Shenkel United Church of Christ SHARINGS AND CONCERNS June 2010 SHENKEL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 1580 Shenkel Road Pottstown PA 19465 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Shenkel United Church of Christ’s “The NEWSLETTER” is a monthly publication prepared, edited, and mailed by the leadership and staff to all members and friends of the church. It communicates news about our life, purpose, and mission as a Church of Jesus Christ. Information related to our partnership as a member of the United Church of Christ and wider church/community out- reach is included on a regular basis. The Church is located at Unionville & Shenkel Roads in North Coventry Township.
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Shenkel United
Church of Christ
SHARINGS AND CONCERNS
June 2010
SHENKEL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
1580 Shenkel Road
Pottstown PA 19465
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
Shenkel United Church of Christ’s “The NEWSLETTER” is a monthly publication prepared, edited, and mailed by the leadership and staff to all members and friends of the church. It communicates news about our life, purpose, and mission as a Church of Jesus Christ. Information related to our partnership as a member of the United Church of Christ and wider church/community out-reach is included on a regular basis. The Church is located at Unionville & Shenkel Roads in North Coventry Township.
June 2010 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2
Prayer Team Class 6:30 PM Agape 7 PM
3
Community Lunch Bunch Indoor Picnic 11:30 AM—1:30 PM
4 5
6
Communion
7
8
Spiritual Council 7 PM Consistory 7:30 PM
9 Prayer Team Class 6:30 PM
10 11 12
13 Last
Sunday School
Healing Prayers
All
14 15 16 Prayer Team Class 6:30 PM Peace Service 7 PM
17 Healing
Prayers Gath-ering 9:15 AM
Meeting 6:30 PM
18 19
20
One service of worship 9:30 AM inside
21 22 23 24 25 26
27
One service of worship 9:30 AM — Last service inside for summer.
28
Community Meal at Noon
29
30 Begins Sunday, July 4th. See page 7 for details.
1580 Shenkel Road, Pottstown PA 19465 610.326.3535
Secretary: Judy Embriani Newsletter Editor: Kim Metzger Assistant Editor: Bill Baseley
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not driven to despair… struck down, but not destroyed…”
- 2 Corinthians 4:8
Over the past month, my brother and sister-in-law, who live in Boston and are HUGE
Celtics fans, got me hooked on the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The first game I caught on TV was Game 3 – the Celtics and the Cavaliers were tied 1-
1, and the Cavs crushed the Celtics 124-95, even though the game was played on the
C’s home turf! Even my sister-in-law, Penny, was skeptical that her ―boys‖ would be
able to overcome LeBron James again, so it was with great trepidation that I tuned in to
Game 4, and watched with amazement (and much heart pounding) as Boston took it –
97-87!
Game 5 was back in Cleveland, so everyone wondered if the Celtics would be able to
keep up their incredible performance away from home, but they blew the Cavs away
with a 120-88 final score, and then finished up the division playoffs 4-2 with a 94-85
victory back on their home court a few days later.
Now I have no idea what Coach Doc Rivers said to his team after their devastating
Game 3 defeat, but I suspect it was something very similar to what the Apostle Paul
said to his colleagues in ministry in Corinth (see quote above) when things were not
going so well for them. Words have great power to renew hope and to inspire people to
live up to their best potential.
Of course, Paul prefaced his comments with the reminder that ―we have this treasure in
clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and
does not come from us.‖ As the angel reminded the prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 4:6):
―Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the LORD of hosts.‖
Being faced with adversity or challenge is no time to give up – it’s time to renew our
trust in the source of all human strength. Let’s ―coach‖ each other to remember God’s
Pentecost promise that God’s Spirit – ―a spirit of power and of love and of self-
discipline‖ (see 2 Timothy 1:7) will be with us always and at all times. Thanks be to
God who gives us the victory!
Be God’s,
Pastor Bonnie
PAGE 4 SHENKEL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
JUNE
EARLY
LATE
6/6
Jessie and Barbara
Painter
NEED SPONSOR
Ron & Carol Pearson
Barry Miller
Barb Burhans
Richard Golden
Wayne Klein
Vera Hoff
6/13
Tootie and Louise
Hine
NEED SPONSOR
Dick and Verna
Walters
The Mocarski
Family
6/20
Stan and Carol Stubbe
NEED SPONSOR
ONE SERVICE ONLY
INSIDE AT 9:30 AM
Cameron and Olivia Dushanko
6/27
NEED SPONSOR
NEED SPONSOR
ONE SERVICE ONLY
INSIDE AT 9:30 AM
Connie and Sam Armbruster
In church each Sunday, you can sponsor altar flowers, bulletins, or “Flours.” “Flours” is a collection of pantry items or monetary donations to the pan-try. If a cash donation to the pantry is made, a wheat arrangement will be placed on the altar. Altar flowers are $30.00 and bulletin dedications are $6.50. Food Sculptures are also gladly accepted.
Look for the pretty new envelopes in the narthex for you to use to make your dedications. The yellow one is specifically to order altar flowers/”flours” or to announce the donation of a food sculpture. The green one is to be used only for bulletins. Hopefully, this will simplify the process.
But please, do not submit payment without an envelope. This makes it difficult for proper bookkeeping. When your envelope is completed, you should then sign your name on the chart in the narthex by the appropriate date and put your envelope either in the collection plate or drop in the secretary’s mailbox on the wall next to the office door. Thank you!
Healing Prayers
We have healing prayers during both ser-vices on the second Sunday of each month. It is our hope that you will use this opportunity to participate. During the collec-tion of the offering, anyone who desires prayer for themselves or on behalf of an-other is invited to go to come to the front of church, where a prayer team will join you for prayer. A prayer team will also be avail-able in the front of the church at the conclusion of the ser-vice.
Healing prayers are also of-fered the third Thursday of every month at 9:15 a.m. in the sanctuary. Anyone in need of prayers for themselves or on behalf of another is welcome !
REMEMBER….Weather permitting, outdoor worship in the Grove begins
July 4th with one service only at 9:30 AM. See article on page 7..
PAGE 5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW.….
ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL Every Sunday at
9:30 a.m. in the social room June 6 - THE HOLY LANDS (part 2) ... Forrest & Betty Kreiger
The Pottstown Cluster Outreach Center is now open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM -12:00 PM for client services and to accept donations.
Breaking News!! PCRC Finds A Permanent Home
After more than 15 years of searching, PCRC has found a new home at 57 N. Franklin Street. Thank you to all of our friends and supporters for your prayers and encouragement throughout the search process. We invite your ongoing sup-port as we prepare our new home for our use. Please visit our site often to keep informed about our progress.
FOR JUNE…. Pantry needs: Diapers (Size 4,5,6) and baby wipes
Clothes Closet and Housewares: Glad Trash Bags (30 gallon size), Boys' pants (size 10); Spring and Summer Clothes (sizes 2T Boys, 2T girls, and 12 months, boys) and Queen, King and Full Sheets Thank you.
Page 7
IT’S GETTING CLOSER…...but there’s still time to sign up for our fun night at the Reading Phillies. The date is Thursday, July 22nd - Fireworks, of course! Tickets cost $9.00 each. Children able to share your seat are free. 40 tickets have been reserved. First come, first served! Look for more in-formation and a sign up chart in the Narthex. Transportation by bus is provided, leaving the church at 5:15 PM.
The last day of Sunday School
is fast approaching and with the
help of the Board of Christian
Education, we will again have
an all church picnic after the
late service. The date is June 13, 2010. We will be
serving fried chicken from Jerry’s Fried Chicken in
Pottstown and we will also have birch beer on tap.
Games and activities will be led by Andrew and Linda
Foss. What you need to bring – your place settings, a
side dish/salad or dessert to share. Please sign up on
the sheet in the narthex. COME JOIN THE FUN!
AND DON’T
FORGET….
The Pottstown Cluster Food Bank
collection at Shenkel is the 1st Sunday of each month. Please place
your items in the large plastic bins in the narthex.
AND...Please bring in your used cell phones
and empty ink cartridges and place them in the box across from the
nursery, or in the box located on the coat rack shelf
across from the office. These cartridges are re-cycled to
Staples, and the church receives credits toward the pur-
chase of office supplies.
The used cell phones are given to the police department
to be distributed to abused women.
Summer worship begins on Sunday, June
20th, with ONE SERVICE at 9:30 a.m. IN-SIDE. Sunday, June 27th will be the same.
Beginning on July 4th, we will worship at 9:30 a.m. in the Grove, weather permitting. Sum-
mer worship is informal – lawn chairs and beach blankets are welcome!
In preparation for the 2010-2011 school year, we
are looking for Sunday School Teachers. If you are
interested, please contact Stacia Bradley at stacia-
To top it all off, you’ll get to build yourself a sundae!
Each person (or couple) is asked to bring a food dish
(casserole or salad) to share for the picnic. Drinks and spe-
cial ice cream and fixings for the sundaes will be provided
for dessert.
Don’t miss this last event before we break for Summer.
Come and bring a friend!
Sign-up sheet is in the narthex.
Prayer Shawl Ministry
The Prayer Shawl Ministry
meets every third Wednesday
morning at 9:30 AM and every
third Thursday evening of the
month from 7-9 PM. The dates
for this month are May 19th
and 20th. Our labors of love
are available to anyone of any age or circum-
stance who requests a shawl. If you know of
someone who would benefit from having a
prayer shawl for any reason, or if you are in-
terested in joining us, please contact June Har-
tung at 610-323-5617.
THE SHENKEL
QUILTERS
The Shenkel Quilters have every-
thing ready for the quilt showing
and raffle. We will be displaying
the quilt and explaining the raffle
at an early and late church ser-
vice. The exact Sunday has yet to be decided, but it will
be very soon. The quilt will be displayed at several
church events. You will have plenty of opportunity to pur-
chase the raffle tickets. We worked many hours on the
quilt and are excited to show it to you. We hope you will
help us aid Pastor Bryan Sirchio with his mission to help
the Haitian children. Please think of friends, co-workers,
and neighbors that might be interested in our raffle. Kim
Yocom has generously offered her talent to take pictures
of the quilt. This will enable us to show the quilt we are
raffling. We are so thrilled to learn that Pastor Sirchio
will be visiting us in October and performing a concert
for the church and community. The quilt drawing will be
on November 21st at the Community Thanksgiving
Meal. If you would like to read more about Bryan's mis-
sion, the website is www.haitipartnersmcc.org. All this
information is on the raffle ticket. The dates for our
quilt meetings in June are: Tuesdays the 8th and 22th at
9:30am in the Church Social Hall. Margie Allen
Shenkel is on Facebook! Search Shenkel
United Church of Christ and become a fan.
PAGE 8
“Towels For Pals” A confirmation project by Sami Terrell
(collecting towels & blankets for needy animals in our area)
Would you like to help the needy animals in our community by providing them with a soft and comfy spot to rest? If so, please consider donating your un-wanted bath & beach towels as well as blankets to my confirmation project titled “Towels for Pals.”
All you need to do is bring them to church between now and
our church picnic, which is June 13th, and place them in the
large plastic bin designated for “Towels for Pals.” I will wash
all the items and provide them to the local shelters in our
area.
And if you can’t make it to church and would still like to do-
nate your towels, please call or e-mail me and I will stop by
and pick them up from your house. I will even bring my spe-
cial pal, my puppy Daisy, to visit with you.
Thank you for your willingness to help me with my confirma-
STEWARD’S CORNER Lately I’ve been hearing about some of our members going out into the community and participating in some wonderful programs of entertainment! Wow! How cool is that? First it was a school play in which Collin Gray portrayed pharaoh, his brother, Lucas, sang with the children’s chorus, and Taylor Helmers and Jordan Caplan sang and danced in this musical at the OJR school. Next, I heard about a program in Pottstown called “Dancing with the Stars”, a fund raiser to benefit the Pottstown Foundation for Education. Our very own dancer,
Christine Durham, made her costume, figured out the dance steps, practiced with her partner, and won FIRST PLACE!! I remember hearing a Sunday School teacher reading the story of Moses’ sister, Miriam, who took a tambou-rine and began singing and dancing when Pharaoh (the real one, not Collin Gray) released the Israelites and the Red Sea waters opened enough to get them to freedom. All the women in the group joined Miriam as she danced. Dancing is an active verb, a fine art, a sign of happiness and delight. We applaud our members who have danced as a show of their talent, a sharing of joy. They have given of their time and talents for a worthy cause. There is a song that Lee Ann Womack made famous a few years ago – “I HOPE YOU DANCE” It’s a song with a great message.
I HOPE YOU NEVER LOSE YOUR SENSE OF WONDER, MAY YOU NEVER TAKE ONE SINGLE BREATH FOR GRANTED. MAY LOVE NEVER LEAVE YOU EMPTY-HANDED, WHENEVER ONE DOOR CLOSES, I HOPE ONE MORE OPENS. PROMISE ME THAT YOU’LL GIVE FAITH A FIGHTING CHANCE. AND WHEN YOU GET THE CHOICE TO SIT IT OUT OR DANCE — I HOPE YOU DANCE! NEVER SETTLE FOR THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE, LIVIN’ MIGHT MEAN TAKIN’ CHANCES— BUT THEY’RE WORTH TAKIN’. TIME IS A WHEEL IN CONSTANT MOTION, ALWAYS ROLLING US ALONG, AND WHEN YOU GET THE CHOICE TO SIT IT OUT OR DANCE — I HOPE YOU DANCE! TELL ME, WHO WANTS TO LOOK BACK ON THEIR YEARS AND WONDER WHERE THOSE YEARS HAVE GONE? I HOPE YOU DANCE…I HOPE YOU DANCE!!!
Shenkel UCC celebrates the sacrament of Holy Communion at both services on the first
Sunday of each month. Each time communion is served, some of the bread and non-
alcoholic wine that has been consecrated at the altar will be saved in a traveling commun-
ion kit, ready to go to the homes or hospital rooms of members who were unable to be
present, and would like to receive the sacrament. Please let Pastor Bonnie know if you, or
someone you know, would appreciate ―distance-communing‖ with their Shenkel Church
family!
AS ALWAYS AT SHENKEL…
IN JUNE, SHENKEL WILL BE PRAYING FOR: 6/6 Barb and Bill Burhans
Kay and George Ellis
Sherri, Bob and Ben Mocarski Derek Painter Lynne and Cody Moyer 6/13 Jennifer Hauze
Anna Bevan
Meredith Hampton
Lindsay Hoff Ruth Klein
6/20 Alyssa, Mike, Nike and Nate Rice
Henrietta and Carl Kurtz
Connie and Sam Armbruster Claire and Jim Faust Eric Klein
6/27 Karen , Dave, Sierra and Kyle Miller and Emily and Olivia Sakal Melanie, Tony, Matthew and David Ellis
Crystal, Everett and Tyler Burhans
June and Frank Hartung
PAGE 11
06/01 June Helfrich 06/01 Barbara Luckenbach 06/01 Barry Yocom 06/02 NICOLE CHRISTMAN 06/03 Barbara Painter 06/04 Anthony Iezzi 06/05 Robyn Apgar 06/06 Samantha Terrell 06/07 Margie Allen 06/09 SHARON SABO 06/10 ANGEL HERD 06/13 DAWN YOCOM 06/14 TOOTIE HINE 06/14 KRISTEN YANNICK 06/16 David Derman 06/16 Elizabeth Bevan 06/18 Marie Bade 06/19 Doug Johnson 06/19 Myles MCCULLAGH 06/20 STEVEN COMISHOCK 06/20 KELLY DWINCHICK 06/20 REBECCA NESTER 06/22 ALEXIS MOSER 06/24 Olivia Sakal 06/25 Kenneth Bevan 06/25 William Keim 06/25 JEREMY HAMPTON 06/28 Stanley Stubbe 06/28 David Lloyd 06/29 Logan Baker 06/30 JOANN MCKIERNAN 06/30 Steve Terrell 06/30 GABRIELLA MEGNI 06/30 Michael Zurek