THE PARISH NEWS
St. Mary’s United Church of Christ
Silver Run, Maryland
Volume XXXIII February No 2 modified for the Web.
(Previous issues available: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
250th Anniversary Shirts Orders - February 5th - 18th
Vacation Bible School Meeting - February 12th
Bowling - February 19th
Ash Wednesday Union Service - February 22nd
Lenten Communion Service - February 26th
Snow Tubing - Cancelled
Annual Spring Fling Bingo - March 17th
Penitence
follows epiphany. In the first three
gospels we read the story that after Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan
River, he went into the wilderness beyond the
Penitence
follows epiphany. Jesus’ responded
to his vision of the Holy Spirit descending upon him by heading out into the
wilderness. For forty days he prayed
and fasted; he opened his heart and his soul to the leading of the Spirit; he
was strengthened to withstand temptation and prepared for the difficult tasks of
the ministry that he was called to do. So
often we think of Lent as a season of preparation for Easter that we fail to see
Jesus’ wilderness experience as a response to an epiphany, his time to reflect
upon what the experience really meant, to discern the will of God, and follow
where the Spirit was ready to lead him.
Penitence
follows epiphany. With our
observance of Ash Wednesday at our union service with our Lutheran sisters and
brothers, we begin the season of penitence that we refer to as Lent.
But it is more than our time to prepare for Easter.
It is our time to reflect upon our encounter with the holy, to remember
our vision of the transfigured Christ, and to ponder the implications the vision
has for our lives and the life of our church.
We will be called to leave behind us the sins of the past and turn toward
the new paths that the Spirit would have us travel.
May our season of penitence make clear the meaning of our vision of the
holy, and make clear our direction for the ministries to which we are called for
our lives and for our life together.
Lent begins on Ash
Wednesday, February 22nd. As
we begin this season of reflection and repentance, we have been invited to join
with our Lutheran sisters and brothers in a Union Service of worship on Ash
Wednesday evening beginning at 7:30 PM at St. Mary’s
We will be taking orders for
shirts commemorating St. Mary’s anniversary starting 2/5 thru 2/18 in the
vestry.
Adult sizes Small –
XXXLarge $15
Children’s sizes XSmall
– Large $12
Samples will be on display in the vestry. Payment is due upon ordering. Make checks payable to St. Mary’s UCC.
Sunday
School News
A
**Snow
tubing cancelled due to mild weather conditions. We’ll try again next
year!**
Bowling
February 19th
2:00
– 4:00 pm
Thunderhead
Lanes – Taneytown
Ten-pin
or duckpin. $5.00
per bowler includes 2 hrs of bowling, pizza or hot dog and drink
ST. MARYS UNITED
This
article marks the thirteenth of a series of articles that will appear in the
Parish News over the next two years as we anticipate that celebration.
Last
month we reviewed some of the highlights of activities that occurred during the
pastorates of the three ministers who preceded our current pastor, Dr. Richard
Scott. Before I move on to this month’s article, I wanted to correct an error
that occurred in last month’s article. I mentioned that the grand piano had
been donated to the church by Joe and Pat Humbert, I have since learned that it
was a gift from John and Helen Humbert as well. We as a congregation continue to
enjoy this generous gift from the Humbert families.
In
May 1996, Dr. Richard Scott accepted a call to be our minister here at St.
Mary’s. Prior to coming here, he was serving two small UCC churches that were
part of a charge in the northwestern part of
Since
the sanctuary renovation, we have also made improvements to the basement level,
including a newly equipped and renovated kitchen, a family friendly bathroom,
HVAC upgrades, and improvements in the unfinished portion that permits expanded
use by our children and youth. These improvements were completed at a cost of
approximately $100,000 in 2006-2007. Also, a donation from Emerson and Arlene
Muller enabled us to make improvements to our Vestry which we enjoy each week
for fellowship as a gathering place before and after services.
At
about this same time, the tower and steeple were struck by lightning.
Fortunately, the damage was not severe. After repairs were made, a donation from
the Bernard Koontz estate enabled us to make some permanent changes to ground
the area in an effort to prevent further damage to our electrical system in the
future.
In
previous articles, we talked about the generous gift which enabled us to renew
the area of our church grove including the pavilion there. A playground area has
been added near the rear of the church. Currently
construction of a new pavilion near the playground has been approved. This will
enable us to provide a family friendly place that provides opportunity for
multiple uses. The addition of more handicapped parking space is being discussed
as part of this.
During
these past 15 years, two of our church staff who had served the congregation
made decisions to retire – Jeanne Bechtel (as church secretary) Dorothy Ellen
Dutterer ( as organist) served our congregation faithfully for many years.
Our
praise band was organized and for ten years has enhanced our worship
opportunities for the congregation. Contemporary services were held regularly
each month and were enjoyed by a broad cross section of our members.
We
have made major advances in our office procedures. This has enabled us to
effectively record and track our financial position and report it to the members
and consistory in an organized, meaningful process.
A
number of endowments have contributed to our ability to plan and support our
programs and make capital improvements. I will speak to this is a future
article.
During
Dr. Scott’s pastorate, we have continued our efforts to become a more
welcoming congregation. We have participated in our denomination’s “God is
still speaking” program. We have added the Stephen Ministry Program as a
mainstay in our congregation.
We
cannot reflect on Pastor Scott’s time with us here at St. Mary’s without
acknowledging the contributions of his wife, Molly. Molly has been very active
in the life of St. Mary’s – especially in
our
music program and fellowship program among others. She has truly been asset to
our congregation. We are fortunate to have both Richard and Molly as part of our
congregation.
As
Pastor Scott points out, we have continued to take steps toward being a child
friendly, child safe church community – welcoming all God’s Children. He
feels that over these last 15 ˝ years, we as a congregation have given
ourselves “permission to move on”. We have tried new things; we have
experimented within our comfort level and look forward to the future. We take
great pride in our history and will celebrate these first 250 years in May of
this year. We also intend to work just as hard to continue this legacy that we
have been given in the years ahead.
From
the Fellowship Committee:
A
This
article is the first of three articles about Barnabas and Mark.
Barnabas boldly proclaimed God’s Word throughout the
What
we do know is that he was an encourager. In
fact, his name means “the son of encouragement.”
While we might call Stephen the first Stephen Minister (Acts 6), Barnabas
could appropriately be considered the second.
He had all the characteristics of a Stephen Minister: full of faith,
mercy, patience, encouragement, and compassion.
He was probably the ideal companion to travel with on a long missionary
journey in a potentially hostile land.
Barnabas’
biggest contribution to the Christian church, however, isn’t a sermon he
preached or an epistle he wrote. It
may simply have been his role as an encourager and as a “Stephen Minister”
to his young cousin Mark.
To
be continued next month …
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Email: office@stmarysucc.org Page last updated: February 3, 2012 |
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