Prince of Peace builds disciples of Jesus who know God, grow together, and serve the world.

Worship at POP

Know God

In-Person 

Saturday at 5:30 PM

Sunday at 8:00 & 10:30 AM

(Sunday School for

Children and Adults 9:15 AM)

Spanish at 9:00 AM

Amharic at 3:00 PM

Live-stream 

Sunday at 10:30 AM

Holy Communion is served at the 8:00 on the 1st & 3rd Sundays and at the 10:30 on the 2nd & 4th Sundays. 5th Sundays have communion at both the 8:00 & 10:30. The 5:30 Saturday services have communion each week.

In honor of National Lutheran Schools Week on March 3rd the 10:30 worship service will be a child-friendly service celebrating Prince of Peace Lutheran School who make disciples of Jesus. Please plan to join us at this special service! Cake will be served afterward. 

The annual Baby Bottle Campaign to support Sanctity of Life Ministries and the NOVA Pregnancy Help Centers in Fairfax and Alexandria is in full swing! Please help provide free and compassionate care in the form of pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, peer counseling, and parenting classes to women facing unplanned pregnancies. The clear pictures of life on an ultrasound seen in their clinics are a reality check on the life growing in the womb. Their vision is to affirm, "Life in Christ.... Life in the Womb."  

Sign in at the table in the church lobby and take home a bottle, fill it with a check, coins, or cash, and return it by March 18th. Please make checks payable to "Sanctity of Life Ministries." You can also donate independently online at www.slmgetinvolved.org.

Please help us serve the world through this important life-saving ministry. If you have any questions, please contact Jung Choi (POPLC Outreach Ministry Team) at 240-705-3635.

Thanks to the 60 members who attended the Town Hall meeting on Sunday afternoon, February 25! We had reports from BoSL chair Jennifer Gross, Pastor Michael Hayes, Ministry Administrator Brad Womble, and lay leader of the Worship Education Ministry Action Team Abby Wolfgram.

You can see the slides from the presentations HERE.

Some highlights:

Report from the Board of Servant Leaders (BoSL)

In October, the BoSL engaged an expert in policy-based governance in churches, Jim Galvin, to help us update the BoSL Policy Manual. While the manual is still undergoing revision, particularly the appendices, it is now more streamlined and reflective of a better understanding of our governance model and of where PoP is going today. Copies of the policy manual were made available at the meeting. Please contact the church office (info@poplc.org) if you would like a copy.

As a part of streamlining and re-imagining the organizational structure of our church and school, the BoSL in partnership with church and school staff have made some shifts in who provides oversight to the preschool. The duties of the former School Board have been re-allocated to the BoSL and to church and school staff. The BoSL recognizes the very high level of dedication and effort that the School Board members have demonstrated over their decades of service to PoP’s largest ministry. The shift in responsibilities will help the school ministry to become fully integrated into the governance of PoP.

The preschool is also working towards becoming financially stable and self-sustaining, which will be a multi-year challenge coming out of the financial crunch surrounding the COVID shutdown. The preschool has made great strides in the past year toward this goal!

These changes in the preschool’s oversight and financial goals are made with the sole purpose of strengthening and supporting our ministry to young children and their families. The BoSL invites all PoP members and friends to consider how they can show their support to the preschool staff--who are doing exemplary work--and how they can participate in inviting and welcoming young families to PoP.

Report from Pastor Michael

Pastor Michael reviewed the staff organizational chart and reported some recent staff changes. Arla Albers is stepping back from her interim staff duties, having first kept children and youth ministries going (including restarting Sunday School after COVID and directing successful VBS program) during the DCE call process and then helping DCE Alex Lillis as she joined the staff. Arla was then redeployed to assess and address needs in care ministry, which she has successfully accomplished. She has agreed to stay on as PoP’s Funeral Coordinator on an as-needed basis.

As previously announced, PoP will be hiring a part-time Grow Together Coordinator to strengthen adult ministry, including small groups, men’s and women’s ministries, and other adult ministry programs. Some applications have already been received, so Pastor Michael is hoping to have more news on that position soon.

Pastor Michael also talked about the use of Ministry Action Teams at PoP, which is a way for lay leaders and staff to form short- and/or long-term teams to do the work of ministry. MATs are focused on ministry work rather than policy or decision-making and are formed on an as-needed basis for a specific purpose and a defined duration.

Report from Abby Wolfgram, WEMAT lay leader

Abby Wolfgram reported on the work of the Worship Education Ministry Action Team, which was formed to help with one of PoP’s 2023 Critical Targets: “Assess current weekend worship and Sunday School experiences and determine/implement the changes needed to steward current resources appropriately and to better serve new and continuing worship attenders.” Please see the slides HERE for more information on the work of the WEMAT.

Report from Ministry Administrator Brad Womble

Brad gave a short report on the church’s finances through the end of December 2023, the last month for which he had information. PoP has a surplus halfway through the fiscal year, rather than running a deficit as in previous years. This is very good news! We are grateful for God’s provision, including financially astute staff and generous giving from PoP members and friends!

A Look to the Future

We closed with celebrating the recent baptisms of an adult and an elementary-aged girl, signs that God is working in and among us to bring new people to Him and His family here at Prince of Peace. We pray for more opportunities for us at Prince of Peace to build disciples of Jesus who know God, grow together and serve the world!

BoSL@poplc.org

Mar 3 - Lutheran School Week Celebration at 10:30 AM

Mar 3 - Discover Experience Begins

Mar 6 - Lenten Worship & Meal - 12 Noon

Mar 6 - Concordia University Concert 7PM at POP

Mar 9 - One Night Homeless Challenge

Mar 10 - First Communion Celebration at 10:30 Worship

Mar 13 - Lenten Worship & Meal - 12 Noon

Mar 13 - His Family Time Worship & Meal- 6PM

Mar 16 - Scout Pancake Breakfast & POP Clean-Up Day

Mar 16 - Club 123 & Club 456 - 6:45pm

Mar 18 - Baby Bottle Deadline

Mar 20 - Lenten Worship & Meal - 12 Noon

Mar 23 - Easter Egg Hunt 10-11:30 AM

Mar 24 - Palm Sunday

Mar 28 - Maundy Thursday Worship - 7 PM

Mar 29 - Tour of Arlington Cemetery - 9:30 AM

Mar 29 - Good Friday Worship - 7 PM

Mar 30 - Easter Saturday Worship & Meal - 5:30 PM

Mar 31 - Easter Sunday - 8:00 & 10:30 AM

April 19-21 - Women's Retreat in Massanetta Springs

(Register soon! The deadline to register is April 1st. www.poplc.org/retreat2024)

For more details on all events read below, visit our website, or email info@poplc.org

Serve the World

Thank you Prince of Peace for your long term support of Bethany House. In the past fiscal year, Bethany House was able to house 46 families including 25 children, 496 emergency helpline callers, and 14 families who participated in the 2 year aftercare program. Your support saved lives. Brad Womble will be joining others to participate in the one night homeless challenge here in the Prince of Peace parking lot.

ECHO Yard Sale Scheduled for April 6

ECHO’s popular Spring Yard Sale is slated for Saturday, April 6, at St. Bernadette’s School Gym, 7602 Old Keene Mill Road, Springfield. Proceeds from the sale benefit ECHO which makes shopping a good deed! It is fun to browse through a whole gymnasium filled with electronics, fashion accessories, holiday decorations, toys, games, home accessories, and more, to search for treasures at bargain prices. Mark your calendar now! 

Food Needs Outstrip Food Donations

While ECHO is determined to combat hunger in our community, requests for food assistance continue to be at record levels. Recently, ECHO has been distributing about a thousand pounds of food more per month than the amount donated. ECHO must make up the shortfall by purchasing food. Every donation counts.  Please donate food if you can. There are food drop-off boxes at the West Springfield and Braddock District Government offices as well as in four Giant Food stores in Springfield. Our most-needed items at this time are dried beans, canned fruits, boxed pasta, spaghetti sauce, shampoo, dish detergent and laundry detergent.

Hand towels, blue jeans, and pinched toes

ECHO distributes towels to those we serve by giving sets consisting of washcloth, hand towel and bath towel, tied together for convenience. The ECHO Housewares Program is out of, or very low on, hand towels and washcloths. We don’t require new or matching towels.  We just need donations. We'll take care of the rest. Bathmats, shower curtains and all sizes of comforters are on our list of needs, too. Our Clothing Room needs men’s winter coats, men's sweatpants in any size and, always, men’s jeans in 30- or 32- inch waist sizes. We’re short of boys’ sneakers sizes 1 through 4, and girls’ sneakers sizes 1 through 6. If you have growing young feet at your house and can share their outgrown shoes, ECHO will be happy to find the little feet that have grown into those sizes and pass them along! 

ECHO, 7205 Old Keene Mill Road, Springfield, is open from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm on weekdays and from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Volunteer Positions Open

ECHO has a few volunteer positions open. If you are looking for a great way to use your time and talent, one of these areas might appeal to you: working directly with clients to determine what they need; administrative support; food distribution; clothing assessment; grant writing; housewares assessment. 

If you are interested in finding out more, contact volunteercoordinator@echo-inc.org by email.

Please join Pastor Michael, Brad, and the Board of Servant Leaders (BoSL) as we gratefully acknowledge and celebrate the enduring commitment of Pastor Mark and Nancy Sinclitico, who have respectively served for 5 and 25 years. Both are emblematic of the selfless service the Prince of Peace congregation receives from our church staff. Notably, both are part-time but you would not guess it by the time and energy they put forth.

Pastor Mark’s service extends well beyond his official time as our Assistant Pastor. Both he and his wife, Nancy, have faithfully served our congregation for many years. Pastor Mark stepped up to serve at a critical time of worship leadership at PoP and we are so grateful for his service.

Likewise, Nancy Sinclitico has been a crucial and rock-solid keystone for our financial well-being. Her accounting skills and church financial experience has continually and consistently paid untold “dividends” for Prince of Peace. In one of her more recent accomplishments, Nancy and Brad worked successfully to obtain Federal grants that allowed both the staff and school employees to be paid during the COVID-related shutdown.

Pastor Mark’s and Nancy Sinclitico’s valuable contributions to our church community simply cannot be over-emphasized and we are grateful for their unwavering dedication and service to Prince of Peace. Please join us in thanking God for these two faithful and caring staff members.

With 25 years of working knowledge of Arlington National Cemetery, the Pentagon, Congress and Washington, DC, your guide (Eric Hommel, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF, retired) is the only cemetery tour guide who served as the Officer in Charge of Air Force Ceremonies presiding over high-level events at the Pentagon, National Mall, and Arlington National Cemetery. Eric goes beyond the facts and figures of Arlington National Cemetery and discusses the stories behind the facts and figures. This is a walking tour requiring a 3 mile walk during the 3 hours of the tour. www.vigilancetours.com Tour limited to 12 people - cost is $50 for veterans and $70 for all others.

Brad.Womble@poplc.org

The Visual Faith Ministry has some free Lenten resources that they would like you to know about. Please click the links below to find out more.