Archive for June, 2009

District Convention

Posted by Wapello Warbler on June 29, 2009

Last week, I gave a short preview of the Iowa District East convention. In the rest of this post, I’ll provide an overview of the actions taken by the delegates. Read the rest of this entry »

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New Adult Instruction Class

Posted by Wapello Warbler on June 23, 2009

Two people have expressed interest in finding out more about what we believe and teach as preparation for joining St. Paul, Wapello.

Accordingly, Pastor will be starting a new membership class. The first meeting will be Tuesday, July 7 at 7:00 pm. The new class will cover the basic elements of the Christian faith from a Lutheran perspective.

Over the years, I’ve seen a number of people attend these classes because a friend invited them and promised to go with them. They were not necessarily interested in joining the congregation (though many do), but they had honest questions and were sufficiently interested in finding the answers that they were willing to give up a few hours of their time.

If you have a friend who needs Jesus take advantage of this opportunity and invite them.

Our text books will be God for Us by David Strelen and the Bible.

Here are the topics we will cover:

For Non-Achievers Only

Who is Jesus?

How Do We Know?

The Trinity

How God Cares For Us

Baptism

Power for Living

The Office of the Keys

The Church

The Sacrament of the Altar

Prayer

Full Time Christianity

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Preview of the District Convention

Posted by Wapello Warbler on June 20, 2009

Randy, Tim, and Pastor will be representing St. Paul’s at the district convention Friday and Saturday, June 26 and 27. The convention will probably focus on elections and structural issues.

President Arp’s retirement as district president means that there will be a real contest for the office. The election will complicated by debate over how the office should be filled.

A proposal from a district commission that would have enabled the district president to continue serving a congregation was rejected by one of the floor committees. Many who read the commission’s report were surprised. It is likely that the motion to continue with a full-time district president will be vigorously debated.

How that issue is resolved will affect the slate for the president’s office. One of the candidates will not serve unless he can continue to serve his congregation. Others may withdraw if asked to serve as a part time president.

Complicating all of this are a series of proposals being presented by a national task force that is proposing extensive modifications to the synod’s constitution and by-laws. Among those proposals are that the number of districts should be reduced. Iowa East, being among the smallest of the districts, is certain to merge with another district if that happens. As a result the district president who is elected at this convention may not have the opportunity to finish his term, but may have a lot of extra work arranging for a smooth merger.

Finally, Pastor Hinkle has been nominated for the District’s Board of Directors and could end up helping to implement any reorganization of the district or president’s office.

Your prayers for the delegates and for divine guidance for the convention itself would be appreciated.

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Under the Sea

Posted by Wapello Warbler on June 14, 2009

Our district’s summer camp, Camp IODISECA, has been working hard to upgrade its facilities. As part of the process various congregations and service organizations have adopted rooms which they are decorating.

Camp room St. Paul’s Youth Group adopted a room in the Alpha lodge near the pool. Because of its proximity to the pool, they decided to use an undersea theme. Several of the youth group members and their friends (one of whom was an art major) spent three days painting and decorating. This picture shows one corner of the room to demonstrate the final results.

To add to the fun, seven Christian fish were hidden in the the pictures.

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New Banners for Sundays After Pentecost

Posted by Wapello Warbler on June 14, 2009

This morning we had the chance to use two new banners for the first time. The women of the LWML spent several months designing and constructing the banners pictured here.

A picture of our sanctuary showing the new banners.

The banner on the left has symbols for each of the three persons of the Holy Trinity.

	The open hand for the Father comes from Psalm 145:16, “You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” The circle around the hand is a symbol of God’s eternal being, without beginning or end.
	The use of a lamb to represent Christ dates to John the Baptist, who pointed Jesus out as “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He stands in front of a cross as a reminder that he had to die to take away our sin.
	The Spirit is represented by a dove because he took that form at Jesus’ baptism.

The banner on the right represents the Word and Sacraments. Through these means, God bestows and strengthens faith.

	The Word of God is represented by an open book. The cross behind the book reminds us that the entire Bible speaks of Christ.
	The shell with water dripping from it represents baptism, which is often done by pouring water over the one who is being baptized.
	The cup, wafer, and stalk of wheat, represent the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion. The cross on the wafer is a reminded that we receive Christ’s body and blood in the sacrament along with the bread (the stalk of wheat) and wine.