by Erik Ault

            (Plain Press, November 2022) On October 9, Immanuel Lutheran Church at 2928 Scranton Road celebrated an afternoon of arts and culture presented by Immanuel Arts and Music.

   The church building, standing on the corner of Scranton and Seymour since 1879, has weathered many cultural and physical changes in the area but the congregation is still active and has been meeting regularly since then.

   The audience was welcomed by the current pastor Rev. Jerry Jablonski: “I have always loved having a good organ and a good organist. That way, if on some Sunday my preaching is not so good, the people can say, ‘The sermon was not great but at least the organ was super!’” After his remarks were Scriptural readings by congregants.

   In attendance was the retired Rev. Horst Hoyer, who started pastoring the congregation in 1956. He guided the congregation toward acquiring a new organ, which is still in place. It was dedicated on September 13, 1964.

   The celebration started with an organ performance by Shane Brandes. The concert was entitled, “Bugs and Bach” which were various bug-related pieces interspersed between selections of Bach. “Because Bach is considered beyond all the other organ composers, the others tend to get squished between his works like bugs,” Shane said, giving him inspiration. So, he set out to include pieces that specifically referenced bugs, such as “Flight of the Bumblebee” by Rimsky-Korsakov and even “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” by the Beatles.

   After the recital, a reception in the fellowship hall followed where artists displayed their works, and Salena Stewart serenaded the gathering with the saxophone. Drinks were provided by Forest City Brewery and Vino Veritas Cellars.

   Immanual Lutheran meets every Sunday for a 9AM service in German and a 10:30AM service in English.