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Trinity Together Trinity Lutheran Church

357 West Main Street Kutztown, Pennsylvania 19530

March 2018

Interim Pastor: The Rev. David Strobel 610-682-4353 david.strobel@me.com Director of Youth & Family Ministry: Seth Noggle 570-529-2325 Seth.noggle@gmail.com Editor/Administrative Assistant: Lisa Finke 610-683-3450 Office@trinitykutztown.com Director of Music: Bruce Rohrbach 610-683-9496 brhrbch@hometownu.com Financial Secretary: Kenny Kunkel 484-332-1226 finsec@trinitykutztown.com

Church Office Hours: Monday through Friday 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Website: www.trinitykutztown.com

Our Mission Statement

Telling others of God’s unconditional love through worship; Empowering discipleship through education;

Leading others to this family of Faith as baptized believers; Calling all to follow Jesus’ example of servanthood.

2018 Church Council Members

Kurt Rohrbach President/Personnel Committee & Endowment Committee Dan Raudenbush Vice President/Witness & Communications Allen McSparron Secretary/Mission Team & Mutual Ministry Dennis Angelisanti Committee TBD Tina Billig Finance Committee & Nominating Committee Jeff Collier Mission Team Randy Heffner Property Committee Catherine Holm Worship Life Committee Marsha Hoyer Worship Life Committee Richard Miller Stewardship Committee April Rakowiecki Fellowship Committee Elizabeth Shrawder Personnel Committee

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From the Pastor…

Scrapings and Parings

“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” This old adage often applies to novice preachers as they learn their craft. Heads full of new learning from their seminary educations, hearts full of passion for Jesus and his gospel, egos full of self-confidence and bravura, these reformers-of-the-church-in-waiting ascend into the pulpit with sermons laced with more vinegar than honey. To be sure, over time they acquire wisdom to temper their zeal, prudence to mellow their passion. That persuasion is a far more effective tool than offense is one of the most important of those learnings. I must confess that the above observations apply to this preacher as well. Yes, I had my firebrand moments just starting out. One that I recall as Lent moves inexorably towards Easter is that Easter morning sermon I preached to my home congregation when I was a senior in seminary. I was working part-time at Grace, Shillington, filling in the pastoral gaps as they prepared to call a new assistant pastor. Still not ordained, I was thrown into the pastoral breach when the senior pastor became seriously ill with a kidney stone on Shrove Tuesday. The surgery he required was significant enough that he would be out of commission until after Easter, which meant that – with the Bishop’s authorization – I was responsible for the whole nine yards of ministry, including preaching through Lent, mid-week as well as Sundays. The congregation was extraordinarily patient and kind. We somehow managed, and it turned out to be for me a season of valuable experience, insight and learning of wisdom, prudence and the importance of more honey than vinegar in my sermons. However, there was that Easter morning when I just could not resist. This is how I began, preaching to an absolutely jam-packed congregation: “Well, I missed most of you two days ago on Good Friday!” Now, this was, in fact, an accurate statement: attendance at worship on Good Friday was less than a quarter of that on Easter Sunday. (Unless Trinity surprises me in just a few weeks, the wonderful French saying will still apply, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”) Nevertheless, I acknowledge that it was a somewhat bitter and offensive way to begin. I still wonder how many of those in church that day heard anything else in what was a pretty good sermon. I promise not to flavor my sermon this coming Easter morning with the same vinegar here at Trinity. However, I also promise to dwell on the same theme that followed my offensive beginning 47 years ago in Shillington. Namely, what we celebrate on Easter morning is incomplete without our presence in the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday and at the foot of the cross on Good Friday. A church tradition that stretches back fifteen centuries or more gives these three holy days the name Triduum. Indeed, they do belong together, for together they bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, not, mind you, a generic resurrection. Easter is the triumph of Jesus over death and the grave, and, as such, God’s great “amen” over Jesus’ message, ministry and mission. And, so, we greet each other on Easter morning with the joyous acclamation: “He is risen! He is risen, indeed!” How foolish it would be were we to say instead, “Risen! Risen, indeed!” In other words, Easter needs the “He,” Jesus of Nazareth, to be true to the good news we gather to hear on the third of the holy three days. No, I won’t harangue you by noting that some of you were not there at worship on Good Friday, but I will rejoice that so many of you will have experienced the gospel fullness of the Triduum, the Holy Three Days. Pastor David Strobel

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Schedule & Volunteers

LAY READERS: Mar 4 8:00 AM Carl Ziegler 10:15 AM Tom Kulp Mar 11 8:00 AM Kevin Stump 10:15 AM Derek Mace Mar 18 8:00 AM Sue Mangold 10:15 AM Ann Towne Mar 25 8:00 AM Nancy Plushanski 10:15 AM David Esser

ACOLYTES: Mar 4 8:00 AM Elena Graff & Colin Pape 10:15 AM Alyssa Heffelfinger & Rachel Hoffman Mar 11 8:00 AM Will DeVall & Kendall DeVall 10:15 AM Jarrett Noecker Mar 18 8:00 AM Elena Graff & Colin Pape 10:15 AM Alyssa Heffelfinger & Rachel Hoffman Mar 25 8:00 AM Kendall DeVall 10:15 AM Jarrett Noecker

USHERS: Mar 4 8:00 AM Volunteers 10:15 AM Jeff & Sue Collier Mar 11 8:00 AM Volunteers 10:15 AM Alice Kutz & Valarie Kutz Mar 18 8:00 AM Volunteers 10:15 AM Jim & Andrea Orwig Mar 25 8:00 AM Volunteers 10:15 AM Kurt & Pauline Rohrbach

ALTAR COMMITTEE: Nancy Hildenbrand & Kay

Fritz

FLOWER CHAIRPERSON: Linda Geiring MONEY COUNTERS: Michele Zimmerman & Linda

Geiring

COMMUNION USHERS: Mar 4 8:00 AM Marsha Hoyer 10:15 AM Kurt Rohrbach Mar 11 No Communion Mar 18 8:00 AM Richard Miller 10:15 AM April Rakowiecki Mar 25 8:00 AM Marsha Hoyer 10:15 AM Tina Billig

BIBLE STUDY: Every Wednesday at 10:00 AM

IMPORTANT DATES: March 2 World Day of Prayer March 4 Third Sunday in Lent March 11 Fourth Sunday in Lent March 11 Daylight Savings Time Begins March 18 Fifth Sunday in Lent March 25 Palm Sunday March 29 Maundy Thursday March 30 Good Friday

FYI…

Winter Weather

Information

When winter weather turns bad, information

concerning cancellations and time changes of

activities at Trinity can be found by tuning into:

Channel 69 news

WFMZ website

Calling Trinity’s Office (610-683-3450) for

messages regarding changes in schedule

Daylight Savings Time begins on

Sunday, March 11th. Don’t forget

to move your clocks ahead one

hour!

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OBSERVANCE SCHEDULE

Thursday, March 29th: Maundy Thursday Observance

6:30 PM – A Christian Seder Meal Remembering the Last Supper (Fellowship Hall)

Friday, March 30th: Good Friday Observance

7:00 PM – Good Friday Service

Sunday, April 1st: Easter Celebration 6:30 AM – Easter Sunrise Worship

8:00 AM – Easter Breakfast (Fellowship Hall) 9:00 AM – Christian Education

10:15 AM – Easter Celebration Service

Maundy Thursday On Maundy Thursday at 6:30 PM we will be

having a light meal and Service of Remembrance. We hope you can join us for

this special event.

Please add your name to the sign-up sheet on the office door. If you are willing to help by

making a crock pot of soup, setting up or cleaning up, that would also be appreciated.

There is a sign-up sheet on the office door for this as well.

Easter Breakfast Please join us at 8:00 AM on Easter morning for our annual breakfast. The menu will consist of

the traditional French toast, sausage, doughnuts, fruit, juice and coffee. We look

forward to seeing you there!

Midweek Lenten Services…

Faith Seeking Understanding This is the theme of Trinity’s mid-week Lenten program this year. We will gather on Wednesday evenings at 6 o’clock for a simple meal of soup and bread (watch for a sign-up sheet to provide your favorite soup for the gathering). Then, at 6:45 we will move to the sanctuary for learning, reflection and prayer. Pastor Strobel will introduce five spiritual guides who were masters of faith seeking understanding. The schedule is below. The evening will conclude with Compline – Prayer at the Close of Day. Food for the body, food for thought and prayer: Come, let us make our Lenten preparation together.

Faith Seeking Understanding March 7, 2018

Julian of Norwich: Spirituality in a hazelnut shell – the gender of God

March 14, 2018

Evelyn Underwood: The sacrament of the present moment

March 21, 2018

Joseph Sittler: Polish sausage and St. Augustine – the scope of grace

Call Committee Update…

Candidate A has withdrawn from the call process. We are continuing to evaluate new candidates as they are presented to us.

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set

the world on fire.”

—St. Catherine of Siena

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How you can help…

Hope’s Table Trinity will be organizing several meals at Hope Lutheran Church in Reading. The date for the next meal is March 27th, and we would like your help to serve food at this meal. The time involved would be approximately 4:15 PM to 7 PM that night. If you would like to help out please speak with the church office.

Student Food Pantry at KU Thank you to everyone who has contributed time, groceries, and cash donations to this ministry. This pantry which is a satellite of Friend, Inc. has had a busy year so far. If you would like to contribute food items please see the list below…

Peanut Butter Juice Miscellaneous Snacks Crackers Knorr Side Dish Packets Cereal Instant Potato Packets Breakfast Bars Toiletries Mac ‘n Cheese Soup Tuna Canned Fruits & Veggies Pasta

There is a box outside of the Parlor for the items you are donating. If you have any questions about this program, please contact the church office.

Soup for Lenten Meals We need your help to provide soup and bread for our Weekly Lenten Meals that are coming up. The dates

we need soup and bread are March 14th and 21st. If you are interested in helping out please sign up on the church office door. If you have any questions, please contact the office.

How you can help…

Help to fill Care Packages for College Students and Military Trinity and the Mission Committee wish to provide care packages to our Trinity college students as they study for spring semester finals and our Trinity members serving in the military in honor of Armed Forces Day. If you would like to contribute to this project, there are item suggestions written on sticky notes located on a foam board in the hallway. These items will be packaged and mailed to our Trinity college students before spring finals and to our military members. Please take the note, sign up on the form located on the table so we know what you are bringing and return your item to the box in the hall by April 8th. If you have any questions, please call Rita Robertson at 610-683-7720.

College Student Care

Packages

Trinity and the Mission Committee wish to provide outreach/care packages for our college students to help them get through spring final exams. If you want your college student to receive a package, please provide the following information to Rita Robertson (610-683-7720) or the church office. These care packages were a big hit last year!

Name: ___________________________________ College: __________________________________ Address: _________________________________ Date of Finals: ____________________________

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Sponsors needed…

Altar Flowers There are a few Sundays in 2018 that do not have altar flower sponsors. The following dates are still available…

April 22 May 27 July 8 September 2 September 16 September 23 December 30

If you are interested in sponsoring the flowers for any of these dates please contact Darlene Dietrich at 610-683-7975 or the church office at 610-683-3450.

Bulletins The bulletin sponsor chart for 2018 is up on the bulletin board across from the Parlor. Cost to sponsor the bulletins is $20 per week. If you are interested please list your name beside the date(s) you would like and what you would like printed in the bulletin. If you have any questions, please contact the church office.

Community Events…

Mondays at Firefly Firefly bookstore is hosting several events throughout the spring and each event will have a different speaker. More information including dates and speakers are available on the bulletin board across from the Parlor.

Bibles for India Hackman’s Bible Bookstore is sponsoring a project to collect new and used bibles which will then be sent to India. If you have any bibles at home that you are not using and would like to donate you can drop them off in the box marked “Bibles for India” that is located in the back of the sanctuary. The deadline to drop off bibles is April 15th. If you have any questions, please contact the church office.

Scholarships Available…

Trinity Scholarship

Program Trinity is now accepting applications for its two

annual scholarship programs. High school students graduating in 2018 from Kutztown, Brandywine, and Fleetwood school districts, who will continue their education in a college or university, are eligible to apply for the Stephen Walter Memorial Scholarship. The second scholarship program is the Schellenberger Education scholarship which is open to members of Trinity who are graduating from high school and are pursuing an education beyond high school. Applications are available in the Trinity Church office and high school guidance counselor offices. Applications must be received at the Trinity Church Office by Saturday, April 14, 2018.

Mission Trip…

The Mission Team and a group of college students will be heading to Florida during spring break (March 11th through March 16th) to participate with Harvest

of Hope. While there the group will be picking fruit that will then go to local food banks in the area. They will also receive education on food disparity and what we put in our bodies and its impact. Please keep them in your prayers as they travel.

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Thank you…

Dear Members of Trinity Lutheran Church The Talisman Players couldn’t possibly leave without expressing our tremendous gratitude to your community. When we first met with Pastor Keith we didn’t dare to dream that you would offer us a place to rehearse, a place to perform…a home. We didn’t dare to hope that we would find here a nucleus of people willing to share their talents and support to make the re-birth of the Talisman Players a reality; but that’s just what happened. With each step, starting with a small cast and an audience of 20 people downstairs in the multi-purpose room, we saw the joy both on stage and off. “Our Town” saw us create an outdoor cemetery and perform under the stars and then we made our way upstairs and created a most satisfactory little theatre. “Arsenic and Old Lace” increased our audiences and “GWSH” gave us our first weekend of sold out performances. Our KU “Musicals” and now “Pinocchio” firmly established us as a Kutztown Community Theatre for the whole family. So many of you were there to applaud our efforts and encourage our efforts. Without you, we would never have seen this dream of ours materialize and flourish. Wherever we go and to whomever we perform a piece of Trinity will always be in our hearts. We thank the Lord for giving the Talisman Players the gifts we have to share and for guiding us to Pastor Keith and Trinity Lutheran. God bless and keep all of you, The Talisman Players

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Trinity Mission Committee:

I love the fantastic bag you gave me for Valentine’s Day. Since this was my father’s birthday (2-14-1911), this day is very important to me. Thank you!

Joyce Rothenberger

Thank you…

We want to thank everyone involved in making up our Valentine card, goodie bags and the beautiful flowers. It was unexpected and sincerely appreciated. Also, we want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Robertson for bringing the packages in such unpleasant weather. Mr. & Mrs. Carl Wisser

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To the Trinity Members & Mission Committee… Thank you for the Valentine’s Treat Bags that Rita Robertson delivered. We are enjoying all the yummy treats and want you to know we appreciate your thoughtfulness. Thank you again, Stanley & Ethel Burkert

Youth News…

Our youth groups’ schedules for the upcoming month… March 4th (Sunday) Elementary Youth Group (4:00-5:30 PM) Youth Group (6:00-8:00PM) March 11th (Sunday) No Youth Group March 18th (Sunday) Elementary Youth Group (4:00-5:30 PM) Youth Group (6:00-8:00PM) March 25th (Sunday) Youth Group—6:00-8:00PM Youth Gathering News! We have 3 young adults and 2 leaders that will be attending the ELCA Youth Gathering in June. Stay tuned for some fundraisers that will help with expenses for the trip!

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Christian Education…

Adult Sunday School The Adult Sunday School Class welcomes you to join us in enjoying “Acknowledging God,” a program that helps us to increase our praise, adoration and thanks for God’s mercy, forgiveness and faithfulness to us. We will read from the Old Testament until Palm Sunday about the call for our surrender and faithful obedience to God today. Beginning on Easter, we will read from the New Testament about Christ’s resurrection and the promise of encouragement. Finally, we will discuss Jesus’ ascension, the Pentecost and the grace of the Holy Spirit and Christ’s atonement through which we receive forgiveness of our sins. One of our favorite writers, Rev. Margaret A. Krych, professor emerita at the Lutheran School of Theology in Philadelphia, leads us on how God’s people have acknowledged and presently do acknowledge the greatness of God. Please join us Sunday mornings at 9:00 am in the Library for conversation, coffee and fellowship.

Easter Flowers…

Lent has begun and it’s time for Easter flowers. We have ordered flowers from Countryside Farm and Greenhouse…6 lilies and 3 daffodils. If interested in purchasing one or more of these flowers, please sign up on the office door and complete this form. Payment and this form can be placed in an envelope marked “Easter Flowers”. Place the envelope in the offering plate, on Lisa’s desk, or give to Mary Ryan. Please pick up your flowers after the Easter Sunday Services. Name:___________________________________ Number Price _____Lilies (6-8 bloom) x $9.25 each=______ _____6 ½” Daffodils x $8.25 each=______ Message to be printed in Easter Bulletin:

*If you would like your flowers to go to a person in need, please do this on your own.

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