CROSS ROADS JANUARY 2018

St. Andrew United Methodist Church

“Building upon God's Grace through Love, Obedience and Compassion.”

Rev. John Cordes, Pastor pastorjohn@saintandrewumc.org

Adam Deering, Assistant Pastor adam@saintandrewumc.org

Monica Reinert, Administrative Assistant office@saintandrewumc.org

Nancy Webb, Adult Choir Director Bob & Faith Schlegel,

Children's Choir Directors Marian Meizler, Organist

Kay Behle, Pianist Adam Deering, Praise Band Leader

Donna Werkheiser, Treasurer

Saint Andrew United Methodist Church 611 Swamp Creek Road Bechtelsville, PA 19505

610.367.7043 Website

www.SaintAndrewUMC.org Facebook

www.facebook.com/newberlinvilleumc Facebook.com/SaintAndrewUMC

twitter.com/staumc Youth Program

SaintAndrewUMC.org/youth.aspx www.facebook.com/STAstudentsministries

twitter.com/STA_Students

~January Worship Schedule~ Sunday, January 7th Baptism of the Lord Sunday Mark 1:4-11 Sunday, January 14th Second Sunday After Epiphany 1 Samuel 3:1-20 & John 1:43-51 Sunday, January 21st Third Sunday After Epiphany Mark 1:14-20 & Jonah 3:1-5,10 Sunday, January 28th Fourth Sunday After Epiphany Mark 1:21-28

Come Worship With Us

9:00 AM Celebration Service

and

10:30 AM Traditional Service

Lectionary Bible Study

Saville's Diner Wednesdays from

6:00-7:00 PM

Putting It in Perspective

January 2018

Crazy calendar! That’s what we’re experiencing. Because of the way the Christian and secular holidays work, we’re seeing some curious calendar coincidences. You’ve already noticed that the Fourth Sunday of Advent was also Christmas Eve, 2017. Hang on – there’s more to come! In 2018, Ash Wednesday will also be Valentine’s Day. Can you think of a way to combine the two? I can’t either. Easter Sunday is on April Fool’s Day. That works – Jesus had a little surprise in store for the Romans! There’s one crazy calendar event that might go unnoticed, so I’m writing to point it out. Two special events fall on the same Sunday in January. They’re the Baptism of the Lord and Epiphany Sunday. The emphasis of each is different than the other. Epiphany celebrates the arrival of the magi to visit Jesus at his home in Bethlehem. Much of the Christian world celebrates Epiphany in a bigger way than they celebrate Christmas, in December. The festivals are wonderful! Epiphany also marks the end of the Christmas season, which began on Christmas Day. Now it’s time to take down the decorations! By contrast, Baptism of the Lord is an event that extends to our own baptism. As I weigh the two important days, and need to choose between them, some folks might be surprised that I’ve opted to celebrate Baptism of the Lord Sunday, and not Epiphany, on the crazy calendar day of January 7. It’s an opportunity for us to renew our commitment to the baptismal covenant under which we live together as God’s family. We have an opportunity to use water to symbolize that covenant, and at the start of a new year, to acknowledge that our individual lives, and our life together, belong to God. That’s big. It takes precedence in the difficult decision of what to celebrate. So, look for the magi in 2019! Check out their story on your own; it’s found in Matthew 2:1-12. Go to Wikipedia, search for “Epiphany,” and read about the variety of ways Christians celebrate. Then come to worship to renew your baptismal vows. The first full week of the New Near has so much to offer, even on a crazy calendar.

10:30 AM Worship Service Date Greeters Liturgist Usher Acolyte Sound Board Video Nursery

1/7 Mary Frain,

Jason & Bethany

Miller, Robin

Moyer

Mark

Egbert

Robert

Moyer

Jackson

Conrad

Megan

Rutter

Open Bethany Miller

1/14 Tracy & Jane

Donmoyer, Mary

Fox, Dave & Sue

McElwee

Cathy

Webb

Debbie

Patt

Rachael

Kindig

Jen Ewing Open Bethany Miller

1/21 Hans & Edie

Scherer, Richard

& Marilyn

Rhoads, Bob &

Edith Moyer

Colleen

Simmons

Chuck

Sithens

Jessica

Kindig

LeRoy Moser Open Phyllis Conroy

1/28 Debbie Patt, PJ

Long, Harry &

Linda Mohr

Pat

Miller

Harry

Mohr

Evan

Riefenstahl

Jim McClure Linda

McClure

Mary Ann

Stauffer

9:00 AM Worship Service Date Greeters Acolyte Sound Board Video Nursery

1/7 Mary Ann Stauffer,

Conroy Family, Warren &

Linda Moser

Abigail Miller Mark Egbert Open Amanda Deering

1/14 Purnell Family, Jim &

Shari Good, Debbie Baum

Mallory

Deering

Tim Clancy Tracy

Donmoyer

Christi Conrad &

Linda Moser

1/21 Egbert Family, Anita

Church, Linda Drabinsky

Sammi

Hemmingway

John

Stauffer

Mary Ann

Stauffer

Tracie Gomolka &

Christine Halloway

1/28 Debbie Brown, Tim & Linda

Clancy, Jim & Bonne

Riefenstahl

Tori

Egbert-DiMaio

Jen Ewing Scott

Cantlin

Linda Clancy

Contribution Counting Schedule 1/7 Steve Conroy- Lead

Adina Warren, Betty March

1/14 Rob Thomas - Lead

Marion Bartman, Tim Clancy

1/21 Pat Miller - Lead

LeRoy Moser, Mary Ann Stauffer

1/28 Jim Good- Lead

John Stauffer

Hans Scherer

9:00 AM Contemporary Celebration Service

An informal service with praise and worship music, prayer and preaching. This service utilizes music to draw people into God’s presence on a very personal

level.

Children's Church (K-2nd Grade) dismisses after Opening Worship the second and fourth Sundays

of the month. (September through May) We also offer at this time:

. Crib and Pre-K Nursery Care

. Adult Sunday School (September through May) Library - Henry Ziegler & Pat Miller, Leaders

10:30 AM Traditional Service

A service that utilizes time-honored traditions to draw people into God's presence. Multiple

elements, including classic hymns played on organ and piano, feed the senses of the

worshippers to remind them of the love and life of Jesus during the past, present and future.

We also offer at this time:

. Crib Nursery Care

. Pre-K Sunday School

. Adult Sunday School Library - Jim Good, Leader . Sunday School Classes K-6th Grade - Fellowship Hall

Junior & Senior High - Fellowship Hall Youth Room

Children's Church Childrens Moments 1/14 ~ Amanda Deering 1/7 ~ Christie Orr 1/28 ~ Mary Cantlin 1/21 ~ Adam Deering

= 1/1 Dave McElwee 1/15 Jessica Kindig

1/3 Christopher Holloway 1/16 Tasha Dakota

1/4 Mark Drabinsky 1/18 Anita Church

1/6 Dennis Kline 1/18 Wilbur Cooper

1/6 Abigail Miller 1/19 Deb Guy

1/8 Delores Evens 1/20 Susan Bartow

1/8 James Purnell 1/20 Robert P. Drabinsky

1/9 Matthew Crawford 1/21 Rose Marie Bireley

1/9 Jim Kreitz 1/22 Adam Kellerman

1/9 Joshua Larrimore 1/24 Dylan Andrews

1/11 Kendall Pritchard 1/24 Sarah Conroy

1/12 Brittany Kuder 1/24 Luke Riefenstahl

1/12 Abigail Mefferd 1/24 Lauren Riefenstahl

1/15 Ken Church 1/29 Victoria Egbert-DiMaio

1/15 Rachael Kindig

January 14th Chris and Marilyn Clee January 17th John and Janice Cordes January 19th Gary & Nancy Stahl

You did it!! Not only did we meet our goal of $1,000.00 for 2017, but we

exceeded it!!! Because of your faithful participation in the program, we made $1,469.75 for our church's Youth & Adult Missions and Children's Department. That means each area will get over $725.00 to use because of all of you who

participate. If you shop at Giant for anything (gas, food, prescriptions, produce, etc.) and are not a part of this program, why not? If you're new to the church or just want more information, please feel free to check out the blue paper on the

table in the Narthex or see Phyllis Conroy for details. Let's start the year off right in January! Order your Giant Cash 4 Causes cards the first and

second Sunday of the month and watch the thermometer go up! Thanks to everyone who supports this easy, money-making program.

In the month of December we raised $145.75 for our Missions and Children’s Ministries! Thank you! Questions? Please contact Phyllis Conroy

ALTAR FLOWERS Arrangements are $20.00 if you would like to be a sponsor.

January 7th: Sponsored by; Phyllis Minner, In Memory of my Mother, Lillian Specht, who passed away 10 years ago today. January 14th: Open January 21st: Open January 28th: Open

St Andrew United Methodist Church Treasurers Report

November 30, 2017

Y-T-D November November

2017 2017 2016

Funds Received *

216,412.93 18,917.42 17,226.23

Bills Paid

212,002.40 Open Bills

10,349.45

Total Bills

222,351.85 Net Increase(Decrease) in Funds -5,938.92

Other Collections that do not effect the budgeted expenses

Improvements 651.00

Special Offerings 1,100.52

Memorials 0.00

Sunday School 100.00

* The funds received includes Current offerings, Church plate and other income used to pay budgeted expenses.

We hope to see you there!

Donations of desserts are apprecia

Guatemala Update Thank you to everyone who supported our children during the 2017 school year. I am pleased to announce that Yoselin graduated from middle school and hopes to continue on to high school. Also Mersi, Daniel and Mayeli graduated from elementary school. Special congratulations to these 4 students! Also one of our students, Mildred, was chosen as the leader of her class - an honor given to a student with high grades and good behavior. The students are currently enjoying their break from school and will start their new school year towards the middle of January. Look for more updates soon! Thank you all so much!

A thank you from Mersi Hello, it is a pleasure to greet you all. My grandparents and my siblings are doing well, and I hope that all of you are also happy and in good health. I want to tell you that I was very happy to study 6th grade. I really like going to school and want to start middle school next year. My favorite class is math. I thank you all for everything you have done for me and my family. Because my mother died and my father abandoned me I did not have the opportunity to go to school. So I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this dream possible. I live in San Antonio Buena Vista. We call it Buena Vista - beautiful view - because we are close to a volcano called Santiaguito and it is very beautiful to live here. I work here in my community picking coffee beans. They are green, but when they become ripe they turn red like roses. We have many trees and flowers here, like poinsettias that grow near Christmas time. There are also lots of animals and birds. I hope you all have a very merry Christmas. Although I do not know you, I am very thankful to each one of you. May God bless you. Sincerely, Mersi

SPUD LUNCHEON Date: January 21st Time: After 2nd Service Take-out is available after 1st service Cost: By Donation This is a fundraiser for church mission trips. We hope to see you there! Donations of desserts are appreciated

Saint Andrew Women SAW will be meeting January 10th at 1:00 PM. In case of inclement weather we will go by the Boyertown School District schedule. If you have any questions call Rose Marie Bireley at 610-473-0403. All women of the church are welcome. We hope to see you then!

Saint Andrew Yarn Spinners Now that we have celebrated our Christmas time with family & friends, it is time to relax a bit and pick up our knitting needles and crochet hooks. How about a New Year's Resolution to learn how to knit or crochet or resume the use of talent which you have not used in a while. Come join us on January 18th at noon in the fellowship hall. Bring your lunch, knitting needles and crochet hooks (if you have them-we can lend you some if you don't), and enjoy being with a group who is using their hands to create items for those who have a need. We will help you learn.

Saint Andrew Scrapbookers

Will be meeting on Wednesday, January

17th at 7:00 PM

Saint Andrew Men The men's group monthly breakfast will be held on

Sunday January 7, 2018 at Saville's Diner. Please arrive

at 7:30 AM.

AGLOW COMMUNITY LIGHTHOUSE

SATURDAY, January 6, at 9:00 a.m.

at CONNECTIONS ON HIGH Café 238 E. High St., POTTSTOWN, PA 19464

Meeting (9:00-12:00), Continental Breakfast, and Speaker: $5.00

Tom and Kay Whipple

It was 1973 when Tom and Kay met. Tom was in the US Marine Corps and Kay in

the US Navy. They married and soon began to seek the Lord's will for their lives.

Today they own Whipple’s Works, an upholstery business, and live radical lives!

Tom has seen God work in many lives for salvation, healing and miracles; even his

Dad was miraculously healed of cancer, and then, gave his heart to Jesus Christ!

Kay finds great joy in small things and delights in seeing the Lord move in the

lives of others. A favorite verse is Psalm 32:7. Kay is the Aglow President of PA

East Central Area. Come to experience a Tom and Kay double blessing!

You are also invited to stay for AfterGlow, an informal time for lunch and fellowship after the Aglow meeting, 12:00-1:15 pm, at Connections on High café.

SAVE THE DATE!! Saturday, April 28, 2018 is the date of the next Mission Trip Auction and we

know you won't want to miss out on the fun, excitement, bidding wars and

(did I mention) fun!!? Our combined youth & adult mission trip this year will

be to Appalachia. Please plan to attend and bring your friends & family. There

will be refreshments, a silent auction, a live auction (with a professional

auctioneer) and more. Don't wait; save the date now!

Auction Items Needed!! - We will have another fun-filled auction

event on Saturday, April 28, 2018 and we need your help. We need a lot of

auction items to make the evening a success, in our efforts to raise

money for the Mission Trip. Have a nice Christmas gift that you didn't want

or don't need? How about a new or like new item that's been sitting around the

house? Do you have a vacation home in the Poconos or at the shore - would you

be willing to donate a week or weekend? Or what about tickets to a sporting

event that you can't use? If you have a special skill or talent that you can share

with someone through lessons that you could donate? Are you an expert fisher

or hunter and would you be willing to take someone out for a special hunting or

fishing trip? Do you own or work for a business that could donate goods or

services.

Any and all of these items are great things to think about donating for the

auction. Spread the word, let's see what awesome things we can get to donate

this year! If you want to donate or have any questions, please contact Adam

Deering or Phyllis Conroy.

Prayer Can Be

POWERFUL

Please keep the following members who are unable to attend service in your prayers:

Donna Baith

1600 Black Rock Road

Royersford PA 19468

Dot Peter

1 South Home Avenue

Town Court #217

Topton, PA 19562

Virginia Drabinsky

414 Rhoads Avenue

Boyertown, PA 19512

Ginny McKinstry

P.O. Box 113

New Berlinville, PA 19545

Don Reigel

30 Old Schuylkill Rd

Room A5

Pottstown, PA 19465

Marietta Stahl

2917 E. High Street

Pottstown, PA 19464

Our Current Prayer List:

Donna Baith Robert Minner, Jr Diane Moser

Dr. Mark Zimmerman Julia Welsh Terry Hewitt

Don Reigel Glenn Miller Sam Miller

Mary Ann Reigel Betty Price

Please call the church office when:

A new baby arrives in your family

Your home phone or cell

number has changed

Your email address has

changed

Your address has changed

Prayer Requests

Need a ride to Sunday

Service? Call the church

office and we will

arrange it!

If you are visiting our

cemetery and notice a

flag that needs to be

replaced, please contact

Bill Evens or the Church

Office.

Thank you to everyone who donated Halloween candy for the Elementary Sunday School's mission

project in support of the Salvation Army. Thanks to your generous donations we were able to make

75 bags of candy that will be used during the Salvation Army's holiday activities. There was even

candy left over so they will have lots more for future use. A special thank you to Leah, Jay, Jada and

Evan for all their work in assembling the bags and making Merry Christmas labels to put on each

one.

Thank you everyone!

From the Elementary School Sunday class

A special thank you to everyone that donated gifts for the Angel Tree. Your donation will help make

a brighter Christmas for needy children in our own community.

Thank you,

Mission

FREE Community Meal Saturday, January 20th in the Fellowship Hall at Noon. If interested in helping, please contact

Chris Clee at 610.369.1888

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

2

3 6:00 PM

Bible Study

6:00 PM Children's Meeting

4 7:00 PM Youth Group

7:15 PM

Choir

5

6

7 Communion

7:30 AM Men's Breakfast

9:00 AM

Celebration Worship

10:30 AM

Traditional Service

8 9:00 AM

Monday Group

9 7:00 PM

Trustee Meeting

10 6:00 PM

Bible Study

1:00 PM SAW Meeting

11 7:00 PM Youth Group

7:15 PM

Choir

12 9:00 AM

Salvation Army

13

14 9:00 AM

Celebration Worship

10:30 AM

Traditional Service

15 9:00 AM

Monday Group

16

17 6:00 PM

Bible Study

7:00 PM Scrapbook

18 12:00 PM Yarn Spinners

7:00 PM Youth Group

7:15 PM

Choir

19

20 12:00 PM

Community Meal

21 Hymn Sing

9:00 AM

Celebration Worship

10:30 AM

Traditional Service

Spud Luncheon after 2nd Service

22 9:00 AM

Monday Group

23

24 6:00 PM

Bible Study

7:15 PM

Church Council

25 7:00 PM Youth Group

7:15 PM

Choir

26

27

28 9:00 AM

Celebration Worship

10:30 AM

Traditional Service

29 9:00 AM

Monday Group

30

31 6:00 PM

Bible Study