Dec em ber 2012 www.centralschwenkfelder.com Phone: (610) 584 -4480 Dear Church Family, As the Advent season is upon us, let us remember the words to the old carol: “Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning, Jesus, to Thee be all glory giv’n; Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing! O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!” This must have been on the hymn writer’s mind, a reflection of John 1:14: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” May you and yours have a blessed Christmas, being reminded of all of the riches we have in Christ, our Lord. From All of Us, … General Conference Minutes 1782 – 1890 Around 1890 Dr. O.S. Kriebel, Howard W. Kriebel, and S. Agnes Schultz undertook the project to copy into a single volume all of the minutes of meetings that we today would call General Conferences of The Schwenkfelder Church. The hand written minutes of these meetings were kept in manuscript volumes. The Upper and Lower Districts each had a secretary who recorded the minutes when the meeting was held in his district. It appears that he then sent a copy to the secretary of the other district. It seems that after some 100 years of keeping these important church records that they may not have been in the best shape; perhaps there were no longer two complete sets—and so the project was born. The original minutes were kept in German and the secretaries used the old fashion German handwriting, which was becoming difficult for those living in the 1890s to decipher. Although the copy team simply copied the German language of the minutes, they did use the modern handwriting style which we still use today. In fact, the first time the Minutes of the General Conference were kept in English was the fall Conference of 1895. These minutes give us some interesting insights and history into the concerns of the Schwenkfelder Church at the very end of the eighteenth century and the entire nineteenth century. The date – 1782 – when these minutes began coincides with the beginning of the Society of the Schwenkfelders, the earliest name for the church. That organization had as its principles what was called the Grund Regeln or Basic Rules. The rules called for an election of officers who were elected at the spring meeting. One of the important officers was Aufseher, literally “overseer.” These men were responsible for watching over their districts, insuring that members of the Society were conducting themselves in an appropriate Christian manner. If not, the member was confronted by these men and admonished to change his behavior. The delinquent was then reported at the General Conference. If he did not change his ways after multiple visits, the Aufseher recommended at the General Conference that the aberrant person’s name be stricken from the membership roll. The offences in which this occurred seem to have been attending worship at a non-Schwenkfelder church, drunkenness, and quarrelsomeness in connection to legal matters. If the person recognized his wrong doing, he was required to confess publically and perform penitence before he could be accepted into the church again. The position of Teacher – today we would say minister or pastor – was filled at the General Conference as well. The method was to elect the minister by ballot and confer on him all the privileges and responsibilities of the office. It seems that the minister had to serve for some time as an assistant, before he could be elected as a regular minister. Once elected, ministers seem to have served for life without pay, but were excused from assessments placed on the members. In the meeting held on May 15, 1858, they were also given a bonus of having their doctor bills paid. Shortly after the Revolutionary War questions were raised in General Conferences several times about introducing the sacraments into the worship service. In the late 1880s, after many committees, numerous reports, and long periods of inaction, communion was performed first in the Lower District and then in the Upper. Both districts were celebrating communion by 1895. Baptism stood side by side with communion in Caspar Schwenckfeld’s 1526 Stillstand (declaration of abstention). In 1823 the American Schwenkfelders made allowance for consecration of infants. In the late 1880’s baptism became a viable option along with communion. Specifics are not mention in the Minutes. It must be assumed that no American Schwenkfelder children or adults had been baptized. Certainly all members of the Society were given the opportunity to be baptized. New adult members could be baptized (if not already baptized) or affirm their obedience to the Society’s rules as stated in the Constitution . At this time baptism or consecration of infants was no doubt a parental choice. Historically Schwenkfelders were always opposed to instrumental music in the worship service and, to a great extent, even instrumental music in the home. The final decree in this volume of Conference minutes, occurring at the meeting of May 24, 1890, is unprecedented. It permits any Schwenkfelder church that so desires to have an organ. These actions approved by the Society of Schwenkfelders are just a miniscule number of all the interesting items of business and discussions recorded in the first 108 years of the General Conference Minutes. Caspar’s Corner is provided monthly to The Schwenkelder Church by the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center GREETINGS FROM THE NETHERLANDS !!! Dear Friends in Christ, Merry Christmas from the Netherlands! We wish you the very best during this holiday season. As I write, I am picturing the church decorated, the special gatherings, and the special music of this advent season. They are very pleasant memories, and we miss these on the mission field. Yet, the Christian joy that we all celebrate is still the same. God has not abandoned us, which would have been the right response for our sin. Instead, he sent his Son to save us and adopt us as his children (Gal 4:1-7). How great is this joy, and it crosses national and continental boundaries! It is the true Joy of the World! My December will begin in a very different way from yours. I will be in Romania again to teach in Oradea, Romania from 1-7 December. I have been asked to return to teach the book of Galatians at the Eastern European Bible College (website: http://www.cbee.ro/ ) If you are picturing Romania, Oradea is in the northwest corner of the country and is just over the border of Hungary. I will fly to Budapest, Hungary and then be driven 3 hours east into Romania. Oradea is a pretty Eastern European city. It has many churches, and the surrounding towns are also filled with Christian believers. Many call this area the Bible Belt of Romania. I am asking for your special prayers for this. Stamina and safe travels is the first prayer request. I am expecting to lecture for 6 hours a day for 5 days and preach in their chapel once or twice. On the Sunday, I expect to preach about 45 minutes in 2 different churches. When I return, then there will be the completion of the semester. Secondly, pray that the time with the students will be effective. Romania has very few students trained with the same amount of education that our pastors have. Yet, they serve a very vibrant and growing Romanian church with a great number of needs. Thirdly, pray for the ongoing relationship between Tyndale Theological Seminary and the Eastern European Bible College and Emmanuel University which are both in Oradea. Tyndale wishes to form relationships with these schools. I will be negotiating with their leaders while present. Both of these schools in Oradea, have sent students to Tyndale Theological Seminary in our time in the Netherlands and will likely send more. Finally, upon returning from Romania, we will be finishing the semester at Tyndale. Please pray for the successful completion of the term, too. Our prayers are with you for a very joyous Christmas season! With Christian Greetings, Drake, Andrea, Henry, Abby, and Samuel Williams Mission agency address: European Christian Mission P. O. Box 1006 Point Roberts, WA 98281 We are pleased to announce the Women’s Christian Fellowship newly elected officers for 2013 President – Barbara Bucher Vice President – Amelia Stetler Recording Secretary – Wendy Kaminsky Corresponding Secretary – Marilyn Seipt Treasurer – Carol Fryling Congratulations to all of them. Women’s Christian Fellowship is looking forward to a wonderful year in 2013 as we serve our Lord, grow in our faith and reach more women for Christ in all we do. The CCC is ready for the winter season ahead of December is the month where we us when our gym is in high demand! Many who have rented space in the building heard about it njoy family and friends and through a church member or someone else who E had used the building. Thank you for keeping the Community Center in mind not only for the Celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. needs of the church, but for your personal needs and those in the community that you have Each of us at the CCC would very contact with. Together we are working toward providing a safe and comfortable place for kids, Much like to wish you and yours teens, groups and families to celebrate, recreate and communicate! Blessings during this wonderful season, As always, if you have any questions or concerns about the Community Center or its Ever mindful of the year that has passed, usage, please feel free to contact me at the Ready for the New Year ahead.