KEMPTON NEW CHURCH NEWSLETTER - May 2016 page 2
HOLY SUPPER, A SIGNATURE AND SEAL
But as many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become the children of God, to them who believe in His name, who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God. John 1:12-13
To those who come to the Holy Supper worthily, it is like a signature and seal that they are sons of God.
The holy supper is like a covenant. After the articles of agreement are settled, a covenant is ratified and finally signed and sealed. That the Lord’s blood is a covenant, He Himself teaches, for when He took the cup and gave it, He said:
Drink of it, all of you; for this is My blood of the new testament (Matt. 26:27, 28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20).
It is in accordance with order in the world that a covenant, to be secure and binding, should be signed and sealed, after the terms have been duly considered.
The holy supper is like the signing, sealing, certifying and witnessing of an undertaking, in the presence of the angels, that those who come to it worthily are sons of God; and it is also like a key to the house in heaven where they are to dwell forever. TCR 728, 730
FROM THE PASTOR
A Signature and Seal: The Lord created us for eternal life in heaven. He designed the holy supper to be like a signature and seal, confirming that we are His children, for whom He is preparing a home in heaven where we can live with Him.
The Lord’s covenant or agreement with us, in simple terms, is that if we believe in Him and keep His commandments, He will make us happy forever. He gives us the holy supper to confirm His covenant. It is as if the Lord is signing His contract by giving us holy supper, and we sign it by receiving His supper. Symbolically we accept His good and His truth.
When we are being regenerated, the Lord is preparing us for heaven. But for us to enter into heaven, we need to come and present ourselves to Him. We need to confirm for ourselves that we want to be led by the Lord Jesus Christ. Holy supper is the way we do this, since the Lord said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.”
Holy supper is a sacrament of repentance. But repentance is not an end in itself. Repentance is for the sake of preparing ourselves to enter into heaven. So although holy supper certainly has a very serious use, it also has the very happy use of confirming the Lord’s promise of eternal life, as we dedicate ourselves to following Him by keeping His commandments. “Blessed is he who eats bread in the kingdom of God!” (Luke 14:15)
Come to the Special Society Meeting tonight (April 28) to hear about and discuss the proposed school extension: design, cost, funding, and how it fits in our budget. We will not vote tonight but we’ll aim to have a thorough discussion. Then we can vote at the semi-annual meeting on May 19.
Holy Supper will be served at the evening service on May 8. The next holy supper will be in the morning on New Church Day, June 19th.
At Pastor’s Council on May 17, we will discuss ways to help people understand and feel called to the Lord’s Supper; ways to provide uses in the church for all who want them, especially those who are newer to the congregation; feedback on the two meetings regarding the school extension; ways to encourage people in reading the Word at home; and any other topics the council may raise.
The topic for the next winter study will be our special worship services: baptism and confirmation, holy supper, betrothal, marriage, interment and resurrection, and others. We hope these discussions will help us all enter into these rituals with more understanding and affection.
The Board Meeting on April 5 discussed reports on the cost and the means of funding the proposed school extension, and a five-year projection of our budget. You can hear these reports at the society meeting tonight, April 28.
Live-streaming and video recording: The board is considering investing in upgrading these ways to share our worship services, since the picture we currently offer is quite grainy and the sound of the singing muted, though the sound of the lessons and sermons is clear. Your thoughts are welcome.
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WORSHIP
Sunday, May 1, 10:00 A.M. Sunday School Service. Usher/Set-up: Paul Schorran
Sunday, May 8, 9:00 A.M. Young Child’s Service. Set-up: Judah and Lydia Synnestvedt. In Grades 7 and 8 classroom (upstairs in the school)
10:00 A.M. Family Service. Usher/Set-up: Jesse F.
7:00 P.M. Adult Holy Supper.
Sunday, May 15, 10:00 A.M. Sunday School Service. Usher/Set-up: Brandon Jungé
Sunday, May 22, 10:00 A.M. Family Service. Usher/Set-up: Jordan Cooper
Sunday, May 29, 10:00 a.m. Sunday School Service. Usher/Set-up: Anders Smith
CLASSES
Monday, May 2, 9:30 A.M. Divine Providence Class (4th law). At Nancy Odhner’s
Wednesday, May 4, 7:30 P.M. Society Doctrinal Class: The Urgent Need for the New Church, and the Lord’s Invitation to the Christian World. If you wish, you can read AR 69 and AE 764 on this subject. At Brandon and Char Jungé’s
Monday, May 9, 7:00 P.M. CL Discussion. High school students and their parents. At Dan and Erika Brown’s
Tuesday, May 10, 7:30 P.M. Arcana Class. Nos.7671-7751. The plagues of the locusts and thick darkness. At Jackie Creciun’s
Monday, May 16, 7:00 P.M. (Ongoing) Divine Providence Class. In the Library
Monday, May 23, 9:30 A.M. Divine Providence Class (5th law). Location TBA
Monday, May 23, 7:00 P.M. CL Discussion. High school students and their parents. At Schorrans’
Wednesday, May 25, 7:30 P.M. Society Doctrinal Class: The remnant of good people, which makes the nucleus of the New Church (including ourselves, we hope). A passage you might like to read is AC 468. At Justin and Anndwyn Hendricks’
MEETINGS
Tuesday, May 17, 7:30 P.M. Pastor’s Council Meeting at Judsons’
Thursday, May 19, 7:30 P.M. You are invited to the SEMI-ANNUAL MEETING of the Kempton New Church. There will be a report from the pastor, a report from the business manager about this year’s and next year’s budgets, and reports from the investment and contributions committees, in addition to further discussion and a vote on the school extension.
Bengt Boyesen, Secretary
EVENTS
Sundays ongoing, 3:45-5:00 P.M. Family Soccer
Friday-Sunday, May 6-9, KNCS Upper School Boys and Fathers go to Meadowridge
Thursday, May 12: Last borrowing day at the library. You may take out books for one week.
Wed./Thurs., May 11-12 and Saturday, May 14, Auditions in Kutztown for Fiddler on the Roof being directed by Christine Storch, who says, “No experience necessary!” See the April newsletter for full details. Contact Brandi Falco (brandi@ talismanplayers.com or 347-728-4459) to schedule an appointment for yourself or your whole family. Show dates will be September 22-25, giving you something fun to do this summer.
Friday-Sunday, May 13-15, KNCS Upper School Girls go to the shore.
Saturday, May 14, Historic House Tour in Bryn Athyn (See below.) Rain date: Sun., May 15
Thursday, May 19, Last day of kindergarten Also, all books due back at the library.
Saturday, May 21, SHINDIG at KCC 12:00 to 9:00 P.M.
Thursday, May 26, 9:45-10.45 A.M. Grades 5 & 6 Country Fair. In Society Room
JUNE EVENTS
Friday, June 3, 10:00 A.M. KNCS School Closing
Sunday, June 12, Noon to 4:00 P.M. New Church Day Fair in Bryn Athyn. See announcements.
Sunday, June 19, 5:00 P.M. Pageant, gifts for the children, and a picnic – to celebrate June 19th!
From the
CONTRIBUTIONS COMMITTEE
The Pinnacle is 1,582 feet above sea level.
The Kempton New Church is 472 ft. above sea level.
If you want to visualize how high 1,100 feet is, stand at the Kempton New Church and look at the Pinnacle.
If you want to support a worthy organization, stand at your mailbox and mail a check to the Kempton New Church.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Middle School Takes a Trip to the Delaware: This week the 7th and 8th graders traveled to the Camden, New Jersey waterfront to visit the battleship U.S.S. New Jersey. They got to go inside huge gun turrets, try out a sailor’s bunk, and eat lunch in the crew mess hall. Fun fact: The U.S.S. New Jersey was built in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and was launched on December 7, 1942, on the one-year anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It served in WW II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Middle East. – Katrin Jungé
The High School Visits Baltimore: The high school took a trip to the National Aquarium this week for a behind the scenes tour to learn more about two of its rainforest conservation programs. Our keeper-led tour focused on the aquarium’s globally acclaimed free-flight tanager management program and its poison dart frog collection. Each student also got to be on display by being allowed into the alcid exhibit with the puffins, razorbills, and pigeon guillemots. We finished by visiting Christian Elder at DeWalt, where he designs ergonomic outer casings for the company’s line of power tools and was able to let us see the process in action. – Bracken Brown
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WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES
A melody of the utmost sweetness was once heard from a heaven where wives together with virgins were singing a song, the sweetness of which was like the harmonious flowing forth of the affection of some love….
There were many spirits about me at the time….
An angel from heaven then appeared in their midst and said that they were singing the chaste love of the sex. But those standing around asked, “What is chaste love of the sex?” The angel answered: “It is the love of a man for a virgin or wife of beautiful form and becoming manners—a love free from any idea of lasciviousness—and the like love of a virgin or wife for a man.” Conjugial Love 55:1-2
Congratulations and Best Wishes to:
Tom and Sandie Capparell
on the 1st – 24 years
Cade and Caelwen Cole
on the 1st – 17 years
Michael and Gail Short
on the 4th – 25 years
Peter and Roxanne Genzlinger
on the 6th – 15 years
Paul and Nina Schorran
on the 9th – 29 years
Elijah and Amanda Heiter
on the 14th – 5 years
Penn and Leesa Cooper
on the 15th – 34 years
Jeff and Gayle Britland
on the 16th – 17 years
Arne and Emily Bau-Madsen
on the 17th – 46 years
Hugh and Janina Brown
on the 20th – 44 years
Eyvind and Marcia Boyesen
on the 22nd – 53 years
Roger and Kathy Schrock
on the 25th – 42 years
R.C. and Christine Storch
on the 25th – 14 years
Ariel and Erin Powell
on the 25th – 3 years
Tyler and Katrina Long
on the 30th – 7 years
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ANNOUNCEMENTS, cont’d
I invite notices for the June Newsletter to come in particularly early – by Monday morning, May 23, if you can manage it. Bring on summer plans! Thanks – Carla ( or 610-756-6140)
The 5th and 6th graders will present their Country Fair on Thursday, May 26, in the Society Room. 9:45-10:45 A.M. All are welcome to attend. The students will display their notebooks and artifacts and have a sample of food from their country for you to enjoy. They would be delighted to answer questions about what they have studied and share their information with you. See you then!
From the Librarians: Thank you for patronizing the library this year; we love to see the books being used. Also, you have done a great job of returning them this year – much, much better that ever before!
Well done! It will be fun to see you in the fall and hear about what you read over the summer.
To the Librarians: “Libraries really are wonderful. They’re better than bookshops, even…. Bookshops make a profit on selling you books, but libraries just sit there lending you books quietly out of the goodness of their hearts” (Jo Walton). Many thanks, dear librarians, for bringing us together with the wonderful books you carefully select and tend at KNCS.
Box Tops for Education: KNCS received $93.60 for its spring submission to General Mills, bringing the 2015-2016 school year total to $200.60. Thank you for supporting this program! On a practical note, most of the Box Tops are handed in during the two times I ask for them each year; it would be additionally helpful if they could come in – and some do – all during the year. Again, thanks for your help. – Margaret Heinrichs [And thank you, Margaret, for doing this for KNCS.]
Congratulations to Tovah King Smith! Tovah is finishing up at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia and will receive her MFA on Friday, May 13. Here is a link for those interested in seeing the (free) student art exhibit which opens that day (5:00-8:00 P.M.), where the delightful fruits of Tovah’s labor will be on display: https://www.facebook.com/events/16192901753604/ The show runs for three weeks. 128 North Broad Street.
Congratulations to Skye Kerr! Skye recently finished all the requirements for an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpenteria, California, where she will be handed her diploma on May 28. Well done, and may her work in this field be blessed.
The KNCS Yearbooks Have Arrived (although they have not been handed out yet). We have 8 extra copies to sell ($20 each) to whoever intended to put in an order but never did. Calling Carla (6140) as soon as possible will reserve one of them for you. Within a few weeks we have to return to the publisher any books we don’t sell, so don’t delay if you care.