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!

ST. JOHNS LUTHERAN CHURCH OF MELROSE PARK, PA APRIL 2014


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Ready for spring!

I have been ready for

spring since January 22,

which was such a cold

day, after so many coldand snowy days, that

I made reservations to fly

to Florida after Easter

without clearing the dates

and times with my

sister (at whose home we will be staying)

because I couldnt wait another minute! That

was over 2 cold and snowy months ago. As I

write this, it is below freezing outside.

We all need spring, right?

Now the Green Blade Rises

is one of my favorite Easter hymns. (#148 in

the Lutheran Book of Worship, #379 in

Evangelical Lutheran Worship) It likens the

great story of Jesus suffering, death and

resurrection to a wheat seed that has been

planted in the earth. Laid in the earth, like

grain that sleeps unseen is the Good Fridayreference, while the refrain is the Easter

reference: Love is come again like wheat

arising green.

As I reflect on this long winter (that I do pray

is nearing its end), I am especially drawn to

verse 4 of this hymn:

When our hearts are wintry, grieving

or in pain,Your touch can call us back to life

again,

Fields of our hearts that dead and

bare have been;

Love is come again like wheat

arising green.

Wintry Hearts

Of course, hearts can be wintry no matter

what the weather is outside. And when my

heart is wintry, I lean on the rest of the body

of Christ (you!) to remind me of Gods lovethat comes again and again. Gods love

comes like a determined spring flower,

pushing up out of the cool earth. Gods love

is made known through you and me. Gods

love is made known to those who are sad or

desperate by us, when we offer an

encouraging word or an understanding nod

or by actions that lead to greater justice in

our society.

Love is Come Again

That is truly the point of the Jesus thing: that

Gods love is come, again, and will not be

denied, by any power. Not evil, not hatred,

not snow, not death!

I look forward to seeing you in worship so

we can celebrate Gods love that does indeed

come again even in the worst of wintersand the worst of our lives.

[As always, when your hearts are wintry,

grieving or in pain, contact me or another

member of St. Johns so we can be the body

of Christ for you. Pastor Donna Wright,

215-635-3465 or 215-277-5744.]

Pastors Page


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Sunday, June 1st

3:00 p.m.

Organ Concert

by St. John's Director of Music

Chuck Griffin

Reception following

Sunday, March 30th

11:20-1:30 Fellowship Hall

Special transition workshop

"Pastor-Congregation Attachment"

Led by the Rev. Dr. Dee Littleton

The MacPhersons are serving for a third yearthrough the fall of 2014at the Irente Childrens

Home (ICH), a mission of the North Eastern Diocese

of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. TheIrente Childrens Home cares for babies and toddlerswho have lost their parents or whose families are too

destitute to raise them.

Susan and Tom care for the children, mentor theyoung women in training, teach English, help with

repairs, ferry children in their truck, and participatein all aspects of life at ICH. As self-funded lay

missionaries, they rely on support from individualsand churches to carry out their work in Irente.

We ask all SEPA Synod congregations to pray

regularly for the MacPhersons as they share Godslove walking shoulder to shoulder with brothersand sisters in Christ in Tanzania.

To find out more about their experiences,

please read their blog at

http://macphersonmission.blogspot.com/.

Heres a sneak peek to what you will find:

Susan & Tom MacPherson,

SEPA Synod Lay Missionaries

in Tanzania -

Friday, January 17, 2014

Our trip to Germany -Christmas 2013

Last year, we had the pleasure of a visitfrom our son Chris and his wife Abigail over

the Christmas holidays. This year, they

invited us to spend the holidays with them intheir new home in Stuttgart, Germany. Aftertwo Christmases away from home, we felt it

would be great to experience a coldChristmas. As some of you may know,

Christmas with palm trees and hot weatheris hard to understand when you are from the

Philadelphia area.

Larger C urc


5/10

5 Volunteer Values

VOLUNTEER VALUESDid you ever think about how many hours

are volunteered at St. Johns. Well start with

Sunday morning. The acolyte, worship

assistant and lector are all volunteers. Then

we have the communion assistants, ushers

and sound system people. Oh then someone

has to count the offering and put together the

coffee hour. I almost forgot my favorite thechoir. This is just Sunday morning.

Joyceputs together great receptions for art

shows. Robertahas been working on

cleaning and organizing the many rooms and

little corners of the church. Barbara Lawson

has been helping in the office t

wo Tuesdays a month.

We could use more help with the

office Tuesday afternoon and

Wednesday.

Maybe you had an idea of something that

needs to be taken care of. But you just didnt

know how to start. If you just call and ask

someone will help you get started.

You could be in the

VOLUNTEER VALUESnext month

telling us what project you have

volunteered to get started.

Volunteer Seller Needed

If you have experience selling items on

Craigslist or Ebay, and would be willing todonate your time to sell unused items to

benefit St. Johns, contact Pastor Donna or

Roberta.

Simply GivingSeveral members of St. Johns already use

Simply Giving as their way of making

their offerings to St. Johns. Forms are

available at the church or contact the churchoffice so one can be mailed to you.

Contact Peter Rasmussen

for more details.

Thanks to:

Ken Kretschmer, Jerry Coyle

and Roberta Coylefor a lot oflittle "fixes" around the

building. St. John's is lookingbetter every day!


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St. Johns Spring Meeting 2014

Congregational Life


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6:30 PM EgliseFrancophoneWorship

10AM St. Johns Worship11:00 AM Coffee Hour11:30 EgliseFrancophone Worship11:30 Social Ministryand Parsonage Comte.

Palm Sunday10AM St. Johns Worship11:00 AM Coffee Hour11:30 Council Meeting

1:30 Eglise Francophone Worship

10AM St. Johns Worship11:00 AM Coffee Hour11:30 EgliseFrancophone Worship

7:30 PM Choir

6:30 PMEgliseFrancophoneWorship

6:30 PMEgliseFrancophoneWorship7PMtransition

team

6:30 PMEglise

FrancophoneWorship

6:30 PMEgliseFrancophoneWorship

6:30 PM EgliseFrancophoneWorship

6:30 PM EgliseFrancophone Worship

CHIMER

Deadline

7:30 PM Choir

7:30 PM Choir

7:30 PM Choir

6:30 PMEgliseFrancophone

Worship

MaundyThursday7:30 p.m.

7:30 Good Friday

P A S S O V E R 14TH 22ND P A S S O V E R 14TH 22ND

P A S S O V E R 14TH 22ND

7:00 PMPassion/Poetry study

7:00 PMPassion/Poetry study

Easter Sunday10AM St. Johns Worship11:00 AM Coffee Hour11:30 Eglise Francophone Worship

Earth Day7:30 PM

Choir

21st thru 29 thPastor Donna

on vacationHelpingHands Day9:30-4:30

11:30 Book Club


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From the Council

The Council met on March 16th.

Here are some of the things we did.

Decided to put the big cross outside duringLent.

We continued to discuss ways to cutexpenses.

Looking into different proposals for thecopier in the office.

Discussed the other goals that Council hasestablished for the year.

We received updates from all committees.

Church Council will meet again on

April 13th

at 11:30am.

From the Council & Staff Stuff

From the Music Director

Musicians love to celebrate anniversaries. Most often, we honorthe birthdays of great composers or legendary performers. On

Sunday June 1st at 3:00 pm, well celebrate a different milestone inthe life of this congregation; the 50th

anniversary of the installation

of our M. P. Moller pipe organ.

As Eastertide draws to a close, please plan to join us to celebrate ahalf-century of service from this one- of- a- kind, commissioned

work of art. The performance will feature St. Johns Organist andMusic Director Chuck Griffin and will include works for organ as

well as orchestral music transcribed for organ.

Jesus Passion Through Poetry

Lenten study continues on

Thursday nights in the Hagan

Room, 7:00-8:15 p.m.

April 3 and April 10.

Transition Events

May 18

Community Needs Event

June 8

Mission Voting


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Easter Flower Order FormE a s t e r S u n d a y i s A p r i l 2 0 t h 2 0 1 4

If you would like to order flowers to decorate the church for Easter, please fill out this form andplace it with your payment in the offering basket. You could also mail it to

St. Johns Lutheran Church, 1224 Melrose Avenue, Elkins Park, PA 19027.The last day to order flowers is Sunday April 13th, 2014 Palm Sunday) .

You may take your flowers home with you after the 10: 00 AM Service on Easter Sunday

Flowers Offered:

Hydrangea ----------------------------------- $ 18 eachAzalea ----------------------------------- $ 18 eachTulips ----------------------------------- $ 12 eachMums ----------------------------------- $ 12 each

Name of donor s) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please circle one: I n M e m o r y o f or I n H o n o r o f __________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Hydrangea ------------------ $ 18 each Quantity ______ Total ______Azalea ------------------ $ 18 each Quantity ______ Total ______Tulips ----------------- $ 12 each Quantity ______ Total ______Mums ------------------ $ 12 each Quantity ______ Total ______

Please make checks payable to St. Johns Lut heran Church, Melrose Park.If you have any questions, please contact the church off ice: 215 635-3465

Amount Enclosed ______________________________ Thank you for your order.


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Welcomefrom the staff of St. Johns

Donna Wright, Interim [email protected]

David Lembo, Parish [email protected]

Chuck Griffin, Jr, Director of MusicSibyl Weidner, Design Specialist

Volunteer StaffSunday School Coordinator:Norajean Flanagan

Office:Roberta CoyleParish Activities:Steve Brown

Congregational Leaders!"#$%&&"' )%**+,,""-Allison Nguyen,

Bob Baetke, Joyce Rasmussen,and Marcia Boraas

Financial Resources:Tim TerryProperty Resources:Tim Terry

Social Ministry:Norajean Flanagan

FellowshipCoffee Hour:Sue Kershner & Steve Brown

St. Johnsmen:Steve Brown & John Kopyar

Ruth Circle:Joan Seader

Worship & ArtsWorship:Joyce Rasmussen & Bob Baetke

Arts:Cindy RaffAltar Care:Fran & Roger Pinnel

Sacristan:Roger Pinnel

Flowers:Johnny Bruno

Officers of the 2014 Church CouncilBob Baetke - President

Johnny Bruno Vice PresidentChris Suloff Secretary

Josh Pinnel - Financial SecretaryTim Terry - Treasurer

Other Council Members:Roberta Coyle, Janet Leech, & Peter Rasmussen,

Pr. Donna Wright

The CHIMEREditor & Design:Sibyl Weidner

Photographer:Bert Glenn

CHIMER Copyright 2014

St. Johns Lutheran Church of Melrose Park, PA

Whos Who at St. Johns

CHIMER Deadlines: April 16thfor May

2014, May 21stfor June 2014, June 18thfor

July/August 2014, August 20thfor September 2014September 17

thfor October 2014

Your voice is welcome in the CHIMER.

Material submitted beyond the deadline may or

may not be included.

Adult Forum RoomApril 27th11:45 am

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