VOLUME 19 ISSUE 6

July 2014

July/August

Newsletter

The July/August newsletter is in honor of the birthdays of our grandson, Michael Bechtel and granddaughter, Emily Thomas by Frank and Carole Nacci and in honor of the birthday of Carole Nacci by Frank and family.

“Serving and Ministering to the Community Since 1873” Rev. John A. Hart, Pastor

Phone: 610-282-3336, Email: pstrhart@gmail.com “Trinity Tidings” is a monthly publication printed on the

premises of Holy Trinity Memorial Lutheran Church (Hospital Code: 244)

Robin McCloud, Office Secretary, Email: robin.holytrinity@verizon.net

HOLY TRINITY MEMORIAL

LUTHERAN CHURCH

604 Fourth Street

Catasauqua, Pa 18032

Phone:610-264-2641

Fax:610-264-2661

Website: www.holytrinitymemoriallutheran.com

Email: holytrinity604@verizon.net

IF HOSPITALIZED, BE SURE

TO SIGN A RELEASE CARD

AND USE OUR

HOSPITAL CODE #244.

WE ARE A HANDICAPPED

ACCESSIBLE FACILITY.

DEADLINE FOR SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER IS WEDNESDAY,

AUGUST, 20th

Welcome to the second installment of the Mark Bible study. I am sure you all have been waiting

with baited breath for this. So without further ado …

Mark's Structure, Audience and Message.

Mark's gospel is more concerned with theological order than with chronological order: the

Cross is ever before his eyes - and Mark is in a hurry to get us there, with Jesus immediately doing

this and immediately that and immediately something else.

Structure.

Mark's opening verse sets the tone for his narrative: his gospel is the story of the good news

about "Jesus Christ, the Son of God”. In the first half of his gospel Mark shows Jesus to have divine

power in driving out demons; healing a paralytic, a man with leprosy, a blind man, and a woman

with a hemorrhage; feeding the multitudes; and raising Jairus's daughter from the dead. He goes on

to explain in the second half of his gospel that Jesus came to give his life as a "ransom “for others

(10:45), and this must be proclaimed "to all nations" (13: lo), meaning to "all peoples." The turning

point in Mark's gospel is Peter's confession of Jesus as the Messiah (8:27-30).

Audience.

Mark's readers, it seems, are Gentile Christians: there is no Jewish genealogy, there are very

few OT references, Jewish customs are explained (see 7:3-4), and it is a Gentile, a Roman centurion

at the foot of the cross, who declares, "Truly this man was God's Son!" (15:39).

Message.

Mark's readers were probably wondering whether the gospel was good news or a false hope:

Jesus himself had been crucified; two of the church's leading figures and greatest heroes, Peter and

Paul, had just been martyred; and the persecution of Christians in Rome, as scapegoats for the burn-

ing of Rome, was on the increase. Mark writes to strengthen the courage and faith of his readers. He

tells them that hoping in Jesus is a real hope, just as it was for Jesus' disciples when he assured them

that if they lost their lives "for my sake" they would be saved (8:35).

Jesus' Miracles.

One-third of Mark's gospel has to do with miracles, which are signs and pointers as to who

Jesus is. (Altogether, there are some thirty-five 'miracles' in the gospels.) The vast majority of Jesus'

miracles are healing miracles: exorcising demons, curing lepers and giving sight to the blind. The

others are nature miracles: stilling the wind, feeding the multitudes and raising people from the

dead.

Church Council Members Term Ending Dec. 2014 Term Ending Dec. 2015 Term Ending Dec. 2016

Arden Strickland: 610-351-0341 Barb Fister: 610-266-1160 Dale Greenzweig: 610-419-3843

Wayne Kincaid: 610-266-0526 Cheryl Kneiss: 610-262-0467 RuthAnn Reinsmith: 610-264-4346

Paul Gillette: 610-262-7934 Sherry Creyer: 610-262-1811 Carol Cunningham:

Rick Martson: 484-661-5183 Carole Nacci: 610-264-8785 Mark Fried: 610-262-2645

Youth Rep.:

OFFICERS President: Barbara Fister Vice President: Arden Strickland

Secretary: (Rotating) Financial Secretary: Olin Webb Treasurer: John Marakovits

$ FINANCIAL UP-DATE $

Thanks to a very good Lent and Easter Season, we ended up the month of

May with a year-to-date budget surplus of $5,133.26. The budget surplus at the

end of May of 2013 was $1,111.16 -$4,022.10 less than 2014’s budget surplus. Not

bad!

In order to meet this year’s budget of $164,314 we need to average $3,160

each Sunday. So far this year, we are averaging $3,404.44 each Sunday, $244.44

more.

Regular budgeted income received thus far in 2014 of $71,493.26 is

$4,400.10 more than what was received over the same number of Sundays (21)

through the end of May in 2013.

That’s the good news. Unfortunately, here we go again. Another summer

season is upon us. From a financial standpoint, things tend to slow down in the

summer. Giving drops and so does attendance. When you get back home from

vacation, please make up for the Sundays you missed. We need to keep the finan-

cial beach ball rolling here at Holy Trinity this summer.

During May, the following special gifts for specific causes were received.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the following:

$ 175 Pastor’s Discretionary Fund

$ 405 Paul Frantz Memorial Scholarship Fund

$ 40 Building Fund

$2,375 Sidewalk Fund (from Victorian Tea)

$2,390 Lorraine Wagner Memorial Fund

$ 20 Narthex Tower

$ 200 “Take-a-seat” Fund (from the “Morning Glories”

$ 96 “Morning Glories” Fund

$5,701 TOTAL

This income is very important to the church.

Don’t forget that the parish ed. building is air conditioned so even though

it might be really hot outside, it’ll be nice and cool at church. See you there.

John Marakovits, Treasurer

“Joyful Giving Circle” Help further the ministry of Holy Trinity…Don’t wait for a special occasion to make a contribution in honor or in memory of someone. Fill out the enclosed form, place it in the offering or mail it with your check in any amount. We will print your dedication in our next newsletter.

Spic N Span!

All Holy Trinity members are responsible for keeping the church kitchen clean and in good order. We do have a special group of Kitchen Angels who have accepted the responsibility of looking after our church kitchen on a monthly basis and housecleaning annually. This does not exempt the rest of us from leaving the kitchen spic n span. If you see something not as it should be…wipe it up or put it away or throw it away. Remember to mark any item that you put in the refrigerators or freezers.

By now, you should have re-ceived your offering envelopes for July and August in the mail. About the 3rd week of Au-gust, you should be receiving your offering envelopes for Sep-tember and October in the mail. If you do not receive them, please contact Robin in the church office.

Holy Trinity is a member of the Blood Bank Pro-

gram. If you give blood, you may designate it as

Holy Trinity. Also, if you ever

need blood, tell them you’re a

church member.

Our deepest sympathy to the

family of Matthew Aleci who

went home to be with our Lord

on June 19th.

Now through Labor Day

7:30a.m. Spoken Communion

9:00a.m. Worship/Communion

HOLY TRINITY NEWS

Dear Holy Trinity Family, Thank you for awarding the Paul Frantz Memorial Scholarship to both Madison and I. This scholarship will greatly help me fur-ther my education. I will continue my service to Holy Trinity in years to come, and hope-fully help the global community as well! Once again, thank you! Yours in Christ, Ainsley Hart

Congratulations to Brianna Walker, Becky Held, Ian Thomas, Fatih and Avery Daku, Jenny Farrand, Dylan and Lilah Carfara and Stella Strickland on their 1st Communion on June 15th during worship.

2014 Annual August Kitchen Housecleaning

With all the activities at Holy Trinity, it has become even more important to houseclean our kitchen yearly.

This year, there will be a Housecleaning Morning on Wednesday, August 6th at 9:00 but if that date doesn’t work you can sign up for specific tasks and complete them by Friday, August 15. The signup sheet is posted in the church kitchen above the sink.

We do have monthly Kitchen Angels, but the housecleaning is open to anyone in the congregation who would like to do a 1-time job at their convenience. You can work on your own or with a partner or join us on August 6th. Bring your own cleaning supplies.

Thank you to these Kitchen Angels for their faithful service throughout the year:

Rena Bond, Vicki Chimics, Cheryl Kneiss, Janis & Jerry Charvala, Karen Faust, Lucy Lynn, Pat Kin-caid, Sandy Svitana, Sue Marakovits, Rita Medence, Carol Nacci, Nancy & Jay Miller, Bodil Rasmus-sen, Brenda Ondush and Dale Greenzweig..

Many hands make light work!

Victorian Tea Correction

The last paragraph of the 2014 Victorian Tea results reported in the June newsletter should have read as follows:

This year, the High Tea raised $3,982 which is a new high. $2,375 was put into Trinity’s Sidewalk Fund. The remaining $1,607 along with $93 from a donation jar was sent to Service Dogs by War-ren Retriever which helped reduce the balance left from the cost of Zuker, Matthew Globosits’ alert dog.

Thanks for your support!

Cheryl Kneiss, Barb Fister, Sue Marakovits, BJ Kunkel

Sande Gillette, Dorianne & Madison Gogal, Ruthann Reinsmith

Janis Charvala, Carol Hartranft, Nancy Miller

Iron Pigs Thank You

Thank you to Carole & Frank Nacci for again giving Iron Pigs Picnic Area tickets to Holy Trinity’s members. What a great fellowship outing!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Carole & Frank

Remember or Honor Loved Ones

Altar Flowers

TO THE GLORY OF GOD:

Aug. 3 Kneiss

Aug. 10 Nacci

Aug. 17 Fenstermacher

Aug. 24 Nacci

Aug. 31 Fenstermacher

Bulletins

TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND:

Aug. 3 Open

Aug. 10 Open

Aug. 17 Open

Aug. 24 Open

Aug. 31 Open

“Trinity Tidings”

All dedications are taken for 2014. Thank you.

Please Note:To reserve a flower dateflower date, fill in the Flower Chart in the narthex and call Suzanne Webb 610-264-4880 with your dedication. If you do not call Suzanne, the dedication will read “To the glory of God by (your name)”. To dedicate a Sun-Sun-

day bulletinday bulletin, call the church secretary (610-264-2641). Bulletins are $10, altar flowers are $35. Please

pick up your flowers or have someone pick them up for you.

This year’s VBS program is SonTreasure Island, a week of treasure-hunting ad-venture in the Caribbean Islands! Through their adventures children will discover that God’s love is Giv-ing, God’s love is Kind, God’s love is Forgiving and God’s love is Forever!!

We will have a great time with lively songs, creative crafts, exciting games, Bible stories, and tasty snacks. On top of that, we will be helping children learn about God’s amazing love.

VBS will be held July 21 – 25 from 6:15p.m.-8:15p.m. We will again be collecting non perishable food for the Catty Food Bank. Registration forms are available from the church office and on the Narthex table. Please invite your neighbors, relatives and friends to join us on our Island!

Remember or Honor Loved Ones

Altar Flowers

TO THE GLORY OF GOD:

July 6 Open

July 13 Nacci

July 20 Open

July 27 Open

Bulletins

TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND:

July 6 Open

July 13 Open

July 20 Open

July 27 Open

“Trinity Tidings”

All dedications are taken for 2014. Thank you.

Please Note:To reserve a flower dateflower date, fill in the Flower Chart in the narthex and call Suzanne Webb 610-264-4880 with your dedication. If you do not call Suzanne, the dedication will read “To the glory of God by (your name)”. To dedicate a Sun-Sun-

day bulletinday bulletin, call the church secretary (610-264-2641). Bulletins are $10, altar flowers are $35. Please

pick up your flowers or have someone pick them

up for you.

HT YOUTH NEWS

I'm afraid the Famine summary will have to wait until next issue. Why. Let me say one word: sinkhole. No, I didn't loose my notes in a sinkhole, but I have a small one, and it's an un-believable vortex in terms of how it sucks in your time with phone calls, on-site meetings, etc. But...didn't Rachel Held put together an awesome power point about the youth, including many pictures from the Famine? If you missed it - she showed it during the confirmand reception on June 8, after she and Jack Wetzel affirmed their baptisms - we'll be playing it again during up-coming second-Sunday refreshments in the fall. The total raised by our (and your) 30-Hour Famine efforts was $3029.75!!!! Thank you to our church family for the HUGE part you play in this successful fundraiser for World Vision's work as a relief and development organization - one that still includes sharing the gospel as part of their work. The "Nohla" photo album can usually be found on the table in the narthex - be sure to enjoy the collection of letters, as well as our photos from this year's 30-Hour Famine and our Ten Thou-sand Villages shopping event. In the works: trip to Maryland scheduled (still a tentative date at this writing) for Thursday, July 10-Friday, July 11th. See Diane Czar if you are age 14 or older and are interested in this road trip, which will include a day of volunteering at the Brethren Center warehouse.

SOCIAL MINISTRY NEWS

Thank you to everyone who supported the Father's Day collection for Lutheran Congregational Service's disaster relief work. Your donations totaled $235!! If that number sounds familiar...it's because it's the same amount as the Blanket Sunday collection in honor of our moms. Congratu-lations, dads!!! You finally got the recognition you deserve!! Dare I say it? Sale prices on school supplies are just around the corner. We will again be col-lecting school supplies for kits to be delivered to Church World Service. Needed items: Spiral notebooks (wide- or college-ruled, 70 to 210 pages), pencils (not sharpened), large erasers, BLUNT scissors, crayons (boxes of 24), rulers (with 30 centimeters), and sharpeners. Watch for the school kit display in the back of the sanctuary or narthex in August!

SCRIP GIFT CARDS FUNDRAISER

As of June 23, 2014, we have submitted 6 orders for this awe-

some fundraiser! 23 individuals have placed orders since the pro-

gram started in early April. This included 6 non-members - family

or friends - so thanks for spreading the word! We'd like to see

more orders coming in not only from those who have already placed

orders, but from other Holy Trinity members as well. To date, the

fundraiser has netted $441.51 to support Holy Trinity's Christian

Education program. Think what we can raise if more of us join

in! Our profit has remained unaffected by shipping costs, since our Scrip coordinator has gen-

erously donated the cost of shipping for our orders.

Regular deadlines to place your order will be the second Sunday each month. We hope to re-

ceive enough orders on an ongoing basis to also place an interim order each month. Our Scrip

coordinator, Joe Schwindenhammer, deposits checks in our Christian Education checking ac-

count the day after the order deadline, and submits the order electronically on Tuesday. The

cards arrive on Friday, and are available for pickup at church the Sunday after the order

deadline! If we have your email, we can notify you that the cards have arrived, and can make

arrangements for you to get the cards on Friday evening or Saturday if you want the cards

ASAP - so please write your email address on your Scrip order form.

We have used the initial profits to establish a stock of commonly-requested cards. As of this

writing, the cards are still available for immediate purchase from the following retailers:

Giant Weis Home Depot Starbucks Cabela's

Sheetz Burger King Chipotle Bed, Bath, and Beyond

Arby's Dunkin Donuts Papa John's Panera

See Diane Czar after worship any Sunday to tap into this stash! You can also call (610-739-

6006 - no texts) or email Diane (czarmom45@aol.com) to purchase stock cards or to place an

order. D

So think summer vacation, as well as your regular grocery, gas, and dining needs - and think

Scrip Gift Cards! Ask us about other retailers that you are interested in that you don't see

on the list.

Thank you for your continued support of our church family's Christian Education program!