JUNE 2020Volume: 37 Issue: 6

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June Starts with Trinity Sunday.Concerning the Trinity, Dr. MartinLuther taught us these truths in hisCatechism in the study of the ApostlesCreed:

“I believe in God the FatherAlmighty, Maker of heaven andearth.” What does this mean?

“I believe that God made me andevery creature and that he gave me mybody and soul, eyes, ears and all mymembers, my mind and all my abilities.”

“And I believe that God stillpreserves me by richly and dailyproviding clothing and shoes, food anddrink, house and home, wife andchildren, land, cattle and all I own, andall that I need to keep my body and life,and by defending me against all dangerand guarding and protecting me from allevil.”

“All this God does only becausehe is my good and merciful Father inheaven, and not because I have earned ordeserved it. For all this I ought to thankand praise, to serve and obey him. Thisis most certainly true.”

“I believe in Jesus Christ, hisonly Son, our Lord; who wasconceived by the Holy Spirit; born ofthe Virgin Mary; suffered underPontius Pilate; was crucified, deadand buried; he descended into hell;the third day he rose again from thedead; he ascended into heaven, and issitting at the right hand of God the

Father Almighty; from there he shallcome to judge the living and thedead.”What does this mean?

“I believe that Jesus Christ, trueGod, begotten of the Father frometernity, and also true man, born of theVirgin Mary, is my Lord.

“He has redeemed me, a lost andcondemned creature, purchased and wonme from all sins, from death and fromthe power of the devil, not with gold orsilver, but with his holy, precious bloodand with his innocent suffering anddeath.

“All this he did that I should behis own, and live under him in hiskingdom, and serve him in everlastingrighteousness, innocence andblessedness, just as he has risen fromdeath and lives and rules eternally, Thisis most certainly true.”

“I believe in the Holy Spirit;the holy Christian church, thecommunion of saints; the forgivenessof sins; the resurrection of the body;and the life everlasting. Amen.”What does this mean?

“I believe that I cannot by myown thinking or choosing believe inJesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by thegospel, enlightened me with his gifts,sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way he calls, gathers,enlightens, and sanctifies the wholeChristian church on earth and keeps itwith Jesus Christ in the one true faith.”

“In this Christian church he dailyand fully forgives all sins to me and allbelievers.”

“On the last day, he will raise meand all the dead; And he willgive eternal life to me and allbelievers in Christ. This is mostcertainly true.”

(Continued on Page 2)

GOOD TIDINGSThe Three (Tri-) Persons of the One (-une)Godhead work in perfect harmony to carryout all things good and gracious for ussinners. In a world full of sin and its fruits;namely a health pandemic, rioting, unrest,distrust and injustice, how wonderful it is toreview the work of God the Father who stillpreserves me by “defending me against alldanger and guarding and protecting me fromall evil.” And that “All this God does onlybecause he is my good and merciful Fatherin heaven, and not because I have earned ordeserved it. For all this I ought to thank andpraise, to serve and obey him.”

May our Thanks and our Praises bemagnified by our Service and Obedience tothe Triune God; Father, Son and HolySpirit.

-Peace Lutheran in Hayward isresuming regularly scheduledworship services beginning Sunday,June 7 at 9am.

-Make worship decisions accordingto your own comfort level while alsorespecting the decisions of allothers; As Scripture says, "Love alwaystrusts" (1 Cor 13:7). Situations in whichthere are a great number of conflictingperspectives gives us a uniqueopportunity to put this command intopractice and highlight the beauty of theChristian faith. Likewise, we areChristian friends who love, trust, defend,protect, and look out for one another.Staying home if you are 'at-risk' is apowerful way for us to love one anotherright now. Staying at home if you are

uncomfortable coming back to churchright now is a decision that will be fullysupported.

-Individuals at high risk shouldstrongly consider worshipping fromhome for now. Those who are age 65or older, have chronic lung diseasessuch as COPD or asthma, serious heartconditions, diabetes, obesity, kidneydisease, and/or areimmune-compromised should seriouslyconsider continuing to worship fromhome.

-Individuals who have recentlytraveled or gathered in high-contactareas with other people shouldstrongly consider worshipping fromhome; this virus seems to spread mosteasily from person-to-person andremains invisible for up to 14 days.Those who regularly interact with a widevariety of people, or those who haverecently gathered among a crowd inclose proximity to one another forextended time should seriously considercontinuing to worship from home.

-Individuals feeling sick shouldworship from home; please regularlyself-screen at home. If anyone in thehousehold unit has a temperature of100.4 degrees or higher, shortness ofbreath, sore throat, cough, diarrhea,headache, or has lost their sense oftaste or smell, the whole family unitshould stay home.

-Online worship will continue; Pastorwill continue to record and post weeklysermons on our website/Vimeo untilfurther notice. Pastor and/or theChairman of Elders are also willing tomake private visits (following a briefphone conversation).

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GOOD TIDINGSCHURCH/WORSHIP UPDATES:

1) Each Sunday:

-A hand sanitizing station will be available immediately as you enter church; for the timebeing, we are asking everyone in attendance to use the sanitizer in courtesy to others.

-The donning of personal protective equipment (PPE, including face masks/shields,gloves, etc. - not provided) will be at the sole discretion of each individual parishionerand must be obtained by that parishioner for themselves or their family membersoutside of Peace Lutheran Church.

-No after-service fellowship will be observed until further notice; please feel free to catchup with friends and members outside after services have concluded.

-Our bathrooms will continue to be well equipped with anti-bacterial hand soap andhands-free paper towels.

-Social distancing is encouraged at all times while in attendance, including while seatedin pews (except for family units who live/travel together).

-Seating will be every other pew (1, 3, 5…), as directed by the Council/ushers.

-An offering box will be located in the Narthex; no plates will be passed during worshipservices for the time being.

-Please respect that hand-shaking has been eliminated until further notice.

-Bulletins will be placed within each of the designated pews to further avoid contact withothers, and to assist with a socially-distanced seating arrangement.

-Church will be cleaned thoroughly each week in order to disinfect all high traffic areasand touch-points for everyone’s continued safety.

2) Bible Class:

-Bible class will be phased back into our schedule at a later date (TBD).

3) Duties/Schedules:

Usher – by sign up, on a weekly basis (we will have a sign-up sheet in the back ofchurch for each individual week; there is not a good way to predict whichindividuals/families will be at church each Sunday).

MIDI - sign up, on a weekly basis (we will have a sign-up sheet in the back of church foreach individual week; there is not a good way to predict which individuals/families will beat church each Sunday).(Continued on Page 4)

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GOOD TIDINGS(Continued from page 3)

Cleaning - sign up, on a weekly basis (we will have a sign-up sheet in the back ofchurch for each individual week; there is not a good way to predict whichindividuals/families are comfortable undertaking this type of service at this time).

Greeter – Usher each Sunday will also serve as the greeter.

Fellowship - on hold, as discussed above.

4) Non-contact communion:

-The Altar Guild, following cleanliness procedures (masks and gloves), will pre-prepareindividual wafer cups with lids.

-Communicant members will walk up the Right-Side Aisle which has the folding doorsopened, pick up a ‘wafer cup’ from a table with “socially-distanced” sealed cups on top,and then proceed to the front of that aisle (floor will be marked with blue tape).

-The floor in front of church will also be marked with blue tape in ~6’ increments,directing recipients where to stand, socially-distanced, to receive the Lord’s Supper.

-Once in line at the front of church, Pastor will proceed with communion and memberswill receive the host (take off lid and consume).

-Next, members will receive wine from a tray with “socially-distanced” individual cups.

-Leave to the Left-Side aisle upon completion.

-Dispose of any cup/lids in a waste receptacle as you leave.

We thank all of you in advance for helping us to resume our joining together in worship, praise and prayer to God and encouraging one another during these difficult times..

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GOOD TIDINGS

The Lord in His Infinite Wisdom, called home to heaven the soul of Harold Mueller. Harold suffered aheart attack on April 19th and so passed into Eternal Glory. Harold & Betty Mueller have faithfullyattended our summer services for many years and are truly a vital part of our congregation. The Muellerfamily has donated a Memorial in Harold’s name to our congregation for which we are very appreciative. We pray that God’s love will surround, comfort and encourage Betty and the Mueller family in thisdifficult time of loss.

On Tuesday, June 2nd, Pastor Radtke officiated at the Graveside Service of Darlene Smith in Earl, WI. Art and Darlene Smith became members of Peace Lutheran in its very early days along with their twochildren, Valerie and Eric. Darlene passed away on Tuesday, May 26th in Hewitt, WI. In keeping withDarlene’s request, Pastor Radtke was pleased to serve as the officiant at her interment. May the peace ofChrist and the certainty of the Resurrection continue to comfort all who knew Darlene.

Peace Members Help Beautify HaywardOn Saturday, May 30, twelve members of Peace joined with members of other area churches to help cleanup roadways in our community. The group picked up trash along both sides of Hwy 77 from Peace toHospital Road. After the cleanup activity, we met back at the church parking lot for a tailgate lunch andsome much-missed fellowship!

– Contributed by Paula Bilitz

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God always has a plan. Due to the COVID pandemic this year’s LWMS National Convention,typically held in June, was canceled. But now, many more people – men and women – will beable to attend a new online event and get a “taste” of LWMS as well as be part of our synod’sgospel outreach.

Lutheran Women's Missionary Society (LWMS) is partnering with the WELS Missions office tohost an online event called Taste and See. This first-of-its-kind event will combine the very bestof the LWMS Convention and Taste of Missions. Beginning Saturday, June 27, you can tune in towatch a livestreamed opening worship service with brothers and sisters around the world! From June 28 - July 10, learn about Missions through keynote presentations, recordedworkshops, mission-minded daily devotions, and more.

This is a family event. Participate in scavenger hunts, try your hand at making ethnic recipesshared by our missionaries, and ask questions during live Q&A sessions with Home and WorldMissions representatives. Festivities will wrap up with the livestreamed commissioning of newmissionaries on Saturday July 11.

Here are schedule highlights:Saturday, June 27, 2020 11:00 AM - 12:00 PMOpening worship service12:00 PM - 12:30 PMPresentation of flagsEvery country where WELS is doing mission work is represented – a must see!

Wednesday, July 1, 20207:00 PM - 8:00 PMHome Missions Q&A panel

Wednesday, July 8, 20207:00 PM - 8:00 PMWorld Missions Q&A panel

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GOOD TIDINGS(Continued from Page 6)

Saturday, July 11, 202011:00 AM – 12:00 PMCommissioning of new missionaries

Your LWMS Reporter, Lois Mueller, and Circuit President, Paula Bilitz, will share additionaldetails as they become available. Or, check the Taste & See Facebook page athttps://www.facebook.com/events/1358193381011265/

–Contributed by Paula Bilitz

Is Peace a Visitor-Friendly Church?

Once we return to “normal” worship practices we will once again see many visitors – some ofthem first-time worshipers. Will they feel welcome? Read the following observations from aWELS member who attended one of our congregations in another part of the country and drawyour own conclusions. “Recently I had occasion to worship in one of our WELS congregations in another part of thecountry. Following the service, I stood in an obvious spot in the narthex and waited…andwaited…to see if anyone would greet me. But it didn’t happen.Now, if you ask any of the members of this (or your) congregation whether they consideredtheirs to be a ‘friendly’ church, I am sure they would say, ‘of course, we’re a friendly group.’And they were! With each other. They stood and talked with one another for a good half hour,but they didn’t include me.What if I had been someone new to the community looking for a place to worship? Do yousuppose I would have returned? Probably not. After all, most people don’t consciously seek outa place where God’s Word is proclaimed in its truth and purity. They look for a place wherethey feel welcome and where people seem to care.”This person’s experience is a good reminder of the importance of being on the lookout for first-time worshipers and overwhelming them with Christian hospitality. As the saying goes, ‘youonly get one chance to make a first impression.’ It’s so easy to be drawn into our own circle offriends on Sunday morning and forget those around us. Let’s all make a conscientious effort towelcome everyone we see at church and make them feel at home.

–Contributed by Paula Bilitz

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