News

6:15 PM TUESDAY, DEC 20 IN THE CHAPEL

For those who have empty places in their hearts and homes this Christmas season, Derry Church offers a “Longest Night” worship service. This reflective, come-as-you-are service with communion returns this year to the intimate setting of our historic Chapel.

For those who are facing the sadness of divorce or broken relationships or grief over the loss of a loved one, this special service gives people an opportunity to remember and to acknowledge sadness and grief, and to know that they are not alone. The Longest Night service can also offer solace to those anxious about employment or financial instability, or facing a frightening diagnosis.

Pastor Stephen leads this service on one of the longest, darkest nights of the year as an opportunity to intentionally acknowledge pain and offer comfort. Come as you are!

We were anxious to get down here to North Fort Myers and survey the damage that our property received. We were very lucky in that we lost a tree and some screening, we feel very blessed. This morning we attended our church down here, Burnt Store Presbyterian Church, and learned of the impact Hurricane Ian had on churches in the Peace River Presbytery.

The Chapel by the Sea on Fort Myers Beach had only the steel girders left standing and the concrete floor had a large hole in it from the force of the water. Other congregations lost their sanctuary and are holding services outside. BSPC had their sanctuary severely damaged by water to the point we may not be worshipping in there for many months. We held services in an all purpose room which had tarps taped to the ceiling to prevent further damage. A new roof, drywall, mechanical devices etc. will all need to be replaced.

BSPC will be welcoming their new pastor and his family from South Africa next Sunday. All are excited for his arrival. Buildings aside, many congregation members throughout the Presbytery were devastated by Ian and have lost most everything.

In addition to your prayers, the Presbytery will need financial assistance to help parishioners and churches. I encourage Derry members and others in Carlisle Presbytery to give to Presbyterian Disaster Relief or send contributions directly to the Peace River Presbytery at 2230 Harriet Street, Port Charlotte, FL  33952.

9:00 – 11:30 AM SATURDAY, DEC 10 IN FELLOWSHIP HALL 

Families of children in preschool through kindergarten (and siblings) are invited to a casual Saturday morning holiday drop-in. Participants will come dressed in festive PJs and enjoy pancakes and a hot cocoa bar, cookie decorating, games, crafts and making Christmas ornaments.

Please RSVP to Sarah Bartz by Thursday, Dec 1. If older children or teens would like to help with facilitating games and making crafts/ornaments, please let us know.

Love INC of Greater Hershey’s recent 16th Anniversary Celebration and Community Auction raised $29,600 through the generous support of sponsors, donors, and participants. Thanks to everyone who supported the celebration, especially the volunteers including Derry’s own Kristie Elliott. Through the years, Love INC has expanded to include 21 partnering churches who willingly pool their resources to support the broader community. Because of this network of local churches, Love INC is able to connect caring church volunteers with their neighbors in need. Thank you to everyone who contributes to the ministries available through Love INC and its partner churches.

Carlisle Presbytery welcomes Kristal Smith, who has begun her work as Presbytery Leader for Governance and Congregational Leadership. Kristal’s role encompasses the office of the stated clerk as well as consultation with congregations, individuals, and committees of the presbytery.

Contact Kristal at kristal.smith@carlislepby.org or call 717-737-6821.

The Thank Offering of Presbyterian Women began in 1888 and supports mission projects at home and abroad. In keeping with the by-laws, 40% of funded projects are related to health ministries. Of the 10 projects funded this year, seven are in the US. 

Raleigh, North Carolina is home to the Women’s Reentry Project. This project helps women prepare for and navigate life after incarceration by developing tools to forge new and better lives. The WRP combines housing – which is a significant barrier to successful reentry – with wraparound social and vocational support. The Thank Offering grant will help fund three forms of subsidized housing: Bridge Housing upon release from prison; Stable Supportive Housing for 12-18 months; and Independent Housing, for those who continue in the program as nonresidents. Using gender specific, trauma-informed, evidence–based services, this program helps women achieve stability, family reunification and independent living.

A very different program in Rome, Georgia, is the Day & Overnight Transformations Retreats for Cancer Patients. Low income cancer patients must navigate many challenges beyond their illness: they often must choose between securing food or medicine, lack reliable transportation and worry about paying everyday bills. Cancer Navigators assist medical providers by guiding patients toward a better understanding of diagnosis and care while connecting them with needed services. The Thank Offering grant will provide retreats for 60 cancer patients who do not otherwise have resources to leave for a day. Through an escape from daily life and struggles, these retreats offer patients a rare opportunity to take time for themselves and receive helpful tips and information. By spending time away with other cancer patients, retreat participants witness they are not alone in their cancer journeys.

Please consider a contribution to the 2023 Thank Offering. Place checks in the offering boxes or mail to the church office, or give online as you are able in thanks for all the blessings in your life.

BY GREGG ROBERTSON • CHAIR, PERSONNEL COMMITTEE 

Let me start with the process. To call a new associate pastor we are NOT following the traditional Presbyterian process as outlined in our Book of Order, but a much more efficient and we think much more effective process that Derry has used successfully in the past.

For example: Marie Buffaloe came to our Presbytery when her husband Brad Bradburn took the Executive Presbyter position in the Carlisle Presbytery. It so happened around that same time Derry had grown to the point where we needed an associate pastor. As we got to know Marie, it became clear that she could fulfill the pastoral needs that Derry’s growing congregation required. Rather than go through the highly structured, time consuming and expensive traditional Presbyterian call process, Derry’s Session contracted with Marie for her pastoral services. This was a relationship that lasted for 25 years. Each year, the  Session renewed our contract with Marie until her retirement earlier this year.

Another factor that guided us in this case to not use the traditional Presbyterian call process was our experience using that process to call Pastor Stephen. As it turned out, of the 164 resumes that we received through the denomination call process none resulted in a candidate in which we were interested enough to interview. Rather, every one of the candidates the PNC felt excited enough about to interview came to us through the Pastor Nominating Committee’s own efforts to reach out and network with others in the denomination.

This summer, as we came to realize that we would need a new associate pastor, Pastor Stephen and I began to reach out to others in the Presbytery and beyond to find potential candidates that might fit Derry’s needs, resulting in three excellent candidates that expressed interest in the Derry position and agreed to be interviewed.

In October, the Personnel Committee formed the Associate Pastor Interview Committee (APIC) consisting of 11 Derry members from all facets of the congregation. The role of the APIC is to interview prospective candidates and come to a consensus on which candidate would be most suitable to meet Derry’s needs. Once a lead candidate has been identified, the candidate will be invited to Derry to participate in several activities with the congregation in areas in which they will be expected to take a leadership role. Based on feedback from congregation members participating in those activities the Personnel Committee will either recommend to Session that a contract be negotiated with the candidate or the APIC will interview additional candidates.

The APIC has been interviewing candidates based on the following dimensions: Ministry with Children and Youth, Teaching Ministry including faith formation for all ages, Communication, Pastoral Care and Worship. Questions exploring these five dimensions of ministry are being used by the APIC in the candidate interviews.

The APIC has completed three interviews so far. We scheduled a face-to-face meeting of the APIC on November 14 to review the results of our interviews and hopefully come to a consensus on inviting one to participate in the congregational activities. Given that we will soon be into the Advent Season, the congregational activities with the leading candidate may not take place until after the New Year. 

Please contact me with your questions about this process and our progress, by email or phone. I ask that you keep the Associate Pastor Interview Committee in your prayers as we seek to discern God’s will for our new associate pastor. 

Members of the Associate Pastor Interview Committee: Bill DeMuth, Bill Uffelman, Christina Simmons, Claudia Holtzman, Gregg Robertson (Chair), Julie Yutesler, Kristy Elliott, Lauren June, Sara Matthews, Timothy Mosher and Wally Patton.

11:30 AM SUNDAY, NOV 27 IN FELLOWSHIP HALL

You’re invited to join Derry friends to make your own Advent wreath! Each family will assemble a wreath to use in their own home throughout the season of Advent. Click to RSVP by Tuesday, Nov 22.

3-5 PM FRIDAY, NOV 18
8 AM TO FINISH SATURDAY, NOV 19

Bring your rakes and join the Gardeners of Derry to work outdoors preparing the church grounds for the winter. Pickup trucks and wheelbarrows are welcome and appreciated. 

 

From Nov 27 – the first Sunday in Advent – through Sunday, Dec 11, Derry Church will be giving AND receiving! In the upstairs hallway, you will be able to pick up Advent devotionals and drop off items for our mission partners and gift cards for racetrack workers and children whose families use the Hershey Food Bank and Community Outreach. NO hats/gloves/scarves needed this year.

Here’s the list of supplies requested from Rev. Drew Stockstill that will support Christ Lutheran Church’s Health Ministry:

• Men’s and women’s plain underwear
• Men’s plain white undershirts
• Travel sized tissues and cough drops
• Hygiene items: lotion, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant
• Plain Tussin 
• Muscle rub
• Chest rub
• Emergen-C, Airborne, Zinc

The Season of Giving takes the place of last year’s Derry Drive-Thru and previous years when you could choose tags from the Christmas tree in the downstairs atrium. You won’t see a tree downstairs this year as that space is now being used for fellowship and community. Just pop upstairs to participate in Derry’s Season of Giving!