Announcements
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September 2025 Schedule
Save The Date
Join us in celebrating the installation of the Rev. Stephen R. Herr as Bishop of the Lower Susquehanna Synod, ELCA. This joyful worship service is a time for the whole church to gather, give thanks, and pray for Bishop Herr as he begins his call to serve and lead our synod. ELCA Presiding Bishop Yehiel Curry will preach and preside.
All are welcome to attend as we share in fellowship and celebration. A reception will follow the service. Rostered ministers are invited to vest. Color of the day is red. If you plan to vest and process, please RSVP by October 6. An RSVP is only needed if you intend to join the procession.
Parking Information: St. Matthew Lutheran Church is located at 30 West Chestnut Street in downtown Hanover, PA, at the corner of Chestnut and Franklin streets, just a few blocks from the center square. Ample parking is available at the church. Handicap spaces are available in both the Franklin Street and Chestnut Street church parking lots. Parking attendants will be available to assist you.
For those unable to attend in person, the service will be livestreamed on St. Matthew’s YouTube
Channel
“Chiming” or Ringing the Church Bells
Our tower bells (technically a “chime”) are not rung by automated equipment but by congregation members. There is a console for “playing” the bells one level above the music balcony. It has “keys” similar to a piano keyboard, that are played by grasping and depressing.
A system of cords, one per key, rises to the bells and initiates the mechanism to strike the bells.
We can always use more chimers. If you can read music, you will find it easy to do. Let
Murray Foreman know of your – or a family member’s – interest
murrayforeman@gracelutheranchurch.com
Karl Moyer, who has served this congregation in countless ways, retired from chiming this past year, and next month, Donna Linton, who has chimed for many decades, also will retire. We
thank these two for their years of dedication to chiming.
Communion Assistants
We need your help—we need a few more communion assistants for the 10:30 service . We would love to have at least three more folks sign up on a regular basis. If you have any questions please contact Angie Rabbe or Keith Miller.
In-person Book Group
Join our in-person book group on Monday September 22 at 1:30 pm in the Nolt Auditorium for a discussion of A
Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci.
This book is set in southern Virginia in the year 1968, a period of significant racial tension, where a white lawyer, Jack Lee, reluctantly defends Jerome Washington, a Black handyman accused of murdering his employers, a prominent white couple. As Jack delves into the case, he partners with Desiree DuBose, a Black lawyer from Chicago, to fight a corrupt legal system and uncover the truth, facing both the challenges of a biased town and powerful, external forces. The story explores themes of race, injustice, and the struggle for truth and empathy, drawing on Baldacci’s own experiences growing up in Richmond, Virginia during this
tumultuous desegregation era.
Flowers and Candles
If you would like to honor/remember your loved one(s) on significant dates, such as birthdays, anniversaries, or date of passing, plA nominal fee of $20 for flowers and/or $5 for candles helps defray the cost of the altar flowers & candles in our budget.
Please contact: Donna Weidman
dweidman52@gmail.com or 717-201-6180
Outreach
Grocery Cards
Grocery cards are available at both services on Sunday mornings. You may order cards by calling Duane and Kitty Weiss. Remember all purchases of cards realizes 5% in cash back to Grace. These funds are used to support our many ministries. Grocery
LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INGATHERING—OCTOBER 4-5
Brenda Hayasaka and Donna Linton are in charge of School Kits and need your help.
- Four 70-80 sheet SPIRAL notebooks (280-300 sheets total) of wide or college-ruled paper approximately 8” x 10 1⁄2 ”, no loose leaf paper
- One 30-centimeter ruler, or a ruler with centimeters on one side and inches on the other
- One pencil sharpener
- One pair of blunt scissors (safety scissors with embedded steel blades work well)
- Five unsharpened #2 pencils with erasers; secure together with a rubber band
- Five black or blue ballpoint pens (no gel ink); secure together with a rubber band
- One box of 16 or 24 crayons
- One 2 1⁄2” eraser
Thank you to Janet Neumar who applied for a Thrivent Visa card for $250 to buy items. We need more items from you to fill the bags.
We are also doing Personal Care Kits. We purchased bulk items from a Thrivent card and also asked for your added items. If you want to put your own kit together, here are the directions.
● One light-weight bath size towel (between 20” x 40” and 52” x 27”), dark color
● Two or three bath-size bars of soap equaling 8 to 9 oz, any brand, in original wrapping
● One adult-size toothbrush in its original wrapping
● One metal nail clippers (attached file optional), remove packaging
We will add a comb to your kit as we ordered in bulk. Loose items are accepted.
Fold the towel in half widthwise. Place the rest of the items in the towel, fold and roll so nothing falls out, and secure with yarn, ribbon, or string or just put your items, including the towel, in a plastic bag.
If you want to help with cash donations, we still need some to purchase items; please write
on your check “LWR Kits.” Brenda and I will share the money as needed. Boxes for your donations will be in the Narthex and at the entrance as you come in the door to church.
Barbara Slotter, 717-342-2654 or 717-300-0710
Brenda Hayasaka, 410-236-1063
Donna Linton, 717-575-9388
gracelutheranchurch.com 