Newsletter

THIS WEEK:

Wednesday, Oct. 15: No Class – MEA Break

Sunday, Oct. 19: Worship service 9:00A w/coffee & rolls following.

Wednesday, Oct. 22: Meal at 5:30P. Confirmation & Religious Education 6:15P. Youth Group

Sunday, Oct. 26: Reformation Sunday – Confirmation. Worship service 9:00A w/coffee & rolls following.

Members of St. Matthew: We are going to do a little Fall housecleaning. Our main focus will be the church Sanctuary. Instead of putting names to a task, we are asking you to show up on our “Do Days”. Our plan is to do this before Confirmation which is Oct. 26. We plan to start on Oct. 20 at 6:30 pm. If we don’t finish, we will continue on Oct. 21. Please plan to help out and show up on those first days.

Ordering poinsettias: Sign up is in the fellowship hall. Please sign up by Oct. 23. Cost is $17.00.

Haunted Church Lock-In on Oct. 31 – Nov. 1, 5:00 pm – 8:00 am at St. Matthew Church. Cost is $20 for supplies. Games, Friends, Fellowship, Fun and Trick or Treating! Bring: yourself, money and friends. Sign up on Youth Board in Fellowship Hall.

We need volunteers for Wednesday meals. We serve around 45 people. Signup sheet in fellowship hall.

Salfer’s receipts: Please save the paid Salfer receipts starting Sept. 1, 2025 – March 31, 2026. Container is in the church kitchen.

Visits from Pr. Jon: Would you like a visit from Pr. Jon, please call the church office (507-342-5327) or Pr. Jon’s cell (563-564-7249) and let us know.

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Volunteers Needed: We need volunteers to donate meals for Wednesday nights and Sunday morning coffee/donut help. Sign ups by Sanctuary entrance. We also need help for all of our church ministries (i.e. readers, acolytes, altar guild, ushers, musicians, organists. WELCA, etc.).

Pr. Jon's October letter - - - - - - -

“All eyes are on the top of the buildings, waiting for the smoke to billow out of the chimney. Will it be white, or will it be dark? The Bishops have been meeting in secret for the day, and voting on a new Pope. I can see smoke. It’s white. The smoke is white. A new Pope has been elected.”

This was some of the dialogue that came blaring out of my television when Pope Leo was elected in late April. There were celebrations and pilgrimage to the Vatican to see who would be the next leader of the Catholic Church. Eyes across the world were tuned in to see who would lead the denomination in the upcoming years.

Yet, just this past July, a new Bishop was elected for the Lutheran Church. The Rev. Yehiel Curry was elected as the next presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Phoenix, Ariz., on July 30, 2025. He will begin this role on Oct. 1, 2025, and be installed on Oct. 4 in Minneapolis.

This is one of the highest offices that a Lutheran Clergy could get elected to, but it didn’t have news reporters around the world tuning in. It didn’t have the pageantry of watching a small smokestack on the top of a roof. And he definitely didn’t have the pomp and circumstance when elected that the Pope did. Instead, it was a hand clap, a congratulatory speech, and then right down to business.

But before the current bishop, Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, leaves office, she has a short message for all.

“I started my ministry as presiding bishop with these four emphases: We are church. We are Lutheran. We are church together. We are church for the sake of the world. I will end as I began.

We are church. There is no other institution on earth whose reason for being is the proclamation of the gospel. “It is also taught that at all times there must be and remain one holy, Christian church. It is the assembly of all believers among whom the gospel is purely preached and the holy sacraments are administered according to the gospel” (Augsburg Confession, Article VII). That’s it. The works we do in service to the world are important, but they are not the essence of the church. The ELCA does not exist in order to work for justice. Rather, because we are nourished by word and sacraments, the ELCA is free and empowered to do so.

The church is also marvelously intricate and interconnected. “We, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another” (Romans 12:5). There is no such thing as a solitary Christian. God’s love for us through Christ and poured into our hearts by the Spirit is for each of us. But each of us is just one member of the body of Christ. We understand the church in the same way. “This church shall seek to function as people of God through congregations, synods, and the churchwide organization, all of which shall be interdependent. Each part, while fully the church, recognizes that it is not the whole church and therefore lives in an interdependent relationship with the others” (ELCA “Constitutions, Bylaws and Continuing Resolutions” 8.11.).

We are Lutheran. The average Lutheran in the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is a woman in Tanzania. There are more Lutherans in Ethiopia, Indonesia and Madagascar than there are in the ELCA. The LWF has 150 member churches in 99 countries. What binds us together? Certainly not one culture or cuisine. Rather, it is the clear witness of the gospel that sets us free. “It is taught that we cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God through our merit, work, or satisfactions, but that we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God out of grace for Christ’s sake through faith …” (Augsburg Confession, Article IV).

This is revolutionary. The standards of the world by which we are measured, or we measure others, are a figment. We don’t claim perfection for the church. We’re not there. But as Martin Luther said, “This life therefore is not righteousness but growth in righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it, the process is not yet finished, but it is going on, this is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified” (“Defense and Explanation of All the Articles”). We know there is law and gospel, that we are saint and sinner, that we are bound and free, and we entrust that all to God.

We are church together. Paul wrote that we do not live to ourselves. We live in a time when fear is used to separate us. This is the tool of every authoritarian regime. The church is different. The Spirit calls, gathers and keeps the whole church on earth. We belong to God, we belong to each other, and we belong to the world.

We are church for the sake of the world. We are not only freed from sin, we are freed for service to the neighbor. Here is where the essence of the church—the proclamation of the gospel—gives power and shape to the work we do in Jesus’ name. We are church for the sake of the world not out of obligation or for reward but out of love.

So there it is, dear church, my farewell address. We each have this ministry for a season. My season as presiding bishop has ended. Bishop-elect Yehiel Curry’s season is about to begin. Pray for him, his family and the churchwide staff.

But be assured that the season for the ELCA is not over. God hasn’t finished with this church yet.” Bishop Eaton, Living Lutheran, September 19, 2025

Now, we welcome the new, incoming Bishop, The Rev. Yehiel Curry. Currently, he serves as bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan Chicago Synod, where he leads a synod staff and 160 congregations by providing pastoral care, preaching, teaching, administering sacraments, and overseeing ordinations and installations. Curry chaired the ELCA Conference of Bishops, fostering ecumenical relationships and theological engagement across the Lutheran communion.

If interested, the presiding bishop installation will be held on October 4th, 2025, at 2:00 pm at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. The installation is open to all, and is free of charge. After, a public reception to greet the new presiding bishop will be held following the installation.

We welcome the new Bishop, not with smoke and secret meetings, but with blessings and hope. We now take watch where the ELCA will be led in the upcoming years.

- Pastor Jon Wendt

The Pastor’s Recorder

In Mark 12:30-31, Jesus says, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Each time I read this, I am reminded of the song that came across my television as a child, sung by the great Mr. Rodgers; “Who are the people in your neighborhood? They’re the people you meet each day.”

So I thought it would be a good idea (with the encouragement of many others) to spotlight a couple neighbors of St. Matthew Lutheran church each month. They have been given a questionnaire with 15 questions so that we can get to know them a little better.

This month, I asked Robyn Struntz and my two foreign exchange students to share who they are.

Getting to know: Robyn Struntz

1) Describe your family.

My husband and I, we have 4 daughters. Aaron (husband), Annabelle is a sophomore in

college, Addison is in the 8th grade, and Amelia and Ava are 6th graders.

2) What was/is/hopefully will be your career?

I work in Leasing at U.S. Bank in Marshall.

3) What is your favorite childhood memory?

Growing up in the country and riding our horses!

4) What is your favorite pizza topping? The worst?

Chicken Bacon Ranch is my favorite. Pepperoni would be my least favorite.

5) What is the worst movie you’ve ever seen?

I don’t have one

6) What is the best advice you ever received? Who gave it to you?

To always be myself and enjoy life to the fullest. Life is short.

7) Dog or Cat? Dog!

8) What is your favorite Bible Verse?

Phillipians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

9) Do you have any good jokes you like to tell?

No. I leave that up to my kids! Ava loves to tell them (heart emoji).

10) What is the scariest animal? Sharks

11) If you opened a restaurant, what would you call it, and what’s on the menu?

“Stay a While”. Home cooking, pies, bars, all the comfort food.

12) What is your favorite church hymn/song?

How Great Thou Art, and Amazing Grace.

13) What is one thing you own that you should really throw out?

Maybe some of my old school memorabilia, to make way for kids’ keepsakes 😊

14) Have you ever asked anyone for their autograph? Yes! Kenny Chesney.

15) Any advice for others?

Be kind, love one another, and be a light in the world. You only have one life to live, so make it count.

Getting to know: Dunja Vasiljevic (from Serbia)

1) Describe your family.

I have an older sister, her name is Danica. She is first year of college, she is studying

molecular biology. My mom’s name is Monika, she is a pharmacist, and my dads is

Dragisa. He is a civil engineer. And I have my host family, Jon, Matthew and Barbara. They are very nice and they help me feel like I’m home.

2) What was/is/hopefully will be your career?

I’m not sure yet, but I hope that my new experiences as and exchange student will give me an idea.

3) What is your favorite childhood memory?

Playing with my sister in a park.

4) What is your favorite pizza topping? The worst?

My favorite is cheese, and the worst is olives.

5) What is the worst movie you’ve ever seen?

I don’t have one.

6) What is the best advice you ever received? Who gave it to you?

To always be my self and to make as many memories as possible – Grandma.

7) Dog or Cat? Both.

8) What is your favorite Bible Verse?

(no answer)

9) Do you have any good jokes you like to tell?

None in English.

10) What is the scariest animal?

Spiders

11) If you opened a restaurant, what would you call it, and what’s on the menu?

I don’t know what I would call it. I would have many different kinds of pasta and pizzas.

12) What is your favorite church hymn/song?

People back home at church don’t sing like here in our church (St. Matthew). Usually the

pastor sings alone.

13) What is one thing you own that you should really throw out?

Bracelet whose beads fell off. I kept the beads hoping I could fix it someday, but probably

never will.

14) Have you ever asked anyone for their autograph?

I can’t remember.

15) Any advice for others?

Always be kind.

Getting to know: Antonia Marwedel (from Germany)

1) Describe your family.

My host family – Pastor Jon, Barb, and Matthew. Everybody is weird in a good way, and the

boys are very annoying!!!

2) What was/is/hopefully will be your career?

I don’t know yet, but I want to do something I really like that is different every day. It should

be fun.

3) What is your favorite childhood memory?

Playing outdoors with my best friend as imagined characters.

4) What is your favorite pizza topping? The worst?

My favorite is tuna and the worst definitely Hawaiian (pineapple).

5) What is the worst movie you’ve ever seen?

Coraline, when I was six.

6) What is the best advice you ever received? Who gave it to you?

Don’t listen to criticism from people you wouldn’t ask for advice – from a public toilet.

7) Dog or Cat?

Cat, but some dogs are also cute.

8) What is your favorite Bible Verse?

(no answer)

9) Do you have any good jokes you like to tell?

Jon is a joke.

10) What is the scariest animal?

The weird monkey with the orange big eyes.

11) If you opened a restaurant, what would you call it, and what’s on the menu?

I don’t know what to name it, but I would serve lots of pasta.

12) What is your favorite church hymn/song?

Freude, schöner Götterfunken (German Song)

13) What is one thing you own that you should really throw out?

I have socks to the thighs, with chicken legs on them. They are so ugly that they are funny

again.

14) Have you ever asked anyone for their autograph?

No, nobody was interesting.

15) Any advice for others?

This is your life, make it fun (heart emoji).

If there is information you would like in the Newsletter, the deadline for getting things in to the newsletter is the 20th of the month. Thank You!

You can find information as well as service livestreams for St. Matthew on our Facebook page: St. Matthew Lutheran Church Wabasso.

We also have a new website: www.stmatthewwabasso.com. Here you will find all the information about church and schedules.

You can also e-mail the church office at stmatthewwabasso@gmail.com If you could please send an email to the church office with your name and phone number, that will help us update our church directory (name, phone, email).