PassWord
June 27, 2025
Dear PassWord People,
My goodness, it has cooled off overnight and it is delightful! I have opened my sunroom window and I can breathe😊. I am not in any sense a hot weather person – I’m the one who loves snow, remember? And the last week has been difficult. So, I am very thankful for the coolness of this morning. A lovely, cool, overcast day in Middletown – currently 64 frigid degrees in our backyard. Thank heavens!
So, our granddaughter, Makayla Detweiler is getting married tomorrow. And I get to be there just as Grandma, which is delightful. If the music people don’t show up on time or the ring bearer loses the rings, I will remind myself this is not my circus, and these are not my monkeys😊.
Makayla Detweiler is marrying Jackson Grimland – a Middletown boy. I am well aware that some of my life choices have impacted more than just me. However, this was an unforeseen consequence. Despite numerous warnings to my granddaughters to avoid Middletown boys, here we are. (Before you are offended, let me say that if we had lived in Chambersburg I would have said, “Avoid Chambersburg boys.” All teenage boys are trouble to teenage girls.) And thinking about all this I don’t even know where they met – it could have been at VBS or it could have been at youth retreat or it could just have been from sometimes hanging out here in Middletown – I don’t know but I will ask these questions this weekend.
But I like Jackson. He is funny and kind and always makes me smile. And he is a hard worker. Makayla, after much studying and practical experience, using her family and friends as guinea pigs – including yours truly😎, has just become a licensed dental hygienist. But that doesn’t fully describe her as she has also worked as nanny and pet sitter all over Harrisburg to help finance her education. They will be living in Carlisle, which makes sense for work reasons and symbolically, as Carlisle is middle ground. We are all happy for them and excited to celebrate with them tomorrow.
Unforeseen consequences. I am thinking of VBS right now. We made a choice some years ago that when a child had aged out of VBS, that we would invite them to come back as Jr. Leaders. Why should just children enjoy VBS? And as we did this, we got a ready source of help – which is always needed at VBS – and the chance to continue to speak into their lives for this intense week. Unforeseen consequences.
When we started WNL years ago, it was to make life easier for parents and to have a place for families to gather to grow in Christ. We cook – you come for supper and class. It was chaos the first couple years till we got the kinks worked out. But we kept at it and it has become one of the best things we do around here. Unforeseen consequences.
We noticed that there were a lot of Spanish speaking people in our area. We said to the man in charge of cross-cultural ministries at that time, Don Dennison – what should we do about this? He says, “Here – call these people.” And we did and they showed up and somehow the Betesda House of Mercy, a Spanish speaking church was birthed, that meets twice a week in our facility.
We couldn’t have church for a few months in the year 2020, due to covid. We knew next to nothing about church online at that point. But one of our Elders, Mary Brandt, suggests something more along the lines of a simple devotional, short and often, rather than a full fledged sermon. Thus, the morning Facebook readings were born – and still happen five years later.
One more? We sat around the table at our weekly staff meeting, many years ago. Someone suggested we should have a weekly email go out about church happenings. Sounds simple enough….I like to write, I say, I can do that. It didn’t even have a name to begin, and poor Lillian had a hard time managing all these email addresses till we were introduced to MailChimp. (Thank you, Diego😊) But here we are - hundreds of “PassWords” later. And we even learned how to put in pictures, ha!
God uses small beginnings to accomplish all kinds of things. Just do it! Listen to what the Spirit puts on your heart and follow where He leads. It really is that simple. Unforeseen consequences.
The Gospel Alphabet (Take off on a Bible Adventure):
In 2025 we are memorizing scripture together as a congregation. These scriptures are alphabetical meaning the first letter of each one corresponds to the alphabet. You can pick up the new verse to add to your ring from the basket in the narthex. \
M My grace is sufficient for you.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9b
VBS Day Camp: Only 1 week away!
VBS Day Camp: Daniel: Standing Strong.
July 7-11. 9:00-3:00.
All children between kindergarten and 5th grade are welcome. Older youth are invited to be Jr. Leaders. $25.00 for the week.
Volunteers are needed, contact Pastor Kim.
Our next summer "Garage Night" is planned for Wednesday, July 23 at 6:00 at the Pickel Pavilion. The church will provide burgers, hotdogs and drinks. Please bring a side dish to share if you are able. And invite a friend to join you.
CALENDAR
Sunday, June 29. Worship at 8:00 & 10:30am. We continue with "Being Church" from Matthew 25:31-46.
Monday - Friday, July 7-11. VBS Day Camp. Register today please! Forms are in the narthex and online at our Facebook page.
Wednesday, July 23. "Garage Night" at the pavilion.
PRAYER REQUESTS
Jimmy and Cece Abromitis
Sherry Belton
Doug Cleckner
Jenny Dimeler
Karl Krodel, Jr.
John Myers
Wayne Shank
Unspoken
If you have a prayer need or would like to be added to the Prayer Chain, please call Ruth Yanek at (717) 944-7585.
Enough. Beloved, we are God’s Church. We are God’s people. We go where He wants. We do what He wants. We are empowered and guided by Him. It is all His…His doing, His ideas, His power, His might. Blessed Be His Name.
Blessings,
Pastor Kim
Our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/middletowncog/
Our Website: www.middletowncog.org
Dear PassWord People,
My goodness, it has cooled off overnight and it is delightful! I have opened my sunroom window and I can breathe😊. I am not in any sense a hot weather person – I’m the one who loves snow, remember? And the last week has been difficult. So, I am very thankful for the coolness of this morning. A lovely, cool, overcast day in Middletown – currently 64 frigid degrees in our backyard. Thank heavens!
So, our granddaughter, Makayla Detweiler is getting married tomorrow. And I get to be there just as Grandma, which is delightful. If the music people don’t show up on time or the ring bearer loses the rings, I will remind myself this is not my circus, and these are not my monkeys😊.
Makayla Detweiler is marrying Jackson Grimland – a Middletown boy. I am well aware that some of my life choices have impacted more than just me. However, this was an unforeseen consequence. Despite numerous warnings to my granddaughters to avoid Middletown boys, here we are. (Before you are offended, let me say that if we had lived in Chambersburg I would have said, “Avoid Chambersburg boys.” All teenage boys are trouble to teenage girls.) And thinking about all this I don’t even know where they met – it could have been at VBS or it could have been at youth retreat or it could just have been from sometimes hanging out here in Middletown – I don’t know but I will ask these questions this weekend.
But I like Jackson. He is funny and kind and always makes me smile. And he is a hard worker. Makayla, after much studying and practical experience, using her family and friends as guinea pigs – including yours truly😎, has just become a licensed dental hygienist. But that doesn’t fully describe her as she has also worked as nanny and pet sitter all over Harrisburg to help finance her education. They will be living in Carlisle, which makes sense for work reasons and symbolically, as Carlisle is middle ground. We are all happy for them and excited to celebrate with them tomorrow.
Unforeseen consequences. I am thinking of VBS right now. We made a choice some years ago that when a child had aged out of VBS, that we would invite them to come back as Jr. Leaders. Why should just children enjoy VBS? And as we did this, we got a ready source of help – which is always needed at VBS – and the chance to continue to speak into their lives for this intense week. Unforeseen consequences.
When we started WNL years ago, it was to make life easier for parents and to have a place for families to gather to grow in Christ. We cook – you come for supper and class. It was chaos the first couple years till we got the kinks worked out. But we kept at it and it has become one of the best things we do around here. Unforeseen consequences.
We noticed that there were a lot of Spanish speaking people in our area. We said to the man in charge of cross-cultural ministries at that time, Don Dennison – what should we do about this? He says, “Here – call these people.” And we did and they showed up and somehow the Betesda House of Mercy, a Spanish speaking church was birthed, that meets twice a week in our facility.
We couldn’t have church for a few months in the year 2020, due to covid. We knew next to nothing about church online at that point. But one of our Elders, Mary Brandt, suggests something more along the lines of a simple devotional, short and often, rather than a full fledged sermon. Thus, the morning Facebook readings were born – and still happen five years later.
One more? We sat around the table at our weekly staff meeting, many years ago. Someone suggested we should have a weekly email go out about church happenings. Sounds simple enough….I like to write, I say, I can do that. It didn’t even have a name to begin, and poor Lillian had a hard time managing all these email addresses till we were introduced to MailChimp. (Thank you, Diego😊) But here we are - hundreds of “PassWords” later. And we even learned how to put in pictures, ha!
God uses small beginnings to accomplish all kinds of things. Just do it! Listen to what the Spirit puts on your heart and follow where He leads. It really is that simple. Unforeseen consequences.
The Gospel Alphabet (Take off on a Bible Adventure):
In 2025 we are memorizing scripture together as a congregation. These scriptures are alphabetical meaning the first letter of each one corresponds to the alphabet. You can pick up the new verse to add to your ring from the basket in the narthex. \
M My grace is sufficient for you.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9b
VBS Day Camp: Only 1 week away!
VBS Day Camp: Daniel: Standing Strong.
July 7-11. 9:00-3:00.
All children between kindergarten and 5th grade are welcome. Older youth are invited to be Jr. Leaders. $25.00 for the week.
Volunteers are needed, contact Pastor Kim.
Our next summer "Garage Night" is planned for Wednesday, July 23 at 6:00 at the Pickel Pavilion. The church will provide burgers, hotdogs and drinks. Please bring a side dish to share if you are able. And invite a friend to join you.
CALENDAR
Sunday, June 29. Worship at 8:00 & 10:30am. We continue with "Being Church" from Matthew 25:31-46.
Monday - Friday, July 7-11. VBS Day Camp. Register today please! Forms are in the narthex and online at our Facebook page.
Wednesday, July 23. "Garage Night" at the pavilion.
PRAYER REQUESTS
Jimmy and Cece Abromitis
Sherry Belton
Doug Cleckner
Jenny Dimeler
Karl Krodel, Jr.
John Myers
Wayne Shank
Unspoken
If you have a prayer need or would like to be added to the Prayer Chain, please call Ruth Yanek at (717) 944-7585.
Enough. Beloved, we are God’s Church. We are God’s people. We go where He wants. We do what He wants. We are empowered and guided by Him. It is all His…His doing, His ideas, His power, His might. Blessed Be His Name.
Blessings,
Pastor Kim
Our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/middletowncog/
Our Website: www.middletowncog.org