Sara Mielke was born on February 17, 1978 in Vancouver, Washington. She was the oldest daughter of Rick and Sheri Backous. She spent her elementary years camping and skiing with her family. In high school, she played in the band where she met her future husband, and was active in Knowledge Bowl, Academic Decathlon, Model United Nations, Math Team, Vancouver Youth Symphony, the Bay Arts Clarinet Ensemble, and many other activities. In 1996 Sara graduated from Hudson's Bay High School and Clark College at the same time. She went on to study biology at the University of Washington before changing her major to political science. As a political science major, she focused her studies on the effect of interest groups on American public policy. She graduated from the University of Washington with her Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1998. Sara married her high school sweetheart, Jeff Mielke, on July 25, 1998. Sara and Jeff moved to Columbus, Ohio in the fall when Jeff began a Ph.D. program at the Ohio State University. Sara soon found a job as Membership Coordinator for the Ohio Environmental Council, and she increased the OEC membership greatly increased on the West Coast. Just in the last couple weeks she helped get the Pickerington Ponds issue on the ballot in Ohio, an effort to stop development on a wetland area. She was enjoying settling into married life, and was just beginning to know the joys of thrift-shop shopping. Sara became the proud "mother" of Hudson, a golden retriever puppy, in February. She is survived by her husband, Jeff, of Columbus, Ohio, her parents, Rick and Sheri Backous, three sisters, Lindsay, Erica, and Kelly Backous, and four grandparents, Bill and Ruby Backous, Shirley Rainey, and Wes Rainey, all of Vancouver, Washington; as well as her father-in-law and mother-in-law, Richard and Marilee Mielke, and sister(-in-law), Alison Mielke, of Vancouver, Washington and her grandmother-in-law, Deegee Ingle of Milwaukie, Oregon. Please take time to write a few memories of Sara on the Pooh Stationery enclosed at the back of this worship folder. Leave your thoughts in the basket on the table in the narthex. Memorials may be sent to: Ohio Environmental Council 1207 Grandview Avenue - Suite 201 Columbus OH 43212-3449 & The Sara (Backous) Mielke Memorial Fund c/o Messiah Lutheran Church 905 NW 94th Street Vancouver WA 98665 SARA J. MIELKE MEMORIAL SERVICE APRIL 29, 1999 - 6:30 P.M. THE PRELUDE Music from Selected CD's Jupiter, Fire and Rain (congregation stands) Pastor: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. People: Amen Pastor: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of all mercy and the God of all consolation. He comforts us in a our sorrows so that we can comfort others in their sorrows. People: Thanks be to God. OPENING SONG Lord, I Lift Your Name on High (Please sing twice) Lord, I lift Your name on high! Lord, I love to sing Your praises! I'm so glad You're in my life! I'm so glad You came to save us! You came from heaven to earth to show the way. From the earth to the cross, my debt to pay. From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky; Lord, I lift Your name on high! (C)1989 Marantha!Music CCLI License No. 365579 Pastor: The Lord be with you. People: And also with you. Pastor: Let us pray, O God of grace and glory, we remember before you today our sister Sara Mielke. We thank you for giving her to us to know and to love as companions in our journey on earth. In your boundless compassion, console us who mourn. Give us your aid, so we may see in death the gate to eternal life, that we may continue our course on earth in confidence until, by your call, we are reunited with those who have gone before us; through your son, Jesus Christ our Lord. People: Amen (congregation may be seated) SCRIPTURE READINGS AND HYMNODY Philippians 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. HYMN My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less LBW 294 (vs. 1,2,4) 1. My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus' blood and righteousness; No merit of my own I claim, But wholly lean on Jesus' name. 2. When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace; In ev'ry high and stormy gale My anchor holds within the veil. Refrain Refrain On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand. 4. When he shall come with trumpet sound, Oh, may I then in Him be found, Clothed in His righteousness alone, Redeemed to stand before the throne! Refrain PSALM 121 I lift up my eyes to the hills--from where will my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore. MUSIC Angel Dream Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers A TIME OF EULOGIES MUSIC Wrapped in Grey XTC John 3:14-17 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, " that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Ruth 1:16b Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people she be my people, and your God my God. SERMON HYMN Borning Cry 1. I was there to hear your borning cry, I'll be there when you are old. I rejoiced the day you were baptized, To see your life unfold. 2. I was there when you were but a child, With a faith to suit you well: In a blaze of fight you wandered off To find where demons dwell. 3. When you heard the wonder of the word I was there to cheer you on; You were raised to praise the living Lord, To whom you now belong 4. When you find someone to share your time And you join your hearts as one, I'll be there to make your verses rhyme From dusk till rising sun. 5. In the middle ages of your life, Not too old, no longer young, I'll be there to guide you through the night, Complete what I've begun. 6. When the evening gently closes in And you shut your weary eyes, I'll be there as I have always been With just one more surprise 7. 1 was there to hear your borning cry, I'll be there when you are old. I rejoiced the day you were baptized To see your life unfold. Used by permission (c)1985 John Ylvisaker, Box 321, Waverly, IA 50697 (congregation stands) Pastor: God has made us His people through Baptism into Christ. Living together in trust and hope, we confess our faith. People: I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH Pastor: Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus, and for an people according to their needs. (after each petition) Pastor: Lord in Your mercy... People: Hear our prayer. Pastor: Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy; through Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. People: Amen LORD'S PRAYER Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our day bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen (congregation stands) CLOSING SONG Shine Jesus Shine 1. Lord, the light of Your love is shining In the midst of the darkness shining: Jesus, Light of the World, shine upon us, Set us free by the truth You now bring us, Shine on me, shine on me. Refrain Shine, Jesus, shine fill this land with the Father's glory; Blaze Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire. Flow, river, flow, flood the nations with grace and mercy; Send forth Your word, Lord, and let there be light. 2. Lord, I come to Your awesome presence, From the shadows into Your radiance; By the blood I may enter Your brightness, Search me, try me, consume all my darkness, Shine on me, shine on me. Refrain Pastor: Into your hands O merciful Savior, we commend your servant Sara Mielke. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive her into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. People: Amen Pastor: Let us go forth in peace. People: In the name of Christ. Amen 3. As we gaze on Your kingly brightness, So our faces display Your likeness; Ever changing from glory to glory, Mirror'd here may our lives tell Your story, Shine on me, shine on me. Refrain (C)1987 Make Way Music, Ltd. CCLI #365579 POSTLUDE Music from selected CD's Return to Pooh Corner. This service was adapted from Occasional Services, (c)1982 Augsburg-Fortress, by permission The Backous and Mielke families thank you for your prayers and the many ways you have expressed your love and thoughtfulness. You are invited to a dinner reception immediately following the Memorial Service in the Lower Level Dining Hall. Please take time to write a few memories of Sara on the Pooh Stationery enclosed at the back of this worship folder. Leave your thoughts in the basket on the table in the narthex. Participants The Rev. Kathleen Braafladt, Presiding Minister The Rev. Peter Braafladt, Assisting Minister Mr. David Teeter, Organist & Piano Accompanist Mr. Jack Eaton, Usher Mr. Stan Jones, Usher Mr. Bob Perier, Usher Mr. Tom Ruge, Usher Messiah Lutheran Church, 905 NW 94th St, Vancouver, WA 98665-6842 ph:360/574-7081 The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America The Paschal Candle The Paschal Candle (also referred to as the Christ Candle) which stands in front of the sanctuary is lighted on Easter and at all services until Ascension Day. The candle is also lighted during all baptisms to symbolize the resurrection character of the individual(s) being baptized. The use of the Paschal Candle at funeral and memorial services is meant to link our baptism with our physical death, as physical death is the completion of our baptism into Christ. Death has been transformed into the gateway through which God raises up a new person in the perfect form which God originally intended. This new and perfect person is the one whom God raises to live eternally with him. Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. -For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. Romans 6:3-5 NRSV
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