We are happy for you to meet
Pastor Jim Mumm
Jim was born in 1937 on a farm in Horton Township in the rural Hancock/Morris Area of Minnesota. In the year of his birth, he received God’s sacred name in Holy Baptism and was adopted into His Family of Believers at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Horton Township. Jim and his six siblings were blessed with devout Christian parents, Henry and Frances Mumm. Henry and Frances lovingly and diligently trained-up their children in the truths of God’s Word. By God’s grace and through faith in Jesus Christ, Henry and Frances now live with the LORD God in heaven.
Jim graduated from Zion Lutheran Grade School in Sanborn, Minnesota; Dr. Martin Luther High School in New Ulm. Minnesota; Northwestern College in Watertown, Wisconsin; and Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, Wisconsin.
During his college years, Jim worked in Road Construction during the summer months and at Bethesda Lutheran Home in Watertown, Wisconsin, as a care-giver during the school months. After graduating from Northwestern College, Jim served for a year as the Director of Recreation at Bethesda Lutheran Home. After entering the Lutheran Ministry, Jim served on Bethesda’s Board of Directors.
After graduating from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 1965, Jim served as a full-time Lutheran Pastor for a total of forty years in the State of Wisconsin. For seven years, he served as the pastor of a Tri-parish composed of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Hill Point, Trinity Lutheran Church in Lime Ridge, and Faith Lutheran Church in Reedsburg. For nineteen years, Jim served as a pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Onalaska. For fourteen years, he served as the founding pastor at Lord of Love Lutheran Church in De Forest.
Since his retirement from the full-time Lutheran Ministry in 2005, Jim has served as a Vacancy Pastor at twelve WELS congregations located in Wisconsin, Florida, the Island of Granada, California, Texas and Nevada. He also taught Christian doctrine in China with China Partners, now titled, “316NOW.”
In his younger years, Jim enjoyed participating in various sports. He’s hunted in Minnesota and Wisconsin and fished in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Canada. Jim enjoys the wonders of God’s Realm of Nature by means of hiking, bicycling and canoeing. He has taken many canoeing trips into the Boundary Waters of Minnesota and Canada with family members, friends and the Lutheran Pioneers.
Jim’s first wife, Dianne nee Erven, passed from this life when she was fifty-nine years old. Jim and Dianne have six children. Jim’s present wife is Gail nee Smith/Knudson. Gail and her deceased husband, John Knudson, have three children. Dianne and John now live in the perfect happiness of God’s heaven which has been earned by Jesus Christ for all people and is given to all of His believers. The United Family of Jim and Gail is composed of nine children, twenty-six grandchildren, and fourteen great grandchildren. Jim and Gail presently live in Onalaska, Wisconsin.
The LORD God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, has richly blessed Jim. The LORD has blessed him with earthly life, faith in Jesus Christ, forgiveness of sins, the privilege to share God’s saving Word with other precious people, Christian family members and friends, many good things to do and enjoy on earth, and with the promise of everlasting life in heaven. Jim says with the inspired writer of Psalm 106:1-2, “Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever. Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare His praise?”
James and Gail Mumm
563 Court Road - Onalaska, Wisconsin 54650
608-781-1879 - dakota1940@centurylink.net
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"Peace to you!" from
Pastor Jon Cox
Grace and peace to you from Jesus Christ!
Thank you for visiting the Bethel Lutheran website! We would be especially glad if what you saw here would lead you to visit and worship with us in Galesville or Arcadia.
My wife, Doreen, and I have been married since 1990. We've been at home on the west side of Galesville since 2011. While our five children are growing up and heading out on their own, its nice to live where the neighbors are friendly.
The family at Bethel Lutheran is certainly a friendly group. We love it there and believe that you would too. Our members come from a range of backgrounds and span an age range from little ones on up, but there is a harmony among us that makes being at church there a peaceful experience.
Over the last 27 years of ministry, I've been blessed to serve in a wide variety of settings and situations. From a small mission congregation in central Texas, to a large congregation in central Wisconsin, to Bethel - Galesville and Arcadia. No matter the setting or size, the most valuable feature of life in these congregations is the blessing of being able to share Gods' Word with people who are eager to hear it.
It is so true that people of differing places and cultures face many of the same troubles. We all need the Word of God to counsel and direct our lives. The message of Jesus Christ is the one constant power that both motivates us to reach for success and comforts us when faced with plans that fail. We can always trust the goodness of God to bless and sustain us.
It is always a blessing to meet new people at church. I would be so happy to help you know Jesus Christ. Take a little time, read about what we believe, then come and see for yourself all the good things that God is doing at Bethel!
Contact Pastor Cox by email - jon.nathan.cox@gmail.com - or phone (608) 582-9998
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Faith Related Q and A
| What is the truth, if any, on this post that is currently making the rounds on Facebook? "In one night, in response to Luther's anti-Semitic sermon, synagogues were burned to the ground and over 2000 Jews were slaughtered." A friend posted this and would like to respond intelligently with what is or isn't true about this, citing historical facts if possible. Thanks.
Much has been written about Martin Luther and his views toward Jews. An article in the October 2013 Forward in Christ provides something for you to pass along to your friend. The article addressed the question: “How can we respond to those who say that Martin Luther was an anti-Semite because of his condemnation of the Jews? My friend thinks that we Lutherans shouldn’t follow such a man.” The following is the response to that question and statement.
“There are two questions here, one asking why we ‘follow Luther’ and another asking if Luther was anti-Semitic. Both questions are worth asking and answering.
How do Lutherans regard Luther?
“Perhaps uninformed people really think that Lutherans idolize or inappropriately revere Luther. We can assure them we don’t. Rather, we cherish and thankfully embrace key concepts that God restored to their rightful place in the church through Martin Luther. By grace alone, through faith alone, by Scripture alone, and through Christ alone are truths the Reformer championed. Highlight these truths for your friend. This is what true Lutheranism is all about.
“Lutherans have never believed or taught everything Luther said or wrote was correct. Luther said and wrote some things that would have better remained unspoken and unwritten. This should not be surprising when one considers how much he wrote. Let’s be quick to cherish divine truths given renewed prominence through Luther and equally swift to acknowledge the man’s imperfections.
Was Luther an anti-Semite?
“Accusations of anti-Semitism against Luther usually stem from reading his 1543 tract On the Jews and Their Lies, in which the Reformer used immoderate language and gave questionable counsel on how to deal with Jews at that time. While we have never endorsed what and how he wrote in that treatise, we also believe a fair, historically-sensitive appraisal of the man and his message will show the Reformer was not anti-Semitic. Excellent books have been written on this topic, but here we must limit ourselves to these brief points:
“• Luther also wrote about Jews in sympathetic ways and rebuked European Christians for their treatment of Jews. Here’s one example: ‘The fury of some Christians (if they are to be called Christians) is damnable. They imagine that they are doing God a service when they persecute the Jew most hatefully, think everything evil of them, and insult them. . . . Whereas, according to the example of this psalm (14:7) and that of Paul (Romans 9:1), a man ought to be most heartily sorry for them and continually pray for them. . . . They ought to attract them by all manner of gentleness, patience, pleading and care’ (What Luther Says: An Anthology, Vol. 2, 683).
“• Luther’s attitude is more accurately characterized as anti-Judaism rather than anti-Semitism. His opposition was not racial or ethnic, but theological. He was targeting people who persistently and vigorously rejected the truth of salvation through faith alone in Jesus the Messiah and Savior of the world. Luther wrote harshly against the Roman pope and his theological supporters for the same reason.
“• Like everyone else, Luther was a child of his times. It’s difficult for people today to put themselves into his historical context, yet it’s unfair to judge him according to our standards of civility. Luther’s language sounds cruel, but his opponents often used similar language, and literary style of the era included harsh ridicule, name calling, and deliberate excess.
“Ultimately we must conclude that the treatise in question doesn’t represent Luther at his best. We cannot endorse or excuse what he wrote. From a historical viewpoint, it should not surprise us that he sometimes shared unacceptable attitudes of his day. What is amazing is how often he rose above his times and advocated magnificent and eternal truth, most of all the full and free gospel of forgiveness.”
| Our mother recently passed away. She believed in Jesus as her Savior, so we know her soul is in heaven with Him. We miss her terribly but rejoice for the end of her earthly suffering and the beginning of her eternal joy.
Is it inappropriate or otherwise questionable for us to pray to Jesus to let our mom know how much we love her, miss her, and look forward to seeing her again in heaven?
I sympathize with you at the death of your mother. As Christians, we do deal with the sorrow of temporary separation from our loved ones. At the same time, we praise God for bringing them into his presence in heaven.
The Bible calls those who die in the Christian faith “blessed” (Revelation 14:13). Christians who die and enter the presence of God in heaven are blessed in that they are forever free from sin and its effects (Revelation 7:16-17). Christians in the presence of God in heaven are enjoying perfect peace and joy.
For those reasons, there is no need to try to get messages to Christians in heaven. They do not need encouragement or reassurance of any kind.
On the other hand, we—the survivors on earth—need encouragement as we continue to “fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). Thankfully, in the gospel God provides the encouragement and the strength we need.
In the Bible God also informs us that on the Last Day he will bring together all his followers (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17), and they will never be separated. Then he tells us: “Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:18). Let’s continue to do just that.
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| | » | WELS Connection - January 2020
A Year in Review Cast: WELS
| | » | WELS Connection - December 2019
WELS Prison Ministries The WELS Special Ministries Commission exists to serve those whose needs aren't fully met in a traditional congregational setting. Just a few examples are; men and women serving in the military, the visually impaired or hard of hearing, people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, and those who are in prison. Every community has incarcerated people who could benefit from the services of WELS Special Ministries. Cast: WELS
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Forward in Christ
| Members support Vietnam outreach
 In 2018, God’s grace opened the door to an unprecedented mission opportunity for our synod. The communist Vietnamese government invited WELS to build a theological education facility in the capital city of Hanoi to train leaders of the Hmong Fellowship Church. In December 2018, WELS Missions embarked on a synodwide campaign with the goal of […]
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