All services will be held virtually this year.  The Day of Prayer Committee of the Provincial Women’s Board would like to thank all the churches for their willingness to work with us during these difficult times.  Two churches who regularly hold Day of Prayer Services were not able to do so this year.  We would like to thank Grace Moravian (Mount Airy) and Unity Moravian (Lewisville) for taking their place this year.  We hope many of you will be able to watch these services if not at the time they are lived streamed but at a time that works best for you.  May the Lord Bless You during this season of Lent and Always.

Provincial Women’s Board, Moravian Church South

February 17, 2021 11:00 A.M. Home Moravian Ash Wednesday, Speaker: Rev. Victoria Lasley, Music by Alex Helsabeck and Susan Foster. The service will be available live streamed on the Home Church Web page.  Click on Live broadcasts to access the service. https://www.homemoravian.org/index.php/live-broadcasts/

February 21, 2021 2:00 P.M. Christ Moravian, Speaker: Rev. Tony Hayworth.  The service will be live streamed via Friedberg Moravian’s YouTube channel, search for Friedberg Moravian Live Stream. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=friedberg+moravian+church

February 24, 2021 11:00 A.M. Grace Moravian, Speaker: Rev. Neil Routh. The service can be accessed by going to YouTube.  Search for Grace Moravian Church.  https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=grace+moravian+church

March 3, 11:00 A.M. Unity Moravian, Speaker: Rev. John G. Rights.  The service can be accessed by going to YouTube and typing in Unity av.  The service can also be accessed on Unity’s Facebook page. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=unity+av

March 10, 11:00 A.M. Calvary Moravian, Speaker: Rev. Adam Goodrich.  The service will be live streamed via YouTube by typing in Calvary Moravian Church. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=calvary+moravian+church+winston+salem+nc

March 17, 11:00 A.M. Fairview Moravian, Speaker: Rev. Jeff Carter.  The service will be live streamed via YouTube and Face Book on the Fairview website. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fairview+moravian+church

March 24, 11:00 A.M. Konnoak Moravian,  Speaker: Rt. Rev. Carol Foltz.  The service will be available on YouTube as Konnoak Hills Lenten Day of Prayer service beginning March 24. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=konnoak+hills+moravian+church

There’s a lot going on and a lot more coming up!

Join our weekly Bible Study this evening, Tuesday, February 9 at 7:00 and get a GLIMPSE of the Scripture readings for this Sunday. Dave Blum always shares lots of insights and gives us a chance to share some of our own.

Wednesday, February 17^th is Ash Wednesday. The sanctuary will be open from 5:30 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. so that you can stop by for a time of reflection and meditation, listen to beautiful Lenten hymns, partake of the Lord’s Supper, and receive the imposition of ashes if you choose to do so. At 6:30 p.m. there will be an Ash Wednesday Service of Holy Communion. It will be Live streamed, but you may also register to attend in person. Register HERE to attend.

Sunday, February 21^st is the first Sunday in Lent. We will again gather at the Lord’s Table as part of our 10:00 a.m. worship service (Live streamed and in person; registration for that service will open on Monday, February 15^th). We will have a Drive-through Communion at noon. Please plan to arrive after 11:30 a.m. and drive through the portico on the office side.

Monday, February 22^nd at 7:00 p.m., Michael Crane will lead a Zoom study group related to the book, “Focusing on the King’s Economy.”

Sunday, February 28^th will be the first “installment” of the 6 Stewardship Sermons that Pastor Gray will be preaching throughout the course of the year. The first sermon will focus on the principle that “the one we worship is the one we will serve.” If you have the “Practicing the King’s Economy” book, chapter 1 will help to prepare you for that message.

Sunday, March 21^st we will have our Congregational Council meeting at 5:00 p.m. Stay tuned for information on how to register to attend either in person or via Zoom.

During Holy Week we will have a Maundy Thursday Communion Service at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 1 (In person and Live streamed). Our Good Friday Service (6:30 p.m. on April 2, in person and Live streamed) will feature the presentation of the “Seven Last Words,” followed by a time of reflection around God’s Acre at 8:00 p.m.

You will soon hear more about our plans for a glorious Easter Morning Celebration!

Dear Friends,

It’s a new year and as we all should expect, God is busy doing new things.  The New Philadelphia Stewardship Committee believes that one of those new things is a new approach to understanding stewardship.

Some of us and some of you, too, have been thinking that there must be more to this stewardship thing than pledge cards and offering envelopes, and a sermon with the “t” word (tithing) and what we do in response to those.  We’ve explored a book called Practicing The King’s Economy: Honoring Jesus in How We Work, Earn, Spend, Save and Give, by Michael Rhodes and Robby Holt.  If you’ve ever read The Economist magazine (they call it a newspaper) you know that economics and the economy is about much more than money, interest rates and investments.  The approach these two authors take to what it means to practice the King’s economy shows that to be true.

We are asking that you join us in a year long journey through a comprehensive look at stewardship in six themes: Worship, Community, Work, Equity, Creation and Rest.  Each of the six themes will be developed in our times of worship on the last Sundays of February, April, June, August, October and December.  We are asking our Sunday School classes to agree to use the two chapters dedicated to each theme as their curriculum on the Sunday prior to the last Sundays of the months noted above.  Evie will be sending more information on how you can do that. If you are not in one of our SS classes, an online forum for considering and discussing those chapters will also be offered at a time to be determined.  More on all of this later.

You may be (and we hope you are) asking yourself how you can put your hands on one of these books and how much it will cost you.  The book normally sells for $19.99.  Baker Books will reduce the cost of the book in a bulk purchase to $10.00, and our Board of Trustees has approved funds to allow us to reduce that cost to just $5.00!  We have 100 copies on hand and you may pick up your copy at the church office beginning today.    We ask that you make Rachel and Donna’s job easier by bringing a check or cash amounting to $5.00.

I look forward to reading about (and practicing!) the King’s economy together!

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Sam

Thank you all for a wonderful, successful  South Fork Coat Drive. We collected 160 used and new coats (almost exactly the same amount of each), including a bag of used coats for adults, 14 pairs of shoes, 3 bags of winter sweaters and sweatshirts, and a huge bag full of gloves, scarves and hats.

Delivery will be made to South Fork Elementary this week!

Many thanks to the congregation and our neighbors for their generosity and participation in the coat drive.

Our guidelines for in-person attendance for worship and gathering remain in place for the time being (wearing masks, waiting six feet, washing hands). You can find them in the quarterly newsletter ( https://newphilly.org/pdf/qindex.pdf ) or when you register to attend worship at newphilly.org

Although the vaccines for COVID-19 are becoming available now, everyone attending worship or coming inside the building at church should continue to wear a mask, wait 6 feet apart, wash hands and limit gatherings until most people are vaccinated;we continue to care for others by following the guidelines for the safety of our staff and our worshippers. According to North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, “Receiving the COVID-19 shot and following the 3 W’s is everyone’s best protection from getting and spreading COVID-19. “ A person who receives the vaccination receives some protection from the disease but it can still be spread to others without our being aware of it. (See more frequently asked questions at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/vaccines/frequently-asked-questions)

This Sunday: Holy Communion in celebration of the Epiphany of our Lord.

We will “gather” at the table in 3 ways:

            In person:

–       as part of our in-person worship service at 10:00 a.m. (online registration required).

At home:

–       during the live stream of the service (or later in the day!). Please provide your own elements of bread and juice. Pastor Gray will ask God’s blessing on them (no matter where you are!).

Drive-in:

–       We will do this in the same way that the Drive-in Christmas Eve gathering was conducted. Please plan to drive through the office-side portico between 11:30 a.m. and noon. After you receive your communion elements and ode, please park in the designated spot (the ones without cones). Pastor Gray and the worship team will either be up on the hill or under the portico and will lead the service from one of those places.