Month: February 2024

On a recent Saturday morning, I opened my inbox and read about how a respected  New York Times journalist was scammed out of $50,000 for answering a call on her cell phone from someone “calling to check unusual activity on her Amazon account.” 

The next article that popped up told about a social media post in which Jennifer Aniston promised to sell MacBook Pro computers for just $10. These scam videos on Facebook and Instagram used audio deepfakes of celebrities like Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, Kylie Jenner, and Vin Diesel to hawk fake product giveaways and investment opportunities.

Then there was a weekend last month when many of you reached out to Pastor Stephen because you received suspicious emails that looked like he sent them, but were really phishing emails from bad actors trying to hook you into falling for a scam. 

As these bad actors refine the uses of artificial intelligence, all these kinds of scams will become more prevalent and more difficult to spot. What can you do to protect yourself? 

First, be skeptical of every email, text message, and phone call you receive. Look carefully at the email address: is it really from the person claiming to send the message? If you can set your cell phone to block unknown callers, do it. If it’s an important call from someone not on your contact list, the person will leave a message that you can return right away. 

Whenever an unknown caller asks for personal information or claims to be from your bank or a provider you use, HANG UP IMMEDIATELY. Then YOU call your bank or the provider and ask if they are trying to reach you. 

Next, don’t just delete junk mail that comes into your inbox: instead, send it to your junk or spam folder. That action trains your mailbox to learn what is junk and what is legitimate email. It’s good practice to go into your junk/spam folder every week or two and scan through those messages to make sure it’s not holding good emails. Send the good stuff to your inbox (or mark as “not junk”) and erase the rest.

I’ve been very pleased with Gmail as an email provider. It’s free and does an excellent job of keeping junk mail out of my inbox. If you are using Verizon, AOL, or Comcast as your mail provider, I urge you to close that account and move to Gmail. Yes, it’s a hassle to make the change, but in the long run well worth the effort. You can do it in small steps over time, and before you know it, you’ll have made the switch.

Topics like these come up every week in Tech Time, the Zoom gathering I’ve been hosting every Monday afternoon from 1-2 pm since the pandemic started in 2020. Some regulars have been with me from the beginning, and new folks drop in regularly to ask a question or share a good idea they’ve learned. I love having the opportunity to learn something new every week, because I sure don’t have all the answers. Together we’ve tackled questions about using cell phones and iPads, tested new Zoom features, discussed whether password managers are a good idea (yes!), learned how to take screenshots and how to use CarPlay, and much more. Recently Derry member Lauren June dropped by and presented an excellent tutorial on Pinterest. 

I invite you to join us on any Monday afternoon that works in your schedule:  just click this link. You’re welcome to drop in, ask a question and duck out, or stick around for the hour.  If there’s a topic you’d like to know more about, let me know and we’ll make it happen. 

Tech Time started as a way to practice using Zoom when it was new to all of us, and it’s continued because technology is constantly evolving and changing, and it’s not easy for any of us to keep up. Just having a forum to share frustrations, ask questions, and learn how to stay safe has been helpful. I hope you’ll join us.

“Neighbor” is an idea that we are familiar with.  A very well-known story about being a neighbor is the Good Samaritan. Mr. Rogers asks, “won’t you be my neighbor?” The language of neighbor is common, but like many frequently used words, the depth of meaning can be lost in the frequency of use.  Two pivotal questions we can glean from the Good Samaritan story in Luke are, “who is our neighbor?” and “how do we love our neighbor?” These questions are very important for us and for the church to consider.  

Often, we think in terms of membership and how to incorporate others into our community. However, being a neighbor does not require incorporation. We see this with the Samaritan man as he stays the Samaritan man throughout the entire story.  We also understand neighbor to mean a person or group who is close to us, or those with whom we are most likely to interact. Our current age of interconnectedness would have this definition include all people. The Guardian wrote an article where researchers checked 30 billion electronic messages and found that we can be connected to anyone through 6.6 people, beginning with someone you know.  

By studying billions of electronic messages, they worked out that any two strangers are, on average, distanced by precisely 6.6 degrees of separation. In other words, putting fractions to one side, you are linked by a string of seven or fewer acquaintances to Madonna, the Dalai Lama and the Queen. (Smith, 2008)

The ways in which we interact with the world are vastly different now than 30 years ago as we have entered this age of connection where millions of people are accessible through the phone in our pocket.

While the number of our neighbors have grown, I wonder if the way we are to love them has stayed the same. How do we as individuals or as a church love our neighbors? The Samaritan recognized the needs of his neighbor and provided for him.  Fred Rogers created a television show with the message that we are all valuable and special. 

There is a special story about Fred Rogers learning about and providing for the needs of another. Fred Rogers would feed his fish on every show, and while he fed his fish, he would narrate that he was feeding his fish. He began narrating this without any public explanation. It was later understood that Fred Rogers received a letter from a concerned little girl who was blind and worried that Mr. Rogers’ fish were hungry because she never heard him feeding them. Mr. Rogers responded to this by making sure to narrate his feeding of the fish so the little girl would not worry.  

Every situation is unique and there is not one prescription for how to love all our neighbors. However, if we look and listen to those we share the world with, we will find many opportunities to be a good neighbor. 

Facing religious discrimination and economic and political pressure in Ireland in the early 18th century, thousands of Ulster Scots saw a dismal future with little hope of providing a good life for their families. Their Presbyterian faith led them to believe that by working hard and following Christian practices, God would give them a good life. 

Across the Atlantic Ocean, William Penn had established a colony founded on the practices of religious toleration, participatory government, and “brotherly love.” Scots-Irish immigrants learned that Pennsylvania had opportunities and available land to free them from the financial, social, and political difficulties they faced in Scotland and Ireland. 

William Penn founded his colony on Quaker principles of non-violence and religious toleration and believed white Christians, indigenous Christians, and non-Christians could live peacefully together. 

In 1682 Penn purchased land from the Lenape tribe and hoped to sell it to settlers to pay off his debts. He also desired to foster trade with the Native Americans and establish a military defense for residents. In his book, Peaceable Kingdom Lost, historian Kevin Kenny noted that after the Great Agreement of 1701, Penn and the Conestogas promised to live together peacefully. The humane treatment of the indigenous people was an essential segment of Penn’s vision. 

Around 1700, the Ulster Scots began leaving Ireland for a new life in Pennsylvania. Arriving in Philadelphia and Delaware ports, it did not take long for them to feel unwelcome. The Quakers who ruled the new colony did not always follow Penn’s practice of absolute religious toleration. Numerous restrictions were placed on non-Quakers, limiting their full participation in the colony’s political, social, and economic life. 

Since most of these immigrants were tenant farmers, living in and around Philadelphia did not offer the opportunities they desired. At this time,  Pennsylvania’s frontier was 40-50 miles west of Philadelphia, including what later became Lancaster and Lebanon counties. 

Many Indian trails crisscrossed the rolling hills and forests. Such an Indian trail passed near the spring that ran behind Derry Church. The trail stretched from the Manada Gap to the headwaters of the Conewago Creek. These trails were rough and rocky. However, the determined Presbyterian, Mennonite, River Brethren, and Moravian immigrants made their way westward in increasing numbers. So many were coming, and their arrival seemed like a swarm of bees. 

While Penn insisted on legitimately purchasing Indian lands, these newcomers felt the land was theirs. “It was against the laws of God and nature that so much land should be idle, while so many Christians wanted it to labor on and to raise their bread,” wrote Israel Daniel Rapp, in his 1847 book, History and Topography of Northumberland, Huntington, Mifflin, Union, Columbia, Juniata, and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania. 

Settlers occupied the hills around the settlements in Pennsylvania. They marked their property by cutting their initials in trees on the boundary of what they considered theirs, then cut circles in the bark to kill the tree. They refused to pay the Native Americans for the land, believing that God owned it.

According to historian Luther Kelker, the settlers would build a church soon after clearing some land, building simple dwellings, and planting crops. The farmers often did not remove tree trunks and roots, and simply planted them with crops set out around them. They often planted various grains, beans, peas, and turnips.

The settlers kept goats, pigs, cattle, sheep, and a horse or two for plowing. As time passed, settlers often built grist mills and tanneries, with distilleries often added later. Colonial wives spun flax, milled the corn, worked in the fields, while bearing and raising large families of up to 10-15 children. 

Days were long and strenuous, but the men would gather at the tavern to  exchange stories and catch up on local and international news . Magisterial courts met there, and the taverns often served as polling places. 

While German farmers were frugal, well-organized, and interested in improving the land, the Scots-Irish settlers were not known for being good stewards of the land. They often farmed the soil while it was fertile and then moved westward when the soil stopped being productive. 

While working to create a good life on the frontier, immigrants saw the need to establish a church. In the early 1720s, at least three Presbyterian congregations began gathering for worship. For the Derry congregation, at first worship was held outside, by a spring. At times, worship services would be held in homes. 

As the Presbyterian congregations grew, these new worship communities requested formal recognition as a congregation from the Presbytery. After several years of meeting without the leadership of an ordained minister, members of Derry Church applied to Donegal Presbytery In 1729 to be recognized as an established church and to request that they be served by an ordained minister. In response, Donegal Presbytery directed Reverend James Anderson, then serving as Pastor to Donegal Springs Presbyterian Church, to attend to Derry Church every fifth Sunday. 

In 1732, when Derry called its first pastor, Reverend William Bertram, a small log building, the Session House, was erected. In 1734, a second structure was built to serve as a sanctuary. In 1769, a larger structure the “Old Derry” Meeting House was constructed. 

On the frontier, the church became an important social center. People traveled long distances to attend day-long worship services often held just once per month. Services began around 10 a.m. and included two sermons, hymns, and prayers. Between discourses, adults lingered in small groups discussing local happenings while children and youth enjoyed playing with each other. At noon, the entire congregation settled underneath the trees to enjoy picnics brought from home. 

Presbyterian ministers were hard to find on the frontier. The Presbyteries required ministers to have a classical education, including theology, Greek, and Latin before they could be considered for ordination. If the itinerant preachers did not have this background, the Presbyteries required them to return to Scotland to study at Edinburgh University. Once Princeton was established (1746), most ministers received their training there. 

Because of the shortage of qualified ministers, it was common for a clergyman to serve more than one church. Reverends James Anderson and William Bertram, Derry’s earliest ministers, both served several congregations, often visiting newly established congregations a few times a year, in addition to their more regular service to their called church. 

During these years, social, economic, and political challenges were plentiful. While most descendants of the Scots-Irish settlers moved on as the soil became less productive, they left an enduring heritage in this area. Building upon their religious and political views, they laid the foundation for our new nation and the challenges ahead.

For further reading:

Kelker, Luther Reilly. History of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. United States: Lewis Publishing Company, 1907. 

Kenny, Kevin. Peaceable Kingdom Lost: The Paxton Boys and the Destruction of William Penn’s Holy Experiment. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 

Rapp, Israel Daniel. History and Topography of Northumberland, Huntington, Mifflin, Union, Columbia, Juniata, and Clinton Counties, PA. (1847)

Over the past several months, Jill Peckelun and I have had the privilege of working with Derry’s 3rd-5th graders on a picture book history of Derry Church. We are often joined by Pam Whitenack, who answers many questions about Derry’s history on the spot, and Kristy Elliot, who provides student support. 

Plans for this project emerged last year as the Derry 300 Committee imagined ways to include children’s voices in the Derry 300 celebrations. During the 2023-24 program year, Jill and I have met with an average of about ten children per week during Creation Time on Tuesday evenings to write and illustrate the story of Derry Church. 

We decided to tell the story through the evolution of Derry’s physical space. 3rd-5th graders are just developing the capacity for the kind of abstract thought that deep study of history requires, so we decided to connect all the abstract names, dates, and ideas to a space they already knew well and now know even better—their own church.

We divided our project into several topics. So far we have written and illustrated pages about the Session House, Spring, and Cemetery, Old Derry, and the John Elder Memorial Chapel. Jill and I have developed the following process for researching, illustrating, and writing about each topic. 

First, we do a site visit to a relevant location in the church to draw from life, or we draw from pictures in Derry’s archives. Jill takes the children’s sketchbooks and painstakingly selects images from each of the children’s drawings to create a composite collage. Next, the children use crayons to add color to the composite image. Jill then repeats the process, creating the final image by scanning and collaging the color images. We’d like to thank Sue George for lending her technical expertise to aspects of this process.

Through this process, I’ve been able to introduce some of the concepts of historical work, including primary sources (those contemporary to the period under study) and secondary sources (those created later from primary sources). Primary sources used on this project include photographs, artifacts, and of course, the building itself. For our secondary source, we rely on Bobbie Atkinson’s April 27, 2023 Long Read, which details the history of our buildings. We begin our study of a particular topic by reading the relevant portions of this article to get a general overview, and we revisit it throughout our study.

To produce the text, I begin by listening to the children talk as they work. Sometimes I ask them questions about what they are drawing and why. I note what they tell me. Toward the end of the process, I ask, “What did we learn? What do we feel is important for others to know?” I note that down, too. Finally, I take all the language they have given me and shape it into a narrative.

My star word for 2024 is delight, and it has truly been a delight to work on this project. Here are a few of the standout moments:

• Taking the children outside to sketch the Session House, Cemetery, and Spring. It was such a blessing to hear their kind words for the saints resting in our cemetery, those they knew and those who lived long ago. Several of them asked if there was any way to go inside the Session House, so we are working on possibilities for taking them in one or two at a time when it is safe. I have learned that kids love the Session House! (It’s a little house under glass in the parking lot. Who wouldn’t?)
• Participating in a Tuesday night worship service. In November, Pastor Stephen led a Tuesday evening worship in the Chapel with communion. The kids sat around the chancel to sketch the artifacts that remain from Old Derry, including furniture and the pewter communion set. 
• Watching the kids get so excited about artifacts from the Heritage Room! We meet in Room 6, which is conveniently located next to the Heritage Room. It was such a joy to see the kids show so much interest in the various objects Pam Whitenack pulled out one evening and debate with each other and us about their possible uses.
• Helping a table of kids study images of the Chapel to put them in chronological order—an activity they began spontaneously out of their own interest.
• Meeting with a small but dedicated group the night of a snowstorm to tour the chapel with Pam and ring the bell.
  

It’s not often in life you realize you’re doing one of the most important things you’ll ever do while you’re doing it, but I have experienced that feeling while working with these children on this project. 

Jill and I are often astounded by the children’s work, by their wisdom and talent. Looking with new eyes, they often show us things we missed. I hope that the children who work on this project will take the skills and confidence and knowledge they’ve gained into whatever they do next and into their eventual vocations. I don’t call this a children’s book, because it isn’t just for children. It’s a picture book, and picture books are for everyone. 

You’ll have your opportunity to pre-order this one in the spring. In the fall, we will celebrate the book’s arrival with a book launch party at a special post-worship fellowship.

Thank you for your support of the children and this project. To learn more, check out the bulletin board across from Room 6 or ask a 3rd-5th grader about their experience. We look forward to sharing the book with you.

Editor’s Note: On the first Thursday of each month, the eNews feature article highlights the mission focus for the month. In February we’re lifting up homelessness and our mission partner, Family Promise of Harrisburg Capital Region.

Steve came to Family Promise HCR with his 12-year-old son and two-year-old daughter. They had spent the last year in a hotel, and the expense chewed through their savings. The next step was living in his car, which would place him in danger of losing custody of his children. 

That’s when they applied to Family Promise HCR. He entered the program in a very stressed state, with a constant knit in his brow. Unfortunately, stories like his are not unique.

Family Promise HCR has spent the last year:

• Housing 14 families, including 23 children. 
• Beginning the UP programs in July 2023:
  • Move UP assists with back rent and security deposits: 23 families benefited.
  • Wheels UP provides funds for car repairs and back car payments: seven families benefited. 
  • Heads UP assists with mental health visits for those who have experienced homelessness.
• Working with 100 individuals looking for work, as a program management site for the United Way’s Road to Success program.

Our UP programs and Road to Success help divert families from homelessness. This is so important, because once a family has an eviction, it is much harder for them to find a landlord willing to rent to them.  

We don’t do this alone. We are a part of over a dozen coalitions or groups throughout the area representing hundreds of partner service organizations. This includes the Brethren Housing Association (BHA), where we hold a Road to Success “Job Club” and Capital Area Coalition on Homelessness, where Stacey Coldren, our Program Director sits on the board. We work with the Healthy Steps Diaper Bank to receive diapers for our guests. And we partner with organizations including Christian Churches United to share resources whenever possible, like the over abundance of hats and scarves we received and donated to the Overnight Women’s Shelter. 

Our families stay in our Day Center during the day, and in the evening stay at our network of ten host congregations. They transform three rooms into a cozy space to shelter our families in the evenings, and provide an evening meal and hospitality.

Steve graduated from the program. A local congregation that wanted to use one of its rental properties for mission work rented to him and his family. They gave him a reduced rate and took a chance on his rough credit report. This month it’s been one year since the move and the family is thriving! No more knit in his brow.