IDE LLL

YOUTH MINISTRY LEADER TO BE SPEAKER

AT THE 65 th.

ANNUAL INTL. L L L APRIL CONVENTION

Rev. Terry Dittmer will be the main speaker at the 65^th Annual International Lutheran Layman’s League Iowa District East Convention. It will be at Camp Io-Dis-E-Ca On April 19, 2008. Rev. Dittmer is the Director of the Department Of Youth Ministry and is also responsible for administering Lutheran Youth Fellowship for our Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Terry is also a published author, and he is the composer of many songs and hymns written for our Synodical Youth Gatherings.

The Lutheran Laymen’s League is concerned about identifying, mentoring, and training the future leaders of our LCMS congregations and our League. We would ask all leaders, and Pastors to encourage participation in this event which is designed to serve “all” of Iowa District East in ways that only the Holy Spirit understands at this moment in time.

The stated goal of our Lutheran Laymen’s League when it was formed in 1918 was, to help our LCMS pastors and congregations, welcome others to come and worship with us. It is to this goal that we ask you to help us pass on the up-coming information that will lead to this convention. Please stress the thought of, “sending some of your flock to be in attendance.” We will now have an LCMS Youth and Young Adult Leader from St. Louis to help us understand how to, revitalize our League and keep the LCMS young folks loses to a minimum, by encouraging the young to stay involved by serving there congregations and their congregational peers.

As a parent and grandparent we see our children drift away from steady Sunday attendance, as they begin to enter adult life after their conformation vows. Yes, they do return, however we would like to fill their lost years with mentoring and guidance without extreme judgments. We are hoping this speaker can help our congregations as well as the League to build lasting Christian relationships for our future leaders.

Concordia Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids

On Sunday, November18, members of Concordia Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids celebrated the parish's 50th anniversary, ending a year-long observance of the special milestone.

The congregation kicked off the celebration in November 2006 by formally adopting lay missionaries, Jon and Heidi Heisterkamp, who were preparing to leave for Panama in January 2007. The congregation flew the Heisterkamps to Cedar Rapids so members could meet them and learn about their work.

Sponsoring the Heisterkamps was the main focus of the congregation's anniversary celebration, although parishioners observed the anniversary in many other ways throughout the year. Reverend Jerry Doellinger assembled a 50th anniversary committee to lead the congregation's celebration. The committee settled on the theme, "Concordia Lutheran Church: Built for Eternity, Est. 1957" and then set about planning several events that were designed to give thanks to God for all the blessings of the past 50 years and to show gratitude to charter members who took on the daunting task of beginning a new church.

• A service led by Rev. Mark Gefaller, a spiritual son of Concordia.
• A visit by Gary Thiess, Mission Counselor for the Lutheran Chruch Missouri Synod.
• Introduced an original hymn: music composed by Ryan Loftsgaarden, member of Concordia, with words written by Rev. Paul Doellinger, brother of Concordia's Pastor Doellinger.
• Recognized charter members of the congregation during a worship service.
• Invited past confirmands to return for special outdoor worship service followed by church picnic.
• Invited Concordia's first residential pastor, the Rev. Walter Marth, now a resident of Washington state, who returned to Cedar Rapids to lead a worship service.
• Congregational photo (formation of "50")
• Published 50th Anniversary Picture Directory, with more than 90% participation by congregation.
• Designed and sold 50th Anniversary T-shirts with portion of proceeds set aside for adopted missionaries. Members wore the shirts to all the special observances.
• Wrapped up the year by inviting Rev. Paul Scheidt, pastor at Concordia for 34 years, to preach the sermon at the November 18 service, almost 50 years to the date that Concordia was begun. Congregational meal followed in newly remodeled Fellowship Hall.

At all the special services, free will donations were collected for the Heisterkamps. The committee set a goal of collecting $5,000 by the end of the year. As of this writing, almost $4,000 has been generously donated and there is still a month-and-a-half to go before the year ends.

The Rev. John Zimmermann

ORDINATION ANNIVERSARY

Pastor John Zimmermann, who was ordained into the Holy Ministry on Reformation Sunday, October 31, 1937, observed the 70th anniversary of his ordination on Oct. 29, 2007, when his son, Rev. Tim Zimmermann, conducted the Reformation Sunday worship service at the Lutheran Home in Vinton, Iowa.

Rev. John Zimmermann began his ministry in parishes in Minnesota. In 1948 he became the pastor of St. Paul Lutheran church in Eldora, Iowa and served the congregation for 26 years. He was President of Iowa District East from 1970 to1982. He then returned to Eldora and served St. Paul as visitation pastor and pastor emeritus. During his ministry Pastor Zimmermann also served the church-at-large on various boards and committees and as International LWML Counselor. In 1976 he received a Doctor of Divinity degree from his alma mater, Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. He and his wife Mae Etta moved to the Lutheran Home in 2002. They have been married for 69 years.

Two Zimmermann sons are pastors in Iowa District East: Rev. Bruce Zimmermann of St. John, Wellsburg/Christ, Gladbrook, and Rev. Tim Zimmermann of Our Redeemer, Iowa City. A third son, Rev. Fred Zimmermann, is pastor of St. James Lutheran Church in Shawano, Wisconsin.

Rev. Arp's November Article

Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and from
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

On October 30th, my wife and I returned home from a vacation. It was a very relaxing and enriching get-away which included a lot of my wife’s family history and the history of our nation.

While traveling, we were privileged to attend services in three different LCMS churches. I was pleased to see that each one of them used our new hymnal, Lutheran Service Book. The very high point, though, was Reformation Sunday when we witnessed the baptism of our great granddaughter, Grace Patton. What a joy it was to see this newest member of our family born again into Christ's holy family.
On our first Sunday home, many of our congregations in Iowa District East were observing All Saints Sunday. Marjorie and I happened to worship at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Waterloo that day. The Epistle reading was one of my all time favorites, from Revelation chapter seven. What a beautiful picture the Apostle John gives us of that eternal home:

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice,“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Rev. 7.

Two of the hymns used at Immanuel were All the Saints and Behold the Host Arrayed in White. This caused us to pause. These two beautiful hymns were sung at our daughter Lonny’s funeral several years ago. So you see, we went from one Sunday, with the joy of seeing the rebirth of a great granddaughter in Baptism, to the next Sunday, being reminded of the death of our dear daughter Lonny and her continual presence before the throne of the Lamb. What a blessing it is to know that Grace and Lonny are connected in the blood of Jesus Christ. Both are members of the household of God, one in the Church Triumphant and the other in the Church militant.

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I recently received an email from Dr. Darius Petkunas, pastor of the Lutheran church in Palanga, Lithuania. Because of the escalating prices there, they continue to struggle to get that project completed. Here is a picture of the project as it now stands.
There is a group from St. John, Hubbard preparing to travel to Lithuania, at their own expense, to do some work on the interior of the church. We can use some more work groups like that so if you have an interest in this, please feel free to contact me or my assistant, Dean Rothchild.

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In early November, I had in my office the Rev. Simon Yiech, a Sudanese pastor who is serving a group of Sudanese in Des Moines. He is also the President of a Sudanese Mission Society. Here is another group that has very legitimate needs as they try to minister to people in Sudan. In the near future, we will be providing a bulletin insert or information about the needs there and how you might be able to help meet those needs.

God’s blessings to each of you as you prepare for the Thanksgiving Holiday and the Advent Season.

Grace Lutheran Church in DeWitt

Grace Lutheran Church, DeWitt, hosted their annual OctoberFeast in conjunction with the Grace Lutheran Women’s Harvest Bazaar on October 14th. Over 650 people from all of the community came to enjoy a great meal, to purchase items from the Country Store and Cookie Walk, and take time to look at and bid on basket at our silent auction. The OctoberFeast was a great fellowship opportunity and fun was had by all.

St. Paul Lutheran Church in Mt. Vernon

The Priscilla Guild shares these pictures with IDE. They were taken on October 7, LWML Sunday. The LWML banner was hand made and donated by Mr. & Mrs. Michael Wieben of Colorado Springs, CO. Michaels is the son our longtime members Mr. & Mrs. William Wieben of Lisbon, IA.

The women laid quilts over the pews on LWML Sunday to show the members the care, work, and labor of love they regularly put into these items, which are donations to Lutheran World Relief. Over 100 quilts were donated this autumn.

St. Paul's Chapel and University Center in Iowa City

Campus Ministry At The University of Iowa Is...

... A Lot Fun!

...Crowd Control

...Squeaky Clean

...Finger Licking Good

...All About The Food

...Way Cool

...Happiness

...Mummyrific

...Crowded