English District of
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
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Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. |
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Canada East/West Circuits Gathering |
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Members of the two Canadian Circuits met at Faith Lutheran Church (LCC) in London, Ontario for the annual Advent - Christmas gathering for a communion service followed by a Christmas dinner. A great time was had by all with lots of laughter and good fellowship and the traditional photo in front of the Christmas tree. |
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Call Accepted
The Rev. Scott E. Simpson, Military Chaplain, U.S. Army, has accepted the call to serve as assistant pastor of Holy Trinity, Columbia, SC (Southeastern District).
Call Received and Accepted
The Rev. Jonathan E. Shaw has received and accepted a call to serve as Assistant to the President, Director of Church Relations, for The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, St. Louis, MO.
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Calling a Seminary Candidate/Requesting a Vicar |
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If your congregation is interested in extending a divine call to a seminary candidate, or plans to apply for a vicar, please contact Kathy Stanis, Administrative Assistant, at 248-476-0039 ext. 320 or by email at kstanis@englishdistrict.org. A new version of the call documents is available (ver. 4.9.3). Do not use any older versions or the call documents will be returned for correction and resubmission. Call documents and vicarage applications must be received at the English District office no later than February 1, 2022. |
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TRUE JOY THAT ACTUALLY LASTS!
Please contemplate this question with me: When was the last time you had a moment of utter joy? I mean a joy that flowed through every aspect of your body and resulted in shouting your heart’s fulfillment over what you were feeling? That’s a big ask in this time of COVID resurgence, school shootings, inflation shrinking your Christmas gift buying power and the list goes on and on. There certainly are enough circumstances that seek to rob joy from our lives. It’s such a big ask you may be at a loss to name such a joyous moment right now.
God has a gift especially for you: JOY! LASTING JOY! God alone gives a joy that no darkness can overcome and no joy-robber can take from you! It’s so much more than just being happy or putting a smile on your face. Happiness is fickle and requires happy circumstances. God’s joy, on the other hand, sticks around. It doesn’t get chased off by trouble, hardship, or adversity. God’s joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit who resides in you and it’s also a gift that only He gives with His presence and salvation. In the ESV version of the Bible, the word for joy (rejoicing, joyous) is found 430 times while the word for happy is found only 10 times. Of all the gifts on your Christmas list, lasting joy has to be at the top of the list. Read more about this gift that God looks to give you now and for eternity. It’s a gift that you will want to bring to the world every single day.
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English District Endowment Fund |
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Endowment Fund Board of Managers are gift givers.
Are you mission minded? Has God given you the ability to be a good steward of His treasures? Do you have the desire to assist and grow the English District’s Endowment Fund so that we can support mission work throughout our District today, tomorrow and forever?
If you or someone you know in our congregations, whether a lay person or a commissioned or ordained minister, has a mission heart, promotion or marketing skills, prudent investment of financial resources talent, or has an eye to discern worthy proposals for projects advancing the Lord's mission, plan to ask your parish's voters assembly submit a nomination for that person to the English District Endowment Fund Board of Managers by February 20, 2022.
Nomination forms and convention documents are available here.
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The Bible's promise is true: "If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us" (1 John 5:14).
District daily prayers for January are located on our website.
Your prayer concerns are important to the English District. If you have a prayer request you would like shared in this newsletter, email the District office.
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Contact the English District Gift Planning Counselor Ron Grimm for more information at (412)-584-7039 or email.
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Online applications must be completed by December 31, 2021. |
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Messiah, Danville, CA
Messiah Lutheran Church participated in the city’s annual Lighting of the Old Oak Tree event on Friday, November 26th. They sang Christmas carols and passed out over 200 candy canes and information cards about the church to people enjoying the festivities!
Pictured here is Vicar Brennan DeForest with his wife, Abby, at the event.
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Ascension of Christ, Beverly Hills, MI
Here are some of the volunteers after setting up the shared Nativity display at Shain Park in Birmingham, MI. The display is jointly sponsored with two other local LCMS congregations, Our Shepherd Lutheran and Lutheran Church of the Redeemer.
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Prince of Peace, Menomonee Falls, WI
Sunday, December 5, Toula was baptized into God's family. She was happily smiling during her baptism, God bless you, Toula.
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Catalina, Tucson, AZ
The LWML of Catalina Lutheran Church held an Advent Tea for the women of the congregation with the theme "Fill My Cup...with Thanksgiving." It was based on the Bible verse "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift." 2 Corinthians 9:15. The LWML used a Thrivent Action Team grant to collect food for the Catalina IMPACT Food Bank. The generosity of the congregation filled the trunk of the car with 235 pounds of donated food. Monetary gifts along with the food were given to Impact of Southern Arizona in Catalina.
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Christ the King, Grosse Pointe Woods, MI
Grant Harris and the Christ the King 'Living Nativity' team did an outstanding job with the annual Christmas gift to the community of the birth of Jesus Christ. A big thanks to the angels, wisemen, shepherds, Mary and Joseph, narrators, singers, wardrobe supervisors, food servers, teachers, clean-up crew, and all the Nativity re-enactors from the Sunday School and Preschool.
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Fairlawn, Fairlawn, OH
Fairlawn Lutheran Church and School merged for an Advent Make and Take event that included a craft, lunch and lots of fun!
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Redeemer, Pittsburgh, PA
Redeemer Lutheran School held a collection for military donations. Here they are, all packed up to be shared with our servicemen and women around the world by Operation Troop Appreciation. Thank you school families for all of the donations!
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Please 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.
- They can subscribe by clicking on the "Sign up for our emails" link at the bottom.
Thanks for spreading the word!
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Also, please share your congregation's or school's unique ministries with the rest of the District. Send pictures and stories for consideration to jmcgarr@englishdistrict.org by Wednesday at 12:00 Noon ET. We want to see how YOUR congregation or school is showing the love of God to those in your community and around the world.
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If you'd like to share our emails, please forward
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