Devotion (3/31) Taking some time off...

So my Dad, who lives with us now, gets up early. Last Friday morning he came downstairs at 6am and thought I was dead. Why? Because I had fallen asleep in my chair at the dining room table where my computer sits. I don’t remember when I fell asleep, there was just a half typed document that made little sense on my computer and I don’t even really remember working on it, him waking me, getting up, and getting in bed. I remember my son coming into my room around 9:00am to tell me he had finished his homework and asking if he could play video games and mumbling, “sure”, and I remember finally dragging myself out of bed around 11 or 11:30 maybe. Somewhere in there I think I answered a call or two and responded to some text messages. I really don’t know. It’s all a blur.

When I finally reheated some coffee still in the pot and started to get my wits back about me I realized - “this is insane, I can’t keep doing this”. This constant stream of news, the constant contact, the doing whatever we can while being able to do so little, the fear and uncertainty of it all, the daily chores of life that still abound but needing to find new ways to accomplish them all...how do we keep up?

And then there is the guilt. I am not a healthcare worker, I don’t work at a nursing home like my brother and care for those at greatest risk. I’m not interacting with hundreds of people a day at the grocery store or the WaWa, or in a delivery fulfillment factory. I am not out of work and I am not fearful of how to provide for my family at the moment. What do I have to complain about? Nothing. I have nothing to complain about.

My brother on the other hand works his butt off at a retirement community kitchen each and every week. He works hard, really hard in normal times. In this time, his schedule is all messed up. Everything is up in the air. He arrives and has his temperature checked and he’s asked about possible symptoms. Then he goes to work. The next day he repeats it all again to help feed people who need the help.

I thought about all this and that is when I had a bit of a realization. We are all doing the best we can in this time and all of our lives are different with varying demands. There are only two things we can ask of ourselves in this time: (1) do the best we can and (2) know our limits. Beyond that, we lean on God cause, well, duh.

We are promised in faith that we are not alone in anything, that God is with us in all things, that even in the darkest of times we are held in God’s love and care. As we do the best we can, God is with us. When we are fearful and uncertain, God is with us. When we are on the frontlines of this crisis, God is with us. And yes, when we’ve reached our limit and break God is there too. (I’d be happy to give you scripture references - please feel free to email but make sure you read up first cause that’s basically the whole Bible).

So I’m going to try and understand my limits and I’m going to have a little trust as well. I’m going to trust that my friends and neighbors care for me as much as I care for them. I’m going to trust that the people who are working so hard now must be cared for and respected and that I am a part of that. I’m going to trust that I can be a part of helping those who are struggling. I’m going to trust that I, and all of us, will keep sharing the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ (from a distance). I’m going to trust that God is with me, and all of us, in all of this mess.

My brother has the weekends and evenings off. I used to give him a hard time about not getting groceries or not helping to clean around the house and instead just watching some show from the 80’s or a comic book movie again. I don’t do that anymore. He needs his rest. He needs his time.  He’s working for people in the midst of all of this and if he needs some time to watch Spider-Man for the 300th time then so be it. He’s earned it (and good Lord that’s a huge understatement - on both how often he rewatches movies and his need and earning of a break).

I’m going to take a day off too. From the news, from worrying so much (but keep worrying some and take this seriously!!!!), from going anywhere beyond the door (ok, that one I’ve been taking a few days off from but way less than usual!), from the computer, from the internet, from everything. I’m going to take a day off and trust in myself to do the right thing during this time. I’m going to trust in my neighbors to do what is necessary and what is right for us all, and I’m going to trust in God to be with each and every one of us in all this - I hope you do the same.

Share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ by loving and serving your neighbors, by being responsible, by taking care of yourself, and by trusting that God is with you in it all. And then, take a break for a minute or two, you’ve earned it.

Your fellow servant in Christ,

Pastor Suloff

Discussion Groups on Zoom! TODAY(3/31) at 12:30 and 7:30

We will be holding two online discussion groups today, Tuesday, March 31 at 12:30pm and 7:30pm to provide a place for members of our community to discuss all that is going on, how we are doing as individuals and families, how our faith can speak to us in such a time, and for prayer. If you would like to join us for the discussion group it is easy by following these simple steps:

  1. Go to zoom.us and either create a free account or simply click “Join A Meeting”. If you choose to create an account simply click on “Join A Meeting” after completed the setup process.

  2. To join the meeting enter the meeting code:

    12:30pm meeting: 927-796-150

    7:30pm meeting: 801-369-072

  3. If you log-in prior to either meeting you will be placed in the “waiting room” until the meeting start time. Once the meeting begins you will enter the “meeting room” screen and be able to see and hear other participants. You can choose to do audio only if you like. If you enter the
    room and do not see a video of yourself simply click the allow video button in the bottom left corner of the screen.

  4. If you are unfamiliar with Zoom I would suggest going to the website and trying to set-up your account or familiarize yourself with the website prior to the meeting if you have time. If you have any questions or need any assistance please don’t hesitate to contact me and I will do my best
    to assist you. The meeting will last a maximum of 40 minutes.

Happy Saturday St. Peter's!

Happy Saturday St. Peter’s!

Sorry that this post didn’t come out on Friday as usual! We are continuing on in a new way at the church and there are a number of things to cover – be sure to check the end of this email for Sunday’s worship bulletin, the updated Prayer List, and a tutorial on how to watch the service live…. So with all that, let’s get right to it…

1.    Online Worship: We will be streaming our worship online once again on Facebook Live at 10am this Sunday and then placing a link to the service recording on the church website later in the day – we
hope that you’ll join us for this new way to worship! We are not trying to advertise for Facebook but have found this is the easiest way for us to reach a large group of people for worship on Sunday mornings – if you are not on Facebook and need some help creating an account, if you’re having trouble finding the live stream, or have any other problems please don’t hesitate to contact me and I’ll be happy to help. The worship bulletin for Sunday can also be viewed by clicking RIGHT HERE and is also attached to the end of this email. Finally, if you have friends who are not “online” much please reach out to them and offer help so that they can join our worship services and don’t forget to invite all your friends!

2. Need help viewing our live events? Are you having trouble viewing our worship services in real time on FaceBook Live or having trouble joining our Facebook Live chats? Never fear, thanks to Chrissy Waldron we have a handy tutorial here to help you easily access both our live events and, if you need, get on Facebook. Thanks Chrissy! You can find the tutorial RIGHT HERE.

3.  Open Discussion Groups: We will be hosting open discussion groups again this week on Tuesday at 12:30pm and 7:30pm on Zoom (zoom.us). Zoom is a relatively easy and free website to host online
meetings and discussions and there are more detailed instructions on how to join one of our discussion groups on the church website and we will re-post that information prior to the meetings on Tuesday. If you have any questions about our discussion groups or have any trouble accessing them please contact me. Thanks to everyone who joined us last Tuesday!

4. Facebook Live Chat – Ask The Pastor Anything!: On Thursday I will once again be hosting a live chat on Facebook Live to “Ask the Pastor Anything!” at 7:30pm. During this time I will field as many questions as I can and if I don’t have the answer to your question I’ll work on finding it and sharing it the following week. Thanks to everyone who joined us last Thursday!

5. Online Giving and Offering: During this time we know that many are struggling and we certainly understand that but if you are able to continue with your offering please either mail your offering envelopes to the church or consider using our ONLINE GIVING option on the website – it is a quick and easy way to share your gifts with the congregation.

6.  SCRIP and Caring for the Community: As said, we know that many are struggling or will be struggling. SCRIP is a great way to support the church and help your neighbors at the same time – one of the best ways that we can help our community right now is by donating gift cards from Weis or Giant to the church so that we can distribute them to folks in needs either within our community or through the Colonial Neighborhood Council and other Social Ministry organizations. SCRIP is easy! You can increase what you give to the church by buying these cards for your daily expenses and help out your neighbors by donating cards. Groceries, gas, Home Depot, Target, Ace Hardware Stores, Amazon purchases, etc.  To place orders for Scrip online go to www.ShopWithScrip.com and click “Join A Program.” Our Enrollment Code is:   DDA6EF5815851.  Our Organization is: St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. Our Coordinator is: Jane Stettler, (610) 316-3350, jstettler@krautharris.com. If you order cards for either personal use or donate we will be in touch with you to coordinate a safe way for you to pick up your cards.

7. First Communion: During these times we obviously need to postpone many things – one of those is the First Communion Workshop that was scheduled for this weekend and receiving First Communion on
Maundy Thursday. As soon as we are able to return to somewhat normal activities here at the church we will work with each family who has a child who would like to receive their First Communion to reschedule the workshop, or workshops, and arrange a date that works well for families to celebrate First Communion.

8. Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter: As of this time it appears that we will be worshipping online for Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter for the safety of our church community and the larger community. An updated Holy Week Schedule will be shared via email and on the church website this week.

9. Elastic Needed: There are volunteers throughout the community who are working to make masks during
this time for various places that need them but elastic is in short supply – if you have new elastic in your sewing box that you can donate to help this cause please contact Pastor Suloff directly at revsuloff@gmail.com.

10. Church Office: Our church office will continue to function but it will obviously look a little different for the time being as we are all going to be working remotely whenever it is possible. We will be going to the church periodically to check the mail, take care of administrative tasks that must be handled in the building, and update records. Carla is working on changing the church voicemail and will be checking messages frequently and we are also working on having calls forwarded from the church phone to my cell phone. If you have a need during this time please do not hesitate to contact me directly on my cell phone or by email.

11. Check-ins: We ask all the people of St. Peter’s to check in with one another during this time – if you have time please call or email your friends and neighbors, the person who always sits in front on you at church, or someone whose name just pops into your head. If you are aware of any needs within our community please let me know directly. During this difficult time it is of the utmost importance that we communicate with one
another and take care of one another as best we can.

12. Website: We will be using the church website (www.stpeterslafayettehill.org) and our Facebook page as our primary means of daily communication for the foreseeable future – please check the website frequently and please share information with others in the community and beyond.

13. Ideas: This is a new and different time for all of us – our church, community, nation, and world all must learn to do things differently – if you have any ideas for how we might better share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ please let me know!

14. Prayer: Look, we all feel kind of helpless right now and it is difficult – we can, and should, be socially distant during this difficult time. We can also pray because, quite frankly, that is what we do. Our prayer list is attached to the end of this email and I would encourage you all to find a bit of time each day to pray – for our families, our communities, our doctors, our nurses, all those who serve the world during this time, and for our world. We may be separated by distance but we can be united in prayer.

Well that covers everything for now St. Peter’s so we hope that you are staying safe and taking care of yourselves and one another – join us for worship and our other online activities, don’t forget to check the
website frequently, support our ministries at St. Peter’s and help your neighbors if you are able, pray without ceasing, and as always keep sharing the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all!

Your fellow servant in Christ,

Pastor Suloff

SUNDAY WORSHIP BULLETIN

FACEBOOK LIVE and FACEBOOK TUTORIAL

PRAYER LIST

What about Easter?

Look, I’m going to make this simple and straightforward – we
all want life to be back to normal but that is not the case at the moment. Life
is not simple, and it is not straightforward, we are a people together in something
new that none of us know how to go through. This is hard for all of us. This is
hard for the world.

As of right now, all our Holy Week services and Easter
services will be held online and all church activities will continue remotely.
This is the best way that we can help the community and serve our community –
we stay in our homes and we learn new ways to be a community that shares the life,
love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all.

This is not a political statement by any means, and we keep
politics out of church. This is a statement about our safety and how we, as
children of God, can best love and serve our neighbors and best be the people
of God.

We remain in a new state of the Church. Yes, things are
different now for all of us. Yes, we all want life to return to “normal”. No,
we cannot do that right now. We are called, as the people of God to love and
serve our neighbors and the best way that we can do that is by staying away in
person and gathering safely through new methods.

This is a new day for the world, for our community, and for
our church – our lives, our routines, all that we know as “normal” is upended –
so be it. Together we will persevere, together we will be a community, together
we will share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all in new and
different ways.

Together we protect our community and our world – even if that
means our Easter celebrations occur in our living rooms while wearing our pajamas.
Together we give thanks to God, sometimes in new and different ways. Together
we love and serve our neighbors. Together we can do all things with our Lord,
even all of this.

“I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to
have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being
well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do
all things through him who strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:12-13

Your fellow servant in Christ,

Pastor Suloff















Devotion - 3/25

During our Council Check-in meeting this week one of the ideas that was shared is for Council and members of the congregation to share their thoughts, devotions, and prayers with the congregation during this time and so here is our first submission courtesy of Stephanie Freidly.

I recently moved to a new house this past fall. Over the
past couple months I’ve met a few neighbors here and there. There’s a neighbor
a few doors down from mine that is a family with three children about the same
ages as Natalie and Luke. We’ve met one or two times but our schedules have made
it difficult to get together and get to know each other.

This past week, that all changed. After a day of sitting at
my desk with my work computer at home, I went outside with Natalie and Luke and
found a bunch our neighbors sitting in lawn chairs (6 feet apart of course)
chatting, having a good time with kids riding bikes and coloring with side-walk
chalk. They invited us over right away. So Natalie grabbed her tricycle, Luke
grabbed some “colors” (what he calls sidewalk chalk) and I grabbed my folding
chair and we joined our neighbors. We talked about which grocery stores had
what in stock, what we were doing for our jobs or if we still have a job, we
joked about video conferences and just adjusting to this new normal of life
right now – there was such a great feeling of community!

Since then, every time I go outside, if I see the girls a
few doors down from me, they ask if Natalie and Luke can come out and play.
When I was out weeding my garden over the weekend, they got their little
gardening sets and came and helped me weed! They stopped by my house on Sunday
with their mom just to check in and see if I needed anything. Their mom and I
are planning playdate adventures for when things are open again (we’re also
planning ladies nights for ourselves!)

In these uncertain times, it’s important to have good
friends and neighbors both near and far. It’s important to check in with one
another and make sure we’re all ok. Most of all, it’s important to remember
Jesus is our most faithful friend who will always be with us through whatever
we’re facing. We’ll all get through this together! Our St. Peter’s council is
planning to reach out to everyone in our congregation to check in and see if
there is anything we can do for you. I encourage you all to reach out to a
neighbor or friend, near or far and just see how they’re doing, see if there is
anything you can do for them and let them know you care about them and are
thinking about them!

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I
have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

John 15:15

   -Stephanie Freidly



Join in the Lord's Prayer at noon today!

An invitation to prayer from the bishop of the ELCA:

Dear Church,

The Evangelical Lutheran Church America, as part of the body of Christ, is united with other Christians in our communities, in our country and around the world. This unity takes many forms, including prayer.

I am writing to extend an invitation we have received from Pope Francis, through the Lutheran World Federation and the World Council of Churches, to join in the Lord's Prayer tomorrow, March 25, at noon your local time. Please share this invitation through your synods, congregations, ecumenical communities and individual networks.

During the global pandemic of COVID-19, the church can and should give witness to our unity in Christ and express our deep concern for God's creation. Despite social distancing, through prayer we are able to enter together into the presence of Christ and the communion of believers. By praying the prayer that Christ taught us, we are united with followers of Jesus in every time and in every place. When the church gathers in this way, we can be assured that Christ, our eternal hope, is present in the midst of suffering.

In Christ,

The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton

Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

SPY (St. Peter's Youth) Chat!

Calling all St. Peter’s Youth! Join us on Zoom on Wednesday, March 25 at 7:30pm for a chat and check-in - if you need any help using Zoom or have any questions please contact Pastor Suloff.

  1. Go to zoom.us and either create a free account or simply click “Join A Meeting”. If you choose to create an account simply click on “Join A Meeting” after completed the setup process.

  2. To join the meeting enter the meeting code:

    7:30pm meeting: 102-303-035

  3. If you log-in prior to either meeting you will be placed in the “waiting room” until the meeting start time. Once the meeting begins you will enter the “meeting room” screen and be able to see and hear other participants. You can choose to do audio only if you like. If you enter the
    room and do not see a video of yourself simply click the allow video button in the bottom left corner of the screen.

  4. If you are unfamiliar with Zoom I would suggest going to the website and trying to set-up your account or familiarize yourself with the website prior to the meeting if you have time. If you have any questions or need any assistance please don’t hesitate to contact me and I will do my best
    to assist you. The meeting will last a maximum of 40 minutes.

Open Discussion Groups TODAY (3/24 at 12:30pm and 7:30pm)

We will be holding two online discussion groups today, Tuesday, March 24 at 12:30pm and 7:30pm to provide a place for members of our community to discuss all that is going on, how we are doing as individuals and families, how our faith can speak to us in such a time, and for prayer. If you would like to join us for the discussion group it is easy by following these simple steps:

  1. Go to zoom.us and either create a free account or simply click “Join A Meeting”. If you choose to create an account simply click on “Join A Meeting” after completed the setup process.

  2. To join the meeting enter the meeting code:

    12:30pm meeting: 466-151-223

    7:30pm meeting: 460-349-913

  3. If you log-in prior to either meeting you will be placed in the “waiting room” until the meeting start time. Once the meeting begins you will enter the “meeting room” screen and be able to see and hear other participants. You can choose to do audio only if you like. If you enter the
    room and do not see a video of yourself simply click the allow video button in the bottom left corner of the screen.

  4. If you are unfamiliar with Zoom I would suggest going to the website and trying to set-up your account or familiarize yourself with the website prior to the meeting if you have time. If you have any questions or need any assistance please don’t hesitate to contact me and I will do my best
    to assist you. The meeting will last a maximum of 40 minutes.

Devotion for March 21

I stopped at WaWa today on my way home from taking my son to
his mother’s house last night – yes, I know, social distancing and everything and
I take it seriously, but I needed to pick up two things. Anyway, I was standing
at the counter and I started talking with the guy working there – I just asked
him how he was doing and he simply said “doing the best we can, that’s all you
can do”. The guy sounded really tired. I said, “I hear you, this is tough man,
but I really appreciate what you do”, and he said “thanks, it’s tough but we’ll
get through it all eventually”. He’s right, we will.

You can find inspiration in all kinds of places and in all
kinds of people. We pay tons of attention and heap tons of praise on sports
figures, movie stars, and tv stars. We admire the famous and those who seem “larger
than life”. I find inspiration these days in the people who are doing their
jobs, in the midst of this dangerous time, and serving the community. The
caregivers, the doctors, nurses, orderlies, and everyone who works in health
care. The first responders, the police, the firefighters, the EMT’s. The grocery
store workers and clerks. The nursing home and retirement community workers
providing meals and cleaning. There are so many people that, on a normal day,
we might pay no mind to but who provide so much to our daily lives, to our
communities – they are an inspiration, they are heroes, they are gifts from
God.

To all those who are helping, serving, risking their health
to help keep life going – THANK YOU. You are an inspiration. You are a gift
from God. You are a hero. Thank you for what you do, thank you for who you are,
thank you. We are one body with many members – to those members that are so
often overlooked or taken for granted – thank you, we would not be whole
without you.

Let us pray. Gracious God we give you thanks for all those
who are working now, providing needed services for our communities, helping
those in need. We lift before you all those who are unable to work during this
crisis and we ask that you inspire our people to remain safe so that this virus
might stop spreading and we ask that you inspire our leaders to do everything
in their ability to support those in need. This is a difficult time dear Lord
and we simply ask you to be there for us all – through those who give all they
can to sustain our community, to all those in need, and to everyone in between.
Amen.











Happy Friday St. Peter's!

Yes, it seems strange to say “happy Friday” in light of everything that is going on in the world but we rejoice in the love and grace of God and in that we can be happy even in these difficult days. With that being said, let’s get to it…

1.     Online Worship: We will be streaming our worship online once again on Facebook Live at 10am this Sunday and then placing a link to the service recording on the church website later in the day – we hope that you’ll join us for this new way to worship! We are not trying to advertise for Facebook but have found this is the easiest way for us to reach a large group of people for worship on Sunday mornings – if you are not on Facebook and need some help creating an account, if you’re having trouble finding the live stream, or have any other problems please don’t hesitate to contact me and I’ll be happy to help. The worship bulletin for Sunday can also be viewed by clicking RIGHT HERE and is also attached to the end of this email. Finally, if you have friends who are not “online” much please reach out to them and offer help so that they can join our worship services and don’t forget to invite all your friends!

2.     Open Discussion Groups: We will be hosting open discussion groups this week on Tuesday at 12:30pm and 7:30pm on Zoom (zoom.us). Zoom is a relatively easy and free website to host online meetings and discussions and there are more detailed instructions on how to join one of our discussion groups on the church website and we will re-post that information prior to the meetings on Tuesday. If you have any questions about our discussion groups or have any trouble accessing them please contact me.

3.     Facebook Live Chat – Ask The Pastor Anything!: On Thursday I will be hosting a live chat on Facebook Live to “Ask the Pastor Anything!” at 7:30pm. During this time I will field as many questions as I can and if I don’t have the answer to your question I’ll work on finding it and sharing it the following week.

4.     Online Giving and Offering: During this time we know that many are struggling and we certainly understand that but if you are able to continue with your offering please either mail your offering envelopes to the church or consider using our SUPPORT OUR MINISTRIES option on the website for online giving – it is a quick and easy way to share your gifts with the congregation.

5.     SCRIP and Caring for the Community: As said, we know that many are struggling or will be struggling. SCRIP is a great way to support the church and help your neighbors at the same time – one of the best ways that we can help our community right now is by donating gift cards from Weis or Giant to the church so that we can distribute them to folks in needs either within our community or through the Colonial Neighborhood Council and other Social Ministry organizations. SCRIP is easy! You can increase what you give to the church by buying these cards for your daily expenses and help out your neighbors by donating cards. Groceries, gas, Home Depot, Target, Ace Hardware Stores, Amazon purchases, etc. To place orders for Scrip online go to www.ShopWithScrip.com and click “Join A Program.” Our Enrollment Code is:  DDA6EF5815851. Our Organization is: St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. Our Coordinator is: Jane Stettler, jstettler@krautharris.com. If you order cards for either personal use or donate we will be in touch with you to coordinate a safe way for you to pick up your cards.

6.     Church Office: Our church office will continue to function but it will obviously look a little different for the time being as we are all going to be working remotely whenever it is possible. We will be going to the church periodically to check the mail, take care of administrative tasks that must be handled in the building, and update records. Carla is working on changing the church voicemail and will be checking messages frequently and we are also working on having calls forwarded from the church phone to my cell phone. If you have a need during this time please do not hesitate to contact me directly on my cell phone or by email.

7.     Check-ins: We ask all the people of St. Peter’s to check in with one another during this time – if you have time please call or email your friends and neighbors, the person who always sits in front on you at church, or someone whose name just pops into your head. If you are aware of any needs within our community please let me know directly. During this difficult time it is of the utmost importance that we communicate with one another and take care of one another as best we can.

8.     Website: We will be using the church website (www.stpeterslafayettehill.org) and our Facebook page as our primary means of daily communication for the foreseeable future – please check the website frequently and please share information with others in the community and beyond.

9.     Ideas: This is a new and different time for all of us – our church, community, nation, and world all must learn to do things differently – if you have any ideas for how we might better share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ please let me know!

Well that covers everything for now St. Peter’s so we hope that you are staying safe and taking care of yourselves and one another – join us for worship and our other online activities, don’t forget to check the website frequently, support our ministries at St. Peter’s and help your neighbors if you are able, pray without ceasing, and as always keep sharing the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all!

Your fellow servant in Christ,

                            Pastor Suloff

WORSHIP BULLETIN - MARCH 22

Devotion for March 19

I have been holding off on starting to write devotionals, I
mean I have really been dragging my feet on this thing. There is a reason for
that, it is because I cannot get my mind past the very first words from the
second Scripture reading that we used on Sunday morning (Romans 8:31-37). The
reading begins with “What then are we to say about these things,” and that is
all I can think and feel right now – what then ARE we to say about these
things? What is there to say? What can be said? I haven’t been able to move
past those nine simple words for days.

This morning I woke up and started thinking about it again
and for some reason, let’s call it the Holy Spirit, my mind finally decided to
finish that verse – “What then are we to say about these things, if God is for
us who can be against us?” It finally dawned on me that the right words aren’t
even necessary, for God is with us and God is for us. God, who knows our
deepest thoughts, our deepest needs, even without words. As it says a few
verses earlier in Romans (8:26-27) “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our
weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit
intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart,
knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the
saints according to the will of God.” We do not need the words because the God
who is for us, the God who loves us, the God who searches us, hears us even
when we cannot speak.

This is a frightening time for all of us and there aren’t
really the right words to talk about it, but God is with us in and through each
and every moment of it. As Paul says in Romans 8:37, “For I am convinced that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
Lord.” And maybe that is enough – maybe just knowing that God is with us, and
for us, knowing that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love in this life,
knowing that not even this current crisis can take us away from God’s love,
maybe that is truly enough and words aren’t even necessary.

Let us pray, Gracious God, who knows and searches our hearts and souls, hear our
prayers, our worries, our needs, even when we do not have words to speak them.
Speak to our hearts and our minds so that we might know that nothing can ever
separate us from your love. Strengthen all people in this time with your Spirit
and bind us together as a community, as a nation, and a world united in your
love. Amen.



Online Discussion Group Tuesday, March 17 at 7:30pm

We will be holding an online discussion group this evening to provide a place for members of our community to discuss all that is going on, how we are doing as individuals and families, how our faith can speak to us in such a time, and for prayer. If you would like to join us for the discussion group it is easy by following these simple steps:

  1. Go to zoom.us and either create a free account or simply click “Join A Meeting”. If you choose to create an account simply click on “Join A Meeting” after completed the setup process.

  2. To join the meeting enter the meeting code: 774-374-425

  3. If you log-in prior to 7:30pm you will be placed in the “waiting room” until the meeting start time. Once the meeting begins you will enter the “meeting room” screen and be able to see and hear other participants. You can choose to do audio only if you like. If you enter the
    room and do not see a video of yourself simply click the allow video button in the bottom left corner of the screen.

  4. If you are unfamiliar with Zoom I would suggest going to the website and trying to set-up your account or familiarize yourself with the website prior to the meeting if you have time. If you have any questions or need any assistance please don’t hesitate to contact me and I will do my best
    to assist you. The meeting will last a maximum of 40 minutes.








St. Peter's Update - March 16

St. Peter's Update – March 16

Good Morning St. Peter’s Family! As we enter into the first full week of this ongoing crisis we have a few updates regarding how we intend to move forward and remain connected as a community of Christ during this difficult time.

1.     Worship: Thank you to everyone who was able to view yesterdays worship service live or at a later time – as of right now Facebook says that our worship video has been viewed 420 times! We will be continuing with our online worship for the foreseeable future until such time that it is safe and responsible for us to gather once again in the church. Starting this week we will email out a PDF attachment of the worship bulletin to our church mailing list in addition to posting a link on the church website. If you have any suggestions regarding our online worship services please do not hesitate to share them with me. Once again, thank you to everyone who was able to join us for worship and for the very encouraging feedback!

2.     Discussion Groups: We will be starting online discussion groups this week, likely tomorrow March 17th. We are currently testing a few different platforms to make sure they work and we will likely be using a website called Zoom which you can join for free. We will be sharing more detailed instructions for how to create an account, join a discussion group, and dates and times later today. Our initial discussion groups will talk about what we are all currently facing, how we are holding up during this time, how our faith can speak to what is going on in our lives and in the world, and we will conclude with prayer. As we move forward we would also like to do some online Bible studies and additional discussion groups such as book discussions or general discussions about faith. If you have any suggestions for topics please feel free to share them.

3.     Church Office: Our church office will continue to function but it will obviously look a little different for the time being as we are all going to be working remotely whenever it is possible. We will be going to the church periodically to check the mail, take care of administrative tasks that must be handled in the building, and update records. Carla is working on changing the church voicemail and will be checking messages frequently and we are also working on having calls forwarded from the church phone to my cell phone. If you have a need during this time please do not hesitate to contact me directly on my cell phone or by email.

4.     Check-ins: We ask all the people of St. Peter’s to check in with one another during this time – if you have time please call or email your friends and neighbors, the person who always sits in front on you at church, or someone whose name just pops into your head. If you are aware of any needs within our community please let me know directly. During this difficult time it is of the utmost importance that we communicate with one another and take care of one another as best we can.

5.     Devotions: I will begin posting a daily devotion to the church website beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17th.

6.     Pictures and Videos: Yesterday during and after worship a few people shared pictures and videos of their family worshipping together at home – if you have any pictures that you would like to share please feel free to post them to our church Facebook page send them to me and we will share them!

7.     Communications: While we have the church group email we are only permitted a certain amount of emails monthly with our subscription – with this in mind we will be using our church website primarily for daily communication and will use email for emergency messaging and weekly updates. Please check the church website frequently for new information, online activities, devotions, and other items. We also ask that you please share any relevant information with members of our community who may not be online as we will only be using our “Call All” system in emergencies.

Well that covers everything for now St. Peter’s…it is a difficult time for all of us but through the help of God we will persevere. We hope that you’ll consider participating in one of discussion groups, check-in with one another, check the website frequently, and pray without ceasing. May God bless each of you, St. Peter’s, our community, our nation, and our world this day and in all days.

Your fellow servant in Christ,

                             Pastor Suloff

A message from Mrs. Graham (3/16)

Hello everyone,

We miss you! We are thinking of you and hoping that you are finding things to do to keep your children happy, entertained and perhaps even educated! 

We have decided to NOT send out our regular tuition invoices on March 15th.  Under the circumstances, we do not know exactly when we will be returning to school.  Therefore, we will wait until after the two-week closure to review our billing necessities.  Parent-Teacher Conferences will be cancelled. We will send home our Assessment Reports and schedule individual meetings when requested or necessary.

Thank you for your support. I am hoping that we will return to school soon and continue to prepare for our Art for Autism Show/April 28th, Mother’s Day Tea and end of the year Closing programs & Graduations.

I will be submitting the Scholastic Book orders and will contact families individually when books are delivered.  Do not hesitate to contact me with anyquestions or concerns.

Pastor Suloff is live streaming Sunday morning services and the video can be viewed on the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church Facebook page. I encourage you to check it out and feel the love and support that we all need during this very stressful time.

God bless you all and thank you for your support.

St. Peter’s is a special family and I am grateful for all of you; especially during uncertain times like these.

Fondly,

Mrs. Debra Graham

An important message from Mrs. Graham

Well, I do not envy our St. Peter’s parents who have the difficult task of telling their sons & daughters that school is closed for the next 14 days.  We all know how much your children love coming to school and it won’t be easy for anyone. While we were ready to “weather the storm” it is understandable that our State leaders are looking at the “big picture” and doing their best to protect everyone.

School is closed for the next two weeks. I will do my best to stay in touch with everyone as we manage without each other. Please stay safe and do not hesitate to reach out to your St. Peter’s family as we face this unprecedented situation.

We will miss you. God bless,

Mrs. Graham

Important Letter from Pastor Suloff regarding Coronavirus pandemic

Dear everyone,

              There are many things that I learned in seminary but there are many things that they did not teach. There is no class on catching a bat, there is no lecture on how to fix an elevator, there is no course on what to do in a global pandemic. Two of those three things are actually pretty easy, the third, not so much. I say this because the outbreak of the Coronavirus and the recent closures, restrictions, and recommendations put in place by our government is as new to me as it is to all of you. This is new territory for all of us, but together, as a community of Christ bound together in fellowship, love, and grace we will come through all of this.

              We will be suspending all activities at St. Peter’s effective immediately. There will be no in-house worship services, Weekday Nursery School, meetings, Lenten Midweek, Adult Forum, or anything else for the next two weeks. We will be monitoring the situation continuously during this time in the hopes that we can resume normal activities in the very near future but for the time being, for the safety of the congregation and the surrounding community, all upcoming events are suspended.

              While we are suspending all our usual activities, St. Peter’s remains, we will simply need to operate differently for the time being. The staff will continue to work to maintain the building and our ministries. Sam and I are currently exploring ways to stream worship services via our church website and other platforms and we intend to have devotional material and/or a worship video available this weekend. We are looking into ways to set up a variety of discussion boards and streaming discussion groups online to keep the congregation connected and able to talk during this difficult time. Carla will continue to keep the books and pay the bills and will be working on forwarding calls as we will all be relying on working remotely as much as possible for the time being. Derrick will continue to maintain our facilities in their usual fashion so that the church building is ready for our return when all this passes.

              We hope that you will check the church website frequently as well as our Facebook page and any other online sources we may begin to utilize. Our hope is to continue to worship and remain connected and united as best as we are able during this difficult time. It may seem callous to bring this up at such a time but the church relies on the support of its people and we encourage you to explore the “online giving” option on the church website or mail your offering to the church if you are able. That being said, if you are having difficulty during this time and need assistance please let us know and we will do everything that we can to help you through this difficult time for all of us, our community, and our world.

               If you have any ideas or suggestions for our community during this time please do not hesitate to share them with me directly. As I said in the beginning of this we are all new to this – my hope and prayer is that the Holy Spirit moves through us and through our community to create new ideas and new ways for us to live together, support one another, and share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ.

              In all of this I will be available – please do not hesitate to call or text me directly on my cell phone or email me at revsuloff@gmail.com. If you have any questions, concerns, ideas, needs, or simply need to talk or pray please feel free to call or email anytime. Please stay in touch with one another as well – check in with your friends and neighbors, with the person who sits in the pew in front or behind of you or anywhere else, with everyone, and see how they are doing. Once again, if there are any needs please do not hesitate to call or email day or night. This is a tough and frightening time for us all but we are united as the people of God at St. Peter’s and together we will support one another throughout this situation.

              Together we share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all – not only in the good times but in the times of life that are most difficult. Together we continue forward by God's grace. Together we persevere as the people of God united in love, friendship, fellowship, and joy at St. Peter's. God bless all of you and thank you all for everything that you bring to our community of Christ.

Your fellow servant in Christ,

                             Pastor Suloff

                             revsuloff@gmail.com

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