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This Sunday's Offering

For this month's third Sunday offering we will be supporting a project to develop an outdoor play area at the Cornerstone Youth Home, The Home is part of the Children's Aid Society, which is a project of Southern Pennsylvania District Church of the Brethren. Cornerstone Youth Home provides a temporary place where children can have stability while their families are unhoused. It provides a safe home, wholesome meals, and structure and allows children to continue to attend their own school after their family loses their home. Members of York First helped paint the home when it was first opened.

The project budget is $2,520 and will renew the backyard area, remove planters to create more play space, add a new basketball hoop and lines, install benches, replace a shed and fill it with balls and outdoor games, repaint a fence, and--budget allowing--install new security lights. Gifts in cash or in kind are welcome. Items should be new or in near-new condition.

We will share dates and times of work days once those have been established.

Items needed:

• Outdoor line paint • Fence paint

• Paintbrushes, rollers • Grass seed

• Ladder golf

• Plastic storage shed with lock

• KanJam • Large Jenga

• Portable pickleball set

• Pickelball paddles and balls

• Soccer ball (size 4) • Basketball (size 5)

• Spike ball • Soccer Goals (portable)

• Kickball (2) • ball pump

• Low maintenance (native) plants to plant along fence

ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE

February 18 at 6:30 PM in the Chapel

This Wednesday the season of Lent begins, the time of preparation for Easter which spans from Ash Wednesday through Holy Week. Lent is a time for prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in Christian tradition, seeking closer union with God and each other through self-reflection and acts of service. Please join us on Ash Wednesday February 18 for a brief service in the Chapel, in which we remember our mortality and finitude as well as the beauty in our humanity. We will mark our foreheads with ashes as a sign of repentance, alongside readings, songs, and prayer. All are welcome.

The 2026 Church Directory is available to be picked up in the Gathering Area. All church members and friends, please take one. 

CALENDAR OF CHURCH EVENTS/ACTIVITIES

Saturday, February 14

10:00 am    Food Pantry Open 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Sunday, February 15

9:00 am   Sunday School

10:30 am   Worship Service – Sanctuary

12:00 pm   Deacon Meeting – Anna Mow Room

Monday, February 16

10:30 am    Constitution Committee – Multi-Purpose Room

6:00 pm   CDC Ministry Team – Rm 154

Tuesday, February 17

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

Wednesday, February 18

9:30 am    Staff Meeting – Multi-Purpose Room

11:30 am    Lunch Bunch – Cracker Barrel

6:30 pm Ash Wednesday Service - Chapel

Thursday, February 19

6:30 pm   Chancel Choir Rehearsal – Sanctuary

7:30 pm   Handbell Choir Rehearsal – Handbell Room

Sunday, February 22

9:00 am   Sunday School

10:30 am   Worship Service – Sanctuary

4:00 pm   Dodgeball – Fellowship Hall

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

The class will be joining with the Lamplighter's Class for the present series.

Please see below.

Lamplighters Class

9:00 AM in Room 145. The class will be viewing a DVD recording of a bible

study "The Prodigal Spirit: A Sequel" presented at NOAC 2025 by Chris Bowman 

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:

Wednesday February 18 - Ash Wednesday Service, 6:30 PM in the Chapel

2026 LENTEN DEVOTIONAL

“The Wondrous Works of God” by Carol Davis

Lenten devotional books are available for pick up in the gathering area. Please take one per household and let it guide you this Lenten Season.

This devotional invites you to stop and consider the wondrous works of God—mystery and magnificence, intentionality of worlds without end—and to discover that all things are possible because of our connection to the Creator through the natural world. Through exploring specific aspects of nature, Old Testament stories and prophesies, Jesus’ ministry and passion in the Gospels, and other Biblical references as they relate to the wondrous works of God, we can discover personal and universal relevance to our own lives.

York First Church of the Brethren

Worship Ministry Team

Flowers and Bulletins Dedications

As we enter into the New Year, we want to, once again, invite you to consider dedicating flowers or bulletins on a Sunday morning for worship. You may want to recognize a special person or celebration with flowers or by sponsoring a bulletin.

Please use the Flower Chart and the Bulletin Chart (on the bulletin board in the hallway behind the Gathering Space) to sign up for the Sunday that works for you. Once your name is on the list, Karen Bowman, Administrative Assistant, will contact you the week before to find out what message you would like printed in the bulletin for either item sponsored. The donation for bulletins is $25 which covers the cost of the paper and color printing. You may purchase your own flowers or make arrangements with any florist you wish. Please speak with Karen about delivery options if you are not picking them up yourself.

We hope you consider this creative and fun way to celebrate and remember each other while you adorn the sanctuary with beautiful flowers (minimum to no fragrance due to allergies) or sponsor a bulletin that enhances our worship experience! Please contact Diane Gibble, Worship Ministry Team, with questions or for more information.    

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

On Earth Peace (connected to Church of the Brethren) is hosting a Zoom prayer gathering for immigrant justice. This will be held on 2/19 at 12 PM. 

“We invite you to bring prayer requests, concerns, celebrations, prayers, poems, Scripture, and liturgy to share during this time if you would like. You may also choose to come listen and pray silently with us.”

Please see their website for more information and instructions for obtaining the Zoom link. 

https://www.onearthpeace.org/2025_11_prayer_gathering_for_immigrant_justice_20251002_20251113_20260108_20260205

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.

YEAR END STATEMENTS

are available for pick up in the gathering area.

**Special Note - If you paid your total Capital Campaign pledge before 2025, it will not be indicated on your 2025 statement. This statement will only show contributions made in 2025.**

Thank you for the generous outpouring of prayers, well wishes, cards, food and visits. They are appreciated and make my recovery much easier! ~ Deb Klinedinst 

DIRECTORY CHANGES

P. 14 Dolly Furst – Dolly Furst c/o Robin Carbaugh, 146 Adam Dr.

New Oxford, PA 17350; Cell phone and email address remain the same. (No landline)

P. 19 Judy Yingling - Moved to Memory Care at Autumn House. Her address remains 2618 E. Market St. East York, PA 17402 but add her Rm # F3. Her landline number is 717-757-7039.

P. 19 Jacob Wingard - 50 Colvin Ave. #214, Albany NY 12206

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

Become a Friend in 2026!

The purpose of The Friends of Cross Keys Village is to benefit the lives of residents and team members of Cross Keys Village - The Brethren Home Community.

To accomplish this objective, funds are raised through an Annual Membership Drive, donations, and various fundraising events throughout the year. Membership in The Friends of Cross Keys Village is open to all residents and friends of Cross Keys Village.

Funds raised used to support Good Samaritan Fund, Tuition Assistance Program, and The Memory Care Education Program.

Patricia Carey is the Witness Team appointment for the Cash for Causes program. Please see Patricia before or after worship to purchase your Giant or Weis gift cards. Patricia will be at the table under the bulletin board in the Gathering Space.

You may purchase the cards in amounts of $100, $50, $25, or $10. The cards make great gifts, especially at holidays. Consider donating cards to the Food Pantry or using them yourself any time you shop at Giant or Weis.

Since 2011, through the Cash for Causes program, the church has received 5% of sales to support various COB and local ministries. In 2024 the gift card sales supported The Lehman Center, New Community Project and the Carlisle Truck Stop Ministry with each receiving $233.08. For 2025, the Witness Team will review past giving and determine which agencies we will support this year. 

The Gathering Space bulletin board for February was created by Michelle Sauder and her granddaughter, Zoey (her idea to make hearts out of thumbprints)! Thank you, Ladies! "All you had is God's Love" is a wonderful reminder of John 3:16 that God loves us so much that he gave his only son, Jesus, that whoever believes in him will have everlasting life. Love God and love people.

Elizabethtown College’s Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies presents “Peggy Turner’s Legacy: African American Reformed Mennonites” by Edsel Burdge Jr. on Tues., February 17, 7 pm, in the Bucher Meetinghouse. Burdge is the research associate at the Young Center and the editor of volume 3 of Documents of Brotherly Love: Dutch Mennonite Aid to Swiss Anabaptists, 1712-1784 (Ohio Amish Library, 2023).

For more information, visit www.etown.edu/youngctr/events or call 717-361-1470.

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Elizabethtown College’s Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies presents “Church and Culture: A Shaking of the Foundations...Again” on Thurs., March 12, at 7 pm., in the college’s Susquehanna Room. In the lecture, Jeff Carter will discuss what distinguishes this moment of institutional change in American religion from earlier periods of religious transition and how the church might engage contemporary culture in response. Cater is president of Bethany Theological Seminary.

The annual Young Center banquet, also held in the Susquehanna Room, will precede the lecture at 6 pm, with a reception for Jeff Carter at 5:30. Cost for the dinner is $25 and reservations are required by February 26. Register online or by mailing a check (payable to Elizabethtown College) to Young Center, Elizabethtown College, 1 Alpha Drive, Elizabethtown, PA 17022.

LAST WEEK IN WORSHIP