Important Information

Join Us for Church Services
We welcome you to Join Us for
Weekly Worship or Bible Study via Zoom!
To do so, please contact Pastor Tom by email at stjohnhillchurch@frontier.com or by phone at 717.362.9519 for information about how to join us with an internet-connected device or by calling in with a telephone.

Also, you are welcome to tune in any time at all to our YouTube Channel to view previous Zoom worship or other worship resources we have posted there!

We also welcome you to Join Us for In-Person Outdoor Weekly Worship!
Because seating is limited to allow for safe spacing, please contact Pastor Tom in advance by email at stjohnhillchurch@frontier.com or by phone at 717.362.9519 to let him know of your plans to attend on a given Sunday.
Prayer for a Pandemic: by Cameron Bellm
May we who are merely inconvenienced
Remember those whose lives are at stake.
May we who have no risk factors
Remember those most vulnerable.
May we who have the luxury of working from home
Remember those who must choose between preserving
their health or making their rent.
May we who have the flexibility to care for our
children when their schools close
Remember those who have no options.
May we who have to cancel our trips
Remember those that have no safe place to go.
May we who are losing our margin money
in the tumult of the economic market
Remember those who have no margin at all.
May we who settle in for a quarantine at home
Remember those who have no home.
As fear grips our country, let us choose love.
During this time when we cannot
physically wrap our arms around each other,
Let us yet find ways to be the loving
embrace of God to our neighbors. Amen.

Opportunities for Fellowship

Two nice opportunities for fellowship and growing in our faith are coming up on Monday, August 3.  First, everyone is welcome to join in the August session of Summer Book Discussion Group on Zoom at 7:00 P.M. Copies of the book for the evening – Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells – are available at the church on the bench in the foyer, just inside the front doors.  Please call Ann Bruner (717.362.7895), if you have any trouble getting a copy of the book or have questions.  Also, from 6:30 to 8:30 P.M., Pastor Tom will be leading an Inquirer’s Class outdoors in the pavilion.  This class is designed for folks who are interested in joining our congregational family, folks who are trying to figure out if this is where God might be guiding them to a faith home, and folks who are already a part of the congregational family but would like to have a bit of a refresher in the basics of Lutheran Christian history and belief.  Please speak with me any time before August 3 to sign up and be sure to bring along your own comfortable chair for safe spacing and a mask covering both nose and mouth.  New members will received on a following Sunday morning to be determined.
Our Mission
St. John congregation, responding to the call of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel, unites together to preach and teach the Word, administer the sacraments, and carry out God’s mission. With God’s guidance and grace, we strive to boldly proclaim by word and action the reconciling Gospel of Jesus: Working together for justice and peace, and caring for those in need in our community and world. We invite everyone to join us wherever you are on your faith journey.

Connecting with us!

Current Schedule
Come visit us every Sunday!
8:45am - Zoom SONDay Celebration and Summer Bible Study
9:30am - Zoom Worship
11:00am - In-Person Outdoor Worship (Seating Limited)
Congregation YouTube Page
Listen to our Sunday Services!
St. John's YouTube Channel
Social Media
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/stjohnhillchurch

Pastor's Letter - July/August

Dear Friends in Jesus,

As we all continue to take cautious steps down the road toward (we hope and pray) one day returning to something at least very much like the “normal” we knew before March, I am delighted to use this space to share information about our planned return to in-person worship here on The Hill.  All of the plan details, as worked out by Congregational Council and me at our June 14 meeting, I would encourage you to give them a read.  The first thing that you will note is that this doesn’t in any way represent a return to “normal” – just as moving into the “Green Phase” in the rest of society doesn’t equal “normal”.  For starters, there are a whole lot of details such as we’ve never had to think about before.  They can appear like overkill and even heavy-handed, but that is not at all my/our intention.  Instead, as it says early in the plan, all of these details come “out of an abundance of concern and protection and love for each other – as Jesus would have us do – in these times of so much uncertainty and so much that is still unknown about the COVID-19 virus.”  

All of the details matter, so again I would ask you to please give the plan a read, but I want to especially highlight some of them:
 
1 Our 11:00am in-person outdoor worship doesn’t affect our Zoom Christian Education times at 8:45am or our Zoom worship at 9:30am in any way.  It is no better than Zoom worship in any way – simply a different kind of worship opportunity for those who would be comfortable with it.
 
2 For at least the first week(s), attendance will be strictly limited to 24 persons plus me/the worship leader.  As we gain experience, Council and I will be looking to safely increase that number as soon as possible, but the attendance limit now and going forward will be “iron-clad”.  Because I absolutely don’t want to ever have to turn anyone away from worship, please contact me ahead of time if at all possible to let me know of your plans to attend on a given Sunday.  If you are truly comfortable just taking the chance – or if it is a last-minute realization that you can get here by 11:00am after all and you’re okay just seeing if there is still “room” – please come on over and check, but, again, the attendance limit, for all of our sakes, is “iron clad” – no exceptions – so please don’t put me or you in the sad situation of my having to enforce the limit, for that is what I will do.  
 
3 A mask covering both nose and mouth at all times is required for every worshiper over the age of two.  This also is “iron clad”, with no exceptions for any reason, including medical conditions.  As our society re-opens, research has shown that the riskiest thing that any of us can do is gather in a group for an extended time – e.g. worship – but research has also shown that having everyone wear a mask can reduce any risk of virus transmission by as much as 75%.  Let me say it again – the mask requirement, covering both nose and mouth, for all of our sakes, is “iron clad” – no exceptions for any reason – so please don’t put me or you in the sad situation of my having to enforce the rule, for that is what I will do.  
 
4 Please be sure to bring along your own comfortable chair – with which we will all arrange ourselves to observe “safe” (six-foot) distancing from other folks not in our “party”.
 
5 Please be sure to dress for the weather – think chilly and breezy here on The Hill even if it’s not at home – we won’t be able to lower the pavilion sides or go inside.
 
6 And last, but most certainly not least, please do not attend in-person now or any time in the future if you aren’t feeling well in any way or if you have been exposed any time in the prior 14 days to a person who subsequently develops COVID-19-like symptoms or who tests positive for COVID-19.
 
Please click here to get all of the details, and please don’t hesitate to contact me or any member of Congregational Council with thoughts, suggestions, constructive criticisms or anything else that’s on your mind and heart!  Please believe me when I say that I’m cringing right now as I look back at the firm tone of what I have written above.  As you’ve come to know me, I’m hoping you’ve found that I dislike confrontation and conflict more than most people, but that, when they are necessary in the name of faithfulness and love of neighbor – including all of you, my fellow worshipers – I won’t shy away from it.  Please especially believe me when I say how much I am looking forward to sharing this worship opportunity – as well as the Zooming that I have come to enjoy so much – with you, my congregational family!

Pastor Tom

News from Miss Laurie, Young Christians Minister

Hi everyone!  I hope your summer has gotten off to a great start! 
 
And speaking of summer, the Summer Schedule for worship has begun and we are having a ZOOM version of SONday Celebration every Sunday before the church service!  Join us each week from 8:45 to 9:15 for our fun Sunday School experience featuring a Bible story, music, games and fun with Sunny!  We are planning to remain on Zoom through the summer.  I hope you’ll “pop in” and join us!!
 
Another fun adventure for this summer is our 3-day virtual VBS experience called “Backyard BOLT towards faith in Jesus”!!   With a Zoom meeting on Monday, July 20th (and each evening of VBS), Virtual VBS on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (YOU decide whatever time works best for you)   and a wrap up, Drive-In Movie night on Friday, July 24th, it will be a FULL week of VBS summer fun!!  This pandemic isn’t going to keep us down!!   Mark your calendars and join us July 20th through July 24th!!  For more information, see the following letter on Virtual VBS!!
 
For the Drive-In Movie Night, Nicole Radel is organizing a “Popcorn Donation”!  If you’d like to donate individually packaged bags of popcorn for the kids, Nicole has placed a plastic tub inside the front doors of the church for your donation.  She’d like the bags to be there by July 17th, so that we can purchase more if necessary.  Thank you, in advance, for your help!!
 
Finally, we hope to do something fun in August BEFORE the kids head back to school.  Keep reading your emails for more information on this activity, and on VBS!
 
I hope you’ll stay connected with me and your church family  through the above activities until we are able to meet again in person in the fall!!  Have an AMAZING summer!!
                                         
Miss Laurie
Photo used under Creative Commons from Salm3n