DATE: Thursday, July 2, 2020

Staff will be leading worship for the radio and on Facebook Live!

By joining us on Radio WOYK 1350AM, SportsRadio 98.9FM,

www.989WOYK.com, The New WOYK app, or on Facebook Live you are

worshiping in full unity with all the family of Christ.

You can click here to follow along in this week’s bulletin. Peace be with you all.

St. Matthew

Family E-Blast

As we continue to place the health of all members at the

forefront of our decisions, we are cancelling our Summer's

End Retreat at Camp Nawakwa for Labor Day weekend 2020.

However, we are hopeful that we may have progressed safely to a place where we can gather with family

and friends from St. Matthew, at Camp Nawakwa, for a picnic and outdoor worship on Saturday,

September 5, beginning at 5PM.

We will gather in the Upper Camp Pavilion at 5:00 PM, for a picnic-style dinner. We encourage each family

or participant to pack your own meal, and we will have coolers of water, lemonade and iced-tea, in

individual serving bottles. We will also have yard games for playing around the pavilion. We encourage

members to bring lawn or bag chairs, as the picnic tables are comfortable only for so long.

At approximately 6PM, we will begin to move either to Upper Temple for worship, or remain in the Upper

Camp Field, depending upon the weather, for our evening worship. Either venue provides a dramatic

sunset. If you wish to arrive before 5PM, for some trail hiking around Nawakwa, or to visit the Labyrinth,

please do so but we invite you to park in the Upper Camp Field adjacent to the pavilion for our picnic.

As we get closer to the date, and we learn more about COVID-19, and the way the disease is progressing,

we will make a determination about masks and other CDC guidelines, but we will strive to honor those

among us who are most "at-risk." We pray that being outdoors and in a space that allows for some social

distancing, will afford us a safer environment in which to gather. If our Safe Ministry Task Force senses that

we're not yet ready to gather as congregational community, we will postpone our event until a later date,

or cancel if necessary, for everyone's safety.

There is NO CHARGE to attend this event, but we will take an offering during worship that will be donated

to the Lutheran Camping Corporation, to help assist in the lost revenue from this summer's cancelled

events. In an effort to plan accordingly, we do ask that you send a note to retreat/picnic planner Charlie

Roberts at croberts@stmatt.org, with your name and participant count, by Friday, August 28. ALL are

welcome, and we hope you will consider joining us for a little outdoor fun at Camp Nawakwa.

PRAYING FOR HEALING AND HOPE

St. Matthew Lutheran Church will provide an opportunity for prayer and the creation of a flower

memorial to remember those who have died due to the Covid-19 pandemic and lift up those who

have been killed or injured due to systemic racism prevalent in our community and nation. In these

extraordinary and challenging times, it is vitally important as people of faith, that we come together

in remembering, naming, and praying.

July 11-19 a cross will be placed in front of St. Matthew, along Market St.

All are invited and encouraged to place flowers on the cross or at its base (while safely

observing social distancing) and to spend some time in prayer for those who have died or

been injured; to pray for healing for our nation; and to pray for wisdom and guidance as we

move forward as a congregation, community and country. Let’s emphasize love, hope, and

the power of God’s grace to overcome all things!

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from

their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

(2nd Chronicles 7:14)

”God of grace and God of glory, on your people pour your pow’r; crown your ancient church’s

story; bring its bud to glorious flow’r. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage for the facing of this

hour, for the facing of this hour. Lo! The hosts of evil round us scorn the Christ, assail his ways! From

the fears that long have bound us free our hearts to faith and praise. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage

for the living of these days, for the living of these days.” (God of Grace and God of Glory, ELW #705)

Please share with anyone in our community interested in participating.

You can catch sight of each other

singing songs around the fire!

Each week someone will share a video of themselves singing a

camp tune, children's nursery rhyme, or worship song near a

fire (outdoors, indoors, pretend, whatever!) which we'll post on

our YouTube channel (St. Matthew Lutheran Church York Pa).

Look for new videos to be posted on Fridays! If you'd like to contribute a song, contact Meg

Folkemer at mfolkemer@stmatt.org or Pastor Fair at kfair@stmatt.org.

Bringing Mission to Life

in Our Renovated Auditorium

In the most recent edition of TIDINGS, you may have read

about the remarkable progress that is being made on our

Auditorium Makeover Project. We are bringing our mission

to Give, Grow, and Go, and to be a church that truly serves

and welcomes our community to life! In that same article we

invited members to prayerfully consider sponsoring or

memorializing some specific items like chairs, speakers,

projectors, screens, and live-streaming equipment, as we strive to create a space that is not only modern,

but functional… a venue that allows us to meet growing digital programming needs in the areas of worship,

faith formation, and networking with our community.

This is a note to say THANK YOU! In just a few short days, gifts for two projectors, two

screens and five chairs have already been received in our office. Your generosity and willingness to help

breathe new life into this ministry is palpable. Again, we say thank you. Meanwhile, there are still

sponsorship and memorial opportunities, and a copy of the list of items needed are in the recent

TIDINGS and available in print form from our office. You can contact Charlie Roberts at

croberts@stmatt.org, or Pastor Kevin Shively at kshively@stmatt.org, if you'd like to discuss a gift.

For now, please hear our deep appreciation on behalf of the entire Auditorium Makeover Team, for

your positive response, and for your willingness to help us live into this new missional opportunity.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Camp Nawakwa Growing Project

The garden at Camp Nawakwa is growing this year!

From 1/2 acre to 1 full acre, the Nawakwa Growing Project plans to

continue its efforts of planting seeds, growing produce, and giving the

produce away to the Gleaning Project of SCCAP in Gettysburg in the

summer of 2020.

We are currently looking for folks interested in either:

1. Adopting a piece of the garden to care for including regular weeding and

harvesting as the time comes

2. Helping out periodically - still with weeding and harvesting but less of a

regular commitment.

If you'd like to be involved, please contact Pastor Ben Siebert (pastorbensiebert@gmail.com) to

get started. Thanks!

A Message from the

St. Matthew Safe Ministry Task Force

Several weeks ago, a task force was appointed to oversee the many ramifications and

opportunities available to us as we continue through the Covid-19 pandemic. This

group has had several meetings and expects to have many more. Included among

the many topics of discussion and discernment are:

• Preparing to open the building to the public.

• Preparing to resume in-person worship in the building.

• Providing for the digital celebration of Holy Communion.

• Strategizing for the future as our congregation pivots from the physical

to the digital as both emphases will be vital going forward.

The ultimate goal is to present the congregation council with prudent and wise

recommendations that will allow St. Matthew church to resume activities in a safe

atmosphere. The St. Matthew constitution authorizes the congregation council to

make the final decision of when and how we will resume in-person activities. Each

day there is a different prediction for the timeline to develop a vaccine to prevent the

virus. However, the exact timeline is unknown. What we do know is that the virus is

not contained now, and it is unlikely that it will be contained in the foreseeable future.

Until then, we are living in a different reality--one filled with caution.

Even though York County has moved into the “green phase,” it will not be like turning

the clocks back to early March 2020. We will need to continue diligence in personal

protection practices.

The task force has chosen to move with great care as we plan for in-person worship.

We want you to know that a lot of forethought, planning and work is required to

make worship as safe as possible. Please know that the task force has sought to use

the best information available from varied sources including the CDC, state and local

officials, our insurance company and the ELCA. We will also make use of the feedback

provided from the survey taken by many of our members. The task force asks for

your continued patience and prayers.

St. Matthew is among 11 area food banks that will share in the non-perishable food collected at Royer’s 16 stores during this year’s food drive! We welcome St. Matthew’s support in supporting our communities in need!

As a result of the pandemic, volunteers are a little hard to come by. If you or someone you know

has some experience at hanging drywall, please consider donating some of your time to Habitat

for Humanity.

Please call Pastor Janyce Jorgenson at Zion Lutheran Church (717-767-4673) for

more information.

PROGRAMMING UPDATES: 2020 has turned out to be a very different year

than originally planned! The COVID-19

pandemic has touched on every aspect of our

lives and community. Unfortunately, the

restrictions against large gatherings and our

concern for everyone’s safety will necessitate the

cancellation of a number of our more routine or annually occurring events and activities. The list

of cancellations for this summer includes (at least):

• Both weeks of Vacation Bible School (a.k.a. Summer Kids Camp)

• The Matts Teen Leadership Camp

• The Matts Unity Block Party

• The League-sponsored “Summer of Service”

• Confirmation Camp

• The League’s Summer Beach Retreat

In addition, the dedication of our newly re-landscaped Courtyard and Columbarium will be

postponed until further notice.

NEEDS DRYWALLERS!

Receive the e-Broadcaster, e-Tidings and e-Blasts! If you aren’t already receiving these electronic publications, click HERE to sign-up!

Find Comfort by Listening to a Favorite Sermon Visit stmatt.org or click HERE to listen to a sermon from a service you missed or just

one of your favorites!

Written Daily Devotions

Access these devotions by clicking HERE. They will also be sent out on Mondays in a weekly e-Blast. For those without computer or smartphone access, paper copies will be available. Contact the church office (717-845-2721) to inquire about the paper copies.

Weekly Adult Bible Study

Typically, the Wednesday Bible Study goes on hiatus for the summer, BUT (this year being anything but typical) they are going to continue in a new, expanded format! Each week, the upcoming Sunday’s preacher will release a 10-minute video about the sermon text. In coming weeks, those videos will also be the starting point for an online discussion group. Day and time are “To Be Determined,” so stay tuned for more details!

Check out our YouTube channel to see these videos!

Compline (Night Prayer) Wednesdays at 8:30PM, Compline (Night Prayer) is on Facebook Live @stmattyorkpa

Compline (Night Prayer) is the centuries-old “bedtime prayer” of the Christian community. Made up of ancient prayers, psalms, and scripture verses, the overarching goal of compline is to help bring us comfort and peace each night before we sleep.

STAYING CONNECTED “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

Matthew 18:20

SUBSCRIBE TO ST. MATTHEW ON As we continue to expand our online offerings for worship and faith formation, please find and subscribe to St. Matthew’s YouTube Channel. You can click on the link below, or go to www.youtube.com and search for St. Matthew Lutheran Church York Pa.

St. Matthew’s YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbdOwti1u-MhTOaQwdh5G2w

On the channel you will find learning opportunities for adults such as the five-session Catechumenate Series from Lent 2019. These presentations are led by St. Matthew pastors and staff, and explore some of our worship practices as well as the basic tenets of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. You can also find the video recordings of our livestream recordings of our worship services.

Don’t Miss A Thing!

Another way to stay in touch with your St. Matthew

family is to find us on Facebook @stmattyorkpa.

Be sure to click this button on our Facebook page to receive notifications when an

announcement is made on our page. The building may be closed, but we are open online

and we want to stay in touch with you and your families!

CURRENT SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

Effective immediately and until further notice, all persons entering St. Matthew’s

building are to be wearing face masks. In addition, all persons engaged in ministry

activity with other members/constituents and/or the general public are required to be

wearing a face mask.

All persons present in the building are also to exercise recommended social

distancing of six feet or more between individuals.

Staff are not required to wear a face mask in their offices or at their workstations. Staff should consider

wearing a mask when moving throughout the building or when in conversation with others.

This is for the health and safety of all concerned. Your understanding and cooperation are requested and appreciated.

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