A majority of Missouri Synod pastors never experience the joy of 40 active years in the Holy Ministry. More and more pastors are second career men. Many other pastors retire before they reach the milestone of 40 years.

On Sunday, June 15th, Trinity Lutheran church will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Pastor Phil Schmidt’s ordination. He was ordained on June 1, 1968 in Moline, Illinois. After his ordination, he served congregations in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Houston, Texas. He then served as Chaplain at the Lutheran Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1985, he came to Memphis to serve as Associate Pastor at Trinity. In 1987 he was appointed Chaplain at the Shelby County Juvenile Court, a position he still holds.

On May 20th of last year, the Voters Assembly of Trinity called Pastor Schmidt as “Pastor Emeritus”. He continues to serve Trinity by assisting in the preaching and by spearheading a number of work projects around the church.

Pastor Schmidt also continues to serve a leadership role in the Memphis Lutheran community through his work with Memphis Habitat for Humanity and with Lutheran Children’s Camp.

Pastor Schmidt and his wife Jean will be honored at the 10:30 a.m. worship service on June 15th, and at the church luncheon which follows. The luncheon will feature a program highlighting his 40 years in ministry.

One of the lasting tributes to Pastor Schmidt will be a bronze plaque that will be placed on the back wall of the church nave, recognizing his 22 years of service at Trinity. His plaque will be placed beside those honoring Pastor Paul Martens, Pastor Victor Brugge and Pastor Martin Brueggemann, three predecessors who served Trinity a combined total of 75 years.

Please join us on June 15th (“Father’s Day”) for this special anniversary celebration for Pastor Phil and Jean Schmidt.

– Ron Wiese

I used to think that a “food fight” was something that occurred in a poorly supervised high school cafeteria. It doesn’t mean that any more. Food prices have risen dramatically. We in the U.S. spend a small percentage on food, but that’s not the case in many places, especially 3rd World countries. It’s a complicated problem – farm subsidies, fuel costs, and distribution costs all play a role in what we pay at the grocery store.

I did a craft show in Cleveland, Mississippi, in the middle of delta farm land, last month. More than one farmer came to my booth, and I asked, “What are you growing this year? Corn, beans, rice, cotton?” Most said that cotton is dead. “How about fuel costs?” Despite the high costs, many said the “futures” or projected prices still make the picture look good.

My son Steve lives in Illinois, 40 miles north of the St. Louis Arch, on property surrounded by fields. Last year the area was full of corn and beans, and I bet it’ll be the same this year. There’s no tilling; new seeds require less fertilizer, which means higher production than 20 years ago. That’s good news.

Yet, the question remains: “Can we grow enough corn to meet the food and ethanol needs?” An article from the National Corn Growers Association indicates we can do both. Perhaps we can, but at this point, worldwide, we’re in a tight spot.

Most of us in the city can’t grow the food we eat. That’s one reason Steve and Julie moved to a place where they can have a garden, raise chickens, keep perhaps a goat or two. The move towards local food production is weak, but farmers markets are happening even here – on South Main on Saturday mornings, at the Botanic Gardens on Wednesday afternoons, and at the AgriCenter.

The depression and dust bowl of the 1930's created much of the farm program that is now in place. Today’s challenge is complicated by oil priced at $120 or more per barrel. This is a serious problem. The Church has been in the business of feeding the poor for a long time. The “food fight” is way beyond the cafeteria: it is global, and that means the mess is ours to help fix.

– Phil Schmidt

This name may not be familiar to you, but I bet you know his work On Maundy Thursday we sang his hymn, “When You Woke that Thursday Morning” (LSB 445). We celebrated Ascension with Vajda’s “Up Through Endless Ranks of Angels” (LSB 491). We’ve used his text, “See This Wonder” (593) at baptisms, and sometimes end our worship with “Go, My Children with My Blessing” (922).

In yesterday’s e-mail, I found this note from the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians: “Rev. Jaroslav ‘Jary’ Vajda passed peacefully into the arms of his Lord on Saturday, May 10, 2008.” I was deeply saddened by this news, and at the same time ever so grateful to God for the superb poems that came from Vajda’s pen, to our hymnbook, and into our hearts.

Jaroslav Vajda was born April 28, 1919 in Lorain, Ohio, the son of a Lutheran pastor. Vajda’s grandparents came from Czechoslovakia. In a 1987 interview, Vajda explained that a number of experiences, including the translating of Slovak poems and stories, helped prepare him to write original poems.

A parish pastor, magazine editor (remember “This Day”?), and book editor for Concordia Publishing House, Vajda didn’t write his first hymn until 1967. That hymn came about as he considered David’s statement, “I was glad when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Vajda pondered why he often did not feel such joy at the prospect of worship. He surmised that he missed out because he did not anticipate the momentous things that happen in that holy hour. Take a few minutes before next Sunday’s worship to look through the resulting hymn, “Now the Silence” (LSB 910.)

And breathe a prayer of thanksgiving for this great poet of the Church.

– Martha Israel