This week at St. John

• MON-SAT 6/1-6/6 6:25AM Pastor Merrill hosts 'Thy Strong Word' on KDSN
• MON/TUES 6/1-2 Church office closed, both Pastor & Linda gone. Call 712-267-3250 for assistance
• THUR 6/4 1:30PM LWML meeting
• SUN 6/7 Summer schedule begins, Worship at 8:30AM, Mite box Sunday, Free will offering for National Convention
  9:45AM (after worship) Adult/HS Bible Study
  8PM LYF National Gathering Bible Study

Memorial Day 2010

Armed Forces Sunday was observed at St. John Lutheran, Charter Oak on May 23, along with Pentecost and Baccalaureate. Members of Charter Oak's American Legion Post participated in the processional and recessional. A roll call was read before prayers of those 58 veterans of 5 wars who were members of St. John at the time of their death. After worship, outside the church a wreath was ceremonially places on the "tomb of the unknown" and a firing squad offered a 21 gun salute. 

The Legion will host a Memorial Day service at the Charter Oak Community Building on Memorial Day, Monday, May 31.

Today, LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces endorses and supports 215 chaplains, including: 71 active duty military chaplains, 93 chaplains serving Reserve and National Guard units (22 of which are mobilized and serving in the United States, Iraq, and Afghanistan), 22 Veterans Administration chaplains, 25 Civil Air Patrol chaplains, and four chaplains for Federal Bureau of Prison ministry.

www.lcmsworldmission.org/armedforces

Serving those who serve

Support of LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces can be sent to:
LCMS World Mission Ministry to the Armed Forces
1333 S. Kirkwood Rd. St. Louis, MO 63122
lcmschaps@lcms.org

This Week

FRI 5/27- 7PM Wedding Rehersal
SAT 5/28- 5PM JL Gtimsley & Bethany Nemitz wedding
SUN 5/29- 8:45 AM Adult Bible Study (Children's Sunday School now on Summer hiatus)
                   10AM Contemporary Worship Service

PRAYER FOR GRADUATES: Congratulations to our St. John graduates and may God guide you in your future. Aubry Kunze, Lindsay Kunze, Alex Ladwig, Tyler Roberts, Marcus Steffen, and Brandon Vogt.

SUMMER SERVICE TIME: For June, July & August, Sunday worship will be at 8:30 Am, followed by Adult Bible Study.

God's Blessings, class of 2010

Click here to open/download a PDF of the Blessing Ceremony

The Blessing Ceremony's Background Story, By Ted Mallory

Many years ago, while my wife Bethany and I were teaching at Los Angeles Lutheran Jr/Sr High School in Sylmar, California the faculty wanted to customize the school's baccalaureate service. Bethany was the "Spiritual Life Director" (she taught 7-8 grade Religion, and coordinated Chapels as well as other prayer and service events and student-ministry groups). We looked into a book by Christian authors and family counselors Gary Smalley and John Trent called The Blessing. The authors believe that a blessing has three major components, a statement that the recipient is valued, physical touch, and a pronouncement of God's providence over the recipient's future. We tried to incorporate these into our ceremony.

Ten years ago, when we moved back to small town Iowa, the Pastor L.C. Gebhardt and Elders asked us to serve as Youth Counselors, leading the church's high school youth group (Lutheran Youth Fellowship, LYF) and accompany the group to the National Youth Gathering in New Orleans that year. When we had our second daughter, I more or less became the youth counselor while Bethany took care of our girls. 

The Elders decided that St. John Lutheran, Charter Oak would have a "contemporary" worship service every fifth Sunday. At the time they felt that the Youth should lead contemporary service. I had the privilege of writing/arranging many of these and our youth-led Easter Sunrise services for a few years until Rev. Gebhardt retired and the vacancy pastor wasn't comfortable with laity involvement, or youth leadership, not to mention contemporary worship. Eventually school and family life led me to step down as LYF leader. Currently I am officially the high school Bible Class instructor, unfortunately not many teenagers like to attend Bible Class on Sunday mornings.

Before Gebhardt's retirement, a long-time member of St. John, Lynn Hoffman- herself a retired Lutheran School teacher (and one of those responsible for our now defunct preschool, Noah's Ark) wanted to do something to make the baccalaureate service at St. John, Charter Oak. I adapted what we had done at LALHS to something that could be incorporated as part of a worship service, rather than the entire service itself. St. John still uses this Blessing Ceremony every year at graduation time.

I wanted to make it available here for any schools or churches to use, free of charge. Really, it's a collaboration with my wife and our former colleagues and "standing on the shoulders of giants" like Smalley and Trent- consequently, I'm not looking for all kinds of credit, attention, or money for it, thus it is uncopyrighted. My hope is that by using it, you will be blessing the Seniors in your life and sending them out into the world with the knowledge that God goes with them.

This week at St. John

TUES 5/11- Pastor at conference in Ida Grove
THURS 5/13- Ascension Day Service at Mission Central
FRI 5/14- Pastor gives Chapel at Zion Lutheran School in Denison
SUN 5/16- No Sunday School or Bible Class,
8:30 AM Communion at Church, 10 AM Communion Service at Charter Oak City Park with pot-luck picnic.

Confirmation 2010

 

St. John Lutheran, Charter Oak Confirmands this year; Joshua Maack, Rev. Richard Merrill, Kayl Krapfl, Benjamin Pautch, Abby Dobernecker, and Aubri Castillo. Confirmed in Christ May 2, 2010

As part of the same service, Abby Dobernecker was also received into the Kingdom of God by the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. Along with Ronald and JoAnn Maack, her confirmation class served as her sponsors.