The Newsletter of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church

420 Main Street, PO Box 15, McAlisterville, PA 17049-0015

(717) 463-3428 · e-mail TLCHURCH17049@gmail.com

Trinity Lutheran Church is on Facebook

http://www.trinitymcalisterville.org/giving.html

TRINITY TIDINGS Partner Congregation: Reed Memorial Lutheran Church, Liberia

Staff

The Rev. Erin Bovendam, Pastor

Malea Haflett, Faith Connection

Coordinator

Jean Barnard, Choir Director

Doris Watts, Organist

Betty Lou Naylor,

Parish Secretary

Jessica Startzel, Assistant

Director, Sonbeam Early

Learning Center

(717) 463-9571

Officers

President, John Monteleone

Vice President, Charles Rishel

Secretary, Angela Monteleone

Cheryl Wilson, Treasurer

Betty Ryan, Asst. Treasurer

Congregation Council

Jean Barnard

Susan Hackenberger

Susan Leister

John Monteleone

Charles Rishel

Geroge Snyder

Matthew Snyder

Dorothy Spancake

Jerry Wagner

Proclaiming “Jesus is Lord,”

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran

Church, endeavors to grow and

build itself up in Christ’s love,

as each member, using God-given

talents and resources, works to

reflect God’s grace,

to each other and the world.

March 2020

Community Lenten Worship 7:00 PM, Each Sunday Evening of Lent

March 1-April 5 & Friday, April 10

Community Lenten Worship services are at a different church each

Sunday evening of Lent. See a schedule with theme, location and

who is preaching inside on Pastor Erin’s page.

Supper & Bluegrass

Friday, March 6

5:30 PM Doors Open 6:00 PM Meal 6:30 PM Music

Invite your neighbors for what’s sure to be a fun evening! Entertainment is

with the Buffalo Mountain Bluegrass Band. RSVP at church or

by calling/texting Malea at 717-953-2854. Free-will donation.

Road Clean-up & Brunch 9:00 AM, Saturday, March 28

Rain Date: Saturday, April 4

Meet at Trinity Lutheran Church. We’ll be picking up trash on the

roads around McAlisterville. With many people, it usually takes 30-60

minutes to pick up trash, and then we return to the church for brunch.

A prize will be given to the person who finds the most bizarre piece of

trash. This year, no organic material, such as bones, will count toward

that prize. Sign up at church to participate.

NOTE: Children are welcome, but an adult needs to come with each

group of children to help with supervision and safety.

Candy Egg-Making Continues

Mondays: 6:00 AM Mixing, 6:30-7:00 AM Weighing & Shaping

Tuesdays: 8:00 AM Dipping, 9-9:30 AM Bagging

Come to roll, dip, and package yummy Easter eggs

The funds go to support projects in the church

& places of need outside the church.

PASTOR ERIN’S PAGE

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Unafraid: Living with Courage and Hope in Uncertain Times Study Group at Trinity Lutheran Church

Have you ever struggled with fear or worry? Fear can be a helpful emotion, but it can also rob us of the life we want to have. Check out this book study and discussion group to learn practical tips for working through fear and anxiety, and encouragement to live faithfully and fully. The book study is from “Unafraid: Living with Courage and Hope in Uncertain Times” by Adam Hamilton. You may participate without ordering a book, but you will get more resources with the book. There are three ways to participate:

Sunday Mornings, 10:30-11:30 AM, March 8 – April 5; Tuesday Evenings, 7:00-8:00 PM, March 3-31; Or read it on your own

5 week study on these topics: Part 1: Understanding and Countering Fear Part 2: Crime, Race, Terrorism, and Politics Part 3: Failure, Disappointing Others, Insignificance, & Loneliness Part 4: Apocalypse, Change, Missing Out, and Finances Part 5: Aging, Illness, Dying and Fear of the Lord

To sign up, sign up on the board outside the sanctuary at church, or online at www.trinitymcalisterville.org. If there isn’t interest in a Tuesday evening study, that study may not happen, so if you’re interested, please be sure to sign up.

Book Cost: kindle edition: $15.00 used hard cover, about $15.00 new hard cover, about $20.00

COMMUNITY LENTEN SERVICES ~ CLASHING ATTITUDES & THE BEATITUDES All services begin at 7:00 p.m.

*Offerings will be divided between supporting a chaplain for our nursing homes through Juniata County Golden Years Ministry, and recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, following damage caused by hurricanes and earthquakes.

Checks may be made out to “McAlisterville Ministerium”

Date Theme Location Preacher Sunday, March 1 Mourning Delaware Mennonite Jen Heikes Sunday, March 8 Meekness Browns UMC Keith Graybill Sunday, March 15 Righteousness Otterbein UMC Terry Smith Sunday, March 22 Mercy Lost Creek Mennonite Kevin Brophy Sunday, March 29 Pure in Heart Lost Creek Presbyterian Erin Bovendam Sunday, April 5 Peacemaker McAlisterville UMC Dave Gingrich Good Friday, April 10 Persecuted Free Spring COB Dave McElwee

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March Calendar 10

Marriage Encounter Weekends 3

Pastor’s Erin’s Page 2

Schedule of Helpers 4

Sonbeam ELC News 9

Stewardship Page 8

Trinity’s Birthdays 5

Upcoming Events 1

USS Ark 6

Inside this issue:

Marriage Encounter

Weekends:

Refresh, Reenergize,

& Reconnect:

Whether you’re newly married or have been married for decades, good commu-nication is the key to keeping your love relationship vibrant and strong. Marriage Encounter teaches a unique and effective set of communication tools that can help your relationship with your spouse be all that it can be.

Visit godlovesmarriage.org for more infor-mation and get started on your journey to a happier and more joyful marriage! Spring weekend: May 1-3, 2020 Heritage Hotel Lancaster, Lancaster, PA 500 Cen-terville Road, just off of Hwy 30. A newly-renovated hotel, home of the unique tree-house-inspired restaurant, “Loxley’s.” We'd love to see couples from Trinity at-tend and will offer financial assistance for those who'd like to go but are concerned about the cost.

ACOLYTES

March 01 Henry Mathiason

08 Evan Clouser

15 Brooke Delancey

22 Ben Mathiason

29 Lilia Haflett

April 05

12

19

26

WORSHIP ASSISTANTS

March 01 Renee Freed

08 Chris Ruff

15 Trudy Watts

22 Lilia Haflett

29 Lauren Lock

April 05 Sandra Westover

12 Tara Barnard

19 Sandy Kinney

26 Kirk Freed

USHERS

March Audie & Sharon Truitt, Greg Spancake &

Family

April Denis Leister Family & Ann Lock

ALTAR GUILD

March Betty Ryan & Sonya Nace

April Erickson Family

COMMUNION BREAD

March 01 Peggy Inch

08

15

22

29

April 05

12

19

26

RECORDING THE WORSHIP SERVICE

March Greg Spancake

April Jeff Yetter

SOCIAL TIME PROVIDERS

March 01 Clarice Pellman, Cheryl Wilson, Derek

& Hannah Shelley

08 Dane & Susan Hackenberger, Ted,

Nicole & Marley Wilson

15 Dot Spancake, Trudy Schell &

Laura Naylor

22 Peggy Nipple, Peggy Inch &

Dawn Clouser

29 Jean Fogle, Ruth Nace & Sandy Snyder

April 05 Terri Leister, Phyllis Weller,

Bobbi Leister & Marah Erickson

12 Youth Group & Parents

19 Sharon Truitt, Kris Yetter,

Steph Wagner, John & Angela

Monteleone

26 Sonya Nace, Renee Freed &

Betty Ryan

March & April

Schedule of Helpers

4

Trinity’s Birthday Calendars

TIDINGS contains calendars listing the birthdays of members of Trinity for

March & April. We hope that you will use this calendar to greet our

members as they celebrate another year of life.

March

04 Arden Benner

05 Marin Varner

10 Daniel Gutwein

10 Derek Shelley

11 Lorraine Lauver

17 Renee Freed

19 Nathan Haubert

21 Brooke Delancey

21 Morgan Delancey

22 Logan Stouffer

22 Sheldon Kinney

22 Wesley Walker

22 Christopher Snyder

24 Valerie Fogleman

25 Walt Riggin

26 Kahla Williamson

28 Audrey Van Scyoc

30 Roy Leister

30 Dex Haflett

31 Carter Freed

31 Dereck Ciecierski

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April

02 Addison Hack 03 Garrett Wilson 04 Ted Wilson 06 Benjamin Passmore 06 Jordan Kerstetter 07 Frank Smith 08 Avery Morrison 10 Trudy Watts 11 Cathy Smith 13 John Amtower 13 Caden Kerstetter 14 Shane Varner 15 Laney Naylor 15 Chuck Ryan 16 Ray Shelley 16 Thelma Lauver

18 Velma Varner

19 Cathy Barnes

21 Dave Smith

22 Elizabeth Eichelberger

24 George Snyder

25 Rowan Smith

25 Jerry Wagner

26 Pam King

27 Ayden Winstead

28 Chris Ruff

30 Clyde Kauffman

30 Katie Lock 30 Danielle Freyermuth

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Continued on next page...

USS ARK

News of God’s People in Action from the Upper

Susquehanna Synod, ELCA

February 2020 This is the text-only MS Word version. For the camera ready version, with photos and other graphics, please visit http://www.uss-elca.org/news/uss-ark. USS ARK is a publication of the Upper Susquehanna Synod, ELCA. Permission is granted to reproduce USS Ark for congrega-

tional communications. Send your mission stories and ministry ideas to Editor Chad Hershber-

ger at news@uss-elca.org.

Thank You!

When we speak of the Upper Susquehanna Synod we speak of our congregations and members working

in partnership with each other to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in our Susquehanna Valley. To-

gether we are synod, United, Supporting, and Serving.

A sign of our commitment to one another and to the Gospel is our Mission Support. These contributions,

shared by congregations from their Sunday collections, along with giving by our members to ministries of

the ELCA, compound our impact in the world.

Thank you to our 120 congregations who contributed Mission Support in 2019. Together you gave

$776,574 to support the mission of our synod. Contributions in 2019 exceeded commitments by almost

$75,000 and fell short of our budget by slightly over $10,000.

In addition to Mission Support our synod gave almost $100,000 to support ELCA ministries: $21,600 for

ELCA Global Missions, almost $46,000 for Hunger, and $27,000 toward other ministries.

The generosity in our congregations enables us to share the love of God beyond our congregations. For

more on what Mission Support does check out Stories of Faith in Action and Where Your Offering Goes on

the ELCA website (www.elca.org).

YAGM Participant Reflects on Year Abroad by Tara Barnard, of Trinity, McAlisterville, who spent a year in YAGM

Young Adults in Global Mission, or YAGM for short, is a mission of the ELCA. Each year through the YAGM

program the ELCA sends out almost 80 young adults ages 21-29 to various countries around the word to

work in tandem with the ELCA’s counterparts in those countries. Through this program I spent the past

year in Buenos Aires, Argentina working at El Arca, an organization for adults with special needs, and

Santo Sacramento, a Lutheran church nearby.

I could fill articles upon articles with the differences between Argentina and the United States, but I could

also fill articles upon articles with the similarities. In the end, I learned thousands of life lessons. I would

love to fill pages and have good conversation about the church in Latin America, about living with adults

with disabilities, about the power dynamics and relationships between the United States and other coun-

tries. The model of mission of the ELCA and the YAGM program is accompaniment. My definition of ac-

companiment is doing life together and walking side by side. I have many stories full of beauty and pain

as I lived out this model in the past year. I will leave you with one story that embodies the spirit of my

year.

Osvi is seventy years old and sits at the head of the table during dinner. He uses his own form of sign lan-

guage to communicate, along with some partial words. Marcos sits to Osvi’s right at dinner. He is nineteen

years old and blind. Marcos is sitting at the table when Osvi arrives, making car noises as he pushes his

walker down the hallway and into the dining room. Everyone quiets down a little and Marcos can tell Osvi

must be talking with his sign language. Marcos says “Osvi, que haces con tus manos?” Osvi, what are you

doing with your hands? He says it two or three times. Marcos reaches out to feels Osvi’s hands. Osvi does

his sign language with Marcos feeling his hands and at the same time adds partial words to help Marcos un-

derstand. They both get excited as they begin to understand each other. Osvi is almost singing with his par-

tial words, and Marcos is grinning ear to ear. I wish you could have seen the joy radiating from the two of

them. It took time, and work, but they overcame the barriers between them to communicate.

LOM VBS Curriculum Available

Lutheran Outdoor Ministries (LOM) produces the curriculum each year that is used in camp and retreat set-

tings and for Vacation Bible Schools and day camps. LOM has released its 2020 curriculum entitled From

Generation to Generation.

With this curriculum, campers and their leaders will explore the stories of familiar Bible characters and their

responses to God’s call and promised faithfulness in the midst of life’s unpredictability and challenges. The

promises of God, first made to Abraham and Sarah, include a place to live, a purpose to live out, and a pos-

terity to carry on God’s promises to all future generations. Freed from fear, we step out, trusting that mis-

steps will not destroy us, that God’s guidance will take us where God has called us to go, creating relation-

ships based on care and compassion. From Generation to Generation focuses on how the enduring love in-

stilled in the promise to Abraham and Sarah continue through Old Testament characters, to Jesus, to the

early church, and on to YOU! God’s love endures forever – From Generation to Generation! Daily themes

include Abraham and Sarah; Joseph; David; Mary; and Paul, Timothy, and Lydia.

The curriculum is also available in small bundles designed for Youth Ministry and VBS settings. The full cur-

riculum package includes Bible study sessions for Elementary, Youth, and Adult, as well as games, crafts,

environmental activities, and team-building activities.

From Generation to Generation is available for purchase and download the curriculum on the LOM website at

www.lomnetwork.org under the “resources” tab. Lutheran Outdoor Ministries is an association of outdoor

ministry organizations dedicated to encouraging, equipping, educating, and empowering bold and faithful

outdoor ministry leaders for service in the Church and in the world.

Camp Mount Luther’s website now has information about summer camp programs. Brochures were also

mailed to churches and campers from the last two years in January.

7

USS ARK is a publication of the Upper Susquehanna Synod, ELCA. Permission is granted to repro-

duce USS Ark for congregational communications. Send your mission stories and ministry ideas to

Editor Chad Hershberger at news@uss-elca.org.

8

Stewardship In Action Clap your hands, all you people,

Shout to GOD with loud songs of joy.

For the LORD, the Most High,

Is awesome, a great king over all the earth.

Psalm 47: 1-2

Because of You…

Each and every morning, we are blessed….. This year our Lent offerings will go to ELCA

Disaster Response. Here’s more information from the ELCA Disaster Response website:

“We are a church that is a catalyst, convener and bridge builder. Lutheran Disaster Response collaborates with other disaster response organizations and religious entities in the United States and around the world. This enables the greatest stewardship of resources and maximum impact of response. We are a welcome partner because we respect the perspectives and strengths of others. “We recognize that every disaster is local. Because of this, we believe every response needs to be rooted in the community; we work to accompany that community from immediate relief through long-term recovery. In our international work we partner closely with companion churches and other Lutheran and ecumenical relief agencies to make sure local needs are being addressed and met. In the United States, we work through our extensive affiliate network and other partners to address these same concerns. “Lutheran Disaster Response strives to help the church continue to be church in the midst of disaster — following Christ’s call to bring hope and healing to our neighbor in need. Some key areas of work include:

Providing emotional and spiritual care for people who have been affected by a disaster and for

leaders who respond to a disaster

Coordinating volunteers through our local affiliates

Assisting refugees in a holistic way by meeting the varied needs of the community

Promoting disaster risk-reduction by helping communities build their assets thereby reducing the

effects of likely disasters

Providing long-term recovery efforts by addressing the unmet needs months or even years after

a disaster strikes 100% of what you give will go directly to the next disaster that occurs, where it is most needed, so that when that disaster happens either globally or in the United States, there are funds immediately available to help. View ELCA Lutheran Disaster Response online to see what disasters to which they are currently responding.

Your Stewardship Team Thanks You

9

February was a lot of fun here at Sonbeam! We had Valentine’s Day Parties all

throughout the center! The school age and older Pre-K were able to go to the

Lion’s Den to run and play and do a craft.

We are making great strides in our Pre-K and Preschool classrooms. I see so

much wonderful learning and positive teacher-child interactions going on in all of

our classrooms. I hope you are noticing the increased parent interaction via Hi-

Mama and Parent-Teacher conferences!

We thank everyone that supported the two fundraisers we had! Klingler’s fund-

raiser raised $1,380.94!! The Bread of Life was one of the best coupon fundrais-

ers that they have ever seen!

We successfully completed our State Inspection. We have some new enrollments

coming in and classrooms are all but full! We do have room in school age. What

a blessing! Things are going wonderfully here!

Blessings from our Sonbeam Family to each of you! Thanks for supporting us as

your ministry!

Peace and Blessings,

Jessica Startzel

Sonbeam Director Team

Sonbeam ELC

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

1 1st Sunday in Lent 9 am Worship-Dime collection 10:15 Social time 10:30 Bible Study for Preschool-Adult 11:30 Choir reh. 7 pm Community worship @ Delaware Mennonite

2 Candy Egg Making begins 6 am-Mixing 6:30-7 Weighing & Shaping

3 Candy Eggs 8 am-Dipping 9-9:30-Bagging

4 5

10:15 am Sonbeam Chapel time

6 pm Executive Comm. meets

6 5:30 pm doors open Buffalo Mountain Bluegrass event

7

8 2nd Sunday in Lent 9 am Worship~Council Installation 10:15 Social time 10:30 Bible Study for Preschool-Adult 11:30 Choir reh. 7 pm Community worship @ Brown’s UMC

9 Candy Egg Making begins 6 am-Mixing 6:30-7 Weighing & Shaping

10 Candy Eggs 8 am-Dipping 9-9:30-Bagging

11 10 am Prayer Shawl Ministry meets in the Library

12 10:15 am

Sonbeam Chapel time

7 pm Council

meets

13

14

15 3rd Sunday in Lent 9 am Worship 10:15 Social time 10:30 Bible Study Pre-school-Adult 11:30 Choir reh. 7 pm Community worship @ Otterbein UMC

16 Candy Egg Making begins 6 am-Mixing 6:30-7 Weighing & Shaping

17 Candy Eggs 8 am-Dipping 9-9:30-Bagging

18

19 10 am Juniata Conference Mtg. @ Port Royal 10:15 am Sonbeam Chapel time

20

21

Bethesda Mobile Mission in Harrisburg sign-up at church

22 4th Sunday in Lent 9 am Worship 10:15 Social time 10:30 Bible Study Pre-school-Adult 11:30 Choir reh. Last day to order eggs 7 pm Community

worship @ Lost Creek Mennonite

23 Candy Eggs 6 am-Mixing 6:30-7 Weighing & Shaping

24 Candy Eggs 8 am-Dipping 9-9:30-Bagging

25

26 10:15 am Sonbeam Chapel time 6 pm Worship Committee meets

27

28 9 am Road Clean-up & Brunch 4 pm Sanctuary & Social Hall in use

Stayer/Leitzel wedding

29 5th Sunday in Lent 9 am Worship & Healing Service 10:15 Social time 10:30 Bible Study Pre-school-Adult 11:30 Choir reh. 7 pm Community worship @ Lost Creek Presbyterian

30

31

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