The Advance

West Side Moravian Church of Bethlehem, PA

Our Mission:  “We are disciples who nurture each other,

pray with love and share the joy of Christ.”

 

Published Monthly                                                       March 2012                                         Volume XXI Issue No 3

                                                                                     

MC900155008[1]Food Bank Sunday, March 25

 

Donations of non-perishable foods and cash are always appreciated.  The food bank also accepts infant items, such as diapers and wipes, hygiene items, and household items, such as toilet paper and paper towels.  Those who use the food bank also need these items.   The West Bethlehem Area Food Bank does not use cash donations to purchase these items.  Please remember to bring a donation with you to church.

 

SHUTIN8Senior Friends

 

Please come to a time of fellowship and uplifting entertainment Thursday, March 1 from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Fellowship Hall.  This month’s program to be announced.

MORAVIAN WOMEN

Meeting Schedule for March:

   Moravian Women’s Executive Board – Monday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m.

   Kathy Gramley Circle – Mon., March 12 at 7:30 p.m.

   King’s Daughter’s “Be Ye Kind” Circle Meeting –Tuesday, March 13 at 1:30 p.m.

 

Church World Service School Kits:

 

The Kathy Gramley Circle has had a request from Church World Service asking for school kits, which are in great demand.  If you would like to help, there will be a box in the vestibule to collect the following items:

 

1.      MC900355235[1]12” rulers

2.      Hand held pencil sharpeners

3.      Blunt metal scissors (rounded tip)

4.      Large erasers

5.      New, unsharpened pencils with erasers

6.      Box of 24 crayons

7.      70 count spiral notebooks (or loose-leaf or filler paper)

Women’s Fellowship will assemble the kits and ship them.  Money is also needed for shipping.  Thank you for your prayers and help!

 

Page 2

Those Who Are Serving

Sunday

Flowers Given by

Counters

Sacristans

Liturgist

Fellowship

3-4-12

Mr. & Mrs. Ralph Wanamaker, Jr.  

Shirley Leh

Phil Pinkerton

Ralph Wanamaker, Jr.

Don Richards

Curly Wiles

Jen Holland

Elders

3-11-12

Mr. & Mrs.

Donald Richards  

Phil Pinkerton

Bill Hassler

Greg Clugston

Mike Palmer

Fred Kline

Karen Palmer

Peter Collier

Laura Harstine

3-18-12

Mrs. Patricia Hoffert  

Shirley Leh

Mary Holland

Don DeWalt

Doug Yochum

Sam Velez

Doug Yochum

 

3-25-12

Available
Please contact Barbara Richards to place flowers.  

Shirley Leh

Audrey Wanamaker

Ralph Wanamaker, Jr.

Don Richards

Curly Wiles

Phil Pinkerton

 

 

 

 

February 2011

2/6         2/13      2/20     2/27    

48             55         87        68

February 2012

2/5       2/12      2/19      2/26  

62             49         52         74

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Order Easter Lilies

 

 

 

 

The cost of each plant is $6.50.  Your orders must be placed no later than Sunday, April 1, 2012.  You may drop off your orders at the Church Office or call the office at (610) 865-0256 to place your order.  Lilies may be picked up following the Easter Morning Worship Celebration.

 

 

$$  Financial Matters  $$

 

 

Due to lack of funds we have not been able to pay our 1/12 monthly payment.

 

Our 2012 assessments are as follows:

Provincial Common Ministries

$14,821.00                  Paid YTD – $1,235.00

Medical TD/Life Insurance

$19,428.00                  Paid YTD – $0.00

Retirement Benefits

$2,202.00                   Paid YTD – $0.00

District Common Ministries

$5,467.00                    Paid YTD - $449.33

 

Laugh a Little:

“The preacher came to call on me the other day.  He said that at my age I should be thinking about the hereafter.  I told him I do—all the time.  No matter where I am,  in the living room, upstairs in the kitchen, or down in the basement, I’m constantly asking myself, ‘Now what am I here after?’”

 

 

Page 3

From Pastor Marge: A continuation of our watchword studies:

 

CONFIRMATION CLASS WATCHWORD

All belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.  I Corinthians 3:22-23

 

At first I thought this was a strange verse for the confirmation class.  So I did a bit of research and found that there were factions of the church at Corinth that thought they were more spiritual than others.  And Paul was telling the community that they could learn for all.  It didn’t matter if it was one or the other of the Christian teachers all belonged to God as did the Corinthians themselves.

 

Thus, the confirmation class decided that they could learn from many sources and no one source was more spirit led than any other as long as they were sources which belonged to God.

 

This Lenten season we have a chance to learn from many sources.  Pick one and after the season we can gather and tell the stories of what we learned by sharing our mid-week Lenten services with other churches.

 

Blessings, Pastor Marge

 

 

Mid-Week

Lenten Series

The Board of Elders has decided that we will not offer Mid-Week

Lenten Services this year. 

 

West Side held an Ash Wednesday service.  We will also read the Holy Week readings and have Communion on Maundy Thursday.  Other than that we encourage you to attend Mid-Week service at one of the BAM Church, who have graciously invited us to be a part of their experience.  Here’s what the churches are offering.

 

ADVENT

We have no information on the program at Advent.  We do know that we have been invited to attend

EDGEBORO

The program will begin at 7 p.m. preceded by a soup dinner at 6 p.m.

 

The program is titled “Five Moravians Who Helped Make Us Who We Are.”  Surely Hus and Zinzendorf will be some of those visitors.

 

 

 

CENTRAL 

Living our Faith: A Lenten Ministry Exploration 

Located in Nitschmann Hall, lower level of the CE building Dinners begin at 6 p.m., and Speaker/Discussion at 7 p.m.

  

February 29: Mission

March 7: Christian Education

March 14: Congregational Care and

Outreach

March 21: Facilities and Administration

March 28: Worship and Music (program in the Old Chapel)

For more information on these programs see February’s Advance

 

 

 

COLLEGE HILL

  Lent Meets The TWILIGHT ZONE ?

Well, not quite. But College Hill’s 2012 Mid-week Lenten Series, Tales From the Madhouse, will be quite unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before.

 

Produced by the BBC, this series will open up your eyes to the Scriptures, the story of Jesus, and Easter week in a new and fascinating way.

Starting Wednesday, February 29th, and each Lenten Wednesday until Holy Week, all are invited to gather in the College Hill Fellowship Hall at 6:30pm for a simple Soup and Bread meal (volunteers to provide meals are welcome!). The meal will be followed by Tales From the Madhouse  at 7:00pm. Each week’s ‘Madhouse’ session stands on its own, so participants who cannot attend every week are still encouraged to attend when they are able. And of course, everyone is welcome to both the meal and the movie—why not bring a friend?

 

Sundays during Lent

                                                                                                                                             

       Percentage Living           

                                        

    A series to help us to grow as believers of Jesus Christ and as members of his Church.

                              

This series was developed by Rev. Gary Marsh who is the Director of Stewardship of the Moravian Church Northern Province. It is a stewardship process to grow and foster Discipleship, Health and Vitality in the Local Church. 

 

WEEK 1, led by Pastor Marge we will address Giving God a Percentage of each day through Devotional Prayer.  Using Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God” and I Thessalonians 5:16ff “Pray at all times” we will experience God’s call to prayer.  This is also a time when we recognize the beginning of the Moravian Church and here at West Side we celebrate with a Lovefeast.

 

WEEK 2, led by Pastor Marge we will address Giving God a Percentage of each Sabbath through Worship and Learning.  Using Psalm 99:5, Exalt the Lord our God and worship…” and Philippians 2:9ff, “…at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow…” we will discuss worship and learning as a part of our lives.

 

WEEK 3, led by Pastor Marge we will address Giving God a Percentage of our Time through Serving, Witnessing, Inviting.

Using Matthew 25:31ff “…when you did it for one of the least important…” and James 2:14ff “…if you say you have faith but do not have works?” we will look at ways to serve others and to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

 

WEEK 4, led by Phil Pinkerton and Ralph Wanamaker we will address Glorifying God in What I Earn: Percentage Saving and Spending.  At this point, I am not sure of which Bible reading they will be using.  They will be talking about how we use our money to praise God.

 

WEEK 5, led by the Rev. Gary Marsh we will address Giving God a Percentage of My Income: Generosity.  Using Luke 21:14, Gary will bring us a message of financial stewardship.  This is also Palm Sunday and we will celebrate the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem

 

The Elders and Trustees are excited about this new way of looking at ministry and invite you all to come and join us as we search for ways to serve God more completely.

 

Holy Week

 April 2-5, we will gather Monday thru Thursday at 7 p.m. to read the “Readings for Holy Week.”  They follow Jesus from the triumphant entry to Jerusalem all the way to the Resurrection.

 

Good Friday

We encourage you to attend the service at Central Moravian Church or any other church recognizing the experience of the Cross.

 

Easter Sunday

We gather with members of the Bethlehem Moravian Community for an Early Dawn Service and then gather here at West Side for Easter Sunday Worship at 10:30 a.m.