WIXLIB

Our mission at Saint Paul’s is to: welcome all people; proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ;experience a personal relationship with Him; and joyfully share God’s love with others.1 From Pastor JonathanWelcome Our New MusicAssociate2 Meet Your Council MemberSPARKS OutingFrom Bishop EatonMedical Equipment3. Congratulations Graduates!4-5 Pictures from St. Paul’s6 June BirthdaysJune Worship Assistants7 June CalendarSuper PeepsSundayJune 34:00 p.m.Doris Miller & Grover CanadyWeddingSaturdayJune 164:00 p.m.SPARKS Outing toThalian HallSundayJune 243:00 p.m.Youth Gathering inHouston, TexasJune 27—July 1“The R&R Season”I don’t know about you, but after I have gonethrough a busy time, I need some down time.A time to recharge. For many of us, summer isthat down time. It is that time of year wherewe take vacations, enjoy the warm weather,and catch our collective breath before life getsbusy again once September comes around.This month, we enter a new season in theChristian church year. Usually, the seasons ofthe church year have fancy names such asAdvent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter,and Pentecost. However, this season has apeculiar name: “Ordinary Time.” I like to call it“The O.T.”This season, I invite you to look at the “R&R”Season as a gift from God. A gift that gives usWhat does the Church mean when a season is a moment to relax, refocus, and recharge. WeOrdinary Time? “Ordinary” means that the expend so much energy in our busy lives, it isSundays are ordered-counted or numbered- nice to be given time where the busy-nessrather than feature a specific seasonal name stops, and the Rest can take over. The “R&R”(for example June 10th will be the 3rd Sunday Season is God’s way of welcoming us into aafter Pentecost). Another name for this sea- period of peace.son is “The Green Sundays” because the paraments and vestments are greenSo please, enjoy your time this summer. Be itwith family, friends, or going solo for a trip orI like to think of Ordinary Time as our congre- two, find the time to give thanks to God forgation’s “Rest and Relaxation” Time. Since the opportunity to rest.December 2017, we have celebrated Jesus’birth, baptism, death, Resurrection, Ascen- We still have a lot of work to do, but it cansion, and the giving of the Holy Spirit on Pen- wait. Now is the time to Rest. And be thankful.tecost. Those are a lot of important churchevents to experience in less than 6 months’time!I am excited to announceConnieBatchelder has joinedour staff as our second Music Associate.Connie’s primary responsibility will be forthe 9 AM CelebrationWorship Service. Shewill assist with selection of hymns andsongs, recruiting anddirecting our Praise Band and SPIRIT Band,developing additional choirs to enhance thechurch music program, participating in the11:00 a.m. Church Choir and playing the organ for Bill when he is away or sick.Connie was raised Lutheran, and her father,Pastor Charles McCombs, served St. Matthew’s (Wilmington). She has worked withLutheran Church of the Reconciliation,Seagate Baptist, and Pine Valley Methodist.Connie also has an extensive background inpublic education as a substitute teacher inNew Hanover and Pender Counties.Connie’s first Sunday will be June 3, 2018.Please join me in welcoming Connie, husbandCraig, and son Wesley to the St. Paul’s Community.Pastor JonathanSt. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church * 12 North 6th Street * Wilmington, NC 28401 * 910.762.4882 phone * 910.762.4129 fax * info@stpaulswilmington.org

TomSolomitaI joined St.Paul’s in 2014with my wife,Kitty. In January, we celebrated our 46thwedding anniversary. We have twowonderful sons, Brian and Rob, wholive in New Jersey. I am a member ofthe Finance Team and serve as Assistant Treasurer responsible for theNehemiah Building Fund and the Endowment Fund. I have also served asvoting member for two Synod Assemblies with my wife. I enjoy helpingthose in need by serving Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners when I canand have helped with the MondayNight community dinners. I joined St.Paul’s Council last summer.I worked as an IT professional atAT&T for almost 40 years before retiring in 2009. Kitty and I are enjoyingour retirement in southeastern NC. Ienjoy biking, hiking, playing cards,attending concerts and plays, andcooking. Kitty and I enjoy volunteering with Brunswick County Sheriff’sOffice Animal Protective Services andAdopt-an-Angel. We especially enjoyfostering kittens preparing them forliving in their forever homes.Kitty and I are happy to be membersof St. Paul’s and I look forward tohelping St. Paul’s.SPARKS (St. Paul’s Active and RetiredKindred Spirits) event at Thalian Hallon Sunday, June 24, for a 3 p.m.matinee of “My Fair Lady.” Thirtyseats have been reserved for St.Paul’s members and tickets are 31per person. Make your check payableto Doris Sampson (910-632-5458)and the deadline to order is June 8.St. Paul’s Epistle Page 2During a recent chapel service at theLutheran Center, Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director for Global Mission, shared his favorite Bible versewith us: “Now before the festival ofthe Passover, Jesus knew that hishour had come to depart from thisworld and go to the Father. Havingloved his own who were in the world,he loved them to the end” (John13:1).Jesus was in Jerusalem in the upperroom praying with his disciples, modeling selfless service as he washedtheir feet, and preparing them for hisglorification that would take place onthe cross. “He loved them to the end.”To his bitter end on the cross, but tothe end of so much more—to the endof the deadly grip of sin, to the end ofeverything that would try to mar theimage of God borne by every humanbeing, to the end of death. And Jesusloved them, 12 flesh and blood humanbeings who carried all the “stuff” people carry—passion and humor andcourage, fear and doubt, the need tobe seen and affirmed, great faith andquaking uncertainty. Jesus did notlove the concept of disciples or thetheory of people— Jesus loved them,Jesus loves us.Jesus loved. How does one describethat? At my cousin’s wedding, thepriest noted in his sermon that humanlanguage is too small for God. All thepoetry in the world can’t express thelove for one’s beloved or for a newbaby or for family. All of the hymnsever written or sung can’t convey thelove we have for God. Neither canwords convey how much God lovesus. It’s almost incomprehensible howmuch we are loved by God. It is toomuch to take in. But it is true. This isthe message that the Lutheran movement still has to speak to the rest ofthe world. God loves us. God meanswell for us and for the world. God’slove is deep and constant. And God’slove is not sentimental. The Incarnation was not a whim. Emmanuel, Godwith us, was a deliberate immersioninto human brokenness in order tobring about healing and wholeness.“For while we were still weak whilewe still were sinners while we wereenemies, we were reconciled to Godthrough the death of his Son ” (Romans 5:6-10).The Lutheran movement presents analternative face of Christianity to theworld. Too often the image of Christianity seen in popular culture is of ajudgmental transactional God demanding perfection from an imperfectpeople, a people who, in desperation,work harder and harder to save themselves. Rules for purity are erected—pure theology and pure morality.Stark lines are drawn defining who isin and who is out. Faith becomeswork. Righteousness is our righteousness achieved by ourselves.Grace—God’s love freely given—isGod’s work. It is not our doing. It is agift. It is freedom. This is not for aminute to deny the truth of our sinfulness or that God does judge us andfinds us falling seriously short. Gracedoesn’t give us a free pass, nor doesgrace gloss over the reality of suffering and evil in the world. This grace,this freedom, makes it possible for usto realize the love of God in Christ inthe world and in our own lives. Andno human can set bounds on God’sgrace. Jesus loves his own and lovesus to the end. Jesus doesn’t expect usto do the same—Jesus makes it possible for us to do the same. Therefore,we have nothing to fear and nothingto lose when we reject the notion ofracial supremacy, when we welcomethe stranger, when we confess thatGod alone is first. We can tell thatstory.St. Paul's has some medical equipment available for our members touse as needed. At this time there arewalkers, rollators, crutches, a wheelchair, and a bedside commode. Thesign-out sheet is posted upstairs inKeever Hall, on the door of the movieroom where the items are currentlystored.

Allison Cummings is graduatingfrom Laney High School and will beattending UNC-Charlotte with a majorin nursing.August L. Mills is graduating June1, 2018 from Cape Fear Academy. Hewill boing to University North Carolina- Asheville in the fall as a BusinessMajor/Music MinorMeghan Stello is graduating fromNew Hanover High School and will beattending ECU with a major in athletictraining.Mark Haskins is graduating withhonors from Hoggard high school. Hehas been an active member of theHoggard band for all 4 years and amember 8f the Wilmington Youth Orchestra. He plays 5 instruments andjust co-wrote his first musical. He isattending NCSU in the fall with plansto major in engineering and to play inthe band. We are very proud of him!Olivia Nelson will be graduatingfrom Hoggard High School on June 9,2018. She will be attending East Carolina University in the fall to further heracademic career in nursing. She wasvery active in Beta club, National Honors Society, and the Azalea FestivalYouth Committee. She looks forwardto being just as involved in college.She will miss her friends and familydearly but is looking forward to thisnext chapter in her life.David Haskins is graduating withhonors from the University of Nevadawith a Masters in Performance. Whileat UNR, he was a member of theNightingale quartet. He is performingwith the AIMS orchestra in Graz, Austria this summer. After that he plansto audition for an orchestra preferablyin Europe. In the interim, he is amember of the Reno Philharmonicand the Reno Chamber orchestras. We are very proud of him!Parker Surratt is graduating fromTopsail High School and will be attending Cape Fear Community College with a degree in small business.Avery W. Mills graduated December17, 2017 from Western Carolina University with a B.A. Fine Arts - Stageand ScreenSt. Paul’s Epistle Page 3

St. Paul’s Epistle Page 4

Welcome newmember BeckyMatthews!Thanks to Mike Leiser and Bob Erickson for the new lawn edging!St. Paul’s Epistle Page 5