Love your neighbor as yourself
Servant to Servant                                          5-5-17

Bishop's Visit

 

On Sunday, April 30, 2017, Bishop Jamison

J. Hardy visited St. John's Lutheran Church in Pembroke, ON, Canada. His last visit with the members of St. John's was back on October 16, 2016 when the congregation celebrated its 125th anniversary. 

Called to Glory
Rev. Allen Albert Gartner, Emeritus, was called to glory on Wednesday, May 3, 2017. The funeral service will be held on Saturday, May 6, 2017, 10:30 AM, at Hope Lutheran Church, 100 Packard Ave., Grand Rapids, MI.

Rev. Gartner is survived by  his wife, Marilyn, son Jonathan, daughter Karen, two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
 
  Obituary

Prayer Request
 

Please pray for Susan, administrative assistant at Martin Luther Chapel in Pennsauken, NJ who was recently diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. She will have surgery this week and begin chemotherapy soon after. 
 
Church and school activities
#LoveThyNeighbor
 
Witnessing
Pastor Emeritus George Schaetzle had a baseball cap made for the Reformation 500 anniversary year, using a local shop that handles advertising. He hopes to wear his cap wherever he goes this summer and fall. When a person asks him what the meaning of the "500" is, he plans to say, "2017 is the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, when Martin Luther re-discovered the good news that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins." Pastor Schaetzle calls it his witness hat, and it is his hope "that the Holy Spirit will take it from there."  

The Rev. J. Derek Mathers, The Rev. Ben C. Eder,

The Rev. Dwayne R. Hendricks, and The Rev. David A. Beutel

In our churches
 
Connecting
On April 27, 2017, The Rev. J. Derek Mathers, Assistant to the Bishop and Mission Executive, visited the Buffalo Circuit pastors and later took them out for lunch.
 


Celebrating
Ascension of Christ, Beverly Hills, MI, recently paid
off their mortgage and celebrated with a special worship service and fellowship meal.
 
The Rev. Theodore M. Krey, English District member, Missionary to the Dominican Republic and Area Director for South America and Latin America for the LCMS Office of International Mission, was the guest preacher. Dave Marasus, long-time Minister of Music returned as the guest organist. The service included the choir, bells, brass, and - for the first time - singing by the Sunday school and preschool children from Ascension Early Child Care Center.
 
Members and staff of Ascension would like to give a special thanks to the English District and LCEF for its support, especially during the years when Ascension faced challenges that made paying the mortgage on the 1996 renovation and expansion an accomplishment that seemed out of reach. They also give thanks to God for His blessings to Ascension of Christ.
In our schools
Watching new life
God's miracle is present in the Pre-4 room at Martin Luther Christian School, Pennsauken, NJ. The children are learning about butterflies and watching them develop in their classroom. The butterflies will be released into the butterfly garden.
Field trip fun!
The preschool classes at Bethesda International Academy, Chicago, IL, were monkeying around at Lincoln Park Zoo!
Water travel
Shepherd King Preschool students from West Bloomfield, MI, experimented with a type of water transportation by discussing what caused types of water transportation to float as well as predicting how many rocks would cause it to sink.
In our District
 
Correction!
Our apologies for last week's photo caption. Here are the correct names for the candidates from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO, who received their first calls into English District congregations.
 
From left: Ann and Shawn Davis; LCMS English District President The Rev. Dr. Jamison J. Hardy; Victor Manuel de la Rosa; and Philip Gai.

News From Our International Workers
Dear Friends,
  
A lot has been happening here. And we are excited to share it with you. We pray that it will inform and inspire you as you witness to the risen Lord. Click here to read our newsletter. God keep you in His grace!

Rev. Dale and Suzanne Kaster
Ghana, West Africa

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Dear Family and Friends,
 
Please click here to read our newsletter.  Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. You are in ours also. God's blessings.
 
Love in Christ,
Rev. Ted & Rebecca Krey, Esther, Matthias, Natalia, and Evangeline....and still awaiting baby Krey!

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Alleluia, Christ is risen!
A very blessed Easter season to you from the Ferry Family in Asia.  We are blessed to be your hands, feet, and mouths to the people of Indonesia and well beyond.  This holy season is what it's all about: the great Good News of Christ risen and victorious for the salvation of the whole world.
 
Click here to read our latest newsletter to read about a gift you're giving to the pastors and people of the GKLI which enhanced their Easter celebration.
 
We remain committed to being your far-flung agents, working on your behalf to do what needs to be done over on this side of the world... and we take great joy in that!  Thank you for your prayers and encouragement, now and always.

Yours in Jesus' Name,
The Ferry Family
(Charles, Cheryl, Caleb, Caitlin, Carissa, Cassandra, and Chloe)

New, Free Resource for Arabic Outreach
Open doors to conversation with Arabic-speaking immigrants or exchange students in your community with a new, free resource from the Lutheran Heritage Foundation: A Child's Garden of Bible Stories, translated into the Arabic language. Available in hardcover and paperback, this colorfully illustrated collection of 60 Old and New Testament Bible lessons is available free of charge to the ministries that need them. Call LHF at (800) 554-0723 or email info@LHFmissions.org to order your copies.



 
Church Interpreter Training Institute Offered at CTSFW
More than 30 years ago, the Church Interpreter Training Institute (CITI) was established to improve the skills of interpreters in church settings in signing the Word of God to people who are deaf in Christian congregations. As a Christian ministry, provided by the joint partnership of Concordia Theological Seminary (CTSFW), Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Lutheran Friends of the Deaf (LFD), founder of the Mill Neck Family of Organizations, CITI has equipped hundreds of church interpreters to serve the Christian Church. 

In keeping with its commitment to offer regional workshops for church interpreters around the United States, LFD will offer a nine-day intensive workshop on the CTSFW campus, 6600 N. Clinton St., June 25-July 3, 2017. The cost of the program is $1,000 for commuters (includes lunch only) and $1,500 for residential students (includes dorm and all meals). More information and online registration is available here.  Registrations are due by June 1, 2017. For more information, contact the CITI office on the CTSFW campus at CITI@ctsfw.edu or call 260-452-2283.

Church Worker (Student Loan) Debt Reduction Grants Available
The purpose of the English District Endowment Fund is to provide God's people with a unique opportunity to participate in a perpetual fund. This fund shall assist congregations and rostered workers alike. One aspect of the Endowment Fund currently being offered to Rostered Church Workers is a grant for financial assistance with their student loans. Those rostered workers who are currently serving (called workers) in ministry in their first through eighth year in an English District LCMS congregation or school, are eligible to apply for this education indebtedness grant. 
  • For a Church Worker (Student Loan) Debt Reduction Grant we ask that you complete an Application for Church Worker Transitional Assistance. These forms are available on our District website.
  • The Executive Staff of the District and the Endowment Fund Board Managers will review applications, notify applicants whether their request is granted, and disburse applicable funds within three months of receiving applications. If the application is submitted but not completely filled out, it will be denied.

For security of your personal information you can fax your completed application to 248-476-0188.

 

If you choose to email the form we ask that you use a password protected zip file, sending the zip file and password in two separate emails to DMathers@englishdistrict.org.

 

You may mail the completed application to:

English District, LCMS

Attention: Rev. J. Derek Mathers

33100 Freedom Road

Farmington, MI  48336-4030

 

If you have any questions, please contact Rev. J. Derek Mathers at 1-800-755-9335 ext. 311.

 

Deadline for applications is May 10, 2017.

 

Financial Aid Available
Supporting church workers is a priority for the English District LCMS, and we continue to work to increase the amount of funding available for students to pursue a ministry career. The first time you apply for aid, there are two forms to complete: the District Financial Aid Application and the Financial Aid Information Form.

Grants are given to applicants enrolled in synodical-approved church work programs (pastor, teacher, DCE, DCO, deaconess, etc.). Grants are not given to interns, vicars, or graduate students. There is a separate Colloquy Financial Aid Application for colloquy students.

Please read the Financial Aid Instructions before completing the forms. The deadline for submission of English District financial aid applications is June 1, 2017.
 



Please share your congregation's or school's unique ministries with the rest of the District. Send pictures and stories for consideration to Lynne Cobb by Wednesday, 3:00 pm ET.

We want to see how YOUR congregation or school is "loving your neighbor as yourself."
Previous issues of the eNewlsetter, Servant to Servant, are available on the  English District website. You are encouraged to share the information from Servant to Servant with members of your congregation.
 
All are invited to subscribe to this weekly publication. Forward the newsletter to members of your church using the "Spread the Word" link at the bottom left of this newsletter. They can subscribe by clicking on the link at the bottom right titled, "Sign up for our emails." Thanks for spreading the word!

ENGLISH DISTRICT LCMS

webmail@englishdistrict.org



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