Wednesday, May 27

Good morning church!

Another quiet day in the neighborhood, we have had a lot of those! I woke up a little bit later this morning. I usually have a pretty impeccable internal clock and haven’t used an alarm clock in decades, but when the dog throws you out of bed at 3:00 a.m. because of some doggie business, that clock gets messed up. This quarantine time is a humbling experience for me on some levels, let me confess that, because I have probably sounded very upbeat in many of my emails. In fact, someone said to me in the early going, “You seem to enjoy this!” Yes, parts of it, but there is that other aspect too. The reality is, it’s harder to stay in touch with ALL the people in our congregation; it is more difficult to know where everybody is mentally, spiritually, despite many phone calls and other modes of communication. In some ways I feel like Paul, whose letter to the church in Philippi we studied recently. In his opening remarks he wrote: “I am confident that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil 1:6) There was Paul, “homebound” in some Roman prison, trying to reach his congregation, but his hands are (perhaps literally) tied. He can’t do much. And he is placing his faith and confidence in Christ. This quarantine is a lesson in practiced faith and humility for us pastors. We do have a tendency to think that so much of church life depends on us (mostly wrong!) and we sometimes fail to put our confidence where it belongs: Christ is completing the work in you and the Spirit is moving among the people of our congregation, especially in times like these.

Christ will be at work this weekend in the form of many hands joining together to restock our local food pantries. Robin A. shared good news yesterday. She has enough volunteers to cover the various shifts this weekend.  Let me also remind you that there will be no food collection today because this week we are placing all emphasis on the big community-wide collection that runs from Friday through Sunday. Our church and many others will receive food donations from Friday through Sunday, 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. Big food bins will be placed outside the Fellowship Hall on the upper part of the Parking Lot. Volunteers will transfer donations every few hours from the bins to boxes in the Fellowship Hall and early next week we will transport all donations to the food banks. Let me also remind you that it is perfectly fine to make a monetary donation to Manna on Main Street or any of the other food banks. In fact, that’s what our family will do. The monetary donations enable them to purchase whatever food or supplies they are short of. You can mail in your donation to the church earmarked to the food bank of your choice. That way it will be recognized as part of this big drive.

Yesterday I received sad news from Charlene. Her mother, Dori passed away peacefully at the age of 97.  Charlene was very fortunate to be able to visit her mom frequently in the Nursing Home under Hospice conditions. Not everybody these days is so lucky, and in fact, the restrictions that bar people from seeing loved ones who are facing the last days and weeks of their life remains one of the most difficult realities created by the social distancing rules. I sincerely hope that with the switch to the “Yellow Phase” at least people will be able to see their elderly parents and loved ones! We will hold a Graveside Service for Doris next Monday, family only, at Whitemarsh Memorial Park. You can send a card to Charlene via the church office.

Attached is the material for tomorrow’s noon Bible Study.  We will read and discuss the 4th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Here is the Zoom Invitation:

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. For more questions, reach Diana at 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 birthday of Katie K. Happy birthday, Katie!!!

As always, be blessed and be safe!

Pastor Andreas Wagner