English District of
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
|
|
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. |
|
On Sunday, October 10, 2021, Bishop Jamison J. Hardy officiated the installation of Rev. Michael S. Taylor as the sole pastor of Holy Trinity, Albion, PA. Pictured L-R: Rev. Brian P. Westgate, Bishop Jamison J. Hardy, Rev. Michael S. Taylor, Rev. Ben C. Eder, Rev. Travis J. Schmidt. |
|
Bishop Jamison J. Hardy officiated the installation of Rev. Amadeus Gandy, on Wednesday, October 13, 2021, as military chaplain with the United States Air Force in Eielson, AK. While visiting Eielson Air Force Base, Bishop Hardy had the honor of meeting with Lt. Col Erik Harp, The Wing Chaplain, and MSgt. Brian Marts, Senior Enlisted Leader. Both men are Rev. Amadeus Gandy’s supervisors on base. |
|
Pastor Appreciation Month |
|
|
October is Pastor Appreciation Month by Paul Reede
Here are twenty things I believe are true about most pastors I know. I hope this will encourage you to work together with your pastor in sharing the gospel! He needs your prayers and support.
1. He loves God and you a lot. (Be mindful.)
2. He is a painfully limited human being. (Be realistic.)
3. He probably at times has a pretty low view of his “performance”. (Be kind.)
4. He wishes he were a better preacher. (Be awake.)
5. He really does want God’s best for you and your family. (Be open-hearted.)
6. His work knows no time or locational boundaries. (Be patient.)
7. He often hears much more negative information than positive. (Be encouraging.)
8. He has chosen a vocation in which many leave . (Be praying.)
9. He has chosen a highly leadership-intensive call. (Be lead-able.)
10. He needs help. (Be available.)
11. His God-given vision is bigger than himself and the church. (Be faith-filled.)
12. He wants to personally meet all the needs, but knows he can’t. (Be understanding.)
13. He’s going to say some dumb things every now and then. (Be forgiving.)
14. His family is patient with you, so be patient with them. (Be conscientious.)
15. He is greatly encouraged by your faithfulness. (Be there.)
16. He is passionate for God’s Word to be made practical to you. (Be hungry.)
17. He longs for church to be your spiritual oasis. (Be loving.)
18. He dreams for your and your family’s spiritual health. (Be receptive.)
19. He needs to hear that you prayed for him. (Be interceding.)
20. He’s just a regular guy. (Be real.)
What is your congregation doing this month to thank your pastor for all of his good work? Send it in to Servant to Servant to share with the entire English District. Email photos and information to jmcgarr@englishdistrict.org for an opportunity to be featured in the coming weeks. |
|
“Oh, there is so much to be angry about today it seems, right?
Everyone thinks that they have the answers that will make everything better, or do we? When it comes to radical changes, a 2 Kingdom citizen probably will be hesitant at first. Why? Well, there’s that teaching that God is at work in the world in the left-hand Kingdom, even through people who might not be believers in Him. Crazy right? Not really. When you understand what God is doing through His left-hand Kingdom, you can understand how He can even use “sinful, unbelieving” people to keep things relatively peaceful and temporally just.
There are people right now who are doing a “good” job in their vocations as politicians, police, entrepreneurs, businesspeople, even fathers and mothers, whose “hearts may not be totally in it,” but they know they need to do the right thing for others in their work. Is that optimal? No. But God can even work through that to keep a nation, a community, or even just a neighborhood from imploding.”
Did you know that the Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty in Washington D.C. is producing some incredibly good stuff? They are busy pumping out articles, news, papers, and videos created and designed for you and every believer to deal with these un-normal times.
|
|
Pastor Andrae of First Trinity/Lutheran Student Fellowship, Pittsburgh, PA, tells the story of a young woman who identified as a militant atheist in high school and her journey to faith. Josie grew up in Boston in an unchurched family. She came to Carnegie Mellon University and was hospitalized after a depressive episode as she thought if there is no God then life is meaningless. Her boyfriend at that time, however, had an affinity for Christianity and persuaded her to read C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. God had spared her life and therefore she wanted to worship him. At that point she decided she needed to go to church. Even though it was during the pandemic, she wanted to go in person. Last September, she began her search for the closest church, found First Trinity/LSF and took catechesis with Pastor Andræ, but she wasn’t convinced about Lutheran doctrine on baptism. “I reread the New Testament, came back to Pittsburgh and will begin to teach at Redeemer Lutheran School,” Josie said. “The first time I attended First Trinity, Pastor Andrae came to greet me after the service. The service and the community were entirely new to me, so I was very grateful that he came to talk to me! He invited me to lunch, and we talked about Scripture and my journey to faith. He clearly laid out distinctives of Lutheranism and he invited me to Bible study. Since then, he has been guiding and teaching me.” |
|
The Body of Christ and the Public Square Conference |
|
|
Because tickets are sold out, people can join the conference “The Body of Christ and the Public Square” held on October 16, 2021, at Our Savior, Hartland, MI, (featuring in person Candace Owens, Charlie Kirk, Dr, Alveda King, and Rev. Chris Thoma) by streaming it online.
|
|
What Has Your Pastor Been Learning at the Regional Pastors Conference? |
|
|
Will you play 20 questions with pastor when he gets back? Now, seriously…do you want to play & win “Stump the Pastor”?!!!
First Question for pastor: How many monarchies are there in the world today? Infoplease.com says there are 44 “monarchies” in the world today.
Second Question for you: How many kingdoms are there? What are their names? A) His and Hers B) Indoors and Outdoors C) Summer and Winter D) America and Canada E) Right and Left F) UK and EU G) Dark and Light H) Mine and Yours
Answer: “Did you know that according to the Bible there are two kingdoms where God operates? Left-hand and Right-hand. Rev. Dr. Greg Seltz spoke at one of our regional conferences last week, about the substantial number of political conversations going on in our national, state, local school board and neighborhood levels. How in the world do we navigate this stuff? Is there a successful conversation topic to preserve our country or our way of life, to share our faith, about God, about Jesus, that will get people to pause and ponder? Is there something we can say that will get others to stop and think before they fly off the handle?” - Rev Dr. Seltz & the Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty (LCMS) seem to be on to something!!! Click the links to learn more.
Now back to that game, “Stump the Pastor”. How many of you would like to stump your pastor? Ask him a question he can’t answer? Have a look at this book. “One Lord, Two Hands?” by Matthew Harrison and John Pless will give you some great questions to ask him. And for the speed-reading crowd, “A Simple Explanation of Church and State”. Both are available at Concordia Publishing House (cph.org).
|
|
Joy-Fully Lutheran!
Recently, Dale was able to visit the States to see his mother in Florida, as well as Suzanne who has been helping. During that time we were able to take a quick trip to Greensboro, NC to spend a couple of days with our youngest grandchild, Rebecca, on the occasion of her first birthday. It was a great time of celebration with the whole family, as well as the other grandparents.
The Scriptures tell us that God likewise celebrates over His people (Isaiah 62:5; Zephaniah 3:17; Jeremiah 32:41.) So, we thank God that He shares that joy with us. Take a look at our newsletter and rejoice in what God is doing here! Click here to read more.
|
|
The Bible's promise is true: "If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us" (1 John 5:14).
District daily prayers for November are located on our website.
Your prayer concerns are important to the English District. If you have a prayer request you would like shared in this newsletter, email the District office.
|
|
For more information, contact the English District Gift Planning Counselor Ron Grimm by phone (412)-584-7039 or email.
|
|
LCEF Launches Free Mobile App
Great news for Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) MyAccount users: LCEF now has a free mobile app! This convenient new tool allows users to make transfers, pay bills and stay up to date with account balances—all from the convenience of a phone or tablet. If you are an LCEF MyAccount user, the new mobile app is available for download now from the Apple store (lcef.us/appstore) and the Google Play store (lcef.us/googleplay).
|
|
Iglesia Cristiana Hispana, Cleveland, OH
September was celebrated as Hispanic heritage month. Iglesia's Redeemer Crisis Center was blessed with a grant from Bendix Corp. that allowed them to provide popular Spanish seasoning, bullion and two bottles of salad dressing to all of the 360 families they serve.
Redeemer Crisis Center also received bags of mixed salad and chicken tenders for each of the families as a way of replacing their monthly community meal for the neighborhood. Volunteers from various congregations are thrilled to again be able to have direct contact with the families.
|
|
Redeemer, Pittsburgh, PA
Preschool is fun, fun, fun at Redeemer Lutheran School! We get to learn about Jesus, letters, colors, seasons and we play, play, play!
|
|
Abounding Love, Lee's Summit, MO
Just a glimpse of Chapel this week at Abounding Love.
|
|
Holy Cross, Cleveland, OH
While studying the letter "L" this week, a ladybug came to visit during outdoor playtime at Holy Cross!
|
|
 |
Please 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.
- They can subscribe by clicking on the "Sign up for our emails" link at the bottom.
Thanks for spreading the word!
|
|
|
|
Also, please share your congregation's or school's unique ministries with the rest of the District. Send pictures and stories for consideration to jmcgarr@englishdistrict.org by Wednesday at 12:00 Noon ET. We want to see how YOUR congregation or school is showing the love of God to those in your community and around the world.
|
|
|
|
Livestreamed/Recorded Services |
|
|
We encourage everyone to take advantage of alternative opportunities to hear God’s word and to be blessed by the Divine Service. We have compiled a list of opportunities on the English District website that is continually updated.
If your congregation is recording or live streaming and is not included on this list, please email us at info@englishdistrict.org and let us know how people can access it.
|
|
If you'd like to share our emails, please forward
using your email's forwarding option.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
