Somerset Crossroads PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST IN WORD AND DEED Church of the Brethren From the Pastor s Desk As we come into this most Holy time of the Christian year, we are reminded of the sacrifice of a Father of His only Son. We begin this season with all of the pageantry of Lent. Ash Wednesday signals 40 day before Palm Sunday and the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This is a good time for us to think about our lives and how each of us has personally been touched by Jesus death and resurrection. Jesus died for our sins. We can begin our reflection by reading the Gospel stories about the things that Jesus taught the disciples. And how after Jesus death, they went out and brought in others, to teach not only the Jews but also Christians the way of the Cross. It is up to us now to carry on these ways by teaching in our Sunday School. By teaching we will make sure that the Bible stories are not forgotten. Do you remember your Sunday School teacher? The one who taught you the Beatitudes and the story of Daniel in the Lion s Den or Noah and the Ark? We have been called to pass on these stories lest they be forgotten, not only to our children, but to all of those who have not heard them before. During this time of Lent let us be intentional in praying for God to expand our ministry so that all of those who we come in contact with, will know about God s love. Blessings and love, Pastor Martha INSIDE THIS ISSUE Activity Page Anniversaries/Birthdays Calendar Camp Harmony Activities Community Lenten Services Easter Cantata Kids CONNECT Mission Trip Women s Fellowship Event
SOMERSET CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN PAGE 2 1 ASH WEDNESDAY Lenten Service at 1st UMC, 12pm Faith Community Nursing, 5-7pm Ministry & Evangelism meeting, 6:30pm 2 Christian Education meeting, 6:30pm 3 WORLD DAY OF PRAYER Social Hall rental, 9am-1pm 4 Social Hall rental, Time TBA 5 FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT Fellowship & Service meeting, 8:30am Kids CONNECT meeting after worship Last day to order soup 6 Praise Team practice, 6:30pm Chorale practice, 7pm 7 Quilters & Knotters, 9am Wheelers & Dealers, 7:30pm 8 Lenten Service at 1st UMC, 12pm 9 Stewardship & Finance meeting, 6:30pm 10 Soup pick up in kitchen, 11am-1pm 12 SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT DAYLIGHT SAVINGS BEGINS Soup pick up in kitchen after worship 13 Praise Team practice, 6:30pm Chorale practice, 7pm 14 Quilters & Knotters, 9am 15 Lenten Service at 1st UMC, 12pm MARCH 2017 Newsletter articles due to church office 15-22 Church Secretary on vacation 17 SAINT PATRICK S DAY 18 Caramel cooking in kitchen/social hall Spring Fling Hawaiian Luau at Camp, 5pm 19 THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT Special Haiti offering during worship Stick s Program Presentation during worship Soup & Salad after worship Caramel wrapping in kitchen/social hall Board items due to Bob Hart, Chair 20 FIRST DAY OF SPRING Praise Team practice, 6:30pm Administrative Board meeting, 7pm Chorale practice, 7pm 21 Quilters & Knotters, 9am Wheelers & Dealers, 7:30pm 22 Lenten Service at 1st UMC, 12pm 24 Sr. Food Box Distribution, 8am-10am 26 FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING SUNDAY Men s Fellowship meeting, 7:30am 27 Praise Team practice, 6:30pm Chorale practice, 7pm 28 Quilters & Knotters, 9am 29 Lenten Service at 1st UMC, 12pm
SOMERSET CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN PAGE 3 WOMEN'S FELLOWSHIP AT CAMP HARMONY Our church will have a table at Camp Harmony's Flea Market, Sportsman Expo on Friday & Saturday, March 3 & 4, 10am-4pm each day. We will sell cookbooks, dishcloths, Rada Knives, and quilts. We also need flea market items (no clothes) to sell. Please plan to attend Camp; we'll be selling food items too. Questions please call Faye Grew, Camp representative at 445-5585. The 3rd Annual Indoor Craft, Flea Market, & Sportsmen Expo will be held Friday & Saturday, March 3-4 from 10am-5pm each day. Explore local crafts, shop popular vendors and discover new treasures. SPRING FLING HAWAIIAN LUAU Camp Harmony will hold a Spring Fling Hawaiian Luau on Saturday, March 18th. Appetizers at 5pm; Dinner begins at 5:30pm with entertainment to follow. See bulletin board for more information; reservations due by Monday, March 13th. CAMP HARMONY SCRAPBOOK RETREAT The Camp Harmony Croppers will hold a Scrapbook Retreat on Friday & Saturday, April 7 & 8. Registration includes meals, snacks, beverages, lodging, lots of fun and on site shopping. For more information, see pamphlets in the gathering area. MISSION TRIP PLANNED Matty Yost has been led to go on a mission trip to Santiago in the Dominican Republic. Her school, Champion Christian High School (CCHS), will be teaming up with Dr. Seth Cohen and the Santiago Christian School. Her team will have opportunities to work alongside Dominican students in ministry programs with schools and churches and in construction projects as well. The Ministry programs will focus primarily on children. The mission trip will be from March 11th to March 18th. I am asking for prayers for myself and for the entire team. I would also appreciated any monetary gifts you could give. The estimated cost per person is $1500. You can find out more about what we are doing on our CCHS Missions Page at www.champion.org/ccs/mission. SENIOR FOOD BOX DISTRIBUTION The next Sr. Food Box Distribution is set for Friday, March 24th at 8am. Come share in the merry fellowship that goes along with helping the community. March 15th Brian & Jennifer Mosholder
SOMERSET CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN PAGE 4 CAMP HARMONY ACTIVITY Mar. 18 Spring Fling Hawaiian Luau NEXT MONTH: Apr. 7-8 Scrapbook Retreat 1 Jim Yost 4 Sarah Schrock 5 Christopher Miller 9 Rachel Lambert 12 Sherry Berkey, Kelly Hemminger, Kim Huet, CONGRATULATIONS! Congratulations goes to Janice Barclay on the birth of her new grandson, Benjamin Alan Herwig on January 31, 2017. Adam Heflin 13 Briana Beeghly 14 Jeffrey Mosholder, Breann Rohrer 15 Zane Greer 17 Samantha Zellem 18 Fred Thompson 20 Amy Beeghly, Tanner Hauger 21 Fae Foust, Miriam Stephens Regular church office hours are: 8:30am-12:30pm Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Fridays and 8:30am-3pm on Mondays & Thursdays. 23 Michelle Hearn Bilia, Larry Williams 25 Jean Mosholder 26 Lois Swartz 27 Joyce Lee 29 Trudy Saylor KIDS CONNECT MEETING Parents, please mark your calendar for Sunday, March 5th for the Kids CONNECT meeting. Kids CONNECT begins immediately following morning worship in the Fellowship Hall, includes lunch, and concludes at 12:45 pm. STAFF INFORMATION 814-445-8853 Pastor Martha Beach (Short-term Pastor) mbeach1215@aol.com Kimmy Hixson (Secretary) kimmyscob@hotmail.com
SOMERSET CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN PAGE 5 COME TO THE CROSS AND REMEMBER By Pepper Choplin Somerset Church of the Brethren Chancel Choir Palm Sunday, April 9, 2017 10 AM - during worship Christ s journey to the cross is filled with images that serve as vivid reminders of His sacrificial love for us. These images are the centerpiece of Pepper Choplin s Holy Week cantata, Come to the Cross and Remember. Members of the Chancel Choir invite you to gather at the Cross with us this Palm Sunday morning and share in a moving, music worship experience retracing Christ s final days on earth and His journey to the cross. May you reflect on the symbols of Jesus passion and suffering and once again, experience God s endless love for you and the world as you COME TO THE CROSS AND REMEMBER! KIDS CONNECT WITH HAITI In February, Kids CONNECT continued our year-long theme of learning about our Christian brothers and sisters around the world. We were introduced to Christians in one of the poorest nations in the world, Haiti, where the Church of the Brethren has hundreds of churches and a grassroots mission known as the Haiti Medical Project. When our children viewed images of Haitian families who are struggling today to feed and shelter their families, to farm without livestock or tools, to educate their children without books or paper and pencils, yet always joyfully worshiping our God, the children s hearts were moved and more than one child asked aloud, How can we help? The children voted to support the Haiti Medical Project with a financial gift - whatever funds they could raise in February and March - to provide medical care and clean water for Haitian families, as well as livestock and trees to needy families after the fury of Hurricane Matthew devastated this island nation in October 2016. One way the children raised money for the project was to prepare and sell brownie and soup mixes in jars to the congregation. To all who contributed to our jars or purchased a jar, thank you! In response to the children s actions, the Christian Education Commission designated the Church of the Brethren s Haiti Medical Project as the beneficiary of our February Church School offering. To all who gave generously to our Church School offerings in February, thank you for multiplying the children s gift! We will announce the funds raised for the Haiti Medical Project on Sunday, March 19 when we hope everyone will attend Worship for a special presentation and tribute to our Haitian brothers and sisters by God s Twigs. The musical selection that the children will present is a call to care for the people of Haiti and other marginalized citizens of the world who will only know Jesus through our actions and our compassion. We hope you will join us in Worship on Sunday, March 19!
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SOMERSET CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN PAGE 7 COMMUNITY LENTEN SERVICES The Lenten Services will begin on Wednesday, March 1st at First United Methodist Church at 12pm, and is sponsored by the Somerset Area Ministries: 3/1/17 Ash Wednesday Service; Preaching Matt Deal; Lunch St. Paul's UCC 3/8/17 Service; Preaching Jeffrey Popson; Lunch First United Methodist Church 3/15/17 Service; Preaching Father Dan O'Neil; Lunch St.Peter's RCC 3/22/17 Service; Preaching Arnie McFarland; Lunch Calvary United Methodist Church 3/29/17 Service; Preaching Rick Helsel; Lunch Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church 4/5/17 Service; Preaching Eric Raygor; Lunch Grace United Methodist Church 4/14/17 Good Friday Service; No Lunch DISTRICT WOMEN'S ACTIVITY The 2017 District Women's Event will be a "Women of God - Joy in the Journey" women's retreat on Friday through Saturday, May 5-6, 2017 at Camp Harmony. Registrations are due by February 14th and can be found in gathering are along with more information. MARCH SCHEDULES: EARLY GREETERS: CIA Class WORSHIP HOSTS: 5 Sharon Alexander & Myrna Burkholder 12 Cyndi Johnston & Ginger Rohrer 19 Judy & Michelle Custer 26 Rick & Ami Miller HOSPITALITY: 5 Elective II Class 12 19 FBI Class 26 Christian Education Commission ACOLYTE: Elise McCoy WORSHIP LEADERS: 5 Virginia Hay 12 Barron Deffenbaugh 19 Carol Walker 26 Melissa Smith STORYTELLERS: 5 Tina Yinkey 12 Sherry Berkey 19 Adam Shaffer 26 Kelly Hoffman USHERS: Fred & Kim Huet (Lead) Alice Gary, Dean Barron, Carolyn Willoughby- Deffenbaugh, Jason Custer, Drew Deffenbaugh, and Charlie Rhodamer NURSERY ATTENDANTS: 5 Ginger & Breann Rohrer 12 Adam & Kate Shaffer 19 Trudy & Brittany Saylor 26 Sherry & Jeff Berkey
MARCH SERMON/SCRIPTURES 5 Fear to Faith Luke 13:1-9 12 Guest Speaker Barron Deffenbaugh 19 Fisher s of Men Luke 5:1-11 26