8A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL JUNE 28, 2017
F AITH
The Apostle Paul: Making his way through 2017
By Caitlyn May
When Jer-
ry Thomp-
son left his
position as the sports editor for the
Cottage Grove Sentinel, everyone
assumed he retired. But his schedule
says otherwise.
He still mans the Mighty Oregon
Magazine, devoted to the Universi-
ty of Oregon Ducks and on occasion
residents can fi nd him wandering his
old haunts, interviewing coaches and
athletes for The Sentinel as a freelanc-
er. His latest endeavor, however, has
slowly migrated from a hobby to an all
out passion project with a budget in the
thousands.
Thompson is writing, directing and
self-funding a 90-minute feature fi lm
cmay@cgsentinel.com
on the apostle Paul, with a twist.
"Just as he's about to die, he ends
up in Rome, Oregon. He time travels,"
Thompson said. "It becomes a little
like Miracle on 34th St."
Thompson, along with his crew,
have traveled Oregon to fi lm scenes
from biblical times to the current year.
On Friday, June 23, the crew was bor-
rowing the Cottage Grove Police De-
partment's basement jail cells to fi lm a
crucial scene.
"Paul gets arrested," Thompson said.
"He's been causing trouble by trying to
get all of the churches together and one
of the police offi cers, who is having an
affair, is bribed to frame Paul and ar-
rest him." Paul's crime? Meth found in
his bible.
The basic premise of the fi lm, ac-
cording to Thompson, is the lack of
communication between Christian
churches.
"Paul wrote of the churches being
together and then he comes here in
2017 and there's several churches on
one street and they don't interact," said
Thompson.
In the effort to kill two birds with one
stone, Thompson is hosting a meeting
in Eugene with local churches. The
idea is to both shoot footage for the
fi lm and gather churches together to
communicate a message of unity.
"It's about coming together," he said.
The movie is not expected to be
completed for months but it's come a
long way from an idea that turned in
Thompson's mind over and over for
a little over two years. Eventually,
he found a partner to put up half the
cost and is currently working with a
$100,000 budget.
"We'll take it to festivals when it's
done," he said. "But the focus now
is the meeting to bring the churches
together and the venue holds 1,000
seats."
While the meeting is taking place in
Eugene, Thompson said he has invited
Cottage Grove churches as well.
"We're shooting the fi lm all over
but Cottage Grove churches are wel-
come."
Thompson's foray into the fi lm in-
dustry began when he graduated from
the Christian Broadcasting Network's
fi lm program. Since then, he's worked
with the 700 Club and has hopes to re-
turn.
"That's one of the goals," he said.
"To maybe have this fi lm on the 700
Club."
For now, he says he'll continue to
shoot the fi lm and focus on the coming
meeting meant to bring local churches
together.
"The whole idea is based on John
17," he said. The verse read, "My
prayer is not for them alone. I pray
also for those who will believe in me
through their message, that all of them
may be one, Father, just as you are in
me and I am in you. May they also be
in us so that the world may believe that
you have sent me."
Lutheran Church celebrates 70 years in Cottage Grove
PHOTO BY BRUCE KELSH
Linnermann said. “The world
in which God has put us is not
the same as it was in 1947. The
blessing of the Gospel has not
changed and the love God has
for us is still the same. The chal-
lenge is to receive it and move
with it into the future. Hold on
to the good things yet be ready
to receive the new things God
wants to do in us and through
us.
Following the service a ban-
quet was held in the fellow-
ship hall that was prepared and
served by members of the lo-
cal Catholic Church. Honored
guests included Gene Baldwin,
son of former Pastor Richard
Baldwin (1959-66); Rev. R.H.
Kroll (1966-74), Rev. Gerald
Rabe (1987-2002) and Rev. Ray
Waetjen of Eugene.
Rev. Rabe said, “It’s a great
day to be here seeing old friends
in this fellowship hall that was
built during my time here. It
wasn’t just for us it was for the
community. I’m glad to see it
fulfi lls that mission.”
Founding Member Irene
Bauder shared refl ections of her
life spent in the church. Joyce
McCullough recounted how
Lutherans have profi ted nice-
ly from the Bohemia Mining
Days festival, fi rst from their
“Pie Palace” and for the past 32
years serving a Chicken BBQ
on Saturday. An open mike for
sharing yielded several good
stories.
Pictured: Rev. Dr. Paul Linnemann, NW District President; Pastor Gerald
Rabe (1987-2002); Pastor Roland Kroll, Pastor Ron Leder, Pastor Jim
Markus and Pastor Ray Waetjen.
I
t
42,029 volunteer hours.
By Cindy Weeldreyer was a
“Remembering God’s Bless-
For The Sentinel
c e l e - ings” was the theme of the June
bratory 11 event. Just by happenstance
day at Trinity Lutheran Church the 70th anniversary observance
on Sunday, June 11, for past fell on Trinity Sunday, the fi rst
and present members and their Sunday after Pentecost. Mem-
special guests. The atmosphere bers made the decision to not
of the event was of a family wait another fi ve years for the
reunion with Rev. Jim Markus 75th anniversary milestone to
serving as host of the 70th An- arrive and chose to celebrate
niversary celebration of Cottage this year in conjunction with the
Grove’s Lutheran Church.
500th anniversary of the Protes-
The journey local Luther- tant Reformation, led by the de-
ans made to establish what is nomination’s namesake, Martin
now known as “the big brown Luther.
church at 6th and Quincy” was
Northwest District Presi-
one of deep faith, commitment, dent Rev. Dr. Paul Linnermann
patience and personal sacrifi ce. preached during the Sunday
Along the way there were 235 afternoon service. He spoke
weddings and 292 funerals and of blessed connections among
approximately 4,900 Sunday those gathered to remember the
worship services.
signifi cant events in church his-
The history of the church tory and added words of encour-
dates back to the early 1900’s agement for the future.
with circuit-rider pastors from
“God has some wonderful
Portland, Corvallis and Albany things ahead for this ministry,”
visiting Cottage Grove’s Trin-
ity Lutheran Mission. In the
fi rst quarter of 1910, a district
record lists “40 souls and an
average attendance of 30 at the
monthly service.” When Grace
Lutheran Church was organized
in Eugene, several of its pastors
regularly served the local parish
here.
In the 1930’s, services were
conducted in the Seventh-Day
Adventist Church on the corner
of Main Street and M Street that
today is St. Andrew’s Episcopal
Church. Services were also held
in the Smith Funeral Chapel.
The schedule changed often due
to other area Lutheran missions
that also needed to be served.
On June 8, 1947, the Trinity
Evangelical Lutheran Church
was formally established. In
August 1948, the young con-
gregation installed its fi rst full-
time pastor, Rev. Richard Gross.
Under his leadership, Lutherans
purchased property at 675 S. 7th
St. and on Trinity Sunday, May
20, 1951, the congregation ded-
icated its long-awaited church
building.
Nearly 30 years later, mem-
bers again dug deep into their
pockets to fi nance the $300,000
needed to renovate and expand
their building to facilitate its ex-
panding ministries. It was ded-
icated on Palm Sunday 1980.
A third major renovation to the
fellowship hall was completed
and dedicated on April 2, 2001.
The $435,000 project is home to
their TLC Community Kitchen.
Free food, music, & Inspirational Speakers
Last February, TLC completed
its 19th year. In that time they
Entertainment for the whole family,
had hosted 1,923 dinners and
including a bounce house!
served 163,902 meals using
Hope in the Grove
New Beginnings
July 9th @ 5pm
Bohemia Park
One of those stories was told
by Bob Fossum, a 1971 Cottage
Grove High School graduate,
who now lives in Bend. In ju-
nior high school he was asked to
be a Sunday School teacher to
elementary students. In addition
to teaching the lesson, to build
rapport with the younger stu-
dents he taught them the princi-
ples of football using a deck of
cards where certain cards cor-
related with certain plays – and
the kids loved it.
In high school, the pastor
entrusted Fossum to preach on
Sunday in his absence. He dis-
covered he enjoyed teaching so
much he pursued a degree in el-
ementary education. He and his
wife later earned counseling de-
grees and they are now involved
in youth and family ministries.
“It’s amazing what God can
do with a deck of cards to reach
kids with the love of Jesus, with
the trust of a pastor who gave me
some important responsibilities
at a young age, and by believ-
ing God can use you at any age
for His purposes,” Fossum said.
“This church inspired me to do
the professional church work I
love for the past 42 years.”
Worship
Directory
DRAIN:
HOPE U.M.C.
131 W “A” St. Drain, OR
541-315-1617
Pastor: Lura Kidner-Miesen
Fellowship & Song: 11:30am
Potluck Lunch: 12:00pm
Worship: 12:30pm
Cottage Grove Faith Center
33761 Row River Rd. • 541-942-
4851
Lead Pastor: Kevin Pruett
www.cg4.tv
Full Childrenʼs Ministry available
Two Services 9am & 11am
COTTAGE GROVE:
6th & Gibbs Church of
Christ
195 N. 6th St. • 541-942-3822
Pastor: Aaron Earlywine
Youth & Families Pastor: Seth
Bailey
Services: 9am and 10:30am
Christian Education
Nursery for pre-k - 3rd Grade
www.6thandgibbs.com
Calvary Baptist Church
77873 S 6th St • 541-942-4290
Pastor: Riley Hendricks
Sunday School: 9:45am
Worship: 11:00am
The Journey: Sunday 5:00pm
Praying Thru Life: Wednesday
6:00pm
Delight Valley
Church of Christ
33087 Saginaw Rd. East
541-942-7711
Pastor: Bob Friend
Two Services:
9am - Classic in the Chapel
10:30am - Contemporary in the
Auditorium
First Presbyterian Church
3rd and Adams St • 541-942-
4479
Pastor: Karen Hill
Worship: 10:00am
Sunday School: 10:00am
www.cgpresbynews.com
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
and St. Philip Benizi
Catholic Churches
1025 N. 19th St.
541-942-3420 / 541-942-4712
Pastor: Roy L. Antunez, S.J.
Euch. Liturgies; Sat. 5:30pm
Sun. 10:30am
St. Philip Benizi, Creswell:
552 Holbrock Lane • 541-895-
8686
Sunday: 8:30am
St. Andrews Episcopal
Church
1301 W. Main • 541-767-9050
Rev. Lawrence Crumb
“Church with the fl ags.”
Worship: Sunday 10:30am
All Welcome
Seventh-day Adventist
Church
820 South 10th Street
541-942-5213
Pastor: Kevin Miller
Hope Fellowship
Bible Study: Saturday, 9:15 am
United Pentecostal Church
Worship Service: Saturday,
100 S. Gateway Blvd. • 541-942- 10:40 am
2061
Mid-week Service: Wednesday,
Calvary Chapel Cottage
Pastor: Dave Bragg
1:00 pm
Grove
Worship: 11:00am Sunday
1447 Hwy 99 (Village Plaza)
Bible Study: 7:00pm Wednesday Trinity Lutheran Church
541-942-6842
www.hopefellowshipupc.com
6th & Quincy • 541-942-2373
Pastor: Jeff Smith
“FINDING HOPE IN YOUR LIFE” Pastor: James L. Markus
Two Services on Sun: 9am &
Sunday School & Adult Education
10:45am
Living Faith Assembly
9:15am
Youth Group Bible Study
Sunday Worship 10:30 am
Child Care 10:45am Service Only 467 S. 10th St. • 541-942-2612
Pastor Rulon Combs
Comm. Kitchen Free Meal Tue &
www.cgcalvary.org
Worship & Childrenʼs
Thur 5:00pm TLC Groups
Church 10:00 am
tlccg.com
Center for Spiritual Living
Youth 180 Mondays 5:30-8pm
Cottage Grove
United Methodist Church
700 Gibbs Ave. (Community
Non-Denominational
334 Washington • 541-942-3033
Center)
Church of Christ
Pastor:Lura Kidner-Miesen
Rev. Bobby Lee
1041 Pennoyer Ave * 541-942-
Worship: 10:30am
Meets Sunday 3:00 p.m.
8928
Comm. Dinner (Adults $5, Kids
cslcottagegrove@gmail.com
Preacher: Tony Martin
Free)
Sunday Bible Study:10:00am
2nd & 3rd Monday 5-6:00pm
Church of Christ
cottagegroveumc.org
420 Monroe St • 541-942-8565 Sunday Worship:10:50am &
5:30pm
Sunday Service: 10:30am
www.pennoyeravecoc.com
“VICTORY” Country Church
Cottage Grove Bible Church Old Time Gospel Fellowship 913 S. 6th Street • 541-942-5913
Pastor: Barbara Dockery
103 S. 5th St. • 541-942-4999
1200 East Quincy Avenue
Worship Service: 10:00am
Pastor: Jim Edwards
541-942-4771
Message:
11:00am
Sunday Service: 10:00am
Pastor:Bob Singer
Join us in Traditional
“WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES”
Worship 11am
Christian Worship
Sunday School:9:45am
AWANA age 3-8th Grade,
Wednesdays Sept-May, 6:30pm
www.cgbible.org
Worship With Us!
Our Worship Directory is a weekly feature
in the newspaper. If your congregation
would like to be a part of this directory,
please contact the
Cottage Grove Sentinel
@ 541-942-3325