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"Our Mission is to be open to God's presence in our hearts, in our minds, and in our world; to love God and one another; and to share our Lutheran theology of God's love and grace for all people."
April 2012
Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday. A change, a loss, a strong disappointment becomes an opportunity, with healing, to search, to become, to serve anew. Our Lord's pain, feelings of abandonment, wondering, uncertain—yet knowing there was only one faithful path. The path of suffering and death. He lay everything on the “line” of his trust that God held his life sure—that even in the face of death, he would know life. The resurrection is that new life. It is the early church's faith that there is life beyond eating and drinking, inhaling and exhaling, waking and sleeping. Resurrection is the hope that there is meaning and hope even beyond our ability to understand and predict.
Each year spring comes. Each morning the sun rises. An elder passes, an infant is born. A seed sprouts, bushes and trees come back to life. Who questions that these will take place? These are held in the hand of God. So is our life. We stand with Jesus. . .at the edge of meaning. What does my life mean? What does my eventual death mean? Can I trust the creator who gives life and receives it back again? Can I trust that when I make difficult decisions for the sake of my family, for my neighbors, for all the others (plants and animals!) who share the sacred space of this earth—can I trust that my sacrifices have meaning? When we sacrifice—with Jesus—for the sake of all others, we define faith. We live the hope of the message of Jesus Christ who released his life—freely—so that all who hear of it might know that he cared about the poor, the forgotten, and the lonely. We are tempted to forget, but he—in that moment of refusing to be silenced and walk away—he remembered the ones whose lives mattered to him more than his own. We are among those. How can we demonstrate that same courage?—that same love!
Celebrate Love! Celebrate Resurrection!
Pastor Roy
Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday. A change, a loss, a strong disappointment becomes an opportunity, with healing, to search, to become, to serve anew. Our Lord's pain, feelings of abandonment, wondering, uncertain—yet knowing there was only one faithful path. The path of suffering and death. He lay everything on the “line” of his trust that God held his life sure—that even in the face of death, he would know life. The resurrection is that new life. It is the early church's faith that there is life beyond eating and drinking, inhaling and exhaling, waking and sleeping. Resurrection is the hope that there is meaning and hope even beyond our ability to understand and predict.
Each year spring comes. Each morning the sun rises. An elder passes, an infant is born. A seed sprouts, bushes and trees come back to life. Who questions that these will take place? These are held in the hand of God. So is our life. We stand with Jesus. . .at the edge of meaning. What does my life mean? What does my eventual death mean? Can I trust the creator who gives life and receives it back again? Can I trust that when I make difficult decisions for the sake of my family, for my neighbors, for all the others (plants and animals!) who share the sacred space of this earth—can I trust that my sacrifices have meaning? When we sacrifice—with Jesus—for the sake of all others, we define faith. We live the hope of the message of Jesus Christ who released his life—freely—so that all who hear of it might know that he cared about the poor, the forgotten, and the lonely. We are tempted to forget, but he—in that moment of refusing to be silenced and walk away—he remembered the ones whose lives mattered to him more than his own. We are among those. How can we demonstrate that same courage?—that same love!
Celebrate Love! Celebrate Resurrection!
Pastor Roy
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Upcoming Events and Services
- Covered Dish/Egg Hunt - April 1, 2012 - Barren's Church House following worship
- Seder Meal - April 3 - 6:00PM - Filey's hosting in Barren's Church House
- Maundy Thursday Service- April 5 - 7:00PM at St. John's Franklin
- Good Friday Service - April 6 - 7:00PM at Emmanuel
- Saturday Vigil Service - April 7 - 8:00PM at Barren's
- Easter Worship Services - April 8 (See below)
service; Pastor Debbie
Emmanuel Service with Holy Communion - 9:00AM; Pastor Roy
St. John’s/CLC Filey’s Service with Holy Communion - 9:30AM; Pastor Debbie
Barren’s Service with Holy Communion - 10:30AM; Pastor Roy
- Spring Music Fest - April 14 - 7:00PM at Emmanuel
- VBS Meeting - April 16 - 7:00PM at Barren's
- Parish (Cantata) Worship - April 22 - 9:00AM at Emmanuel
- Walk For Hope - April 22 - 2:00PM
- Parish Blood Drive - April 23 - 1:00-7:00PM at Barren's
- Mother/Daughter Banquet - May 11 - 6:00PM at Wellsville Fire Hall
- Synod Assembly - May 31-June 2 at Messiah College
- Parish Yard/Bake Sale - June 9 - 7:00AM-2:00PM at Emmanuel
- Strawberries/IceCream Social - June 14 - 6:00PM at Emmanuel
- Parish Camping at Pinchot State Park - June 22-25 - Elm & Fir Sites
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Upcoming Meetings
- Tuesday, April 3 - Emmanuel and St. John's Council Meetings at Emmanuel - 7:00PM
- Tuesday, April 3 - Parish Council Meeting at Emmanuel - 8:00PM
- Tuesday, April 10 & 14 - Intergenerational Meeting at Emmanuel - 7:00PM
- Monday, April 16 - VBS Meeting at Barren's - 7:00PM
- Tuesday, April 17 - Barren's Council Meeting at Barren's - 7:00PM
- Thursday, April 26 - Worship & Music Committee Meeting at Emmanuel - 6:30PM
- Monday, May 21 - Outreach Committee Meeting - 7:00PM at Barren's Church House
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Upcoming Parish Worship
- April 22 - 9:00AM Parish Worship at Emmanuel (Easter Cantata)
- May 27 - 9:00AM Parish Worship at Emmanuel (Memorial Day/Pentecost)
- June 24 - 9:00AM Parish Worship at Gifford Pinchot State Park (Elm Site)
and 10:45AM parish worship at St. John's
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ABC CREW - Affirmation of Baptism Celebration CREW
Click here to check out our video!
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Click here to check out our video!
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SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!
"I've Had A View From Another Pew, Have You?"
The Spirit has been working in the creative minds of the people in this Parish and this is what we have come up with - “I’VE HAD A VIEW FROM ANOTHER PEW, HAVE YOU?” One of the most difficult things about walking into a new church is worrying about sitting in someone’s pew. No church actually has “assigned seating” but sometimes that’s what it seems like, especially to a visitor. In an effort to try and be more welcoming to those who walk through our church doors, everyone will be strongly encouraged to sit in a different pew every week. The first step to welcoming the new people in our midst is to take a look at ourselves and our own patterns of worship. Something as simple as sitting in the same place every week, can be really intimidating to those who are new and do not know the “seating assignment.” This is something that we have never heard of being done at any church before, so we will be the first…AND we will become known as the Parish that changes seats every week! We believe that this will change the way we each view worship as well as be very inviting to all of our guests. From now on, EVERYONE will be asked to try sitting in a different pew!
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ARE YOU A VISITOR? CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
CONTACT US
Parish Secretary, Deb Racer secretaryfulp at gmail.com
Pastor Roy Stetler revstetler at gmail.com
Parish Office at Barren's (717) 432-4802
232 Kralltown Road
PO BOX 37
Dillsburg, PA 17019
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ELCA
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA SYNOD
