TO KNOW CHRIST AND TO MAKE HIM KNOWN
Over the past 3 weeks we have put out over 1,200 frozen meals, plus misc. products – oatmeal, pancake mix, grits, pasta, fresh fruit, eggs, some dairy, frozen vegetables, a little cocoa mix for the kids and toilet paper. We also have vinyl gloves if needed. All of this is because of the great cooperation, support and donations from BAM and our local churches and their members.
Continue Reading →Dear Sisters and Brothers in Jesus Christ,
These are challenging times both spiritually and materially. Yet as we hunker down to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and others, the work of the church in proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ continues even expands to meet new and pressing needs. I am happy to share with you that the freezer ministry, which began at East Hills and spread in the past few years to all Bethlehem Area Moravian congregations, has been asked to provide 400 meals to persons living in Moravian Towers 1 and 2 in downtown Bethlehem. Feeding the hungry is certainly a Biblical way of making Christ known.
Previously the county was able to provide these meals. Yet the weekly influx of non-residents into a senior living community, coupled with high rates of occupancy in the dining area became too risking as the transmission of Covid 19 in the Lehigh Valley accelerated and the meals were canceled.
Fortunately, the BAM Freezer Ministry was there to step in and fill an acute need. Recent cooking events at East Hills Moravian Church had filled two industrial freezers with quarts of soup, rice and sausage dishes, macaroni and cheese, etc. just waiting to be distributed and warmed up. Who would have thought that a kitchen facility mainly used as a staging area for church dinners would become a vital asset to the surrounding community and a source of hope for those facing food insecurity?
Sadly I expect the need to increase as many persons are out of work without unemployment benefits. Early this week I, therefore, sent a grant request to Bethlehem Area Moravians for $8000 to support this ministry. They approved it and we should soon receive the funding. Should any member of the congregation, or a neighbor of a member, or a friend, etc. find themselves running short of food, please reach out to the church.
Thank you to all who have made this ministry possible. Even if we can’t include you in cooking at the present time due to limits on how many persons can be gathered in one space, know that your volunteerism in the past has filled the freezers for moments such as this. The contributions of congregation members to the annual budget has provided funds for the gas, electricity, and facilities to make this outreach possible.
Of course, as followers of Jesus, we don’t live by bread alone. Your congregational lay leaders and I are trying to provide opportunities for us to worship, learn remotely, and continue to connect with one another. We know that spiritual connection becomes more important during times of physical isolation. Please make note of such opportunities in the weekly emails and share them with others who may not have heard of them.
Our Board will be contacting members of the congregation to check on their well being. We ask that all members help us care for each other. If you or someone you are aware of has physical, emotional, or spiritual needs during this time of social distancing and quarantine please contact me or one of our elected lay leaders.
Peace, grace, and good health to you and your loved ones,
Pastor Derek
The following events have been canceled as well:
If you missed this week’s worship service, check out the recording on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/o7sq3_NpNHE. We ran into some technical difficulties streaming it live, so do please, bookmark our YouTube channel as we will post the service there if live streaming is unstable like it was this morning.
Have a prayer request? Please email the church office at office@easthillsmc.org. We will not be mentioning persons by other than first name during worship or delving too deeply into individual circumstances since the YouTube broadcast is literally available to the world. We soon will have a new prayer list which will contain the information normally present in the Sunday morning bulletin insert.
For pastoral concerns, contact Pastor Derek via email at pastorfrench@easthillsmc.org, via text message or through Facebook messenger. His personal and cell number are available to members in the East Hills Moravian Church directory. If you do not have one, please contact the office and we will send you a .pdf copy.
Our joint TREX Plastics Challenge has taken on a whole new dimension in the past few weeks, as we practice social distancing and worship from home. We encourage you to continue to gather your plastic bags and wrap for the TREX Plastics Challenge, so that, when we can return safely to church services, events, and committee meetings, we can bring in the accumulated plastic and continue toward our goal. By the way, when we suspended collection in mid-March, we had a total of 281 lbs. toward our first 500 lb. goal!! Excellent work! Thanks to all BAM church members for your participation!
Women’s Fellowship will be meeting virtually (via Zoom) on March 31st at 7:00 pm. All women are invited. To join this meeting you need a computer, a tablet, or a smartphone with a speaker, webcam and internet connectivity. To use Zoom, use this link https://zoom.us/j/608780222 prior to the meeting and download the Zoom app if you do not have it. To sign into the meeting, you click on the link https://zoom.us/j/608780222 and you will be connected. If you have used Zoom before you should not have to download the app again. If you have questions or problems signing in, you can contact Lucy Thompson.
In addition, everyone should have their study book Sitting at Table in the Kingdom of God and a Bible. If you don’t have a study book, don’t worry, we will be reading the lesson together. The lesson is Session 6 “The Table in John’s Upper Room” John 13:1-20. So, make yourself a hot beverage and please join us.
This coming Wednesday is the last of our mid-week Lenten series: Encounters with Jesus. On April 1st, join us for “On to Jerusalem.” Resources will be mailed out during the day on Wednesday. These will include scripture references, questions for reflection, and links to online videos. If you wish, you are invited to join us for an online discussion through the Zoom application. SPECIAL THANKS: to Peter Diehl for coming up with the idea for the program.
All are invited to join the East Hills Moravian Church book club on Monday, April 27th at 7 pm in the parlor where we will discuss The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. Questions? Contact: Amy Frantz Gross at bartlet4pres@yahoo.com for details about how this will be done if we are still operating remotely.
Please hold those with food shortages in your thoughts and prayers as changes at both the Northeast Community Center Foodbank and Second Harvest take place. We will not be collecting canned foods at this time, but if you’d like to continue to help with this effort, please mail a check in any amount to the church at 1830 Butztown Rd, Bethlehem, PA 18017. Please note “A Can a Week” on the memo line. Cash cards will be purchased to help meet the needs of the hungry at this time of stress and uncertainty.
Interested in helping to feed the hungry? Contact Rob Greenawald at 610-438-2626 or rgreenawald@rcn.com for more information or to volunteer.
Please note that we have online giving established for any donations you wish to make to East Hills Moravian Church. Check out our Online Giving page for more details. Help us to maintain our ministry, our facilities, but most importantly, our mission: “To Know Christ and Make Him Known.”
How are we doing that?
All Moravian congregations and fellowships in the Northern and Southern Provinces in the United States have online giving enabled through the Giving Portal at https://mmfa.info/givingportal/. The Moravian Ministries Foundation in America is happy to do its part to help Moravians support the ministries of their local churches and worship God with their tithes and offerings from the safety of home. Answers to frequently asked questions are available at: https://files.constantcontact.com/4979844f601/4ee20b1b-d3a0-4f5a-ac32-c1846e2e30f4.pdf
Thanks, so very much, for your ongoing support of the Northeast Community Center Foodbank. Food supplies are constantly changing, and in order to help keep all the shelves filled, it is best to focus on those most-needed items. At the present time, the greatest need is 100% juice, as well as pasta sauce, and non-spaghetti type pasta. There is also a need for reusable grocery bags, in addition to the plastic bags already being donated. Please also refer to our Facebook page for the most current updates.
Last summer, Bishop Sam Gray led a program at Camp Tar Hollow called “Come In & Go Out,” focused on preparing ourselves for the mission field. The key takeaway of the week was that we must have a strong relationship with Christ before we are ready to go out into the world and be advocates for him. This program really stuck with me as I entered my junior year of college and faced my final summer before graduation. Although the Moravian church has always been a huge part of my life, I felt that I could grow my relationship with Christ and get more involved in the community. I reached out to mentors that I had connected with through years of camps, youth groups, and Sunday schools, asking about possible opportunities to get further involved in the church. This led to a mission trip to Haiti as well as the Try-Ministry Internship at East Hills.
I started my summer in Haiti to extend the love of Christ to two orphanages in the region. Imagine Missions is a home to nearly 80 kids and hosts a school for many more. We spent our time there installing a dozen ceiling fans in the church so they could get some air movement in the constant heat. Although the church service was in French, it was definitely exciting to see how involved and energetic they get about worship.
While Imagine Missions has been around for many years and is well financed through a network of churches in the United States, the second orphanage we worked at is not so fortunate. Grace for Orphans Ministry was started by an orphan who aged out of the system and, because of his caring nature, has had 18 children dropped off at his door. He preaches the word of God through his actions and was an example for our team on how we should treat one another. We were fortunate enough to have the funds to build a chicken coop and some shelves for the orphanage. When we weren’t fixing up the house, we were spending time with the kids showing them the kind of individual love that orphans don’t always get being in a large group.
After returning from Haiti, I made my way to Bethlehem, and, while I haven’t spent any time here before this summer, I have been welcomed by the community and shown genuine hospitality. This opportunity has allowed me to nurture my spiritual life and walk the path of ministry first-hand. Through meetings, visitations, and worship, I am able to see what the life of a pastor entails and I am extremely thankful for this enlightening and enjoyable experience.
Through my travels both to Haiti and East Hills, I am reminded of the dual responsibility I have as a Christian to be prepared and secure in my relationship with Christ before I go out into the mission field. I am so thankful for the opportunities that God has allowed me to be a part of this summer, and, while I have not committed to a life of ordained ministry yet, I have booked my next flight to Haiti. This December I will take my experiences from East Hills and “Go Out,” to Grace for Orphans Ministry and continue to show God’s love through word and action.
Matthew Spies
The church is, first and foremost, the gathered community of faith dedicated to following the example and teaching of its Lord, Jesus Christ. In I Peter 2:5, we are told that we are to be “like living stones… being built into a spiritual house… offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Yet, that gathered body of faith, benefits from a physical home in which the Word may be proclaimed, the Sacraments observed, and the milestones of life consecrated to God. A church building can testify eloquently, if silently, to the faith of those who worship within its walls.
That truth was brought home to me as I worshipped with my family in Greyfriars Kirk, Scotland, where our daughter had found a church home away from home during her semester of study abroad. Not only was I made to feel welcome by the faithful hospitality of the present generation, but I also was struck by the care with which this lovely sanctuary, built in 1620, had been maintained for the present generation. It was a gorgeous physical representation of the continuity of faith through all those generations, from its construction, until the present day. If a picture is worth a thousand words, the same can be said of an appropriately designed church of whatever style. Clearly, this space was the spiritual home of a community for whom God was central to their lives. Here was a body of faithful Christians for whom the spiritual virtue of hospitality was important.
The idea that a sacred building can express faith in a physical form is older than Christianity itself. The Old Testament prophet Haggai understood this well when he addressed the people of Israel:
This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.'” Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses (i.e., nice, modern houses), while this house remains a ruin?” Haggai 1: 2-4
I wish to express my deep gratitude for those who have pooled their resources together to make possible the renovations of our own church building so that it might better reflect God’s glory and the central role of faith in the lives of those who worship under the roof and within the walls of East Hills Moravian Church.
In the hallway between the narthex and my office are a couple of bulletin boards filled with Jim Knerr’s pictures of church activities. Together with our congregation’s mission statement, “To Know Christ, and Make Him Known,” these images help remind me of what East Hills Moravian Church is all about – nurturing faith, building community, and reaching out to serve the world for our Lord, Jesus Christ.
I see pictures of children and adults learning together about Jesus, or pictures of Confirmation and think of all whose faith has been nurtured within these walls. I see pictures of Rally Day, Adult Fellowship activities, and church fundraising dinners for mission trips and remember that our congregation is a place of face to face community in an age of virtual relationships. I see the pictures of hundreds of persons joining us to assemble food packages for Haiti, or members working to feed those who are hungry in our own community, and I rejoice that Christ is still reaching out to the world in love through his church.
Jesus saves us: he doesn’t mow the grass, take out the trash, fix the roof, or make the coffee.
Caught up as we often are in our own hectic lives, it’s easy to take the church for granted. When you think about it, the very fact that we can take the church for granted speaks to its grounding, stabilizing influence in our lives, and the blessings of religious freedom we enjoy in this country. The church was here before us and – we pray – will be here for us. The truth is none of the programming, fellowship, or outreach would happen without persons’ generous donation of time, effort, and money. I am reminded of words I heard years ago, growing up in my home congregation: “Jesus saves us: he doesn’t mow the grass, take out the trash, fix the roof, or make the coffee.”
As we anticipate another year of nurturing faith, building community, and reaching out to our
community and world to make Christ known, I invite you to join my family and others in our
congregation who …
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. – 1 Corinthians 15:58.
“But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” – 2 Corinthians 4:7
In this age of plastic I seldom think of clay jars, bottles or pots. On the rare occasions when I do, what normally springs to mind is the contents of the vessel – a flowering plant in a terra-cotta pot, port wine cheese in an earthenware crock or good Belgian ale made by Trappist monks in a ceramic bottle. The container adds a nice rustic note to the total experience but it is what is inside that really counts.
We may think of the institutional church as a clay jar into which God pours extraordinary gifts. Our congregation is a place for persons to grow in faith and to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” Building, ministry programs, and events add nice details to the total experience but members’ encounter with the Holy One who moves within and among believers wherever two or more gather in Jesus’ name is what really matters.
Pottery is generally durable but will break under the right circumstances. The church is a gathering of potentially fragile, sometimes broken, often fallible persons each carrying some life burden or facing some challenge. The frailty of members and the institution as a whole should serve to remind us that power and glory belong to God and not humans.
When we contribute financially to provide for the upkeep of the church building, staffing and programs, or set aside time to attend worship on a Sunday morning, we help insure the continued existence of the container – the clay jar – in which the sacred encounter with God can take place.
I hope you share my conviction about how important this is and will join me on Consecration Sunday, November 6th as we recommit ourselves individually and collectively to Christ’s work of forgiveness, reconciliation, and transformation.
Remember: Daylight Savings Time ends on November 6; turn your clocks back so you don’t miss worship or the celebration brunch!