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Love your neighbor as yourself
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Servant to Servant 4-21-17
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Bishop Hardy attends special services
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Installation
Bishop Jamison J. Hardy participated in the installation of The Rev. Dr. Edward O. Grimenstein at Zion Lutheran Church in Bridgeville, PA, an Eastern District congregation. President Wicher of the Eastern District preached and officiated the installation which was held on Palm Sunday, April 9, 2017. Zion Lutheran Church is located five miles from Peace Lutheran Church, McMurray, PA, where Bishop Hardy is the Senior Pastor. The Rev. Eric Carlson, Associate Pastor of Peace, McMurray, PA, served as Zion's vacancy pastor. There were other English District pastors present for the installation: Rev. Dr. Jonathan Naumann, Rev. Dr. Douglas Spittel, and Rev. Brian Westgate.
Pictured above
Front Row: Rev. Mark Ruppert, Rev. Dr. Jonathan Naumann, Bishop Jamison Hardy, Rev. Dr. Edward Grimenstein, Eastern District President Chris Wicher, Rev. Dan Strussenberg
Middle Row: Rev. Dr. Daniel Hahn, Rev. Brian Westgate, Rev. John Weldon, Rev. Berton Greenway, Rev. Dr. Douglas Spittel
Back Row: Rev. Ron Breight, Rev. Matthew Barry, Rev. Robert McCanless, Rev. Alex Knowles, Rev. Eric Carlson
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Bishop Jamison Hardy reads the Gospel lesson.
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Bishop Jamison Hardy,
Rev. Dr. Edward Grimenstein, and Eastern District President Chris Wicher
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Rev. Brian Westgate, Rev. Dr. Douglas Spittel, Bishop Jamison Hardy, Rev. Eric Andrae |
Easter Vigil
The Rev. Dr. Douglas Spittel, from First Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh, PA, invited Bishop Hardy to participate in the Saturday evening Easter Vigil on April 15, 2017. The service began outside the church and then continued into the sanctuary. The evening service included an adult baptism and the Rite of Confirmation.
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Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program students celebrate first calls
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Matthias Benfey and Jonathan Wayne Kerr, students in the
Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program at
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO, celebrated their first call assignments on April 7, 2017. Both men will be serving English District congregations. Six other SMP students received their first call assignments, too.
- Matthias Benfey, The Church of St. Mark-Lutheran, Mississauga, ON, Canada
- Jonathan Wayne Kerr, West Portal Lutheran Church, San Francisco, CA
"We rejoice with these candidates, their families and the specific ministries in which they serve across the country!" said Dr. W. Mart Thompson, director of the SMP program. "We celebrate their participation in Concordia Seminary's Specific Ministry Pastor program as they prepare to be ordained into the Holy Ministry."
The SMP program of Concordia Seminary is a four-year program in which men receive theological education in the setting in which they will continue to serve - as pastors of congregations or in other ministries of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod - following certification, call and ordination. Local pastor-mentors work with SMP students to provide day-to-day guidance, encouragement and prayer.
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Future pastors, deaconesses and their families are eagerly looking forward to the spring assignment services at Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, IN, on April 24 and 25, 2017. Those who cannot attend can watch via the live stream at http://www.ctsfw.edu/.
Vicarage & Internship Assignment Service
April 24, 2017 at 7:00 PM (EDT)
Pastoral Ministry Candidate Call Service
April 25, 2017 at 7:00 PM (EDT)
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Call Day at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO is the day when second year students learn their vicarage church assignments (a one-year internship at an LCMS church anywhere in the U.S.) and fourth year students learn their first call assignments. Deaconess students learn their deaconess internship assignments or diaconal call assignments on this day as well. These assignments are announced and celebrated during two worship services on Call Day.
Assignment of Vicarages & Internships
Assignment of Calls
April 26, 2017 at 7:00 PM (CDT)
Livestream Calls
The Seminary's Help Desk will be staffed to handle support calls at 866-333-2064 and 314-505-7231. A test stream will be available before the event so viewers may test their computers in advance.
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Registration Now Open for Christ Academy High School (CAHS) and Phoebe Academy High School (PAHS) 2017
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Phoebe Academy, June 18-25
, 2017 provides an opportunity for high school women to learn about the vocation of deaconess from a theological perspective. The schedule for the event and the registration form can be found
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Christ Academy High School, June 18-July 1, 2017
. For two weeks each summer, high- school-aged men of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod are offered the opportunity to delve deeper into their faith, enjoy the seminary experience and make friendships that will last a lifetime while attending Christ Academy-High School. Information concerning the registration process can be found
here
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Church and school activities
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#LoveThyNeighbor
Sharing with neighbors
On April 1st, the members of
Shepherd King Lutheran Church
, West Bloomfield, MI, invited the families of Head Start, Farmington Hills, MI, to a luncheon and Easter Egg Hunt. There were over a 120 parents and children for the event. The church also gave away 51 baskets of food along with 51 turkeys for the Easter holiday. We are grateful to the Lord Jesus for our congregations as they show His love to their neighbors.
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Serving neighbors
Members of Epic Church, Shelby Township, MI, used wagons to walk and serve neighbors in their community, delivering groceries to doorsteps.
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Witnessing to neighbors
An "Easter Egg Surprise" awaited the community around Grace Lutheran Church, Elyria, OH. The eggs, which had been decorating the grounds, were opened on Easter Sunday, revealing a resurrection cross.
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Our Savior, Hartland, MI |
In our churches
We rejoice with all of the English District's Confirmands - Class of 2017! May God bless you as you grow in faith and service!
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| Risen Christ, Plymouth, MI |
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| Beautiful Savior, Lee's Summit, MO |
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Easter Sunday
New Life Chinese Lutheran Church in San Francisco, CA had many activities take place on Easter Sunday. Members along with their families and friends enjoyed an Easter breakfast, Easter egg hunt, an Easter piñata full of treats, two baptisms and beautiful music from the Praise Group and Young Musicians Guitar Class.
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| Praise Group singing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" |
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| Irene Mei and Ben Mei were baptized and received into membership |
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| The Young Musicians Guitar Class playing "I Am the Bread of Life" |
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In our district
REMINDER - Mites are Mighty!
The LWML English District would love to fund more ministries in their own district. Please consider submitting a grant proposal by May 1, 2017.
Contact Diana Honebrink for more information.
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Now is the time to teach your child about the worship service. Whether a child is 2 or 12, much can be done to lead our children into the riches of the Divine Service.
The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod offers resources to help parents and pastors instruct children about what is included in the Divine Service - and why they are included.
Kids in the Divine Service is a series of bulletin inserts featuring seasons of the church year. Resources also feature the liturgy, sanctuary and general information about the Divine Service.
Reproduction for individual, church or school use does not require permission.
Click
here to download free PDFs for Pentecost, sanctuary, liturgy and the entire church year.
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Mighty Fortress, 2017 VBS
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At
Mighty Fortress
, children celebrate Jesus our Savior King, who conquers our fears and delivers us. So raise your banner! Hold it high! Shout it loud! His Kingdom endures forever!
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LCMS Witness & Outreach: re:Vitality and Every One His Witness
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re:Vitality and Every One His Witness are separate, robust programs designed to complement and build upon each other. re:Vitality equips congregations and Every One His Witness equips individuals - both with the same purpose: to join in God's mission to seek and to save the lost.
Read the
Reporter insert for more information on these programs.
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News from our international workers
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Newsletter from Rev. Dr. Edward and Monica Naumann, serving the Lord in South Asia.
Thank you to all of you for your ongoing prayers and financial support!
In Christ,
Pastor Edward Naumann
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That's a question.
Who? Me? Sometimes we don't know what we can do until someone asks us.
The English District sent a team to Hong Kong/China in December to explore what we might be able to do in response to a call from China to serve our Lord there.
Three types of opportunities exist:
- School teachers at an international school
- Young men and women, often post-college (called "GEO Missionaries"), living amongst and interacting with school-aged children in a variety of Lutheran school/church settings
- Short-term mission teams (think VBS, or other 1-2 week programs geared around helping our Chinese Lutheran sister congregations reach more people through the English language).
We can turn the opening headline into a word of encouragement, and give you something to consider:
Serve the Lord in China!
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Supporting church workers is a priority for the English District LCMS, and we continue to work to increase the amount of funding available for students to pursue a ministry career. The first time you apply for aid, there are two forms to complete: the
District Financial Aid Application and the
Financial Aid Information Form.
Grants are given to applicants enrolled in synodical-approved church work programs (pastor, teacher, DCE, DCO, deaconess, etc.). Grants are not given to interns, vicars, or graduate students. There is a separate
Colloquy Financial Aid Application for colloquy students.
Please read the
Financial Aid Instructions before completing the forms.
The deadline for submission of English District financial aid applications is June 1, 2017.
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Church Worker Debt Reduction Grants Available
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Financial assistance is available to Rostered Church Workers who are currently serving in ministry between their 1st and 8th year. Applications are available here
. If you have any questions, please contact Rev. Derek Mathers at 248-476-0039 or [email protected]. The deadline for applications is May 10, 2017.
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Scholarship Deadline Extended
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Bethesda invites students to apply for one of several Bethesda Student Scholastic and Service Scholarships. This year, Bethesda is awarding $32,000 in scholarships. Four $3,000 scholarships will be presented to current college students, six $3,000 scholarships to seminary students, and four $500 scholarships to high school seniors. Recipients will be announced in July.
Bethesda has decided to extend its scholarship application deadline to Friday, May 19, 2017 in order to give more students the opportunity to apply.
Only active, communicant members of Lutheran congregations will be considered for the scholarships.
Applicants must be classified as a freshman, sophomore or junior at an accredited college or university, and have a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
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Please share your congregation's or school's unique ministries with the rest of the District. Send pictures and stories for consideration to
Lynne Cobb by Wednesday, 3:00 pm ET.
We want to see how YOUR congregation or school is "loving your neighbor as yourself."
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Previous issues of the eNewlsetter, Servant to Servant, are available on the
English District website.
You are encouraged to share the information from Servant to Servant with members of your congregation.
All are invited to subscribe to this weekly publication. Forward the newsletter to members of your church using the "Spread the Word" link at the bottom left of this newsletter. They can subscribe by clicking on the link at the bottom right titled, "Sign up for our emails." Thanks for spreading the word!
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