June 2011 Newsletter

House-to-House
Family of Hope House Church                                           June 2011

Family of Hope Reunion!

Family of Hope House Church is planning a reunion 12 noon Saturday, August 13, and a Sunday, 12:30 pm August 14 at the Vlasits’ Old Massanutten Lodge, with rooms reserved for out of town guests. Please contact <harvyoder@gmail.com> if you can help add to this growing list of past members and attendees from the past twenty years:

Ametsriter, Sue

Blackburn, Gail
Bontrager, Sherry
Brainard, Kate
Czecholinski, Laurie and Ron
Dumas, Cande, Josiah
Glunt, Mark and Donna
Good, Dorothy, Ronnie and Jason
Gottfried, Eric and Rosella
Greenawalt, Ted and Kimberlee
Gullman, Dave and Debbie
Hairston, Will and Susie
Harrelson, Charles
Horton, Heather
Ivanitsky, Serge and Dora
Johnson, Bruce and Ann
Kanagy, David
Kreider, Barry and Erika
Lenker, Mark and Marie
Levesque, Trish
Morlan, Becky
Moyers, John
Nafziger, Marj
Patterson, Audrey
Rossen, Judy
See, Adela and family
Sottolano, Chris (need new last name and contact information)
Sottolano, Craig and Jenn
Weaver, Karen
Weaver, Shari
Westfall, Michael and Julie
Underwood, Donnie and Jeanine
Zimmerman, John and Ruth Ann
Zhou, Jack and Bo, Emily and Elianah
FOH Covenanting Statement:
"I support the goals, vision and faith of Family of Hope, will attend weekly services as regularly as I am able, and will use my gifts and offer my encouragement to this church family to the best of my ability. I invite other members to support me--and to confront me  as needed--in being faithful to this commitment."

Notes, prayers and praises

 * GET FOH UPDATES at http://familyofhopehousechurch.blogpost.com.
 * BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS to Sophie May 6/2, Karla May 6/16 and Harvey Yoder 6/30!
 * CONGRATULATIONS TO RANDY MAY on his graduation from Turner Ashby High School June 11!
 * BECKY MORLAN is  the proud grandmother of twins, Lillian Josephine and Logan James, born March 28.
 * ALMA JEAN YODER plans to be in Rochester, NY, June 16-30 to help take care of the new grand-twins born June 3, Maria Irene, 7 lb., 6 oz. and David Samuel, 7 lb., 8 oz. Harvey will also be there for a part of that time.
 * PRAY FOR RACHEL STOLTZFUS, who was at RMH due to a mild stroke May 28-30, and for BERTHA SWARR who is at Oak Lea for more physical therapy.

June services    worship at 4 pm, meal at 6
Theme: “Pure and Simple, The Church of God’s Dream”               
                       
5 Location: James & Ruth Stauffer 1250 Parkway Dr 22802          574-6141
Worship and Sharing: James Stauffer
Bible Study: “Who is the Holy Spirit?” Paul Swarr                                                              
Carry-in Meal

12 Location: Guy & Margie Vlasits 3448 Caverns Drive,,K’town   908-0391
Worship and Sharing: Margie Vlasits                                 
Bible Study: “Pentecost: Old Men Dreaming Dreams” Harvey Yoder              
Communion and annual membership re-covenanting                 Carry-in Meal

19 Location: Rachel Stoltzfus? 1359 TwoPenny Drive 22802         433-3983
Worship and Sharing: Karla May
Bible Study: “Bearing Witness to Our Father’s Love” Dick Dumas
Carry-in Meal

26 Location: Joyce Ulrich 1029 Shenandoah Street Apt 101 22802        246-1013
Worship and Sharing:
Bible Study: Lois Wenger
Carry-in Meal

     “God calls us to be followers of Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, to grow as a community of grace, joy and peace, so  that God’s healing and hope may flow though us to the world.”

Family of Hope Reunion

A Family of Hope reunion/picnic is being planned for 12 noon Saturday, August 13, and 12:30 pm Sunday, August 14, at the Vlasits' Old Massanutten Lodge near Keezletown. Free lodging is available for out of town guests. Please contact harvyoder@gmail.com to add more names, for more information or to indicate you can attend.

Here's a partial list of past members and attendees over the past twenty years:

Blackburn, Gail
Bontrager, Sherry
Brainard, Kate

Czecholinski, Laurie and Ron

Dumas, Cande, Josiah
Glunt, Mark and Donna
Good, Dorothy, Ronnie and Jason
Gottfried, Eric and Rosella
Greenawalt, Ted and Kimberlee
Gullman, Dave and Debbie

Hairston, Will and Susie
Harrelson, Charles
Horton, Heather
Ivanitsky, Serge and Dora
Johnson, Bruce and Ann
Kanagy, David
Kreider, Barry and Erika
Lenker, Mark and Marie
Levesque, Trish
Morlan, Becky
Moyers, John
Nafziger, Marj
Patterson, Audrey
Rossen, Judy
See, Adela and family
Sottolano, Chris (need new last name and contact information)
Sottolano, Craig and Jenn
Weaver, Karen
Weaver, Shari
Westfall, Michael and Julie
Underwood, Donnie and Jeanine
Zimmerman, John and Ruth Ann
Zhou, Jack and Bo, Emily and Elianah 

May 2011 Newsletter

House-to-House
Family of Hope House Church                                           May 2011

May services    worship at 4 pm, meal at 6 (except 5/29)

Easter to Pentecost Study Theme: “Pure and Simple, The Church of God’s Dream”               
                       
1 Location: Paul and Bertha Swarr 1260 Parkway Dr 22802          434-2607
Worship and Sharing: Harvey Yoder
Bible Study: “From Genesis to Revelation, Church at the Center of God’s Mission” Paul Swarr                                                         
Carry-in Meal

8 Location: Rachel Stoltzfus  1359 TwoPenny Drive 22802           433-3983
Worship and Sharing: James and Ruth Stauffer                                 
“From Simple House Churches to Emperor Constantine’s Cathedrals--A Three Hundred Year Revolution” Harvey Yoder                   Carry-in Meal

15 Location: Family Life Resource Center (with invited guests)
Two-hour study: “From Dream to Reality-- Growing Churches Organically” Phil Kniss, pastor of Park View Mennonite Church
Pizza Meal

22 Location: Susan Campbell 1361 Lincolnshire Dr 22802          564-1524
Worship and Sharing: Susan Campbell
Bible Study: “From Shenandoah to Saigon and Home Again--How the Church has Nurtured and Sustained Us” James and Ruth Stauffer
Carry-in Meal

29 Worship at 10 am with the “Early Church” at  Our Community Place, 17 E. Johnson Street, followed by Q & A with Pastor Ron Copeland and a 12:30 noon meal (optional)

Notes, prayers and praises

 * “PURE AND SIMPLE--THE CHURCH OF GOD’S DREAM” will be the theme of our Bible studies from Easter through Pentecost.

 * BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS to Margie Vlasits 5/1 & Alma Jean Yoder 5/15!

 * NEIL AND ELLY NELSON now  live at 338 S. College Ave.    246-9218

 * FAMILY OF HOPE’S NEW BLOG SITE has updated newsletter and other information at <http://familyofhopehousechurch.blogpost.com>.

May Lectionary Readings:

5/1:   Psalm 16, Acts 2:14a, 22-32, John 20:19-31, 1 Peter 1:3-9
5/8:   Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19, Acts 2:14a, 36-41, Luke 24:13-35, 1 Peter 1:17-23
5/15: Psalm 23. Acts 2:42-47, 1 Peter 2:19-25, John 10:1-10
5/22: Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16, Acts 7:55-60, 1 Peter 2:2-10, John 14:1-14
5/29: Psalm 66:8-20, Acts 17:22-31, John 14:15-21, 1 Peter 3:13-22


Church, Simple and Sustainable         Harvey Yoder

When I tell people I’m part of a house church, I often get a puzzled look. They can see cell groups meeting in homes, but how can you be a real congregation and not meet in some kind of church building?

   Yet for the first centuries after Pentecost, nearly all Christians met in homes for their worship and Eucharist meals. Most of the New Testament letters are addressed to such home-based congregations all over the Roman empire. With no pipe organs, pulpits, pews, or paid clergy, believers regularly gathered in the living rooms or courtyards of one of their members to share “a hymn, a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation of a tongue” for the building up of the church. (1)

   Since there were no “Sundays” set aside for such gatherings, Christians often met either early in the morning or at the end of an ordinary work day for apostolic teaching, fellowship and the “breaking of bread.” An example of one such service found in Acts describes a group of believers meeting by lamplight in an upstairs room--on the evening of the “first day of the week.” (2)

   By the second century AD some congregations had renovated houses or “basilicas” as special places for worship, and by the time the Emperor Constantine officially endorsed Christianity in the fourth century, modest houses of worship had become relatively common in many urban areas. Then Constantine himself launched a gigantic campaign of building elaborate and expensive edifices for Christian worship all over the empire, efforts that earned him widespread popularity and acclaim.

   The rest, as they say, is history.

   I don’t oppose the idea of church buildings as such, and I actually enjoy pipe organs. And I don’t believe that homes are the only proper settings for worship. But since there is an actual surplus of empty pews in our community, I’d at least like to see a moratorium on investing ever more money in church real estate in favor of other creative options for worship spaces, such as churches sharing facilities (meeting at different times of the day) or utilizing other existing meeting places in the community.     

   And then to invest some of the millions of dollars saved in projects like building Habitat for Humanity homes for the poor or feeding the hungry.

   That would send the kind of message even a skeptic could understand.
                                                                     (1) I Corinthians 14:26  (2) Acts 20:7-17

April 2011 newsletter

House-to-House
Family of Hope House Church                                       April 2011

WILL YOU COME AND FOLLOW ME (The Summons)

Will you come and follow me,
If I but call your name?
Will you go where you don't know
And never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown,
will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown
in you and you in me?

Will you leave your self behind
if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind
and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare
should your life attract or scare,
will you let me answer prayer
in you and you in me?

Will you love the 'you' you hide
if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside
and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you've found
to reshape the world around
through my sight and touch and sound
in you and you in me?

Lord, your summons echoes true
when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you
and never be the same.
In your company I'll go
where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I'll move and live and grow
in you and you in me.
                            - John Bell (Iona community) by permission
to hear the melody, log on to http://www.contemplator.com/scotland/kelvin.html

Notes, prayers and praises

 * OUR ANNUAL EASTER SUNRISE SERVICE will be at 8 am April 24 at the Massanutten Caverns entrance, followed by a time of Easter singing and a brunch at the old Massanutten Caverns Lodge. 

 * APRIL BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS to Bertha Swarr 4/13, Jack (Hong Yan) Zhou 4/14, Cathy Atwell 4/19, Bo Hu 4/20 and Randy May 4/21!

 * BECKY MORLAN’s new phone number is 952-500-3492  and GAIL BLACKBURN’s is 276-531-8925.

 * FAMILY OF HOPE’S BLOG SITE has updated newsletter and other information at <http://familyofhopehousechurch.blogpost.com>.

April Lectionary Readings:

4/3: 1 Samuel 16:1-13  Psalm 23  Ephesians 5:8-14  John 9:1-41

4/10: Ezekiel 37:1-14  Psalm 130  Romans 8:6-11  John 11:1-45

4/17: Isaiah 50:4-9a  Psalm 31:9-16  Philippians 2:5-11, Matthew  27:11-54

4/24: Jeremiah 31:1-6  Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24  Colossians 3:1-4  Matthew 28:1-10

April services    worship at 4 pm, meal at 6, (except 4/ 24)                 
                       
3 Location: James and Ruth Stauffer 1250 Parkway Dr 22802      574-6141
Worship and Sharing: Harvey Yoder
Bible Study: “A Walk Through a Dark Valley” Paul Swarr
Carry-in Meal

10 Location: Susan Campbell 1361 Linconshire Dr 22802            564-1524
Worship and Sharing: James and Ruth Stauffer
Bible Study: “Life in a Valley of Dry Bones” Harvey Yoder
Carry-in Meal

17 Location: Rachel Stoltzfus1359 TwoPenny Drive 22802           433-3983
Worship and Sharing: James Stauffer
Bible Study: “A Prayer in the Depth of Darkness” Dick Dumas
Carry-in Meal

24   8:00 am Easter sunrise service, Easter singing amd brunch!
Location: Guy & Margie Vlasits 3448 Caverns Drive, K’town        908-0391
Meditation: “A Burst of Easter Light”
Brunch at 10 am.

March 2011 newsletter

House-to-House
Family of Hope House Church                                       March 2011

Mandate to Pharaohs: “Let my people go”

February 11, 2011 will go down in history as the day ordinary Egyptian citizens successfully ousted a modern day Pharaoh, in a nonviolent revolution sparked by the recent successful uprising in Tunisia. It’s hard not to see this as a miraculous feat, given the kind of oppressive and dictatorial rule Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak successfully maintained in that country for over 30 years.
     Which reminds me of the truly miraculous deliverance recorded in the Bible’s book of Exodus, one that took place in that same country over 3000 years before. The God of the universe, having heard the cries of the thousands of Hebrew slaves who labored there under brutal and harsh conditions, unleashed a series of disasters that finally led the Pharaoh to heed the words of Moses, God’s chosen liberator, “Let my people go!”
     Since the beginning of time, the world’s Pharaohs, intent on maintaining power and adding to their lavish empires, have not given up their positions easily. But in the face of multitudes who manage to totally lose their fear and live only by their faith and hope, they can be rendered powerless. No amount of military might can stop them. God can either change the hearts of military leaders, as in the case of the 2/11 revolution, or can cause their chariots to mire down hopelessly as they pursue their subjects, as in the case of the 1290 BCE revolution.
     What can we learn from this? Can we ask what might have happened to Iraq’s “Pharaoh” had we prayerfully partnered with the God of justice to bring him down, rather than through the violent means that have resulted in untold suffering and the loss of thousands of innocent lives? And dare we hope that the 2/11 event that happened recently in Egypt could set a precedent for similar liberations of a more peaceful kind?
      Biblical “salvation” is clearly about more than just being delivered from this present world and transported to another. Scripture is full of examples of God’s people being saved from disasters, from want, from injustices and oppression, and from their enemies, including their powerful Pharaohs and Caesars.
     And all of that without the use of violence to combat violence, a strategy that ignores the life and example of Jesus and only compounds the problem it is meant to address.
                                                                                                                                         - Harvey Yoder
Notes, prayers and praises

 * THE LENTEN SEASON, forty days of preparation for Easter, begins on Ash Wednesday, March 9.

 * HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Ruth Stauffer 3/28, and welcome back to the Stauffers as they return from their month in MDS service!

 * TRISH LEVESQUE’s new address is 17600 14th Avenue North, Apt 127, Plymouth, MN 55447-2951.

 * FAMILY OF HOPE’S NEW BLOG SITE has updated newsletters and other info at <http://familyofhopehousechurch.blogpost.com>. HARVEY’s blog is at <http://harvyoder.blogspot.com> with a link to the FOH site.

March Lectionary Readings:

2:6: Exodus 24:12-18, Psalm 2, 2 Peter 1:16-21, Matthew 17:1-9

2/13: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7, Psalm 32, Romans 5:12-19, Matthew 4:1-11

2/20: Genesis 12:1-4a, Psalm 121, Romans 4:1-5, 13-17, John 3:1-17

2/27: Exodus 17:1-7, Psalm 95, Romans 5:1-11, John 4:5-42

March services    worship at 4 pm, meal at 6                  
                       
6 Location: Joyce Ulrich 1029 Shenandoah Street Apt 101 22802 246-1013
Worship and Sharing: James and Ruth Stauffer
Bible Study: “Speak to us From the Mountain” Harvey Yoder
Carry-in Meal

13 Location: James and Ruth Stauffer 1250 Parkway Dr 22802     574-6141
Worship and Sharing: Harvey Yoder
Bible Study: “Deliver us in Times of Temptation” Paul Swarr
Carry-in Meal

20 Location: Rachel Stoltzfus1359 TwoPenny Drive 22802           433-3983
Worship and Sharing:
Bible Study: “Grace us With Your Promises” Dick Dumas
Carry-in Meal

27 Location: Guy & Margie Vlasits 3448 Caverns Drive, K’town   908-0391
Worship and Sharing: Margie and Guy Vlasits
Bible Study: “Grant us Your Living Water” James Stauffer
Carry-in Meal

February 2011 newsletter

House-to-House
Family of Hope House Church                                   

Notes/prayers/praises

 * JAMES AND RUTH STAUFFER will be away on an MDS assignment from February 5 to.March 4. They can be contacted at Mennonite Disaster Service, 7900 Cedar Crest Camp Road, Lyles, TN 37098, 931-670-7409.

 * MICHAEL AND LOIS RIVIERA’S winter address while with us is 204 Holmes Lane, Staunton, VA 24401. Their phone is 502-525-8650.

 * JANUARY BIRTHDAYS were James Stauffer 1/8, Susan Campbell 1/17, Becky Morlan 1/28 and Dick Dumas 1/30. Sorry we omitted those last month!

 * TRISH LEVESQUE’s birthday is FEBRUARY 23, and her new address is 17600 14th Avenue North, Apt 127, Plymouth, MN 55447-2951

 * FAMILY OF HOPE’S BLOG SITE will have updated newsletter and other information. HARVEY’s blog is at <http://harvyoder.blogspot.com> with a link to the FOH site.

FEBRUARY LECTIONARY READINGS:

2:6: Isaiah 58:1-12 Psalm 112:1-10 1 Corinthians 2:1-16 Matthew 5:13-20
2/13: Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Psalm 119:1-8 1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Matthew 5:21-37
2/20: Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18 Psalm 119:33-40 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Matthew 5:38-48
2/27: Isaiah 49:8-16a Psalm 131 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 Matthew 6:24-34

February services    worship at 4 pm, meal at 6      
                                   
6 Location: Paul and Bertha Swarr 1260 Parkway Dr 22802       574-6141
Worship and Sharing: Harvey Yoder
Bible Study: “A New Community” Paul Swarr
Carry-in Meal

13 Location: Rachel Stoltzfus  1359 TwoPenny Drive 22802         433-3983                        
Worship and Sharing: Karla May
Bible Study: “A New Law” Harvey Yoder
Carry-in Meal

20 Location: Guy & Margie Vlasits 3448 Caverns Drive, K’town  908-0391
Worship and Sharing: Margie and Guy Vlasits
Bible Study: “A New Life” Dick Dumas
Carry-in Meal

27 Location: Susan Campbell 1361 Lincolnshire Drive 22802      564-1524
Worship and Sharing: Susan Campbell
Bible Study: “A New Home”
Carry-in Meal

Family of Hope Directory covenanted (in bold) and associate or non-resident members
Leadership Team: Susan Campbell, treasurer, Karla May, secretary, James Stauffer, pastor, Harvey Yoder (540-432-0531), pastor, Roy Hange (434-296-5289), overseer

Atwell, Cathy
Blackburn, Gail
Campbell, Susan
Campbell, Karen
Dumas, Dick
Levesque, Trish      
May, Karla                  
Morlan, Becky
Stauffer, James & Ruth   
Stoltzfus, Rachel
Swarr, Paul & Bertha
Ulrich, Joyce
Vlasits, Guy & Margie
Yoder, Alma Jean & Harvey             
Zhou, Hong Yan (Jack) & Hu, Bo,
        Emily & Elianah

January 2011 newsletter

House-to-House
Family of Hope House Church                                    January 2011

Bright Hope in the Bronx

Jonathan Kozol, author of the book , “Amazing Grace,” writes about his experiences with children in the worst areas of the Bronx in New York City and records their stories and their dreams.

     Thirteen year old Anthony Green wrote him this description of a future heaven as he envisioned it::

     God will be there. He’ll be happy that we have arrived. People shall  come in hand in hand. It will be bright, not dim and glooming like here on earth. All friendly animals will be there, but no mean ones. As for television, forget it! If you want vision, you can use your eyes to see the people that you love...

     No one will look at you from the outside. People will see you from the inside. All the people from the street will be there. My uncle will be there and he will be healed. You won’t see him buying drugs, because there won’t be money. Mr. Mongo will be there too. You might see him happy for a change. The prophets will be there, and Adam and Eve, and all the disciples except Judas...

     No violence will there be in heaven. There will be no guns or drugs or IRS. You won’t have to pay taxes. You’ll recognize all the children who have died when they were little. Jesus will be good to them and play with them. At night he’ll come and visit at your house. God will be fond of you..
    
     How will you know that you are there? Something will tell you, ‘This is it! Eureka!’ If you still feel lonely in your heart, or bitterness, you’ll know that you’re not there.

     Anthony Green was shot and killed three years later on Beekman Avenue, in the worst part of the Bronx.

     There’s just got to be a city somewhere with safe streets of solid gold for people like him.    
                                                                                                                                         - Harvey Yoder

Notes/prayers/praises

 * BECKY MORLAN AND TRISH LEVESQUE made a brief visit here just before Christmas, celebrated by a carry-in meal at the Lodge December 22.

 * WE THANK GOD THAT KARLA MAY was spared in a December 15 crash that totaled her car!

 * JANUARY BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS to James Stauffer 1/8, Susan Campbell 1/17, Becky Morlan 1/28 and Dick Dumas 1/30!

 * FAMILY OF HOPE’S NEW BLOG SITE has updated newsletters and other info at <http://familyofhopehousechurch.blogpost.com>. HARVEY’s blog is at <http://harvyoder.blogspot.com> with a link to the FOH site.

JANUARY LECTIONARY READINGS:
1/2: Psalm 147:12-20, Jeremiah 31:7-14, John 1:1-18, Ephesians 1:3-14
1/9: Psalm 29, Isaiah 42:1-9, Acts 10:34-43, Matthew 3:13-17
1/16: Psalm 40:1-11, Isaiah 49:1-7, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, John 1:29-42
1/23: Psalm 27:1, 4-9, Isaiah 9:1-4, 1 Corinthians 1:10-18, Matthew 4:12-23
1/30: Psalm 15, Micah 6:1-8, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, Matthew 5:1-12

January services    worship at 4 pm, meal at 6                                                                       
2 Location: James and Ruth Stauffer 1255 Parkway Dr 22802       574-6141
Worship and Sharing: Harvey Yoder
Bible Study: “Blessing After Blessing” Paul Swarr
Carry-in Meal

9 Location: Rachel Stoltzfus  1359 TwoPenny Drive 22802           433-3983                        
Worship and Sharing: James Stauffer
Bible Study: “Called and Empowered” Harvey Yoder
Carry-in Meal

16 Location: Guy & Margie Vlasits 3448 Caverns Drive, K’town   908-0391
Worship and Sharing: Margie and Guy Vlasits
Annual Business Meeting
Bible Study: “On This Solid Rock”
Carry-in Meal

23 Location: Ulrich, Joyce 1029 Shenandoah St Apt 101 22802    246-1013
Worship and Sharing: Harvey Yoder
Bible Study: “The Lord is My Light” Dick Dumas
Carry-in Meal
       
30 Location: Susan Campbell 1361 Lincolnshire Drive 22802       564-1524
Worship and Sharing: Susan Campbell
Bible Study: “Act Justly and Love Mercy” James Stauffer
Carry-in Meal