Hard to believe that August is upon us already. Now we can see the beginnings of a new school year, another busy fall season in the life of the church, and many opportunities to grow, serve, and build with us at Dreisbach quickly approaching.

Now is the time that we put in place plans for how we will be at work in missions and ministries in the months to come. We hope that you will open to taking part in some new opportunities of serving and sharing in the life of the church. The Chancel choir will be gearing up for a new start this fall and your participation would be welcomed and valued as part of that. There is an intergenerational Choir also forming that will focus on our young people with the support of any others who are willing to sing and move to the beat of some fun and meaningful songs in worship from time to time. There is a confirmation class being formed for the sharing of our story of faith and passing it on to a next generation, as we encourage them to make it their own. We will be celebrating Dreisbach’s 230 years of ministry and church life together this fall and we will be building for a future ministry of many years to come. Sunday School will begin the Sunday following Labor Day and we are excited about the new opportunities that are springing up in our programing and classes that are available.

It is my hope to have lay readers in worship each week of worship, instead of just once a month. This may seem like a big undertaking but, I believe there are many folks who are willing and able to read and lead in worship, we all need to grow and strengthen our abilities to share our story in the life of the community, or share our gifts in our times of gathering together. This will be one opportunity to make that happen. If you are not a part of the list of readers currently we invite you to tell the office or Carol Snook that you would be willing to be a part of the Scripture Reader list. If the amount of people who I believe should be on this list come forward no one will have to read more than 2 times a year. Please step up and share you gifts in leading worship, we are all better for having a diverse participation of leaders among us.

We have been talking about taking risks lately, and I hope that we all will continue to try to take a risk of compassion and a risk of generosity as we move through our days. Live in a way that shows you value each other and are willing to serve and share as Jesus has with us. Jesus is the ultimate example of risking compassion and generosity to people who have not deserved it. May we be willing to do likewise.

Blessings and Prayers to All,

Pastor Nate

Worship Schedule this month:

August 5th - (Theme of Worship: Bread of LIfe) 2nd Samuel 11:26-12:13a; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35. Special Music and Message by the Harvey Cedars participants. First Sunday Fellowship.

August 12th – (ToW: Shaping Community) 2nd Samuel18:5-9, 15, 31-33; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; John 6:35, 41-51. Special Music offered by Barb Zeller.

August 19th – (ToW: Wisdom Quest) 1st Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58. Praise Choruses.

August 26th – (ToW: At Home with God)1st Kings 8:1,6,10-11; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-69. Special Music offered by the Liturgical dancers of Dreisbach. We will have a blessing of the backpacks prayer in worship.

September 2nd -- (ToW: Be Love) 2nd Samuel 11:1-15; Ephesians 3:14-21; John 6:1-21. Special Music offered by Andrew Druckenmiller

Thank You

Many thanks to everyone for the great send off as we start our new life in Ithaca. We feel very blessed to have had our Dreisbach family for 10 years and you all will continue in our thoughts and prayers. If anyone happens to come up our way, please get in touch so that we can plan a visit!

Our new address is 93 Ellis Hollow Creek Road, Ithaca NY 14850

Home phone: (607) 241-2681

Rich, Melissa, Becky, Ally & Julie Stup

♪ ♪ ♫ ♫ ♪ COME SING UNTO THE LORD A NEW SONG! ♫ ♫ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♫

Chancel Choir is open to all from high school to 100 who have sung, never sung, or say they cannot sing! God gave you a voice with which to speak, but also gave you the same instrument in which to make music!

The choir will begin rehearsing on Wednesday, August 29th at 7:00pm.

Family Movie Night

Dreisbach will be hosting a Family Movie Night on Monday, August 6th at 6:30. Free admission, popcorn and cotton candy for all. Friends and neighbors are welcome. Bring your comfy chair or blanket and enjoy the show!

R B Winter Brunch

The Friends and Faith SS Class will be having a Brunch at R B Winter State Park August 26th @ 11AM. Please bring a breakfast item to share and camp chairs. Look for us near the beach and playground area. If you need additional information please contact Tammy Pierce @ tlpierce545@gmail.com or call (570)412-7289.

230th Birthday Party Celebration

The Membership Committee will be hosting a 230th Birthday Party for Dreisbach! An evening of great fun is planned for kids of all ages so bring your silly, your funny, and your happy to celebrate 230 years of Dreisbach with us! This event is FREE and open to all so please invite your family, friends, neighbors, teachers, mail deliverer, grocery store clerk, hairdresser, etc. etc. etc.!

4:00PM - 4:45PM - Downstairs Social Hall

AIR WEAVER’S SUPER TERRIFIC HAPPY FUN-TIME BALLOON SHOW
For kids of all ages, this Air Weaver experience is a professional, full stage show of comedy, magic and the most amazing balloons you’ve ever seen! Lots of audience participation and tons of fun! Air Weaver is a three time award winner for stage performance at the Twist and Shout Balloon Convention, the premier event for balloon twisters from around the world. NOTE: Not everyone will necessarily get an individual balloon, but all get to enjoy a unique and memorable show.

5:00PM - 8:00PM - Upstairs Worship Area

THE DUELING PIANOS SHOW
Coming to us from the Philadelphia area, the Dueling Pianos feature Tony T. (Anthony Decarolis) & Wildman Joe (Joe Marchetti), performing energetic sing along classics for all types of music lovers. Their entertaining style of inter-acting with the audience has everyone singing, clapping and partying along. Come out and join us at this family friendly event for all! To get a sneak peak of the fun we have in store visit http://duelingpianos.com/.

PHOTO BOOTH
Create memories with your Dreisbach family at our photo booth that will be located in the rear of the worship area during The Dueling Pianos show!

AIR WEAVER BALLOON LINE TWISTING (UNTIL 7PM)
Join Air Weaver upstairs as in just two minutes he will aim to give you something much cooler than the old dog and sword you’ve seen before! Consider this your "favor" to Dreisbach's 230th Birthday Party!

~6:30PM - Upstairs Worship Area

BIRTHDAY CAKE CELEBRATION
Official Lighting of the Candles and Singing of Happy Birthday To Dreisbach!

Light refreshments, including birthday cake, will be provided in the downstairs social hall following the birthday cake celebration.

Pastoral Relations Committee

Did you know that Dreisbach has a Pastoral Relations Committee? The purpose of this committee is to support and maintain an open and healthy relationship between the pastor and members of the congregation. This committee meets several times a year to be an advisory group to share ideas, hopes expectations, and concerns of the congregation. As support for the pastor, the committee interprets roles, functions, and needs of the pastor to the congregation. The members of this committee are Joy Catherman, Sue Enders, and Robert Pierce.

Fall Rummage Sale

Dates for the Fall Rummage Sale are October 4th,5th & 6th. Carol Willow will be the coordinator for the sale. Judy Willow will do her great job of soliciting volunteers. Connie Bastian will be doing publicity.

Scripture Readers Needed

We are seeking volunteers to read the scripture during worship service on Sundays. We would like to have a member of the congregation do the reading each Sunday rather than once a month. If you are willing to help in this capacity please contact Carol Snook (570-524-2794). Thank You.

Gluten Free Communion

Going forward we will be using Gluten Free Bread for communion. The bread does contain eggs so if anyone has an egg allergy please let Pastor Nate or Pam know.

Sunday School & Children’s Church

Fall will soon be here. With the coming of fall we will resume all Sunday School classes after worship service on Sunday, September 9th. We will also resume Children’s Church following the Children’s Sermon during the worship service. Volunteers are needed to help with this program. Please let Kara Druckenmiller or Sue Enders know if you can help out.

Upcoming Meetings

The Prime Timers will be meeting at the Old Turnpike Restaurant, Thursday, August 16th at 12:30 pm. Come and enjoy lunch and a time of fellowship. Lunch will be dutch treat. Anyone 50 or older is welcome to join the group.

Please note a change of date for the upcoming Fall Festival Committee. The date has been switched to Monday, August 20th at 7:00pm.

The Choir will begin meeting on Wednesdays at 7:00pm starting August 29th.

The Membership Committee’s next meeting will take place on Wednesday, September 5th at 7:00pm.

The Shack Wrap Up

A small group, Dave Beckley, Sharon Houseknecht, Pam Pfirman, Joy Catherman, Nancy Boyer, Barb Zeller, Lori Leitzel, Eleanor Gold and several friends, recently came together with Pastor Nate’s leadership to read and explore “The Shack”. We wanted to share some of our thoughts on the experience with the congregation.

“We read this book in our Book Club and had a great discussion. After reading it a 2nd time it was even better. Our discussion with Pastor Nate was so insightful and a completely different view than what our book club discussed. I loved hearing the response from our group and their personal thoughts. Seeing the movie as a group brought the book to life and was very sad, yet gave a good presentation about forgiveness in our lives.”

Nancy Miller Boyer

“I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I will admit I had a “head start” seeing the movie before reading the book, but I think some others did also. I thought the discussions were authentic and open. I think it is a good opener of emotions after a loss that you can learn some things about yourself. I certainly realized that I was not alone in loss, both physically from the people around me and spiritually in that I have the promise and awareness that God is still with me sharing the loss.”

Dave Beckley

“I would encourage everyone to take the opportunity to be a part of a small group discussion such as this one. It offers a wonderful chance for personal reflection and draws you closer to our Dreisbach family with shared experiences.”

Pam Pfirman

““The Shack” was a very interesting book. I had read it a number of years ago, but now I enjoyed the impressions, ideas, and comments, of the other readers, at each of our weekly sessions. It’s a book you don’t want to put down, once you start reading.

The book gives each reader a great new perspective to the words: Trinity, Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

I think I will read it again, right now!”

Eleanor Gold

“This book has really helped me to understand “the trinity” Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I have never been able to fully understand this until reading this book. It is a very in-depth book and makes you really think. This is the first time I have ever been in a book club and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It was very interesting how some people perceived things. The movie was a little different then the book and I would suggest reading the book first. I do want to read the book and watch the movie again.”

Thank you,

Sharon

August Birthdays & Anniversaries

Remember the following people in your prayers as they celebrate special days this month.

1 Gerald & Katiann Lloyd, III 13 Mary Ellen Hoffman

2 Clyde Chappell, II 14 Nathaniel Gabel

3 Donald Girton 15 Emily Pfirman

Pam Spangler 16 Brad & Wanda Shively

5 Deb Dressler Patricia Hartzell

Jadyn Willow 18 Neil & Cindy Moyer

6 Neil & Amy Moyer, Jr. Cindy Moyer

8 Jason Berger 19 Roxie Trutt

Charlotte Neitz 21 Bob Reedy

Richard Noll 22 Adam Leitzel

9 Julia Stup 24 Rich & Melissa Stup

Wayne Stump, Jr. Richard Kratzer

Marianne Beney Leah Willow

10 Jeff & Debbie Baker 25 Robert Rockey

12 Len & Barb Manbeck 29 Sarah Hackenberg Pennachio

Bob & Sharon Magyar 30 Robert Hoffman

Barry & Kathy McLaughlin Mallory Leitzel

Kayla Spangler

If you know of any additions or corrections to the birthday and anniversary list, please give or email them to Pam Pfirman.

August 2018 Newsletter