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March 2020 From the desk of Rev. Anne:

When I was in 5th

grade, I gave up Elaine, my best friend, for Lent.

Elaine’s family was devout Roman Catholics, and I found myself envious of their tactile, tangible, visible,

lived-out-in-real-ways faith. When we Presbyterians prayed, we didn’t have beads to touch and remind us of

our prayers. They got to get new white outfits two times in elementary school, for their First Holy

Communion and the Confirmation. We had to wait to take communion until we were 12, and then only four

times a year. They started out years before us and had communion every week, that is, if they went to

confession. While I was grateful that I didn’t need to tell anyone else, especially a minister, about my sins, it

might have been easier to feel forgiven if I received a to-do list to make amends. We didn’t get ashes on our

foreheads, so every Ash Wednesday the difference between us was visible. They didn’t eat meat on Fridays

and added Wednesdays during Lent. The one thing we had on them was Wednesday evening covered dish

dinners and worship services during Lent. The highlight was always Mrs. Allison’s mashed potatoes dyed

green the week of St. Patrick’s Day. And then there was the whole “giving something important up for

Lent,” a practice that seemed like doing exercises to get in shape on a spiritual level.

And so when I was in 5th

grade, I gave up Elaine for Lent. Elaine wanted to play, and I explained that I

couldn’t, I had given her up for Lent. That lasted about one day. Her mom called my mom, and guided me

into choosing another thing to give up.

That was many Lents ago, and my Lenten practices have waxed and waned over the years. I confess that

choosing to fast from something was often as much for health as it was for spiritual reflection or focus.

There were years when I simply marched through Lent without a thought to the season. There was one year

of grief when simply living with the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of that season in life became my

unintentional Lenten discipline.

I’ve come to believe that seasons of preparation – Advent and Lent – are not so much about giving

something up, or adding something new, as they are about intentionally creating space in our lives so that

we are available to recognize God’s always available presence and activity in ourselves and the world. Our

own stories, with their twists and turns, sadness and joy, challenges and consolations, find their reflection in

the story of Jesus’ journey towards the cross. And that grows our spirits in unexpected and amazing ways.

May you find space in these Lenten days, openness and curiosity to the journey you share with the One who

went before you, and goes with you every day.

Thanks you.

Pastor Anne

The Circuit

The Newsletter of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Phone: 540-459-3643 235 South Main Street, Woodstock, Virginia 22664 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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LENT 2019 SCHEDULE

Tuesday Lenten Lunches & Services held at the Woodstock United Methodist Church

Lunch served 11:30 - noon and 12:30 - 1:00 p.m.

Service of Worship 12:00 noon

March 3 - Woodstock UMC - Pastor Rob Hoskins March 10 - Woodstock Presbyterian - Rev. Katie Rascoe

March 17 - Emanuel Lutheran - Rev. Nate Robinson March 24 - Emmanuel Episcopal – The Rev. Kathy Murray

March 31 - St Paul’s UCC - Rev. Anne Findlay-Chamberlain April 7 – Woodstock Christian Church – Rev. Bill Erbach

Sunrise Service @ Sunset View Memorial

Sunday, April 12 at 6:45 a.m. with Breakfast following at the Woodstock Presbyterian church

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UPCOMING EVENTS o Mar. 1 – 4:00 p.m. VesperSingers Concert and reception

o Mar. 3 – Woodstock Ministerial Lenten Service/Lunch – Pastor Hoskins

o Mar. 8 – Altar Communion during worship, confirmation class

o Mar. 9 – 1:00 Clothes closet meeting

o Mar. 10 – Woodstock Ministerial Lenten Service/Lunch – Rev. Rascoe

o Mar. 11 – Consistory Meeting

o Mar. 15 – Junior Church, Pastoral Committee Mtg, Shenandoah Association Meeting at St. Stephens

o Mar. 17 – Woodstock Ministerial Lenten Service/Lunch – Rev. Robinson

o Mar. 18 – Junior Choir rehearsal begins

o Mar. 18 – Sacred Season group will meet at Spring House

o Mar. 22 – Youth Luke’s Backpack

o Mar. 24 – Woodstock Ministerial Lenten Service/Lunch – Rev. Murray

o Mar. 24 – 6:00 Worship and Music Meeting

o Mar. 29 – Junior church

o Mar. 29 – Lily Orders due

o Mar. 31 – Woodstock Ministerial Lenten Service/Lunch – Rev. Anne and St. Paul’s providing lunch

PEOPLE WHO NEED OUR PRAYERS

Betty Crane

Dr. Jerry Germroth

Valorie Hockman

Wes Irvin

Jake Johnson

Daniel Rohne Kasten

Michael Kavaras

Marcie Lambert

Nora Long

Cheri Davidson May

Gail Mayberry

Spencer McIntosh

Rev. James Medley

Jessie Payne

Janet Sibert

Rev. Charles Wood

Pete Wright

Contents

From the Pastor Page 1

Newsletter Staff Page 2

Church History Page 3

St. Paul’s News Pages 4 - 11

Calendar Page 12

Editor – Jane Miller

Contributors

St. Paul’s – Ministry Chairpersons and others

Production Coordinator - Becky Lytton

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OUR CHURCH HISTORY

St. Paul’s UCC

John Robert Wilkins, the church Treasurer as well as a banker, farmer, and furniture maker and

many other talents, created this cabinet for our church. In the cabinet, we store our altar cloths, the

communion items, and the supplies for the oil candles that are used every Sunday. John Robert was

married to Margaret Wilkins, a very special lady! They had two sons, Robert “Bobby” Wilkins and

Kline “KM” Wilkins who attended St. Paul’s whenever they are in Woodstock!

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ST. PAUL’S NEWS

Consistory Happenings!

The St. Paul’s Consistory met February 12th

.

Highlights from the meeting include:

- Treasurer’s Report:

o Finance committee met prior to consistory to make decisions about changes with some

reinvestment of funds at Edward Jones. Another change was to move $4000 from EJ to the

Cemetery Fund and $5000 from the Kocher Fund to EJ.

o Rev. Anne is working on Health insurance coverage since Rod’s policy will end in June.

- Worship and Music:

o Feb. 23 – Mission Partner Sunday (Homewood), Barbara Rhodes will lead worship

o Mar. 1 – Joe Lehnen will lead worship

o Mar. 8 – Communion and Rev. Anne will be back!

o Lenten Services begin Mar. 3 at the UMC. St. Paul’s will host on March 31.

o Jr. choir will begin rehearsals on March 18

- Christian Ed:

o Feb. 9 – Youth packing cookies and confirmation

o Junior Church – March 15 and 29

o Confirmation classes Feb. 16 and Mar. 8. Students will join church on April 12

- Stewardship & Missions:

o Pregnancy Center drive in March

- Building & Maintenance:

o Kitchen AC will be installed by the Mountain Valley Home Comfort - $4,230

o Sanctuary AC coil has not been delivered yet.

o Roof of church building is in need of paint. Team will look into the details.

- Pastoral Report:

o Pastoral Relations committee will meet March 15.

o Grief sharing group is going well at the UMC with Rev. Anne, Becky Cooper, and Rev. Rob

- Old Business:

o New furniture has been suggested for the parlor (2 sofas and 4 chairs) after visiting Beilder’s

Furniture Store. More details to come.

o A task force to align the budget with our ministries and missions will meet Feb. 15.

o Discussion on the Law Enforcement, Fire and Rescue Appreciation services. One suggestion

was to combine the two services maybe sometime in July/August and possibly an ice cream

social.

- New Business:

o Donating to church online through the service, Realm, this is being used at this time to

collect the data on church donations. Realm will open the service to also give electronically.

The consistory will look at the program and the details at the next meeting.

NOTE: The full copies of all consistory minutes can be found in the notebook on the desk outside the

pastor’s office.

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STEWARDSHIP & MISSIONS MINISTRY Diaper Changers Needed!

Okay so I am kidding, we would not do that to any of the St. Paul’s faithful, but you have to admit, it did get

your attention!

What we actually need you to do is to bring diapers and other baby supplies to church over the next few

weeks to support the Shenandoah County Pregnancy Center. Located in Edinburg, the Center serves many

economically challenged young mothers-to-be with not only supplies, but also healthy baby counseling. The

baby supplies drive will begin March 1st and last until March 29

th. A list of the needed items will appear in

the church bulletin. Also, make sure that you are in church on March 8th

when we will have a very special

guest promoter!

St. Paul’s has been a longtime supporter of the Bread of Life Food Pantry located in Woodstock. Many of

you probably remember the pantry as this small, poorly lit, galley-type room that was truly challenging for

both the staffers and those in need of food items. Thanks to the Woodstock Methodist Church and a local

charitable foundation, the food pantry has had a complete and beautiful makeover. The Feb. 20th

edition of

the Northern Virginia Daily had a great article on this brand new community resource >

https://www.nvdaily.com/nvdaily/renovations-help-bread-of-life-food-pantry-serve-the-

hungry/article_1e110b4c-e806-5fa8-9f74-393e8a2c0306.html

~ Joe Lehnen

BREAD OF LIFE FOOD PANTRY

1. We gave out 5529 pounds of food to 75 families consisting of 220 individuals.

2. Over the last 12 months our average has been: 3315 lbs., 59 families and 166 individuals per month.

3. As you can see, we had quite an increase this month from our average. We were fortunate to get

more fresh produce from the Food Bank in Winchester and also from Food Lion. In addition, Food

Lion has begun to give us meat.

4. Each month, we have a few walk-ins (first time at BOLFP) but this time we had several more. We

often hear from some clients that they did not know we were here. We hope that the Northern

Virginia Daily article in last Friday’s edition will help make the community more aware of our

existence. Regular clients are given an appointment time for the next month on either Tuesday or

Thursday. We do that to try and even the numbers between the two days that we are open. Of course,

we will serve them on whatever day they come in.

5. We normally make one and sometimes two trips to the Food Bank in Winchester for food. Now that

we have more adequate storage space, freezer and cooler space, we try to stock up on what they have

available. We normally make two or three trips each week to Food Lion in Woodstock to pick up

what they have to donate as well.

6. We always have food on hand for real emergencies. You can call me at 459-1928 or the church at

459-4144 for real emergencies and we will do our best to assist you. I hope to have an open house in

the near future for those who would like to see our new home and our capabilities.

7. As always, we thank you for your support. Blessing, Bill Decker, Director

Pregnancy Center needs:

crib sheets, Similac Advanced formula (the blue can), size 6 diapers, bassinet sheets,

Pack-n-play sheets, little hand covers that you put on infants so they don't scratch themselves,

bottle brushes, 4oz bottles

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YOUTH

Luke's Backpack on Jan 26th

was cancelled and rescheduled for the end of February. Confirmation classes

kicked off on Feb. 2nd

with four of our youth. They met again on the 9th

, this time with seven kids. We all

enjoyed a great lunch provided by Melissa and William Andrew and then we did our cookie packing. We

sent cookies to four college students, one former military and eight packages to other members in nursing

homes or shut-in. We also gave flowers and a card to two special members that cannot have cookies.

Confirmation class was held again on Feb. 16th

.

Upcoming events:

Feb. 23rd

Luke's Backpack

March 8th

Confirmation class

March 22nd

Luke's Backpack

April 9th

Maundy Thursday service

April 12th

Confirmation Sunday

Alisha Williams,

Youth Leader

Things You Can Do for Lent

Besides giving up chocolate

1. Think about what you usually spend your money on. Do you buy too many clothes? Spend too

much on dinner out? Pick one type of expenditure that you’ll “fast” from during Lent, and

then give the money you would usually spend to a local charity.

2. Take something on — 40 days of letter writing, 40 acts of kindness, 40 phone calls to the

important people in your life.

3. When you first sit down in front of your computer at work, or at the very end of your workday, try a

10-minute guided devotional from https://www.ucc.org/daily_devotional.

4. Go through your clothes or closet and take one item a day and put in a bag/box to be given to the

Clothes closet or other organization who are looking for gently used clothing.

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JUNIOR CHURCH

VESPER SERVICE AT ST. PAUL’S March 1, 2020

Please join us for a Vespers Service on Sunday evening, March 1st at 4:00. The service will be led by the

VesperSingers, a community “church” choir dedicated to singing Sacred Choral music in a Vesper “late

afternoon” setting, from a variety of traditions, times, and styles. The group seeks to celebrate their

Christian faith through music.

Directed by Harlen Miller and accompanied by Barbara Strong, let’s show our support and plan to attend.

Junior Church classes

Sunday, Feb. 9th

for Junior Church we talked

about God's love as we think about Valentine's

Day.

Elementary students used their Bibles in their

class learning about God’s love.

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MISSION PARTNER SUNDAY

Homewood 1929 George C. Pearson leaves a bequest of $100,000 in his will to the Potomac Synod

of the Reformed Church to establish an "old folks home." Mr. Pearson was an

elder in Christ Reformed Church in Cavetown, MD.

1930 A charter is issued for the "Old Folks' Home of the Potomac synod of the

Reformed Church in the United States."

1932 The first residents move into a home at 1805 Virginia Avenue in

Hagerstown. The home serves 12 residents and is known as

"Homewood."

1937 The Rev. Walter R. Hartzell is named Homewood's first superintendent.

Before his hiring, the Rev. Scott R. Wagner, pastor at Zion Reformed

Church in Hagerstown and president of Homewood's Board of Trustees,

took an active role in management.

1951 The new home, with accommodations for 58 residents opens in

Williamsport, MD. Also at this time, the corporation is renamed "Homewood Church Homes."

1953 A downtown hotel in Hanover, PA, is purchased as the third Homewood facility. It houses 88 residents. In

six years, Homewood grows from serving 10 residents at one site to serving 182 residents at three sites in

two states. Later renovations and additions add a 16-bed infirmary in Hanover in 1963.

1973 The corporation is renamed "Homewood Retirement Centers of the United Church of Christ." Upon the

retirement of the Rev. Mark Wagner, the Rev. Roderick Wagner becomes president of Homewood.

1981 The Williamsport facility opens its first independent living cottages. Today Homewood has 241 cottages

and apartments in this first Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC).

1995 Homewood purchases the Susan B. Miller Nursing Home in Woodstock, VA.

2008 Land is purchased for Homewood at the Shenandoah Valley, in Strasburg, Virginia.

A community center/apartment complex project is begun at Homewood at Spring House Estates to augment

the expanding cottage community.

For more history, go to https://homewood.com/about-us/history

Donations can be made through St. Paul’s UCC to support the residents who have outlived their

resources. The Benevolent Care provides financial support for these seniors to continue to live at

Homewood. All money collected will be sent to The Homewood Foundation. Please make check out

to St. Paul’s UCC.

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CONGRATULATIONS FOR OUR SCIENCE FAIR WINNERS School competition held at W. W. Robinson Elementary

Melissa

Andrews,

one of the

judges!!

What a

difficult

job!

William Dalke – First Place

For Grades K-2

1st Grade

Lauren Eye – Honorable Mention

1st Grade

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Birthdays for St. Paul’s

March 2 – Barbara Johnson

3 – Caroline Eye

4 – Debbie Swecker, Chris Eye, Davon

Ridgely

5 – Jonathan Koontz

7 – Seth Gardner, Jessie Payne

9 – Sharon McCarthy, Anne Findlay-

Chamberlain

10 – Brian Loveland

12 – Regan Kain

13 – Jessie McIntosh

14 – Stephanie Litten

15 – Stuart Sheetz, Ethan Gregg, Brandy

Payne, Pat McCarthy

16 – Bill Holsinger

17 – Adam Beasley, Doug Linaweaver,

Caroline Dalke

18 – Casey Walton

19 – Jake Johnson

22 – Dan Bowman

23 – Dot Heishman

28 – Kim Shrum, Mike Sibert

31 – Richard Linaweaver, Helen Harrison

April 2 – Nathan Terry

3 – Tim Dalke, Mathew Linaweaver

4 – Chuck Walton, Cathy Boze

5 – Betty Crane (97 yrs.), Jodi Orndorff

7 – Kaye Lehnen

9 – Derek Snarr

10 – Lucas Ritenour

12 – Cory Grubbs

14 – Michael Baylock, Barbara Wright,

B. J. Goodier

15 – Joe Lehnen, Susan Brill

16 – Tom Snarr

17 – Courtney Brill

19 – Evelyn Neff

21 – Carol Rhea, Amy Palatnick

29 – Janice Heishman, Miranda Funkhouser

30 – Jerrold Foltz

Anniversaries for St. Paul’s

March 10 – Robert and Pam Bray

12 – Jack and Linda Sheetz

22 – Spencer and Jessie McIntosh

29 – Clara and Randy Young

April 10 – Eric and Jennifer Dalke

29 – Alisha and Trent Williams

Acolytes

March 1 – Aiyana Charity

8 – Kyrsten Alkire

15 – Caroline Eye

22 – Vicent Charity

29 – Stephen McCarthy

April 5 – Connor Neff

12 – Allen Brill

19 – April Alkire

26 – Anna Ritenour

Scripture Readers

March 1 – Courtney Brill

8 – Alberta Smith

15 – Patty Dellinger

22 – Janet Sibert

29 – Susan Medley

April 5 – Jr. Choir Member

12 – Easter

19 – Susan Brill

26 – Julie Ritenour

Greeters

March – Stewardship and Mission team

April – The Eye Family

Junior Church – Jennifer Dalke

Elementary Class – Marsha Cooper

Youth Class – Alisha Williams

Altar Flowers

March 1 – Richard Sollenberger

8 – Susan Brill

15 – Meg Trott

22 – Jennifer Dalke

29 –

April 5 – Palms

12 – Easter Lilies

19 – Susan Myers

26 – Barbara Rhodes

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CHURCH EASTER FLOWERS

ST. PAUL'S EASTER LILIES FOR THE CHURCH

The church office is taking orders for Easter lilies to be used in the church on

Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020.

THE PRICE IS $11.00 EACH.

Orders need to be turned in by SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2020.

Please make checks payable to

“VALLEY FLOWER SHOP”

or place cash in an envelope with your name on it and give to Becky Lytton or mail it to the church office.

(235 South Main Street, Woodstock, VA 22664)

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EASTER LILY ORDER FORM

Name of donor ________________________________________

In Memory of _________________________________________

In Honor of ___________________________________________

I will pick the lily up after worship on Easter Sunday. __________

I would like the church to dispose of it. ____________________

Check $__________________ Cash $______________

The spirit of Easter is all about Hope, Love and Joyful living.