PASTOR’S PEN
Dear Friends and Members of Sychar,
This year for Lent, we will be study Luther’s Small Catechism. Catechism comes from the Greek word katecho which means primary instruction.
This month I wish to write about the backstory for the Small Catechism.
In 1525, many of the earliest Lutheran pastors wanted to put together a source for primary instruction in the Christian faith based on the Middle Ages model of seeking to teach Christians the basics of the Ten Commandments, the Apostle’s Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. The Catechism project didn’t get rolling though until 1529 after Luther had conducted visits to congregations throughout Saxony. What Luther discovered during his visits was the lack of basic understanding regarding the faith of the church amongst the ordinary Christian. Luther blamed this problem on too many pastors not being skilled teachers. This explains the motivation for Luther’s writing of the Catechism.
The first revision of the Catechism took place in 1531 when Luther added a discussion regarding the meaning of Baptism. At a later date, a section on the Sacrament of the Altar (Lord’s Supper) was also added. The section on Baptism also contains a part regarding Luther’s views on Confession. What might surprise you about Luther and Confession is that Luther continued throughout the course of his life to advocating private confession between a parishioner and a pastor. The practice would only be dropped from Lutheran churches in later generations, as private confession was deemed by some to be too “Catholic” a practice. What is also noteworthy about Luther’s beliefs about confession is that he believed that any baptized Christian retained the right to forgive sins just as validly as any pastor or priest.
Luther closes the Catechism with various passages regarding the household shedding something interesting on Luther’s understanding of the Christian life. What makes Luther so different from later reformers is that he understood Christian living not in terms of one’s personal spirituality; rather Luther understands Christian living as how one lives out their daily vocations? These daily vocations are everything from employee, to parent, to citizen. For Luther, spiritual growth is not a personal evaluation of your walk with the Lord. Luther rather saw spiritual growth in how one sought to be faithful to living out their unique, individual callings to the world around them. Luther did not see a one size fits all approach to the Christian life.
One of the noteworthy things about reading through the Catechism is that references to the Bible verses are continually listed as a justification for every Lutheran belief. For example, Luther ties the Lutheran understanding of Baptism quite clearly to the 3rd Chapter of the Book of Titus. Titus makes clear that Baptism is not our individual confession of faith; rather Baptism is the working of the Holy Spirit to create rebirth and renewal within the individual Christian. Baptism’s made valid because God works outside of us, in spite of us.
The Small Catechism stands in contrast to Luther’s lesser used Large Catechism. The Large Catechism’s purpose was to provide the equivalent of a Pastoral education to clergyman so they might instruct others in the Small Catechism.
I should close with how the Small Catechism grew to its position of authority amongst Lutherans. In 1580, in the midst of trying to settle a series of disputes that plagued Lutheranism since Luther’s death in 1546. The chief second-generation reformers composed a list of Reformation era writings into a book called the Book of Concord (hence: Concordia). The Book of Concord was edited to settle all future disputes amongst Lutherans. The Book of Concord second to the scriptures themselves serves as a primary teaching tool for all future Lutheran pastors.
I hope you join us on Wednesday evenings this Lenten season as we consider both “What we believe as Lutherans?” along with “Why we believe as Lutherans?” as we further study Luther’s Small Catechism.
Best Wishes,
Pastor Stew
From the council president
Hope everyone is having a nice, safe and wonderful winter. As far as Minnesota winters go this one isn’t too bad. However, like so many others, I too plan on heading down to the sun belt in a couple weeks for some warmer weather. Sure do wish we had a Vice President to fill in for me while I’m gone.
As mentioned in last month’s article, the Board of Operations has set up and have been getting some of the maintenance jobs started. Reynold Grothe and Jon Mattila knocked out a part of the wall in the woman’s restroom so that North Shore Heating & Plumbing can get at the water pipes and replace them. Also, within a couple of weeks we should have our new breaker box put in and get all outlets and lights working the way they should. We still are waiting on a couple electrical companies to give us direction on what we have to do to reconcile our dimmer switch problem.
Last month we had a Boiler Inspector come in and do a detailed inspection of the Sychar boiler. He showed us a couple of preventative procedures for us to perform to keep lines and gauges clear and working. We were also informed that as far as he could tell, our boiler is in good condition. We are in the process of ordering a backup air compressor through Chuck Potter. The air compressor controls the thermostats throughout the church. I might mention that at February’s council meeting, the council decided that donations for the boiler fund would be separate from building maintenance fund. Both funds are equally important due to the age of the church and all of the components.
One last item, as everyone knows, we always have clipboards for signing up for this and that, but the clipboards out in the Narthex are for READERS, GREETERS, and USHERS. It would be nice to have those filled.
God Bless,
Merle McDonald, Council President
The people of Sychar
Who we are
The person next to you in the pew on Sunday may be your closest friend or someone you don’t know. Perhaps you taught their children in school or Sunday school or are a neighbor, a past or present co-worker or a business associate. This series: Who We Are, attempts to better acquaint you with your brothers and sisters in Christ, through sketches of the lives of our Sychar family members.
BERNIE YOUNG
If Bernie doesn’t answer a knock on his door, he is probably in the garage working at restoring tractors. He has done four, but finds it very heavy work. He switched to garden tractor restoration, a more light weight project.
Each summer he plants a big garden. Perhaps it has something to do with living on a farm in west central Minnesota, managing it from high school age when his father died. Bernie cans pickles, salsa and relish and freezes green beans, all from products of the garden. His three daughters benefit from the bounty when they visit.
It was 1956 when Bernie came to the area to work for Reserve Mining. He lived in one of the Mattson cabins in East Beaver Bay. His first job was in yards and docks, later he went through a machinist apprenticeship. After Reserve closed, Bernie worked for LaBounty in Two Harbors.
In 1960, Bernie married Judy, a girl from ‘back home’. They lived in a cabin in Little Marais for four years before building a house on Highway #1. The new house included a beauty salon, “The Young Look”, where Judy conducted business for many years until her health failed.
Bernie remains active at Sychar. He ushers and is on the pastoral support committee. He has also served as congregational vice president and on the Board of Operations.
Over the years, he was a union officer at Reserve, served on the School Board for eight years and the Credit Union Board for nine.
Deer hunting in the fall and snowmobiling in winter keep Bernie occupied. He has a large collection of model cars. Some are replicas of those he has owned, others collected for the unique look of cars of the past which he admires.
One has to look closely at Bernie’s forehead to realize one line across it isn’t just another frown line. He wears the reminder of a near fatal car crash in Two Harbors many years ago.
DEBORAH RABOLD JOHNSON
You may be greeted with a cheery “Good Morning” from Deb in the narthex as you enter church or you may receive a call from her asking you to be a communion assistant. She also initiated phone visits with Sychar members, a short call to say you are being thought about. She serves on the Board of Worship and altar guild. Deb transferred from Zion in Finland when Sychar became an LCMC congregation.
Deborah grew up in Finland, MN and after high school worked at several jobs in the restaurant in Silver Bay. After marriage, she moved to Duluth and worked for a prosthetics company. It was on to Las Vegas after that, where she was employed by a casino for seven years.
When she moved back to Silver Bay she was living alone and her mother was also alone in Finland. They decided on a mutual living arrangement and now live together in Silver Bay.
Making greeting cards is a hobby for Deb and she likes caring for a number of grand nieces and nephews who live in the area. Many pots of blooming flowers decorate the deck of the house; she likes tending them. They show her loving care.
BOARD OF WORSHIP NOTES
AVERAGE SUNDAY ATTENDANCE IN JANUARY: 59
THE WELL: January: Pastor Transito Ministries - $177.76
February: Food Shelf
March: China Service Ventures
Now we are experiencing winter’s stormy blasts, but the season of Lent tell us that Easter (and warmer weather) are on their way. As usual, Ash Wednesday’s service reminded us of the solemn days to come in Holy Week: Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. All Lenten services will begin at 7pm. All Wednesday soup suppers will begin at 6:15pm in the Social Room. Pastor Stew will be speaking on Luther’s Small Catechism, and we will sing songs from our Sychar Sings songbook. Supper serving schedule:
February 25th: Board of Worship
March 4th: Board of Finance
March 11th: Board of Public Relations and Board of Operations
March 18th: Little Fishes
March 25th: SLCW
Thank you to all who ate pancakes and contributed so generously to our China Service Ventures project. The donation of $188 is almost 1/3 of what we promise toward sending one Chinese village student to high school for one year.
Be sure to pick up a small (used but not too old!) Reclaim hymnal for your home use. Besides the hymns and liturgy it contains prayers and creeds – and Luther’s Small Catechism – so you can be “in the know” when Pastor speaks on Wednesday evenings! See you there!
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Bauman, Secretary- Board of Worship
SLCW News
Our $50 February mission donation was sent to the Silver Bay Fire Department.
We have a new 100 cup coffee pot. We only had one working coffee pot left and for funerals and other large gatherings we need 2 large pots. The new one was given to us by Gary Brumberg. Thank you Gary, for this generous gift.
Another thank you to Fred Mismash and LeRoy Wiskow for treating our new furniture with Scotch Guard. People using the parlor are usually careful when eating in there, but this will help with any accidents.
Minnesota Food Share is sponsoring a food and money drive March 20-22. They call it Pack the Pews and people are asked to bring non-perishable food and or cash to the church during that time.
CIRCLE 1 serves in March.
Prayers for the sheep
The Families of Herman Blasing, Priscilla Moen and Wes Hemquist ; Guss Krake, Carol Johnson, Phil Amundson, Lorraine Hendrickson, Joe Fredrickson, Karl Jevning, Chris Strande, Sheri Stephensen, Diann Hodson, Shirley Hanner, Linda Stegmeir, Jill & Wayne Hansen, Myrna Benoit, Deb MacMillian, Arnold Overby, Lyla Grace Santos, Gary Garlie, Don Hedin, Shirley Moschet, Pat LeBlanc, Angela Cook, Jake Anderson, Faith Gose, Roger Gale, Dave Huseby, Betty & Bob Oslund, Pam (Haldorson) Christiansen, Donna Dorrow, Larry Shanno, Cindy Milne, Betty Rabold, Lenore (Fralich) Skoglund, Brad Schlatter, Pastor Robin Bjella, Steve Clarke, Ed Lashyro, Harold Keopp, Michele (Bauman) Bernardy, The Church of the Living Water and Pastor Transito; law enforcement, fire & ambulance personnel; & our military service men (Army: Lucas & Megan Milne, James Friddle; Navy: Kris Topp; Air Force: Sam Andrus) and women.
Mission Team
Update and THANK-YOU!
In January the mission team put out a plea for funds to be sent to Belize. The plan was to hire Pastor Transito (who has been out of work) to fix the burned home of an elderly blind lady we met last year. The goal was to send $1,000. This was enough to buy the materials and pay the wages for Pastor to do the work. I am so pleased to say that today I sent a check for $1,559. I have to believe that this congregation is comprised of some of the most generous people on earth!!! Thank God for laying this need on the hearts of all of us and encouraging us to work together and get this done. New has also come that the sugar cane industry has returned to work so Pastor Transito is once again employed. He will most likely wait until the caning is done in July to do the work on the house, but we will leave that to his discretion. Thank You All!