DISCIPLE - BE ONE, MAKE ONE

COME WORSHIP WITH US!

Staff:

The Rev. Richard Whitesel, Intentional Interim Pastor

Michele Lopez, Director of Music

Theresa Divet, Administrative Assistant and Christian Education Director

Angela Gross, Meals on Wheels Director

Florence “Sis” Luttman & William Colin, Sextons

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JUNE-JULY

2020

WEEKLY EUCHARIST SERVICES

Wednesday - 10:30 AM; Saturday - 5:00 PM; Sunday - 9:00 AM Children’s Sunday School & Confirmation Classes– Sunday 10:15 - 11:30 AM

www.stjohnscol.org & find us on Facebook!

E-MAIL: saintjohnscol@gmail.com

OFFICE # 717-684-2763 * Meals On Wheels 717-684-4244 OFFICE HOURS (SUMMER): Monday—Friday 8AM to 1PM

Call church office to schedule appointment if you would like to talk to Pastor Whitesel

GOD’S PURPOSE FOR ST. JOHN’S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN

CHURCH: LIVE BY HIS WORD AND SPREAD HIS WORD.

Council officers:

President, John Jensen 575-4222

Vice-President, Thomas Swingler 684-8519

Secretary, Terry Droege 684-6825

Treasurer, Clarence Clark 252-2336

Volunteer Staff:

Head Usher, Bill Colin 684-5754

Prayer Chain, Gloria Halter 223-216-0585

Parish Nurse, Brenda Jensen 575-9827

See page 10 for information about our new on line giving program!

Page 2

A MESSAGE FROM OUR COUNCIL PRESIDENT

T HE HER A LD

God’s Blessings to everyone!

The Church Council met via Zoom technology on April 14 and May 12, 2020. Lancaster County

was and remains in the Red Phase of lock down. St. John’s cancelled all church services and

social events. However the MOW program continues and Pastor Whitesel has been having live

stream services on Facebook on Sunday’s at 9 am.

On the April 14th meeting special recognition was given to for all 2020 graduates and the

confirmation ceremony will be rescheduled. The April 14th meeting was closed with prayer.

As a reminder, social distancing of at least 6 feet, wearing a mask and washing hands frequently

for a minimum of 20 seconds remains in effect.

At the May 12 Church Council meeting we discussed the question of when St. John will open it’s

doors and what plans need to be made. Phase 2 (yellow) limits assembly to 25 people and

Phase 3 (green) to 50 people. We must also keep in mind that most of the at risk people are age

60 and over especially if you have medical problems. Weak immune systems also put individuals

at great risk. With this in mind the Council agrees that we should follow the recommendations of

Bishop Dunlop and Governor Wolfe and wait until phase 3 (green) for in person worship and

outside groups using our church. This means we will not be able to resume in person worship

services until sometime in June. Information on this changes daily so we will have to monitor the

news.

We are putting together some guidelines, as of now they are preliminary. When we do have in

person worship services you will be guided by the ushers. Please remain in your cars until 15

minutes before the service so as not to gather in the Narthex. Coming into church a face mask

will be required. Hand sanitizer will be available and the usher will remind you of social

distancing as you enter into the sanctuary to take your seat. Pastor Whitesel will explain how

communion will be distributed and there will be a basket to place your offerings into.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone in church and the time we can safely socialize.

At the present time the church picnic is scheduled for August 9th. All other events remain

cancelled but we pray they will be rescheduled soon

God Bless you all,

John Jensen, St. John’s Council President

For up to date Synod announcements and information please visit https://www.lss-elca.org/

Please note: When we can safely begin in-person worship services the Church Council approved them to be on Sundays at 10:15 am for an undermined length of time.

JU NE -JU LY Page 3

from PASTOR RICHARD WHITESEL

May 21st is the Feast of the Ascension. The holiday marks a major event

in the ministry of Jesus. The event is an important transition point. Jesus was

crucified at Passover and resurrected from the dead on the Jewish feast day of

First Fruits. In the fifty days between his resurrection and the Feast of Pentecost,

or in Hebrew, Shavuot, Jesus made a number of appearances to his followers in

which he reviewed for them all that he had taught. One story recounts how

Cleopas and his wife, Mary, encountered the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus.

In this story, Jesus explains from the whole of Scripture how the Messiah had to suffer, and then enter into

his glory. He was, in this way, reviewing for these disciples the work he expects from us all. Jesus trained

the apostles and disciples to do the work of being the church in the world. In the remaining few days

available to him after the resurrection, Jesus made sure his followers knew their twofold job. First, they

are to make fully committed disciples who obey his commands. Secondly, these disciples are to, in their

turn, bear faithful witness about Jesus to everyone with whom they come into contact. This is the work of

the church.

After forty days into the new age, Jesus left. In the presence of his disciples, he was taken into

heaven, from where he will return at the end of the age.

This whole story reminds me of a time when I worked at a bike shop. There was always a member

of the family that owned the shop present whenever it was open. Then one day all four of the owners had

to be gone to appointments. Collectively they decided it would be OK for them all to be gone leaving me

in charge. I was honored to be trusted to hold down the fort in their absence, even if it was for a brief

period of time.

Jesus did much the same with us in this story. He had completed his work. He had trained us to

carry on that work. There is more to the story of course. He instructed the apostles and disciples to wait in

Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit arrived. That event happened ten days later on the Feast of Weeks, the

festival that marks the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest. The holiday also

marks the giving of the instruction of God, the Torah, by God to Moses on Mount Sinai; including the Ten

Commandments. The Holy Spirit falling upon the early Christians marks

the beginning of the age of the Church. We will celebrate this festival on

Sunday, May 31. Collectively, these two festivals raise the question for

us of how we are doing as the ambassadors of Jesus. It is our duty, and

our honor to commit our time, talent, and treasure to Jesus for the work

of his kingdom.

Pastor Richard Whitesel

When Lancaster County is moved into the yellow reopening phase you may call the church office if you want to schedule a meeting to visit with Pastor Whitesel! He is more than ready to meet with you!

Page 4

Discipleship—What we’ve done, what we’re doing

T HE HER A LD

March 13, 2020

Cooking for Homeless Shelter

Bells Across PA Day!!

Zooming with the kids!

JU NE -JU LY Page 5

St. John’s Love Campaign!

what’s coming up ….

The St. John’s Congregational Picnic is Scheduled!!! SAVE THE DATE

August 9, 2020 at Mountville Park

Details will come soon….

Confirmation Day and the start of the Sunday School season has a target date!

September 13, 2020

Hands Across the Street has been doing amazing thing in Columbia!

They are making and delivering 500 lunches each weekday in Columbia as well as supplying food to two neighboring communities three days per week. They are also distributing food boxes weekly and have given out over 1500 so far!

In the coming weeks they will be using St. John’s parking lot for a food pick up location!

Page 6 T HE HER A LD

PLEASE BE SAFE

Because viruses cannot be seen, wash your hands, please be clean! Mask it or Casket!

6 feet away or 6 feet under. Brenda Jensen, Parish Nurse

PARISH NURSE -

WENDESDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY WITH PASTOR WHITESEL 9:30 AM

FACEBOOK LIVE!

Remember our Home Communion Members

Elaine Menchey Juniper Village 607 Hearthstone Ln. Room #210, Mt. Joy, Pa 17552

Cindy Cover Margaret Moul Home Room 103 2050 Barley Road York Pa 17408

Barry Johnson Susquehanna Valley Rehab B28-C 745 Old Chiques Hill Rd Columbia, Pa 17512

Carol O’Donnell 180 Elizabeth St Apt. 230 Landisville, Pa 17538

Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Wile 121 Froelich Ave. Mountville, Pa 17554

Gloria McClair 200 Luther Ln Columbia, Pa 17512 Gene Snyder 3803 Pawnee Rd Columbia, Pa 17512 Mr. & Mrs. Edward Gambler 200 Luther Ln. Apt. 307 Columbia, Pa 17512 Betsy Jones 745 Old Chiques Rd Room #35 Columbia, Pa 17512

*Please contact the church office if you or a family member would like to be placed on or off this list.

Happy Father’s Day!!!

JU NE -JU LY Page 7

Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), 2020 Summer Camp at Kirchenwald &

Nawakwa has been canceled. But our sites are not completely shut down. Select facilities are available to rent at all sites. The list of available facilities will change. Please check back to this page for an updated list. Cabins and lodges should only be used by members living in the same household as part

of COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

For more details visit:

https://www.lutherancamping.org/summer-facility-rental-summer-2020/

Lutheran Camping—Good news!

Page 8 T HE HER A LD

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

3 CHEERS TO COLUMBIA MEALS ON WHEELS!!

Columbia Meals on Wheels did not skip a beat when the Stay At Home Orders started on 3/13/20! Angie and her team of volunteers worked tirelessly throughout this whole time! They are front line workers indeed!

Angie wants to thank Bruce Gross (prep helper), Deb Myers (finances), Steve Kraft, Tammy Kraft and Amanda McGarty (packing helpers) and Theresa Divet (who tried to keep her grounded & helped with paperwork) and ALL the faithful Meals on Wheels volunteers! You are a true blessing!

WGAL NEWS 4-20-20

June 2 -Kellie Kauffman 3 - Craig Manley 4 - Tiffany Graybill 5 - Taylor Terch 6 - Brooke Haldeman Aidan Kreider 8 - Kelli Bryant William Colin 9 - Michael Schlotthauer 10 - Ashley Scheaffer Julia Rodkey 11 -Audrey Hartley 12 -John Witman Sue Ross 13 -Hallie McCoy Dylan McCoy 15 -Brenda Cosby Kurtis Weaver 16 -Chase Nies 17 -Wayne Erdman Andrick Kennedy 19 -Gloria Murr William Casterline, II 20 -Elaine Menchey Jonathan Hoin

21 -Donald Shaeffer Barbara Barrett Charlotte Sliger 24 -Michael Kuhn 26 -Craig Manley Jr. Tiffany Nell Samuel Weaver 27 -Gene Snyder 28 -Solstice Rose Leed Cynthia Barninger 29 -Morgan Williams

July 1 - Morgan Bigler Brad Zeamer 4 - Robert Weaver 7 - Brenda Jensen Charles Miles Joseph Halter Demuth Rodkey Jacob Strauss David Ward 8 -Floyd Shultz Wayne Kauffman

9 -Tiffany Howard-Kreider 10 -Nikolas Kauffman Travis Kinser Cheryl Ronan 11 -Vicki Kurtz Kathy Murr Gabriel Barnes 13 -Maryruth Gerfin Carol Stair 14 -Jeremy Elliot 16 -Christine Ferree Julia Kauffman 17 -Betsy Clark Alexis Droege 18 -Latisha Murray 19 -Alfred Palmer Isabella Schmid Cindy McQueeny 20 -Ryan Redding 21 -Mitchell Bachman 23 -Jacob Hornberger Joseph Wall, Jr. 25 -Bruce Grace 27 -Barry Johnson 28 -Linda Cramer 30 -Eric Rhoads Nancy Dillow

JU NE -JU LY Page 9

Whip it up with Angie! Recipes from the Meals-On-Wheels Chef & Director

HAVE A PIZZA PARTY WITH YOUR FAMILY & FRIENDS!

HOW TO GRILL PIZZA INGREDIENTS Pizza dough (use your favorite recipe) Extra virgin olive oil Standard toppings of tomato sauce, herbs, cheese (mozzarella is the best), and maybe some thinly sliced onions, tomatoes, mush-rooms, or pepperoni Some flour or corn meal for dusting the cookie sheet or pizza peel METHOD 1 Make the pizza dough or use prepared pizza dough. 2 Prep grill: Prepare the grill for high direct heat. Prepare a small bowl with olive oil for greasing the grill grates and for brushing the pizza. 3 Stretch and shape the pizza dough: Shape the pizza dough by flattening it with your hands on a slightly floured surface. Either use your fingers to stretch the dough out, or hold up the edges of the dough with your fingers, letting the dough hang and stretch, while working around the edges of the dough. Once you've stretched the dough, let it sit for 5 minutes and then push out the edges with your fingers again, until you have a nice round shape, about 12-inches in diameter. Do not make a raised rim, it will interfere with the grilling process. 4 Grill one side of the pizza crust: Once the grill is hot (you can hold your hands an inch over the grates for no more than 2 seconds), dip a tightly folded up paper towel in olive oil and use tongs to wipe the grill grates. Then place a pizza dough round on a lightly floured (or you can use cornmeal) rimless cookie sheet (or pizza peel if you have one). Let the dough slide off the cookie sheet onto the hot grill grates. Close the lid of the grill and let cook for 2 minutes.

5 Check how well the dough is grilling, look for pockets of air bub-bles: After 2 minutes, open the grill and check underneath the dough to see if it is getting browned. If it is on one side, but not another, use a spatula or tongs to rotate the dough 90 degrees and cook for another minute. If it is not beginning to brown, cover the grill and continue to cook a minute at a time until the bottom has begun to brown. It should only take a couple minutes if you have a hot grill. The top of the pizza dough will start bubbling up with air pockets. 6 Remove grilled dough and flip it over onto a cookie sheet: Once the

pizza dough has browned lightly on one side, use your cookie sheet or pizza peel to remove it from the grill. Use a spatula to flip the dough over so that the grilled side is now up. Keep the grill cov-ered so it retains its heat for the next step. 7 Brush with olive oil, add toppings: Paint the grilled surface of the pizza with a little extra virgin ol-ive oil, then cover with 1 ladle of sauce – no more, or you'll end up with a soggy pizza. Sprinkle on your toppings, ending with Mozzarella cheese (if using), and if using meat, put that over the cheese. Remember to go light on the toppings, or your pizza will be heavy and soggy. 8 Slide the topped pizza back onto the grill. If you are using a gas grill, reduce the heat. If working with a charcoal grill, close the vents on the cover almost all the way. Close the lid and cook for 2-3 minutes more, or until the bottom begins to char and the cheese is bubbly. Pull off the grate with a spatula onto a cutting board or other flat surface and let rest for a couple minutes before cutting into slices. Slice and serve!

PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM

On April 3 the Lower Susquehanna Synod emailed congregations about the CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). In describing its purpose and our eligibility, they noted ‘….too good to be true? It’s not. The idea of PPP is to allow small businesses, including congregations, to keep employees on the payroll and help pay other operating expenses for at least two months. If borrowers carefully follow the program criteria, some or all of the loan amount will be ‘forgiven’ by the federal government, which essentially turns the loan into a grant. The program will be administered by the Small Business Administration in cooperation with banks, credit unions and other institutions that handle SBA loans.’

On April 6 Synod Treasurer Joe Stepansky and Assistant to the Bishop Rob Blezard hosted an online Zoom meeting discussing details of the PPP program. This meeting was well attended and answered many questions.

St John’s expenses for the first quarter of 2020 were well in excess of contributions and income. The second quarter was expected to be worse so St John’s applied for PPP funding through NW Bank on April 8. Our application was approved and funded May 5 for $40,927. This amount was prescribed by the SBA in the loan application as 2.5 times average 2019 monthly salaries.

In order for this loan to be forgiven, at least 75% of the money must be spent on salaries. The remaining 25% may be spent on utilities and leases. The timeframe these expenditures must be made is within 8 weeks of being funded. It is expected that most of this loan will be forgiven and as the Synod communication mentioned effectively considered a grant.

The Synod and Horizons Stewardship have done a very good job communicating details about the PPP program.

Page 10

News from our Treasurer

T HE HER A LD

Our treasurer Clarence Clark has spent many hours on behalf of St. John’s pulling together all the information needed to apply for this PPP ‘loan’ to help us through this difficult time and the church council approved unanimously.

Some key points:

The Church finances are suffering due to the lack of worship services and regular giving from the congregation.

This loan is designed to help us weather the current economic challenges and keep everyone employed.

After 90 days qualified expenditures will need to be reported and if all criteria is met, the loan will be forgiven. MANY THANKS TO CLARENCE FOR ALL HIS WORK ON THIS!

Supporting St. John’s Church over the summer is only a click away. We offer convenient online giving, so you never have to worry about leaving your cash or checkbook at home. You can make a one-time contribution or set up recurring gifts – a great option for members who will be traveling during the summer months.

Get started by visiting our online donation button on our

website! Stjohnscol.org

JU NE -JU LY

I miss you all. I miss seeing you in worship, I miss the children in Sunday School, I miss talking to you before and after worship and I miss seeing you in the church office.

Most of us are social creatures, so right now we may feel very out of sorts and out of the loop while we are stuck at home. Fortunately we have telephones, the internet, the post office and other sorts of technology that are aiding us to communicate with one another. While these are great things, it’s just not the same as talking over a cup of coffee or having one of the kids trying to get my attention while they tap my shoulder.

In an “Insta-everything” kind of world, patience is a rare virtue. And yet this virtue couldn’t be needed more! We all want to break free of our “stay at home” isolation and get back to our regular routines. It’s great to hear that the kids want to get back to our church again and move from having fellowship on Zoom to fellowship in a room! That day will come. We should think about being patient as a timeline that might be slower than we’d prefer; patience with in person worship services that might feel clunky; patience for our leaders that are feeling pressure and confusion about this complex time in our lives; and patience with one another as we figure out what is to come.

Just as a baby grows into a toddler and on to a teenager before becoming an adult physically, this same process applies to the spiritual life of discipleship. It is NOT something that comes quickly, but it must go through a growth cycle and needs to mature over time. Spiritual growth does not happen overnight, it happens over a lifetime.

2 Timothy 4:2 “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction.

Discipleship is a journey of patience and should be seen as a key to be a change in the life of others. If we are a patient, peaceful community of people living our daily life with God that can speak LOUDER than all sorts of religious activity!

Perhaps now is the time to disconnect from impatience in order to reconnect with the patient journey of the discipleship with God. Our own lives, in word and deed, may be a living witness to a beautiful God who is unhurried in His life and purposes.

The most difficult part of our stay at home status is we don’t know the endpoint. We don’t know when regulations will be relaxed and this gets us to a place where we can’t even make any plans!

Patience is a gift from God, I pray for it everyday and most of the time I find it! Go out, tell others they can pray too! That is one great way to be a disciple!

Love & peace

Theresa Divet, Christian Ed Director

Page 11

WILDERNESS ESCAPE VBS MOVED TO

June 21 to June 25, 2021

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION - DISCIPLESHIP AND PATIENCE

We are on the web!

Stjohnscol.org and find us on Facebook!

Non-Profit

Organization

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Lancaster, PA

St. John’s Lutheran Church Sixth & Locust Streets P. O. Box 391 Columbia, PA 17512

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Congratulations to St. John’s Lutheran’s Graduates! High School College

Matthew Gambler Jailyn Phiel

Dylan McCoy

Ryan Redding

Morgan Williams

Heavenly Father, Surround those who are graduating with your grace. Bless them with hope so that they move into the future with eager and open hearts. Help them to put the knowledge, skills, and insights gained through their education for the good of all mankind. Inspire them to believe in the goodness of life even when faced with challenges and difficulties. As they commence with their lives, may they grow even more grateful and wise.

Amen.

WE ARE PROUD OF ALL OF

YOU!!