Month: September 2022

We have reached September and are entering budgeting season. It is time for the annual update on how the church is doing financially and my projections for the rest of the year. Before I begin, I would like to thank Steven Guenther for his service as past treasurer. I wish him well in his new endeavors in Pittsburgh.

As of the end of August, we have received income contributions that are 74.4 % of our budgeted $1,250,000 income and approximately 10% ahead of 2021 contributions Y-T-D. Expenses are at 58.5% of budget. That is expected as many of our expenses are paid at the end of the year. If our contributions continue as they have in the first eight months of the year, and our expenses do not exceed the budgeted $1,293,937, we should finish the year in a break even to a positive position.

As the Session, the Stewardship & Finance Committee, and the other committees look forward to the 2023 budget and the future, we are working to ensure that Derry Church provides for the current needs of our church members and the community as well as the financial stability of the church. By planning for the future, we can make sure we are managing our resources responsibly.

Because of the generous support of the congregation, we have been able to do capital projects such as the refurbishment of the cemetery walls and planned improved signage around the church. The sound system upgrades are continuing. Lighting improvements around the church have also been accomplished and are continuing. We have been able to sponsor and support a refugee family. We have been able to do mission work in our community and throughout the world–whether it be helping youth with college scholarships or building a new wing on the school in Pakistan.

I would like to thank the congregation for your continued support of the church and its mission work in our community and the world.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss anything related to Derry’s finances, please contact me at treasurer@derrypres.org.

“The one who sings prays twice,” a phrase written more than 1,600 years ago by St. Augustine, is still well-known today. The word “sing” appears more than 400 times in the Bible, 50 of which are a direct call to action. As Christians, we take comfort in the words of our beloved hymns: they help us express the gamut of every human emotion, calm our fears, uplift our souls, and share the message that God is with us. They give us the charge to live as Christ calls us and are the prayers of our faith set to melody and enriched by harmony. For millions of Christians worldwide, the great hymns of faith and songs of praise permeate every aspect of our faith journey. 

When I met with members of the Derry choirs during my job interview, a great question was asked of me: “What do you envision for the future of the music program of Derry Presbyterian Church?” This question is one that I ponder each day as I drive from Boiling Springs to Hershey. What first came to mind is that Derry is a singing church, a congregation that loves and cherishes music in worship. It’s a church that worships with various styles and genres centered on its mission and vision: to proclaim God’s word, share God’s love, and practice God’s justice. To be an inquiring, inviting, and inclusive Christ-centered community.

In the tradition of a singing church, Derry offers many exciting opportunities to join singing and ringing choirs. My vision is to have a full choir loft each Sunday to lead the congregation in inspiring, uplifting, and meaningful praise, reflecting the message of the Sermon, scriptures, and worship service. The Sanctuary Choir is back in full swing, and I invite you to join us as we grow in faith, music, and fellowship. Rehearsals are held at 7 pm Thursdays in room 7.

The Derry Ringers are rehearsing on Tuesday evenings at 7:30 pm, and I invite you to ring with us! You don’t have to be great at reading music to ring handbells, and it’s never too late to learn. It would be wonderful to have a full five-octave bell choir, and you can help make that possible. 

Youth and children can participate in choirs that sing and choirs that ring. Claire Folts, Mark Verner, Debbi Kees-Folts, and I are working together to nurture and cultivate community and growth in our young believers because they are our future. 
It is a gift to worship with you each Sunday as you lift your voices in adoration, prayer, and praise for all that God has done for us. My vision for the music program of Derry Church is to lead a community that rings and sings for God’s glory. Come, and be a part of the music and the worship! Reach out to me and let me know how you’d like to participate. I look forward to singing and ringing God’s praises along with you.

Back in 2015, when I was working part-time as Derry’s Communications Coordinator, the Communications & Technology Committee embarked on a five-year technology plan. With former Derry member Dave Sweigert taking the lead, the committee worked to replace aging AV equipment and infrastructure throughout the church. I’m happy to report that we completed all the items on that five-year plan, and now that we’re out from under the heavy AV demands that the pandemic brought, we’ve begun work on the next five-year plan. One of the first things we’ll be addressing is the church’s aging and vulnerable WIFI network, which will improve connectivity, add security, and provide faster service for everyone who joins the Derry Guest WIFI. 

In June the team that installed our live stream equipment drove in from Malvern to make adjustments to the sound system in the Sanctuary. If you’ve attended 10:30 am Sunday worship in person, tell me what you’re experiencing as you worship in that space. The AV crew is pleased that the nagging problem with feedback has been resolved, and some in the congregation have told me they can tell the sound is clearer. If the congregation is satisfied, then we can turn our attention to other projects.

In March I reported  on the outdoor sign project and now we’re just weeks away from installation. Beginning in October, new signage will be appearing on the church campus and on the corner of Mansion Road and East Chocolate Avenue. I’m looking forward to having numbers on all the outdoor entrances, making it easy to direct everyone to the correct door — especially delivery people and guests. We’ve done some preliminary work on the indoor sign plan and we’re waiting for the first round of designs to be delivered for review. 

Tech Time on Mondays at 1 pm continues to be a bright spot in my week. A handful of Derry regulars and many new faces drop in on Zoom for an hour for conversation and sharing tips and tricks on high-tech and low-tech devices. Whether or not you have a question, you’re welcome to join for a few minutes or the full hour as we learn and laugh together. It’s the one Zoom meeting that has continued weekly since launching in May 2020 as a way for friends to practice using that brand-new Zoom technology. Let me know your ideas for other Zoom gatherings the church could offer this fall. 

I’ll close with a brief update on attendance. In 2022 we’re welcoming on average 32 people at the 8 am service, and 149 at 10:30 am. Live streaming brings an average of 151 IP addresses, which translates to about 225 people. Thanks to everyone who signs the guestbook and lets us know who’s out there worshiping with us. Pastor Stephen, Dan Dorty and I read all the comments and feedback you submit. Whether you join in person or by streaming, we’re glad you’re a part of the Derry Church family. 

PS: Following the 10:30 am service on Sunday, the AV crew invites you to stop by the control center at the back to check out what they do on Sunday mornings. If you like what you see, we’d love to have you join the crew to run audio, video, or content added with the computer. Open calls to learn more about AV operations are held monthly.

I love stories: reading, watching, singing, telling stories that entertain, educate, shape, and transform. Everybody has a story: ordinary stories, extraordinary stories, stories that delight, entertain, and educate …  stories that make you laugh, think, hope and cry. Stories are the raw material from which we live our lives. 

I understand stories as the space where I can speak my questions, express my uncertainty and brokenness, the hurt done to others by me, and the hurt done to me by others. 

In our diverse and divided nation, shaped by the ebb and flow of mutual fears and antagonisms, stories can be uncomfortable or discomforting. They can also be restorative and transformative. Each can hold a surprise that opens up life to me and allows me to know and learn about other experiences and ways of life. 

I believe we need to create more spaces for storytelling and listening, because a space of stories becomes a space of engagement, and engagement and experience precedes understanding. We cannot reconcile and move forward living better lives together without on some level understanding one another. This is why I’m excited about Derry Church embarking on a new experience together called ENGAGE STORIES. 

ENGAGE STORIES is a storytelling event where five people have up to ten minutes each to tell a true story from their own lives, and then the audience gets to ask curious questions. Our first event’s theme is “Once in a Lifetime.”  

Everybody has a story that deserves to be heard. Our first group of storytellers will be:

• George Porter is going to tell a story about how a fractured jaw helped to repair a fractured relationship.
• Sara Woodbury says, “When I was 11, I took a trip that changed me in ways I could not have imagined before boarding the plane from Cleveland to Paris. I’ll share with you some of the things I found beautiful, funny, curious, and shocking during my once in a lifetime adventure.”
• Natalie Taylor will share about her recent experience traveling to Poland to teach English to Ukrainian refugees. 
• Frances Mohler will share a story about being caught in a scary and dangerous situation on a church mission trip.
• Dan Dorty is going to tell about his 2020 life-saving and life-changing kidney transplant.

I hope you’ll come to the ENGAGE STORIES event at 6:30 pm Saturday, Sept 10 in Room 7. Come prepared to listen, to learn, to ask questions, and grow closer to one another through the power of stories.

Editor’s Note: On the first Thursday of each month (or close to it), the eNews feature article highlights the mission focus for the month. In September we’re lifting up the PC (USA)’s Peace & Global Witness Offering, and our local offering recipient, Hope Within Ministries.

Hope Within Ministries is a community health, counseling, and dental center located on Route 230 (Harrisburg Pike) in Elizabethtown. Hope Within’s mission is to share God’s love with people in need through the provision of health care services, dental care, sound counsel and related education.

Their vision is to be a local community in which:

• Physical, spiritual, and emotional needs are met;
• Real hope is prevalent;
• Love for one another abounds; and
• Healthy, wholesome lifestyles are the norm

Hope Within was founded in 2002 to provide primary health care to uninsured, low-income residents of Lancaster, Dauphin, and Lebanon Counties. Through the grace and goodness of God, they are excited to share God’s love by offering excellent and free primary medical and donation-based dental care via the hands of more than 30  volunteer medical and dental providers, therapists, and nurses.  Derry member Larry Espenshade is one of Hope Within’s volunteer medical practitioners.

Hope Within offers healthcare services for medically uninsured low-income residents in Lancaster, Dauphin, or Lebanon Counties whose household income is at 250 percent of the federal poverty level or less.

Derry’s Mission Committee is grateful for the Hope Within staff and volunteers who are providing primary medical care and immunization services to the Syrian refugee family we are sponsoring through Church World Service.  Hope Within has supported many of the refugee families that have relocated in the Harrisburg/Lancaster region.

Hope Within relies on and is immensely grateful for generous support from medical and non-medical volunteers. Volunteer opportunities exist for health care providers, reception/front office services, nursing, help with fundraising and community outreach events, and miscellaneous ministry projects and needs. They would love to hear from you as to ways you would like to get involved.