Month: September 2022

What teacher made the biggest impact on your life, and why?

Lynn Shirk: Dr. Ion Agheana, my college Spanish professor. He encouraged me to apply to be a teaching assistant during my sophomore year. I was painfully shy and I had never even considered becoming a teacher. I got the job and discovered my passion for teaching.

Elizabeth Gawron: Art teachers have always been the people who created an environment I could grow in as well as make mistakes in. The art teacher who has made the greatest difference in my life is my husband, Luke. His loyalty, commitment, creativity and faith in me have transformed my life into the blessing it is today.

Brian Montgomery: Professor White, my freshman (Plebe year at the Naval Academy) English professor, a very animated teacher, gave his perspective on why a BS degree (yes, bachelor of science) in English would stand me in good stead as a Naval officer. I was convinced and changed my major from Aerospace Engineering to English. It was a big change, and in hindsight, a good one.

Susan Stagg: Mr. Marchetti, my sophomore English teacher in high school. He challenged us (and required us) to be critical thinkers, and I believe that is an essential skill that is served me well throughout my life.

Ron Hetrick: My junior high school teachers. They recognized that I had academic potential and encouraged me to want to exceed in school. Because of this experience, I decided I wanted to be an educator as my future occupation. This decision led to a very fulfilling career.

• The Session approved a motion that would permit Debbie Hough to administer the Sacrament of Communion. This measure will be presented to the presbytery with a request that they commission Debbie in this capacity.
• Derry’s annual blood drive will be held on Sunday, December 11, 2022.
• An application for credit cards issued by Northwest Bank were approved for certain administrative staff to make church-related purchases.
• Approved the transfer of $12,000 per year from the property rental income account to an administrative account which will cover the costs of obtaining outside financial consulting services.
• Received information on this year’s Stewardship campaign and the preliminary 2023 budget.

The fall series of New Member Discovery Classes will be held 9-10 am Sundays, Oct 30 – Nov 20 in the John Elder Classroom. Child care is available. You’ll learn about the mission and ministry of Derry Church and how you can be involved. Registration is always appreciated, never required: click to RSVP.

Those who choose to join Derry Church will be received on Sunday, Nov 20 at the 10:30 am service.

10-11 AM IN THE DERRY CHURCH PARKING LOT

Families, you’re invited to enjoy a safe space to “Trunk or Treat” with your little ones. There is no cost to participate, simply come in costume and enjoy saying hello and trick-or-treating with your church friends. 

Individuals, couples and families can join the fun by decorating their vehicles and providing candy for the “Trunk or Treat” experience. Let us know you’ll participate:

• Register a Trunk or Treat Vehicle
• Register Your Trunk or Treaters

Candy donations welcome! Drop candy in the designated box between the doors at the Mansion Road entrance.

Presbyterian Women’s Jumbles Shop will return this year along with the Cookie Walk on Saturday morning, Dec 3. Due to limited space, donated items are restricted to jewelry, nice Christmas decorations, collectibles, and items suitable for gifts, all in good condition. NO furniture, books, CD’s, tapes, or clothing. NO JUNK! It will be tossed.  

Items can dropped off in Room 1 from Nov. 21-30. Anyone out of town at that time who wishes to donate, please contact Nancy Kitzmiller.

Volunteers are needed for Friday, Dec 2 to set up and for Saturday, Dec 3 for sales and cleanup. To volunteer, please contact Nancy, Sally McKinney, or Linda Chidester.

This year, Derry Church’s Advent devotional will be reflections and thoughts on lines from our favorite Christmas carols. Click here to add your name and a line or phrase from a Christmas carol of your choice. Make sure that line has not already been chosen by someone else. You may share thoughts, reflections, or memories inspired by the line of your choice. Send your devotion of 500 words or less to Pastor Stephen by Tuesday, Nov 15.

Devotionals will be available on the first Sunday of Advent (Nov 27) and will be delivered to those who are unable to leave their own homes easily.

2 PM SUNDAY, OCT 23 ON THE MILTON HERSHEY SCHOOL GROUNDS

Join Derry friends by raising money for local food banks and support Church World Service’s effort to end hunger across the globe!

CLICK TO SIGN UP AND/OR DONATE TO THE CROP WALK

You can also sign up and turn in donations at a table in the Narthex on Oct 9, 16 & 23.

Derry Church is a strong supporter of alleviating hunger in our local communities. Not only is this a national problem but it affects many families locally as well. We hope to have a strong turnout to show our support for the Central PA Food Bank, the Hershey and Hummelstown Food Pantries and other local organizations. More details coming soon. Get ready to walk!

10 AM – 3 PM SATURDAY, OCT 8 AT THE HARRISBURG KOREAN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 1127 SLATE HILL ROAD, CAMP HILL

Come experience Korean culture through activities, and folk performances! A variety of Korean foods are available for purchase (Bibimbob, Bulgogi, Kimchi, etc) for $10-$20. Enjoy performances by the Harrisburg Korean Culture School and Selahart group from 11 am – 2 pm.

If you could have a meal with any three people from history, who would they be?

Jan Nixon: Dolly Madison, John Adams, Queen Elizabeth II

Richard Carty: Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Queen Victoria

Pam Whitenack: Milton Hershey, Eleanor Roosevelt, Julia Child

Courtney McKinney-Whitaker: Abigail Adams, Elizabeth Gaskell, Frederick Douglass

Cindy Warnock: Benjamin Franklin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Grace Banker 

Cash Flow – Operating Fund as of 8/31/22

Notes from the treasurer:

• Contributions are about $86K ahead of 2021 and $79K ahead of estimated contributions through August,
• Mission and Peace is $27K behind 2021, and Building & Grounds is about $28K below 2021. We do expect these committees to spend their 2022 budget.

4:30 PM SUNDAYS BEGINNING OCT 9 ON ZOOM • CLICK TO REGISTER

You are invited to join a transformational Bible study sponsored by the Presbytery of Carlisle and led by Honduras mission co-worker Dori Hjalmarson. “Church, Community and Mission” examines God’s mission of jubilee and salvation in the world and the church’s participation in that mission.

Over the past two years, the Honduras Presbyterian Church has used the study to generate transformation and energetic reflection on its relationship to the larger community, redefining “evangelism” and Christian responsibility. The study was written by professors at the Latin American Biblical University in Costa Rica and translated to English by Presbyterian mission co-workers. It is participatory, conversational, and open-minded.

10 AM – 12 PM SATURDAY, OCT 22 IN ROOM 7

For those grieving the loss of a loved one, this workshop helps with support, encouragement and advice for the upcoming holiday season. Free. RSVP to the church office.

Orange Day calls attention to exploitation of females worldwide and people working to end it.

Recently 50 hygiene bags were delivered to the Domestic Violence Center in Harrisburg. Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible with donations of items, money and time to sew the bags, pictured right.

Pray for the victims and the staff working to help them break from the cycle of abuse: wear orange (or an orange ribbon) to show your support.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS BY WED OCT 6 •  PICK UP MEALS 11 AM – 1 PM SAT OCT 15 AT HOPE WITHIN, 4748 E HARRISBURG PIKE, ELIZABETHTOWN 

The resources of our mission partner Hope Within Ministries have been considerably strained by the influx of so many new patients, and their team would really appreciate your support for this chicken BBQ fundraiser. Order meals for yourself and/or purchase for one of the clinic’s patients. Either way, your support is appreciated!

If you could have a meal with any three people alive today, who would they be?

Mayangela Speicher: Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Harrison Ford

Pete Steelman: V.S. Ramachandran (neuroscientist), Kevin Feige (Marvel Czar), Jerry Seinfeld

Mary Lemons: YoYo Ma, RIchard Engel, Liz Cheney

Katie McKinney-Gavazzi: Hillary Clinton, Nicole Wallace (reporter and former press secretary), Bono (from the band U2)

Tim Guenther: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Paul Krugman, Selena Gomez.

Bring your coins for the Alliance for Children Everywhere (ACE) Change 4 Children on Sunday, Sept 18

Alfie is one of 50 children Alliance for Children Everywhere was able to give the gift of family through last year’s contributions to Change 4 Children. His mother did not have the means to keep him and decided to leave him in the care of the crisis nurseries at the age of one month. As his family origins were largely unknown, it was realized reintegration was not possible for Alfie. The foster care team began proceedings to clear him for adoption. A young Zambian couple was matched with him, and the bonding process began at the House of Moses. Foster-to-adopt training has been going well, and Alfie is expected to soon go home with his new parents.

Change 4 Children baskets will be available on Sept 18 for donations to continue this and other ACE programs. Bring your change in zip-closed bags, remembering to bag any foreign coins separately. Check that the bag is free of paper clips, pins, batteries, buttons — anything that is not legal tender — as these clog the coin sorting machine.  

Change 4 Children is collected quarterly at Derry Church. The next offering will be received on Sunday, Dec 11.

Kids music is starting up at Derry Church for the school year! Children in preschool through 5th grade are invited to join Ms. Folts on Tuesday evenings to explore, question, and express your relationship with God through music. Youth in 6th-12th grades, stay tuned: there will be music coming for you, too! 

Young children in preschool and kindergarten will meet in Room 4 from 5:45-6:15 pm. During that half hour, we will sing, dance, and play together. Children in 1st-5th grades will meet from 6:15-6:45 in the Sanctuary. During our half hour we will sing, dance, play, and drum together. Children in 2nd-5th grades, stay until 7:20 pm to ring chimes!

All age groups will experience music from all over the world from hymns in Glory to God, to Ghanian drum circles, to Israeli folk dances. We will even compose some of our own music! All are welcome. No musical experience necessary. We look forward to having many kids join us! Questions? Contact Claire Folts.

6:30 PM TUESDAY, OCT 18 IN THE SANCTUARY • FREE WILL OFFERING

Derry Church welcomes organist Simon Johnson, Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral, London, UK.

Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. The largest Catholic church in the UK, it is the seat of Vincent Cardinal Nicholas, the Archbishop of Westminster. The Cathedral Choir is acclaimed as one of the world’s great choirs and remains the only Catholic Cathedral choir in the world to sing daily Mass and Vespers. Simon Johnson’s predecessors include Stephen Cleobury, David Hill, James O’Donnell and Martin Baker.

Johnson was previously the Organist and Assistant Director of Music at St Paul’s Cathedral since 2008, during which time he played for all the national events that have taken place there, including the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen and the funeral of Baroness Thatcher. Previously he was Assistant Master of Music at St Albans Cathedral, establishing the fine reputation of the Girls’ Choir. His first job was as Director of Music as All Saints’ Church in Northampton.

Johnson has performed as soloist and continuo player with premier British orchestras in including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Mozart Players, the City of London Sinfonia, the London Baroque and the Cardinall’s Musick. His wide-ranging music making also included playing the organ on the soundtrack for the Hollywood blockbuster move the Grand Budapest Hotel, the soundtrack of which won an Oscar and a Grammy award in the U.S. and a Bafta.

He also enjoys orchestral conducting; his compositions are published by OUP and Peters. In 2018 he addressed the symposium of the Pontifical Council for Culture in Rome and in the same year he worked with NASA and the International Space Station in a sell-out performance of Holst’s The Planets at St. Paul’s.

Simon has had an extensive European recital career with recent venues that included Cologne Cathedral, Freiburg Cathedral, Weingarten Abbey, St. Florian Church with the organ of Bruckner, the Turku and Espoo Cathedrals in Finland; Also, the Frauenkirche in Dresden, Germany,  Himmerod Abbey, in Germany, Vasteras Cathedral in Sweden, and Palma de Mallorca Cathedral. Closer to home he played concerts at the Westminster Cathedral, London, Truro Cathedral, York Minster, Beverly Minster, Merton College, Oxford, and Westminster Central Hall.

Derry Church teams deliver meals to homebound residents in Derry Township every Friday. The team that delivers meals on the first Friday of each month is looking for a new driver to join them.

Deliveries begin at 8:30 am at the Church of the Redeemer United Church of Christ on Chocolate Ave in Hershey, and takes about an hour. Substitutes are available when you need a month off. Click here to read more about how Derry Church participates in the program. For more information and to volunteer, contact Mary Day.

10:30 AM MONDAY, SEPT 26 AT THE HOME OF JOAN THEAL

The Bible study Celebrating Sabbath focuses on accepting God’s gift of rest and delight. The lessons are organized around ways Sabbath interacts with different themes: creation, Sunday, surrender, servitude, hospitality, self-care, justice and community.  

Presbyterian Women’s circle meets on the fourth Monday of the month at the same time and place except for December. All women are invited to learn ways of accepting this gift which can be hard to do at times.

Love INC of Greater Hershey recently wrapped up its 9th Annual Lace Up with Love INC sneaker distribution that was held in August.

With the help of 63 volunteers serving over 300 hours, 285 students from Derry Township and Lower Dauphin schools were fitted for brand-new sneakers. 285 additional individuals will be served through the surplus sneakers shared with local ministries in Hershey and Hummelstown.

Love INC is grateful for the contributions of volunteers, donors, and community partners who made this year’s event possible.

Who is someone you admire but do not personally know?

Dick Hann: Milton Hershey

Lori Klucker: Clara Barton

Judy McMillen: André Rieu, the Dutch violinist and conductor of the Johann Strauss Orchestra

George Porter: John Roberts

Corinna Webber: Serena Williams

Evening worship with communion will be offered at 6:15 pm on the third Tuesday of each month beginning Sept 20. Come as you are and join Rev. Nancy Reinert and pianist Mary Lemons this month for informal worship, singing, prayer, a brief message and the sacrament of the Lord’s supper.

Claire Folts is no stranger to Derry Church which she began attending at age three. As a child and youth, she was an active part of Derry’s music program and participated in many of its vocal and bell choirs. After graduating from Hershey High School, she attended St. Olaf College where she received B.A. degrees in Music Education and Religion. At St. Olaf she was a violist in the St. Olaf Orchestra, a soprano in several vocal choirs, rang in the St. Olaf Handbell choir, and directed the Manitou Handbell choir. After college, she spent two years teaching music to children, youth, and adults in Guyana, South America at the Guyana Lutheran Music Academy. Upon returning to the States, she taught kindergarten-5th grade elementary general music for five years in Mount Vernon, Ohio.

Last year she returned to Hershey and, with Derry’s help facilitating her final project in March and April, completed her Master of Music in Music Education with a Kodaly Emphasis from Capital University. She is excited to report she just received her diploma this week! This school year, in addition to serving as the Director of Children’s Music at Derry Church, she is teaching kindergarten and first grade general music in the Derry Township School District as well as private violin, viola, and piano lessons.

At Derry, Claire will be working primarily with preschool through 5th grade children. She can’t wait to begin making music with them and using it as a vehicle to explore, question, and express their relationships with God. They will be singing, drumming, dancing, ringing, and playing together on Tuesdays nights. She hopes to see many kids there!

9-10 AM SUNDAYS, SEPT 11-OCT 2 IN ROOM 7 AND STREAMING ON DERRYPRES.ORG, YOUTUBE AND FACEBOOK

Do you know what it means to be Presbyterian? Have you ever wondered how Presbyterians differ from your Methodist or Lutheran or Episcopalian friends? What distinguishes Presbyterians from all other flavors of Christianity? Come and find answers to these and other questions in a four-part study based on The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) led by the Reverend Charles (Buz) Myers, Ph.D., an ordained Presbyterian minister who is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at Gettysburg College. Read more.

6:30 PM THURSDAY, SEPT 22 AT SPRING GATE ESTATE/BREWERY, 579 DEVONSHIRE ROAD, HARRISBURG

Young adults, test your recall of fun facts and enjoy fellowship and friendly competition with Derry friends! Food available from 717Tacos & Chef Tony. Free, with a chance to win great prizes.

CUB SCOUT PACK 200 for boys and girls grades K-5

• Meets Mondays 6:30-7:30 pm at Derry Church. Check out the Pack at recruiting night: 6:30 pm Monday, Sept 12 at Brookside Park, Hershey!
• Contact William Day 

BOY SCOUT TROOP 200 for boys grades 6-12

•  Meets Mondays 6:45-7:45pm at the Scout House
• Contact Chris Kalmbacher 

SCOUT TROOP 2200 FOR GIRLS grades 6-12

• Meets Mondays 5:30-6:30 pm at the Scout House
• Contact Brian Holley 

10 AM – 2 PM SATURDAY, SEPT 24 IN FELLOWSHIP HALL • $10 DROP-IN FEE, CHECKS PAYABLE TO FOUR DIAMONDS

Support Four Diamonds’ mission to conquer childhood cancer by assisting children and their families through superior care, comprehensive support, and innovative research! Multiple Zumba instructors will participate during the event, and snacks and water will be provided (bring your own water bottle).