Voters' Assembly

Tonight St. Paul's holds its January Voters' assembly.

My opening devotion will simply be to read these portions of the Acathyst of Thanksgiving:

KONTAKION 11
Through the icy link of the ages, I feel the warmth of Your Divine breath; I hear the flow of blood. You are already near; time has partly vanished. I see Your Cross; it is for my sake. My spirit is in ashes before the Cross, where there is a triumph of love and salvation, and unceasing praise unto all ages: Alleluia!
Ikos
Blessed is he who will have supper in Your Kingdom, but You have already admitted me to this bliss. How many times have You extended to me with Your Divine Hand, Your body and blood; and I, such a sinner, have taken this sacred gift and felt Your love - unutterable and beyond all being:
Glory to You, for the unfathomable, life-giving power of grace,
Glory to You, Who have raised up Your Church as a refuge of peace for an
exhausted world,
Glory to You, Who breathe new life into us with the life-giving water of
Baptism,
Glory to You, Who restore the purity of immaculate lilies to those who
repent,
Glory to You, inexhaustible abyss of forgiveness,
Glory to You, for the cup of life, for the bread of eternal joy,
Glory to You, Who led us to heaven,
Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages.


KONTAKION 12
Many times I have seen the reflection of Your glory on the faces of the dead. What unearthly beauty and joy shone from them; how ethereal and immaterial were their features. This is the triumph of happiness and peace received gracefully, as they silently call upon You. At the hour of my death also illumine my soul as I call: Alleluia!
Ikos
How can I give praise to You? I have not heard the songs of the cherubim. That is the gift of the highest of souls. But I know how nature gives praise to You: in winter I have beheld the moonlight stillness when the whole earth quietly prays to You, clothed in white and sparkling with diamonds of snow; I have seen how the rising sun rejoices in You and the choirs of birds resound in praise; I have heard the forest speak mysteriously of You, the waters murmur and the choirs of stars preach of You with their harmonious movement in infinite space. But what is my praise? Nature responds to Your laws, but I do not! Yet while I am alive I see Your love; I want to thank You, to pray to You, and call out:
Glory to You, Who have shown us light,
Glory to You, Who have loved us with love immeasurable, deep, Divine,
Glory to You, Who have surrounded us with light, and with hosts of angels
and saints,
Glory to You, all Holy Father, Who have willed us Your Kingdom,
Glory to You, all Holy Son, the Way, the Truth, and the Life,
Glory to You, all Holy Spirit and life-giving sun of the future age,
Glory to You for everything, O Divine Trinity, all bountiful,
Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages.

KONTAKION 13
O all bountiful and life-giving Trinity, accept this gratitude for all of Your mercies and make us worthy of your Divine gifts so that having multiplied the talents given us, we may enter into the eternal joy of our Lord with victorious praise: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

And here is my pastoral report:

PASTOR’S ANNUAL REPORT

The year 2005 was the 149th year that our God who is a great Lover of Mankind has faithfully fed and nourished, sustained and blessed, a Lutheran parish in New Gehlenbeck. The year began with the joy of two adult confirmations on the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord: Mary Bender and Adam Rhodes received the laying on of hands and were welcomed to the Lord’s table. Also that month we were blessed to welcome into our family of faith Raymond and Tamara Barker.

Toward the end of February, the waters of Holy Baptism embraced little Grace Hanvey and brought her the gift of adoption into the heavenly Father’s family.

March found us observing Lent, meditating upon our Lord’s passion and rejoicing in His unspeakable grace. We bade farewell to Lucille Meyer and rejoiced that her earthly pilgrimage was completed. Because Easter fell so early, the confirmation of the youth was not held on Palm Sunday. Easter again brought us “joy, joy, joy to the heart” and our musicians outdid themselves as usual. We were very blessed at the Easter Vigil to baptize Elizabeth Auten into the faith and receive her at the altar. We also saw a number of families transfer in: Ben Shashack, Brent and Melissa Buckner, Patrick, Denise and Hannah Strader were all officially joined to our parish.

In April, the waters of Baptism were flowing again. On April 5 Ryker and Ryton Miller received Holy Baptism at Anderson hospital shortly after their birth. And as the parish was wrapping up its celebration of the Easter season, on April 30, Adam Overby had his sins washed away and the gift of eternal life given to him.

The very next day, May 1, Myah Lindley was brought to Jesus in the font and received into His loving embrace. And two Sundays later: Erik Johnson, Dillon and Shane Meyer, Tim Messer, Rebecca Newton, Daniele Reising, Cally Reising, Justin Thiems, and Daniel Weiler gave forth the good confession, received the laying on of hands, and were given their Baptismal birthright: the Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

June and July were relatively quiet months, as usual. We held our Vacation Bible School. Sarah Freitag and Michael Schwarz were married at Trinity in Worden because the floors of St. Paul’s sanctuary were being refinished. And we also celebrated the heavenly birthdays of two saints of God: Arline Bultmann on July 7 after several months of deteriorating health due to cancer and Lydia Henke on July 16th, after quite suddenly and unexpectedly falling asleep in Jesus after her noon lunch. Also at the end of July we said a sad goodbye to Vicar Karl and Nancy Gregory. We were truly blessed by their service to us during the year.

In August we began by welcoming in Vicar Charles Lehmann. In His great mercy and love, the Lord took to Himself our brother Earl Henkhaus. Although it has been years and years since Earl was able to usher, it still seems “wrong” on Sunday mornings not to see his face beaming back there in the Narthex. His funeral was celebrated on August 12. Marriage bells rang out of Lynda McQuillis and William Prante Jr on August 13 and for Nicolette Wollerman and Dan Rikli on August 20. Our school went back into session in August and the work that Ron, Sheila, Denny, Kristi and several others put into making the class rooms sparkle really paid off.

In September the waters of Baptism were bringing new life again: this time to Sadie Lippoldt on September 17th and the following day to Brandon Cann. What a joy it was to see Brandon speak his confession of faith and receive the washing of new life! The Lord has stirred up in him a mighty hunger for the Eucharist, and he is eagerly awaiting the day he will be permitted to receive Christ’s body and blood. While the waters of Baptism were flowing and bringing new life, Martha Boeker’s baptism was being completed. Her funeral was celebrated September 12. St. Paul’s had the privilege of welcoming in new members of the family: Milton Ruepert, Amy, Brian, Mallory and David Deist; and sadly bidding goodbye to Lori Schlabs and Glen and Thelma Wuehler who had moved to Highland and started attending Hope. Marriage bells rang out in September for Buffy Struebig and Tim Ridens on the 10th and the following week for Joyce Mueth and Robert Burnett.

October began with a pair of baptisms: Taylor and Mackenzie Heberer were cleansed in the font of living water on the 8th. At the end of the month the marriage of Cheri Mulach and Mark Tschetschot was solemnized at St. Paul’s.

November was a busy month. It began with our joyful celebration of All Saints at which Kaci Shashack and Sara Schwarz were confirmed. The following week Turner Fravell was baptized into Christ, on Nov 12. On the 19th Dustin Riechmann and Amanda Long spoke their vows to one another before the Lord’s altar and received His blessing. On November 21st the funeral of Lester Meyer was celebrated – and it was sort of a double loss for St. Paul’s since Doris went then to live in Florida with her daughter. On November 23 Anya Sander had her sins washed away and on November 27th Riley Stipcak was clothed in the robe of Christ’s righteousness in Holy Baptism. That month we were privileged to welcome Mitch and Sarah Day into our parish family. Our board of Christian Life organized a food drive for Thanksgiving Day the food from which we took to the Glen-Ed Pantry and they were very grateful.

Come December, with the church beautifully decorated for Advent and Christmas, we were blessed with a double Baptism on December 11: Zachary Melcher and Justin Ethington were received into the Savior’s church and given a new birth of faith. Shortly before December, Elsie Hellmann’s earthly pilgrimage came to an end and she was given Christian burial on St. John’s Day, December 27th. The month of December also saw the St. Paul family welcome in Ray and Janet Munzert, and children Amanda and Daniel, and also Barbara Melcher.

It was thus yet another year of God’s great mercy and grace to us as a parish. As we prepare to enter our 150th year as a parish, our membership stands as follows: 741 baptized; 571 communicant; with an average attendance over a weekend of 309. That means 42% of our baptized membership attends on a given weekend. A better average than the Synod as a whole, and certainly better than some neighboring parishes, but a far cry short of our Lord’s expectations for us. But despite our faithlessness, His faithful mercy and love continue to us. To Him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

Respectfully submitted,

William Weedon,
In the 13th year of his pastorate