April 21, 2008

Dear members of St. James,

I received this email today and will make sure it goes in the parish notes but it won’t be in this Sunday. I am sure this event may sell out fast so thought I’d email it so if you want to register right away you can.

KP

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We have some exciting news for your Chapter and Congregation's Steeler fans! Thrivent Financial for Lutherans will be sponsoring an ALL PRO Dad - Father and Kids Experience with Head Coach Mike Tomlin at Heinz Field on Saturday, May 31, 2008. This relationship-building fun event for families is scheduled from 9 AM - 12 Noon. All Pro Dads is an energetic interactive event that allows fathers and kids to work and learn together through a stronger family unit. Girls and boys will have the opportunity to learn more about football skills and have meaningful interaction with their fathers while going through a rotation of drills. Cost for this event is $15/family which covers the father and up to four children (recommended age for children is 5 years and older). This event will sell out quickly!! Early registration for Thrivent Financial guests begins on Tuesday, April 29th.

You can register on-line at www.AllProDad.com/Thrivent or you can call 800-956-8300 to register or obtain additional information.

If you are a Steeler fan and do not have kids or grandchildren to bring, why not consider volunteering? Contact Jean Taylor at 724-766-1657 or email Jean at jean.taylor@thrivent.com for volunteering or if you have any questions.

Come and join us for a fun-filled exciting day at Heinz Field with Mike Tomlin!!

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The Pastor of St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ligonier is Reverend Paul Poerschke.

Pastor Poerschke was born in Bellevue and spent his first years in Ben Avon. He graduated from North Hills High School (1968) and studied forest science at the Penn State University Beaver Campus before transferring to Capital University, a Lutheran school in Columbus, Ohio. There he studied in the Pre-Seminary curriculum and graduated in 1973 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology.

He began his career as intern pastor with the AIJ Cluster Ministry, serving 10-12 rural and small town churches in Armstrong, Indiana, and Jefferson counties, n areas as far-ranging as New Bethlehem, Punxsutawney, Homer City, Coral and Brush Valley. "It was during that time that I fell in love with small town living," he says, "and decided that I wanted to spend my ministry in the small town and rural ministry."

From the summer of 1973 to the summer of 1977, he worked as a union truck driver and equipment operator in the coal industry, living in the Indiana area. "I even hauled coal and limestone in the Ligonier area - hauled a lot of coal into the big power plant up across the river from New Florence!" Following the floods in our area in July of 1977, he decided to return to school, and entered the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg to resume his studies for the ministry.

For a summer unit in Clinical Pastoral Education, he worked with the Regional Mental Health Center in Columbus, the Training Institute of Central Ohio (TICO), a maximum security correctional facility for make teens in Columbus, and the Madison County Mental Health Day Care Program in London, Ohio. During the 1978-1979 school year, he participated in the seminary's Lutheran House of Studies program in Washington, DC, working with the homeless and with the Community for Creative Non-Violence, while taking courses at the Catholic University of America.

For a year he served an internship in the office of the college chaplain at Gettysburg College and that year met Kristin Dordal, a student from Chicago, who would become his wife. In May of 1981 he received a master of divinity degree from Gettysburg Seminary, and was called to serve as pastor of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Davis, WV. On June 13, 1981, he was ordained during the annual synod assembly at Thiel College, Greenville.

He and Kristin were married July 25, 1981, at bond Chapel on the University of Chicago campus. He served as pastor at St. John's just under 19 years, as well as chaplain to the two West Virginia state parks located in Tucker County. He was active in the community as a volunteer firefighter and an EMT and driver with the Tucker county Emergency Medical Services. He was also a member of the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Team for Region VI-VII of West Virginia Emergency Medical Services, serving fire/rescue, EMS, and law enforcement personnel in North-Central West Virginia. In 1985, Tucker County Chamber of Commerce awarded him its annual Community Service Award.

In September 1999, Poerschke began interviewing to become pastor at St. James Lutheran Church in Ligonier, and was installed as pastor on July 11, 2000. Since coming to Ligonier, he has been active with the Habitat for Humanity Eastern Westmoreland Affiliate as a board member and as the Church and Community Relations chairperson. He is serving a second term as president of the Ligonier Valley Association of Churches. "My strong interest continues to be in community service oriented ministry, and I am becoming more involved in the work of Lutheran Disaster Response," Poerschke notes. "Currently I am working with the Evangelical Lutheran Coalition for Mission in Appalachia to develop a program of awareness and education regarding disaster preparedness and recovery, and post-traumatic disorder for Lutheran pastors congregations throughout the Appalachian region."

His wife, Kristin, is office manager for the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor, located on South Market Street in Ligonier. She is active in church and community, particularly Boy Scout Troop 372.

They have three children, David Lars, 20, a 2004 graduate of Ligonier Valley High School, now an engineering student at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland Ohio. Andrew William, 17, will be a senior at Ligonier Valley High School next year. He is involved in a number of school activities, including Youth and Government, the German National Honor Society, and has been a letterman in cross-country and swimming. He loves his work with the high school theater department, especially in set construction and technical aspects. Andrew is active in the Valley Youth Network and spends any free time playing "Ultimate Frisbee." Andrew and David are both Eagle Scouts. Elise Kristin, 13, will be an eighth grade student at Ligonier Valley Middle School next year. She recently was a winner at the Westmoreland Intermediate Unity Spelling Bee, and competed in the regional spelling bee at the University of Pittsburgh.

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December 17, 2006

Dear Members and Friends of St. James,

Although the mild weather of recent days does not portend, Christmas is only 10 days away as this newsletter is being mailed! It will be a joyous season of celebration, regardless of whether or not the winds deliver to us that oft dreamed-of white Christmas.

This is the season of joy, of warmth, of memories. And it is the season of giving. Why do we give at Christmas? We give to express our love or affection to others who are a blessing to us throughout the year, and throughout our lives. Often, we give because children are the object of our giving, and for all of our lives we have learned that Christmas and children, toys and gifts, all go together. Giving is a good thing. It brings delight to those children (of any age!) who receive gifts. And, it brings a special joy and sense of fulfillment to those who are the "givers."

Ultimately, we give at Christmas because we are responding to God's gift of Jesus Christ. God, who has created the world and loved all of creation, has loved us so deeply as to send a Child, a Savior. God has become incarnate, taken on our fleshly human form, so that through the Son, we might be saved. This is the greatest gift ever given. In thanksgiving for this greatest gift, we can only respond by giving to others.

This year, with the approach of Christmas, I have been more troubled than ever before by the advertising that seems to carry with it a message that says, "Give to your self this Christmas!" We are urged to indulge our selves and satisfy our every craving. The less-than-subtle ads seem to convey the sense that this is the time to give in and buy that expensive item of jewelry, that big-screen TV, or even that luxurious car that you have been lusting after. Be your own Santa! Go for it!

For a number of years, it has been a tradition at St. James to participate in the giving of gifts to needy children through the wish list program of Trinity Lutheran Church, on the North Side of Pittsburgh. Each Christmas that I have spent at St. James, I have watched this program grow, and have been touched by the generosity of members of the congregation. Folks take the lists and go off to shop, carefully choosing and wrapping the items. The gifts are given to children who are not known to us, except by a name on a piece of paper. Those who give the gifts will never enjoy the reward of seeing the look of delight on the face of the children who open them. They will never know if a new sweater fit well, or if a doll was treasured and loved. They will never experience the joy and laughter that a new toy brought to a child who otherwise had little to celebrate in life.

Even so, hearts are full at Christmas because the gifts have been given. They have been given as God's great gift was given - without prejudice or measure of the "deserving" of the recipient, without the reward of a hug or a thank you. These gifts are given simply out of unselfish love, in thanksgiving to God for our bountiful blessings. Such giving is what Christmas giving is truly meant to be!

Have a blessed Christmas,
Pastor Paul