April
May
Celebrating the Ministry of Faith United Presbyterian Church
218 W Pennsylvania Ave, Pen Argyl, PA 18072 ~~ 610 -863-4447
fupcoffice@gmail.com ~~ www.FaithUnited.net
As we journey through this season of Lent, we are
headed to Jerusalem and the cross. But that is not the
final destination of our pilgrimage because we are also
headed to the empty tomb. At the end of these 40 days,
we will celebrate Jesus victory over sin and death as we
commemorate his rising from the dead.
As Christians, this is the single most important tenet of
our faith. We know that our life here on earth is only a
prelude to our eternal life. And that has inspired thoughts
and questions about heaven and hell for as long as
humans have occupied this blue green marble we call
earth.
With that thought in mind, I share this story written by an
anonymous author:
A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord
one day and said, Lord, I would like to know what
Heaven and Hell are like. The Lord led the holy man
to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy
man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large
round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot
of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy
man's mouth water.
The people sitting around the table were thin and
sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were
holding spoons with very long handles that were
strapped to their arms and each found it possible to
reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful. But
because the handle was longer than their arms, they
Worship Service & Church School (Ages 4 - 10) 10:00 am
2017
could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The
holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and
suffering. The Lord said, You have seen Hell.
They went to the next room and opened the door. It
was exactly the same as the first one. There was the
large round table with the large pot of stew which
made the holy man's mouth water. The people were
equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but
here the people were well nourished and plump,
laughing and talking. The holy man said, I don't
understand. It is simple, said the Lord. It requires
but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each
other, while the greedy think only of themselves."
So as we near the end of the Lenten journey, let us
remember this: when Jesus died on the cross, he was
thinking of us.
HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE!
Rev. Ruth Ann
faith Family News
We are saddened by the passing of Marjorie
Williams at the age of 92 on February 2, 2017.
Marjorie was a member of Faith Church for many
years. She was an Elder, Clerk of Session, Sunday
School teacher, Moderator of Presbyterian
Women, member of Faith Quilters, the editor of
Faiths newsletter and did other volunteer work
behind the scenes. She will be missed but we
know we will see her again one day when we meet
in glory. Please keep her family in your prayers.
 Page 2

Sunday School
News

WOW! Its hard to believe that we are almost midway

HolY WEEK AT FAITH church
April 9, Palm Sunday service at 10:00 a.m.
At the beginning of Holy Week the Church celebrates
one of the most joyous feasts of the year. Palm Sunday is
the commemoration of the entrance of our Lord into
Jerusalem following His miracle of raising Lazarus from
the dead. On this day the people went out to greet the
Lord and welcome Him with displays of honor. On this
day we receive and worship Christ with our Palms and
prayers. We also celebrate a special Communion service
known as the Body of Christ. This is a moving and
appropriate observance as we head into Good Friday.
through this Sunday School year. We hope everyone
enjoyed the short program presented by the children on
Feb. 19 for Valentines Day. April will be an exciting
and busy time for the children. On Palm Sunday they
will be waving palms during the service and are
looking forward to presenting a short program on
Easter Sunday for all to enjoy! So mark your
calendars and we hope to see everyone soon.
Children of Faith

April 13, Maundy Thursday service at 7:00 p.m.

A simple soup supper will be served at 6:00 p.m. Maundy
Thursday is the term used by the Presbyterian Church for
this Holy day. Other denominations may call this day
Maundy Thursday and/or Holy Thursday. This is our
most solemn service of the year at Faith United. On this
night we remember and celebrate the final supper Jesus
shared with his disciples and when he used His words I ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING
give you a new commandment (John 13:34); Love one
Each year we are asked to support the One Great Hour
another. As I have loved you, so you must Love one
of Sharing projects. Special envelopes will be
another. On this day we offer our prayers and prepare
available through the Lenten season. The program is a
ourselves for His day on Calvary.
Christian effort to provide water, supply food, provide
April 16, Easter Sunday service at 10:00 a.m. disaster relief, and help people provide for their
On this Holy Day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus families. Help has been given to families all over the
Christ. While Good Friday marks Jesus crucifixion, world. All donations are funneled to worthy causes
Easter is a day to celebrate His resurrection. We decorate through our Presbytery.
our Church with flowers, a significant theme, for Easter
is for rebirth. Our empty cross is our most important
symbol of Christs resurrection and our new life with
Him.

HANDS OF FAITH
Hospitality
Lunches
April 29, 2017, the Hands of Faith will be serving Beef
BBQ, Chips, Pickles, Pie and Ice Cream. May 27, 2017
they will serve Hamburgers, Pickles, Macaroni Salad or
Potato Salad and Jell-O. Lunch will be served from
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The lunches are open to
everyone and we hope you will bring a friend.
Remember there is never a charge for these wonderful
lunches.
Hands of Faith will be asking the congregation for help
in any way they canmaking food, serving, or clean-
up. Please see any member of the Hands of Faith team to
sign up. Also remember these folks work very hard to
make these lunches delicious and fun! Come join the
Team!
Relay for Life - SAVE the date
Friday and Saturday, May 19 and May 20, 2017
4 p.m. Friday 4 p.m. Saturday
Bangor Memorial Park
COME: CELEBRATE - REMEMBER - FIGHT BACK
Join our Walk with Faith team
as WE join in the fight!
Page 3
SPRING Is FINALLY HERE!
(almost)
Spring means Strawberry Festival time!
Saturday, June 17, 4:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m.
We will be serving our very popular BBQs (Beef and
Turkey) along with Hot Dogs and a variety of tasty
salads.
The STAR as always will be the Strawberry
desserts. There will be Strawberry pie, Shortcake,
Chocolate covered Strawberries, and, of course, there
will be Ice Cream and Whipped Cream. How delicious
does that sound!
Please come, bring all your family and friends and
enjoy the goodies along with the fellowship!
Welcome to this ministry
February 19, 2017, Faith Church welcomed Nick,
Sarah, Luke and Charles Schiavone into our Family of
Faith.
We welcome into our Family of Faith, Charles Tony
Schiavone, son of Sarah and Nick Schiavone. Charles
was born October 15, 2017, and was baptized March
12; Charles joins his big brother Luke.
 Page 4
Children of faith
Pastor Ruth Anns message on February 26 was called
the light of Gods presence. It was taken from the book
of Matthew, chapter 17. Jesus had taken Peter, James
and John up a high mountain where His face shone like
the sun.
Our Pastor dramatized this event by placing a bit of
fluorescent water paint on the kids cheeks and when a
light was turned on their, faces shone like the sun.. A nice
way to bring this Bible lesson home to our kids (and
adults).
Soup Sale
We would like to thank everyone who helped with the
Soup Sale on March 4, 2017, the cooks, the bakers, the
veggie preparers, the cleaner-uppers, and especially the
folks who purchased the soup. Without all of you it
would not be possible.
In the large freezer in the Social Hall there is soup for
purchase at $5.50 per quart. There is a cup in the freezer
for your payment. So dont forgetyou dont need to
cook! Soup is always a good meal.
We realized a profit of $496.00, and will be adding to this
amount for the freezer sales.
Cause a Quarter
Our Session would like to invite our members to a
special event. This event - Cause a Quarter - began
the first Sunday in February and will continue to the
middle of April. During this event we ask our
members to donate an item to our church for a specific
cause. The donated items will be used by our church
staff and members throughout the year. The first
Cause a Quarter event for 2017 is the donation of a
Book of Stamps. A new Cause A Quarter event
will begin in late April during the second quarter of this
year. Our Session will talk about our next Cause a
Quarter event at our April Session meeting. Thank
you to everyone for your generosity and support of our
Cause a Quarter events!
Joyful Noise Update
Our Joyful Noise collection of
loose change has been a huge
success since being implemented. Every second
Sunday of each month there has been an additional
collection of loose change during worship. To date,
through March 2017, we have collected $557 since this
collection was started over one year ago. Our first goal
was to pay $200 towards the partial payment to tune
our church organ and piano. This goal has been
accomplished. Our next goal would be to collect
enough money to start a project to paint the exterior
doors, door trim and exterior windows, and trim of our
church. Many special thanks for all of your donations
since this program started.
Weis register tapes (formerly mr.Zs)
Faith Church received another check
from Weis Market Register Tape
Program in the amount of $177.16.
Please continue to save your Weis
register tapes as you can see they are
very important to Faith Church. Please put your register
tapes in the box in the Narthex.
NOTE: Please save only register tapes from Weis (Mr.
Zs). They are the only tapes that qualify for this
program. All other tapes will be discarded.
 Page 5

Lehigh
Presbytery
News

Presbytery Grant
Faith Church recently received a grant from Lehigh
quilters of faith Presbytery to cover the cost of the 1 % increase in
FAITH QUILTERS began meeting and making Rev. Ruth Anns medical insurance. A letter was sent
handmade sewn quilts in February 2006. From to the Presbytery thanking them for their generosity.
2006 to 2010 their quilts were sold at Faiths Our church is grateful for Rev. Ruth Ann who
annual bazaar, proceeds from which went to Faith continues to lead and guide us as we go forth in our
Church. After the bazaars ended, the quilters mission of reaching Gods people where ever they may
continued to make and sell quilts enabling the be.
group to made donations from 2010 through 2016
totaling $9,667.68. The recipients of these
donations were Create a Smile, Wounded Warriors,
Faith Commissioners to
St. Judes Childrens Research Hospital, Shriners Lehigh Presbytery
Hospitals for Children, Slater Family Network,
Susan Antonioli and Lori Pensyl have offered to be our
Families First, Faiths Angel Tree, and our local
Elder Commissioners to Lehigh Presbytery for 2017.
Food Bank at Hope U.C.C., Wind Gap. They also
We want to thank them for their willingness to give
give Faith Church a donation every year for the use
their time and represent Faith Church at meetings of the
of the building.
Presbytery. Thank you Susan and Lori!
The Quilters are close to finishing the quilt
presently in the frame and it has already been sold.
The next quilt the group will be working on is also
Per capita
already sold. There are still some items on display On March 5, Marsha Heimann, the Stated Clerk of
in the social hall that are not spoken for. Lehigh Presbytery, worshipped with our congregation
and spoke to us on the importance of each member
In addition to quilts already prepared for quilting,
contributing his/her Per Capita Apportionment to the
the group is open to making custom-made quilts for
Presbytery. She spoke about the ways our Per Capita
anyone interested in a special design or color
dollars help to make possible the ministry of the
pattern. If you or anyone you know is interested in
Presbytery staff, to assist church leaders in advising
a specialized quilt, please contact Gail Keyes (610-
and caring for candidates for ordination, host meetings
381-5314) or Jerry Roth (610-759-5556). All
and mission groups and assist the local churches in
monies received from the sale of our quilted items
their ministry. Please give careful thought and prayer
are used strictly for missions and worthwhile
to your donation. An envelope for Per Capita giving is
charities as you can see by the above list.
included in each box of offering envelopes.
Page 6

Seeds of Faith Bible Study

the greatest treasure he could possess. Discovering
BIBLE STUDY God's kingdom is like stumbling across hidden
I will open my mouth in treasure or finding the one pearl of great
parables; I will utter things price. When we discover the kingdom of God we
which have been secret from receive the greatest possible treasure -- the Lord
the foundation of the world. himself. Selling all that we have to obtain this
Matthew 5:13 incomparable treasure could mean many things --
our friends, job, our "style of life," what we do
with our free time. Treasure has a special
connection to the heart, the place of desire and
THE PARABLE OF longing, the place of will and focus. The thing we
THE HIDDEN TREASURE most set our heart on is our highest treasure. In this
Matthew 13:44-46 parable what does the treasure of the kingdom refer
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in to? It certainly refers to the kingdom of God in all
a field, which a man found and covered up; then in its aspects. But in a special way, the Lord himself
his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys is the treasure we seek for. Is the Lord the treasure
that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a and delight of your heart?
merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding
one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he Awesome Bible Passage
had and bought it. "The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent."
Meditation: In a peasant community the best safe Exodus 14:14
was often the earth. The man in the parable "went
in his joy" to sell everything. Why? Because he
found a treasure worth possessing above all else he
had. He did not, however, have enough to buy the
treasure. Fortunately, he only needed enough to
buy the field. In a similar fashion, God offers his
kingdom as incomparable treasure at a price we
can afford! We can't pay the full price for the life
SEEDS OF FAITH PRAYER
which God gives us; but when we exchange our Lord Jesus, reveal to me the true riches of your
life for the life which God offers, we receive a kingdom. Help me to set my heart on you alone as
treasure beyond compare. The pearl of great price the treasure beyond compare with any other. Free
also tells us a similar lesson. Pearls in the ancient my heart of any inordinate desires or attachment
world came to represent the supremely to other things that I may freely give to you all
valuable. Jesus remarked that one should not cast that I have in joy and gratitude for all that you
pearls before swine. (Matthew 7:6). Why would a have given to me. May I always find joy and
merchant sell everything for a pearl? No doubt delight in your presence."
because he was attracted to what he thought was
 Page 7

Agnes Anderson Richard (Dick) Snyder

Anita Amy Jack & Doris Wilson
Ruth Breidinger June Wismer
Willis Brown Our Troops
April Mary Hontz Our Country
03 James Davey Betty Powell
04 Christine Dania
Arthur Keyes faiths KitChen Counter
05 Kelsey DiBilio
09 Tighe Smolenyak
15 Alyson Mucha
20 Jeff Weil Pasta Fagioli in a Crock Pot
21 Bryan Stout
22 Buddy Lambert
24 Mary Detrick Ingredients:
30 Betty Woolley
2 lbs. of ground beef
May 1 onion, chopped
02 Robert Smith 3 carrots, chopped
03 Geraldine Ceraul 4 stalks of celery, chopped
Joseph Paolini 2 (28 oz) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
04 David Burke 1 (16 oz) can red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
Randy Holden 1 (16 oz) can white kidney beans, drained & rinsed
07 Aisha Cramer 3 (10 oz) cans of beef stock
10 Maureen Smolenyak 3 tsp. oregano
12 Jason Iaccio 2 tsp. pepper
15 Madison Abbott 5 tsp. parsley
16 Sarah Kiefer 1 tsp. Tabasco sauce (optional)
Kari Ann Pickens
1 (20 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
18 Lori Pensyl
8 ounces of pasta
20 Richard Altemose
22 Ethan Dotta
Brown the beef and drain the fat......then put into
Jack Schippers III
crock pot with all other ingredients except the
23 Riley Hall
Nancy Stump pasta. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5
Jack Wilson hours. Add the pasta 30 minutes before eating.
27 Agnes Anderson Serve with crusty warm bread!!! Note: if you do
Cody Paolini not have a large crock pot, cut the recipe in half.
Robert Wilson Pasta Fagioli also freezes wonderfully, so you can
30 Ethan Stout make a big batch and freeze the rest!!!
31 Carol Snyder
Enjoy everyone!
Page 8
mothers day
May 14, 2017
The origins of Mother's Day are attributed to different
people. Many believe that two women, Julia Ward
Howe and Anna Jarvis were important in establishing
the tradition of Mother's Day in the United States.
Other sources say that Juliet Calhoun Blakely initiated
Mothers Day in Albion, Michigan, in the late 1800s.
Her sons pay tribute to her each year and urged others
to honor their mothers.
Around 1870, Julia Ward Howe called for Mother's
Day to be celebrated each year to encourage pacifism
and disarmament amongst women. It continued to be
held in Boston for about ten years under her
sponsorship, but died out after that.
In 1907, Anna Jarvis held a private Mother's Day
celebration in memory of her mother, Ann Jarvis, in
Grafton, West Virginia. Ann Jarvis had organized
"Mother's Day Work Clubs" to improve health and
cleanliness in the area where she lived. Anna Jarvis
launched a quest for Mother's Day to be more widely
recognized. Her campaign was later financially
supported by John Wanamaker, clothing merchant from
Philadelphia.
In 1908, she was instrumental in arranging a service in
the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton,
West Virginia, which was attended by 407 children and
their mothers. The church has now become the
International Mother's Day Shrine. It is a tribute to all
mothers and has been designated as a National Historic
Landmark.
Mother's Day has become a day that focuses on
generally recognizing mothers' and mother figures'
roles. Mother's Day has also become an increasingly
important event for businesses in recent years. This is
particularly true of restaurants and businesses
manufacturing and selling cards and gift items.
fathers day
June 18, 2017
Though Fathers Day wasnt made a national holiday
until 1972, the efforts of one woman in Washington
sparked a movement to celebrate dads long before then.
In 1909, Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington,
was inspired to create a holiday honoring fathers.
William Jackson Smart, her father, was a farmer and
Civil War veteran that raised Sonora and her five
younger brothers by himself after his wife, Ellen, died
giving birth to their youngest child in 1898. While
attending a Mothers Day church service in 1909,
Sonora, then 27, came up with the idea.
Within a few months, Sonora had convinced the
Spokane Ministerial Association and the YMCA to set
aside a Sunday in June to celebrate fathers. She
proposed June 5, her fathers birthday, but the ministers
chose the third Sunday in June so that they would have
more time after Mothers Day (the second Sunday in
May) to prepare their sermons. So it was that on June
19, 1910, Sonora delivered presents to handicapped
fathers, boys from the YMCA decorated their lapels
with fresh-cut roses (red for living fathers, white for the
deceased), and the citys ministers devoted their
homilies to fatherhood. The widely publicized events in
Spokane struck a chord that reached all the way to
Washington, D.C., and Sonora's celebration started its
path to becoming a national holiday.
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson and his family
personally observed the day.
Eight years later, President Calvin Coolidge signed a
resolution in favor of Fathers Day to establish more
intimate relations between fathers and their children
and to impress upon fathers the full measure of
their obligations.
In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed an executive
order that the holiday be celebrated on the third Sunday
in June.
Under President Richard Nixon, in 1972, Congress
passed an act officially making Fathers Day a national
holiday. (Six years later, Sonora died at age 96.)