Second Retirement of Pastor David Dissen

This post is a few weeks overdue. 

Pr  Dave Dissen recently retired after eleven years of part-time service as Vacancy Pastor of the University Lutheran Chapel of Hope in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and after over fifty years of ordination as an LCMS pastor.  He has also served as the Vacancy Pastor at my congregation -- Zion Lutheran Church in Poplar Bluff -- and Senior Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. Over the years he had supervised twenty LCMS Seminarian Vicars, including my current Pastor, Rev. Marty E. Reed.  His own vicarage was in Cuba at the beginning of the communist revolution there.  Pr. Dissen has also served as a Missouri District Vice President, member of the Board of Regents at Concordia Seminary, chaplain of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department and member of various synodical task forces.  According to Dr. Martin Noland's paper in The Theology and Life of Dr. Robert D. Preus, Pr. Dissen was president of Dr. Preus' International Foundation for Lutheran Confessional Research which was originally associated with the Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics series.  His chapel devotions are frequently seen reprinted in Christian News.

Here are the last letters he sent to the University Lutheran Chapel of Hope board of directors:

Greetings everyone,

    I want to express my sincere thanks to all you Board Members for the very thoughtful gift presented to me yesterday by Beverly Lewis at the Chapel service by the Board at my retirement. 

    Thanks so much for the digital desk clock and pad and also the very nice card.  I'm glad to see the numbers on the clock are very large.  At my age, large letters help.  Most of you don't know what I am talking about now but if you live long enough, you will experience it for yourself.

    Thanks also for the beautiful altar flowers.  It is not often that we have altar flowers for our Chapel services so this was an extra added touch.

    Thanks also to Curt Wills for providing the supper, to Kirk Sandfort for the very tasty and wonderfully decorated cake, to Howard Hemman for bringing the salad and Joyce Wollenburg for bringing special plates, napkins and also some brownies.  Thanks also to all those who cleaned up after the supper.

    These past eleven years have gone quickly.  I thank the Lord for permitting me to provide a Word and Sacrament Ministry to our college students and also to see some of the immediate blessings of this ministry in the lives of some of the students.

    You have a great leadership team for the future in Pastor Schwiesow and Matthew Younghouse.  Give them your continued support in the coming years as you have supported my ministry in the past.  You have been a true blessing to his ministry and will continue to be. 

    Thanks again for a wonderful retirement supper.  Since I have asked but have not received a "clear" answer as to who all was involved in planning yesterday's event, I will say to all of you and especially to those who did the planning: "THANK YOU SO MUCH" for a wonderful retirement gift.

    In Christ Jesus,

    Pastor Dissen,

    Rev. 2,10b

     

GREETINGS EVERYONE AS ANOTHER ACADEMIC YEAR COMES TO A CLOSE,

Tomorrow, May 8th, is our last worship service for this semester.  We worship at 5 PM with Holy Communion and supper after the service which is provided by the Board Members and co-ordinated by Curt Wills.  Thanks, Curt, for your help.

This is my last service in my present capacity since I am retiring from the Campus Ministry after the end of this month.  Pastor Wayne Schwisow and Matthew Younghouse are assuming the new leadership.  They are a real God-send to our campus ministry and, with God's blessings, will do very well.

Many thanks to all those who have been such a tremendous help to me in this vital ministry the past 11 years.  It has been a joy to be involved in this campus ministry.

No Bible Study next Wednesday.

All personal possessions must be removed from the campus facilities by the end of Friday, May 13th.  The locks will be re-keyed and your present key to the back door and the library/computer room will no longer work.

Congratulations to all our graduates.  May you be a blessing to many in the future. 

In Christ Jesus,

Pastor Dissen,

Rev. 2,10b

STAND UP! - STAND UP FOR JESUS!
One of my many favorite hymns in The Lutheran Hymnal is "Stand Up! - Stand Up for Jesus!" I realize that some Christians do not like this hymn because they think that it is too militant! They don’t want to hear Christians singing about fighting and warfare! However, these Christians overlook the inescapable truth that this side of heaven we Christians are members of the Church Militant, not the Church Triumphant.
Jesus Himself reminds you and me and all His followers that in this life there is a daily battle going on between right and wrong, and truth and falsehood in which we are engaged. He states very plainly: "I came not to send peace, but a sword."
As Christian students at a secular college at SEMO in Cape Girardeau, you know all too well the constant temptations you have both on and off campus to become bed partners with sin, to silence and desensitize your conscience when it comes to sins of commission and omission, and to excuse and/or rationalize any covenant you make with sin and Satan.
Christians with a knowledge of God’s Word and an operative brain know that our college students (and all of us) are constantly faced with very powerful anti-moral and anti-Christian forces that confront all of us. These forces are evident in college professors and fellow students who ridicule the Bible and Christianity. These forces attack our Christian faith in classroom books that undermine the truth of God’s Word.  They assault our Christian faith and moral decency through the filth of poisonous pornographic magazines and the moral debauchery of inter-net websites that feed sinful lusts. They seek to destroy our Christian values through seductive and destructive movies, songs and TV programs that laugh at sin and chastity, ridicule Christian family life and make a mockery of Christ’s morally pure truths.
As you students either continue your studies at SEMO after I leave the campus ministry or as you pursue your chosen career after graduation, my prayer is that you will always "Stand Up - Stand Up for Jesus! Fight against all the treacherous forces of evil and your own sinful flesh by taking to heart the words of the hymn writer: "Put on the Gospel armor, Each piece put on with prayer; Where duty calls or danger, Be never wanting there."
Receive the daily strength that you need to "Stand Up for Jesus" by going to the Word of God’s Grace in which He assures you that He forgives you all your sins and removes the guilt and stain of your sinful lives because Christ died for you and rose again. Keep up your DBR degree—your Daily Bible Reader degree. Read it with reverence. Read it for the indwelling guidance and strength of the Holy Spirit. Read it to build up your Christian faith, life and character. Through the unconquerable power of God in His Word and His holy sacraments, He will use you to be a spiritual and moral blessing in this sin-perishing world and will on the last day give you the crown of eternal life by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Never be ashamed to "Stand Up! - Stand Up for Jesus!" and His Word of truth.
Prayer:

In Christ Jesus,
Rev. David V. Dissen,
Lutheran Chapel of Hope
PO Box 1465 Cape Girardeau, MO 63702
Tel.: Home: 573-334-5736 Cell: 573-837-0969
Website:  www.lutheransonline.com/chapelofhope
　 O God, help us always to Stand Up for Jesus! We pray in His holy name, Amen.

Pastoral Relative



Ordination Certificate of Rev. G.E. Ahner














































Well, there are pastors in my family, but you have to go back a long ways to find them. My Great-Great-Great Grandfather Friedrich August Ahner's brother G.E. Ahner was a Missouri Synod pastor. Their parents were the 1839 Saxon Lutheran immigrants August Friedrich Ahner and Maria Rosine Grobe.

So, let's do a memorial for Rev. Gottlob Ehregott Ahner.

I think that he has some descendents who became pastors too.

b. 5/12/1845 Frohna, MO
d. 12/8/1924 Kirkwood, MO

The Personal and Family History of The Reverend Pastor G.E. Ahner

Translated from the original German by Reverend Walter Cook in 1940.

Reverend Ahner wrote this account when he lived in retirement 1904-1924.

He was born in Frohna, Perry County, Missouri, a son of August Frederick (or Friedrich) Ahner and his spouse, Maria Rosine, nee Grobe, on May 12, 1845, and was baptized Mar 15, 1845. His given name in full was Gottlob Ehregott. It was customary among the very religious-minded Saxon Lutheran immigrants to choose names appropriate to their faith in God. The literal meaning of the name Gottlob is "Praise God" and Ehregott is "Honor God". He wrote this account of his life during his retirement at Kirkwood, MO."

My Christian parents brought me up in the fear, nurture, and admonition of the Lord. At the age of five years they sent me to the Christian Day School conducted by Pastor Loeber. Besides reading, writing, and arithmetic, my chief studies were devoted to our Christian religion. Of course, it was all in German. The Bible, Luther's Catechism, and the Hymn Book were the chief text books. Pastor Loeber insisted on a lot of memory work. Dr. Dietrich's comprehensive explanations with numerous proof texts had to be memorized.

At the age of 13, I was confirmed in the church at Frohna, by Pastor Loeber. [This would have been Rev. Christian (or Christoph?) H. Loeber, son of Altenburg's first pastor G.H. Loeber. -Tim]

1863

The hearts' desire of my dear parents was that I would become a pastor, and for that reason I decided to study for the holy ministry. At the age of 18 I became a student of theology at the Concordia Practical (short-course) Seminary, then located in St. Louis, Missouri, but moved to Springfield, Illinois after my time. The professors at that time were Dr. Walther, Prof. Craemer, and Prof. Brauer. I was graduated in 1868.

1868

My first field of labor in the Lord was at Blue Earth, Faribault County, Minnesota. This was at that time the base for mission operations in that region. A number of preaching stations were started, first at Hinnesota Lake - two places - and then at Mapleton, Willow Creek, Fairmont, Skunk Lake, Town Rost, Brewster, Tomfort, Luverne (Iowa), and Blue Earth City. In this extensive field I labored five years as a circuit rider.

1873

After that I accepted a call of the church at Nicollet, in Nicollet County, Minnesota. There I also served a congregation in the Winnebago Agency, Blue Earth County, and a small preaching station nearby, besides occasionally taking care of some of the above-named stations. That was a large field of labor, some of the places over 100 miles away from home.

1879

In 1879 I accepted a call to Green Isle, Sibley County, MINN. where I continued my labors in the Lord for about 10 years. There was one great advantage, namely, I did not have to be away from home and the growing family so much any more. And it was indeed necessary, because we were troubled more and more with sickness, especially in the wintertime. I was glad to get a call to Dayton, Iowa, and accepted it. But as for the cold winters and the effect on our health, the difference was slight. Here I also had a small preaching place at Gowrie, Iowa.

1891

Two years later I received a call from New Haven, Missouri, and accepted it. This congregation proved to be strong enough to support a pastor with a considerable family, but not a teacher of the parish school. I did the best I could to perform the duties at this, my last field of labor in the Lord. I was getting old, and the infirmities were increasing until I suffered a nervous breakdown. It was high time to retire.

In 1904 I moved to Kirkwood, Missouri at the age of 59 years.

Looking backwards over the 36 years of strenuous service in the Lord's harvest fields, I at times wonder what I accomplished in those years. With the exception of Nicollet, I taught the parish school in all other charges. This was my heaviest burden, my joy, my hope. I put my trust and hope in the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. He gave us a precious promise in I Cor. 15:38: 'Your labors are not in vain in the Lord'. 'All depends on our possessing God's abundant grace and blessing.'What I have preached and taught, the saving Gospel of Christ, assures me that my labors have not been in vain in the Lord. In this blessed confidence I pray like Simeon: 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word.' What I have preached to others all these years, that is my hope and comfort. In this blessed faith I hope to depart in peace. Keep me in this saving faith by thy grace for Jesus' sake. Amen."

Family Data Translated 7-25-1971 AJC

On May 13, 1869 I married Johanna Elizabeth John, born May 13, 1851 in the state of Indiana, her parents being F.W. John and his wife, Martha Louise, nee Barth. We were married by our dear honored Papa: Pastor F. W. John, at Eisleben, Scott County, Missouri. (Note: the name of Eisleben was changed to Illmo during World War I) My brother Friederich August Ahner and Gustav Polack served as Witnesses at the wedding. To this marriage 13 children were born.