DE TRINITATE
Headlines:
From the Senior
Gathering for the General Retreat
Chapter Visitations
Leadership Council Retreat
Thank You
Chapter News
From the Vicar
Masthead
From the Senior
GATHERING FOR THE GENERAL RETREAT
In just a few weeks we will be gathering at St. Mary of the Lake University Conference Center in Mundelein, Ill., for the eleventh general retreat of the Society of the Holy Trinity. The Mundelein campus has become practically our home for general retreats. The campus has been spruced up since we were last there and the woods around the lake should be at the height of the fall foliage. Perhaps the ambience and familiarity of the site will contribute to the healing many of us need as we gather for a retreat while struggling with personal, family, parish, and denominational issues. Even more than the comfort of the site, however, will be the comfort, in the biblical sense of "strengthening," that the fellowship of the Society provides.
We will continue exploring the marks of the Church. This year we will be focusing on the Office of the Keys and Holy Communion. These marks can be studied from a number of angles. I have asked two of our companions to address specific issues with regard to these marks. Eugen Lehrke, STS, will raise the question of the relationship of the Office of the Keys to the use of the Brief Order for Confession and Forgiveness. Dr. Paul Lehninger of Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee, Wis., will address the issue of the Eucharist and church fellowship in church history. Both of these presentations are likely to prompt much discussion. To help get the discussion going I have asked Rod Ronneberg, STS, to respond to Pr. Lehrke and Rodney Eberhardt, STS, to respond to Professor Lehninger.
But we agreed that the seventh mark, the sign of the cross, will be traced over our study of all of the marks. So I return to the issue of healing. It is much on my mind as we gather this year, because I am aware of the many crosses our members bear in their personal lives and pastoral offices. I want to speak to this in my opening address and also proclaim the Word of God in a homily at the Service of the Word for Healing that we will offer on Wednesday afternoon. I won't give a preview here of what I will say at the general retreat, but I assure you that I will be breaking open this Word with the authority of one who is what Henri Nouwen called a "wounded healer." I have been going through a family issue just now that tests my theological convictions. I have also again been visiting hospitals and doctors and receiving physical therapy. On July 5 I went down with a falling ladder and shattered my left elbow. I received an elbow replacement that is such a new procedure that it wouldn't have been done ten years ago. I have progressed well, according to the surgeon and therapist, but I have a long way to go to regain full range of motion. As I tell people when they inquire about my cancer status, I'm basically healthy, just broken.
With this emphasis on healing in mind, I invited Pr. Philip Pfatteicher to teach us about the use of confession and Holy Communion in the ministry to the sick. Many of us recall the wonderful address he gave at a general retreat six years ago on the ministry of visitation. Pr. Pfatteicher will give us more confidence in offering the means of grace to our parishioners. I hope we will ourselves experience healing by receiving Christ's gifts of forgiveness and Holy Communion at this general retreat.
Others who will minister to us at the 2008 general retreat include Luther Mathsen, STS, our chaplain; Pari Bailey, STS, our cantor; Stevens Shipman, STS, Thelma Megill-Cobbler, STS, and Brad Everett, STS, our preachers; as well as those who are being recruited by Carl Voges, STS, our Vicar, to serve as confessors. All is now ready, so I invite you to come.
CHAPTER VISITATIONS
Chapter IV.1 of the Rule says that "Once a year each Chapter shall welcome at retreat a member of the Society designated by the Senior in order that the work of the Chapter may be examined, and to provide continuity and communication among the Chapters."
As with other aspects of the Rule, we have been growing into this. With more than twenty chapters and chapters-in-formation spread across the continent, this has not been easy. I make every effort to appoint a visitor to a chapter when an election of a dean is being held. So, for example, Keith Forni, STS, dean of the Northern Illinois Chapter, visited the Northern Ohio Chapter and Rick Ramirez, STS, dean of the Northern Ohio Chapter, visited the Southern Ohio Chapter. Sometimes it has been possible to "double up" a Society visitor who also serves as a teaching theologian. So, for example, Fred Schumacher, STS, of the Metro New York Chapter went as a visitor/teaching theologian to the Rocky Mountain Chapter and Joy Schroeder, STS, of the Southern Ohio Chapter went as a visitor/teaching theologian to the California Chapter. Last year, our Vicar, Carl Voges, visited several chapters up and down the East coast. Recently he visited the Chesapeake-Potomac Chapter to conduct an ecclesiastical ballot. This year I have visited the Wisconsin Chapter (in joint retreat with my Northern Illinois Chapter), the Sangre de Cristo Chapter, and the Passavant Chapter, and in February 2009 I have plans to attend a retreat of the Metro New York Chapter and a chapter-in-formation retreat in Florida. Four chapters have Society officers as members who can represent the Society to the chapter. But I think these chapters should also receive a visitor from outside the chapter "to provide continuity and communication among the Chapters."
I can appoint any member of the Society to serve as a visitor. If you would be willing to serve as a visitor and attend another chapter's retreat, please let me know. The Society pays the transportation expenses of the visitor. The local chapter pays the cost of the retreat for the visitor. I have found it very edifying to experience the fellowship of other chapters and have been encouraged by the examples of faithful ministries in different places.
LEADERSHIP COUNCIL RETREAT
The STS Leadership Council Retreat will be held January 27-29, 2009, at St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center on Seabrook Island, S.C. Chapter deans and officers attend this retreat to conduct the business of the Society and get to know one another better in a relaxed atmosphere. Vicar Carl Voges will be in touch about arrangements as time draws nearer. With rising air fares it behooves all involved to look into flights to Charleston as soon as possible.
Frank C. Senn, STS, Senior
Thank You
The Society of the Holy Trinity would like to thank the following Archangels, Angels, and Saints for their financial contributions during the last fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2008:
ARCHANGELS—for contributions of $500 or more
Pr. James A. Clark, STS
Pr. Wesley L. Hamlin, STS
Mr. and Mrs. Paul R. Keller
Pr. Thelma Megill-Cobbler, STS
Pr. and Mrs. Richard J. Niebanck, STS
Pr. Patrick J. Rooney, STS
Pr. Frederick J. Schumacher, STS
Christ Lutheran Church, York, Pa.
Cross and Crown Lutheran Church, Chamblee, Ga.
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Wichita, Kans.
Grace Lutheran Church, Franklin, Pa.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Abington, Pa.
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Thomasboro, Ill.
Nazareth Lutheran Church, Standard, Alberta
St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Farmingdale, N.Y.
St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, White Plains, N.Y.
St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Fulton, Md.
Zion German Lutheran Church, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Zion Lutheran Church, Seven Valleys, Pa.
ANGELS—for contributions of $250 or more
Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Elletson
Pr. Louis R. Fawcett, STS
Pr. George R. Muenich, STS
Pr. K. Robert Schmitt, STS
All Saints Lutheran Church, San Diego, Ca.
Peace Lutheran Church, Grass Valley, Ca.
St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Williamsport, Pa.
SAINTS—for contributions of $100 or more
Bishop James E. Bennett, STS
Mr. Arthur Birkenstock
Pr. Robert P. McGurn, STS
Pr. David G. Poedel, STS
Mr. Wayne Yoder
Christ Lutheran Church, East Moriches, N.Y.
Hope Lutheran Church, Mojave, Ca.
Trinity Lutheran Church, Ishpeming, Mich.
Zion Lutheran Church, Peoria, Ill.
Zoar Lutheran Church, Lebanon, Pa.
In addition, gifts were received from Wesley Hamlin, STS, and James Peters, STS, in memory of the Rev. Dr. William Lazareth, STS, and from Pr. and Mrs. Carl A. Voges in memory of Barbara Voges, Erhart Schreiber, and Dana Roemke.
Chapter News
CALIFORNIA CHAPTER
Dean, Richard O. Johnson, california@societyholytrinity.org
The California Chapter met May 19-20 at St. Andrew's Abbey, Valyermo, Calif. There were six members and one seminarian in attendance. Our guest presenter was the Rt. Rev. Alexei Smith, an Eastern Rite Catholic and the Director of the Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Fr. Alexei led us in a fascinating conversation about Eastern Rite churches, doctrinal differences between East and West, and the current state of ecumenism. Peter Garrison, STS, served as chaplain.The chapter's next retreat will be at Christ the King Center in Citrus Heights, Calif., December 1-2.
CHESAPEAKE-POTOMAC CHAPTER
Dean, Wollom A. Jensen, wally.a.jensen@gmail.com
The Chesapeake-Potomac Chapter gathered for a day retreat on August 15, the Feast of Mary, Mother of Our Lord, at Church of the Holy Comforter, Washington, D.C. Rod Ronneberg, STS, was the retreat chaplain leading morning prayer. Frank Senger, STS, pastor of the Church of the Holy Comforter, presided at the Eucharist and chapter Dean Michael Guy, STS, was the homilist. Vicar of the Society, Carl Voges, instructed the chapter on the ecclesiastical ballot and oversaw the election of a new dean. After five ballots the Rev. Dr. Wollom A. Jensen, pastor of Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church, Alexandria, Va., was elected to succeed Michael Guy as the Chesapeake-Potomac Chapter dean.The Chesapeake-Potomac Chapter will meet for a 24-hour retreat beginning at noon on Monday, December 1, and concluding at noon on Tuesday, December 2. The retreat will be held at the Trinitarian Spiritual Center in Baltimore, Md.
FLORIDA CHAPTER-IN-FORMATION
Contact, Lawrence Recla, larryrecla@priest.com
The first STS retreat in Florida will be held at noon Monday, February 2, through noon Tuesday, February 3, 2009, at San Pedro Center, Winter Park, Fla. (near Orlando). Frank C. Senn, STS Senior, will be present. Besides giving a pre-Lenten presentation, he will discuss the Society's history, future, and the role of the Rule. Obviously, the majority of participants will not already be Society members. The format will be "usual" for a chapter retreat: prayer offices, Eucharist, presentation(s), discussion, and fellowship. It is hoped that upon completion of this time of prayer and learning, we will not only have our spirits supported and uplifted, but also have elected a dean, scheduled at least one other retreat, and interested others in attending the 2009 general retreat, where they might subscribe to the Rule, thus becoming members of the Society.Please contact any and all of your colleagues who serve in Florida and encourage their participation in this event. We ask that you support us in your prayers as well. Lawrence (Larry) Recla, STS, Ret. is the regional contact for this chapter-in-formation and will serve as convener and chaplain for this retreat. Address questions to him at the e-mail address given above.
GREAT RIVERS CHAPTER
Dean, Timothy D. Hubert, greatrivers@societyholytrinity.org
The Great Rivers Chapter met September 15-16 at Toddhall Retreat Center, Columbia, Ill. Bill Callister, STS, was the teaching theologian, speaking on "Apologetics for the Twenty-first Century: A Review of Dinesh D'Souza's book What's So Great About Christianity." Steven Tibbetts was chaplain.
GUADALUPE RIVER-TEXAS CHAPTER-IN-FORMATION
Contact, Ralph W. Reitmeyer, rwreit@aol.com
The Guadalupe River-Texas Chapter-in-Formation will meet November 17-18 at the Cedarbrake Retreat Center in Belton, Tex. The topic and speaker are yet to be determined.
IOWA CHAPTER
Dean, David A. Aanonson, pastor@ctklutheranic.org
The Iowa Chapter met in retreat on May 5-6 at American Martyrs Retreat House, Cedar Falls, Iowa. David A. Aanonson, STS, served as chaplain for the retreat. Gary Hatcher, STS, served as confessor. Christopher Staley, STS, served as theologian and led the chapter in a discussion of Captivity of the Will, by Gerhard Forde. We also had a prolonged discussion of Chapter VII of the Rule, Parish Practice, which will be continued at the next retreat. Ten members and three guests were in attendance.The next retreat will be November 10-11, again at American Martyrs Retreat House.
MINNESOTA CHAPTER
Dean, Luther M. Mathsen, minnesota@societyholytrinity.org
The Minnesota Chapter met for a day-long retreat on August 25 at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in St. Paul, Minn. This retreat was specifically planned for inquirers and for Twin Cities-area pastors to experience what happens at an STS retreat without the commitment of an overnight stay. Pr. Keith E. O. Homstad, an iconographer and pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), gave a morning presentation on iconography using many of the icons he has written. In the afternoon, Mike Lockerby, STS, led a conversation on the nature of the Holy Ministry and pastoral authority. During the catered lunch, Dean Luther Mathsen, STS, facilitated a discussion of the Rule and answered questions. Pr. Mathsen also served as chaplain for the daily offices. Five chapter members were in attendance, plus eight inquirers and friends, including two seminarians.
Submitted by Pari Bailey, STS, Minnesota Chapter
NEW ENGLAND CHAPTER
Dean, Jack R. Whritenour, jrwncaw@comcast.net
The New England Chapter held a summer retreat on July 21-22 at Saint Edmund's Retreat, Mystic, Conn. Our teaching theologians were Pastors Richard Koenig and Henry Pawluk, STS, who gave a presentation on Senior Frank Senn's new book Lutheran Identity: A Classical Under-standing. This book, although relatively brief and highly readable, is an outstanding summary of Lutheran history, faith, and practice. Not only does the book give us a summary of the past, but it also challenges Lutherans to become more authentically who and what we confess ourselves to be: not a sect, but part of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church and inheritors of the Great Tradition. This would be a great book for an adult Christian education series or pastors' study group.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS CHAPTER
Dean, Keith L. Forni, northernillinois@societyholytrinity.org
The chapter sponsored and thoroughly enjoyed a mid-summer picnic and outdoor concert at the Pritzker Pavilion in downtown Chicago's Millennium Park.In anticipating other retreats for the year, members look forward to welcoming the Society back to Northern Illinois for the general retreat in October; a November 10-11 retreat—Commemoration of "the Martins" (of Eisleben and Tours) and of Søren Kierkegaard, teacher—will be jointly sponsored with the Wisconsin Chapter at the DeKoven Retreat Center in Racine Wis.; and an annual Advent daytime retreat will again be held at St. Luke Church, 1500 W. Belmont, Chicago, Ill., on Friday, December 5.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHAPTER
Dean, Bradley Everett, rockymountain@societyholytrinity.org
Fred Schumacher, STS, was the teaching theologian/Society visitor when the Rocky Mountain Chapter gathered at the FCJ Centre in Calgary, Alberta, May 25-27. We got our "money's worth" as Pr. Schumacher gave five presentations at the retreat, a public lecture at Ascension Lutheran Church on icons and church art in history, spoke at a men's breakfast, and preached at Ascension's weekend services. The subject of art was a new one for our chapter and the change of pace was greatly appreciated, as were the lectures.Our next retreats will be November 23-25 at the Providence Retreat Centre in Edmonton and February 22-24, 2009, at the FCJ Retreat Centre in Calgary.
SUSQUEHANNA CHAPTER
Dean, Paddy Rooney, pastorrooney@christlutheranyork.com
Nineteen members of the Susquehanna Chapter will travel to the general chapter retreat in October and will add two new members who plan to sign the Rule at that retreat.The next chapter retreat will be held at Sacred Heart Spiritual Center in Danville, Pa., on December 1 and 2. We will welcome Bishop Robert Driesen of the Upper Susquehanna Synod (ELCA) as our guest teaching theologian. Bishop Driesen will speak on "The Good News Perceived as Bad News: The Christian Hope of Resurrection and the Creation of a New Heaven and a New Earth." Those interested in attending the retreat should contact the dean at the e-mail address above.
WISCONSIN CHAPTER
Dean, Mark W. Knappe, pastor@fallsgloriadei.com
At the end of June the Knappes hosted a cookout at their house for chapter members and friends of the Society. It turned out to be a wonderful evening. The conversation, food and drink were all excellent. We were graced by the presence of Dr. Carl and LaVonne Braaten. Therefore, the evening was titled; "Brats with Braaten." The evening concluded with the praying of Compline.On August 17 the Vicar of the Society, Carl Voges, preached on the occasion of Dean Knappe's 20th anniversary of ordination. The day was designated as "A Celebration of the Holy Office of Ministry." Pastors in attendance that day were publicly recognized.
The chapter looks forward to gathering at the general retreat on October 14-16. On November 10-11 we will hold a joint retreat with the Northern Illinois Chapter.
From the Vicar
As we make the turn into the general retreat next month, there are a number of realities stirring and sustaining our ministry in the church's life.
The first is that the three-year study of the church's seven marks continues to expand among us as we step into two more of them—the Lord's Forgiveness and the Lord's Supper. As we did last year when this study was initiated, an understanding of the seventh mark (the Lord's Cross) will undergird the Forgiveness and the Supper.
The second reality is the shift that is occurring as the Society makes a transition from its first decade into its second one. The emergence of this group of Lutheran pastors was triggered primarily by the chaotic conditions in our church bodies. We were reacting to the sexualism, pharisaism, pelagianism, and gnosticism pulsing through them. Initially, we thought it was up to us to confront these "-isms" and to do something about them through our abilities and personalities (this explains much of the early muttering and grumbling at retreats).
However, this shift is moving us into a third reality—the Lord's Word. As the focus in our life and work together moves from what we are doing to what the Lord God is doing, the impact of his Word heightens and deepens. Our life and work as ordained Lutheran pastors is criss-crossing more and more through print and conversation, through e-mail and visit. In those intersections, there is an increasing awareness of the Lord's Word. In this lengthy study of the marks we are finding out that it is the Word that drives through them, surfaces them, and maintains them. This is not an insight that we sleepily affirm. In several ways, this is THE insight that runs through the church's ministry.
In the intersections of our lives we are always reminding one another of how we are born into this world—fully imbedded in ourselves! The Lord's Word, thankfully, rips into that birth and gives us a new one in the Holy Trinity! However, if the Word (and the marks generated by it) drift from the church's ministry, then we, even though baptized and ordained, revert back into that first birth. It is that reversion that stimulates the re-birth of the various "-isms" in our church bodies. It is the return to the first birth that keeps those "-isms" going. It is that reversion that dulls the Word's impact and turns it into a cover for what we want to be and do.
Gratefully, we are beginning to recognize that it is the Lord God who confronts these "-isms" and frees us from their choking grip. Every week, as we prepare to preside and preach the following Sunday, we turn to one of the biblical passages for that day. As we research that passage, we are drawn into the Word streaming from it. This does not occur easily. It challenges the ways to which we are accustomed, it forces different perspectives on us. This confrontation goes on for several days (and some nights!) as we seek to understand it and then witness to it in the Liturgy. Being drawn into the Lord's Word is hard work. It bruises and cuts our lives. It requires an unrelenting obedience to the Lord and a brutal honesty with the selves of our births.
This exposure to the Lord's Word is what binds us together in the Society. In it the Lord is prying us loose from always being imbedded in ourselves. In it the Lord is dealing with the "-isms" that always shadow the church's ministry. May the gathering in the Lord's presence with one another at the general retreat strengthen us in that steady exposure to his Life-giving and Life-sustaining Word.
Carl A Voges, STS, Vicar
DE TRINITATE
News and reflection from the Society of the Holy Trinity
Volume 11, Number 3, After Pentecost 2008
Editor: Constance R. Seddon
Editorial office:
6239 Rosebury Ave., 1E, St. Louis, MO 63105
(314) 721-8262 / editor@societyholytrinity.org
To be placed on the De Trinitate mailing list or to report a change of address,
please contact the Secretary, below.
Senior: Pr. Frank C. Senn
Immanuel Lutheran Church, 616 Lake Street, Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 864-4464 / senior@societyholytrinity.org
Vicar: Pr. Carl A. Voges
129 Pond Ridge Road, Columbia, SC 29223
(803) 788-6656 or (803) 269-6656 / vicar@societyholytrinity.org
Secretary: Pr. John E. Priest
Immanuel Lutheran Church, 17 High Street, Delhi, NY 13753
(607) 746-2098 / secretary@societyholytrinity.org
Bursar: Pr. Mark A. Hoffman
St. Paul Lutheran Church, 324 North Street, Millersburg, PA 17061
(717) 692-2141 / bursar@societyholytrinity.org
Copyright © 2008-2009Society of the Holy Trinity. All rights reserved.
Posted -- 1 October 2008
Updated -- 10 January 2009