Lenten Opportunity for Spiritual Reflection and Connection

Are you looking for a way to prompt spiritual growth and connect with others during the Lenten season? The Nurture Commission has an opportunity for you!

There will be an online discussion forum to go along with the Brethren Press Lenten devotional that extends from Ash Wednesday, February 22 through Easter Sunday, April 9. Here’s how the six-week devotional can work for you. Pick up a copy of the booklet, My Soul, My Life, My All, by Liz Bidgood Enders, available at the church at no charge to you, or you can order one from Brethren Press for $4.50, digital or print. Then, throughout Lent, you read the daily devotional entry and recommended Bible verses.

The online discussion forum offers an additional element of connection through discussion with others. From the church website, at your convenience, any time of the day or night, you click on the devotional discussion forum tab from the church’s website to read the daily reflection question and others’ thoughts about the devotional entry. Enter your own thoughts and responses as you feel led. The beauty is that you can do all of this in just a few minutes and whenever it suits your schedule! There is no Zoom or in-person time schedule, but the opportunity to connect is available on screen daily for all. With each additional person who participates, the more connections we make as a spiritual community.

The Brethren Press describes the devotional: “As we move through Lent, the words of scripture challenge us to engage our bodies in service, our hearts in devotion and our very being in seeking understanding as we grow in love for God and others.” The devotions can prompt us into personal growth in time with the seasons of nature, changing from the dormancy of winter to the rebirth of spring. An added element of intrigue this season is that the author, Liz Bidgood Enders, is a local pastor of a CoB church in Harrisburg and will be at Etown CoB on March 12 as a guest preacher.

The Nurture Commission is always striving for ways to include those who attend our church online. The discussion forum can be a great way to get to know people from across the full spectrum of our congregation. We hope to hear from many of you in the online forum!

Submitted by Ellen Flury, Nurture Commission

Good Intentions

This message is to share that we appreciate your good intentions of donating items to the church in addition to your time, talent, and financial contributions. Prior to the repair and refurbishing of our building, all tenants and employees of the church were encouraged to (and they did) remove all unnecessary materials, worn furniture, and anything not needed or used.

Dumpsters were rented for this to occur along with volunteer persons willing to assist with this major “clean out” by hauling and disposing of large items. Hats off to ECCC and ECNS who sorted and disposed of mountains of stuff.

We (Ken and I), too, had to go through this discarding activity in our downsizing from a home where we lived for 56 years to a Cottage as many of you have done or will do in the near future.

Books went to the College, Mennonite Book Sale, or Recycling Center on New Holland Pike. It would have been very easy to donate books, furniture, dishes, musical instruments, clothing, candles, pictures, etc. to the Church. Instead many trips were taken to Matthew 25 in Lititz, ECHOS, Green Mountain, Jubilee Ministries, The Food Hub (clothing area), Mount Joy Thrift Shop, and Recycling Centers on New Holland Pike and Harrisburg Pike to dispose of unneeded items.

Therefore, my purpose for writing this article is that the Church cannot be the recipient of your unwanted furniture, dishes, and other material items. There are facilities available for receiving and recycling for you. If and when there is a local need, the Church will inform you as to when and where items are needed and to be delivered. Please do not just drop off or place items in or on the Church property without prior approval.

Submitted by Carroll L. Kreider, Chair Resources Commission

Etown CoB Joins Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light

At the recommendation of the Climate Crisis Action Committee (CCAC) of Etown CoB, the Witness Commission, and Church Board have agreed to support joining Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light (Pa IPL), centered in Lewisburg, PA. This will permit our church to have access to educational events, action opportunities, and up-to-date information about impending state and national legislative efforts, centered on the threat of the climate crisis.

Pa IPL is a community of congregations, faith-based organizations, and individuals of faith, responding to the climate crisis as an ethical and moral issue through advocacy, education, energy conservation, energy efficiency, stewardship, and the use and promotion of clean, renewable energy. Pa IPL is the Pennsylvania affiliate of Interfaith Power and Light (IPL), a national religious response to the threat of climate change. The member churches come to this work from different spiritualities and faith traditions, learning and supporting one another in making a better future for generations to come.

Our church is not new to IPL. Hannah Shultz from Georgia Interfaith Power and Light was featured in our Adult Faith Formation session on May 23. The Climate Crisis Action Committee will use information from Pa IPL to alert our congregation about events with which our congregants may wish to get involved. The CCAC bulletin board in the narthex will be one source you are encouraged to view for this information. Additional methods for distributing information may be used in the future as well. Everyone may find information at Pa IPL website at paipl.org.

If anyone is interested in working with the CCAC at our church, you are encouraged to contact Damon Wagner Fields, or Beth or Kurt DeGoede. We are looking for additional members as we work to educate ourselves and become actively involved with correcting climate change.

Submitted by Paul Brubaker, Climate Crisis Action Committee