St. Paul’s United Methodist Church 2131 Palomino Drive ▪ Warrington, PA ▪ 215.343.0230 ▪ stpaulsumcwarrington.org

Janet L. Saddel, Pastor Nancy Mongelli, Office Admin. ▪ Doug Tester, Organist/Choir Director ▪ Ray Washam, Handbell Choir Director

Apriil 2018

FLORIDA COURT SETS ATHEIST HOLY DAY

In Florida, an atheist created a case against the upcoming Easter and Passover Holy days. He

hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians, Jews and observances of their

holy days. The argument was that it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized days.

The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the

lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring, "Case dismissed!" The lawyer immediately stood

objecting to the ruling saying, "Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The

Christians have Christmas, Easter and others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and

Hanukkah, yet my Client and all other atheists have no such holidays."

The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, "But you do. Your client, counsel, is woefully

ignorant." The lawyer said, "Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or

holidays for atheists." The judge said, "The calendar says April 1st is April Fool’s Day. Psalm

14:1 states, 'The fool says in his heart, there is no God.' Thus, it is the opinion of this court,

that if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day.

Court is adjourned.”

The Herald Pa

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Yes, this is an April Fool’s Day article. It seemed rather timely with Easter falling on April 1st this year. And although it is joke of sorts, there is truth contained in this little “article.” Atheists make the claim that we don’t need to have a belief in God in order to be moral. They argue that we are intelligent enough to recognize the difference between good and bad. In this, I agree with them, because God has designed us this way intentionally, so that we might live our lives in peace with each other. We read in Romans 2 that God’s law “is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within us that echoes God's yes and no, right and wrong.” However, we also read, “Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God.” No one has an excuse for not believing in God, “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

Let us not be fools. Let us not only acknowledge our belief in God, but let us know God, truly know God. The only way to really know God is through His Son, Jesus the Christ. None of us are without excuse – God sent his one and only Son as a sacrifice for our sins, so that we might enter into relationship with him – which is only possible through Jesus.

As we enter into the season of Easter, let us rejoice in the Resurrection and share in the wonderful gift of Jesus, our Risen Lord and Savior! Knowing Him is the greatest thing in life!

Christ is Risen – He is Risen Indeed! iRomans 2:15 The Message Translation ii1 Corinthians 3:18-19 iiiRomans 1:20 NLT

Sunday’s…

Adult Sunday School 9 am Worship 10:30 am

Children’s Sunday School 10:40 am

Noisy Can Collection, the second Sunday of every month… Next collection: April 8

Prayer postcards are available near the Prayer Book in the Sanctuary for you to send as

a postcard to someone to let them know we have prayed for them in church.

Monday’s…Trustees 7–9 pm/April 16/Library

Tuesday’s…Church Council 7–9 pm/April 10/Cozens

Wednesday’s…Women’s Bible Study 12-2/Cozens

What’s Happening @ St. Paul’s... Standing Meetings, Groups & Programs

Like us on Facebook St. Paul’s UMC, Warrington

Thursday’s…

Handbells 6:30 pm & Choir 7:30 pm/Sanctuary

1st & 3rd Thursday’s & Saturday’s Food Pantry/6-8 pm Thursday/10-Noon Saturday

Saturday’s…Men’s Bible Study 8–10 am/Cozens/1, 3 & 5 Saturday

THE WOMEN OF ST. PAUL'S SPRING RETREAT:

Saturday, April 14 at St. Paul's!

We are so blessed to have Arline Sarley and

Betty Surrett again as our inspiring leaders!

Invite your neighbors, family & friends for a day of warm fellowship & spiritual thoughtfulness.

Prayer is a powerful weapon, but when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your father who is in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:6 The WAR ROOM Bible Study features five inspiring movie clips, and five challenging scriptural lessons adapted from the feature film, War Room. The Wednesday Women’s Bible Study will begin this new style of lesson, as our next study. We are finishing up the study on 1 John in the next week or so, and we would like to invite you to join us in this 5 week study. It is a fast moving 5 week commitment, and we would love for you to join us in this new study. The Warrington Fellowship Church is graciously loaning us the program and CD’s for this study, but you will need to have a study book of your own. The study book contains lessons on each part of the movie, and 3 days of home study each week. So you will want one in which to write your reactions and thoughts. I have participated in this study, and have learned a lot, and grown in my prayer life as well. I invite you to join us, as we embark on this study on prayer. I will be ordering books in the next week, so please let me know if you are interested. The books cost $8.00 apiece, and I will bulk order them, or you may purchase one on your own. Please let me know if you would like to join us in this study, which will begin April 18th. Our study time begins at 1 pm on Wednesday after-noons. If you would like to join us for a “fellowship brown bag it” time at 12:30, you are most welcome. I am looking forward to embarking on this new study with YOU. Marj Salmonsen 215.343.2033

Fellow members of St. Paul's Congregation:

Effective June of 2018 Pastor Janet will be moving to a church in

Lancaster, PA. On March 3rd the Staff Parish Relations Committee

(SPRC) met with our District Superintendent. At this meeting we

were informed that Janet was leaving. This move was subsequently

announced to the Congregation at the service on Sunday March

4th. This message is being sent in our effort to keep our

congregation informed about the situation and where things

currently stand. We do not yet know who our new Pastor will

be. The SPRC will be meeting with the DS again on March 20th to

learn who will be assigned to our church. SPRC will let everyone

know as soon as we are allowed to.

Thank you. Dan Kingsley, Chair of SPRC

The Staff Parish Relations Committee met with our incoming new

Pastor, The Rev. Dr. Irving Cotto (PhD). Irving has been a pastor

since 1977 working in the Reading, Lancaster and Camden (NJ)

areas. He was also Director of Congregational Development for

our Conference for several years. Most recently he is a District

Superintendent for the North District of our conference. He is

leaving the DS position because he wanted to be a church Pastor

again. Dr. Cotto is easy to talk to and has a welcoming

personality. He has the background and experience to help us

grow. He is a strong believer in visitation (beyond the shut-in and

hospital visits). He expressed interest in the Pre-School and a desire

to be involved with them. His official start date with us is July 1st.

Please pray for both pastors as they make their transitions into new

ministries and churches.

1 Judy Anderson

4 April Behrens

5 Nancy Mongelli

23 Pat Strang

27 Beth Bechtold

Ann Groves

April Birthdays...

Wednesday Evenings at St. Paul’s

Join us this first Wednesday of April on the 4th at

6:45 pm to see the movie “Risen” and see the

resurrection from a different perspective! Bring

your favorite snack and bring a friend.

In the weeks that follow we will gather in

Cozens Hall and be discussing the theology

based in scripture that is found in that great

work of fiction, “The Screwtape Letters”

by C.S. Lewis. Find a copy of the book, read

ahead and join us beginning April 11th at

7:00 pm.

A masterpiece of satire, this classic has

entertained and enlightened readers the world

over with its sly and ironic portrayal of human

life from the vantage point of Screwtape, a

highly placed assistant to "Our Father Below."

At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and

strikingly original, C.S. Lewis gives us the

correspondence of the worldly-wise old devil

to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon in

charge of securing the damnation of an

ordinary young man. The Screwtape Letters is

the most engaging and humorous account of

temptation -- and triumph over it -- ever

written.

Sadly, last month we lost Mary Gilbert, Charles Clark & Frank Farish. All will be sorely missed, keep their family & friends in your prayers.

St. Paul’s Preschool News…April 2018

Wasn’t March crazy? We didn’t know if it was going to come in like a lion or like a lamb. By the forth of the month, we received our answer, a LION! Winter came in with a vengeance; sleet, snow (and lots of it), ice, and snow days! It even snowed on the first day of spring! Now that spring has actually arrived, hopefully it will begin to feel a bit more seasonal. I love the longer days and later sunsets!

March was full of activities for everyone. The annual Craft/Fun Fair was a success even though many of my friends were without power because of the storm the night before. The baskets were gorgeous and the lucky people who received them were so excited and grateful. My friend, Mrs. Pinkl, worked so hard to get items, gift cards and plenty of donations. St. Patrick’s Day came along with some tricky little leprechauns. They visited many rooms making a mess but leaving a pot of gold at the end for the children to enjoy. Also in March the PreK classes went to the Warminster Library on a field trip, and the librarian came to St. Paul’s for the 3/4 classes. Unfortunately the snow kept Dr. Rob, the dentist, from coming for a visit this year. We even collected several packages of food for the Helping Hands food drive. Many of our families even went to Uncle Joe’s for our fundraiser during the last snowstorm. The Spring Consignment Sale had lots of inexpensive toys, clothing and baby items for my friends.

I was so excited to see that many of our families along with my neighborhood families and friends attended our annual Easter Egg Hunt on Palm Sunday afternoon. In addition to crafts, a visit by Pastor Janet, a story, the “Going on a Egg Hunt” song, and the actual egg hunt, we had some special visitors. Sheila Wiltshire and her 4H friends brought real bunnies and baby lambs for the children to enjoy. What a fun and amazing day! This week will bring Easter stories, crafts and songs along with an Easter Hat parade. We will also have a few days off over Easter. I will miss my friends but I can’t wait to hear all about their fun filled Easter!

Looking ahead to April I see another very busy month! The Week of the Young Child will be celebrated with Fine Arts Days, the Artmobile, the Book Fair and Family Night. At Family Night we will have a special children’s concert by Lolly. The Book Fair will be open and each child will have a piece of art on display at the Art Show. Each class will rotate to an artist, a dancer and a musician for Fine Arts Day. The Bucks County Artmobile will be open from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm for the families to visit. Each class will have been there during school that week. (Did you know that St. Paul’s Preschool is the ONLY preschool that the Artmobile goes to?) This week is designed to honor young children and we have many activities in which they can participate. Thanks to State Representative Kathy Watson who sponsored the cost of the Artmobile and the concert.

Please don’t forget about the wonderful Mixed Bag fundraiser that is going on until April 6th. There are catalogues in Mrs. Pinkl and Mrs. Dickson’s office. I can’t wait to see what everyone ordered!! We also have our Restaurant Fundraiser at Chick Fil A on April 10th from 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm.

Hoppy Easter! Happy Spring and hopefully some warmer weather!

HUGS & KISSES PAUL E. BEAR