Ten years ago was a challenging year for our church family. In 2012 a young Seminary graduate, Ryan Schlicht, was assigned to serve here at St Paul Clintonville. This young pastor worked to strengthen the ministry here. He started our church’s website, he created the church’s Facebook page to be able to better connect with each other, and he began posting sermon videos online. Many of Pastor Schlicht’s sermons are still posted online, you can find them at youtube.com/@stpaulclintonville. Pastor Schlicht also made sure to have many faith-building opportunities here, like book club and VBS. Ryan loved the Lord and is known for having put a sign that simply said “Jesus” by the door he went through to start each service.
In 2014, Pastor Schlicht was diagnosed with an illness that soon took his life. Ask anyone who was around our church at that time and when they think of Pastor Schlicht, they speak with confidence of the example he gave. Pastor Schlicht trusted the Lord. His final weeks were a beautiful and powerful sermon on that trust. While we mourn for the loss of a pastor, a friend, and a minister for the Church, we rejoice that we knew him. Pastor Schlicht’s legacy lives on here through those he impacted and who were encouraged in faith by him. 2014 was a very challenging year that the Spirit used to strengthen the faith of the believers here.
Pastor Schlicht left behind his wife Stacey, who was pregnant at the time, and their one year old daughter, Adeline. After his passing, Stacey moved to the Milwaukee area.
As a church family, we want to remember Pastor Schlicht, especially this year. We are planning on doing this in 2 ways.
· Firstly, we will make some blank cards that you can take and write a message for the Schlicht family. Let them know that they are not forgotten. At the end of February, we will send them to the Schlicht family. If you won’t be able to write a card here, you can email a message to info@stpaulclintonville.com and we will include it.
· Secondly, we will be taking a free-will offering for the education of young Adeline and Gabriel. If you so choose to give, please bring it or send it to church by the end of February. We will place a special box for collecting these offerings in the narthex/gathering area. You can also give using your normal offering envelopes. Label any offering given for this special purpose as “Schlicht” on your envelopes.
If you have any questions about this, please talk with Bob Petermann or Chuck Schowalter. Please have the cards and/or free-will offering brought to the church by the last Sunday of February 2024, February 25th.