Memorial Day Loss - Pastor Paul Schmeling, WELS

The Memorial service was conducted principally in the interest of the many young children in our pre-school (the majority of whom are not members), children in our congregation, and community, to help them understand what happened to Pastor -- who they knew from frequent contact with him. Pastor Joel Luetke was asked to preside this service, not only because of his relationship with Pastor, but also because he leads a District program called "Jesus Cares" -- a Gospel ministry to the mentally disabled -- and has quite a bit of experience reducing what can be complex for children to very simple words. An unofficial attendance estimate for this service is on the order of 325.

The Funeral service was presided by Paster Mark Schwertfeger (first half of the service) and Pastor Wayne Hilgendorf (second half of the service). Both are pastors from our District, and classmates of Pastor. Pastor Charles Degner, District President, served as preacher. All musicians were from our congregation, except the choir, which was a group of pastors from our District, and one of the trumpeters, who is a son of our congregation but is now an active member at another congregation along with his new wife and child. A more official count of attendance for this service is on the order of 575.

At most, our nave only seats 200 comfortably. To effectively serve all of the attendees with the Gospel, and provide a means for their participation in the services, four large television screens were placed in adjoining fellowship and banquet halls, in front of several hundred chairs which were set up in rows. Real time video was piped to the screens so that those seated in the chairs could participate in the services along with those in the nave.

Pastor Paul Schmeling died today when he fell from a tree while pruning some branches. His son-in-law saw him land on his head. He still had a pulse but he was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Click here for a touching series of photos of Paul Schmeling and his family. The service will also be available on this link later on May 30th.

Memorial Service for Rev. Paul Schmeling from Faith Evangelical Lutheran on Vimeo.

Funeral Service for Rev. Paul M. Schmeling from Faith Evangelical Lutheran on Vimeo.

Memories of Paul Schmeling from Faith Evangelical Lutheran on Vimeo.

Paul was the pastor at Faith Lutheran, River Falls, Wisconsin.

My wife and I knew his family from our days in Ohio. Paul knew about the dangers of the Church Growth Movement in the 1980s.

The funeral is tentatively scheduled for Saturday; his youngest daughter was going to have her wedding shower that day.

I once talked to Paul's father, another pastor, about a distant situation. His father took care of it in the best possible way, leading to great happiness as a result. Paul was a pastor like his father, caring about people and sound doctrine.

My wife and I are very sad about Paul's death, what this means for his widow and his children. I will post more information as it comes in.

I heard this anecdote from the area. Paul's children were listed in the dedication of Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure, published by Northwestern Publishing House. Paul had that underlined when he gave a copy of the book for someone to read. Liberalism will soon be published again via Lulu.com.

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Bruce Church has left a new comment on your post "Memorial Day Loss - Pastor Paul Schmeling, WELS":

Video of Pastor Paul M. Schmeling giving sermons from his website:
http://www.blogger.com/%20http://www.vimeo.com/jbf%20

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Here are the Visitation and Funeral details:

Visitation and Funeral Schedule
Friday, May 29, 2009
Visitation: 3:00-7:00pm
Short Memorial Service: 7:00pm

Saturday, May 30, 2009
Visitation: 9:00-11:00am
Funeral: 11:00am
Meal to follow in banquet hall

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Michael Schottey has left a new comment on your post "Memorial Day Loss - Pastor Paul Schmeling, WELS":

I went to school and am friends with both his daughter, her fiance, and his niece.

They are a beautiful family and he was, by all accounts, a wonderful pastor.

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Obituary

Pastor Paul M.Schmeling 5/25/2009

Paul Michael Schmeling was born on July 5th, 1952 in Springfield, Illinois, the son of Arlyn L. and Evelyn H. (nee Heldt) Schmeling. He was baptized into the Kingdom of God and made an heir of eternal life through the cleansing of Holy Baptism on July 13th, 1952, in Springfield. He attended elementary school at St. John Ev. Lutheran School in Two Rivers, WI. On Palm Sunday, April 3, 1966, he publicly confessed his Christian faith and promised to remain faithful until death to his Savior Jesus Christ.

He attended Manitowoc Lutheran High School for three years until joining the graduating class of 1970 at Northwestern Preparatory School in Watertown, WI to begin preparation for the ministry. Following his graduation from Northwestern College of Watertown in 1974 he enrolled at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, WI. After spending his vicar year (1976-77) at St. John, Baraboo, WI, he returned to the seminary campus and graduated with the WLS class of 1978. He was assigned to serve Ascension, Roseville, MI and Zoar, Detroit, MI and was ordained and installed as pastor on July 9, 1978. His service to those congregations ended on January 31, 1981. He served Hope Ev. Lutheran Church of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, from 1981-1990 and Bethany Lutheran of Granite Falls, MN from 1990-1992. Pastor Schmeling has served at Faith Lutheran in River Falls, WI since June 1st, 1992. He preached for the last time and conducted his final service here on Sunday, May 24th, 2009. He served the church at large in many capacities, most recently as Coordinator of the MN District Parish Services and currently as Chairman of the MN District Nominating and the WELS Nominating Committees. On December 28th, 1975, he married Beth (nee Berger) at Salem Ev. Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI. The Lord blessed this union with two sons, Andrew and Pastor Benjamin Schmeling and two daughters, Amy (Scmeling) Bryant and Caralyn Schmeling. In addition to his love for the ministry and spending time with his wife, family members and friends, he enjoyed a wide variety of activities and games, golf, swimming, lawn and garden work, music, computers, traveling. The Lord Jesus in his infinite wisdom and love called to himself in heaven the soul of Pastor Paul Schmeling while at home with his family in River Falls, WI on Monday, May 25th, 2009 at the age of 56 years 10 months and 20 days. He is survived by wife, Beth; children, Andrew (Andrea nee Berg) and children, Luke, Jack and Samuel of Wilsonville, OR; Rev. Benjamin (Ann Marie nee Uecker) and children, Noah and Owen of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada; daughter Amy (Ethan Bryant) and children, Cole and Landon of Woodbury, MN; and daughter Caralyn and fiancée Brian Wrobel; parents, Rev. Arlyn L. and Evelyn H. Schmeling of Sun City, AZ; Mother-in-law, Marie L. Berger of Milwaukee, WI; siblings, Angela (Darvin) Klatt, LaCrosse, WI; Rebecca (David) Klatt, Buffalo, MN; Marian (Gaius) Wiechmann, Elk River, MN, Rev. James (Martha) Schmeling of Monroe, MI; and Rev. Steven (Paula) Schmeling, Menomonie, WI, along with Beth’s five siblings and spouses, numerous nieces and nephews, many other relatives, friends and beloved members of Faith Ev. Lutheran Church. He was preceded in death by his father-in-law Gerald Berger and sister, Ruth Ann, who died in infancy. The Christian funeral service for Pastor Paul Schmeling is being held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 30th, 2009 at Faith Ev. Lutheran Church, River Falls, WI. Visitation will be on Friday, May 29, 2009 from 3-7 pm at the church with a Memorial Service at 7 pm designed for preschool families, the community and families with small children and on Saturday from 9-11 am before the service. A private committal service will be held at a later date. Memorials may be directed to Faith Ev. Lutheran Church or St. Croix Lutheran High School. Funeral arrangements are with the Bakken-Young Funeral Home of River Falls. Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:21 might best summarize his life of service to his Savior: “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

Then I heard a voice in heaven say, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” (Rev. 14:13)

Send condolences from this link.

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Cynthia Clement has left a new comment on your post "Memorial Day Loss - Pastor Paul Schmeling, WELS":

A friend gave me a Bible which planted the seed, another new friend asked me to join her one Sunday at Faith Ev. Lutheran Church; which brought me to the garden of Pastor Paul Schmeling's Church, with his teaching my faith in Jesus has grown spreading vines through out my family. My mentor and friend will be missed,he was such a wonderful teacher of the word, his legacy will last forever.

Problems with Ichabod ? - Switch to Mozilla Firefox for Free

"Help me, Obi-wan. You're my only hope."

Google's Blogger is reporting problems, which many of us have experienced:

http://knownissues.blogspot.com/

Some users are seeing an 'Operation Aborted' error message when trying to load their blogs from Internet Explorer. We're looking into this and will update this message when we have a fix.

We apologize for the inconvenience. — latest update on Thursday, May 21, 2009

I get "operation aborted" and "Windows busy" messages.

The solution is to download the Firefox browser from Mozilla for free. Firefox runs much faster and can take over the favorites of Internet Explorer.

Free download for Firefox - click here.

Blogger Update

Update (May 26): We are still working on resolving this bug. This only affects viewers using IE to view the blog; for right now, blog owners can either move the Followers gadget lower in their sidebar, or remove it altogether. Either action will eliminate the pop-up dialog box in IE.

We will update this post when a fix has been made. — latest update on Thursday, May 21, 2009

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I followed Blogger's suggestion and moved the followers list to the bottom. Now Ichabod works fine with Internet Explorer.

Stetzer Is No Longer on the Church and Chicanery Speakers List

Stetzer seems to be fading away from the picture. Not to worry, Chicaneries - Babtist Andy Stanley is still being fed
by seven (7) WELS pastors and Bishop Katie..

I looked up Babtist Ed Stetzer's speaking schedule. He no longer listed the Church and Change Conference. I did not see the LCMS listed either. Both rock-ribbed, orthodox synods were listed before. Stetzer even Tweeted about his WELS gig.

I consulted various sources. One said this:

"Regardless of the evidence, I don't recall C & C even verifying the fact that they scheduled Stetzer. So they likely won't announce that they uninvited someone they invited when they were too chicken to announce they invited him before they were forced to uninvite him." [That man is a Talmudic scholar in the making.]

Another said that the Conference of Pussycats finally roared and ordered the Chicaneries to uninvite Stetzer. That had been reported as "expressing concern," but more was involved than that. I even heard that two leaders were called on the carpet for their chicanery.

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Stetzer Is No Longer on the Church and Chicanery S...":

Straight from the horse's mouth: At my former congregation, they have contracted with Cornerstone Stewardship Ministries. By the time Jeff Davis came in to give his sales pitch to the Church Council, I had already expressed my reservations to the Congregation President about Mr. Davis' connection to C&C and Ed Stetzer. Apparently, Mr. Davis told the President that it would be most likely that Ed Stetzer would be "dis-invited" to the C&C conference. This was due to some controversy Stetzer was causing. There you have it. One cannot be dis-invited if you have not been invited first.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Stetzer Is No Longer on the Church and Chicanery S...":

Just the fact that they wanted Stetzer in the first place speaks volumes.

Memorial Day Posts From Various Sources

A salute to our military, past and present.


St. Crispin's Day Speech
Shakespeare's HENRY V- A.D. 1599

Although Shakespeare wrote this work nearly two hundred years after the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, it remains one of the finest dramatic interpretation of what leadership meant to the men in the Middle Ages.

Prior to the Battle, Henry V had led his English army across northwestern France, seizing Calais and other cities in an attempt to win back holdings in France that had once been English and to claim the French crown through the obscure but powerful Salig Law.

The French, aware of Henry's troops weakening condition because of their distance from England and the attacks of dysentery that had plagued the dwindling force, moved between King Henry and Calais, the port he needed to reach in order to return to England. The troops followed Henry's troops along the rivers, preventing their crossing, and daring them to a battle the French believed they could not lose.
The English knights fought on foot after the manner devised by Edward III. Archers were to be used in support, the famous and deadly longbows having established their credentials both at Crecy (1347) and at Poitiers (1356). But here the French seemed to have sufficient numbers to deal with even this threat. Thus, they refused to allow Henry to pass to the coast, angered by the English seizure of some of their cities.

Morale in the English line as they looked upon the overwhelming force of heavily armored, and highly skilled French knights was extremely low. King Henry, rising to the occasion, spoke words of encouragement that rallied the English troops and carried them to a victory. As a result of the victory the French Princess Catherine was betrothed to Henry V, and France and England were at peace for the remainder of Henry's short life. He died in 1422, but was survived by his son, Henry VI, and was buried at Westminster Abbey, close to the shrine of Edward the Confessor.

Although the speech itself is a work of fiction, we know that some kind of rousing speech was indeed given. And taking into consideration Shakespeare’s research into the historical details of his plays, it is fair to surmise that the Bard may have had some written records to go by in reconstructing Henry’s words. In any case, the words are most certainly evocative of the spirit with which Henry ruled through the strength of his convictions and by force of his personality.


Enter the KING

WESTMORELAND: O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!

KING: What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;

If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

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From Michele Malkin:

Words and men I’ll never forget:

“Others have died for my freedom, now this is my mark.” - Cpl. Jeffrey B. Starr.

“He knew what he was fighting for.” - father of Lt. Michael P. Murphy.

“He felt that what we were doing was just and right.” - Charles Cummings, father of fallen hero Army PFC Branden Cummings, who died in an IED attack in Diyala, Iraq.

“I genuinely believe the United States Army is a force of good in this world.” - 2LT Mark Daily.

Choking back tears, Christian Golczynski accepted the flag from his father's casket. Photographer Aaron Thompson described this moment as "the most emotionally moving event I may have ever witnessed and may ever witness in my life."
(The Daily News Journal)

And from young Christian Golczynski, the young son of Marine Staff Sgt. Marc Golczynski:

Heather Golczynski and her 8-year-old son Christian hold tightly to the memory of Marine Staff Sgt. Marc Golczynski.

On March 27 [2007], just a few weeks before Marc Golczynski was to return home from his second tour in Iraq — one he volunteered for — he was shot on patrol and killed by enemy fire in al-Aanbar province.

During a moment at the burial, Christian stepped forward to receive the flag for his father. The expression of grief on his young face was captured in a photo and became a powerful symbol for soldiers, their families and anyone who sees it.

When asked about his dad by ABC News’ Chris Cuomo, Christian said, “He was a hero. He helped our country.”

…Just days before he left for his second tour, Marc sent a letter to his family that would be his epitaph.

“Due to our deep desire to finish the job we started, we fight and sometimes die so that our families don’t have to. Stand beside us because we would do it for you. Because it is our unity that’s enabled us to prosper the nation,” Marc wrote.

“Marc believed very much what he was doing was right,” [wife] Heather said.

Since Marc’s death, letters of support and gifts have poured in for the family. But for all that his father may now represent to others, to Christian, Dad is the man who spent time with him and played, and who was teaching him about being a soldier.

“He helped our country and tried to stop terrorists,” Christian said.
Give thanks to all who have given their lives in service to our great nation. Freedom is not free.

Recommended by Bishop Katie at The CORE

RT @T_Nutz: Message of the week @gotocore was ENVY, here is a video that nailed it..http://bit.ly/JeEg7
about 16 hours ago from TweetDeck

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Bambooman man posted a comment. Thursday, April 23, 2009


This is very mocking and blasphemous. You don't need to go to that length to make a point. The Lord will not lets his name be taking in vain. No one tells Jesus "You have a brain figure it out" Even though this is just an illustration, it totally crosses the line. Don't know why teachers/pastors always feel the need to steep so low to reach young people. Do they think young people are unintelligent? This could have been done so much more tastefully.

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Savannah Austin posted a comment. Sunday, May 10, 2009


Awesome message!It totally speaks to me.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Recommended by Bishop Katie at The CORE":

Now, members inspire themselves and deliver their own parables. How moving and potentially dangerous!

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GJ - Some of the toxic trends picked up from Stanley, Groeschel, Beeson, and Driscoll are:

Manufactured spontaneous moments - like the Drive 09 dance.

Man-made parables - tedious, verbose, over-acted, devoid of Biblical content.

Liturgical dance.

Pop and rock music, drippy lyrics. Manipulated emotions as a substitute for the Word of God.

Giant video screens and incredible amounts spent on media. Compare - $75 for a web camera at Bethany Lutheran Church.

Limited vocabularies: awesome, dude, totally, like. A Martian could attend four or five conferences simply by saying repeatedly, "Dude, totally awesome. You, like, nailed it."

Latte Lutheran Church Promoted on WELS Streaming Video

It took some looking around, but I found the link:

WELS videos

Rev. Randy is traveling around once a month, and he gets a vicar to train.

"Am I a Solder of the Cross"
by Isaac Watts, 1674-1748

1. Am I a solder of the Cross,
A foll'wer of the Lamb,
And shall I fear to own
His cause Or blush to speak His name?2. Must I be carried to the skies
On flow'ry beds of ease
While others fought to win the prize
And sailed thro' bloody seas?

Hymn #445
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: 1 Cor. 16:13
Author: Isaac Watts, 1721
Composer: Thomas Ests, 1592
Tune: "Winchester Old"

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Everyone is waiting for the ant sermon to be posted.

More Evidence of Women's Ordination in WELS

Beth Thompson


Conversation with Beth Thompson

Beth Thompson is the Program Coordinator for English Conversation Outreach Model Program at Gethsemane, Milwaukee, Wis. Beth talks about her background, thankfulness for all the volunteers, the students, and the blessings from this program.

Publish Date:
5/20/2009
Length:
16:19
See Series:
English Conversation Outreach English Conversation Outreach Series RSS
Channels:
Information
Tags:
About Education Languages Programs Society Spotlight Volunteers.

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GJ - This appears to be the role of a pastor, but everyone knows - anything goes.
KJV 1 Timothy 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. The Shrinkers like to slither away from the main point, but they know they are promoting the cause, one baby-step at a time.

Seminary Scholarship Funds Used To Fund Vicars, Support African Safaris

Seminary scholarship offerings are used to pay for the free vicar program, so the money goes to congregations, not students struggling to finish school.

http://www.wls.wels.net/news/1435.php


Vicars in mission settings
Posted April 7th, 2009
The vicar year is a vital year of instruction for a seminary student. Students learn from hands-on ministry experiences as they are mentored by a supervising pastor. Because of the importance of this field experience, the seminary collaborates with the WELS Board for Home Missions (BHM) in subsidizing the cost of a vicar through the Vicars in Mission Settings Program.

For the past two years we have committed a substantial amount of money from our Scholarship Fund to allow mission congregations that perhaps could not afford a vicar to receive one. We pray that the Lord would allow us to continue to collaborate with the BHM in this important program of gospel outreach and pastoral training. 

Generous donations to the seminary’s Scholarship Fund make this collaboration possible. If you would like more information on how you can support the Vicars in Mission Settings Program, please contact the office of mission advancement.

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GJ - The material above is posted from the WELS website. The vicar program has been abused by the Shrinkers two different ways.

Traditional congregations are denied a vicar while Randy Hunter gets one to train in latte evangelism.

This program is aimed at mission congregations, but Patterson's Holy Word is 30 years old and has a huge staff already.

One thousand verbally abusive and anonymous comments may win some lucky rocker a free African safari with VP Patterson.