ZION NEWSLETTER Volume 22, Number 5 The FALL issue September / October / November 2007
	Pastor Roggelin's Archive: Past Messages From Zion
Pastor’s Message:	Pastor Roggelin's Resume and Links

Words: Matthias Claudius (1740-1815), Wir pflügen und wir streuen;
translation: Jane Montgomery Campbell (1817-1878)

Dear members and dear friends of ZION,

When I go on vacation, I bring back a small souvenir, often from nature. On my shelves there are shells from Florida, a small rock piece from Colorado and so on. This little collection of pieces has successfully resisted every attempt of throwing them out after a couple of years – I just couldn’t do it. I am sure many of you have similar corners in which you keep such keepsakes from places near and far.

These little things serve as mementos; they inspire memories and are tangible reminders of times and places.

The beloved hymn for Erntedank/Harvest Thanksgiving, of which I have printed one verse above, also uses these tangible natural gifts, setting them into the perspective of creation, and naming and praising God as the creator: “Wir pflügen und wir streuen den Samen auf das Land, doch Wachstum und Gedeihen liegt in des Herren Hand / We plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land, but it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand.”

The hymn which seems to come from the very depths of countryside is not a folksong, but was written by a learned man of the 18^th century, Matthias Claudius. The son of a Lutheran Pastor in Northern Germany, he became a professional writer, editing one of the first newspapers in Germany, while making a living as commissioner for agriculture and bank auditor. The song first appeared as part of a fictitious report of a peasants’ harvest festival he wrote for his newspaper. Claudius used this report to contrast the sophisticated, but arrogant attitudes of the rich aristocratic landowners with the simple human nobility and faith of the peasants and to describe his vision of a good society. Das Bauernlied, The Peasants’ Song formed the center of this piece; it originally had 17 verses going through all these guys would see and experience – from stars and sea to cows and flowers and personal health and well-being, connecting all with God and giving him thanks.

Claudius put his own faith and experience in it, too. After a serious and life-threatening illness, he had concluded that he was not the master of his own destiny, as was the message of his day in the time of the Enlightenment. After a period of agnosticism he had renewed his Christian faith and was determined to create poetic words that people from all walks of life could make their own to praise God as the creator, redeemer and sustainer of all. In this effort, he became immensely popular, even more so after his death. Most people in Germany will have come to know his Abendlied at some point in their lives: “Der Mond ist aufgegangen.” In it, as in all his poems and songs, he combines the expression of a simple faith in God who will watch over us during the night with a subtle hint to community care and well-being, when he mentions “unsern kranken Nachbarn auch”, “our sick neighbor, too”, in the last verse.

The music to both songs was composed by Johann Abraham Peter Schulz (1747-1800), one time Kapellmeister at the Royal Danish Court in Copenhagen. He published a collection of songs in 1790 to be sung at home with a piano. In this collection we find the German version as we sing today, with six verses. Only later, and very slowly by popular demand, the song made its way into the official hymnals of the church. Miss Jane Montgomery Campbell’s English translation appeared in 1861. There have been numerous well-meant, but ill-fated modernization attempts like “We plough the fields with tractors, with drills we sow the land” and a sarcastic parody by English author John Betjeman: “We spray the fields and scatter the poison on the ground”. Neither of them has been able to spoil the beauty and power of the original.

I am glad we have such a beautiful hymn in both our German and English hymnals, reminding us to not take the natural things and the gifts of nature for granted, but to see them as mementos of God’s creation, and to receive them from Him with a heart full of thanksgiving and open to care for each other.

Ihnen allen eine gute Herbstzeit und ein gesegnetes Erntedankfest
Have a good time of Fall and Thanksgiving!

Your Pastor Dr Holger Roggelin

This issue of the newsletter is a three-month-issue, covering the months of September, October, and November 2007. The next issue will be published in connection with Christkindlmarkt
and the first Sunday in Advent at the end of November, 2007

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A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR ROBERT LEAVERTON  

Dear People of Zion Church,

            I thank you for all the generous support, kindness, prayers, and love you have offered to me on my journey through seminary. I was deeply touched by your caring affection that you conveyed to me and my family, friends and fellow pastors at my ordination. I offer thanks to Pastor Roggelin for his kindness, guidance, support, and care that he offered to me not only during seminary but I am especially grateful for his time and effort in helping plan and prepare my service of ordination.

            I want to thank all the Zion people who participated in my ordination service. Steve Brown faithfully followed in his son’s footsteps and was an excellent crucifer; Phoebe and Matthew Bennett-Hassaine were our faithful torchbearers; Simonne Cruz was the Gospel bearer and offered her gift of expressive reading of the first lesson. I thank our assisting minsters Bernie Penner and Richard Hershberger for their gifts at the altar during communion, Richard’s offering of prayer, and Bernie’s reading of the epistle. I thank Susanne Ridenour and Bonnie Brobst for assisting with communion. I want to especially thank Zion’s faithful ushers for their gracious expression of hospitality and service: David Tabler, Bruno Niemann, Lewis Bringman, and Frank Hobbs. I also am grateful for the fruits of their labor of Bishop H. Gerard Knoche and Pastor William Gohl preacher, who provided us with the Word. A special thanks to Ellen Solomon and the women of Zion who helped her present such a wonderful reception. The people of Zion can be proud of the beautiful presentation of delicious food and the generous hospitality we offer to friends and guests.

             I am thankful that Zion has been my home congregation, the church that brought me back to my faith and shed light on the path that led me to be a Lutheran pastor. I am thankful for the saints both here and departed who have been fellow pilgrims with me on this faith journey. You all have helped in my formation of who I am today and I am grateful and thankful for all that you have imparted to me. I will take many experiences and memories with me as I begin my service to the people of Immanuel Lutheran Church of Absarokee, Montana. Thank you for sharing the journey with me. All the best to the people of Zion Church of the City of Baltimore.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Robert

Pastor Robert Leaverton,
Immanuel Lutheran Church