The Key to St. PeterFEBRUARY 2017 St. P et er L u ther an C hu rc h - LCM S, 906 Hwy 59 N P O Box 133, Bowie, TX 76 23 0 www.st p et er tex.co m s tpet er tex@att. ne t 94 0.8 72.188 6 I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E 1 Parson s Pen 2 Parson s Pen (cont d) 3 Parson s Pen (cont ) 4 Baptism 5-6 Autopsy of a Deceased Pastor The Parson s Pen By Pastor Larry Knobloch Greetings in the name of God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! This month we continue our series on Every Sunday Communion that we began last November. For further explanation as to why we are going over these newsletter articles written by Rev. Lange of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Gresham, Oregon. Please keep in mind that Pastor Lange speaks of events and things that happened in his congregation and that not every example will apply to our congregation. 7 Quilting,LWML/Congregational News/Coming Up 8 Choir/ Lutheran Heritage 9 Rathberger House 10 Serving In God s House in February 11 Calendar Is Now the Time? Every Sunday Communion - Part Two (Continued) So how did we get to the place that some of us can remember in our own lifetime, Lutheran churches only offering the Sacrament four times a year? Two main factors were Pietism and Rationalism. Both developed after the Reformation and both downplayed the frequent reception of the Sacrament. Pietism arose from a theology of glory. Luther s theology of the cross recognized that the church is hidden under the cross, that she does not appear holy, but rather every Christian is at the same time saint and sinner. Pietism fell into a theology of glory and tried to measure the holiness of individuals. This stress on holiness caused Pietism to focus people inward toward their own sincerity, feelings, and emotions. The Sacrament being an external thing was downplayed. Rationalism, on the other hand, denied the supernatural and miraculous and you can t get more supernatural and miraculous than believing that Christ gives His very Body and Blood in the Sacrament. Thus, although Pietism and Rationalism were bitter enemies, they both downplayed the Sacrament that Christ gave His Church. These two influences were brought to America by the original immigrants. Unfortunately, our American context only made matters worse. Although some of our LCMS founding congregations practiced every Sunday communion, the American frontier situation made it difficult for many Lutheran congregations to practice every Sunday communion. On the frontier, one pastor might have served four or five congregations some distance apart. What was an emergency situation, due to lack of clergy, became the tradition for many and thus the norm. Likewise, our Protestant cultural context influenced the Lutheran Church here in America
The Key to St. Peter Page 2 more strongly than many of us realize. In an effort to fit into the American worship scene much of what made us distinctively Lutheran was downplayed. Likewise, Roman Catholic practice changed. Stephenson notes, in the early twentieth century Roman Catholics begin to avail themselves of frequent communion (Stephenson, The Lord s Supper, 128) There has always been strong anti-roman Catholic bias among Americans. Thus, anything that even looked Roman Catholic was suspect. Thus, when in the early twentieth century, Roman Catholics began receiving the Sacrament more frequently, many Lutherans here in America, who had only been offered communion four times a year in their own congregation, thought that frequent communion was a distinctively Roman Catholic practice. This is truly ironic, since as we have seen it was Luther that brought back every Sunday communion and it was the Roman Catholic Church of his day that had for centuries downplayed and hindered frequent reception of communion by the laity. As we have noted there were calls for reform in our practice already in the 1930 s. However, with the battle over the doctrine of inerrancy, our Lutheran Church here in America was sidetracked from bringing such reform to pass. And unfortunately, some of those who were calling for every Sunday communion were on the wrong side of the fence on the issue of inerrancy. Thus, their pleas for every Sunday communion were considered suspect by more conservative Lutherans. But it must be remembered that Luther believed in every Sunday communion AND in the inerrancy of the Bible. Indeed, his insistence on making communion available more frequently was not a denial of the authority of the Bible, rather it came from a heartfelt allegiance to the Bible s own admonition, This do... often. Or in the words of the hymn, I Come, O Savior, to Thy Table, What higher gift can we inherit? It is faith s bond and solid base; It is the strength of heart and spirit, The covenant of hope and grace. Lord, may Thy body and Thy blood Be for my soul the highest good! (stanza nine) This feast is manna, wealth abounding Unto the poor, to weak ones power, To angels joy, to hell confounding, And life for me in death s dark hour. Lord, may Thy body and Thy blood Be for my soul the highest good! (stanza ten) I
The Key to St. Peter Page 3 Is Now the Time? Every Sunday Communion - Part Three Weary am I and heavy laden, With sin my soul is sore opprest; Receive me graciously and gladden My heart, for I am now Thy guest. Lord, may Thy body and Thy blood Be for my soul the highest good! (stanza six, I Come, O Savior, to Thy Table) What sort of things might make people resistant to offering Holy Communion every Sunday? Kenneth Wieting recently did a survey of congregations and pastors in our Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. In his book, The Blessings of Weekly Communion, he notes that there were four main concerns raised with respect to the idea of going to weekly communion, namely: 1) The Sacrament will Become Too Common, 2) The Sacrament will Take Too Much Time, 3) People Do Not Understand the Witness to Every Sunday Communion, and 4) Occasional Communion is Considered the Lutheran Tradition. The third and fourth concern I have addressed in my previous newsletter articles. There I have shown what the actual practice envisioned by Luther and his colleagues was and how we departed from that practice here in America. However, I have not addressed the other two concerns. The first concern, the Sacrament will become too common, is sometimes otherwise stated as, the Sacrament will become less special. Wieting notes, In one sense the primary concern listed here is understandable because it holds true for many things in life. Whether it is leftover turkey in the days after Thanksgiving or our favorite dessert served daily for a month, too much of a good thing quickly becomes wearisome. It is in our sinful human nature to take good gifts for granted: our spouse, our family, our work, our country, freedom. But the Lord s Supper is no ordinary good thing. It is the body and blood of Him who alone is good God (Luke 18:19). (Wieting, The Blessings of Weekly Communion, 157-158) As Wieting notes, some things CAN become too common. Sometimes less IS more. However, there are other things in life that become more meaningful with more frequent use. When learning a new language, the more you use it, the more fluent you become in that language. In sports, the more you play, the better you become at the sport. Here less IS NOT more! Indeed, some things in life require frequency and are best when habitual. Can you imagine someone under normal circumstances saying to their spouse, I m not going to sleep in the same bed with you every night, so that when we do sleep together it will be more special. Or again (under normal circumstances), I m not going to eat with you every night, so that when we do eat together it will be more special. No, the habitual nature of the activity says something about one s commitment to the relationship. Indeed, I do not believe that it is accidental that our Lord Himself describes His relationship with the church as the relationship between a bridegroom and
The Key to St. Peter Page 4 His bride. And the most intimate expression of that relationship is when He gives us His body and blood to eat in His Supper. Here less IS DEFINITELY NOT more!!! To be continued If you have any questions or comments, please let me know and I will be happy to sit down with you and go over them. God s blessings to you all as we begin the season of Lent. On January 22nd we welcomed Avery Noel Henry into our congregation through the washing of Holy Baptism. Avery is the daughter of Terry and Kristin Henry and sister of Aiden. Sponsors are Chance and Amanda Gilmore.We look forward to watching this little one grow in her faith and love of the Lord.
The Key to St. Peter Page 5 I praise God that I am not facing the issues outlined below, but it could easily happen and does in many churches. As your pastors give up so much to be your shepherd as an undershepherd of Christ in His church, please keep these things in mind and be vigilant so that they don t become an issue in the future. LifeWay Christian Resources O C T O B E R 1 0, 2 0 1 6 AUTOPSY OF A DECEASED PASTOR They are the walking dead. They are dead emotionally. Their vision and passion is dead. Their spiritual life has little life at all. They are burned out. Many have died vocationally. Others are waiting for burial. Autopsies are not a pleasant topic. I get that. But I would be negligent if I did not share with you about the numbers of pastors who are dead in ministry. You need to know. You need to grasp this reality. You need to pray for them. You need to walk alongside them. How did these pastors die? My figurative autopsies uncovered eight common patterns. Some pastors manifest four or five of them. Many manifest all of them. 1. They said yes to too many members. In order to avoid conflict and criticism, these pastors tried to please most church members. Their path was not sustainable. Their path was unhealthy, leading to death. 2. They said no to their families. For many of these pastors, their families became an afterthought or no thought at all. Many of their children are now grown and resent the church. They have pledged never to return. Their spouses felt betrayed, as if they were no longer loved, desired, or wanted. Some of these pastors have lost their families to divorce and estrangement. 3. They got too busy to remain in the Word and in prayer. Simply stated, they got too busy for God. Read Acts 6:4 again in the context of all of Acts 6:1-7. The early church leaders saw this danger, and they took a courageous path to avoid the trap. 4. They died a slow death from the steady drip of criticisms. Pastors are human. Yeah, I know; that s an obvious statement. We sometimes expect them to take the ongoing criticisms from members as if they were rocks. But a steady drip can destroy even the most solid rocks.
The Key to St. Peter Page 6 5. They were attacked by the cartel. Not all churches have cartels, but many do. A church cartel is an alliance of bullies, bully-followers, carnal Christians, and even non- Christians in the church. Their goal is power. Their obstacle is the pastor. Many pastors have died because cartels killed them. 6. They lost their vision and their passion. This cause of death is both a symptom and a cause. Like high blood pressure is a symptom of other problems, it can also lead to death. Pastors without vision and passion are dying pastors. 7. They sought to please others before God. People-pleasing pastors can fast become dying pastors. The problem is that you can never please all the members all the time. If pastors try, they die. 8. They had no defenders in the church. Imagine a dying person with no medical intervention. That person will die. Imagine pastors without members who will stand by these leaders. Imagine pastors where members are too cowardly to stand up to cartels. If you can imagine that, then you can imagine a dying pastor. By the way, this form of death is often the most painful. The pastor is dying without anyone to help or intervene. Autopsies are not fun. Talking about dying is not fun. But if you are a church member, you can be a part of the solution. Will you? Thom Ranier Thom Rainer is the President and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources Rev. Ken Bunge, a Chaldean language translator who served as our mission speaker a few years back, has accepted a call to First Lutheran Church in Lufkin Texas. We were asked to forward this message to you. Carol and I thank you for helping with the Chaldean translation project in 2016. We have a new address: 129 Westfield Loop, Lufkin TX 75904. I am serving as pastor at First Lutheran Church in Lufkin. I am still serving as adviser to the Chaldean translation project, and so we still need support and prayer for the project. I will continue sending newsletters every other month, beginning with the February newsletter. In Christ, Rev. Kenneth Bunge
The Key to St. Peter Page 7 1. Saturday, February 11 - RAMP BUILD. Everyone is welcome to help MEN AND WOMEN. We meet at the church at 8:00 a.m. Let Pastor know if you are coming 2. Sunday, February 26 th LWML Fundraiser Lunch It s Mexican Stack-up time, a congregational favorite. This is the only fundraiser LWML holds and all proceeds go to support all of their projects throughout the year. 3. Coming in March Preparation for a new Church Directory. It s time! Watch bulletin and the March newsletter for details. QUILTING FOURTH MONDAY OF THE MONTH We re off to a great start! Please join us for great fellowship as we put our lap quilts together for Lutheran World Relief. We start at nine and go until??? LWML See you Monday February 13 th at 6:30 at our F ebruary meeting. New Ladies, Come and get to now your Sisters at St. Peter. We re REALLY looking forward to our Stack-Up luncheon after church on Feb. 26 th. Everyone is invited. Congregational News KEEPING UP WITH THE JONSES Katie Jones - Inducted into Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at Weatherford College Will Jones - 6th place Santa Gertrudis Heifer Calf at Fort Worth Stock Show - 3rd place Power Lifting at Jacksboro Tournament - A Honor Roll for entire 1st Semester Mike Jones - Completed his coursework and testing and is now a real estate agent for Berkshire Hathaway in Decatur and Keller. Deb Jones continues to help hold all this together!! May God continue to bless this Christ-centered family!
The Key to St. Peter Page 8 MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE Won t you please consider adding your lusty praises to the joyful noise our choir produces? We are gearing up for a POWERFUL Easter and need LOTS of sound. NO MUSCICAL TALENT NECESSARY. We learn our music by hearing and singing. Even if you want to join us just from now to Easter, you are welcome! Come and get in on Easter Preparation from the beginning! Wednesday nights 6:00 p.m.
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The Key to St. Peter Page 10 SERVING IN GOD S HOUSE IN FEBRUARY Acolytes 2/5 Sid Mayfield/Sarah Horton 2/12 Cooper Hammer/Adam Pickett 2/19 Will Jones/Josh Knobloch 2/26 Sid Mayfield/Sarah Horton Elder Chance Gilmore Lay Readers 2/5 William Pickett 2/12 Bryan Roth 2/19 Gaylon Rice 2/26 Bob Aune Head Usher Gaylon Rice Nursery Schedule 2/5- Aubrey Gill 2/12 Hattie Hammer/Cyndi Knobloch 2/19 Rebecca Pickett/Kelly Roth 2/26 Lauren Gill/Mary Atkinson Counters Terry Henry Hugo Chase Altar Guild Nancy Hammer Sharon Rainwater Altar Care Cyndi Knobloch, Char Lasch, Melissa Stephens By this all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another John 13:35