St. Paul Lutheran Church
Monthly Member Newsletter for April, 2012
Pastor's Comments: The Divine Service?
Since I didn’t grow up in the Lutheran Church and I came to embrace Lutheran understanding of the message of the Scriptures through reading and studying the confessional statements of the church, I have had to learn Lutheran “ways” on the fly. I was so nervous when I served as the liturgist for the very first time at Resurrection Church in Cary, NC. When do I bow? Which way do I go? How long do I wait? How do you make the sign of the cross? I couldn’t even tell you what I said in that entire worship service! But I have grown to love the traditions we practice for worship service. One of the things that I especially appreciate is the official title of our worship: Divine Service. At first, I thought this was just a fancy way of saying that, when we gather for worship, we offer “divine” service in what we are doing. That is, we are serving God, serving the “Divine.” But I was shocked to read that the reason Lutherans refer to worship as “divine service” is because God is serving us! Of course we worship. We adore God, sing His praises, repeat His Word and give thanks for the Lord’s Supper. All of that is our worship, including the reverent and respectful tone and posture we use. That is also worship. But the service rendered is all God’s. As Martin Luther said on his death bed, “we are all beggars.” We need to hear that He forgives us, so He commands those who preach and teach His Word to say it to us, “you are forgiven” (John 20:23). We need to hear His Law and His Gospel, so He serves our need through the sermon. We need to have our faith in His love for us constantly built up, so He gives us the body and blood of the Savior as bread and wine with His ever true Word, “given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” A good resource for more on this subject is “Heaven on Earth,” by Arthur A. Just, Concordia Publishing House. Pastor Denton White
Announcement 1: Pastor White will be presenting an essay on why it might be better for our congregation to invest in our faith and the future of our congregation by purchasing the Lutheran Service Book to replace the Lutheran Book of Worship. The Lutheran Service Book is the official hymnal of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, published in 2006. The essay will be on the back table.
Announcement 2: There is no evening service on the Wednesday of Holy Week. However, the pastor is available for private confession and absolution at St. Paul Church from 1:00 PM until 4:00 PM. Please do call the pastor (919.609.8687) to arrange a specific time so there are no conflicts in scheduling.
Sermon Recordings: Sunday sermons are being digitally recorded in audio format. They are available to members or anyone interested. Requests should be made by specifying the Sunday sermon date you want. Please send your requests to: Leo Magiera at Lmagiera@earthlink.net.
April Potluck: Monday, April 9th , is our next St. Paul potluck. Meal begins at 6:30 pm. If you have any Easter dinner leftovers from yesterday, bring 'em. That would be awesome too.
Volunteer Reminder: We do enjoy having snacks available after the services. Please remember to sign up to bring some goodies to enjoy with coffee.
Weekly Bible Study Schedule for St. Paul Church: Bible Study is postponed till after Easter. Pastor will make an announcement regarding the startup date after Easter Sunday.
Mystery BIO's: Our 1st mystery bio is from a lady who previously resided in Long Island, New York. Her sister moved here in the late 80's and she visited her often over the years. She was previously affiliated with Holy Trinity Lutheran United Evangelical Church. She retired from working for the local government in Long Island for 28 years. She loves traveling and doing crafts. She has a little dog named Girlee. She loves travelling anywhere, especially on bus trips.
Our 2nd mystery person previously resided in an unidentified metropolitan area in the USA. He moved to the Pinehurst area because someone suggested it as an unlikely location for a person like him. He said that many, many years ago he was an altar boy in a church that must remain unidentified. In the interest of full disclosure (confession), which you will notice he does not do much anymore, he revealed that he was dismissed from those duties after he was caught filching coins from the collection plate. Prior to moving to Pinehurst, he did this and that for an unidentified gentleman in an unidentified organization in the previously-mentioned metropolitan area. What he used to enjoy doing, he can't do here as he is constantly being checked up on. Mostly now he just plays solitaire in the privacy of his own room. He has three dogs---a German Shephard, a Rottweiler and a Doberman Pinscher. He says they are sweethearts---TO HIM. In disguise, he enjoys vacationing in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Page 2
Notes from your Church Council President:
At our recent council meeting, several topics were discussed. First, as you may or may not know, we are having problems with our copy machine. It is ten plus years old and there are not any replacement parts available for the machine. It is running on borrowed time now. The council is seeking several avenues to find a replacement. If any of you know of a used machine we can acquire or know of a cheap new machine, please let one of the council members know.
Our new Brochures for St. Paul Lutheran Church are a “hit.” We have already distributed 200 to the Senior Center, Moore Regional Hospital, and the Welcome Center. The Mimms Printing Company will be supplying us with 500 more copies. Please feel free to take several copies with you to give to friends and neighbors to welcome them to our church.
Have you seen our Ad in the Pilot? It will be in the Wednesday newspaper each week for the next year. Our mission for this year is to spread God's Word throughout the Pinehurst Community. Be an advertisement for our church and welcome any non-members to join us for worship on Sundays.
Our financial books will be audited by our second trustee. This is a requirement of our church Constitution. We hope this will be accomplished by the end of this quarter.
Pastor White and George Venet will be delegates to the Southeastern District Convention in Virginia Beach, VA , May 31, June 1 and June 2. Please pray that God guides us in the decisions we make for the future of the Synod. If you have any particular concerns which we should carry to this meeting, please contact Pastor or George with them.
We will be coming to you to ask whether we should consider the purchase of new Hymnals. The green hymnals that we are using are not officially approved for worship for the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. The approved hymnal is available, and we will be discussing ways to obtain it.
A Prayer Retreat is being planned for this September. Pastor Art Umbach from the SED Synod from Virginia will be at our church to help teach us how to pray. We will let you know when a firm date is made for this retreat so you can put it on your calendar. This is one event you will not want to miss.
We are challenged! One of our members has challenged us to collect $5000 for the new organ fund by the end of the year. If we are successful, they will match the $5000. This will put us a lot closer to acquiring a new church organ. Please consider adding a few extra dollars to your weekly giving and designate these extra dollars for the Organ Fund. What a wonderful offer. We should do our best to meet this challenge.
May God give His Guidance to us all, George Venet, Your Council President
Prayer Requests: If you have a prayer request, put it in the pastor's mailbox or send it via email or call on his phone. Help your pastor care for you. Nothing is as powerful as prayer. Please keep Jim Roberts in your prayers and George Venet's brother, Bill, who recently suffered a stroke. Also please pray for the family of Larry Leslie of St. James (he was called by the Lord on March 19), Matt Sobel, a nephew of the Jensens, and also Patricia McCarthy.
Information on Nancy and Cliff Huner: Their address up north: 1181 Thornapple Street, Temperance, MI, 48182. Their new home phone is: (734) 224-0580. Their cell is still the same: (910) 690-3354. Cliff's Thrivent phone number is: (419) 690-9951. His email is: cliff.huner@thrivent.com
Pastoral Office Hours: Pastor will not be traveling to Pinehurst for office hours on Wednesdays – unless someone calls and makes an appointment – until after Easter. If you need to meet with him, contact him via his cell phone or email. (this info is also at the end of this newsletter)
Ladies Bible Study/ “Eve Circle”: The Thursday women's Bible study group is called “Eve Circle.” We meet on the first and third Thursday of each month, beginning at 5:45 pm. We will do a Bible study on the first Thursday and a Service Project on the third Thursday. “Coffee with our Savior” will be used as our Bible Study plan, and then we'll go out for dinner afterwards. Our Service Projects (done on the third Thursday of the month) will vary, and we will bring our own dinner so we can continue to work on these projects the entire evening. Anyone is welcome to join us for one of both of these monthly get-togethers. (Shirley Wake/Louise Jensen)
“Friends of St. Paul Name and Address List”: There is a copy of our present members and friends list on the desk in the back of church. Please review this list and mark any changes or corrections on it. From time to time, John Wake will make the changes/corrections and put new copies on the desk in church. (John Wake)
Birthdays in April: Ron Behrens 4/3 Nancy Huner 4/9 (moved to MI) Grace Behrens 4/6 Ethel Ahrendt 4/12
Alan Mimms 4/9
Page 3
Anniversaries in April: Kay and Jeff Beran 4/8/72 (Happy 40th !)
Weekday Bible Study: St. James Church, Wednesdays from 6 to 7 pm.
Prayer Ministry: St. James invites you to gather for prayer on Saturdays, 10:00 am.
Organ Fund: Please keep in mind that we do have a fund in place to collect money for the replacement of our aging organ. Consider giving to this important fund to keep the beautiful music continuing to our Lord's glory. Folks have been generous in giving, but there's still lots more funding needed to upgrade our organ.
Choral Recruits: In line with providing beautiful music to our Lord's glory, our little “choir” is looking for new recruits. If you feel that you can hold a tune and would like to try us out, please join us Sundays at 8:30 am when we begin rehearsing before service. We really need new voices in all areas. (Contact Sondra Nelson or Karen Dickens)
Food for Coalition: St. Paul donates cans of stew, vegetables and fruits to the Coalition in Southern Pines. Please place these items in the basket in the back of the church.
Thrivent Financial News: Thrivent members...we are looking for a Thrivent Financial member to become a second “Congregational Advocate” for St. Paul. That person would help Louise Jensen (Lead Advocate) as needed with providing Thrivent Financial information to St. Paul and providing support, as needed, for any Thrivent Financial projects that involve St. Paul. You do need email access, since a lot of information is via email. If interested, please contact Louise Jensen or Henry Fuhrmann. Thanks, Henry Fuhrmann
Our Giving of Time and Money: March, 2012
Average Sunday Attendance: 40
Offerings: $ 5,783 for March, 2012 Total offerings YTD: $ 19,220
We've missed each of you who have been traveling or ill this month! During March, we received $75 toward replacement of our organ. (This $75 is included in our total offering above.) Our Total Organ Fund amount is now $1,957. Keep this amount in mind when re-reading our council president's note above about a member matching $5,000 if we can reach the magic $5,000 amount of our own by the end of the year. “Such a deal.”
Mystery Bio: If you care to participate, don't forget to pick up your “Mystery BIO” form on the desk in the back of the church. Then you can either slip it in my mailbox at church in a sealed envelope, or email me the information or call me at home (910) 295-6063, and I will include your BIO in one of the next monthly newsletters. Thanks, Karen Dickens. Email is: wolfandwife@embarqmail.com (that's a Q not a G in my email address).
Newsletter Items: If you have any news/articles you want included in next month's newsletter, please advise me ASAP, or right after the last Sunday of the month. Karen Dickens (910) 295-6063.
Here are some “St. Paul Female Leprechauns” at our March potluck. Thanks to everyone for the wonderful food that was brought ! And, thank you ladies for being such great sports.
Page 4
==========================================================================================
CONTACTS
Pastor Denton White: Home: (919) 577-9989 Cell: (919) 609-8687 Email: dentonwhite61@nc.rr.com
Mailing address: 808 Barneswyck Drive, Fuquay Varina, NC 27526
Music Director: Ms. Sondra Nelson (910) 692-6979
===========================================================================================
Our mystery church people for April are: Bio#1: Arleene Perry
Bio #2: As he is in the Federal Witness Protection Program, he
must remain unidentified. APRIL FOOL'S !!!!
