150th Anniversary. Next year (2023) St. Paul celebrates her 150th anniversary. Incorporated in 1873, our historic Lutheran congregation in Preble, Indiana has enjoyed the presence of Christ in Word and Sacrament for generations. This is a great blessing that calls for our rejoicing.

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The Voters Assembly has directed the formation of an Anniversary Committee for the purpose of celebrating our 150 years of life together. Our Anniversary Committee has events planned for an entire year’s worth of celebrations. The schedule of events to celebrate our 150th are as follows:

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Aug/Sept 22—Logo Contest

Oct 22—Wittenberg Door; history of FCD Wyneken in Bible Class

Nov 22—Ornament Tree

Jan/Feb 23—Memorabilia

Mar/Apr 23—Thumbprint Tree

May/Jun 23—Seminary Students past and present

July 23—Veteran recognition

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Saturday, August 19th, 2023 (anniversary date)—service, banquet, the unveiling of stained glass

Details on each of these events will be forthcoming. However, for now, you should want to mark the evening of Saturday, Aug. 19th, 2023 on your calendar. This is the signature event of our Committee. It will be the culmination of our 150th-anniversary celebrations. The plan is to host a service in the early evening and then a banquet with music and speakers following the service.

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At the service, we will unveil our stained glass sculpture which will hang above the reredos (wood-structure behind the altar) which will be an artistic rendering of the Agnus Dei: Christ as the Lamb of God. The stained glass is currently being created by stained-glass artists Brad Butler and Andrew Vargo (butlervargo.com) out of Indianapolis. These stained-glass experts have worked with many Lutheran Churches before, including Immanuel, Union Twp. (check out their very cool website).

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For now, we want to give details on our Logo Contest. We are calling for an official design for our anniversary which can be put on apparel, cups, mugs, pens, etc. The entire congregation is invited to submit designs on an 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper now to Pr. Yeager, who will share with the committee. The design MUST include (1) something signifying our 150th anniversary and (2) something that signifies St. Paul (words, an icon like our steeple, etc).

 

Once the committee selects, the contest winner will be awarded a $100 gift. We would like all creative and artistic members, young and old, to come up with ideas. The design could be produced by any medium: drawing, markers, crayons, colored pencils, paint, or through a computer program. We will then take the winning design and create apparel and swag to be sold throughout the congregation in the coming months, used for evangelism, etc. All submissions will be put on display at some point. The deadline for submissions is August 15th of this year. Put your creativity to use!!