If We had a Prize for the Best New Chapter St. Paul Lockport, Illinois Would Get It

The chapter at Pastor Hein’s church in Lockport, Illinois is really taking off. (Pastor Hein writes our “Headship Column.”) They even have a chapter newsletter. Here is their latest edition.

January 2009 Newsletter

Brothers of John the Steadfast, Lockport

Fellowship, Study, Service

 

Dear Brothers,

 

We are truly blessed to have the opportunity to study the one true Christian faith with Pastor Hein, Vicar Schleider, and one another.   The questions, discussions, and insights certainly prepare us to “defend the faith from error, ignorance, and indifference”  and to “fulfill our God-given roles in the church and home.”   So in the coming weeks, talk to our brothers who haven’t been at one of our meetings.   Tell them about our study.   Tell them about our service projects.   Tell them about our fundraising projects.   Tell them to join us.

 

Quick Reminders

  • National Conference: February 13 and 14, Bethany, Naperville.   Let me know if you’re attending by signing up by our display case.   This is so we can car pool.  
  • Next meeting: Saturday, February 21, 8:30 a.m., Bezold Hall, Articles 9 and 10 of the Augsburg Confession.
  • Issues, Etc.: 12 CDs with about 12 hours of shows are available by our display case.   Take one or two, listen, return, and repeat.  
  • Articles: check out the new articles from the website.
  • Dues: pay with national conference fee or pay separately.  

Service Project Notes

At our January meeting, we had our first discussion about our group’s service projects.   The enthusiasm for serving others in the name of Jesus to glory of God was inspiring.   We generated more ideas  for serving our church and community than  a group our size could tackle right away.   So  we’re  starting some  immediately, planning for some in the near future, and letting some develop over time.

  1. Starting immediately:  We are committed to helping out the trustees with their twice a year church clean-ups, helping the Ladies Aid with setting up and taking down for  their twice a year rummage sales, and creating an emergency clean up team.   Ross Wardenburg, our Service Chairman, is going to make up a phone tree, so the calls are spread among us.   Help Ross by encouraging men not currently part of the group to be part of this service team.
  1. Starting in near future: We are looking into creating a Rides Service for those in our congregation who are unable to drive on their own.   Job loses also have recently affected members of our congregation.   To help get brothers and sisters back to work, we’re looking into creating some type of church job network or job posting board.  
  1. Starting down the road:  One brother is exploring what type of help the FISH pantry needs and is going to report back to us at the next meeting.   Another is looking into the Guardian Angels program for unwed mothers and abused women.   We also are considering coordinating activities for our church’s Reformation Day program.   And an idea in the nascent stage is getting Issues, Etc. on local radio.

Brothers, all I can say is  thanks be to God for the faith he has given us and the desire to respond with thankful obedience to the work he has set before us.   Let us all pray for the grace and strength necessary to carry out our work, remembering in tough times the words of our Savior Jesus Christ, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

 

Fundraising Notes

We discussed three main fundraisers–ongoing, summer, fall.  

  1. Ongoing: We are going to have free will offerings at the breakfast meetings.   We also are going to have a loose change box, most likely by our display case.   If you have something appropriate that can be labeled or marked, let Phil Summers know so he can get this set up as soon as possible.  
  1. Summer: Phil Summers, our Fundraising Chairman, is looking into getting a table or booth at  Lockport’s Canal Days.    At our  February meeting, he’ll tell us about deadlines, costs, restrictions, etc.  Our hope is that we can sell some  low cost, high demand item to raise a decent amount of money in a short time.   We also have a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel and discuss our faith at this event.    
  1. Fall:  The fall fundraiser will center on Reformation Day.   We might make a whole weekend out of it: Friday night bonfire, Saturday night dinner,  Sunday service.    The planning is just beginning, so  bring your ideas and suggestions to the next meeting.

In tough economic times, the “competition” for  dollars gets tougher and many tune out pleas for donations.   Let us remember that “man shall not live by bread alone.”  As our mission statement says, we will “support other faithful Lutheran groups and spread the saving message of Jesus Christ within our community and to all people.”   And our objectives state, we will “support and promote ministries and missions that use biblically sound methods for preaching and teaching the pure Gospel. . . .”   Next month, we might want to discuss which like-minded groups, missions, and ministries  we want to support with these fundraisers.

 

Thanks for all your help and faithfulness.

 

In Christ,

Michael

We look forward to meeting the Brothers from Lockport at our National Convention in February. We hope to see you there as well

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.