Click here to view the bulletin for this Sunday

Pastor Joel will be out of the office February 23-27.

Pastoral care needs can be directed to Kim Witkovsky, Deacons, or the church office.

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

Sunday, February 22

9:00 am  Sunday School

10:30 am  Worship Service – Sanctuary

4:00 pm  Dodgeball – Fellowship Hall

Wednesday, February 25

6:30 pm  Women’s Bible Study – Anna Mow Room

Thursday, February 26

6:30 pm  Chancel Choir Rehearsal – Sanctuary

7:30 pm  Handbell Choir Rehearsal – Handbell Room

Saturday, February 28

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

Sunday, March 1

9:00 am  Sunday School

10:30 am  Worship Service – Sanctuary

Anointing Service within Worship

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

9:00 AM in Room 154. The class will gather to share our hopes and vision for the coming season and discuss what we will study beginning in March and beyond.

Lamplighters Class

9:00 AM in Room 145. The class will have an informal discussion about the three bible studies we viewed. We will review materials and choose a study for Lent. 

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 March 1: Anointing Service within Worship

Sunday March 29: Palm Sunday

Wednesday April 1: Egg Hunt 5:00 PM

Thursday April 2: Love Feast 6:00 PM

Friday April 3: Good Friday Service

Sunday April 5: Easter Sunday, Breakfast 9:00 AM

Thursday April 16: Photo Directory Pictures

Anointing Service March 1

click button for more information

OUR DAILY BREAD/SOUP KITCHEN - Friday, March 13, 2026

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

Our Daily Bread/Soup Kitchen on Friday, March 13, 2026 (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!

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

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



LOOK WHO'S

CELEBRATING

THIS MONTH

02  Zoë Grace Miller  

05  Edward Sweigard 

06  Kevin McCracken

08  Jason Wolf           

10 Chris Baldwin

11 Jacob Boogher     

If your birthday is in MARCH

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

13  Gail Rutland

14  James Baldwin

22  Audrey Ginder             

25  Sheldon Markel      

26  Kim Witkovsky     

28  Seth Brickner 

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.

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. 

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 “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.

______________________________________________________

On Fri., March 13, 9:30 am to noon, in the Bucher Meetinghouse, Jeff Carter will facilitate “Church and Culture: Finding Promise Amid Change,” a panel discussion about the shared challenges facing religious leaders, the points of divergence shaped by context, and the forms of promise that emerge in each case. The panel members are Brian Messler, lead pastor, Ephrata Church of the Brethren; Amy Shorner-Johnson, chaplain and director of spiritual and religious life, Elizabethtown College; Lexi Aligarbes, co-pastor, Harrisburg First Church of the Brethren; and Audrey Hollenberg-Duffey, pastor of discipleship ministries, Oakton Church of the Brethren, and director of the Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center. 

LAST WEEK IN WORSHIP