We are delighted to welcome Rebecca to this position, effective this week! You will see her in worship on Sunday and each week following, and we hope you all can get to know and appreciate her and her family as she ministers among us. Many of you will receive a letter this coming week with some more information about Rebecca and her desire to know more about you and any potential interest in music participation that you may have.

While we expect to remain "restricted" in our gatherings for a few more months, Rebecca expects to sing often and lead some creative musical offerings in the near term. Once we believe we have sufficient pandemic immunity, Rebecca will be directing our choir and other groups for Sunday worship music, as well as possible bell choir, children's choir, and VBS leadership. She can be reached via email at musicdirector@yorkfirst.org. Here is some more information about Rebecca and her family:

Rebecca has been married to Jason for 12 years after meeting at York Little Theater where Rebecca was music directing the same show Jason was light designing. They went on their first date 14 years ago to the York Fair to help tear down the YLT steak stand. Jason told Rebecca that he wished he had a girlfriend as beautiful as her and the rest, they say, is history! In 2013 they were blessed with the birth of their handsome little man, Malakai Joseph, whom they adopted 6 months later, the day before Thanksgiving. Jason and Rebecca have also been foster parents for 3 years now and have roughly 35 kids come through their home so far. Currently they have 16 and 17 year old boys. You may see kids come and go, but please, introduce yourself and get to know them, if even for a short time!!! The Wolfs have found that these kids, even with the trauma and behaviors they carry, have taught us many things, but the first thing being that they need to know what love is and so they ask all who meet them show them love...especially God's love! They have two dogs, Bailey (A lab and weimaraner mix) and Bella (cocker spaniel), three guinea pigs, Gingerbread, Fiona, and Ariel, and a host of fish in the fish tank. Rebecca's parents also live with them so if you are ever bored, please, visit the Wolf residence for some fun and excitement!!

After participating in every possible music activity in high school, Rebecca went to Immaculata College to study music therapy. While there, in her freshman year, she earned section leader of the alto section in choir, and first chair french horn in the Philadelphia Orchestra, who accompanied the Philadelphia Opera.

Rebecca is no stranger to music direction in general but especially in a church setting. She has worked at several churches in various positions and has worked in both contemporary and traditional settings. She has a passion for music and using her talent as a ministry. She has also worked in several theaters in the area and several schools as well. Rebecca is a private vocal, piano, and acting coach as well at her private studio in her home. She enjoys all aspects of music and believes there is nothing more satisfying than just sitting at the piano and singing to relieve some stress!

Rebecca is an open book and really can't wait to get to know each and every one of you here at First Church of the Brethren. You will be hearing from her in the near future as she wants to personally talk to each individual and family to find what their interests are and see what their suggestions are for the music ministry.

The Homebuilders Class is continuing to meet on Sunday mornings from 9:00 am to 10:00 am by conference call. All are welcome to join. To be included, contact Mike Martin either by calling 717-840-4184 or by emailing Caretaker@TwinBrookFarm.com, leaving the phone number at which you would like to be called. You will receive a phone call in the vicinity of 9:00 am. The class continues to examine lessons from the "Guide for Biblical Studies" curriculum.

The Lamplighters Class meets on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 pm until 8:00 pm by zoom (video) conference. If you wish to be included and haven't received an email already, please contact Pastor Joel at pastor@yorkfirst.org, and he will forward you the link. The class will continue a series entitles "The Walk" led by Adam Hamilton.

The Vine & Branches Class is continuing to meet on Sunday mornings from 9:00 am to 10:00 am by zoom (video) conference. If you wish to be included, please contact Pastor Joel at pastor@yorkfirst.org, and he will forward you the link. The class will be studying the "Guide for Biblical Studies" curriculum, "Call in the New Testament." This week the lesson comes from Luke 8, Mark 15, and John 20, accounts of Mary Magdalene and her faithfulness to Jesus. Come and join us! Time for catching up and fellowship is always part of this class, in addition to the lesson.

Children's Sunday School meets at 12:00 noon each Sunday via zoom, with a lesson lasting approximately 20 minutes. Parents may of course participate alongside, but the time will be tailored to children. For the zoom link and to be included, please contact Pastor Joel at pastor@yorkfirst.org. Thanks, and we look forward to this special time together!

Click for Friends to Remember in Prayer

Although in-person worship gatherings are small and events are suspended for a time, the church's ministry continues in many important ways. Please continue to give as you are so led, whether by mail or through online giving. Thank you.

Online Giving is safe, easy, and convenient. Sign up by going to our church website at: www.yorkfirst.org and click on the Online Giving Link or go directly to the Online Giving website at: http://www.osvhub.com/york-first/funds.

2021 OFFERING ENVELOPES - If there are no envelopes with your name and you would like a set, contact the church office. A set will then be provided to you.

Please do not use your 2020 envelopes. Thank you!

LENTEN DEVOTIONAL GUIDES are available to be picked up in the church lounge. “The Wild Way of Jesus” by Anna Lisa Gross. Devotions for Ash Wednesday through Easter. This Lent, walk with Jesus along his wilderness way. Look to birds in the air, taste mustard growing along the path, and greed people deemed outcasts. Follow Jesus through the world’s wild edges and experience life-giving good news. Please pick one up and use it during the season that is before us. From the author:

Messenger Information

It’s Messenger time again. Messenger is the official magazine of the Church of the Brethren. This is a one year subscription for $14.50. If you have a current subscription you wish to renew or if you would like to begin receiving Messenger, please do one of the following two options

1.      Make your payment through the On Line Giving link of the church’s website(preferred method) https://osvhub.com/york-first/funds

2.      Drop off or send a check made payable to York First Church of the Brethren for $14.50 with Messenger written on the memo line. 

If you currently receive Messenger and no longer wish to, please contact church.

The deadline for this is February 15. Thank you for your prompt response as we decided this is the best process for subscriptions this year.  

In the past year York First COB has helped the Gibson family and the Winters family get into an apartment and we were able to fill their apartment with all the furnishings they needed.

We now have 2 families through the Lehman Center in the immediate pipe line for getting a place they can call home. One family is a mother with 2 school age boys and the other family is a mother with 3 special needs boys.

Things currently needed are:

3 boy twin sheets, twin bed spreads and mattress protector pad for allergies- the mattress we have are used.

5 bed pillows- new or like new

Baking sheets, and brownie/cake pans

Tupperware or any plastic food storage containers

Plastic cereal bowls

Measuring cups

Fry pan small and large

1 Dish drainer, and dish pan for washing dishes

If you have any of these items please put them in the Lounge and let Diane Gibble know.

If more items are donated than what these two families need I will stored them until another family gets a place.

Thank you for helping to meet the needs of these struggling families.

Denominational news and information is always available by visiting brethren.org

Feb. 27 - The Program and Arrangements Committee of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference has announced a denomination-wide online worship gathering titled “Venturing Forth Boldly as a Faith Family,” scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 27, at 8 p.m. (Eastern time). In a season of disruption and despair, the service will assure us of what “God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9) and how we can faithfully respond.

Church of the Brethren - Newsline Digest

That said, staying home remains the safest option, and we commend doing so to prevent spread of contagious disease. Worship will be live streamed on our YouTube channel and recorded each Sunday morning at 10:30 AM whether anyone is in attendance or not. We remain a committed body of Christ's faithful disciples whether we gather in person or apart. We are simply allowing in-person attendance for those who desire to do so. Thank you all in advance for choosing wisely how and where you will worship.

We have every intention of continuing to provide worship, teaching, and encouragement while maintaining “physical distance” for the safety and well-being of the vulnerable among us. The pastor and secretary continue to be available and in the office most of the week, so please feel free to call or email as you wish. We discourage in-person visits, however. Visitation to nursing homes and hospitals continues to be restricted, and pastoral visits will be minimal.

Please recognize that your church will require funds to continue basic operation of property and facility, fulfill pledged outreach giving, and maintain staff who will continue to minister whether in-person gatherings happen or not. Online giving is a simple and easy way to support your church and those it serves during this time, and it is accessible through our church website www.yorkfirst.org. Mailing your gifts and offerings to the church office is also welcome. Thank you to all who have given generously! We have been able to maintain our many outreach commitments thus far this year, and for that we give thanks!

Look for other announcements on our website and facebook page, and as always you may read current and/or recent newsletters through our website for other updates (and past sermons if you have spare time). **Note that you do not even need a facebook account of you own to view the church's page there. If you do have a facebook account, please "like" our church's page to view updates there. The more you "like" and "comment" and "share" our content, the better it "travels" and will be seen by others. Do your part to freely spread our messages of ministry during this time. Thank you!!**

Concerning the spread of COVID-19, here is a good resource with helpful links to other sites as well: https://covid19.brethren.org/ Be careful to pay attention to public health experts, rather than every news headline or comment from your neighbors. We must act responsibly for the well-being of all, not merely ourselves. This disease is real and a genuine threat to the lives of many.

Thank you all for understanding and for your faithful participation in our life together. Stay apart from each other in body but close together in spirit. Talk to each other often, by phone especially. Please stay home and do your part to prevent the spread of contagious disease. That is how we can best love one another for the time being. God's comfort and peace be with you.

Donated yarn for individual projects is located in the lounge cabinet which formally contained completed prayer shawls. Feel free to help yourself. Sorry I forgot to mention this in last announcement. Contact Cathy Carson at 717-755-0968 or neverland1dc@hotmail.com  

Thurs., Feb. 18, 7:00 p.m., via Zoom. Strom, recipient of the 2019 Dale Brown Book Award for German Pietism and the Problem of Conversion, is senior associate dean of faculty and academic affairs and professor of church history at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, in Atlanta, Georgia. In this talk, he explores how the desire to determine “true conversion” distorted the understanding of conversion experiences and worked at cross purposes to the spirituality Pietists hoped to instill. For details and the link to the Zoom presentation, visit www.etown.edu/youngctr/events or call 717-361-1470.

With all the articles and debates on this subject of racism in music, I find myself most closely aligned with Alex Ross, the author of the second article I presented. This article was published in The New Yorker, and I offer several quotes from it. Ross states, “I am a white American who grew up with the classics, and I am troubled by the presumption that they are stamped with whiteness—and are aligned with white supremacy, as some scholars have lately argued.” He gives several examples. Martin Luther King, Jr. loved to listen to Donizetti operas. Did that make King complicit in racism? Of course not. W.E.B. DuBois loved to listen to Wagner, who was notoriously racist. Did that make DuBois racist? Of course not. George Frederick Handel was an investor in the Royal African Company which transported more than 200,000 enslaved Africans to the Caribbean and the Americas. Does that mean that every time you listen to “The Hallelujah Chorus” from The Messiah, that you are engaging in racism? Of course not. 

Ross states, “Like every beautiful thing we have created, music can become a weapon of division and destruction,” and “There is no need to reach a final verdict—to judge each artist innocent or guilty.  Living with history means living with history’s complexities, contradictions, and failings.” My view is that music itself is not racist or non-racist. It simply is music. Music can be enjoyed, or not enjoyed, equally, regardless of the composer’s or the listener’s skin color. People of color can listen to or perform music written by white composers, and white people can listen to or perform music written by people of color. I return to my metaphor from my last article: Traffic laws are not racist, just because the person who created them was racist. It does not make you racist if you follow the traffic laws, and it does not make you racist if you enforce the traffic laws. Lastly, I agree with Ross that “the [music] field must acknowledge a history of systemic racism while also giving new weight to Black composers, musicians, and listeners.”

pastor@yorkfirst.org. Note that laws prevent hospitals from contacting a pastor without your permission when you are admitted, so you will need to let hospital staff know that you would like the hospital to contact your pastor.