CALENDAR OF CHURCH EVENTS/ACTIVITIES

Saturday, September 27

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

Sunday, September 28

9:00 am  Sunday School – Conference Reports - Sanctuary

10:30 am Worship Service – Sanctuary

Monday, September 29

9:00 am Operating Manual Team – Multi-Purpose Room

Wednesday, October 1

9:30 am  Staff Meeting – Multi-Purpose Room

1:00 pm Witness Ministry Team – Anna Mow Room

Thursday, October 2

6:30 pm Chancel Choir Practice – Sanctuary

Sunday, October 5

9:00 am Sunday School

10:30 am Worship Service – Sanctuary

4:30 pm  Love Feast – 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.

In addition to this prayer request list contained within each Friday's e-newsletter, we also have a "prayer chain" email list. We occasionally send immediate prayer requests to those who have opted in to receive the prayer chain and are committed to praying for each concern as they come. If you would like to be added to the prayer chain list, please notify the church office by email at secretary@yorkfirst.org or by phone (717) 755-0307. If you have a prayer request and desire it to be sent to this group, feel free to contact the church office anytime. Thank you!

Sunday School News

 **Annual Conference and District Conference Reports**

Combined Sunday School Class for Adults and Youth

9:00 AM in the Sanctuary

Pastor Joel and Dave Witkovsky, delegate, will share information and lead a

discussion about the business and work of the 2025 Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, along with a report from District Conference delegates.

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.

York First Church of the Brethren

Education Team Upcoming Events – September

As we prepare for back-to-school time and the fall season, the Education Team has several special events and milestones to celebrate! Please mark your calendars and plan to join us for these congregational events!

September through December, Sunday School Hour – Pastor Joel will be leading a 12+ week church membership class for youth

Sunday morning Sunday School, September 28 –

*Youth and Adult combined Sunday School - Conference Reports

Upcoming Events

UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER:

Friday-Saturday September 26-27 - Brethren Disaster Relief Auction, Lebanon Expo

Sunday October 5 - Love Feast - 4:30 PM

Friday October 10 - Community Campfire - 6:00 PM

Wednesday October 29 - Trick or Trunk - 5:30 PM

BRETHREN DISASTER

RELIEF AUCTION



Held at Lebanon Valley Expo

80 Rocherty Rd

Lebanon, PA 17042

Friday & Saturday

September 26 & 27, 2025

Auction booklets with complete information are located in the gathering area.

Please click on the button

to view the events for

both days.

OUR DAILY BREAD/SOUP KITCHEN - Friday, October 10, 2025

Sign up by calling Sandi Bowser at 717-825-7203 to make a casserole for

Our Daily Bread/Soup Kitchen on Friday, October 10, 2025 (10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.)

PLEASE contact Sandi to add your name and number of casseroles, so we can let

Our Daily Bread/Soup Kitchen know how many casseroles to expect.

The pans are located in the church lounge. Thank you! 

Camp Eder Needs You 

Our 47^th Annual Fall Fest is camp’s biggest fundraiser of the year. The proceeds go to our camp’s monthly expenses, summer camps, programs throughout the year and most importantly camp scholarships (for those children whose families cannot afford to send them to camp to hear God’s word.)

When: Saturday, October 18, 2025 10AM-4PM

Where: Camp Eder (914 Mount Hope Rd Fairfield, PA 17320)

Silent Auctions: 10:00-10:45a & 11:00-11:45a

Live Auction: 12:00 noon - Turkey & Pork Lunch: 11:00a-3:00p - Food Court: 10:00a-4:00p

Fall Fest is quickly approaching and we need your help to make it a success. Your attendance and donations to the auction are two of the best ways to help raise $$ for camp. We will again we accepting donations for gently used or new items as well as basket donations to be sold at the silent and/or live auction.

If you are a designer of furniture, art work, quilts, wood products, etc., or know someone that is, please consider donating one of your creations. Please drop off all donations at Camp Eder before Thursday, October 16^th. If you need to have any items picked up, please call me. Thank you for your support, Deona Schmittel (717) 451-3797

Click on button for a few basket suggestions…… or use your imagination and come up with a unique theme, packed with goodies, that you think would sell. No limits as to the number of baskets that you can contribute.  If you wrap your basket, be sure to use CLEAR wrap, so the items inside are visible to the bidder.  Please complete the “Basket Form” (attached,) and deliver with the Basket.  This will help the committee assign a reasonable starting bid for your basket. Note:  Please do not include any tobacco or alcoholic products in the basket(s.)  All baskets should be delivered to Camp Eder during the week of October 13th and no later than Thursday, October 16th.  Camp hours for that week are 8:00a-4:00pm.  If you have difficulty getting your basket(s) to Camp during those hours, please call Deona Schmittel (717) 451-3797 and perhaps we can arrange someone to pick it up or a meeting place somewhere in between.



This information is also posted on our bulletin board.

TRICK or TRUNK

Wednesday, October 29, 2025

5:30 to 7:00 pm

SIGN UP SHEETS are on the counter in the gathering area.

It’s time again to decorate your car trunk for our annual

Trick or Trunk event. Cars will be parked in our parking lot so children can walk by, view the decorated trunks and receive a treat. We ask those who bring their car to also provide the treats. Plan for at least 320 treats. Cars need to be in place by 5:15 pm. Trunk owners may also dress up.

You may decorate a trunk or volunteer to help with the following:

·       Parking lot set up- Place cones and or tape to indicate traffic pattern,

·       Parking - Direct cars for trunk set-up and parking

·       Table and chair set up and take down in the all gym. We need seating for 100 people

·       Clean up- Wipe tables and sweep the floor after the event

·       Donate extra candy- Please put it in the Anna Mow room. 

CDC, Church and neighborhood families will be invited to come starting at 5:30 until

7:00 pm. The Fellowship Hall will be open for dinner and a place to warm up.

Come and enjoy the fun.  

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

2025 ANNUAL CONFERENCE - WRAP UP

There are copies of the Wrap Up on the table in the Gathering Space. Please feel free to take a copy!

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.

LOOK WHO'S

CELEBRATING

THIS MONTH



01  Diane Gibble

02  Christopher Logue

07  Jarret Stehr

08  Winnie Fickes

11  John Anderson

14  Terry Wueschinski

14  Marty Reigle                            

15  Michael Carey

17  Anna Elise Stoolmaker

If your birthday is in OCTOBER

and is not on the list below or is listed incorrectly, please contact the church office.

19  Helen Stoner

21  Maverick Rosenzweig

21  Marjorie Schardt

21  Jared Beuschlein

23  Barry Stehr

25  David Gibble

26  Cathy Carson

28  Pat Gibble

29  Dylan Sauder

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. 

Elizabethtown College’s Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies Events:

Will present “Eating Like a Mennonite: Food, Culture, and Community” by Marlene Epp on Thurs., October 2, 7 pm, in the Bucher Meetinghouse. Marlene Epp is professor emeritus of history and peace & conflict studies at Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo. Her teaching and scholarship has focused on Mennonite history, Canadian immigration history, and food studies, and she is the author of Eating Like a Mennonite: Food and Community Across Borders (2023).

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

Will host a field trip to explore the impact of the Battle of Gettysburg on the Brethren families who lived in the area at the time. The trip, on Sat., October 18, from 10 am to 3 pm, will begin at Gettysburg Church of the Brethren with a talk by Steve Longenecker, professor emeritus of history at Bridgewater (VA) College. Following lunch at the church, the group will visit the historic Marsh Creek Meetinghouse and Seminary Ridge Museum.

Cost for the field trip is $25 and reservations are required by October 13. Bus transportation from Elizabethtown College, departing at 8:30 am and returning around 4:45 pm, is available at no additional cost. For more information and to register, visit etown.edu/youngctr/events or call 717-361-1470.

LOST AND FOUND! Just a friendly reminder that we do have a Lost and Found box in the church office with all kinds of treasures in it that might be yours! Please stop in during the week, say hello to Karen and check the "Treasure Chest" to see if anything of yours is in the box. Or you can check in on Sunday mornings as well! Thank you!

LAST WEEK IN WORSHIP