First Edition

INSTALLATION OF NEW BISHOP SEPTEMBER 29
      On Saturday, September 29, the Reverend Michael Rinehart will be installed as Bishop of the Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod at a special service at Grace Presbyterian Church, 10221 Ella Lee, in Houston. The service will begin at 1:00 p.m., preceded by a concert of sacred music at 12:30 p.m. Bishop Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will preach and conduct the Rite of Installation.
      Pastor Rinehart was born in Columbus, Ohio, but grew up in Grand Blanc, Michigan, the son of a Lutheran pastor. He graduated from Valparaiso University with a degree in organ performance. He has a Master of Divinity degree from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio. He is a member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and attended the convention’s opening worship at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in July.
      He has served parishes in Davenport, Iowa; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Conroe, Texas. He and his wife Susan have two children.
      Pastor Rinehart was elected bishop at the synod assembly in June. Although he begins as bishop on September 1, his formal installation will occur on September 29, which is, incidentally, the Feast of St. Michael [sic] and All Angels.
      The public is invited to attend the Service of Installation.

ON BEING A BISHOP         Peterman’s Postulate
      With the installation of Pastor Rinehart as the new bishop of our synod this month, it might be a good time to examine what Lutherans believe about bishops and their function in the church.
      Bishop comes from the Greek word episkopos, which means “overseer.” This term dates from the very earliest days of the church.
      Is a bishop different from a pastor? Yes and no. Lutheran theologian William Lazareth describes it this way:“A bishop is a regional pastor, and a pastor is a local bishop.” Unlike other denominations, Lutherans believe there is only one ordination, the ordination to be a pastor. We do not ordain bishops; we install them.
      What is a bishop’s role? According to Article 28 of the Augsburg Confession, it is the bishop’s duty “to preach the Gospel, forgive sins, judge doctrine and condemn doctrine that is contrary to the Gospel, and exclude from the Christian community the ungodly whose wicked conduct is manifest.” In other words, the test of a bishop is faithfulness to the Word of God in Jesus Christ.
      Of course, our synod constitution lists a whole lot of other things that a bishop is supposed to do, but all of these are simply extensions of the bishop’s first and chief calling as a regional pastor.
      In the time of the Reformation, many Roman Catholic bishops were also assigned secular responsibility for the temporal affairs of their bishopric. The Augsburg Confession is clear, however, that while these other responsibilities can and should be carried out conscientiously, the temporal matters should never be commingled or confused with the spiritual matters of the Gospel.
      Should bishops take part in secular politics? Of course, just as all faithful Christians should, but as individuals. Bishops must never imply that their political opinion is a result of being a bishop or that as bishops, they speak for the whole synod. Bishops are not endowed with divine insight into political matters, but rather assigned the task of maintaining faithfulness to the Word of God in Jesus Christ.
      It is to that duty that Pastor Rinehart was ordained, and it is to that same duty that he is to be installed as our bishop. May God bless him richly in the role of bishop, to which he has now been called.

ADULT CLASS TO BEGIN THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION
      In August the adult Sunday Church School class continued its course on the Christian use of the Psalms, based on the work of German theologian Dietrich Bonhöffer, Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. This series will come to completion on September 2.
      On September 9 a new course will begin. The topic will be The Augsburg Confession, one of the basic documents of Lutheran doctrine. Written in 1530 by Philip Melanchthon, The Augsburg Confession sets forth the essential tenets of Lutheranism. Members of the class will receive copies of the document.
      The adult class meets every Sunday in the Parish Hall from 10:00 until 10:40 a.m. All adults are invited to attend.

AMAZING FAITHS PROJECT
      The Amazing Faiths Project invites people in the Greater Houston area to participate in one of its Houston Dinner Dialogues. These small gatherings of eight to ten people of various faiths and outlooks will enjoy a simple meal and then engage in a directed discussion about faith, religious diversity, and common values.
      The Dinner Dialogues will take place Thursday evening, November 15, from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m. Sign up on the internet at or call 713-348-2222 to leave your information. Persons may sign up to attend one of the Dinner Dialogues or to host one. Join with The Amazing Faiths Project to move toward common ground on higher ground.
      The Amazing Faiths Project and Houston Dinner Dialogues are sponsored by Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston and The Boniuk Center for Religious Tolerance at Rice University, in cooperation with the Office of the Mayor of the City of Houston.

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Advice to students:
      1. When writing exams, avoid cliches like the plague.
      2. When pursuing the sheepskin, keep the Shepherd in sight.

MIDTOWN’S NATIONAL NIGHT OUT
            On Tuesday, August 7, Pastor Peterman and six members of our church attended Midtown’s National Night Out at nearby Baldwin Park. The event included lots of festivities, free food, and souvenirs. In addition, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt, City Councilman Peter Brown, and U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee were present to honor Midtown for its improved safety and resurgent community spirit.
            Accompanying Pastor Peterman were Marty Ambrose, Maridith Allen, Jeffrey Hokanson, and Greg and Andrea Ranft and their son, Christopher.

AUGUST PRAYER LIST (July 23–August 20)
      Members and Associate Members                                          
Bill Bammel                             
      James Cone                                    
      Minnie Johnson            
            Emilie Ratcliffe             
            Norman Tofte
            Betty Wade
      Friends and Relatives                                                            
            Melanie Jamison Babin and her family
            Lillie Berry
            Emmett Dixon
            Pastor Calder Gibson
            Lois Laughlin
            Lindsay Lum
            Shelly Milner
            Donna Mosesmann
            Karl Seim
            Anna Taylor
            Fransisco Tobias
      Other Special Concerns                                                          
            The marriage of Brandon Van Sickle and Susan Baitland on                              August 4

CHURCH ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT          Marty Ambrose
      With the help of God and through your prayers, our long-standing roof leak may be soon fixed. We have hired a consulting firm to identify the exact source of the leak that has necessitated the protective layer of vinyl on top of the grand piano in the nave. Our roof repair company will then be able to repair the leak, we hope, and our insurance company might help us fix the damage inside the nave. Some plaster and loose tiles above the piano need immediate attention. Recently two more leaks have been found, so it may be time to consider a complete sub-roof replacement. We may need to substitute a layer of space-age material that will never deteriorate.
      For the first time in decades, the adult Sunday Church School class now meets in the Parish Hall. New curtains have made the room much nicer, and we are considering more comfortable chairs. A panoramic picture of the new Parish Hall is now on our website, and soon a postcard will be sent to area businesses promoting the room for small meetings, seminars, and classes. Add to this a “Weddings” page on the website, and before long we should see a significant increase in visitors to this wonderful church building.
      There is also the prospect of Pastor Peterman having a video presence on our website. Incidentally, there have been 11,000 hits on the site, and they’re coming in at about a thousand a month. People are seeing our website, and they are impressed with the beauty of the campus, the simple message of grace, and now the sermons of Pastor Peterman. So far four sermons have been uploaded to the website. Pastor Peterman records them the day after the service. Extra discs are available for anyone who wants them, especially our shut-ins. Contact the church office to order them.
      The security system is up and running. If you have access, be sure you know the procedure for entering the church, including the key pad code and the password.
      With all the children back in school, be extra careful driving through school zones in our neighborhood. And when you’re in the area, come see our hummingbird feeders in the gazebo and on the magnolia tree.

MARTY’S MUSINGS                   Marty Ambrose, Administrator
      It happened again. In the wee morning hours of Friday, August 17, thieves struck our church—this time destroying our water intake from the city at the northwest corner of the nave. The back flow protector, containing a quantity of brass, was ripped from the ground and transported to some scrap metal dealer where prices ranging from $100 to $150 are paid. The repairs and replacement costs will total about $900, just $100 under our deductible, and the new protective cage will set us back another $1,000, and it’s not covered by insurance. This, along with copper routinely stolen from churches all around the country, points to the problem facing churches today: the absence of reverence for life and property within our society.
      It is time to take back our church from the underworld’s reach. We have determined that we can’t be protected by police. They never catch anyone in the act, and I’m not sure they want to. A call brings out an officer who takes the information, then tells us there’s no way to catch the thieves. Try to get fingerprints off a pile of dirt.
      Here’s my proposal. Get together with other area churches and hire a private security patrol—one that spends the entire night going from one church to the next, changing routes regularly to throw off the crooks. My home association has such a contract with two or three neighborhoods using the same patrol service. The officers are generally ex-police or sheriff’s deputies and not afraid to accost suspicious individuals. The crime rate has gone to zero for the past five years. If the Church Council approves, I will contact other neighborhood churches to determine feasibility.
      At the same time we get regular visits from homeless men looking for work, food, clothing, etc. Presently we refer them to Trinity Episcopal Church, the Source, and other institutions. While we are not set up to offer a job bank or financial aid, there is a way we could help these poor guys—a clothes closet. A man came in today looking for a pair of pants that fit him. Yesterday I gave two pair of old khakis to another homeless man. If just a few of us gave some old, clean pants, shoes, tee shirts, and jeans, we could provide some comfort to those who really need it and count ourselves as a contributor in the community-wide effort to serve the homeless.
      Just musing....                              - Marty Ambrose, Church Administrator