TO JOIN US AT NEW JERUSALEM EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 3233 APPLES CHURCH ROAD, BETHLEHEM, PA 18015 ON SUNDAY MORNING AT 10:00 A.M. FOR WORSHIP WITH PASTOR LISA AND ITS MEMBERS. IF YOU DO NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE ATTENDING SERVICES IN PERSON, YOU ARE WELCOME TO JOIN US ONLINE AT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL CLICK HERE.
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INDOOR WORSHIP PROCEDURES
What follows are the procedures for indoor worship. (Please note … these may be revised as we continue to tweak what works most efficiently for our congregation.)
· Persons at a high risk due to age or health are encouraged to stay at home, especially if exhibiting symptoms such as high fever, cough, loss of smell or taste, or shortness of breath.
· Masks must be worn at all times properly covering one’s nose and mouth. (Only children who are 2 years of age or younger are exempt from this practice.) If you would arrive at church only to discover that you do not have a mask, one will be provided for you. Additionally, hand sanitizer will be available at various locations for your use.
· There will be no formal collection of offering during the service. Receptacles will be provided in the Narthex area for worshippers to deposit their offering envelopes (which also may be mailed in to the church office).
· Holy Communion will continue to be received via individually sealed cups/wafers which will be distributed as worshippers enter the sanctuary. We will commune in the pews and collect the used packages for proper disposal after worship.
· To minimize the risk of transmitting germs, worshippers will not be greeted with handshakes following the service nor will the traditional “passing of the peace” take place. Members and friends may certainly speak with each other outside.
· At this point in time, no congregational singing will take place during the worship service. The reasoning behind this is that there remains the risk of producing aerosols (droplets of water suspended in air) that can spread the coronavirus. We will work hard to make a joyful noise in other ways (organ/piano/bells; possible soloists or instrumentalists who are socially distanced from the congregation). While this may not be ideal, it is the safest practice for the welfare of all.
· We will be hosting coffee hours on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month, but will not hold in person church suppers until it is deemed safe to do so.
· One person or one family unit will be permitted in the restrooms at a time.
· Worshippers will maintain social distancing while in the sanctuary. Pews have been cordoned off and marked so that people will visually be reminded of where they may be seated for the service. The pews in the balcony will also be available for seating for those who are more readily able to climb steps.
· Children must remain with the adults with whom they came.
· The church will be cleaned after worship each week to ensure cleanliness for the next gathering.
Any virus outbreak in the "in person" worshipping community will necessitate the
closing of the church until further notice when it is deemed safe to re-enter.
The Council understands if you do not feel comfortable attending in person worship just yet. We respect your decision and invite you to tune into the service (via the church’s website at Youtube livestream link) as it will be live streamed each Sunday.
Hope to see you there!
Peace be with you.
BUILDING/ACTIVITIES
Appropriate wearing of masks and gloves while in the building at ALL times.
No entry into the building prior to 10:00 a.m.
Church open for Sunday morning worship services at 10:00 a.m. (see the list of procedures at above).
No one in the office, except the pastor, secretary, and treasurer.
Offering envelopes should continue to be mailed or use the online Vanco portal, please refrain from dropping off at church.
Encourage continuation of zoom meetings (however, meetings of less than 25 attendees with appropriate 6’ distancing and masks is allowed).
Pick up of supplies or cleaning are allowed with two people at a time in one area.
Food bank will continue with curbside pickup. ALL WORKERS MUST WEAR MASKS AT ALL TIMES.
NO EATING OR DRINKING INSIDE BUILDING (that requires one to remove their masks…a no-no).
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Cindy Hart 484-548-3937 or Sharon Bender 610-597-8764.
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COFFEE HOUR RETURNS – OUTDOORS
on the 1st (May 2) and 3rd (May 16) Sunday of each month!
Will only be offering coffee/juice/water (no food at this time)
For the safety of all, please read the guidelines below:
1. Please stay in your car until those who are leaving drive out of parking area.
2. Be aware of cars exiting throughout this time.
3. Please wear your mask.
4. Coffee will be dispensed for you outside the lower entrance.
5. Condiments will be located at the end of the sidewalk.
6. Please bring your own chair and congregate in the lower parking lot area.
7. Remember to social distance when you are talking/drinking.
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NEW JERUSALEM EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH SENDS
OUR BEST WISHES TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY
FOR A HAPPY, HEALTHY 2021!
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In case of a pastoral emergency,
please contact Pastor Lisa Borrell at 610-838-0731 or email MizLKB@aol.com.
SERVANT SCHEDULES AND SERMON TOPICS
Greetings! Please consider volunteering to make our Indoor Worship Service safe and a success. We need you. We have several openings for volunteers. If you know someone who would love to help, and they do not have internet, feel free to give them my contact information. Robin (610-349-2586). Please help!
To Be Determined: Please use the sign-up sheets in the Narthex for volunteer opportunities, i.e., Acolytes, Pastor Assistants (Council Members), Assistant Ministers, Chalisters, Lectors, and Ushers. Thank you.
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Servants for Sunday, May 2, 2021
Acolyte: TBA
Altar Guild: TBA
Assisting Minister: TBA
Chalister: TBA
Coffee Hour: Outdoors
Lector: TBA
Pastor's Assistant: TBA
Sunday, May 2, 2021 ~ Worship Service at 10:00 a.m. ~ Fifth Sunday of Easter.
This Sunday’s image of how the risen Christ shares his life with us is the image of the vine. Christ the vine and we the branches are alive in each other, in the mystery of mutual abiding described in the gospel and the first letter of John. Baptism makes us a part of Christ’s living and life-giving self and makes us alive with Christ’s life. As the vine brings food to the branches, Christ feeds us at his table. We are sent out to bear fruit for the life of the world.
Servants for Sunday, May 9, 2021
Acolyte: TBA
Altar Guild: TBA
Assisting Minister: TBA
Chalister: TBA
Coffee Hour: N/A
Lector: TBA
Pastor's Assistant: TBA
Sunday, May 9, 2021 ~ Worship Service at 10:00 a.m. ~ Sixth Sunday of Easter.
This Sunday’s image of the life the risen Christ shares with us is the image of friendship. We are called to serve others as Jesus came to serve; but for John’s Gospel, the image of servanthood is too hierarchical, too distant, to capture the essence of life with Christ. Friendship captures the love, the joy, the deep mutuality of the relationship into which Christ invites us. The Greeks believed that true friends are willing to die for each other. This is the mutual love of Christian community commanded by Christ and enabled by the Spirit.
Servants for Sunday, May 16, 2021
Acolyte: TBA
Altar Guild: TBA
Assisting Minister: TBA
Chalister: TBA
Coffee Hour: Outdoors
Sunday, May 16, 2021 ~ Outdoor Parking Lot Worship Service at 10:00 a.m. ~ Seventh Sunday of Easter. The gospel for Easter’s seventh Sunday is always taken from the long prayer Jesus prays for his followers in John’s gospel on the night before his death, and always includes Jesus’ desire that his followers will be one as he and the Father are one. This oneness is not mere doctrinal agreement or institutional unity, but mutual abiding, interpenetrating life, mutual love, and joy. This oneness is the work of the Spirit whom we have received but also await. Come, Holy Spirit!
Servants for Sunday, May 23, 2021
Acolyte: TBA
Altar Guild: TBA
Assisting Minister: TBA
Chalister: TBA
Coffee Hour: TBA
Sunday, May 23, 2021 ~ Worship Service at 10:00 a.m. ~ Day of Pentecost (CHURCH IS OPEN—ALL ARE WELCOME with COVID-19 restrictions). Fifty days after Easter, we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Crossing all boundaries that would separate us, the Spirit brings the wideness of God’s mercy to places we least expect it — to a crowd of strangers of different lands and tongues, to dry bones, to our weak hearts. Jesus promises his disciples that they will be accompanied by the Holy Spirit, and that this Spirit reveals the truth. We celebrate that we too have been visited with this same Spirit. Guided by the truth, we join together in worship, and then disperse to share the fullness of Christ’s love with the world.
Servants for Sunday, May 30, 2021
Acolyte: TBA
Altar Guild: TBA
Assisting Minister: TBA
Chalister: TBA
Coffee Hour: TBA
Sunday, May 30, 2021 ~ Worship Service at 10:00 a.m. ~ Holy Trinity (CHURCH IS OPEN—ALL ARE WELCOME with COVID-19 restrictions). When we say God is the triune God, we are saying something about who God is beyond, before, and after the universe: that there is community within God. Our experience of this is reflected in Paul’s words today. When we pray to God as Jesus prayed to his Abba (an everyday, intimate parental address), the Spirit prays within us, creating between us and God the same relationship Jesus has with the one who sent him.
NEW JERUSALEM EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH'S
OUTDOOR PARKING LOT WORSHIP SERVICES
STARTING MAY 23, 2021 AT 10:00 A.M., PLEASE JOIN US FOR OUR INDOOR SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICES OR VISIT US ONLINE AT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL CLICK HERE.
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Thank you to those that have been sending offerings in the mail or have been using the online Vanco portal. We are making sure all systems will be operating, our building is clean, and we are ready for worship when we get the green light! We are busy ordering supplies that will be necessary for us to commune together, as well as sanitizing supplies to keep us all safe. Our church congregation sticks together when the going gets tough. Please continue to support the ongoing work of New Jerusalem by sending in your offerings.
SATURDAY SERVICES will be held on the following dates on:
At this time there will be NO Saturday Evening Worship Services (TBD)
Saturday Services have a smaller, more intimate feel, and are typically held on the first Saturday of the month, with some variations to capture important dates in the church year, like Easter. You are invited to join us for these communion services.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6 (NIV)
You can also visit New Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church on Facebook at
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May the beauty of God be reflected in your eyes, the love of God be
reflected in your hands, the wisdom of God be reflected in your words,
and the knowledge of God flow from your heart,
that all might see, and seeing, believe.
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Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
God, the creator, Jesus, the Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the comforter,
bless you and keep you in eternal love.
The members of New Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church wish you a blessed day and we pray that your day is filled with hope, love, peace, and good health!