St. Peters Lutheran Church
Missouri Synod
July 2018 NEWSLETTER

316 S. Main Ave. / P.O. Box 125
Wentworth, SD 57075-0125

Office Phone: 605-483-3129
Fax: 605-483-1302
Pastor’s cell: 307-221-1256
Church e-mail: stpeter@itctel.com
Pastor’s e-mail: adwelton@gmail.com
Website: www.stpeterswentworth.com

Our Mission Statement:
“Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.”
Psalm 105:1

What To Do When They Come

Last month we talked about inviting people to church. We looked at some statistics and suggestions for inviting people to church. This month we want to take just a little time to look at what to do when you have someone who does say yes and shows up. Nothing we do will guarantee they are going to come back or that they will ever join the church. Truth is if faith is created and when faith is created is not our working, but God’s alone. With that said let’s look at some stuff we can do to help people feel welcome and comfortable at our church.
First, this may seem a little elementary, either meet them at church or pick them up and sit with them. I know, you are thinking the pastor, of course, we are going to do this because we invited them to church. I say to you it happens that guests end up sitting by themselves in the middle of a bunch of people they may or may not know, and in a situation, they are most likely uncomfortable and unfamiliar.
That brings us to the second point, they are going to be unfamiliar with our church I would put money on what church for us and what church most people have been to is very different. They are going to need help to feel comfortable with the liturgy. When you are sitting with your guest you are no longer able to just sit. It is time for you to go to work. You are going to help them through the liturgy. Be kind and gentle but make sure they are on the same page, that they know what the pastor is going to say and what they need to say. If there is communion, make sure they have spoken to an elder or the pastor before the service has begun. You need to go with them to do this. If sitting with them through communion is going to help them you will get a chance to receive communion in a couple of weeks.
Third, don’t leave them as the unnamed visitor. Introduce them to your pew mates who you have been sitting next to for your whole life. Make sure they sign the guest book. And for love of all that is good, don’t leave the pastor out of it. When you are going through the line introduce the person. They are important, you are important, the pastor wants to know. Let the pastor know their name and how you know them. If there is other information you would like the pastor to know let him know. All of this allows the pastor and the other people in the church connect and be friendly to them as well. It also helps the person feel less like a stranger and more like a part of the church community.
Finally, make sure that you talk with them and invite them to come back again the next week. This can be done in lots of ways, but don’t assume just because they came once means they are automatically going to keep coming every week. They are trying something new and creating a new habit, they are going to need your encouragement to keep coming. Be kind, and gentle about how you invite them back but make sure they are invited back directly.
Putting this all together when you invite someone to come to church helps the person feel connected and not alone. They may be unfamiliar and uncomfortable but at least they are not alone and unknown.

Your Servant in Christ,
Pastor Welton

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

LCMS Stewardship Ministry

June 2018: Newsletter Article

By Rev. Jason Braaten
Immanuel Lutheran Church – Tuscola, Ill.

“There are three conversions necessary to every man: the head, the heart, and the purse.” Attributed to Luther, though yet to be located in his vast writings, this statement echoes what Jesus taught about hearts and treasures. He said, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21; Luke 12:34).

But which conversion comes first? I submit that the order is this: first the head, then the purse, then the heart. Let me explain.

Our Lord Jesus Christ dwelt among us to save us. He took on our flesh, fulfilled the demands of the law in our place, became sin for us, and suffered torture and death on our behalf, in order that we would be free from sin, death, and hell. He gives us what He accomplished through Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper.

And so, He doesn’t just do it for us but gives it to us, makes what He did ours by making us His. Thus, we are called by His name: Christians. We have a new life in Him.

Through the preaching of Law and Gospel, God grants us repentance, a changing of our minds. It is a conversion of the mind. We are called to turn away from our sins and turn toward Him for forgiveness, life, and salvation. For when God calls us away from something, He is, at the same time, calling us to something.

And thus, He calls us to a new life, with new deeds. This is the conversion of the purse. Jesus said that “it is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24). “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Notice that our hearts follow our treasures, not the other way around. As Christians, God calls us to invest our treasures in His Kingdom to ensure that the gospel is preached and the sacraments are administered. He calls us to share all good things with the one who teaches us the doctrines of Christ. He calls us to be generous in giving to the church, for it is more blessed to give than to receive.

So where is your treasure? If it is not invested in the kingdom of God, then the only response is repentance—a conversion of the heart—and to begin doing just that. And as our Lord promised, where your treasure is there your heart will be also.

This is not to say that you earn your way into heaven. It is simply to say that as Christians, those who have been made to be temples of the Holy Spirit, who have been given a new life in Christ, who are dead to sin and now alive in Him, we are, actually, to live — think (conversion of the mind), do (conversion of the purse), and be (conversion of the heart) — a new life in Him.

And when you fail, know that God in Christ loves and forgives you and still calls you away from that and to Himself.

FAMILY MINISTRY
The Christian Family –
An Engine for Exponential Growth
Contributed by Dr. Ben Freudenburg, director of Concordia Center for the Famil y, Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Christian family is the engine of ex­ ponential growth for the kingdom of Christ. For this engine to be running
smoothly and at full throttle, families need the church to provide them with knowledge, skills, attitudes and support. Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY), the largest Lutheran church in the world, understands this biblical prin ­ ciple. They have a desire for every family in the church of 9.1 million members to have the knowledge, skills, attitudes and support. The leaders of EECMY asked Concordia Center for the Family (CCF) on the campus of Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Mich., to help them integrate family ministry into their entire church body over the next 5-10 years. Concordia Center for the Family is honored and ready to meet this challenge. The church has a system for growing an individual’s faith in Christ. We invite indi­ viduals to church so the church can:

T Teach them the faith
0 Help them Outreach with the Gospel
U Uplift them through fellowship
C Help them Care for others
H Help them honor God through worship.

This is right and good. However, if families are key to exponential kingdom growth, then would you think most churches have an intentional marriage and family-forming system? God has placed a desire in my heart to raise the capacity of the church to help families thrive for the sake of the Gospel.
I believe the church is designed to be just that – an intentional place for Christian marriage and family formation, but most churches have yet to make this a focus of ministry. Let’s look at what some of the leading experts in Family Life Education and Ministry have to say:
Dr. Bergman writes: “No other social institution has more lifelong contacts with families and individuals than the church.”

Dr. Baker writes: “No other institution is present during the family milestones of childbirth, baptism, confirmation, Holy Communion, death, the crisis, celebrative and faith-building periods during the life course of individuals and their families.” (1994)
Dr. Garland writes: “No other institu­ tion is moved by a richer or more power­ ful vision of human community than the church. A congregation can be the leaven that raises the consciousness of the whole community about needs and vulnerabilities of families.” (1994, p. 380)
Dr. Barbour writes: “No other institu­ tion is granted the right to be in touch with every generation of a family simultaneously.” (1994)
The church must build a deliberate and intentional Family Life Education System that supports homes and marriages for the sake of caring for our children and their faith; a system that equips families to live a life that reflects God’s will and ways and passes on their love for Jesus to the next generations.
Why should the Christian Church be concerned about this? The statistics
below show that the number of adults who demonstrate faith in Christ continues to exponentially decline:

I believe that if we want to change this decline, we must reclaim the family as the exponential engine for kingdom growth, and we must address the following: (There are four changes or challenges)

First, millennials are having babies. Is the church prepared to provide training and guidance for their marriages and families?
Second, family structure has changed. Is the church prepared to address these changes?
Third, stepfamilies or the non-nuclear families are a growing norm in the American culture. Is the church prepared to walk with them?
Fourth, children are being born into “single mother families” at a faster rate than those being born into a “one mother one father family.” Is the church ready to walk with these moms?
Fifth, our overall population is aging. In fact, this is the first time in the history of the world that there are more people over the age of 65 than under the age of five, and America is leading this population trend. Is the church ready to support families with members in their later years?
Concordia Center for the Family is addressing these very issues in the LCMS Mid-South District’s family initiative called Generation to Generation. They have formed two networks of congrega­ tions that are committed to a series of seven family ministry training modules. These cover topics like marriage prepara­ tion and enrichment, parent education through the family life cycle and shaping parents as faith influencers. These mod­ ules that I have written are designed to empower churches to raise their capacity to help Christian families thrive.
I invite you to join the webinar on June 21 from 1-2 PM Central time, where we will address the five challenges and share more information about the LCMS Mid­ South District’s Family Initiative. Another opportunity to address family ministry in the church would be at the 2018 National RSTM Conference. One of the speakers will be Tessa Brasheer, the chairperson
of the LCMS Mid-South Family initiative and a church professional working in a rural congregation, who will be sharing how her congregation is implementing family ministry.

2 June 2018 ! Reaching Rural America for Christ IM AGE: THINKSTOCK
TO READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
SUGGESTED BIBLE READINGS FOR THE MONTH OF JULY

JULY BAPTISMAL BIRTHDAYS

July 2, 1944
June Evelyn Olson
46115 233rd St
Wentworth, SD 57075

July 2, 2000
Dakota Faye Alfson
23633 464th Ave
Wentworth, SD 57075

July 9, 1933
Ruth Hotchkin
200 West 2nd St
Colton,SD 57018

July 12, 1942
Dale Eugene Dorow
46015 234th St
Wentworth, SD 57075

July 14, 1940
Helen Joan Lease
23681 469th Ave
Colman, SD 57017

July 14, 1953
Bradley Michael Swenson
46822 SD Hwy 34
Colman, SD 57017

July 14, 2013
Collyns Rae Olson
45948 224 St
Nunda, SD 57050

July 17, 1942
Sandi Jeanne Johnson
935 NE 3rd St
Madison, SD 57042

July 18, 1971
Gina Lynn DeGroot
24312 467th Ave
Dell Rapids, SD 57022

July 18, 2010
Presley Julia Schneider
45076 233rd St
Madison, SD 57042

July 19, 1942
Georgia Alice Rentz
PO Box 26
Wentworth, SD 57075

July 21, 2002
Macie Marie Brown
24131 465th Ave
Chester, SD 57016

July 24, 1949
Carolyn Marie Lindholm
PO Box 133
Wentworth, SD 57075

July 24, 1983
Brian Michael Maas
23150 463rd Ave
Wentworth, SD 57075

July 27, 1941
Jane Alberta Rentz
3904 S. Terry Ave Apt #364, Sioux Falls, SD 57106

July 29 , 2001
Kayla Rae Dean
PO Box 112
Wentworth, SD 57075

July 29, 2001
Lizabeth Maree Reck
2601 N. Career Ave. Apt. 283
Sioux Falls, SD 57107

JULY WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES

Mr. & Mrs. Rich & Cheryl Schriever July 2, 2011
Mr. & Mrs. Bill & Lori Hansen July 4, 1985
Mr. & Mrs. Scott & Jill Feige July 6, 2007
Mr. & Mrs. Dean & Shirley Hess July 11, 1964
Mr. & Mrs. Jesse & Alyssa Baumberger July 12, 2013
Mr. & Mrs. Jeff & Kim Hemmer July 13, 1985
Mr. & Mrs. Mark & Delorus Limmer July 13, 2002
Mr. & Mrs. Rudy & Ione Schmidt July 20, 1958
Mr. & Mrs. Tyler & Nicole Backus July 30, 2016

JULY BIRTHDAYS
July 6, 2010 Presley Julia Schneider
July 7, 2002 Macie Marie Brown
July 8, 1942 Georgia Alice Rentz
July 11, 1939 Dick Dean Lease
July 13, 1954 Gaylen Burdette Backus
July 16, 1993 Nathan James Winesburg
July 18, 1951 Tom Edward Baumberger
July 18, 1983 Brian Michael Maas
July 18, 2001 Chase Taylor Hemmer
July 19, 1988 Kassy Olson
July 21, 1985 Tasha Lynn Haan
July 22, 1943 Rollyn Ray Hess
July 24, 1991 Kara Michele Velgersdyk
July 25, 1990 Kayla Rose Tweet
July 26, 1935 Arlene Mable Limmer
July 28, 1969 Cheryl Ann Schriever
July 28, 1981 Meredith Marie Fischer
July 28, 1985 Jarrod Allen Maas
July 28, 2006 Olivia Jean Lindholm
July 28, 2006 Kayden Jeffrey McLaughlin
July 29, 1953 Luanna Marie Shuck
July 29, 1968 Randy Hess
July 30, 1995 Lizabeth Maree Reck

The LWML group Met on June 7, 2018 with 3 members present. 

Pastor Welton gave the opening prayer and Bible study was “Struggling with the Influence of Technology”. .

Roll Call was answered with a bible verse “Celebration”

Old business discussed was the upcoming Sunday School Year and the Prayer Pillows needed. Janice handed out pillows that need embroidered. At this point we have 8 children that will receive Prayer Pillows on Rally Sunday.

Our Treasurer Melinda Olinger presented Pastor Welton with the $60 check to start the Mercy Fund at Saint Peters Lutheran Church. The monies for this fund will be used at the discretion of the pastor and the elders for those in need.  (Please note attached picture)

Janice and Delorus highlighted the events of the district convention that was held in Sioux Falls June 1st and 2nd. 

Upcoming Dates:

July 21st will be the Mother Daughter Tea Party. We are still looking for empty frosting containers for one of the activities at the party. 

Christian Life Workshops 
• September 14 in Spearfish
• September 15 Murdo
• October 5 Canistota
• October 5 Wecota

Mission of the Month was to buy prayer books for the prayer pillows for the upcoming year. 

Next meeting will be July 14, 2018 ~ 9 AM ~ St. Peters Fellowship Hall. 

Roll Call Verse: Free/Freedom.

Meeting adjourned with the reciting of the LWML Pledge.