Website Home Connect Visit Us Contact Us

SUNDAY SCHEDULE 9:00 AM - Sunday School Classes for all ages - click here for more information  10:30 AM - Worship, Sanctuary THIS SUNDAY IN WORSHIP August 4, 2019 SCRIPTURE LESSON: Luke 12:13-21,32-34     MESSAGE:        “Rich Toward God”

Contents :   This Week Summer Music  Upcoming Events Children's Ministry Schedule Online Giving Thank you Birthdays Save The Date Notes from the Console Last Week  Contacting the Pastor

Happening This Week OWLS INDOOR PICNIC ~ Everyone is invited to gather with the OWLS on Thursday, August 8 at noon for an indoor picnic in the coolness of the Homebuilder’s classroom 154. Come rain or shine, no ants or bugs to bother us. What could be better?! When you sign up on the sheet in the narthex, also indicate what dish you plan to bring after reviewing the selections already there. As of this writing we still need drinks and burger rolls. Please sign up by Sunday August 4 so we know how many to prepare for. Upcoming Events: September 12 – Visit the clinic at our former church at King & Belvidere in York October 10 – Eleanor Issacson “Little Girl Survives the Holocaust” November 14 – TBA December 12 – Christmas Tea SOUP KITCHEN - August 9, 2019 -  Sign up in the narthex to make a casserole or to work at the Soup Kitchen on Friday, August 9, 2019 (10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.) PLEASE add your name and number of casseroles, to the SIGN UP sheet, so we can let the Soup Kitchen know how many casseroles to expect. 59TH ANNUAL CHICKEN BARBECUE CAR SHOW & AUCTION, Sat., August 10, 2019, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, held at Cross Keys Village - The Brethren Home Community , 2990 Carlisle Pike, New Oxford, PA, Pond area, PC Parking Lot, Nicarry Meetinghouse - Classic Cars, Live Music, Used Books, and Crafts. Drive through service starts at 10:30 am and Auction starts at 1:00 pm. UPCOMING: SPECIAL COMBINED SUNDAY SCHOOL HOUR PRESENTATIONS, 9:00 AM in the sanctuary: August 11: Youth Workcamp Report August 18: Annual Conference Report Please plan to attend these sessions that will include slideshows, videos, and testimony from many participants. All are welcome, and no regular Sunday School classes will meet on these dates.

GREETINGS FROM PORTLAND, OREGON! FROM OUR YOUTH SERVING AT WORKCAMP We are having an awesome time in Portland. Thank you for your prayers and notes of encouragement. It really helped brighten our days. It is truly incredible to see how SnowCap helps to meet the needs of the homeless people of Portland. We know that we are using our hands and feet to do the work of God to help others. We look forward to telling you all about our trip on Sunday, August 11 th at 9:00 in the sanctuary. We will be sharing pictures and stories. We hope you can join us!

If you go to this website address and check the work camps tab, go under ages, then youth, then view all 2019 albums and then you’ll find some attached pictures that have been taken by the staff throughout the week. www.brethren.org

The following resources are available on the table in the Gathering Area: This week's e-news and the August calendar, which can also be viewed here July/August Church of the Brethren Newsline Digest

SUMMER MUSIC AT YORK FIRST The choir had the month of February off this 2018-2019 season. To make up that time we sang through the first 3 Sundays in July. It was a welcome change for our summer season due to the fact that the choir was not absent for so much of the summer. Soloists for the remainder of the summer are practicing their music to inspire you through the end of the summer season. Aug 4 - Susquehanna Choral Quartet - They will be singing acapella for us. The group is singing for a fee to help pay for their music for next season. I have donated to this cause. Please feel free to do the same. Just mark your donation for the Quartet and place it in the offering plate. Aug 11 - Our soloist from our choir and praise singers Pam Baldwin will be singing for us. Aug 18 - Guest Soloist Caroline Wolfe will be singing. Caroline has blessed us with her voice on Christmas Eve with her "O Holy Night" and she has joined us for our cantatas in recent years. Caroline will be starting her junior year at Oberlin Conservatory.  She directed and performed Miss Havisham's Wedding Night" written by Dominic Argento in York this summer. Some of you attended that performance. Aug 25 -York Symphony violinist and our dear sister Nonie Detrick will be playing her violin. She will be doing contemporary arrangements of familiar hymns. Sept 1 - Dan Snook, our choir member and wonderful storyteller will be blessing us with some music from the piano. I am excited to hear him play the offertory. Also, our baritone Chancel Choir soloist Barry Hollinger will be singing for us. Sept 8 - Our 2019-2020 choir season starts. David Diehl

Events, Prayer Requests, and Classes

Click for Calendar of Events, Friends to Remember in Prayer, & Sunday School

Upcoming Events YORK FIRST CHURCH CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER THEATRE PRODUCTION: August 12, 2019 (Monday) Dawn Kate Johannsen, CDC Teacher, is the Director of the play "Miss Neilsen is Missing" .She rewrote the story in play form. The Green & Yellow Room children. It is scheduled for Monday Aug 12 at 4 pm.- all board members and the congregation are invited to attend. Our board meeting is at 6:00 p.m. after the play.  CAMP EDER SENIOR DAY - August 14, 2019 (Wednesday) Meet our summer staff, enjoy a great meal and awesome program! 9:30 Meet and greet with continental breakfast, 10:00 Morning Program, 12:00 Delicious Lunch, 1:00 Afternoon program TRIP TO GERMANTOWN - August 17, 2019 (Saturday) The Spiritual Enrichment Team presents a trip to the Germantown Meetinghouse and adjacent cemetery, and the Wissahickon Creek baptismal site near Philadelphia. Our leader will be Pastor Bob Krouse who will tell us about the first Brethren in America. The trip will also include a picnic lunch, a scenic route home along East/West Drive, and a beautiful view of the city and the famous 'Rocky' statue. We will leave Sat. August 17th at 8 AM from the church parking lot and travel in the church vans, returning around 5:30. If you would rather drive, you can meet us there. All are welcome! Please plan to join us for a day of learning, fun, and fellowship! Cost is $20. Sign up soon to secure your seat on the van! SOULFUL SINGING RETURNS! August 18, 2019 (Sunday) at 4:30 pm it's ice cream sundae! Bring a favorite topping to share. Look for sign up sheet in narthex.

Children's Ministry Schedule

Thank you to all who assist with Children's Ministry. Your time, energy, and dedication are appreciated. If you need to make a schedule change or would like to serve as a teacher or in the nursery, please contact Michele Gibbel(717)318-5442 or mgibbel@yahoo.com

Support the Church through Online Giving! Vacationing this summer? Set up your automatic giving now! Go to our church website at: www.yorkfirst.org and click on the Online Giving Link or go directly to the Online Giving website at:  www.acionlinegiving.com/4706 . For assistance setting up your account, call Donor Support at:  800-348-2886 – Option 2 – Online Giving Questions? Contact Sheryl Leaman - Thank you for your support!!!!!

Church Website

Online Giving

Christ Disciples Youth Car Wash ~The event was very very successful. The youth group express their appreciation to you, Pastor Joel, Bro. John, Bro. Barry and all the Church members who have helped them to make the event successful. - Christ Disciples Youth Group

A BIG YARD SALE THANK YOU TO … ALL! ALL who donated yard sale items, ALL who donated monetarily, ALL who donated baked goods, food items or other items, AND ALL who donated their time and tireless effort to help in any way is so appreciated. WITHOUT YOUR DONATIONS AND HELP, this ministry to help children through scholarships who, otherwise, could not afford to attend Camp Eder for the “Summer Youth Program” are able to enjoy the camp activities, but most importantly receive the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ - which is a GIFT OF LOVE! FOR ALL YOUR EFFORTS OF LOVE – THE GRAND TOTAL PROFIT FROM THE YARD SALE IS:  $7, 177.75. Please mark your calendar for next year’s yard sale, Saturday, June 13

Witness Team will be collecting School Supplies again this year.  Place your items in the bin marked school supplies just outside of the sanctuary from now until Aug 18. We will deliver the much-needed supplies to Bell Socialization. The shelter houses people for 30 days so they see a lot of families come and go within the year. For this reason, we will keep a school supplies bin there throughout the school year for donations.  Thank you for your donations!

Back Packs (new item for this year) Pencils and Erasers Composition Books Individual tissues packs Crayons Colored Pencils Glue Sticks Dry Erase Markers with Erasers Pencil Boxes Note Books Markers

4 Sarah Hamill   6  Violet Chronister   8  Margaret Eck   9  Bev Raney 10  Linda Wisner 11  David Hoover 14  Donna Sharp 15  Pastor Joel Gibbel 18  Julie Poland 19  Robert Sharp           If your birthday is in  AUGUST and it is not on the below list or is listed incorrectly, please call the church office.   21 Bob Bingaman 21 Betty Bortner  21 Irene Hearn  21 Dan Vuono 22 Dennis Wisner 22 Eric Zimmerman 25 Judy Deitch  25 Abby Dierdorf 26 Allison Poland 27 Stephanie Stoolmaker 28 Betty Crowe  28 Tom McCracken

Save the Date     SPECIAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING - September 8, 2019 (Sunday) The Master Planning Team invites the whole church to attend a presentation and meeting featuring proposed facility improvements and associated fundraising. Lunch will be provided following worship, and the meeting will follow. More information will be forthcoming, but get it on your calendars now and plan to attend! PEACE DAY - September 22, 2019 (Sunday) The Spiritual Enrichment Team invites everyone to a special service and meal to mark International Peace Day this year. We will host Pastor Belita Mitchell as our preacher during worship and speaker for a program following the lunch hour. Mark your calendars for this important time of witness and prayer for peace in our world.

Sanctuary Chairs Video

Click here to view the video about upcoming improvements to sanctuary seating

"Notes from the Console," Article 3, By Mike Frock Snow in August?! I plan to continue to write some (shorter) articles going forward. I do not plan to write about every piece but about selected pieces, composers, history, or keyboard techniques that may add some background information for you to better understand/appreciate some of the music. The postlude this week is a piece called "Procession of the Priests" by Gioachino Rossini. This Italian composer lived between 1792 and 1868. He is best remembered for his 39 operas including "William Tell" and "The Barber of Seville." I do not really know anything about this piece and would guess that it is probably some incidental music from one of his operas. However, this piece should not be confused with the more well-known and similarly titled "March of the Priests" or "War March of the Priests" by Mendelssohn, which I have played here before. The offertory is a piece called "Whiter Than Snow." This is an arrangement of a hymn by the same title. The music was written by William G. Fischer who lived from 1835-1912, and the text was written by James Nicholson in 1872. Nicholson was a Methodist preacher, but the hymn is not in the Methodist hymnal, nor is it in the Brethren hymnal. It is mostly in Baptist hymnals as well as being in the Celebration Hymnal. The title/text comes from Psalm 51:7 which reads "Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." Enjoy this chilly imagery as we continue through the sultry days of summer. 

LAST SUNDAY IN WORSHIP

Scripture Lesson:  Luke 11:1-13 Message: "Talking with God" Worship Attendance: 106

View Message from 7-21-19 (YouTube) View Message from 7-28-19 (YouTube)

CONTACTING THE PASTOR Pastor Joel Gibbel can be reached most mornings in the church office Monday - Thursday from 9:00 AM to noon. Afternoons and evenings are often set aside for visiting those in need, for meetings, and for other pastoral duties. Pastor Joel is also available for Pastoral Counseling by appointment.

If you need to reach the pastor outside of office hours, his home phone number is (717)318-5442, and his cell number is (717)271-4888 . You can also email him at pastor@yorkfirst.org. Note that laws prevent hospitals from contacting a pastor without your permission when you are admitted, so you will need to let hospital staff know that you would like the hospital to contact your pastor.

Our Mission Statement: “People dedicated to Spiritual Growth, Loving Relationship, and Sacrificial Service” Our Vision Statement: “To become a community of committed Christians who Love God, Share Christ, and Serve the World”