Pastor Mick’s Musings… “Messy Feet” “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and be-gan to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” John 13:3-5
I have messy feet. They are not very pretty. So it is about a week or two before Easter that I have this urge to go and get a pedicure. I have never had a pedicure. I really don’t want one and would not like the thought of someone seeing me getting a pedicure. But I re-ally have messy feet. And I know that, just before Easter, Love Feast is around the corner. That means having someone wash my feet. It is humbling to have someone reach down and wash my messy feet. But isn’t that the point!
I remember my first foot washing at Cornerstone Christian Fellow-ship in Lebanon, PA. Cornerstone was a fairly new church with many unchurched people so the idea of foot-washing took a while for people to process. I was brand new to the Church of the Breth-ren and had no idea what to expect. I was the worship pastor at that time and even forgot that we were having a foot-washing dur-ing the worship service. I did not have time to “prepare” my feet so I was a little self-conscience and anxious about the whole process. I thought to myself, “Is this really necessary? What good could possi-bly come out of this?” But I was a leader at the church and needed to set an example. So I got my messy feet washed. And I was spirit-ually moved and an experience that I will never forget.
I washed Pastor Bob’s feet and that was easy. He told me what to do and I appreciated him so much that is was an honor to wash his feet. But then I sat down and Pastor Bob started to wash my feet. I felt humiliated. It was not right that this man or any man should serve me in this way. Suddenly, I was Peter saying, “Wash my feet, never!” But then and there I realized the spiritual significance of this act of service.
First, one of the basic foundations of our faith is to serve others. We understand this and the act of washing another’s feet is easy. Jesus
WGT March Calendar 2
Third Fridays 3
Easter Happenings 4
Scriptures, Servants, & Stats 5
Tiny Timbers Tidbits 6
Subs & Breakfast 8
Inside this issue:
March 2016
Easter Means Eternal Life
A perfect God demands a perfect justice;
He cannot let us get away with sin. We used God’s gift of our
free will to trespass, So heaven’s gates were closed; we
couldn’t get in.
Our sin required our blood, a sacrifice,
To atone for all the wrongs that we had done.
"But I love them!" cried our Father, filled with sorrow;
"I’ll send my only Son to be the one."
Good Friday marks the slaying of our Jesus,
The unblemished lamb, the perfect sacrifice.
He took our guilt and blame upon Himself,
So we could be with Him in paradise.
On Easter morning, he came back from death;
He vanished from the tomb, the empty grave.
His resurrection means eternal life For us, the ones he came to
earth to save.
This summarizes all the Easter story And because of it, we’ll be with
Him in glory.
By Joanna Fuchs
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 Men’s Bible
Study 7 pm
2 First
Wednesday 6:30 pm
3 Choir 7 pm
4
5 Showing of
“War Room” 7 pm
6 Early Service
8 am Sunday School
9:15 am Worship 10:30 am
7 WWW
Bible Study 7 pm
8 Men’s Bible
Study 7 pm
Commissions Meet @ 7 pm
Board Mtg. 8 pm
9 Autumn Saints
10 am Jr. & Sr. High
Clubs 7 pm
10 Choir 7 pm
11 30-Hour Famine
12 30-Hour Famine
Turn Clocks AHEAD!
13 Early Service
8 am Sunday School Discover WGT
9:15 am Worship 10:30 am
14 WWW
Bible Study 7 pm
15 Men’s Bible
Study 7 pm
16 Autumn Saints
10 am Jr. & Sr. High
Clubs 7 pm
17 Tiny Timbers Open House 6 pm - 8 pm
Choir 7 pm
St. Patrick’s
Day
18 Meals to
Homebound
19 Love Feast
Bread Baking 9 am
Confidence Conference
9 am Easter Egg
Hunt 10:30 am
Palm Sunday 20 Early Service
8 am Sunday School Discover WGT
9:15 am Worship 10:30 am
21 WWW
Bible Study 7 pm
22 Deacon Mtg.
7 pm Men’s Bible
Study 7 pm
23 Autumn Saints
10 am Jr. & Sr. High
Clubs 7 pm
24 Love Feast
7 pm
25 Good Friday Office Closed
26 AV Equipment
Installation Fellowship Hall
8 am - 5 pm
Easter 27 Sunrise Service
7 am Sunday School
9:15 am Worship
10:30 am
28 WWW
Bible Study 7 pm
29 Men’s Bible
Study 7 pm
30 Autumn Saints
10 am Jr. & Sr. High
Clubs 7 pm
31 Choir 7 pm
Page 3
Anniversaries 3/2 - Shawn & Lisa Cannon 3/3 - Colton & Brienna Brown 3/5 - Walt & Lois Schwanger 3/15 - Mike & Robin Cicero
Birthdays 3/1 - Katherine Gebhard 3/3 - Charlie Mitchell 3/6 - Sandra Dickason 3/8 - Mandy O’Brien 3/9 - Randy Ginder 3/10 - Dean Garber 3/12 - Gary Collins 3/13 - Heidi Grove, Jennifer Lefferts, Sheila Miller 3/19 - Jeanie Hinshaw 3/20 - Betty Jane Swarr 3/21 - Traci Clugston, Linda Gerdel, Charlotte Riggleman 3/23 - Justin Hawthorne, Trisha Williams, Kelly McClenaghan 3/24 - Abigail Ramsey 3/31 - Erik Sucharski, Lauren Youtz
Third Fridays Fellowship is a great gift the Lord has bestowed on the West Green Tree family. From Sunday lunches & breakfasts to 1st Wednesday to 3rd Fri-day & many others, those that can come to the church have the oppor-tunity to grow closer as a church family. What about those that can’t make it to the church? We have a family of homebound church mem-bers who miss out on this opportunity because they are unable to leave their homes. These folks need our fellowship more than many others. The goal of 3rd Friday in March is to pair a church family/member with a homebound church family/member, take a meal to their home and join in fellowship as you dine with the homebound church member. We be-lieve that this will spread God’s love, provide an opportunity to create a new bond with brothers and sisters in Christ and provide immeasurable joy to all involved. There are roughly 20 homebound members we want to serve through this event. If you are willing to take and share a meal with one of our homebound members, please contact Julie Ramsey at [email protected], or by phone at 717-413-7399.
Nicole Drawbaugh Receives Scholarship! Five nursing students are recipients of Church of the Brethren Nursing Scholarships for 2015. The scholarship is available to members of the COB enrolled in LPN, RN, or nursing graduate programs. Our own Nicole Drawbaugh was chosen to receive this scholarship! Congratulations Nicole!
set the example for us. Second, we need to un-derstand that we are to allow others in our church to serve us. This aspect of foot washing is the humbling part since we do not want to admit that we need help from time to time. It is a sur-render of one’s self to the service of others and it is very profound. Finally, feet-washing is an-other way of saying that you are of great value to the church. You are significant and worthy of being served. There is a sense of gratitude that someone would think you important and worthy enough to wash your feet. It is a wonderful and humbling experience.
For this Easter season, I hope and pray that you will mark you calendars for Maundy Thursday and come to our Love Feast. Join us in fellow-ship and love as we worship our Lord Jesus, par-take in a meal, have communion and wash each others feet. It is a wonderful, humbling and re-warding experience. So bring yourself and your feet – even if they are messy!
Walking in His light, PM
March Servants
March 6 March 13 March 20 Palm Sunday
March 27 Easter Sunday
Scripture & Sermon
“Until I Wash You, You Have No Part of Me”
John 13:6-8 Pastor Mick
“Those Who Had a Bath Need Only to Wash Their
Feet” John 13:9-11 Pastor Mick
“You Also Should Wash One Another’s Feet”
John 13:12-17 Pastor Mick
“Living a Resurrected Life” Pastor Mick
Pianist/Organist Sylvia Weaver Brenda Geib Leslie Allen Ryan Arndt
Special Music Choir Allison Huber Mixed Group Choir
Chorister Regena Tripp June Kolp Glenn Weaver Regena Tripp
Greeters 8 am John & Laurie Hollinger Duane & Kathy Martin Clint & Julie Arndt SUNRISE SERVICE NO GREETERS
Greeters 10:30 am
Adrienne & Grace Fellenbaum
Bill & Regena Tripp Doug & Darlene Breneman
Cindy Collins & Yvonne Johnson
Worship Leader
Ushers Youth New Horizons SS Class Faith Seekers SS Class Sojourners SS Class
Deacons/Anointing Matt & Heather Haverkamp
Dennis & Ann Saylor June Kolp Marlin & Rose Hibshman
Sound Room 8 am
Jerry Huber & Zane Seitz
Jerry Huber & Jeff Schwanger
Jerry Huber & Justin Arndt
NO SOUND ROOM SUNRISE SERVICE
Sound Room 10:30 am
Duane Martin & Jason Leonard
Duane Martin & Andi Collman
Merv McClenaghan & Nikki Drescher
Jeff & Shane Schwanger
8 am Nursery/Toddler
Marci & Aiden Hawthorne
Brenda & Nicole Drawbaugh
Julie Ruhl & Donna Weaver
NO NURSERY/TODDLER SUNRISE SERVICE
10:30 am Nursery/Toddler
Colton & Brienna Brown Dustin & Dana Youtz Chad & Audrey Garber
Dane & Lauren Youtz
Page 5
January & February Stats
January 24 January 31 February 7 February 14
Total Worship 192 186 120
Sunday School NONE 124 111
General $6,945.00 $5,293.00 $4,962.65
Building $285.00 $50.00 $100.00
Deacon $110.00 $50.00 $125.00
Seminary $297.00 $75.00
Page 6
Here it is already March and we only have two more months left of this school year. Last year I was the Teacher/Assistant for our only Tuesday/Thursday Morning class of nine children and Miss Natalie’s first year as teacher. This school year God has blessed His school and has sent enough children to have both AM and PM Tuesday/Thursday classes. Miss Cindy is the AM Teacher/Assistant and I’m the PM Teacher/Assistant and Miss Natalie, as teacher, adapted well to teaching both classes every Tuesday/Thursday with now twenty-four children. Miss Natalie loves to sing and
does a lot of singing with the children. The children love this part of her teaching program even our little guys.
Our Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes have full enrollment of twenty-four children with Miss Sherry, teacher of both classes and having Miss Cindy C., the AM Teacher/Assistant and Miss Teresa, the PM Teacher/Assistant. As you can see God has blessed His school all around.
In January the children of the Tuesday/Thursday classes learned about all kinds of weather. They really experienced the ultimate weather with the bliz-zard of 2016 giving us 26+ inches of snow. We only had to miss one day of school due to the blizzard. After returning back to school we were able to get outside to enjoy the snow. Getting ready to play outside is quite a task to have children completely clothed all with snow pants, jackets, warm hats, boots and mittens but it is all worth it to see the fun the children have running and rolling in the snow, making snow angels and making a snowman.
Some of the crafts the chil-dren made were a pair of mittens and cute snowman masks that they used to pretend to be snowmen. We also made weather charts that they took home so that each day they could turn the arrow pointer to the kind of weather they were going to enjoy that particular day.
We talked about Transportation on land or rail. Some of the chil-dren chose trucks while
other chose engines to cut out and then placing them on papers and drawing what they would see as they traveled in either of these ways of transportation.
For the month of February the children made books about what they en-joyed about the snow blizzard, having Miss Natalie writing down their fun ideas they enjoyed and then drew pictures of their fun times. For our Val-entine’s Day Party, the children made Piggy Valentine holders and also cute heart cards to give to their parents. We were blessed to have some mothers come in to help the children as they placed their cards they brought for their friends into the Piggy holders. They sang a few songs about how they can share love on Valen-tine’s Day and some fun games. Before bringing the party to a close the children enjoyed some delicious cupcakes made by Colton’s mother, Lori, who has her own business called “Cup Cakin” along with drink and pretzels . It was a fun time well spent with the children and we thank the mothers for coming in and giving of their helping hands to make the party a fun and successful time.
We also thank you the church family for your continued support through your prayers and kindness shared.
Blessings, Miss Ruthie, PM Class Teacher/Assistant
Page 7
The Senior High Youth Group would like to thank those who donated food and to those who came out to eat. We had 60 people dine in & 8 take out dinners served. Thanks everyone for supporting the youth! We raised $345! Funds raised will go towards conference. THANK YOU!!
Vacation Bible School Mark your calendars for this year’s VBS July 18th - July 22nd. At Cave Quest we will gear up for an over-the –top underground adventure! This adventure will ground kids in the rock-solid foundation of
God’s love, a love that takes u through life’s dark times. Please pray for this outreach to our community! Prayer-fully consider being a part of this adventure. We are looking for volunteers! If you don’t have clearances on file with the church office, please contact me so that we can get the process started. It’s easy to do! This busy, fun-filled week will be here before we know it!
Allison Huber VBS Director
Page 8
The Senior High Youth Group will be holding a breakfast fundraiser Saturday,
April 2nd, from 7 am till 11 am. Funds raised will go towards conference.
Pancakes, French Toast, Scrambled Eggs, Sau-sage, Muffins, Sticky Buns, Fresh Fruit & more
will be served!
Discover West Green Tree Discover WGT classes begin Sunday, March 13th, during the Sunday School hour. If you would like to learn more about the church, the Brethren Com-munity or are interested in becoming a member, this class is for you! Please sign up to attend.
Autumn Saints Autumn Saints Brunch & Bible begins Wednesday, March 9th, at 10 am in the Fellowship Hall. The study, 1 Peter: A Living Hope in Christ, will be the topic. Study Guides are $13. If this is a hardship, contact the church office. Please sign up so we can plan for you!
WINTER WEATHER RELATED SERVICE DELAYS/CANCELLATIONS
Online: www.wgal.com - “Stormwatch”,
www.westgreentree.org (home/front page, scroll down)
Television: WHP - Channel 21, WPMT - Channel 43, CW - Channel 15,
Radio: FM 90.3 WJTL
Tiny Timbers Sub Sale Tiny Timbers will be selling subs again this Spring. Subs are from The Country Store in Mount Joy. They are $6 each (12 inch sub) and your options are American, Ham, Tur-key, Italian, and Roast Beef. The sale be-gins March 13th with orders due April 1st. Participation is voluntary of course! If you would like to support Tiny Timbers, consid-er selling and/or ordering a sub, or two! Thanks!
740 Greentree Road Elizabethtown, PA 17022
Mick Allen, Senior Pastor [email protected]
Paula Jones, Administrative Assistant [email protected]
Phone: 717-653-5367 Fax: 717-653-5056
www.westgreentree.org
WEST GREEN TREE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
WEST GREEN TREE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
Our Purpose Statement “We intentionally develop friends of Jesus Christ by sharing God’s love
through words and deeds.”
Sunday Service Times:
Contemporary Worship 8:00 am
Sunday School 9:15 am
Traditional Worship 10:30 am
Wednesday Service Times:
Jr. High Clubs @ 7:00 pm
Sr. High Clubs @ 7:00 pm