This Week at FAITH

THIS WEEK AT FAITH

September 20, 2020

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

Our Welcoming Statement

FAITH UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

5992 Route 378

Center Valley, PA 18034

610.282.3939

www.faithchurchucc.org

You can watch past worship services on our YouTube page!

Join us this Harvest Home Sunday, September 27th for our Service of Worship. Darin Jellison and Bryan Jones will provide special music. Special thanks to Avery, Justin, & Wes Koser for editing the service.

Click on the date to print a bulletin to follow along:

09/27/2020 Worship at 10:15 am

Dear Friends,

Sunday is Harvest Home Sunday. Two years ago I made brownies for everyone (do you remember the point of the sermon that day and what brownies had to do with it??) and I promised I would cook for you again. I couldn’t do it last year as that was the weekend of Ethan and his wife’s wedding celebration but a promise is a promise! This Sunday I am whipping up some delicious butternut squash soup in honor of Harvest Home. Drive by the church for some between 12:00 and 1:00 pm. I won’t be providing bowls or spoons so bring a mug and a spoon. If you want to take your soup “to go” that’s fine, but I will have some tables and chairs set up outside spaced to allow for social distancing if you would like to visit for a bit. I hope I will have made enough soup but I can’t know for sure so first come first serve! Its REALLY good soup!

(A Free Will offering will be taken to support Neighbors in Need.)

World Wide Communion Sunday is next week. Communion kits will be available this Sunday during “Drive-by Soup" or Monday – Wednesday from 12:00 noon – 2:00. Just drive by my office door and honk your horn. I will bring your communion supplies to you.

-Pastor Bruce

If you have prayer requests you would like Pastor Bruce to share during worship please click here and fill in the information. Please keep in mind that he records the services on a Thursday so if your request is not received by Thursday morning it will not be shared until the following week.

Our services are available to watch on Facebook and on our website. Remember, these services can be watched at 10:15 am and again afterwards at any time for those who miss it. Past services are available on our YouTube page.

Dear Faith Family and Friends,

I'd like to thank all of you for your love and support, prayers, emails, cards, and notes, and most of all, your patience, as I continue to recover from recent surgery. I hope to build up more energy with each passing day, and will continue to catch up for lost time and do all I can to keep things running smoothly. Thanks again to all of you.

Sandy

Update - Each day things seem to be going a bit easier than the day before!! I have follow up doctor appointments next week and look forward to hearing some positive news! Will keep you posted:)

A Letter from our Conference Minister

(Printed in PNEC email 9/3/20)

Good day friends,

“This is the day our God has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!”

In some of these days it is difficult to rejoice. As the racial hostilities and the political rhetoric in our country continue to rise, as the numbers of people afflicted with and dying from COVID continue to rise, as the tensions in schools, workplaces and communities continue to rise, how can we help our joy rise? It seems to me that we often equate joy with happiness and treat them both as emotions that are a response to our environment. I feel, rather, that joy is a choice. We choose joy each and every day and each and every moment of each day. We choose joy because we are the beloved of God; all of us, each of us. That is reason enough to have joy.

Psalm 16: 11 reads, "You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (NRSV).

We live and move and have our being in the presence of God. That is reason enough to have joy, to choose joy.

Now, I will be the first one to tell you that being joy-filled is a true challenge. With the needs of our pastors and our congregations, with Steve’s illness, with the stress and strain of interacting, or maybe not being able to interact in person, it’s hard some days to choose joy. Yet, I do not want to choose sorrow, although I feel that. I don’t want to choose grief, although I feel that. I don’t want to feel anxiety or impatience, although I feel those too. I want to choose joy! That is my prayer each and every day – to have God help me choose joy!

Now my choosing joy won’t change the challenges in this life, in my work, in my family, or in our culture. Yet, joy helps me navigate those challenges with hope – another of the spiritual gifts I pray to have in my life.

So, how are you? What are you feeling? What are you encountering? What choices are you making? These are some of the topics – these and more practical ones like worship resources and technology assistance – that we share at our Pastors’ Conversations on zoom twice a month. These are topics we can share when we are in fellowship gatherings on Zoom or Facebook, in worship time, at the dinner table, in phone calls, and as we gather in any way – physically when that is possible or virtually at other times. Take a moment to ask yourself how you are, what you are feeling, what you are encountering and then share that with someone you care about who cares about you. Ask them the same questions and listen to their response. Then, my friends, together, choose joy!

That is my prayer for you this day.

Blessings,

Bonnie

On Sunday, October 18 (Laity Sunday) the Mission Team will be leading the worship service. The service will be a celebration of the many missions we support along with sharing our Angel Mission Projects. Please plan to join us!

Let's remember our Forget-Me-Not's and others as we continue through this pandemic.

Dorothy Miller has moved from her home in Center Valley to LifeQuest Nursing Center. Her address is: Dorothy Miller - Room C16-B c/o LifeQuest Nursing Center 2450 John Fries Hwy Quakertown, PA 18951

Click here for a list of birthdays and addresses. Some phone numbers are also included if you'd like to give a call! Also included on the list are names, addresses, and phone numbers of members who usually attend services but don't get to see the recorded services on a regular basis. Feel free to reach out to them and say hello or fill them in on the weekly news!

Coming Soon: Listen to Our Services on Your Phone!

Within a few weeks we will be offering another way you can participate in our weekly worship services. Simply call the church on a special phone number and you can listen to the service. To make it even more simple we can set things up so that you will receive the phone call from our system. It will take a few weeks to set this all up but I wanted you to know of this new service as soon as possible. Some of you don’t have computers or smart phones. Some of you do have computers or a smart phone and just don’t like to be bothered with navigating the internet. However, we ALL have telephones and we ALL know how to dial them! If you would like us to set this up so that you receive a phone call on Sunday at 10:15 indicating that the service is ready for you to listen please let me know. This is just one more way for us to remain connected.

Pastor Bruce

UPDATE - PLEASE READ

November was to be our month to assist the families at BLP but that will not happen this year. However, we are still responsible for donating 100 bottles of laundry detergent for that month. We will have a drive by drop off day in October. Please keep checking your weekly email for the date and details.

Betty Lou's Pantry, the local food pantry serving the Southern Lehigh area, is very low on certain items due to the cancellation of the annual post office food drive as well as multiple small collections that are done by local businesses, sports teams, schools and more.

All are invited to bring food donations to the pantry on Wednesday mornings between 9 and 10 am. Please remain in your car, drive up around the perimeter of the parking lot and stop at the tents outside the pantry. Volunteers will take bags from your trunk or back seat to minimize contact.

At this time, the pantry is most in need of the following items:

· Hearty Soups with Meat

· Boxed Pasta (not spaghetti)

· Canned Pasta in Sauce (Chef Boy-R-Dee Ravioli type items)

· Meat Helpers (Chicken, Meat and Tuna helpers)

A Special THANK YOU to all who continue to financially support our ministry as you are able. Through these uncertain times our financial obligations continue and our regular bills are still coming in. Again we'd like to remind you there are several ways you can do this: