News from the Hill...

Transcription

1 News from the Hill... St. John-Hill U.C.C. 620 Hill Church Road, Boyertown, PA April 2016 Pastor Christian Creyer Pastor Church Contact Information Mrs. Wendy Shane - Church Treasurer Rev. Jim Rogers Pastor Emeritus Mr. Elmer Miller Musical Director/ Organist Church Telephone: Church Website: Mrs. Nikki Weller Church Secretary Greetings and Easter Blessings! He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! The proclamation of Easter morning remains within my heart and clear in my mind. As we move forward from this past Easter, I pray that we all keep that close in our hearts. We have so much going on and so much to look forward to in the near future. As we move away from the joy and exaltation of Christ s resurrection, let us also keep in mind that this act introduced a major change to the world. Change is often inevitable and with it comes feelings of anxiety and fear. But we can move beyond those feelings and make St. John-Hill UCC into the church that God calls us to be in this world. This is why we have ventured into the Natural Church Development process. We are moving into the future with the Church Health Team leading us so that we can become stronger, more vibrant, and more inspiring, not only to those who worship with us on a regular basis but the new people who will be attracted to our family of faith. Along the way, things are going to be different and exciting. Some may make us look and feel different, but that s ok. Christ came to the world to make a difference not to keep it the same. This spring, as the world awakens from its winter slumber, let us remember the words of Peter to the first church in Acts 10:34-36, Then Peter began to speak: I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. In following Christ in our hearts and listening for His leading, we can find the peace that surpasses all understanding! May the Easter Resurrection continue to live within our hearts! Pastor Christian Page 1

2 Consistory News The Consistory met on Tuesday, March 8th, 2016 and discussed, reported and voted on the following items: Secretary s Report: Minutes from the February Consistory meeting were reviewed and approved. Treasurer s Report: General Operating Fund Income and Expense Summary for February Operating Fund February YTD February YTD Income $10, $20, $8, $16, Expenses $10, $20, $8, $20, Income vs. (Expenses) $ ($318.01) ($603.00) ($4,017.67) Benevolence received for February was $ and will be sent to PSEC. Year to date total is $ A current summary of all Hill Church financial accounts is available on the bulletin boards in the narthex and Sunday school hallway. Pastor s Report: Pastor Christian conducted a total of 24 visits on the phone and at various locations from February 9th through the March 8th. The next Communion will be held on Maundy Thursday & Easter Sunday during both the 7:00 and 9:30 services. The East Berks Association Spring Meeting will be held at Hill Church on April 23rd, and the Spring Conference meeting will be held June 10th - 12th at West Chester University. As a result of the discussion held on March 13th regarding same sex marriage at Hill Church, Pastor Christian would like to have a spring time bible study focusing on this topic starting in April. We will keep you posted as more details are available. Reports from the various committees were reviewed. Their activities can be seen elsewhere in this newsletter. Iron Sharpens Iron: PointMan Ministries will be holding the Iron Sharpens Iron Men s one day conference on April 16th. The mission of PointMan Ministries is to reach, challenge, and equip men to be mature followers of Jesus Christ, and committed Christian leaders, guardians, protectors and providers of and for their families, churches, and communities, by acting with Biblical integrity out of reverence and love for and obedience to God. We have information packets available, and encourage all of the men in our church family to consider attending this day of fellowship and worship. Sidewalk Repairs: We have met with Joel from Snyder Construction in Fleetwood to review their bid and have accepted their quote. We hope that by the time you read this newsletter the repairs will be completed. Thank you again for all of your prayers and support throughout this project! Employment Opportunity: We are still accepting applications to fill the sexton position at Hill Church. To date we have received two applications and will be meeting with the applicants in the near future. If you or anyone you know might be interested in applying for this part time position or would like to find out more information about this opportunity, please see any Consistory Member or Nikki in the Church office for more information. Volunteers Needed: We would like to thank all those who have volunteered their time and service to help keep our church clean while we are in the process of hiring a sexton. If you would like to help out, or if you think you might be interested in the position but aren t sure of what all the sexton does, this would be a great opportunity to get your feet wet (perhaps literally) before applying for the position. We have a sign up sheet available in the Narthex for anyone who would like to help with the weekly church cleaning until we hire a sexton. Continued on page 3... Page 2

3 Continued from page 2... Elevator Usage Procedures: We would like to schedule a training session to review the proper procedures for using the elevator in our church. At the same time we also would like to review procedures in the event of a power outage or emergency situation to safely operate the elevator. We will keep you posted when a date is set for this session. Spring Cleaning: April 9th starting at 9:00 am will be the spring cleaning of our church. All ages and abilities are welcome and appreciated. Cleaning supplies will be at the church, but feel free to bring your own as well. Consistory Pre-Service set up for April will be provided by Dottie Fronheiser and Rick Furches. The next monthly Consistory Meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 12th at 7:00pm. In Christ, Your Consistory: Harold Albitz, Anita Brady, Dottie Fronheiser, Rick Furches, Bonnie Helmick, Mark Hile, Ray Kochey, Kristen Nagy, Arlan Schaeffer, Terry Shane, Clarence Weller, Matt Weller, and Pastor Christian. Association & Conference News Conference The Pennsylvania Southeast Conference of the UCC has moved to a multi-day spring meeting which occurs on June at West Chester University. Pastor Christian and Stephanie will be attending each day to participate in the work of the Conference and commuting each day. If you are interested in participating and gathering with our brothers and sisters in a larger environment, please see Pastor Christian with any questions or interest. There are many exciting changes coming to the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference. Some of the most recent changes are in the staff of the Conference. There are currently two positions open for an Administrative Assistant and IT/Communications specialist. If you have an interest in either of these positions, please see Harold Albitz or Pastor Christian for more information. Association We will be hosting the Spring Association Meeting on April 23rd with a continental breakfast provided by our Women s Guild followed by worship and meeting following at 9:00 AM. We are entitled to two delegates for the business portion of the meeting. We are responsible for making sure that we have our two delegates in attendance as we will be discussing some important business and work of the Association. If you have never attended an Association meeting, they are worth attending at least once to see the work of our local churches as we gather to worship and do the work of the greater church. Please contact Pastor Christian if you are interested in participating in the meeting. Page 3

4 News from the Women s Guild Women s Guild met on Tuesday March 1st We wrote a check out for $200 to Wernersville Hospital for Easter Treats and we also wrote a check out for $ for 40 pairs of shoes to Life out Reach. On Saturday April 23rd Women s Guild is providing morning refreshments for the Association meeting and should be there by 7:30am. Marie Brumbach s birthday is coming up on April 25th if you would like to send her a card her address is 9 Reading Dr., Apt #209, Wernersville, PA Mayetta and Eileen had the program after our meeting on Spring is in the Air and had us do a March Trivia. Stephanie Creyer has the May Meeting. Choir News Thank you to everyone who participated in or attended the Maunday Thursday Evening Service. Your support is appreciated. I pray that the service inspired your worship experience and awakened the Holy Spirit within you if it wasn t already shining through you! Wednesday, April 6 - Sr. Choir 7 PM Wednesday, April 13 - Sr. Choir 7 PM Wednesday, April 20 - Sr. Choir 7 PM Wednesday, April 27 - Sr. Choir 7:00 PM Elmer Miller Organist/Music Director or elmerhm@dejazzd.com Park Committee News Workday & Men s Breakfast: Saturday, April 9, 2016 We ll start with the men s breakfast about 7:00 am at Creek Side Dinner. Afterwards we ll tackle springtime cleanup in the park area. Everyone is welcome. Thanks and see you there. Page 4

5 Cemetery News Cemetery Board Meeting Tuesday April 7:30 PM at St. Joseph s Lutheran Church. Help will be needed to straighten Tombstones early in May. Watch for the date in upcoming bulletins. Sunday School News We will get together for another exciting Vacation Bible School this year from July from 6:30-8:30 pm! This year s theme is Following Jesus: The Light of the World Join us in July for Cave Quest to discover God s awesome light in our world. Look in the bulletin for ways you can help out and upcoming newsletters for more information! Our next leadership meeting will be on April 4 at 7:00 pm. Natural Church Development A workshop, attended by about 20 people was held on Saturday, February 20th to develop an action plan for our worship service to become more inspiring for all attendees. As first step outcomes of this workshop, it was determined that two teams would be created: an ongoing Prayer Team to earnestly pray for our continued growth as an inspired community of faith and a Worship Team working with Pastor Christian and Elmer Miller, Organist/Music Director, to tie together the thought of the day, the scripture, the message, the music, etc. If you are interested in participating with either of these teams, contact Pastor Christian or anyone on the Church Health Team. Additional ideas to be put into practice in the coming months include developing a plan to add new music to the church service, a communication plan with parents of Sunday School students, expanding the Vacation Bible School (VBS) scope, creating small groups, in addition to other exciting ideas. We, the Church Health Team (CHT), have tried to explain WHAT we are doing as part of the Natural Church Development process but, perhaps, haven t made it clear WHY we are doing it. We all want St. John (Hill) UCC to remain an active, vibrant house of worship where we continue to serve the Lord, our Savior, even better than we have in the past. Remember, it was Albert Einstein who said, If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got. If you have any questions/concerns, please don t hesitate to contact Pastor Christian or anyone on the Church Health Team. Please continue to pray for the Church Health Team and our church as we embark on this journey. God Bless! The Church Health Team Rick Furches, Eileen Fisher, Jane Prutzman, Mayetta Shane, and Joel Weller Page 5

6 Planning your summer vacation? The Christian rock festival, Creation Fest will be coming up fast. This is one of the most awesome and inspiring local vacations you can take. It charges our souls and hearts for the year. Switchfoot, Newsboys, Family Force Five, Many more. Check it out: Our trip will start on Tuesday June 28th leaving about noon until Sunday July 2nd mid-afternoon. The cost for Hill Church youth - $100.00, $150 for non-hill Church youth and $150 for all adults. This price includes admission, food and drink for the week. Still a bargain as tickets alone are close to $100. We will be asking for 50% deposit by April 30th and the balance by May 31th. If you would like to go and your financial circumstances would prevent you from going, please let us know. We have some limited anonymous sponsorship funds available. If you want to come out for just a day or two, figure your ticket price and $10 for food and drink. Website: for day ticket prices. We are asking for all students and possible chaperone s to contact Dale Fronheiser dfron4@ dejazzd.com or Nancy Weller nancylweller@yahoo.com. It is important to have enough chaperone s so please consider going along if you like music and camping. It is a moving experience. If you have an interest please respond by Aprll 15. Hope you can go. Blessings, Dale Fronheiser and Nancy Weller Congregation Corner Each month Pastor Christian will be interviewing one of our members in an effort to get to know everyone at Hill Church. As part of that process, Pastor Christian will also write up a story of that person s life for the newsletter. Let s see how much you know about your fellow Christians and Hill Church family members. Can you guess who our interviewee is? This Month s Congregation Corner member: Hi everyone, I am a lifelong member of this congregation, born and raised and continue to worship here. I was born in Pottstown but have lived near the church my entire life. I cannot imagine being anywhere else. What else can I say that would not give me away well, not much. I am married and have one child who make me extremely proud, but then again what parent is not overly proud of their child. I love to make things with my hands, like well if I told you, it would definitely give it away but let s just say if I can create something with my hands, then I am happy because there is nothing more exciting that finishing a project and knowing that you did it yourself. However, I am not overly patient so when I am working on something, I need to get it done and get it off my list. That s something most people probably would not know about me My favorite Bible passages come from Psalm 100 and I adore any Southern Gospel song. I encounter God most in my life, well everywhere. I know that might sound strange but I believe that God is in everything I do and say and guides me through all things good and bad. There is no doubt in my mind that God is with me everywhere so yeah, I see God everywhere. My favorite time of year is Christmas because of the tradition and most importantly the reason for the season! During the summer, you might find me enjoying a nice cold glass of Moscato. I don t really have a favorite place, as long as I can explore. I love to explore and see new things. I would love to be able to play the Orange Blossom Special on the fiddle (if I had time to learn to play that might be the first step in being able to do this). If I were stranded on a deserted island, I would need my family, my friends, and a deck of cards (the laughter and fun we would have would get us through anything) Who am I? Page 6

7 Bible Trivia From Nelson s Amazing Bible Trivia, Book 3. All answers are listed on page 9. Bible Math When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he taught an important lesson about eternal life. See what he told Martha, and us, by solving the puzzle below. Each answer is a number that matches a letter of the alphabet. Assign that letter to the answer and then in the quote below the math problems to discover what Jesus taught (the first one is done for you): 1st Word: Steps of Solomon s Throne 3 Psalms 30 Cows in Pharaoh s dream + 5 Years Jacob worked for Rachel + 7 Years Aeneas was bedridden + 10 Commandments + 8 Gospels + 1 Branches on the vine in Pharaoh s dream Noah s days of ran 2 Abraham s angelic visitors 3 Chapters in James 3 Horsemen in Revelation st Word: 18 1st Word: R 2nd Word: Chapters in Ruth 3 Sons of Adam & Eve 3 Jars of water Jesus made into wine Peter s denials + 2 3rd Word: Seals in Revelation 5 Snakes in Eden + 4 Cities of Refuge 2 Beatitudes 1 Silver shekels paid for joseph 4 Spies sent into Canaan + 10 Jesus s temptations + 2 Elders I Revelations 5 4th Word: Tribes of Israel 3 Jonah s days inside the whale 3 Spies hidden by Rahab + 3 2nd Word: 3rd Word: 4th Word: 2nd Word: 3rd Word: 4th Word: I am the R and the. He who in me will not. Page 7

8 Announcements from the Hill Sexton Job Position Hill Church is looking to hire a part time sexton (approximately 20 hours per week). Copies of the job description and applications are available in the Narthex or from the church office. If you would like to submit an application please do so by submitting it to the church office. If you have any questions regarding the position, please call the church office. Volunteers Needed We are looking for volunteers to help clean the church until a sexton is hired. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Nikki ( or or nikki@stjohnhillucc. org) or sign up in the Narthex. Thank you for considering helping serve Hill Church. Mission Trip 2016 Friendly s Fun Night On Monday, May 9, from 4 PM to 9 Pm, we will be hosting a family fun night at Friendly s. This is a night out where you can gather your family and friends for dinner at any time during our time and raise money for our church. The restaurant provides 10% of all sales during our time slot to us. Tell your friends and family to come out for a family dinner night and help us raise some funds for activities at the church. More information can be obtained by asking Pastor Christian or Stephanie Creyer. Boy Scout Fundraiser Come help support troop 518 on Monday April 18th at Friendly s in Pottstown (on Rt. 100, across from Red Lobster). Any purchases that evening between 5 and 9 will have a percentage contributed to the troop. Any participation will be appreciated. Thanks again from troop 518, will see you there. Any questions feel free to contact Bobby Shakespeare at We are excited to announce our Mission Trip will be happening again this year. This year we have FOUR area churches all coming together to do the planning. The work days for the Mission Trip will be Wednesday, July 20th through Saturday, July 23rd. The daily time frame will be 7:30 am to 7:15 pm. These days will include all meals, morning and afternoon work times, and evening faith reflections. You are eligible to attend the Mission Trip if you are at least 10 years old as of September 30, If you are between 10 years old and 14 years old as of September 30, 2015, you must have a parent attend the Mission Trip as well. This year s registration fee will be $15 per person or $50 per family max. More information will be coming soon! But mark your calendars now as you don t want to miss this Mission Trip! Page 8

9 Bible Movie Club The bible movie club will be meeting on the following dates in the new year. Please come out and join us. We gather at 6 pm and the movie will start about 6:30. Refreshments are available. April 22 - Esther May 20 - Hosea June 17 - Sampson The next Bible Movie Club meeting is on Friday April 22nd. The movie is the Book of Esther. Please read Esther chapters 1-8. We meet at 6pm. Refreshments are provided and all are welcome! Women s Guild Visit to Wernersville Sate Hospital The Women s Guild is going to visit and tour Wernersville State Hospital on April 5th and would also like to invite anyone in the church who is interested in going. They are gathering at the Weis parking lot in Oley at 5:45 pm. If you are interested, see Eileen Fisher for more details. GROCERY CARDS Don t forget grocery cards for Giant, Redner s and Weis Markets are available for purchase. They may be used towards groceries, gas and pharmacy purchases and make terrific gifts! We receive 5% for every card you purchase which will be used to support our Church Missions program. See Connie Hile to purchase your cards today! Calling one and all! April 9th starting at 9 am many hands are needed to spring clean the church! All ages and abilities are welcome. Cleaning supplies are at the church, but if you have a favorite, please bring it with you. Weekly Multi-Service Collection Boyertown Multi-Service Outreach: We continue to collect canned, jarred, and other items for the Boyertown Multi-Service. As we look at the month of April we will be providing any kind of cleaning products that help with Spring cleaning (Lysol, surface cleaners, bathroom cleaners, floor cleaners, etc). Bicycle Club Ride On April 9, we will again be hosting a local bicycle club in our parking lot. As in the past few years, the club will be using our parking lot as a rest stop. What s different this year is that we will be opening the church to allow the riders to use the facilities and providing oranges and water for the riders. Pastor Christian and Stephanie will be in the parking lot to serve the riders water and oranges. We are asking for some donations of oranges for the morning (cut into pieces and bagged to easily serve and eat) or anyone who would like to assist Pastor and Stephanie in providing hospitality to our guest for the morning. Bible Trivia Answers I am the Resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will not die. 1st Word: 18 R; 5 E; 19 S; 21 U; 18 R; 18 R; 5 E; 3 C; 20 T; 9 I; 15 O; 14 N 2nd Word: 12 L; 9 I; 6 F; 5 E 3rd Word: 2 B; 5 E; 12 L; 9 I; 5 E; 22 V; 5 E; 19 S 4th Word: 4 D; 9 I; 5 E Page 9

10 APRIL Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 8:30 am Sunday School 9:30 am Worship Service pm Sunday School Meeting Upcoming Events May 9 - Church Friendly's May 21 - Ham Supper June 28 - Creation Fest July 10 - Vacation Bible School July 20 - Mission Trip 7 pm Women's Guild Meeting 7 pm Sr. Choir 7 am Men's Breakfast 8:15 am Work Day 9 am Spring Cleaning Bike Club using parking lot 8:30 am Sunday School 9:30 am Worship Service Coffee Hour after Worship pm Consistory Meeting 7 pm Sr. Choir Iron Sharpens Iron Men's Conference 8:30 am Sunday School 9:30 am Worship Service NEWSLETTER DEADLINE pm Scout's Fundraiser at Friendly's Restaurant 7:30 pm Cemetery Board Meeting at St. Joe's 7 pm Sr. Choir 6 pm Bible Movie Club East Berks Association Hill Church 8:30 am Sunday School 9:30 am Worship Service pm Sr. Choir Creation Deposit Due