News

When Derry Church hosts the mid-day Hershey Ministerium Lenten service and lunch next month, many hands are needed: volunteers to help set up, serve and clean up, as well as donations of congealed salads in 9″x 15″ pans and/or two dozen cupcakes.

Deliver food items to the kitchen any time on Tuesday or by 9 am on Wednesday, Mar 1. Contact Doris Feil if you can help in any of these ways.

#1: Donate Items on the Wish List
Good news: our refugee family has moved from the temporary Love INC house to an apartment in Hershey. The house was furnished, so now furnishings for the new apartment are necessary. You can help by providing gently used furniture and household items from this wish list. Drop off items in Room 1.

#2: Providing Transportation to Preschool
During the month of February, volunteers are invited to provide afternoon transportation for Layan and a parent to and from their new home at Briarcrest Apartments and Derry Church (Discovery Days preschool). One parent must accompany her during travel (approximately six minutes one way). The parent will then need to be transported back to the apartment. Click to sign up. DDD starts promptly at 12:30 pm and ends at 3 pm Monday through Thursday. 
Contact Kathie Parsons (717-215-8197) by phone/text for more information.

To offer more ways to help, please contact Pete Feil or Marilyn Koch.

SATURDAY, MAR 18 AT GRACE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, HUMMELSTOWN 

Round up your friends, rally your family, gather your church small group, or assemble a few of your colleagues for this friendly competition to support people in need.

This amusing event features an 18-hole miniature golf course *indoors* on what is typically a cold and dreary day in March. Gift cards will be awarded to each member of the first and second-place teams in a given flight. In addition, a hole-in-one prize will be awarded at a designated hole.

20 teams can play during flight times set for 10 am, 12 pm and 2 pm. Cost is $100/team and proceeds benefit Love INC of Greater Hershey. For more information and to register your team, click here

At its January 18 stated meeting, the Session voted to approve the purchase of the Steinway grand piano in memory of Lee Ann Taylor. More than $146,554 has been pledged toward the $150,000 price. To support this effort, send checks notated “memorial piano” to Derry Church, 248 East Derry Road, Hershey PA 17033 or give online:

Blessings in Christ! My dear friend, hope you are doing well by the Grace of God. My name is Imsal. I study in class 8. It is a great blessing for me to have you in my life. You are a great help for many on the earth. I wish to become a lawyer and work for the sake of justice and peace and and thanks to be God for helping me through your kind heart. My parents can’t afford my full fee. Thank you for helping me and for supporting me. We remember you in our daily prayers. 

For 12 years, Derry Church has maintained a partnership with the Presbyterian Education Board in Pakistan. PEB operates 25 schools, primary through high school, including some boarding schools, that serve more than 5,900 students. Derry, through the Friends of Sargodha group, has a particular relationship with the schools in Sargodha. 

Friends of Sargodha’s goal is to continue to provide ten scholarships every year. You can help.

A full scholarship for a day student is $400 a year, about a dollar a day. We are dividing that amount into ten shares, $40 each, to offer you the opportunity to support a portion of a scholarship. 

You can purchase one or more shares by writing a check to Derry Church notated “Pakistan Scholarship” or online through the church website.

Read Debbie Hough’s message inviting you to participate. This fundraiser continues through February 2023.

Derry Church was established in the early 1700s by immigrants from Northern Ireland, and now you can travel with Derry friends to Scotland and Ireland as part of our 300th Anniversary Celebration! The trip is set for April 11-25, 2024.

Visit Edinburgh, the Isle of lona and Glasgow in Scotland, then ferry to Belfast, spend some time in our sister city of Derry, Northern Ireland, and complete the tour in Dublin. We’ll attend worship services at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh and the First Derry Presbyterian Church in Derry, Northern Ireland.

Click here for more details and rate information. Questions? Ready to book? Contact Ann Geist.

• Elected Craig Kegerise as Treasurer and Kathy Yingst as Clerk of Session for a term of one year.
• The Treasurer reported that due to generous congregational giving and underspending by church committees, we finished 2022 with a positive change in net assets of $100,700.
• After learning that pledges totaling over $115,000 have been received, the Session approved the Capital Procurement Requisition from the Piano Committee to purchase the 2019 Steinway Grand piano Model D at a cost of approximately $150,000 and dedicate it in memory of Lee Ann Taylor. Thank you to the members of the Piano Committee for their work in securing this instrument which will be enjoyed by all for many years to come. Following the session meeting, additional pledges and donations have been contributed. It now appears that the entire $150,000 will be funded through donations.
• Approved the Capital Procurement Requisition from the Building & Grounds Committee to stabilize the Session House based on a proposal submitted by British Masonry and Restoration, Inc. Contractors in the amount of $19,000.
• At the request of the Stewardship & Finance Committee, the Session approved distribution of the $100,700 2022 budget overage as follows: $6,000 to purchase two additional AEDs, $4,000 to the Deacon emergency fund, $10,000 to the 300th anniversary budget, $4,500 to cash on hand, and the remainder split in thirds to the Legacy Fund, Capital Facilities Fund, and Mission Committee for use.
• Elected Tom Davis and Tim Mosher as Session representatives to the 2023 Nominating Committee.

The Derry Church family is invited to provide a meal for Keri that will provide support and comfort in this season of mourning. Click this link to sign up. 

7 PM WEDNESDAY, FEB 22 IN THE CHAPEL

This contemplative hour-long service led by Pastor Stephen will include a sermon and celebration of the Lord’s supper along with imposition of ashes made from last year’s palm branches. 

9:10-9:25 AM WEDNESDAY, FEB 22 IN THE SANCTUARY 

Our Discovery Days Preschool children will gather on Ash Wednesday for a chance to learn about Ash Wednesday and receive ashes, either on their hands or foreheads or on a sticker. Pastor Stephen will offer the short service and everyone from the Derry Church congregation is welcome to attend and receive ashes. 

12:10 PM WEDNESDAYS BEGINNING FEB 22 

The churches of the Hershey Ministerium invite you to noontime worship services followed by lunch provided by each host church for a $5 suggested donation. It’s a great way to add a weekly devotional time to your Lenten practice as we gather in community with our Christian neighbors. 

FEB 22: St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church
MAR 1: Derry Church with Pastor Stephen preaching
MAR 8: First United Methodist Church
MAR 15: Hershey Free
MAR 22: All Saints Episcopal
MAR 29: Holy Trinity Lutheran at Derry Church

5:30 PM SATURDAY, FEB 25 IN FELLOWSHIP HALL

Warm up a winter’s evening at Derry’s 22nd annual Chili Cook-Off & Square Dance! We begin with a chili supper. Those attending should bring a dish to pass: salad, dessert, or a favorite chili recipe. Informal judging will determine cook-off winners in the chili and dessert categories, and best-dressed adult, boy and girl will be recognized.

Following the supper, participants will enjoy a variety of line and square dances, including kid-friendly options.

There is no charge to attend, and all ages are welcome.