Friday, July 4, 2025 Newsletter



For Sunday - Communion Sunday

10:00 a.m.: Summer Worship Service

       (in person in the Sanctuary, and livestreamed on Facebook and website)

A MESSAGE FROM REV. KAREN KINNEY: 

IN THE MIDST OF PAINFUL TIMES

Grace and peace to you,

This Sunday, July 6, our worship will be a Service of Healing and Wholeness, which is a time that helps us name our need for healing and rely on the Holy Spirit’s power to bring us to a state of wholeness. But what is healing and what is wholeness? 

Healing is different from curing. We tend to use healing as cure, but the two are different and we see that in the stories of healing in the Bible. Curing refers to the elimination of disease or illness, often through medical or surgical intervention, aiming to restore the body to its previous healthy state.

Healing, on the other hand, is a broader, more holistic process of becoming whole, encompassing physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being, and can occur even when a cure is not possible. Healing can be part of the journey toward wholeness, but wholeness encompasses a broader and more enduring state of well-being.

Even if we are sad, grieving, in physical, spiritual or emotional pain, we can be healed and begin to feel a sense of wholeness through the Holy Spirit’s power. 

Just as Jeremiah relied on God, acknowledging God’s power and love for God’s people, this service helps us to do the same, acknowledging God as the source of healing and wholeness, inviting all of us to trust in God to guide us, restoring and renewing us. 

In our service, we will have the opportunity to consider and write down our need for healing. We will have communion and prayer stations where we can be prayed for and anointed with oil. We will have a litany for healing. We will have wonderful music.

And, while the service will look a bit different, we will explain it all along the way and the bulletin will reflect those differences. We will end on a hopeful, joy-filled note that moves us to the following two Sundays of planting and building and hearing about a new covenant God is making.

If you are worshiping online and would like a home visit for communion and anointing, please email me at kkinney@fpc-bethlehem.org. I hope to see you this Sunday.

Blessings, 

Pastor Karen

TO DOWNLOAD AND PRINT on 8.5" x 11" paper:

Traditional Worship Service (5 pages)

SUNDAY IS COMMUNION SUNDAY

If you are joining us in online worship, you can prepare your own elements: bread or bread-like item (pita, cracker, bagel, etc.) and grape juice, wine or water.

God of all tribes and every nation, on this weekend of cookouts and fireworks, parades and pool parties, we pause to remember the best of our nation’s aspirations and values.

We give thanks for those who made great sacrifices for the sake of the principles of equality and liberty, life and the pursuit of happiness.

We lament the many ways and countless times that we continue to fall short of the hopes of not only the founders of this nation, but of you, Lord of all. Forgive us for not fulfilling the great aims this country sought to represent to the world. Send your Spirit to help us become the country you call us to be.

Inspire in us a zeal for the equality in which you create all people, a passion to seek abundant life for all people, a relentless drive to provide liberty for all people, and a pursuit of happiness, not only for ourselves and those like us, but for all people.

May we not give up on our country becoming a refuge for the tired, the poor, and those yearning to be free — free from fear, free from poverty, free from oppression, free from exploitation, free from violence, free from war, free from suffering and hopelessness.

May we not give up hope that our nation can one day become a place of justice, tranquility and welfare for all people. Amen.

In light of the events of last week, I invite you to read this letter from Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and Executive Director of the Interim Unified Agency. 

In this letter to the Church, he says PC(USA) will continue to stand with and for the most vulnerable among us. 

YOUR ENERGY, GOD'S CALL!

During my work as the Merger Coordinator for the Lehigh and Lackawanna Presbyteries, our Merger team found ourselves asking: “How are we going to think about populating the new committees?” We began to talk about energy – what gives us energy and where did we want to use that energy in service to God’s call?

That conversation has stayed with me as the FPCB Nominating Committee begins its work to recommend a slate of ruling elders, deacons and trustees that will be elected in the fall. So our question to you is this: what within the church energizes you and where do you sense God is calling you to serve? Is it as a deacon, ruling elder or trustee? Is it on a committee? Is it in an area no one has thought of!?

The members of the nominating committee are: Rich Hjorth (chair), and members: Phil Clauser, Judy Smullen, Steve Samuelson, Belle Marks, Sharon Smith and Pam Phillippe. You can also talk to representatives from the Deacons (Jane Masters), Trustees (Ginger Seifried), and Session (Linda Filipovits).

Please be praying about where you feel God calling your energy to serve.

Pastor Karen

MINUTE FOR MISSION: FEEDING OUR NEIGHBORS

By Donna Taggart, Elder / Co-chair, Strategic Missions Steering Committee

I am here today to talk about the state of funding for food insecurity these days and how we might all help out . The current Federal budget cuts and potential cuts have severely impacted the organizations that work to help our food insecure neighbors.

Community Action Lehigh Valley is the umbrella organization for the various food pantries in the Lehigh Valley through their Second Harvest Food Bank. In a recent Morning Call article, Dawn Godshall, their Chief Executive Officer, explained that the cuts to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program and Emergency Food Assistance Program have forced Second Harvest to eliminate 70 slots from a program that delivers food boxes to senior citizens.

Another program, the Local Food Purchasing Agreement, under which local farmers provide produce to 200 area food pantries and to Second Harvest’s warehouse, is scheduled to end when the most recent round of funding runs out at the end of July.

Second Harvest received more than $2.3 million for food purchases over the last three years. The program was abruptly canceled in March, when the U.S. Agriculture Secretary said that it no longer reflected the priorities of the department. How is that possible?

Our Governor, Josh Shapiro, said that funding helped provide over 4.4 million meals to families across the Commonwealth. It benefits residents by furnishing food pantries with fresh, healthy food - something that is sorely needed to help folks stay healthy.

It’s a pretty sad state right now for our community organizations that are working in the area of food insecurity.

Professionally, I work in the area of community outreach, most of it in South Bethlehem. So, I have a pretty good pulse on what’s going on and I hear about the needs in the Community.

A couple of weeks ago, the Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley put out an emergency call for food for their food pantry. They are one of Second Harvest’s food pantries. They are seeing increased need by the community for the food pantry because of all of the rising costs for families, particularly with food.

Given the Federal uncertainty, they are just trying to be proactive and ask for the community’s help in stocking their shelves. Food pantries are going to need the community to step up and help.

PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW PASTORAL MESSAGE NUMBER

We have transferred to a new phone number for emergency pastoral messages.

The new number is 610-674-0005. Again, this is ONLY for emergency messages to our pastoral staff, when the office phone is not staffed.

JOIN US FOR LEMONADE ON THE LAWN

• Provide simple treats for about 40-50, such as: grapes, clementines or cut-up fruit; cheese and crackers; easy-to-eat baked treats (homemade or purchased) like cookies, mini muffins, bars, or granola bars.
• Get the beverages, cups and napkins, ice, and coolers out of the church kitchen and set them up (we typically serve lemonade, iced tea and water – these are provided).
• Return items to the kitchen and clean up (tables will be provided and taken down).

It doesn’t have to be a “formal” group, like a K group, committee, or the choir – it can be a family or group of friends. 

Thanks for considering this request! If you have any questions, let us know and we’ll connect you with a ‘veteran.’ You can use this online form to sign up, and we'll have a paper sign-up form at the Sunday service.

CHANGES IN PRESCHOOL LEADERSHIP

Tracy Leszcynski is no longer associated with our Preschool as its Director, as of June 30, 2025. We wish her well as she explores her next chapter.

Lisa Todd has agreed to assume the role of Acting Director of the Preschool. Lisa, our current coordinator of extended care, has extensive teaching experience and was also a Preschool director at other another school.

In announcing the change, Pastor Karen emphasized that Tracy’s leaving "in no way changes the direction and support of our fine Preschool, and the Church leadership continues to be grateful for our excellent and dedicated teaching staff."

Lisa can be reached at 610-867-2956, or email her at ltodd@fpc-bethlehem.org.

FOR SUNDAY’S IN-PERSON WORSHIP:



Child care will be available from 9:45 - 11:15 a.m. this Sunday morning; please ask an usher for directions.

Your children are a joy in our worship services, and should the need arise, “kid bags” are available for their use while they are visiting. They are in the Narthex.

We offer nametags for folks to wear – these are for everyone! You can pick up as you enter the worship space; please clearly PRINT your first name.

THIS SUNDAY

• 9:45 - 11:15 a.m.: Child Care (ask ushers to direct you)
• 10:00 a.m.: Summer Worship Service, Sanctuary (in person and livestreamed on Facebook and our website, fpc-bethlehem.org)
• 11:00 a.m.: Lemonade on the Lawn, social time for all, front of church

WEDNESDAYS: 7 p.m. - Overcomer’s Outreach Christian 12 Step Recovery Group weekly meeting, via Zoom.com (meeting #: 868 2214 2960; passcode: OO-Beth)



CHURCH OFFICE AND BUILDING INFO:

The church building (including offices and Preschool) will be closed on Thursday, July 3 and Friday, July 4 in observance of the Independence Day holiday. Both will reopen on Monday, July 7.

Regular office hours are Monday - Thursday from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Many of the office staff are working remotely for some of the time, so please make an appointment if you need to see someone specific. The answering service (610-778-7003) can take your urgent pastoral concerns, 24 hours a day. 

IN CASE OF BAD WEATHER: Look for updates on our website (fpc-bethlehem.org), Facebook page, and WFMZ (channel 69 and wfmz.com). We will also put the info on our church phone message, 610-867-5865.