News

Love INC of Greater Hershey will soon be opening the doors on a second home in the Homes of Hope Transitional Housing Program. This program not only provides shelter, but also case management that demonstrates the love of Christ while offering the opportunity for life transformation to a family facing homelessness. Church volunteers are now preparing the home, and applications for its first residents will be accepted beginning Feb 1. You can help by providing some basic items the new family will need on arrival. 

Please pray for the Homes of Hope program as it grows, the family who will make it their home for the next 18 months, and the volunteers who support the program and will partner with the family in need.

Love INC of Greater Hershey is a local Christian nonprofit organization dedicated to mobilizing churches to help people in need. The Executive Director provides day-to-day leadership to achieve the mission, vision, strategic goals, and objectives of Love INC. A Bachelor’s degree or greater, or equivalent life experience in management, social work, organizational leadership, pastoral ministry, community development, or related field is required. The successful candidate will have a minimum of five years of leadership experience and a commitment to the Christian Church and its mandate to serve people in need to effect life transformation in the name of Christ. For more information and to apply, visit LoveINCGreaterHershey.org or contact HR@LoveINCGreaterHershey.org.

In less than 10 minutes, hear greetings, hopes and good wishes from five members of the Derry Church staff. Click to watch!

Join Pastor Pamela Meilands for a worship service that pairs the words and writings of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with scripture. Download the bulletin.

Cash Flow – Operating Fund as of 12/31/20

Notes from the treasurer:

• Contributions ended the year about $30k less than 2019 and $75k underi budget.
• Committees tended to underspend budgets in 2020. 
• The 2020 year ended with a positive change in net assets of about $87k before the reduction of net assets as part of spending the 2019 surplus. If Derry had been fully staffed for the entire year, we would have been at about break-even instead.

For ten 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. 

Our goal is to provide ten scholarships every year. You can help.

A full scholarship for a day student is $370 a year, about a dollar a day. We are dividing that amount into ten shares, $37 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 giving online through the church website and selecting “Pakistan Scholarship.” 

Read Rev. Nancy Reinert’s message inviting you to participate. This fundraiser continues through February 2021.

• Since PW was not able to have the Cookie Walk/Jumble Shop in December, the Coordinating Team invites you to participate in a bake-less cookie walk where  an offering is donated in place of cookies. Funds raised support the national PW organization and mission co-workers around the world. Suggested donation is $10 or what it would cost you to purchase the ingredients to bake a batch of cookies. Give online (select Presbyterian Women of Derry) or write checks to Derry Church notated “PW offering.” Thank you!
• Orange Day is Monday, Jan 25. In the US there are 13 states with no legal minimum marriage age. In some states married minors cannot go to shelters to escape abuse, leave their spouses or legally divorce them. One piece of good news we can share: Sudan authorities will end child marriages and enforce the country’s ban on female genital mutation this year. Wear orange or an orange ribbon on Jan 25 to show support for people working to end child marriages as well as exploitation of females.
• PW will order Horizons Magazine this month. Subscriptions include a Bible study and five issues of the magazine. To subscribe, contact Doris Feil by Jan 28.  Cost is $18.95, a $6 savings if ordered individually. Magazines are sent to the church.
• Thanks to all who contributed homemade cards for the Caitlin Smiles project. We received 180 cards!

Derry friends who enjoy working on jigsaw puzzles: we have good news for you! Starting Sunday afternoon, Jan 17, you’re invited to stop by the bench outside the office entrance to drop off or pick up a new puzzle or two to work on. If you have puzzles that you just want to donate to help us get started with a puzzle supply, we would appreciate those, too. Just make sure all pieces are included. We hope to include puzzles for all ages and ability levels.

Contact the church office to request puzzle drop-off & pick-up.

CLICK TO REGISTER

A four-session series of virtual new member classes will be offered on Sunday afternoons from 2-3 pm beginning Jan 31 for those interested in learning more about the mission and ministry of Derry Church. Questions? Contact Linda Chidester, chair of the Membership & Involvement Committee.

“Watchman, Tell Us of the Night” is the theme for Tuesday worship led by Pastor Stephen McKinney-Whitaker.
Scripture: Isaiah 21:6-11, and have your Bible or Bible app ready to read Romans 12:9-18.

SATURDAY, JAN 30 • CLICK TO REGISTER FOR THE ZOOM WEBINAR

Dr. Frances Collins, Director, National Institutes of Health and the 2020 Templeton Prize Laureate, will share his unique insights on “Scientific and Spiritual Lessons in the Time of COVID.” This virtual event will include a scientific talk followed by lively discussion facilitated by local and student chapters and concluding with time for fellowship/social interaction. The three-hour symposium will be broken down as follows:

• 12 pm  Lecture with Francis Collins
• 1 pm  Local Chapter/Student Discussions
• 2 pm  Fellowship/Social Hour

Join for one or all three segments.

Throughout his career, Francis has been a strong voice for the integration of faith and reason. He is best known for leading the Human Genome Project in 2003 to its successful completion. By his scientific leadership, public speaking, and popular writing, including his best-selling 2006 book The Language of God, Francis has demonstrated how religious faith can motivate and inspire rigorous scientific research. He encourages religious communities to embrace the latest discoveries of genetics and the biomedical sciences as insights to enrich and enlarge their faith. He works closely with Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key White House advisor on the national health crisis.