Greetings Friends, 

Thank you for visiting our website! 

We pray that you, your family, and your friends are staying safe, healthy, and well rooted in God's word. 

Prince of Peace is part of the larger Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. The LCMS, as it is often known, is 2.5 million member church body with about 6,000 congregations. You can go to LCMS.org to learn more about our denomination.

You are welcome to join us for worship on a Sunday morning at 10:30 am. You will find our church’s atmosphere warm, loving, and inviting. Note that we do practice social distancing and encourage all worshipers to wear face masks.

We also offer a livestream of our worship service through Facebook Live starting at 10:30am every Sunday! You can access that by clicking this link:https://facebook.com/princeofpeacelcms/live 

If you have any questions about Prince of Peace, don't hesitate to contact us at poportonville@gmail.com.

January 24th, 2021
Dear Brother’s and Sister’s in Christ at Prince of Peace,

After five years leading our congregation in worship Pastor Kassen has decided to retire from Prince of Peace. February 14th will be the last service that he leads us in worship.

I would like to take this time to thank Pastor for what he has brought to our church and I am sure all of you share the same feelings. Over the last 5 years he has added the projectors to the front of the church, integrated many new technologies not usually seen in churches of our size, grown the congregation, and most importantly in the last year streaming online services as well as adjust the services for those that come in person. Without these added efforts and the help of our members, we would not be able to continue having services during the Covid-19 shutdown, and continue to add attendance through the Live online services.

Since we will not be able to gather in the fellowship hall for a potluck, we are providing a piece of letterhead. Please add some thoughts and memories, and return it to church by mail or in person by February 14, we will put these all together as a gift to pastor. You can also email me at nathan.palmiter@gmail.com as well, if that is more convenient.

The Elders and myself are in meetings with Pastor Matt Schuler from Oxford to discuss our next steps ensuring our church continues providing services for our members and community in Ortonville.

I encourage all of you to pray for Pastor and his family, while he moves on to enjoy his retirement, and for our leadership to find a new pastor to lead us as we continue to worship together at Prince of Peace.

As we move forward from here, one thing we have gotten used to over the last year is change. We all can be reassured that God will continue to be with us as we continue forward, spreading his word, and worshiping at Prince of Peace.

I have included this note from Pastor Kassen:

I wish to thank Nathan Palmiter for allowing me to share a few words with you in this letter.

It has been a blessing to serve as your pastor at Prince of Peace these past 5 years. I began my ministry with you in February 2016 with an 18-month contract to serve as vacancy pastor. As the months went by, I found myself thoroughly enjoying getting to know you and working with you as your pastor, and when you asked me about renewing my contract, I heartedly said, “Yes.”

Together we have served God’s kingdom in the Ortonville area. Though we are a small church, we have grown faster than any other church in Oakland County. We have baptized 7 children, confirmed 3 students and 3 adults with 4 others currently receiving instruction and there have been 5 adult professions of faith. While our baptized membership is currently 68 adult and child members, our average worship attendance is in the 50s which shows that the participation level of the congregation is quite high. There is great future potential for Prince of Peace.

It amazes me how God can turn adversity into blessing. As Nathan mentioned above, the Coronavirus brought about an abrupt halt to in person worship, we were able to adapt to online worship which actually increased our worship participation and attendance. Through it all, people have strongly supported Prince of Peace with their offerings which has helped us maintain and grow our ministry.

It is now time for me to step aside and enter full-time retirement at the advice of my doctor and my family, especially my children. Though I am not facing any imminent medical crisis, there are some signs I need to heed and address.

Prince of Peace has a strong leadership core who will guide you through the transition to your next pastor. They will be working closely with the Circuit Visitor, Pastor Matthew Schuler, and the Michigan District to provide uninterrupted ministry services to the church and its members.

I will always hold Prince of Peace near to my heart and will continue to lift you up in prayer.

Your servant in Christ, Pastor John Kassen

For those of you that do not know, we have a webpage and a Facebook page that are kept up to date. Both locations have a link to watch the live services and past recordings.

https://princeofpeacelcms.org/

https://www.facebook.com/princeofpeacelcms/

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to
those who are the called according to His purpose.

Sincerely,

Nathan Palmiter
President at Prince of Peace