Announcements
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MAY 2026 Schedule–Worship Volunteers, Birthdays, & Anniversaries
Annual Report/Annual Meeting
Our annual meeting this year will be on June 7 at 9 am in the Nolt Auditorium. Please have your annual reports submitted to Angie by 5/13. We would like to have the report together for Sunday 5/24.
Flowers and Candles
A reminder: If you would like to honor/remember your loved one(s) on significant dates, such as birthdays,
anniversaries, or date of passing, please contact: Donna Weidman @ dweidman52@gmail.com or
717-201-6180
A nominal fee of $25 for flowers and/or $5 for candles helps defray the cost of the altar flowers & candles in our budget.
Fountain Flowers
We need fountain flower sponsors for the following Sundays 5/24.Flowers should be set up on saturday and can be picked up after the second service. If you would like to sponsor flowers or have any questions please contact Angie Rabbe.
Christian Formation
Outreach
Wednesday Night Community Meals
As Pastor Verkouw has mentioned before, our main cook, Karen Scheffey, is retiring at
the end of May after many years of dedicated service. We are extremely grateful for all
that she has done for this mission, but she definitely leaves big shoes to fill, so…………
VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED:
Cook(s) to plan and prepare the main course for our community meals on one or more
of the 4th Wednesdays of each month beginning in June. (June 24th, July 22 nd , Aug.
26 th , Sept. 23 rd , Oct. 28 th , Nov. 25 th , Dec. 23 rd , etc., continuing into 2027) Numbers vary,
but we generally serve between 75 to 120 people.
NOTE: We have a very dedicated team of volunteers who help set up, clean-up, do
dishes, chop up veggies for salads, or assist in any way needed, so you would not be
alone! Also note, that cooking could be done in our kitchen ahead of time for our
regular Wed. night volunteers to reheat. We have meal/recipe ideas, as well, or come
up with your own!
Our Grace budgeted money & donations help cover the meal expenses, although
whatever free food we can get from the Food Hub, foods/supplies from Costco, and
foods on sale elsewhere also help keep our expenses down.
Who do you know that would like to participate in this very rewarding, worthwhile
community mission? Who would like to try this as a gratifying, bonding, service
project experience?
- You and your immediate and/or extended family?
- You and a group of friends and/or neighbors?
* A church group (choir, youth group, book group, small group, etc.)?
* A community group in which you participate?
* You and a group of your work colleagues?
Desserts:
If cooking a main course sounds too daunting to you, would you or a group of
people like to provide a dessert for one of our monthly meals?
PLEASE take some time for prayerful consideration of how you might want to become
involved in this amazing mission of ours here at Grace. Let us know if you have any
questions, need more information, or if you already know that you’re ready to help!
Looking forward to working with you!
Call or email the church office or our meal volunteer coordinator:
Donna Weidman: 717-201-6180, dweidman52@gmail.com
Our Grace Family
Class of 2026
We are collecting information on Grace’s members who are graduating this year.Please send a photo, name of school graduating from, and future plans to gracechurch517@gmail.com
Please have information submitted by Sunday, June 3.
The Part Time Seminarian
Monday, May 4, 2026
He is risen indeed! Alleluia! I hope you are enjoying a blessed Eastertide. As the summer months approach, I want to provide an update on progress made toward my ordination. First and foremost, I completed the ELCA’s required unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health on April 27, 2026. I am grateful for the opportunity to have served our community as a hospital chaplain. It was life-giving work that provided many meaningful life lessons. My seminary education continues to go well. I was recently awarded a significant scholarship from the ELCA’s Funds For Leaders, which should cover most of the remaining expenses of my seminary education. I thank God for your generous financial support of my seminary costs over the past two years. I have completed ten of the fifteen required courses with above average performance in all coursework. I will participate in three courses this summer, one in the fall, and one in the winter of 2027. That will bring my required seminary coursework to an end. On June 18, 2026, I will meet with the Lower Susquehanna Synod’s Candidacy Committee for my endorsement interview. If endorsed, I will officially begin my internship year. Although I have been serving as a Vicar, this next year will be used to evaluate my performance and to discern through the call process. In addition, I will attend three workshops this September required to be completed prior to sitting for approval by the ELCA. I am told by our ELCA regional representative that I should expect to be evaluated by the end of 2026 and to sit for approval for ordination no later than March 2027. This means an ordination service may be scheduled sometime in spring 2027. As a called Vicar, I continue to meet the requirements of supporting two congregations, the work of the synod , ELCA outdoor, and wider church ministries. With this in mind, this summer I will be spending time at Camp Kirchenwald. I will be serving on staff Sunday afternoons through Thursday evenings as I continue to lead worship and support the daily routines of congregational life ministry. Lastly, as many of you know, our daughter Ella will graduate from Hempfield High School on May 26, 2026. She will attend Indiana University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing beginning this August. Life is full and change abounds, but through it all, we proclaim God’s will is perfect and His plan is good! Thank you for your continued prayers and support in the days ahead. I am blessed to be part of your lives as we live into the work to which God has called each of us.
Peace be with you.
Vicar Philip J. Supeck
gracelutheranchurch.com 