Welcome to St. Paul’s United Methodist Church
The mission of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church is
To practice hospitality and love by
nurturing faith in Jesus Christ.
To connect people in deep friendships through
worship, prayer and service.
We are a United Methodist Congregation that welcomes individuals from all backgrounds; we desire to be an open congregation to all ethnicities and race. We are committed to being an inclusive community; a community for all people regardless of race, economic status, physical or mental disability. St. Paul’s UMC is a warm and friendly congregation centered on worship and witness under thelordship of Jesus Christ. Our hope is that as you enter this fellowship, you will feel the love and acceptance extended by Christ and share with us the challenge of faithful discipleship.
Church Office Hours: Monday thru Friday, 8:30 am to 12:30 pm
Church Office Phone: 717-285-5020; Fax: 717-285-1375.
E-mail Address: saintpaulsumc@earthlink.net
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Pastor’s Corner: September/October
As I was recently thumbing through a brochure advertising new leaflets, the title of one of the leaflets is “Why Join a Church?” Why, indeed! It made me think of some names of Books that have been written in the last few years with titles like: When the Church Gets It Wrong by Adam Hailton, and 52 Lies Heard in Churches Every Sunday by Steve McVey. These titles convey the reason many people do not want to be part of the church.
But, to quote a recent newsletter from my e-mails: “Studies in personal resiliency suggest that one of the most helpful things to have in place in the midst of challenges and transition is a strong support network of people who love and care for us.” Is that not what the church is mean to be?
I once “caught” a parishner in a church’s Fellowship Hall. She quickly wiped her eyes and said, “I shouldn’t have come today. I’m feeling to fragile.” What I said is, “This is exactly where you should be to receive care and support.” But she was worried that someone seeing her would start gossiping about her.
At its beginnings, the church was a group of people who were living out of the mainstream of their society. They needed each other because for many of them the family had disowned them when they converted to Christ. Conversion was not seen by the general society as positive; being a Christian was not sanctioned and you became an embarrassment to your family. The friends at church became your family. They supported you, cared for you, and helped you through lifes struggles and celebrated with you in the joys. And hopefully, didn’t gossip about you.
As time went by and the church became not only acceptable but essential to your status in the society, and as Christians become more entrenched in the ways of the society, the church began functioning less and less as that support group. And more and more as a place for status. You didn’t want to threaten that status with people getting a “wrong” view of who you are. So we hid our “true” selves from one another and stopped sharing our concerns that might show flaws or weakness.
At one church a young couple walked into the foyer for the first time and were greeted by another young couple with a daughter the same age as theirs. That couple who were members of the church came to them and offered to show them around the church. They invited them to go out for breakfast following worship. These two couples became good, supportive friends that were together often in activities even outside of the church.
Another young man of color walked into a predominately white church. He was new in town. Week after week he went to a different church with all sorts of ethnic and denominational diversity. But finally, he came back to the first church. “Why?” he was asked. “Because all the churches welcomed me very warmly, but this church made me feel like it really wanted ME, not just another new member.”
We need to get back to that place where we go beyond welcoming people to making them feel we really want each of them in our church. That we want to love, support and care for them because we want THEM. How many people in the church do you know that well? How do we get to know each other better?
It is what the church was meant to be. Pastor Janet