On June 7th, we will gather to celebrate 54 years of worship, welcome, and witness on these sacred grounds...and 70 years as a church! For seven decades, CLS has been a place where lives are touched, community is nurtured, and the Spirit continues to move in meaningful and sometimes unexpected ways.
This past year has been one of both renewal and transition. We have been blessed by new leadership stepping forward in faithful service: Carol Metzker guiding our Sunday morning worship music, Lisa Slawinski serving as our church administrator, Carol Busch caring for the financial life of our community, and our most recent hire, Luke Dainton as our new organist! Their gifts, along with yours, are helping to shape this next chapter of CLS.
We have also seen tangible signs of progress across our property! Since our last Anniversary Sunday, we have installed AC in the church barn, renovated the third floor of Church House, repaired the chimneys with custom caps, installed new downspouts, and improved our parking lot. Each of these updates strengthens the foundation of this place we love and share and would not have been possible without the generous gifts of our members.
As we look ahead, there is still important work to be done. In the months to come, we are preparing for the repainting of the barn and the repair of the front porches of Church House; both significant projects that ensure our buildings remain safe and reflective of the care we hold for this space. These larger expenses come from restricted funds, which are replenished through special offerings like Anniversary Sunday.
In honor of this year’s celebration, we invite you to make a special financial gift to support the ongoing care of our grounds. This is one meaningful way we live into our role as stewards, not only of what has been entrusted to us, but of what will serve those who come after us.
With gratitude for all that has been, and with hope for all that is still unfolding, thank you for being part of this community and its continuing story!
As we prepare for continued growth in our church, we are offering church members the opportunity to reserve a pew before they are made available to the public in three months (end of August barn sale). Most of these pews are in need of repair and are no longer used in worship. Due to a lack of space to store these pews, we are offering them to members before selling them.
These pews have held generations of worship, prayer, celebration, and sacred memories. We would be honored for members of our church family to have the first opportunity to give them a new home.
If you are interested in selecting a pew, please contact the church office or speak with Pastor Jill for details and availability. And please do not walk off with one from the Walti room since the ones we are offering are currently stored in the loft or the basement of the barn!
This summer, I am doing something I have never done before. We are going to explore a summer sermon series shaped by the voices, reflections, and lived faith of this congregation. Think of it as an extension of our “Prayers of the People: A Sacred Time of Sharing"...when we offer what is stirring in our hearts, what is weighing on us, and what is giving us life.
Summer is a great time to open the sharing in worship more fully. If you feel comfortable, you have the option to preach, and I would be honored to help you shape your message. OR... if preaching is not something you feel called to do, you are still invited into the process! I invite you to share your theme of choice with me (there are suggestions below), your story, your questions, or what God is stirring in you, and I will take your reflections and shape them into a sermon for our shared worship. Again, if you don't want to deliver it yourself, you will be able to sit back and enjoy watching how I deliver the message you shared with me!
If this speaks to you, I invite you to prayerfully write down some thoughts and reach out to me. Choose a theme that resonates with your spirit, OR feel free to share something entirely different that is on your heart. We will be starting this "Community Voices" series in July, and it will run through August - but the dates will be selected within the first two weeks of June! So, if you have even the slightest nudge to participate this summer with an idea for a message...please do not hesitate to reach out!
Possible Summer Sermon Themes to Choose From:
Courage – Moving forward despite fear and uncertainty
Joshua 1:9
Hope – Trusting that there is a future filled with possibility
Jeremiah 29:11
Faith – Trusting before the evidence appears
Hebrews 11:1
Trust – Letting go of control and leaning into divine guidance
Proverbs 3:5–6
Healing – God’s restoring work in body, mind, and spirit
Jeremiah 30:17
Renewal – Breathing new life into weary souls
Isaiah 40:31
Purpose – Discovering why we are placed where we are
Ephesians 2:10
Gratitude – Cultivating a heart that notices God’s goodness
1 Thessalonians 5:16–18
Forgiveness – Releasing resentment and embracing grace
Matthew 18:21–35
Love – Love as the defining mark of our lives together
John 13:34–35
Peace – Finding calm in the middle of life’s storms
Philippians 4:6–7
Joy – Discovering a joy that endures beyond circumstances
Nehemiah 8:10
Wisdom – Learning to see life through God’s perspective
James 1:5
Justice – Living with fairness, mercy, and courage in the world
Micah 6:8
Generosity – Trusting God enough to give freely and live open-handed
2 Corinthians 9:6–11
Resilience – Finding strength to keep going when life feels heavy
Romans 5:3–5
Calling – Discovering the unique purpose God is unfolding in your life
1 Samuel 3:1–10
Community – Becoming a people who belong to and care for one another
Acts 2:42–47
If you feel even a small nudge toward one of these themes, I invite you to lean into it. Share it. Explore it. Wonder with it. This summer, we are not only listening for what God is saying through Scripture, but we are also listening for what God is stirring within each other! Amen?
I look forward to what will emerge from this shared journey, and to hearing the voices and stories that will help shape our worship together! - Jill
Pathfinders will be reading and discussing the Tao Te Ching on June 2nd, Chapters 72-81
THIS IS OUR LAST MEETING BEFORE SUMMER BREAK!
This is your last chance to check out the discussions; all are welcome to join in our discussions, whether or not you have read the book. The philosophy known to us as Taoism, “The Way,” or “The Path,” is thought to have originated with one Lao Tzu in 6th century BCE China. “Tao means path. “For Lao Tzu, it signifies not just any path, but the specific path to living in concordance with the unity of the universe.”
Our Memorial Day food delivery was a hit! We delivered the makings of a
picnic to our families - turkey burgers, buns, cheese and condiments.
Thanks to our generous congregation, we were able to include ketchup,
mustard and relish to complete those burgers. Grapes, apples, sweet corn,
pineapples, potatoes and onions were provided by the Food Bank. Thanks
to all of our foodie volunteers who gave up their morning to bag and deliver
the “Picnic in a Bag” to our thankful families.
Our next food delivery will be Friday, June 19th.
Set Up
Thursday, June 18th at 8:30 AM
Meet in the pantry to load bags with non-perishables and paper goods
Food Delivery
Friday, June 19th between 8:30 and 9 AM
Meet at the pantry and unload CCFB truck 8:30-9 AM
Bag perishables
Deliver bags to families in pairs or small groups
There’s room for new hands and hearts, so come be a part of the team!
Besides your physical presence, we welcome donations for our deliveries.
CURRENT NEED:
Paper towels
Are you available for 1-3 hours to assist us in spreading wood chips, cleaning up fallen branches, and tending to our flower beds? Please let us know.
The weeds are growing quickly, and the branches continue to fall from these spring storms! We could certainly use the extra hands to help keep our property beautiful. This Grounds Day is rain or shine since we will also be preparing the interior of our barn (the Walti Room) for the start of camp!
An excerpt from Pastor Jill's sermon on Mother's Day (This has been edited and shortened; for the full sermon, contact the office.)
Today, we honor the ones who love.
For some, Mother’s Day is filled with gratitude and joy. We think of the women who held our hands, packed our lunches, stayed up with us when we were sick, and believed in us when we didn’t believe in ourselves. But for others, this day carries something more tender. It may bring grief for a mother who is no longer here. It may stir the ache of a relationship that was fractured or distant. It may awaken the quiet longing of those who wanted to become mothers but were never able to. It may remind us of children lost too soon, or dreams that did not unfold as hoped.
And so today, we widen the circle. Because the person who loved you most deeply may indeed be your birth mother. But she may also be your adoptive mother, your grandmother, your aunt, your stepmother, a teacher, a mentor, a neighbor, a foster parent, or a dear friend.
The people who shape us are not always the ones who gave us life, but the ones who gave us love. The truth is that motherhood is less about where a child comes from and more about how a person chooses to love.
It is not biology that makes someone a mother. It is presence. It is sacrifice. It is faithfulness. It is the willingness to keep loving, even when love is costly.
That is why the words of First Epistle to the Corinthians 13 feel so fitting today:
Love is patient. Love is kind. Love protects. Love trusts. Love hopes. Love perseveres. These are not just beautiful words to be read at weddings. They are the daily practices of those who love like mothers:
It is the grandmother who attends every school play and soccer game because she wants a child to know someone is cheering.
It is the woman who opens her home to foster children and offers safety when life has been uncertain.
It is the aunt who answers late-night phone calls and says, “No matter what happens, I am here.”
It is the teacher who notices when a student is struggling and quietly offers encouragement.
It is the friend who sits beside your hospital bed and refuses to let you face fear alone.
It is the mentor who keeps checking in long after everyone else has moved on.
This is what mothering love looks like:
It waits longer than seems possible.
It sits through awkward teenage years and unanswered texts.
It protects with fierce strength or gentle silence.
It trusts enough to let go when someone must make their own way.
It hopes when circumstances give little reason to hope.
It keeps showing up, long after it would be easier to walk away.
And perhaps that is the invitation of this day.
Not simply to celebrate those who have loved us this way, but to become people who love this way. You do not need to have given birth to a child. You do not need to be a woman. You do not need to carry the title “mother.”
You only need a heart willing to be patient. A spirit willing to be kind. A soul willing to keep showing up. Because our world is full of people who are hungry for this kind of love. Children who need someone to believe in them. Teenagers who need someone to listen without judgment. Adults who need someone to say, “You are not alone.” Elders who need someone to remember they still matter.
The world does not simply need more mothers. The world needs more people willing to love like one. And today, we give thanks for every person who has done exactly that.
The ones who stayed. The ones who nurtured. The ones who protected. The ones who believed. The ones who loved us into becoming who we are. May we honor them not only with our gratitude, but by carrying that same love into the lives of others.
An excerpt from John O'Donohue's introduction to his chapter on "Thresholds" Shared by Barbara Geraghty for Prayers of the People on May 24th
A threshold is not a simple boundary; it is a frontier that divides two
different territories, rhythms, and atmospheres. Indeed, it is a lovely
testimony to the fullness and integrity of an experience or a stage of life that
it intensifies towards the end into a real frontier that cannot be crossed
without the heart being passionately engaged and woken up. At this
threshold, a great complexity of emotion comes alive: confusion, fear,
excitement, sadness, hope…
It is wise in your own life to be able to recognize and acknowledge key
thresholds: to take your time, to feel all the varieties of presence that accrue
there, to listen inwards with complete attention until you hear the inner
voice calling you forward...
To acknowledge and cross a new threshold is always a challenge. It demands
courage and also a sense of trust in whatever is emerging… [when]
everything that was once so steady, so reliable, must now find a new way of
unfolding.
Each life is a mystery that is never finally available to the mind’s light or
questions. That we are here is a huge affirmation; somehow life needed us
and wanted us to be. To sense and trust this primeval acceptance can open
a vast spring of trust within the heart. It can free us into a natural courage
which casts out fear and opens up our lives to become voyages of discovery,
creativity, and compassion.
No threshold need be a threat, but rather an invitation and a promise. Whatever comes, the great sacrament of life will remain faithful to us, blessing us always with visible signs of invisible grace. We merely need to trust.
June Office Hours
Jill, Pastor: Monday - Friday, 9 AM - 4 PM
Lisa, Admin: Monday - Friday, 10AM - 3 PM
Carol, Bookkeeper - Monday, 10 AM-3 PM
NOTE: Office is closed for Thursday, July 2nd and Friday, July 3rd, for the 4th of July Holiday weekend.
CLS | 1066 South New Street | West Chester, PA 19382 US
