A “Service in Anticipation of Easter” held at Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Friedenberg

While Christians worldwide remain in the latter portion of the pentitential season of Lent, earlier this week was an opportunity to look forward to Easter.
A “Service in Anticipation of Easter” was held at Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Friedenberg Sunday, April 3. The Rev. Dr. Daniel Harmelink, executive director the Concordia Historical Institute in St. Louis, led the service and provided the sermon.
“It’s a way for us to gather and celebrate our Bavarian German ancestors that settled here and a way to keep our community engaged a few times a year,” said Trish Erzfeld, director of Perry County Heritage Tourism and one of the 30-plus attendees at the April 3 service.
The sermon for the Sunday, April 3, service was based on a Scripture reading from Mark 16.
“The microphones are not working today, there are no microphones,” he said. “What a fantastic experience to hear the congregation, that’s you, sing out in this newly renovated church. It’s a pleasure to be here with you.”
Harmelink spoke of the women (and later, the disciples) who visited the tomb of Jesus early that first Easter morning. They possibly felt plagued down with feelings of sin, death and helplessness, Harmelink said.
“The women’s single goal was to adorn the cold and dead body of Jesus with spices as a final, but only temporary effort to delay the smell of decaying flesh while the men who had followed Jesus drowned their unbelief and grief in self-pity and paralysis,” Harmelink said.
“The women drowned their unbelief and grief in busywork. To their utter amazement, the tomb and the tomb’s contents were not as their expected. The stone had been purposefully rolled away. The burial clothes had been purposefully folded up. There was no smelly body to spice up. Nothing at the tomb was according to the women’s plan, but Jesus had been anticipating their arrival. A heavenly messenger had been awaiting their arrival early that Sunday morning…”
The angel greeting the women that first Easter morning delivered a similar message often heard in Scripture: “Do not fear.”
Harmelink then laid out in detail the authenticity of Christ’s rising from the dead.
“The resurrection of Jesus is a historical fact…but our consent to the historical evidence is not enough,” Harmelink said. “Belief it or not, there are individuals who have examined the historical evidence, have agreed that it is historically shown that Jesus rose from the dead but they still will not put their saving faith in Jesus, they will not put their trust in the word of Christ.”
The Gospel message is that the sinless, Lamb of God, sacrificed in the place of sinners, Harmelink noted.
Christ’s death and resurrection, validates His word, and this invites us to put our total trust in Him and His promises, Harmelink said. “Jesus instructs each of us to find Him where he has promised to be found, not where we feel His Spirit may reside…tomorrow, the next day, the next time the weight of our many sins weighs heavily upon us, where will we search for that crucified, resurrected One?”
The one and only Savior is found in the Word he has given us, at the baptismal font and in the bread and wine at the altar for Holy Communion, Harmelink said.

Darlene Kiefer, a former member of Hill of Peace, was the organist. Her daughter, Amanda Kirn, and granddaughter, Isabel Kirn, played flute during portions of the service.
After the service, refreshments were served across the street in the church’s reception hall.
“I’ve been coming down for eight years,” Harmelink said. “The congregation closed here and a lot of people went to Immanuel (Perryville). This became farther and farther out of town so some people said, ‘I’m not coming.’”
From Hill of Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, former other Lutheran congregations formed – Immanuel in Perryville, Zion in Crosstown, Zion in Longtown as well as congregation in Point Rest.
“We have three services a year,” Harmelink said. “We’re trying to get people to remember. This is a ‘mother church’ for those three congregations. There’s also another one that has closed.”
The other one Harmelink is referring to is Point Rest. We have people that say their grandparents were members here, their great-grandparents were members here. But it’s also for the younger people. Many have never been in a church that didn’t have a microphone or a video screen. This is an old time church experience.”
The pulpit used to be directly above the altar, similar to the front area of Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar, according to Harmelink.
“The story is…a pastor was called here and said, ‘I’m not going up in that thing,’ so they tore that thing down and put it on the side.
Now, a large painting of the Last Supper is in place on the wall where the pulpit used to be
“I think here the emphasis is more the worship service,” Harmelink said. “Saxon Lutheran Memorial they have plenty of cabins but there’s not a church on site. This is more about what’s going on Sunday morning.”
“There used to be a wooden fence around the church and people would tie up their horses. People would come on buggies and horseback, so this church goes way, way back.”
The church building, constructed in 1885 by German Bavarians, is the second structure. From 1838 to 1846, services were held in members’ homes until a church was built on Frankenberg Hill overlooking the Cinque Hommes Creek bottom. Peace Lutheran Cemetery is still at this site, which is just east of Highway 61 and north of Highway P (about four miles southeast of Perryville).
Sunday’s worship service was held after repairs and renovations were recently completed.Water had leaked onto the church’s ceiling, causing damage, toward the front of the structure. Painting was completed earlier this year.
Hill of Peace in Friedenberg is located at the corner of Perry County Roads 304 and 302. It is about three miles northwest of Longtown and about seven miles southwest of Crosstown.