News

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.

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.

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.

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