Trinity Together Trinity Lutheran Church 357 West Main Street Kutztown, Pennsylvania 19530

Transcription

1 Trinity Together Trinity Lutheran Church 357 West Main Street Kutztown, Pennsylvania February 2018 Interim Pastor: The Rev. David Strobel Director of Youth & Family Ministry: Seth Noggle Editor/Administrative Assistant: Lisa Finke Director of Music: Bruce Rohrbach Financial Secretary: Kenny Kunkel Church Office Hours: Monday through Friday 9:00 AM 2:00 PM Website: Our Mission Statement Telling others of God s unconditional love through worship; Empowering discipleship through education; Leading others to this family of Faith as baptized believers; Calling all to follow Jesus example of servanthood Church Council Members Kurt Rohrbach Dan Raudenbush Allen McSparron Dennis Angelisanti Tina Billig Jeff Collier Randy Heffner Catherine Holm Marsha Hoyer Richard Miller April Rakowiecki Elizabeth Shrawder President/Personnel Committee & Endowment Committee Vice President/Witness & Communications Secretary/Mission Team & Mutual Ministry Committee TBD Finance Committee & Nominating Committee Mission Team Property Committee Worship Life Committee Worship Life Committee Stewardship Committee Fellowship Committee Personnel Committee 1

2 From the Pastor Scrapings and Parings Here s your Jeopardy answer: February 2 nd. What s the question? Well, if you look at the calendar, you will see that it is Groundhog Day. If you count days, however, you will arrive at the Jeopardy question I m looking for: What day is exactly 40 days after Christmas (whether Christmas is late or early!)? It is, therefore, the day when, for centuries, the church has celebrated the Feast of the Presentation or, as it is known more commonly, Candlemas Day. Groundhogs and candles: what do they have to do with each other? Old Testament law required new mothers to present themselves for the rite of purification 40 days after childbirth. Dutifully, Mary presented herself and her baby, Jesus, at the temple to fulfill the law s requirement. When they arrived, a very old man, Simeon, was waiting for them. He was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. Inspired, he recognized the infant Jesus as the Messiah he had been looking for. Simeon took the baby in his arms and praised God, saying, Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. This is the origin in the Gospel of Luke (2:22-35) of those familiar words of the Nunc Dimittis, the canticle we often sing following Holy Communion. It is also the Gospel event that is commemorated in the Feast of the Presentation. But candles? How did this feast day become Candlemas, the day in the church year when candles were blessed, a day of processions, liturgies and carnivals throughout Europe? It is because of what Simeon saw: in the Christ-child a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. Candlemas: it is a blessing of the light. Candles on February 2 nd, 40 days after Christmas: yes, of course! But groundhogs? How did they get in there? It is a curious coincidence of the calendar that February 2 nd is almost exactly halfway between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. Winter is half over and spring just a half-winter away. The increasing warmth (we hope!) lures the hibernating groundhog out of its den to see what s up. And Punxsutawney Phil predicts what that remaining half-winter will be like. This halfway through winter observance, which has nothing to do with the Feast of the Presentation, was conjoined with Candlemas, particularly in the British Isles and in Germany. Hence this little ditty: If Candlemas be fair and bright, Winter has another flight. If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, Winter will not come again. In our Pennsylvania German culture, Grundsaudaag is a big deal, with the annual feast and celebration at the local lodge. Nevertheless, may I recommend that we attend, at least for a moment or two, to that other, more evangelical Feast of the Presentation. Like Simeon, let us take the infant Messiah into our arms and look forward to the future not just the remaining 45 days of half-winter but to all that the years will bring with the same peace that Simeon experienced so long ago. Pastor David Strobel 2

3 COMMUNION USHERS: Feb 4 8:00 AM Randy Heffner 10:15 AM Kurt Rohrbach Feb 11 No Communion Feb 18 8:00 AM Richard Miller 10:15 AM Liz Shrawder Feb 25 No Communion Schedule & Volunteers LAY READERS: Feb 4 8:00 AM Kevin Stump 10:15 AM Emily Jones Feb 11 8:00 AM Kris Tuerk 10:15 AM Tom Kulp Feb 18 8:00 AM Joe Piscitelli 10:15 AM Karise Mace Feb 25 8:00 AM Richard Miller 10:15 AM Amy Pfeiler-Wunder ACOLYTES: Feb 4 8:00 AM Elena Graff & Colin Pape 10:15 AM Jarrett Noecker Feb 11 8:00 AM Will DeVall & Kendall DeVall 10:15 AM Alyssa Heffelfinger & Rachel Hoffman Feb 18 8:00 AM Will DeVall 10:15 AM Colin Pape & Elena Graff Feb 25 8:00 AM Jarrett Noecker & Justin Diehl 10:15 AM Alyssa Heffelfinger & Rachel Hoffman USHERS: Feb 4 8:00 AM Volunteers 10:15 AM Jean Ziegler & Michele Dugan Feb 11 8:00 AM Volunteers 10:15 AM Kathy Hertzog & Becki Prevoznik Feb 18 8:00 AM Volunteers 10:15 AM Erma Bond & Leonard Dietrich Feb 25 8:00 AM Volunteers 10:15 AM Dan & Erica Woodland ALTAR COMMITTEE: Melanie Wessner & Sue Collier FLOWER CHAIRPERSON: Rita Robertson BIBLE STUDY: Every Wednesday at 10:00 AM IMPORTANT DATES: February 11 Transfiguration of Our Lord February 13 Fastnacht Social February 14 Valentine s Day February 14 Ash Wednesday February 18 First Sunday in Lent February 19 Presidents Day February 25 Second Sunday in Lent FYI Winter Weather Information When winter weather turns bad, information concerning cancellations and time changes of activities at Trinity can be found by tuning into: Channel 69 news WFMZ website Calling Trinity s Office ( ) for messages regarding changes in schedule Interested in making one-time or ongoing contributions from your own home? You can now do this online! Just go to the church s website ( and look in the sidebar on the left the link is near the bottom. If you have any questions please call the church office at

4 How you can help Hope s Table Trinity will be organizing several meals at Hope Lutheran Church in Reading. The date for the next meal is February 27 th, and we would like your help to serve food at this meal. The time involved would be approximately 4:30 PM to 7 PM that night. If you would like to help out please speak with the church office. Student Food Pantry at KU Thank you to everyone who has contributed time, groceries, and cash donations to this ministry. This pantry which is a satellite of Friend, Inc. has had a busy year so far. If you would like to contribute food items please see the list below Peanut Butter Juice Miscellaneous Snacks Crackers Knorr Side Dish Packets Cereal Instant Potato Packets Breakfast Bars Toiletries Mac n Cheese Soup Tuna Canned Fruits & Veggies Pasta There is a box outside of the Parlor for the items you are donating. If you have any questions about this program, please contact the church office. Usher Coordinator Needed There are many Trinity members who are willing to serve as an usher and the Worship Life Team wishes to thank you for your service. We would be grateful if we could find someone to serve as usher coordinator. This would involve devising an usher schedule for the 10:15 and holiday services. If you would prayerfully consider volunteering for this task, we would appreciate your willingness to serve. Please contact the church office to volunteer and if you have questions regarding this ministry. How you can help Soup for Lenten Meals We need your help to provide soup and bread for our Weekly Lenten Meals that are coming up. The dates we need soup and bread are February 21 st and 28 th ; and March 7 th, 14 th, and 21 st. If you are interested in helping out please sign up on the church office door. If you have any questions, please contact the office. Sponsors needed Altar Flowers There are a few Sundays in 2018 that do not have altar flower sponsors. The following dates are still available February 18 February 25 March 18 April 22 May 27 July 8 September 2 September 16 September 23 September 30 December 30 If you are interested in sponsoring the flowers for any of these dates please contact Darlene Dietrich at or the church office at Bulletins The bulletin sponsor chart for 2018 is up on the bulletin board across from the Parlor. Cost to sponsor the bulletins is $20 per week. If you are interested please list your name beside the date(s) you would like and what you would like printed in the bulletin. If you have any questions, please contact the church office. 4

5 Thank you Christmas Shoppe Update I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who donated items, and helped out with the Christmas Shoppe last year. We were able to raise $ for the Helping Hand Fund. It meant so much to me to have your support! I am pleased to say that we will be planning to do it again this year, but a little earlier, in hopes that we can invite the college students to come and shop. I pray that every year it will become more successful and blesses more and more people. I actually wasn t sure if it would happen last year because of the short notice, but to my surprise we were overjoyed receiving LOTS of donations, and will better prepare me for this year s Christmas Shoppe. Believe it or not more donations have already started to come in! Thank you again for everything, your donations, your help, and your encouragement. I love you all! Valarie Kutz Thank you to Trinity for the prayers, flowers and visits throughout Marilyn Schadler and Family Money Counters Below is a list of all the counting teams and when they will be counting in 2018 Team #1 Team #2 Team #3 Team #4 Team #5 Naomi Owen, Charles & Nancy Plushanski Counting in April and September Bob Hobaugh, Jean Ziegler & Kurt Rohrbach Counting in May and October Steve Finke & Melanie Wessner Counting in January, June, and November Alan & Rita Robertson, Donna Keglovits Counting in February, July, and December Michele Zimmerman and Linda Geiring Counting in March and August Call Committee Update The Call Committee is still in contact with Candidate A and we are pleased to say that we are working on arrangements to see Candidate A preach in the coming weeks and have further conversations with this person! Thank you all for your prayers during this process! Much love, The Call Committee Let love live long; let hate live short. Burmese proverb Ash Wednesday Service Our Ash Wednesday Observance will take place on Wednesday, February 14 th at 7:00 PM. Please mark your calendars. 5

6 Events Fastnacht Social! The Fastnacht Social will be held on Tuesday, February 13 th at 6:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall. This year s theme is Happy Pal-entine s Day! Plans are in the works for a modified progressive dinner as well as fun and games with our pals at Trinity! We are asking you to bring a main dish, side dish or dessert (we will have the yummy fastnachts as well!) to share with everyone. Drinks and paper products will be provided. A sign-up sheet is on the church office door. Mark this date on your calendar and join us for this enjoyable evening! Something New! Baby & Me! A new Sunday School class for newborn children up to 3 years old and their parents will be starting on Sunday, February 4 th. This class will be held every Sunday from 9:00-10:00 AM and will take place in the Nursery. A variety of fun activities are being planned. If you have any questions, please contact the church office. We hope to see all of our smallest ones and their parents there! Reminder Valentine Shut-In Care Packages If you are donating items for the Valentine Shut-in Care Packages please make sure you have the items in the box outside the church office by Sunday, February 4, If you have any questions, please call Rita Robertson at Thank you. Another thank you Dear Congregation at Trinity Lutheran, Thank you for your donations of 20 Christmas gifts for children of our pantry clients, 25 Holiday Dinner Boxes, 4 frozen turkeys and food collections. The generosity from your congregation helped to make this past Holiday season a little brighter for those in need. Our 2017 Christmas Cheer Program at Friend, Inc, has come to a close after a very successful season. We again broke records by serving 905 pantry individuals in 310 households. And with your help we were able to provide Christmas gifts for 271 local children residing in one of the 3 local school districts of Fleetwood, Brandywine Heights and Kutztown. 6 Clients, Staff and Board of Friend, Inc.

7 ELCA Youth Gathering: Houston, Texas June 27th-July 1st (Wednesday-Sunday) The Youth Gathering is only every 3 years and is done by the ELCA Lutheran synod. This is a huge nationwide church event, and is an amazing time. There are speakers, a mission element, a lot of activities, and chances to meet thousands of other High school students from all over the US. The cost will be $195, but then we'll all be tasked to raise the rest of the money which will help cover hotel and plane costs. This is a once in a life time opportunity, and I hope you all consider going. I need to know if you are able to come to this along with the 195 dollars no later than February 15th! Also February Youth Group Schedule: February 4 th (Sunday) Super Bowl Sunday No Youth Group February 9-10 (Friday 5:30 PM- Saturday 11:00 AM)--LOCK IN at St. John s Lutheran. No Sunday Evening Youth Group February 18 th (Sunday) Youth Group 6:00-8:00PM February 25 th (Sunday) ARCADE NIGHT Elementary Youth Group 4:00 5:30 PM Youth Group 6:00-8:00PM Midweek Lenten Services Faith Seeking Understanding This is the theme of Trinity s mid-week Lenten program this year. We will gather on Wednesday evenings at 6 o clock for a simple meal of soup and bread (watch for a sign-up sheet to provide your favorite soup for the gathering). Then, at 6:45 we will move to the sanctuary for learning, reflection and prayer. Pastor Strobel will introduce five spiritual guides who were masters of faith seeking understanding. The schedule is below. The evening will conclude with Compline Prayer at the Close of Day. Food for the body, food for thought and prayer: Come, let us make our Lenten preparation together. Faith Seeking Understanding February 21, 2018 Saint Augustine: You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. February 28, 2018 Saint Anselm: The ontological argument proof as prayer March 7, 2018 Julian of Norwich: Spirituality in a hazelnut shell the gender of God March 14, 2018 Evelyn Underwood: The sacrament of the present moment March 21, 2018 Joseph Sittler: Polish sausage and St. Augustine the scope of grace 7

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