July 19, 2010 issue
All things new
James Street Mennonite Church, Lancaster, Pa.
By Carol Herr Steffy“New earth, heavens new, Spirit of God moving.” This song from Hymnal: A Worship Book served as our theme song through most of April and May as we celebrated the season of Easter and God’s promise that “I made all things new.”
Each of the eight Sundays of Easter, we heard resurrection stories from around the world. Many in JSMC have served in missions.
On April 18, we commissioned Regina Cabezas to serve as minister of children and Donna Horst to serve as minister of youth.
On May 2, we recognized the following high school graduates and provided them with a calendar on peace, our faith marker for graduating seniors: Eric Bohlen, Peter French, Devan Groff, Noah Jemison, HeeLim Lee, Kyle Lundquist, Andrea Mast, Mark Mast-Wang, Nathan Mast, Jennifer Orantes, Ben Yoder and Philip Yoder. On May 23, these fifth-graders were presented with the faith marker Coals of Fire, a book of short stories about peacemakers: Amanda Horst, Bethany Jordan, Faith Manickam, Lauren McIlvaine, Christopher Ritchie, Kristi Shantz, Kaemon Taylor, Austin Yoder and Cheyenne Yoder.
On May 23, the congregation blessed our pastors, Kathy Keener Shantz and Stan Shantz, as they began their four-month sabbatical. We commissioned associate pastor Elizabeth Nissley to serve as interim lead pastor. Carmen Horst, a recent graduate of Eastern Mennonite Seminary, joined the staff in June as interim associate pastor.
Baptisms April 4: Allan William Beldan, Abby Bomberger, Peter Herr Harris, Nicholas Hertzler, Mikayla Horst, Yvonne Martin, Josiah Nisly, Christopher Orantes, Lara Weaver, Alyse Yoder and Daniel Ryan Zook.
Weddings: Christina Jarvis and José Wise, May 15; Jamie Yoder and Michael Valdespino, May 22.
Births: Kyle Kratzer, May 19, to Tara and Kevin Kratzer.
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