Before the start of each Sunday morning sanctuary service, and at other special sanctuary services one hears the sound of bells – three large, cast bells located in Immanuel’s steeple. There are three, but the original plan was for only two. A summary of the bell history (thanks Bob Sandfort!) notes: During the planning for… Read More »
Getting our Kids Involved in Worship
This past Sunday, we began a new type of worship at Immanuel: Family Worship! This worship service is happening at 10:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. As the 9:30 a.m. Drive-In Worship winds to a close (April 25 is the final weekend), it’s important to note that a number of families with younger children might… Read More »
What makes a good pastor?
It is always dangerous writing about oneself or one’s profession in this case. Nevertheless, I want to share with you a story from before my time at Immanuel. I hope this story makes you think about your own walk with the Lord. The distinguished lecture hall got really quiet. The students were already quiet, but… Read More »
Transitioning Families Back to Worship
We are so thankful as more families are coming back to our in-person worship services in the buildings. While the drive-in is a wonderful tool to keep people socially distanced, we look forward to welcoming more people back into the building for worship. We want to encourage our families with young children that it might… Read More »
Lutheran Deaf Outreach
Greetings in Christ! First, thank you for ALL of your support and your prayers for Lutheran Deaf Outreach!! People often ask Pastor Reinke – what do you do?? Here is a short update on what is happening at Immanuel, around St. Louis, and beyond… Here at Immanuel: I am working with Jennie, our sign language… Read More »
How Firm a Foundation
One of the challenges in producing blog content is “what to write about”. One finds there is nothing to write about and, at the same time, far too many potential subjects making it impossible to choose just one. Decisions, decisions … Well. Given there are deadlines one has to make a choice. This post is… Read More »
The History of the Fellowship Hall Stained Glass window
(written by Robert M. Sandfort) On a number of occasions, I have heard members speculating about the origin of our Fellowship Hall stain glass window. Perhaps first a bit of historical background is in order for context. Prior to the beginning of construction of the Fellowship Hall, the area between what was then Madison Street… Read More »
Finding Joy in the Busy Season of Life
A wise person once told me that ministry has its busy times and times of rest (it was Jolene Siebarth, my supervisor. She’s very wise). While I’ve been trained for full-time ministry for four years in college, putting all of those classes into practice has still been quite a balancing act to get used to.… Read More »
What are you NOT giving up for Lent?
It was a cold February day a few weeks before Lent. I was sitting in the apartment of my living room in Grafton Wisconsin. My roommate was watching TV with me. He turned and asked, “Ryan, I think I may be giving up soda for Lent.” My inward piety groaned. It happens every year. Lent… Read More »
Love One Another
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world,… Read More »
