Outreach Pg 4
Calendar Pg 10
Reopening Phase 3: Stepping Back with Love
EVERYONE MUST wear a mask that fully covers their mouths and noses! EVERYONE MUST maintain social distance of 6 feet or more. And EVERYONE WILL have their temperature taken before they will be allowed in, and their temperature must be below 100.4.
Sunday night November 22 our Re- opening Team met to consider how we deal with the ever-increasing numbers of individuals with COVID 19. That team’s responsibility has been the love of church members, our friends, and our family members since the global pandemic began. The team provided our Leadership team, which met on November 24, with a proposal to change our current practices, which Leadership approved. Effective Sunday, November 29, we began limiting the number of individuals who come to worship in person in the overflow section to 10 individuals. Priority is given to church members without the internet at home.
This plan will remain effective into 2021. When things improve in our community and state, we will revisit the situation about in- person worship, but the streaming will continue as always and beyond the pandemic.
Pastor Dave
#GivingTuesday Update outreach to families with children and to the world. We asked for donations on #GivingTuesday, December 1, and you responded!
Thank you all so much for your donations! As of this writing, we have exceeded our goal and raised about $14,000. The Lord truly does provide, even in a pandemic!
Photo, right, shows part of our tech team. Thanks to Trista,
Norm, and Gary, plus Bev, Tim Longnecker & PD. Great team!
Our little church has been reaching the world this year, even with our old, worn down, and limited technology. Gary gets a lot of credit for becoming a “professional” camera person for worship and Communion. We have literally followed Jesus’ directives to make disciples of all nations!
We are streaming a fantastic and Jesus-driven Sunday School One Room Classroom each week.
Our Leadership team made the decision to raise $10,000 for our TECH NEEDS to improve our
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church West Deptford, NJ
January-February 2021
bad; Nicholas S had hip surgery; Sharon’s nephew covid, wife Stacey pregnant with covid; Lynn K in hospital quite ill; Jennifer covid & now husband & daughter showing symptoms; Morgan & Katie F praise baby is okay; Erika & Darrel and their relationship; Gale M surgery; Young man with anxiety & depression; Family & friends of William M; Ski family exposed to covid; Logan Ski hospital program shut down; Three friends with covid; Kristin H’s friend & husband both covid he is very ill; Ron covid; Robyn R hospitalized with covid; Unnamed person needs prayer; Craig G metastasized cancer in his last days; Deeann D cancer beginning treatment; Dr. J surgery for abdominal injury; Garry doing better; Kathy R’s family members; Terry D thanks for doing prayer chain; Judy M new prayer chain caller; Ron prayers for negative covid exam; Carol’s brother complications from knee replacement; Every week: All those in need, unspoken requests, all servicemen/ women, our nation and leaders. Ongoing Prayer Concerns: Joyce N., Samm S., Hope T., Gerry M., Chris S., Janet B., Terry D., Helen R., Corey T. Serving in the Military: Daniel Domeraski, Rachel Rachuba, Gabby Townsley, Ed Schwebel, Joseph Bangle, Kailey Roller, Jaime Dan Solano, Brandon Howell, Chris Yard, Shaina Serrano, James T. Adams, Jr.; Donna Rachuba Shut-Ins & Nursing Home Residents: Jean K., Bertie C., Harriet L., Ron & Eve C., Betty C.; Rosie P.; Edie M.
2 Jan/Feb 2021 Lamplighter
January Birthdays & Anniversaries 2– Aleyna Rutter 4– David Bailey 4– Norm Branyan 4– Michelle Wright 7– Jessica Loveland 7– Trista Jones 10– Carly Dyal 10– Jacob Spellman 10– Kurt Toppin 11– Lillie Marie Gogolin 12– Kenny Domeraski 12– Madison Whipp 13– Dorothy & Roger Stockman 13– Joyce Nuneviller 14– Daniel Domeraski 15– Tara Kyser 16– Laurie Schwebel 17– Kim Gibson 17– Brandon Rutter 17– Diane & Joe Wonsetler 18– Elise Narcisi 19– Meghan Beidle 20– Matt Dechen 20 – Nina Englett 21– Carl Whipp 24– Roger Stockman 24– Ashley Cuthbert 25– Dottie Davenport 25– Patty Fish 25– Jackson Merckx 26– Nadia Domeraski 27– Sean Thomas 28– Harriet Lawson 30– Kathleen Spellman
ALL Prayers: All who are ill and those caring for them; All dealing with isolation from family due to pandemic; All kids, parents, caregivers, teachers doing virtual learning; All who are feeling a bit overwhelmed with personal issues and the pandemic; Healthcare workers as pandemic upticks; For our country; Family of Bill & Peg F who just passed of covid; Dave & Patty F; Zack B strep & mono; Sandy D’s daughter Karen surgery; Dottie D’s sister Batty kidney problems; Gene G home on hospice; Jackie G’s granddaughter traveling to Africa; Trista J health issues; Holly H hospital metastatic breast cancer spread to brain and spine; George L hospital suspected covid; Barbara H in hospital with covid pneumonia; Jake lost close friend to violence; Denise H throat surgery; Pastor Onay & wife Odaisy both health issues; Dakota age 19 heart issues; Debbie W has covid in hospital and sister caring for special needs children; Jim C medical procedure; Mark heart problems; Birgit worried about family; Denise parents health issues; Pastor Helen R serious eye problems; Lia B age 12 organs failing from covid; Lynne H heart tests; Steven L in ICU with covid; Chuck covid with health conditions; Marie covid; Toni lost husband to covid; Gail S has virus elderly and frail; Don T praise is helping a church member; Jaxson B age 6 ATRT brain cancer now in spine very
31– Logan Dugan 31– Judy Hulmes-Cochran 31– Brett Matlack February Birthdays & Anniversaries 3– Edward Ruple 3– Michelle Souder 3– Melissa Strock 3– Diane Weems 5– Charlotte Galka 8– Bridgette Archut 9– Nicole Daws 10– Joanne Keegan 10– Don & Carol Strock 11– Ginny Gibson 11– Ronnie Mancuso 13– Courtney Knudsen 16– Vince Lee 17– Shane Moore 17– Kim Sturgis 19– Emily Bailey 19– John Spellman Jr. 20– Donna Sierocinski 21– Rosalyn Platt 22– Shannon McLaughlin 22– Kenneth Norris III 23– Evelyn Dallas 23– Joe Hoffman 24– Bert Turner 24– Matt White 25– PyperLin Gittinger 26– Jennifer Spinella 27– Wendy Gittinger 27– Lynne Hoffman 28– Mark Heffernan
Staff Editor: Trista C Jones
Assistant Editor: Denise Hosier
Strock, Sunday School
Production: Trista C Jones
The Lamplighter is published bi- monthly, in Jan., March, May, July, Sept. & Nov. Deadline is the 15th of the month preceding publication.
For more info contact Trista C Jones or email
admin@stpaulsthorofare.com.
THE LAMPLIGHTER Bimonthly Newsletter of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, PO Box 125, West Deptford, NJ 08086 Pastor: Rev. Dave Delaney Phone (856) 845-6638 E-mail pastor@stpaulsthorofare.com Sunday Morning Worship: 9:30 a.m. Sunday School: 10:45 a.m.
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of
the Lord has risen upon you!” Isaiah 60:1
And, so it has arrived … the year 2021. Thankfully we can say goodbye to the year 2020 that created such a dark cloud that it was difficult to find the bright and happy moments in a year of isolation and more. We have arrived in the year 2021 sensing hope and possibility again in the air. There are voices declaring that we must come together and strive for the common good, and that is a reason to shout HAPPY NEW YEAR! Lest we never forget, our God has never vanished … Jesus Christ has never hidden us away on a dusty shelf and the Holy Spirit is still nudging and whispering believers to turn in the right direction. As 2020 ended, I received a TEXT message from Don and Carol Strock. It read FARMER KEVIN has just donated another $5,200 in ShopRite gift cards to our church. FIVE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS given by a non-member who has to my knowledge never attended our church, all so that we can continue to feed the hungry. In November he donated FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS in ShopRite cards. He also regularly provides us with fresh eggs and produce for the hungry. AMAZING! We have received donations in 2020 from people all around the nation, and some of them have never stepped foot into our church. Still, they have recog- nized what an awesome loving church St. Paul’s is! And they realize that to keep a church doing ministry it takes money.
has allowed kids to discover God and Jesus Christ while at home … never did that before 2020. We have laughed together weekly online using technology … again, something that never happened before 2020. And so we come out of the Advent and Christmas season looking forward to 2021. We shred a 2020 calendar during our service on New Year’s Day.
My call to you as your pastor is to “ARISE and SHINE” for Jesus Christ! Consider perhaps for the first time what your gifts and talents are that can help bring the message of Jesus into better focus for our neighbors or those around the world. I hope you will join me in dedicating more of your day to reading the Gospels and prayer so that you can sense Jesus’ direction rather than the direction of the world that your social media memes want to push you in. It was on Sunday, March 15, 2020 that I stood before the last gathering of people in the sanctuary of our beautiful church and said that I hoped to see eve- ryone in a few weeks... but it has been almost a year. We need to remain safe and vigilant. We cannot rush to get close because that could make us sick or kill some of us. But we can remain strong as a church, just as we have since March 15th, while discovering new ways to worship God and new possibilities in making disciples for Jesus! I look forward to seeing that God is leading us in this new season of hope and promise! Let’s leave the dark times of 2020 behind us while celebrating the good our church has done. There is much to do in 2021 so let’s get to it... ARISE and SHINE!
Pastor Dave
Lamplighter Jan/Feb 2021 3
In November, a family who does not at- tend our church but who is very aware of the ministry we are doing and plan to be doing through the use of technology offered a ‘dollar-for-dollar’ match chal- lenge on ‘GIVING TUESDAY.’ Their match to our church, which they do not attend, was close to $7,000.00. They knew something special has been hap- pening at St. Paul’s for God and for Jesus Christ! They don’t attend worship here and in fact have their own church but they are making sure we continue to reach the world through our outreach and our technology. So perhaps 2020 wasn’t all that bad. God was with us. We started a Wednesday morning virtual service of Holy Communion and people have sent letters to the church stating how that simple service has touched their hearts and connected them more strongly with Jesus Christ. We have had singers who do not attend our church want to sing at our church because we are doing the work of God through our worship services both online and in person. I think in the coming days the rear view mirror look at 2020 might not be all that bad. Technology has allowed us to pray face-to-face with individuals around the world who e-mailed St. Paul’s asking for prayer. We had never done that before 2020. We have had a One- Room-Sunday-School classroom that
Outreach
• January Our first Sunday offering
(Jan. 3) will benefit Human Relations Sunday.
On the third Sunday (Jan. 17) the offering is for
Blanket Sunday. Church World Service was born in 1946 when 17 denominations came together to form an agency "to do in partnership what none of us could hope to do as well alone." The mission: Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, comfort the aged, shelter the homeless. Blanket Sunday is a CWS outreach. • February
Our first Sunday offering (Feb. 7) is for our St. Paul’s Food Pantry.
Our third Sunday (Feb. 21) we will be supporting Family Promise.
Our food pantry and Family Promise are both important mission projects of our church and we hope you will give generously. Many thanks to all of the St. Paul’s family for your generous outpouring of support to our Mission Projects even during these unprecedented times. We remain a community of love for all.
Ruth Schultz
Food Pantry Helps Our Community Our food Pantry has been busy serving our community this year, and we couldn't have done so without your support and those in our community. We've seen donations of food being dropped off, monetary donations, plus new volunteers offering their services. This summer we had a farmer partner with us, offering fresh eggs and produce to our pantry. In the last two months Kevin surprised us with large donations of ShopRite gift cards to pass out to those in need. Due to COVID-19, the way we handle our distribution had to change in order to protect both the volunteers and clients. Temperatures are taken, masks are worn, and social distancing is practiced. We are now doing drive- thru pickup of the food and delivery is available to those who need it. The boxes of food are prepackaged in advance of distribution.
4 Jan/Feb 2021 Lamplighter
The hours of our distribution have changed to 8-11 a.m. the second Wednesday of each month. If you need food or know someone who does, call the church or email us at StPaulsWDFoodPantry@gmail.com Have a blessed New Year!
Carol Strock
Wed., February 17
12:00 noon Online
Limited in−person attendance allowed by reservation only.
THANK YOU to Music Director Glenda Steffee and new Worship Team Leader Carla Branyan for making sure we have music at our services each week. Thanks also to re- tiring Team Leader Patty Fish who did a great job for years!
Everything’s Online! Watch or Listen In this time of social distancing and no interactions, the church is still active and providing worship, Bible studies and daily devotionals. You can participate through the Internet, and even if you don’t have a computer or smart phone you can still listen to worship by telephone. We’ve been live-streaming our worship service on Facebook for a while. Now we’ve added ZOOM, so even if you’re not on Facebook you can still watch worship online or listen on your phone. Here’s everything you need to know: Worship streaming on Facebook, Sundays at 9:30 a.m.: https:// www.facebook.com/ StPaulsUMCThorofare/ Worship online using ZOOM, Sundays at 9:30 a.m.: https:// zoom.us/j/352579798
Sunday School online using ZOOM: https://us05web.zoom.us/ j/83511974614? pwd=SU1rZEp1Q2c4RWU0MlNR STJYSXZxZz09 Holy Communion streaming on Facebook, Wednesdays at 7 a.m.: https://www.facebook.com/ StPaulsUMCThorofare/ Daily Devotions and updates on Facebook, every day at 9:30 a.m.: https://www.facebook.com/ StPaulsUMCThorofare/ Bible Studies via ZOOM, Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. and Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.: https://zoom.us/ j/6215058879?pwd=nsnKfafurYg If you don’t have Internet see instructions in the box for listening to ZOOM on a regular telephone.
Blessings!
How to Join a ZOOM Meeting by Telephone
1. Dial one of the following numbers: Toll Free 833-302- 1536 -or- 408-638-0968 - or- 646-558-8656.
2. You will be prompted to enter the meeting ID - the nine (9) or ten (10) digit ID provided to you by the host. It is the number at the end of the links, e.g. 352579798 for Sunday worship.
3. You will be prompted to enter your unique participant ID - Press # to skip.
Try it and let us know if you are able to connect and hear our worship service.
Lamplighter Jan/Feb 2021 5
CHRISTMAS WREATHS graced the doors of St. Paul’s thanks to the generosity of Bernice Nolte, who purchased them in memory of her husband Ray. Thanks, Bernice!
THANK YOU, LEADERSHIP TEAM! This group has continued to maintain a regular meeting schedule to oversee all the business of our church. If you are interested in serving, just give Pastor Dave a call. There’s always room for more leaders at St. Paul’s!
6 Jan/Feb 2021 Lamplighter
Not too late to help the Sunday School When donating the materials below please make sure they are in closed trash bags and closed boxes. Please leave your items on the back ramp. Got Sneakers will be giving us com- pensation for Athletic sneakers and cleats. There will be a special collec- tion box for the sneakers.
Elaine Luoma
You can still donate your used clothes and household items to the Sunday school through January 10! Collections will be every Sunday, drop off before 12 p.m. We are working with Bargain Thrift Center in Philadelphia and Got Sneakers. Bargain Thrift Center will be giving us .20 per lb of the list of materials.
Make Disciples of All the World One of the amazing truths of the 21st century is the fact that each of us has the ability to bring Jesus Christ to the entire world.
Now some of you are doubters like Thomas, but if you post and share links/stories/ testimonies about faith on your Facebook page, your Twitter, your Instagram, etc. there is a strong possibility that your friends will share your posts. And then their friends will share your posts. And, well you sort of get the idea.
We have witnessed the impact of neg- ative stories being shared but here at St. Paul’s we have also heard from people around the world who have found our little West Deptford church through Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Some of these people are now worshiping with us. Some have prayed directly with me, face-to-face using technology. And we don’t know the numbers but some may have discov- ered Jesus Christ through our church.
Almost every friend and member of St. Paul’s has internet access, which means that like me you are communi- cating online. If every friend and member of St. Paul’s shared every post from our Facebook page and Twitter onto your own page then our church could reach hundreds and thousands of new people.
Our Christmas Eve services were viewed by people thousands of miles from New Jersey, some people who have never been to the United States much less New Jersey. Our friend Eli is in Liberia right now and he watched our services with friends and family. I heard from a gentleman in Malaysia who thanked me for our Christmas Eve service. And I have heard from friends all across the United States.
As this New Year begins, I am asking you to dedicate yourself to sharing our posts and the links to our worship services. Sunday morning worship, Wednesday morning Communion, and the daily PD@930 live streams are just some of the ways people can connect with us.
I am excited about the new possibilities that are in front of us as a vital congregation for Jesus Christ! We don’t know the date but I know we will be able to gather together again in 2021. But the truth is we can be connected each day.
So my question is … will you promise yourself to help spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world by simply sharing
links to our website on a regular basis while also sharing all of our posts on social media?
If you have questions on how to do it, just e-mail me at pdatstpauls@gmail.com.
Pastor Dave
Lamplighter Jan/Feb 2021 7
THE WORSHIP TEAM continues to meet to help plan worship services and assist PD in presenting such great online worship.
The Guiding Lights and Worship Team decorated the church for
Christmas. Even though there weren’t many people in church, a large number of people watch our
online service. Thanks to our ladies, and to custodian/sexton Jeremy, who helped clean and decorate.
8 Jan/Feb 2021 Lamplighter
SUNDAY SCHOOL goes on! Thanks to leaders Elaine Luoma & Mary Ann Jones, the kids meet weekly on zoom for Bible stories, crafts & prayer. Any child is welcome. Zoom link on stpaulsalive.org.
Lamplighter Jan/Feb 2021 9 CHURCH CONFERENCE took place on November 1 on zoom.
Vote on PD’s Top Jokes of 2020 More than 1000 jokes have been shared on our PD@930 in the Satur- day Morning Funnies Corner in 2020. More than 1000 … thanks to every- one who has taken the time to send funnies in to me.
Early on in the pandemic I decided to focus on jokes to share on our Saturday morning stream. I wasn’t sure how they would go over but from the feedback it is obvious that people love to laugh and people still enjoy good clean and many times corny jokes. I have been amazed at the number of ‘pirate jokes’ that have been sent to me.
For our last Saturday in 2020 we retold the top 15 jokes and are now soliciting votes to come up with the top joke of 2020. You can vote just by going to St. Paul’s Facebook page and searching the archives for the jokes.
Here are a couple of the contenders:
• What did the pirate say when he turned 80? AYYYE MATEY!
• A father was reading Bible stories to his young son. He read, “A man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but
his wife looked back and was turned to salt.” His son asked, “What happened to the flea?”
• I’m good friends with 25 letters of the alphabet. I DON’T KNOW Y.
If you want the complete list sent to you just e-mail me at pdatstpauls@gmail.com or if you have a good clean joke to share I’d really appreciate receiving more!
Pastor Dave