Zion’s (Spies) Evangelical Reformed Church
JANUARY 2025
Parson’s points
JOY
For many, Christmas is a joyous time of year – a time filled with memories and opportunities to spend time with family and loved ones; a time to reflect on another year and to plan for the new one right around the corner. Yet this season is also very hard for many – a time when loss hits hard, when loneliness weighs heavily. For Christians, joy is anticipated in advent and almost expected to be a part of the Christian experience.
Worship is supposed to be all about joy. Psalm 142:7 indicates that praise is the song of the soul set free. And we have indeed received the ultimate Christmas present – freedom from slavery to sin. So, I must ask – are we experiencing this joy? Are our worship services opportunities to experience joy? If not – why not? And, if so, why isn’t this the place everyone wants to be on Sunday mornings? Now, I do realize that this is a rather more complex question than I am making it. To be clear, I am not talking about making church fun or entertaining – those things are superficial. I am talking about the sort of joy that weathers the storms of life and can well up within a person even during those difficult times. A joy that, despite the hardship, asks nonetheless, “how can I keep from singing?”
New Years is a time for resolutions and making sure we get off on the right foot once again. And, as a pastor, I envision a resolution for our church family for 2025. Let’s make 2025 a year in which we rediscover joy or find deeper joy in our relationship with our God, in our worship and in our church family.
In His Service,
Pastor Vaughn and Lisa
​
NEW YEAR HOLY COMMUNION - SUNDAY, JANUARY 5, 2025 – 10:30 A.M.
Join us as together we begin the New Year,
serving the Lord.
MEN’S MINISTRIES
Next meeting, January 11th at 7:30 A.M.
​
JANUARY 11th SPAGHETTI SUPPER
4-7 P.M.
All you can eat spaghetti dinner and salad bar.
Adults $12.00 / Children (6-12) $6.00
Donations of dessert would be appreciated.
​
BREAKFAST CLUB
January 8, @ 8 A.M. @ Chatty’s
January 21, @ 8 A.M. @ Mt. Penn
YOUTH SUNDAY
January 19, 2025
Come join us and support our youth.
SPIES DART BASEBALL
January 8th – @ Zion Spies Lutheran
January 15th – @ Grace (Zion Spies Lutheran)
January 22nd – @ Zion’s Spies E.R.
January 29th – BYE
Questions call Kenny Manwiller at 610-944-0729.
PASTOR’S CORNER
Looking forward to seeing you in church
In January I hope to begin a new series called B.L.E.S.S. – Five Ways to Love Your Neighbor and Change the World.
This is how the agenda looks at this time:
January 5 – Communion and introduction to the series
January 12 – Begin with Prayer
January 19 – Youth Sunday
January 26 – Listen
February 2 – Eat
February 9 – Serve
February 16 – Story
February 23 – Let’s Go Bless our World
Hope to see you Sunday mornings, Pastor Vaughn
Contemporary Service Style
Beginning in the end of January I would like to try to run a few more contemporary style services. This does not mean radical change. But here’s what it is intended to mean:
A relaxed and welcoming atmosphere
Joy-filled worship
Fewer “ups and downs” in the service
Fewer moving parts in the service
A more participatory service
Basically, the contemporary service generally has five parts: Worship, Greetings and Announcements, Prayer, Message and closing. We are already doing some of these things, for example, our Kid’s Corner is really a contemporary style sermon that attempts to engage the congregation more in the message. From my experience, we do an excellent job at setting a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. And, to be clear, this doesn’t mean running a Sunday morning rock concert – yes, we will try to incorporate in newer music, but we will keep the old favorites, too.
I am asking you all to kindly go into this with an open mind and to provide feedback. I will include a brief feedback survey in the bulletin for each of these services. Use these surveys to let me know what you liked, what you didn’t like, and how we’re doing.
NEWSLETTER ARTICLES
ARE DUE THE SECOND TO LAST SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH
PLEASE HELP
PLEASE save your extra 2025 Calendars / Day Planners. Calendars will be accepted till
January 12th. Give them to Linda Wilson.
DINNER FOR PAKISTAN
Please mark your calendars for Friday evening February 28 at 5:00 PM and join us in the social hall of the church for good food – a traditional Pakistani meal – and to learn more about Pastor Vaughn’s mission in Pakistan. Please invite friends and family. Look for a sign-up sheet in the Narthex so that we can get an approximate head count for food. The meal is free, donations will be collected to support Children’s Ministries International – the mission in Pakistan. Thank you all so much for your ongoing support – the people we are helping are truly appreciative and close to my heart.
Pastor Vaughn
Gently Used Clothing – Especially for Children Another way we can support the mission in Pakistan is with donations of clothing that we no longer need. Donated clothing should be clean, not overly worn and packed in sealed trash bags. I am targeting the last Sunday in January for collection, shipping in the end of the month. If you are interested in this and miss that date, there will be another chance shortly. Please contact me with any questions you might have. Pastor Vaughn
2025 ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING…
The annual meeting of the Zion’s Spies Evangelical Reformed Church will be held –
Sunday, February 9, 2025
IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE MORNING SERVICE. We trust you will be present for this very important time in the life of the congregation
2025 ALTAR FLOWER / BULLETIN CALENDER
The new Altar Flower/Bulletin Reservation Calendar has been placed in the Narthex, on the back bulletin board, for your use. Please use ONLY the dry erase marker that is provided. Should a specific date have already been filled, you are invited to sponsor a “separate arrangement” on that date which will be placed in the chancel area.
Many January/February dates available please think about signing up for a Sunday
FUTURE PLANNING
A new church worship calendar is available on the table in the Narthex for your use in the coming year.
​
STEWARDSHIP
After meeting over the past several months, a budget was agreed upon for the year 2025. It was presented to the congregation on
December 8th at the congregational meeting and approved.
A question was raised after the vote was taken to approve the budget. "Why are our expenses higher than our income?
We try to figure expenses that will occur in the coming year - not knowing what events will alter the budget. If we don't stay within the budget proposed, we may draw from our investments an amount that is predetermined each year. Last year we didn't need to take any money from our investments. Hopefully the year 2025 will be the same.
As to "Why there are so many accounts? - there should be one!" The software on the computer lists individual accounts and even on your envelopes you may decide which account you want your donation to go into. But there is one account - The church account. It all goes into the church account. I sincerely hope this answers your questions adequately.
We will continue as a committee to meet periodically throughout the year to monitor the financial status of the church. The next quarterly meeting will be April 21st at 6:30 P.M. to review the current status of our expenses versus our budget for the first quarter of 2025.
Mollie Prey, Stewardship
BIRTHDAY CARD SHOWER SHEETS January thru April 2025 available on the Narthex table for anyone willing to participate in sending cards to church family members 80 yrs. & over. Also available on our church website
SNOW CANCELLATION OF CHURCH ACTIVITIES
The Pastor and your Consistory have a telephone call schedule set up in case of questionable weather. The church family may feel free to phone any of these persons or tune
the TV/radio to our local stations – Channel 69-WFMZ for cancellations.
​
EVANGELISM & OUTREACH
What a great year we had in 2024 continuing our mission for the homeless veterans, thank you for the wonderful support from everyone. We made lunches for the homeless vets every other month. Lunches items are next due on January 19th. There is a sign-up sheet on the table in the Narthex for food donations or call the church office to sign-up. We welcome everyone to attend our meetings, we are always glad to have new ideas and new faces.
​
FOOD PANTRY
Thank you to everyone who placed food in the cupboard in the church Narthex. All food is taken to The Hope Rescue along with the Vet Lunches every other month. Thanks again for your support.
CHRISTMAS MUSIC
To those involved in the Christmas Cantata
"A Noel Celebration" - Thank you so much for giving
up your time to get this ready, and blessing us with
your amazing performance. Jeff Griffin
Christmas Eve Music - Thank You to all who
provided wonderful music on Christmas Eve.
You made the service extra special. Jeff Griffin
HELP OUR HOMELESS VETERANS
They are no longer taking clothes, blankets or sleeping bags. Donations they do need are hand soap, wipes, toilet paper, and paper towels. Envelopes available on top of the mailboxes if you would like to make a monetary donation. Our thanks to all that support this mission. Because God gives us all we need, we should give to those in need.
Next lunches items due – January 19th
Adult VBS- 2025
Save the date
July 20th – July 24th
6:30 P.M. – 8:30 P.M.
JUST A REMINDER! Please remember to notify the church office regarding anyone in the hospital or of any transfers from hospitals to home or to any other facility. It becomes difficult sometimes to keep up with everyone’s moves which results in extra traveling. Thanks so much.
​
WOMEN’S MINISTRIES
Well, we made it through another year, and so we extend to everyone our wish for a Happy and Blessed 2025! The ladies of Women’s Ministries had a very successful year with all the various activities and
fund raisers and we are looking forward to the next 12 months.
The first thing this month is the Spaghetti Supper on the 11th. We, and the women of Zion’s Spies Church, will be providing the desserts.
Once again, this is the month we will be collecting items for the homeless vets’ lunches we prepare. And remember, we still have tickets for sale for M & M Sandwich Shop (see Sue Barnett).
An invitation is always open to the women of our church to come out and join our ladies the second Tuesday of the month for our meetings, which start at 11:00 A.M. and usually only last about an hour. The next one will be January 9th
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
PRAYER REQUEST FORM
Please pray for___________________________
Prayer needs_____________________________
________________________________________
________________________________________
Your name (will be used to get updates)
_______________________________________