St. Paul’s Lutheran Church,

417 Howertown Rd, Catasauqua, PA 18032

610-264-3221 Fax: 610-264-5732

Email:stpaulschurch@rcn.comWeb:www.stpaulscatasauqua.com

Child Care: 610-264-0190

Sunday Worship 8:00 am Holy Communion 9:00 am Sunday School10:30 am Worship 1st & 3rd Sunday Holy Communion_____________________________

Church Office Hours Monday-Friday 9:00am-3:00pm

Sunday SchoolSeptember-Penetcost 9:00am

Child Care CenterMonday-Friday 7:30am-5:30pm

_______________________

Church Staff:Pastor: vacant Pr. Emeritus: Rev. Dr. Hartland Gifford Dir. Music: vacantOffice Admin: Charleen BurikTreasurer: Paul Peters Financial Sec: Debbie StewartDir. Child Care: Cindy HickeySexton: Robert Crogran

______________________

2015-16Congregation Council

Robert Bastian Tom DannerDoug NewhardTom RobertsRobin RuchHelene Sterner (6) vacancies

Prepare the way of the Lord!

John the Baptist shouted this phrase to all who would listen to him over two thousand years ago, but

what does it mean today and especially during the season of Ad-vent? We know that during Advent we prepare our hearts and minds as we look forward to preparing to celebrate and honor the birth of Je-sus. We do this in many ways, for example in church; we may set out the advent wreath with its four blue candles along its edges and each week we light one candle until all four candles are lit. Then on Christmas, we light the final white candle in the center that repre-sents the light of the world – Jesus Christ himself. We also may set out a manager with its beautiful nativity scene and each week we look forward to adding another figurine that represents us getting closer to Christmas day when we finally get to celebrate baby Jesus’ birth. At home, we may put up a Christmas tree and string it with tons of lights and decorate it and our homes with meticulous care while we sing our favorite Christmas carols. We shop for just the right gifts to give our loved ones and rush home to put them under the tree in all their colorful holiday wrappings. Don’t forget the holiday baking and cooking. What would Christmas day be without our fa-vorite meal shared with all our families and friends? We seem to have a good handle on what Advent means as we wait and prepare for the arrival of Christmas - our Savior's first coming, but do we really understand what Advent means as we faithful wait for his second coming. Yes, remember he promised to return to us and this is the promise hope we are to live in day by day, not just during Advent and Christmas To understand and see Advent in this light, we should look at John the Baptist’s message. In essence he is telling us to stop; stop wasting time; stop focusing only on ourselves, but keep our hearts opened and always turned toward God, so that when he does return we will recognize and be ready for him. Understandable, our lives are usually so busy that we may lose focus and sometimes forget to do this. But the good news is that it is easier than you think to keep the Advent spirit all year around. We all are God’s children and we all have been sealed with the holy spirit of promise, making us all equal in his love and grace, as long as we remember to always love one another as he loves us. After all, this is his greatest commandment and how simple it is to keep; we just have to love. So this Advent season when you hear the phrase ‘Prepare the way of the Lord’, you’ll know what it means as you joyfully share God’s grace and love with everyone and they will know you are His disciple and you’re not only ready for when He comes again, but you eagerly await that blessed day..

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The November Epistle

Treasury ReportEach one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver - 2 Corinthi-

ans 9:7

Jan-Sept YTD Financial UpdateWeekly Envelopes

Budgeted: $85,000Received: $62,684

All active St. Paul members: in order to keep your mem-bership up-to-date, please remember to

complete and return a Holy Com-munion card (at least once a year) as a record of your Communion. Cards are located in the pews and completed card can be placed in the offering plate. Also, please re-member to use your offering en-velopes or put your envelope number on your offering checks as a record of your giving. If you haven’t had offering envelopes assigned to you, please contact the church office.

Hospital Visits: If you or someone you know is admitted into the hospital or reha-

bilitation facility, it is very impor-tant to notify the church as soon as possible. You can do this by either calling the church office directly or inform the hospital upon admittance that you are a member of St. Paul’s and they will list you under our Pastoral Code 312PLEASE NOTE: During our transition of calling a new pastor & waiting for an interim pastor, Pastor George Spieker has gra-

ciously agreed to do funerals, weddings, and crises for St. Paul’s members.

November is here and before we know it we will be celebrating Thanksgiving. We start out the month wearing our best smiles for picture day on Thursday, No-vember 5th. For the rest of No-vember, all of our children will talk about the meaning of Thanksgiving and create different types of Thanksgiving projects. The hallways and bulletin boards will be filled with Pilgrims and Indians, turkeys, and cornucopias. This is a great time of year to re-flect on all of the things we are thankful for. We will celebrate by eating a Thanksgiving meal in Fellowship Hall on Wednesday, November 18th. The children will make something festive to wear to the feast. Some will wear Pil-grim hats and others will wear Native American headbands with feathers. We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday spent with family and friends!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Thanks-giving!

Cynthia Hickey & Amanda Fritz

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Treasury ReportEach one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver - 2 Corinthi-

ans 9:7

Jan-Sept YTD Financial UpdateWeekly Envelopes

Budgeted: $85,000Received: $62,684

Child Care Director & Assistant Director

In case of in-clement weather, it might become necessary to can-

cel a church service. Worship service will normally not be can-cel, although it is possible in case

of a State of Emergency

If this happens, information will be posted on Ch69 WFMZ –TV church listings and on WFMZ

Website: www.wfmz.com. We will be listed as ST PAUL. LUTHERAN –CATASAUQUA

Upcoming EventsNovember 01: All Saint’s DayNovember 15: Pie Sale dead-lineNovember 22: Pie Sale Pick up – Fellowship HallNovember 23: Ecumenical Thanksgiving Svs:

Salem UCC 7pmNovember 26: Thanksgiving DayNovember 28: Holly Fair 9am–2:pmNovember 29: 1st Sunday of Advent

December 05: Lyons Club Din-nerDecember 20 Christmas Bas-ket Raffle December 20: Children’s Christmas PageantDecember 24: Christmas Eve Svcs. 7/10pmDecember 31: New Year’s Eve~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Remembering the Faithful De-

partedTruly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He

does not come into judgment, but has

passed from death to life. John 5:24-29

On November 1, we remem-bered the following members and families of St. Paul are who have gone home to be with our

Lord this past year. *Mary Jane Harding Brook-

bank**Betty & Lewis Casciotti*

Darryl Dawkins* *Doris Diefenderfer*Betty

Ann Drury**Flora May Fritzges*James

Gier* *Frederick “Leonard” Hard-

ing, Jr.**Ruth Lewis*Joyce Keller Mus-

sleman**Dorothy Rehrig*Paul

Strausser**Ralph ‘Bill’ Younger*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ecumenical Thanksgiving Ser-vice on November

23 at 7pm at Salem UCC, Catasauqua will have our annual Community Thanksgiving service. It is on this day our community wor-

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ships together, thanking God for all of His many blessings. Chorus from local churches will gather to sing an anthem. Im-mediately following the service, we will have a time of fellow-ship. Come join us to thank our Gracious God for all His many blessings~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our annual Sunday School Christmas Program will be on December 20th during the 10:30am service. It is a wor-ship service in which the chil-dren provide one of the best sermons you hear and see at our church. The entire Sunday school will be presenting this very special program for our congregation. Come, see, and feel the story of the birth of Je-sus through the eyes of chil-dren.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This year we will be holdingTraditional Christmas Eve

Services on December 24 at both our evening services: 7pm & 10pm. We look forward to sharing this special season of Christ’s birth with you and your family

For unto us a Child is born; and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We remember the family of Dorothy Rehrig who passed away on October 5th.

Dorothy’s funeral was held in Ohio where she had recently resided.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~

We are pleased to welcome our newest members into our St. Paul’s family: JoAnn Staller.

JoAnn is the mother of our Council member

Robin Ruch. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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December’s Deadline Nov 13 Epistle Volunteers: November 20

If you would like to put an article or announcement in our newletter, please E-mail your articles to stpaulschurch@rcn.com

Look at the ways you can get your Epistle: E-Mail or sent it to my Smartphone

Just contact the church office to let us know

Don’t forget you can also get our Epistle news-letter and up-to-date church information on our website too www.stpaulscatasauqua.com

check St. Paul’s Facebook page too!

St Paul‘s Com-mittees &

Volunteer Direc-tory

Acolytes: Laurie PernaAltar Guild: Janet FalkoChild Care: Len WittChristian Ed: Diane NewhardCommunion Assist: Laurie PernaEpistle: Charleen BurikFinance: Len WittFundraising: Bob BastianGreeters: Bob BastianLectors: Judy DonchezMemorials: Betty MacHosePrayer Chain: Joanne SpenglerProperty: Bob BastianScouts: Robin RuchSocial Ministry: June Hahn

Richard Collins, Norbert Huber, David Rickey

You may contact the church office for ad-

dresses for cards and well wishes

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May we pray for you?Prayer Request Card

The importance of prayer is affirmed throughout the Bible. As a church, we are committed to pray-your needs are important to us. Please share your prayer request on this card and return it by either placing it in offering plate or send to church office at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 417 Howertown Rd, Catasauqua, Pa 18032

Date: _______________ Your Name:

__________________________________

Address___________________________

__________________________________

___My request is confidential

___ I would like to speak to Pastor

My phone number is: __________________

My prayer request__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

Never underestimate the power of prayer. When you are praying according to God's will, your prayer is

unstoppable! Nov. 1

December’s Deadline Nov 13 Epistle Volunteers: November 20

If you would like to put an article or announcement in our newletter, please E-mail your articles to stpaulschurch@rcn.com

Look at the ways you can get your Epistle: E-Mail or sent it to my Smartphone

Just contact the church office to let us know

Don’t forget you can also get our Epistle news-letter and up-to-date church information on our website too www.stpaulscatasauqua.com

check St. Paul’s Facebook page too!

Drop in at Redner’s in White-hall or Northampton and get a free Save-a-Tape card. Present it at the register when you pay for your purchases, then bring your receipts to the church. Every $5,000 in Red-ner’s receipts earns St. Paul’s Church $50!Volunteer Coordinator: Julie Stauffer

Soda Tabs: For the Phil-adelphia Ronald McDon-

ald House. The PRMH provides housing to the families of pa-tients in the local children's hos-pitals, and the soda tabs are a huge boost to the charity's fi-nances. Bring your tabs to wor-ship on Sundays, or to the church office any day of the week, and help with this impor-tant program!

Inkjet Cartridges: Help St. Paul's itself by bring-ing in your used printer

& fax machine cartridges! We trade them in & receive store credit-$2.00 for every qualify-ing print cartridge. Not only will it contribute to fundraising at St. Paul's, but it keeps these things out of landfills & helps protect the environment! Every-one wins! Volunteer Coordinator: Re-becca Spieker

Miller Key- stone Blood Center We want to thank all who do-nated blood re-cently. Remember to say you’re giving for St. Paul’s whenever you donate blood!

Catasauqua Food Bank Needs: Bisquick or Flower, Sugar, Corn Meal/Corn Muffin Mix, Instant Mashed Potatoes, Stuff-ing Mix, Canned Gravy or Gravy Packets, Creamed Soup, Cranberry Sauce, Canned Veg-gies, Yams, Marshmallows, Canned Fruit, Canned Pie Fill-ing, Pie Crust Mix, Canned Pumpkin, Canned Evaporated Milk, Jell-O and Pudding Mixes. Note: Cans with pop-up lids for easy opening will be greatly appreciated. Drop off your donations for the Food Pantry in the shopping basket in the Church Narthex

GoodSearch.com Search the web with Yahoo-powered GoodSearch.com and they’ll donate a penny to our church each time you search! Shop at more than 600 GoodShop.com merchants including Amazon, Best Buy, Toys R Us, and oth-ers, and a percentage of each purchase will go to our church! For searching go to:http://www.goodsearch.com/?charityid=898534

Donations Welcomed

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Ways to help St. Paul’s & Our Commu-nity

Nov. 1

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Fundraiser

Thanksgiving Pie Sale

Selection: Pumpkin PiePumpkin Roll

Apple Pie

Let us do the baking for you this holiday

Don’t want a pie,how about purchasing one for someone else.

Pies make great gifts.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

If you would like to help offset the cost of purchasing Christmas trees for our beautiful sanctuary this Christmas season, please mark your dona-tions for Christmas trees.

If you would like to help offset the cost of this year’s snow re-moval bills and (unfortunately) the

balance still due from last year, please marked your donation for snow re-moval.

Is your inner Santa looking for a stocking to fill? With the upcoming Advent/ Christmas season for the Church and the upcoming cold and flu season in the Child Care Center,

we have many opportunities for you to serve God by donating any of the following items from our Wish list.

*Case of copier paper 8 1/2 x 11 or 8 1/2 x 14 *Box of tis-sues*Roll or book of stamps *Hand Wipes (container or refill package)*HP Inkjet Print Cartridge: 61/61, 22/27 or 56/58 *Paper tow-els

Your generosity will be greatly appreciated. All Items can be dropped off to the church office.

Monetary donations can either be sent to church office or place in offer-ing plate

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Pre-Orders ONLY* Last day to place orders will be Nov. 15th. * Orders to be picked up at St. Paul’s on:

Sunday, Nov. 22 * Contact: Church office at 610-264-3221

Order Form

Name: ____________________________________________

(Please print clearly)

Christmas Flower DedicationsIf you would like to honor or remember a loved one

at Christmas, please fill out and return this form with payment (checks are made payable to St. Paul’s

Lutheran Church) and place either in the offering plate or send to the church office no later than SUN-

DAY, DECEMBER 6th

The names of your loved ones will be recognized in our Christmas Eve service bulletins.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This Dedicated is from:

___________________________________

This Dedication is

In Memory of:

___________________________________OR

In Honor of:

___________________________________

$8/ea

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Fundraiser

Thanksgiving Pie Sale

Selection: Pumpkin PiePumpkin Roll

Apple Pie

Let us do the baking for you this holiday

Don’t want a pie,how about purchasing one for someone else.

Pies make great gifts.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

May the birthday candles that

represent the years of your life be a reflection to others of your love for

Christ.

11/1 Diane Laubach11/2 Rena’ Ack-erman11/4 Janet Corello11/8 Glenn Roth11/8 Susan Vrablic11/10 Keith Hodge11/10 Michael Matchette11/11 Lauren Derhammer11/11 Adam Reinhart11/12 Barbara Searfass

11/13 Gladys Bowen11/13 Guy Fried11/14 Benjamin Considine11/18 Timothy Price11/19 Karen Hen-dricks11/19 Warren Winch11/21 Linda Gier11/21 Morgan Meckes11/21 Kerry Ortiz

11/22Elizabeth

Flynn11/22 Amanda Peters11/23 Wendy Panasik11/26 Taylor Breisch11/27 Karen De-walt11/27 Stephanie Winkler11/28 Judy Buss11/28 Angela Kulp11/30 Rebecca Spieker

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11/1 Christine & Brian Voorhees 1811/3 Scott & Christine Sutter 2511/5 Ronald & Kimberly Sandt 2111/13 Leonard & Kathleen Witt Jr 3911/14 Robert & Judith Bastian 611/26 Heather & Shawn Jones 511/30 Jessica & Justin Ryan 13

Special Birth-days

A few of our seniors will be celebrating birthdays this month. Please take the time

to remember them with a card or note.

11/12 Barbara Searfass423 Race St, Catasauqua, Pa 18032

11/13 Gladys BowenSacred Heart Senior Living, 602 E. 21st Street, Room 512B , Northampton, PA 18067

11/30 Rebecca Spieker

Order Form

Name: ____________________________________________

(Please print clearly)

Christmas Flower DedicationsIf you would like to honor or remember a loved one

at Christmas, please fill out and return this form with payment (checks are made payable to St. Paul’s

Lutheran Church) and place either in the offering plate or send to the church office no later than SUN-

DAY, DECEMBER 6th

The names of your loved ones will be recognized in our Christmas Eve service bulletins.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This Dedicated is from:

___________________________________

This Dedication is

In Memory of:

___________________________________OR

In Honor of:

___________________________________

Pause and Give ThanksWherever you find yourself today,

Whether filled with joy or wrapped in pain,Remember to pause a moment and give thanks

For no other event in our history and time,Can change our lives like the birth of Christ – so divine.

His love never failing, and His Presence always nearThe greatest wonder in Heaven on Christmas did appear.God’s gift full of grace that brings life, love, and hope,

Can be unwrapped by us all - changing life’s scope.For when we invite His life into our hearts,

Serving at St. Paul's in NovemberDATE PASTOR ORGANIST LECTOR ALTAR GUILD11/1 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM

Pr. Richard Bardo - Pr. Richard Bardo J. MooneyL. Reitz

10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AMPr. Richard Bardo Cindy Geho Adam Bastidas T. Bastidas

L. Miller11/8 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM

Pr. John Deisinger - Pr. John Deisinger -

10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AMPr. John Deisinger Cindy Geho Tammie Englert -

11/15 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AMPr. Glenn Simmons - Pr. Glenn Simmons J. Falko

R. Ruch10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AM

Pr. Glenn Simmons Cindy Geho Trajano Bastidas B. Rabenold

11/22 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AMPr. Gerald Rounds - Pr. Gerald Rounds -

10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AMPr. Gerald Rounds Cindy Geho Paula Kesack -

11/29 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AM 8:00 AMPr. John Tomlinson - Pr. John Tomlinson P. Gerber

D. Stewart10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AM

Pr. John Tomlinson Rev. Dianne Kareh Doug Newhard L. Anglestein

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Honor a loved one, give thanks for an anniversary or accomplishment, or commemorate a loved one’s birthday or death by sponsoring flowers for our altar or by sponsoring our church bulletins. If you would like to celebrate in this way, please fill out an Altar Flower and/or Bulletin Dedication form along with payment of $40/$15 & submit to church office. Dedication forms are in the Narthex. OPEN Dedications for November are:Date Flowers Bulletin Date Flowers Bulletin11/01/15 Wehr Wehr 11/22/15 Wehr Wehr11/08/15 open Wassum 11/29/15 Spieker open11/15/15 Younger open

Pause and Give ThanksWherever you find yourself today,

Whether filled with joy or wrapped in pain,Remember to pause a moment and give thanks

For no other event in our history and time,Can change our lives like the birth of Christ – so divine.

His love never failing, and His Presence always nearThe greatest wonder in Heaven on Christmas did appear.God’s gift full of grace that brings life, love, and hope,

Can be unwrapped by us all - changing life’s scope.For when we invite His life into our hearts,

November

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

18:00 Com-munion9:00 Sun. Sch10:30 Com-munion

27pm Wor-ship 7pm Scouts

36:30 Girl Scouts7pm Prop-erty

Election Day

46:30 Cadettes

5 7pm Cub Pack

6.

7

88:00 Com-munion9:00 Sun. Sch.10:30 Wor-ship

97pm Scouts

106:30 Girl ScoutsVet-eran’s Day

116:30 Cadettes

6:30 Fund-raising

127pm Fi-nance7pm Cub Pack

13Epistle Dead-line

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158:00 Com-munion9:00 Sun. Sch10:30 Com-munion

Pie sale ends

167pm Scouts7pm Council7pm CYSA

176:30 Girl Scouts7pm Child Care

186:30 Cadettes

197pm Cub Pack

209am Epistle Volun-teers

21

22

8:00 Com-munion9:00 Sun-day Sch10:30 Wor-ship

Pie pick up

237pm Scouts

7pm Salem UCC

246:30 Girl Scouts

256:30 Cadettes

26

Church officeCLOSED

27

Church officeCLOSED

289:00am – 2:00pm

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NovemberSun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

29 1st Sunday of Ad-vent8:00 Com-munion9:00 Sun-day Sch10:30 Com-munion

30

Don’t forget you can view our calendar on-line by visiting our website www.stpaulscatasauqua.com and click on Calendar link

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The Epistle

A monthly publication of

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church417 Howertown Road

Catasauqua, PA 18032610-264-3221

Church Office Hours Sunday School Monday-Friday - 9:00am-3:00pm September-Pentecost - 9:00am

Child Care Center

Monday-Friday - 7:30am-5:30pm

November Worship ServicesNovember 1st 23rd Sunday after Pentecost 8:00 a.m. – Spoken Holy Communion 9:00 a.m. Sunday School 10:30 p.m. – Holy Communion

November 8th 24th Sunday after Pentecost 8:00 a.m. – Spoken Holy Communion 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School 10:30 p.m. – Worship

November 15th 25th Sunday after Pentecost 8:00 a.m. – Spoken Holy Communion 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School10:30 a.m. – Holy Communion

November 22nd Christ the King Sunday 8:00 a.m. – Spoken Holy Communion 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School10:30 a.m. – Worship

November 29th 1st Sunday of Advent 8:00 a.m. – Spoken Holy Communion 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School10:30 a.m. – Holy Communion