“The Body of Christ”

Dear Friends in Christ:

In First Corinthians 12:27 St. Paul writes: “You are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

This past Saturday morning, a good-sized group of Abiding Love members experienced the truth of these words as we gathered for inspiration, learning, planning, and communicating as representatives of the ten administrative boards that guide the mission and ministry of our congregation. The following prayer-card was shared at our worship services last Sunday: “A prayer of thanksgiving for the great meeting of the Abiding Love boards and for the many persons who share their time and talents to help provide so many services for our church, the community, and those around the world. Be with each one of our members as we all strive to do more for God and His Kingdom.”

How true, it is the calling of all the baptized to “let our light shine…” and, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.” We sang these two songs on Saturday: “This little Gospel Light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine”, and “We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.”

There are many opportunities for all of us to be Jesus Christ’s “light” and “love”. If any of the following areas of service interest you, please call the Board Director listed:

Children’s Outreach: Mary Fetter 892-3925
Christian Education: Tammy Santos 282-6372
Christian Service: Tom Hokanson 892-4139
Church Properties: Pat Dove 233-0230
Evangelism & Outreach: Steve Kikta 443-8947
Membership Care: Margaret Dove 233-0230
Parish Fellowship: Dolly Atkinson 301-5326
Stewardship & Finance: Erv Merz 282-6785
Worship Life & Related Ministries: J.D. Bostick 750-5442
Youth & Children’s Ministries: Marian Hollien 892-1475
President: Diane Albin 301-9059
Vice-President: Bob Thonhoff 288-4480
Secretary: Karan Heidemann 288-0736
Treasurer: Sheila Koehler 291-0654

St. Paul continues with these words: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

“One in the Spirit” with you,
Pastor David Fetter

The Forgiveness of Sins

Dear Friends in Christ:

The Season of Lent is a time for repentance as we take our sins to the Cross and pray: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!”

The following is a powerful true story from a Lenten booklet of meditations titled, “Different Shoes a Common Path”, published by Forward Movement, an agency of the Episcopal Church.

The Story…

Matthew B. Harper was arrested for murder, tried, and convicted in 1999. He is now serving two concurrent sentences, a thirty-five year sentence for murder and a twenty-year sentence for arson, at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, Virginia. With good behavior, he will be eligible for parole in 2029. Of his crime,
Matthew writes:

I am in prison for murdering my older sister, Anne Elizabeth, and for the fire that followed the murder. At the time I was eighteen and she was twenty. The circumstances of the crime are complicated and ugly; they always are. We were very close—you can only truly fight and argue with those you love very deeply. Lent 2008 will mark my ninth year in prison. I was free for three years after Anne’s death before I was arrested. During those three years I returned to college and tried to return to the church (God and I had some serious issues). I also tried to hide from what I had done.

When I was arrested, I pleaded guilty. At the time I was a senior in college, engaged to an amazing woman, and we were expecting a child. All that is gone now, and I do not blame her for her decisions in the face of such a deep betrayal about who I was. The nine years since have marked for me a long passage and struggle of faith and selfdiscovery. There are many good priests, psychologists, and lay people who have helped me become the man I am today.

I grew up in the church and once was a good young man, on a good path, willing to be used by God. It took me many years to become something else and many more to recover from that. What I did nine years ago is a fundamental part of who I am today. Not a day passes that I do not think of Anne or my crime against her and all who loved her. I can only do good with what is left to me. I work for the chaplain here in prison and am a leader and director of the Kairos community here. I have completed my undergraduate work and am working on an M.A. in Christian Theology. This Lent I shall be thirty-one years old. I will be fifty-two when I am released, but God has not wasted the past nine years. I do not believe the next twenty-one will be wasted either.

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!”

—Pastor David Fetter