God is still speaking,
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Penn Central
onnection
The Newsletter of the Penn Central Conference United Church of Christ
Volume 7, Issue 1
February 2015
pccucc.org
Let Your Green Light Shine Churches were recognized at the 2014 conference annual meeting for becoming a UCC Green Justice Congregation. These congregations took the time to be intentional about creation care and energy conservation. Here are some of the accomplishments Green Justice congregations made.
napkins and real mugs and plates at the welcome table each week and have completely eliminated Styrofoam and paper products. Emmanuel is a congregation who has given up the constraints of a building and worships in a room at the Marriott Courtyard in York resulting in a very low building carbon footprint.
Trinity, Palmyra’s families were encouraged to calculate their household carbon footprint using an online carbon footprint calculator and to try to reduce their personal use by 10%. The church’s new furnace is 97% efficient, going from a room-size burner-style furnace to three units, smaller than a trash can and have already seen significant savings in fuel consumption and cost. This overhaul of their entire heating system included re-insulating all ducts, installing blowers in the vents that control air flow of heating and AC, installing motion sensor light switches and programmable thermostats throughout the building. They also installed five new toilets that use minimal water and about that many will be installed every year until all toilets have been changed.
Faith, York held a Tending to Creation work day to work in the church gardens and yard. They replaced old heating/air conditioning units with energy efficient models and installed ceiling fans, programmable thermostats and CFLs. They shifted to environmentally sensitive cleaning products as well as “fair trade” and environmentally friendly items. They also use a carpool system for church activities.
Quentin UCC created a prayer garden which connected peace to God’s creation. Youth at Quentin worked in the church garden to raise funds for their Heifer Project. Most of their church communications are now done electronically. Their preteen group holds a community recycling fundraiser.
Consider becoming a Green Justice Congregation by completing the Green Justice Checklist found on the Green Justice page of the conference website: www. pccucc.org/resources/green-justice-team. Submit the checklist by May 15 to the conference office to be recognized at this year’s annual meeting. More importantly, shine your GREEN Light and be an encouragement to other congregations to do the same. Here are two websites with more ideas and information for Green Justice Churches: www.greenfaith.org and www.paipl.org (PA Interfaith Power and Light).
New Covenant, Williamsport hosted a $tewardship $avings Workshop with Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light and United Churches of Lycoming County. It included a tour of their church building. The workshop gave participants ideas to reduce their congregation’s energy usage. They also had a church audit completed by their local electric supplier and are in the process of implementing some of the recommendations. Emmanuel, York planted flowers at Hoffman Homes for Youth’s Emmanuel House. They measured the carbon footprint of each family in the congregation and intend to do that annually. They use cloth
Quentin youth help in the garden.
Volume 7, Issue 1
page 2
The New Way of God’s Grace...Born into the World on Christmas Day
The way of the world is that those who are good get rewarded and those who are bad get punished. But, with the birth of Christ, God established a new covenant with humanity. A New Way of Life of Forgiveness, Love, Justice, and Peace comes alive with the birth of Christ. The redemptive act of God in Christ brings the free gift of grace, reconciliation, and unconditional acceptance to all people. Why then is it that so much of what we did at Christmas negates the very message which God brought to life in the living Word, Jesus Christ? In December, I was with a mother and her daughter as they opened gifts. When the daughter opened her new IPad, the mother said, “She’s been a good girl this year, so she deserves an IPad. She earned it.” If the daughter didn’t deserve it, would the mother still have given it to her? I thought of the Biblical passage in which Jesus says, “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?” (NIV Matthew 7:9) So conditioned by the way of the world, the mother justified to herself that it was OK that she bought an IPad for her daughter. Many Christmas traditions are about reward and punishment rather than about the unconditional forgiveness, re-creation and acceptance of God who came in Christ. We sing: “He’s making a list, checking it twice, Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice… He knows if you’ve been bad or good, So be good for goodness sake!” Sounds like the way of the world, NOT the Way of Jesus Christ!
Since 2005, “The Elf on the Shelf” has taken its place among modern Christmas traditions. According to the story, Santa’s elves hide in people’s homes to watch over events. Once everyone goes to bed, the elves fly back to the North Pole to report to Santa the activities, good and bad, that have taken place during the day. Before the families wake up each morning, the elves fly back and hide in new spots. Many people see this as a cute, new family tradition. Unfortunately, it reinforces the way of the world idea that the good receive rewards and the bad are punished and that even an elf is spying on you! Would the Christ who died for our sins send out spies to tattle on how good or bad we are? The message of Jesus is that Christ teaches and models an entirely new way to live. The parable of the Prodigal Son describes God’s unconditional giving of gifts, a robe, a ring, a feast, to a wayward son. This is the miraculous Grace in which we live! According to PA Dutch folklore, the Belsnickel, shows up at houses before Christmas, creating fright because he always knows which children misbehave. He carries a switch in his hand
From the Desk of Bruce Irwin to beat bad children. The children are scared into being good. Does the Belsnickel personify the message of love, forgiveness, and acceptance that Christ was born into the world to initiate? I never knew the Belsnickel tale, but I grew up with the threat that if I didn’t behave, I might get coal in my stocking! To me, this threat never sounded like the Jesus I learned about in Sunday School! The way of the world has such power over us that we cannot shake our thinking of good and bad, of rewards and punishment even celebrating Jesus’ birth. Our stories and traditions should instead celebrate the New Way of the Life born into the world in Jesus! Creation needs all of our voices to loudly proclaim the wonderful grace of Jesus which has the power to change everything about our living!
PCC Connection M. Bruce Irwin, Interim Conference Minister
Brenda B. Waleff, Editor
Penn Central Connection is published four times a year (February, June, October, and December) to inform local church members about the mission and ministry of Penn Central Conference and its local churches. Subscriptions are available for an electronic edition or mailed version by contacting the conference office. News items and photos should be e-mailed to the editor by the 1st of each month prior to the publication date. E-mail:
[email protected] Telephone 717-652-1560
Volume 7, Issue 1
page 3
Conference Transitions New positions
John Binkley, supply, Grace, Richland Katie Cort, pastor, Grace, Lancaster David Downer, pastor, Trinity, Centre Hall Melissa Eicholtz, interim, St Jacob’s Stone, Glenville Susan Emmons, interim, St Paul’s, Stoverstown Ruth Farrell, interim, Dreisbach, Lewisburg Cindy Garis, co-interim, Emmanuel, Abbottstown
Cindy Killinger, pastor, Nittany Valley Charge Brenda Marin, pastor, Hayshire, York
Goodbyes
Ray Bush, interim, First Reformed, Sunbury Susan Gabbard, pastor, St John’s, Mifflinburg Chris Hart, interim, Grace, Lancaster Pat Leader, interim, St Paul’s, Stoverstown Naomi Leaphart, co-pastor, St Peters, Lancaster
Brenda Marin, assoc. pastor, Trinity, Hanover Valeria Schmidt, pastor McConnellsburg/Ft Loudon Charge Sheresa Simpson-Rice, pastor, St Pauls Red Run, East Berlin
deaths
Brian Adams died January 24, 2015. Francis Daugherty died January 14, 2015.
Churches
St Luke’s, Lancaster’s final service will be May 31. Trinity, East Petersburg and St Luke’s will be uniting and meet-
High School Sunday School Class Donates to Hartman Center St Paul’s, Mechanicsburg’s high school Sunday school class decided to help Hartman Center. The youth selected Hartman Center because they feel it is one of their most beloved places on earth. Many of the youth at St Paul’s have grown closer to God and made long-lasting friendships while there for summer camp and retreats. Throughout the past several months, the class held a movie night, received proceeds from the church’s annual cookie walk and put a donation jar in the lobby of the church. They also asked the congregation to donate to the cause. They set a goal of $500. However, due to the abundance of support and an anonymous donation of $250, St Paul’s High School Sunday School class raised $1,331,38. They donated the money so Hartman Center can have a better nurse’s station. In a letter sent with the donation, they said, “We are thankful for everything Hartman Center has done for us and we hope this is a way to give back and say thanks!”
(L-R) Lily Ward-Diorio, Maddie Simpson, Cassidy Westbrook and Becca Ward-Diorio at Wizard of OZ Movie Night raising funds for Hartman Center.
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Conference Loan Balance Paid Off At January’s Penn Central Conference Board of Directors’ Meeting, your Board voted unanimously to pay off Penn Central’s Loan Balance of about $593,000. The loan was paid off using the remaining Four Our Churches Contributions, the Last One Thousand Contributions, $200,000.00 from the Hartman Center Investment Account and about $216,000 from Penn Central’s Investment Account. With the debt paid off, it helps in several ways. In about 14 months, just when our new Conference Minister would be arriving, the conference would have had a major financial challenge of finding extra income of about $55,000 annually to pay interest on the loan since the monies we currently have would have run out. If the loan would still have existed when the new Conference Minister arrived, many of the new directions in ministry would be influenced by the need to do something to address the continuing issue of the loan. Without the loan, the Conference Minister Search Committee is more likely to have a larger pool of excellent candidates from which to choose. The other good news is that all designated funds have also been replenished. Money will not be shifted from other accounts to cover immediate needs. Instead, we will rely on a well thought out liquidity policy which is being developed and rely on our Penn Central line of credit only when it is needed. The board feels that these measures will enable congregations and individuals to give confidently to the conference. The board encourages you to complete your pledges to the “FOUR OUR CHURCHES” and to contribute to “THE LAST ONE THOUSAND” campaigns. Monies received will replace the amounts we have taken from the Penn Central Conference Investment Account and the Hartman Center Investment Account to pay off the loan.