Jottings from St. John's - April 2025

Conservative Congregational Christian Conference

Loysburg, PA 16659............April 2025

www.sjrcl.org

stjohnsloysburg@gmail.com

MEETING MINUTES (St. John’s Women’s Guild- March 14, 2025)

There were 13 ladies present. Molly Shirk read a very relatable story about Life

Savers. The story reminisced of the different feelings of the different colors of Life

Savers. Sometimes we ask ourselves if God has forgotten us, while others seem simply

blessed. We need to look for Faith and Proclaim Victory. As a roll of Life Savers, life

has many different colors- good with bad. We must stay in Peace as the Joy of the Lord

is strengthening. No matter how many green Life Savers we have to choke down in life,

the Red Cherry ones are coming. Keep in mind Romans 1:12.

I. BUSINESS MEETING DETAILS-

Beverly opened the business meeting, offering collected, and meeting called to order.

Julie read the Secretary’s report, and it was accepted as read.

Marsie read the Treasurer’s report, and it was accepted as read.

II. BUSINESS AT HAND:

1. Thank you to everyone that helped with the attic clean up and to the Sunday School for

purchasing 5 containers.

2. Easter (April 20) Sunrise Breakfast- sign up sheet passed around for donations. Barb

Thomas and Cindy Johnson comprise the organization committee. Setting up late

morning on April 19th – after Easter Egg Hunt.

3. Guild Fundraisers:

--The idea of a Spaghetti Fundraiser was discussed again, and was decided to be held on

June 28, 2025, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at St. John's. Marsie will secure rolls, check on

sauce at DelGrosso's. Menu would be spaghetti, salad, rolls, and cake. No ticket sales –

would be donation only.

--Julie to check with Consistory about having a live auction with an auctioneer in the

church to auction off items donated for the purpose of raising funds for the Guild. This

could be baked goods, paintings, wood products, gift baskets, services, etc.

4. Mother/Daughter Social- will be held May 3, 2025, at St. John’s. Festivities start at 5

p.m. The theme will be Ladies’ Garden Tea—to wear floral apparel. Adults $8/children

$4/under 4 free. RSVP by April 20th .

5. Harvest Home Speaker for October 19- Looking for suggestions- Lauren to check with

Janet Sell.

6. Parsonage walk thru- Laurie Stiles and Tina are the Guild representatives. The walk

through will be Sunday, the 16th, after Sunday school.

7. Cindy reminded the group the soup orders are due by March 30, 2025, and are $8 a

quart. Cindy and Marsie are asking for donations of baked goods to sell the date of the

Soup Sale—April 5th. Please bring to the church the morning of April 5th packed to sell.

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III. NEW BUSINESS

1. Date needed to put items back in kitchen cabinets- decided on Saturday, March 22 at

9:00 a.m. Discussion regarding use of shelf liners. Tina made a motion to use shelf

liners in the upper cabinets at this time, Julie seconded, motion carried. Marsie to pick up

the shelf liners.

2. Discussion regarding selling the upright freezer. At this time it was decided to keep the

freezer.

3. Ladies/Teen Encounter Spring Event Saturday March 29, 2025, 9 a.m. -1 p.m., Grace

Fellowship Leamersville Church, Duncansville.

4. Old Guild Records retrieved during attic clean out. Beverly to sort thru them and will

keep at this time.

Next meeting will be April 11, 6 p.m., Program- Laurie Stiles, Hostesses- Linda

Henderhan and Barb Thomas.

-Submitted by Julie Russell

From the Consistory President

The Consistory met in the copy room of St. John’s on March 13, 2025, at 6:00

p.m. with a pretty full slate to cover. Elections were held, and your new consistory

officers are Joel Ritchey (president), Christopher Kurtz (vice president), Julie Russell

(secretary), and Katrina Howe (treasurer). Each officer will serve a term of one year.

There has been a lot of movement on the IPM and pastor search front, however,

not a lot of information we can give you at this time. Pastor Mike Wells, who was our

IPM candidate, withdrew his name from consideration due to health issues. Since our

brief congregational meeting on the 16th, the IPM office reached out to Joel Ritchey with

another potential candidate. The consistory will meet this Sunday (30th) to decide

whether to take the next step in the process. At the time of this writing there was no new

information on the pastor search. The committee was meeting on March 27 to review

and discuss different seminaries we may contact if that is a route we decide to go.

Depending on the outcome of each meeting, we are planning at this time to meet with the

congregation again immediately after church on Palm Sunday.

Part of the difficulty of a transition is trying to keep things as normal as possible,

and your consistory has been trying hard to accomplish this. However, with the Easter

season upon us and all the activities that go with the holiday, it was decided that there is

just not enough time, or manpower, to have a Maundy Thursday or Good Friday service

this year. Hopefully that will resume next year. We are planning on having the Easter

egg hunt, sunrise service, breakfast, and communion.

Christopher brought up the idea of having a men's/boy's campout/fishing

expedition (one night only) at Ole Bull State Park in Potter County, May 16-17. The park

has a cabin available for rent. Anyone who is interested, please contact Chris. A signup

sheet is forthcoming.

We are still hopeful of having cabinets put in so we have a place to store and

share the antiques that are a part of St. John’s history. Glenn’s Cabinetry, who built the

cabinets for the kitchen, has agreed to do the work for $1,920.00. This bid was approved

by the consistory. There is no specific date at this time but it will be a few months.

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The next meeting will be on April 10, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. in the copy room of the

church.

Please keep your consistory and the Pastor Search Committee in your prayers as

we continue to tread these transitional waters. Easter Blessings to each of you.

-Submitted by Joel Ritchey

St. John’s Had 32 Pastors in Its 176 Yrs.

St. John’s Reformed Church of Loysburg has had 32 pastors in its 177-year

history. When Rev. Dr. David M. Meckley retired at the end of 2024, he was the second

longest-serving pastor with 12-1/2 years filling the local pulpit and providing all the other

services expected of a pastor. Most of the earlier pastors served more than one

congregation at the same time, but Pastor Dave and four of his short-term predecessors

were the only five who served only St. John’s of Loysburg.

Rev. Adelbert M. Gordon, who served from 1965 to 1993, was by far the longest-

serving pastor of this congregation (29 years). He and his wife lived in the adjacent parsonage throughout those years, while he also served the Mt. Pleasant and East

Sharpsburg Reformed congregations. He retired to Martinsburg in 1993, where his

widow, Minerva, still resides, now beyond 90 years of age.

Two pastors at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century

each served here for about a decade. Rev. E.W. Stonebreaker served 11 years and was

the third longest-serving pastor; Rev. I.N. Peightel served for 10 years and was the fourth

longest-service pastor.

The fifth longest-serving pastor was the Rev. Albert A. Hartman, who served nine

years before retiring in 1957, but he returned as a supply pastor for eight months in 1964.

All the rest served fewer years and are listed below in the order they served with

the years noted.

1848 – 1958 1958-2024

Rev. Matthew Irvine 1848-1850 Rev. Louis M. King 1943-1948

Rev. Frederick A. Rupley 1850-1852 Rev. A.A. (“Duble A”)Hartman 1948-1957

Rev. Samuel Phillips 1853-1855 Dr. Sylvio Scorza 1958-1958

Rev. William A. Deatrick 1855-1862 Rev. John M. Witmer 1958-1963

Rev. A.R. Kremer 1863-1868 Rev. A.A. Hartman (8 months) 1964

Rev. H.W. Hoffmeier 1868-1869 Rev. Adelbert (“Del”) Gordon 1964-1993

Rev. E.D. Shoemaker 1869-1874 Unrecorded supply pastors 1993-1994

Rev. Seiple 1874-1878 Rev. Walter F. Martin 1994-1996

Rev. I.N. Peightel 1878-1888 Unrecorded supply pastors 1996-1997

Rev. Robert O’Boyle 1888-1891 Kenneth Godfrey (interim) 1997-1998

Rev. E.W. Stonebreaker 1892-1903 Rev. Robert Langtry 1998-2001

Rev. C. Gumbert 1904-1909 Unrecorded supply pastor 2001-2002

Rev. Calvin Skyles 1909-1915 Dr. Paul Manuel (interim) 2002-2005

Rev. J. Edward Scheetz 1929-1933 Unrecorded supply pastors 2005-2006

Rev. L,C.T. Miller 1917-1918 Rev. Mark V.J. Wurst 2006-2007

Rev. Bruce A. Wentz 1919-1920 Pastor Jack Styer (supply) 2007-2008

Rev. Daniel W. Bicksler 1921-1928 Rev. Charles Campbell 2009-2011

Rev. George E. Dillinger 1933-1937 Pastor Jack Styer (supply) 2007-2008

Rev. Earnest E. Noll 1937-1942 Dr. David M. Meckley 2012-2024

When looking at the above list, one should remember that all pastors had to serve

more than one church except those who served in the last 24 years. At its beginning, St.

John’s was a member of the five-point Bloody Run (Everett) Charge with Matthew Irvine

as the founding pastor. Folks were lucky to have their horseback traveling pastor present

once every three weeks. That lasted until 1850, when Loysburg became part of the four-

point Martinsburg Charge. Five years later, Loysburg became part of the two-point

Yellow Creek Charge with St. Paul’s Reformed of Yellow Creek. That lasted 78 years

until 1933, when the Hickory Bottom Charge was created with Loysburg, Mt. Pleasant at

Martinsburg RD, East Sharpsburg at Roaring Spring RD, and Zion Reformed of Hickory

Bottom (no longer in existence).

After the merger of the Evangelical and Reformed Synod with the Congregational

Christian denomination in the late 1990s or early 2000s, Loysburg withdrew from the

new United Church of Christ (UCC) in 2005, and since then has been a single church,

becoming affiliated with the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference in 2005.

Pastor Meckley was our first CCCC-ordained pastor.

-by David Snyder

APRIL CALENDAR

Acolytes:

April 6 – Janie Rusell

April 13 – Sole Rhoat

April 20 – Grayson Rodgers

April 27 – Janie Russell

Music Ministry:

April 6 – Choir

April 13 – Nursery-2nd grade S.S. classes

April 20 – Choir

April 27 – Youth Choir (3rd -Sr. High)

Choir practice every Wednesday, 6:30 pm.

No practice on April 23. The youth class

will conduct the Easter Sunrise Service,

8:00 a.m. The Youth Chorus will

sing at this and again at the April 27

church service. We appreciate the

support of parents and youth in

participating. Thank you!

Children’s Moment

April 6 – Laurie Stiles

April 13 – Joy Nelson

April 20 –

April 27 –

Offering Usher

April 6 –

April 13 –

April 20 – Mark Sell

April 27 –

Greeters:

April 6 –

April 13 –

April 20 – Mark Sell

April 30 –

Altar Flowers:

April 6,13, 20: Linda Henderhan

April 27: Cindy Johnson

Birthdays:

1-Blair Gable

9-Adrian Snyder

10-Annie Kurtz

11-Ethan Hess

12-Mark Sell

22-Linda Henderhan

22-Henry Kurtz

23-Joel Ritchey

25-Bruce LaSala

29-Greg Russell III

30-Mary Rupp

Anniversaries:

2-Dick & Beth Clark

11-David & Laurie Stiles

25-Matt & Joy Nelson

26-Jeff & Beth Cottle

APRIL PRAYER CONCERNS:

Eileen Adams, Cameron Baker, Debbie (Howsare) Bowser, Joe Burkett family, Bryan

Clapper, Heather Clapper, Scott Collins, Connie Cross, Dean Grimes family, Jim & Ann

Gunnett, Denny Holderbaum, Janaan Houp, Wayne Kagarise, Bruce LaSala, Chris

Marlowe, Quinton Marrow, Charlie Mountain, Alana Norris, Logan Pepple, Betsy Rupp,

Kelly Schibi, Bobbie Willis

APRIL FOOD PANTRY REQUESTS:

Microwave meals, cereal, spam, kid packs, crackers, peanut butter, jelly, paper products,

cleaning items, and diapers.

**Any submissions for the May newsletter are due to Joy Nelson

(22joylinette@gmail.com) by Wednesday, April 30.

LOOKING AHEAD

Women's Guild Meeting Friday, April 11, 6:00 p.m.

Woodbury Church of the Brethren's Easter Eggstravaganza on Sunday, April

13, at 2:00 p.m. at the Woodbury Community Center, 4100 Woodbury Pike,

Woodbury, PA. All children ages pre-k through 5th grade are invited to bring

their baskets. There will be an egg hunt, games, crafts, and an Easter sundae bar.

Children will be split into age groups to rotate through the different stations. Any

questions, contact the church at woodburycob@atlanticbb.net or 814-793-2288.

Children’s Church Camp Fundraiser Fisher's of Men Bake/Soup Sale

Saturday, April 5 (10 a.m.-2 p.m.). Signup Sheet to order soup is on the table at

the back of the sanctuary. Orders due by today, March 30.

Cove Community Chorus presents “A Patchwork of Melodies,” Saturday, April

5th, 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 6th, 2:00 p.m. Tickets $8.00.

Easter Egg Hunt will be held on Saturday, April 19, at 10:00 a.m. at our church.

All are invited. Join us for craft, snack, an Easter story, and an egg hunt.

Easter Sunrise Service, April 20, 8:00 a.m., in pavilion, followed by breakfast in

the fellowship hall.

Community Group Sunday, April 27, 1:00 p.m. at House Rhoat's

Mother/Daughter Tea Social Saturday, May 3. Sign up by April 20.

Men's Camping Retreat May 16-17. All men & boys welcome. If interested,

see Chris Kurtz.

Vacation Bible School June 9-13. This year's theme is Faith Expedition: God's

Treasure Revealed. Any questions, or if you'd like to help, please talk to Tina

Holderbaum. She is still looking for 2 youth to help with skits.

Spaghetti Donation Dinner June 28, 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at our church to help

pay for the recent church kitchen remodel

Church Family Retreat at Camp Mantowagan September 12, 13 & 14

Mother/Daughter Banquet to be Held May 3rd

The Mother/Daughter Banquet this year will be a Ladies’ Garden Tea. It will be held on

Saturday, May 3rd at our church in the social hall. This is meant to be a fun, carefree, and

lighthearted event for ladies of all ages. Put on your fanciest teatime dress, floral sun

hat/headband, and any accessory you want. The more over the top and gaudy the better. The start of the evening will begin at 5 p.m. with glamour photos taken and a craft for everyone to make. Opening presentation will begin at 5:30 p.m., and a teatime meal of finger sandwiches and desserts will follow. Ladies are welcome to stay as long as they like to visit and enjoy themselves.

Reservations will be taken until Easter Sunday, April 20th. Cost is $8.00 for adults,

$4.00 for children 5 to 10 years old, and children 4 years old and under are free. Money is due when reservations are made. Sign up sheet and envelope for the money are on the welcome table in the back of the sanctuary.

-Submitted by Kimberly Rodgers

Ladies’ Garden Tea

Gather your girls, wear your prettiest frock, your fanciest hat, and enjoy a

lovely meal while visiting with other ladies, sipping tea, and having fun on a beautiful evening.

When: Saturday, May 3, 2025

Time: 5:00 p.m. – Garden Glamour Photos

5:30 p.m. – Presentation and Opening

By 6:00 p.m. - Tea Time Meal

Deadline to sign up is April 20th.

Cost: Adults - $8.00

Children 5 to 10 years old - $4.00

Children 4 years and younger - Free