FLORIDA COURT SETS ATHEIST HOLY DAY

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1 The Herald St. Paul s United Methodist Church 2131 Palomino Drive Warrington, PA stpaulsumcwarrington.org Janet L. Saddel, Pastor Nancy Mongelli, Admin. Assistant Doug Tester, Organist Ray Washam, Handbell Choir Director Pastor s Ponderings I would like to share with you an article that recently came my way. I think it draws attention to a very serious matter one that we should all be aware of: April 2015 FLORIDA COURT SETS ATHEIST HOLY DAY In Florida, an atheist created a case against the upcoming Easter and Passover Holy days. He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians, Jews and observances of their holy days. The argument was that it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized days. The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring, "Case dismissed!" The lawyer immediately stood objecting to the ruling saying, "Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter and others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, yet my Client and all other atheists have no such holidays." The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, "But you do. Your client, counsel, is woefully ignorant." The lawyer said, "Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists." The judge said, "The calendar says April 1 st is April Fool s Day. Psalm 14:1 states, 'The fool says in his heart, there is no God.' Thus, it is the opinion of this court, that if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned. Friends, perhaps I did not fool you with this April Fool s Day article, but it certainly does hit the proverbial nail on the head. The atheists claim that we humans don t need God to be moral. They argue that we are intelligent enough to recognize the difference between good and bad. Believe it or not they are not far from the truth on this last point. We read in Romans 2 that God s law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within us that echoes God's yes and no, right and wrong. However, we also read, Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. No one has an excuse for not believing in God. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Let us not be fools. Let us not only acknowledge our belief in God, but let us know God, truly know God. The only way to really know God is through His Son, Jesus the Christ. None of us are without excuse God sent his one and only Son as a sacrifice for our sins, so that we might enter into relationship with him which is only possible through Jesus. As we enter into the season of Easter, let us rejoice in the Resurrection and share in the wonderful gift of Jesus, our Risen Lord and Savior! Knowing Him is the greatest thing in life! In God s Great Grace, Pastor Janet

2 What s St. Paul s... Standing Meetings, Groups & Programs Sunday s... 9:00 am Adult Sunday School 10:30 am Worship 10:40 am Children s Sunday School After service Fellowship/Cozens. We still need volunteers to help keep this wonderful fellowship time going. Contact: Sharon Crawford at Noisy Can Collection, the second Sunday of every month Next collection: April 12th. There are jars on the table in the Narthex if you need one. If you forgot your jar on the second Sunday or will not be in church you can drop it off at the church office. All donations are gratefully accepted even bills and checks. Thank you!!! Monday s... Trustees 7 9 pm third Monday of the month/pastor s office St. Paul s Book Club..third 7:30 pm in the Library...Why not join us in discussion of our current reading, THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LAKES, or suggest a new title for us? Have you ever heard of Henrietta? I hadn't and was astonished to learn of the gift to our lives she gave! YOU are welcome!! Tuesday s... Church 7 pm on the following dates: April 14, Sept. 8 & Dec. 8. MINISTRY in MOTION brainstorming, 2nd Tuesday of month s in 7 pm/cozens. Wednesday s... Women s Bible Study 10 am every Wednesday/Library We are going through the book of Moses and the Exodus. All women are welcome! Join us for Holy Thursday Service, April 2 at 7 pm and Easter Service, April 5 at 10:30 am Thursday s... Handbell Rehearsal 6:30 7:30 pm Choir Rehearsal 7:30 9 pm every Thursday/Sanctuary Thursday s & Saturday s... Food Pantry Drop-Off Program Wow! We are so grateful to many community members who have contributed food for the Doylestown Food Pantry sponsored by the Bucks County Housing Group! It is exciting to see our Food Box overflowing to help the those in need in our area! Let's keep it going! Please tell your friends and neighbors that they can drive through on the first and third Thursdays from 6-8 pm & Saturdays from 10 am-noon Spread the word to our community in any way you are able! Thanks! Saturday s... Keeping Us In Stitches is the needlework group at St. Paul's. Bring any kind of needlework and join us in fellowship on the fourth Saturday of each month in Cozens (next: April 25). Many are making Prayer Shawls for our Ministry and others work on their own projects. All are welcome! If you are aware of someone who is hurting, you may take a PRAYER SHAWL/LAP ROBE from the closet in the Nurse's Office and write in the book on the desk designating who will be receiving this special gift. Many in our Needlework group are making these shawls and lap robes for this purpose. If you'd like to learn to knit or crochet, this is a welcoming place to learn! Men s Bible Study and Breakfast 8 10 am first, third & fifth Saturday/Cozens Occasional Meetings... St. Paul s Widows & Widowers we will be gathering at Judy Anderson's house on Saturday, April 11 at 3 pm. Judy will provide an entree and we will be supplementing with desserts and appetizers. Please contact Judy Anderson or Judy Snyder with your choice and let us know you are attending! We'll meet at St. Paul's for anyone who would like a ride or wants to follow in another car. We hope you'll be able to join us!

3 Mark Your Calendar... The final session in our series Never Ending Love regarding life & death issues is planned for Sunday, April 19 at 2:30 pm in Cozens Hall! Even if you've not attended any of the others, please plan to attend this last one. A lawyer will be leading the discussion with some vital information! This has been sponsored by St. Paul's Endowment Committee and a Fall event regarding budgeting is being planned as well. Watch for a date! Gifts to the Endowment Fund help St. Paul's continue in perpetuity and/or fund any large projects designated by the Board of Trustees. Why now honor or memorialize a loved one by contributing to the Fund. Please write "Endowment" on your check made out to St. Paul's UMC. Thank you for your gifts! St. Paul's Endowment Committee: Judy Snyder, Chair; Bob Young, Dan Richards, Sue Farish, Diana Wrisley, Louise Zalucki & Pastor Saddel The Women of St. Paul's Spring event will be a day trip, hopefully on a Saturday. Arrangements are still being confirmed, so please watch carefully for our date and destination! It should be a delightful time! What fun lies ahead when the Women of St. Paul's sponsors our 2nd boutique!!! We're beginning to get organized and need you to help in any way you can! Why not give it some thought and let us know what you'd like to do to make this our Second Year Success Story! If you see any vendors at Craft Shows that have original ideas and quality goods to sell, ask for their cards and share them with us so we can invite them to ours. November If you have any unused gift cards and would care to donate them for a basket, please let us know! We'll be communicating the themes of baskets soon so you can donate items. We'll again have a Pastry Shop, Cafe, and Craft Table. Watch for news about making crafts beginning soon! We found this is a great way to show the presence of St. Paul's Church in the community as well as making enough money to provide some new windows for our church. Please join in the fun of fellowship with one another as we plan for November 14! Sharon Crawford and Jenny Danolowicz are Co-Chairing for 2015 and working With Joan Bowen, Georgia Ford, Betsy McCormick and Judy Snyder. Please contact any of these people to help make this an even better Boutique than last year! Mark your calendars and share with your friends! Peace Give me your peace, Lord So I can stay in one piece Give me your peace Lord everyday Glory Hallelujah! Give me your peace Lord So I can stay in one piece and grant me your blessings every way. Like us on Facebook St. Paul s UMC, Warrington Rosanne Vassalotti

4 St. Paul s Preschool News Happy Easter! It is coming quickly here at St. Paul s Preschool. We are starting the preparations on Palm Sunday (March 29th at 2:00) with an Easter Egg Hunt. My friends will make some Easter crafts and play some festive games before hearing the story of Palm Sunday and Easter told by Rick and Jayne. There will even be a visit from the Easter Bunny! After that they will go on, what else, a Bunny Hunt to the playground to find some Easter Eggs. What a fun afternoon for children up to 8 years old! There will be Easter eggs and Easter bunnies adorning the halls and Easter hats on the heads of my friends in the Easter Hat parade. The Easter break will be shortened for my Preschool friends because of snow make-up days but they will be off on Good Friday and Easter Monday. April will bring the celebration of the Month of the Young Child. At St. Paul s we will have the Bucks County Community College Artmobile here. Each class will have a special time to visit and on Friday, April 10th, each child can bring the family for a visit from 4:30 6:30. That is also Family Night! Starting at 6:30 there will be an Art Show where each child will have at least one piece of art on display. The Book Fair will be open for the first time and will continue the following week-through the 17th. There will also be a free children s concert by Lolly and Yoyo starting at about 7. Fine Arts Day will round out the festivities the following week. That day each class will get to see what dancers, artists and musicians do. They will also get to use the big parachute and create their own snack with pretzels and marshmallows. April will find the Mom s Group meeting on the 16th and that same day is our restaurant fundraiser. Join us on April 16th from 4 9 at Moe s. March brought us the Craft/Fun Fair and the Consignment Sale. Thanks to all of you who participated in either of them. We celebrated our uniqueness by wearing crazy socks in honor of Down Syndrome Day and had our vision checked by the Bucks County Association of the Blind. We think March also brought us the last snow of the year. Hooray!! I hope you have a Blessed Easter and a Happy Spring! Love from Paul E. Bear April 2015

5 Thank you... My sincerest thanks to each and every one of you for supporting me this past month during my time of loss. I thank you for all your kind words, s, cards and meals during this difficult time as I mourn the loss of my mother. Thank you to all who were able to attend the Memorial Service. Your support means the world to me. Thank you for being a faithful church family, and for remembering me in your prayers. With Christian Love, Janet Dan Woods has offered to put a powerpoint together of St. Paul s history if you have any photos, them to him at: danieljohnwoods@outlook.com or call: Please help a hospital patient, donate blood at: Solana of Doylestown Blood Drive Friday, April 10 from Easton Road Donor eligibility guidelines call The food pantry is now accepting pet food donations, please put your donations in the box in the Narthex. Thank you!

6 New Books in the Library... Someone on our MINISTRY in MOTION input sheets suggested a need for some new books in our St. Paul s Library. Thanks to Pat Althouse and Hazel DeMarco we now have books by Jan Karon, Beverly Lewis, Karen Kingsbury and many more. You may borrow, return or keep any of these books. Questions or information call Pat Nickett at or Rosanne Vassolotti at

7 MINISTRY in MOTION First Step To begin, God, give us courage to begin. Fill us with your spirit, Let us feel you deep within. Give us dash and daring, confidence and heart To take that first small step, God, to make a humble start! MINISTRY in MOTION has taken our first small step. We have shared (in meetings, on input sheets, and one-on-one) ideas, thoughts, expectations, strengths, and weaknesses, and most of all that as a congregation we need to have others see how much we love God. Our next meeting is May 12, 2015 in Cozens Hall at 7 pm. Please come and be part of our mission to take that second step toward the future of St. Paul s. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him and I am helped. Psalms 28:7 God s Blessings, Pat Nickett P.S. We will be serving M & M Candies!

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