreach (Coordinator ~ Nick Peters) July 20 th outdoor service followed by picnic and games. Christian Education (Coordinator ~ Ted Manthe) No Report. Stewardship (Coordinator ~ Brian Koch) No report. Property Management (Coordinator ~ Jim Howson) A little water seeped into the basement after the storms, otherwise, no damage. Recommend a backup sump-pump be purchased. An AC compressor is going out (ca. $800 to replace). Old Business Budget: The budget was discussed at length. Necessary increases were included, but salaries and hours were kept unchanged. Several other line items were reduced in order to limit the increase in offerings (Music Coordinator reduced from 10 hr/week to 4 hr week; $5000 budget line reduced to $2000). Motion was made to pass the proposed budget. MMSP. A motion is presented to allow the Administrative Assistant to have 60 hours per year of Paid Time Off with the ability to bank additional hours of paid time off. MMSP. New Business Membership changes: Motion to approve membership changes: MMSP A slate of nominees is presented for the elections next week. Nominees are Chris Harstad (Vice President), Matthew Riehl (Secretary), Paul Fries (Spiritual Leadership Board Chairman), Brian Koch (Stewardship Board Chairman), Scott Trautman (Spiritual Leadership Board Member). A motion is made to present a resolution to the congregation - a request to honor the elections of 2013 even though the slate of candidates was not presented two weeks ahead of the election as required per church by-laws. Next council meeting Scheduled for July 15 6:30pm. Adjourned with the Lord s Prayer Respectfully Submitted, Matthew Riehl, Secretary Council Meeting Minutes June 24, 2014 MM = Motion Made MMS = Motion Made Seconded MMSP = Motion Made Seconded Passed MMCC = Mission and Ministry Coordinating Council

4 Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen to Good People? We ve all heard about or witnessed tragic situations: a young mother is taken away from her family by cancer. A father suffers a horrible accident and is killed. A teenager contracts a terrible infection that leaves them paralyzed from the waist down. A little baby is born with serious birth defects. Where is God in all of these situations? Why does he let good people suffer so much? When God created the world he didn t intend anyone to suffer. He created man and woman as perfect creatures and placed them in a perfect world. But that perfect world with its perfect people didn t last long. After being tempted by the devil, the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, sinned against God. They did exactly what God had told them not to and brought sin, death, pain, and suffering into the world. On top of that, they were now bound to spend eternity in hell when they died. But God, the creator of not just our world but of the entire universe, loved the people he created too much to leave them helpless and hopeless. He promised to send a Savior: his very own Son. Jesus Christ, the best person that ever lived (since he was also God), was sent by his Father to fix the mess people had gotten themselves into. He lived his entire life without ever sinning. And then God let the worst happen to his Son: he sent him to suffer on the cross. Jesus suffered not just physical pain but also the pain of hell, of being separated from God. Why did God allow these bad things to happen to his good Son? Jesus suffered and died in our place. When we believe this, God gives us the gift of eternal life. We live now and we will live forever with him in heaven. And yes, there will still be bad things that happen to us while we live in this world. The sin and suffering that Adam and Eve brought into the world still affects everyone. But because God loves us, he sent Jesus to suffer instead of us. Because of what Jesus has done, we know that all the bad has been overcome by good. Believe in Jesus and live! Sunday, July 20 th, will be an outdoor worship service (weather permitting), followed by lawn games, activities for kids and a picnic lunch. Please bring a picnic lunch for your family. Peace will provide lemonade and watermelon for the meal. Remember to bring lawn chairs and/or blankets to sit on. If you have any lawn games that you would like to play, please bring those, also. To watch the live services: go to or The service will start automatically when it is live. (9:00am in the summer) To watch recorded services: go to and you can choose which service you want to watch. New 2 You Family Thrift 1838 Commerce Drive, N. Mankato Phone Number: Monday: 9:30am to 7:00pm Tuesday through Friday: 9:30am to 5:00pm Saturday: 10:00am to 3:00pm Donation Drop Off times Monday through Friday: 9:30am to 4:00pm Saturday: 10:00am to 2:00pm *Part-time volunteer hours available*

5 Pastor Hartwig will be in Sweden July 8-18, presenting his paper at the LBK conference. If you need pastoral care during his absence please contact Rev. Paul Fries at Congratulations on the marriages of: Benjamin & Janeen (Leisses) Schultz who were married by Pastor Hartwig on May 30 th at Peace Lutheran Church. Joshua & Jonnica (Norell) Mayer who were married by Pastor Hartwig on June 21 st at Scandian Grove Lutheran Church. May the Lord continue to bless them! Jesus Lambs at Peace Preschool extends a hearty thanks to all who were able to help for the Cub Foods Hot Dog and Brat Stand. With the gift of $250 from Thrivent Financial, our total came to $1, We thank-you for your spirit of volunteering. This past school year Jesus Lambs at Peace Preschool served a total of 53 students. We thank local businesses such as Hy-Vee, Culvers, Taco John, Old Country Buffet and Thrivent Financial for their prizes to the children for reading or listening to a total of 18,228 books throughout the school year. We would also like to give special thanks to Mr. Allen Mueller, who for 6 or more years, has driven countless students to our school from his wife, Ellen Mueller s, day care. Over 15 students were able to attend through the years because of Al Mueller. Many thanks to the Mueller Family! On Friday, May 23, we graduated 29 preschoolers. We also ask for your prayers as our graduates attend Kindergarten. God-willing, eleven of these graduates will attend our sister congregation of Mt. Olive Lutheran School. Our new school year will open with our theme from Psalm 34:11: Come, my little children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. We will kick-off our new school year with our annual Back-To-School Night on Tuesday, August 19, 6-8 p.m. If you are able to help by cooking, serving or bringing food, please call Joslyn at

6 Thank You from VBS! Thank you to everyone who had a hand in our Gangway to Galilee Adventure! We had a wonderful week learning about Jesus with 80 participants! Many thanks to the 28 helpers that came along for the 3 day adventure--leading children, helping with crafts, and preparing snacks. Thank you to the many snack donors! Thank you to those who donated pennies, pillow cases, and nautical decor! To God be the Glory for a successful VBS! Here is the schedule for the season: Softball Schedule Date Location Time Monday June 30 th C-3 6:15pm & Double-header C-3 7:15pm Monday, July 7 th C-4 7:15pm Monday, July 14 th C-2 8:15pm Monday, July 21 st JC-2 8:15pm & Double-header JC-3 9:15pm C = Caswell Park, west end of Howard Drive, N. Mankato - across Hwy 14 (& a little East) from church JC = Jaycee Park, Balcerzak & Pohl Road, Mankato (by MSU) Playoff games will be scheduled after the regular season and make-up games are done. Start planning now to come out and support OUR Peace Lutheran Church team during the games this summer. While cheering on our team, enjoy the wonderful fellowship opportunity of visiting with the other members there. Come on, it s a ball! Just a reminder of the option you have of using electronic giving for making your regular church offerings. Contributions can be debited automatically from your checking or savings account or processed using your credit or debit card. The electronic giving program offers convenience for you and much needed donation consistency for our congregation. If you are currently giving on a weekly basis, you will no longer need to write out 52 checks a year or prepare 52 envelopes. And, when travel, illness or other circumstances prevent you from attending services, this program will allow your weekly offerings to continue on an uninterrupted basis. If you think you might be interested, please contact either Karen Wold or Keith Wiederhoeft for an authorization form and a Frequently Asked Questions flyer. Are you unable to care for your feet? Your church home is offering a service to help you care for your feet and toenails. By appointment, a registered nurse, using sanitary equipment, will soak and wash your feet, trim toenails, and finish with a lotion foot massage. If the nurse feels further medical attention is needed, she may suggest an appointment with your health care provider. This service is free; however, donations will be accepted to go to a church cause. For more information, or to set up an appointment, please call Amy Jo Reiner at

7 Serving the month of July Altar/Communion preparation 13 th Amanda Madson & Joni Wiederhoeft 27 th Emily Peters & Denice Woller Communion Assistants 9:00am 13 th Tom Kuster 27 th Doyle Holbird Ushers 9:00am 6 th Mark Meyer Bob Paulsen 13 th Al Clennon Terry Field 20 th Rob Paulsen Tim Paulsen 27 th Adie Harstad Chris Harstad Counters 1 st Sunday: Brian Koch & Todd Olsen 2 nd Sunday: Orrin Ausen & Brad Wosmek 3 rd Sunday: Danielle Geistfeld & Chris Harstad 4 th Sunday: Rhonda Geving & Matt Riehl 5 th Sunday: Karen Wold & TBD Happy Birthday! Kelci Wold 7/02 16 years old Rebekka Olsen 7/04 17 years old Samuel Kotulski 7/06 7 years old Thomas Wosmek 7/06 10 years old Faith Peters 7/07 5 years old Rebecca Hartwig 7/10 13 years old Alexis DeVos 7/13 5 years old Julia DeWitt 7/17 7 years old Luke Thompson 7/22 11 years old Conner Johnston 7/28 14 years old Also Carol Wiechmann, Djem Ferkenstad, Rachel Youngblom, Tarisa Brown, Missy Vandermause, Tim Loe, Brett Gieseke, Terry Field, David Ring, Louis Wicklund, Eric Halvorson, Cathy Blaukat, Carolyn Smith, Erik Olsen, Keith Wiederhoeft, Tonya Paulsen, Darci Theiste, Brian DeVos May the Lord bless you, today and always. Anniversaries: Josh & Kristi Ringen 7/01/06 8 years Norman & Amanda Madson 7/05/58 56 years Doug & Tarisa Brown 7/12/97 17 years Jason & Carla DeWitt 7/18/98 16 years Bill & Naomi Petersen 7/19/53 61 years Jason & Pam Westman 7/19/03 11 years Matthew & Christy Holt 7/21/12 2 years Jon & Kate Loging 7/21/06 8 years Derek & Sarah Harstad 7/23/05 9 years Walt & Kay Beinke 7/24/64 50 years Orrin & Leslee Ausen 7/25/92 22 years Ernie & Ione Geistfeld 7/25/59 55 years Derick & Dianna Lyngholm 7/27/07 7 years Richard & Gina Kammer 7/28/12 2 years Paul & Terri Fries 7/30/88 26 years Jon & Denise Geistfeld 7/30/94 20 years John & Joslyn Moldstad 7/30/77 37 years Congratulations! May the Lord continue to bless you and may your Christian marriage serve as an inspiration to others. Prayer Requests Pastor Hartwig is happy to receive prayer requests. Please contact him at or him at pastorhartwig@gmail.com Love & Respect pocket reminders are on Karen s desk. Please stop and pick one (or more) up. Share them with family and friends.