News

1:30 PM TUESDAY, MAR 28 AT THE DI MATTEO WORSHIP CENTER/CHAPEL

Pastor Stephen will lead worship with communion, prayers, a meditation and hymn singing, with organ accompaniment by Dan Dorty. Fellowship and refreshments follow the service.

SATURDAY, MAR 18 AT THE QUENTIN FIRE COMPANY, 20 S. LEBANON ST., LEBANON

Volunteer lawyers are offering a Wills for Heroes Program for all active and retired Pennsylvania First Responders, and Pennsylvania Military Veterans, and all sworn personnel and their spouses or significant others (proof of affiliation will be requested).

Appointments for each person last approximately one hour and at the conclusion of it you will have notarized legal documents: a Will, Living Will, and Health Care and Financial Powers of Attorney (or any combination thereof). If you select that you are coming with a spouse/significant other, you will have back-to-back appointments, and the computer will automatically schedule a second appointment. You do not need to schedule a separate appointment. Click here to schedule your appointment using  the password WFH Lebanon.

Questions? Contact Hannah Suhr. For more information, visit the Wills for Heroes Foundation. Please note: If your estate exceeds approximately $750,000, this service is unavailable to you due to the complexity of your estate and the limited time to complete the legal documents. For determining if your estate is over $750,000, include your cash, personal property, stock and bonds, real estate equity, savings, cash value of a whole/universal life insurance policy only (not the amount of the insurance policy).

7:30 PM FRIDAY, MAR 3 & SATURDAY, MAR 4 AND 1:30 PM SUNDAY, MAR 5 AT HERSHEY HIGH SCHOOL •  CLICK FOR MORE INFORMATION & TO ORDER TICKETS

Lionel Bart’s classic musical is based on the Charles Dickens novel, Oliver Twist. The Tony and Olivier Award-winning show is one of the few musicals to win an Academy Award for Best Picture and is widely hailed as a true theatrical masterpiece by actors and audience members alike.

The streets of Victorian England come to life as Oliver, a malnourished orphan in a workhouse, becomes the neglected apprentice of an undertaker. Oliver escapes to London and finds acceptance amongst a group of petty thieves and pickpockets led by the elderly Fagin. When Oliver is captured for a theft that he did not commit, the benevolent victim, Mr. Brownlow takes him in. Fearing the safety of his hideout, Fagin employs the sinister Bill Sikes and the sympathetic Nancy to kidnap him back, threatening Oliver’s chances of discovering the true love of a family.

Participating Derry Church youth include Ryan Hosenfeld as Bill Sykes, Mayangela Speicher as Old Sally, Katie Bortel and Mayangela as Governors, and Katie as a featured street vendor dancer. Let us know if we missed anyone in the cast, crew or orchestra and we’ll add to the list.

Reserved seats are $15 for adults, $10 for students/senior citizens, and $20 for general admission at the door. Senior citizen preview & family night: 6:30 pm Thursday, March 2. All seats for this show are General Admission and sold at the door. Senior citizens (65+) are free; students are $5; adults are $10.

• Members of the Personnel committee led a discussion on a proposal for a new staff role at Derry, that of Faith Community Nurse. This position would foster whole person wellness for the members and staff of Derry, and the surrounding community, complying with the Scope and Standards of Practice of Faith Community Nursing. Specifically, the FCN would provide spiritual care surrounding health issues and be a health advocate for those in need, promote whole person health and disease prevention integrating faith and health through visits, counseling, education, support groups and training of volunteers. Elders and their committees will be discussing this concept, and there will be multiple opportunities for the congregation to learn more about this proposal.
• Approved several building use requests:
  • March 11 Fellowship Hall & Kitchen. Requested by Sue Fox for a baby shower.
  • March 12 Sanctuary & Fellowship Hall. Requested by Scout Troop 200 for Eagle Scout Ceremonies.
  • April 20-22 Use of church facilities for the African Children’s Choir including overnight stay and concert on Friday, April 21. Requested by Arts Alive committee.
  • March 24, 2024 Sanctuary. Requested by Market Square Concert Series for a concert featuring the Poulenc Trio.
• Reviewed January’s financial reports.
• Approved an amendment to Derry’s Capital Procurement Policy which increases the threshold for submission of a Capital Procurement Requisition from $5,000 to $10,000. Approved proposed guidelines for Derry’s Ruth Codington Lending Library.
• At the request of the Personnel Committee, the Session approved the transfer of $20,000 from the Futures Fund to the Search Expense account to balance the account and provide funds for future personnel search expenditures.
• Set the date of March 11, 2023 at 9:00 am for a meeting of the College of Elders & Deacons.
• The Mission & Peace Committee has contributed $5,000 to Presbyterian Disaster Relief to support the organization’s earthquake assistance in Turkey and Syria. The Session approved the Committee’s request to solicit additional donations from the congregation.
• Re-elected Duncan Campbell as President and elected Tracey Kinney as Vice President of The Derry Presbyterian Church, Inc.

9 AM – 12 PM SATURDAY, MAR 11 IN ROOM 7 

All Derry members who have ever been ordained as an Elder or Deacon are invited to next month’s “College of Elders and Deacons.” This is an opportunity to share your thoughts, experiences, concerns, and joys as Derry has transitioned out of COVID. Together we will build on what is going well and identify where gaps may be in our ministry. We’ll talk about the possibility of a Faith Community Nurse position at Derry, and what that means for our staff, our members, and our ministry, and learn about 300th anniversary plans. We hope many of our past and present leaders will join us as we look to the future and our 300th anniversary at Derry Church. 

If you will be attending, let us know by signing up here.

4 PM SUNDAY, MAR 26 IN THE SANCTUARY • AN ARTS ALIVE EVENT • FREE WILL OFFERING

Felix Mendelssohn described “the essence of the beautiful is unity in a variety.” Inspired by this idea, Mendelssohn Piano Trio explores richness of the genre in three stylistically different compositions with their March 26 program. From Tyzen Hsiao’s “Formosa” Trio, a poetic tribute to natural beauty of Taiwan, and Beethoven’s uplifting Piano Trio Op. 70, No. 2, to Mendelssohn’s passionate Piano Trio in D Minor, this program offers a bird’s eye view of piano trio’s expressive range and historic development.

Since its founding in 1997, the Mendelssohn Piano Trio has performed over 500 concerts in the US, Europe and Asia. The group has also recorded 15 CDs including most recently a cycle of the complete Haydn Piano Trios released on Centaur Records. The Mendelssohn Piano Trio’s extensive repertoire of over 100 works embraces music from all periods of the genre’s history.

Ya-Ting Chang, pianist, is from Taiwan; Peter Sirotin, violinist, is from Ukraine; and Fiona Thompson, cellist, is from England. The Washington Post described their Brahms as “unfathomably beautiful” and “electrifying,” while praising their “technically immaculate” and “rich in psychological insight” Tchaikovsky. European reviewers noted “freshness and energy” in “unusually emotional” interpretations of Haydn piano trios, while Audiophilia magazine praised these recordings as “warm, sonorous and lively.” The Mendelssohn Piano Trio performances and recordings can be heard on many classical radio stations including NPR’s Performance Today, as well as WETA’s Front Row Washington.

DROPOFF DEADLINE: FRIDAY, MAR 24

Derry Church is hosting its annual Easter egg hunt on April 1, and we need your help: please drop off bags of individually wrapped, nut-free candies in the “Easter Treats” basket in the mission closet in the atrium library by Friday, Mar 24. We’ll be filling dozens of eggs for multiple age groups, so any and all donations are welcome and appreciated.

As Lent begins, Derry Church begins receiving the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering, continuing through Easter Sunday, April 9. This year the Mission and Peace Committee has set a goal of $18,000 for this offering. Half  will go to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and half to Bridges to Community for construction of a house in the Dominican Republic. OGHS envelopes are in the pew racks or give online.

A NEW Journey In Faith (JIF) group is forming! Women’s Journey in Prayer will gather on select Sunday evenings in the Lounge from 6:30-8 pm. The group will begin with prayer, include a short story/devotional, then take time for discussion and conversation, and most importantly, learning how we can be there to support one another in everyday life.

The group will use “Small Graces: The Quiet Gifts of Everyday Life” by Kent Nerburn for discussion topics and stories. 

All women are welcome as we pause from the craziness of life and gather for a special time together.

Here’s the schedule: 

Sunday, Feb 26
Sunday, Mar 12
Sunday, Mar 26
Sunday, Apr 16
Sunday, Apr 30
Sunday, May 14

Contact Elizabeth Gawron for more information.

The Presbyterians Today team is taking a “sacred pause” after the March/April edition to dream and discern how best to tell the stories of the PCUSA. Readers will still receive a monthly newsletter keeping them up to date on their efforts and sharing stories gathered along the way. Their Facebook page will be available with prayers, articles, video stories and updates on what’s being discovered as the team plans and prepares for what is to come. They welcome your prayers and questions: email editor@pcusa.org.

6:30 PM MONDAY, FEB 27 AT RUBBER SOUL BREWING COMPANY, HUMMELSTOWN

Dads, this is a brand-new fellowship group that offers you the chance to enjoy time with other Derry dads. This group will meet monthly at a variety of locations over the course of the year. For more information, contact Pastor Stephen.

Throughout the month of February, Presbyterian Women are collecting for the Blanket Offering. When difficult times come, a kind and loving response can make all the difference. That is why the Church World Service Blankets Program was created: to give a kind, loving and tangible response to someone facing difficult times, reminding them that they are not alone. The program focuses on three main objectives:

• Eiminate hunger and poverty
• Help displaced persons
• Respond to disasters

In Jackson, Mississippi, two disasters fell on top of each other. Heavy rain caused much flooding and cause damage to the water plants. Many people were without clean water or any water. A church became a water distribution center. They also distributed school kits to help children who had to do online schooling. Also hygiene kits and cleanup buckets. Recipients called to resources helpful, necessary and life-savers.

Click to watch a short video introducing the Blanket Offering

Please give to the Blanket Offering as generously as you are able. Gifts can be placed in the boxes at church, mailed to the church office or given online.