Rev. Caleb Butler’s first day as the new worship minister at Wentzville Christian Church was Sept. 12, but his debut before the congregation was during the worship service on Sept. 18, just a week ago. "It went real smooth," Butler said. "The former worship minister, Dale Keys, was still here, so we kind of co-led, with him singing some harmony, and then he led a song and I sang some harmony. It was a good transition. The band jumped in and welcomed me very quickly and very smoothly." Senior minister the Rev. Kendall Bopp said everything went great. "His role is to create the whole worship …

A smorgasbord of delicious dining delights and tasty tunes from two live bands, plus myriad games of skill and chance for all ages highlight St. Theodore Catholic Church’s annual Fall Festival, starting at 11 a.m. Sunday at the church picnic grounds, near the intersection of Highway P and Grothe Road in Flint Hill. The fall fest and the summer parish picnic raise the bulk of the money to support St. Theodore Catholic School. "They’re our biggest fundraisers to keep the cost of tuition down in our school," said Chris Enloe, one of the picnic officers. Mary Enloe, also a picnic officer and …

Most of us still know where we were and what we were doing on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center and later the Pentagon. The attacks ripped a gaping hole in the hearts of Americans, a hole that still hasn’t healed as we collectively remember the attack and the victims 10 years later. "9/11, like somebody said, is kind of like our Pearl Harbor—this generation’s Pearl Harbor," Pastor Scott McNees of Wentzville Assembly of God said last week, before his church hosted 9/11 survivor Sujo John. "We’ve got to remember it." McNees and his church members planned…

September 11, 2001 began as a normal day for Sujo John as he started the work day in the North Tower of the World Trade Center—with one exception. John, an immigrant from India, had a good job, but he was still vaguely dissatisfied, like something was missing. That morning at work, in an email sent at 8:05 a.m. to a church friend, John described what was missing—a deeper commitment to God and Christianity. At 8:46 a.m., terrorists slammed a plane—American Flight 11 out of Boston—into the north tower, irrevocably changing the lives of John, and the country, forever. "9/11, like somebody said, …

On July 16, volunteers from The United Methodist Church at Wentzville and four other area United Methodist churches broke ground on a Habitat For Humanity home in St. Peters. If all goes according to schedule, the volunteer members of the Methodist Habitat Coalition will help put a deserving family into a new home by Thanksgiving. "Without support from groups like the Methodist Coalition, there is no way that we could do what we do," said Andrea Hughes, Habitat For Humanity RE-Store manager for the St. Charles County area. "This is their fourth home. It’s groups like this who care, who want …

Pastor Mark Ford and several members of RiverOaks Church in Wentzville recently returned from a trip to Nicaragua to build homes—but they also helped Nicaraguans build strong, Christian lives. "There were a lot of people who made decisions to accept Christ as their savior," Ford said. Ford and his contingent, which included his daughter Tory, went to Mateare, 20 minutes from the capital city of Managua. They were there July 23-30, along with a group of 20 people from a church in Blue Springs, MO, under the auspices of Project Hope, a nondenominational Christian organization. "They started it…

For Thomas and Sharon Rudebeck of Foristell, the art of Christian illusion means capturing the audience members' attention spectacularly so they can wow them spiritually. "It is the message through the performance—it’s geared toward God, and that’s it," Thomas Rudebeck said. "It’s as solid as it comes, and it comes from the gospel." The Rudebecks, who call themselves Denial 3, will perform at 6 p.m. today at Wentzville Christian Church, 1507 Highway Z. The show features top-notch illusion—people and objects disappear and reappear, laws of nature are seemingly defied—with the added element of …

When Pastor Scott McNees made his initial visit to Wentzville First Assembly of God in 2004, he felt like he had just hopped out of a time machine. "When I first walked into this church seven years ago, it was July in 2004, it looked like you were walking back in time," McNees said. "It was just amazing – the look here. This place was perfectly preserved from 1971." It included wall to wall pews that left little room to move, old, beat-up hymnals, an "atrocious light fixture" hanging over the choir area, masonry walls, colored windows, and just a piano and organ for music. "In the seven years…

As part of a larger overall topic called "RelationshipsMatter," the Methodist Church at Wentzville is offering couples the opportunity to invest in their future happiness through a small group study called "Marriage: Built To Last." The class, which is open to the public and next meets this Wednesday, July 27, is intended to give couples a chance for success in their lives together. "The goal was to find ways to strengthen marriages," said Rev. Jan Tucker, the church’s Pastor of Connections. "Everyone can read the same statistics – we see that, at this point, there’s an almost 60 percent …

Rollicking live music from two bands, a vast array of tasty treats from fried chicken to snow cones plus games of skill and chance for all ages highlight the annual St. Theodore Parish Picnic starting at 11 a.m. and running until 7 p.m. today at the church picnic grounds, a stone’s throw from the intersection of Highway P and Grothe Road in Flint Hill. The picnic, one of three annual events that raise the bulk of the money to support St. Theodore Catholic School, is a tradition dating to at least 1906. "You get people who say they came with their parents," St. Theodore priest Father Gary …

Clare Ortmeier, who started July 1 as principal of St. Theodore Catholic School in Flint Hill, is taking a cautious, measured approach to her new assignment. "I am taking some time to learn about this community first," she said. "I want to become acquainted with it – actually the setting is not much different from the one I grew up in, so I feel like I’m coming home. But my plan is to not bring a new vision to the school, but to enrich and expand the vision that already belongs to St. Theodore. So my plans would revolve around that, and continuing the partnership the school has with parents …

Freedom of religion was so important to the founders of our country that it is guaranteed in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It is part of what makes the United States a bastion for all kinds of individual freedom, and local pastors appreciate it. "When I think of freedom of religion, and the United States, religious freedom is one of the building blocks of our society," said the Rev. David Conley of The Methodist Church at Wentzville. "I cannot imagine our country without freedom of religion. And since we have this freedom, we in the religious community are free to be prophetic…

After a year of sharing a gym with the Wentzville R-IV School District, Immanuel Lutheran School is breaking ground on a new gymnasium. The new gym will be a large, regulation-size gymnasium with 1,500 square feet of kitchen and cafeteria space. School Principal Allison Dolak said staff members at Immanuel Lutheran have had to make due without a gym and a full service cafeteria for the past year.“The people that work here are very accommodating and very flexible, so they understood why we couldn’t have a gym right away and just worked to adapt.”Dolak said the new gym is necessary to …

When the category EF5 tornado tore a wide path of destruction through Joplin, MO on May 22, most people could only watch the accounts in horror or donate to the American Red Cross to help relief efforts. But members of the Emergency Response Team (ERT) at The Methodist Church at Wentzville grabbed their chainsaws and tools and headed down to Joplin to help with the massive cleanup. It was a powerful, moving experience. "The hardest thing in any tornado is the people are lost," said Rodger McQuate, part of the church’s ERT. "You realize at five o’clock they had everything in life, and at 5:15 …

It will be rock for the ages when Christian rock band Daniel Amos and rock group Big Planet take the stage starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at RiverOaks Church in Wentzville. Big Planet, the opening act, is a local band featuring guitarist-vocalist Eric Peterson, guitarist-vocalist Chase Marler, drummer Darren Baker, and, for this show, bassist Cisco Martinez. Peterson and Marler are members of RiverOaks and play in the church’s worship band along with church pastor Mark Ford. "All three of us are pretty active in our churches," Peterson said, referring to Big Planet’s core. "Christianity is a part…

When Tom Rodriguez and Kristen Fuentez of Wentzville Christian School attended an international competition of the Accelerated Christian Education Association recently, it was the culmination of an entire school year of preparation. It paid off for both of them, as they left the competition involving 2,700 students from around the world with three "Top 6" medals each. Pastor Scott McNees of Wentzville First Assembly of God, the church that operates Wentzville Christian School, said Tom and Kristen’s experience at the event was tremendous. "The international convention was the highlight of the…

Wentzville Christian Church’s upcoming youth production of Beauty and the Beast Jr., like all the previous plays the church has produced, will combine entertainment with a chance to show the public what the church has to offer. "It still falls under outreach, it’s just for a different age group," said church member Tammy Rodenbaugh, who is coordinating the play. The play, which has "Jr." added to it because it is shorter with less dialogue and fewer songs than the original stage show, also has messages that are appropriate for a church setting. "There are really good lessons and values--stay …

Whether helping someone cope with the death of a loved one, deal with an empty nest when the last child goes off to school or easing someone through a traumatic event like a job loss, pastoral grief counseling comes in many forms. "Everyone who’s paying attention in life grieves," said the Rev. David Conley of The Methodist Church at Wentzville. There are differing levels of grief. "Any kind of change in life can cause grief," Conley said. Even positive events like a wedding. "When I work with folks with weddings, I talk about the phrase ‘Good grief,’ which we often say. Getting ready for a …

Church signs, with messages clever or contrived, are used by many churches to grab the attention of passersby, with the intention of reeling them in for a closer look and listen. "We always tried to choose something short and pithy, something that would catch people’s eye," said Pastor Scott McNees of Wentzville First Assembly of God. "And we had a few comments about it. I would see people drive by and slow way down so they could read the sign." In the days of a "manual" church sign that was changed by hand, Immanuel Lutheran Church in Wentzville would put up different phrases each week. "Now…

In about a month, 40 members of St. Theodore Catholic Church in Flint Hill will participate in the church’s 14th mission trip to Mexico to build houses for the impoverished people living there. "The communities and families we help are amazing, and it’s such a big thing for them," said parish member Kerry Heisserer, who, along with her husband Curt Heisserer, will be going on the mission trip for the fourth time. Before the trip can happen, much fundraising takes place. Each mission member raises $200 to $250, and there are also car washes and taco dinners at the church, along with a golf …