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THIS WEEK AT FAITH

September 8, 2024

No matter who you are
or where you are on life’s journey
you are welcome here.

FAITH UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

5992 Route 378

Center Valley, PA 18034

610.282.3939


**** Office Hours ****

Monday (*Remotely) - 9 am - 4 pm

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (in office) - 9 am - 4 pm

Friday - Closed/Pastor's Sabbath


*Sandy will be working remotely but will check messages

on a regular basis. If you find yourself in immediate need,

call or text her at 610-967-6232.


faithchurchcv@gmail.com

www.faithchurchucc.org


MEMBERS & FRIENDS DIRECTORY

(Updated July 2024)


Facebook  Instagram  Youtube  

Parish Administrator Sandy David will be on vacation

Thursday, September 5th.

Inside the September issue of

Focus on Faith you will find...


  • A Note from the Pastor
  • Back to Church Sunday
  • Mission News
  • Penny Party Fund Raiser
  • Lawn Crew
  • September Volunteers


...and more! Enjoy!

Join us for Worship the

16th Sunday after Pentecost

September 8, 2024

10:15 am Worship

Joyful Noise Collection

Order of Worship

Thanks to our Volunteers:


Cindy Talaber, Head Usher

Joan Hassler & Elaine Trexler, Ushers

Joan Hassler, Lay Reader

Bruce Torrence, Financial Secretary

Tootie & Donald Koch, Altar Flowers

Bruce Torrence & Wes Koser, Lawn Crew

FAITH UCC CALENDAR

  • Sunday 9/8 - 10:15 am WORSHIP; JOYFUL NOISE
  • Monday 9/9 - Sandy Works Remotely; 7 pm Budget & Finance Mtg
  • Tuesday 9/10 - 2 pm Faith in Stitches
  • Thursday 9/12 - 3 pm Mission Mtg; 7 pm Consistory
  • Friday 9/13 - Office Closed; Pastor's Day Off
  • Sunday 9/15 - BACK TO CHURCH SUNDAY; 9:00 am SUNDAY SCHOOL; 10:15 am WORSHIP

VOLUNTEER SCHEDULE


MUSIC NOTES

Faith Singers regroup this Sunday, September 8, 11:30 am for 60 minutes and will offer worship music September 15. Share your talents as we begin and celebrate a new season! Questions, concerns or inquiries - reach out to Dennis Duda at 215.361.8641 or email ddduda@verizon.net. All Singers and Instrumentalists are most welcomed!

Help Wanted...


We received a phone call from LaVerna Diehl's son Tim who is looking to hire someone to help LaVerna out with general house cleaning. If interested please call the church office and we'll put you in touch with Tim.


The Caring Place

 

We continue to collect donations of School Supplies for the Caring Place – markers, highlighters, pens, pencils, erasers, paper, construction paper, poster board, notebooks, backpacks, and any other school item you might find.

 

Donations will be taken until September 15th. All donations are appreciated and used by the students. Please help out if you can.

Mark Your Calendars...


Join us Sunday, November 3rd for Faith's PENNY PARTY! There will be FUN and PRIZES for the whole family! Bring your change! Doors will open at 12 noon - lunch and desserts will be available for purchase. Games begin at 1:00.


Penny Party Planning Meeting

For all those who helped last year, or said you would be willing to help out this year with the Penny Party, there will be a planning meeting on Monday October 21st at 1:00pm in the conference room. Please plan to attend if you are able and join the fun. If you would like to help out but are not available on the 21st, you can contact Brenda Hovis @ 610-657-6287 or Cindy Talaber @ 610-282-4627.


Penny Party Donations

We need your help to make this fundraiser a huge success.

The Fundraising committee is looking for donations for the penny party. Items could include, but are not limited to, canned items (current sell by dates only please. We will not use any expired canned items), paper products, cleaning items, childrens items (crayons, coloring books, toys, etc.), or any items that you think people might want to take a chance on. There will be totes in the narthex to place your donated items into. The totes will be marked Penny Party, and will be to the left of the front doors. 


The fundraising committee will also be accepting baskets for a basket raffle, or items to add to a basket for the raffle. all donations will be greatly appreciated. 


Donations can be given to Brenda Hovis, Cindy Talaber, or left in the church office marked Penny Party. 



Thank you, your support means so much to us.

The Fundraising Committee

From Rev. Dr. Bonnie Bates

 Conference Minister

Dear Friends,

 

Sometimes I feel like I am walking a tightrope. That’s not an acceptable position for me to be in because as I age my balance is not what it used to be and I’m afraid of heights! Thankfully, I have a safety net – the Gospel and the words of Jesus.

 

You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. (NLT Matthew 22:37-39)

 

You likely know I serve on a variety of ecumenical and interfaith groups. The challenge in these days is to maintain the tightrope of relationships with my Jewish, Christian, and Muslim colleagues in the face of the war in Israel and Gaza, Russian and Ukraine, the Sudan – not to mention the political divides within our own nation. How do I love my neighbor in these troubled times? The answer is the same as it was for Jesus with the Israelites, the Gentiles, the Romans, the Pharisees, the scribes, the high priests, the common people – all the differences that divide people. First, we love God. Then we love our neighbors. For me that means all our neighbors, no matter the differences of belief or opinion, no matter the political stance or the approach to the world, no matter the theological approach to scripture or the progressive or conservative labels we might apply to each other. The answer is always love.

 

I am not one of those people who speaks out that they love the sinner and hate the sin. I do hate sins – but I focus on my own sinning. The sins of others are for God to address. Rather, I move forward in love, to seek understanding, to seek respect, to acknowledge the pain and suffering others feel and to love them. I continue to speak for justice and peace, to seek rebuilding relationships, but I do not want to walk away from interactions just because there are myriad sides to an issue and myriad opinions among colleagues. I want to love my neighbors, my colleagues, no matter how challenging that is. If it means I am silent about my opinion to an issue so that I can love my neighbor or my colleague, then I learn to be silent. If it means I stand up for justice in another way, I stand up, but I act first in love.

 

The tightropes don’t go away. I still walk them in fear and trembling every day. And I love first, depending on God to strengthen me and for Jesus to lead me, and for the Holy Spirit to empower me so that I may love. That is my prayer for you as well.

 

Blessings,

Bonnie

Visit our Website

Time to Notice

by Martha Spong 


Praise the Lord! O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good, for God’s steadfast love endures forever. – Psalm 106:1 (NRSVUE, adapted)

 

This summer, I tagged along on my wife’s sabbatical, and on the day you are reading this, she will be back to work with the congregation she serves, and I with my coaching clients. Just like a kid going back to school, my spirit says “Yay!” to exciting things like sharp pencils and a new schedule, but it also says, “Mmm, yes, well, wasn’t it nice not to have to hold so many things in mind at the same time?” 


Our summer included a month in a house in western Maine surrounded by birch trees and pines and moosewood maples. I spent hours watching the birch trees chatter in the breeze, drawing leaves and branches with colored pencils in my journal, or simply listening to the rustle of God’s steadfast love expressed in creation. 


I had time to notice. 


I almost wrote, “For once, I had time to notice.” 


Home now, I wonder what stops me from noticing here? In her song, “Invisible String,” Taylor Swift describes time as curious, mystical and wondrous, and that’s how it felt in a treehouse in Maine. Here at home time can feel blunt, fleeting, and utilitarian. 


Or do I let it feel that way? 


Because I remember how I have stared out the window at the Japanese maple tree in our front yard, watched its green-to-red leaves wave at me. Communing with the tree becomes prayer and praise, a practice that is not a routine but a revelation… 


…if I take—if I make—time to notice. 


Prayer

Slow me down, Lord, to see and hear and delight in the steadfast love you show right outside my window. Amen.

About the Author



Martha Spong is a UCC pastor, a clergy coach, and editor of The Words of Her Mouth: Psalms for the Struggle, from The Pilgrim Press.

FOOD ITEMS DESPERATELY NEEDED: 



Cereal 

Spaghetti Sauce

Macaroni & Cheese


SEPTEMBER

05 Pauline Kemmerer

06 Nathan Smith

06 Paul Stebbings

09 Patti Shelly

10 Carol Beck

10 Olivia Muth

12 Donna Schudel-Barone

14 Donna Kuhns

14 Howard Barrick

17 Cindy Talaber

17 Kate Jellison

18 Donna Herndon

21 Carrie Fosbenner

23 Diane Talaber

26 Susan Roberts

26 Erin Gollie

27 Abby Muth

28 Michael DiSanto

28 Damyn Allison

29 Ruth Smith

29 Eric Fosbenner

A Special THANK YOU to all who continue to financially support our ministry as you are able. We'd like to remind you there are several ways you can do this:

  1. Mail your offering directly to the church
  2. Make an electronic donation through Tithe.ly on our website's Giving page
  3. Use your bank's Bill Pay service
IMPORTANT LINKS

July/August Focus on Faith

(Archived Newsletters)


MEMBERS & FRIENDS DIRECTORY

(Updated July 2024)

Need to make changes, corrections, or additions to our Church Directory?

Click HERE to let us know if your info is current or if we need to make

changes. Thanks in advance for taking the time to keep our

Church Directory up to date.


PENN NORTHEAST CONFERENCE


UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST


Contact us via email or call the church office at 610.282.3939

(click on names to send an email)

Rev. Dr. Bruce C. Stevenson, Lead Pastor, 610-248-5586

Dennis J. Duda, Organist & Music Director, 215-361-8641

Sandy David, Parish Administrator, 610-282-3939