Worship Schedule
One United Service INSIDE the Sanctuary at 10am.
Picnic INSIDE the Family Life Center at 11am.
This Week's Member Spotlight
Mission Outreach through the Years
Check out the new display in the case at the entrance of the Family Life Center. Pictures depict our many Mission outreach activities through the years. Also look for another historic quilt in the hallway display case.
Multi-Generation Families of First Church?
Extensive research has been done to identify First Church families that have been a part of our church for four or more generations. Sixteen families have qualified with four, five, six and even seven generations of continuance membership/attendance. Some families have two or three ancestral lines of First Church connections.
A booklet is being prepared with all the names and dates for these sixteen families which include 24 different family lines. All families will be recognized during the Home Coming celebration on Nov. 13.
All sixteen families have been contacted by Joyce Horst. There is still time to include your family, if you think you might qualify. Contact Joyce Horst or Marie Agostinelli to do the research. We don’t want to miss anyone.
The Café is open. Stop by for some refreshments!
We are in need of a class or group to set up the Café on the 4th Sunday of the month. If your class or group can serve in this way, please contact Suzanne Everly.
Church Picnic!
Food, Fellowship and Fun
Games for all ages
When: Sunday, August 21st @11 A.M. (following the combined 10 A.M. worship service at the band shell).
Where: Chambersburg Municipal Park Picnic Pavilion (beside play equipment in the back of park)
The picnic meal will be catered and everything will be provided. Please bring a lawn chair for the 10 o’clock service.
Please RSVP with count to:
daveandterri3@gmail.com or call 717-263-2814
Or
Sign up at “Next Step” counter in lobby
Did you know that if you can’t make your preferred Sunday morning service, you can come Thursday Night for a brief but meaningful service and stay for a delicious dinner?
At First Church you can!
It's called Dinner Church and you are welcome to join us every week to connect with God through worship and with our community through food and conversation!
NEW 6 WEEK BIBLE STUDY!
Meets at 10 o’clock in the resource room at the end of the staff hallway. It is a study of God's Kingdom from Genesis to Revelation: Guiding Light And Warmth, Satisfying food And Water, Loving relationships with God And Others, Purposeful work And Rest.
An intergenerational, discussion-based group is meeting on Sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m. in the Resource Room (at the end of the administrative hallway). This Fall, we will be studying the parables of Jesus. All are welcome!
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).
Great News!
Mail Service is up to only missing a day or two a week. We feel confident that tithes and offerings mailed to the church will arrive here safely. If you wish to send your contributions via mail, you are welcome to do so.
Traditional
MINISTRY UPDATES
Children's Ministry
Pray with us Tuesdays at 2:52pm!
August 21 - Back to School Blessing at Memorial Park Bandshell 10am.
August 21 - Church Picnic at Memorial Park 11am.
August 28 - Promotion/Kickoff Sunday at 10am.
Youth Group
Illuminate Youth Ministry meets on Wednesdays from 6-8 pm, and on Sundays at 10am.
Illuminate youth ministry will meet from 6-7pm on August 24 for a "Battleball and Blessing" night before the school year begins. We'll play dodge ball and then pray together for the coming school year.
Weekly Wednesday meetings resume September 7, from 6-8pm.
If you'd like more information, please contact Collin @xcultureyouth@gmail.com.
Hungry Hearts
Egg Carton supply is full. We do not need egg cartons at this time.
Team Haiti/Missions
We want to keep you up-to-date on how the ministry is going in Haiti. These have been very difficult days, weeks and months in Haiti, which has had more than it’s share of trouble and tragedy. The gifts from members and friends of FUMC have helped to ease the struggles for many.
The School of Hope has been open and students have been taught on a regular basis. Some students have taken their standardized tests administered by the state education department. Your scholarship support has made this possible. We recently sent in the last 1/3 of the annual rent for the school facility. Annual cost is $9,000.
This year we have added a lunch program which costs $400 a month and supplements the food given by the government to provide lunch for 200+ students. Leftovers are sent home for other family members at the end of the-day. The school semester payment for each student is $140, which is required in the fall and spring. These scholarships not only pay for school supplies but also salaries for the teachers. Thank you for helping this year be a success at the School of Hope.
Mission Central is in need of Women's briefs, feminine hygiene items, hand and foot warmers, dental floss, toothpaste, deodorant (men's and women's), small personal size shampoo and conditioner, new blankets, medical wound care supplies, school rulers, children's scissors, and all sizes of shoes.
Pastoral Care Ministries
GriefShare -Help and encouragement after the death of a loved one - is a special weekly (13) seminar and support group designed to help you rebuild your life. We know it hurts and we want to help. New Session Starts: Sept. 12 - Nov. 28 1:00 - 3:00 pm in the Alda Bower Classroom.
Stephen Ministry is here to walk with you through difficult journeys.
Loss of a Spouse will meet Monday August 29 at 1:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. in room 131. Feel free to bring a friend or family member with you. If you have questions, call Gail at 717-263.-8491ext. 207.
Surviving the Holidays
Women Connect
Help for Kentucky
On Thursday, Mission Central was able to get 1,872 Flood/Cleaning Buckets to Kentucky to assist with the devastation they are experiencing. The total value on those was just over $140,000.
In addition to mission outreach and mission education, part of Mission Central’s mission is disaster recovery. The process is relatively simple! We collect Flood/Cleaning Buckets and supplies for inside the Flood/Cleaning Buckets all year. These buckets are either made or collected at Mission Central. They are then verified, tagged with a Mission Central sticker, wrapped in shrink wrap and stored until a disaster strikes. Then, through our varying partners and UMCOR, they go out to impacted areas for cleanup to begin or continue.
These supplies then enable people to begin the overwhelming job of cleaning up after a natural disaster. We collect these supplies and buckets year around and are grateful for your support!
How You Can Help:
- Pray for those impacted by this devastation.
- Make a monetary donation to Mission Central’s disaster relief.
- Donate supplies – we are in need of the following for our Flood/Cleaning Buckets:
- 16 oz. to 40 oz. liquid concentrate household cleaners, no spray cleaners
- Re- useable cleaning wipes, no terry cloth or microfiber
- Scouring pads, no stainless steel or pads with soap in them
- Volunteer! We are in need of warehouse and donation door assistance. This can be short term or longer term. (Please email Laurie for details.)
Thanks to your support, Mission Central donated over $2.2 million in Flood/Cleaning buckets between 2019 and now.
Worship at Memorial Park
August 21, 2022
10am -Blended service at Memorial Park.
No children or youth Sunday School.
Service will be followed by our annual church picnic!
200th Anniversary Celebration!
September 18 -Worship with our Bishop.
November 13 -Homecoming Worship with a luncheon.
Mission Experience (MX)
Save the date for MX next year: June 14-17, 2023!
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!
Please contact the church about hospitalizations as we no longer are contacted when parishioners are hospitalized.
Post-High/Young Adult Sunday School Class meets weekly on Sundays at 10:00! The class will meet in the lounge and will be led by Young Adults. Post-High young adults in their late-teens or in their 20’s are welcome as we read through the book “The Ninefold Path of Jesus: Hidden Wisdom of the Beatitudes”
Refugee Resettlement: 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, 209 East King Street, Chambersburg 17201—memo “refugee resettlement”.
Endowment Fund Status June 30, 2022
The total amount of principal (market value) in the Endowment fund is $1,264,678. This is a decrease of $134,520 from year end 2021 ($1,399,198). As you know we cannot spend the principal amount. We can only spend the interest earned. The amount available (interest earned) is $203,946. This was an increase of $5,568. The total amount available by category is as follows:
General $93,658 Music $45,565 Facilities $15,125 Missions $7,765 Scholarships $41,833
Last year we spent $41,270 to support projects. We purchased sound equipment and supported the Haiti Orphanage. The Fund paid $29,500 towards the repair of the elevator and supported pastor salaries for Sierra Leone. So far this year we spent $6,500 for a roof for our Haitian Orphanage. Contributions so far this year are $3, 634.
Past year contributions were,
2018 - $9,926
2019 - $17,282
2020 - $14,341
2021 - $5,338.
Please consider giving to the Endowment Fund. The Fund is very
important to support future church projects.
Thank you. Dave Stevens
Note: The Endowment Fund is separate from the operating/general church budget and the Trustees budget. Endowment usually supports items for which funds would not be available, or are outside the normal purview of the general church and trustee budgets.
Missions – Extend ministries including local, national and international activities.
Scholarship – To provide opportunities for students from FUMC to enter Ordained, Diaconal or Christian Education.
Music – To provide support for continuing and expanding the music program.
Facilities – To maintain and improve the physical condition and beauty of the church building, parsonage, and other properties.
General – To provide support income to be used in the general operation of the church: Salaries, supplies, educational, office equipment, etc., when needed.
Prayers for Healing
Gideon Hill
Joan Hill
Vickie Leisher
Deb Ewing
Paula Hepfer
Evert Slocum
Dottie Vidil
Ed & Karen's son-in-law Mark
Don Ardery
Ron Diehl
Wayne Gettel
Steve Hessong
Jenny Barnes
Those struggling with Covid.
Prayers for Missions
Karen Null’s granddaughter is home safely from Ukraine. Praise the Lord!
Prayers for Our World
For an end to the invasion of Ukraine.
For meaningful productive peace talks.
Wisdom for government leaders.
God's intervention in the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
For the children and babies in Ukraine.
Relief for those dealing with severe weather - heat, drought, floods.
Healing for our divided country, nations, and leaders.
All Military and Law Enforcement and First Responders and Essential Workers.
Prayers for Church Ministries, Events and Special projects
Stephen Ministry
First Lights Children's Ministry
Illuminate Youth Ministry
Hungry Hearts Ministry
200th Anniversary Celebration
Start of a new school year
Grief Share
Loss of a Spouse
Prayers needed for these members with long term concerns:
Dick Jenkins
Don Nolder
Shirley Jones
Mary Butts
Linda Leidig
Lucille Lower
Connie Love
Jane Pensinger
Barb Armstrong
Susie Bulger
Kathy Beaston
Prayers of Comfort, Peace and Condolence
Comfort and peace for Leroy Fickes' family and friends as he entered the Church Triumphant.
For Judy Paes' son-in-law, Fred Kraemer, for relief from pain due to his pancreatic cancer.
Wisdom, strength and comfort for in-home caregivers.
Families struggling with grief and loss.
Families struggling with housing and financial issues.
Families struggling with reconciliation and forgiveness.
Peace for those dealing with anxiety.
Faith for those who struggle to believe in what they cannot see.
Families and a new school year.