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Pilgrim Evangelical Lutheran Church 1731 St. Agnes Dr. • Green Bay, WI 54304

Phone: (920) 965-2233 www.pilgrimluth.org

Summer Mountain of Food July 4

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Inside This Issue

Farewell from Vicar Wondrasch..pg. 3 Vicars’ FareWelcome……….…....pg. 3 Wisconsin Cultural Indicators…..pg. 4 Vacation Bible School..................pg. 5 Lutheran Braille Workers………...pg. 7 Worship in the Sanctuary…...pp. 8 & 9

Pilgrim's Progress is published monthly.

Pilgrim Evangelical Lutheran Church 1731 St. Agnes Dr. • Green Bay, WI 54304

Phone: (920) 965-2233 www.pilgrimluth.org Ruth Schultz-Editor

P r og r e s s P i l g r i m ' s

Vol.26, Issue 7 July 2020 Monthly Newsletter Striving to be Weaker

As a football player the goal of training was always clear and threefold: bigger, faster, stronger. By striving after these three goals, each player was made better, and the stronger each member was, the stronger the team became as a whole. Another way to say it is the common adage, “Your only as strong as your weakest link.” You know the concept. So why would I title this letter “Striving to be Weaker”? I have three reasons, and I hope you understand them as I explain them, then take a moment to consider how you ought to live in obedience to the Lord and in love for your neighbor. The first reason is admittedly born from a level of despair. I feel weak. Day after day, week after week, month after month, I consume headlines and news stories so that I know what’s going on “out there” in the world. As you have likely also discovered, much of it troubles the soul. A global pandemic that is maybe only ½ or ⅓ of the way over. Political fighting so all-consuming that you just want it to end – and the election onslaught is waiting in the wings. Racism, protests, the list goes on. And to top it off, many of the good events of summer, things we look forward to all year, are cancelled. So yes, I feel weak. I am tempted to despair. There’s nothing I can do, which critiques my human nature that wants to fix everything. I need to let go, and let things be out of my control. I’m striving to be weaker. A second reason is because of the weight of the office that Pastor Malme and I share at Pilgrim. Being your pastors is a great joy for us, please do not misunderstand what I am saying. But with that joy also comes great responsibility. Pastoring during a pandemic – when we don’t get to see you, shake hands, hug you, whatever – is different and hard. Knowing the medicine you desperately need, and having minimal opportunities to get that to you, is frustrating. Making the decisions we need to in order to balance CDC guidelines, care for the weakest members of the congregation, and empathize with those of you who are bolder and stronger is stressful. And just for clarity, in times when we must choose between satisfying the needs of the

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Inquirer’s Class

Saturday, July 18th

Session 4 Conference Rm. #144

8 AM—12 noon

The Inquirer’s Class introduces those who desire to become new members to the basic beliefs of the Bible and our Church and provides an opportunity for Pilgrim members to stay firm in their faith by a regular review of the foundations of our faith. You are also encouraged to attend Inquirer’s Class with a friend or family member. This class will be covering Session 4 material: Bible, Prayers and End Times.

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2 Pilgrim’s Progress

N e w s Y o u C a n U s e Cont. from pg. 1

weaker or the demands of the stronger, the Bible is clear: a shepherd will give special attention to the needs of the weakest. So again, I’m striving to be weaker. There’s a third reason I’m striving to be weaker too. That reason is God’s promises. One of the most comforting verses in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 12:9. “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” We as Americans love to flaunt our rights, strive for power, and genuinely care most about number one, as long as number one is ourselves. This is our culture, and we are to some extent products of it. We as Christians are called to be something different, as Luther puts it at the beginning of one of his great articles “On Christian Freedom,” the Christian is perfectly free, slave to none; and at the same time, the most dutiful servant, subject to all. That paradox is striking. Americans love that first part, but often forget that second. As John the Baptizer said, I must decrease that Jesus may increase (John 3:30). So, I’m striving to be weaker. Brothers and sisters in Christ: as we prepare to “reopen,” and as we face this pandemic and our future together in the hope of Jesus, I implore you to strive to be weaker. Loving your neighbor means putting away your own rights for the sake of your neighbor. Wear a mask to church, even if it’s uncomfortable, because it may save the

life of one of our seasoned citizens. If you’re feeling ill at all, worship from home for a week, don’t tough it out. Be kind, one unto another, just as Christ is to you (Ephesians 4:32). And let all of your words, those directed to your pastors, those about your brothers and sisters at Pilgrim, those about the leaders in authority over you, and those to your coworkers, friends, family etc., let those words be simple words of life that are heavily seasoned with the words of Scripture, not the

words of an American politician. In doing so, you demonstrate faith in your weakness, because it is the strength of God’s Almighty Word – which this world so desperately needs in this time that breeds despair. Together with you, under the cross, Pastor Hanson

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Pilgrim Evangelical Lutheran Church 3

N e w s Y o u C a n U s e

Vicars’ “FareWelcome”

Scheduled

A simple “Thank you!,” just doesn’t seem to be enough for Vicar Connor Wondrasch for his very unique talents and unprecedented

service to all of us through the Vicar Program for the past year. We will celebrate him and his family when he returns on Saturday, July 25th at 6:00 pm. Stay tuned for more details.

Join us also in welcoming Vicar Colby Howell to the ministry team this summer at the FareWelcome on July 25th. “Stay tuned” for when Colby will begin his service at Pilgrim and when his installation for service as a vicar will take place.

Card boxes will be available at BOTH sites for the vicars. Be sure to put the vicars’ first and last names on the envelopes, please. THANK YOU!

Farewell from Vicar Wondrasch

Pilgrim Family,

I cannot believe how fast this year has gone by! I was always told to ‘hold on’ and ‘stop and smell the roses’ for Vicarage, and oh how they were all right. I have had such joy serving, and serving alongside all of you this past year. I’ve learned and experienced so much in such a short time. I am deeply saddened at how the last few months have been, but it has taught me much about how important all of you were in my formation this year. I’m so thankful to have been able to share God’s Word, sing God’s praises, and pray together as a Family of Faith. For all the mistakes I made over this past year—I’m sorry; and thank you for your forgiveness. We are heading out on 7/16/2020 for the final year in St. Louis. I sort of planned on telling the congregation about our growing family sometime after Easter, but our socially distant worship has prevented that. We are having a little baby girl, and she’s expected on 09/13/2020! Your prayers for man-to-man defense are much appreciated. I look forward to worshipping with all of you again, and crossing paths in the future. This year has been filled with many things, but here is my summary statement: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 In Christ, Connor

& God Bless!

SCRIP Sales Continue Online

SCRIP onsite sales are still suspended.

E-certificates ONLY can be ordered online for many items, not all, at:

www.shopwithscrip.com Pilgrim’s enrollment code:

579BFD4D913

News about the SCRIP program reopening and the “new” necessary changes will be forthcoming

Thank you for all of your patience and

understanding!

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W h a t ’ s H a p p e n i n g

Condolences

We pray God’s comfort and peace for the following Pilgrim family members as they grieve the death of a loved one in their family:

Barb Schaal & family at the death of her brother, Gary Schaal.

Joanne and Allyn Andersen & family at the death of her brother-in-law, Bill Harder.

Pat and Jill Zelzer & family at the death of their sister-in-law, Carol Zelzer.

Baptisms Welcome to God’s

forever family!

Sutton Hugo Peterson son of

Drew & Brooke Peterson

Jemma Louise Christensen daughter of

Christopher & Mackenzie Christensen

Emma Arlyn Keller

daughter of Craig & Jackie Keller

received the gifts of God’s grace through baptism

4 Pilgrim’s Progress

Wisconsin Cultural Indicators by Dale Bartel, Parish Education

Wisconsin Family Council is a nonpartisan and not-for-profit policy entity. The 2019 Edition of Wisconsin Cultural Indicators brings together data regarding the health and well being of our state. Traditional marriage has been under attack in our nation and state. One of the first attacks was the November 18, 2003 Massachusetts Supreme Court decision approving gay marriage. On June 6, 2014, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled gay marriage is legal in Wisconsin. On June 28, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 split decision legalized same-sex marriage across the United States. Some of the family structure and marriage numbers from the study for Wisconsin are as follows: In 2017, 65.7% of households with children under 18 years were

headed by a married couple family. In 2017, 23.5% of the households with children under 18 years

were headed by a female with no husband present. In 2017, 9.5% of households were headed by a male with no

female present. In 1960, there were 6.2 marriages per 1000 persons compared

with 8.5 persons in the U.S. In 2015, there were 5.6 marriages per 1000 persons compared

with 6.9 marriages per 1000 in the U. S. In 2016, 14,317 same sex couples lived in WI. In 1960, there were .9 divorces (3,672) per 1000 persons

compared with 2.2 divorces per 1000 in the United States. In 2015, there were 2.6 divorces (14,986) per 1000 persons

compared with 3.1 divorces per 1000 in the United States. Traditional marriage is the foundation of the family and has been ordained by God in Gen. 2:24, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” In Heb. 13:4, “Marriage should be honored by all, and marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” In Chron. 7:14 (the Lord says), “If my people who are called by name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Continue to pray for families and marriage. The complete study is available from the Wisconsin Family Council

website: www.wifamilycouncil.org

With deepest sympathy

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W h a t ’ s H a p p e n i n g

Vacation Bible

School Plans

Vacation Bible School (VBS) will offer a weekly video Bible story and a family devotional online for 10 weeks. One copy of “The Jesus Storybook Bible,” is free to each family that is par-ticipating. If you signed up for your free copy of the book, but missed picking it up at the park-ing lot worship services on June 28th, come by the Ministry Office to pick yours up. If you desire to have more than one copy for your home, we will have some extras at a cost of $10.00 per book (retail $17.99+).

For questions please contact: jennyerickson@pilgrimluth.org or

rebekahschumacher@ pilgrimluth.org

A Different Kind of Neighborfest

This summer we were unable to have our normal Neighborfest picnic as a community outreach. So in its place Pilgrim served the community by filling 200 boxes of non-perishable food items for distribution on July 4th, and via local food pantries. Thank you for your help in loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Congratulations to Rebekah and Nathan

Congratulations to Rebekah Schumacher, Youth and Family Ministries Director, and Nathan Spaulding, former vicar and now pastor on their marriage. The couple was united on July 3rd to begin their walk with God as husband and wife.

“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.”

John 15:12 (NLT)

Pilgrim Evangelical Lutheran Church 5

Installation of the newly acquired lockers from Notre Dame Middle School has begun. Upon completion they will receive a

fresh coat of paint.

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C o i n s f o r C h r i s t & M o r e

Attention ALL Elders Ushers

Greeters Communion Assistants &

Welcome Center Attendants

Please check your

emails for any scheduling details.

Thank you!

Thank You

During very unprecedented times we are thankful for the many who were able to step forward to assist with the ministry at Pilgrim Lutheran Church and School. God calls us to love and care for one another and that’s exactly what we have done, are still doing, and plan to continue to do in the future. We pray that you have felt God’s peace and strength in your life.

Our church motto says it all…

Save the Lost - Strengthen the Saved

Lutheran Braille Workers By Nannette Hoppe

“We live by faith, not by sight" 2 Corinthians 5:7 This month our "Coins for Christ" focus will be on The Lutheran Braille Workers (LBW) mission. LBW has celebrated more than 75 years of ministry. Helen Loewe Koehler responded to a plea for Braille Bibles for blind pastors in Germany, and as a result LBW was founded in 1943.

LBW has celebrated more than 75 years of ministry of Braille, Specialized Large Print, Audio and Christian outreach to people who are visually impaired. Did you know that 95% of people who are blind in America are unchurched, and 60% of people who are blind are single and isolated? Today LBW distributes free of charge publications in more than 120 countries around the globe. Volunteers, mission minded financial partners and prayers assist LBW in helping people TOUCH the promises of Jesus delivering God's Word in formats they can read for themselves. Lutheran Braille Workers mission exists to show the love of God to people with visual disabilities and bring them into a growing relationship with HIM. Lutheran Braille Workers produces Braille Bibles and Christian materials in over 30 languages. The continuous goal is to add more languages. There are more than 35 million people throughout the world who are blind, and an additional 205+ million people who are severally visually impaired. It takes a coordinated and comprehensive effort to meet their spiritual needs. By engaging some 3,000 volunteers in over 110 Ministry Production Centers throughout the United States, LBW produces approximately 150,000 volumes a year of Braille and Specialized Large Print Bibles and Christian literature. In addition, Lutheran Braille Workers has over 40 Ministry Outreach Centers throughout the United States that minister to people who are blind and visually impaired. Most importantly, Outreach Centers provide a family of love and care. Many people who would not otherwise hear about Jesus connect to God's Word and His people at Outreach Centers. In Wisconsin, LBW Outreach Centers are located here at Pilgrim Lutheran Church and at Trinity Lutheran Church in Wausau. Your support of this much needed mission will be greatly appreciated by many in need of its services.

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News to Share - Sanctuary Reopening

Pilgrim Lutheran Church to Open Sanctuary for Worship

Parking Lot Worship ended as of June 28th. Below are the Elders’ and Pastors’ recommendations/notes for the reopening of our sanctuary for Worship starting July 5th.

Limiting Attendance – While there is no specific attendance mandate, the CDC has offered a recommendation of limiting attendance to 25% of room capacity. Those numbers for our Pilgrim worship spaces is approximately: GB Sanctuary – 130; GB Fellowship Hall – 30; Suamico – 30. Seeking to abide by this recommendation, the Elders approved a second service at Suamico at 10:30 am and an additional service in the GB Fellowship Hall at 10:30 am to more evenly distribute attendance numbers and remain within the 25% recommended guidelines. The board also wanted to encourage members to entertain worshiping at lower attended services, esp. 7:45am and Suamico 10:30am to assist with our efforts.

Music Needs – After discussion regarding worship leading by organ/piano, praise

teams and recorded music like we are presently using for our on-line services and parking lot services, the board approved using

a.) recorded music in the Fellowship Hall due to the availability of a computer system to support this and lack of space for other music leading b.) organ/piano at both the traditional services and Suamico service due to familiarity with this option c.) praise teams at the contemporary service due to familiarity with this options.

The board engaged in a thoughtful discussion about the desire for people to sing in worship challenged by the encouragement of limiting singing in worship to seek to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. This conversation included the promotion of wearing masks in worship to accommodate both goals. The wearing of a mask limits virus spread through air born germs and by doing that provides congregants with the freedom to join in singing.

Protocol Upon Arrival – Discussion was held regarding the protocols for people attending worship with the primary goal of providing safety for worshipers. Many procedures were considered, including:

• Taking Temperature – No, we will not take temperatures due to legal limitations regarding this as mandated.

• Wearing a Mask – Yes, although many will not want to abide by this requirement, our desire is to limit virus spread, consider others, and allow singing in worship. Pilgrim will require this option, but work with people who have breathing issues or issues of challenges for children to wear a mask. For those with these issues, the Fellowship Hall will be encouraged as an option due to the limited amount of singing in that service, the limited number of attendees, and the extra space available for social distancing. 8

Pilgrim’s Progress

Continued on next page

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News to Share - Sanctuary Reopening

• Asking Health Questions – No, we will not ask health questions due to

legal limitations regarding this as mandated. • Publicizing Safe Practices – Yes, there will be multiple avenues of

communication to 1.) encourage symptomatic members to avoid worship 2.) clarify the reasons to self-isolate out of consideration for others 3.) offer clear signage for safe practices like social distancing, mask wearing, and refraining from handshaking.

Date of Reopening – The date of opening is Sunday, July 5. Recommendations for

worship in the month of July as we continue to offer a phasing plan by adopting and implementing different stages of limitations include:

• Maintaining an abbreviated service order – this will limit interaction between services and provide for cleaning/sanitizing between services.

• Not offering coffee and donuts. • Not taking an offering during the service so as to limit contact. • Limiting bulletin use and encouraging everyone with a bulletin to take it

home with them so as to eliminate reusing any bulletins or announcements. • No “busy bags” for children and no nursery for children. • No handshaking or greeting and no “fellowship time” after services • No acolytes.

Communion Options – Communion is presently being offered by appointment. The

board requested the staff to provide a phasing approach to offering communion by providing a return to our normal communion schedule one month at a time. With the addition of two services in July, the need to have a pastoral communion celebrant in communion service presents scheduling challenges. The board encouraged the staff to create a communion model in July that provides some communion options in public worship and some private communion options by appointment.

Providing Worship for High Risk People – Discussion was held about other churches

providing special services for high risk individuals. Being that we have not received interest in this area and wanting to encourage greatest safety for our high-risk population, it was recommended that we encourage this population to continue to worship online at home for greatest safety.

Cont. from last pg.

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T h e P r i n c i p a l ’ s E p i s t l e

God Hears Our Prayers “Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father I thank you that you have heard me, I knew that you always hear me, but I said this

for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” John 11:41-42

Scott Dufrane is a principal in California. I met him in San Antonio, TX. While we were at the Lutheran principal’s conference on Friday, he got one of those phone calls no one wants to get in the middle of the conference. Yet, God never does anything by accident. We had 369 principals gathered. Pastor Tucker from Concordia San Anto-nio stopped his Bible Study and we lifted a prayer for Scott. We all found out that one of his non-member, non-believing, “we only want to use your school as a private school” families had a 1-½ year old drown in the family pool. We lifted prayers with heartfelt passion. Saturday we were informed that the child was kept alive on life support. Scott’s pastor went to the hospital and was there when the doctors suggested removing life support because there was nothing they could do to save the little child. Pastor asked this non-believing family if they could say one last prayer. This was about the time we found out and were praying fer-vently in Texas. The doctors removed the life support …the child cried and reached out for his mother. God had intervened and performed another miracle. God hears our prayers. God acts on our prayers to give glory to Himself at just the right time. He knows what we need before we even ask it. What a powerful example of prayer! We were like the observers at Lazarus tomb. Jesus raised him for the glory of the Father. God heard His prayer. The lesson we learn from this is that we need to be like those people and share the miracles God does in our lives with peo-ple. As the people of Jesus day shared and about his resurrection after Easter Sunday, we can share our miracles with those we know. Can you imagine how full our churches and our schools would be if we shared that same message with pas-sion? God will give glory to Himself through the miracles in our lives. As we look back on the current situation in our country with the COVID virus, the racial tension, the decisions of our Su-preme Court, and the beginning of the hurricane season, we know for sure and certain the Lord wants us to continue to pray! As we look ahead to what seems to be uncertain, unprecedented, and challenging future, He wants us to acknowledge He is in charge of our world. When all things seem to be spinning out of control He is our God and He is in control. Thanks be to God for hearing our prayers, keeping us in His care, and keeping all things under His control!

Congratulations—Above and Beyond Awards Congratulations to Rebekah Schumacher, Pastor Hanson, and Pastor Malme for their outstanding job in the video graduation we con-ducted for our 8th graders. We would not have been able to do this without them! Congratulations to Mike and Kelly Schumm, Pastor Hanson, Vicar Wondrasch, JJ Schultz, Dawn Kirchner, Lisa Dhein, Phil Kirchner, and a bunch of our alumni (Alex and Jason Klemp, Elijah Lange, Grant Lemke-Scott, and Trevor Stock) who helped us move our lockers from Notre Dame in De Pere to Pilgrim. Thanks to all of you for your prayers for our church and school! Way to go Pilgrim! You have made us proud with your work Above and Beyond! What a fabulous job you all have done! You too are our Above and Beyond Award Winners and without you we would not be the quality church and school we are.

Pilgrim School Has Lockers We have been blessed with wonderful lockers from Notre Dame Middle School. They are going to demolish the building as they have built a new building for the school. These were available at a really good price. We are thankful to the Lord for making these available to our school for our upper grade children.

Once again I want to thank you for your fantastic support of Pilgrim Lutheran School with your finances, positive words of encouragement, and especially your prayers! Thanks for the phenomenally positive word of mouth that you share with all you know! It is really spectac-ular to see what the Lord is doing for our school and with our children! We are so very thankful for what the Lord continues to do for us! We pray the Lord will continue to bless us through the summer months!

Mr. John E. Schultz- Principal 1 Thessalonians 5:18 – In everything give thanks!

Our pictures are from my good friend Steve Everts who is a Christian artist. His son, Joel Everts, is a member at Pilgrim and a former student of mine from Janesville, WI.

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Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID Green Bay, Wisconsin

Permit No. 65

Pilgrim's Progress Pilgrim Evangelical Lutheran Church 1731 St. Agnes Drive Green Bay, WI 54304-3099 Phone: 920-965-2233

To the current resident or: