Category: 2024 12 December

December 2024 Mustard Seed - A Word from Our Pastor

12/3/2024

In my last newsletter article, I announced that Faith and Jerusalem would be beginning our participation in the Nourishing Vocation Project this coming Advent. As I mentioned in that article, the Nourishing Vocation Project is a program of spiritual renewal and discernment, sponsored by St. Olaf College and funded through the Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative. This project aims to help congregations discern their vocation, i.e., what God is calling them to do. Thus, in Advent, we will prepare for this journey by listening to our longings, our hopes, and our joys for the future as we embark on this process.

So, my question is “what are you longing for?” As human beings, longings are nothing new to us, and we long for so many different things. In the winter, we long for a new spring day. In the summer, we long for the cool crisp fall. In other instances, we long for stuff like our favorite foods. However, sometimes, our longings are deeper. One might long for a loved one who is gone, or one may long for the end of a conflict, or for the comfort of one's home. On the other hand, one might long for a particular emotion or feeling, for happiness, love, joy, or hope. Even the people of the Bible had longings. Adam and Eve longed for the garden. The Hebrew people longed to see the promised land. Mary and Martha longed for their brother Lazarus. The disciples longed for Jesus after his death. Paul longed to see the Church at its most faithful. No matter who you are or when you are, we all long for something, and we have these longings because these things bring us comfort and peace. However, the questions are what do we do with these longings, and how do these longings affect who God has called us to be?

This advent, I invite you to reflect on these questions and on your own longings. For in Advent, we wait for perhaps our greatest longing. We wait for the coming of our lord and savior Jesus Christ, for God sends the answers to our longings in the birth of Jesus for all people in a manger in Bethlehem, and so we await his coming again at the end of the age. However, in the meantime, let us wait in preparation and longing for the coming of our Savior! And let us “prepare the way of the Lord” and “make his paths straight” (Luke 3:4), so that all may know of his coming, of the joy and peace that he brings!

And so, I want to leave you all with the words of Psalm 42:1-2:

As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.

This advent, I pray that you all may find the longings that you seek, but more importantly that you find peace and comfort in our lord and savior Jesus Christ as we await his final coming. I pray that this peace and comfort may also give you guidance and lead to love and to serve the world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Peace and Blessings, Pastor Ethan Doan

December 2024 Mustard Seed - Announcements

12/3/2024

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Hanging of the Greens will be held on December 22, 2024, during the 9:30am worship service. Look for a sign-up sheet to help with the service that day. You can help change the sanctuary over from Advent to Christmas - whether it be changing bows, paraments or candles, putting up banners, setting up the nativity or decorating the tree with our lovely Chrismons. Or you can just come and enjoy the magic of the day as we prepare for the birth of Christ.

A child is born to us.  A son is given to us!  And he will be our ruler.  He will be called, “Wonderful Counselor,” “Mighty God,” “Eternal Father,” “Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

Sunday School: Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church new Sunday School hours will be at 9:30am during the worship service.
Kate Waldman will be joining our current teachers Nancy Gansner, Anna Friedrich, & Gail Achilles in December in teaching in the Sunday School rotation. Welcome Kate!
Classes are held during Worship Service in the Church’s Sunday School Room.
The children will leave worship service after the Pastor-led children’s sermon and return to worship service before the rite of Holy Communion.
Please call the Church office 215-368-0240 or email [email protected] to register your child for Sunday School.
Any questions or comments, contact Gail Achilles, Christian Education Chair
We are looking forward in sharing Jesus’ love and word with your Child(ren).

Proverbs 22:6 ESV Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Our Monday Night Bible Study group is studying the book, “The Pew Sisters” by Katie Schuermann. There are 12 sessions. Each one is a story into itself of God’s faithfulness. We welcome anyone to join us on Mondays if this sounds of interest to you and, if not, we highly recommend the book for your own personal study. If you would like to grow in your relationship with Jesus and fortify your Faith in fellowship, please join us.
Here is the zoom link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89517994658?pwd=2AE3yRc631cCcIP7aNDBRK1WrhIQ1X.1
Meeting ID: 895 1799 4658      Passcode: 478541
All are welcome to join, please contact Gail Achilles if interested.

Parents’ Night Out (PNO) – Youth Fellowship (YF)

Looking for a night out and a fun, safe place to bring the kids?

Well, look no further! We here at Faith Lutheran Church are ready to care for your child(ren) in a safe environment, provide food and fun activities, and share the love of Jesus.

The children will have dinner when they arrive consisting of pizza or chicken nuggets, grape and apple slices with caramel dip, water, 100% fruit juice, then enjoy music, games, crafts, stories, and end the evening with popcorn and a movie!

PNO-YF is held on a Friday from 6 pm to 9 pm. The schedule is: 2024 is: Dec 6
If interested, please register at www.faithmontgomeryville.org and click on the PNO – YF tab or call 215-368-0240.
Note: A minimum donation of $5.00 per child is suggested so we can provide future youth events.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Email: [email protected]

Where the Word of Jesus is spoken, heard, and lived

Young Adult Fellowship/Youth Ministry
(ages 12-17)
Looking for somewhere to learn about Jesus with others your age? Join us at Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church in Montgomeryville every third Sunday* in 2024-25 from 6:00-7:30pm!
Expect to have fun while learning about the Word of God by joining in prayer, devotions and readings at the church. We will also have occasional outings around the area such as mini golf, bowling and more! Our adult support team will provide snacks and beverages during meetings. We hope to see you soon!
Where? Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church, 615 Cowpath Rd. Montgomeryville, PA 18036 (215-3680-0240 Pastor Ethan Doan/Janet Hill, Administrative Assistant) or (267-664-3328 Gail Achilles, Chair, Christian Education)
When? Third Sunday of the month from 6:00-7:30pm
Dates for 2024/25: Dec 15, Jan 19, Feb 16, Mar 16, Apr 27* (3d Sunday is Easter), May 18, June 22* (3d Sunday is Father’s Day), July 20, Aug 17, Sep 21, Oct 19, Nov 16, Dec 21.

Please don't hesitate to contact us at the number above, we hope to see you soon!

Greetings! You are all invited to our Faith Education Dinner. At this dinner, we will be discussing +the books of the Bible. This dinner will be held on the second Sunday of the month, this month, Sunday, December 8, 2024, at 5:30-7pm. This dinner is geared toward teens and adults. However, activities will be provided for all ages. Come eat and learn!

Lord, when did we see you...?
The purpose of the Social Ministry Team is to follow Jesus' commandment to love one another as he loved us. To offer opportunities to our congregation to be good and faithful servants. To share the love and truth of Jesus Christ and to offer hope to all God's children by giving of our time, our money and ourselves to our church, our community, and the world.

One of our Social Ministry Projects for December is our Angel Tree.
Galatians 6:10 ~ "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

This year the proceeds from the Angel Tree have been designated to the Pastor’s Discretionary Fund. These funds can be distributed to members of our church family not only for grocery gift cards but also for other emergency financial aid. You can participate in this project by giving a financial donation to Janet.

We will also be SHARING CHRISTMAS WITH “James”, “Sophia” and “Kareem” FROM MARTIN LUTHER SCHOOL now known as GEMMA SERVICESMartin Luther School/Gemma Services “where hope shines” in Plymouth Meeting was founded as an orphanage. It now provides a home, treatment, education and other services for boys and girls, ages 6 to 14, who have experienced past traumas, including abuse, neglect and poverty. All services are provided in a nurturing environment that promotes recovery, resilience and, where possible, families reunited.

Your social ministry team is asking you to support three children, an 8 year old, an 11 year old and a 12 year old. Gifts for them will be on display on Sunday, December 8. After the church service, you will be asked to make your donations toward our goal of $195.
Your Christian love for these children is most appreciated by the School and especially by the children. As they unwrap their presents, it brings them great joy and excitement knowing others care so very much!
May your holidays be blessed as you are blessing these children! -In Christ, Sharon Hood

Update on our October Social Ministry Project: We donated 32 boxes of Stove Top stuffing and 3 boxes of boxed potatoes to the Hatfield Food Cupboard located at the Emanuel Community Congregational Church in Hatfield. Thank you, Faith family!

FELLOWSHIP MINISTRY: The Fellowship Ministry Team at Faith tries to schedule activities for members of the congregation to spend time together to strengthen their bonds outside of the traditional worship service. We also encourage members to bring their family, friends and members of the community to these activities. This strengthens our ties to one another and opens opportunities to meet new people.
    December’s Fellowship activity is a Christmas Game Night, Saturday, December 14, 2024, 2:00-6:00pm in the Fellowship Hall. Come out for an afternoon Holiday Fun and Fellowship with your Church Family. Activities to include: Make Hot Chocolate, Make a Pine Cone Birdfeeder, Decorate Cookies (for Cookie Can Sale on Sunday, December 15, 2024), Sign Cards for Christmas, Limbo, Throw snowflakes into boxes, Throw rings onto Reindeer Antlers, Kim’s Game by Richard Kipland, Sing Christmas Carols  And then enjoy a simple Potluck Dinner
Look for the sign-up sheet on the table outside of the Sanctuary!


Christmas Coffee Can Sale will be held on Sunday, December 15th.
We need lots of volunteers to bake Christmas cookies for our Annual Christmas Coffee Can Sale. Please bring your cookies to the church the week before the 15th or that morning. Here’s how it works. You buy a holiday decorated empty coffee can for: $6 for small can, $8 for a medium can and $10 for large can and then get to fill it with whatever assortment of cookies will fit into the can. You get only your favorites! So please consider baking and then come out and buy too! Questions, please see Beth Schoening.


The “Golden Girls of Faith” (Golden Men are welcome too!) will be meeting once a month for lunch, fellowship and prayer at a local restaurant. They will meet the first Wednesday of the month which will be December 4, 2024, this month.  For more information or if you need a ride, please talk to Anna Friedrich. All are welcome!

“For I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love: neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future, neither the world above nor the world below--there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 (GNT)

In an effort to make our prayer list more manageable we are working on a new system in which the full prayer list will be in the Mustard Seed, while the list in the Prayers of Intercession in the Weekly Bulletin will include prayers only for Faith members and immediate family. Please submit requests to Janet in the church office at [email protected], specify whether the need is “ongoing” or “current” and please notify her if and when the name can be removed from the list.
We’ll be trying to trim down our current list, please let the church office know if someone you put on the list needs to remain or be removed. If we don’t know who someone is on the prayer list their name will be removed in January. Thank you!

December 2024 Mustard Seed - Council Notes

12/3/2024

Council Notes   November 6, 2024

Council was called to order by President Rich Hollenbach. Council Minutes of the October meeting were approved as written.

Treasurer’s Report: At 83% of the 2024-year, Member Giving for Pledged & Unpledged Envelopes is at 91% and 113%. It appears that our congregation is staying on track of their pledges. Just a reminder that one member gave more than the pledged amount and another member gave the entire year already. October ends with a surplus of $2,839.39 and the current budget deficit for the year is $12, 830, down from $15,669 last month. The Treasurer’s Report from October was approved as written.

Pastor’s Report: We had four students receiving their first Communion. Three on October 3 and one on Reformation Sunday. We restarted the Faith Education Dinner on October 13, 2024. Our focus this year will be the books of the Bible. Next dinner is this Sunday, November 10, 2024. The Nourishing Vocation Project cohort meeting was on October 24th. Rich, Gail and Pastor attended. Next one is on November 21st. We will be kicking off the project at Faith in Advent. Pastor is putting together small groups for greater discernment. In conversation with the president of Feast Incarnate about hosting/sponsoring meal at University Lutheran Church Philadelphia. Met with Pastor Nancy from Grace to discuss greater collaboration between Faith and Grace. We plan to collaborate more in Lent. Fellowship with Jerusalem: Jerusalem has invited us to participate in their live nativity on Sunday, December 1st, from 3 to 5pm.

Ministry Team Reports:
    Christian Education: Sunday School – We gladly welcome Kate Waldman into our teacher rotation for Sunday School. Kate’s first date to teach is December 15. Thanks Kate, you are a great addition and a blessing to the children of Faith Lutheran Church. Youth Ministry (ages 12 to 17) – Our next two meetings are scheduled for November 17 and December 15 (Both on Sunday, 6 pm to 730 pm). Parents’ Night Out – Youth Fellowship (PNO-YF): Next two events are November 22 and December 6 (both on Friday, 6 pm to 9 pm). Ages 12 and up are welcome to volunteer.

Fellowship: November 26 Thanksgiving Service – Since we have invited Grace and Jerusalem, we’re asking to have a Coffee Lite with finger foods starting at 6:30 PM. Fellowship Activity for December 14, 2-6pm (see New Business)

Finance: Annual Financial Review (Audit) results reviewed by the team. 2024 Preliminary Budget (see New Business)

Fundraising: Fall Scrapbook Fundraiser for Faith Lutheran Church raised $905. The Wawa hoagie sale on October 13 raised $100. Missy will be getting more information on a crockpot meal fundraiser. Anne to talk to Alex about fundraising ideas.

Hospitality:  In the new year, the hospitality team will incorporate more “Coffee Lites” in the schedule.

Long-Range Planning: Coordination with the Nourishing Vocation Project.

Mutual Ministry: This team met with Janet and Adam. The team will meet with Pastor Ethan on November 10.

Nominating Team: Five current council members will continue into 2025. Three have terms ending, two are eligible for a second term while one is not able to run again. Two additional positions are open (can have up to nine members, only eight in 2024.) Suggestions for candidates were reviewed.

Property Team: The hot water tank for the nursery bathroom rusted out and was leaking. Adam replaced it with a slightly smaller and significantly cheaper one from Lowes; the total was $215.06. We had our annual fire extinguisher maintenance and inspection, which went well. New furnaces (see Old Business below).

Shepherding: Sharon needs to talk to Beth Schoening about her taking over this ministry.

Social Ministry: October – During the month of October, the congregation donated 32 boxes of Stove Top Stuffing and 3 boxes of Potatoes. The boxes were donated to the Hatfield Food Pantry that is located at the Emmanuel Evangelical Congregational Church on Cowpath Road in Hatfield. The boxes were well received as they were needed for the Thanksgiving Baskets that will be distributed in November. December – The Angel Tree will be placed on the foyer desk as previously. Instead of collecting money for Grocery Gift Cards for the Congregation, the scope will be enlarged a bit to collect monetary donations that will be placed in the Pastor’s Discretionary Account. These donations can then be used to purchase grocery gift cards, as well as provide a source of funds for other needs such as paying a heating bill, a car repair, or another need of our congregation members. Pastor Ethan will have discretion to use the money has needed. Also in December the congregation will be asked to support the purchase of gifts for three (3) children from Gemma Services, aka Martin Luther School in Plymouth Meeting.

Stewardship: On October 6, 2024, we concluded our stewardship campaign entitled “Together We Are”. Special Thanks to Pastor, Debbie, Janet, and Jack for their help with the stewardship campaign.

Worship & Music: Short-term music plans for worship are in place while still looking for a new music director. Thanksgiving service will be on Tuesday, November 26, at 7:30pm and both Jerusalem, Sellersville and Grace, Hatfield have been invited. The Hanging of the Greens will be on 12/22 – Cantata will be Christmas Carols and readings. Service for Christmas Eve will be at 8 pm (instead of 7:30.)

OLD BUSINESS Constitution Update – Constitution Update: Still working on addressing / incorporating council feedback. Current recommendations include: Change wording from to “elect” to “appoint” the Treasurer and Financial Secretary; Change number of counters from “3” to “up to 3”; Change number of members of the Mutual Ministry team to 2-4 members; Adjust wording on Sunday School Teachers – Needs further review and updates. Nourishing Vocation Project – Plan to start integrating into worship during Advent. 2024 Holiday Bazaar - Friday, November 8th from 4-8pm and Saturday, November 9th from 9am to 2pm; We’re getting ready for the bazaar. We’ve been working this week to sort and price our merchandise. We have a total of 8 vendors. Linda Kratz received a $250 gift card from Thrivent, and we purchased a lot of food and some supplies for the kitchen; Our volunteers are lined up and we expect a successful weekend, and we look forward to our time together. Come out and check us out and support our vendors and come for dinner and lunch. HVAC replacement proposal - IT Landes has received our deposit and has all the equipment to begin the work. They are waiting for the permit from Montgomery township. The township asked for more information but sent the request to the wrong email address. Mark from IT Landes will be stopping by the church to gather the required information to give to the township. Once they get the permit IT Landes will schedule us to replace the sanctuary units.

NEW BUSINESS Faith Christmas Party: Members have offered to host a party on December 16 from 2-6 PM. The scope of this event has evolved into much more than the original Potluck dinner. Missy motioned, Linda seconded, and council approved by majority to allow the continued planning this event with the following stipulations: Each activity needs to have a designated leader, as well as supplies needed; A sign-up sheet is needed for the Potluck dinner; No funds have been designated for this event, so all items and food need to be donated; Adam needs to be advised of the set-up needed and confirm that he’s able to do so; If by December 7 there are not enough people signed up (or members that can lead the events), the event will be cancelled on the 8th ; Linda immediately emailed Beth, Janet, Anne, and the Fellowship chairs, Mary Lou and Dale. 2025 Preliminary Budget – The budget was presented to Council by Finance Chair, Debbie Hollenbach. Here are some of the topics discussed: It was noted that there should be more information on sponsorship of both bulletins and flowers since many weeks are not sponsored; The budget line for the $400 Video license should be added back into the preliminary budget, even though it will be zeroed out in the budget; Denise will call Portico to get the updated information on any cost changes for Pastor for 2025; A Mustard Seed article is needed to ask members to document their own contributions (VBS, PNO, random kitchen donations, etc.) This information will be very helpful for budgeting purposes and for mentorship. The council voted to approve the preliminary budget with a deficit of $37,000 be presented to the congregation. Need to create a confirmation process for adults and young adults that were never formally confirmed. Pastor will investigate this. Review of Sexual Abuse and Misconduct Prevention Policy: Adam advised that we could get a considerable discount on our insurance if those who are working with children fulfilled not only the state clearances, but also training. Missy noted that there is free on-line training for this. We could also reduce our premium if we reduce our liability costs per incident from $1 Million to $100K (limit $200K per year) if we adopt this policy. It was decided that Gail would take the lead on getting a team together (Adam, Janet, Missy) to discuss policies and what is needed to ensure these requirements are met. The council voted to approve reviewing the policies so that we can get the discounted insurance premium and decrease our liability when able. Council’s December Meeting and Christmas Dinner will be held on December 4 in the Adult Forum Room.

IMPORTANT DATES: Nov 26: Thanksgiving Worship Service; November 28: Thanksgiving Day; November 29-30: Scrapbooking in Fellowship Hall.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, December 4, at 6:00 PM in the Adult Forum Room.

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December 2024 Mustard Seed - A Word from Our Pastor

December 2024 Mustard Seed - Announcements

December 2024 Mustard Seed - Council Notes

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