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Zion Lutheran Church - Sunbury, Pa www.zionlutheransunbury.com

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As of the publication of this issue of The Messenger, our county remains under COVID-19 pandemic mitigation. Worship services and the resumption of activities is evolving day to day. Visit our webpage www.zionlutheransunbury.com our Facebook page for the latest changes and information.

On Zion’s Website

www.zionlutheransunbury.com

On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/

zionlutheransunburypa/

Worship resources for use in

the home during this time of world-wide crisis are available from the ELCA;

Worship in the Home is available for each Sunday

at blogs.ELCA.org/Worship. We have been including this link in our weekly email.

If you haven’t been getting the emails, we are missing you!

Send your email address to zionsunbury@ptd.net

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If you are a member of the congregation, have a birthday in this month, but are not

listed, please email or call the church office.

Zion Evangelical

Lutheran Church

15 South 5th Street PO BOX 605

Sunbury, Pennsylvania

17801

zionsunbury@ptd.net www.zionlutheransunbury.com

570-286-6459

STAFF

Rev. Richard Fangmann Pastor

Amy Graham Music Director

David Reier Choir Director

Donna Deppen Administrative

Assistant

Keith Kurtz Joey Smith

Sextons

CONGREGATION

COUNCIL

Ben Heim President

Sam Deitrick

Vice President

JoEllen Freida Secretary

Cheryl Beeler Treasurer

June 3 Pastor Ed Rehrauer Jane Young June 6 Tom Boop Coy Crawford June 8 Alexander Dorman June 9 Duncan Arcuri June 10 Chelsea Boyer June 11 Kay Henninger Amber Murphy June 12 Ruth Bergstresser June 14 Jim Putnam June 15 Dee Zboray June 16 Roslyn Bidelspach June 18 Pat Keeley June 20 Lauren Mull

June 22 Brayden Lytle Chris Minnich June 23 Cheryl Beeler June 24 Jalyn Bidelspach Amy Hoffman Rick Hoffman Ann Varias June 25 Jay Russell June 26 Hazel Campbell Emilee Hummel Misty Shainline June 27 Brendan Everitt June 28 David Eichner, Jr. Jeff Eichner June 30 Stella Dobson Alyssa Keeley

zionlutheransunbury.com

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Remember Especially in your Prayers-

• Georgena Smith, recovering from knee surgery

• Marilyn Brose, recovering from a broken hip

• Debbie Shamp, recovering from a fall

• Our members in nursing homes, not able to receive visitors

• Those afflicted with or who have a lost loved one to COVID-19

The Church Office will be staffed for phone calls on Monday, Wednesdays & Fridays

from 9am-12pm. The Building remains closed but access can be arranged by calling ahead. Messages left on the answering machine will be returned as

soon as possible or you may call Pastor Rich 570-847-1906

June 4– Property Committee—11am 9– Congregation Council - 6pm 11- Worship & Music Mtg @ ZOOM

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Greetings Children of God,

You will be glad to know that while we have not able to deter-mine a starting date for our “in person worship services,” we have a number of groups meeting every other week to make sure when the time comes, we will be ready. I thought it would be helpful to give you an update on the process and what each group is doing.

Church Council– The church council has been meeting in person every other week in May, and will continue to do so in June as well. Along with the ongoing business and ministry of the church, their main task has been to make sure that we commit ourselves to open up our facilities and services only when it is safe to do so for our members and for the wider community. At each of these meetings, they are reviewing the latest reg-ulations and procedures surrounding the pandemic, and their effects on the life of our congregation.

Property Committee– This committee also met in person every other week during the month of May and is planning to do so in June. While there is regular work for them to attend to, the main task that they have been given revolves around getting the building ready for use during the rest of the coronavirus pandemic. They have been instrumental in getting the social hall ready for our small committee and council meetings. They have also developed a plan for small group meetings in the social hall which would allow for discussion, prayer, and Holy Communion. This includes entering and leaving the building, masks and seating arrange-ments, sanitizing of the area, and ventilation of the space. Limiting num-bers will require people to sign up beforehand through the church office.

Worship & Music Committee– Together with the Council, the W & M committee has the most complex task to complete. Closing the church building was easy, you simply lock the doors. Opening up the Nave to worship again takes much more consideration and work. Many of the needed safety precautions have a profound effect on the nature of our worship. Masks will be important when gathering for worship, along with the suspension of live singing. Physical distancing, children’s mes-sages, Holy Communion, offering will all need to be modified, depend-ing on when we begin services, as will greeters and ushers interaction, the offering, and of course “The Passing of the Peace.” When will wor-ship, with all of these limitations, be more helpful than the worship we have online? It’s a tough call for the Council.

We hope to be able to start our small groups sometime in June. We will keep everyone informed and let you know how to sign up when the time comes. Until then, keep everyone in your prayers and know that the church is not closed, but alive and well seeking to share Christ’s love during this difficult time. Peace,

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Zion’s Council is again meeting June 9th and 23rd.

• Repairs were made on the Nave roof with Zion’s costs limited to our insurance deductible. Thanks to Sam Wolf and all who helped work through the process!

• Decisions on the resumption of worship services and other church activities are evolving following CDC Guidelines and with guidance from the Upper Susquehanna Synod.

• The status of Summer Day Camp remains undecided at this time. Because of the changes in schedule with Camp Mt. Luther, our Day Camp dates have been changed to August 3rd—7th. Again, that is if we are able to have it at all this summer. • We would like to resume Confirmation Classes for a month this

summer. Please contact Pastor Rich for more information. • The Church Council will revisit the issue of returning to “in person

worship” on Sunday mornings at their next meeting on June 9th. The Council is planning to meet every other week for the next few months if needed.

• Larry Herrold attended the meeting 5/23 and shared with the

Church Council some ideas to enhance our online presence. He also offered his experience and gifts to help us in this area.

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Thank you for all of your help and sup-port to Eileen and me during my moth-

er’s illness and death. It was particularly hard with our inability to visit her during

this coronavirus pandemic, and so that made your cards, concern, and prayers

that much more helpful! You shared with us God’s peace in very real ways!

In Christ’s love, Pastor Rich & Eileen

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Amelia Fouts, a psychology major in the Cook Honors College at Indiana

University of Pennsylvania completed studies for her bachelor’s degrees in

May with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Amelia is the daughter of

Dean and Diohn Fouts.

Abigail Ranck graduated Mansfield University with a degree in Community Health Education, a new

and growing field in public health encompassing social work, and nutrition. Abby was able

to finish her college career online and made the Dean’s list with a 3.68 GPA for the Spring 2020 semester. Her dream job would include working with pregnant mothers and children/teens who

struggle with mental health and/or substance abuse problems. She thanks God every day for this path and to guide her future, even if it

looks uncertain right now.

Lutheran World Relief has put forth a challenge to make 75,000 masks for vulnerable communities that have no access to masks for COVID-19. Mask di-rections can be found at www.lwr.org However, if you have a pattern that you like, it will still be accepted. Please use tightly woven cotton fabric or quilting cotton, enough material to cover the nose and mouth and either bias tape, elastic or cotton ties to secure. The ties and/or elastic should be permanently affixed to the mask. No loose hair ties, please. Please contact Ann Zimmerman (570-492-4152) for pick-up at your home or directions for drop-off.

All masks are needed by June 25th.

-In good faith, I have committed to 25 masks even though I do not sew. How-ever, I know there are several folks at Zion who do sew and are looking for the next project. Well, here it is! Just for you! I will make sure the masks get to Lutheran World Relief at their New Windsor, MD warehouse to be used in the U.S. and around the world. Thank you for your gift of time and talent. - Ann Zimmerman