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The Circuit
The Newsletter of
St. Paul’s United Church of Christ
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Phone: 540-459-3643
235 South Main Street, Woodstock, Virginia 22664
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February 2015
Dear Family and Friends of Saint Paul’s,
About a month ago God made a clarion call to my heart through a certain article. (I have reprinted an
excerpt of it below and commend it to you for your strong encouragement.) As a result, a deep and aching
desire was renewed: How can my wife, Amy, and I live out our faith in the Lord Jesus in such a way that
our four children catch fire with a passion for Jesus Christ.
As I mulled over this question, I remembered how my own parents, in so many ways, succeeded in doing
this with me and my four siblings. (Indeed, Dad and Mom, 53 years into marriage, continue to spread the
flame of their faith by offering up their lives so that others may come to love and follow Jesus too.) One of
the ways my parents did this was by taking in families and individuals who were in crisis or transition. They
came to live in our home or on our property, eat at our table, play in our fields, and pray and study the Bible
with us. They came to meet Jesus, and with us, learn to obey him. By the grace of God and for good reason,
my sisters and brothers and I now trust in Jesus as our Savior and follow him as our Lord. We are all
married to strong Christians. We, in very different ways and however imperfectly, have completely
embraced my parents’ godly example.
Yet, part of my experience (and most Christians, I think) is also how easily faith in Jesus can become mere
religious obligation; just so many items to check off the church list. When we notice what a load it is to
keep God happy, we can be sure our heart is growing cold. When things have cooled off with the Savior,
it’s only natural to withhold our affection from him. And then what? We start living that way with everyone
else: carrying on a nice but impersonal life with everything in its separate box. Much effort can go into
keeping nearly everyone out of our personal life and managing them at arm’s length. Coolness with Jesus
leads to shallowness with others. But Jesus will *only* know us personally. An important fruit of one’s
personal relationship to Jesus is whether or how much one personally relates--in Christ’s love--to broken
people. Broken people cannot be not loved at arm’s length. An impersonal approach does not persuade
anyone of the Good News of God in Christ, least of all young people. Young people are more sensitive to
the joylessness of dry religion. And rather than starve, their hearts run from it in search of a feast.
Unconvinced that Jesus is humanity’s only deep, shameless and abiding satisfaction, is it any surprise that
many of the church’s young people run into the arms of the world?
I’m finding that the way forward feels backward. To see our kids catch fire with a life-long love for Jesus
will not come by doubling down on religious duty. Nor will it come by moralizing our youth. Rather, it will
happen as we repent and fall in love with Jesus ourselves. How? By getting down on our faces before
Almighty God, confessing our sin, receiving his forgiveness, and then rising up in the power of the Holy
Spirit to love as Jesus does: IN PERSON TO PEOPLE IN NEED.
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God’s clarion call to Amy and me is to open our home to homeless children and their families through
Family Promise of Shenandoah County. My kids are thrilled at the prospect, too. They can hardly wait to
eat, play, do homework with and pray for our guests. My four are excited about moving into Mom and
Dad’s bedroom for a week, four times a year, so that we can make new friends in the Name of Jesus. Some
of you have already said, “Count me in! I’ll cook or clean up. I’ll help make these folks feel at home!” If
you’d like to join us in giving the love of Jesus in person to people in need, we’d love to have you too. And
by all means, bring your kids. Let’s see what the Lord does in our hearts and the hearts of our children!
Your servant in Christ Jesus,
Peter+
PS. For more information, contact Karen or Casey Walton at (540) 459-2723 or [email protected] to learn
more.
An excerpt from "Strangers in a Strange Land", 2014 Erasmus Lecture by Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop of
Philadelphia as found in First Things, January 2015.
“As I look back on the last sixty years, one of the Scripture passages that stays with me most vividly is
Judges 2:6–15. It’s the story of what happens after the Exodus and after Joshua wins the Promised Land for
God’s people. Verse 10 says that Joshua “and all that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and
there arose another generation after them, who did not know the Lord or the work which he had done for
Israel.”
It’s worth reading. So is the research Christian Smith has done on the religious beliefs of American teens
and young adults. Every generation leaves a legacy of achievement and failure. In my lifetime, I’ve had the
privilege of knowing many good men and women of my generation—Christians, Jews, and people with no
religious faith at all; people who have made the world better by the gift of their lives and their joy in service
to others. But the biggest failure, the biggest sadness, of so many people of my -generation, including
parents, educators, and leaders in the Church, is our failure to pass along our faith in a compelling way to
the generation now taking our place.
We can blame this on the confusion of the times. We can blame it on our own mistakes in pedagogy. But
the real reason faith doesn’t matter to so many of our young adults and teens is that—too often—it didn’t
really matter to us. Not enough to shape our lives. Not enough for us to suffer for it.
I know there are tens of thousands of exceptions to this, but it is still true. A man can’t give what he doesn’t
have. If we want to change the culture of a nation, we need to begin by taking a hard look at the thing we
call our own faith. If we don’t radiate the love of God with passion and courage in the example of our daily
lives, nobody else will—least of all the young people who see us most clearly and know us most intimately.
The theme of this essay is “strangers in a strange land.” But the real problem in America today isn’t that we
believers are foreigners. It’s that our children and grandchildren aren’t.”
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., was born September 26, 1944, in Concordia, Kansas. After
graduating in 1967 from St. Fidelis College Seminary in Herman, Pennsylvania, with a degree in
philosophy, he was ordained a priest on August 29, 1970. He completed graduate degrees in theology and
religious education, and was later elected to provincial leadership in his religious community, the Capuchin
Franciscans. Pope John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, in 1988, and
Archbishop of Denver in 1997. In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI named him Archbishop of Philadelphia.
As a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe, he was the second Native American to be ordained a
bishop in the United States and is the first Native American archbishop. He chose as his episcopal motto:
“As Christ Loved the Church.” Archbishop Chaput served for three years (2003-2006) as a Commissioner
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with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and he was an official U.S. delegate to the
2005 Conference on Anti-Semitism and Other Forms of Intolerance sponsored by the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe in Cordoba, Spain. He is the author of two books—Living the Catholic
Faith: Rediscovering the Basics (Servant 2001) and Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our
Catholic Beliefs in Political Life (Doubleday 2008)—as well as numerous articles and public talks.
Upcoming events
Feb. 8 - 9:00 a.m. Family Worship
Feb. 15 - Worship with Communion and Junior Choir followed with Coffee hour
Mar. 15 - Worship with Communion
Mar. 29 - Palm Sunday with Junior and Senior Choirs
Apr. 2 - Maundy Thursday with soup and service
Apr. 5 - Easter Sunrise service at Sunset Memorial Garden
11:00 a.m. worship with Communion and both choirs
Preparing for Easter
Community Services
Ash Wednesday – Feb. 18,
12:00 noon at Saint Paul’s
Weekly Lenten Services at
Woodstock United Methodist
Church with lunch/Service on
Tuesdays beginning Feb. 24
Good Friday Service 12:00
noon at Presbyterian Church
PEOPLE WHO NEED OUR PRAYERS
Rachael Andrews
Betty Crane
Lynn Albrittain
Clark Bauserman
Wanda Bolt
Mary Ellen Caston
Trenton Hitt
Valorie Hockman
Joe Holland
Peggy Hollar
Bill Holsinger
Wes Irvin
Jake Johnson
Michael Kavaras
Marcie Lambert
Isabel Linaweaver
Editor – Jane Miller
Contributors
St. Paul’s – Ministry Chairpersons and others
Production Coordinators
Margaret Cook & Becky Lytton
Gail Mayberry
Betty Page
Jessie Payne
Minnie Richards
Bucky Runion
Linda Sheetz
Janet Sibert
Paula Smalley
Alberta Smith
Charlotte Swann
Jim Trott
Margaret Wilkins
Dot Williams
Doris Wood
Contents
From the Pastor
Newsletter Staff
Church History
St. Paul’s News
Calendar
Calendar
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OUR CHURCH HISTORY
Sunday, September 8, 1929
This bulletin was used during the Dedication service for the newly elected pastor, Rev. Wayne H. Bowers.
He served St. Paul’s until 1932. The second paragraph tells about the new two-manual M.P. Moller
organ. Check out the picture of the church. The view is from the street looking toward the north side of
the building.
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ST. PAUL’S NEWS
CONSISTORY REPORT
Dear Friends,
In December, the church received notice that the Town of Woodstock would be planting some trees along
the Spring Street side of the facility. The town has a special Tribute Tree program, which allows people to
plant a tree in memory or in honor of someone. Someone requested that two trees be planted in memory of
Jacob Pence and the town chose to plant them here, as the family was active within our church. The trees, a
red maple and a lacebark elm, are suitable for planting in urban areas. There is space for one more tree to
be planted, and consistory voted to have the third tree planted in memory of Julia Danley-Lambert. The
town will take care of purchasing and planting the tree this spring.
Speaking of trees...The two Singing Christmas Tree services were beautiful, and a special thanks to all those
involved. Many hours of preparation and dedication go into such an event. It was a wonderful gift for our
church to share with the community, and a wonderful way to show our praise and thanks to Lord.
You may or may not know that our church is associated with the
Clothes Closet here in Woodstock. They are in need of volunteers,
particularly on Fridays and Saturdays. This would be a great way to
serve in our community. If you are interested, please let us know.
Blessings to each of you,
Stephanie Dysart
STEWARDSHIP & MISSIONS MINISTRY
What a Christmas Season!
The Stewardship & Missions Ministry had a very busy Christmas Season with two major
outreach programs occurring almost simultaneously – the Christmas Families program and
Schwaggenmachen (also known as the Christmas swag program). With a good team effort
and unbelievable support from the St. Paul’s family, we are pleased to report that both of
these mission outreaches were hugely successful!
Those of us on the Stewardship & Missions ministry are so pleased to be serving such a
wonderful group of people who have the continuing desire to help others. Your love and
caring was once again displayed during this past Christmas season when as a congregation
we were able to help six local families have a better, more secure Christmas season! These families were
“adopted” through the Healthy Families Program which is designed to assist at-risk families with children
under the age of five. Many thanks and blessings for all of your support!
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Schwaggenmachen has become a great annual Christmas season tradition at St. Paul’s! The Stewardship
and Missions team created almost 35 hand-crafted swags which were quickly sold to members and friends
of St. Paul’s. The $420.00 collected from the swag sales has been deposited in the fuel assistance fund
which is made available to folks needing a helping hand with those wintertime fuel bills. If anyone knows
of an individual or family in need of some heating bill assistance, please contact one of the members of the
Stewardship & Missions ministry.
The Stewardship & Missions Ministry will meet within the next couple of weeks to plan the remainder of
the mission outreach activities for the 2014-15 program year.
~ Joe Lehnen
EVANGELISM
The Evangelism Committee met after church on Sunday, January
18, 2015 for a brief meeting. After a discussion regarding the TenMinute Tea, it was decided to cancel the Tea and have one or two
people meet/greet visitors in the narthex on Sundays after church.
Kim Shrum and Betty Lambert will make a schedule consisting of
members of the Evangelism committee, Consistory, and volunteers
from the congregation. The committee decided to host additional
coffee hours after Jr. Choir Sundays when a regular coffee hour is not scheduled, but will not include Palm
Sunday or Mother’s Day. Stephanie Dysart, Consistory President met with the group during this meeting
and will join the next meeting, Feb. 9th at 7:30 to discuss Evangelism in other churches and ways to spread
God’s word.
The Evangelism committee would like to grow by adding a few new members, anyone wishing to join the
committee, please see Kim Shrum or Patty Dellinger.
Blessings,
Patty Dellinger
NEW IN THE LIBRARY
for the month of February
Christmas at Rose Hill Farm by Suzanne Woods Fisher
Jessie – Lori Wick
Like Dandelion Dust – Karen Kingsbury
Love’s Sacred Song by Mesu Andrews
Restless Hearts – Marta Perry
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas – James Patterson
The Christmas Shoppe by Melody Carlson
Trevor’s Song - T.A Beam
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SENIOR CHOIR
Even though St. Paul's is without an organist and choir director, the choir hasn't missed a
beat. The devoted senior choir members have been faithful in practice and performance.
Special thanks to Patty Snarr, Kim Shrum, and Emily Koon for providing beautiful music
on piano and organ for our worship services. The choir is now preparing for the Lenten
season. The senior choir will present the anthem for the 12:00 noon Community Ash
Wednesday Service to be held at St. Paul's on February 18.
Joyfully,
Barbara Johnson
YOUTH GROUP
What do bowling and dancing have in common with stewardship? The 4th Annual Senior High Youth
Lock-In! On January 2, our middle and high school students gathered together for an overnight celebration
of fellowship and stewardship awareness. We started the night with stewardship skit practice discussing the
key factors of time, treasure and talent. Then it was off to the bowling alley, followed by energetic dancing
to Just Dance, pizza, and wrapping up the night with a classic Batman & Robin movie. This annual event is
a beloved tradition among our youth... and their adult leaders!
~ Bev Harrison
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Birthdays for St. Paul’s
February 1 – Pam Bray, Jon Foltz, Robert Goodier
2 – Nick Holsinger, Marsha Cooper
5 – Mason Sheetz
6 – Patty Snarr, Mary Catlett
8 – Eric Dalke
10 – Beverly Dahlgren, Carol Spring
12 – Susan Fream, Sam Mitchell,
Fiona Mitchell
13 – Desiree Williams
17 – Peyton Copeland
19 – Margaret Wilkins
20 – Sophia Palatnick
21 – Jim Trott
22 – Dennis Thomas, Gordon Seibert
26 – Brittany Lambert
27 – Rose Holland
28 – Dawn Stoneburner
March
Acolytes
February
March
1 – Gabi Fream
8 – Zach Dysart
15 – Madison Smith
22 – TJ Williams
1 – Layla Baker
8 – Grant Smith
15 – Sam Mitchell
22 – Isaiah Dyer
29 – Bobby Loveland
Scripture Readers
February
1 – Suzanne Loveland
8 – Joan Miller
15 – Bev Harrison
22 – Melissa Andrews
March
1 – Dot Lambert
8 – Jane Miller
15 – Joe Lehnen
22 – Layla Baker
29 – Bobby Loveland
1 – Makenna Painter
2 – Barbara Johnson
3 – Lucas Robinson, Caroline Eye
4 – Debbie Swecker
5 – Jonathan Koontz
7 – Seth Gardner
10 – Brian Loveland, John Lambert
12 – Regan Kain
13 – Jessie McIntosh
14 – Stephanie Litten
15 – Stuart Sheetz, Ethan Gregg
16 – Bill Holsinger
17 – Adam Beasley, Doug Linaweaver
18 – Casey Walton
19 – Jake Johnson
22 – Dan Bowman
23 – Dot Heishman
28 – Kim Shrum, Mike Sibert
30 – Nadine DeHaven
31 – Richard Linaweaver, Helen Harrison
Greeters
February
March
Nursery
February
March
– Jack and Linda Sheetz
– Travis and Marsha Cooper
1 – Alberta Smith
8 – Marsha Cooper
15 – Jennifer Dalke
22 – Stephanie Dysart
1 – Alisha Williams
8 – Allison Gregg
15 – Shelly Eye
22 – Pam Baker
29 – No Nursery
Service Assistants
February
– Joe and Kaye Lehnen
March
– Travis and Marsha Cooper
Anniversaries for St. Paul’s
February 12 – Jerry and Betty Lambert
13 – Jon and Maddy Foltz
22 – Fred and Mary Lou Odum
March 10 – Robert and Pam Bray
12 – Jack and Linda Sheetz
22 – Spencer and Jessie McIntosh
30 – Glenn and Kay Wetzel
31 – Tommy and Allison Gregg
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“PAWS"FOR APPLAUSE
AND
A PAT-ON-THE-BACK
Dear Pat,
It has been a long time since I have written. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day have
come and gone. Now we are in the throes of winter – a few snow falls, but nothing traumatic yet.
(Let's hope we can escape debilitating weather this winter.)
December at St. Paul's was festive as always with the beautiful decorations, Family Night and, this
year for the second time, the marvelous Singing Christmas Tree. As I was still recuperating from my
broken paw, I attended the dress rehearsal instead of the actual performance. (When a mouse has an
incapacitated paw, he can't scurry as fast as usual. I was afraid I might fall prey to a human’s
stepping on me in a large crowd.) The dress rehearsal was glorious; I'm sure the two performances
were spectacular.
Musically, St. Paul's is always a standout. So many wonderful, talented people have stepped in to
help out as we are without organist and choir directors. We need to extend our appreciation to these
wonderfully gifted and giving people. The Junior Choir sang on January 18 and blew me away with a
spirited rendition of “We are the Clay” - it was super!!! The prelude that day, “Spirit Song” was
beautiful.
I thought I would spend a little time in this letter telling you news of individual church members.
Steve Eye (Shelly's brother in law, now deceased) was inducted into Central High School's Hall of
Fame on January 10. His sports were football and track.
We all read and cheered for the two climbers who scaled Yosemite's El Capitan recently, but you may
not have heard about Travis Cooper and Richard Sollenberger who climbed to the top of St. Paul's
bell tower to fix the rope that was stuck causing the bell not to work. St. Paul's has its own heroic
climbers.
Caroline Eye and Anna Justine Mitchell won an award at W.W. Robinson which I am sure made
Jesus smile. They won the “caring award” for their school. (Kudos to W.W. Robinson for giving
such an award.) How wonderful it is when two of our youngest members grasp so sweetly Jesus'
message that we 'love one another'.
Pastor Peter and Amy are on a much needed vacation. There are many jobs in this world that are so
much more than 8 hours a day – preachers are always 'on call'. How wonderful that our pastor and his
wife can take a little breather. Today Joe Lehnen led our worship service. Joe's sermon, “Oh, Heck”
gave us lots to think about. We appreciate Joe and his contributions to St. Paul's.
As always, I remain your loving brother,
Paws, the church mouse (jcm)
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