Rooted in the Past; Sheltering the Present; Reaching Out to the Future; Empowered by the God of the Ages

CHURCH NEWSLETTER January 2020

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Last September, worshipers’ responses to a survey approved the Congregation Council’s recommendation that Mount Calvary begin its Sunday morning worship service at 10:30. At their October meeting, the Council voted to initiate this change with the January 2020 worship services.

Starting Sunday, January 5th,

Mount Calvary’s worship service will begin at 10:30. As always, the prelude music will begin shortly before the service time. In the week prior to January 5th, the church office will send members an email reminder regarding this important change.

“[John] came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” John 1:7-9

Dear Friends in Christ, New Year’s Greetings! The calendar turns and once more we’re at a place of new beginnings. It’s true; the challenges, concerns, and crises we may have faced in 2019 within our families, communities, and world are not magically wiped away as the New Year begins. Yet HOPE is dawning for the Word-Become-Flesh has pitched his tent among us. The “true light,” has come into the world. Of this we can be confident. Each new year brings its own assortment of hopes and dreams and goals, and when it’s over we look back at them and begin evaluating how well (or not) the year lived up to its promise. What will this new year, 2020, hold? When the calendar turns, we begin imagining and hoping what the year will bring; the places we’d like to go, the people to see, the goals to reach, the crises to avoid, the habits (healthy ones!) to cultivate. How far will we allow our imaginations carry us this year? One healthy habit that I’m inviting you to join me in for 2020 is reading the Bible on a daily basis as we return, day after day, month after month, to this Book of books. As we have been saying in worship in recent weeks, “God is here … we are here … God is here with us.” We are not alone. God is not silent. We have God’s voice at our fingertips.

Please join me as we seek him anew by reading his Word daily in 2020. To assist you in doing this, each month’s newsletter will contain a Bible reading plan for the month. For each day there is a portion of the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Psalms, and the Proverbs. This arrangement gives freshness and diversity to each day’s reading. By the end of 2020, we will have read the entire Bible together! As we enter 2020, amidst all of our unknowns and uncertainties, we know that God will always be our foundation, holding us up and showing us the way to go. We don’t know what form that will take or where it will actually lead us, but we do know that God’s hand will be there to guide us, and God’s love will support us, as we venture into the unknown with good courage. Peace in the Lord,

“O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

(ELW, Evening Prayer)

Bible Reading Plan – January

1 – Genesis 1:1-2:25; Matthew 1:1-2:12; Psalm 1:1-6; Proverbs 1:1-6 2 – Genesis 3:1-4:26; Matthew 2:13-3:6; Psalm 2:1-12; Proverbs 1:7-9 3 – Genesis 5:1-7:24; Matthew 3:7-4:11; Psalm 3:1-8; Proverbs 1:10-19 4 – Genesis 8:1-10:32; Matthew 4:12-25; Psalm 4:1-8; Proverbs 1:20-23 5 – Genesis 11:1-13:4; Matthew 5:1-26; Psalm 5:1-12; Proverbs 1:24-28 6 – Genesis 13:5-15:21; Matthew 5:27-48; Psalm 6:1-10; Proverbs 1:29-33 7 – Genesis 16:1-18:19; Matthew 6:1-24; Psalm 7:1-17; Proverbs 2:1-5 8 – Genesis 18:20-19:38; Matthew 6:25-7:14; Psalm 8:1-9; Proverbs 2:6-15 9 – Genesis 20:1-22:24; Matthew 7:15-29; Psalm 9:1-12; Proverbs 2:16-22 10 – Genesis 23:1-24:51; Matthew 8:1-17; Psalm 9:13-20; Proverbs 3:1-6 11 – Genesis 24:52-26:16; Matthew 8:18-34; Psalm 10:1-15; Proverbs 3:7-8 12 – Genesis 26:17-27:46; Matthew 9:1-17; Psalm 10:16-18; Proverbs 3:9-10 13 – Genesis 28:1-29:35; Matthew 9:18-38; Psalm 11:1-7; Proverbs 3:11-12 14 – Genesis 30:1-31:16; Matthew 10:1-23; Psalm 12:1-8; Proverbs 3:13-15 15 – Genesis 31:17-32:12; Matthew 10:24-11:6; Psalm 13:1-6; Proverbs 3:16-18 16 – Genesis 32:13-34:31; Matthew 11:7-30; Psalm 14:1-7; Proverbs 3:19-20 17 – Genesis 35:1-36:43; Matthew 12:1-21; Psalm 15:1-5; Proverbs 3:21-26 18 – Genesis 37:1-38:30; Matthew 12:22-45; Psalm 16:1-11; Proverbs 3:27-32 19 – Genesis 39:1-41:16; Matthew 12:46-13:23; Psalm 17:1-15; Proverbs 3:33-35 20 – Genesis 41:17-42:17; Matthew 13:24-46; Psalm 18:1-15; Proverbs 4:1-6 21 – Genesis 42:18-43:34; Matthew 13:47-14:12; Psalm 18:16-36; Proverbs 4:7-10 22 – Genesis 44:1-45:28; Matthew 14:13-36; Psalm 18:37-50; Proverbs 4:11-13 23 – Genesis 46:1-47:31; Matthew 15:1-28; Psalm 19:1-14; Proverbs 4:14-19 24 – Genesis 48:1-49:33; Matthew 15:29-16:12; Psalm 20:1-9; Proverbs 4:20-27 25 – Genesis 50:1-Exodus 2:10; Matthew 16:13-17:9; Psalm 21:1-13; Proverbs 5:1-6 26 – Exodus 2:11-3:22; Matthew 17:10-27; Psalm 22:1-18; Proverbs 5:7-14 27 – Exodus 4:1-5:21; Matthew 18:1-22; Psalm 22:19-31; Proverbs 5:15-21 28 – Exodus 5:22-7:24; Matthew 18:23-19:12; Psalm 23:1-6; Proverbs 5:22-23 29 – Exodus 7:25-9:35; Matthew 19:13-30; Psalm 24:1-10; Proverbs 6:1-5 30 – Exodus 10:1-12:13; Matthew 20:1-28; Psalm 25:1-15; Proverbs 6:6-11 31 – Exodus 12:14-13:16; Matthew 20:29-21:22; Psalm 25:16-22; Proverbs 6:12-15

The Congregation Council met in the social

hall Tuesday evening, December 17. All

Council members were present. Discussion, decision-making, and information-sharing included the following:

A letter was received from Senator Mark Obenshain congratulating Mount

Calvary on our 175th anniversary celebration.

A letter was received from Amazon Smile explaining that there would be no

disbursement of funds to Mount Calvary for the 3rd quarter because the amount

was less than the $5.00 minimum. The church family is reminded to use

Amazon Smile when shopping through Amazon.com.

The Council offered sincere thanks to Susan Foltz and John Minnick for their

service as Council members. They will be missed.

Submitted by Barb Pifer, Council Secretary

Mount Calvary convened its Annual Congregational

Meeting following the December 8th worship service.

Members approved the Finance Committee’s proposed

2020 church budget totaling $174,415, an increase of

1.6% over the 2019 budget ($171,698). This brings the

church’s weekly budget need to $3,354, a $52 increase

over 2019’s weekly budget figure. The following members were elected to Council: Pat Falls, Eli Proctor (Youth Representative), and

Roger Rudy. Council member Kay Whetzel was also re-elected to serve a second term on the

Congregation Council. The meeting concluded with comments from Orville and Pam Ryman who shared their experiences

delivering Mount Calvary’s 99 Operation: Christmas Child shoeboxes to Luray United Methodist

Church. Steve Povlish also provided the congregation an update on his application for candidacy

toward ordination.

Please be prompt in submitting this information

to assist the preparation of the 2019 Annual Report.

Member Contact Information

Dear Families, We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We start this year with 55 children enrolled at the center and continue to have a wait list. We have 11 staff members and are blessed to have Ms Mary Ann as our volunteer. We appreciate the dedication that she has toward the Center and the children. As we begin the new year, we continue to plan fun learning and exciting activities for our children. The theme for this month is "Around the World." Our children will be learning about different cultures and traditions. We are looking for volunteers to come to the Center and share about their culture and traditions with our children. If you are interested in coming in please contact us. January 25th is Ms Gwen's fourth year work anniversary at the Early Learning Center. We are blessed to have such a dedicated, loving, caring, and hard-working teacher like Ms Gwen in our MCELC Family. Ms Gwen is our one-year-old teacher; she has nine toddlers in her classroom. Ms Gwen goes above and beyond in her daily duties at the center. She is continuing to further her education by attending trainings. She recently completed an apprenticeship program at the Center with over 4,000 hours of classroom work and observations. Congratulations, Ms Gwen, and thank you for all that you do at the Center. As many of you may know, Anabel is expecting a baby in March. She and her family would like to share the news with the church family that they are expecting the arrival of a baby boy! They are beyond blessed and excited in this new Journey as she and her husband become parents for the second time.

Lastly, we would like to thank everyone for their support this past year; for all the donations and the help the Early Learning Center has received from Mount Calvary. We have many goals for this new year and we hope we continue to make an impact in the lives of our children. We hope that everyone has a wonderful start of the year and that all your wishes and goals for this year are reached.

Blessings, Anabel and Emily

January 1 January 11 January 27

RINGING IN LURAY CAVERNS

Sunday, February 9 Sunday, February 23

5:30-7:00 p.m.

Sunday Worship

Offering Faith Formation Attendance Received* Attendance

December 1 37 $1,937 [n/a]

December 8 42 $3,828 19

December 15 62 $2,254 [n/a]

December 22 52 $3,812 19

AVERAGES 48.25 $2,957.75 19

*Budget needs per week: $3,302 $3,302