Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church begins

Now we have a name. Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church was chosen as the name of our new congregation.

   Saturday evening 28 people gathered for worship at the home of Glenn and Tammy Steele, "Rolling Oaks." We followed Lutheran Worship, Divine Service 1, using the propers for The Baptism of Our Lord. I chose Matthew 16.13-20 as a sermon text, focusing on v. 18, Jesus said to Peter, and the rest of the disciples, "On this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it."  The church belongs to Christ. He is its owner and LORD because he created it and paid for the redemption of the whole world. Amazingly, He did not redeem us to make us His slaves, rather He redeemed us from the slavery of sin to adopt us into His family as His own Brothers and Sisters.  Every believer in Christ is a member of His family, the one, universal, catholic, invisible Church, the Body of Christ (1 Cor 12.27). He also calls His family out of the sinful world and into visible gatherings around His Word and Sacraments, local congregations of believers.  But His disciples must be careful not to join just any group that claims to be Christian. They must carefully discern whether the Word of God is taught there in its truth and purity, and if the sacraments are administered properly according to Christ's institution. Both orthodoxy (right believing) and orthopraxy (right practice) of the Christian faith must be discerned, as Walther put it: "every believer must, at the peril of losing his salvation, flee all false teachers, avoid all heterodox congregations or sects, and acknowledge and adhere to orthodox congregations and their orthodox pastors wherever such may be found"  (from Thesis VIII, C. F. W. Walther, Church and Ministry: Witness of the Evangelical Lutheran Church on the Question of the Church and the Ministry, electronic ed. (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1987), 101.). We are choosing to be a part of this new congregation together because we want to be faithful to the correct teaching and practice of God's Word as interpreted in the Lutheran Confessions and the practice of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod. As Jesus builds His church, He promises that not even all the forces of Evil, not even the gates of Hell will prevail against it.

   After worship and a short break for some snacks and fellowship, we had a short business meeting. John Reith acted as chairman; Rhonda Kerkhover agreed to serve as Recording Secretary.

• The first item of business was to choose a name for our congregation. The four proposals were narrowed to two by a first ballot and then of the the two, Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, was chosen.
• Since we want to follow the practice of the Lutheran Confessions, we reviewed, The Augsburg Confession XIV ORDER IN THE CHURCH  It is taught among us that nobody should publicly teach or preach or administer the sacraments in the church without a regular call (Theodore G. Tappert, ed., The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959), 36.). In keeping with this confessional practice, a motion was received to call me, Rev. Dr. Alan Wendel Janneke, as Pastor. The motion passed unanimously and I have accepted this call from Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church.  We take these actions now with the intention of making them formal with the District and Synod when we are able to do so. 
• There was also a motion about the disposition of the offering. Our tithe, ten percent, will be forwarded to the Southern Illinois District of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod. We will open an account at a local bank in the name of the congregation as soon as we are able to do so. In the name of the congregation, a post office box will also be rented at the Percy post office to give us a physical location and address. For now, an oral report of the offerings received will be made to the congregation after each worship service.
• The meeting was adjourned and some pictures of the gathered group were taken.

   On Thursday the 6th, we had agreed that interactive Bible Study would also be an important part of our congregation from the beginning.  Most of the worshipers stayed and Pastor Al led a discussion for about an hour on the first thesis and Bible passages quoted in Walther's Church and Ministry. 

   We will gather again next Saturday evening at 6:30pm for worship, fellowship and interactive Bible study at the home of Glenn and Tammy Steele, "Rolling Oaks," GPS it or Google Map it at 321 Windy Pines Trail, Percy, IL 62272.