ATTENTION St. Peter 3-15-2020

ATTENTION St. Peter Members:
March 14, 2020
Dear St Peter Lutheran Congregation,

UPDATE: Due to the uncertainty with the COVID 19 virus, Worship & Sunday School for tomorrow (3/15) at St. Peter Lutheran Church is cancelled. We will continue to monitor the situation with guidelines from our leadership; and of course, we will continue to pray to our Lord and put our trust in Him. Thank you for understanding.

If you would like to view a service
Here are some suggestions:

https://www.youtube.com/c/Stpaulnapoleon
https://worshipanew.org/

2019 Christmas Program

On Christmas Eve night Christians all over the world were going back once more in spirit to the little town of Bethlehem.  They were going there to find the newborn Savior, to worship Him, and to serve Him. We, too, journeyed to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve night with shepherds and wise men to seek and to serve the little Christ Child.  We ended our evening with little Matteo dressed as Jesus. He did an amazing job and watched us as we all gathered and sang him a sweet lullaby, “Silent Night”.

Thank you to our church choir for singing, parents for helping, Sunday school who put on a wonderful program and Sunday School teachers who teach our children every Sunday about Jesus. Please enjoy these beautiful photos taken by Kristi Leaders. Thanks a million Kristi!

January - Newsletter

From Pastor's Desk

It’s a new year! When a new year starts I try to think about things that I can concentrate on for the coming year. Two years ago I started the year discussing how a person could read the bible in a year. Last year I wrote a lot of articles about Prayer, and how a person could think about prayer. This year I talked to the elders and we discussed the possibility of home visits. What that means is visiting a person or family in their homes. Obviously in the last three years I have visited a lot of people in their homes for a lot of reasons, but I want to visit everyone else. I plan on, eventually, visiting everyone. This might take a while, but I want to begin as soon as possible. I know that a lot of people work so I am going to start by setting up plans to meet with retired people first and then move on to other members. I still plan to see everyone. I would be willing to see anyone just about whenever. In that spirit, I invite all the members to do not be afraid to call the church (or myself) and set up a time. The purpose for this is not to have a meeting. It is for me to share Christ and get to know everyone better. I look forward to seeing all of you. If you have any more questions do not be afraid to ask.

St. Peter Retirees

St. Peter Retirees will meet for lunch at Jewell Cafe in downtown Jewell on Friday, January 24, 2020 at 11:15 am. Bring your appetite for good food. No bingo gifts needed. Plan on good conversation and Christian fellowship. Everyone welcome. Contact Harry or Ruth Block if you plan to attend.

2020 Chili Cook Off

Our 2020 Chili Cook off will be February 2nd after church. Signup sheets will be on the bulletin board in the Narthex after the beginning of the year. We will need Chili makers, Salads, and Desserts. In the event of bad weather the Cook Off will be moved to February 9th, the committee will decide on Friday January 31st and send an email if there is a chance of snow/ice. Please let Kristin Leaders know if you can make Chili.

T-Shirts Left Overs - Free
There are a number of Thrivent t-shirts that are left from projects that have been completed. If you are interested they are on the table in the hallway in the addition. Take what you want.

Lutheran Hour

St. Peter congregation will observe LUTHERAN HOUR SUNDAY on February 3, 2019 giving us a special opportunity to support the work of the Lutheran Hour by using gift envelopes provided in our bulletins. We can also support the local Lutheran Hour broadcasts on WNDH radio 103.1 (Napoleon) on Sunday mornings at 9 AM. There are envelopes on the church narthex bulletin board for use in giving $67.50 for one broadcast as a memorial or honor gift.”

Family Movie Day!

Join us January 26th @2PM at St. Peter Lutheran Church for a family movie day! Featuring: Charlie Brown, The Peanuts Movie!

Fall Youth Group Gathering

On Sunday, October 27th, fifteen of our youth joined us at the Jones Family Log House in Holgate, Ohio. Owner, Roger Jones, kept the fire going as our youth, who came from St. Peter, St. Paul Flatrock and St. Stephen participated in a bible study from Pastor Stuenkel. As the sun lowered we started cooking our hot dogs over the fire, filled up on many many doughnuts and enjoyed a cup of apple cider. After many laughs around the fire the youth enjoyed a game of hide and seek in the dark. Little did the youth know…youth group leader from St. Peter, Emilie Parsons, was preparing a spooky fun story to tell them in the log house. She sat the kids down and started telling them the history of the home while owner, Roger Jones, surprised them by cutting the lights so Emilie could tell a spooky story in the dark while holding one candle for light. We finished our evening back around the campfire and Bill Richardson popped out of the corn for one more good scare! A HUGE thank you to everyone who donated food, drinks, help chaperone, “Eva & Friend” and the farmer who provided our firewood!

LWML Fall Christian Life Workshop

The Fall Christian Life Workshop is an annual program of the Defiance Zone of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. It was held at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Florida Sunday afternoon on October 13, 2019. The LWML is also promoted as “Lutheran Women in Mission”. Two of the many aims of those women include Christian Life (daily living) and Mission Service (projects of helpfulness, care and concern).

St.Peter Pastor Jacob Stuenkel gave the Opening Devotion about Lifting High the Cross to Proclaim the Love of Christ and Zone LWML Counselor, Pastor William Stottlemeyer, closed the occasion with a Closing Devotion based on John 3:16.

This year, rather than doing a mission service project, we were privileged to hear from Cheryl Shuman, Defiance Zone President and Delegate to the national

LWML convention in Mobile, Alabama AND Rev. Dr. Carl E. Rockrohr, presently full time Pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Ridgeville Corners and who recently served as pastor/missionary and professor in the countries of Ghana, South Africa and Ethiopia. He was most informative about the conditions and progress that has been made by Christian missionaries, especially those of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod during his service there. One of the many blessings experienced there is that our church primarily teaches the African people to serve as pastors and teachers to their own countrymen thus his service as a Seminary Professor. By way of statistics, he told us that Africa has more Christians than we have in the United States.

Dr. Rockrohr and his wife, Deaconess Dr. Deborah Rockrohr raised their four young children there while in Africa.

Interspersed in the program was the attendees singing the hymns “Listen, God is Calling LSB 833”, “From Greenland’s Icy Mountains LW 322” and “God Loved the World so that He Gave LWB 571.” encouraging us of the mission zeal we should have in our hearts.

Newsletter - November

From Pastor's Desk

When I think about the month of November I think about the changing Seasons. I saw the seasons change in a 24 hour period in my first year in Wisconsin. It was around Thanksgiving and my Father came up to see my Aunt and to hunt. The first day started with a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. Then we spent the rest of the day driving around looking at places they could set up to hunt deer. This was an almost perfect Fall ay. I wore a spring jacket, and it was nice and sunny. The next day I woke up and several feet of snow had fallen. My Father was literally outside hunting in a strong snow fall. They had purchased hand warmers and they needed them. The only thing I could think was, man I am glad I am not out there with him. It had changed from Fall to Winter.

The seasons are not the only thing that changes. Our lives change. One day might be a wonderful seemingly perfect day. The next day might be a terrible no good very bad day. On our terrible days God has a message for us, "Be Still and Know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10) No matter how bad our days are we can know that God is present in our lives and will not leave us nor forsake us. We also know that no matter how much our lives change God never changes. Hebrews 13:8 tells us "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” We can be confident that his love will not change. So we can face the changes of our lives with confidence knowing God is with us.

Lutheran Hour Ministries

Christmas Shoppers: Amazon Will Donate to the Ministry! Do you shop on Amazon at Christmas (or any time of the year)? Your purchases can help support the ministry—-without costing an extra cent. With the Amazon Smile program, each time you make a qualified purchase, Amazon will donate a portion of its profit to Lutheran Hour Ministries. It’s open to all Amazon customers. You can sign up in 3 easy steps: 1. Go to smile.amazon.com (NOT www.amazon.com) and log in like usual. 2. When asked which charity, type Lutheran Hour Ministries into the search box and select it in the results. 3. Start shopping. You must enter through smile.amazon.com each time for the donation to occur. It’s another way to help fund Gospel utreach! Thanks for your support.

St Peter’s Board of Witness and Stewardship

Church officers and Nominating committee are requesting your help. Witness and Stewardship is the responsibility of the entire congregation. Currently the Board of Witness and Stewardship needs your help. There will be a short meeting after church on Nov 3rd. Please consider coming and sharing your input. We need help dividing up next year’s programs, if you could take a month or two of the activities that would be greatly appreciated. ie, Mother’s Day flowers, Father’s Day treat, welcome back in the fall for Sunday school with juice and donuts, We Care Project (adopt a family) with purchasing clothing and toys, trunk/treat, church Christmas dinner, etc. Deb Oberhaus has notes on all of these activities to help you. Perhaps 2-3 people would like to work together on monthly activities. Many hands make light work. Please plan to attend. Thank you!

Henry County Christmas Cheer Program

Throughout the Month of November and until December 8th canned goods, dry goods and paper products are being collected for Christmas Cheer. Monetary donations (Checks payable to Henry County Christmas Cheer) may be sent to: Henry County Christmas Cheer c/o LeRoy Helberg Q610 County Road 19 Napoleon, OH 43545. In the Narthex you will find a listing of suggested items (remember NO home-canned products, preferably no microwave only products and Please NO items past their expiration dates). Also are forms that can be handed out to those families that are in need. If you wish to volunteer in assembling the baskets The date is Wednesday December 11th at the Filling Home.

Reduce Your Taxes with an IRA Gift

The IRA charitable rollover permits individuals who are 70 1/2 to rollover up to $100,000 from their IRA to charities like St. Peter Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) free from federal income tax. An IRA rollover gift also qualifies for your required minimum distribution, permitting you to lower your income and taxes for this year while helping us to share the Gospel. You can redirect your unneeded IRA income to our Church by having the contribution check made payable to the Church, you can also have the check mailed directly to the church to the attention of the Financial Secretary. To direct your rollover contribution to LHM, contact their gift planning staff to learn more about how you can redirect unneeded IRA income to them at lhm.org/ira, lhm-gift@lhm.org or 1-877-333-1963. Thanks for your support.

Preschool Pizza Fundraiser!

Orders are being taken now for the Pizza Fundraiser. Pisanello’s Cheese, Pepperoni or Sausage pizzas are available at $8 each (the preschool will make $5 profit on all pizza’s sold). Payment must be made at time of order (checks can be made out to St Peter Preschool). Ordering deadline is November 3rd .

Pizzas can be picked up at the church on Sunday, Nov 10th. Order blanks will be available in the Narthex.

Greetings from Preschool!

Things are going very well in Preschool so far this year, 15 students are enrolled, largest classes yet! So exciting! We've been very busy learning our letters and having weekly themes. Firefighter Kyle Richards is in this week for Fire Safety week ~ we love when he visits us!

Pisanello's Pizza sales are in full swing, please help support our Preschool and order some great deli style pizzas! $8 each and your choice of cheese, pepperoni or sausage!!! The Preschool makes $5 off each pizza sold!

Thanks so much to everyone for the prayers since my Cancer diagnosis. Sure has been amazing to have all the support from our community. Means so much to my family and I.

In God's Blessings, Mrs. Rees

Newsletter - October

From Pastor’s Desk

October in our wider Cultural world is usually seen as a time of Ghost and Goblins when we celebrate Halloween on October 31st. Yet, as Lutherans it is on the same day we celebrate the Reformation. The reason we celebrate the Reformation on that day is simple. On October 31st 1917 Martin Luther nailed his Ninety Five Thesis on the Castle Church in Wittenberg. The reason he nailed it to that door was it was practically the Universities bulletin board.

What was Luther addressing when he wrote the 95 Thesis? He was addressing a few controversies at thetime, and one of the issues was how a person saved. "The true Treasure of the church is not the superabundant merits of Christ and the Saints, subject to Papal control, but the most holy Gospel of the Glory and grace of God, freely offered to repentant Sinners by Faithful Pastors." In other words, it is the free gift of Salvation offered to us by Christ that Saves people, and nothing else. For this Luther was called a Heretic. His 95 theses along with his later writings helped start the reformation.

Today the whole Christian Church has come to appreciate Luther. Even in Catholic circles Luther is seen as a worthy Partner in theological dialogue. Which means Luther and his writings have helped the Catholic Church a great deal as they reach out to other church bodies and have ecumenical dialogues. [Some of the information for this article were taken from: Walker, Willison; Norris, Richard. A History of The Christian Church Fourth Ed. Published in 1985. (Pg.419-423)]

St Peter Men’s Dartball Schedule

All games begin at 7pm

Oct 15th – Away at Emanuel Napoleon

Nov 19th – Away at Trinity Bryan

Dec 17th – Away at Wesley UM Bryan

Jan 21st – Home vs Bethlehem Lutheran Okolona

Feb 18th – Away at St John Deshler

Mar 3rd – Home vs Trinity Wauseon

Mar 15th – Tournament at St John Deshler 2pm

Friendship Sunday at St Peter

Let’s Celebrate Our Friends on Sunday October 13th – Share the fun and Good News with someone else, bring a friend (one or more!) to Sunday School and Church. There will be light refreshments served after church by the Outreach Committee.

Trunk or Treat

Alicia and her dog Ellie

Although the Date is not determined yet -Everyone is invited to come out to St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Florida, Ohio and participate in the Trunk or Treat night. Times will be 5:30 - 7:30 You can participate by decorating your vehicle and passing out treats to the kids OR bring your children or grandchildren to the event! Watch future bulletins for the Date!!

LWML Defiance Zone Christian Life Workshop

St Peter-Florida is hosting the Christian Life Workshop on Sunday – October 13th from 2:00-4:00pm The Guest Speaker is Rev. Dr. Carl E. Rockrohr. Rev. Dr. Rockrohr is presently serving as Pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Ridgeville Corners. He will be sharing his experiences as a missionary in Ghana, South Africa and Ethiopia. He was a teacher/professor in the LCMS Seminary and will share many interesting details of the cultures and the status of Christianity in those areas. No registration is required – All women of the Defiance Zone Churches are invited to attend this Christian Life event. Light refreshments will be provided.

Greetings from Preschool!

We’ve had an amazing start to the school year and I am so blessed & thankful for 2 perfect classes this year - 15 students total!!! We’ve talked about our classroom rules, learned about each other, had our weekly themes and enjoyed everyday. Thanks to Emilie Parsons for taking our school pictures this week, I can’t wait to see all the amazing smiles!!

As always, I am so thankful to have this job and be your preschool teacher. St Peter Preschool committee, the church members and everyone else have been so supportive with everything. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. In God’s Blessings, Mrs Rees

Newsletter - September

From Pastor’s Desk:

I’m writing this in Late August. The school year is fast approaching. For the last few weeks I have been talking to students at both Churches. I always ask them, “Are you ready for school?” And most of them answer yes. I have also asked, “are you excited about school?” The answer usually, NO! It’s true rarely are kids excited about going back to school. I certainly was never excited about going back to school. I do see a lot of parents excited for their children. And think we can be excited as a child to go back to school, since we should be excited about someone else learning. This September both churches are going to resume Sunday School. I think it would be fitting to pray for the teachers and the students:

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, even as You are committed to the care and nature of children to Your people, this coming school year graciously enlighten those who teach and those who are committed to their instruction that they may know Your eternal truth and trust in You all the days of their lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN

Sunday School and Catechism Classes

Catechism Classes will begin on Wednesday, September 4th at 6:30pm the first class including a parent meeting will be held at St Peter.

Sunday School – Join us on September 8th at 9AM for our FIRST day of Sunday School as we celebrate Rally Day at St. Peter! Don’t forget to bring your backpacks for our backpack blessing during our 10AM worship service.

Joint Council Meeting

Monday, September 16th at 7:30pm at St Peter.

LWML Retreat – Defiance and Napoleon Zones

Saturday – September 21st St John, Stryker – Corners of St Rt 6 & 66 8:30am-2:00pm The LWML provides the planning for the program, church service conducted by Pastors Stuenkel and Stottlemeyer, Rev. Logan Scheiwe is the speaker for the day, (Please bring your Bible!) meals and book store for this event but all women of our churches are invited and urged to attend. Registration forms are in church narthex and need to be sent to Linda Bostelman with a check of $14 for each registrant Ingathering donations will go to the Ft Wayne Seminary Food Co-Op (See the list by the Registration for the “Donation Bag” suggestions.)

Thank You to St. Peter Lutheran church for the use of the building for the blood drive on Wed. Aug. 28. They were able to collect 19 units. Thank You again for supporting the American Red Cross.

Seminarian Ryan Pumphrey

Seminarian Ryan Pumphrey has again been designated as the adopted Seminarian of St. Peter, Florida LWML for the 2019-20 school year. His home church is Redeemer Lutheran of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He is a third year student at Concordia Seminary in Fort Wayne and will be serving his vicarage in the Fort Wayne area ministering to the residents at the Lutheran Home Care facilities. He and his wife Jennifer have two daughters, Rebecca and Cassandra and continue to live in Fort Wayne where the daughters attend high school.

We were privileged to have Ryan conduct worship services at St.Paul and St.Peter during the last academic year and look forward to the family’s visit this year as well.”

Newsletter - July

Pastor's Desk,

This July I will travel with the St Paul Youth group to The LCMS National Youth Gathering. We are also joined by some St Peter Youth Members and a few youth members of other churches. The last time I went to a LCMS National Youth Gathering, it was when I was in High School. It was in New Orleans. There were some good speakers and I went to some good breakout sessions. After a whole week there is one thing I remember clearly though, how many Lutheran Kids were there. It was Shocking, I think it was like 40,000 youth. It was good to know there were so many other kids that had the same faith I had. I hope the youth we take have wonderful experiences of their own and learn more about their Creator on this trip.

This year I have had several articles about Prayer, so I wanted to end this article with a prayer for Travel:

Lord God our Father, You kept Abraham and Sarah in safety throughout the days of their pilgrimage, you led the children of Israel through the midst of the sea and by a star you led the Wise Men to the Infant Jesus. Protect and guide us now in this time as we set out to travel. Make our ways safe and our homecoming joyful, and bring us at least to our heavenly home, where You dwell in glory with Your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. AMEN.

[Lutheran Service Book page 287].

Our Youth Groups are heading to Minneapolis!

Thank You - The Youth group would like to thank everyone for their support as the youth prepare for the trip to Minneapolis, Minnesota July 10-15, as we have a group of 16 attending this year. We wanted to make sure you all knew how much your support means to us and we will be attending the National Youth Gathering. We wanted to let you know that it cost $1200.00 a person to cover the registration, hotel and transportation for the event. We have done numerous fundraising activities and would not have been able to reduce the cost without the help of the congregation and community. The youth groups cannot say thank you enough for all your support. If anyone would still like to give a donation for the youth groups attending, we are able to accept any donations until July 5. These donations will help offset the cost of food and other activities throughout the time at the gathering. Thank you! St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. Stephens Youth Groups The Reverend James Fundum will be leading our Churches in Worship Service on July 14th as Pastor Stuenkel will be traveling with the Youth Groups to Minneapolis.

The Lutheran Witness is the official publication of our Synod.

Your go-to magazine for interpreting the contemporary world from a Lutheran Christian perspective. Learn more about topics like faith, culture, family and everything in between. If you would like to subscribe; an annual subscription is just $15.96, and this can be placed in the Lutheran Witness offering envelope which can be found in your offering box.

GERMAN LUTHERAN HERITAGE Program

On Sunday, July 21, 2019 at 2 PM. Public is welcome to an interesting time spent relating to foods and customs that our families enjoyed and that were passed down from German heritage to the present time. Board member Jason Frederick will prepare some of those traditional dishes that he makes for his family and friends to share. Please come and join us at the Lutheran Social Services Building which is south of Archbold on State Route 66 across from the Four County Career Center for an enjoyable Sunday afternoon.

St Peter’s - VBS THANK YOU

Thank you to all of our VBS volunteers for taking the time to help this week. We had a total of 35 students and the kids sure had a BLAST learning through science-inspired Christ-focused bible lessons. On Friday June 21st, we ended our VBS with a wonderful closing program where the kids were able to show their friends and family what they learned over the week.

Newsletter - June

From Pastor’s Desk

Over the last several months I have been discussing how to pray. I gave an outline of what prayers can look like. We did not discuss WHEN to pray or WHERE to pray.

Answering the question of when and where should you pray, I think it is helpful to use an analogy. I often find people who work out regularly do it the same time every day, and have a specific workout routine. I think approaching our Christian life in a similar manor can be helpful. If you find a good time and place to pray in your house I would encourage you to try praying in that same place at the same time each day for a week. If it works try it for another week. If that works try a month. You might be surprised that once you get in the habit of doing something you begin doing it without thinking.

What should you do with that time? I would encourage you to take your bulletin home each week. That gives you three readings to do, or you could begin reading a book of the bible; maybe a few chapters. Then I would encourage you to pray after the reading. If you look at your small catechism you will notice there is a Morning Prayer, and an Evening Prayer. Depending on what time you are praying, you can decide which prayer to use. The Morning Prayer asks us to face our day knowing we are God's redeemed Children. The Evening Prayer invites us ask forgiveness for our sinful behavior, and ask God forgiveness. [I think it is also good to pray before each Meal.] - Rev. Jacob Stuenkel

Our Seminarian

Our Seminarian student adopted by St. Peter Lutheran Church has received his Vicarage assignment. A Vicar is a placement for one year as an assistant to a Pastor. Ryan Pumphrey will be the Vicar at Lutheran Life Village in Ft. Wayne, IN.

Online Prayer Requests

You may now make online prayer requests! Click HERE and click on: “HOW CAN WE PRAY FOR YOU?” All Forms submitted will be privately sent directly to Pastor Stuenkel.

424 Garage Sale & Orphan Grain Train

Orphan Grain Train will be hosting their yearly fundraiser during the 424 Garage Sale Event on June 6-7-8 at the Fire station in Florida. This is the one and only fundraiser that OGT does for the year. Money raised is used for fuel and transportation funds to get the donations to the needy areas. So how can you help OGT in their efforts? They are looking for the following items to sell: Household & any type of garage sale items (no clothing please); Bake sale items. They are also in need of volunteers – those who can help collect and set up the items for sale and those that can assist during the event as salespeople. They also serve lunches during the event. Finally – take time to stop by and purchase an item, baked good or lunch! Contact Nancy Helmke @ 419.758.3539.

Monday Night Out At The Barn Restaurant At Sauder Village

The LWML invites all our members to join them for a Dutch Treat Monday Night Buffet at THE BARN RESTAURANT on JUNE 10, 2019 at 5:30 PM. Please mark your calendars now and advise Sharlene Bunke on or before June 4, 2019 if you can come. Tell her personally or by phone at 419-782-9136