For Members and Friends of St. Paul s UCC Fleetwood

Transcription

1 Taking a Stand for Christian Peace &Love Political races, terrorism, and tragedy often seem overwhelming these days. I have three children ranging in age from 7 to 13. I worry about what the world will be like when they grow up. What skills will they need to live in this world? Even better than that, how can I prepare them to stand up and change the world in order to make it a better place for all of us? When I was little, we sang the hymn Standing on the Promises of God by R. Kelso Carter. The first verse and refrain are included below: Standing on the promises of Christ my King, Through eternal ages let His praises ring, Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, Standing on the promises of God. Refrain: Standing, standing, Standing on the promises of God my Savior; Standing, standing, I m standing on the promises of God. It occurred to me that Sunday School is a great way to prepare our children (and ourselves) to stand up for Christian ideals and values. In order to support this, the Sunday School is starting a new three prong initiative for the school year. During one of his sermons, Pastor Pat charged us to Tell the Story in order to spread God s love. Well in Sunday School we realize that we can t tell the story unless we KNOW the story you will see timelines in each of the children s Sunday School rooms. These timelines will allow students to see where each story fits into the bible s message of God s love for his people For Members and Friends of St. Paul s UCC Fleetwood We will continue our initiative by TELLING the story following our curriculum, the students will talk about the bible stories (not just what happened, but why it happened, and what it means to us). But all of this is not enough, we must also LIVE the story each month the Sunday School will learn about one of Paul s 9 Fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control). Just as a tree will not yield fruit unless it is planted/watered/pruned, the Holy Spirit s fruits must be purposely incorporated into our value system and our lives. As we search for answers in a sometimes crazy world, I would like to invite the entire church to come stand with us. Join our students as we learn to KNOW the story, TELL the story, and most importantly LIVE the story of Christian peace and love. I think Carter s last verse says it best. Standing on the promises I cannot fall, Listening every moment to the Spirit's call Resting in my Savior as my all in all, Standing on the promises of God. The Spirit is calling come join, listen, and stand with us. Stacy Laucks Coordinator of Educational Ministries

2 Tyler Weir 09/01 Hanna Jones 09/01 Sean Miller 09/01 Chris Schumacher 09/01 Brian Arndt 09/01 Kyle Provost 09/01 Austin Marsteller 09/03 Gillian Agnew 09/03 Emilee Scheffler 09/03 Jeff Biehn 09/03 Jennifer Biehn 09/03 Michael Fella 09/03 Joanne Knoll 09/03 Roxanne Woerner 09/03 Nicholas Stoltzfus 09/04 Nathan Brinker 09/04 Tiffany Koch 09/05 Amber Williams 09/05 Cindy Sprecher 09/05 Barbara Berry 09/05 Marta Herman 09/05 Kevin Hollenbach 09/05 Mason Gruber 09/05 Logan Negri 09/06 David Hottenstein 09/06 Jennifer Stufflet 09/06 Neil Sassaman 09/07 James Fry 09/07 Gary Steppler 09/07/ Joan Richards 09/07 Chase Reifsnyder 09/08 Lauren Rolon 09/08 Emma Templin 09/08 Donna Sell 09/09 Gail Greth 09/10 David Bingaman 09/10 David Ludwig 09/10 Tamara Nothwehr 09/11 Michael Radka 09/11 Chris McKinney 09/11 Noah Orth 09/11 Nathan George 09/12 Cynthia Rothenberger 09/13 Jaiden Valick 09/13 Gregory Brey 09/13 Erin Bogacki 09/13 Sandy Gross 09/13 Marie Rothharpt 09/15 Mckenzie Barlet 09/15 Dawn Kachel 09/15 Brenda Sload 09/15 Tessa Simmons 09/15 Vicki Kerling 09/16 Rebecca Fry 09/16 Cody Lesher 09/17 Sandra Stern 09/18 Catherine Wanner 09/18 Austin Scott 09/18 Stephen Bleiler 09/18 Jourdan Angstadt 09/18 Gavin Hoare 09/19 Donna Wanner 09/19 Brenda Geist 09/19 Roger Simon 09/19 Paisley Bryniarski 09/19 Carson Werner 09/19 Michael Berg 09/20 Derin Phillips 09/20 James Czarnecki 09/20 Leanna Fink 09/20 Hollyanne Spayd 09/20 Joyce Laucks 09/20 Timothy Wagner 09/21 Dennis Raudenbush 09/21 Alexander Fretz 09/21 Caitlin Nahrgang 09/21 Jay A. Smith 09/21 Sandra Bosch 09/21 David Absalom 09/22 Lydia Heffner 09/22 Nikolas Stella 09/22 Christopher Vojtasek 09/22 Christopher Dietrich 09/22 Shawn Mumma 09/23 Ethan Raudenbush 09/23 Deron Stiff 09/23 Jeffrey Mayer 09/23 Paulette Dunkelberger 09/24 Titus Miller III 09/24 Levi Dicello 09/24 Andrew Schwartz 09/24 Donna Dries 09/25 Amanda Gauker 09/25 Adrianne Greth 09/25 Franklin Hoch 09/26 Chase Smith 09/26 Thomas Mcnabb 09/26 Connor Raudenbush 09/26 Theresa Reardon 09/26 Brittany Weidner 09/27 Joseph Juntunen 09/27 Nikkole Hagginbothom 09/27 Brett Ruhl 09/27 Patricia Stutzman 09/28 Kimberly Hoare 09/28 Brendan Fink 09/29 Russell Anderson 09/29 Gary Reinert 09/30 Linda Ruhl 09/30 If your birthday is not listed or is incorrect, please call the church office at so it can be recorded for future birthday lists.

3 September 4 8:55 a.m. Chris Vojtasek, Shawn McGlinchey, Steve Wentz, Betsy Becker, Paul Moll, Ian McKinney, Erin Bogacki, Tyler Mowry, Allen Crockett 10:25 a.m. Linda Schaeffer, Lorraine Bingaman, Donna Rader, Jenn Mowry, Tyler Mowry, Ian McKinney, Erin Bogack, David Balmer, Chad Walter, Paul Moll September 11 8:55 a.m.- Mike Werner, Steve Wentz, TBD, TBD 10:25 a.m. Tom Agnew, Sue Creswell, TBD, TBD September 18 8:55 a.m. Ann Heinly, Melissa Ruemmler, TBD, TBD 10:25 a.m. Jenn Mowry, Tom Agnew, TBD, TBD September 25 8:55 a.m. Betsy Becker, David Balmer, TBD, TBD 10:25 a.m. Linda Schaeffer, Allen Crockett, TBD, TBD September 4 8:55 a.m. Catharine Delcamp 10:25 a.m. Jim Goldman September 11 8:55 a.m. Family Service/Rally Day 10:25 a.m. Ken McDowell September 18 8:55 a.m. Nancy Boyer 10:25 a.m. Sue Creswell September 25 8:55 a.m. Laura Walizer 10:25 a.m. David Balmer September 4 8:55 Taylor Pavlick and Evan Watkins 10:25 Bret Spayd and Mackenzie Miller September 11 8:55 Olivia Downs and Kayla Himmelreich 10:25 Brooke Mowry and Emma Bigg September 4 The Valick Family September 11 Allen and Jason Crockett September 18- Janice Lenhart and Lorraine Bingaman September 25 Janet Peters, Judy Fink, Mary Boeshore, Dee Eastland and Dolleen Eroh September 18 8:55 Mackenzie Miller and Sam Ruemmler 10:25 Connor Raudenbush and Jiasu Gore September 25 8:55 Emma Bigg and Angela Snyder 10:25 Ryan Levan and Caroline Blickley The deadline for news and information to be included in the October Tower Tymes is September 15 th. Thank you for your cooperation.

4 Sept. Christian Ed News What a busy time in Christian Ed! Seee the front page for our new educational initiative & check out all the great activities happening in Sept.! Sept. 4 : NEW School CLASS LEVELS start Sept. 11 : RALLY DAY (Family Service) Come join us as we celebrate the start of a new year in Sunday School. Damien Drago will be leading us in songs once again this year. Rally Day/Family service will take place during the 1 st service only. Sept. 18 : Chalk4Peace Sept. 25: Harvest Home (bring a canned good), Dedication of Confirmands, 1 st & 2 nd year confirmation meeting after the 2 nd service. Remember children s choir will rehearse at 8:30 a.m. starting Sept. 4 th. What a great way to start off a new Sunday School year! Looking ahead Oct. s educational theme: Self-Control Sun. Oct 9: Crop Walk Sun. Oct. 16: Family Service Stacy Laucks Coord. Of Educational Ministries Book Group for September 2016 The Book Group will meet on Tuesday, September 27 th, at 7 p.m. in the lounge off the narthex. The book for this month is Five Years in Heaven: The Unlikely Friendship that Answered Life s Greatest Questions by John Schlimm. A synopsiss of the book can be found on amazon.com. If you have any questions regarding this meeting, contact Sharon Dreibelbis at or Mary Ann Hayes at Everyone is welcome! Jill Haley has been offered an opportunity to live in Glacier National Park for 3 weeks in October as an Artist in Residence. This means she will be writing music about this Park in Montana while living there from October Upon her return she plans to offer this new music in a special worship service tied in with scriptures related to the music. A plan is being made to incorporate video in this service too. Greta Ertel and Peg Ruch will be handling the choirs during this period of time. MUSIC NOTES. Please consider joining one of our choirs at St Paul s this fall. We have 3 choirs- a children s choir for children aged 4-12, a chancel choir that sings weekly at the 2nd worship service and a chime choir that plays once a month at both worship services. ALL ARE WELCOME. We are also planning a Christmas Cantata for December 11 this year and will begin rehearsals for this from 7-7:30 on Wednesday evenings starting September 7. You do not need to be a regular member of the choir to be involved in the Cantata. The chancel choir will continue its regular rehearsal at 7:30 of course all are welcome to stay for this too, but if you just want to sing the Cantata- that is fine too. Children s choir rehearses at 8:30 on Sunday mornings in the choir room and sings in church once a month. Chime choir rehearsess at 6:15 in Wednesday evenings and Chancel choir rehearses at 7 pm on Wednesdays. Please let Jill know if you are interested or just show up at the rehearsal. Finally if you are interested in sharing your musical talents as a vocal or instrumental soloist, there will be a sign up sheet on the bulletin board next to the choir room. We always welcome members sharing their talents! Jill Haley phone: jilhaley@ptd.net Fleetwood Community Theatre s Spaghetti & Song is on Friday Sept 30th and Saturday Oct 1st from 5-8pm each night in the St Paul s UCC Social Room. This year' 's songs theme is A Family Affair. All-You-Can-Eawhere the wait staff are the performers. Fabulous Spaghetti Dinner entertainment, 3 home-made sauces, our terrific salad bar, plus beverages, bread, and dessert all for $12. Children under 10 are $8 tickets and those who want to skip the pasta can enjoy the Salad bar for $10.

5 Women's Guild Support the Guild by penciling in these events on your family calendar, please: Next Guild Meeting Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23rd Eat at Hoss's Steak and Sea House at 121 Center Ave, Leesport Talk it up amongst your friends and family, please. A minimum of 20% of your pre-tax bill will be forwarded to our church. Be sure to acquire a paper invitation (1 per family unit) starting Oct. 2nd, World Wide Communion Sunday. Nov. 5th Bake Sale at the Pot Pie Supper Folks dining at the Kitchen Committee's pot pie supper will be able to purchase whole cakes, pies, cookies, etc. to take home. These will be available where supper tickets are purchased. (Please note that your meal will continue to include the single serving chosen from the dessert tray assortment). Lots of dessert donations are thus needed! Please set aside some time to bake for the cause. SAVE THE DATE Saturday, Nov. 12th The Christmas Bazaar The Guild's Biggest Fundraiser of the Year! Reserve the day for: Shopping and having lunch with us. Being a volunteer cashier and/or bagger. Preparing and serving food. Cleaning up after the event. Save some time for us the week of Nov. 7th to: Bake Cookies, pies, cakes, etc. Help make candy. Shop for and donate Bazaar Café menu items. Thin out and donate white elephant items, books, toys, and secret Santa gift items. Sponsor a gift card or item(s) for the Silent Auction. Help set up shopping rooms with tables. Volunteer time to departments in need. Look for more details in the Oct. and Nov. editions of your Tower Tymes where department chairpersons will be listed with their contacts. Also dates and times will be set for dropping off donations, table set-up, candy making, etc. Crafter/vendor tables can be reserved by contacting Jenn at (484) or twjenn15@gmail.com. And don't forget to check your church bulletin for upcoming Your support is truly appreciated. It is not too early to be thinking of how we can all get involved.

6 Fleetwood Food Pantry On Thursday, August 4th, 87 families were served at the Pantry in the Fleetwood Community Center which was an increase in families that we have been serving in previous months but our volunteers did a fantastic job at making additional bags so that all of our families were able to go home with food. The next date for the pantry will be Thursday, September 1st volunteers are needed from 3:30-6. It s St.Paul's Lutheran's turn to serve. Thank you to all who continue to volunteer each month and help provide food donations to the pantry. Shopping Cart in Narthex It's back to school time and packing healthy lunches for kids is always a goal for our food pantry families. Snacks for kids are always in high demand. Boxes of granola bars, non-perishable fruit cups, boxes of raisins, Trail Mix, juice boxes, pretzels, applesauce cups remain popular. Anything that a child would be thrilled to find in his or her lunchbox (that's not straight junk food) will enthusiastically be received by our families. Helping hands: This month the gracious volunteers for Helping Hands responded to the following: 8 phone calls 6 s 7 transports Thanks to all our volunteers for their time! Would you be willing to help us in this very important ministry? We are looking to expand our list of volunteers who may be able to help transport members to doctors appointments. Please contact Lynda Shenk to add your name to the and call list. shenklynda@gmail.com We try to our volunteers first and we require one week's notice for all rides. Should you or a family member need any extra assistance please contact Lynda Shenk shenklynda@gmail.com Opportunity House- The Mission Committee will be serving the meal on Tuesday, September 20th. For the months of August &September, the Mission Committee will be collecting school supplies for the Reading School District and the schools in Mississippi that were recently devastated by floods. The supplies can be dropped off in the coat area by the church office and there will also be a box in the church s narthex. Below is a list of supplies that are always in need: 1) Pencils 2) White computer paper 3) Construction Paper 4) Notebooks 5) Lined Notebook Paper 6) Crayons 7) Glue Sticks 8) Backpacks 9) 1 inch, 3 ring binders 10) Crayons, markers, colored pencils We will celebrate Harvest Home on Sunday, September 25 th at both services. The #10 cans of food will be taken to Bethany Children s Home and the small cans will be taken to the Fleetwood Food Pantry. We are asking the Sunday school children to bring a can to church that Sunday. If you would like to tape a dollar bill to the can, all dollars will be collected and sent to the Greater Berks Food Bank. If you would like to bring your cans to church anytime during the week of September bring them during office hours and put them in the Sanctuary.

7 Greetings from St. Paul s School Welcome Back to School!!! We are excited to have a wonderful start to a new year. We are all excited to return from our summer vacations. We have one/two day and three day 3yr old classes, 4 day and 5 day PreK classes. 2 year old playgroup, half day and full day Kindergarten, Advanced Prek, full day preschool and extended care. We are thrilled with all the new children attending our school and are very excited about our upcoming events. I would like to present our wonderful staff for the year. Mrs. Strange and Mrs. Walsh teach our 3 year old classes and our Pre K teacher is Mrs. Jones. Mrs Keirstead is our Kindergarten and Advanced Prek teacher. Mrs. Bieber will be our coordinator for extended care. Our assistants are Mrs. Bieber, Mrs Parfet, Mrs. Grasley, Mrs. Hill, and Mrs. Hoffman. Mrs. Mengel is our playgroup teacher. I myself, Ms. Peggy Brown am thrilled to back another year as director of the school. Mrs. Cindy Oesterle is our bookkeeper. We surround the children with love every day and we all look forward to getting to know all of our new students. In September we be making many new friends and enjoy getting familiar with school. Staff and students are all excited about getting back to school. We will have a visitor from Johnny Appleseed in September. We will enjoy tasting different colors of apples and learning about apples. What is your favorite color of apple see if you agree with our students. We have a few openings left in our school. We provide Half and Full Day Kindergarten, PreK education for 4 and 5 year olds, 1, 2 and 3 day Three Year old Classes and a 2yr old playgroup. We provide all day school for parents or children that would prefer that option. We also offer an Extended Care program, which is for parents that work or have appointments and need care for their child beyond the normal school time. Our school year is starting soon and would love to have your children or grandchildren join our wonderful program. If you know of anyone that might be interested, please have them call the office at to get more information. Thank you. Respectfully submitted, Peggy Brown, School Director As we approach the fall of 2016 it is time to begin planning for the Sunday morning gifts to the church for the coming year. These gifts include the altar flowers, the bulletins, The Upper Room publication and special flower tributes. For 2017 the cost of the bulletins will be $35.00 per week and for The Upper Room booklet $50.00 per month both of which are payable to the church. The cost of the flowers is determined by and payable to the florist. We will continue to utilize the services of Tracey's Flowers in Fleetwood to supply the flowers for church on a Sunday morning. The church secretary, Linda Speece, will place the flower order with Tracey unless you, as the sponsor, choose to order the flowers from another florist. If you do choose another florist, please let Linda know your wishes when she contacts you for the wording to be placed in the bulletins. The schedule of gifts for 2017 does not automatically carry over from the previous year; therefore, we will begin filling in 2017 Sundays in September, Please stop by the table in the narthex to sign up for the Sunday you wish to sponsor one of the weekly gifts. You may also contact Sharon Dreibelbis at to indicate your preference or obtain additional information. Note of Gratitude from Mae Border: I am now residing at Kutztown Manor, 120 Trexler Ave, Room 233W, Kutztown, PA My window looks out to garden area, it has a home like feeling. I like it here, the staff is very nice and the food is good. I thank the ladies of St. Paul s who cooked and kept me supplied with meals. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for my birthday cards to help me celebrate 101 years of age; as well as the cards I receive letting me know you are still thinking of me, that is so much appreciated. The weekly bulletin as well as those greetings mean very much to me. Thank you each and every one I d welcome your visit; you will no doubt need to tell me who you are, but I d still love to see you. God bless you all, Mae Border

8 St Paul's to explore ONA August 8, 2016 The consistory of St Paul's United Church of Christ in Fleetwood met last evening to discuss several issues of importance to the congregation. One of the items presented was a recommendation for the congregation to consider becoming an official Open and Affirming (ONA) congregation of the United Church of Christ. The recommendation to the consistory stated "Members within the congregation have been discussing the need to explore a Welcoming Process that could possibly lead to St Paul s becoming an official Open and Affirming (ONA) congregation, as a way to take the Church outside the four walls and into our communities. The Welcoming Process is an officially recognized path that includes relational organizing, education, some kind of public vote, and a public statement of Welcome for persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities." During a time of conversation and discussion that followed it was mentioned that this would be a way of making official something the church already did. "This wouldn't change a thing about the views of the church it would just put it in an official policy." A major reason mentioned to make it official policy was the difficulty faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) people who are looking for a congregation to call home and aren't sure what to expect when walking through the doors of most churches, including St Paul's. When for many years most churches told LGBTQ people that they were not welcome to attend their congregation, it can be difficult to take that tentative first step to find a supportive congregation. This is especially the case outside of urban areas with visible LGBTQ communities. Becoming an ONA congregation would allow St Paul's to publicly acknowledge the fact that it is a welcoming congregation for all people regardless of gender, sexual identity, race, or class. After some discussion the Consistory voted unanimously to approve a committee. Members of the committee will be announced at a later date, and they will discern the timeline for this process. An official announcement regarding the process and timeline will be made to the congregation on Sunday, September 11, The Consis tory met on August 8 and took the following actions: 1. Approved the Church's support and endorsement of Ken McDowell as he pursues full time seminary studies, an important step on his journey to ordination. 2. Approved the upgrading of the cabin electrical system. A committee of representatives of the groups using the cabin will be led by Randy Hoffman and will be undertaking additional improvements. 3. Approved the purchase of a safe to protect offering monies and eliminate some of the trips to the bank. 4. Voted to delay the replacement of the failed Lounge air conditioning system for a few months in order to reduce the cost. 5. Voted unanimously to begin the study of determining whether St. Paul's would declare itself to be an Open and Affirming church and thus welcome all who are seeking a safe place to worship no matter what their sexual orientation, a step already taken by more than a quarter of all UCC churches. See the separate article in this issue concerning this process of study, education, debate and discernment. David Balmer St. Paul s Prayer Shawl Ministry Information Because of the Labor Day holiday on Monday, September 5, 2016, our group will be meeting on Monday, September 12, 2016, in the Conference Room at 7 p.m. New members are always welcome!

9 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 Food Pantry Holy Communion 8:55 & 10:25 am Children s Choir 8:30am 5 Labor Day Office Closed 6 7 Chimes 6:15 Choir 7: Worship 8:55 and 10:25 Children s Choir 8:30 Family Service Rally Day! 12 Consistory 7 Prayer Shawl 7 Guild Chimes 6:15 Choir 7: Worship 8:55 and 10:25 Children s Choir 8:30 19 Staff 10:30 am Chimes 6:15 Choir 7:00 22 Mission House Board 3pm Relay for Life Mum Sale 25 Worship 8:55 and 10:25 Children s Choir 8:30 Harvest Home Facilities Audit meeting between and after second service School Open House Book Group 7 28 Chimes 6:15 Choir 7: FCT Spaghetti and Song

10 St. Paul s United Church of Christ Non-Profit 5 West Arch Street US Postage Paid Fleetwood, PA Reading PA Phone: Permit #83 Fax: churchoffice@stpaulsfleetwood.org Website: Our Staff Rev. Patrick W. Morris Rev. John Folk Mrs. Linda Sue Speece Mrs. Sue Creswell Mrs. Stacy Laucks Mrs. Greta Ertel Mrs. Jill Haley Ms. Peggy Brown Mr. Thomas Agnew Pastor Associate Pastor Church Secretary Bookkeeper Coordinator of Education Ministries Organist/Accompanist Coordinator of Music Ministries School Director Sexton