This Week at

St. Paul's Lutheran Church-Lionville

August 17, 2025

"Grow in Faith, Serve with Love, Invite into Fellowship"

Grow in Faith: Prayer, Worship Series and Discussion Group

This fall, starting Sunday, September 14, St. Paul's will present a six-week worship series on prayer. You can learn more at StPaulsLionville.org/prayer with an introduction video! Additionally, to give you an opportunity to reflect more deeply on the Fall Worship Series and on the topic of prayer, one of the adult classes will focus on the texts and the message from the week before. This class will start on Sunday, September 21 at 9:15 am and will meet with Pastor Stuart in Room 207.

Communion on Sunday, September 7

Lutherans sometimes talk about “good order” in regards to communion practices. An example is that it’s normally “good order” that a pastor consecrates the bread and wine for communion. There are different reasons why this might have variation. A leader might bless bread and wine while away on a youth retreat, a pastor might become ill at the last moment and increasingly as there are less pastors, a bishop will give permission for a lay person to lead communion. On Sunday, September 7 we will have another variation on the normal practice. I will be away on vacation, but our worship will be very well handled by Craig Miller and the youth ministry team is they share about the Appalachia Service Project which took place in July. After conversation with our Church Council and Bishop Bryan Penman, we decided the best practice would be something called “pre-consecration”. In this instance a pastor will bless the bread and wine at a previous time and then they will be used a later date. This is very similar to the practice where our homebound team will take out the previously blessed bread and wine to our shut-ins and nursing home members. On Sunday, August 31 our guest Pastor Ed Kane will bless the bread and wine and then they will be used the following week. If you have any questions or concerns about this slight variation from our usual practices, please let me know!  -Pastor Stuart

Sunday School Registration

One of the most enduring and important gifts you can give a child is faith. To know that you are loved and special to God, so much so that Jesus died and rose from the dead for you, is the basic foundation of our faith. For most children, this faith grows through a Christian Education program like Sunday School!

Last year we had a fantastic Sunday School year and we're looking forward to this year being even better! You can learn more about the program and see this year's calendar at StPaulsLionville.org/sundayschool. We would ask everyone to register so the teachers can be well prepared and so we know about any special needs or allergies. You can register online here or there are also paper copies available in the narthex. This could be for your children, grandchildren or any family members or friends who would like to attend! 

We want this gift of faith for every child we can bless! Filling out the registration form will help us be well prepared for the fall classrooms, so please do so as soon as possible. (Ages are potty trained through fifth grade.) If you have any questions, feel free to contact PastorStuart@StPaulsLionville.org or 610-804-1740 or our Sunday School Coordinator, Ginny Graham at vgg333@aol.com or or (610) 329-7437.

"The Anxious Generation" Book Club for Parents with Young Children

This fall, our St. Paul's/St. Matthew's Family Ministry Team is offering a group book study around the New York Times bestseller "The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness," written by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. This compelling book discusses the impacts that smartphones, social media, and other societal trends have had on our youth, and offers practical (but counter-cultural) ideas on how to establish important boundaries for younger children and adolescents. We are particularly encouraging parents with young kids to join us, so that you can think about these things before you experience the pressure to get a smartphone for your child.

Our get-togethers will be held once a month on the second Sunday from 5:00 to 6:00pm, alternating between churches. The first gathering will be an information and introductory session on Sunday, September 14 in the Fellowship Hall at St. Paul's; childcare will be provided. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at a reduced cost or can be bought at Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, or other major book sellers.

If you are interested in attending the September 14 informational session, please sign up here or scan the QR code so that we make sure that we have adequate childcare in place. If you have any questions, you can contact Craig Miller at craigyouthmin@gmail.com, or 484-320-0785.

Rise Against Hunger Meal Packaging Event

St. Matthew's and St. Paul’s are hosting a Rise Against Hunger meal packaging event on Sunday, October 19. According to our liaisons at Rise Against Hunger, our packaging event is the second largest community event in our region. Last year, over 360 volunteers came together to package more than 60,000 meals that we purchased. We have purchased and packaged more than 150,000 meals over the past 3 years!

While we will kick off planning for the 2025 event around Labor Day, we need 3-4 people to help send emails to local businesses and groups to find co-sponsors for the event (seeking financial contributions and also groups of people interested in packaging meals). We also need help in applying for grants from local grocery stores, insurance companies and banks. We have all of the form emails and attachments to easily copy and paste to assist in this task, and the involvement is on your own time and schedule. Many hands make light work! We appreciate any assistance in combatting food insecurity. Please contact Troy Sisum at (610) 724-7357 or tdsisum1@yahoo.com if you are available to help. He will coordinate with interested individuals to help get started.  

In addition, we are looking for a liaison from St. Paul's for this event who would be available to attend a few Zoom meetings leading up to the food packaging to ensure smooth coordination and communication between Rise Against Hunger and both St. Matthew's and St. Paul's. If you are able to help, please email Maureen.

Finally, if you would like to make a donation towards this event or assist in packaging this impressive number of meals, please sign up here.

Drive Out Hunger Golf Outing

Calling all golfers! Join us for St. Matthew's Second Annual Drive Out Hunger golf outing, REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN! Thursday, September 18 at Kimberton Golf Club. Registration will be at 7:00 am with the Shot Gun at 8:00 am.

This year's event will benefit Grace Crossing Food Pantry, Coatesville Youth and Women's Alliance (CYWA), and the Chester County Food Bank. Open to all St. Matthew's and St. Paul's members and their friends & families! There will also be live music, raffle prizes, Mulligans and hole sponsors.

Cost is $125 per golfer (including BBQ lunch), or $20 just for lunch. Children under 10 eat free.

Registration Instructions:

Step 1: To register to Golf or for just the lunch, please fill out this Google form  and hit "Submit."

Step 2: To pay for your registration, go the giving page at the St. Matthew's Church website... click the link here: https://stmatthews-church.org/give  Once you're there, click "Give Online Now," select "Golf Event Fundraiser" from the drop-down menu, and pay.

If you have any questions, contact Patrick Miller: pjmill98@yahoo.com or 610-291-3002.

Youth Ministry News

For the most up-to-date event information and signup links,

go online to the Youth Ministry web page at StPaulsLionville.org/youth.

WE'RE HAVING A POOL PARTY! On Sunday, August 24, all youth going into the sixth through twelfth grades are invited to join us for a pool party from 1:00 to 3:30 pm at the Hummerstons' home, 32 Heron Hill Drive in Downingtown (near Marsh Creek State Park). Bring a munchie or dessert to share with the group; drinks and pizza will be provided. Sign up here or scan the QR code to save your spot: August 24th Youth Pool Party.

OUR SECOND ANNUAL YOUTH KICKOFF LOCK-IN will be held Saturday evening, September 6 through Sunday morning, September 7 at St. Paul's! All sixth through twelfth graders (including friends) are invited to spend an overnight in the church building playing games, doing activities, eating food, and just generally getting to know more about each other. The event starts at 6:00 pm Saturday evening and ends with us leading worship at St. Paul's on Sunday morning, where our ASP participants will share stories from their trip to West Virginia this summer. Come late or leave early if you need to (with parental permission). Sign up here or scan the QR code to avoid missing out on the excitement: September Youth Kickoff Lock-In.

HIGH SCHOOL OASIS RESUMES ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 from 6:30 to 8:00 pm in the St. Paul's Youth Room. Come welcome our rising 9th graders to this opportunity to relax, chill out, and decompress from the stresses of school, activities, and other pressures of life. No heavy discussions or deep Bible studies; just a chance to breathe. Advance sign-up isn't required, either; just show up! As with most of our youth events, friends are welcome, too.

OUR NEXT GOOD WORKS YOUTH WORK DAY is scheduled for Saturday, September 27 from 8:15 am to 3:45 pm (meet at the Good Works warehouse in Coatesville). Come spend the day helping fix up homes for families who don't have the means to do it themselves. Anyone in eighth through twelfth grade is welcome to join us, including friends. Sign up here or scan the QR code by September 15 to participate: Sept. 27th Good Works Workday.

THE 6TH THROUGH 12TH GRADE YOUTH ARE GOING CANOEING on the Brandywine on Sunday, September 28! Meet at St. Paul's at noon to carpool to Northbrook Canoe Company, where we will spend a leisurely afternoon drifting down the river! Family cost is $25 for one youth, or $40 for two or more youth from the same household. Sign up here or scan the QR code to reserve your paddle: Sept. 28th Youth Canoe Trip.

THE FALL 2025 YOUTH CALENDAR IS NOW AVAILABLE on the Youth page of the church website. Events, dates, times, locations, and signup links may be found on the calendar; check it out to see what's happening for our Middle School (6th through 8th grade) and High School (9th through 12th grade) youth! Unless otherwise indicated, friends are always welcome to participate!

July Pave the Way Parking Lot Update

To learn more about this project and be part of God leading us forward, check out StPaulsLionville.org/parkinglot.

Project Finances as of 07/22/25:

Pledges: $99,265

Funds Received: $85,635

The drawing to the left shows our parking lot with a little over 100 spots.

• Each red car represents $1,000 in pledges.
• Each green car represents $1,000 in received funds.
• As the parking lot fills up with cars, we get closer to our goal of $100,000.

St. Paul's Lutheran Church

104 S. Village Avenue

Exton, PA 19341

Phone: 610-363-6264

Email: Office@StPaulsLionville.org

Website: www.StPaulsLionville.org

Follow us: Facebook | Instagram | YouTube