St. Paul’s Lutheran Church,

417 Howertown Rd, Catasauqua, PA 18032

610-264-3221 Fax: 610-264-5732

Email:stpaulschurch@rcn.comWeb:www.stpaulscatasauqua.com

Child Care: 610-264-0190

Sunday Worship 8:00 am Holy Communion 9:00 am Sunday School10:30 am Worship 1st & 3rd Sunday Holy Communion_____________________________

Church Office Hours Monday-Friday 9:00am-3:00pm

Sunday SchoolSeptember-Penetcost 9:00am

Child Care CenterMonday-Friday 7:30am-5:30pm_______________________

Church Staff:Pastor: vacant Pr. Emeritus: Rev. Dr. Hartland Gifford Dir. Music: Geraldine PatireOffice Admin: Charleen BurikTreasurer: Paul Peters Financial Sec: Debbie StewartDir. Child Care: Cindy HickeySexton: Robert Crogran

______________________2015-16

Congregation CouncilRobert Bastian Tom DannerDoug NewhardTom RobertsRobin RuchHelene Sterner (6) Vacancies

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Prayer for Autumn Days

God of the seasons, there is a time for everything;there is a time for dying and a time for rising.

We need courage to enter into the transformation process.

God of autumn, the trees are saying goodbyeto their green, letting go of what has been.We, too, have our moments of surrender,

with all their insecurity and risk.Help us to let go when we need to do so.

God of fallen leaves lying in colored patterns onthe ground, our lives have their own patterns.

As we see the patterns of our own growth, may we learn from them.

God of misty days and harvest moon nights, there is alwaysthe dimension of mystery and wonder in our lives.

We always need to recognize your power-filled presence.May we gain strength from this.

God of harvest wagons and fields of ripened grain, many giftsof growth lie within the season of our surrender.

We must wait for harvest in faith and hope.Grant us patience when we do not see the blessings.

God of geese going south for another season, your wisdom enablesus to know what needs to be left behind

and what needs to be carried into the future. We yearn for insight and vision.

God of flowers touched with frost and windows wearing white designs,may your love keep our hearts

from growing cold in the empty seasons.

God of life, you believe in us, you enrich us,you entrust us with the freedom to choose life.

For all this, we are grateful. Amen

(Sr. Joyce Rupp, OSM)

The Epistle September

Child Care Center NewsSeptember is here and that means the start of a new school year. We look forward to another fun and busy year for the children. Kindergarten will be busy learning about

new school rules and bus rules while mak-ing new friends. We are happy to be wel-coming back old friends and new friends into our classrooms. The classes will talk about the approaching fall season and dis-cuss the changes in the weather. The chil-dren will also learn about apples and get to taste test the different kinds. They will also

make a fun apple print craft with cut ap-ples and paint.

We would like to congratulate Carolyn Recker and thank her for being a teacher at St. Paul’s Child Care Center for 25 years!! What a great accomplishment! Throughout the years we have enjoyed her dedication and enthusiasm to her job. She is a loving caregiver and extremely patient with the children. We are beyond grateful to have her as a part of our staff and we wish her

many more happy years at St. Paul’s!

Happy September!Cynthia Hickey & Amanda Fritz

Child Care Director & Assistant Child Care Director

St. Paul’s Child Care CenterCurrent Full Time Openings for children in our Older Toddler, Preschool, and PreK Rooms for Ages 2-4

Our program develops social skills and creative thinking skills along with provid-ing a nurturing environment where chil-dren can learn and grow together!

Hot Lunch and Snacks Provided Daily

Call Cynthia Hickey, Child Care Director or Amanda Fritz, Assistant Child Care Di-rector at (610)264-0190 for further details and to come in for a tour.

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Treasury ReportEach one must give as he has decided in his heart,

not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver - 2 Corinthians 9:7

Jan-July YTD Financial UpdateWeekly Envelopes

Budgeted: $85,000Received: $48,633

Actual YTDIncome: $279,843 Expense: $306,925

-27,082Endowment Fund Loan: $75,294 Balance: $67,126

Fundraising CommitteeSaturday, September 12th 10 - 2 p.m. Come join us for our annual Applefest

Through Applefest, we hope to bring the community back to our church and our church back to the community. There will be a little some-thing for everyone at this festival: games, contests, music, food, and did we mention…apples?’’

September 18: Gift Card Bingo-7 PM. Doors open at 6:00 PM – Food & refreshments are

available.20 games/$20 plus 3 specials/$5. 50/50 and Trickey Tray too.

October 3: Annual Chicken Dinner 4:30 pm - $12.00 per person

November 22: Thanksgiving Pie Sale. Pumpkin & Apple pies & Pumpkin Rolls are $8 each.

November 28 Annual Holly Fair Crafts, Bake Sale & Food - 9 am to 2 pm. Setup: Fri-

day, November 27 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm or Sat-urday, November 28 at 7:30am.

December 20 Christmas Basket Raffle - (Gift Card included)

*Council is pleased to welcome Tom Roberts as Council’s newest

elected member as he starts the 1st year of a 3 year term. Council would like to thank Kerry Lewis & Laurie Perna for their dedication & commitment having completed their terms on Council

*It is with deep regrets that we announce the resig-nation of Norbert Huber as Sexton. Norbert has been a valuable, dedicated employee of St. Paul’s since 2010 and in 2014 went on leave of absence due to heath issues. His time and talents will be ex-tremely missed.

* Special Guest: Bette MacHose - would like to re-activate the Funeral Luncheon Committee. It will consist of about 5 to 6 volunteers with Bette the co-ordinator. Donations will go into the general fund.

*A motion was made and carried to remove the VBS and Bible Fund envelopes at this time and add a Maintenance envelope instead.

* Audit committee will meet every 6 months. First audit will be done on August 3 and will include the audit of the Bingo fundraiser and Child Care Cen-ter.

*On January 31 we will have a HandbagBingo instead of a Longaberger Basket Bingo.

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All active St. Paul members: in order to keep your membership up-to-date, please remember to complete and return a Holy Communion card (at least once a year) as a record of your Com-munion. Cards are located in the pews and completed card can be placed in the offering plate. Also, please remember to use your offering envelopes or put your envelope number on your offering checks as a record of your giving. If you haven’t had offering envelopes

assigned to you, please contact the church office.

Hospital Visits If you or someone you know is admitted into the hospital or reha-bilitation facility, it is very impor-tant to notify the church as soon

as possible. You can do this by either: - calling the church office directly or

- inform the hospital upon admittance that you are a member of St. Paul’s and

they will list you under our Pastoral Code 312

PLEASE NOTE: During our transition of calling a new pastor and waiting for an interim pastor,

Pastor George Spieker has graciously agreed to do funerals, weddings, and crises for St. Paul’s

members.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ATTENTION MARRIED COUPLES:We have just a few openings left for our 2 fall Lutheran Marriage Encounter Weekends—Sep-tember 18-20 at the beautiful Spruce Lake Retreat in the Poconos and October 16-18 at the lovely Her-itage Hotel Lancaster in Lancaster, PA. Strengthen and enrich your marriage by spending a weekend devoted to your couple relationship! Two nights lodging, 5 meals for each of you, and all supplies are included with your registration fee plus a contri-bution of whatever amount you wish to make at the end of the weekend. To register, simply go to the website: www.GodLovesMarriage.org and sign up, or for questions or if you would like to register off-line, contact PA Lutheran Marriage Encounter di-rectors, Fred & Julie Schamber, at 724-325-3166 or email: fjschamber@comcast.net.

Joyful NewsCorrection to last month’s Joyful News:

Eli D. Lambert III was promoted to D.O.T Chief Engineer of New Jersey

Congratulations to Carolyn Recker for 25 years of dedicated

service to St. Paul’s Child Care Center.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We remember the family of Doris Diefenderfer who passed away on July 29th. Doris (87) had been a member of St. Paul’s since 1977. Her funeral was held at O’Donnell Funeral Home on Monday, Au-gust 3.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Altar Guild CommitteeWe are grateful to Janet Falko for agreeing to take over the Chair of the Al-tar Guild Committee

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*To Sherry Miller for once again helping out in the church office while I was on vacation. Also to the generous members who either gave stamps, cases of paper, the generosity of their company’s services, &/or their time and talents to the church office. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. – Charleen

*On June 20th, our daughter Emily was married to Joshua Madas in the beautiful St. Paul's sanctuary. It meant so much to us and to Emily to have her wed-ding ceremony in the church where she grew up, was con-firmed, took her first commu-nion, sang on junior choir and at-tended Sunday and bible school.

Our family would like to extend a special thank you to all the members of our church family who helped make the day so special. A special thank you to: Bob Bastian, who set up the sanctuary including all the pew candles that made the church even more beautiful; Charleen Burik who got all our questions answered and printed our bulletin; Mike Fister who graciously provided our music.

Finally, a very, very special thank you to Pastor Spieker, who gave his time to officiate the cere-mony. We have had so many of you ask since then about the wedding and how Emily and Josh are do-ing, reminding us of the wonderful second family we have here at St. Paul's.

Thanks to all of you for making such a beautiful memory for our family!Mike, Debbie, Tim Price and Josh and Emily Madas

Sunday School and Confirmation classeswill begin September 13, at 9 am. We will begin in Fellowship Hall for breakfast. Come join us in learning about Jesus and how to follow him every day. Registration form is attached or you may contact the church office.

If interested in becoming a Sunday school teacher or a volunteer, please contact Diane Newhard at 610-442-6610 or Denise Reiner at 610-703-2296

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REGISTRATION FORM

Child’s Name: _____________________________________________________________

Child’s Address: ____________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

Phone Number: _____________________ Date of Birth: _________________

Has the child been baptized? (Circle one) Yes No If yes, date of baptism: ____________

Grade in School: _________________ Sunday School Grade: _______________

Known Allergies_____________________________________________________________

E-mail Address_______________________________________________________________

EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION

Mother’s Name: ___________________________Phone Number: ____________________

Address: : _________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

Father’s Name: __________________________Phone Number: ____________________

Address: _ _________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

Whom shall we contact in case of emergency? Name and phone number, please:

1._________________________________________2.____________________________________

Parent/Guardian’s Signature___________________________________________________

St Paul‘s Commit-tees &

Volunteer DirectoryAcolytes: Laurie PernaAltar Guild: Janet FalkoChild Care: Len WittChristian Ed: Diane NewhardCommunion Assist: Laurie PernaEpistle: Charleen BurikFinance: Len WittFundraising: Bob BastianGreeters: Bob BastianLectors: Judy DonchezMemorials: Betty MacHosePrayer Chain: Joanne SpenglerProperty: Bob BastianScouts: Robin RuchSocial Ministry/Evangelism:June HahnStewardship:suspendedWorship: Kerry Lewis

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~October

Deadline Sept. 11Epistle Volunteers: Sept. 18

If you would like to put an article or announcement in our newletter, please contact Charleen. Request: If you are able, please E-mail your articles to Charleen, Office Admin at stpaulschurch@rcn.com E-Mail me the Epistle!Help us cut down the cost of postage by getting your Epistle newsletter by e-mail Just send your request via an email to church office at s tpaulschurch@rcn.com

For all you Smartphone users:We can easily email your Epistle directly to your smartphone (PDF format) so you can enjoy it anytime, anywhere. Just email us at stpaulschurch@rcn.com or call church office and let us know where you want us to send it.

Don’t forget you can also get our Epistle newsletter and up-to-date church informa-tion on our website too www.stpaulscatasauqua.com

Please keep in your prayers this month: Ann Harding, Lester Washburn, Rena Ack-

erman, Richard Collins, Ruth Lewis, Norbert Huber and David Rickey

  You may contact the church office for addresses for

cards and well wishes

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May we pray for you?Prayer Request Card

The importance of prayer is affirmed through-out the Bible. As a church, we are committed to pray-your needs are important to us. Please share your prayer request on this card and re-turn it by either placing it in offering plate or send to church office at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 417 Howertown Rd, Catasauqua, Pa 18032

Date: _______________ Your Name:

__________________________________

Address___________________________

__________________________________

___My request is confidential

___ I would like to speak to Pastor

My phone number is: __________________

My prayer request__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

Never underestimate the power of prayer. When you are praying according to God's will,

your prayer is unstoppable!

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Inkjet Cartridges: Help St. Paul's itself by bringing in your used printer & fax machine cartridges! We trade them in & re-ceive store credit-$2.00 for every qualifying print cartridge. Not only will it contribute to fundraising at St. Paul's, but it keeps these things out of landfills & helps protect the envi-ronment! Everyone wins! Volunteer Coordinator: Rebecca Spieker

Catasauqua Food

Soda Tabs: For the Philadel-phia Ronald McDonald House. The PRMH pro-vides housing to the families of patients in the local children's hospitals, and the soda tabs are a huge boost to the charity's finances. Bring your tabs to worship on Sundays, or to the church of-fice any day of the week, and help with this im-portant program!

Miller Keystone Blood

Center We want to thank all who recently donated re-cently. Remember to say you’re giving for St. Paul’s whenever you donate blood!

Ways to help St. Paul’s & Our Commu-nity

Drop in at Redner’s in Whitehall or Northampton and get a free Save-a-Tape card. Present it at the register when you pay for your purchases, then bring your receipts to the church. Every $5,000 in Redner’s re-ceipts earns St. Paul’s Church $50!

Volunteer Coordinator: Julie Stauffer

GoodSearch.com St. Paul’s can earn a donation every time you search the Internet and shop online! Search the web with Yahoo-powered GoodSearch.-com and they’ll donate a penny to our church each time you search! Shop at more than 600 GoodShop.com merchants including Amazon, Best Buy, Toys R Us, and others, and a percentage of each purchase will go to our church! For searching go to:http://www.goodsearch.com/?charityid=898534

Jesus said, “I am the Light of the World”.May the birthday candles that represent the years of your life

be a reflection to others of your love for Christ.

9/1 Jason Kesack9/1 Barbara Roth9/2 Jason Mengel9/3 Paula Kesack9/5 Corey Hersh9/6 Lisa Bauer9/6 Maggie Phillips9/6 Shirley Teets9/7 Sandra Osiecki9/8 Katherine Buss9/10 Lorraine Reitz9/10 Crystale Ungiran9/12 Richard Ackerman

9/12 Jacob Sutter9/13 Al Renn9/14 Hilda Tameler9/15 John Bechtold9/17 Wilmer Burrows9/18 Margaret Corcoran9/18 Brittany Steidel9/18 Nancy Steitz9/19 Erin Dolan9/20 Violet Butler9/20 Raymond Laubach9/21 Tammy Bastidas9/22 Sally Chromiak

9/22 David Eck9/22 Paul Peters Jr.9/23 Philip Ginder9/24 Jacob DeAngeles9/25 Deborah Price9/25 Donna Sheckler9/25 Alan Shook9/26 Harold Steitz9/27 Alyssa Rushatz9/28 Kathleen Witt9/30 Carole Cardona9/30 Tammie Englert9/30 Kaitlyn Kulp

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9/3 John & Phyllis Bechtold 619/4 Alan & Stephanie Shook 229/5 Lewis & Kathy Heller 289/19 Wendy & Barry Panasik 189/20 Allen & Susan Ruth Arnold Jr. 31

Special Birthdays A few of our seniors will be celebrating birthdays this month. Please take the time to remember them with a card or note

9/6 Shirley Teets 81 449 Bridge St., Catasauqua, PA 180329/8 Katherine Buss 81 907 Race St. ,Catasauqua, PA 180329/10 Lorraine Reitz 82 255 Main St., Catasauqua, PA 180329/14 Hilda Tameler 95 245 Main St., Catasauqua, PA 180329/15 John Bechtold 87 1450 Deer Path Dr., Walnutport, PA 180889/17 Wilmer Burrows 93 232 Church St., Catasauqua, PA 180329/18 Margaret Corcoran 89 337 Bridge St., Catasauqua, PA 180329/18 Nancy Steitz 84 Unknown9/20 Violet Butler 86 1961 Maria Lane, Allentown, PA 181049/22 Sally Chromiak 83 823 Breinigs Lane, Catasauqua, PA 180329/26 Harold Steitz 93 Unknown

Volunteers Serving at St. Paul's in SeptemberDATE PASTOR LECTOR COMM. ASSTS. ACOLYTES ALTAR GUILD9/6 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM

Pr. Ziel * * P. Gerber D. Stewart

10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AMPr. Ziel Bob Teets * * L. Anglestein

9/13 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM

Pr. Tomlinson - * * -

10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AMPr. Tomlinson Betty Rabenold - * -

9/20 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM

Pr. Rounds - * * J. Mooney L. Reitz

10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AMPr. Rounds Tricia Huber * * T. Bastidas

L. Miller9/27 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM

Pr. Scholtes - * * -

10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AMPr. Scholtes Eddie Forstoffer - * -

* Information not available at this time

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Honor a loved one, give thanks for an anniversary or accomplishment, or commemorate a loved one’s birthday or death by sponsoring flowers for our altar or by sponsoring our church bulletins. If you would like to celebrate in this way, please fill out a Altar Flower and/or Bulletin Dedication form along with payment of $40/$15 & submit to church office. Dedication forms are in the NarthexOPEN Dedications

Date Flowers Bulletin09/06/15 open open09/13/15 Younger open09/20/15 open open09/27/15 open open

St. Paul's Calendar for September

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17:00Property

2 3 4 5

12

Services in Sanctuary

6

8:00 Communion10:30 Communion

7

Church Office Closed

8 96:30Fundraising

10 11EpistleDeadline

12

10-2:00

13

138:00 Communion9:00 SS Breakfast10:30 Worship

147:00 Worship

157:00 CCC

16 177:00Finance

189am Epistle Volunteers

6:00pm doors open

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208:00 Communion9:00 Sunday School10:30 Communion

217:00 CYSA

22 23 24 25 26

278:00 Communion9:00 Sunday School10:30 Worship

277:00 Council

29 30

Sunday Monday Tuesday Weds Thurs Friday Saturday

Don’t forget you can view our calendar on-line by visiting our website www.stpaulscatasauqua.com and click on Calendar link

The Autumnal EquinoxThe word equinox comes from the Latin words for "equal night."

The fall and spring equinoxes are the only days of the year in which the Sun crosses the celestial equator.

From here on out, the temperatures begin to drop and the days start to get shorter than the nights

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The Epistle

A monthly publication of

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church417 Howertown Road

Catasauqua, PA 18032610-264-3221

Church Office Hours Sunday School Monday-Friday - 9:00am-3:00pm September-Pentecost - 9:00am

Child Care Center

Monday-Friday - 7:30am-5:30pm

15Serve all people by Sharing God's love, Teaching Christian values, and Living together in peace and hope

Worship Services - SeptemberWorship Services held in Sanctuary

Sept 6 15th Sunday after Pentecost 8:00 a.m. – Spoken Holy Communion -

10:30 a.m. – Holy Communion

Sept 13 16th Sunday after Pentecost 8:00 a.m. – Spoken Holy Communion 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School Breakfast

10:30 a.m. – Worship

Sept 20 17th Sunday after Pentecost 8:00 a.m. – Spoken Holy Communion 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School

10:30 a.m. – Holy Communion

Sept 27 18th Sunday after Pentecost 8:00 a.m. – Spoken Holy Communion 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School

10:30 a.m. – Worship