Dear church, dear friends!
It’s Saturday morning and it’s time to share some good news. Yesterday I asked some of the women who are busy making home-made masks ( I am sure there are more of you!) to give us a little report, and they came up with some impressive stories and results. It looks to me that Sharon B. retired just in time (early March) to begin her new mask-making ministry. She has always been into sewing and she has always been into helping others, and so this is the perfect time for her to shine. Remember Jesus’ word: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven…” Well, these ladies are shining some light into our community right now. This is what Sharon wrote:
“Pastor, I have made about 120 masks. I have fabric to make about 100 more. I have given them to family, friends, and people who have asked online. The organizations I have given them to are, Project Home in Philadelphia, to nurse’s aides, to a Nursing Home in Quakertown, and one in Minnesota. I have orders for more from friends and I’m planning on giving them to Artman Home and to Einstein Hospital. The biggest challenge is getting elastic for them. All the stores are out and it takes about 2 weeks to receive when you order it online. Right now I am waiting for an order and I also ordered more so I wouldn’t run out again. What’s funny is I’ve been asked how much I charge for them. I tell them I’m not charging but if they would like to make a donation to Manna on Main Street, Philabundance or any charity they would like. I didn’t sew much before and when this started, I felt I had to do something to help because I feel so useless to do anything else. If you know of anyone that needs a mask, please let me know.” (Sharon)
That is some pretty impressive work. MaryAnn L. applied some local touches and creativity to her work. Her husband, son, and grandchildren are big hockey players and hockey fans and also PSU alumni. So, she put the Philadelphia area sports teams on display. She sent me a few pictures and frankly, I think her work could be sold as merchandise. It looks great! This is what MaryAnn wrote:
“Pastor et al, I also have been making masks. I have not made as many as Sharon, though! I made 2 each for my family (son, daughter-in-law, 4 grandkids, husband, sister, son’s mother-in-law) so they could be washed after wearing and have a spare. I also made some for friends. The fabrics were prints of Flyers, Eagles and Penn State. Now I have a “big order” for masks for my son’s employees. He is a landscaper so I went to JoAnn’s today and found fabric containing landscaping suitable prints. I will make as many as I can because I know they will have a tendency to get lost. He wants 30 to start. I interface each of the masks (so there is a filter) and it takes me a ½ hour on average from the time of cutting to completed product. Elastic is a scarce commodity, but I had a large stash of elastic inherited from my mother, which is amazingly in great shape and has come in handy. I also do not charge for masks. I am just happy to keep people safe.” (Mary Ann)
Finally, Karen S. wrote this about her ongoing project making masks for people and institutions in the community:
“Hi Pastor Wagner, so far I have made 71 masks. Some were donated to Artman Lutheran Home in Ambler and a church in Lower Gwynedd. I have also made masks for members of our community in North Wales. Some of the masks have gone to family and friends in AZ, MD, IL, and FL. One of my challenges has been to design masks for young children and a toddler. Hopefully, I got the sizes right. For a family, I try to make the masks color coordinated. It may be less frightening for young children to see Mommy and Daddy wearing the same masks. Finding elastic has been another challenge but I am now using cotton knit to make my own elastic. It is nice and soft on the ears. Many more people are wearing masks now and it certainly gives one a comfort level, a sense of community spirit and unity. It is wonderful to feel useful.” (Karen)
This means that face masks made by St. Peter’s volunteers have reached not only family members, neighbors, and local nursing homes, but also places in Minnesota, Arizona, Maryland, Illinois, and Florida. Between these three church members alone, around 220 masks have been produced. Pretty impressive, and we thank you!!! As mentioned before, I am sure there are more “mask makers,” please don’t hesitate to share your experience!
I received some sweet notes yesterday. This one came from Phyllis B. who is a wonderful local historian. She lives in North Wales and last year published this book, “Whispers of the Past,” which presents a collection of stories and anecdotes from the 150-year history of North Wales. (A wonderful book!) Phyllis is not a church member but one of the many people who receive our emails because she has a connection to our church. We love all of our friends near and far!!! Phyllis wrote:
“Dear Pastor, your daily messages are a special part of my day. I know you have received oodles of emails saying that same thing… I found today’s message interesting since my father came to America from the German-populated Sudetenland in the old empire of Austria-Hungary in 1913. I have relatives who endured WWII and its aftermath in Europe. Your writing, however, no matter the subject, is always thought-provoking and good reading…
Your recent daily messages pertaining to gardening and nature struck a chord with me since my father passed on those same views to me. Just by chance I recently came across a quotation from Anne Frank’s secret diary in 1944, as she hid so very long from the Nazi threat to her life. it has relevance to today’s situation: ‘The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature, and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be… amidst the simple beauty of nature.’ Today we are all enduring a threat of another type. We are all in the same boat, trying to navigate unknown waters.
Your cogent words of wisdom offer glimmers of hope each day, and I, surely along with many others, thank you sincerely.” (Best regards, Phyllis)
I would like to ask all of you for prayers on behalf of Belle M. Belle is our cheerful Nursery attendant. The daughter of James M., she is a wonderful young woman who will be graduating from Chestnut Hill College in May in Psychology. Following that, she is planning to go for a Masters in Psychology at Arcadia with a focus on International Peace and Conflict Resolution. She has worked with autistic children in her most recent job but hasn’t been able to see them since the beginning of the lockdown. Belle recently had another surgery on her right wrist, which is the reason I want you to pray for her. She has had several surgeries to repair a persistent problem in that wrist, which limits her ability to work and carry weight with that hand. Just four months ago a fusion procedure was performed. But healing is going painfully slow (and Belle is not the most patient patient…), but it is, of course, concerning for a young person and we all hope that it heals and that she will have major relief. We ask her buddies Catherine and Jenny Wunder, as well as Malcolm and Neal Berger (Tang) to join us in prayers. Out of the mouths of babes… (Psalm 8)
Later today we are going to record our service for tomorrow. As I have mentioned before, we will from now on record the entire service ahead of time (Saturdays at 4) and then post it on Sunday morning. I will continue my practice of sending you worship material via email at 8:30 a.m. The virtual service will be posted a few minutes before 10:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings. I find the Easter stories particularly meaningful and relevant this year. You will see.
I am also starting to make plans for a virtual new member orientation. For all of our friends who would like to join the church, we will do an orientation on a Saturday afternoon sometime in the next few weeks. I have not set the date yet because I am trying to get some input from participants, but the early favorite is May 9 from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m.
This quarantine time brings out the best not only among our helpers and doers in the congregation (see above), but is also a wonderful opportunity to go deeper in our faith. I hope the daily emails help in that regard. But it is also a perfect time to launch our St. Peter’s Devotional project. I have already put together a collection of 200 scripture verses, organized in various themes. Early next week, Lisa will put the finishing touches on it and create an index. By mid-week, I will send out all the instructions to our volunteer writers. When it is all done (and this is projected to be a three- year project), we will have a St. Peter’s Devotional Book for every day of the year.
There are many more ideas swirling around, regarding our children’s ministry for the summer, a Prayer Ministry and many other things. We are, as everybody is, affected and in some ways limited by the current restrictions. We are, however, in no way shutting down. Quite the opposite. This is in many ways a wonderful experience to explore new ways of ministry. That’s how I look at it. The Church Father Tertullian (3rd century) once commented that the blood of the early martyrs was the seed that grew the church. This would not be the first time that a crisis forces us to re-discover the resurrection hope that we are celebrating during this time.
All of you, be blessed and be safe!
Pastor Andreas Wagner
