February’s Worship Schedule
(Worship begins at 9:30am; Sunday School at 10:45am)
“Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” Isaiah 40:5
The Lord, our God, speaks through our worship time together. Join us in worship in this season of Epiphany as we celebrate Christ at work in our church and world. Come and listen to God’s word spoken through scripture, song, and word.
I’ll see you in worship!
Pastor Matt
February 2: Theme for the week: Restoring Beauty
The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Scripture readings for the week
Old Testament: Micah 6:1-8
Psalter: Psalm 15
Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
February 9: Theme for the week: From the Heart
The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Scripture readings for the week
Old Testament: Isaiah 58:1-9a
Psalter: Psalm 112:1-10
Gospel: Matthew 5:13-20
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 2:1-16
February 16: Theme for the week: Expanding Boundaries
The Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
Scripture readings for the week
Old Testament: Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Psalter: Psalm 119:1-8
Gospel: Matthew 5:21-37
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9
February 23: Theme for the week: Dazzling Reign
Transfiguration Sunday
Scripture readings for the week
Old Testament: Exodus 24:12-18
Psalter: Psalm 2
Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9
Epistle: 2 Peter 1:16-21
Transportation Assistance: If you, or someone you know, needs a ride to church or any church-related event, please contact the church office, 445-4534.
Emailing the church and Pastor Matt: If you need to email the pastor or the church, please direct your email to jmdeal@gmail.com–Thanks!
The church office email is stpaulsuccoffice1@gmail.com
February’s Meetings at a Glance (available at press time)
Thursday, February 6th: Care Team, 1:00pm, CE Room
Tuesday, February 18th: Church Council, 7:00pm in the CE Room.
Saturday, February 22nd: Men’s Brotherhood, 8:00am, King’s Restaurant
February’s Greeters & Ushers
February 2nd: Mike Stutzman-Chair & Elder, Barb Stutzman-Elder, Sue Willison, Gary Cameron
February 9th: Peg Roy-Chair, Amy Marteeny, Craig Schenck, Patrick Ferko
February 16th: Craig Weaver-Chair, Harold Weaver, Kim Keim, Ray Toy
February 23rd: Barb Davies-Chair, Sienna Ash, Joan Martz, Lisa Yeckley
Ash Wednesday, February 26th: Barb Roth-Chair, Tim Witt, Deb Rose, Ella Witt
St. Paul’s is on Facebook! Be sure to “Like” us to keep up with updates and events.
Book of Remembrance forms are in the literature rack in the narthex. If you wish to give a gift in memory of or in honor of a loved one, please use this form. You can place it in your offering envelope along with your monetary gift or you can bring it to the office. We save these forms for documentation until the Book of Remembrance is published in the newsletter twice a year. Thank you for taking the time to submit the form.
Bible Study: Bible Studies following worship themes will be held on Tuesdays at 10:00am in the Salem Chapel.
The Men’s Brotherhood. The Men’s Brotherhood will meet for breakfast on Saturday, February 22nd at 8:00am at King’s Restaurant. All men of the church are invited to attend!
New Member Sunday
We will be welcoming new members into our church family during worship on Sunday, February 16th. Please speak to Pastor Matt if you’d like to be part of the new member group.
St. Paul’s Youth “Souper Bowl of Caring”
On Sunday, February 2, 2020 St. Paul’s Youth group will be collecting nonperishable food items to benefit the Somerset Food Pantry. The food that we collect will be weighed and entered into the grand total for food collected at UCC churches around the country. United Church of Christ youth and congregations raised $250,000 and over 900 hours of donated time during the Souper Bowl of Caring Service Blitz. Bring your canned goods to worship and place them at the altar rail. Together we can make Super Bowl Sunday truly “Souper!”
February ’s Mission Offering –The Good Samaritan Fund
Throughout the year our church serves the needs of the poor and transients in our community through providing temporary lodging, food, eviction prevention, emergency funding for medical assistance, and heating assistance. St. Paul’s Good Samaritan Fund helps to make this important ministry possible. Thanks to your generosity, we’ve been able to better live out Christ’s commandment to love God and neighbor. We’ve been able to heal, shelter, feed, and give hope to countless neighbors.
Winter at St. Paul’s
Our inclement weather policy is that we will worship whenever two or three are gathered. However, we ask that you use your judgement when venturing out in bad weather. We’d love for you to worship with us, but rather you’d be safe than end up in the hospital. Regular Sunday worship begins at 9:30am, followed by Sunday school at 10:45am.
Tuesday Bible Study: Bible Study will be cancelled anytime the Somerset Area School District is cancelled or delayed.
We will endeavor to keep our website updated with recent sermons and devotional materials so that your spirit may be warmed even during our blustery Somerset County winter.
Lent Is Just Around the Corner! Ash Wednesday is February 26th. This holy time reminds us of Christ’s loving acts that lead up to his suffering, death, and resurrection. Over the next couple of months a number of events and devotionals will be offered to assist you during your Lenten faith journey. The journey begins on Ash Wednesday, February 26th. Worship will begin at 7:00pm and will include the imposition of ashes.
Love for the World Presents: A Taste of the World
Last August we held our first ever Love for the World event. Those members and friends who helped to plan the event wanted to offer an event to the community to celebrate our unity and help raise awareness of the needs of children and families near and far. We welcomed around 30 community partners to Shellenberger Park as they staffed informational tables profiling the work of their organizations. Roughly 200 of our neighbors attended and over 40 of you helped to volunteer to make Love for the World a big success.
Love for the World has almost organically become a mission and outreach ministry of our church. In other words, the Holy Spirit sure has been at work, even outpacing church staff and our committees! Just as God so loved the world that he sent Jesus into the world, we too are called to love the world. Over the the upcoming year you will periodically be seeing “Love for the World” promoted in our church and community. We are doing this because of the warm reception our church received in the community following the August event and because we feel that God is calling us to continue that kind of community building work. As such, there will likely be follow up Love for the World events and mission opportunities that further bring together our congregation and the community.
Our next Love for the World event is an ethnic food festival called “A Taste of the World.” We are planning to have 4 to 6 stations set up around Fellowship Hall where participants can partake of food from all around the globe. All of the food will be prepared by community members who have roots in those locales. Children’s activities will also be available in the Salem Chapel (story-time room) and the Youth Room (games and cultural activities from around the world). Taste of the World will take place on Saturday, March 7th from 4-7pm.
Please don’t hesitate to talk to Jenn Boland or myself if you’d like to help with A Taste of the World.
-Pastor Matt
Confirmation Class Schedule
Confirmands will meet in the church library at 11am on the following Sundays:
Sunday, February 8th
Sunday, February 22nd
Valentine Making Party
Plan to join the Women’s Fellowship and children for the traditional “Valentines for Shut-ins” party. We will be gathering in the CE room on SATURDAY, February 1st from 10-11. We will be helping the children after they finish their choir practices. At 11:00 there will be a light lunch for everyone! Please plan to attend this fun event to provide an outreach to our shut-in friends and work with children. Hope to see you there!
January 27, 2020
Church News