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St. Paul Lutheran Church

St. Paul now posting Sunday and Lenten bulletins along with worship and sermons on its website

By Billie Owens

"Spiritual Connections"  -- The Batavian will post updates to connect people with their places of worship, religious services, fellowship opportunities, and/or spiritual advisors, etc.

If you have information to announce, please email:    billie@thebatavian.com    OR    howard@thebatavian.com

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St. Paul Lutheran Church in Batavia is now posting its Sunday and Lenten weekday bulletins with worship service and sermons on their website. The Church office is not open to visitors but office staff is on hand to take calls during normal office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday for any questions or needs of the congregation. A phone tree has been put in place to check on those that might be home and unable to go out publicly to retrieve necessities. If you do not receive a call, and have a need for assistance, please call the main office at (585) 343-0488. Email address is:   stpaulbatavia@gmail.com

Class at St. Paul's provided instruction to civilians on what to do in an emergency situation

By Howard B. Owens

Deputy Ryan DeLong talks about the decision-making process during stressful, emergency situations that people might encounter during a Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events class at St. Paul Lutheran Church this morning.

More than 100 people attended the class, which covered a range of emergency situations, with an emphasis on active shooters, and how people can safely and intelligently respond during such events.

For more background information on the class, click here.

If you missed the class, Frank Klimjack, a Batavia police officer, will present a class called "Do I Need A Bodyguard?" at Grace Baptist Church, 238 Vine St., Batavia, at 6:30 p.m., Feb. 25. Klimjack is a police defensive tactics instructor.

St. Paul Lutheran Church to hold Reformation Day celebrations

By Maria Pericozzi

Tuesday marks the 500th anniversary of Reformation Day, celebrated alongside Halloween, by Protestant Christians.

On Oct. 31, 1517, German monk Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

Pastor Alan Werk from St. Paul Lutheran Church in Batavia, said Reformation Day is an important holiday that marks the beginnings of the church body.

“It shows recognition that the Bible is God’s word and it’s our sole authority for what we teach and believe,” Werk said.

On Nov. 4th from 2 to 4 p.m., St. Paul Lutheran Church will hold a family-oriented Reformation Day Celebration. There will be stations for people to walk around to learn more about Martin Luther and Reformation Day. St. Paul's is located at 31 Washington Ave. in Batavia.

“The other important recognition is that we are saved by Jesus Christ, not by the things that we do,” Werk said. “Jesus did for us what we couldn’t do.”

Earlier in the month, St. Paul members gathered to watch a documentary about Martin Luther, to start the celebrations of Reformation Day.

Every year, the congregation celebrates Reformation Day on the last Sunday of October.

“It lets us live with a whole lot more joy and peace,” Werk said. “We remind ourselves about all things the Reformation stands for in terms of our faith and Scriptures.”

The three key points celebrated are Scripture alone, faith alone and grace alone, Werk said.

When Martin Luther nailed the Ninety-five Theses to the church, he did not set out to create a new church body, Werk said.

“What he was really trying to do was correct some things that he recognized from his study of the Bible, that the church had been doing wrong,” Werk said. “He wanted to make some adjustments and corrections.”

Werk said he ended up getting kicked out of the church, which prompted him to start a new church body.

“He wanted to call the church back to the things the Bible taught,” Werk said.

Searching for Biblical truth

By Lucy Kehoe-Holnbeck

I am in search of true Biblical guidance, from Pastors, Priests, Reverends or any knowledgable, believer in Jesus. I have recently been diagnosed, with severe situational social anxiety disorder and really worried about taking the perscribed medicine. Im struggling to not loose my job, from the stress. Iv reached out for help, but after 3 or 4 days of trying. I guess Iv learned where not to go again. Coping with my loss & isolation through, holidays has turned out to be more then I can bare. I am a devout believer, that Christ died for our sins so that we may have the choice to, be forgiven. Im far from iliterate, but my reading level, comprehension & retension, is a real problem for me. This makes it hard to gain acurate knowledge, in a timely way. To recognize the truth, from a lie. Im not computer savy, but I Googled my biblical concerns & the information below, is what I found. Ill try to include a link, to the site, if that may be of help. What Id need to know, is this Biblical truth. Or just one more of the many, distorted views. Im afraid this will be too large, to post on the Batavian. So if you have the time, @ the web address below, you can read the rest. Please, help…

http://www.luke173ministries.org/466804

THE 3 RS OF ACCOUNTABILITY: REPENTANCE, RESTITUTION, AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY By Rev. Renee Pittelli Being accountable for one’s behavior is part of growing up and being a mature adult. It is a fallacy that God is all forgiving, and when unrepentant offenders claim that "God forgives me", they are wrong. God does not forgive us until and unless we confess our sins and repent (change our ways). The Lord holds us accountable for our behavior, and he instructs us to hold each other accountable as well. Accountability consists of three parts, Repentance, Restitution, and Personal Responsibility: Repentance: REPENTANCE: Remorse, contrition, or self-reproach for what one has done or failed to do; making a change for the better as a result of remorse; a turning from one’s sinful ways; feeling of such regret for past conduct as to change one’s mind regarding it, atonement; forsaking of sin; the feeling or act in which one tries to right a wrong, it always includes the admission of guilt, and also at least one of: a solemn promise or resolve not to repeat the offense, or an attempt to make restitution for the wrong, or in some way to reverse the harmful effects of the wrong where possible. When we rebuke, set limits on, or break off our relationship with an unrepentant offender, she may shrug and tell us, "I know God forgives me", the implication being that the Lord forgives her even if we don’t. But guess what? She is WRONG. & The Lord NEVER forgives unrepentant evildoers. He REQUIRES that sinners humble themselves and come to him for forgiveness, and that they show remorse and change their ways.

Pastor Werk: All of our lives changed by events of 9/11

By Howard B. Owens

Our world changed on Sept. 11, 2001, said Pastor Allen Werk. Things that we disagreed about on Monday, seemed unimportant on Tuesday. Things that annoyed us one day could be seen as a sign of God's grace the next day. As a nation, we came to see how important God is to our lives.

"We saw what life really meant and how fragile life could be," Werk said.

Werk delivered his sermon as part of a special 9/11 service at St. Paul Lutheran Church, which mixed patriot songs and prayer and a chance to honor first responders and military veterans (top picture).

"What we witnessed on that day of terror on our shores, when we saw people dying right in front of us, we recognized that we needed somebody who was bigger than us, more powerful than even the most powerful nation on Earth, who was on our side," Werk said.

'Stained Glass Window Tour' gives tourists art and religion in one package

By Daniel Crofts

It's a little hard to imagine stained-glass art still having a place in American churches, with modern renovations such as movie theater set-ups, overhead projectors contemporary band music taking over the worship scene. But on Sunday, a tour sponsored by the Landmark Society of Genesee County took Batavia residents to five local churches where stained glass windows still have an important place.

The "Stained Glass Window Tour" was created in 1990. According to Landmark Society President Laurie Oltremari, this is the first time the tour has been revived in almost 20 years. This time around, it was done in order to raise money for the restoration efforts of St. James Episcopal Church.

"We thought it would be good exposure for the churches and their artwork," Oltremari said. "We hope we can make it an annual event."

The tour started at 1 p.m. and ended at 4 p.m., and tourists could visit the churches in any order they wanted. The five churches spanned several denominations, and the quantity and style of stained-glass art in each location reflected that.

The different sites were as follows:



St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, 20 Ellicott St.

Designed by Leo P. Frohe in the early 1900s, the stained-glass windows at St. Mary's demonstrate the Catholic tradition of making sacred art an integral part of worship. As a sacramental religion, Catholicism often uses art and architecture to help remind believers that they are surrounded by heavenly realities and by the Communion of Saints.

All of the windows that run along the east and west sides of the church depict events in the life of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, after whom the parish is named. Catholics believe that Mary's life is about and centers around the life of Christ; accordingly, the majority of the windows illustrate key moments of His life and ministry such as the crucifixion and resurrection (right above the front entrance and to the right of the altar, respectively). Basically, people who go into St. Mary's can see the Gospel narrative unfold in the form of visual art.

The church also includes a window dedicated to Saint Peter -- to whom Jesus gave the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, according to Catholic tradition -- with the emblem of crossed keys, as well as a window dedicated to Saint Paul with the emblem of a sword (symbolic of truth and its victorious power). These windows are paired together and located at the left of the altar.

Oltremari led the tour of St. Mary's Church; she pointed out that it is "the oldest Catholic Church in Batavia."



St. James Episcopal Church, 405 East Main St.

Stepping into this church is a lot like stepping back in time to another era!

Batavia native Robert North built St. James Episcopal Church in 1908 after living in England for a year to study English Gothic architecture. As is common in the Gothic style, the inside of the church is shaped like the inverted hull of a ship and features a plethora of Anglican-styled windows.

Because it is close to the Catholic tradition, the Episcopalian denomination places a similar importance on artistic depictions of Christ, the saints and Christian symbols.

"It helps to remind people of why they are in church in the first place," commented Jeanette, the St. James tour guide.

Right when you walk into the church, a huge window right above the altar will catch your eye. It depicts Christ on the cross with angels above him and his closest followers below him, mourning his suffering and death.

The windows along the sides of the church feature the symbols of various saints from the Judeo-Christian tradition, ranging from the Old Testament prophets to Saint Margaret, Queen of Scotland.

The church's Chapel, which branches off from the altar and features even older church architecture, has two windows devoted to the Virgin Mary and her Child and one to the church's namesake, St. James. The latter window is called the "Pilgrim Window," and shows the saint carrying a bag labeled with a scallop, the sign of pilgrims (Saint James is believed to have travelled all the way from Israel to Spain to spread the Gospel).

There are also many stained-glass windows in the upper part of the church, in addition to a window dedicated to the "Four Evangelists" (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) right above the front entrance. This particular window is built into the tower and is what people see when driving past the church.

St. Paul Lutheran Church, 31 Washington Ave.

The windows at St. Paul's were made by Henry Keck, a Rochester-based glassmaker, in the 1950s. They are based on the Lutheran theological tradition, which keeps the sacramental and liturgical forms of Catholicism while at the same time eliminating other aspects of it -- the intercession of the saints, for example -- in order to try to portray a more one-on-one relationship between the believer and Jesus.

The windows on the east side of the church are illustrations of the various names of Jesus. Examples include:

• Jesus the Good Shepherd

• "I am the Door" (to eternal life)

• Christ the Friend of Children

• Christ the King

On the west side of the church are stained-glass windows with images that narrate the life of Christ from His nativity to His ascension into heaven.

The large rose window over the altar shows Jesus in the center, with a young family on the left and an elderly couple with an ailing son on the right. The purpose of this is to announce Jesus as the Great Healer toward whom all people should come.

Directly across from this, in the church loft, is the St. Paul Window -- dedicated to the church's namesake -- which has an open Bible with a sword over it. Symbols of the theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity are also included in the window.

Other window images in St. Paul's include depictions of the Bible, the Ten Commandments, the Martin Luther Rose (symbolizing the four tenets of the Lutheran Church) and the symbols of the four evangelists and the 12 apostles.

One of the tourists who is also a member of St. Paul's said that the stained-glass art is important because "we [Lutherans] need history and tradition, and to be reminded of our roots even as we make certain changes with the times."



First Baptist Church, 306 East Main St.

The windows of First Baptist Church were designed by Pierce and Dockstader, an Elmira-based architectural firm, in the late Nineteenth Century. There are only two of them, and their content is less obviously religious than the previous churches' windows. Baptists emphasize the believer's interior connection with Christ, so the artwork of the windows is meant simply to help inspire an attitude of worship.

"It [the stained glass] presents an environment that calms our hearts and minds and gets us ready for prayer," said Wendy, one of the tour guides.

Carol Wade, a second tour guide and a deacon at the church, said that sometimes, when she finds her mind wandering during a sermon, the windows help her to refocus her attention.

"There's something about the blend of colors and the sun shining through them that just makes you feel this warmth," she said.



First Presbyterian Church, 300 East Main St.

First Presbyterian is one of the oldest churches in Batavia, and no one really knows who made its stained-glass windows.

There is an artificially lit rose window above the altar that was added to the church in 1954 by Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Schultz. This is the most elaborate illustration in the church, featuring a dove -- which is the symbol of the Holy Spirit and a common feature of all the churches involved in this tour -- along with the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ, a cup symbolizing the Last Supper, the Bible, the Ten Commandments, and seven candlesticks that represent God's Church and other Biblical symbols.

The other stained-glass windows have heraldic designs and flowers, but nothing too elaborate. Because it has roots in the tradition of the Calvinist reformers, the imagery and symbolism in traditional Presbyterian art and architecture is pretty minimal.

Please contact the Landmark Society of Genesee County by mail -- P.O. Box 342, Batavia, NY 14020 -- for more information on the history of these churches and their architectural features.

Photos by Howard Owens

St. Mary's

St. James

FIrst Baptist

First Presbyterian

 

 

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