St Paul s Newsletter. Easter Eve Cantata & Worship Service. Faith Formation Ministries. Spiritual walk on our labyrinth (3:00 PM-6:30 PM)

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1 St Paul s Lutheran Church Catch the Spirit! 3108 Sterrettania Road, Erie, PA March 2016 Easter Eve Cantata & Worship Service Maundy Thursday March 24 at 7:00 PM Good Friday March 25 at 7:00 PM Spiritual walk on our labyrinth (3:00 PM-6:30 PM) Saturday, Easter Eve Cantata March 26 at 8:00 PM (We will begin outside, weather permitting) Spiritual walk on our labyrinth (5:30 PM-7:30 PM) Saturday, March 26, :00 PM (we will begin outside, weather permitting) You are invited to an interdenominational celebration telling The Easter Story through traditional hymns, new anthems, and a compelling narration by Ken Bible. Hear voices from multiple churches come together on one evening to tell the old, old story. Included this year will be an orchestra to accompany the cantata and hymns. Easter Sunday March 27 at 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM Faith Formation Ministries Labyrinth Open During Holy Week A labyrinth is one of the simplest forms of walking prayer and meditation. In many ways, a labyrinth is a metaphor for our faith journey full of twists and turns, but a single path through life. Join others on a labyrinth walk as we pray and reflect on the events surrounding Holy Week. An indoor labyrinth will be available in the Fellowship Hall at two times: Good Friday, March 25 th, from 3:00 to 6:30 PM. Prior to the Easter Cantata Service, March 26 th, from 5:30-7:30 PM. Individuals will be present to answer any questions you have and to set you on your labyrinth walk. Brochures providing an introduction to the labyrinth are available in the narthex any time during Lent. For more information, please contact Candy Maxwell at Adult- Forum@stpaulserie.org or , ext. 318.

2 Page 2 St Paul s Lutheran Church 3108 Sterrettania Road Erie, PA Saturday Worship Service, 5:00 PM Sunday Worship Service, 9:00 AM Christian Learning Hour, 10:15 AM (September-May) Office hours: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday Friday Office@stpaulserie.org Inside this issue: Worship Assistants Schedule 3 Youth & Student Ministries 3 The Rev. Scott Maxwell, Pastor, ext. 103 Pastor@stpaulserie.org (cell) Mr. Nicholas Barber, Director of Administration, ext. 100 AdminDirector@stpaulserie.org Ms. Dawn Chismar, Director of Child Development Center, ext. 116 CDCDirector@stpaulserie.org Ms. Melissa Collins, Director of Youth (k-6) Ministries, ext. 105 YouthDirector@stpaulserie.org Ms. Tammi Ferrante, Director of Pre-School Ministries, ext. 114 PSDirector@stpaulserie.org Ms. Debbie Gross, Director of Communication Ministries, ext. 307 CommDirector@stpaulserie.org Ms. Amy Kessler, Director of Student (7-12) Ministries, ext. 104 StudentDirector@stpaulserie.org Mr. Andrew Rainbow, Director of Music Ministries, ext. 107 MusicDirector@stpaulserie.org Congregational Care 4 Community Care 5 Stephen Ministries 5 Scrapalooza 5 Pre-School Ministries 6 Child Development Ministries 6 Council Highlights 6 Calendar 7-8 Stay Connected Check out Bishop Eaton s monthly message at Presiding bishop of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Elizabeth Eaton Submissions: Newsletter, Calendar,This Week, & Weekly Announcements Newsletter Please submit information to Newsletter@stpaulserie.org by the 15 th of the month before you would like your information shared. Calendar Requests should be submitted by the 15 th of every month to Calendar@stpaulserie.org OR go to our website, and on the homepage, click event request, complete the online form & click send. This Week To receive the latest news at St Paul s, please subscribe to the This Week where we alert you to what s going on in & around our community. Send your address to ThisWeek@stpaulserie.org and put subscribe in the subject line. Weekly Announcements Please submit information to CommDirector@stpaulserie.org by the Monday before you would like your announcement published.

3 St Paul s Lutheran Church, Erie, PA Page 3 Worship Assistants Schedule Date Time Altar Care Assistant Minister Mar 5 5:00 PM Sullivan/Moore Team Communion Assistant Mar 6 9:00 AM Roward/Goller/Price Team Larry Kessler Debbie DeCoursey Mar 12 5:00 PM Elmer/Moore Team Mar 13 9:00 AM Roward/Goller/Price Team Greg Zimmerman Steve Thelin Mar 19 5:00 PM Lang Team Mar 20 9:00 AM Roward/Goller/Price Team Len Toy Ron Till Mar 26 5:00 PM Tonjes/ Fuhrman Team Mar 27 9:00 AM Roward/ Goller/Price/Zech Team Jack Mar n Cindy Dohanic 11:00 AM Roward/Goller/Price/ Zech Team Nancy Price Joanne Erikson For scheduling information, contact one of the following individuals via or call and use the appropriate extension: Altar Care, 5 PM Cheryl Moore at SatAltarCare@stpaulserie.org ext. 352 Altar Care, 9 AM Nancy Price at AltarCare@stpaulserie.org ext. 322 Worship Assistants Erich & Pam Zech at WorshipAssistants@stpaulserie.org ext. 348 Youth & Student Ministries March 6 (10:15 AM 12 PM): Service for the Shelter Pets March 12 (12:15 PM 2 PM): ANNA Shelter Service We will meet at the ANNA Shelter at 12:15 PM to read to the dogs, play with the pups, and help clean up. Students will need picked up at 2 PM from the shelter. Please come join us to make treats and toys for dogs at the ANNA Shelter. We will take them with us when we go to the shelter on March 12. March 13 (10:15 AM 12 PM): Going Green Come celebrate St. Patrick's day with us! We will be going green with games and snack. March 20 (10:15 AM 12 PM): March Madness Come join us and have a ball while fellowshipping together. RSVP to Melissa or Amy by March 9, Questions? Contact Melissa Collins at YouthDirector@stpaulserie.org or , ext. 105, or Amy Kessler at StudentDirector@stpaulserie.org or , ext. 104.

4 Page 4 Congregational Care Ministries Please keep our following brothers and sisters in Christ in your daily prayers: Sara Beilharz, Cindi Bokulich, John Engel, Michelle Fuller, Wayne Gardner, Ken Johnson, Margaret Kaehler, Marian Meyers, Paul Sandstrom, Annie Varkey, and Leslie Weber. Please pray for those who are homebound, perhaps struggling with or recovering from illness or surgery, and in need of comfort and support: Mary Baer, Kathryn Duran, Les & Fran Einhipple, Ruth Henry, Madge Kightlinger, Ray Kuneman, Emmy Loomis, Bill & Ellie Perry, Alice Ristau, and Donna Spangler. We continue to pray for those who are close to us who serve in the military stationed around the world who defend and fight for freedom: Michael Cunningham, David Hall, Brennan Madara, Jonathan Newlin, Christopher Newlin, Christopher Tinsman, and Zachary Zehner. We keep our college students in prayer as they study and prepare for their future vocations: Claire Barber, Karly Bliley, Katrina Buchanan, Anna Hall, Alexa Haverly, Jacob Hughes, Brittany Hunter, Jordan Hunter, Justin Kuric, Alec McKenna, Aaron Parry, Lydia Stroul, Emily Thelin, Katy Zech, Amanda Zimmerman, & David Zinram. Cecelia Jane Congratulations to Melissa (Lupo) and Bruce Clark upon the birth of their daughter, Cecelia Jane, on February 6, Proud grandparents are Jackie & Pat Lupo. Dear Pastor Scott and friends at St. Paul s, Thank you for your visits and all of the beautiful cards, the delicious cookies and soup. They meant so much to me. My thanks also to the youth for the card and ornament you made. God Bless Love, Anna Platz Your thoughtfulness of the Christmas cookies & soup meant more than words can say. Thank you, Janet Simeon To the wonderful cookie makers, Thank you so much. I enjoyed them so much over the Christmas and also enjoyed the pretty ornament. God bless you all. With Love, Mrs. Kay Gregor Dear St. Paul s, I want to thank you for the wonderful cookie tray. The cookies were delicious. A special thank you to Caleb for the nice Christmas card that was attached. Thank you again, Mary Baer To all my church family, Thank you for all your thoughts & prayers as mourn the loss of my brother. Love, Chuck & Jackie Roward Hope Circle Women s Bible Study Hope Circle will meet next on Monday, March 14 th at 10 AM in the Conference Room. Ruth Thelin will lead Bible study, & Marianne Tonjes will be hostess. The Love Offering will be taken in addition to our regular offering & the Least Coin Offering. Questions? Contact Barb Toy or Ruth May at HopeCircle@stpaulserie.org or , ext We offer our sincere thank for all you have done over the years for our Mother as a member of your church family. She truly enjoyed St. Paul s and all her friends there. The dinner prepared for the family after her funeral was exceptional. Please thank once again all those who helped prepare and serve the dinner. Everyone enjoyed being able to visit and the great food. Susan Gibbs Dennis Conley Charles Conley I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all of my church family who have sent cards and have been praying for my recovery from recent eye surgery. I appreciate each one of you and it helped me get through the recovery process. Although it will take about a full year for my eye to completely heal, I am on the mend. Peace and love, Michelle Fuller Congregational care questions? Contact June Kessler at CongregationalCare@stpaulserie.org or , ext. 339.

5 St Paul s Lutheran Church, Erie, PA Page 5 Community Care Ministries Holy Trinity Soup & Pasta Kitchen Food for the month of March: Mar 6 Mar 13 Mar 20 Mar 27 Vegetable Soup Beef Broth Coffee Cereal All items are collected in a basket near the main entrance of St Paul s sanctuary. Questions? Contact Marvin & Marian Meyers at HolyTrinityKitchen@stpaulserie.org or , ext Pennies for Poverty The congregation is encouraged to save pennies & deposit them in the container in the narthex. Once a year, our area WELCA decides where the monies will go. World Hunger Appeal Update Thank you for your generous contributions to fighting World Hunger! Our sale of Good Gift Grams and Valentines was a success. You donated $534 on February 6 th and 7 th to fight hunger in the world and here at home. Thank you again!! Check out the communications table in the narthex for more stories about how your contributions have made a difference for those who are struggling around the world. Continue to add to your Coin Boxes throughout the Lenten Season and support the efforts of the ELCA World Hunger campaign. If you missed receiving a Coin Box, World Hunger offering envelopes will also be available on Easter Sunday. Questions? Contact Cindy Dohanic at WorldHungerAppeal@stpaulserie.org or , ext Patchwork of Love: Sheets Needed! Patchwork of Love quilters are in need of sheets for backing for our many quilts. Used sheets in good condition will be gladly accepted. Donate your sheets! Please place them in the box labeled Patchwork of Love Sheets in the narthex. No fitted sheets please! Thank you! Stephen Ministries The Stephen Ministries Team at St. Paul's will hold our first retreat on Saturday, March 6, here at the church. We are near the end of our training module. After training is completed, we will still meet for continued education sessions to promote further growth. Stephen Ministry, Christian lay caring ministry for those in need, is a vital part of our congregation's mission. On Saturday, April 2, and Sunday, April 3, we will commission our team to begin service as Stephen Ministers in our congregation. Join in the celebration! Come pray for and show your support of this caring ministry and these gifted people whom God has called and equipped for this important role in our congregation. Questions? Contact June Kessler, Sandra Hall, or Becky Holcomb at StephenMinistries@stpaulserie.org or , ext Scrapalooza! Save the date for Scrapalooza on Saturday, April 2 from 8:30 AM 8:30 PM. This is a fundraiser for the Student Ministry. There will be a sign-up sheet in the narthex for volunteers and donations needed. Thank you, in advance, for all your help! Questions? Contact Michelle Fuller at Scrapalooza@stpaulserie.org or , ext. 353.

6 Page 6 Pre-School Ministries Our pre-school year is flying by. March will be a busy month celebrating Dr. Suess, St. Patrick's Day, and Easter. We will celebrate Dr. Suess on his birthday on March 2 nd, St. Patrick's Day with a leprechaun hunt on Wednesday, March 16 th and then we will celebrate Easter on Friday, March 18 th. We will color Easter eggs and go on a egg hunt. The children are learning their names in print, opposites, rhyming, and their addresses and phone numbers. We are currently taking registrations for school year. We are happy to report our tuition costs have remained the same at $95 per month for AM or PM preschool and $155 per month for extended day pre-kindergarten. For more information, please contact Tammi Ferrante at PSDirector@stpaulserie.org or , ext Pre-School will be closed for Spring/ Easter Break beginning March 21 st -March 28 th. Pre- School will resume Wednesday, March 30 th. Child Development Center Ministries The Pre-K children in Child Development will celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss on Wednesday, March 2 nd by having a morning snack of green eggs and ham. On March 17 th, all children in Child Development will celebrate St. Patrick s Day with a party. Child Development will be closed on March 25 th in observance of Good Friday. On Monday, March 28 th all children in Child Development will have a bounce house party n the gym. Questions? Church Council Highlights From the February 2016 meeting: January finances within $500 of budget. Faith5 launch considered a success. Follow-up continues from Faith Forming Faith Retreat in January. Rehearsals for Easter Eve Cantata have begun probably a choir of over 30 voices. Discussion about folks feeling disconnected. Pastor to gather more information about sabbatical leave. Personnel Team to review position descriptions. Capital Campaign discussed. Delegates needed for Synod Assembly. Next meeting: March 21 st at 7 PM in Conference Room. Contact Dawn Chismar at CDCDirector@stpaulserie.org or , ext. 116.

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