Little Swatara Church of the Brethren

newsletter

Worship Services 8:15 and 10:30 a.m. Matthew S. Christ, Pastor Sunday School 9:30

Church’s Office Phone (717)933-4723 Church’s Office Fax (717)933-9223 “Little Swatara is a Christ-centered Community of caring and serving people committed to peace and following Jesus

Christ to : Grow Spiritually, Build Christian Community, and Share the Good News.”

Volume LI August, 2017 Number 8

In Mark 14: 3-9, we read "While he (Jesus) was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.  Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.   “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.   She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” As Summer is passing, we have significant memories impressed upon our minds; the family trip to the beach, camping, boating, amusement and water parks, campfires, picnics, the zoo, fishing, hiking, biking, and a plethora of other activities. These memories last a lifetime and form a legacy for those involved . We remember the humor, the generosity, the acts of kindness, the love of life the person had.  Memories are worth making and this summer we made a few of our own at Little Swatara; Children's Sunday with character juggler Chris Ivey and our church picnic, Vacation Bible school full of energetic super heroes and let's not forget "music on the hill" with the praise team joining the Faithful Men.  The Greek word "mnemosunon"  used in our scripture  means memory or memorial, and occurs in the significant story of the woman who anointed Jesus. Of her Jesus said, "Wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her" (v. 9). We know that the dead body of Jesus was never anointed. Thus this anointing with expensive ointment some two days before his death points forward not only to his death but also to his resurrection. The woman anointed not his feet but his head and in so doing did what the high priest should have done when Jesus was before him on trial, anointing him as the King! As summer comes to a close and kids head back to school, what memories are we building and leaving behind? Will we be remembered for the joy we spread and the Jesus focus we had on life? Will there be something we did to bring honor to Jesus that others didn't understand? Or will our memories be tainted with regrets and wish I would haves? There's never a greater time than the present to make memories that last a lifetime. In particular I challenge us to consider what memory we'll have in relation to Jesus? That woman had a major investment and poured it all out on Jesus? Others were shocked by her sacrifice. Is there a sacrificial way we could give to God this year? Perhaps it's not even something you'd consider,   but to reach the lost, to demonstrate love and compassion and mercy, you'd go out of your way to make that memory. There's only one shot at this life and let's make it an impactful one. Let's make memories and create legacies others will always remember. 

Blessed and with love,

Pastor Matt

Memories

Christopher Merkey 1 Herbert Miller 1 Denise Bohn 2 Andrew Brubaker 2 Dane Haupt 2 Deneen Ebling 4 Melanie Platchek 4 Donna Weber 6 Jeffrey Frantz 6 Donald (Bud) Larimer 6 Wanda Townsend 8 Jennifer Emerich 8 John Kelly 8 Michael Kolbe 8 Dorinda Kauffman 9 Laura Stevens 9 Kenneth Ziegler 9 Martin Bashore 10 Dakota Himmelberger 11 Sharon Hoke 11 Carl M. Kauffman 12

Wenda Dinatale 12 James Manbeck 13 Anna Mary Myer 13 Scott Snyder 13 Randy Corbin 14 Pamela Gerberich 16 Randy Zimmerman 16 Michael Dosch 20 Tessa Gerberich 21 Debra Yordy 21 Ronald Lebo 22 Lydia Stupp 22 Arlene Sweitzer 22 Brenda Hershey 24 Jenna (Wengert) Bender 24 Linda Wanner 24 JoAnn Arnold 25 Kathryn Ziegler 25 Mae Zimmerman 25 Louanne Boltz 26 Diane Feathers 26

Eugene Yenser 27 Thelma Keeney 28 Donna Schwalm 28 Jean Wise-Eberly 28 Elizabeth Laubenstein 29 Lois Keeney 30 Abigail Christ 31 Gregory R. Mill 31 Randall E. Yenser 31

OUR CHURCH FAMILYCONGRATULATIONS to…

MEMBERS BIRTHDAYS FOR AUGUST

“The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.” ~Mother Teresa

~Jacob William Koch and Ashley Michelle Bohn, who were married on July 8th 2017 ~The Erb Family, on the adoption of their sweet little girl Madison Grace Erb, On June 28th, 2017.

IN SINCERE APPRECIATION

The Missions and Evangelism Team would like to extend a sincere thank you to Kathryn Ziegler for serving our church faithfully for many years as our Newsletter Editor. I know she spent lots of time gathering information. This involved asking individuals to submit the articles to be published in the monthly newsletter. We appreciate the many hours she devoted getting it all together for each month’s publication.

Thank you again Kathryn for a job well done through your many years of service.

THANKS!

First Student Days of Schools: Tulpehocken School District: August 28th Conrad Weiser School District: August 28th Elco School District: August 28th

And all the other schools I didn’t mention. Lets remember to keep all the students, teachers, staff, board members, volunteers ect. in our prayers as they adjust to their changed schedules. Lets pray for renewed hearts as they head out into the world again, praying they will let their light shine, and also praying for strength.

Little Swatara Church NewsEvery Member Council Meeting

August 14th, 7:30pm Agenda: 2nd Quarter Financial Report Preschool Report Gathering Place Report Pastor Matt's Report Information on Air Conditioning Options for Consideration

New Business: 2018 Call Slate Update on what is happening at Little Swatara and in the community

Christian Ed is looking for a “Nursery Coordinator” to organize the schedule for the care of children ages 0-2 during Sunday services. Please contact Wend Lingle for info.

Help offered! Did you know there are individuals in the church who can help meet your needs? There is help available to any congregant who is in need of assistance with daily tasks (yard care, transportation, etc.) Please reach out by calling the church office (717)933-4723 or by talking to a deacon.

WOMEN’S FELLOWSHIP NEWS

Our next Women’s Fellowship Meeting will be held August 7, 2017 at 7:00 P.M.

Mark your calendar for our next Sub Sale to be held September 7 with preparation September 6. We always need help (Sept. 6 at 3:00 p.m. and Sept. 7 at 6:00 a.m.). The order form will be on the table in the Narthex later in August.

We will need vegetables to make chow chow in September, so please keep us in mind if you have extra veggies from your garden. 

September 11 - Women’s Fellowship Meeting. All women are welcome to attend.

Lets work together… Just a friendly reminder, if you know of a birth, death, marriage, announcement, or interesting news or fact you want put in the monthly newsletter, please contact me, Ashly Landis. ashlylynn21@gmail.com. You can also put it in my church mailbox #97. Thank you

Mark your ca lendars for Sunday, August 13th. We invite you to bring any object you'd use for school or teaching and we'll have a special blessing for your return to the classroom. Thank you for representing Christ in this journey.

brethren news and moreChildren’s Disaster Services

workshop!

 November 17-18, 2017 at Little Swatara Church of the Brethren

31 Rehrersburg Rd., Bethel, PA 19507. Local contact, Jean Myers, may be reached at

(610) 678-5247 or Jean351@aol.com            

Since 1980, Children's Disaster Services trained and certified volunteers have been providing nurturing care for children in shelters or assistance centers following disasters.  The training is an overnight experience, simulating a shelter situation, and includes an overview of our work, understanding phases of disaster and how we fit in, working with disaster partners, children and family needs following disaster, supporting resilience in children,  setting up a children's center with a Kit of Comfort, ethical guidelines, and the certification process.   Anyone 18 or over is welcome to attend this 2 - day training (27 hours) and become a certified CDS caregiver. References and background checks are also required for certification. Once caregivers complete certification, all expenses are paid for disaster responses.  The website link for registrations is www.brethren.org/cds/training/dates.html..

Church of the Brethren Night August 19th

Gate opens at 4:30pm Game at 6pm purchase tickets online at www.ane-cob.org under the registration menu

$2 of every ticket sold will go toward ANE District Ministries

Brethren Disaster Relief Auction September 22 and 23, 2017

Lebanon Calley Expo Center Be a part of the Auction. Whether you are a donor, volunteer or come to enjoy the food and fellowship, your support is greatly appreciated. Be sure to look for the Auction Booklets which contain many informative articles and the auction schedule. Some special areas where we could use some extra help are the “Gifts of the Heart” kit building set-up on Friday September 22 starting at 8am and the assembly starting a 1pm. We will also be serbing the chicken Bar-B-Que on Friday starting at 3pm and could use some help in serving the dinners. The Brethren Disaster Relief Auction still maintains a relief fund for local needs within the Atlantic Northeast and Souther Pennsylvania Districts. The fund is called the Auction Relief fFund and funds are available to qualified applicants for the assistance in recovering from the effects of a natural disaster (fire, flood, wind losses). Because these funds are generated through the Disaster Relief Auctions they are restricted to losses resulting from natural disasters. Please see our website (brethrendisasterreliefauction.org) for details of the application process or contact of the the co-charils Bob Bingaman or Tom Fritz. See you a the auction!

COBYS Bike and Hike The 21st annual COBYS Bike and Hike will be held at Lititz Church of the Brethren on Sunday Sept 10.  The event includes a three-mile walk, 10 and 25 mile Bike ride and a 60 mile Dutch Country Motorcycle Ride through scenic "Amish Country" in Eastern Lancaster County.  A silent auction will run throughout the afternoon.   You can help by:  -- Donating an item for the silent auction.  Practical items, gift cards for food or experiences, and vacation home rentals are especially good sellers; -- Encouraging the Youth Group to participate and sponsoring them;   -- Walk or ride and invite others to sponsor you; -- Invite friends and family to walk or ride with you.      There will be brochures and information posted in the Narthex when it arrives from COBYS.  

Presented by Bethel-Tulpehocken Council of Churches 31st

Counrty Fair August 26, 2017 5pm

at Rehrersburg Lions Club grounds there will be fun booths of all kinds, music, plenty of food; soups hot dogs, sausage sandwiches, BBQ’s, ice cream,

pastries, haddock fillets, french fries, etc. There will be a MERCHANT”S BONANZA, a CHINESE AUCTION, and a CAKE WALK!

Baking contest: Bring in your best made recipes of cookies (ages 8-12) Cup Cakes (ages 13-16) and sheet cakes or layer cakes for ages 17 and up, there will also be categories for fruit and shoo fly pies. Please bring your entries in non-returnable containers.

Craft Contest: 3 categories: woodworking, textiles, and miscellaneous. No division of ages. Registration begins at 4pm. ALL ENTRIES MUST BE REGISTERED BY 5PM. The auction will begin at 7PM.

Benefits - *CROP-(Christian Rural Overseas Program) *World Hunger and the many ministries of *Council of Churches in our community

other news

Family Camping Center Benefit Auction September 2, 2017

East Lodge Camp Swatara

Come enjoy the day at Camp Swatara on Sat. Sept. 2 to benefit the Family Camping Center! Great items and gift certificates will be available for auction with all funds benefitting the ministry and facilities needs at Camp. Delicious foods, creative crafts, and fun family fellowship will be available for the day! If you have items you would like to donate, please deliver them to the East Lodge by Friday Sept. 1. Auction items will be available for preview on Friday night.

Schedule Friday - Sept 1 Evening - East Lodge Open for Preview Saturday - Sept 2 9:30am Food Stand Provided by Seasonal's of Swatara 9:30am Children's Auction Begins Main Auction begins following Children's Auction

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; Ecclesiastes 3:4

I HEARD IT AT THE CAFE…. “Great food, Great price, Great place!”

The Gathering Place Cafe ~8490 PA 501 Bethel, Pennsylvania Monday thru Saturday 6am-11am

laughter… God is sitting in Heaven when a scientist says to Him, "Lord, we don't need you anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing. In other words, we can now do what you did in the 'beginning'." "Oh, is that so? Tell me..." replies God. "Well," says the scientist, "we can take dirt and form it into the likeness of You and breathe life into it, thus creating man." "Well, that's interesting. Show Me." So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil. "Oh no, no, no..." interrupts God, "Get your own dirt." Unknown

From the Editors Desk…. It was with a mix of exuberant joy, anticipation, apprehension and hesitation, and maybe even some sort of ignorant optimism that I accepted the position of church newsletter. I’m still not sure why, it still seems so random and out of the blue, even to me. The position opening and me exerting seemed to happen so fast. The thoughts racing thru my mind went something like this: We all have gifts, talents, or just things we enjoy doing and we have been told since we were little, to use your talents to benefit the body of Christ, which is easy to say and preach, but not always easy to execute. I feel this particular task fits. Into my schedule, it’s something I can work on at four in the morning or eleven at night, it fits into my interests (talents) I love all things design, (I’m not saying I have a gift, just an enjoyment), and it fits into my mission mindset. So I thought, “I can do this”. (On a side note, for every gift I have in the arts department I lack in the grammar department, so I ask for your forgiveness in advance!) For every “can do” thought I have, I am also plagued with the negative thoughts, “what if I think I am talented, but I’m really not?” or “what if I can’t handle this?” and then I’m back to, “this is so fun, I can totally do this.” So while I am wrestling in the spiritual realm, I pray for your support, patience, and understanding as I tackle a very new, unfamiliar, course. I will try my best to be fair, understanding and search for the news that belongs in here, however I ask humbly for your help. Please try to let me know if you are in charge of an event and want it posted in the newsletter, or if you are aware of any weddings, births or deaths that should be noted. Kathrine did the most amazing job as newsletter editor, and I have incredible shoes to fill. While my people pleasing personality desires to please everyone, I am trying to remember that I do have a Higher Authority. I am so thankful that I really have only one Being to please, and everything else will fall into place as long as I am searching for God’s will. Thats a bit of advice I am sure we can all try to remember. With all of that said, may this newsletter and those to follow bring glory to God. Thank you!

Ashly Landis

One Pot Hamburger Zucchini 2 LB ground beef 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 12Oz Cans Tomatoes 1 can (14-1/2oz.) beef broth 1 cup water 2 Cups small pasta, uncooked 1 Zucchini sliced 1 Cup Sour Cream 1 Lb Favorite Cheese (shredded) 1/2tsp dried Italian seasoning

Brown meat with garlic in large skillet; drain. Return to skillet. Add tomatoes, broth and water; mix well. Bring to boil. Add pasta and zucchini; mix well. Cover; simmer on medium-low heat 15min. or until pasta is tender. Stir sour cream and Italian seasoning until blended; top with cheese.

August 2016

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

31 8:15 AM WLBR Broadcast

Sunday

1 7:00 PM

Women's

Business Meeting

2 7:00 PM NO

Leadership Team

Meeting

3 4 5:00 PM TOPS

Mtg

7:00 PM

Christian Ed Mtg

5 Camp Group

"Camping out"

6:00 PM Tiger

Scouts meet

6 Camp Group

"Camping out"

10:00 AM

Funeral-J.Lingle

7 Camp Group "Camping out"

9:15 AM Youth Yummies

11:00 AM PAV RES. J.Ebling

12:00 PM Spiritual Nurture

Meeting

5:30 PM Scout Den Meeting

6:00 PM Christian Poetry

Fellowship

8 9:00 AM at

Landis home,

Ladies Bible

Study

6:45 PM

Leadership Team

Mtg

7:30 PM EVERY

MEMBER

COUNCIL

MEETING

9 12:30 PM 50

Plus Meets

6:30 PM Den

Meeting

10 11 5:00 PM TOPS

Mtg

12 6:00 PM

Memorial

Service-

D.Schnee

Hagans

13 PAV RES. J&D

High

10:00 AM

Chicken BBQ FR

for Haiti

10:30 AM

Funeral-

T.Schwenk

14 Food Pantry Collection

Mission of the Month: HAITI

PAV RES. Tilden Edris

8:15 AM ANOINTING

9:30 AM Annual Conference

Report

15 16 6:30 PM Health

Screening at Tri-

County

7:00 PM MUSIC

& WORSHIP Mtg

17 18 10:00 AM Carpet

Cleaning

5:00 PM TOPS

Mtg

19 10:00 AM Carpet

Cleaning

2:00 PM Bethel

FP

6:00 PM Tiger

Cub Scouts meet

20 6:00 PM Young

Family

Fellowship

21 PAV RES. J.Eberly

Women's Fellowship

Camp/Camp Swatara

22 Women's

Fellowship

Camp/Camp

Swatara

6:30 PM PS Meet

the Teacher

Night

7:30 PM Steward

& Property Meet

23 Ministry Team

Minutes Due

Narthex Carpet

Cleaning

Women's

Fellowship

Camp/Camp

Swatara

12:30 PM 50

Plus Meets

6:30 PM Den

Meeting

24 Narthex Carpet

Cleaning

25 8:45 AM 50 Plus

Bus Trip

5:00 PM TOPS

Mtg

26 5:00 PM

WEDDING

REHEARSAL

27 9:00 AM Lloyd &

Naomi Moyer

Auction

2:00 PM

Lawrence/Loup

WEDDING

5:00 PM CoC

COUNTRY FAIR

28 Newsletter Deadline

PAV RES. R.Keeney

Praise Team 8:15am

10:30 AM Faithful Men

29 30 31 9:00 AM

Preschool Begins

Classes

1 5:00 PM TOPS

Mtg

7:00 PM 50+

program

2 6:00 PM Tiger

Scouts meet

3

You can find the latest, up to date information on our church calendar by visiting us on line at

www.LittleSwatara.org/#/about-us/calendar

resources: I find there are so many resources out there that so many people do not realize are available. I would love to share one resource per issue, they will all be great for christian living, marriage, and parenting advice. If you have recommendations and want them shared, please feel free to let me know. Thanks!

Who: Focus on the Family

What: a global Christian ministry dedicated to helping families thrive. They provide help and resources for couples to build healthy marriages that reflect God's design, and for parents to raise their children according to morals and values grounded in biblical principles.

When: anytime. Listen to broadcasts anytime of day online or on the app on your smart phone.

Where: online at www.focusonthefamily.com there is an app for smart phones as well

Little Swatara Church of the Brethren 31 Rehrersburg Road PO Box 437 Bethel, Pa 19507 www.littleswatara.org www.facebook.com/LittleSwataraCOB

“Growth is the only

evidence of life.”John Henry

Newman