TRINITY TOGETHER. Trinity Lutheran Church 357 West Main Street Kutztown, Pennsylvania March 2017

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1 TRINITY TOGETHER Trinity Lutheran Church 357 West Main Street Kutztown, Pennsylvania March 2017 Pastor: The Rev. Keith Rohrbach 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. The Larger View In a moment of nostalgia, I found myself staring at a collage of photos that hangs on the wall in the Sunroom at Trinity. This collage includes all the former pastors of Trinity since its beginning in In that moment of surveying the nine pastors whose pictures make up the collage, it dawned on me that something much larger has always been at play since Since my announcement a few weeks ago about my decision to retire from called parish ministry, my emotions have been on a rollercoaster ride. One emotion that continues to surface is awe. This is particularly the emotion that swept over me as I stood staring at the collage of previous pastors of Trinity. It was awe that the Holy Spirit saw me worthy of being in such a line of servants. While I cannot speak for all pastors, I want you to know something that is very overwhelming to most who serve in pastoral ministry. That is, we understand what a privilege it is to walk with people of faith and what a privilege it is to deal with sacred things like the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ, water and word at baptisms, a sacred meal of bread and cup at the communion table, or the invitation to share in your lives. So, as I stood there staring at that collage of pastors that served this church since 1876, I could see through the tears that welled up a larger view of what God has been up to here at this place and throughout my life. In Christ s Service, Keith Rohrbach, Pastor 1

2 MARCH SCHEDULE & VOLUNTEERS LAY READERS: Mar 1 7:30 PM to be determined Mar 5 8:00 AM Nancy Plushanski 10:15 AM Lori Heffner Mar 12 8:00 AM Kevin Stump 10:15 AM Alicia Hornberger Mar 19 8:00 AM Michele Zimmerman 10:15 AM Derek Mace Mar 26 8:00 AM Gary Bond 10:15 AM Amy Pfeiler-Wunder ACOLYTES: Mar 1 7:30 PM to be determined Mar 5 8:00 AM Will DeVall & Kendall DeVall 10:15 AM Alyssa Heffelfinger & Rachel Hoffman Mar 12 8:00 AM Will DeVall & Kendall DeVall 10:15 AM Annabel Pfeiler-Wunder & Taylor Greenawalt Mar 19 8:00 AM Colin Pape & Elena Graff 10:15 AM Alyssa Heffelfinger & Rachel Hoffman Mar 26 8:00 AM Scott Sanders & Elena Graff 10:15 AM Annabel Pfeiler-Wunder & Taylor Greenawalt USHERS: Mar 1 7:30 PM Volunteers Mar 5 10:15 AM Steve & Lisa Finke Mar 12 10:15 AM Jean Ziegler & Liz Shrawder Mar 19 10:15 AM Bob Hobaugh Mar 26 10:15 AM Linda Geiring & Tom Kulp ALTAR COMMITTEE: Kay Fritz & Nancy Hildenbrand FLOWER CHAIRPERSON: Linda Geiring COMMUNION USHERS: Mar 1 7:30 PM Marsha Hoyer & Ann Towne Mar 5 10:15 AM Jeff Collier & Tina Billig Mar 12 8:00 AM Marsha Hoyer Mar 19 10:15 AM Karen Raudenbush & Liz Shrawder Mar 26 8:00 AM Richard Miller & Brett Von Bergen BIBLE STUDY: Every Wednesday at 10:00 AM Every Thursday at 6:30 PM IMPORTANT DATES: March 1 Ash Wednesday March 3 World Day of Prayer March 12 Daylight Savings Time begins March 20 First Day of Spring Easter Flowers Lent is beginning, and it s time for Easter flowers. We will be ordering flowers from Countryside Farm and Greenhouse. If interested, please complete the attached form and enclose in the envelopes available in the rear of the church. Place in the offering plate, on Lisa s desk, or give to Mary Ryan. The deadline for orders is Sunday, March 5 th. Please pick up your flowers after the Easter Sunday Services. Name: Number Lilies 6½ Daffodils 6½ Hardy Azalea Price x $8.75 each= x $7.75 each= x $13.75 each= 6½ Hyacinth x $7.75 each= **Available in Pink, White, Blue/Purple (Please circle preferred color of Hyacinths - Availability of specific colors cannot be guaranteed.) Message to be printed in Easter Bulletin: *If you would like your flowers to go to a person in need, please do this on your own. 2

3 2017 Lenten Services 3/1/2017 Ash Wednesday 7:30 pm at Trinity 3/8/2017 at Trinity 6:00 pm - Soup & Bread Supper in Fellowship Hall 6:30 pm -Continued service in Fellowship hall: Prayer and Viewing of Rick Steves DVD Luther and the Reformation Conclude around 7:30 with prayer and closing hymn In this Year Celebrating the 500 th Anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, we will be covering Martin s Small Catechism, and various sections of it, such as: the 10 Commandments in Exodus, the Creed, the Lord s Prayer, Baptism, and Holy Communion, all while using Dan Erlander s Book Baptized We Live (which will be available for purchase). ALL Lenten Wednesday services will be at Trinity 3/15/ pm Soup & Bread Supper 6:45pm Service of Word & Prayer around the study of Dan Erlander s book Baptized We Live Seeing 3/22/ pm Soup & Bread Supper 6:45pm Service of Word & Prayer around the study of Dan Erlander s book Baptized We Live Hearing 3/29/ pm Soup & Bread Supper 6:45pm Service of Word & Prayer around the study of Dan Erlander s book Baptized We Live Teaching 4/5/ pm Soup & Bread Supper 6:45pm Service of Word & Prayer round the study of Dan Erlander s book Baptized We Live Following Daylight Savings Time Begins Don t forget to move your clocks ahead one hour on March 12 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: Channel 69 news WFMZ website Calling Trinity s Office ( ) for messages regarding changes in schedule. There are a few Sundays in 2017 that do not have altar flower sponsors. The following dates are still available April 23 June 25 July 9 July 23 September 3 September 17 September 24 October 8 October 29 November 12 December 31 Also we are in need of flower chairpersons for the months of July, August, September, and October. Being a chairperson involves calling the flower sponsors for each Sunday that month to remind them to order flowers, to find out what should be written in the bulletin, and to take flowers to shut-ins/members who are in the hospital after the church service if necessary. If you are interested in sponsoring flowers for either of these dates or being a flower chairperson please contact Darlene Dietrich at or the church office. 3

4 The Adult Sunday School Class welcomes you to join us in enjoying God Loves Us, a program that explores God s basic character as revealed in Biblical descriptions of His loving relationship to individuals, communities and the world. We will begin with God is love and from that premise of God as the source of love we will see God s love in depth and breadth, embracing us without the limits of human heartache and fear of failure. Second, we will see how God s love restores and saves us, even as we might not understand how His righteous justice is one with love. Finally, God s preserving and sustaining love will extend to individuals and communities in ways that surprise us. Rev. Rodney R. Hutton, an ELCA pastor and professor emeritus at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, leads us to understand God s love in a variety of approaches to learning and discovery. Please join us Sunday mornings at 9:00 am beginning March 5, 2017, in the Library for conversation, coffee and fellowship. Faith is permitting ourselves to be seized by the things we do not see. Martin Luther Hope s Table Pastor Keith & Deb will be organizing meals at Hope Lutheran Church in Reading on March 28 th and April 24 th, and they would like your help to serve food at these meals. The time involved would be approximately 4:30 PM to 7 PM each night. If you would like to help out please sign up on the bulletin board across from the Parlor or speak to Pastor Keith or Deb. HELP TO FILL CARE PACKAGES FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS AND MILITARY Trinity and the Mission Committee wish to provide outreach/care packages to our Trinity college students as they study for spring semester finals and our Trinity members serving in the military in honor of Armed Forces Day. 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. These items will be packaged and mailed to our Trinity college students before spring finals and to our military members. Please take the note, sign up on the form located on the table so we know what you are bringing and return your item to the box in the hall by April 9, If you have any questions, please call Rita Robertson at Thank you! COLLEGE STUDENT CARE PACKAGES Trinity and the Mission Committee wish to provide outreach/care packages for our college students to help them get through spring final exams. If you want your college student to receive a package, please provide the following information to Rita Robertson ( ) or the church office. These care packages were a big hit last year! Name: College: Address: Date of Finals: 4

5 TRINITY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM Trinity is now accepting applications for its two annual scholarship programs. High school students graduating in 2017 from Kutztown, Brandywine, and Fleetwood school districts, who will continue their education in a college or university, are eligible to apply for the Stephen Walter Memorial Scholarship. The second scholarship program is the Schellenberger Education scholarship which is open to members of Trinity who are graduating from high school and are pursuing an education beyond high school. Applications are available in the Trinity Church office and high school guidance counselor offices. Applications must be received at the Trinity Church Office by Monday, April 17, 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 Usher Coordinator Needed April Rakowiecki has decided to step down as our Usher Coordinator and we can t thank her enough for all the time she has put into this position she will be missed. So that means we are looking for a new Usher Coordinator. This involves lining up all of the ushers for the 10:15 AM service each week. If you are interested in this position or have questions, please see Lisa in the church office ( ). The Mission Team is looking to take a group of people to Red Springs, NC this summer to help recover from the flooding last year. The trip is being planned for June 19-24, 2017, with a possible day or two added on to the beginning and/or end of the trip for travel. If you are interested in participating or have questions, please speak with Dave Owen or the church office. Student Food Pantry Thank you to everyone who has contributed time, groceries, and cash donations to this new ministry. This pantry which is a satellite of Friend, Inc. has been seeing new clients each week and they are extremely grateful for our help. If you would like to contribute food items please see the list below (bolded items are of the greatest need) Soup Mac n Cheese Tuna Peanut Butter Juice Miscellaneous Snacks Pasta Knorr Side Dish Packets Crackers Instant Potato Packets Cereal Breakfast Bars Toiletries Canned Fruits & Veggies If you have any questions please contact Deb Rohrbach or the church office. We need your help to provide soup and bread for some of our Weekly Lenten Meals that are coming up. The dates we need soup and bread are Wednesday, March 8 th ; Wednesday, March 22 nd ; and Wednesday, April 5 th. If you are interested in helping out please sign up on the church office door. 5

6 Trinity Mission Committee You can never imagine how much your thoughtfulness means to me. Opening my door to find Rita bearing flowers and a bag of goodies needless to say I was astounded. The gorgeous bouquet of red and pink carnations and white mums adorn my table as we speak. The Valentine s Day bags that all of you decorated so tastefully and filled as lovingly will bring joy to my palate. I realize you sacrificed your time and efforts to make my day special for me. My wish is that your Valentine s Day was just as special as you made mine. My prayers go with you Trinity Mission Committee angels. Thank you so much for remembering me. Love to you all! Judi Furst March 5 th Make Our Own Pizza s March 12 th -Snow Tubing!! (Blue Mountain) Leave Trinity Parking Lot by 4PM March 19 th Youth Group (Time: 6-8PM) March 24 th -25 th (Friday-Saturday)--Lock In (For Middle and High School Youth Group) Start Time Friday 7:00PM to Saturday 8AM To Trinity s Mission Committee, The surprise Valentine bag brought sweets and goodies, the visitors who delivered it brought sunshine, love and cheer. Thanks to all who donated toward this project; your kindness is appreciated. It is so thoughtful of you to remember those of our Trinity family who need your light in their lives at this time. Thanks so much. Sincerely, Bettie Kelchner BULLETIN SPONSORS The 2017 Bulletin Sponsor Chart is on the bulletin board outside the church office. If you are interested in sponsoring bulletins please sign up for the week or weeks you are interested in. Cost for the bulletins is $20 per week. 6

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