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Pastor Joel will be out of the office August 10-16. If you have any needs, please reach out to your deacon or contact the church office.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 16TH

Food Pantry Collection!



This Sunday August 16, is our special third Sunday offering benefiting our food pantry. We would like to make sure our food pantry is stocked as children prepare to return to school, so they can have food in their bellies to give them energy and help them focus. This month we are requesting donations of "school snacks" for children, including individual serving fruit cups, granola bars, and pretzels. We are also grateful to accept financial donations, too. Thank you for your kindness and support!

Blessing of Backpacks



Calling all students, teachers, and staff to our Blessing of Backpacks on August 16 during worship. As a part of worship, backpacks will be brought forward to be blessed in preparation for the new school year. This year we are coordinating with the Food Pantry collection to not only help nourish spiritually but also physically through food collection. We look forward to seeing you with your backpacks on Sunday August 16. 

The Gifts Discernment Team is inviting an "open ballot" calling process on Sunday August 23, within worship, to assist with their work of identifying people who might serve in leadership. There will be information sheets available this Sunday and next describing the many positions to which we invite suggested names for new people among us to consider serving. Please take one and review it in the coming weeks, preparing to offer names of those you believe have gifts for the many positions and teams in our church structure. Thank you for your attention to this important work!

- Gifts Discernment Team

CALENDAR OF CHURCH EVENTS/ACTIVITIES

Sunday, August 16

9:00 am   Sunday School

10:30 am  Worship Service – Sanctuary

       Food Pantry Collection, Blessing of the Backpacks

Monday, August 17

6:00 pm  CDC Ministry Team – Room 154

Tuesday, August 18

4:00 pm  Food Pantry Open 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm

6:30 pm  Leadership Team – Room 154

Wednesday, August 19

9:30 am   Staff Meeting – Multi-Purpose Room

1:00 pm  Celebration of Life Service for Frank Soyke – Sanctuary

Visitation 12 – 1 pm followed by reception in Fellowship Hall

Sunday, August 23

9:00 am   Sunday School

10:30 am   Worship Service - "Welcome Back" Sunday – Sanctuary

Click on this button to view the full calendar

Additions and updates for prayer list or calendar of events are welcome by contacting the church office.

Special note for all Ministry Teams: Please notify the church office with any upcoming meetings or events for your team so we can add these dates to the calendar.

Sunday School News

Children's Sunday School Classes

9:00 AM in Rooms 151, 152, and 153. Children grades PreK (age 4) and up will have class lessons. Children ages 3-4 and younger are welcome to attend nursery care.

Youth Sunday School Class

9:00 AM in Room 155. Teacher Dave Witkovsky. Youth in grades 6-12 are welcome.

Vine & Branches Class

9:00 AM in Room 154. Teacher Pastor Joel. Will be studying

Chapter 11: “Low is High" from the book “The Upside-Down Kingdom”

by Donald Kraybill. All are welcome, especially younger adults.



Lamplighters Class

9:00 AM in Room 145. Teacher - Patricia Carey

Bible Study: Sabbath God's Call to Peace Lesson #4: "Sabbath as Peace of Creation"

Homebuilders Class

Mondays - 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM by conference call. To join, contact Mike Martin at

717-840-4184 or Caretaker@TwinBrookFarm.com and leave a phone number.

The class studies lessons from the "Guide for Biblical Studies" curriculum. 

Upcoming Events

UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER:

Sunday August 16: Food Pantry Collection, Blessing of the Backpacks

Wednesday August 19: Frank Soyke Celebration of Life 1:00 PM

Sunday August 23: "Welcome Back" Sunday, Open Ballots

Sunday August 30: Rebecca Wolf Installation as Student Minister

September 9, 2026

9:30 am to 1:00 pm

Music with Monte

Monte will share his love of Jesus and storytelling through song, giving folks a taste of the kinetic music he shares with campers during the Summer at Camp Eder.

Also Hands- On Craft - hand painting and decorating pumpkins!

Tickets: $ 20/person

Church of the Brethren News

Southern PA District/Denomination

Denominational news and information is always available by visiting brethren.org

Read news updates by clicking the link below

Please subscribe to receive COB Newsline via email if you wish

Online Giving is safe, easy, and convenient. Sign up by going to our church website at: www.yorkfirst.org and click on the Online Giving Link or go directly to the Online Giving website at: http://www.osvhub.com/york-first/funds.

For assistance setting up your account,

call Donor Support at:  800-348-2886 – Option 2 – Online Giving Questions? Contact Sheryl Leaman - Thank you for your support!

NOTE: Online giving can be used for regular weekly or monthly offerings, special offerings, and capital campaign contributions, as well as many other specific outreach ministries that we sponsor.

The bulletin board display for

August was designed by

Kathy Kovacs and Michelle Sauder.

THANK YOU to everyone who helped us celebrate our 70^th wedding anniversary with beautiful Cards, notes, and well-wishes.

We have been blessed by the love we feel at First Church.

Barbara and Roy Rollman

Directory Change:

P. 16 - Daniel & Katie McEvoy

Address change to: 15 Pine St., Jacobus, PA 17407

Lehman Center "Wish List"

Items for donation to the Lehman Center are being collected in the basket in the Gathering Area. Due to changes in the food pantry operations, these must be collected separately from food pantry supplies.

Here are some items that are needed at

Lehman Center:

Instant pudding (chocolate, banana)

Instant jello (orange, blue, green, grape, cherry)

Can fruit (pears, pineapples, fruit cocktail)

Applesauce (individual or jar)

Can vegetables (lima beans, peas, green beans)

Baby food - all stages

Baby snacks

Community Aid Partnership

First Church has initiated a partnership with CommunityAid, a source for donating gently used clothing and goods. This organization accepts donated items in good condition and offers them back to the community at affordable prices.



Making a donation is easy. CommunityAid currently has seven centers in central PA, with the York area store/donation location at 2001 Springwood Rd, site of the former Bon Ton store in the Queensgate Shopping Center. Simply drive up to the side of the store and employees will assist in unloading your items. In turn, by supplying partnership number 50344 (assigned to: First Church of the Brethren of York) to the CommunityAid employee, our church will periodically receive a monetary reimbursement based on the accumulated weight of donations.

A long list of acceptable items, along with hours of operation and other related information can be found on the display rack located on the wall in the Gathering Area at First Church. If you wish to receive a mailed copy, please contact the church office. 

LAST WEEK IN WORSHIP