THIS WEEK AT FAITH

April 13, 2025

No matter who you are

or where you are on life’s journey

you are welcome here.

Our Welcoming Statement

FAITH UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

5992 Route 378

Center Valley, PA 18034

610.282.3939

**** Office Hours ****

Monday (*Remotely) - 9 am - 4 pm

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (in office) - 9 am - 4 pm

Friday - Closed/Pastor's Sabbath

*Sandy will be working remotely but will check messages

on a regular basis. If you find yourself in immediate need,

call or text her at 610-967-6232.

faithchurchcv@gmail.com

www.faithchurchucc.org

MEMBERS & FRIENDS DIRECTORY

(Updated March 2025)

Join us for the

Palm/Passion Sunday

April 13, 2025

Sunday School - 9:00 am

Worship - 10:15 am

Sermon - A Walk Through Holy Week

Order of Worship

(To watch the services click on the circle above)

FAITH UCC CALENDAR

Sunday 4/13 - 9:00 am Sunday School; 9:30 am Choir Rehearsal; 10:15 am WORSHIP; 11:30 am Choir Rehearsal; 12:30 pm Encore Hall Rental
Monday 4/14 - Sandy works remotely
Tuesday 4/15 - 2 pm Faith in Stitches; 7pm Budget & Finance
Wednesday 4/16 - 7 pm Consistory Mtg
Thursday 4/17 - 7:30 pm Maundy Thursday Service/Communion
Friday 4/18 - Office Closed; Pastor's Day Off
Sunday 4/20 - NO Sunday School; 9:30 am Choir Rehearsal; 10:15 am EASTER WORSHIP

VOLUNTEER SCHEDULE

everything [in] between booklet

Daily Devotionals

April 11 - 17

Calling all Gardeners -

It's time again to get started on the gardens at Faith Church! This Saturday at 9 am, weather permitting, we'll start on the new flower bed. The vegetable garden will be worked on before church on Sunday. Please contact Patience Stevenson with your availability for either day - 610-248-5587 or patiencestevenson@rcn.com.

Thank you.

Maundy Thursday Tenebrae Service

Communion

April 17, 2025

7:30 pm

The office of Tenebrae (the name means “darkness” or “shadows”) is a Holy Week devotion, which dates back to the seventh or eighth century A.D. and is characterized by the successive extinguishing of candles.

As the passion story unfolds, the darkness increases, until, with the death of our Lord, only one candle is left burning – the light of God’s love. At the conclusion of the final reading, the candle is also extinguished and a dramatic organ interlude is played to symbolize the death of Christ and the stone rolling across the entrance to the tomb. But, like God’s love, the candle will not remain extinguished. After a quiet pause, it is lighted again in glad expectation of Easter morning.

Good Friday Prayer Vigil

April 18, 2025

The vigil will be held from 2:00 pm til 8:00 pm on Good Friday, April 18th. Members/friends of our congregation each take a 30 minute period of time to pray, holding silent vigil until the next person's time.

Participants can pray in the sanctuary, at home or another setting conducive to quiet and contemplation. It is fine if more than one person signs up for the same prayer time.

There is a signup sheet in the narthex. You can also email Rose Mirth with your chosen time slot to rosemmirth@gmail.com.

Easter Sunday Service

Communion

April 20, 2025

10:15 am

(No Sunday School)

Mark Your Calendars

Spring Bingo and Basket Raffle

Tickets on Sale Now!!

WHEN: Sunday, April 27, 2025

TIME: Doors open at Noon. Play Begins at 1 PM

PRICE: 20 Games for $25; Specials sold separately $2 each game or 3 for $5

WHO: YOU and all of your friends, relatives and neighbors

This is the Mission Team’s biggest fundraiser that will help support missions such as The Caring Place, Phoebe Home, Pathways, The Allentown Rescue Mission, Haiti Family Sponsorship and many more. We really need your support in order to continue Faith’s

mission work.

How can you help?

~On the day of bingo we can use volunteers in the kitchen

beginning at 11:30 am.

These donations would be greatly appreciated:

~Gift Cards for Tie Breaker Gifts, Basket Raffles, Door Prizes

~Lots of Desserts

~10 dozen bottles of Water (16 oz size)

~Door Prizes valued at $10+

~Basket Raffle items valued at $25

Contact Karen Talboo at cktalboo@gmail.com or 610-703-5229

Thank you.

From Rev. Dr. Bonnie Bates

“Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? Yet now take courage, says the Lord. Take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you. My spirit abides among you; do not fear.” - Haggai 2:3-5 (NRSV, abridged)

Dear Friends,

I have just returned from the Mid-Atlantic Regional meeting of the Conference staff of the four PA, the Central Atlantic, and the New York conferences. It was a wonderful time of reflection and discernment with colleagues in the ministry. On Wednesday at our closing communion service, the Rev. Freeman Palmer (Conference Minister of Central Atlantic) shared the daily devotional written by Vicki Kemper. It used the text from Haggai that I quoted above. Vicki’s focus was on having courage in our churches, in our lives, in our culture, in our nation, and in our world. One line she wrote is sticking with me today, “You who fear that the church is dying, take courage and consider what the Spirit is doing even now.”1

There is a lot written and shared about the church’s demise, about the decline in spiritual formation and worship attendance, the decrease in mission and ministry, as well as financial support for the church. Yet, my friends, we are Easter people. We are people of the resurrection.

As we approach Holy Week, beginning this Sunday with the commemoration of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, through the Passover meal which introduces Holy Communion to us, through the prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane, the arrest and scourging of Jesus, and finally the crucifixion of Jesus, we can forget that the path did not end on Golgotha. The path of our faith didn’t end at all. The resurrection of Jesus birthed a new way of being church – a church filled with hope and joy, with the recognition of our shortcomings, but also the power of God to make all things new.

So, take courage. When things seem the most tiring, the most challenging, the most hate filled, and the most divisive, God is bringing new life, new hope, a new spirit of life and living that can nourish and nurture us – if we but focus on God, what God has the power to transform, and our openness to have the courage to accept that transformation. May you have a blessed Holy Week. May God strengthen you in the worshipping, in the praying, and in the grieving what has been lost, AND renew in you a new spirit of hope in what we know is to come.

Blessings,

Bonnie

(Keep reading below to read the Daily Devotional by Vicki Kemper.)

Take Courage

by Vicki Kemper

Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? Yet now take courage, says the Lord. Take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. – Haggai 2:3-5 (NRSV, abridged)

You who fear your best days are behind you, take courage, for the Holy One is not finished with you.

You who fear what is yet to come, take courage, for the God of Glory is yet with you.

You who fear that the generations before you have left your generation with nothing but demise and disaster, take courage; the Creator is yet at work.

You who fear that the church is dying, take courage and consider what the Spirit is doing even now.

You who are inclined to become evangelists of every new self-help fad, take courage and make space for the still, small voice within you.

You who refuse to change, take courage—and commit to trying one new thing this week.

You who are prone to catastrophizing, take courage and get to work. God can make a way out of no way.

You who are prone to denial, consider the facts and take courage anyway, trusting that the truth will set you free.

Whoever you are, wherever life finds you, whatever you fear, name it and carry on. Face it, and lean in. Take courage, and live with the boldness of a love that death cannot contain.

Prayer

For the gift of courage, the hope of flexibility, the practice of surrender, and the promise of new life, we give you thanks and praise.

About the Author

Vicki Kemper is the Pastor of First Congregational, UCC, of Amherst, Massachusetts.

APRIL

10 Kay Ruser

11 Adam Heineman

11 Avery Koser

12 Chris Miller

13 Nancy Strauss

13 Corinne Gunkle

22 Jan Hughes

22 Sonya Dill

23 Dee Hutchinson

25 Nancy Schantz

27 Tyler Schaffer

27 Karli Hieter

28 Tom Hovis

29 Adam Weidner

A Special THANK YOU to all who continue to financially support our ministry as you are able. We'd like to remind you there are several ways you can do this: