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Fall programming is coming! As we continue to build our Children and Youth ministries, our young people need you to connect with them. They need lots of connections in their church as all of Westminster family love and care for them. We are all part of nurturing their faith.

Can you fulfill your Baptismal vows in this way? We will train and equip you. We will nurture you and provide the resources that you need… but we need you. All of those children need you. You are 100% guaranteed that these children will bless you beyond measure. 

What is the time commitment? Volunteers help on an as-needed basis when staff are unavailable or we need to add adults to keep a safe adult/child ratio. All adults who participate in ministry involving children are required by State law to have background clearances and are updated every 5 years. Contact Jill Reichert for more info on children’s ministries. Contact Chris Clark for more info on youth ministries. Contact the office to find out how you go about getting or renewing your clearances. If you are not sure if you are due for renewal, the office can answer that, as well.

Our Sunday morning live stream doesn’t happen all by itself, it takes four AV technicians every service who control the cameras, audio, and the text on the screen. Would you like to be one of them? Volunteers are needed at both morning services. Anyone in 6th grade and older can volunteer – even those who consider themselves not very techy. Contact Lynn George or Jon Frost for more info.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is coordinating with the Presbytery of the Pacific, the Red Cross, and other emergency response agencies to support the communities impacted by the devastation of the recent wildfires in Hawaii. As search and recovery efforts continue, your prayers are appreciated for everyone struggling with this disaster. Along with our prayers, financial donations will help PDA provide recovery efforts in areas impacted by the wildfires. Click here to support the PDA’s efforts or make checks payable to Westminster Presbyterian Church, designating “Wildfire Response” in the memo line. We will forward the collected funds to PDA. Click here for updates on the response efforts. Thank you for your generosity!

Westminster has provided an option to bring your K-pods to have them recycled, and many of you have taken advantage of that, so thank you! Unfortunately, it is becoming cost prohibitive and it is still not the best option environmentally. The goal is for our congregation to eliminate the use of Single Use K-Pods. Our Care of Creation Committee wants us to consider alternatives to the single use pods. As convenient as coffee pods are for that one cup of coffee, the impact on the environment of those pods is quite shocking. A recent report cited the following statistics:

• 62 billion pods are consumed annually in North America and Europe.
• Only 27% of people recycle coffee pods, so 45 billion pods go to waste.
• 123 million pods go to landfills daily. 

Reusable K pods are available on Amazon. Some companies such as Nespresso offer their own free of charge options; others such as Keurig do charge. Questions? Contact Anne Jaques

Beginning in 8th grade, Westminster Presbyterian Church offers youth a 7-month long confirmation experience framed by the PC(USA) Matthew 25 initiative, where they are confirmed for a journey of faith exploration and engagement alongside an adult mentor.

• Confirmands EXPERIMENT with various practices and exercises around Christian faith values by using resources from a provided playlist on a bi-weekly basis, to gain theological understanding and confidence to serve “the least of these” in their community.
• They DEVELOP a relationship with a caring adult mentor by meeting with them two times a month for conversation, connection, and reflection, because adult mentors are vital to the flourishing of young people in their life and faith formation.
• Finally, confirmands CREATE a Pay It Forward Project as the culmination of their class experience using grant money to seed their support for a cause, ministry, or organization of their choice in the local community in order to help youth realize a sense of personal agency in their faith.

All youth in 8th grade or older and have not taken the journey of confirmation class are invited for the 2023-2024 year. The registration can be found HERE on our church website. Deadline to register: September 10.

90% of the students at Cheyney qualify as low income, disabled, or are the first in their family to attend college. We would like to welcome all 750 Cheyney students back to campus with a gift from Westminster. Each student will receive an aluminum water bottle filled with goodies. We will collect colored pens & highlighters, colored sticky notes, candy, $5 Wawa gift cards, and popcorn between July 23 – August 13. Please drop off donations of any of these items in the collection bins around the church. Join us between 12 – 4 pm on Wednesday, August 16, in Room 413 to help pack the water bottles. Questions? Contact Angela Emrich or Nancy Tuttle.

It is with joy that we introduce you to Janet Gauger who has graciously and enthusiastically volunteered to be our new Prayer Ministry Coordinator. Janet and her husband Rich joined Westminster in 2010 and she has also served as the Sunshine Coordinator for the Chancel Choir over the years. Janet’s gifts of compassionate care, deep listening, and faithful service to the church will allow for this Prayer Ministry of and for the people of Westminster and beyond to continue each week. Contact Janet or the church office if you wish to join our prayer ministry team or have a prayer concern you’d like our prayer ministry to lift up. Prayer request forms are located in the sanctuary pew racks.