CALVARY COMMENT July 2020

Stewardship Corner

ALL That We Have All that we have and all that we are is given to us by our gracious and giving God. He spared no expense for us and our salvation. He gave up His Son into death so that our sins are forgiven, and we will live. What is more, He provides for all that we need for this body and life.

So consider your life and all that you have in light of these three stations: church, the family, and society. You pay taxes to support and help those in society. You provide food, clothing, and shelter for the members of your family. You save for college for your children. All that we have and all that we are is to be pressed into service for the church, the family, and society. If we were to sell all we have and

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from the Pastor

“Getting back to normal.” That phrase has been bouncing around with more frequency these days. It’s not surprising. We’ve been living abnormally for over three months, as our nation has been responding to the COVID-19 outbreak. Now we are beginning to get closer to normal operations at Calvary. We’re not there yet. But some of our parish activities will be more like what we experienced in March prior to the crisis.

Besides seeing a printed newsletter again, the first thing that will be noticeable is returning to one Sunday Divine Service each week. That will happen on July 5, when we will meet at 10:30am instead of having two smaller gatherings that morning. There will be some differences from the usual: a different seating plan will be used, which includes some pews being closed to worshipers; coming forward to communion will be slightly different; there won’t be passing of offering plates or sharing the peace. But the worship service should feel closer to what you remember.

Another restoration of normalcy is confirmation of our junior catechumens. This year’s class will be confirmed on July 26 as part of the Divine Service that day. We will be able to celebrate that milestone in our young parishioners’ lives.

Celebration of milestones will happen two weeks before that, as we will have a farewell for Brett Witmer on July 12. Brett will be leaving us to take up a new vocation: Pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church - Sutherland, Iowa. But before he does, we will have a time to wish him well.

As our congregation continues to navigate the current situation in our nation, we may have to make more adjustments. There will be decisions to make about other matters, such as how and when to resume Sunday School, other midweek classes, Youth Group and Evangelism activities. Our Preschool will also need to evaluate its operations. Schedules for laypeople to serve within the congregation may need to be revamped. Doing so will take both effort and patience from all of us, but the goal is to have our congregation operating as fully as possible.

Despite all the changes that happen, we have some constants. Our confession of the Christian faith, our reception of divine gifts, our identity as Christ’s disciples—none of those has actually changed. Even more importantly, our Lord has not changed: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”(Heb 13:8) That means He is our Redeemer and Leader for a time such as this. Dealing favorably with humans in crisis is normal for Him.

Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

English District

208 Woods Drive, PO Box 374 Mechanicsburg, PA 17055

The Rev. Luke T. Zimmerman, Pastor

Church Office: 717.697.9771 Preschool: 717.796.1369

Email: CalvaryLutheranChurch@verizon.net

Parish Web Site: www.calvarylutheranmechanicsburg.org

Upcoming Dates Sunday, July 12

Brett Witmer Farewell

Sunday, July 19 Brett Witmer Ordination Sutherland, IA (Lay led non-communion service at Calvary that day.)

Sunday, July 26 Confirmation Day

Friday—Sunday, August 14–16 English District BOD Meeting Fort Wayne, IN

Monday—Wednesday, October 5–7 English District Pastors’ Conference Akron, OH

Saturday, November 7

Todd Wicker & Andrea Douden Wedding Service

Wednesday, November 25 Thanksgiving Vespers, 7pm

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CALVARY LWML SOCIETY NEWSThe Calvary LWML Society met on June 20 for the first time in months! We had a great Bible Study with Pastor and then had discussions on upcoming events. The first event will be the annual collections of school supplies for New Hope Ministries (see below). Our next meeting will be Saturday, July 18 in the Adult Bible Study room. Hope to see you there! “SCHOOL DAZE CRAZE” COLLECTIONEven though so many things have changed in recent months, New Hope Ministries is already preparing to meet the students’ needs for the next school year (2020-2021)!

“School” may not look the same but they know there are students who will not have what is needed. Calvary has traditionally collected NHM’s “most wanted” items during the month of July so that they can be ready for the August distribution. Printed lists of these items can be found on the bulletin board for you to take. A collection box will be in the Narthex during the Sundays in July for donations.

Thank you in advance for helping with this project. If you have any questions, please text or call Kay Ardner at 717-682-8991.

Mite Box CollectionsThe wooden box in the Narthex is always available to receive mites. Each little contribution adds up!

Revelation Bible Study Summer 2020

An eight-session study of Revelation will happen on Tuesday evenings this summer, beginning on July 7. The course will wrap up on September 8.

Class sessions will start at 7:00pm. Each session should last around 90 minutes.

The curriculum being used is one of the new CPH FaithCourses, which includes video presentation and discussion. Video presentations are by Dr. Lane Burgland, a former pro fessor a t Concord ia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN.

If you would like to participate in the class, please speak to Pastor Zimmerman as soon as possible, so the proper amount of printed materials can be produced.

Stewardship Corner (continued)

give only to one, the other two would be neglected, and our duties toward them would falter.

But the one station that is usually thought of last is the church. Since the needs of the family and society are more immediate, the church is often given what is left over. This is not how it should be. Rather, we are to give of our first fruits – the best from off the top – even as Abel gave the best of his flock.

This requires forethought and intent. It means that you sit down and make a plan for what you will give from the beginning. It means sticking to it even when it seems there are other more immediate and pressing things.

This is all the more necessary now as we enter into periods of time while giving is low due to high unemployment or restrictions on meeting in church to give. If we love God, his gifts of forgiveness given through the means of grace we receive at church and only at church, then we will support the church just as we love our country and our family.

Don’t let the church, your divine family, be ignored or even an afterthought. The church is nurturing you, bringing you up in salvation by Word and Sacrament for eternal life.

Excerpts from LCMS Stewardship Ministry Newsletter Article – July 2020

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PARISH CASH FLOW REPORT (January 1—May 31, 2020)

INCOME GeneralOffering $67,740.44 MissionOffering 5,668.75 BuildingFund 11,003.75 PlateOffering 682.00

Memorial 100.00 MyNeighbor 0.00

1-1-1 345.00

CapitalCampaign 16,462.91

IniKalOffering 140.00

LentenOffering 725.00

ThanksgivingOffering 0.00

AdventOffering 75.00

ChristmasOffering 100.00

BuildingUse 0.00

AscensionDay 0.00

RefundIncome 200.00

EasterOffering 370.00

OtherIncome 0.00

Epiphany 5.00

AshWednesday 485.00

GoodFriday 270.00

MaundyThursday 325.00

ChristmasEve 0.00 ThriventChoiceDollars 444.00 LutheranWitness 221.00

SundaySchool 0.00

OperaKonBarnabas 500.00

YouthGroup 50.00

Preschool 14,892.24 _TOTALINCOME $120,805.09

EXPENDITURES 1000 PastoralExpenses $39,618.97

(Salary&Benefits)2000 PersonnelExpenses 7,021.73

(Secretary,Organist)3000 RealEstateExpenses 23,265.22

(Insurance,U8li8es)4000 OperaKngExpenses 14,260.30

(Maintenance,Supplies)5000 MinistryExpenses 902.90

(BoardAc8vi8es)6000 MissionSupport 8,600.00

(DistrictPledge,NewHope,Seminarian)8000 Non-BudgetedExpenditures 38,056.29

(Revolving,MyNeighbor,Memorial,Preschool)

BudgetedDisbursements $93,669.12Non-BudgetedDisbursements $38,056.29 _

TOTALEXPENDITURES $131,725.41

NETCASHFLOW –$10,920.32

Notes• OfferingsreceivedfromMay20—May31weredepositedonJune1.

ThosewillbereflectedinthecashflowreportthroughJune30.• Capital Campaign pledge contribuKons received are recorded as a

separatelineitemintheincomeporKonofthecashflowreport.

lcms ministry to the armed forces

OPERATION

MILITARY SHARE PROGRAM Our last distribution was held on June 17, when we served 37 families totaling 92 people.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continued to grow, we were mindful of the health and safety of everyone during the monthly distributions. The Operation Barnabas Committee worked with the Central PA Food Bank to ensure the safety of our MilitaryShare families and our volunteers.

We made the following changes to our distribution program:

• All volunteer workers wear masks when serving.

• Volunteer workers stacked all of the food outside under the entrance canopy. They only use the kitchen on an as needed basis to prepare loose produce.

• Recipients do not need to leave their vehicles to enter the Church to sign in. Instead, drivers gave their names to members of the Operation Barnabas Committee, who then checked them off the sign-in sheet to keep track of recipients.

• When recipients arrive, they pull up to the entrance, stop and stay in their car, pop open the trunks or hatchbacks and wait for the food to be placed into the vehicle.

• Recipients were encouraged to wear masks when interacting with volunteer workers.

January—June 2020 Distribution Stats Total pounds of food distributed: 11,526 Calvary’s Share of the costs: $1,615.28

HOMELESS FEMALE VETERAN COMFORT KITS This program has been impacted by COVID-19. As the YMCA resumes normal operations, we will work with them to once again provide these kits.

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CALVARY EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH208 Woods DriveP. O. Box 374Mechanicsburg, PA 17055-0374

Address Service Requested

Next Calvary Comment Deadline is Sunday, July 19, 2020. Please send info to CalvaryComment@Verizon.net

From ! Organ BenchGreetings, everyone! By now, many of you know me. I’m Karen Appel, and I’m your new organist. While you have seen me nearly every week since Christmas, I was actually your long-term interim organist. That changed to a permanent position on June 1.

What is an organist? Now that you have me as your permanent person, I think I should let you know what I do. Of course, practice is the most time consuming part of the position, but practice what? My work begins when Pastor forwards the list of hymns and scripture readings for an entire season (e.g. Pre-Lent through Eastertide). That’s my starting point. I read through the passages and jot down a possible piece of music that comes to mind and would coordinate with a particular lesson. Then I sit down with the hymnal and look at the hymn tunes. Those are located at the bottom of the page of each hymn. You may have seen those names many times and wondered what they were. It’s a name given to a hymn by the composer, usually different from the hymn title. Sometimes it can be named after a location where the hymn was written, or given a name of someone important to the writer, etc. This is very important for a musician because several sets of words may be set to the same hymn tune. Much music in the Lutheran Service Book is based on German chorales so you will

see many hymn tune titles written in German. Some organ books only use hymn tunes in the index, so having that information at hand is beneficial to me. From there, I go through my music files to see if I have arrangements on a hymn tune or scripture. Often you will notice that my prelude or offertory is based on a hymn we are singing that particular Sunday. If I’m stuck without a match, I look for something general in nature that goes with the season.

I make a folder for each week and put my selections in it. Then I practice at home and finally at the church. When at the church, I play through a piece of music utilizing numerous settings on the instrument until I get the exact sound I want. During Advent and Lent, the process is repeated twice a week. If funerals or weddings are put into the schedule, that process involves meeting the family to select the music they wish to have played on those occasions; and more practicing is a must.

You may have a question about me or the music I play, and I want to address those inquiries. Generally when I am at the church during the week, I look at the sanctuary as my office (not bad digs) and the console as my desk, and I’m there to work. I’m almost always at the coffee time after worship, which I hope will be resuming soon. Please ask me questions at that time; learn about the music I play. Let me know what you are thinking. Together, Pastor and I are your team to present a meaningful worship experience.