JANUARY 2018
THE EPISTLE of
St. Paul Evangelical
Lutheran Church
January 2018 Volume XXXVIII, No. 5
SUNDAY WORSHIP SCHEDULE
JANUARY 7, 14, 28 9:00 AM – WORSHIP SERVICE
10:15 AM – FELLOWSHIP PERIOD 10:45 AM – FAITH FORMATION HOUR
JANUARY 21 9:00 AM – WORSHIP SERVICE
10:00 AM – ANNUAL MEETING
partner to partner
Happy New Year! Another new beginning. Sometimes it feels like we’re always beginning, or at least, beginning again. January 1 begins the new year 2018. But we began the new school year last August. Our Church year just began again on December 3rd, the first Sunday of Advent. You, the congregation of St. Paul Lutheran, are preparing to make a new beginning. With the Council’s appoint-ment of your new call committee, you are about to begin your official quest for the beginning of a new season of minis-try, led by a new pastor. What is your understanding of what that new season of ministry will entail? What will it mean for your life together? What will it re-quire of you personally? How will your call committee recognize the person whom God is calling to become your new pastor. Each of these questions require something the Bible and our faith tradition name as discernment. Discernment is sometimes a pure gift of the Spirit. Far more often though, it comes through a lot of patient work—praying together, listening for God in the Scriptures and the voices of one anoth-er, praying with hardheaded intelligence and fervent love for God and each other, reading the signs of the times, praying
with alive imaginations, counseling with notably wise Christians, praying on our knees for God to empty us of self and fill us with his love and truth, asking tough questions of ourselves and each other, searching for faithful answers to those questions and…did I mention prayer yet? Following Jesus is rarely simple or easy. The Bible uses phrases like "the trying of your faith," "work out your salvation with fear and trembling," "now we see through a glass darkly," and many others to illustrate the many diffi-culties and uncertainties involved in a life of following Jesus—a whole, sane life that fulfills God's plan for us, better than anything we could think up on our own or copy from the culture around us. So my hope is that, together with your call committee and all the leaders of your church, we will joyfully embrace the challenge of discerning the next steps along St. Paul’s journey of faith and ministry. Seeking with you, to know and do the will of God,
Jack
WORSHIP
HIGHLIGHTS
PARISH LIFE
UPDATES
PARISH LIFE
GIVE PLUS MOBILE GIVING
Starts January 2, 1008
Starting January 1st, contributions may be
made to the following funds using the Give+
mobile app or through our website for
on-line giving: Current, Benevolence,
Maintenance, Building Revitalization,
Flowers/bulletins/communion, Special
Appeals, Harvest of Hope Food Pantry or
Mission Trips.
You may contribute using your checking or
savings account (lowest fees to the church)
or by credit card. If you wish, you may
choose to offset the processing fees
associated with the transaction. Simply
Giving (electronic monthly giving option) is
still available and you can register through
Sue Williams.
Try Give+ for mobile or on-line giving
For iPhone: Download Give+ - Vanco Payment Solution in the Apple App Store and follow instruc-tions.
CONTINUED
For Android Devices: Download Give+ - Vanco Payment Solu-tions in Google Play and follow instructions. On line: Go to www.stpaulchurchsg.com and look for the On-line Giving link to Give+ to set up your account. Detailed instructions will be distributed beginning on January 7th and a help desk staffed by John Graybill will be in the fel-lowship hall after worship on January 14th.
Detailed Instructions Distributed – January 7 Help Desk During Fellowship Hour – January 14 If you need help, please see John Graybill or Sue Williams or any member of finance committee.
Thank you for your continued support of
St. Paul Lutheran Church
PARISH LIFE
CONTINUED
CHURCH COUNCIL MEMBERS
Council President - Travis Gladfelter:
717-880-7686
Tina Becker: 717-524-7210
Kelly Garrett: 717-225-0395
Penny Gordon: 717-259-9490
Tracy Gross: 717-495-9090
Heather Hamme: 717-891-6831
Robin Hamme: 717-324-5278
Lynn Hershey: 717-225-6389
Jim King: 717-586-1129
(note:zero15) [email protected]
Pat Lobodinsky: 717-225-5294
Wendy Miller: 717-887-3524
Ray Zavatsky: 717-449-2230
FINANCIAL UPDATE
Account Update
Based on Actual Income & Expense
As of November 30, 2017
Year-to-date
Current Received $160,803
Current Expensed $214,949
Difference -$54,146
Benevolence Received $37,679
Benevolence Expensed $30,395
Maintenance Received $48,848
Maintenance Expensed $50,770
Any questions,
contact Sue Williams.
Stonework / Education Wing
Revitalization Update
As of November 30, 2017
2017 Results
2017 Congregational Goal $84,000.00
2017 Contributions Received $36,862.00
2017 Amount Needed $47,138.00
Revitalization Loan Balance-Total
$226,806.83
WOMEN’S FELLOWSHIP BREAKFAST
SATURDAY, JANUARY 20
The “WOW” Women of Wisdom Fellowship
Breakfast will be held on Saturday, January 20,
starting at 8:30 am in the fellowship hall. All
ladies are invited and encouraged to join us for
these very enjoyable get-togethers!! Sign up on
the sheet located on the kiosk in the fellowship
hall. Bring a Friend too!!
ANGEL TREE 2017
Thank you! to everyone who
participated in this year’s “Angel Tree”
program. By your participation, you
provided 74 people with God’s love and joy in
this 2017 holiday season.
Memorialize or honor a loved one by purchasing
a custom-engraved brick to be placed in our
LEGACY GARDEN. Money raised will be used
to restore and maintain our beautiful church
home. Order your bricks online at:
www.polarengraving.com/StPaulEvangelical
LutheranChurch.
Order forms are
also available in the
church office.
Thank you.
Please remember….January’s specific pantry
items are canned soup and canned fruit. Mone-
tary donations are always welcomed and can be
made to the Harvest of Hope Food Pantry, Inc.
by using the blue pew envelopes. For further
information about volunteering or about giving,
contact 792-6070.
**This month’s pantry volunteers**
Thursday, January 18, 2018;
4:15 – 7:00 pm
Bobbi Heisler
Donna & Bud Stark
Nancy Wentz
Thank you for your continued support!
STEWARDSHIP THANKS YOU!!
The Stewardship committee realized slightly
over $1,000 from the bazaar "Christmas Shop"
and toffee candy sales (thanks to Sandie King).
The profits will be shared in our church, our
country and globally by dividing them among
these projects: $500. to SP building revitaliza-
tion fund, $250. to ELCA Disaster Relief Fund
for California fire victims, and $250. to ELCA
"Good Gifts" campaign. This campaign helps
people around the world to care for themselves
by supplying necessary items for farming. With
just $250. we are able to supply (2) water fil-
ters, 2 goats, 10 chicks, a pig, 3 fruit trees and
honey bees that will enable several families in
need.
Harvest of Hope Food Pantry
January’s Pantry Item
2018: Your Year of Gratitude
Think of the three happiest people you know –
people whose lives effervesce with joy and peace.
Chances are they also have a profound thankful-
ness for all that God has blessed them with. They
also seem to live with a sense of contentment. Re-
flect for a minute. Isn’t that the case?
By contrast, you may also know folks who are
considered wealthy but are profoundly UNhap-
py. Likely they not only fail to exude thankfulness
for their wealth, but they also mistakenly believe
they need even MORE possessions to be happy.
Isn’t that right?
Now, which kind of person do you tend to be?
Thankfulness. Happiness. Contentment. These
joyful characteristics work together, reinforcing
one another. Human experience proves this simple
fact to be true: People who are grateful for all they
have and all they are tend to be happy and content.
Moreover, don’t they also tend to possess spiritual
depth and emotional maturity? A coincidence?
Hardly.
Thankfulness, happiness and contentment interact,
but gratitude holds the key. Develop gratitude,
then happiness and contentment follow. It doesn’t
work the other way around. With prayer, devotion
and simple exercises, the Holy Spirit will lead you
to deeper spiritual maturity and more happiness.
Here are some ideas for you and your family.
Pray daily. Ask God to give you a greater sense
of thankfulness. And then thank God for all the
day’s blessings.
Chart thankfulness. On a big wall calendar mark
one thing for which you’re thankful to God. Invite
other family members to do the same. When you
get in the habit of looking for them, you will find
blessings everywhere.
Keep a “blessing list.” Write down the things you
are grateful for. Then as you say your nighttime
and morning devotions, pray over the list: “God,
I’m thankful for this, and I’m thankful for that.”
Revise the list as needed.
Start a refrigerator “gratitude board.” Using
sticky notes, post on your refrigerator the things
for which you are most grateful. Use a different
color sticky note for each family member. Keep
the board updated.
Send out thank-you notes. Buy a box of inexpen-
sive thank you notes and send one every week. Go
deep, thanking not only the folks who have given
you a present or done a favor for you, but also
those whose love, support, friendship, laughter,
energy or presence are important to you.
Make a “thank offering.” Express gratitude in a
tangible way by making a contribution to your
congregation or favorite church cause. Make the
donation “just because,” or in honor or memory of
a loved one, or on the occasion of a special event
or blessing in your life.
Adopt one or more of these exercises as a spiritual
discipline and, with God’s help, you will develop
the attitude of gratitude that will bring more satis-
faction, greater happiness, spiritual depth and emo-
tional maturity to your life.
Blessings for 2018.
--Rob Blezard
Copyright © 2017, Rev. Robert Blezard. Used by permis-
sion. Pastor Blezard serves as an assistant to the bishop of
the Lower Susquehanna Synod and also works as content
editor for www.stewardshipoflife.org.
STEWARDSHIP CHRISTMAS SHOP
BECOMES POPULAR
We have had many compliments from the
community patronizing our Christmas
Shop, we have watched excited children
choosing items from our "bargain tables",
and many members have told us they have
more to give us. And so, by popular de-
mand, we will again open our shop at the
bazaar in December 2018. We can receive
your re-saleable Christmas/Winter decora-
tions now, so as you put away your decora-
tions in January, you can donate unwanted
items by placing in the middle room of the
first floor education wing. We will store
them until next year.
The committee thanks you for your do-
nations, help and support, and your pur-
chases. We are all practicing good
Stewardship
SOUPER BOWL SUNDAY
FEBRUARY 4, 2018
We will be joining with churches
nationwide to raise money and collect food
for the hungry.
Watch for more information
in the next Epistle
Grocery Gift Card
Fundraiser
All money raised
will go to support
The Youth Ministry
here at St. Paul Church.
* Purchase Giant or Kennies gift cards in
increments of $50
* Use the cards when you do your normal
Shopping
* Youth receives 5% of card sales directly
from the supermarket
Details:
1. Cards must be purchased with checks
made payable to St. Paul Lutheran Church
2. Cards will be sold on the 1st and 3rd Sun-
days during coffee hour only by seeing
Sue Williams.
Any questions, please contact
Sue Williams at 225-6480.
THANK YOU NOTES
Dear Faithful friends,
Thank you for your ongoing generosity to
help our families in need. The quilts are lovely!
Your generous in-kind gift makes an immediate,
positive impact in the lives of York County fam-
ilies as they work to regain their independence
here in our shared community. Gratefully,
Janel Fox
Bell Socialization Services
* * * * *
FAMILY MINISTRY &
ADULT DISCIPLESHIP
JANUARY WORSHIP AIDES - 2018
DATE
AND
TIME
GREETERS
ACOLYTES
LECTORS COMMUNION
ASSISTANTS NURSERY
To Be Determined
SOUND
SYSTEM
Jan.
7
9:00 a.m.
Iris & John Graybill
Daniel Gordon
Justin Lachnit
Jayne Murphy
Gary Williams
Jan.
14
9:00 a.m.
Sara & Tom Ural
Abby Hamme
Nate Hamme
Wayne Wagaman Robin Hamme
Kelly Garrett
Mark Bowersox
Jan.
21
10:30 a.m.
Carolyn & Carl Diehl
Daniel Gordon Pat Lobodinsky Penny Gordon
Gary Williams
Jan.
28
9:00 a.m.
Missy & Wayne Artz Audrey Plummer
Ava Plummer
Betsy Scheivert Tracy Gross
Heather Hamme
Lynn Hershey
USHERS ALTAR GUILD COFFEE HOUR HOME – BOUND BIRTHDAYS Jan. 7 - Team 2 Ushers, Alan King, Capt. *Carolyn Diehl Jan. 7 – Sue Cross, Carolyn Diehl January 21 – Beverly Garman
14 - Team 3 Ushers, Sam Becker, Capt. Beth Flickinger 14 – Cindy Ross, Debby Smith 165 W. Hanover Street
21 - Team 4 Ushers, Jim Gingerich, Capt. Brenda Hoover 21 – Continental Breakfast/Annual Meeting Spring Grove, PA 17362
28 - Team 5 Ushers, Jim Senft, Capt. Donna Stark 28 – Pat Lobodinsky, Pam Kelberer January 27 – Norma Richards
Beth Staub 1356 Village Drive
Spring Grove, PA 17362
ST. PAUL CALENDAR – JANUARY, 2018
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY
1 NEW YEAR’S DAY
Church Office Closed
2 5:30 pm Exercise Class 6:00 pm Daisy Scouts 6:00 pm Brownies 6:30 pm Cadette Scouts
3 7:00 pm Chancel Choir Reh 7:00 pm SG Group AA 7:00 pm Boy Scout Committee Mtg
4 5:30 pm Exercise Class 6:30 pm Boy Scouts
5
Church Office Closed
6
7 BAPTISM OF OUR LORD
9:00 am Communion w/Baptisms 10:15 am Fellowship Time 10:45 am Faith Formation Hr
8
8:30 am Quilters 6:30 pm Stewardship Mtg 6:30 pm Cub Scouts 7:00 pm Finance Comm Mtg.
9
5:30 pm Exercise Class 6:00 pm Daisy Scouts 6:00 pm Brownies 6:30 pm Cadette Scouts
10
6:30 pm Cub Comm Mtg 7:00 pm Chancel Choir Reh 7:00 pm SG Group AA
11 5:30 pm Exercise Class 6:30 pm Mission & Service Comm Mtg 6:30 pm Boy Scouts
12
Church Office Closed
13
14 9:00 am Communion 10:15 am Fellowship Time 10:45 am Faith Formation Hr
15 8:30 am Quilters 7:00 pm Church Council Mtg 7-8:30 pm Ken Renoll in basement Epistle Deadline
16 5:30 pm Exercise Class 6:00 pm Daisy Scouts 6:00 pm Brownies 6:30 pm Cadette Scouts
17 5:30 pm Worship & Music 7:00 pm Chancel Choir Reh 7:00 pm SG Group AA
18
5:30 pm Exercise Class 6:30 pm Boy Scouts
19
Church Office Closed
20 8:30 am WOW Women’s Breakfast
21 9:00 am Communion 10:00 am Annual Meeting
22 8:30 am Quilters 6:30 pm Cub Scouts
23 5:30 pm Exercise Class 6:00 pm Daisy Scouts 6:00 pm Brownies 6:30 pm Cadette Scouts
24 7:00 pm Chancel Choir Reh 7:00 pm SG Group AA
25
5:30 pm Exercise Class 6:30 pm Boy Scouts
26
Church Office Closed
27 8am-2pm Cub Scouts – Pinewood Derby, Fellowship hall
28 9:00 am Communion / Land & Seasons 10:15 am Fellowship Time 10:45 am Faith Formation Hr 1-6pm Fellowship hall in use
29 8:30 am Quilters 6:30 pm Cub Scouts
30 5:30 pm Exercise Class 6:00 pm Daisy Scouts 6:00 pm Brownies 6:30 pm Cadette Scouts
31 7:00 pm Chancel Choir Reh 7:00 pm SG Group AA
