Zoom Meetings for the week of 5/31

Zoom Meetings and More!

PLEASE NOTE: It appears that Zoom has updated its stuff.

From the Zoom website: “ Important Notice. Please begin updating all your clients to Zoom 5.0 now.
After May 30, 2020, all Zoom clients on older versions will receive a forced upgrade when trying to join meetings as GCM Encryption will be fully enabled across the Zoom platform. Click here for more information.”

Zoom Meetings: If you would like to participate in any of our Zoom meetings the meeting information is on the church website in the “Member Access” section and a PDF file attached to the weekly email. If you are having trouble participating in any of our Zoom meetings please contact Pastor Suloff for assistance.

Children’s Zoom Chats! SPY has been gathering on Zoom weekly to check in, talk, laugh, and mainly act goofy with one another (along with coming up with a bunch of great ideas!) and we have a time for our younger children to do this as well. We have a time for Zoom chats for our 3rd through 6th graders (Sunday at 1pm)  and for 2nd grade and younger (Sunday at 2pm). The meeting ID is posted in the Member Access section and included in the PDF file attached to the weekly email.

Women's Bible Study: The Women's Bible Study will be discussing Chapter 5 from the book "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of Life" by Joanna Weaver at our next meeting, Monday, June 1st at 8:00pm. If you can't get the book in time or just don't get a chance to read it by Monday, please still feel free to join us for a great time of fellowship and faith formation with some lovely ladies! There is a lot of great discussion surrounding the guided study questions that rely heavily on your thoughts and personal experiences. It's very easy to jump in and participate, no matter what chapter the group is reading. Quirk for the week – something summery (sunglasses, sunhat, etc). If you have any questions about the WBS please contact Stephanie Freidly (stephanie.freidly@gmail.com) or Chrissy Waldron (christin.waldron@gmail.com).  

Parents Chat: An opportunity for Parents to gather and chat, vent, and share ideas will once again be available on Monday, June 1st at 7:00pm. Join us on Monday evenings on Zoom at 7pm as parents gather to discuss the joys and challenges of this difficult time – we will spend time discussing what we are doing as families, sharing ideas for homeschooling and activites, have an opportunity to discuss our frustrations during this time, and hopefully laugh a lot too! The meeting ID will is posted on the church website in the Member Access section and included in the PDF file attached to the weekly email.

Tuesday Bible Study and Discussion: This week we will spend a little time discussing the Old Testament! This week we will be exploring “pre-history” (Genesis chapters 1-9). Join us during this time to ask questions, share ideas, and explore your faith! If you have any questions about the Bible Study please contact Pastor Suloff. The meeting ID is posted in ithe Member Access section and included in the PDF file attached to weekly email.

SPY! Our St. Peter’s Youth gather each Wednesday at 7:30pm on to talk, laugh, play some games, share stories, and brainstorm ideas for the group and for ministry. The meeting ID is posted in the Member Access section and included in the PDF file attached to weekly email

Facebook Live Chat – Ask The Pastor Anything!: On Thursday we will once again be hosting a live chat on Facebook Live to “Ask the Pastor Anything!” at 7:30pm. During this time the pastor will field as many questions as asked and if he doesn’t have the answer to your question he’ll work on finding it and sharing it the following week. We look forward to seeing you all during this fun and weird way to have a chat and ask any questions you might have!

Pentecost Sunday (5/31) Worship Bulletin

You can find the worship bulletin for this

Sunday, May 31 RIGHT HERE!

And if you need a little help figuring out Facebook and joining the Facebook Live stream of the worship service we have a tutorial for you RIGHT HERE!

Looking forward to “seeing” you in worship as we proclaim Christ Risen!!

Don’t forget join us for one of our many other online groups - all of the meeting information needed to participate in one of our Zoom groups can be found in the “Member Access” section of the website. If you are having trouble joining a group, cannot access the needed information, or simply have questions please contact Pastor Suloff directly.

Zoom Meetings and More!

Zoom Meetings: If you would like to participate in any of our Zoom meetings the meeting information is on the church website in the “Member Access” section and a PDF file attached to the weekly email. If you are having trouble participating in any of our Zoom meetings please contact Pastor Suloff for assistance.

Children’s Zoom Chats! SPY has been gathering on Zoom weekly to check in, talk, laugh, and mainly act goofy with one another (along with coming up with a bunch of great ideas!) and we have a time for our younger children to do this as well. We have a time for Zoom chats for our 3rd through 6th graders (Sunday at 1pm) and for 2nd grade and younger (Sunday at 2pm). The meeting ID is posted in the Member Access section and included in the PDF file attached to the weekly email.

Women's Bible Study: With Monday being Memorial Day the Women's Bible Study will NOT be meeting this week. We will resume again on Monday, June 1st at 8:00pm to discuss Chapter 5 from the book "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of Life" by Joanna Weaver. If you can't get the book in time or just don't get a chance to read it by our next meeting, please still feel free to join us for a great time of fellowship and faith formation with some lovely ladies! It's very easy to jump in and participate, no matter what chapter the group is reading. Quirk for the week (when we resume) - something summery. If you have any questions about the WBS please contact Stephanie Freidly or Chrissy Waldron ). The Zoom meeting numbers are be posted in the Member Access of the section.

Parents Chat: With Monday being Memorial Day the Parents Chat will NOT be meeting this week. We will resume again on Monday, June 1st at 7:00pm. Join us on Monday evenings on Zoom at 7pm as parents gather to discuss the joys and challenges of this difficult time – we will spend time discussing what we are doing as families, sharing ideas for homeschooling and activites, have an opportunity to discuss our frustrations during this time, and hopefully laugh a lot too! The meeting ID will is posted on the church website in the Member Access section and included in the PDF file attached to the weekly email.

Tuesday Bible Study and Discussion: This week we will spend a little time discussing the Old Testament! Join us during this time to ask questions, share ideas, and explore your faith! If you have any questions about the Bible Study please contact Pastor Suloff. The meeting ID is posted in ithe Member Access section and
included in the PDF file attached to weekly email.

Facebook Live Chat – Ask The Pastor Anything!: On Thursday we will once again be hosting a live chat on Facebook Live to “Ask the Pastor Anything!” at 7:30pm. During this time the pastor will field as many questions as asked and if he doesn’t have the answer to your question he’ll work on finding it and sharing it the following week. We look forward to seeing you all during this fun and weird way to have a chat and ask any questions you might have!



 



Where We Stand

As we enter into May and another week of self-isolation in this new and uncertain world, I figured it is time to share the “State of the Church.” I have received numerous questions over the last few days and weeks from people that generally revolve around two central topics: (1) when can we come back? and (2) how is St. Peter’s doing financially? Let’s take a look at both of those questions and conclude with where we stand as a congregation.

1.     When can we come back? The most straightforward answer is that I do not know at this time. As the situation continues to change, we are constantly monitoring the news, the local, state, and federal guidelines and recommendations, and information from the synod. At this point, all that I can definitively state is that we will not be re-opening the building any time in the near future. That is a statement of fact based on the information we currently have. Yes, it is disappointing as we all want to return to “normal” as soon as we can, but right now it is not possible to return to the way things used to be and, quite frankly, moving forward we are likely going to have to move into a “new normal.”

So what can I tell you? First, the synod is directing us to follow the state and local guidelines for re-opening. Beyond that, they are leaving decisions of when and how to re-open to individual leaders and congregations based on their particular congregational settings. With this in mind, I can tell you that we will not rush to re-open, and that we will likely lag behind the larger community out of an abundance of caution. We are a community that contains a high number of “at risk” people, and safety is, and will remain, our primary concern.

Second, when we are able to start re-opening, it will not be a quick process – it will not be as simple as flinging wide the doors and inviting everyone into the building. Instead, we will take a gradual approach to re-opening the building starting with a small number of people, starting with only the 10am service with a small number of people, appropriately distanced, attending worship in person with the rest of the congregation continuing to participate through online worship. After that, we will eventually return to two services, still with distancing measures likely in place, and a change in worship times to allow for proper cleaning of pews and entrances. And lastly, when we are able, we will return to a relatively normal worship schedule with reduced restrictions – but, honestly, it looks like that day is still in the future. Throughout all of this, and moving into the future, we will be live-streaming all our worship services, even when we return to “normal”.

What I can firmly say is that for the time being we must continue in our current state and that we will not re-opening the building anytime in the near future. I understand that this is difficult for us all – we miss our church, we miss our friends, we miss our pews – but this is necessary for the safety of our people, our church, our community, and our world. I will continue to look at all information available, consult with the synod and other churches, and discuss and plan with Council and various committees so that when we are able to begin to re-open, we have a safe and clear plan. At the moment though, the best way that we can love and serve our neighbors is to continue in this manner for the foreseeable future. While this is all difficult there are many amazing things happening in our St. Peter’s community – we are continuing with worship in a new way and our people have been tremendously supportive and have been inviting their friends! We have held weekly meetings on Zoom with our SPY (St. Peter’s Youth) as well as times on Sunday afternoons for our younger children to talk, share, and laugh together. A new Women’s Bible Study group has begun on Zoom on Mondays, we have a group of parents talking and sharing, and we are creating opportunities for our community to ask questions on Thursday evenings on Facebook Live and sharing conversations so that our congregation can hear from one another and from people beyond St. Peter’s. While this is all difficult new opportunities are arising and we are continuing to grow and try new things throughout this new world in which we all live – while the world may be in self-isolation the Holy Spirit is most certainly moving throughout the people of St. Peter’s and beyond throughout it all.

2.     How are we financially? Thanks to tremendous work by our Church Council, particularly Dave Stettler and Brian Deal, we were able to secure a loan through the Payroll Protection Program – that was a very big help to both the church and the Weekday Nursery School. As you will see in the information below provided by Brian Deal, we are still below where we need to be for our budget, but we are hanging in there. We understand that times are very difficult financially for many people and our shortfall is not a tremendous surprise. We will continue to encourage people to give the best as they are able by mailing envelopes to the church office or by transitioning to the online giving option through the church website. For a more detailed explanation please see the following update provided by our Church Treasurer, Brian Deal:

Finance Update from our Church Treasurer: Hope you are all well and safely socially distanced. We look forward to a time when we can congregate together again. While the church office has been working on a limited schedule, the Church Council and the Executive Council have been busy.

Congregational Giving: We were doing ok until the government shutdown but March was a tough month, for obvious reasons. We usually see a nice increase in giving during our Easter month, but given the current situation, our giving in March was off $14k, or a 40% drop from our budgeted amount. We did receive envelopes, which were mailed. And we saw a nice increase in our Vanco online giving. Thank you to all who took the extra steps to give as we continue to worship remotely. A nice surprise, we received $517 in visitor offering. Perhaps the Facebook Live services are expanding our Evangelism. Nice!

Weekday Nursery School 1: We have some challenges with the WNS. Soon after shutting down the school, Debbie Graham requested that we continue to pay our teachers through the end of the year, despite the school being shut. The Church Council voted and we agreed to continue paying them. We all believe it is the right thing to do.

Weekday Nursery School 2: Our WNS families are required to pay the first month and the last month tuition at the beginning of the school year. As a result, we will have to refund tuition for May, which will further strain the WNS bank accounts. Despite that, their accounts are healthy and we will be fine.

CARES Act: A few weeks ago, Congress passed the CARES Act to provide relief to small businesses. Charities and churches were included in the legislation. One piece of the CARES Act is the Payroll Protection Plan, a loan that can be used to cover payroll costs. St. Peters has applied for, and has been, granted this loan. The loan amount, if used to pay employees, is forgiven by the government. Executive Council believes this opportunity was too good to pass up. We are very happy we have been approved and final documents to close on the loan have been processed.

Mortgage Loan: With interest rates plummeting, we investigated whether to refinance our mortgage to obtain a lower rate. To date, our rate is lower than the current lending rate so refinancing is not warranted.

Long-term Investments: Our investments took a substantial hit when the markets reacted to the government shutdown. Thankfully, we had taken some steps a month ago to move more money into cash and cash equivalents to give us quicker access to funds. We hope we can continue to pay all our bills without having to touch our long-term investments and, in time, they will rebound to pre-virus levels. We continue to monitor and will take steps as needed to protect our positions.

So after all of that, where do we stand? One of the best things that I heard came from our Council President, Matt Clark, when I interviewed him for our new talk program on YouTube. During our conversation, Matt said that St. Peter’s has been through every war, every emergency, everything that this nation has faced; we are still here and we will still be here when this is all over. He is absolutely right, things are different and difficult now, things will likely be different moving forward, but just as St. Peter’s has changed and grown throughout the past, we will move forward together. The support of the congregation, and people beyond our congregation, throughout all of this has been tremendous. We have received countless emails, phone calls, messages, and letters full of encouragement and support.

The people of St. Peter’s have rallied together during this time, learning and trying new ways to be the church in this new day, supporting our ministries to the best of their abilities financially, and worshipping with an enthusiasm not seen in a long time. Where do we stand? We stand right here as the people of St. Peter’s, gathered together in new and different ways, but even in an uncertain world we still share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with others. Where do we stand? We stand where we have for almost 300 years and where we will remain for well over 300 more – around the cross, bound by grace, united in the Spirit, as the people of God at St. Peter’s.

Your fellow servant in Christ,

Pastor Suloff

Happy Friday St. Peter's!

Happy Friday St. Peter's!

We may be socially distanced but we are united in the Spirit! As you will quickly see there is a whole lot of stuff going on at St. Peter’s so let’s just get right to it…

1.     Online Worship: Yes, it is weird. Yes, we would all like to be gathered together at St. Peter’s on Sunday morning to celebrate the Risen Christ. No, we will not be gathering in person. 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! The best way that we can love and serve our neighbors as Christ calls us to do is by maintaining social distancing and being safe, even if it means doing things in a new and different way this year – so join our livestream or watch the recording when we post it to the church website and join us – we may be separated by distance but we are gathered together by the Holy Spirit no matter where we are! The worship bulletin for Sunday can also be viewed by clicking RIGHT HERE and is also attached to the end of this email. We will be using a new camera again tomorrow which we have tested but please hang in there with us if we have any minor technical difficulties. 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.     SHARE! Don’t forget to share our worship services and upcoming events (and past events) with your friends! One of the most amazing things that has happened over the last few weeks is how we have reached people near and far – we have had local members unable to attend worship joining us for worship in this new way and we have had friends and family and people we don’t even know joining us for worship and other events from places like Connecticut, Missouri, Georgia, Oregon, California, and Indiana. This is the easiest Evangelism you will ever do – share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ – and what we are doing at St. Peter’s – with everyone you know! Can we get to 1,000 views of our services? Share with your friends, invite your friends, and let’s find out!!

3.     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.

4.     Celebrating Communion: We will be celebrating Communion during all of our worship services moving forward. All you will need is some bread, crackers, chips, anything of the like and a glass of wine, juice, water, or anything of the like. I spoke about celebrating Communion during the Maundy Thursday worship service (a recording is available in the STP News section of the website) and if you have any questions about celebrating Communion remotely please do not hesitate to contact me directly at revsuloff@gmail.com.

5.     Bell Ringing for Thanks! One of our members shared THIS ARTICLE with us which is about giving a sign of thanks to those who are on the front lines of the current Covid-19 crisis. “Residents are encouraged to set their alarms for 7 p.m. and to go outside ring any kind of bell, bang pots and pans, sing, or use any kind of noisemaker they have.” We will join this effort to say a heartfelt word of thanks to all those who are working so hard to keep our community, nation, and world safe by ringing the St. Peter’s church bell at 7pm on Sunday.

6.     Something New! What happens when the Pastor gets bored during this time of social distancing? He talks to people and records the conversations! Join us as we take some time to learn about, and hear the stories of, the people of St. Peter’s and our friends beyond. In our first installment we hear from St. Peter’s Church Council President, Matt Clark. You can view the video RIGHT HERE! We hope to share our next conversation this coming week!

7.     St. Peter’s Music! While we may be separated by distance our wonderful Music Director, Sam Tarasenko, and our Audio Wizard, Bob Dungay have found a way to bring together the voices of our wonderful choir members! We have uploaded the first two pieces that the choir sang, and will continue to upload future hymns and anthems, to the Music Ministry page of the church website. A huge work of thanks to Sam, Bob, our fantastic choir members, and to Andrew Kammerle for accompanying!

8.     Prayer Shawl Ministry: The Prayer Shawl Ministry is participating in COVID-19 efforts by making facemasks. They are also knitting or crocheting palm-sized hearts for Lankenau Medical Center. The hearts are used for dying patients and their families. A heart is placed in the hand of the dying patient, and a matching heart is given to the family. They will use these hearts at Lankenau and the other hospitals in the Main Line Health system. They are also talking about making a memorial with these hearts at some point in the future. Anyone who can knit, crochet or sew is invited to join in these projects. We do have fabric, elastic, and yarn available, but we could also use donations of any of these supplies. If you are interested in helping make these items or in donating supplies, contact Celeste Chamberlain at celcham@comcast.net.  

9.     Zoom Meetings: If you would like to participate in any of our Zoom meetings the meeting information is on the church website in the “Member Access” section. If you are not a member of St. Peter’s but would like to participate in one of our Zoom Meetings please contact Pastor Suloff.

10.  Children’s Zoom Chats! SPY has been gathering on Zoom weekly to check in, talk, laugh, and mainly act goofy with one another and we would like to provide a time for our younger children to do this as well. We would like to schedule a time for Zoom chats for our 3rd through 6th graders and for 2nd grade and younger. With various school schedules, family schedules, work schedules, and the busy St. Peter’s online schedule we are trying to determine what times would work best for our families – if your child is interested in participating please email Pastor Suloff with your thoughts. We will host our first Zoom Children’s Chats this Sunday, April 19th with 3rd through 6th graders at 1pm and 2nd grade and younger at 2pm and then we will adjust times and dates accordingly based on family feedback. The meeting ID is posted on the church website in the Member Access section.

11.  Women's Bible Study: Last week we had a wonderful WBS meeting discussing Chapter 1 of the book "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of Life" by Joanna Weaver. We will be discussing Chapter 2 at our next meeting, Monday, May 4th at 8:00pm. If you can't get the book in time or just don't get a chance to read it by Monday, please still feel free to join us for a great time of fellowship and faith formation with some lovely ladies! Quirk for the week - Wear a necklace. If you have any questions about the WBS please contact Stephanie Freidly (stephanie.freidly@gmail.com) or Chrissy Waldron (christin.waldron@gmail.com). The Zoom meeting numbers are in the Members Access section of the website.

12.  Tuesday Bible Study and Discussion: We will be starting a Bible Study this week on Zoom at 12:30pm and 7:30pm. This week we will spend a little time discussing the Old Testament! Join us during this time to ask questions, share ideas, and explore your faith! If you have any questions about the Bible Study please contact Pastor Suloff. The meeting ID is posted on the church website in the Member Access section.

13.  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. I look forward to seeing you all again during this fun and weird way to have a chat!

14.  Confirmation Class! Due to the Coronavirus pandemic we obviously have not held our Confirmation Classes in quite some time but that is about to change! Confirmation classes continue next Sunday, May 10th at 12:00pm on Zoom. The meeting ID will is posted on the church website in the Member Access section. If you have any questions about Confirmation please contact Pastor Suloff.

15.  Show Us How You Worship! We’ve been watching our St. Peter’s Services live on Facebook for six weeks already and we want to see how you are worshiping! Are you cuddled up on the couch with your laptop on the ottoman? Are you seated at your kitchen table with breakfast? Are you on your deck with coffee watching on your phone? We want to see! Snap a picture and send it to stplafayettehillimages@gmail.com to be added to our password protected Member Access area of our website. Or you can share it right to the St. Peter’s Facebook page! However you get it to us, we want you to Show Us How You Worship!

16.  Help Us Help You! Relying on technology to connect and worship certainly has had it’s hardships. St. Peter’s wants to help you get the most out of this distancing experience by providing some instruction on a few of the more common ways we can connect and support our church. We will be creating “how to” guides for online activities like, How to Share the Facebook Live, Ordering SCRIP Online, How to Join a Zoom Meeting, Making an Online Donation, Adding St. Peter’s as your SmileAmazon recipient. Here’s where we need your help: What would you like to learn? Reply to this email with your topic suggestions and what you want to learn. If you’re tech-savvy and can help make a guide, please reach out to christin.waldron@gmail.com.

17.  The St. Peter’s Nursery School Art Show! Each year, we raise money for families who are meeting the challenges that come with raising a child with autism. Yes, it’s true, every one of our children need support, guidance, instruction, and love. Children with autism need the same; and so much more. Yes, there are resources and help available BUT it costs money! Our Art for Autism show helps raise the money, every year, needed to pay for those services & resources! The pandemic has kept us from being in school! It has kept us from decorating the Gym! BUT we have decided to raise money anyway!!! We can still raise the money needed to help St. Peter’s families!! We have decided to go ahead with our Art for Autism show! We WILL raise money for autism!! We will also have an ART SHOW! Yes, it will be different. It will be smaller but filled with creativity. May 5th will be our Art Show date and our children will decorate but it will be OUTSIDE!!

FLAGS FOR AUTISM AWARENESS!!

St. Peter’s Lutheran Church will be decorated with FLAGS! We are going to decorate flags to post in front of the church to have an outdoor Art Show!! Drive by on May 5th and see the flags decorating the front of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church!! Go to our GoFundMe page and help us raise money for our families!!! 100% of all money raised will go directly to families from St. Peter’s!! Please consider making a donation!

18.  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.

19.  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.

20.  Finance Update from our Church Treasurer: Hope you are all well and safely socially distanced. We look forward to a time when we can congregate together again. While the church office has been working on a limited schedule, the Church Council and the Executive Council have been busy.

Congregational Giving: We were doing ok until the government shutdown but March was a tough month, for obvious reasons. We usually see a nice increase in giving during our Easter month, but given the current situation, our giving in March was off $14k, or a 40% drop from our budgeted amount. We did receive envelopes, which were mailed. And we saw a nice increase in our Vanco online giving. Thank you to all who took the extra steps to give as we continue to worship remotely. A nice surprise, we received $517 in visitor offering. Perhaps the Facebook Live services are expanding our Evangelism. Nice!

Weekday Nursery School 1: We have some challenges with the WNS. Soon after shutting down the school, Debbie Graham requested that we continue to pay our teachers through the end of the year, despite the school being shut. The Church Council voted and we agreed to continue paying them. We all believe it is the right thing to do.

Weekday Nursery School 2: Our WNS families are required to pay the first month and the last month tuition at the beginning of the school year. As a result, we will have to refund tuition for May, which will further strain the WNS bank accounts. Despite that, their accounts are healthy and we will be fine.

CARES Act: Two weeks ago, Congress passed the CARES Act to provide relief to small businesses. Charities and churches were included in the legislation. One piece of the CARES Act is the Payroll Protection Plan, a loan that can be used to cover payroll costs. St. Peters has applied for and should be granted this loan. The loan amount, if used to pay employees, is forgiven by the government. Executive Council believes this opportunity was too good to pass up. We are very happy we have been approved and are awaiting final documents to close on the loan.

Mortgage Loan: With interest rates plummeting, we investigated whether to refinance our mortgage to obtain a lower rate. To date, our rate is lower than the current lending rate so refinancing is not warranted.

Long-term Investments: Our investments took a substantial hit when the markets reacted to the government shutdown. Thankfully, we had taken some steps a month ago to move more money into cash and cash equivalents to give us quicker access to funds. We hope we can continue to pay all our bills without having to touch our long-term investments and, in time, they will rebound to pre-virus levels. We continue to monitor and will take steps as needed to protect our positions.

21.  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.

22.  Church Office: Our church office will continue to function but it will obviously look very 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. If you have a need during this time please do not hesitate to contact me directly on my cell phone or by email.

23.  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.

24.  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!

25.  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.

While our physical gathering spaces may be closed we are still brought together in new ways of worship and ministry! We hope that you will join us for online worship this Sunday, for one of our many Zoom meetings, and for our “Ask the Pastor Anything” session. Spend a little time on the church website exploring everything that is going on, check in with your neighbors, support our ministries if you are able, share your knitting and sewing skills with those in need, pray without ceasing, and as always, keep sharing the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all!

Tuesday Bible Studies on Zoom

Tuesday, April 21 Bible Study Discussion Group - a discussion and exploration of the lessons from Sunday, April 19

Scripture Readings from Sunday, April 19

First Reading: Acts 2:14a, 22-32

After the Holy Spirit comes to the apostles on Pentecost, Peter preaches the gospel to the gathered crowd. He tells them that Jesus, who obediently went to his death according to God’s plan, was raised from the dead by God. Finally, he appeals to scripture, quoting Psalm 16:8-11, to show that Jesus is the Messiah: though crucified, the risen Jesus is now enthroned.

14aPeter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed [the crowd], 22“You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know—23this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. 24But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. 25For David says concerning him,
 ‘I saw the Lord always before me,
  for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;
 26therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
  moreover my flesh will live in hope.
 27For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
  or let your Holy One experience corruption.
 28You have made known to me the ways of life;
  you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
  29“Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. 31Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying,
 ‘He was not abandoned to Hades,
  nor did his flesh experience corruption.’
32This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.”

Psalm: Psalm 16

In your presence there is fullness of joy. (Ps. 16:11)

1Protect me, O God, for I take ref- | uge in you;
  I have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, my good a- | bove all other.”
 2All my delight is in the godly that are | in the land,
  upon those who are noble a- | mong the people.
 3But those who run after | other gods
  shall have their troubles | multiplied.
 4I will not pour out drink offerings | to such gods,
  never take their names up- | on my lips. R
 5O Lord, you are my portion | and my cup;
  it is you who up- | hold my lot.
 6My boundaries enclose a | pleasant land;
  indeed, I have a | rich inheritance.
 7I will bless the Lord who | gives me counsel;
  my heart teaches me night | after night.
 8I have set the Lord al- | ways before me;
  because God is at my right hand, I shall | not be shaken. R
 9My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spir- | it rejoices;
  my body also shall | rest in hope.
 10For you will not abandon me | to the grave,
  nor let your holy one | see the pit.
 11You will show me the | path of life;
  in your presence there is fullness of joy, and in your right hand are pleasures for- | evermore. R

Second Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9

This epistle was written to encourage Christians experiencing hardships and suffering because of their faith in Christ. The letter opens by blessing God for the living hope we have through Christ’s resurrection even amid difficult circumstances and surroundings.

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, 7so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Gospel: John 20:19-31

The risen Jesus appears to his disciples, offering them a benediction, a commission, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. But one of their number is missing, and his unbelief prompts another visit from the Lord.

19When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
  24But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
  26A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
  30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Happy Friday St. Peter's!

Happy Friday St. Peter's!

While we may be socially distanced we are bound together in the Holy Spirit! Even though things are closed we are busy as always with some new online events coming this week so let’s get right to it…

1.     Online Worship: Yes, it is weird. Yes, we would all like to be gathered together at St. Peter’s on Sunday morning to celebrate the Risen Christ. No, we will not be gathering in person. 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! The best way that we can love and serve our neighbors as Christ calls us to do is by maintaining social distancing and being safe, even if it means doing things in a new and different way this year – so join our livestream or watch the recording when we post it to the church website and join us – we may be separated by distance but we are gathered together by the Holy Spirit no matter where we are! 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.     SHARE! Don’t forget to share our worship services and upcoming events (and past events) with your friends! One of the most amazing things that has happened over the last few weeks is how we have reached people near and far – we have had local members unable to attend worship joining us for worship in this new way and we have had friends and family and people we don’t even know joining us for worship and other events from places like Connecticut, Missouri, Georgia, Oregon, California, and Indiana. This is the easiest Evangelism you will ever do – share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ – and what we are doing at St. Peter’s – with everyone you know! Can we get to 1,000 views of our services? Share with your friends, invite your friends, and let’s find out!!

3.     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.

4.     Celebrating Communion: We will be celebrating Communion during all of our worship services moving forward. All you will need is some bread, crackers, chips, anything of the like and a glass of wine, juice, water, or anything of the like. I spoke about celebrating Communion during the Maundy Thursday worship service (a recording is available in the STP News section of the website) and if you have any questions about celebrating Communion remotely please do not hesitate to contact me directly at revsuloff@gmail.com.

5.     Women's Bible Study Group: Calling all ladies! We'd like to start an online women's bible study group. The group will meet on Monday's at 7:30pm through Zoom starting this coming Monday - April 20th. We will have information to join the Zoom meeting posted on the website soon. We are planning to start our study by focusing on women in the bible. We have a few books in mind already, but if you have a book or have a particular woman in the bible you are interested in, please come with that to our first meeting on Monday! For now, this will just be an online group, but we're hoping, once restrictions are lifted, this group will continue both online and every so often get together in person. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Stephanie Freidly (stephanie.freidly@gmail.com). We hope to 'see' you Monday!

6.     Tuesday Bible Study and Discussion: We will be starting a Bible Study this week on Zoom at 12:30pm and 7:30pm where we will explore and discuss the Scripture readings from the previous Sunday. Join us during this time to ask questions, share ideas, and explore your faith! If you have any questions about the Bible Study please contact Pastor Suloff. The Zoom meeting numbers will be posted on the church website by Monday afternoon.

7.     Children’s Zoom Chats! SPY has been gathering on Zoom weekly to check in, talk, laugh, and mainly act goofy with one another and we would like to provide a time for our younger children to do this as well. We would like to schedule a time for Zoom chats for our 3rd through 6th graders and for 2nd grade and younger. With various school schedules, family schedules, work schedules, and the busy St. Peter’s online schedule we are trying to determine what times would work best for our families – if your child is interested in participating please email Pastor Suloff with your thoughts. We will host our first Zoom Children’s Chats this Sunday, April 19th with 3rd through 6th graders at 1pm and 2nd grade and younger at 2pm and then we will adjust times and dates accordingly based on family feedback. The Meeting ID for the Zoom chats will be posted on the church website by Saturday afternoon.

8.     Confirmation Class will return! Due to the Coronavirus pandemic we obviously have not held our Confirmation Classes in quite some time but that is about to change! Confirmation classes will return next Sunday, April 26th at 12:30pm on Zoom. The meeting ID will be posted on the church website by Saturday, April 25th. If you have any questions about Confirmation please contact Pastor Suloff.

9.  The St. Peter’s Nursery School Art Show! Each year, we raise money for families who are meeting the challenges that come with raising a child with autism. Yes, it’s true, every one of our children need support, guidance, instruction, and love. Children with autism need the same; and so much more. Yes, there are resources and help available BUT it costs money! Our Art for Autism show helps raise the money, every year, needed to pay for those services & resources! The pandemic has kept us from being in school! It has kept us from decorating the Gym! BUT we have decided to raise money anyway!!! We can still raise the money needed to help St. Peter’s families!! We have decided to go ahead with our Art for Autism show! We WILL raise money for autism!! We will also have an ART SHOW! Yes, it will be different. It will be smaller but filled with creativity. May 5th will be our Art Show date and our children will decorate but it will be OUTSIDE!!

FLAGS FOR AUTISM AWARENESS!!

St. Peter’s Lutheran Church will be decorated with FLAGS! We are going to decorate flags to post in front of the church to have an outdoor Art Show!! Drive by on May 5th and see the flags decorating the front of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church!! Go to our GoFundMe page and help us raise money for our families!!! 100% of all money raised will go directly to families from St. Peter’s!! Please consider making a donation!

10.  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. I look forward to seeing you all again during this fun and weird way to have a chat!

11.  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.

12.  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.

13.  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.

14.  Church Office: Our church office will continue to function but it will obviously look very 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. If you have a need during this time please do not hesitate to contact me directly on my cell phone or by email.

15.  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.

16.  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!

17.  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.

18.  Finally, a word of thanks…a huge word of thanks to our choir members who recorded audio tracks for last weeks service (and are doing it again this week!) and to Bob Dungay who put all the various tracks together for our worship service – it was great to hear the voices of our choir come together once again!

Well that covers everything for now St. Peter’s – as you can see we have a lot of stuff going on! We hope that you will join us online for worship this Sunday, consider joining us for some of our online activities, support our ministries if you are able, be sure to check out the Weekday Nursery School Art Show, check-in with people, share our services and events with your friends, pray without ceasing, and as always keep sharing the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all!

Worship Bulletin - April 19

Prayer List

Facebook Tutorial

Online Events This Week!

Join us for our upcoming online events this week!!

Tuesday, April 14th at 12:30pm we will be having an open discussion group meeting on Zoom at 12:30pm (we will only be hosting one discussion group this Tuesday and will resume the evening discussion time next week). If you need assistance using Zoom please contact Pastor Suloff directly. The meeting ID for this discussion group is 735-6673-4206.

Tuesday, April 14th at 7:00pm Church Council will be holding its monthly meeting on Zoom. If you have any items you would like Council to discuss or consider please send them to Pastor Suloff.

Wednesday, April 15th at 7:30pm we will be having our weekly SPY (St. Peter’s Youth) Chat on Zoom! The meeting ID will be shared through our group chat on Wednesday.

Thursday, April 16th at 7:30pm is another “Ask the Pastor Anything!” on Facebook Live - join us for this time of discussion and bring any questions you might have for Pastor Suloff - if he can’t answer them immediately he’ll start researching and try and provide with you with an answer - can you stump the pastor? (My guess is yes, you definitely can - it’s not really difficult to do.)

Happy Saturday St. Peter's!

Easter is almost here! We may all be quarantined but the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ continues through the church, through our community, and in our homes and with that in mind let’s get right to it…

1.     Easter Online Worship: Yes, it is weird. Yes, we would all like to be gathered together at St. Peter’s on Sunday morning to celebrate the Risen Christ. No, we will not be gathering in person. We will be streaming our worship online once again on Facebook Live at 10am this Easter 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! The best way that we can love and serve our neighbors as Christ calls us to do is by maintaining social distancing and being safe, even if it means doing things in a new and different way this year – so join our livestream or watch the recording when we post it to the church website and join us – we may be separated by distance but we are gathered together by the Holy Spirit no matter where we are! 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.     SHARE! Don’t forget to share our worship services and upcoming events (and past events) with your friends! One of the most amazing things that has happened over the last few weeks is how we have reached people near and far – we have had local members unable to attend worship joining us for worship in this new way and we have had friends and family and people we don’t even know joining us for worship and other events from places like Connecticut, Missouri, Georgia, Oregon, California, and Indiana. This is the easiest Evangelism you will ever do – share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ – and what we are doing at St. Peter’s – with everyone you know!

3.     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.

4.     Website Updates: If you are unable to view our services live do not worry – all of our recent services are available on the church website in the STP News section and our most recent service is always displayed on the website homepage. Be sure to check the website often for services, information, devotions, and other live events that we will be sharing during this difficult time.

5.     Celebrating Communion: There is a lot of talk in church circles about whether or not to celebrate Communion through our online gatherings. To make things very simple – we will be celebrating Communion during our worship service this Easter Sunday. All you will need is some bread, crackers, chips, anything of the like and a glass of wine, juice, water, or anything of the like. I spoke about celebrating Communion during the Maundy Thursday worship service (a recording is available in the STP News section of the website) and if you have any questions about celebrating Communion remotely please do not hesitate to contact me directly at revsuloff@gmail.com.

6.     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, have a discussion topic you’d be interested in exploring, or have any trouble accessing the discussion groups please contact me directly at revsuloff@gmail.com.

7.     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. I look forward to seeing you all again during this fun and weird way to have a chat!

8.     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.

9.     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.

10.  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.

11.  Church Office: Our church office will continue to function but it will obviously look very 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. If you have a need during this time please do not hesitate to contact me directly on my cell phone or by email.

12.  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.

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 Easter worship and our other online activities coming up this week, share what we are doing with your friends, 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

Easter Sunday 2020 Bulletin

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