2022 Phone Directories will be coming out the second week in  February.
Please make sure we have your updated information.  If you’d like a directory mailed to you please contact Janet in the church office.
Thank you!

Christian Education

We are continuing an in-person Sunday School program during the 10:30 a.m. service as well as continue with a “Sunday School” program on Wednesdays at 4:30pm via zoom!

    With everyone’s busy schedules and feelings about safety, we are happy to offer more options for children to learn about the Bible and our loving Heavenly Father.   We began on Sundays in October with teachers, Gail Achilles and Anita Halpern and then on Wednesdays with teachers, Nancy Gansner, Gail Achilles and Anna Friedrich.  We will be using the Whirl curriculum, following lessons that go along with the lectionary (the lessons that are read each week.) 

    Please come on Sunday morning or contact the church office at faithmont@verzion.net if you would like to be part of the Wednesday zoom class.  (Please make sure we have your email address so we can send you the zoom link.  Materials will also be sent to those participating on zoom.  A Bible will be provided to your child if they do not have one.  Please let us know.)

The lessons for February are:
Feb. 6 & 9: Jesus Calls Disciples - Luke 5:1-11
Feb. 13 & 16: Trust in the Lord - Jeremiah 17:5-10
Feb. 20 & 23:  Joseph Feeds His Brothers - Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Feb. 27 & Mar. 2: Jesus Is Transfigured - Luke 9:28-36
 
    For more information see, Melissa Prunkel, Education Leader

Adult Forum
Adult Forum, Bible Study for adults will resume on February 6, 2022 and continue on Sundays at 9am via Zoom. All are welcome!  For the Zoom link, please contact the church office. For more information see, Rich Hollenbach, Leader

Monday Night Bible Study
The Monday Night Bible Study will meet via zoom from 7-9pm on Monday nights.  They will be reading, "Leading a Life of Balance" by Christa Kinde, foreword by Marilyn Meberg.  There are 12 chapters, and they started Chapter 1, on January 24.  All are welcome to come at any time during the study.  For the Zoom link, please contact the church office.

Your Sister in Christ, Gail Achilles.

Vacation Bible School
We are looking to resume in-person VBS in 2022.  Gail Achilles is enthusiastically looking forward to August.  We will be doing “Monumental” Vacation Bible School Monday through Friday, August 8-12, 2022 from 9am to 12noon.  We will be needing lots of volunteers to help out in many different ways.

Please contact Melissa Prunkel, Gail Achilles or the church office with your suggestions or to volunteer to help.  Thank you, Church Family


Lord, when did we see you...?
2022 Social Ministry Calendar.  Please be encouraged to participate in those projects which touch your heart!.  Please contact Sharon Hood or Debbie Hollenbach if you’d to join this ministry!

February Project
We will be sending out special Valentine Cards and Greetings to the members of our congregation who are homebound or dealing with medical issues at this time. Special Valentine Cards will be located in the Fellowship Hall during Coffee Hour on Sunday, February 6th for congregational members to sign and send special greetings. If you know of someone that you would like to add to our list, please reach out to Janet Hill in the Office or Debbie Hollenbach so that we can make sure that they receive a card.

Technology Volunteers
We are looking for a few volunteers who are willing to learn and help with the technology behind our virtual and in-person worship services.  Each week we host our Zoom meeting for worship as well as running the video cameras and sound system in the sanctuary.  Over the past year we have refined this process and it’s running very smoothly now.  But it’s being managed by the same few people every week and we are looking to train others to share in this responsibility.  We have engaged a professional to help review our processes and to provide training and want to have other volunteers participate.  Please contact Rich Hollenbach if you are interested.

Greeters Needed
We are in need of Greeters (greeting people at the door before worship), Lectors (reading the lessons and psalm) and Worship Assistants (reading the prayers and few other passages) for our Zoom worship.  If you would like to volunteer or would like more information, please call Anna Friedrich.


Fundraiser
Another great fund-raiser for Faith Lutheran Church that will cost you nothing (and help us a whole lot, we hope) is Amazon Smile.  Whenever you purchase something from Amazon Smile, be sure to have Faith Lutheran Church set up as your charity of choice.  The church will then receive a portion of the value of your order at no cost to you. 
 
Here is a direct link so that the charitable proceeds come to Faith:  https://smile.amazon.com/ch/23-1675520. 
 
Please share this information with all your family, friends, colleagues, etc.  You only need to set it up once, then we’re the lucky recipients whenever that person shops on Amazon.

Council Notes | January 5, 2022
 
Council was called to order by President Rich Hollenbach.  Adam Feldman led devotions on a Church Health-Intentional Disciple Making.  Minutes of the December regular council meeting were approved as written. 
 
Treasurer’s Report: Denise Bailey noted that it was a good month with net revenue for the year at $56,000 plus change and that income this year in revenue was 105%.  Rich explained that the only reason we are showing a surplus is because we have only been paying out for Supply Pastors.  The Treasurer’s Report was approved as written.  With year-to-date income at $148.909.55 (106%) and operating expenses at $92837.80 (61%) we have a $56,071.75 surplus.
 
President’s Report:  We have continued worship with Pastor Bruce Davis who will supply through end of January 2022.  We have Pastor Maggie Ainslie scheduled for January 30th.   We collected $500 for the pastor’s gift which will be split among the three pastors who led worship in 2021.  Our Annual Congregation Meeting is scheduled on Sunday, January 23rd and we will do the planning in new business tonight.  
President Rich Hollenbach asked Pastor Penman for an update on the Synod’s progress finding a supplemental job for Pastor Timothy Garman, who still has not turned down our calling him to Faith Lutheran Church as our called Pastor.  Pastor Penman reported that they have exhausted all possibilities on the table for Montgomery and Bucks Counties at the present time.  It was asked if we can go back to interviewing for a pastoral candidate since we are past the 30 day deadline as of December 21, 2021.  Pastor Penman replied that there are 12 congregations looking for part-time pastors presently for which there are no candidates available, and that technically Pastor Garman has not turned down his call to Faith Lutheran Church.   
 
MINISTRY TEAM REPORTS:
 
Call Committee: Still waiting on a response from Pastor Timothy Garman.  Rich has been in touch with him, and Pastor Tim says, “Keep the faith.”  We also sent Christmas and Happy New Year Greetings to Pastor Tim on behalf of the Congregation, Church Council, and the Call Committee, and he responded in kind. 
 
Christian Education: Melissa Prunkel reported that she will be scheduling a VBS and a Sunday School Teacher’s meeting sometime in January.  Missy announced that she would like to find a replacement for her as Christian Education Director.
 
Communications:  Jack Walls noted that Janet sent out an email to Lauren Krupp to update our website on our annual congregational meeting on January 23.  He will also communicate this information to the congregation before worship service on Sundays leading up to the meeting.   Missy proposed to Jack to look for someone with computer skills to help with communications in case Lauren Krupp steps down from the position.
 
Evangelism: Nothing new to report.  Dale and Doug are still meeting concerning the Korean donation of money for evangelism.
 
Finance: Adam Feldman had nothing new to report.  Rich said that Debbie Hollenbach stated that we should only carry over the needed surplus funds for the 2022 budget and put the rest in the undesignated funds. 
 
Fundraising: Sharon Hood reported that we raised $211.00 from the cookie can sale.  Still looking for a replacement for Linda Kratz as Fundraiser Chair. 
 
Health: We are following all current covid protocols. 
 
Hospitality/Fellowship: Anne Hutnyk reported that she and Janet are working on a schedule for coffee hours for food contributions.  Council, Bible Study groups, adult forum, and all the Ministry teams as well as the congregation will be designated for food contributions (healthy options are appreciated) for each Sunday following Worship Service.  Also, she noted that we are in need of regular coffee donations (we have plenty of decaf.)
 
Property: Vince Hill reported that the two offices still do not have heat.  The contractors never showed up last month.  Rich suggested calling Landes for a quote.  Blockage in drain will be addressed in the spring, and Vince volunteered to work on the ducts.
 
Shepherding:  Christmas Cards were sent to our congregation, and next Sharon and her team will be sending out Valentine’s Day Cards.
 
Social Ministry:  As on the Social Ministry calendar which can be found in the January 2022 Mustard Seed, Code Blue is listed for January.
 
Special Funds: The cost for the balance of the camera (see old business) and furnace repair (see property team) costs will be brought forth to special funds.
 
Stewardship: Nothing new to report, but Jack will address the congregation at our annual congregational meeting on Sunday, January 23.
 
Transportation: For now, everything is on hold for WaWa.  Transportation is available to and from church to those in need.  Dale also distributed donated Giant Cards to those in need.
 
Worship & Music: Sunday Worship services are covered for now and Rich will continue to follow up on Pastor Tim Garman’s status.
 
Nominating Team: Rich said that there are a few potential candidates, and that he will get an update from Linda Kratz before the annual Congregational Meeting.
                                            
OLD BUSINESS

• Christmas Tree for the sanctuary -

Rich and all council members thanked Anne for her donating the beautiful Christmas tree this year.  Also, Adam and Anne are still looking into the prospect of buying an artificial tree if it is found to be cost effective.
 

• Food Addicts Group -

Rich reported that the group has been contacted about coming up with a workable time/date for them to hold their meetings but there has been no response.
 

• Denise’s Laptop -

Denise is leaving her laptop with Adam for the next few days.  Adam will check it out and clean it up, and then return it to Denise.  Adam will then alert Council as to his findings as to whether a new laptop is warranted or not.
 

• New Camera for Sanctuary -

$1,155 - $516 (grant balance) = $639 - Rich pointed out that we need $639 to cover the difference and Special Funds will decide which memorial to take it from.
 
NEW BUSINESS

• Annual Congregational Meeting planning -

The meeting will be a hybrid meeting (in person and remote on Zoom) on Sunday, January 23, 2022, immediately following our Worship Service.  We will remain in the Sanctuary for this meeting.  We need a quorum of 25 people to vote.  Janet will provide updated Treasurer’s Report and 2022 Budget.  The congregation will vote on the 2022 budget.  We will vote on the new nominated council members.  Dale Foster stepping down from a six-year term on council automatically is elected as next year’s Church Council Nominating Team Chair.   We will present the Call Vote Minutes from the November 21, 2021, Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church Congregational Meeting for the entire Congregation’s approval.  There will be a food and coffee hour in the Fellowship Hall following the meeting.  All members voted in favor to approve.
 
Next Meeting:  Wednesday, February 2, 2022, at 7pm. 
Will be a hybrid meeting.  New Council will be meeting. 
 
Coffee with Council: Sunday, January 9, 2022, after worship.

Hello Church Family, this month is a month that we have a special day known as Valentine’s Day to celebrate love, so I wish you have a Happy Valentine’s Day!  It is important to remember, however, that God teaches us that we should love everyone all the time.  This month I am sharing a devotional that I read from my daily Bible app on my mobile phone that I found made an impact and was inspirational to me on the subject of Godly love. 
 
YOU VERSION   Devotional:
Love your neighbor. Whether you’re familiar with the Bible or not, you’ve probably heard this phrase. This command was first written in Leviticus 19:18 in the Old Testament and comes right after we read that we shouldn’t seek revenge or hold a grudge against people. 
 
When we think about our neighbors, in the literal sense, we think it’s someone who actually lives next door to us. In order to know what neighbor truly means, we have to go back to the original Hebrew text of Leviticus 19:18. The word for neighbor is plesion, and it means friend or any other person. Basically, we’re supposed to love everyone!
 
The argumentative family member
The friendly man at the grocery store
The frustrating lady down the street
The sweet child in another country
The person who voted differently than you
 
That’s quite a lofty command, isn’t it? But, it’s essential—so much so that Jesus made it the second most important command!

“Teacher, which command in the law is the most important?” Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and most important command. And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’  Matthew 22:36-39 (NCV)

It’s quite a challenging command, and even feels a bit unattainable. It might appear more realistic if the verse said, “Hey, love your neighbor when they’re being nice to you and when everything is going great. But if they upset you or do something to annoy you, then you don’t have to love them. You get a pass.” But Jesus was pretty clear: we should love our neighbors all the time. 

So, how do we actually love our neighbors? We love God first and ourselves second. Loving God first means that we receive His love for us, because He loved us first. God’s love for us is unconditional. It’s hard to fathom that kind of love and even harder to display. That’s probably why we often sink to the level of loving other people only when it feels convenient. Loving ourselves isn’t some type of self-absorbed love. Loving ourselves means we see our value because Jesus did—enough to die on the cross for us! Learning to love ourselves because of the value we have in Jesus will help us love our neighbors. 
 
When we love our neighbors, we are being the hands and feet of Jesus.  
 
This devotional is also inspired by1 John 4:7-19 (NIV):
 
“7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
 
19 We love because he first loved us.”

Love to all,
Gail Achilles