Gun Violence Awareness Day Walk May 21, 2023
As a follow-up to the Memorial to the Lost display of T-shirts in February, we are working on a Gun Violence Awareness Day. Every day brings new stories of lives lost to gun violence. We need to continue our efforts to remember those who lost their lives and the families who grieve their loss. Our action can help end the senseless violence if we can persuade our legislators to pass sensible gun laws.
We can do this through our Witness Walk through Lansdale, from Trinity Lutheran Church and back to Trinity Lutheran Church. The walk will begin with a brief service and prayer at Trinity Lutheran Church, and the walk will continue on the sidewalk by York Avenue Elementary and loop back around to Trinity Lutheran Church.
On the walk, participants may carry signs with words or phrases and images that carry the message of our goal to end gun violence in our society today. On Saturday, May 20, a sign/poster party will be held from 10 to 11:30 a. m. at Salford Mennonite Church. All are welcome to join the party and lend their creative skills to design signs or posters to carry on the Witness Walk. Contact Jill Nickerson (215 206 8278) or Luann Ingram (267 446 6840) if you wish to join the party.
At the end of the walk, we will have a Remembrance Service and engage in advocacy by signing letters for our state and federal legislators calling for common sense gun laws. It was encouraging to see the great support we had for MLK Day of Action; let’s support the Witness Walk in the same way to get the message out that gun violence must stop.
July 10-13
6:00-8:00
Light Supper Provided
Spread the word!
Everyone Is welcome!
Tell your friends, neighbors and loved ones!
Volunteers needed!
Decorating and Planning fun nights:
Wednesday evenings 7:00 pm: June7, June 21, June 28, and July 5 in Stringer Auditorium
For More info: contact Liz Bonner (215) 353-0965
lumceducation@verizon.net
Come join us for Vacation Bible School!
What a great way to start the year – by building hope! Some of you may remember that we supported the building of a home last April at Bethel Hill UMC! It is again being coordinated by Bethel Hill UMC. It allows us to address the needs of the homeless. In one weekend, we will construct the walls for a complete home, which will then be erected at another site (by an organization such as Habitat for Humanity). Last year’s home was transported to Kentucky and erected in an area devastated by a tornado. While it is only one home, the HBH organization has similar builds across the country. Most weekends it has more than one build being accomplished. So, if you add the numbers up, in the past few years we have been part of a ministry providing hundreds of homes for the homeless! But it occurs one home at a time. April 15 is our time to build. Please contact office@lansdaleumc.org or Mark Reinmiller at mark@bchihi.com for additional information.
Heeding God’s Call – Memorial to the Lost
January 16, 9:30 am
Martin Luther King Day of Action To End Gun Violence At Lansdale United Methodist Church
To see pictures from the MLK Day of Action click here. To see a video of the Dedication Ceremony click here.
MLK Day of Action to End Gun Violence at Lansdale UMC, January 16, 2023
On a cold but sunny MLK Day, a group of volunteers gathered on North Broad Street in Lansdale with T-shirts, rebar, PVC frames and mallets to install a Memorial to the Lost for the sixty-six lives taken by gun violence in the last five years in Montgomery County. Lansdale United Methodist Church at 300 North Broad Street partnered with Heeding God’s Call to End Gun Violence to erect the display of T-shirts in a variety of colors, each one bearing the name, age, and date of death.
Members of Lansdale UMC recognize the urgency to take action to stop the rising number of lives lost to gun violence and worked on the project with Heeding God’s Call, a faith-based organization dedicated to saving lives from gun violence. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Heeding God’s Call is interfaith, multi-ethnic and works to stop the illegal movement of handguns and keep them from the street and criminal markets.
Volunteers from nearby places of worship also joined in the activity and worked together to arrange the T-shirts in neat rows. As they worked, they noted the names and ages on the shirts with a range in age from six years to eighty years. Draped over the frames and placed in rows, the shirts resemble tombstones in a cemetery, a stark reminder of the many lives lost to gun violence. Some volunteers expressed an emotional identity with lives lost on their birthday or whose age was the same as theirs.
After the display was completed, the group gathered on the sidewalk for a dedication service which included prayer, scripture, and a Litany of Commitment to listen to the voices of the lost and to act now. Along with Pastor Stew Warner, special guests PA Representative Steve Malagari and EPA District Superintendent Rev. Dr. Andrew Foster shared reflections. Bryan Miller, Executive Director of Heeding God’s Call to End Gun Violence, in a Remembrance to the Lost emphasized the need to honor and remember the lives lost to gun violence.
It is hoped that the eye-catching display in front of the church will cause drivers and those who pass by on the sidewalk to not only look and reflect but also to take action to stop the horrific deaths and the trauma caused to victims’ families and friends. Volunteers who helped install the display were given the opportunity to sign letters to legislators, both federal and state, asking them to support laws that will be effective in regulating gun sales, possession and use of guns.
Later in the spring, a Gun Violence Awareness Day is planned for advocacy and public education about gun violence and what can be done to end it. Gun violence prevention is increasingly an urgent issue with daily news reports of gun deaths in our cities and counties. Faith communities are needed more than ever to work together to find solutions to this crisis. With the powerful witness of the T-shirts in front of the building, Lansdale UMC and Heeding God’s Call hope to bring together faith groups to plan and organize a day of public witness and policy advocacy in Lansdale with the goal of energizing and mobilizing individuals and groups to take action to end gun violence.
To see the photo gallery of the MLK Day of Action, go to www.lansdaleumc.org and go to our Lansdale UMC Facebook page to watch the video of the dedication ceremony.
Please contact the church office@lansdaleumc.org if you have questions or would like more information.
Congregational Care Team
Did you know we have a team of people from our congregation who visit shut-ins? This team has been visiting and at times taking communion elements to shut-ins. We currently have fifteen people who are being visited. We would like to invite more people to be part of this visitation team. Contact Pastor Warner or Maryellen Reinmiller if you are interested in being part of this caring team, and would like to know more about this caring ministry.
New Nursery Attendant Search
Church Council and the Staff Parish Relations Committee have approved two new Nursery Attendant positions as we seek to connect with and support families with young children. Nursery attendants will staff the nursery on Sunday mornings during worship and Sunday School. This is a paid position of $60 per Sunday morning. Attendants will also be available for other church functions where children may attend. We are seeking two persons who will share this schedule throughout the year. Please share this information with people you think may be interested. Criminal, Child Abuse, and FBI fingerprint checks are also required. Persons must be 18 or older. Contact Pastor Warner stewwarner@outlook.com for a job description and application.
Summer Camps for Children & Youth
Our Eastern PA Conference for the UMC offers three Christian Camps to reach and serve children, youth, and adults. Summer camp registration is now open. Visit one of the websites below to learn about the many camps that we offer. You can also register online.
LUMC will contribute $50 per person for any child or youth from LUMC that attends one of the camps. Contact Pastor Warner to take advantage of this $50 gift.
• Camp Innabah www.innabah.org
• Greta Glen www.gretaglen.org
• Pocono Plateau www.poconoplateau.org
• Carson Simpson Farm www.csfarm.org
May Mission Emphasis
The missions emphasis May will supports Vacation Bible School (VBS). VBS has had a long history at LUMC. VBS, will be in the evening to accommodate those with work or other commitments during the day. There are expenses to offering a Vacation Bible School program to Church members as well as to the community. Program materials are purchased, as well as some supplies. This year a light dinner will be offered for the convenience of those who may not have time to eat before VBS. You may donate using the Blue Missions Envelope (if you use envelopes), using a Yellow envelope found in the pews, or electronically. Please make sure to designate your donation as VBS.