Service of Worship and Communion, We Ll Celebrate Christian Education Sunday

Worship News

With the arrival of the month of September, we return to a single worship service at 10:30am each Sunday morning. However, because the casual services featuring recorded contemporary music were so well received this summer, the elders of St. Paul’s have granted permission for a couple

of similar services to be offered this fall. The first service of this kind will be held on September 14th. Also that morning, we’ll recognize September’s baptismal anniversaries.

But before that, September 7th will be a very busy day. That morning during our traditional

service of worship and communion, we’ll celebrate Christian Education Sunday.

There will be a special liturgy and bulletin cover used by UCC churches in the Schuylkill and Berks Associations. During worship that morning, the Confirmation class will receive a blessing and there’ll be a special blessing for those who have started a new school year.

Recognizing the importanceliteracy and reading can be to changing someone’s life; this

service will serve as prelude to our participation in the UCC’s next national campaign. The “March 4th for Literacy” initiative begins in the spring and is designed to promote reading and learning.

As is the tradition at St. Paul’s, Harvest Home will be celebrated on the 3rd Sunday of September (21st). That morning’s service will also include a special offering for Bethany Children’s Home and the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism, as Brantley Wolfe is

welcomed into the body of Christ. And finally, we look forward to the return of St. Paul’s Minstrels on September 28th.

It is the hope of everyone involved in the planning of worship that you will be able to attend some or all of these services and that you’ll find them meaningful and spiritually fulfilling.

Soup Kitchen Ministry

We will be helping at the

Pottsville Soup Kitchen

on Thursday, September 11

from 4:30 – 7:00 PM.

If you would like to help,

speak to Rae Ann Borger.

Communion Offering

September’s offering is designated to the Council of Churches Weekend Backpack Food Program. This service provides nutritious food for the weekend to children who receive reduced or free lunch during the school week.

Schuylkill Haven

Food Pantry

Needs- September:

Crackers, Soup Mix, Egg Noodles, Chicken Broth, and Chicken Soup

We will be helping at the

Sch. Haven Food Pantry on Mon., September 15 at 8:30am, and on Friday, Sept. 19 at 1pm.

Bethany Offering

Harvest Home Sunday will be September 21, and our tradition is to collect a special offering to support the ministries of Bethany Children’s Home.

Founded in 1863, Bethany serves more than 250 disadvantaged youth, through a variety of programs each year at their Womelsdorf campus. Without the faithful support of individuals and churches, Bethany would be unable to fulfill its’ mission and ministry to at-risk youth and families from Schuylkill and Berks Counties, the Lehigh Valley, South Central Pennsylvania and Philadelphia.

Harvest Home

We will celebrate Harvest Home this year on Sunday, Sept. 21 by collecting non-perishable food items for the Schuylkill Haven Food Pantry, and by accepting monetary donations for Bethany Children’s Home.

Harvest Home is the day set aside each year on the church calendar to celebrate and give thanks to God for the many ways in which God has abundantly blessed us throughout the year.

Set-up for Harvest Home will take place Sat., Sept. 20 beginning at 9:00 AM. All are invited to come out and help decorate the church. Please drop-off any non-perishable food items that you’d like to donate prior to Sept. 20.

NIN Offering

Sunday October 5th is World Wide Communion Sunday and on that day, we will receive the Neighbors in Need Offering, the 3rd of 4 special offerings taken for the national church.

Two-thirds of this offering goes to support the work of the UCC’s Justice and Witness Ministries. The remaining third is used to help support the Council of American Indian Ministries and the 20 UCC congregations located on Native American Reservations.

Join your family, friends and neighbors on Sun., Oct. 5 for the annual Church World Service (CWS) Crop Walk through Sch. Haven.

The walk is sponsored by the Schuylkill Haven Council of Churches. Have fun and get great exercise, as you help those who hunger around the world and in our local community.

Registration is at 1:00 PM, and the walk begins at 1:30. We will meet at the Sch. Haven Food Pantry located to the rear of the old Walk- in Shoe Company. There are 2 routes: one is shorter and the other is a bit more challenging. Both routes have several rest stops along the way.

St. Paul’s has always been a strong supporter of CWS and their mission and ministry. Annually, we collect an offering for their Blankets+. Last year we had 19 walkers from St. Paul’s Summer Hill, and raised $1,189.00!!!! The total money raised between all the participating churches was $6,232.31!! Let’s see if we can

do even better this year and make a clear, definitive statement about our commitment to fighting hunger in our community and around the world.

Verna Ebling will again serve as our walk coordinator, please see her for a sponsor packet and join us for this year’s Crop Walk.

A fellowship Coffee Hour, hosted by the

AGAPE Committee

will be held on

Sunday, September 14

following Worship.

Bible Study

The Bible Study group will meet Thursdays, Sept. 4, 18 and 25 at 7:00 PM in the Conference Room. They will also meet on Thurs., Sept. 11 at 12 noon. The study is open to everyone. Please speak to Pastor Brad.

There will be a Young Adult Planning Lunch on Sunday, Sept. 14 from 12-1:00 PM.

Please speak to Pastor Brad for more info.

Consistory News

The regular meeting of the Consistory of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ was held on July 15, 2014. The meeting was called to order by Vice President Eric Reber.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

• Clint and Aaron provided a temporary fix for the furnace room door. Clint estimated that a permanent fix for the door would cost approximately $200 for supplies.
• Lorraine made a motion to purchase the necessary supplies for the door and have Clint fix the door with a second by Jeff. All were in favor.
• Clint noted that the sacristy sink was not draining properly. This issue is likely due to the configuration of the plumbing. Clint will look for a solution to the problem.
• Mike Rubinkam was unavailable to provide an update on the toilet roll holder in the Sunday School bathroom that needs to be replaced.
• Steve Brown has informed the church that he no longer has the equipment needed to trim trees. As Steve did tree trimming for the church in the past, someone else would need to perform the service when needed in the future.
• The ant issue seems to be under better control. It will continue to be monitored.

AGAPE

• Helen noted that she and Verna Ebling will be purchasing additional food items with money donated towards our goal of raising 3000 food items for the Schuylkill Haven Food Pantry in 2014. Helen stated that we are on track to reach our goal of 3000 items. Craig stated that on a count received in mid June, that we were approaching approximately 1800 items collected.

• Craig bought a computer for the church office from byusedpcs.com(Kutztown) for $219.95. He will contact Kelly to find a good time to set up and transition to the new computer.

PERSONNEL

• Eric stated that the committee feels it is necessary to review all the church job descriptions.
• The sexton's written job description is somewhat limited at the present time. Although a full review has not been completed, some of the items that may need to be considered as part of the sexton's job description include setting and monitoring the new heat pump system, ensuring the water softener is filled, and monitoring and emptying the dehumidifier.
• The dehumidifiers may be able to automatically drain via a hose.
• The committee has reached out to the current secretary, cleaning person, and organist to receive feedback on their current responsibilities.
• Complete recommendations will be made once the entire review is completed

SUNDAY SCHOOL

• Lorraine stated that the upstairs Sunday School is beginning a new curriculum in September that will include a DVD at the beginning of each lesson. The Sunday School is asking the consistory to split the cost of a new TV. Dave Heim was asked by the Sunday School to research prices of a new TV.
• Suggestions were made to potentially use memorial gift money or the Men's Sunday School second offering if those involved were willing and funds were available
• The consistory will make a decision on their contribution to the TV when a more exact cost for the TV is known.

YOUTH FELLOWSHIP/YOUNG ADULTS

• Activities for the Youth Fellowship have been planned approximately once a month from September 2014 through April 2015. Activities include a camp out, roller skating, a visit to Bounce-U, craft projects at nursing homes and other events
• A meeting will be held to plan activities for the young adults some time in September

OLD BUSINESS

• Ray Riegel was not available to provide an update from the contractor on the potential lighting project.

Craig bought a computer for the church office from buyusedpcs.com (Kutztown) for $219.95. He will contact Kelly to find a good time to set up and transition to the new computer.

There have been no known issues since the new alarm system was installed last year. The systems seems to be working smoothly.

We are unable to clean the top of the sanctuary windows due to the plexi glass coverings over the half-moon portion of windows. It was recommended that a solution to the problem be explored in further detail the next time the windows are due for cleaning

Craig will hang the Donald and Betty Clauser plaque next to the crying room entrance

NEW BUSINESS

In response to the recent mid-year stewardship letter, a member has approached the consistory to ask where contributions can be directed in order to ensure that none of the contributed money be forwarded to the conference or greater UCC. The member was informed that all monies contributed to the Building Fund are used directly for costs related to the church building and property. Although the Building Fund and General Fund are housed within the same checking account, the contributions are tracked separately within that account and money donated for these separately tracked items are used only for the area they were designated.

Due to declining contributions to the general fund, a recommendation was made to potentially perform an anonymous survey to help determine the reasons for the decline in general fund contributions, specifically in relation to the political stance of the National UCC and our contributions to OCWM. These concerns will be forwarded to the Spiritual Council by Tom for further discussion and resolution.

Consideration was made to designate a future communion offering to the Weekend Backpack Buddy Program. The program is new to the area but more information is expected to come from the Schuylkill Haven Council of Churches Meeting held at the end of July.

A motion was made to adjourn the meeting by Lorraine with a second by Aaron. All were in favor.

The meeting closed with the Mizpah Benediction.

Respectfully submitted,

Craig Borger, Assistant Secretary

Sunday School News

It’s BACK TO SCHOOL time and we sure do hope you will ALL be returning to Sunday School! We’ve missed a lot of you this summer, but, we are looking forward to seeing you again now that September is here. And, maybe you can bring a friend along with you because there are new and exciting things happening here on the Summer Hill!

Our Nursery/Pre-School, Kindergarten, and Primary classes will be starting a totally new curriculum beginning on September 14th. The “Whirl” (Welcome, Hear, Respond, Launch) curriculum is lectionary based lessons that reinforce the seasons of the church year. On the 14th the lesson will introduce Pentecost with the reading of Matthew 18: 21-35 and the story of “The Unforgiving Servant”. The three classes will be meeting each week at 9:15 A.M. in the Kindergarten classroom where they will begin by identifying where they are in the church year and watching an animated video to set up the lesson (Welcome) on the brand new flat screen T.V. that has been installed on the wall in that room. Next, they will go to their individual classrooms and dive into the Whirl Story Bible (Hear) and then respond to the scripture lesson with creative leaflet activities (Respond). For the final 10 minutes of class time, the classes will get back together in the Kindergarten room to review the lesson and pray before being sent out to apply their learning to their everyday lives (Launch). The teachers are very excited about his new adventure in learning and we hope you will be as well! Please come check it out and be sure to invite your friends!

Our other Sunday School classes are also looking forward to a new start in the fall. We really do have something for EVERY age so please do come try us out!!! Amy Zimmerman is our Nursery/Pre-School teacher along with help from Kathy Kline. They are lots of fun to play with and meet in the Nursery/Choir Room at the back of the church on the top floor across from the Conference Room. Rae Ann Borger, Ardith Moyer, and Verna Ebling are teaching our four and five year olds. They meet in the Kindergarten Room to the far left front on the top floor of the church. Kristy Reber leads the Primary Class (ages 6 and 7) with help from Vicky Borger in the church Conference Room right next to the Kindergarten Room. The Middler Class (ages 8 and 9) is taught by Deb Koch the table to the left front of the Fellowship Hall downstairs and the 10 and 11 year-olds of the Junior Primary Class are led by Deb Clauser at the table to the right at the front of the Fellowship Hall near the stage downstairs. Both the Middler and Junior Primary Classes use the Seasons of the Spirit “Encore” curriculum. These lectionary based lessons are specifically designed to encourage children to work in groups to explore the faith traditions of others, to develop Biblical knowledge, and to ask questions. Our Senior High Class is led by Brandi Clauser who does a wonderful job of engaging our young adults (post-Confirmation age) in thought-provoking conversations about their individual and group concerns as teenagers in today’s world. Our “older” adults have two different classes to choose from. The Adult Men’s and Women’s Bible Class meets upstairs in the front of the sanctuary. They are led by a teacher each week (Bill Reber, Fern Felty, and Brian Clauser each take turns on a rotating basis) in a formal lesson from the Standard NIV Bible Study which will begin on Sept. 7th with Jeremiah 30: 1-3 and 18-22. If you find a more relaxed discussion-type lesson format more to your liking, please feel free to join the Discussion Class in the Second Kitchen (the room at the back of the Fellowship Hall downstairs). This class has lessons in an informal setting (that includes coffee!) that vary according to the interests of the participating members. In the past they have included thought-provoking topics as well as direction in how to serve God by being a better spouse, parent, and church member. We REALLY do have something for everyone and we do hope you will check out all we have to offer!

In addition to the new curriculum, several of our SS students will be in new classes beginning on September 7th. The following students will be receiving Promotion Certificates during the SS hour on August 31st and will begin their new classes the following week:

-From Kindergarten to Primary class: Nathan Elo and Thomas Herring

-From Primary to Middler class: Madelyn Herring, Eliza Kline, Paige Koch, Callie Palerino, Jenna Reber, and Colby Ulsh

-From Middler to Junior Primary class: Mya Clauser, Gavin Guers,

Mikayla Herring, Logan Koch, Kaitlyn Reber, Katie Rubinkam, and Logan Ulsh

-From Junior Primary to Confirmation: Sophia Bates, Milena Krause, Dylan Reber, and Natalie Rubinkam

As you go about your weekly shopping this September, please remember our Sunday School Christmas Party mission project of the Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes and our church-wide campaign to “Feed the Hungry”.

The Christmas box for donations for Operation Christmas Child has been placed at the back of the sanctuary and a list of the needed items is attached to the box. Please feel free to grab one of the lists to assist you in your shopping. We will also gladly accept donations of large shoe boxes and some Christmas wrapping paper to cover them

The Christmas box for donations for Occupation Christmas Child has been placed at the back of the sanctuary and a list of the needed items is attached to the box. Please feel free to grab one of the lists to assist you in your shopping. We will also gladly accept donations of large shoe boxes and some Christmas wrapping