Sunday October 24, 2021
9am Traditional Service in the Sanctuary
10am Sunday School All Ages
11am Contemporary Service in the Family Life Center (FLC)
COVID19 Protocol Update
Because Franklin county has moved into the High category of COVID transmission, First Church leadership asks that congregants wear masks while inside the building per CDC recommendation. This is recommended NOT mandated. We understand that individuals have varied feelings on masks.
We are also again encouraging social distancing in the sanctuary and in the FLC.
Franklin County is being hit hard by the latest surge in the COVID-19 pandemic. We [Wellspan] are caring for 76 COVID-positive patients in our Chambersburg and Waynesboro facilities, and our urgent cares and clinics are overflowing. There have been times this week when so many patients have turned to our Emergency Department in Chambersburg for care that a line has extended beyond the entrance. A tent is now being placed outside of the Emergency Department in Chambersburg to accommodate patients who may be waiting, and we are again in the position of needing to delay some surgeries and procedures to care for COVID patients. Visitation also continues to be restricted in our hospitals and emergency rooms. And, once again, our health care workforce is being pushed to their limits, both physically and emotionally.
Watch our services on youtube at 12pm!
We also have a dedicated phone number so you can listen to latest recorded service at 717-899-4JOY (4569).
We are asking folks not to mail donations through the US Postal service. Please hand-deliver them to the church, because we are having issues with receiving mail. We also have online giving available as well. Thank you for blessing us!
In Traditional Service this week:
Pastor - Steven M. Livermore
Organist/Choir Director
- Diaconal Minister of Music: Linda A. Peppernick
Reader—The Hill Family
The altar flowers are presented to the Glory of God.
October 31st flowers are available to present
MINISTRY UPDATES
Children's Ministry
Pray with us Tuesdays at 2:52pm.
Worship Bulletins for kids to engage them with the service are available at the welcome tables.
'Fear Not!' October Schedule is HERE!
This month Ms. Brianna is challenging kids to read their Bible! If they complete the challenge and return it, Ms. Brianna will kiss a worm( One kiss for ever challenge returned.) at our end of month 'Fear is Not a Factor' Party or during a special 'Not so Spooky' Halloween Sunday School.
Go HERE to get your 'Fear Not' Bible Reading Challenge!
October 27 from 6pm-8pm is our Fear is not a Factor Party at Church. Kids will be playing glow in the dark games and participating in messy challenges as well as worshipping God.
Youth Group
Illuminate Youth Ministry will be meeting in backyards this September on Wednesday nights. A full schedule is on the events page at illuminateyouth.org.
Please note: There is no Sunday School on October 10.
Hungry Hearts
Team Haiti
Sponsors are Needed for Haitian Children at Kaendra's Place orphanage. School of Hope tuition sponsorships at $140 a semester or $280 for the school year. Fall semester tuition is due now. Talk to Pastor Steve or mail haiti4fumc@gmail.com for more information.
Cookie Dough and Coffee Sale to support FUMC Haiti missions in Petit Goave, Haiti has begun! Order forms are available along with purchase envelopes at the worship entrances and lobby. Envelopes can be placed in the offering plates or dropped in the box at the Welcome Center. Orders are due by Sunday, October 31st. Pick up for orders will be Saturday, November 20th.
Pastoral Care Ministries
GriefShare group meets Mondays at 1:00 PM. For more information or to register for the seminar contact Gail at 717-263-8491 ext. 207.
Stephen Ministry is here to walk with you through difficult journeys. If you need someone to listen and to care, call Gail at 717-263-8491 ext. 207 for more information.
Women Connect
Updates coming soon!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Important Note regarding upcoming events:
If you are planning a church event, please contact Stacey in the church office so that we can coordinate all events in the church and are not overlapping ministries. Thank you!
Chancel Choir-Practice is held Wednesday nights at 7:00. All singers welcomed! Contact Diaconal Minister Linda Peppernick at lindapeppernick@embarqmail.com
Post-High School Connections - First Church Friends: I am looking for people to connect with our post high age young adults. Check-in texts, notes, and emails are a great way to let them know they're a part of the family even when they may not be able to attend regularly. If you're willing to friend one of our post high young adults, please contact Beth Stahl (stahlfamily2000@gmail.com or 717-375-8011).
200th Anniversary – 2022 will mark the 200th Anniversary of the birth of First Church. We are looking for interested individuals to be part of the committee planning our celebrations. Please contact Pastor Steve at pastor4fumc@gmail.com if you would like to help.
Evening Bible Studies:
Intergenerational Study -Interested in making connections between faith and real life? In building intergenerational relationships within the church? Consider joining this discussion-based Bible study at 5:30 p.m. on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of every month. Study is designed for youth Grade 7 or higher in the company of their parents. All adults welcome!
“Wednesday Bible Study” @ 6:30 PM and meets every Wednesday in the Preschool Classroom (Apple Place). We will be studying the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah lived and wrote in a dark time. Studying the ministry of the prophet Jeremiah, you will get a glimpse of what it is like to have a personal relationship with God, for God and a human to be together and you will discover how you can grow in your own personal relationship to God. This study will also stream on Zoom. Study guides are available to pick up at the Welcome Center or you can download a copy here.
Elevator Update The contract has been signed and permits acquired from the borough to begin the repairs to the elevator. We have secured 75% of the needed funds and need to raise $20,000 to complete the project.
First UMC Church Conference Sunday, November 21st at 5:00 PM. Our District Superintendent will be with us to conduct the meeting. Please mark your calendars and plan on attending.
Friendly reminder that if you need to take tables out of the FLC please return them by Wednesday night so they are available for Thursday morning food distribution.
Refugee Resettlement: Refugee Resettlement: Franklin County is hopeful to receive a special gift at the end of the month. We are seeking a select family with a basement or attic apartment (1 BR + bath) to share this extraordinary gift with. The gift is a Syrian refugee family - Dad & Mom with three young sons... 10, 8, & 6 years old. The family needs temporary living quarters for 2-4 weeks. During this time they will be quarantined (as directed by immigration authorities), but provided with food by our local Refugee Resettlement "Welcome Committee." We hope you or one of your neighbors might be blessed by joining us in welcoming our new neighbors by sharing a part of your home with them. Please contact Clint Bolte (717) 267-2157.
New Sunday Morning Study Group!
Begins October 24th. Meets for three weeks in the Cafe at 10am and is being led by Dan Renshaw
No two worlds seem further apart than the worlds of science and faith. In fact, sometimes the two seem so far apart that it feels like we’re forced to pick a side. And while it may have originated years ago in a high school science class or with a college professor, for many of us, the tension between science and faith extends far beyond classroom walls at this point. In fact, in many ways it seems that the tension between science and faith is growing now more than ever. Instead of science merely being dismissive of God, it now seems like science is actively trying to disprove God. And if that’s true, does God disapprove science? After all, if one is right, the other must be wrong . . . right? Well, as it turns out, maybe not. The truth is, science and faith may not be as far from each other as we’ve been, perhaps, led to believe. In this series, as we take a look at the ways science and faith might actually relate, we’ll discover that the more we learn about how this world works, the more we’ll learn about the Who behind it all.
Come join Melvin and Valerie Wallace on Friday, October 22nd and Saturday, October 23rd (if necessary) Bridging the Gap, Connecting in Christ, loading the 40 foot container for Liberia at Park Avenue UMC (across from Wilson College). At 10 am we will pause our work to pray. (You can join us in prayer wherever you are.) We are shipping on faith so the needy in Liberia can have Bibles, books, food, medical school and training supplies by Christmas to lift them up and give them hope. All to the Gory of God! Over $6,000 is still needed for shipping costs and tariffs to West Africa. Monetary donations can be made out to BGCC and mailed to the Wallace’s at 719 Smoke House Road, West Chester, PA 19382 or give to Susie Kunkle (717-352-2562).
PRAYER, PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Proverbs 17:22 (KJV)
We lift our prayers to the Lord!
Prayers requests for 10/22
Pray for Pastor Steve as it is Pastor Appreciation month
Healing prayers for Matt
Please pray for Livermore family friend name Kurdsie who was kidnapped in Haiti. Also for a group of 17 American short-term missionaries also kidnapped this past weekend.
Prayers for the Illuminate Youth Ministry retreat this weekend
Healing for Blanche Mock
Healing for Deb Ewing
Healing prayers for Ginny Adams
Continue praying for the people of Haiti & Afghanistan
Pray for our government leaders
Prayers for Norine Selby (Glenn & Natalie Aylesworth’s daughter)
Pray for all those who take the gospel to a broken world in need of healing
Betty Naugle – healing
Pray for those who are coming to GriefShare
Pray for Stephen Ministry
Continued prayers for Postal Service.
Healing for those with Covid
Safety and protection for school children and those working in school systems.
Healing prayer for Jeff Brookens
Pray for First Lights -Connecting the light of the church to the heart of families to ignite the faith of the next generation.
Pray for Illuminate Youth Ministry
Pray for Hungry Hearts Ministry
Pray for yourself that you might be true to Christ even if you are rejected.
Prayers for:
Linda Leidig
Kathy Beaston
Barb Armstrong
Peggy
Deb Ewing
Shirley Jones
Evelyn Jones
Praise and Thanksgiving!
We praise God for our Pastor!
"And I will give you shepherds after my own
heart, who will feed you with knowledge and
understanding." ~ Jeremiah 3:15
The entire congregation is invited to join children and youth ministries at Mt. Asbury Retreat center this fall to help prepare for the Christmas Light Show!
There are also opportunities to staff the Light Show during the event.
If you are interested in finding out more, click Here.
