Dear St. Paul’s Family of Faith,
It would be hard to overstate how much we miss being in God’s House for worship. We pray the day will come soon when we can again enjoy each other’s fellowship. Until then, we will continue to provide online services on Sundays at 9:30 am and Wednesday devotions at 6:30 pm at stpaulscudahy.com.
The following decision came as the result of prayerful deliberation with St. Paul’s Church Council and consultation with many others in our Synod wrestling with the same issue.
We know how much God’s people treasure receiving the Lord’s Supper, but under the present circumstances, we feel it is best to suspend any celebration of Holy Communion until we resume our regular worship services.
There are two main reasons that led us to this decision.
1) As Christian citizens we want to do our part in complying with the spirit of the governor’s “Safer-at-Home” order that is in effect until the end of April. We want to lessen any possibility of spreading the virus – or receiving it ourselves through others.
There is an exception for churches, under the general heading of Weddings and Funerals, that allows nine or fewer people together as long as proper distancing is observed – which is why we are able to continue our recording of our services.
2) The sanitization needed to safely carry it out would be extremely difficult. If someone would get sick – or would cause someone else to get sick – that would harm our witness in the community.
There are times and situations in life when Christians, for reasons beyond their control, are forced to be away from the sacrament for extended periods of time. We are in one of those times.
For the time being – and especially as we enter Holy Week – we encourage you to remember that while the Lord’s Supper is a “Means of Grace” our Baptism, through which the Holy Spirit created saving faith in us, and God’s Word, through which the Holy Spirit sustains and strengthens our faith with the gospel are also “Means of Grace.” Now more than ever is a time to reflect on our status as baptized children of God and recommit ourselves to personal Bible reading and devotion. Now more than ever is a time to consider not what we don’t have, but what we do have: A Savior who lived, died and rose again so we might be forgiven and enjoy a fellowship with him and each other that will have no end.
Serving Our Savior:
St. Paul’s Church Council Pastor Dan Marshall
Join us online at stpaulscudahy.com
- Maundy Thursday Devotion … 6:30 pm
- Good Friday Tenebrae ………… 1:00 pm
- Easter Sunday Festival ………… 9:30 am
Our Financial Picture
Health and safety, are first and foremost our top priority with COVID-19. Another area that has been impacted is the ability to continue supporting our own families because of job interruption or even unemployment. That directly impacts the gifts God’s people are able to use to support the ministry of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and School. The offerings God’s people sent by mail, dropped off at the church office or deposited as an e-gift for the 2-weeks of March 22+29 was $12,230.00. We are so thankful to our God that he moved the hearts of his people to bring those gifts.
OFFERINGS … Please continue to support the Lord’s work that is being done and still going on during this difficult time.
CARES ACT … The government’s stimulus package or the CARES Act, offers financial assistance for churches and private schools. Our leadership is currently looking to see if St. Paul’s should or could benefit from that specific portion of the CARES Act.
- PAUL’S ASSISTANCE FUND … Because of the financial impact our St. Paul’s families might be facing, maybe serious, we have started a St. Paul’s Assistance Fund to offer help. “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Galatians 6:10). To contribute to this fund, you can either go to our church website: stpaulscudahy.com click on GIVE and find the “St. Paul’s Assistance Fund,” or you can mail a check and make sure to identify it is for the “St. Paul’s Assistance Fund.”
St. Paul’s School
Our St. Paul’s Teachers has been busy doing Virtual Learning Days. They continue to educate the children who would normally be in their classrooms, but are now at home. They prepare the weeks’ assignments in each subject, print out and copy them along with all the instructions for the parents to use at home. Each students’ homework is placed in packets and then picked up at school each week in a clean and safe environment. When parents pick up a new packet, they drop off the students’ completed assignments. Our teachers correct the returned work and then prepare another weeks’ worth of assignments. Keep each of our teachers: Tammy Smukowski, Dyann Nommensen, Kelly Ubl, Gail Kolosovsky, Janise Janikowski, Brad Nommensen and Don Kolander and all the students of St. Paul’s School in your prayers during this unusual learning time.
Mr. William Roepke Jr. has accepted our call to teach Grades 5+6 starting next school year. We are thankful to the Lord for leading him to accept the call. They will be moving to Cudahy this summer.
Mrs. Carol Markgraf has returned our call to teach K-5. We are hoping to extend another call sometime this week.
Weekly Worship
Our weekly worship has been available online at stpaulscudahy.com for three weeks now. We hope you have been able to stay connected to God’s Word through the online services or the devotions on Wednesday at 6:30 pm. Those services are saved on the website, so if you missed it on Sunday, you can watch it during the week. Each Monday the sermons for the week are mailed out and e-mailed.
Special thanks to members: Megan Hedstrom (Eric Marshall’s fiancee’) and Dan Tomczyk, our technology team for making our online services possible. We also thank those who have been assisting with music for those services: Mike & Kristin Coulthurst, Jim & Tammy Nygaard, Dave Hintz, Kelly Nygaard, Brad, Dyann and Sydney Nommensen and Sandy Marshall.
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