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Advocacy
Would you like to help make this world a better place? If you can use a phone, a computer, or write a letter, you can be an advocate!
Of course, the nuts and bolts involved are often the sticking points. Here are two sites that have very useful information.
For tips and information on various advocacy methods (phone, social media, email, letters, meetings, letters to the editor), go to pcusa.org and enter Holy Discontentment pdf in the search bar. Click on the first result. This brings you to a booklet with information about effectively contacting your legislator. A link to identify your legislators is on Page 2.
For information about upcoming legislation as well as actions you can take, go to the PA Council of Churches website at pachurchesadvocacy.org and click on the Take Action link at the top. There are also links near the bottom of that page you can use to identify your legislators.
Adult Forum Tonight at 7 pm via Zoom
Join Matt Drumheller for the third session in his series on Grace and Gratitude. “These two words have an important history within our tradition, and they live on in vigorous ways today,” according to the author and theologian Charles Wiley. Come explore the rich meanings of “Grace and Gratitude” as the story of your Christian life in the church. Let the depth and power of this image shape your identity as a Presbyterian Christian and provide the heartbeat of your faith every day!
Zoom link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87307514626?pwd=eTJURWtaYzdCb3BnSEV2Rm1MdTRJdz09
Meeting ID: 873 0751 4626
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Update from Session
Session has scheduled the Annual Meeting of the Congregation for May 1, 2022, immediately after the end of worship. Please plan on staying a little later than usual to participate in electing officers for the coming term and other business affecting our Pine Street community!
We also approved a contract for some much-needed repairs to the sewer pipes in the basement of the church. Construction won’t begin until we have consistently warmer weather.
Plans are underway for a Pine Street booth and children’s art project at KidsFest (part of ArtsFest) over Memorial Day weekend, and we will soon be seeking volunteers to help us reach out to young artists in our neighborhood!
These shoes were made for walkin’!
Don’t we all have some of those, stored in our closets, still usable but not chosen by us anymore? Well, spring cleaning time has arrived, and the Extending God’s Love Team is here to help.
Remember the large white barrel in the Gathering Place, used for food donation in the past, but sitting idle for the pandemic years. Let’s fill that baby with shoes, from flip-flops to boots. They must be wearable even if used, without major tears, holes, or broken heels, In pairs and bound together by laces or rubber bands. That’s it!
Members of our team will take the shoes to Mission Central, where a Shoe Collection is just one of their many missions of compassion in the USA and overseas. A very few shoes will stay in the USA as needed, but more than 95% will go abroad. Haiti is a frequent recipient, as well as many African countries. In some cases, persons in poverty can set up small businesses by selling shoes at very reasonable prices. As a final resort, shoes not finding a home can be used for such things as insulation or stuffing for furniture. Pakistan has accepted and re-purposed this scrap in volume. How much better than ending up in a landfill!
So HURRY. Bring your shoes during the month of April. (The EGL Team will choose another worthy cause each month of the coming program year.) We’ve already “rolled out the barrel” – let’s fill it for others’ benefit.
FYI: Textiles, including shoes and clothing, represent 65.7 % of the content of landfills in the USA!
AFGHAN PLACEMENT ASSISTANCE
Our new Afghan neighbors are beginning to settle in. Most have housing, many have jobs, and there’s still a lot of work to do. If you’d like to be part of this effort, volunteers are needed for various projects. Some are “once and done”, like this week’s project of sorting the donated items that now fill two storage units. Others are more in-depth commitments, such as volunteering to teach the refugees English. If you’d like to learn more about the available volunteer opportunities, please call Chris Filipovich at 717-503-0519, or email her at [email protected]. There are also volunteer forms at the Welcome Center as well as a link here. Thank you for considering this as we seek to ‘welcome the stranger.’
Flowers for the Sanctuary
Floral donors are needed for the first three weeks of May. Please contact Shirley Leisure at 717-918-4724 if you would like to donate a floral arrangement in honor or memory of a loved one or special event such as an anniversary.
Rieger/Penna Concert April 1
Tenor Eric Rieger and Pianist JJ Penna present a recital of French music exploring the poetry and relationship of Verlaine and Rimbaud in a program featuring Gabriel Fauré’s La bonne chanson and Benjamin Britten’s Les Illuminations.
A passionate recitalist, Dr. Rieger has performed an eclectic repertoire of art song with the Boston Art Song Society, Lyric Fest in Philadelphia, Market Square Concerts in Harrisburg, St. John’s Smith Square in London, and many other venues across the U.S. and Europe. His solo debut album Poet’s Journey: Song Cycles of Benjamin Britten is available on the Affetto/Naxos record label, and he is featured on the Naxos International recording James Whitbourn: Carolae with the Grammy nominated Westminster Williamson Voices.
J.J. Penna has performed extensively with a variety of eminent singers, including Kathleen Battle, Harolyn Blackwell, Measha Brueggergosman, David Daniels, Denyce Graves, Ying Huang, Susan Narucki, Roberta Peters, Florence Quivar, and Andreas Scholl. He has held fellowships at the Tanglewood Music Center, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival/Yale Summer School of Music, Music Academy of the West, and the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program.
Please join us on Friday, April 1 at 7:00 pm for our next Happy Hour concert. Wine and snacks will be served beginning at 5:30. Free parking is available in the South Street Garage. No tickets are necessary; donations are appreciated.
Deacon VIP flowers
Flowers for our VIP’s will be delivered to the church on Thursday, April 7th in the morning. They may be picked up after 10:00 am on Thursday, or 8:00 am to 4:00 pm on Friday.
Lily Orders
Please look for a lily donation form in the Sunday bulletin this week. Completed forms may be placed in the box at the welcome desk along with your check or may be mailed to the church office. Lilies are $14 this year, and donation forms must be received by April 8th for inclusion in the Easter bulletin. If you are not attending in-person services at this time, you may email the church office at [email protected] to request a lily order form.
Funeral Services for Robert Knepp
On Saturday we will have an opportunity to mourn the death of our friend and brother in Christ, Bob Knepp.
At 10:00 am on Saturday morning there will be a visitation in the church Gathering Space. At 11:00 am Bob’s funeral will take place in the sanctuary. The funeral will be immediately followed by a graveside committal service at Rolling Green Cemetery.
Please join us as you are able as we celebrate Bob’s life, mourn his death, and bear witness to the resurrection.
Current COVID Procedure
Pine Street Presbyterian Church will follow CDC guidelines to ease masking requirements and allow in-person gatherings, including food. While Dauphin and Cumberland Counties are in the low or medium community levels (according to the CDC’s “COVID-19 by County” page found at
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html). Masks will be optional for all Pine Street events, including worship. Session and staff will monitor the community levels and change health and safety guidelines if the local counties are high. Worshipers are welcome to wear masks if that helps them feel comfortable in worship.
Dates for your Calendar
Wednesday, March 30 – 7:00 pm Adult Forum via Zoom – Grace and Gratitude hosted by Matt Drumheller
Friday, April 1 – 7:00 pm Rieger/Penna Concert – Happy Hour begins at 5:30 pm
Sunday, April 3 – 8:45 am Sunday School | 10:00 am Worship – Matt Drumheller Preaching – Wonder of Worship children’s church available for children ages 3rd grade and below, Heather Sigler leading
Wednesday, April 6 – 7:00 pm Adult Forum via Zoom – Grace and Gratitude hosted by Matt Drumheller
Sunday, April 10 – Palm Sunday 8:45 am Sunday School | 10:00 am Worship – Matt Drumheller Preaching – Wonder of Worship children’s church available for children ages 3rd grade and below, Jennifer Garman leading
Monday, April 11 – 11:00 am – 1:00 pm Sanctuary open for prayer and meditation
Tuesday, April 12 – 11:00 am – 1:00 pm Sanctuary open for prayer and meditation
Wednesday, April 13 – 11:00 am – 1:00 pm Sanctuary open for prayer and meditation
Thursday, April 14 – 11:00 am – 1:00 pm Sanctuary open for prayer and meditation | 7:30 pm Maundy Thursday Worship Service in-person and online
Friday, April 15 – 11:00 am – 1:00 pm Sanctuary open for prayer and meditation | 7:30 pm Good Friday Worship Service in-person and online
Sunday, April 17 – Easter Sunday – no Sunday school | Sunrise Service – 6:30 am Kunkel Plaza on Front Street at the bottom of State Street | 11:00 am Worship – Matt Drumheller Preaching