Church cancelled for June 1st

Paster Flaa will be gone this coming Sunday due to illness, so services for Sunday, June 1 will be canceled and we will be having communion the following Sunday.

Vacation Bible School

St. Peter will be holding Vacation Bible School, June 23-26 from 6-8pm for children ages 3-13. With a program/potluck picnic to be held June 26th. Contact Brenda Levos at 347-4193 or B@BrendaLevos.com to register.

Download PDF poster
Download PDF registration form

Volunteers are welcome, please let us know if you can; teach, be a teachers assistant, cook a meal, make a dessert, help clean up or make a monetary contribution to help defer expenses.

Reception Tea

Following services on Sunday, May4th, there will be a reception honoring the Graduates, Confirmands, First Communion & new members.

Schedule change

Please note that grade 7 affirmation will be meeting at St. Peter Wednesday, April 30th

Note of Thanks

The family of Edith Hahn wishes to thank everyone for your many caring acts of kindness & thoughtfulness given to OUR MOM and now to all of us. You are all so special. GOD BLESS.

April Calendar Info

Please Volunteer for Ushering

Communion Prep - Trent and Deb Roesler
Coffee- Jack and Eva Vining
WELCA Hostesses - Peggy D., Wendy K., Val G.

April calendar is updated and can be viewed at http://stpeterslutherancalendar.blogspot.com/

Contemporary Service

Join us today, March 30th at 10:30 a.m. for our 1st contemporary service! Thanks to all of those who have participated and made this day possible!

Fish Fry at St. John

St. John Lutheran Church in Embden, ND will be hosting their annual Fish fry April 6 from 4-7 p.m.

Prayer Chains

We have 2 prayers chains #1 and #2. Each chain has a chairperson who will be contacted by the church or a family member who is requesting a prayer chain for someone. Each chairperson has 4 group leaders to contact. The leader of each group will start the chain by calling the 1st name in her group. Now the 1st name will call the 2nd name and so it goes down the list. If there is no answer, proceed down the list until you talk to someone. Answering machine can be used, but when leaving a message, also tell them you have called the next name on the list. When calling, announce "I am calling for the Prayer Chain," leave the message and that is all. Further conversation can cause confusion and rumors. If you have any questions call the chairperson of your prayer chain.

Prayer Chain #1
Chairperson - Sharon Jensen 347-4975

Group Leader 1 - Debbie Roesler 645-2314

1. Nancy Hagen - 347-5533
2. Tanya Schatzke - 347-5960
3. Shelly Sinner - 347-4060
4. Jense Jensen - 347-5583
5. Patti Radermacher - 347-4696

Group Leader 2 - Jackie Mattson 347-4046

1. Susy Lemar - 347-4068
2. Wendy Koetz - 645-2531
3. Kim Koetz - 645-2212
4. Phyllis Koetz - 645-2574
5. Lucille Wills - 645-2378

Group Leader 3 - Josephine Zaeske 347-4162

1. Debby Wichmann - 347-5091
2. Eva Vining - 645-2571
3. Barb Sprunk - 882-3496
4. Cindy Hanson - 437-3747
5. Eileen Schossow - 645-2398

Group Leader 4 - Lu Fosberg 347-5358

1. Ina Kempel - 347-4288
2. Candy Kempel - 347-5369
3. LaVonne Gale - 293-6340
4. Elaine Zaeske - 280-1257
5. Edith Hahn - 347-4933

Prayer Chain #2
Chairperson - Bev Kellerman 645-2235

Group Leader 5 - Diane Palluck 428-3819

1. May Jensen 277-3602
2. Carol Radermacher 347-4826
3. Rose Hagen - 237-4390
4. Lois Marshall - 293-1849

Group Leader 6 - Barb Hahn 347-5224

1. Marcia Rose - 347-4232
2. Cindy Jensen - 347-5682
3. LaVonne Schroeder - 347-4143
4. Donna Linke - 645-2588
5. Janet Fosberg - 347-5460

Group Leader 7 - Jeanie Krueger 347-5233

1. Peggy Dehn - 645-2303
2. Barb Altman - 645-2463
3. Deb Schumacher - 645-2207
4. Shelia Sprunk - 645-2364
5. Melissa Trom - 347-4500

Group Leader 8 - Joan Schatzke 347-4084

1. Brenda Levos - 347-4193 (261-0402 cell)
2. Ruth Hahn - 347-0048
3. Val Gibson - 645-9025
4. Lisa Jackson - 645-2263
5. Lila Jackson - 645-2534

Meatball Dinner RESCHEDULED

Mark your Calendars! The Meatball dinner hosted by Group 1 has been moved to March 9, 2008.
Dinner will be served from 11:30 am-1 pm
Everyone welcome!

Note of Thanks

Thank you to everyone who came to our birthday party. Your best wishes and your being with us on Sunday was very heart warming to us. God Bless you all.
~ Bob & Christine Zaeske

All activities cancelled for this evening

Due to bad weather conditions, all Lenten Services, 1st Communion, and Council will be cancelled for this evening.

1st Communion will be rescheduled at a later date.

Pancake and Sausage Feed

Will be held Sunday, February 17th following the 10:30 services. Everyone welcome!
WELCA will be holding their annual Bake and Quilt Sale as well.

Ogden & Rose Hagen

Ogden & Rose Hagen will be honored on Valentine's Day on Channel 4 and 11 on the 10 p.m. news. Watch for them!

Services cancelled due to cold weather

Services for Sunday, February 10th, 2008 will be cancelled due to the extreme cold weather.

Children's Ministry

St. Peter's Sunday School meets on Sunday morning at 10am. The year begins in Mid-September and ends in Mid-May.

Our program is for kids age-3 to grade 8. We use a workshop oriented rotation method of teaching. The kids study one Bible topic over a 4 week period using different methods: art, games, drama, storytelling, science, etc... It's fun for the kids and fun for the teachers! This method of teaching gives the kids a chance to "experience" what they are learning via the different workshops. An added bonus is the increased level of retention by the kids!

Children's Milestones

Entry into Sunday School (age 3)

Bible Presentation (grade 3)

First Communion (grade 5)

Entry into Confirmation (grade 7)

Confirmation (grade 8)

1977 Fargo Forum Article

Chaffee Congregation puts its skeptics to shame
Religion in the news
Taken from the Fargo Forum, June 19, 1977
by Jan Jelleberg

CHAFFEE, ND - Skeptics would lose face at the celebration the congregation of St. Peter American Lutheran Church, rural Chaffee, is going to have Sunday on its 90th anniversary.
Ten years ago skeptics said the church wouldn't make it.
What the 60-some families decided to do in 1967, against what seemed like an inevitable doomsday forecast, was build a new church out in the country, instead of in town or consolidating with one of the several small Lutheran churches in the area. The old church, erected in 1895, was dilapitated. Something had to be done.
The vote was nearly unanimous to tear down the old church that stood along the banks of the Maple River, near the site of a marker where Gen. Sibley of Indian war fame once crossed.
The new church was built nearby, among the wild roses, along a winding country road, and by an old wooden bridge or two, and appropriate and beautiful setting for a country living bunch of folks.
Ann $85,000 building fund was started. The volunteer labor force of farmers and their wives pitched in. They made it, despite the skeptics which included a Forum newspaper editorial which said that in several years "the good people of St. Peter may find the experts and the statistics were right. The inevitable will come."
At least the folks were praised for their faith. But who would end up paying the mortgage on a new building once the farmers moved out?
Urbanization , declining populations and farm consolidations have affected the Chaffee, Embden and Leonard areas. But not so as to cut their interest and love for their country church.
Folks there, most of them of the farmer variety, still have it. In fact, they've got more of it. The 60 families of St. Peter have grown to 80. There are 289 baptized and confirmed members.
"And now, they've gone crazier than ever," said Rev. James Kloster, who lives in a house across the road. "They're going to build a new parsonage. Groundbreaking is in July."
The mortgage on the church, incidentally, has long been paid off.
St. Peter is going half on the parsonage with its sister church, St. John at Embden, about 11 miles away with about 100 members. The sister churches share Kloster as a pastor.
What's happening at St. Peter's? For one thing, many children are staying or coming back home to farm, according to Kloster and Roger Koetz, vice president of the congregation, a farmer with five children.
Also, they have noticed a trend in the last couple years or so of people from Fargo moving in and commuting. "There's not an empty farmhouse around here," said Koetz.
"Hopefully, the future will depend on some of that," said Mr. Kloster, "and, hopefully, you people will stay as more and more are choosing to do."
Much of the future depends on the attitude of the congregation, said Mr. Kloster. "Just so that the congregation doesn't sit on its laurels. We have to encourage new members. There's more out there."
If worse comes to worse, some day, St. Peter's may still have to combine with some of the other congregations around. Besides Embden, nearby Leonard has three ALC churches of its own -- one in town and two in the country. The membership of those three amount to about the same as St. John's and St. Peter's combined.
And, then there's the Methodist Church in Chaffee. One of these days the eight families that support that church may have to find a new home, possibly at St. Peter's. The part-time Methodist minister who is in his 80's is thinking of retiring, according to Mr. Kloster.
But Lila Jackson, council secretary, like most of the members of St. Peter's, doubts it will ever die or do too much consolidating. It's nothing against the folks at Embden or Leonard. "But Embden has its own church and nobody wants to give in. People have an attachment to their church."
Out there, said Jackson, the church is the social center, a community meeting place. Families often get together there.
"You can hide in a larger church," said Jackson. "You can't here."
If it's not a quilting bee, the fall bazaar or one of the many senior citizens' programs, it's weddings, funerals, or just getting together on Sunday morning.
"Right, it's not my sermons," quipped Mr. Kloster. One of the keys to strengthening the family, he said, is children, including hight school age, attend church regularly with their parents. It happens at St. Peter's, according to Mr. Kloster, one of the many good signs for a healthy future.
"It will be a struggle," acknowledged Mr. Kloster. "There are so many things to do. Young people can just jump in their car, they have a million things to do."
"But they also know that St. Peter's depends on every individual. They have to do their part or it won't work. There is an $18,000 budget to support."
There are a lot of good signs in the church, religiously, said Mr. Kloster. Weaknesses he pointed to were a lack of an adult educational program, and he would like to do more ministry in interpersonal relationships.
"It's my fault," Mr. Kloster quickly took the blame. "But we can't do it all at once."
But perhaps 10 years from now.
The anniversary program for Sunday includes a 10:30 a.m. worship service with Reb. Hugo Schwartz, Independence, IA, a former pastor. This will be followed by a noon lunch and a 2:00 p.m. program with Rev. Reuben Jacobson, Hatton, ND officiating.
-end-

Pastors who have served our congregation

• Pastor John Flaa - present
• Pastor Tom Martin
• Pastor Roger Johnson
• Pastor John Flaa (Interim 1979)
• Pastor James Kloster 1972-1979
• Pastor Reuben Jacobson 1969-1972
• Pastor Otto Schaible (Interim)
• Pastor Edward Gullickson 1965-1968
• Pastor M. R. Schoenfish 1955-1965
• Pastor H. F. Schwartz 1952-1955
• Pastor J. F. Mertz 1929-1951
• Pastor H. L. Lechner 1918-1929
• Pastor F. Eide 1917-1918
• Pastor E. Groth 1916-1917
• Pastor E. B. Marr 1905-1916
• Pastor H. Wunderlich 1901-1905
• Pastor Geo. Zapf 1892-1901
• Pastor Neuendorf 1890-1892
• Pastor A. Biemueller 1888-1890
• Pastor C. Schaaf 1887-1888

History of St. Peter Lutheran Church

The real history of Lutheranism in the Red River Valley is closely woven about three outstanding characters: The Lutheran Pioneer, his faithful wife and the pioneering Lutheran pastor. Hardly had these Lutheran pioneers come to the end of the trail in a strange and unoccupied land, scarcely had the tar-papered shanties between erected to dot the level countryside, when the church also began to take shape. These pioneers had brought their religion with them. The Bible, hymn book, Catechism, and prayerbook were their most cherished possessions. On the trail of these Lutheran pioneers came the Lutheran pastor, at times on foot, then again by horse, but never far behind. No amount of hardship and suffering could discourage him in his labors of love, for he had dedicated his life to the building of the Kingdom of God on the frontiers of a new nation.
Those early pioneers made church history. We, their children, honor and appreciate their noble and heroic efforts put forth under most primitive and trying circumstances. In this spirit, we dedicate this brief history of our congregation to the memory of those generations who have gone before us, and may present, as well as future generations, find in these pages a source of inspiration to carry forward the still unfinished task of building the walls of Zion in our community to the glory of God. - taken from St. Peter Lutheran Centennial book