Sympathy to the family of Scott Wood
We extend our sympathy and prayers to the family of Scott Wood, who died this week. Pray especially for Scott's wife, Mary Alyce, who is Maureen's sister, and their children and grandchildren. The funeral for Scott will be next Friday, July 9. at Grace. Visitation will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the service to follow at 11:00 a.m. Maureen will preside. You can read the obituary HERE.
Retreat at Henry and Becky's
I spent most of the day Monday at Henry and Becky Seibert's farm, enjoying the hospitality and good food, a fellowship that one always experiences in that setting. For the past twenty or so years, a group of pastors from our Northwestern Ohio Synod have met twice a year for one or two day retreats for conversation, mutual support, learning, prayer, worship and solitude. The setting for these retreats has usually been The Pines Retreat Center in Fremont, but on several occasions we have met at Henry and Becky's house. Initially there were four smaller groups, from which one larger group was formed. Bishop Daniel was a part of my original group, and he was able to join us for Monday's gathering.
Graveside Funeral on Friday
On Friday I conducted a graveside funeral service at Greenlawn for George "Bud" Lamson of Clyde at the request of the Auxter Funeral Home. The family expressed a preference for a Lutheran pastor, so I was happy to provide this ministry.
Welcome of Pastor Matt Zuehlke
On Wednesday evening, I attended the welcoming service for Pastor Matt Zuehlke at Zion in Gibsonburg. Tom Curry joined me in representing Grace. Like Grace, Zion's worship space is not air conditioned, it was a bit warm, but the significance of the event made the discomfort negligible. As I mentioned last week, Pastor Matt is on loan from the Presbyterian Church USA, and his serving Zion as pastor is possible because of our full-communion relationship with this church body. Full-communion fellowship means that we can freely commune at each others altars, and freely call each others pastors to serve in our respective congregations.
Did you know that our ELCA has Full Communion relationships with six other US church bodies? You can learn more about who our Full Communion Partners are and what that means for our ministry together HERE.
Adding to the ecumenicity of Pr. Matt's service was the presence of Father Scott, the Roman Catholic priest serving the St. Mary and St. Michael Parishes in Helena and Gibsonburg. Father Scott vested, processed with us, and brought greetings from his parish. Attending pastors gathered for a group photo with Pastor Matthew and Bishop Daniel following the service, which you can view HERE.
One of the Five Focus Points for the interim time is called "Connections," which is defined as "discovering all the relationships a faith community builds outside of itself." This includes not only church body connections, but other civic and community connections, such as food banks, government entities (police, firefighters), other service focused non-profits such as Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity. I'll be saying more about the Five Focus Points during our Council workshop on July 12.
Email from Bishop Daniel
You can read Bishop Daniel's most recent email message HERE.
Just Three Things
If you missed this week's issue of Just Three Things, you can read it HERE.
A Prayer for the 4th of July
Liberating God, you have given us this good land as our heritage. Make us always remember your generosity and constantly do your will. Bless our land with honesty in the workplace, truth in education, and honor in daily life. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance; and from every evil course of action. When times are prosperous, let our hearts be thankful; and, in troubled times, do not let our trust in you fail. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
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