Mt. Culmen Clarion, April 2022

Board Meeting Notes (March 2022)

Last month, the Official Board of Mt. Culmen Evangelical Congregational Church convened its meeting after the worship service on Sunday, March 6, 2022, so as to conduct the business of the church.

In attendance at the meeting were all 11 current board members: Floyd Mast, Sharon Mast, Barry Ream, Del Ream, Dave Rissler, Rev. Jonathan Brown, Rebekah Brown, Esther Stauffer, Joyce Garber, Ken Bannon, and Kim Sweigart.

Opening with prayer and roll call, the board heard the customary reports. Of these, the treasurer's report submitted by Esther Stauffer noted:

February 2022 income of $5,980.00

February 2022 expenses of $5,456.09

a February 28 ending balance of $6,480.75

The secretary's report was accepted unanimously on the motion of Kim Sweigart, seconded by Pastor Jonathan. The treasurer's report was accepted unanimously on the motion of Del Ream, seconded by Kim Sweigart.

The stewards had nothing to report.

The trustees reported that there is a certain amount they intend to have done before Easter (and, in particular, before the Holy Saturday breakfast and egg hunt), and that a work day had been scheduled for Saturday, April 9, 2022, for which the help of anyone available from the congregation is requested. Pertaining particularly to the trustees were a shelf and a sign awaiting in the church's lower level.

Under the heading of old business, the board heard from treasurer Esther Stauffer regarding our certificate of deposit (CD) at the Bank of Bird-in-Hand. Our certificate of deposit will reach maturity on April 21, requiring us to choose what to do next. Unfortunately, interest rates offered for CDs remain low: just 0.3% for one year, 0.4% for two years – and so Esther asked the board's wishes. By consensus, the board agreed to do the shorter term, in hopes that rates might improve by this time in 2023.

The board also discussed updates on our card care ministry, overseen by Kim Sweigart, whom the board trusted to develop protocol for who receives cards and when. Kim mentioned several fellow members who had been invited to join the card care ministry team – Joyce Garber and Shirley Good. The card care ministry will begin by focusing on those for whom we already have mailing addresses, but when people are added to our prayer list, the adding parties are asked to try to get an address to which we can send get-well cards. Our shut-ins should hopefully receive cards on a periodic basis, with appropriate cards also being sent as occasion arises to those with new illnesses or other challenges, losses of family members, etc. The pastor and his wife offered a box full of small cards for the ministry's use, while Esther Stauffer contributed an extra roll of stamps.

Further, the board revisited plans for the Holy Saturday pancake breakfast and egg hunt. Esther noted that we had enough pancake mix, and that she was still coordinating to arrange for a donation of sausages from our usual source. Last time, we procured 120 sausages and sold out, even though the breakfast was strictly to-go. If we cannot obtain sausage donations, we will have to purchase them. Various board members suggested options such as Costco and Green Dragon. In addition, the breakfast will be accompanied by the sale of baked goods and peanut butter eggs. Esther noted that last year, the production and sale of peanut butter eggs was very well received, and indeed, brought in funds comparable to the rest of the breakfast. By consensus, the board set Saturday, March 26, at 9:00am, as a day for volunteers to gather and make peanut butter eggs to sell – with the prospect of making more closer to the day of the breakfast, if church members buy enough of our stock before then! Further, Esther noted that a sign-up sheet would be posted in the church for supplies for the breakfast itself, and that a sale of baked goods would accompany the breakfast. Finally, Esther was asked to have the empty Easter eggs bagged and brought by Sunday, March 13, for volunteers to take home and fill with candy, and then return. Also, Rebekah Brown volunteered to update a prior year's advertisement for this year and to produce copies (for which, see page 4).

Meeting Notes”)

As further old business, Pastor Jonathan and Rebekah Brown presented a revised draft of a call chain chart, which –as the board discussed – could be used both for service cancellations and for death notifications. By consensus of the board, it was determined to print enough copies of the call chain chart to distribute to those whose responsibility it will be to call others for these purposes.

Under the heading of new business (or old business, depending on one's perspective), the question was raised about what to do with the firewood gathered outside. One proposal was put forward to sell it at the picnic. Another idea was also put forward, to first allow church members to purchase it by donation, and then any remaining firewood could be sold at the auction in August. No motions were made or voted on at this time.

As another pressing item of new business, Pastor Jonathan addressed the board regarding the procedures to be followed in cases where board members die while in office – as, sadly, was so recently the case with church trustee John Eberly (on whom, see pages 5-11, 17). Consulting our church bylaws (Art. VI, Sec. 2a), which provide for such a case when a trustee seat is vacated (by whatever cause), the trustees are responsible for finding someone who will fill the vacancy on a temporary basis until the next annual congregational meeting (January 2023). At that time, the congregation will itself elect a trustee to fill out the remainder of the unexpired term (until January 2024, here).

After these procedures were outlined and Pastor Jonathan had discussed several options, the trustees adopted a plan: to fill the vacancy from now through July, they would appoint lay delegate Ken Bannon to John's seat as church trustee; then, to fill the vacancy from August until the January 2023 congregational meeting, they would appoint Ian Pammer to that seat. (The reason for this procedure is that, as Art. VI, Sec. 2a also stipulates that trustees must have been church members for at least one full year prior to election – or, presumably, appointment – Ian Pammer will gain eligibility for the position in mid-July 2022.) This motion was made by trustee Dave Rissler, seconded by trustee Barry Ream, and passed unanimously by the three trustees in attendance.

Also under the heading of new business, Rebekah Brown proposed that, as the time for sponsorship of Easter lilies is upon our members, the board should sponsor an Easter lily in John Eberly's memory. Kim Sweigart seconded her motion, and it was passed unanimously.

Finally, Pastor Jonathan noted that he would be using some vacation time on May 18-24 (so as to attend his sister-inlaw's wedding out of state), immediately before the 2022 National Conference of the Evangelical Congregational Church; and that he would arrange for pulpit supply for Sunday, May 22.

There being no further business, on motion of Barry Ream, as seconded by Kim Sweigart, the board adjourned its meeting, to reconvene following the worship service on Sunday, April 3, 2022.

Statistical Report (February 2022)

Worship Service Attendance

Received

Birthdays (April 2022)

Anniversaries (April 2022)

Robert and Kim Horning

and Pauline Good

Upcoming at Mt. Culmen and Beyond

April 3 (Sunday) – Mt. Culmen – The Official Board will meet following the worship service.

April 8 (Friday) – St. Stephen's, New Holland – As listed above-right, St. Stephen's Reformed Church in New Holland will be sponsoring a free concert, The Gospel According to Bach, Friday, April 8, at 7:00pm. An adaptation of Johann Sebastian Bach's famed St. Matthew's Passion, this concert of trombone, violin, cello, string ensemble, and narrator is certain to help your heart encounter the Lord and the grace of his cross.

April 9 (Saturday) – Mt. Culmen – In preparation for Holy Week, on Saturday, April 9, starting at 8:00am, we will have a work day to clean up around the church. If you can help, please come join us!

April 15 (Friday) – Everywhere – On this day, we commemorate the execution by crucifixion of our Lord, God Incarnate, Jesus Christ, through whose death on our behalf we are saved. Traditionally, Good Friday is held by the church as a day of fasting and penitence while meditating on Christ's passion.

April 16 (Saturday) – Mt. Culmen – It's that time again! Time for our Holy Saturday pancake-and-sausage breakfast, that is. On Saturday, April 16, from 7:00am to 10:00am (or sold out), come join us for our great breakfast, with pancakes, sausages, orange juice, and more. Also available for purchase will be peanut-butter eggs (always popular, with limited coconut-cream versions also available) and a variety of baked goods.

April 17 (Sunday) – Everywhere – Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Don't forget to join us on Easter Sunday, the holiest day of the Christian year, to especially celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to share in our communion with this Risen Lord of Life!

April 24 (Sunday) – Mt. Culmen – After our April 24 worship service, we'll be holding our next quarterly fellowship meal! Bring some food to share, or just bring your appetite for food and friendship, but these are always such a delight. You won't be sorry you stayed!

In Memoriam: John Eberly

A dear brother in Christ and a fellow member of our Mt. Culmen church family, as well as a trustee of the church – John Martin Eberly – journeyed abruptly from WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital toward the loving arms of his Lord Jesus Christ in the early hours of Thursday, March 3, in the year of our Lord 2022. He leaves behind his loving wife Abby Eberly; his son J.J. Eberly and his wife Jackie; his daughter Mary Ringler and her husband Curvin; a grandson Jere Ringler; a granddaughter Lindsy Ringler; many, many good friends and associates; a cat named Sophie; and a church family who all miss him dearly.

The Eberly family story in the New World reaches back to Peter Eberle (1717-1798), brought from Germany (likely the Rhineland Palatinate region) to Pennsylvania as a young man. There, he met and married Catherine Newcomer (1727-1799) in July 1742, and settled with her on a homestead a mile west of Sinking Springs in Berks County. The pair were John's fifth-great-grandparents. Among their ten children was Henry Newcomer Eberly (c.1757-1826). A farmer like his father, he married Martha Magdalena Brubaker and settled between Shoeneck and Mount Airy. His brother Michael (who was married to Martha's sister Maria) had a nearby farm, and the Eberly families aided in building a church in their area: Indiantown Mennonite Church, for the congregation of which first Henry's father-inlaw and then Henry's brother-in-law – both named Abraham Brubaker – were pastors. It was for them that Henry and Martha named one of their children: Abraham Brubaker Eberly (1804-1856), John's third-great-grandfather.

Abraham Eberly, after marrying Susanna Wenger (1790-1865), came to settle in the Red Run area near Martindale, where they had a farm and a mill. Their son, Henry Wenger Eberly (1827-1898), married Nancy Gehman (18231897) and continued farming in Earl Township in the Martindale area, where – among other children – he brought up his son Joseph Gehman Eberly (1849-1891), John's great-grandfather. Joseph was born on Thursday, March 1, 1849, and had just turned twelve when the Civil War began. He was sixteen when it was finished. Seven years later, on Thursday, May 2, 1872, 23-year-old Joseph married a Mennonite girl from East Earl Township named Elizabeth Martin Zimmerman (1853-1939). Just over a year later, their first child – Menno Zimmerman Eberly (1873-1922), John's grandfather – was born, on Monday, May 26, 1873. Five other children would follow: Annie, David, Henry, Mary, and Nathan, whom they all raised on their farm. However, on Saturday, May 2, 1891 – his nineteenth wedding anniversary – Joseph died as a result of tuberculosis, at the age of 42, leaving his widow Elizabeth and their six children (Menno, Annie, David, Henry, Mary, and Nathan).

It was four and a half years after his father's death when Menno, then 22 years old, had his wedding. On Thursday, November 21, 1895, Menno Z. Eberly married 22-year-old Anna Wenger Martin, daughter of another Earl Township farmer, Joseph Horst Martin. A year and a half later, in May 1897, Menno and Anna's first child was born: a son, Joseph Martin Eberly. Joseph was followed by three more children, all daughters: Frances, in August 1898; Anna, in January 1900; and Lizzie, in February 1903 – John's uncle and aunts, respectively.

On Saturday, October 22, 1904, Menno and Anna's fifth child – a second son, Martin Martin Eberly (1904-1994), John's father – was born. Eleven months later, in late September 1905, Menno decided it was time for a change for his family. He paid $6,700 to C. E. Seldomridge to buy the grist mill over Conestoga Creek near Hinkletown, at the corner of Martindale Road and Route 322. Menno had also formerly operated a mill over Muddy Creek a half-mile south of Red Run in Brecknock Township, which he then turned over to his little brother Nathan. But in May 1906, a fire broke out in Nathan's mill-adjacent home due to a defective stove pipe, and the property was barely saved. A week later, Menno sold his mother a few dozen acres of his land in Brecknock and Earl Townships.

Just over thirteen months after Nathan's fire, Menno and Anna had their sixth child, a daughter named Anna M. Eberly, in July 1907. Fifteen months later, Menno expanded his operations, attaching a saw mill to his grist mill. The next year, two years and two days after Anna Jr.'s birth, another child joined the family: Menno M. Eberly Jr. To care for this expanding family of his, Menno continued laboring to improve his grist-and-saw mill, concreting the dam breast and then, by the end of the year, beginning a project of installing a plant to generate electricity for both the mill and for his nearby house.

(Continued from Page 5, “In Memoriam: John Eberly”)

Improvements continued over the next couple years, although sadly, Menno Eberly's father-in-law Menno Martin (John's great-grandfather) did not live to see them finish: in June 1910, Menno Martin died from wounds sustained when he was kicked in the face by a horse. Before Martin's eighth birthday, his dad Menno had “one of the finest equipped mills along the Conestoga, having installed all modern machinery and appliances that constitute such an up-to-date plant.” Menno soon bought more nearby property from Samuel Bowman for $650 in 1912, installed a large steam engine in 1914 (so as to keep the mill in operation despite that year's drought), and bought a traction engine in 1915 to haul his flour to Ephrata, ten tons at a time.

In April 1917, however, Menno exited the mill business to get back to his farming roots. He arranged a swap with Noah W. Hurst of Union Grove in East Earl Township, though the mediation of Menno's uncle Rev. Menno S. Zimmerman: Noah obtained the Hinkletown mill for $15,000, while the Eberlys moved to Noah's “farm of 62 acres of choice limestone land... on the road leading from Union Grove to Goodville, bordering on the Conestoga Creek,” with a relatively new 2.5-story frame house, which Noah had sold to Menno Eberly's uncle Rev. Menno S. Zimmerman. By October, Menno Eberly bought the Hurst farm from his uncle for $19,000. In this move to Union Grove, Menno and his family, who for generations had been affiliated with Martindale Mennonite Church, joined with Weaverland Mennonite Church. The year after that, Menno Eberly bought John Hoover's tobacco farm situated next to Weaver W. Hurst's mill at the former Spring Grove Forge, and soon paid $2,500 for more adjacent property. In it all, he became owner of a small mansion built by Cyrus Jacobs circa 1790.

During the Spanish Flu outbreak of those years, the Eberlys then added electric lights to their new home (having no doubt become accustomed to having them in Hinkletown). But, sadly, Menno would not enjoy them for very long. A year later, in late 1920, Menno suffered a paralytic stroke. His family (with help) continued their farming work, even donating potatoes to Lancaster General Hospital in 1921, and Menno made a follow-up visit at Dr. H. S. Dissler's office in Denver on the evening of Friday, August 18, 1922, at which he suffered a second stroke and lost consciousness. He died the following morning, at the age of 49.

Martin Eberly was eighteen years old at the time of his father's death. In the wake of this truly shocking loss, family members like Martin's maternal aunts Fannie and Susanna Martin stepped in to occasionally welcome Menno and Anna's children for visits. Four years later, at the age of 22, Martin Martin Eberly married 21-year-old Minnie Martin Martin (1905-1994) – John's mother. Minnie was the daughter of Harry Martin Martin (1882-1956) and his wife Lizzie Martin Martin (1883-1945) of Weaverland. The ceremony, held on Thursday, December 2, 1926, was performed by Rev. Henry Horst in the Martins' house. In September 1930, Menno's heirs put up their 62-acre farm for auction, selling to Harry M. Martin – Martin Eberly's father-in-law, John's maternal grandfather – at $335/acre.

Martin and Minnie meanwhile settled themselves and their branch of the family in Union Grove. By the time of the property sale, they already had their first two children: Eva, born in June 1928, and Luke, born in January 1930. Their family would continue to grow in the coming years: Henry, born in December 1931; Esther, born in July 1933; Martin Jr., born in June 1936; Elizabeth, born New Year's Day 1938; Paul, born in June 1939; Anna, born in October 1941; Willis, born in May 1943; and Edna, born in February 1945. Before the close of the Second World War, these ten children lost their maternal grandmother Lizzie Martin in June 1945 – John never got to meet her.

It was on Monday, November 11, 1946, that Martin and Minnie welcomed their eleventh child into their expansive family: our dear friend John Martin Eberly. Only one would follow him: a stillborn daughter, named Minnie after her mother, in the closing days of 1949. In the following year, when John was three years old, he became ill: instead of swallowing a Cheerio, he'd breathed it in, causing it to be lodged in his lung and form an abscess. Surgery was required, forcing his mother Minnie to take him by train into Philadelphia in the autumn of 1950 – a challenge, in light of the 1950 World Series being played there at the time. The affected portion of John's lung was removed, and there lingered questions about whether he would survive his recovery. But he did, and was assigned medicine that discolored his teeth for a few years. After that, though, he was healthy – although one of his older sisters, Anna, died in January 1953, aged 11, from leukemia. This brought the number of Eberly children in John's generation to a firm ten once more (six boys and four girls), a figure that would remain constant until a decade ago.

Memoriam: John Eberly”)

Growing up as an Eberly on their farm in Union Grove, John was raised in a 'black-bumper Mennonite' world. His father Martin was not only a farmer but also a cattle dealer who worked with the Lancaster Stockyards. Though Martin was more straitlaced and Minnie more fun-loving, no one could doubt that Martin and Minnie had a lovely marriage. As John grew, he attended a local one-room schoolhouse, where, per custom, John's school attendance was abbreviated after seventh grade to three-hour days – this would have been the case when his grandmother Anna died in March 1960 – and he finished his formal education after eighth grade, being needed on the family farm.

Shortly after that, around the age of 15, John was baptized at the family church, Weaverland Mennonite Church. (But first, he had to change his hairstyle, letting it grow out from his flat-top, to meet Weaverland standards of the time! Only then could he be baptized.) In his free time, John played softball in the local Terre Hill league alongside friends like Luke Brubaker, with many of their games and practices being held in Terre Hill Community Park. It was there, in or around the summer of 1962, that a 15-year-old John made the acquaintance of one of the girls who would sometimes come to watch the boys play: 14year-old Abby Lou Rhoads. Abby's parents came to approve of John, and John's parents likewise of Abby, welcoming her although she was not a Mennonite, and when he was 17 and she was 16, their parents allowed them to begin dating. In these later teen years, John was employed next door to his family's farm, at Hurst Brothers Spring Grove Roller Mills.

In the respective springtimes of 1965 and 1966, John took Abby to her junior and senior high-school proms at Garden Spot High School in New Holland. After hernia surgery in October 1966 at the Ephrata Community Hospital, John spent a bit of time recovering and then asked Abby Rhoads to marry him. The answer, of course, was yes, and her parents publicized the engagement in the Lancaster Sunday News of Christmas Day 1966. Three months later, in March 1967, John came to work for the same company where Abby had gotten a job: at Rutt Custom Kitchens, Inc., in Goodville, where John became a painter. It was the place he'd work for the next four decades. (Abby moved on afterwards, though, to the Farmers National Bank in New Holland.) Also during 1967, John transferred his membership from Weaverland Mennonite Church – the place he'd been baptized – and, indeed, from the Mennonite Church in general – his family's tradition for centuries – to join Abby's home church: St. Paul's Evangelical United Brethren Church in Terre Hill.

It was there at St. Paul's EUB Church that, at 2:00pm on Saturday, December 16, 1967, Rev. Paul H. Dickinson, their pastor, united them in the bonds of holy matrimony. At the time, John had freshly turned 21; Abby was 19, going on 20. John's older brother Willis Eberly served as his best man.

After the wedding, John and Abby celebrated their reception in the Terre Hill Fire Hall and then left for their honeymoon trip in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Coming back, they settled in Terre Hill in an apartment at 312 East Main Street, and resumed attending St. Paul's. But in April 1968, the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged with the Methodist Church to form the United Methodist Church – hence, from that time onward, John and Abby were United Methodists.

One month after the church merger, and five months after their wedding ceremony, Abby gave birth, on a Sunday in mid-May 1968, to her and John's firstborn child: a son whom they named John Jacob ('J.J.') Eberly (after John's grandfather-in-law John Jacob Kieffer, who had died fifty-two days earlier).

Memoriam: John Eberly”)

J.J. was not quite yet six months old when John caught word that the lovely brick-and-block rancher house across Vine Street from his in-laws was being put up to public auction by its owner Norman Wenger. John was certain it would sell for more than he and Abby could afford to pay, but out of curiosity to learn the eventual sale price, John decided to attend the auction on Saturday, November 2, 1968 (nine days before his twenty-second birthday). To John's surprise, bidding was unenthusiastic for such a great home – and so John was able to buy it for just $13,250 at the time. Bringing home the good news to Abby, they prepared to move in, which they did in December 1968.

It was the perfect home for growing their family, and the next year, that's exactly what they did, when on a Thursday in late November 1969, Abby gave birth to their second child, a daughter, Mary J. Eberly (whom they named after John's grandmother-in-law Mary (Bixler) Kieffer, who at the time lived across the street with Abby's parents). John had turned 23 years old just nine days before he became a father of two. In preparation for the transition, Abby had stepped back from paid employment to focus her attention on raising the children; John's work at Rutt Custom Kitchens provided for the family's support.

The decades that followed were the stuff of small-town life in Terre Hill. John worked for Rutt's, vigorously enjoyed his hobbies (like hunting and fishing), was a faithful husband to Abby, raised his children J.J. and Mary, and was active in the life of his church St. Paul's United Methodist Church. John lost his father-in-law Melvin in May 1973. Eleven years later, in 1984, John stepped up into the labor of groundskeeping for the Terre Hill Cemetery (which, by bylaw, was a role for a member at St. Paul's). Two years after that, in the same year that John's son J.J. graduated high school, John welcomed his mother-in-law Elva into their home, when the need presented itself, and they built an extension onto their house for her.

The early 1990s brought its own blend of challenges and joys. John lost his mother Minnie in February 1994, and two months later in April 1994, her husband, John's father Martin, followed her. Thankfully, in God's wisdom, these two subtractions from the family were balanced by two additions, one before and one after: in late December 1992, when John's son J.J. married Jacqueline ('Jackie') Snavely, and in early September 1994, when John's daughter Mary married Curvin Ringler (through whom John would come to better know Curvin's cousin David Rissler as well). Three years later, in December 1997, Curvin and Mary provided John with his first grandchild: a granddaughter, Lindsy Ann Ringler; followed, in March 2000 by another grandchild: a grandson, Jere Alan Ringler.

A day after Jere's birth, having felt a readiness to move on from St. Paul's United Methodist Church, John (with Abby and Elva) united with the membership of St. John's Center United Church of Christ in East Earl. Around 2007 or 2008, John was let go at Rutt's Custom Kitchens, Inc. – due to a need to downsize some of the more experienced workers, he was given fifteen minutes to pack his belongings and leave one day. This, however, proved providential, for by that time, his mother-in-law Elva was receiving hospice care, and John – being now in his early sixties – had the freedom to take some time off from paid work to be present and available through Elva's last year or two. She died at the end of August 2009.

Memoriam: John Eberly”)

Shortly thereafter, John returned to the paid workforce, finding employment at Conestoga Custom Kitchens near Churchtown. Eventually, as he'd forewarned them he'd be willing to do, he returned briefly to Rutt Custom Kitchens when they offered him his job back. But this was relatively brief, and John moved on to Meridian Products after that. In the meantime, 2012 had begun the decade in which John's siblings would increasingly pass on. He first lost his sister Eva in March 2012, then his brother Henry in December 2016, his sister Esther in January 2017, his brother Luke in April 2017, his brother Paul in March 2018, and his brother Martin Jr. in April 2019. By Paul's passing, John had come to feel that the musical style of worship at St. John's Center UCC was more hindrance than help to him and Abby, and so they resolved to amicably seek a new church home. To our immense benefit, they were drawn back again and again to Mt. Culmen Evangelical Congregational Church, out here on Turkey Hill Road in East Earl. And, after a while, they officially joined Mt. Culmen on Sunday, September 23, 2018, welcomed into fellowship.

Faithful in service in and out of the church these last few years, always striving for consistent excellence, eager to work with his hands, John graciously accepted election as one of Mt. Culmen's church trustees in late January 2021 by the vote of the entire congregation – a mark of considerable esteem. Out of his three-year term, he was able to serve quite productively for thirteen months.

But in the final days of February 2022, as his wife Abby was recovering from knee replacement surgery, John had to be taken to the hospital with pain and nausea (as well as a positive test for asymptomatic coronavirus disease 19). Doctors uncovered enlarged lymphatic nodes in his abdomen they expressed interest in doing a biopsy on, but had to wait until an intestinal blockage had cleared.

During this wait, by Ash Wednesday, John reported feeling well, other than fatigue. But, unexpectedly, in the early hours of Thursday, March 3, 2022, John was found unconscious, kneeling beside his hospital bed. Efforts were made to revive him and keep his heart beating, and although they seemed successful for a time, there was nothing the doctors could do. John, age 75, died as a result of a heart attack before the sun had risen on the day.

Four days later, on Monday, March 7, 2022, John's funeral services were held from the C. Stanley Eckenroth Home for Funerals in Terre Hill, beginning at 10:30am, as led by Rev. Jonathan J. Brown, who opened with a word of welcome and readings from assorted verses of Scripture (Romans 5:12; Genesis 3:19; John 3:16; Isaiah 53:4a; 2 Corinthians 13:4; Romans 8:34; John 11:25; Revelation 14:12-13; and Isaiah 35:1-6, 10). Those friends and family who gathered joined in the recitation of Psalm 23, one of John's favorite chapters, after which Pastor Jonathan read from Psalm 42:1-5 and led the praying of the Lord's Prayer. Pastor Jonathan then offered the following message:

We're thankful to God for the life he, in his grace and mercy, gave John to live here in this world. God gave John two parents to raise him. God gave John nine brothers and sisters to grow up with. God gave John solid employment and a career in finishing cabinets. God gave John the best wife he could've asked for, fifty-four years by his side. God gave John a wonderful son in J.J. and a wonderful daughter in Mary. Then God gave John excellent children-in-law in Jackie and Curvin, and the best of all grandchildren in Lindsy and Jere. Over the years, God blessed John with the joys he found in fishing and in hunting, and with a lovely home here in Terre Hill, and with so much else.

And yet, as we age, our bodies and our experiences come to remind us of what youth and vigor often deny: that the world as it is, as much blessing as may come in it, is not meant to satisfy us. There's a thirst inside us that can't quite be met even by the best family, the best job, the best hunting trip, or the biggest catch.

John Eberly”)

It's a thirst as that of a deer running through the forest, happening upon a babbling brook. The deer's thirst can't be met by eating grass, can't be met by running fast, can't be met by the sunshine or the shade. Only the brook, only the streams of water, are enough. Much like that, our thirst highlights the unsatisfactory nature of the world. And if we're lucky, we realize it. If we're lucky, we remember that there's water to quench the deer's thirst. So we come to a deeper awareness that the thirst in our soul cannot be satisfied by any worldly or created thing, and that the goodness in what we do enjoy is the touch of the Uncreated in it, just as the deer enjoys leaves that have soaked up the water, become healthy. We thirst for the uncreated. “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2).

There's the rub. We can enjoy our families, we can enjoy our friends, we can enjoy our occupations, we can enjoy our recreations, but at some point, we must appear before God. There's no alternative, nor should there be. “It is appointed for a man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). That's going from here, coming to here, and appearing before God. And were we deer appearing before God, he might ask us, “Did you drink from the stream? Are you a well-hydrated deer now? Are you made strong and fast to enter heaven's forest, where none shall hunt you down?” Consider today: Are you?

For the psalmist, and in the final hour, I think, for John, the prospect was no frightening one. “When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:2) – that's not a question of dread, but finally of eagerness. He drank from the river of the water of life. He lived so as to be ready to face the appointment with prayerful joy. Hear again the psalmist's words: “I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival” (Psalm 42:4). When the throng went to the earthly house of God, let me tell you, John was faithfully among them as often as was possible. He and Abby sang out the songs of praise. They kept the festival before God.

And so the hour came for John to come and appear before God, not in an earthly house, but in halls beyond this earth. As I said, John lived by faith to be ready. But the appointed call came most abruptly, with precious little warning. A month ago, had John asked the question, “When shall I come and appear before God?”, never could he have thought, nor we have thought, that the answer was March 2022.

For those of us left behind, perhaps we wonder why it had to be so sudden, so mysterious. Why did God not delay the appointment another five, ten, fifteen years? The psalmist speaks our feelings when he says, “My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, 'Where is your God?'” (Psalm 42:3) Where is God in all of this, when we grieve and mourn? Where is God in all of this, when we think of the memories we won't make with John that we expected to? Where is God among our tears and hurts?

But back to John. “As a deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God” (Psalm 42:1). Can we begrudge John if at last his thirst should be satisfied? “These things I remember as I pour out my soul” (Psalm 42:4). At last, John poured out his soul, in a moment of mercy even though 'twas not at a time of his own choosing. And we trust that John is in procession now deeper into the heavenly house of God.

John Eberly”)

Yes, we trust John is joining with greater joy the multitude keeping festival there. “You have come,” says the Lord now to John, “to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless angels gathered for a festival...” (Hebrews 12:22). For John, the journey is no longer one step forward, two steps back, as it too often is for us. God fished for John, has reeled him in to life. Now, John goes only deeper up and deeper in.

For us left behind then, the psalmist's questions are ours. “Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you in turmoil within me?” (Psalm 42:5). True, death is an evil to be grieved. True, to us there's a form of loss –a loss of John's earthly presence, in our everyday physical experience. But is John himself lost to us? Is John separated from us? No. Not only do we cherish his memory, not only do we inherit his legacy, not only do we have hope for the future, but we still have him, only in a way other than before. At Mt. Culmen, each Sunday we recite – and John and Abby have recited with us – the Apostles' Creed, in which we profess our belief in “the communion of saints.” And part of what that means is that the death of the body cannot break the ties that bind God's people together. Our fellowship with John is not broken; it's only stretched. It's stretched across the distance between heaven to earth, but it's real and it's solid and it's anchored at both ends by Jesus Christ who cannot fail. And with that chain in place across the gap, we need never feel that John is purely an absence in our lives.

So must we end with our souls cast down? Or may we, as the psalmist says for us, “hope in God – for I shall again praise him, the salvation of my face and my God” (Psalm 42:5-6)? For the beauty is the promise that our God will “swallow up death forever... and wipe away tears from all faces” (Isaiah 25:8), and we with John will see the Lord's glory in a land where joy shall never end – where heaven's forest grows lush and heaven's river flows bright. Thanks be to God! Amen.

After the homily, those gathered listened to John's favorite gospel song “I'll Fly Away” (as sung by Alan Jackson), after which Pastor Jonathan offered a prayer of dedication of John's life to God. This concluded the primary funeral service, following which the assembled friends and family drove the short distance to the Terre Hill Cemetery, where John and Abby have their burial plot in the southeast quarter. The six pallbearers – Curvin Ringler, J.J. Eberly, Jere Ringler, Clyde Winegardner, Shawn Sensenig, and Steve Horst (with honorable mention to Larry Fisher) – carried John's body to his burial plot. There, Pastor Jonathan led a brief graveside service, opening with another of John's favorite psalms, Psalm 121, in its entirety. After silent reflection, Pastor Jonathan offered one last brief meditation: This may seem like an odd passage to read in a cemetery. “The LORD... will keep your life” (Psalm 121:7)? But we're surrounded by the dead! Is the promise of God null and void? No! Listen also to the Apostle Paul: “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:3-4). And there's the key! There's the answer. Despite the death of the body, the LORD does keep John's life – it's hidden with Christ in God! And there, the LORD keeps him from all evil. From there, the LORD will not let John's foot be moved. And if we're waiting for a sign of it, we only have to lift up our eyes. We look to the hills around us. We look to the heavens above them. And we wait the return of Jesus Christ in glory. Because when he appears to be our help, then so will all those whose lives are hidden with him: “An hour is coming... when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. … An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life...” (John 5:25, 28-29). The bones and ashes that rest in this place which John tended so lovingly and so well – those bones and ashes, they slumber, they sleep. But the LORD our Keeper neither slumbers nor sleeps. At Christ's return, he says, “Your dead shall live, their bodies shall rise: you who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!” (Isaiah 26:19). Now, the LORD has watched over John's going out from the life of the body. But the same L ORD will keep also John's coming in, and coming in eternally, when John awakes here and sings for joy. This cemetery, this place of sleeping, is only temporary. We plant, not to bury and forget, but to wait for life to grow above ground again. As we wait, we trust – for John's Keeper is our Keeper too, as sun and moon trade back and forth the sky, for as long as the wait goes on – knowing that our Keeper neither slumbers nor sleeps, nor is slow to keep his promise (2 Peter 3:9). And we watch the hills for the glory and the life that's to come.

Featured Hymn: “All Creatures of Our God and King”

Italian Text by St. Francis of Assisi (1225) Non-Rhyming Modern English Translation

1. Altissimu, onnipotente, bon Signore, tue so' le laude, la gloria e l'honore et onne benedictione.

2. Ad te solo, Altissimo, se konfano, et nullu homo ene dignu te mentovare.

3. Laudato sie, mi' Signore, cum tucte le tue creature, spetialmente messor lo frate sole, lo qual'è iorno, et allumini noi per lui.

4. Et ellu è bellu e radiante cum grande splendore: de te, Altissimo, porta significatione.

5. Laudato si', mi' Signore, per sora luna e le stelle: in celu l'ài formate clarite et pretiose et belle.

6. Laudato si', mi' Signore, per frate vento, et per aere et nubilo et sereno et omne tempo, per lo quale a le tue creature dài sustentamento.

7. Laudato si', mi' Signore, per sor'aqua, la quale è multo utile et humile et pretiosa et casta.

8. Laudato si', mi' Signore, per frate focu, per lo quale ennallumini la nocte: ed ello è bello et iocundo et robustoso et forte.

9. Laudato si', mi' Signore, per sora nostra matre terra, la quale ne sustenta et governa, et produce diversi fructi con coloriti flori et herba.

10. Laudato si', mi' Signore, per quelli ke perdonano per lo tuo amore, et sostengo infirmitate et tribulatione.

11. Beati quelli ke 'l sosterrano in pace, ka da te, Altissimo, sirano incoronati.

12. Laudato si', mi' Signore, per sora nostra morte corporale, da la qualle nullu homo vivente pò skappare:

13. Guai a quelli ke morrano ne le peccata mortali; beati quelli ke trovara ne le tue sanctissime voluntati, ka la morte secunda no 'l farrà male.

14. Laudate e benedicete mi' Signore, et rengratiate et serviateli cum grande humilitate.

1. Most High, all-powerful, good Lord, yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, and all blessing.

2. To you alone, Most High, do they belong, and no human is worthy to mention your name.

3. Praised be you, my Lord, with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who is the day, and through whom you give us light.

4. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor, and bears a likeness of you, Most High One.

5. Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars: in heaven you formed them clear, precious, and beautiful.

6. Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather, through whom you give sustenance to your creatures.

7. Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Water, who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.

8. Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you light the night, and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

9. Praised be you, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs.

10. Praised be you, My Lord, through those who give pardon for your love, and bear infirmity and tribulation.

11. Blessed are those who endure in peace, for by you, Most High, shall they be crowned.

12. Praised be you, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no one living can escape.

13. Woe to those who die in mortal sin: Blessed are those who death will find in your most holy will, for the second death shall do them no harm.

14. Praise and bless my Lord, and give him thanks and serve him with great humility.

Italian text taken from “San Francesco d'Assisi: Laudes Creaturarum (o Cantico di Frate Sole),” in Marc A. Cirigliano, ed., Melancolia Poetica: A Dual-Language Anthology of Italian Poetry, 1160-1560 (Troubadour Publishing, 2007), 6. English translation taken from “The Canticle of the Creatures,” in Regis J. Armstrong, et al., eds., Francis of Assisi: Early Documents (New City Press, 2001), 1:113-114.

Commentary by Pastor Jonathan

This month's hymn (“All Creatures of Our God and King”) has its roots in the spiritual vision of one of the greatest and most influential Christians who ever lived – and yet we likely don't know him half as well as we should. Born in the early 1180s in Assisi, Italy, Giovanni di Bernardone was the son of an Italian silk merchant (Pietro) and a French noblewoman (Pica) – but his father nicknamed him 'Francesco' (Francis). A spoiled child, he grew into a flashy and brash young man who nevertheless had a generous side. Around age 20, while serving in the military, he was taken captive and held for a year, during which he fell ill and reevaluated his life. After his release and a further vision, he lost interest in his old pleasure-seeking ways, yearning for the simpler life of a beggar. (Continued on Page 13)

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During a trip to Rome, he took advantage of the solitude of travel to pray for enlightenment; and just outside Assisi, in a broken-down country chapel at San Damiano, as he was praying in front of an image of Jesus on the cross, he had a vision, in which the image spoke to him, calling him by name and telling him to rebuild his house. Initially applying this to the broken-down chapel, he went to his father's store, stole some cloth, and sold it – but the priest naturally refused to accept the fruits of the theft. His father Pietro beat and sued him, and so Francis renounced his inheritance, to the point (reportedly) of stripping off his clothes in public – they were, after all, originally from his father. After reinventing himself as a beggar and menial laborer in other towns, Francis returned to Assisi, begging not for money but for stones – which rather amused the townsfolk – so that he could use them to physically rebuild the chapel. Once he'd done so, he turned his attention to other ruined country chapels, and also to nursing lepers.

All this led to a transformative moment in February 1208, when Francis – now in his late twenties – was listening in church to a reading from Matthew 10, Jesus sending his apostles out to preach God's kingdom for free, taking only minimal supplies and living off the hospitality of others. Inspired, Francis adopted the clothes of the poorest peasant, tied it to himself with a knotty rope, and began to walk the countryside, preaching in the open air. Soon, his example had drawn eleven followers, and with them he walked to Rome to ask Pope Innocent III to approve and recognize them as a religious order – the Order of Lesser Brothers. They got provisional approval in 1210 and final approval in 1223, both times using rules of life drawn up by Francis himself. Between these approvals, Francis had expanded his movement, been given a mountain as a prayer retreat, and traveled to Egypt during the Fifth Crusade in an effort to evangelize the Muslim sultan. By the 1220s, his movement of poor preachers had spread to many parts of Europe.

Francis' Christian vision combined a burning love for God, a profound respect for and obedience to the clergy, a firm identification with the poor, a strong hunger for Communion, and a belief that all creation (animate and inanimate) was ultimately one family under God the Father. In his later years (by which I mean his early forties), when Francis was suffering from a painful eye infection (which left him blind) and other ailments, he is said to have announced:

I must rejoice greatly in my illnesses and troubles, and be consoled in the Lord, giving thanks always to God the Father, to his only Son our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the Holy Spirit for such a great grace bestowed on me by the Lord, because he has given me – his unworthy little servant still living in the flesh – the promise of his kingdom. Therefore, for his praise, for our consolation, and for the edification of our neighbor, I want to write a new Praise of the Lord for his creatures, which we use every day and without which we cannot live. Through them, the human race greatly offends the Creator, and we are continually ungrateful for such great graces and good gifts, not praising because we do not praise, as we should, our Lord the Creator and the Giver of all good.

And so Francis began to compose one of his few surviving works in his native Umbrian dialect of Italian, a song often referred to now as the Canticle of the Creatures, or (as Francis called it) 'the Canticle of Brother Sun' – the basis for this month's hymn. He composed most of it in late 1224, but continued to add verses, as occasion arose, all the way to his deathbed in October 1226, when he died at age 44. As a friend remembered him a couple years later:

The brothers who lived with him know that daily, constantly, talk of Jesus was always on his lips, sweet and pleasant conversations about him, kind words full of love. … He was always with Jesus: Jesus in his heart, Jesus in his mouth, Jesus in his ears, Jesus in his eyes, Jesus in his hands, he bore Jesus always in his whole body. … Often, as he walked along a road, thinking and singing of Jesus, he would forget his destination and start inviting all the elements to praise Jesus. With amazing love, he bore in his heart and always held onto Christ Jesus and him crucified.

After Francis' death, his 'lesser brothers' and their affiliate orders – often nicknamed, after him, 'Franciscans' – kept growing and spreading as a renewal movement within the Church; and since the Middle Ages, many great preachers and evangelists have come from among their number. They kept alive a reverent devotion to Francis their founder. He had reportedly asked them, after each preaching encounter, to sing this hymn together to their audience; and so it was handed down through the centuries.

Poetic Rendition by William Draper (1919)

1. All creatures of our God and King, Lift up your voices, let us sing: Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou burning sun with golden beams, Thou silver moon that gently gleams, O praise him, O praise him, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

2. Thou rushing wind that art so strong, Ye clouds that sail in heaven along, O praise him, Alleluia!

Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice, Ye lights of evening, find a voice, [Refrain]

3. Thou flowing water, pure and clear, Make music for thy Lord to hear, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Thou fire so masterful and bright, That givest man both warmth and light, [Refrain]

Original English text by William H. Draper in The Public School Hymn Book with Tunes (London: Novello, 1919), 104-105, hymn #79. Appears in The Singing Church as hymn #43 (using vv. 1-3, 5, 7)

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4. Dear mother earth, who day by day Unfoldest blessings on our way, O praise him, Alleluia!

The flowers and fruits that in thee grow, Let them his glories also show, [Refrain]

5. And all ye men of tender heart, Forgiving others, take your part, O sing ye, Alleluia!

Ye who long pain and sorrow bear, Praise God and on him cast your care, [Refrain]

6. And thou most kind and gentle Death, Waiting to hush our latest breath, O praise him, Alleluia!

Thou leadest home the child of God, And Christ the Lord our way hath trod, [Refrain]

7. Let all things their Creator bless, And worship him in humbleness, O praise him, Alleluia!

Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son, And praise the Spirit, Three in One, [Refrain]

The Italian hymn's story thereafter leads us to nineteenth-century England, and an Anglican priest named William Henry Draper (1855-1933). Born in Warwickshire six days before Christmas 1855, he went to Cheltenham College and Keble College before being ordained in 1880. After serving in several other posts, Draper was assigned as rector at the Church of St. John the Baptist in Adel, a suburb of the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire, where he pastored from 1899 to 1919, when he transferred to London to the Temple Church. But it was during his pastorate in Adel that, one Pentecost Sunday, he wrote a poetic paraphrase of an English translation of Francis' poem. This new English hymn, “All Creatures of Our God and King,” was meant to be sung by his church's children. Although the exact date of the translation is unknown, he first got it published in the 1919 Public School Hymn Book. In 1928, it was described: “It is mainly for children and has a lively and spirited rhythm.” But it had swiftly become a very popular piece. (After serving as Master of the Temple in London for a decade, Rev. Draper retired in 1930 and then died in August 1933 at the age of 77. In retrospect, though ignored in some of his obituaries, this hymn is likely his greatest earthly legacy.)

St. Francis' Italian hymn had a number of scriptural sources. One is Psalm 145, which speaks of God's love, not just for human beings, but for all his creatures (Psalm 145:15-16), such that “all your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD” (Psalm 145:10). Another source is the the Song of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3:51-90), a portion of the Book of Daniel that was removed from our Protestant Bibles during the past five centuries but was widely accepted as Scripture before that (and still is, by most Christians today). It's a song of praise put on the lips of the three young men while in Nebuchadnezzar's furnace. But the dominant source is, of course, Psalm 148, which (like the song in Daniel 3) calls on various created things – sun, moon, and stars (148:3), the weather (148:8), the earth and plant life (148:9), animal life (148:10), and human society (148:11-12) – to all praise their Lord.

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In Draper's hymn, the first stanza is a paraphrase of the first 4.5 verses of St. Francis' poem (1-5a). The Most High is here “our God and King,” the Creator of “all creatures,” and the words we sing are addressed, not to God himself, but to the created world. And what do we ask them to do? To “lift up your voices, let us sing.” “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3). “All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD!” (Psalm 145:10). “Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever!” (Daniel 3:57). “Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he commanded, and they were created” (Psalm 148:5).

Whereas in St. Francis' poem, there is a hint that, due to sin, we are unique among God's creations in being less than qualified to join in the praise chorus, Draper nonetheless invites, “Let us sing” – ourselves included alongside nature.

Beginning in the second half of Draper's first stanza, we start to fill in these invocations of nature with specific calls for this or that created thing to praise God. First, then, we begin with creatures we see when we look up – that, after all, is where the psalmists usually started. And when we look up on a clear day, we see the “burning sun with golden beams.” “Praise him, sun...!” (Psalm 148:3). “Sun..., bless the Lord” (Daniel 3:62). St. Francis' evocation of the sun is even more vivid: “Sir Brother Sun, who is the day, and through whom you give us light; and he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor, and bears a likeness of you, Most High.” Much as the psalmist personifies the sun as a heavenly bridegroom bounding through the heavens in irresistible joy and glory (Psalm 19:4-6), so St. Francis casts the sun as our brother, a fellow-servant of God whose role is to give us light, and who in his beauty and radiant glory is an image through which we understand God (since “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” [1 John 1:5], and since Jesus is “the radiance of the glory of God” [Hebrews 1:3]). 'Sir Brother Sun,' showing us a created likeness of the Most High by shedding his 'golden beams' of light on us, must sing praises!

The same is true of the “silver moon that gently gleams” (or which, in our hymnal's text, has a 'softer gleam'). While the sun impresses and overawes us with its golden brightness, the moon's silvery gleam is a gentle and soft light, for ruling over the night. To St. Francis, she is “Sister Moon,” who, like the stars in heaven, is “clear and precious and beautiful.” We can envision the moon as our quieter big sister, not as brash and energetic as our big brother the sun, but an important part of God's cosmic family all the same. To both, we invite them to praise God Most High. “Sun and moon, bless the Lord” (Daniel 3:62). “Praise him, sun and moon!” (Psalm 148:3).

The second stanza of Draper's hymn is a paraphrase of the next 1.5 verses of St. Francis' poem (5b-6). Here, we turn our attention to some nearer heavens (the atmosphere) and its creatures: “Thou rushing wind that art so strong,” and “ye clouds that sail in heaven along.” These paraphrase St. Francis' references to “Brother Wind, and... the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather, through whom you give sustenance to your creatures.” And indeed, the weather – whether clear or overcast, whether stormy or sedate – is necessary for the production of food and the maintenance of life! So, “praise the LORD..., stormy wind fulfilling his word!” (Psalm 148:7-8). “Every shower and dew..., all you winds, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever” (Daniel 3:64-65).

The second half of Draper's second stanza calls for joyful praise from two more features of creation: “thou rising morn” and “ye lights of evening.” To an extent, this fills out the reference to the stars that the psalmists and Francis alike make. But it also focuses on the rhythms of day and night, sunrise and sunset – time itself as one of the created things that should praise God. “Nights and days, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever. Light and darkness, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever” (Daniel 3:71-72).

The third stanza of Draper's hymn is a paraphrase of the next two verses of St. Francis' poem (7-8). First, we call out to “flowing water, pure and clear,” which ought to “make music for thy Lord to hear.” This echoes St. Francis' love for “Sister Water, who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.” Water is pure, water is common, water is essential to life. One of the traditional 'elements,' water is utterly vital. To Francis, she is our sister, through whom God's gifts are present in our lives. “Praise the LORD..., all deeps!” (Psalm 148:7). “You springs..., seas and rivers, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever” (Daniel 3:77-78). But just as night and day belong together, so do water and “fire so masterful and bright, that givest man both warmth and light.” This, to St. Francis, was “Brother Fire, through whom you light the night, and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.” Both sketch a vivid, personable picture of flame as our mighty, mischievous brother. “Praise the LORD..., fire!” (Psalm 148:7-8). “Fire and heat, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever” (Daniel 3:66). (Continued on Page 16)

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The fourth stanza of Draper's hymn (which our hymnal does not use) is a paraphrase of the next verse of St. Francis' poem (9). Having already urged praise as the duty of creatures in space (Brother Sun, Sister Moon, the stars), and of creatures in the atmosphere (Brother Wind, plus other weather), and two of the other traditional elements (Sister Water, Brother Fire), now comes the time to look downward to the earth itself. God also deserves the praise of our “dear Mother Earth, who day by day / unfoldest blessings on our way.” And this reference to 'Mother Earth' is found also in St. Francis' poem. In fact, this is the origin of the phrase! But too often, the culture around us has lost the fuller nuance of what St. Francis said: not just 'Mother Earth,' but 'our Sister Mother Earth.' Not only is the earth, the soil, the planet, like a mother to us, but she is also our sister under God the Father – not his equal, but his child and creation. She “sustains us and governs us and... produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.” Through this sister, God “causes the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth” (Psalm 104:14). Ultimately, even 'Mother Earth' fails of her purpose unless she praises God!

The fifth stanza of Draper's hymn is a paraphrase of the next two verses of St. Francis' poem (10-11), which had been added by St. Francis at a later time than the first nine. Hearing news that Assisi's bishop and mayor had had a severe falling out, causing civil strife in the city, Francis felt it was a shame that no one was trying to reconcile the two. Promptly, he wrote these extra verses and told some of his followers to go sing the expanded song for both quarreling parties. (We're told that it worked: the bishop and mayor apologized and embraced in peace.) What had Francis written that could do that? Praise for the Lord “through those who give pardon for your love,” i.e., humans who, because of love for God, are forgiving to others; and “those who endure in peace, for by you, Most High, shall they be crowned.” Draper adapts this: “All ye men of tender heart, / forgiving others, take your part.” Scripture is so replete with praise for peace-makers that hardly anything need be added on Jesus' teachings “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9), or “Forgive others their trespasses” (Matthew 6:14).

In Draper's other half, he adapts another line from St. Francis' poem. Francis sees the Lord being praised through the lives of people who “bear infirmity and tribulation.” Draper expands: “Ye who long pain and sorrow bear, / praise God and on him cast your care.” Draper's language echoes 1 Peter 5:7 (“casting all your cares on him”). In that this line was added in the same occasion by Francis, it may apply especially to being wounded and injured by others: the hurts inflicted by others' meanness. But obviously, especially in Draper's formulation, it applies to all the troubles we deal with in life. When we pardon people out of love for God, when we work to keep the peace, and when we accept our sufferings and give them over to God – those are all ways God is praised through our acts and attitudes.

The sixth stanza of Draper's hymn (which our hymnal, again, does not use) is a paraphrase of the next two verses of St. Francis' poem (12-13), which were the last of all to be written. In fact, these were the lines added by St. Francis on his deathbed, in the last months, days, even hours of his earthly life. In this setting, finally he turned his focus to the unlikeliest of creations to be classed in God's family: “our Sister Bodily-Death.” (Francis is very explicit that it is the death of the body he's got in view, not the 'second death' – more on which shortly.) Francis is content to sing that “no one living can escape” her – as he was finding out from experience as he composed those words!

Francis goes on to distinguish two ways of encountering “our Sister Bodily-Death.” One is to face her while trapped in “mortal sin,” i.e., serious sin that kills love for God, and so merits hell. To die in that condition, says Francis, is a dire outcome indeed: “Woe!” But the opposite would be to be found by death while living “in your most-holy will,” i.e., in obedient love toward God. Those who truly love God must meet Sister Bodily-Death, but need not face the 'second death,' i.e., death that afflicts the soul itself. Here, Francis is only adapting what he finds in the Bible: “The one who overcomes,” i.e., overcomes sin, “will not be hurt by the second death” (Revelation 2:11), for “over such, the second death has no power” (Revelation 20:6).

Draper takes additional liberties here, excising some of the clarity and the entire meditation on sin. In its place, he inserts soothing language to soften the reference to death. For Draper, Death is – at least to the Christian – “most kind and gentle..., waiting to hush our latest breath,” much as a babysitting older child might soothe and shush her crying little sister. Death's tamed function is to “lead home the child of God,” that is, to usher God's children to his heavenly presence. And we need not fear it, because “Christ the Lord our way hath trod” – Jesus “tasted death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9), showing us how to walk death's journey.

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That our hymnal leaves this sixth verse out is understandable, in our very sanitized and squeamish age, but still a pity. If we could see death more how St. Francis saw it, perhaps we'd live less fearful and more courageous lives!

The seventh and last stanza of Draper's hymn is a paraphrase of the last verse of St. Francis' poem (14), which might have originally functioned as a refrain, and was likely part of the original composition in late 1224. St. Francis had it: “Praise and bless my Lord” – this is the first time he writes it in the active voice rather than the passive voice in the poem – “and give him thanks and serve him with great humility.” Here, Draper does a wonderful job capturing what St. Francis says: “Let all things their Creator bless, / and worship him in humbleness.” Where St. Francis could seem to finally be actively addressing the human community, Draper's version is universal, to all creation, bringing us back to where we started.

In either case, there are three central ideas here. First, we ought to 'bless' our Creator or Lord. To bless is to speak a good word over – the usual Greek word for 'bless' is the same word we get 'eulogy' from, literally, 'good word.' That is how God can bless us: speaking a good word over us, because God's Word is inherently effective and gift-giving. That's also how we can bless God: speaking a good word up toward him, 'eulogizing' him. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3), “who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3)!

Second, Francis emphasizes that we are to “give him thanks and serve him,” two actions that Draper condenses into the single act of “worship him.” And really, together those two acts do express what worship is all about. Worship is a glad-hearted act of total sacrificial service toward God, one emerging from a thankful heart. The ancient Levites, professional worshippers on Israel's behalf in conjunction with the priests, “showed good skill in the service of the LORD..., giving thanks to the LORD, the God of their fathers” (2 Chronicles 30:22). And Paul, receiving a priestly role as an apostle of Jesus, could say that “the ministry of this service is... overflowing in many thanksgivings to God” (2 Corinthians 9:12). So we, as the New Israel (a “kingdom of priests” [Exodus 19:6], a “royal priesthood” [1 Peter 2:9]), have our respective shares in the Lord's holy service, in which we are to give him thanks. And this is the heart of Christian worship. “I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1).

Finally, both St. Francis and Draper qualify this worship. Francis tells us to serve God “with great humility,” which Draper rhymingly changes to “worship him in humbleness.” Worship cannot be, should not be, must not be, a proud thing, as it is among some hypocrites (in Jesus' day and now) – a thing for show and self-satisfaction. No, to be a living sacrifice, to lift up the gifts of God's creation back to God – to be an agent of creation's loving self-giving in reaction to the Creator's loving self-giving in Christ – is a humbling thing, though the sort for which Jesus offers the promise, “Whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12). St. Francis' message was a message of penance – of the need for the world, and especially Christians tainted by corruption, to humbly repent, to submit to God's correction of our corruption, to 'make it up to God' in tangible ways apparent in how we worship. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you” (1 Peter 5:6).

Needing to pad out his words, Draper closes in a way most appropriate for a hymn: with an explicit doxology to the Holy Trinity: “Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son, / and praise the Spirit, Three in One.” Up until now, for St. Francis, God has been known as 'my Lord,' and for Draper, God has been 'God,' 'King,' 'Lord,' 'Creator.' But worship is not finished until it recognizes the deep truth of who God fundamentally is: 'God in three persons, blessed Trinity.' And in so singing, we rise up in praise, joining our cosmic brothers and sisters in the unending hallelujah of eternity!

(Continued from Page 11, “In Memoriam: John Eberly”)

Concluding the graveside service, Pastor Jonathan offered a prayer of committal of John's body (“we commend to God's merciful care our brother John Eberly, and we commit his body to the ground for safekeeping until the resurrection until eternal life”) and a benediction from Numbers 6:24-26, after which all were invited to return to Mt. Culmen EC Church's fellowship hall, where Esther Stauffer catered a post-funeral luncheon, where consoling and comforting company was shared. Our brother John Martin Eberly will be greatly missed – until we see him again! Please continue to thank God for John, to lift him up in remembrance before God, and to pray for his family here.

April 3 (Lent 5):

Preaching Calendar (April – May 2022)

Worship services commence at 10:00 AM on Sundays.

We hope to see you there with us!

Sermon Title: “Still Our Strength & Shield” (Lord's Prayer Series #9) Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:9-13

“Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” (419)

“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” (3)

April 10 (Palm Sunday):

Sermon Title: “Doxology Eternal” (Lord's Prayer Series #10) Scripture Reading: Ps. 145:10-13 + 1 Chron. 29:10-13 + Zech. 9:9-12

“All Creatures of Our God and King” (43)

“All Glory, Laud, and Honor” (124)

April 17 (Easter Sunday):

Sermon Title: “The Great Amen” (Lord's Prayer Series #11) (Communion Service) Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:1-7 + 2 Corinthians 1:19-22

“Christ the Lord is Risen Today” (152)

“Standing on the Promises” (236)

April 24 (Easter 2):

Sermon Title: “Not Dark to Him” (Hope in Dementia Series #1) (Fellowship meal after service) Scripture Reading: Psalm 139:1-12

“God Moves in a Mysterious Way” (36)

“Give to the Winds Your Fears” (405)

May 1 (Easter 3):

May 8 (Easter 4):

May 15 (Easter 5):

May 22 (Easter 6):

May 29 (Easter 7):

Sermon Title: “The Crucified Brain” (Hope in Dementia Series #2) Scripture Reading: Galatians 2:20 + Mark 8:34 + Romans 8:16-17 + James 5:13

“Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken” (429) “In the Cross of Christ I Glory” (144)

Sermon Title: “The Unseen You” (Hope in Dementia Series #3) Scripture Reading: Romans 6:3-4 + 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 + Philippians 1:6

“He Hideth My Soul” (337)

“It Is Well with My Soul” (330)

Sermon Title: “Soul to Soul, Heart to Heart” (Hope in Dementia #4) Scripture Reading: Psalms 25:1; 42:7; 94:19 + 1 Thessalonians 5:23

“Bless the Lord, O My Soul” (12) “O Soul, Are You Weary and Troubled?” (266)

Pastor Jonathan will be on vacation from May 18-24, followed by National Conference from May 25-27. Barry Heckman, EC Deacon, will fill in as guest preacher on May 22. More information to follow.

Sermon Title: “Failsafes of Faithfulness” (Hope in Dementia #5) Scripture Reading: Psalm 139:13-18, 23

“This Is My Father's World” (50)

“Great Is Thy Faithfulness” (26)

Quotes for Thought

“The Lord clothed himself with humanity, and with suffering on behalf of the suffering one, and bound on behalf of the one constrained, and judged on behalf of the one convicted, and buried on behalf of the one entombed, he rose from the dead and cried aloud: 'Who takes issue with me? Let him stand before me. I set free the condemned. I gave life to the dead. I raise up the entombed. Who will contradict me? It is I,' says the Christ, 'I am he who destroys death and triumphs over the enemy and crushes Hades and binds the strong man and bears humanity off to the heavenly heights.'”

– St. Melito of Sardis

On Pascha §§100-102 (c. AD 170), in Popular Patristics Series 49:80-82

“Let us wear out the thresholds of all the wise who dwell in Christ, as we are bidden, and everywhere lay hold of the food of life wherever we can pursue the word of God. Let us hang on the lips of all the faithful because the Spirit of God breathes on every believer; and heavenly wisdom must drop from the smallest servant of God, even if it is only a drop to bedew my parched heart … For 'the Spirit breathes where he will, and I hear his voice and know not whence he cometh.' I shall intercept his breath wherever I can catch the slightest exhalation. Let me only hear that a just man has entered the house of an unworthy man or Pharisee, and I shall hasten to be first to win the favor of the guest, in the hope that I can anticipate the kingdom of heaven. Whenever the name of Christ rings in my ears, I shall hasten to it. Whosesoever is the house which I know Jesus is entering, I, too, shall hurry there.”

– St. Paulinus of Nola Letter 23.36 (AD 400), in Ancient Christian Writers 36:40-41

“The power of the devil has crumbled, the prison of hell has been thrown open, the shackles of the dead have been broken, the graves of those who have risen have been torn asunder, on account of the Lord's Resurrection the whole condition of death has been rendered insignificant, the stone has been rolled back from that most sacred tomb of the Lord, the linen cloths have been taken off, and death had fled before the glory of the Risen One, life has returned, and flesh has arisen incapable of further harm.”

– St. Peter Chrysologus of Ravenna Sermon 84.8 (c. AD 440), in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 110:53

“Thanks be to God who has given us the victory, both over sin and over death, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Wholly innocent of sin and therefore free from the debt of death, he yet paid it, dying of his own will on our behalf; and rising, he has set us free from sin. … By dying he underwent the punishment due to our sins, and by rising he established for us the form and the cause of everlasting justification. Christ, rising from the dead, dies no more, death has no further dominion over him. So also the Christian, rising together with Christ, should no longer commit deadly sin, nor should sin have any further dominion over him.”

– Guerric of Igny

Sermon 34.3 (c. AD 1040s), in Guerric of Igny: Liturgical Sermons (Cistercian Publications, 1971), 2:88

“The apostle's report concerning the resurrection of Jesus is not a legend or a private interpretation but a testimony, confirmed by many witnesses, to a historical event of the recent past. This report is a primary piece of the ancient Christian confession of faith. … Out of our belief in life beyond death, there grows the courage for the right form of life on earth. This courage creates heroes.”

– Franz Jägerstätter

“What Every Christian Should Know” §§106-107 (1943), in Letters and Writings from Prison (Orbis Books, 2009), 223

“Wickedness becomes interpreted as sin within the Christian understanding; but what is to count as virtue in the new setting that Christian belief provides for human being? It is one thing to try to imitate the courage or justice of good men; no matter how rare, such virtues remain on the human scale. But what is to be done before the generosity of the Creator, and how are we to respond to the incarnation, the crucifixion, and the resurrection? We are supposed to act in a setting not limited by the necessities of the world.”

– Robert Sokolowski

The God of Faith and Reason: Foundations of Christian Theology, 2nd ed. (CUA Press, 1995 [1982]), 72

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PRAYER GUIDE

We praise God for all the wondrous blessings he has given us, most notably the ministry of his Son (from death through resurrection to the Father's right hand) and the gift of his Holy Spirit; and we pray that God would glorify his name above all else and would bring his kingdom more fully to earth.

We pray for our denomination, our congregation, and the church universal, that God would bless us at all levels with faithfulness, wisdom, vision, and fortitude to earnestly labor in his vineyard

We pray particularly for our pastor Rev. Jonathan J. Brown and for our church board.

We also pray particularly for our Evangelical Congregational Church leadership, such as:

our bishop Bruce Hill, executive director Kevin Henry, and district field director Keith Miller

our bishop-elect Randy Sizemore

the Global Ministries Community under Ted Rathman

the Kingdom Extension Community under Les Cool

the Church Health Community under Gary Kuehner

the Missional Alignment Community under Bishop Bruce Hill

the Ministerial Development Community under Jeff Byerly

We pray for our missionary partners (such as Dan Quigley and others), that God would keep them safe and faithful, would focus their efforts on God's work, and would grant success in accordance with his holy will.

We pray for other churches and pastors in our community, that God would keep all congregations united in one holy faith and devoted to the ardent service of one and the same kingdom and of its King, Jesus.

We pray for the salvation of our whole community and its maturation in Christian discipleship, knowing that there is hope in Jesus for all people and for entire communities to reflect the righteous love of God.

We pray for the end of the global coronavirus pandemic and its attendant social and economic woes.

We pray for the health of all people, for their protection and recovery, and for God's provision.

We pray for the safety and needs of healthcare workers and others.

We pray for those suffering in the wake of other disasters here and around the world, that God would provide comfort and resources so that they might rebuild.

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We pray for those afflicted by natural disasters such as famine; wildfires in South Korea, California, Tennessee, Scotland, Ukraine, and elsewhere; flooding in Australia; tornadoes in the American Midwest; Cyclone Gombe in Mozambique; the volcanic eruption in Indonesia; and the earthquake in Japan.

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We pray for those afflicted by accidents such as helicopter crashes in Congo, Romania, and Australia; the train crash in Congo; bus crashes in Tanzania and the West Bank; the boats capsizing in Norway and Bangladesh; the fire at a mall in Syria; and the mine collapse in Kyrgyzstan.

We pray also for those victimized by violence and social ills, especially the Russian invasion of Ukraine, that the God of all comfort would make his presence manifest to the injured, traumatized, and grieving.

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We pray additionally for those afflicted this past month by the Uyghur genocide in China; ongoing warfare in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, and the Central African Republic; the Israel-Palestine, IndiaPakistan, Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan, and Armenia-Azerbaijan conflicts; insurgency in the Sinai, the Maghreb, Chad, Congo, Colombia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Niger, India, etc.; ethnic clashes in Darfur, South Sudan, Turkey, and Myanmar; violence by/against protesters in New Zealand; mass shootings in Indonesia, Israel, Nigeria, Somalia, and Mexico; stabbings in Israel and Sweden; bombings in Cameroon, Niger, Somalia, Yemen, and a mosque in Pakistan; the arson attack in India; the grenade attack in Pakistan; the vehicle-rammings in Belgium and Israel; rocket strikes in Iraq; the American opioid epidemic; human rights violations, including abortion and human trafficking; and the refugee crisis.

We pray for the protection of all who serve and protect us, including police officers, firefighters, medical responders, and members of the military (especially Wesley Kurtz [grandson of Betty Musser]): May God keep them safe, just, wise, and accountable as they guard against chaos, administer justice, defend the vulnerable, and resist lawlessness here and abroad.

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We pray for our nation and its government at all levels and in all branches, that God would move our leaders to repent of unjust or unmerciful practices and laws; that God would crown them with wisdom, security, peace, and civility toward all; and that God would give them godly hearts to live and govern rightly.

We pray for the persecutors and maligners of the church around the world:

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We pray for the conversion of terrorists and other people of violence into disciples of the Prince of Peace.

We pray for the wisdom of God to be made manifest to skeptics and critics.

We pray for the Spirit's boldness to fill the hearts of all believers to witness to Jesus in life and in death.

We pray for the families and friends of many who have entered their rest in the past year:

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For the family of Charles Jaxel (Del Ream's brother-in-law), who entered rest on April 3, 2021.

For the family of Pauline Sweigart (Shirley's daughter's m.-in-law), who entered rest on April 19, 2021.

For the family of Sherry White (Sally Arment's niece), who entered rest on May 13, 2021.

For the family of Dottie Lou Rissler, who entered rest on May 13, 2021.

For the family of Melvin Weiler (Esther Stauffer's brother), who entered rest on May 18, 2021.

For the family of Anthony Cazillo III, who entered rest on June 30, 2021.

For the family of Betty Taylor, who entered rest on July 24, 2021.

For the family of Emerson 'Rip' Arment (Amos' nephew), who entered rest on August 9, 2021.

For the family of Bill King, who entered rest on August 17, 2021.

For the family of Kelsey Smith, who entered rest on August 19, 2021.

For the family of Connie Hoshauer (Henrietta's daughter-in-law), who entered rest on August 26, 2021.

For the family of Kevin Eshleman, who entered rest on September 28, 2021.

For the family of Stephanie Bills, who entered rest on October 2, 2021.

For the family of Romaine Wetzel (Cindy Ruth's cousin), who entered rest on October 2, 2021.

For the family of Marlene Zimmerman (Abby Eberly's niece), who entered rest on October 12, 2021.

For the family of Sherri Mast (Floyd's sister-in-law), who entered rest on October 13, 2021.

For the family of Rob Musser (Roxie Brubaker's cousin), who entered rest on October 15, 2021.

For the family of Gary Shank (the Hess' grandson Tyler's father), who entered rest on October 20, 2021.

For the family of Leon Arment (Amos' brother), who entered rest on October 22, 2021.

For the family of Esther Sandoe (Rev. Jeff Schell's mother-in-law), who entered rest October 24, 2021.

For the family of Cheryl (Styer) Hutchinson, who entered rest on November 18, 2021.

For the family of Ruth Ann Hurst, who entered rest on November 25, 2021.

For the family of Robert Diem (Yvonne Styer's tenant), who entered rest on December 6, 2021.

For the family of Earl Thomas (the Arments' Florida neighbor), who entered rest on December 9, 2021.

For the family of Arlene Barnes (Floyd H.'s son-in-law's mother), who entered rest December 23, 2021.

For the family of Mary Clare (Leon Hess' friend Mark's wife), who entered rest December 24, 2021.

For the family of Galen Hibschman (Zack/Wyatt's grandpa), who entered rest December 26, 2021.

For the family of Erwin Sensenig III (Sally Arment's nephew), who entered rest January 8, 2022.

For the family of Israel 'Izzy' Newswanger, age 11, who entered rest on January 24, 2022.

For the family of Shelley Edwards, who entered rest on February 5, 2022.

For the family of Kenny Ranck, who entered rest on February 8, 2022.

For the family of Sadie Stehr (Anita Boley's neighbor), who entered rest February 20, 2022.

For the family of Shirley Dull (Yvonne Styer's friend), who entered rest on February 21, 2022.

For the family of John Fry (Leon and Jean Hess' friend), who entered rest on February 25, 2022.

For the family of John Eberly, who entered rest on March 3, 2022.

For the family of Mary Ann Good, who entered rest on March 12, 2022.

For the family of Ken Smith, who entered rest on March 23, 2022.

For the family of Larry Segner (Joyce Garber's brother-in-law), who entered rest on March 24, 2022.

For the family of Robin Fritz (Dave Rissler's friend), who entered rest on March 26, 2022.

May the Lord give immeasurable peace, strength, and comfort to all who face loss and grief.

We pray for all dementia sufferers and for their caretakers, that God would lighten burdens, restore clarity

injured minds, and speak directly to hearts and souls with his comfort, his peace, and the light of grace.

PRAYER GUIDE

pray for all those suffering from cancer – (including Gene Sensenig, Randy Vandill, Linda Kohl, Lisa Mast, Gary Sedalbaur, Cindy Ebersole, Doris Snader, Troy Frey, Cindy Ansel, etc.) – that God would shield

from pain, restore their bodies, comfort them with peace, and bless their doctors with wisdom and skill.

pray for the other assorted health concerns (and other needs) of:

Cindy Bannon + Raymond Bannon (Ken Bannon's first cousin once removed)

Mary Andrews (Ken Bannon's aunt) + Marilyn Wilson (Cindy Bannon's mother)

Ray and Delores Snader + Bobby Snader (Bob and Ruth's son, Ray's grandson)

Earl and Pauline Good

Carl and Grace Nolt

Skip Good

Vera Kochel

Violet Stauffer

Floyd Heuyard

Rich Hoshour

Robert and Barbara Sparr

Paul Ford + Ralph Mountz

Shirley Good

Shirley Riggins

Dick Taylor + Shirley Buchanan

Connie Dieter (Leon and Jean Hess' daughter)

Kathryn Shirk (Jean Hess' aunt)

Mary Skiba (Sally Arment's cousin)

Jeremy Kurman + Warren Weinhold

Jim Becker + Larry Sensenig + Daryll Sensenig

Veanna Baxter + Julia Reed (Veanna's sister)

Steven Mast (Floyd's son) + Clarence Jones

Delores Jaxel + Clair and Linda Kohl

Shawn and Candace Sweigart

Tory Lingg + Timothy Lingg

Carl Martin + Mary Martin

Jerry Felpel and Doris Getz

Bob Forrey + Joan Getz

Pat Street + Dot Yohn

Glenn and Lucy Weber

Karen Buck + Jess Pennepacker

Dennis Wanner + Marilyn Whittaker

Dawn Acevedo (Cindy Hoffer's sister)

Rebecca Lucas (the Walkers' family friend)

Dennis Kern + Linda Ebert (Barb Kern's friend)

Linda Talbot (Cindy Ruth's sister) + Albert Rhodes (Cindy's brother)

Mark Weiler (Esther Stauffer's brother) + Eugene Martin (Esther's uncle)

for other neighbors, friends,

pray for the provision of a new pianist

that God would heal, provide, and comfort.

accompany our musical worship.

for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our church, our community, our county, our nation,

Evangelical Congregational Church, and the church

a spiritual zeal for worship, evangelism, and discipleship.

We pray for the whole church to be filled

the fires of revival fall!