`
St. Martin United Church of Christ - P.O. Box 1037, 3229 High Ridge Blvd. - High Ridge, MO 63049
Vol. 145 - No. 6
June, 2013
The Early Church’s Commitment to Proclamation: AD 01-313
It should be abundantly clear that the movers and shakers of the Early Church were single
minded and very intentional about proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus, irrespective of the
personal cost, that included loss of lives. Christianity came into a world that was dominated by
Judaism and with the support of Rome’s military muscle; Christians were the targets of
unspeakable acts of persecution. From the time of the Nero (64 A.D.) until the conversion of
Emperor Constantine and his Edict of Milan (313 A.D.), whereby Christianity was made legal,
the Christian faith endured every and any acts of cruelty that the human mind could devise but
the believers never lost sight of the mandate to make disciples of other nations by way of
proclamation that was aided by the Holy Spirit.
To begin this story, we must always be mindful of the fact that Christianity began as a
movement within Judaism and this enraged those who belonged to the older religion to the
extent that steps were taken to eliminate the leaders of the new faith. However, despite
persecution and death, much of the earliest proclamation of the Gospel took place in the
Jewish synagogues where it was greeted with hostility and ridicule.
However, since the early believers did not have church buildings to meet in, they made use to
whatever space they could find but when persecution became untenable, they began to meet
in home and even in catacombs so as to ensure that the proclamation of the Gospel did not
suffer major setbacks. The first church buildings did not start to appear until the early AD 200s
but again, pain and suffering were the order of the day for those who embraced the Christian
faith as a way of living.
To proclaim the Gospel and also become witnesses for Jesus Christ, the early Christians were
the targets of repeated persecutions on all fronts. For example, the emperor Nero blamed the
Christians for the great fire that destroyed 10 of the 14 city wards at Rome in 64 A.D., a fire
that Nero apparently had ordered himself. The historian Tacitus said that Nero decreed that
the believers should be "torn by dogs, nailed to crosses . . . he even used human torches to
illuminate his gardens at night."
History recorded that there were two all-out Roman Empire-wide persecutions intended to
utterly undermine the steely resolve of the believers and ultimately, to destroy the Church.
The first, under the emperor Decius, began in December, 249. Everyone in the empire had to
get a certificate from a government officer verifying that he or she had offered a pagan
sacrifice to the gods - an act that most Christians in good conscience refused to do. There was
tremendous loss of life but non-Christian onlookers were moved in their hearts at the spectacle
of believers willing to die instead of offering sacrifices to pagan gods.
The second, called "The Great Persecution," began on February, 303, under Emperor
Diocletian. Galerius, the empire's second-in-command, was behind this persecution policy and
1
continued it after Diocletian's death. For eight long years, official decrees ordered Christians
out of public office, scriptures confiscated, church buildings destroyed, church leaders
arrested, and pagan sacrifices required. All the reliable methods of torture were mercilessly
employed - wild beasts, burning, stabbing, crucifixion, the stretch rack, but, again, they were all
to no avail, is fact the acts of cruelty drew more and more sympathizers and martyrs would
proclaim the name of Jesus just before death and thereby planted “seeds for the faith” before
many onlookers. The penetration of the faith across the Roman Empire was so pervasive that
many of its adversities had to quietly conclude that the Church could not be intimidated nor
destroyed by violence.
In AD 311, Galerius, shortly before his death, weak, unhealthy and diseased, surprised the
empire by issuing an "edict of toleration" which eased some of the pressure on the Christian
believers. This included the statement that it was the duty of Christians "to pray to their god
for our good estate."
Constantine the Great provided Christianity with the key to unlock persecution for all time
when he was converted to the faith in AD 313, a movement that so many had labored to
destroy. In 313, Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan legalizing Christian worship
all across the Roman Empire, as well as all other religions. . The emperor became a great
patron of the Church and was himself baptized into its membership before he died in AD380.
Proclamation of the Gospel was the one great obligation that held the early believers together,
they never wavered, and they did not make excuses and were willing to endure any kind of
punishment, so long as the message of Jesus Christ went forward. The postmodern Church
should learn from our forefathers who gave us an invaluable blueprint for ministry that is
based on proclaiming the Word as Lord and Savior of the world.
2
USHER 9:30 AM SCHEDULE
6-2
6-9
6-16
6-23
6-30
1 Kings 18:20-21,(2229).30-39, or 1 Kings
8:22-23, 41-43
Ps 96 or Ps 96:1-9
Gal. 1:1-12
Luke 7:1-10
1 Kings 17:8-16- , (1724) or 1 Kings 17:1724
1 Kings 21:1-10, (1114), 15-21a
PS 32 or PS 5:1-8
PS146 or PS 30
Gal. 1: 11-24
Luke 7: 11-17
2 Sam 11:26-12-10, 1315
Gal 2: 15-21
Luke 7:36-8:3
Isa 65: 1-9,
Gal 3:23-29
Luke 8:26-39
1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7),
8-15a
PS 42 and 43 or PS
22:19-28
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
1 Kings 19:15-16, 1921
PS 77:1-2, 11-20 or PS
16
Gal 5: 1, 13-25
Luke 9:51-62
6-2
Dale Rose
Kathy Dishner
Fred Dishner
6-9
Marie Gates
Gary Reimler
Terri Rose
6-16
Jim Bauer
6-23
Gary Malone
Richard Small
6-30 Don Self
Fellowship Hour
8:30-9:20
6-2
6-9
6-16
6-23
6-30
Ginger/Bette
Jane/Lynn/Bev
Johnny/Bert
Don/Evelyn
Shirley M/Donna G
7-7
7-14
7-21
7-28
Betty/Larry
Don/Grace
Joan/Liz
Gary/Gerri
Greeter Schedule
For Worship Service
9:30 AM
6-2
6-9
6-16
6-23
6-30
Donna Goede
Gerri Malone
Shirley Miller
Gerri Malone
Don Self
ADDRESS & PHONE CHANGES
We would like to request that if you have a
new mailing address, home phone number or
cell phone number or email address, please
let the church office know so that we might
keep our records current. Your assistance in
this is very much appreciated. Joan
3
Shirley Ogden
6/2
6/9
6/16
6/23
6/30
Joan Cavagna
Gary Reimler
Larry/Betty Lewellen
Don Self
Bette Ford
JUNE Bring a Meal
Chicken Dumplings
Ravioli
Complete Cornbread Mix
Jell-o
Paper Towels
Please Remember These People in Prayer:
Karen & Orville Boemler, Joann Rodel, Bob Eckhardt,
Joan Roth, Mildred Hanock, Cindy Gunning, Phil
Heller, Virginia Ahlvers, Linda Wall, Thelma Dunn,
Don Cowsert, Kenny Jones, Dot Hirtz and Norm
Kramer,
If you know someone who needs to be added or removed
from our prayer list, please contact the church office.
15 Kenneth & Sharon K. Diffey
22 Bill & Lisa Friebel
26 Jim & Teresa Terry
28 John & Patricia Sowadski
Thanks to the people who fold the
Churchline in June. They are: Marla,
Ruth, Clare & Harry.
Our Church Mission:
To be responsible and caring in
reaching out to all people so that
everyone may experience the
unconditional love and grace of Jesus
Christ as Lord and Savior.
4
2
4
7
9
10
12
12
15
16
17
26
27
Ben Dautenhahn
Shirley Miller
Jim Terry
Jill Bennett
Maggie Mills
Kay Diffey
Lisa Friebel
Annette Hollenbeck
Sharon Cole
Clare Grupe
Ann Radeackar
Ed Self
Please continue to bring your
empty cans to the church-rinsed
hopefully! Every little bit
helps! Don’t forget also to
bring your newspapers, junk mail
and magazines.
On May 20th, Dick Small and Don
Long took the cans to recycle
and received $33 for the cans
and for misc. items they
received another $16 which goes
into the church funds.
success.
The Fund Raising Committee
.
Members of the Women’s Fellowship met
briefly after worship service on May 12th.
The meeting was to discuss the time and date
when they would work to place the plants in
the containers along the fellowship hall wall.
It was decided to meet Wednesday, May 15th
at 6:30 PM. Many of them agreed to
purchase plants.
Frankie Small, President
FASHION SHOW AND LUNCHEON
St. Martin hosted a Fashion Show
on Saturday, May 11th in the
Fellowship hall. Everything was
decorated with spring in mind.
We sold 98 adult tickets and 13
children’s tickets and realized a
profit of $1,045.00 which goes
into the paving fund. Many
thanks to those who brought all
the wonderful salads and desserts
and to those who participated in
the show, especially to Carol
Reeves who made the
centerpieces and took
responsibility for bringing and
taking back the clothes to Kohl’s.
Thanks go also to Shelby Berta
from Rochester, IL for bringing
some of her vintage clothing
collection and also to Bev, Clare
and Frankie for bringing along
their vintage clothes to display.
Again, many thanks to all who
helped or took part in anyway for
making this project such a
5
GRADUATES
We will be honoring our graduates on Sunday, June
2nd. If you have a loved one who will be graduating
this year and would like for them to be recognized,
please contact Joan in the church office at 636-6775602. We don’t want to leave anyone out and need
some information.
Here are the graduates we will be honoring:
Alecia McLean, Melanie Sowadski,
Christopher Ellermann, Matt and Molly
Fowler, Kristen Reimler, Teri Thoms,
Joshua Dautenhahn, David Bosch, Tyler
Kirkman, Austin Lowe, Desiree St. Clair,
Anna Sakach and Alysen Dishner
The Fundraising committee has proposed that we do
a cookbook featuring recipes from our members. St
Martin is known for their wonderful cooks and now
is a chance for you to share your favorite recipes.
Joan Cavagna has the forms for you to submit your
favorite recipes. We hope to have these printed and
ready to sell by the time of the Chicken Dinner in
September. So ladies and gentlemen, get those
specialities written up and submitted. We believe
that this will be a great money maker for our church
and the profits will go to the paving account. Start
thinking of how many books you can use both
personally and for gifts.
COUNCIL NEWS
Homebound
NEWS FROM THE HOMEBOUND
Visits to St. Martin’s Homebound ladies
were made on May 7, 2013 by Pastor Adrian
and Care Pastors Syble Self and Frankie
Small. They found all of them in good
spirits, thankful for the visits and for the
serving of communion. Cindy Gunning is
also very thankful for the blessing of a new
wheel chair that was built especially for her
thru the Multiple Sclerosis Society. She is
so much more comfortable while in it. Her
original wheel chair had been donated to the
Community Loan Closet at St. Martin and
will be returned to it.
Prayers, please for these folks and thank God
for every blessing received.
God Bless!
Billie York
FLOWER CONTAINERS
On Wednesday evening, May 15th, seven members
of the Women’s Fellowship gathered at the church
parking lot. They brought with them various kinds
of plants. Clare Grupe had recently purchased two
large containers to match the three containers that
were used last year. The ladies immediately set to
work placing the plants in these pots. They planted
pink, white and red geraniums, various colored
petunias, a spike plant and other flowering plants.
The flowers add a colorful look to our building.
The women helping in this project were Glenda
Barton, Beverly Dautenhahn, Clare Grupe, Evelyn
Long, Sandy Neralich, Ginger Washington and
Frankie Small. Thank you ladies, for your
generosity and time.
Frankie Small
6
Thank you to the fund raising committee and
many others who have worked very hard the
last several months on the Bar-B-Que and
Fashion Show. Their efforts have been
rewarded by having successful events.
We are looking for volunteers to be the
reader during worship. This person,
generally leads the Call to Worship and
reads the scripture. They will be asked to
read every 4-6 weeks. The more volunteers
the fewer times per year you will read.
We also could use more ushers. The ushers
would probably serve once a month.
If you are interested or can help, please call
Grace or Don Self.
We also welcome our new members, Gary
and Glenda Barton and Leroy and Linda
Peterson.
emorials
The following individuals donated to the St.
Martin’s United Church of Christ
In Memory of
Marie Pangburn
Memorial Fund
Clardean Schmieder
In Memory of
Robert Franken
Memorial Fund
Clardean Schmieder
We especially need the children to
make this event a success. Please let
your children, grandchildren,
neighbors and friends know the date
and invite them to join us. We will
have more information in the coming
weeks.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
We would like to welcome our newest
members to St. Martin UCC. On May
5, 2013.
Leroy and Linda Peterson reside in
Cedar Hill. Linda has already joined
in the Choir and Leroy has volunteered
to be an Usher.
Gary and Glenda Barton reside in High
Ridge. Glenda has also joined in the
choir and Gary has become a big part
of the Men’s Fellowship.
Please make them welcome.
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
Plans are currently underway for
Vacation Bible School here at St.
Martin for the week of July 15 thru
19th in the evening. If you can help in
any way please contact Gerri Malone.
7
The men have been working on maintaining
the church grounds – cutting grass, trimming
and cleaning the flower beds. The men are
going to install (2) post lights at the entrance
of the Church as soon as they are delivered.
The men are working on trimming the trees
along the entrance to the church.
God Bless, Fred
8
June 2013
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
9am Men’s
Fellowship
3-8 PM St. Martin’s
Dittmer Chicken
Dinner
2
8:30 Fellowship Hour
9:30 Worship and
Children’s Church
Honor Graduates
3
9
8:30 Fellowship Hour
9:30 Worship and
Children’s Church
Spring Gathering
Springfield, MO
10
11
7PM Stewardship
Meeting
7pm Church Council
Mtg
16 Fathers’ Day
8:30 Fellowship Hour
9:30 Worship and
Children’s Church
17
Churchline Articles
are due
23
8:30 Fellowship Hour
9:30 Worship and
Children’s Church
24
30
8:30 Fellowship Hour
9:30 Worship and
Children’s Church
9
4
5
6
7
8
Spring Gathering
Springfield, MO
Spring Gathering
Stpringfield, MO
12
13
14
15
18
19
20
21
22
25th Anniversary for
Hag master Cabin
Byrnesmill Park 9:30
AM
25
26
Fold Churchline
27
28
29
27
28
29
7pm Worship &
Evangelism Cmte
St. Martin United Church of Christ
PO Box 1037
High Ridge, MO. 63049
JUNE CHURCHLINE 2013
POSTMASTER: TIME-VALUED
MATERIAL - PLEASE EXPEDITE DELIVERY.
THANK YOU! *
St.
St. Martin United Church of Christ
Worship Time and Children’s Church:
Church:
9:30 AM Sunday Morning
Website: http://stmartinhttp://stmartin-uccucc-hr.50webs.com
Email: [email protected]
636--677
677--5602
636
10