Weekly News — March 4, 2026

Contents

News

• Daylight Saving Time This Weekend - new
• Matthew 25 Lent Campaign
• Lent Devotion Books Are Here
• Lenten Dinner Sign-Up
• Lenten Study on Kingdom of God
• Family Music Bingo Night
• Men's Retreat - new
• Palm Sunday Potluck Dinner Sign-Up
• Chester County Migrant Ministry Easter - new
• Egg Hunt Donations
• Egg Hunt Volunteers
• Clothing Closet Call for Donations
• Spring Women's Study
• Weekend With the Arts
• Column Classics Concert

Prayers

Daylight Saving Time This Weekend

Just a friendly reminder to move your clocks ahead one hour this weekend so that you don't miss out on the opportunity to be part of our worship community on Sunday.

Matthew 25 Lent Campaign

Each year during Lent we seek to raise $25,000 to support urgent housing, hunger, and transportation needs among our neighbors in Chester County. The funds raised go toward rental payments, utilities, and car repairs for people who can’t be served by other nonprofit or government programs. Most of those assisted are parents working for hourly wages who have lost work due to a health issue. Many are veterans, immigrants, seniors, or domestic violence survivors. Over the years, we’ve seen people impacted by this program go from homelessness to stable housing and full-time employment. Others are able to avoid eviction or access a car repair that allows them to keep their job. The dollars this congregation gives make an extraordinary impact in people’s lives.

Our goal this year is the same as it’s always been: $25,000 for urgent needs.

Those who wish to do so can give online (select Matthew 25 Lent), or write a check to First Pres with “Matt 25” in the memo line. The campaign runs from Ash Wednesday through Easter. Along the way, you’ll hear from some of our partner organizations what your gifts have meant to those they serve.

Our hope is that each person connected to our church decides to contribute what they can – every dollar makes a difference, and we would love to celebrate every First Pres member taking part in this initiative. Thank you for your generous support of this ministry, and we look forward to another wonderful year of Matthew 25.

Lent Devotion Books Are Here 

After a shipping delay, our Lent devotion books, Living Into Lent by Donald McKim, have arrived. You can get your copy by stopping by the church office this week or at the table in Fellowship Hall on Sunday morning. Books cost $10 each as you are able to pay.

Lenten Dinner Sign-Ups

We've got eight families ready to host you for a Lenten Meal. Please check your calendars and sign up to enjoy a meal with some other First Pres members in the coming weeks. Use the button below to link to the Signup Genius with dates and times, and you can find more info on the church website!

Lenten Study on Kingdom of God

Tonight we will begin our Lenten study on Citizenship in the Kingdom of God. Over 5 weeks we’re going to learn more about the Kingdom of God, we’ll consider what it means to be citizens of the Kingdom of God and then connect those theological ideas to our ideas about being a citizen of this country in this time. This study is being offered in a hybrid format so you can attend in person or online. Email Sara Pantazes at spantazes@firstpreswc.com before 5 pm tonight to receive the Zoom link or join us in Fellowship Hall starting at 6:30, we hope to see many of you there. 

Family Music Bingo Night

All First Pres families and friends are invited to join us for a family fun night on Friday, March 13! We'll provide a pizza dinner starting at 6 pm and then play 3 rounds of music bingo, featuring tunes your kids will love. Pizza dinner, music, laughter, and friendly competition - what could be better?! Please sign up using the button below so that we know how much pizza to order and talk to Sara Pantazes with any questions.

Men's Retreat

All men of the church are invited to the Men’s Retreat on March 27th-28th. On Friday the 27^th, we’ll enjoy good food, fellowship, and March Madness. On Saturday, the 28^th, we’ll grow together in our faith by exploring practices and possibilities as we seek to prioritize faith in our busy and challenging world. This event is a great opportunity to invite friends, neighbors, and family members who are looking to grow as men of faith. Please register by Sunday, March 15th using the link HERE.

Palm Sunday Potluck Dinner Sign-Up

All are invited to a church-wide dinner on Sunday, March 29 at 5:30 pm in Fellowship Hall. It will be a potluck soup and salad dinner; you can sign up using the button below to bring something for the meal. Please join us in the Lenten season to enjoy fellowship over a meal!  

Chester County Migrant Ministry Easter

Hello Friends of the Chester County Migrant Ministry - We are collecting food staples to fill Easter Food Bags for our Migrant Ministry neighbors. As you are shopping, please remember our neighbors in need, who are even afraid to leave their homes now to complete daily routines. Specific items to donate are noted below. Food items should be dropped off in the labeled baskets in Fellowship Hall, or financial donations may be sent to the church and labeled: Migrant Ministry. Either would be a wonderful gift and so helpful to these families! Donations will be collected until March 29th.

Thanks so much for your caring for our neighbors in need! For questions or more information, please contact Nancy Haughton

nancy.k.haughton@gmail.com

Egg Hunt Donations

We're setting a big goal for this year’s Egg Hunt in Everhart Park and hope to have thousands of eggs for our young friends to gather! Last year we had 9,000 eggs and several hundred attendees. We're asking for volunteers to fill plastic eggs with wrapped candy or small trinkets to be used at the Hunt (April 4). Bins are in Fellowship Hall to collect the eggs. Thank you in advance for helping make this event a memorable one for our church and neighbors!

Egg Hunt Volunteers

In addition to the eggs, we'll need lots of help the day of the event to hide the eggs in Everhart Park. Please sign-up using the button below. 

Clothing Closet Call for Donations

The First Pres Clothing Closet is in need of the following items. You may be going through your childrens’ closets and have some of these items which your child has outgrown. Please consider donating them to our clothing closet. 

Boys pants sizes 6, 7, 10, 12

Girls pants size 10, 14, 16

Girls long-sleeve tops 14, 16

We are very grateful for all donations and the continued support of our congregation.

The Clothing Closet Committee

Spring Women's Study

All women are invited to take part in a four-week Easter study that will take place on Wednesdays from 9:30-11 am, beginning March 18. We’ll be doing a workbook and video study called The Promise and Power of Easter by Christine Caine & Lisa Harper. We'll join the authors to take in the details of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, reliving His steps with a heart full of hope. See it all with eyes of faith. We hope to celebrate Easter in more ways than we ever have and be inspired to share the joy only Jesus could make possible. Join us in this spring study! Sign up on the website sign up tab or click the button below.

Thursday First Pres Prayers

This Month’s Prayer Request:

Sheltering God, as we enter into this season of Lent and the remember verses of Matthew 25, we are mindful of the ways that you call us to live out our faith through compassion. Thank you for calling us to be neighbors to those in times of trouble, for pairing worship with faithful action, and giving us the energy and will to make an impact in the world as followers of your Son. We pray for all who need stability and safety in their lives, and for our community that all may have a home. We pray this in Christ’s name. Amen.

Each week we pray for our congregation at 12:00 pm on Thursdays.

Set an alarm or schedule it in your calendar to join us! You don’t need to only pray for the topic of the week, but you can continue to pray for previous topics as well or anything that God lays on your heart.

For those who would like to set up time to meet one-on-one with someone to navigate a time of transition or difficulty, Stephen Ministers are here to help.

Prayer Requests

If you would like to add a prayer (in joy or in time of need) to our Prayer Band, complete the website form, send an email, or call the church at the number below.

First Presbyterian Church | 130 W. Miner Street | 610-696-0554

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