Manheim Township townlively.com
APRIL 28, 2021
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL XXXVI • NO 50
A Celebration Of Giving BY ANN MEAD ASH
rganizers of the Mount Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church mortgage burning service are looking forward to all the things they will be celebrating when the event is held at the church on Sunday, May 2. The event will begin at 9 a.m. with a multimedia presentation that will trace the congregation to its beginnings on East King Street in Lancaster. “It’s a celebration of our history,” said Nancy Marshall, who was born into the church and met her future husband there in Sunday school. “We will focus on celebrating the generosity of the many individuals who participated in the project in the last years,” added pastor Christopher Seifferlein. The 9:30 a.m. service will mirror the 1993 building dedication service, followed by burning the mortgage outside the church. The church first formed when 17 people met in 1904, with a goal of worshipping in English rather than German. “It was Missouri Synod Lutheran from the beginning,” noted Seifferlein, who explained that the local district began as an
14th Annual EPC Golf Outing Will Benefit GSS BY COURTNEY MENGEL
In 2002, Good Samaritan Services (GSS) purchased its first property in Phoenixville, where it was able to serve five people at a time. Nineteen years later, GSS has acquired 13 different properties and can serve 200 people every day. GSS came to the Lancaster County area in 2011 after opening an emergency shelter in Ephrata, which provides housing for women and children.
on one of the chancel steps. Seifferlein, who was born in Detroit and graduated from seminary in 2003, has served congregations in Minnesota and rural Wisconsin. Seifferlein began serving Mount Calvary in November 2019. “I just got to know everyone’s names before COVID hit,” recalled Seifferlein. “Then we dealt with this challenge together.” Seifferlein noted that one strength of the church is the congregation’s sense of identity. “People care about learning about God’s Word and what they believe,” he stated. Marshall and other organizers have gathered a number of artifacts to display for the service, including a replica of the first church building, baptismal certificates, a child-size Sunday school chair, and a sign that hung outside the church in 1917 advertising service times. One special item will be a commemorative dinner plate from the 1950s with a rendition of the church located at Plum and Clay drawn by former pastor Samuel Shore. Members of the community are welcome to attend the service. Readers who would like more information may visit https://mclclititz.org.
Nancy Marshall (left) and pastor Christopher Seifferlein display historical items associated with Mount Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Friendship Fest Returns BY ANN MEAD ASH
“We will have different things this year, along with things folks are used to as well,” said Becky Link, development associate with Friendship Community. “ We decided this year’s theme is ‘Same Run. Different Fun.’”
The run Link spoke of is the annual 5K that has been part of the annual Friendship Fest and 5K since 2017. In 2020, the 5K alone was held in September, but this year, the 5K and the Fest will be held rain or shine on Saturday, May 8, beginning at 8 a.m. at Friendship Community, 1149 E. Oregon Road, Lititz.
Registration for the 5K is open at www.friendshipcommunity.net. Registration will also be available on site on the day of the event. Free T-shirts will be given to participants while supplies last. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., a plant tent will offer a variety of spring flowers, perennials, and hanging baskets for sale. Both cash and a limited-contact card payment option will be available. Link reported that local greenhouses have partnered with Friendship to donate items for sale. See Friendship Fest pg 6
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Rotary Bike Ride Planned . . . . . . . . . .2 Make-A-Wish Truck Convoy Scheduled For Mother’s Day . . . . . . . . . . .3 Hometown HeroesTo Hear The Bells . . . . . . . . .4 House Of Worship . . . . . . .7 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Runners take off at the start of the 2020 Friendship 5K run.
See EPC Golf Outing pg 3
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outreach to English-only congregations. Marshall added that the church, which had locations on North Ann Street and Plum and Clay streets before moving to the present location, was always focused on Christian education for children, hosting the first vacation Bible school in Lancaster in 1922. Marshall noted that by the mid1980s, the congregation was looking to build a new home on land at its present location, 308 Petersburg Road, Lititz. “We built it ourselves with the help of Laborers for Christ,” said Marshall. Seifferlein explained that Laborers for Christ, an organization that recently ceased to exist, was associated with the Lutheran Church Extension Fund. Retired persons from around the country traveled to the church with campers and stayed in what is now the parking lot while completing the building. Celebration organizer Farley Fry, who joined the congregation in the early 1990s, remembered that before the church drywall was completed, members and youths were invited to write Scripture verses on the walls and under the carpets. “There may be 100 or more,” said Fry, who chose the last part of Isaiah 61:3 to write
