Sunday October 31, 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 - Doug Harbach
The altar flowers are presented to the glory of God and in loving memory of Earl and Mary Kean. Given by Jed and Susie Detrich and Shirley Jones and their families.
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.
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.
Hungry Hearts
Thank You for the Egg Cartons! We have more than enough and no more room to store them so please do not bring in anymore.
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 orders are due THIS SUNDAY (OCTOBER 31). Pick up for orders will be Saturday, November 20th. Proceeds support FUMC Haiti missions in Petit Goave, Haiti. 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.
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 elevator company was in the building this week taking measurements and gathering information to order needed parts.
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: Franklin County has welcomed a Syrian refugee family - (Dad & Mom with three young sons... 10, 8, & 6 years old) and has been provided temporary living quarters. Please contact Clint Bolte (717) 267-2157 to volunteer with helps for the family. Donations can be sent to Congregation of the Sons of Israel, 109 East King Street, Chambersburg 17201—memo “refugee resettlement” to be used for living expenses for the family directly.
New Sunday Morning Study Groups!
FUMC Prayer & Study Group-
Starting Tuesday, November 16, 2021 at 6:30-8 pm in the Sanctuary
You are invited to join us on a new journey toward intimacy with God. We will be studying different prayer techniques and spiritual rhythms. This will be a hybrid group: if the group would rather meet on Zoom or in-person we can do either. We will meet once a month on a Tuesday and there will be a weekly reading assignment during the month. To keep connected during each month we will be using a Padlet Board to post our comments & experiences on! All the group information will be on Padlet. If you have any questions or if you are moved to join our group you can email Lindsay Zubal.
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.
World's Apart is led by Dan Renshaw in the Family Life Center at 10am for 4 weeks.
Hope you join us!
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 10/29
Comfort for family and friends of Dennis Miller as he entered the Church Triumph
Pray for Pastor Steve as it is Pastor Appreciation month
Healing for Dean Crow
Healing for Susie Bulger
Healing for Erma Collins
Healing for Paul Bridegam and wisdom for the Dr's
Healing for Paul's son David
Healing prayers for Matt - some improvement
Please pray for Livermore family friend named Kurdsie who was kidnapped in Haiti. Praise: he is home.
Continue prayers for the group of 17 American short-term missionaries who were kidnapped.
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.
Please pray for those coming and facilitating Surviving the Holidays seminar on Nov. 14 @ 3:30 here at FUMC
Prayers Needed for:
- John & Bunny Parson
- Larry & Avis Guise
- Al & Linda Lojacono
- Jay & Betty Upperman
- Bill & Mary Butts
- Jack & Bette Bowers
- Dean & Carol Crow
- Paul & Erma Collins
- Bill & Thelma Peerce
- Kirk & Kathy Paul
- Chuck & Dianne Salter
- Dave & Joan Kauffman
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
We praise God for the kids who read a Bible verse everyday in October (or even one day)!
Alight a fire in their hearts for Your Word, oh Lord!
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.
