Tuesday, June 9

Good morning, church!

Attached are a few more pictures from Sunday in the park. This event was a tiny drop in an ocean of protest pent up over many decades (what we remember) and centuries (what we know from history books) of mistreatment of black people.  The event was, however, hugely important for our town. Dan Jacques (picture 4), the only African-American speaker, expressed an excitement over the crowds gathered, but he also said – I am paraphrasing him here: “I am skeptical. I have never seen this before. (Where have you been?) And I don’t know how long this sense of solidarity will last…”  It was refreshing to see that so many people, including local officials and police officers, stood by and listened. I truly believe that our founders had this type of democracy in mind when they framed the constitution. And as I mentioned in my speech, even though the occasion for this show of solidarity was a very sad one – with the potential of deepening the already existing divisions in our country, – it could just as well be an opportunity to bring people together behind common human rights and values that we all share as Americans, at least in theory. It was a unifying, hopeful event. For that, I am very grateful.

                

As a pastor I am always reminded that our Holy Scriptures were written mostly by and for oppressed people, and they bring us the point of view of people who are not “in charge” and not “on top.” We sometimes conveniently neglect to see that. The Beatitudes can sound very smooth and serene and make for a nice reading in a nice ceremony, until we remind ourselves that the people Jesus addressed were under occupation and suppression. When he says, “Blessed are the meek,” that must have been a huge challenge for people angry over the Roman occupation. When he said, “Blessed are the peacemakers,“ it was not what many people wanted to hear. There was a movement to arm people and overtake the occupiers. It ended in huge bloodshed around the year 70 A.D. in Palestine. And guess who was killed? It is absolutely no coincidence that the most influential advocates for change through non-violent means all came from minority groups: Gandhi, MLK, Nelson Mandela.  They are all true heroes of the 20th century.  Here is a quote from Mahatma Gandhi that tells you a lot about the spiritual challenges these men (and their female counterparts) faced – and it would seem – mastered: I have learned to use my anger for good. . . . Without it, we would not be motivated to rise to a challenge. It is an energy that compels us to define what is just and unjust.”  So, anger is not bad, but the spiritual challenge is how to use it for good, how to channel it toward constructive action.

Please do not forget that we are resuming our weekly food drive tomorrow!  Every Wednesday from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. you can bring food donations for Manna on Main Street. It usually goes directly on Lisa’s truck or the truck of another volunteer. There are always signs that you can’t miss.

Mrs. B’s Children’s Hour will take place every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m., starting tomorrow, June 10. We encourage our families with young children to take advantage of this interactive program and to tell your neighbors with children about it.    

This week, we are preparing for a big celebration of our graduates and the involvement of our youth ministry in the service recording. I also would like to mention that Sunday (June 14) will be Lilia M. 13th birthday. I have asked you to pray for Lilia before.

As always, be blessed and be safe! Pastor Andreas Wagner

Monday, June 8

Good morning, church!

I was very pleased with the peaceful protest that took place yesterday at noon in the heart of our little town, at Weingartner Park. I am especially proud of the young families that took civic responsibility and organized the event. It was attended by several hundred people – masked, distanced, behaved, listening to the speeches of several community members. It was more a show of unity in support of human rights than it was a traditional protest. There were people carrying signs and slogans, but many more were just there to listen and show their respect to George Floyd in a kneeling ceremony of almost nine minutes, which felt very, very long, as it should. I am attaching my speech to this email, in case you are interested and didn’t have a chance to attend. About seven people spoke yesterday, most of them “regular” people from North Wales, including Dan Jacques, a young African-American man who grew up in town. Democracy was alive and well yesterday!

I received some nice responses to yesterday’s service and co-production with Bethlehem Baptist Church. Someone who visits our church occasionally wrote: “Thank you for a wonderful service. At first the music and then the rousing inspirational message from Pastor Quann moved me deeply. It is all too easy in these times to “hunker down” and live in the privilege of peaceful isolation… thanks for providing this way to be more connected.”  Maggie H., one of my former confirmation students, responded from Michigan, “Hello Pastor Wagner, I had the chance to watch your service this morning and was very moved by it, especially the sermon given by Pastor Quann. This is a time when all of us born with privilege due to the color of our skin need to take the time to listen to our black brothers and sisters. I very much appreciate that you tailored this Sunday’s service to do just that.  We are being called to come together in God’s love, and I felt very proud to have had the upbringing I had at St. Peter‘s during this historic time.”  

Here at St. Peter’s there is a pretty busy week ahead of us. Later today, we have our Red Cross Blood Drive with a full slate of donors, which Diana said never happened before.  That’s pretty amazing!  I am meeting this morning with the children of Bill Kane Sr. who died over the weekend. On Tuesday I am meeting via Zoom with the leaders of our AA groups. Council is considering allowing them to meet in the Fellowship Hall in small groups with the usual safety measures in place that we have gotten used to since the beginning of social distancing rules in March.  A lot of school children are finishing their school year this week.  We are preparing for a youth-led church service that will also honor our graduates.  Out re-opening document and council’s plan now that we are in the Yellow Phase was delayed by some additional last-minute concerns. It will come out soon and nothing in terms of church services will re-open until at least July 5.  We hope you enjoy our recordings. A lot of time, effort, and creative thinking goes into it from staff and volunteers.

Please do not forget that we are resuming our weekly food drive!  Every Wednesday from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. you can bring food donations for Manna on Main Street. It usually goes directly on Lisa’s truck or the truck of another volunteer. There are always signs that you can’t miss.

Mrs. B’s Children’s Hour will take place every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m., starting this week on June 10. We encourage our families with young children to take advantage of this interactive program and to tell your neighbors with children about it.    

Today is the birthday of Tyler T. He is also graduating from North Penn High.  Happy birthday, Tyler!

As always, be blessed and be safe! Pastor Andreas Wagner

Sunday, June 7

Dear people,

Today is Holy Trinity Sunday, and we are celebrating it together with voices and contributions from the African American Community.  Pastor Charles Quann from Bethlehem Baptist Church is giving the message in today’s service, and his Assistant Pastor Monica Chavous Hall participated in our service recording yesterday.  Guest singer Barbara Walker is well-known in the Philadelphia Jazz world and a dear friend of Jim Holton and Cindy Le Blanc. We adjusted the main theme of this service earlier in the week to become a small contribution to the healing and racial healing that our country needs right now and has needed for a long time.  The service will be posted on Facebook by 9:00 a.m. and will also be available via Vimeo link of our website.

I met with a group of wonderful North Wales residents yesterday. They have organized a remembrance ceremony for George Floyd at Weingartner Park today at 12 noon.  I will be an hour-long event with several speakers and a kneeling remembrance coinciding with the time Floyd was under the knee of an officer, pleading for his life. It is still, so many days later, unfathomable. Yet, for the first time it has brought peaceful protests to the suburbs. Similar events are taking place all over the area this weekend. We don’t kid ourselves, these are small steps, small gestures of solidarity, but many small steps can lead us closer to a bigger destination. Can we create a culture in which racism is an afterthought or the rare exception? I am happy that this event is taking place in our home town in North Wales and I happily agreed to speak a few words to those who will be attending. The speaker lists features a number of local residents, including the mayor and council president.

Yesterday, Mr. Bill Kane Sr. passed away peacefully in Hospice Care at Dock Woods. He was almost 90 years old, and today would have been the 68th wedding anniversary of Bill and Evelyn Kane. His wife Evelyn is still alive, but in the fog of dementia.  She may not realize what happened. Our prayers go out to the Kane family, especially to Bill and Laurie, Pam and Bill P.  A service under COVID conditions will take place soon. May Bill Sr. rest in peace!

I hope you also find some way to enjoy this gorgeous day.

Please don’t forget to support your church via envelopes or simple online giving.

Today is the birthday of Cassidy F. Happy birthday, Cassidy!

Be safe and be well,

Pastor Andreas Wagner

Saturday, June 6

Good morning, church!

My comments on the recent storms inspired Cindy H. to send me a picture of their house in Lansdale and the tree that came down on it, see attached. Thankfully nobody was hurt and thankfully Scott, who is in one of the pictures, is a professional roofer and can easily fix the damage it caused. Cindy wrote, “On the bright side, we won’t have as many leaves to rake this fall…” Regarding the other storm that has raged in our country… I spoke to Shamala O. yesterday. She lives in Philly with her husband near a police station and endured a couple of days and nights of increased activity and noise, as well as looting in a nearby shopping center. “We are safe,” she says, but it has been a difficult week for them and for many other Philadelphia residents. Nevertheless, I believe it’s important that we use the death of G.F. in all the constructive and positive ways we can to build a country that leaves the old sin of racism behind. As I mentioned yesterday, I will participate in a peaceful remembrance and show of solidarity in Weingartner Park tomorrow at noon. It is organized by local residents and not an organization with a particular agenda and ideological make-up, which is important to me.  Council President Jim Sando and Mayor D’Angelo will be there, and I will also offer words to the community.

I received wonderful news from Diana S. yesterday. She has a full slate of donors for the Red Cross Blood Drive next Monday (2-7 p.m.) A few people also mentioned that they are not ready yet to come out and donate blood, which is fine. We are just happy that so many folks responded. Monday’s Blood Drive will of course be carried out with very special restrictions in place and all who signed up are given instructions and advice. Our Fellowship Hall will be cleaned again before the Drive and afterward next week.

I also had a nice conversation with one of our young moms, Nicole A. She and her husband Vince have two kids, Vienna and Gavin, both baptized at St. Peter’s. Next to her professional life, Nicole is also running a business, FIT4MOM Central Bucks-North Penn. I suggested talking to our Borough Council about the use of Weingartner Park to start a group in North Wales and she has received Green Light from them. She also says she plans “to offer something special to the congregation once we have the days confirmed.”  Further on, this is how she describes the program: “A little more about FIT4MOM – we are the nation’s leading prenatal and postnatal fitness program, providing fitness classes and a network of moms to support every stage of motherhood.  From pregnancy, through postpartum and beyond, our fitness and wellness programs help make moms strong in body, mind and spirit.  Our classic class, Stroller Strides, is a functional, total-body conditioning workout designed for moms with stroller age kids.  Each workout is comprised of strength training, cardio, and core restoration, all while entertaining the little ones with songs and activities.  We have other formats and online options, but I believe we will bring Stroller Strides to North Wales first.  This is our website if you wanted to learn more.  centralbucks-northpenn.fit4mom.com.”

Today I would like you to say a very special prayer again for Belle M., who has been our designated Nursery attendant for two years now. Belle LOVES kids and has a way with them. Six months ago she had surgery to fuse bones in her wrist, but she recently found out that the hoped-for healing did not take place and she will need yet another surgery. This time the surgeons will transplant bone from her hips to the wrist and force it together. Gosh, that’s a lot of surgeries for a young woman hoping to continue her education at Arcadia later this year. Also, please keep the Kane family in your prayers. Mr. Bill Kane Sr. is now in Hospice at Dock Woods. His four children are thankfully allowed to see him and with his heart condition, he is not expected to last very long.  There is lots of love in that family, which also means lots of sadness right now.

Mrs. B’s Children’s Hour will take place every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m., starting next week on June 10. We encourage our families with young children to take advantage of this interactive program and to tell your neighbors with children about it.    

Today is the birthday of Paul S.  Happy birthday, Paul!

As always, be blessed and be safe!

Pastor Andreas Wagner

Friday, June 5

Good morning, people,

I hope not too many of you were out of power or taking apart fallen trees and branches this week. I was conducting an Adult Faith Class on Zoom Wednesday at noon when the trees started shaking and baking all around the house. I was wondering whether our session would be cut off. The Internet connection held, but Peter and I will have some work to do this weekend. A major branch broke off the willow tree in the backyard. Of course, we have all witnessed storms in recent days. With thunderous exclamation, it sank in that almost 60 years after the height of the Civil Rights Movement we still haven’t made nearly enough progress claiming the truth that indeed all people are created equal. Almost more disturbing than the police officer using unnecessary force and killing an unarmed black man (another one!) was the realization that three others stood by watching, not intervening.  It caused lightning all across the country, violence and destruction; but it also caused many communities to come together peacefully and across racial lines in protest, holding up America’s better values, honoring a life lost and the fundamental idea of humanity. One of our neighbors in North Wales approached me this week. A group or residents has organized an event to honor the life of George Floyd, making our voices heard and standing up for the values we believe in. The event will be on Sunday at Weingartner Park, starting at noon. There will be several speakers and I will be one of them. Social distancing rules and the wearing of masks should be observed and people will be reminded of that.

Such events are happening across various communities this weekend, including Lansdale, Ambler. You are welcome to join us.  Peaceful protest and freedom of speech are part of our birthright as members of a democracy. We are grateful for that. Let us use it wisely. People in power need to see that this is not a “black” issue but a human issue that concerns us all.  

I want to introduce you to one of our confirmation graduates for this year. Jaiden M. (in the attached picture at our January retreat) started coming to church with her grandmother Barbara H. about three years ago. Barbara likes the earlier 8:30 a.m. service and for quite some time Jaiden was the only person in her age group at that service. She witnessed church with the curiosity of someone who had never experienced anything like it. But something drew her in. Maybe it was the friendly people or the sense of calm that a ritual can give you when your life is in turmoil, or her grandmother’s persistence, or a combination of all three. Jaiden stuck around and later joined youth activities and confirmation class. You will notice in Jaiden’s speech that she is talking about adversity she has faced and the fact that it was helpful for her to be backed up and accepted by her peers. Jaiden was baptized at the Easter Vigil in 2019, just last year.  She lost her biological dad a few months later. She had been estranged from him for most of her young life. After resuming a relationship, he died suddenly.  So, she has had her share of problems. But we are all very proud of her and we miss her.  We hope that we can have a small “official” confirmation ceremony in September. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy her speech. (See link below.)      

I am looking forward to this Saturday’s recording. It will include musical contributions by our wonderful group of singers, but also a special contribution by Barbara Walker, a legend in the Philadelphia Jazz World. Her voice is magnificent and contagious, as I witnessed at one of our Jazz Vespers. In fact, it was the Tribute Vespers for Pastor Ed Neiderhiser when she sang in honor and in memory of her friend Ed. She brought down the house. I hope the recording will give justice to her magnificent voice. What’s more, we will have a contribution from  the Bethlehem Baptist Choir. We have also invited some of our Stephen Ministers and Pastor Monica Chavous from Bethlehem Baptist to take part in the service recording. 

Today I would like to ask you for your prayers on behalf of Amy S. again. As many of you know, Amy was diagnosed with one of the worst brain cancers last year – glioblastoma, which took the lives of people like Ted Kennedy and John Mc Cain. A year after surgery and treatments, Amy will go back to the University of Pennsylvania for a round of ten radiation treatments delivered over two weeks. They discovered a small growth again, which is not unusual at all and almost to be expected in this scenario. Amy has struggled with word recollection, which is very annoying to her. She is a retired Methodist pastor who used words all the time. Please keep her and her husband Tim in your prayers as they walk their own wilderness path of dealing with an aggressive and lethal illness. Blessings and love to you, Amy!

The SEPA Synod Anti-racism Team invites you to online conversations about race based on the book – “America’s Original Sin” by Jim Wallis.  These interactive discussions will take place on Tuesday evenings, from 7pm-8:15pm on June 9th, June 16th, June 23th, June 30th, July 7th and July 14th.  They will be led by members of the SEPA Synod Anti- racism Team. You may participate in one or all of the conversations. The Team encourages you to read the book. An excerpt of “America’s Original Sin” can be found here: https://americasoriginalsin.com/read-an-excerpt-of-americas-original-sin/   I will share the link to participate in this discussion.

Mrs. B’s Children’s Hour will take place every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m., starting next week on June 10. We encourage our families with young children to take advantage of this interactive program and to tell your neighbors with children about it.    

Also, please don’t forget the Red Cross Blood Drive on June 8.

TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT, PLEASE GO TO WWW.REDCROSS.ORG, ENTER SPONSOR CODE St. Peters North Wales or CLICK ON

As always, be blessed and be safe!

Pastor Andreas Wagner

Thursday, June 4

Good morning, people!

It’s graduation day in our home, which means a lot of virtual reality with a real High School Degree for Sam. Congratulations to all graduates in our congregation! By now you surely have sent in your picture for our June 14 Graduation Sunday. For this coming Holy Trinity Sunday (June 7) I have invited Pastor Charles Quann from Bethlehem Baptist Church to share a message with us. I had to tell his lovely Administrative Assistant that the message is supposed to be 5-7 minutes long, and that for a black Baptist preacher… We will see how that goes, but Pastor Quann told me he could do it! We will have some of our Stephen Ministers and trainees join us for the recording this Saturday. Thank you all for your wonderful feedback about last Sunday’s co-production with our friends in Puerto Rico.  Every weekend is a small adventure of people getting together around a theme, reading, praying, recording music and giving you something that hopefully brightens your Sunday and gives you food for this long journey through the wilderness of COVID 19.

On Friday night I invite you to a BASIC Session. BASIC stands for “Brothers and Sisters in Christ,” and it basically is a form of adult education in a relaxed setting. This Friday’s session will be offered via Zoom of course. It is titled, “Learning to walk in the dark,” based on the book by Barbara Brown Taylor. It’s an inspirational book that helps us appreciate both physical and spiritual darkness. You don’t need to have read the book.  We will read short excerpts and talk about content. In fact, here is a small excerpt: “Once you start noticing how many important things happen at night in the Bible, the list grows fast. Jacob wrestles an angel by a river all night long, surviving the match with a limp, a blessing and a new name. His son Joseph dreams such dreams at night that he catches a pharaoh’s attention, graduating from the dungeon to the palace to become the royal interpreter of dreams. The exodus from Egypt happens at night; God parts the Red Sea at night; manna falls from the sky in the wilderness at night – and that is just the beginning.”  – Too bad it won’t be dark when we meet at 7:00 pm. on Friday night, I started to consider moving it to 9:00 p.m., but that would not agree with our early sleepers. Here is the invitation to the session:  

Today I would like to ask you for your prayers on behalf of Amy S. again. As many of you know, Amy was diagnosed with one of the worst brain cancers last year – glioblastoma, which took the lives of people like Ted Kennedy and John Mc Cain. A year after surgery and treatments, Amy will go back to the University of Pennsylvania for a round of ten radiation treatments delivered over two weeks. They discovered a small growth again, which is not unusual at all and almost to be expected in this scenario. Amy has struggled with word recollection, which is very annoying to her. She is a retired Methodist pastor who used words all the time. Please keep her and her husband Tim in your prayers as they walk their own wilderness path of dealing with an aggressive and lethal illness. Blessings and love to you, Amy!

The SEPA Synod Anti-racism Team invites you to online conversations about race based on the book – “America’s Original Sin” by Jim Wallis.  These interactive discussions will take place on Tuesday evenings, from 7pm-8:15pm on June 9th, June 16th, June 23th, June 30th, July 7th and July 14th.  They will be led by members of the SEPA Synod Anti- racism Team. You may participate in one or all of the conversations. The Team encourages you to read the book. An excerpt of “America’s Original Sin” can be found here: https://americasoriginalsin.com/read-an-excerpt-of-americas-original-sin/   I will share the link to participate in this discussion.

Mrs. B’s Children’s Hour will take place every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m., starting next week on June 10. We encourage our families with young children to take advantage of this interactive program and to tell your neighbors with children about it.    

Also, please don’t forget the Red Cross Blood Drive on June 8. Specific precautions are being taken and have been described in recent emails. Drive Details: Date: June 8th, Times:  2 – 7 PM;

TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT, PLEASE GO TO WWW.REDCROSS.ORG, ENTER SPONSOR CODE St. Peters North Wales or CLICK ON

As always, be blessed and be safe! Pastor Andreas Wagner

Wednesday, June 3

Good morning church,

We are approaching Holy Trinity Sunday. I know, I know, we can hardly keep track of the days of the week and so I don’t expect you to be up-to-date on the liturgical calendar. In our Adult Faith Class, we recently talked about the concept of the Holy Trinity, one of the more advanced and complex teachings of the church. So complex in fact, that not all Christians agree with it, hence there are Unitarians… To me personally, the teaching has held significant value for a long time. If I were to boil it down to a simple statement I would say, “God is community.”  I could also boil it down to another meaningful statement: “God is unity in diversity.” Both statements are hugely important in the face of all that we are going through as a country right now. The United States is one of the most diverse countries on Earth. But, as should be expected, we have our troubles with unity and a sense of community that includes everybody, reaching beyond the many groups, “tribes” and divisions. Ever since I served as a pastor in a city congregation that was traditionally white and very German-American, but surrounded by people of color – Hispanics, Haitians, Africans, African-Americans and many more, I know that finding unity in diversity is a lofty and idealistic goal, never easy, but possible. It is a holy experiment in our ability to listen, expand horizons, and accept people who are different from us as members of our own human family. Here is where the old philosophical teaching of the Holy Trinity takes on new meaning in a diverse world: God-likeness never happens in total isolation; it always leads us to people, leads us to love, leads us to transformation. When we celebrate Holy Trinity this Sunday, let us remember that God is the very epitome of this miracle of unity in diversity. For us, as human beings, it’s much harder to live in that reality, and it often requires work and deliberate outreach. Therefore, for this Holy Trinity Sunday we are planning to include messages and contributions from our African-American brothers and sisters.  It is my feeling that one of the best ways of responding to the racial tensions of our time is to model the type of community the early Christians talked about: there is no Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free (black or white, gay or straight)… We are all one in Christ!  

We have moved our Youth Sunday (originally June 7) to June 14; it will coincide with the graduation celebration. Mrs. B. is STILL ACCEPTING PICTURES. She asked me to print this in bold letters!

Here is the story of one of our college students who graduated three years ago from high school. During her senior year, Cate H. joined us on a Mission trip to Belize, and I remember how meaningful this experience was for her. The 2017 Belize trip was our first Mission Trip and led us to a small village with Mayan roots in the countryside. Our accommodations were extremely basic and we lived and ate in the same humble way our hosts did. There was a wonderful palpable sense of community and love in that place. And I think Cate appreciated it as a counter-experience to that individualistic, hectic, stressful, goal-oriented, high octane suburban life so many of our people are accustomed to. She really enjoyed that week working in the hot sun and meeting so many children. After graduation, Cate went to Emerson College in Boston.  This is how she has experienced this unusual college year. Also, see the attached picture above…

“I returned home from school at Emerson College in mid-March due to the pandemic, and I finished my semester online at the end of April. I was planning on staying in Boston and working after the semester ended, but unfortunately, my plans for this summer are now up in the air. On the bright side, I now have a lot of free time to do things I love. I’ve been reading lots of books (you’d think I read a lot because I am a publishing major, but I don’t often have time to read for fun) and I’ve started running as a result of the gyms being closed. I still have one more semester left at Emerson before I graduate in December, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we will be able to return in September to campus. 

Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during these uncertain months!”

The SEPA Synod Anti-racism Team invites you to online conversations about race based on the book – “America’s Original Sin” by Jim Wallis.  These interactive discussions will take place on Tuesday evenings, from 7pm-8:15pm on June 9th, June 16th, June 23th, June 30th, July 7th and July 14th.  They will be led by members of the SEPA Synod Anti- racism Team. You may participate in one or all of the conversations. The Team encourages you to read the book. An excerpt of “America’s Original Sin” can be found here: https://americasoriginalsin.com/read-an-excerpt-of-americas-original-sin/   I will share the link to participate in this discussion.

And this Friday we have a BASIC Zoom Gathering to explore “Learning To Walk in the Dark,” something that we have all practiced over the last several weeks as we have dealt with so much uncertainty and being “in the dark” about many things during this pandemic. Join us via Zoom and with a beverage of your choice on Friday night at 7:00 p.m.

Mrs. B’s Children’s Hour will take place every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m., starting next week on June 10. We encourage our families with young children to take advantage of this interactive program and to tell your neighbors with children about it.    

Also, please don’t forget the Red Cross Blood Drive on June 8. Specific precautions are being taken and have been described in recent emails. Drive Details: Date: June 8th, Times:  2 – 7 PM;

TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT, PLEASE GO TO WWW.REDCROSS.ORG, ENTER SPONSOR CODE St. Peters North Wales or CLICK ON

Today is another popular birthdate at St. Peter’s!  Happy birthday, Charlene B., Maryann L., Nora O., and Bailee C.!!!

As always, be blessed and be safe! Pastor Andreas Wagner

Tuesday, June 2

Good morning church,

When it rains it pours! Who would have thought at the beginning of this year that we would experience a global pandemic of epic proportions and on top of that riots and racial tensions which are the worst in 60 years? What’s next? Count me in as a person who did not see this coming, although at a closer look, neither is surprising. I am not in the camp of people who think that we have learned nothing from our past, that no progress has been made, that we simply repeat the same mistakes over and over again and are condemned to do so in eternity… It’s just that progress happens at such a slow and erratic pace and sometimes we go backwards instead of forward for periods of time. It is also true that in the age of omnipresent video footage we are made aware of many more crimes and injustices that would have been hidden to the public conscience in previous times. In the case of George Floyd and others, that’s a good thing. It shows us a part of reality we so hope were behind us, but it is clearly not. Despite nationwide efforts to reform police practices and combat racial profiling, despite screams and pleas and being unarmed, another black man died at the hands of people who are supposed to uphold the law. Can we hope that all the ugliness that has ensued since this crime occurred will help us become better people, a better nation? Call me naïve, but I have that hope!  Many of our leaders on both sides of the aisle are fond of saying that we are the “greatest country on earth.” You must forgive this old European for frequently cringing at those statements, but I would say: Now is the time to prove it! Not in the form of the greatest military power or the greatest economy on earth, but in the ability and resolve to reform ourselves. The ability to learn from mistakes and change for the better shows True Greatness. We are not even close yet.

I would like to share with you a reflection about psalm 139, written by black philosopher and civil rights leader Howard Thurman. This text was included in our postponed “Night with the Mystics” event. When I discovered it, I felt it was speaking to our times, and now I feel that this is even more the case. It was written about 60 years ago.   

If I make my bed in hell (Sheol) – behold (Psalm 139: 8)   Howard Thurman

When night remains night

And darkness deepens;

When the evilness of evil is unrelieved

And utter desolation makes mockery

Of all that was true and good;

When the open door of refuge

Closes in my face

And to turn back is of no avail;

When the firm grip of sanity trembles

And all balances tilt, leaving

The mind tortured and grazed;

When all around, worlds crash

And winds blow torrid

Over the parched and wasted

Places of my spirit;

When sin multiplies itself

Until at last all goodness

Seems swallowed up and devoured;

When the chuckle of death

Is the only sound to be heard in the land,

Thou art there!

Howard Washington Thurman (1899-1981) was an African-American author, philosopher, theologian, educator, and civil rights leader. As a prominent religious figure, he played a leading role in many social justice movements and organizations of the twentieth century.

When it rains it pours. Sadly, our good friend and church member David Greger passed away yesterday. He was in his early 80’s and I had recently introduced him to you with a picture. I spoke to his wife Susan. She knew that his time was coming. His spirit was no longer comfortable in a body afflicted by Parkinson’s Disease. The feelings of loved ones are very mixed in those situations. There is grieving and mourning the person you miss; there is also relief for the suffering to be over. Dave had a rough couple of years with many falls, hospital, and rehab visits. At least Susan had an opportunity to see him one more time last week when he entered Hospice Care. She said there will be no service at this time, but at some point in the future. David’s wish was that his ashes would be distributed near his beloved country retreat in Dushore, PA. You can send Susan a condolence card using the church address.

According to Sharon B. we collected about 150 bags and boxes of food during the weekend food drive. All the churches together probably collected just under a thousand bags and boxes of food that will benefit our local food banks. More accurate information when I get it… It will help a great deal!  We will resume our Wednesday food collections next week.

Mrs. B’s Children’s Hour will take place every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m., starting next week on June 10. We encourage our families with young children to take advantage of this interactive program and to tell your neighbors with children about it.    

Also, please don’t forget the Red Cross Blood Drive on June 8. Specific precautions are being taken and have been described in recent emails. Drive Details: Date: June 8th, Times:  2 – 7 PM;

TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT, PLEASE GO TO WWW.REDCROSS.ORG, ENTER SPONSOR CODE St. Peters North Wales or CLICK ON

As always, be blessed and be safe! Pastor Andreas Wagner

Monday, June 1

Good morning, dear church!

Thank you for all your donations and all your help for this past weekend’s food drive! I don’t have the results yet, but will probably be able to share more information with you tomorrow. Today is June 1 (!!!) , and the graduation ceremonies, whatever form or shape they take this year, are beginning in our community. There will be virtual celebrations and speeches; there will be car processions and parades through some neighborhoods. There will be small, family-style parties in many homes. Schools and colleges are still wondering and pondering what the new school year or semester will look like. If you ask me, I hope they can have regular classes again, but we just don’t know, we just don’t know… As parents of a senior in High School and a college student, we will be busy this week. On Thursday is Sam’s graduation from Wissahickon High School, – that’s why I have to cancel this week’s Thursday noon Bible study. We will be in one of those cars processing through the community. Sam finished his final calculus course yesterday. He has experienced a remarkable recovery in the last few months. On Saturday he walked three miles on his own feet. Again, thank you for all your prayers over the last several years as he was bed-bound for such long and painful times with all kinds of other ailments bothering him. And yet, now he is graduating with his class and will have a free summer for the first time in three years. Next weekend, Julia and Sarah will drive to Ohio to finally clear out her college dorm. Sadly, her palm tree will probably be dead by now. Those are the smaller casualties of the pandemic. To all of you who have graduates and haven’t sent your picture to Jennifer B. yet, I think she might still accept pictures of graduates for our graduate Sunday picture show (June 14). Do it now!  dfm@stpetersnoprthwales.org

Later this morning I will have the privilege to tell the story of Doris Moyer, Charlene B.’s mom, at a graveside service at Whitemarsh Memorial Park. Doris Moyer reached the ripe old age of 97 and had a full and satisfying life.  She was born in upstate Pennsylvania and lived with her husband and twin daughters in Wyndmoor, PA for the longest time. Even though Doris was not a member of our church, we will make her eulogy available on our website. If you are like me, you always find the lives of real people fascinating. This morning I meditated over a passage from Isaiah that ends with, “You are my witnesses.” (Is 44:8)  When it comes to the lives of people, it’s always about what we see, what we remember, how we look at someone’s life. We are witnesses of the lives of so many people around us. Are we able to SEE them? To me, that is always the great privilege and challenge of giving a eulogy:  to feel myself as much as I can into a life of a person. I can tell you, it is very gratifying work.

Later tonight our council will gather on the Zoom screen to finalize and hopefully approve our re-opening plan.  Since the plan will include not only a four page document but also addendums including a seating chart for the church sanctuary, we will probably send it to you in the form of a Steeple Views extra edition. You will receive that document in the next two week (it takes a little longer for bulk mail), and it won’t be ready to go out until late this week or early next week. As I have mentioned before, church will  not be the same for that period when we are allowed to gather, but restricted to very small gatherings. We see it more as an opportunity to live stream services again from the sanctuary and give people who are really longing for that “being in church” feel an opportunity to join us. Once completed, the re-opening plan will also be posted on our website.

For this week, I would like to draw your attention to this Friday’s special Basic session, called “Learning to Walk in the Dark.” (7:00 p.m. Zoom) This session was originally supposed to be held in the winter season when it is naturally dark outside, but we decided to offer it anyway during the brightest part of the year, because the topic has so many spiritual implications for us right now. The main session will be a little bit over an hour long and is based on the Book with the same title by Barbara Brown-Taylor.  Taylor, a former Episcopal priest, argues that the dark times are not as scary as they seem to be and can teach us a lot. She further says that modern Christianity has too often neglected that part of our faith experience. We try to focus on the light and “lighter” issues; we are scared to linger in places where we don’t immediately see our way. But a lot of things have their origins in the dark. We were made in a dark womb, for starters. My tomato plants outside germinated in dark soil, etc. We may have to re-visit the importance of darkness in our lives. Please join us on Friday. I will include the zoom invitation in my emails later this week.

One correction:  Our new church members Tim and Polly B. have five grandchildren, not two as I falsely assumed. We don’t want to deprive them of any grandchildren!                    

Mrs. B’s Children’s Hour will take place every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m., starting on June 7. We encourage our families with young children to take advantage of this interactive program and to tell your neighbors with children about it.    

Also, please don’t forget the Red Cross Blood Drive on June 8. Specific precautions are being taken and have been described in recent emails. Drive Details: Date: June 8th, Times:  2 – 7 PM;

TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT, PLEASE GO TO WWW.REDCROSS.ORG, ENTER SPONSOR CODE St. Peters North Wales or CLICK ON

Today is the birthdays of Lisa M. Happy birthday, Lisa!!!

As always, be blessed and be safe!

Pastor Andreas Wagner

Sunday, May 31

Good morning church!

Today is the Sunday of Pentecost which connects Christians throughout the word, across all human divisions, such as race, gender, age and what not. The Holy Spirit of God knows no such dividing lines. We are celebrating this Sunday with our dear friends from Dorado. We met them two years ago after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. In 2018 we sent a small group to the island to help restore a Lutheran Camp that had been damaged and to work on homes in the community. The camp has since been used as a volunteer center for the recovery effort. We are still proud of the paint job we did to the main building. It looked like new after we left! During that trip, we found not only many good things to do, but most importantly, good friends. We went back the next year with a bigger contingent of people. We hosted some of our friends here in North Wales. And we had plans this summer to work together on projects in Philadelphia. We had to postpone those plans because of the pandemic. But this morning we bring to you a worship service that we recorded together yesterday, one of the big advantages of modern technology. The distance of roughly 1,600 miles between here and Dorado means nothing to the Internet. We hope you enjoy the service. As always it will be posted this morning on our website and on Facebook, no later than 9:00 a.m.

This Pentecost Sunday also brings a sad reminder that the big wound of racism in our country is not healed and was just re-opened by the events in Minneapolis. Please let us pray that the Holy Spirit, who bears fruits such as peace and self-restraint but also inspires a desire to seek justice for all, will bless people across the country. You may also want to read what our National Church and our bishops are saying about this. See below and take their words to heart.           

ELCA Reaffirms Commitment to Combat Racism and White Supremacy

In a statement released Friday, the ELCA Conference of Bishops said that “the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) reaffirms its commitment to combating racism and white supremacy following the recent murders of Black Americans. Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Dreasjon (Sean) Reed, and George Floyd were our neighbors. … As the Conference of Bishops, we condemn the white supremacy that has led to the deaths of so many unarmed Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color in our country. We grieve with, pray for and stand in solidarity with the families and friends of all whose loved ones have been and continue to be victims of injustices run amok, racist violence and the insidious venom of white supremacy.”

As always, I am including my message and the script of the service to this email. Please DO NOT FORGET that this is the last day of our community-wide food drive. You can drop off food donations anytime between now and 7:00 p.m. at church. The donation bin is located in front of the Fellowship Hall.  Keep it coming! This food drive will end tonight.

We thank you so very much for your ongoing support of St. Peter’s and your contributions. You can use the church envelopes and send them in or you can use the online giving option below, which is also featured on our website. THANK YOU!

Be safe and be well,

Pastor Andreas Wagner