TRINITY TOGETHER. Trinity Lutheran Church 357 West Main Street Kutztown, Pennsylvania January 2018

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1 TRINITY TOGETHER Trinity Lutheran Church 357 West Main Street Kutztown, Pennsylvania January 2018 Interim Pastor: The Rev. David Strobel Director of Youth & Family Ministry: Seth Noggle Editor/Administrative Assistant: Lisa Finke 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. 1

2 Scrapings & Parings The hopes and fears of all the years Are met in thee tonight. These last two lines from the first verse of O Little Town of Bethlehem: how many times have we heard and/or sung them in the past several weeks? To be sure, it is a Christmas carol, but those two lines express a dimension of Jesus birth that is particularly appropriate for a New Year s meditation. For us, the year to come, 2018, will be another year of our Lord. Yes, he was born over 2000 years ago, but his birth, his becoming an historical human being, has redeemed all of time, every year. This New Year, too, will be his year. As we look forward to the year to come, a year as yet unspoiled by human sinfulness, a year full of potential and possibility as well as anxiety and danger, the words of that familiar carol express our faith-full anticipation of 2018: it will be a year whose hopes and fears were and will be met in the child born so long ago in the little town of Bethlehem. For me, faith s hope for the New Year is elegantly expressed by the poet W. H. Auden ( ) in his Christmas Oratorio, For The Time Being ( ). Toward the end of the Oratorio, in the Meditation of Simeon, Auden dramatizes the Visitation, when, 40 days after his birth, Joseph and Mary fulfilled their religious obligation by taking the infant Jesus to be presented at the Temple in Jerusalem. There they met an aged Jewish holy man, who was looking for the consolation of Israel. As St. Luke tells the story in his Gospel (2:22-35), the Holy Spirit promised Simeon that he would live to see the Messiah. When he came to the Temple and saw Jesus, he knew that God s promise had been fulfilled. Then he sang the canticle we still sing today as the Nunc Dimittis Lord, now let your servant depart in peace In his faithful but dramatically enhanced retelling of the story, Auden has Simeon end his meditation with these words: And because of His visitation, we may no longer desire God as if He were lacking: our redemption is no longer a question of pursuit but of surrender to Him who is always and everywhere present. Therefore at every moment we pray that following Him we may depart from our anxiety into His peace. How similar to Simeon s were the words we caroled at Christmas time: the hopes and fears of all the years are met in Jesus. Because we follow him into 2018, it will be a happy and peace-full New Year, indeed! Pastor David Strobel 2

3 BIBLE STUDY: Every Wednesday at 10:00 AM Schedule & Volunteers LAY READERS: Jan 7 8:00 AM to be determined 10:15 AM to be determined Jan 14 8:00 AM Carolyn Miller 10:15 AM to be determined Jan 21 8:00 AM Kevin Stump 10:15 AM to be determined Jan 28 9:00 AM to be determined ACOLYTES: Jan 7 8:00 AM Elena Graff & Colin Pape 10:15 AM Rachel Hoffman & Alyssa Heffelfinger Jan 14 8:00 AM Elena Graff & Colin Pape 10:15 AM Jarrett Noecker & Justin Diehl Jan 21 8:00 AM Kendall DeVall 10:15 AM Rachel Hoffman & Alyssa Heffelfinger Jan 28 9:00 AM Jarrett Noecker & Will DeVall USHERS: Jan 7 8:00 AM Volunteers 10:15 AM Liz Shrawder & Shana Rose Jan 14 8:00 AM Volunteers 10:15 AM Kurt & Pauline Rohrbach Jan 21 8:00 AM Volunteers 10:15 AM David & Joyce Esser Jan 28 9:00 AM Bob Hobaugh & Tom Kulp COMMUNION USHERS: Jan 7 8:00 AM Tina Billig 10:15 AM Kurt Rohrbach Jan 14 No Communion Jan 21 8:00 AM to be determined 10:15 AM Jeff Collier Jan 28 No Communion IMPORTANT DATES: January 1 New Year s Day January 6 Epiphany January 7 Baptism of Our Lord January 15 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day January 28 Phase II Congregational Meeting Congregational Meeting Phase II Congregational Meeting January 28, 2018 This meeting will be to review 2017 Committee reports. There will only be one service that day at 9:00 AM, and the meeting will be held after the service in conjunction with a covered dish brunch in the Fellowship Hall. A sign-up sheet for the brunch is on the church office door. Reports for the Annual Report Booklet are due in the office by Monday, January 15 th. Winter Weather Information When winter weather turns bad, information concerning cancellations and time changes of activities at Trinity can be found by tuning into: ALTAR COMMITTEE: Linda Geiring & Debbie Ziegler FLOWER CHAIRPERSON: Darlene Dietrich 3 Channel 69 news WFMZ website Calling Trinity s Office ( ) for messages regarding changes in schedule

4 Hope s Table Trinity will be organizing several meals at Hope Lutheran Church in Reading. The date for the next meal is January 23 rd, 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 Miscellaneous Snacks Knorr Side Dish Packets Instant Potato Packets Toiletries Soup Canned Fruits & Veggies Juice Crackers Cereal Breakfast Bars Mac n Cheese Tuna Pasta There is a box outside of the Parlor to put the items in. If you have any questions, 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 I am in the process of updating the birthday calendars. If I don t have your birthday please let me know so I can add you on to the calendar. We want to make sure we celebrate everyone s special day! You can contact me by calling the office ( ) or by ing (office@trinitykutztown.com) SAVE THE DATE! The Fastnacht Social will be held on Tuesday, February 13 th. Watch for more information about this fun event in upcoming weekly newsletters and bulletins and mark the date on your calendar! Kindness is like snow it beautifies everything it covers. Kahlil Gibran 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

5 Phase I Congregational Meeting Recap This meeting was held following the 9:00 AM Worship Service on December 10th. First on the agenda was electing new Church Council members, and for next year we are welcoming Allen McSparron and Liz Shrawder back for their second terms, Dennis Angelisanti and Dan Raudenbush for their first terms and April Rakowiecki to complete a started term. Thank you to Karen Raudenbush, Ann Towne and Brett von Bergen for serving on council but will not be returning next year. The second order of business was to pass the 2018 budget. After a short discussion the budget was passed as written. If you would like a copy of next year s budget they are available in the church office. There are a few Sundays in 2018 that do not have altar flower sponsors. The following dates are still available January 14 February 18 February 25 April 22 May 27 June 24 July 8 September 2 September 16 September 23 September 30 October 14 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 There was a delay with shipment of the offering envelopes and they have just arrived at the church. We are working hard to make sure you receive them as soon as possible. Your patience is greatly appreciated. Bulletin Sponsors 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. Valentine Shut-In Care Packages Trinity and the Mission Committee wish to provide outreach/care packages to our Shut-ins as a Valentine s Day project. If you would like to contribute to this project, there are item suggestions written on sticky notes located on a foam board in the hallway - the board will be put out in the middle of January. These items will be packaged and distributed to the shut-ins for Valentine s Day. Please take the note, sign up on the table so we know what you are bringing and return your item(s) to the box in the hall by February 4, If you have any questions, please call Rita Robertson at Thank you. Thank you for continuing to give us a home to make joyful noise. From, The members of the Kutztown Community Choir. 5

6 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 January Youth Group Schedule: January 7 th (Sunday) Elementary Youth Group 4:00-5:30PM Youth Group 6:00-8:00PM We have received the following contributions In memory of Clifford Salvesen Christine & Lee Berti Doug Salvesen In memory of Linda Losch Mike & Sue Barron William & Joyce Isamoyer January 14 th (Sunday)--LOCK IN Youth Group 6:00-8:00PM January 21 st (Sunday)--SNOWTUBING! We'll be going snowtubing this Sunday so dress warm! Elementary Youth Group 4:00-5:30PM Youth Group 6:00-8:00PM January 28 th (Sunday) Youth Group 6:00-8:00PM 6

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