Happy Mother's Day 2011

Pocatello Council Rejects Grace Lutheran

from: http://www.localnews8.com/news/27796160/detail.html

POCATELLO, Idaho -- The Pocatello City Council voted Thursday night to deny a request from Grace Lutheran Church to have a public hearing to change the zoning laws surrounding the former Ballard Medical building.

Around 245 people showed up in the city council chambers in support of Grace Lutheran's attempt to expand into a Christian high school and events center in the Ballard building.

They recited the pledge of allegiance, they prayed and they waited -- parents, Grace students and its administrators -- to see what the council would say.

But the council turned them down, with just one dissenting vote from council member Gary Moore.

Council member Roger Bray said granting the church a public hearing in front of the Planning and Zoning Committee would take away from the council's ability and duty to make governing decisions.

He also said the zoning laws are in place for a reason, and breaking them would be a careless move.

But the city does make zoning exceptions from time to time, and Grace pastor Jonathan Dinger said in an interview before the meeting that he did not understand why they could not get a chance at one.

"Our lawyer has said to us, there is a legal argument they can make. They're not lying. It's a weak argument. The argument we have, our lawyer says, you've got the title deed in hand, is a tremendously strong argument," Dinger said.

"Zoning regulations are in place to protect property owners and that includes corporate property owners by preventing careless degradation or casual erosion of established areas by preserving them for ongoing specified use," said Bray.

"Because I am in favor of this project doesn't mean I don't support ON Semiconductor. It doesn't mean I don't support ISU," said Moore.

The support Grace got from the city came only in the form of the council saying how great of a value the church is to the community. Two council members who voted against Grace's proposal said they have children or grandchildren who go to the church's school.

After the meeting, Dinger said he was disappointed and wished he had more of a chance to argue the points the council members made against him.

Grace Lutheran Church, Red Lion PA, Damaged by Gunfire

Police: Bullets strike Red Lion church steeple

by ELIZABETH EVANS The York Dispatch
Updated: 5/03/2011 11:45:25 AM EDT
at http://www.yorkdispatch.com/news/ci_17978741

Someone shot up a Red Lion church, leaving five bullet holes in several metal panels covering the steeple, police said.

York Area Regional Police said a worker doing repairs on the steeple of Grace Lutheran Church, 220 N. Charles St., discovered the damage on April 26.

All the bullet holes are on the southwest side of the steeple and are believed to have been fired from the direction of West High Street, police said.

The vandalism happened between Nov. 1 and April 26, police said.

Anyone with information about it is asked to call Officer Kevin Spangler at 741-1259.

Geert Wilders' Final Remarks

From: http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2011/05/stop-this-charade.html
Below are the final remarks made by Geert Wilders at his trial in Amsterdam today, May 2nd, 2011:

Mister President, members of the Court:

I recently tried to have Your Honors removed from the case for your refusal to register a statement of perjury against Mr. Hendriks. My challenge of the court did not succeed. I must accept that. I do wish to say, however, that I was more annoyed by another declaration of the President of the Court on the day of the official hearing of Mr. Jansen. He said that I was a free man, that I could not be compared to Mr. [Gregorius] Nekschot because I was a free man.

Mister President, you could not be more wrong. For almost seven years now, I have not been a free man. I lost my freedom in 2004. I live as a prisoner with guards without you having convicted me. Without protection I am even less certain of my life than I am now. Mister President, you would not use the words “free man” if you could change places with me for one week.

Mister President, members of the court, I am here as a suspect again today. I have said so before: This penal case is a political trial. An attempt is being made here to silence a politician who speaks on behalf of one and a half million people and who already pays a heavy price for that every single day. Formally, only I stand on trial here, but in practice the freedom of speech of millions of Dutchmen is on trial.

This trial is not merely a political trial. It is also an unjust trial.. When you look at the order of the court (to prosecute me) it is clear that the verdict has already been passed. The court has issued an order to prosecute me in which it concludes that I am guilty of incitement to hatred. The court has concluded that my statements as such are of an insulting nature. The court has concluded that I am guilty of the most serious charge: the incitement to hatred and discrimination. The court has concluded that it expects that the criminal prosecution will indeed lead to a conviction. Mister President, members of the court, the court has already done your job. Long before I was brought to trial before you, I was found guilty and was condemned. Hence my right to a just trial has been violated.

Alas, this is but the tip of the iceberg. Without any doubt, the judges who presided this case have conveyed a semblance of partiality. I have been denied 15 of the 18 witnesses whom I wanted to call. Every high representative of the judicial power has given his view on this case, and often to my disadvantage. But Counselor Schalken was the worst.

Counselor Schalken, who co-authored the decision to prosecute me, makes a habit of discussing my trial and arguing his case at elegant dinner parties for intellectuals. Counselor Schalken dined with my witness, Mr. Jansen – note that he was one of the only three witnesses whom I was allowed to call – three days before Mr. Jansen was to be interrogated by the court. During this dinner Mr. Schalken TRIED to influence Mr. Jansen. The fact that he did not succeed is irrelevant..

Mr. President, members of the court, stop this unfair, political trial.. Respect our Dutch freedoms. If this trial continues, despite the fact that the principle of the presumption of innocence has been violated, and if I am convicted, not only my freedom will be infringed, but also the right of all Dutch people to hear the truth.. The 19th century black American politician Frederick Douglass, the son of a slave, put it as follows: “To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.”

Mr. President, members of the court, I end with a quote of George Washington, who said: “If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” Mr. President, members of the court, do not let this warning become reality. Stop this charade, this political trial where I have already been convicted by the court even before I was a suspect. Stop it now. If you do so, and I passionately hope you will, this will benefit freedom of speech as well as the respectability of the judicial power and the rule of law.

St. John Lutheran Church, Hatton ND, Leaves ELCA

Hatton church votes to leave ELCA

By: Stephen J. Lee, Grand Forks Herald at http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/202146/

St. John Lutheran Church, the congregation in Hatton, N.D., where native son, pioneer aviator and famed Arctic explorer Carl Ben Eielson was baptized and buried, voted Sunday to leave the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination and join another.

Steve Iverson, president of the 700-member congregation, said the vote Sunday — the second of the two required to leave — was 76 for leaving, 15 for staying, an 84 percent majority.

The 91 total voters is pretty close to the weekly attendance of 98, reported in the 2009 yearbook of the ELCA.

The congregation then immediately voted 80 to 10 — one member was in the basement and missed the vote — to join Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, an organization formed a few years ago as an alternate to the ELCA.

Bethany Lutheran, a small rural congregation southeast of Hatton, which has been yoked in a parish with St. John, decided to remain in the ELCA and has linked up with two rural congregations, Little Forks, southwest of Hatton, and Goose River, west of Hatton, Iverson said.

Iverson said while the controversial vote in 2009 at the ELCA national assembly to allow gays and lesbians in lifelong, committed, monogamous relationships to serve as pastors was part of the reason for leaving.

That vote “has generated waves throughout the ELCA, but that’s not really the issue,” he said. “It’s just a symptom of what’s going on and it’s all part of what society is willing to accept versus what the Bible is willing to accept.”

“I do believe the majority of the congregation does believe that the ELCA is a very politically driving organization right now,” Iverson said.

St. John hasn’t had a permanent pastor for nearly two years and sort of delayed calling a new one, knowing it would probably vote to leave, Iverson said.

The congregation will rely on retired clergy in the area for pulpit supply while interviewing possible pastors, he said.

St. John posted a “potential” opening on a website with ties to the LCMC three weeks ago and already has received several applications, Iverson said.

Bishop Bill Rindy, head of the Eastern North Dakota Synod, attended Sunday’s meeting, about the third time he’s spoken to the congregation about its plans, Iverson said.

Fallout from the 2009 clergy decision has hurt the ELCA in the pocketbook. A church official reported in January that churchwide revenue for the past year was down $8 million, or 13 percent, from the previous 12-month period.

Many congregations have decreased or stopped giving to regional or national ELCA departments over disagreements with the gay and lesbian clergy vote, other issues, which coupled with the downturns in the economy the past three years have led to cutbacks at the national office in Chicago.

Hundreds of the 10,000 congregations in the ELCA have taken at least one vote on whether to leave the ELCA, officials have said. With about 4.4 million members, the ELCA is the nation’s largest Lutheran group and one of the largest Protestant churches in the United States.

At least three other congregations in the Eastern North Dakota Synod have completed two votes to leave, including Peace Lutheran in Devils Lake late last year, which will join the newly formed North American Lutheran Church, as will its pastor, the Rev. Rafe Allison, who left the ELCA roster.

St. John Lutheran gave about $30,000 per year to the ELCA in what are called “benevolences,” according to the ELCA yearbook.

The congregation got some national attention 81 years ago.

The funeral of Eielson, March 26, 1930, drew throngs estimated at 5,000 to 10,000 that filled the center of the city of 800, which is St. John Lutheran and its lot. Eielson was 32 when he died Nov. 29, 1929, piloting a plane in Alaska. He was buried in the St. John cemetery a half-mile north of Hatton.

Sunday’s vote is the start of a new thing for the congregation formed by Norwegian immigrants more than 120 years ago.

“The only bad part is there are 15 people who didn’t want to leave. I hope we will not lose any members. But overall, had we stayed in the ELCA, we would have lost a lot of members.”

Usama Bin Laden Dead

Usama bin Laden killed by US Navy SEALS.

St Paul's Lutheran Church Damaged in Alabama Storms

Reaching Out after Deadly Twisters in the South

Thu, Apr 28, 2011
 

from: http://mercyforever.lcms.org/2011/04/reaching-out-after-deadly-twisters-in-the-south/

by LCMS World Relief and Human Care

PHOTO:
  
Debris surrounds the damaged Cullman County Courthouse in downtown Cullman, Ala. A tornado hit the area about 3 p.m. April 27, also damaging St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and School in Cullman. Credit: Mark Almond/Birmingham News/Landov

 

STORY:

Members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and School in Cullman, Ala., are among the masses dealing with major damages after powerful storms cut a wide swath through the South on April 27, killing more than 250 people in six states in what news reports call the deadliest twister outbreak in nearly 40 years.

 

“It’s pretty bad . . . it’s quite something,” said Rev. Warren J. Ruland, St. Paul’s pastor, as he drove to Birmingham the next morning to purchase automobile gasoline so he could assist with the start of massive clean-up efforts.

Ruland was one of many in shattered Southern communities taking stock of destruction from twisters that reportedly flattened towns and prompted municipal officials to ask for prayers. The pastor told of walking Cullman’s debris-strewn streets and seeing devastated homes, huge uprooted trees and “dirt and glass everywhere.” “With no power or gas, hopefully all this won’t start wearing on people’s nerves,” Ruland said.

The twister extensively damaged St. Paul’s Lutheran School, collapsing the second story into the first floor. “There’s no way we can have school there,” Ruland said. Strong winds blew out windows at the church, but the pastor said he was hopeful that the building sustained no structural damage and could hold services on Sunday.

St. Paul’s is one of many congregations throughout the South that LCMS World Relief and Human Care (WR-HC) contacted on April 28, although communication proved difficult because of widespread power outages.

Early reports include no news of LCMS member fatalities, according to officials of the Southern and Mid-South districts, which include the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida’s western tip (Southern District) and Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky’s southern counties (Mid-South District). Early reports also indicate congregation members in the Southern District sustained major home damage, according to district leaders, but no additional details were yet available.

“It is difficult to fully comprehend the death and destruction that has occurred over the past 36 hours across much of the South,” said Rev. Glenn F. Merritt, director of Disaster Response with WR-HC. “Our brothers and sisters are reeling from tornadoes, floods, fires, wind and hail damage. Hundreds of lives have been lost, thousands of homes and businesses have been damaged or destroyed, countless lives have been interrupted or altered, yet the Church is there to bring encouragement and help.”

As pastors throughout the South continue to check on members and neighbors in hard-hit communities, LCMS World Relief and Human Care made available initially up to $50,000 to assist with response efforts. The funds, made possible by caring WR-HC donors, will enable congregations to reach out to members of both their churches and their communities and help with emergency needs.

“Our hearts go out to the thousands of families who are suffering, among whom are LCMS folks,” said LCMS President Matthew C. Harrison. “God help us — and He does — demonstrate compassion in Jesus’ name.”

Plans also are in the works for Merritt and WR-HC’s Rev. Carlos Hernandez to travel to Alabama as soon as possible to assist with needs assessments and offer pastoral care.

Earlier in the week, WR-HC also awarded a $3,500 to Zion Lutheran Church, Maryland Heights, Mo., to assist families recovering from April 22 Good Friday storms in the St. Louis area. The congregation has turned its fellowship hall into an emergency supplies distribution center that is open to the public.

The LCMS mercy ministry also issued an $8,250 grant to the Iowa West District to help members of St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Mapleton, which was hit by an April 9 storm.

On April 27, the Southern District’s Gene Menzel was on the road, traveling in conjunction with LCMS-related work from Huntsville, Ala., to his home in New Orleans, La. He said that traveling along some of the same path as the horrific storm reminded him of the suffering that followed Hurricane Katrina and the importance of the Church helping people in need.

“It’s important that in the afterglow of Easter and as we battle the things of this life that we are there to extend the Word of hope and encouragement,” said Menzel, executive assistant for Parish Services. “It’s important that our congregations and our members can reach out and be God’s hand of love during this time.”

Likewise, Merritt called on LCMS members to give generously in an urgent time of need.

“Even as we wait for final word on the toll of death and destruction, the Church is on the scene, standing by Her members and professional church workers as they reach out to one another and their communities. Assistance is being offered at every level, skilled disaster responders and counselors are being deployed and mercy is shining through the darkness of despair as the LCMS responds,” he said. “Your help is needed now so that together we can continue to reach out to those in need through our districts and congregations.”

Because LCMS World Relief and Human Care’s tornado relief fund was depleted by last year’s tornado relief efforts, gifts are urgently needed to respond to this spring’s wrath of twisters and recent storms in the Midwest and the South.

To contribute to the Synod’s tornado disaster response:

• Mail checks (noting “Tornado Disaster Relief” in the memo line) to LCMS World Relief and Human Care, P.O. Box 66861, St. Louis, MO 63166-6861.
• Call toll-free 888-930-4438.
• To make an online donation for LCMS “Tornado Disaster Relief” efforts, please click the Give Now button below.

Any funds not needed for this relief effort will be used for other disaster purposes as determined by LCMS World Relief and Human Care. Your gift is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.