Lenten Greetings!
Reverend Michael Phillips Reflections: To kick-off our "Pastor of the Month Series" of Blog Posts, I shall start with my pastor, Reverend Michael Phillips, who, considering Biblical standards, is also my regional bishop. Reverend Phillips is the Pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church (LCMS) in Lima, Ohio and he is also the First Regional Vice President out of Five Regional Vice Presidents. His vocation of First Regional Vice President should actually be called "First Regional Bishop," because he is the pastor to and over other pastors in The Northwest Region of The Ohio District of The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). Reverend Phillips is, as I like to call him, "The Bishop of Lima." Reverend Phillips is actually a very appropriate pastor to start with for our "Pastor of the Month Series" in March 2020, because St. Patrick's Day is coming up on March 17, 2020 and that is also the 2020 Primary Election Day in Ohio. Reverend Phillips was elected as the First Regional Vice President at The 2018 Ohio District Convention, which was held at Concordia University in Ann Arbor, Michigan on June 28th and 29th, 2018.
Reverend Phillips and St. Patrick actually have a lot in common. They both have an undying and unwavering love for others and a strong desire to serve others. They both love and serve us like Jesus. Reverend Phillips serves us as our pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church (LCMS) in Lima, Ohio and in his vocation as "Bishop of Lima." St. Patrick served the people of Ireland as a Christian Missionary, the First Christian Bishop of Ireland, and a teacher. Reverend Phillips serves his wife, Amy, as her husband, and their sons, Noah and Josiah, as their father and as their pastor. St. Patrick had a wife called Sheelah and I plan to look at St. Patrick and his wife, Sheelah, in another blog post sometime in March 2020. Reverend Phillips has both a Bachelors of Arts Degree in English Literature and a Bachelors of Science Degree in Computer Science from the University of Dubuque in Dubuque, Iowa and a Masters of Divinity Degree from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.
Reverend Phillips teaches Bible Studies on Sunday Morning at 9 AM on Sunday Mornings and on Wednesday Nights at 6:30 PM and he leads the Mass at 10 AM on Sunday Mornings. Reverend Phillips also leads special Masses for high holy days like Christmas Day, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday. St. Patrick also led several Masses, but he had to lead them in Irish instead of English or Latin or German. St. Patrick taught the Irish, how to read and write.
Long before Reverend Phillips became our pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church (LCMS) in Lima, Ohio and long before I was even born, we had both an English Mass and a German Mass every Sunday. My late great-grandmother, Hannah Laufer-Dawson, took my late grandmother, Carol Dawson-O'Flannery, my late uncles Bud and Earl Dawson, and my aunts, Violet Dawson-Scheele and Viola Dawson-Wildermuth, when they were children to the German Mass at Immanuel Lutheran Church (LCMS) in Lima, Ohio. Aunt Violet and I are currently members at Immanuel.
Reverend Phillips fulfills all the requirements for the Office of Bishop, as St. Paul told St. Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, but we shall look at how St. Patrick fulfilled these requirements in later blog posts. For more information about St. Patrick, his life, and his ministry in Ireland, please see my latest Christian romance novel The Rising of The Moon Book 2: Faith, Hope, and Love, which has a lot of history in it, which can be found in the Shop section of my website and at the stores listed below and at the 2020 Vaughnsville Craft and Vendor Show in October 2020. I'm still looking for vendors, so please see the information and link below.
St. Paul wrote thus in 1 Timothy 3:1-7:
"3 This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; 3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; 4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 5 (For if a man know not, how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) 6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good report of them, which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil" (KJV 1611).
Disclaimer: Reverend Phillips did NOT ask me to write this blog. I wrote it, because I felt led by the Holy Spirit to write this blog post, as He leads me to write all of my blog posts.
March 2020 Book Signings:
1. I'll be having a book signing at the Jen's Furniture and Collectible (JFC) on the corner of High Street and Chestnut Street in St. Marys, Ohio on Saturday March 7, 2020 from 11 AM to 3 PM. (This event went on as scheduled.)
2. I'll be having a book signing at the 2020 Waynesfield Winterfest held at Waynesfield-Goshen High School in Waynesfield, Ohio on Saturday March 14, 2020 from 9 AM to 3 PM. (Winterfest is sadly cancelled due to fears over the Corona-virus, but it should be on schedule next year.)
3. I'll be having a book signing at the Jen's Furniture and Collectible (JFC) on the corner of High Street and Chestnut Street in St. Marys, Ohio on Saturday March 28, 2020 from 11 AM to 3 PM. (This event is postponed due to my car needing repaired.)
April 2020 Book Signing(s):
1. I'll be having a book at The Menagerie at 1178 Indiana Avenue in the St. Marys Business Complex in St. Marys, Ohio on Saturday April 4, 2020 from 11 AM to 5 PM. (This event is postponed due to my car needing repaired.)
2. I'll be having a book signing at the 2020 Arts Place Literature Festival held in Dicke Hall at Wright State Lake Campus in Celina, Ohio on Saturday April 18, 2020 from 9 AM to noon. (I might have to change venues, if the Corona Virus Outbreak causes the colleges and universities to remain closed.)
October 2020 Book Signing(s):
1. I'll be having a book signing at the Vaughnsville Craft and Vendor Show at the Vaughnsville Community Center in Vaughnsville from 11 AM to 5 PM.
Vaughnsville Craft and Vendor Show: I will be hosting the 2020 Vaughnsville Craft and Vendor Show on Saturday October 31, 2020 from 11 AM to 5 PM at the Vaughnsville Community Center on State Route 12 in Vaughnsville, Ohio. I'm looking for vendors to come and sell their merchandise. I'm pretty much open to anything legal and clean, but homemade baked goods and craft items are preferred. Please see my "2020 Vaughnsville Craft and Vendor Show: Vendor Entry Form" blog post for more information:
https://ohioirishlutheranpress.com/blogs/news/vaughnsville-craft-and-vendor-show-vendor-entry-form
My Green Irish Angel Statues: My Green Irish Angel Statues are really cute! They are only $1 each and they make great gifts. I have three kinds: 1. Cross-Bearing Angels, 2. Praying Angels, and 3. Angels Holding Butterflies. I like the Cross-Bearing Angels the best, because they are carrying Crosses. Each one bearing a Cross reminds us, that Jesus died on the True Cross to save every single person from death, Hell, Satan, Satan's Demons, Original Sin from Adam and Eve, and their personal sins. They're available exclusively at Jen's Furniture and Collectibles (JFC) on the corner High Street and Chestnut Street in between Circle K Gas Station and Zion Lutheran Church (NALC) in St. Marys, Ohio.
Stores Carrying My Books: My books, which I’ve written and published, are also available at the following stores: Brunner News Agency on Flanders Avenue in Lima, Ohio, Jen’s Furniture and Collectibles (JFC) on High Street in St. Marys, Ohio, The Menagerie at 1178 Indiana Avenue in the St. Marys Business Complex in St. Marys, Ohio, Readmore Hallmark Stores out at Eastgate Plaza and on Elm Street in Lima, Ohio, Wagner’s IGA Grocery Store in Minster, Ohio, and in the Shop section of my website ohioirishlutheranpress.com .
Thank you and Lenten Greetings!
James W. O’Flannery, President and Founder of Ohio Irish Lutheran Press (OIL Press)
Photo Credit: The Ohio District of The LCMS' website: http://oh.lcms.org/