St. Peter Lutheran Church
2929 F.M 972 (at F.M. 1105)
Walburg, Texas 78626

Office: (512) 863-5600
Worship Services - each Sunday 10:15 a.m.
Holy Communion - 1st & 3rd Sundays

Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ Texas District

St. Peter Lutheran Church at Walburg, Texas
2026 - All Rights Reserved

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Last Updated:
Sept. 28, 2026

St. Peter Messenger Newsletter: September 2026

ST. PETER LUTHERAN CHURCH COUNCIL MEETING

September 8, 2026

President Mike called the Council meeting to order at 6:15 pm.

Griffin opened the meeting with a devotional message on the Book of Job and a prayer.

Prayer Concerns: Leonard M, Bert L, family of Mary K, Gerri M, Bonnie W and Dick B.

Minutes: The meeting minutes from August 11, 2026 were distributed and approved.

Treasurer’s Report: August’s monthly net income was $578.48. The year-to-date net income is $10,637.31. Report approved.

Pastor’s Report: St. Peter has a Baptism pending, possibly in September. Phil has two possible new members. The LCMC National Gathering will be held October 4-7 (Sunday – Wednesday) in Des Moines, Iowa. Pastor Phil will be leaving for the Gathering after Worship on October 4.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Finance: Additional St. Peter CDs will be renewed this month, likely at Huntington Bank.On October 6, the Finance Committee will present the draft 2027 budget for Council review and recommendation to the Congregation.

Fellowship: Held a Labor Day lunch for the congregation after worship on September 6 with hot dogs. Good turnout. Special thanks to Jill and Kathy for preparing the meal.

Faith Formation: Searching for ways to improve participation in Bible study classes and meetings. Intend to get involved with existing successful youth program (Young Life) to learn from their experience.

Outreach: Still meeting folks and handing out water bottles on the 3rd Saturday each month at San Gabriel Park.

Worship: Next meeting will be in October. Still have not found an organist. Discussed new leads and options for music until we get an organist.

Properties: Will ask Kara to call Pest Patrol for ants. The new doors for the parsonage are waiting for cooler weather.

OLD BUSINESS

Piano Tuning: Several inquiries but still looking for an experienced piano tuner.

Secretary: We are excited to announce that our new church secretary, Kara M, has come onboard. Training and introductions are underway. She expects to be in the office Monday through Thursday, except Wednesday mornings. Exact hours are not yet set since Kara is home-schooling her children and her husband recently changed jobs and is training. Drop by the office and say, ‘Hi!’ Also, the Congregation and Council are asked to send all address changes and membership updates to Kara at StPeter.Walburg@gmail.com.

Pastor’s Annual Evaluation: Council members met to compare inputs. Pastor will prepare his written inputs. Mike will schedule a time with Pastor for the official evaluation.

NEW BUSINESS

Annual Congregational Meeting: The St. Peter Annual Congregation Meeting will be held on Sunday, October 11, immediately following Worship. Therefore, our October Council Meeting will be a week earlier than normal, on Tuesday, October 6 at 6PM. The Annual Meeting notice will be provided to the Congregation during services, beginning 9/13/2026.

• Agenda: The agenda will include the annual report, budget approval and election of new Council members to replace those whose terms have expired. It may include other items brought by members.
• 2027 Service Bids: Kathy will collect bids for budget approval at the October annual meeting.
• Council Elections: The four outgoing Council members make up the committee. These are Mike, Stephanie, Jill and Dale. We need volunteers to serve for 2-year terms. Ask members to talk to anybody on this committee. The Council has a special need for at least one volunteer with strong financial skills.

Christmas Eve: Planning a sing-along rather than a youth pageant.

Scholarship Committee: The Committee received and approved one application for college scholarship.

Monthly and Annual Statistical Report: Council will ask Kara to prepare reports for the Council based upon membership and attendance.

Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 7:19 pm with a prayer and the Lord’s Prayer.

FELLOWSHIP NEWS FOR OCTOBER 2026

GOLDEN OLDIES will be hosted on Tuesday, October 6, 2026 12:00pm. Come out and join us for a hot dog meal, games of dominoes, and fellowship. Hot dogs, chili, cheese, Fritos, and side dishes will be provided. We ask people to bring a dessert. Please invite friends and family to join us.

LADIES DOMINOES will be hosted on Tuesday, October 20, 2026 1:00pm. Hosting: Karen Doerfler and Elaine Sotello. We play Mexican Train dominoes. Please invite friends, family, and neighbors to join us. We are in need of volunteers to host in November.

TRICK-OR-TREATERS - Saturday, October 31, 2026 at 5:00pm. Come out and join us in passing out water bottles and candy to the community at Mickan Motor Company in Walburg.

“The Mystery of Death” by Pastor Phil Daniels

Death  is the great mystery for human beings. We fear and celebrate it. We laugh about it at Halloween and feel the weight of it at funerals.

At the end of October, we celebrate Halloween. It was the Celts who came up with the festival where they paid attention to the Lord of the Dead who they believed would let all the dead souls and such run amok. Later, the Romans conquered the Celts, they added a bit of a harvest festival aspect to the whole holiday. But Christians, following Christ's example, have never been comfortable with letting death be lord of the tomb. In 835, the church began to celebrate "All Saints" on the first day of November and October 31st became All Hallow's Eve or, as it was shortened to, Halloween.

But what happens when death comes to us? What do we do when it ceases to be fun and games and becomes the call we dread to hear. Tim Chester tells the well-known story of Jim Elliot. On January 8th, 1956, Elliot and his fellow missionaries were supposed to check in with his family; but the call never came. One of the bodies was never found, the other four had been lanced to death. As Chester puts it, "All five were martyred for the sake of Christ. All were married, and four were fathers. One wife was pregnant. Her three-year-old was heard to tell the new crying baby, 'Never you mind, when we get to heaven I'll show you which one is daddy.'"*

One of the most remarkable things about the Christian faith is the way in which our initiation into the church is also a story about how death no longer has the last word for us. The child laid in the font and the person laid in the tomb share the same promised resurrection.

None of that is to say that the Christian should take death lightly, in fact the Christian faith holds life to be so precious that Christ ransomed each life; but rather that to live well and die peacefully means to live a life that proclaims what Christ has given to all who put their faith in Him. Or, as Jim Elliot put it so well, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." From the baptismal font to the grave, the Christian's life is to proclaim that Christ is greater than death itself.

*Chester, Tim. "Jim Elliot Was No Fool." Crossway, January 8, 2018. https://www.crossway.org/articles/jim-elliot-was-no-fool/.

LADIES AID HAMBURGER FUNDRAISER!

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2026 from 4:00 PM

Greetings, St. Peter members and friends:

The Ladies Aid needs your assistance for our 3rd annual Hamburger/Country Store Fundraiser, which will be held on Saturday, October 17th, starting at 4 PM.

We need volunteers setting up for the event (Sunday, October 11th) and we need kitchen help, bakers to make desserts and items for the country store as well as the desserts for the meal. When making your desserts please place them in a container that can be sold so, if we have too many desserts we will place them in the country store and please make a dessert that does not need refrigeration as we need the refrigerator space for the veggies and meat.

There is also a prize winning quilt that will be raffled for a meer $5 donation for 1 ticket or get a whopping 5 tickets for a $20 donation.

Thank you for your past help and your consideration in helping this year; as the Ladies Aid wishes to carry on God's work through our assistance to St Peter as well as other non profit organizations in the area.

God's Blessing,

St. Peter Ladies Aid

*Financial funding from Thrivent Financial and St Peter Ladies Aid

WORSHIP COMMITTEE

We are still looking into getting an organist/pianist, so if you know of anyone who is musically inclined please let Kathy B know. In the mean time we are using canned music for the church services,as well as the choir, and we can use volunteers to assist in providing music through using the computer. If you can click on a link you can volunteer for this and we can share in this duty.

Hymns have been picked from Sunday, September 6th through Sunday October 25th.

If you have not filled out your Time and Talent sheet you still have time to complete it and place it in the collection plate.

The holiday season is quickly approaching, so check your bulletin the later part of October for Poinsettias order forms.

 Our next meeting will be Tuesday, October 6th at 5 PM. We took a short break during the summer, however with the holiday season knocking at our doors we will resume regular monthly meetings.