What’s Brewing, June 10, 2022
10 June 2022, Greetings Yorkshire Church!
I am enjoying our study on the I AM statements of Jesus Christ as documented in the fourth Gospel, John. Although these sayings are very familiar, taking a “deep-dive” into the context of the sayings, the environment where Jesus spoke them, the original audience who heard them, and the response to His Words has been powerful. I have heard folks say that being a Christian would be easier if Jesus simply told us what we need to know and spoke in clear language for us to understand. I am more than certain these words have come from my own mouth. But what we find as we study the Word is that He does speak to us in straightforward terms. See, the folks that He was speaking to and the culture they found themselves were not so different than our own. Sure, they were different as to the elements of the culture, but when you learn about their hearts, their doubts, their unbelief, and their belief, you find many similarities.
Although our studies are on the I AM statements, I have been approaching my studies on the foundation of the greatest commandment as documented in Deuteronomy 6:5 and Matthew 22:37,
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matt. 22:37)
It is clear that each time this commandment is spoken in the Bible that the objective for God is to have an intimate relationship with us. I think of it as a request (command) for a return of affection in terms that we understand. The Bible is a book provided to us by God, written by man, inspired by God’s Spirit who was in the writers, just as His Spirit is within all of us who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and believe in His life, death, and resurrection. But, in each of Jesus’s I AM statements, He is giving us reason to not only believe in Him, but to love Him… with all our heart, soul and mind. To “believe” is not to “love.” We can believe in many things, but not love them. We can do many things, but not out of love. If you have any doubt, stop reading this document and open your Bible to 1 Corinthians 13 – short chapter, but very clear.
As I study for each week, I write the Greatest Commandment at the top of my notes and then I write the corresponding statement for that week’s study, for example last week was, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). I then read three chapters of the text. The chapter from which my study originates, the previous chapter and then the subsequent chapter. I then list all of the ways in which I see the text resonating with our love for God, or the audience’s love for God or lack of it. It is where there is a “lack” of it that I seek the purpose for the statement (I AM…). Jesus’s desire for all people was for them to love Him, as He loves all people. As my list grows, I then go to work doing more research to find evidence of what I have listed. For example, last week I saw that Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick, “”Lord, the one you love is sick.” (John 11:3). Well, this led me to question where else in the scriptures that evidence could be found that Jesus specifically loved Lazarus. In verse 5, it says that Jesus loved Martha, her sister and Lazarus so I would believe this signified a deep relationship. So, I went to work validating that. And this is how I tackle studying a section of scripture. It was in my research of Jesus’s love for Lazarus that I came across this week’s scripture study which is a perpendicular tangent to our I AM studies, but I found them of great interest to our broader topic of understanding God in our relationship with Him.
So, if you struggle with studying the scriptures and don’t know how to get started, maybe you will find value in how I tackle it. It is one of several methods that I use and it is so much fun- my challenge is that I need to wrap up my journey through the Word before the end of the week to be able to assemble my findings in such a way that they make sense to you! So, have fun studying!
In church news… We are still seeking a Director of Youth and Family ministries to lead our youth and support our children’s and family ministries. This is taking longer than we had hoped, but we have confidence that God will raise up the right person at the right time. In the meantime, I am very thankful for Claudia Mingora and Joe Blackwood who have kept our Youth activities moving forward. Steve Fieldhouse will be joining Joe and Claudia as a Sunday School teacher and additional leader until we fill the position. Thank you to all who support this critical ministry of Yorkshire Church!
The Fellowship Hall renovation process continues to move forward and the Trustee leadership has selected Keller Contracting, LLC as our project contractor with Dietz & Naumann providing the electrical and Spangler & Boyer the HVAC and plumbing portions of the project. There are some other peripheral suppliers involved for our audio/visual needs as well as some new interior perimeter drains which will be installed. There are still some final details being worked out in regards to the Springettsbury Township Permit process and our Finance team is using all of this data to evaluate which bank will be selected as our financial partner for the project. The kickoff meeting with our contractors is scheduled for June 29th! Praise God for His blessings!
I will be providing our financial numbers in the near future. Thank you so much for those that have made additional gifts to the building fund to help us offset the renovation expenses. I will begin reporting this element of the renovation project with May’s financial results. It is our hope that we can offset our debt service expense (as a minimum) in addition to our regular offering receipts. As we finalize our financing, we will report this expense amount to you, as well. If you are new to the church, this renovation project is required primarily to repair damage that has been sustained due to problems with our perimeter drainage systems which are as old as the building itself. In addition, we are updating the space with ADA access (ramp) as well as ADA bathroom facilities which will allow us to better serve our community.
This past week, Joe Blackwood (SPRC Chair) and I had the opportunity to meet with Alison Sutherland who runs all things administrative (and more) at Yorkshire Church, and has done so for 19 years! Alison shared with us her desire to resign from her post on July 31st so that she can fulfill some other
desires and needs in her life, which will also allow her to be a short-term
caregiver for her husband Steve following surgery on his leg– scheduled later
this summer. This is truly bittersweet news for Yorkshire, although it is a
blessing for Alison. (I have a feeling that some time with her “grand-niece” is in
the plans, as well!) Alison will remain accessible for Yorkshire and hopes to be
able to offer us assistance as we need it in the future. We will begin recruiting in the very near future. If you or someone you know may be interested in this position, let Joe Blackwood or me know as soon as possible! Feel free to speak to Alison about her plans and certainly keep her in prayer and celebrate this time with her!
Have a great day and a great week!
Peace and Blessings! -pastor dave. dkominsky@susumc.org 717-858-5870
125 Edgewood Road, York, PA 17402
• (717)755-4952
• www.yorkshirechurch.org
- Published in What's Brewing
What’s Brewing, May 27, 2022
27 May 2022, Good Day Yorkshire Church!
We have certainly enjoyed some great times of fellowship over the past two weeks! I want to thank Julie Mann and her team that made the Church Picnic at Springettsbury Park a great success! Special thanks to Frank Herron and Steve Coates for some of the back breaking work of transport and cleanup of picnic supplies from the church and back. Thanks to Andy Terry, Joe Blackwood, and Steve Coates for providing the best in grill master talent as all of our main course meal was cooked to perfection! Thanks to everyone that brought such a great assortment of foods, side dishes and desserts that rounded out our culinary meal selections(and those peas, whoever brought them- yum)! And then, thanks to all who came out to enjoy the fellowship of the church! Yes, the skies appeared to be threatening, but we all know who gets the thanks for breaking up the storms to our west, allowing them to pass over with just a few sprinkles, and then reform to our east. Yes, we can thank God for that!
Last week, we enjoyed a great presentation on Thursday morning with our Preschool students and their families! What a great day to have the sanctuary filled with folks enjoying time with one another as their students presented their songs and Bible verses. We are so blessed to have had such an incredible student population this year. We are so blessed to have such a dedicated preschool staff! This past year, this staff, with the support of the Yorkshire congregation, provided the Gospel message of Jesus Christ to about 30 children every day. Thirty children enjoyed wonderful fellowship in a loving, Christ-centered environment during their school year. They not only heard the message of Christ, but they shared in the love of Christ with their teachers. As I was blessed to have a few minutes a week with the students, I was never in the room long until they reminded me that Jesus lives in their hearts. Praise God!
It was a great blessing to have a delegation of our students present their songs to the congregation last Sunday morning. Although a bit more nervous in front of folks that they didn’t know, I heard from many of the families how they enjoyed sharing in our fellowship with their children. Everyone felt very welcome at Yorkshire and just about everyone I spoke to shared in how much they enjoyed the “Spirit” of the morning.
On Wednesday evening, I had the blessing and honor to present the Baccalaureate message to the students of the Northeastern High School graduating class of 2022, their families, the teachers and administration. What an incredible evening of fellowship and worship- a service designed by a high school student named Elisabeth Zimmerman. Elisabeth is a member of Faith Community Church that meets in West York and you don’t have to spend much time with her to have a deep sense that she has the Spirit of God in her heart. It was great to serve this woman and her school as just a little over a year ago, she was injured in a very serious car accident. But she persevered through it and you can see how her faith in God is paramount to the woman she has become, and we could hear it as she led the praise time in music with her ukulele. We spent time in the book of Esther, as she mentioned to me that this was one of her favorite passages. I have never preached this particular book in my time as a pastor, so my study and research were truly rewarding.
In summary, we most often consider Esther as a magnificent woman that did heroic things in the face of adversity which resulted in saving her people, the Jews that were living in Persia. But this young woman did not have an easy time getting to where she was, and in some cases, I believe she had to have had great fear in how her life transpired. Esther, born Hadassah, was an orphan early in her life, adopted by an uncle Mordecai, who ultimately submitted her to the King’s harem in hopes that he may pick her as a queen. She had to hide her identity as a Jew because that would not have been acceptable in the harem. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know any young girl whose life dream is to be a slave in a king’s harem – especially a man like Xerxes who was not a particularly upstanding individual. But she persevered and we know from the inferred text that she had faith in God. As I studied the 10 chapters of Esther, I considered what Esther’s go to verses may have been for her faith. I believe we all have some verse that we keep tucked in the back of our minds for help in times where we face difficulty. Maybe its Philippians 4:13, maybe Hebrews 11:1 or Romans 15:13.
Based on the timings of these writings (NT), they would not have been available to Esther. I surmised that the words that she may have had the most access to would have been from the prophet Jeremiah as they were written about 200 years before her time. I thought maybe Jeremiah 29:11-13 may have been on her mind: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
This verse has strong ties to the greatest commandment spoken by our Lord in both the Old Testament and the New Testament and I’ll summarize, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul, and all your strength.” (combination of Deuteronomy 6:5 & Matthew 22:37). This is such a powerful command. In the Deuteronomy and Matthew texts, we see this as a response to a question and we consider it a command. But, in Jeremiah, and the context of Esther (which is not stated in the Esther text), it may be seen as an offer of hope. A means to an end, a solution to a need, a comfort in a time of difficulty.
In our I AM study this week, we will be discussing the I AM statement of Jesus as he states, I AM the Good Shepherd. Certainly a familiar statement that we all know well. But, in my study, I have been led to see this as a relationship statement, a calling out to us, if you will. In John 10, we see these verses:
John 10:3-4, “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. Then consider verses 13-16, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”
Over the past week, I have been part of many tremendous worship and fellowship experiences within the Body of Christ, both here at Yorkshire, and at Northeastern High School. In each of these moments, Christ was the center of our focus, He was the reason for our gathering – mostly for worship, but also for simple fellowship of His Church. There was great joy in all of these settings. But we have also experienced some difficult things this past week, some things that make us ask questions, wonder why, or how, and then either intentionally or unintentionally try to come up with all the ways that we need to “fix” the ills of our culture.
But the reality is we live in a culture that has distanced itself and continues to distance itself from God. We remove Him from everything public and allow Him to only be a presence in non-secular facilities and activities. Our culture has relegated our God, the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to the Christian Church. But this does not mean that God is still not at work. In Esther’s world, she lived in a pagan culture where the God named, I AM, “Ego Eime” (Greek), Yahweh, was not a welcome God. Yet, we know that Esther leaned on Him and when her going got rough, and the lives of the Jews, including her own were on the line, she reached out to Him fervently, maybe with all her heart, mind, soul, and strength, and He responded. Esther did not change the world or the evils in it. She did not fix the souls of man or their tendency to turn their back on God, but her faith and her actions made a difference to some in that moment, but it was God who responded.
In our John verses, we see that the Shepherd is the one that calls. He is the one that makes the ultimate sacrifice for us. He is the one that brings us where we are to be. But, to hear His call, to hear His voice, we need to know Him. And we do that by seeking Him.
So, as we look out at all of the darkness in our culture and wonder how or why, we must consider that what we may be seeing is a glimpse of hell, or a what a world without God looks like. But we have a Shepherd, a Good Shepherd that seeks a relationship with us, and all of the world. I believe in times like this, that we can only find comfort as we seek God with all of our heart, when we seek a relationship with Him and cherish our faith community. We are not to be a segregated entity from the world, but we are called to be different from it. There are many hurting people out there that are seeking a safe place, a refuge from what they know is not right, and I believe they will find it when they have a church community that is focused on seeking the heart of God to participate with.
When I look at the darkness in the hearts of so many in our culture, I wonder what a difference a loving church community may have made in their lives. I am encouraged that I am part of a community that is seeking the heart of God and growing in its fellowship as His Body. My go to verses are Acts 2:42-47 – simply as a model, or an image in my mind of what we must seek as His church.
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
In short, they worshipped God as the community of His believers. They loved one another and as a result, the Lord brought others into His fold. I AM the Good Shepherd. My sheep know me just as I know the Father and the Father knows me. This means, that we know the Shepherd, just as the Shepherd knows His Father.
Sometimes, as the church, we simply need to realize that we are first called to be sheep. His Sheep, in His pen. That is the church, the fellowship of the Body.
Have a great day and a great week!
Peace and Blessings!
-pastor dave.
717-858-5870
PS: Next week we will have an update on our contractor selection for the fellowship hall project and financial data through the end of April!
- Published in What's Brewing
What’s Brewing, May 12, 2022
12 May 2022, Good Day Yorkshire Church!
I am happy to be writing my first What’s Brewing in over a month! The last few weeks have been very eventful. Since my last “brew” we have celebrated Holy Week, Easter Sunday and had a sending celebration for Pastor Megan. We began the Joyful Noise Preschool participation in the Healthy Kids Running Series at Springettsbury Park, hired a new Preschool teacher for next year and have been working through recruiting and hiring a new Director of Youth and Family Ministries position. Finally, we have had several meetings, two charge conferences, and a Townhall meeting to launch our Fellowship Hall renovation and facility access program!
These are the things that keep us busy, but we must also celebrate our worship, as well. Over the past few months our music ministries and Choir have hit new strides and we continue to grow in these areas. Our attendance trends remain very positive and as of the end of March, our financial picture remains healthy, as well. Here is a summary of the first quarter:
Offerings, Gifts, and Giving’s: Expenses and Outreach: Balance:
120,578 117,583 2,995
In these numbers, we can celebrate that we are able to pay our bills and support our ministries. During this time, we have also spent over $7,000.00 on our facility- primarily a continuing process of repair and remediation for our fellowship hall and associated expenses. We are looking forward to getting the final renovation process underway.
As you may know, the church voted unanimously at a Charge Conference held on May 2nd to move forward with a Fellowship Hall renovation project that will include a ramp, new bathrooms, and a restored Fellowship Hall space which will allow improved ADA access. The projected expense is $275,000.00 which will be managed through a loan from a local bank. The drawings have been submitted to Springettsbury Township as a part of the permitting process and final bids have been received from two local contractors. Steve Spangler is the project lead on the construction side and Doug Berman is working with the banks on the financial side. The next few weeks will be very busy as the final decisions, contractor and bank selections are made. Then the real fun will begin with the construction!
During the last few months, many have asked if we would be having a Capital Campaign to raise the funds for this project and/or how they could contribute to it. We have not officially launched a “campaign” nor is it in our plans specifically, but we encourage the fellowship of Yorkshire to donate to this necessary cause within our church. We are anticipating our debt service for the loan to be in the vicinity of $26,000 per year with an additional fundraising goal equal to this amount during the payback period. If we can increase our contributions to the building fund, while maintaining our general giving, then we can continue to finance and invest in what it is we are called to as a church, and that is ministry.
To contribute to our Fellowship Hall renovation process, you can simply designate “Building Fund” on your gift. It is our hope to pay for all of our expenses in this area out of this fund, which includes the loan debt service. Our building is aging and we are also incurring regular expenses in other areas of required
maintenance. It is our hope that we can fully fund this project from your gifts to the “Building Fund,” and not from our general operating budget. We are currently considering 10- and 15-year loan terms to help spread the costs out so that the expenses do not provide a burden to our church. But we would love to retire the debt as quickly as possible! Your support of this project is greatly appreciated and we are certain that this project will allow us to better serve our community, as well!
If you currently use the On-line giving, you will notice that the giving categories have changed in the past few weeks. This is to better align our financial management systems to our ministry focus. You will notice the following options when you go into the On-line giving portal on our website:
General: Preschool Tuition: Preschool:
Missions:
This is for general offerings that simply go into our operating account to pay the weekly, monthly and annual operating expenses for the church.
This is new for 2022 which allows our Preschool Families to pay their tuition on line
which has been an ongoing request from a majority of our Preschool Community.
This is for donations specific to our Preschool Ministry. Joyful Noise Christian Preschool is a mission of the church and we count on your support to be
able to fully fund our growth and operating expenses. This allows us to maintain quality programming, small class sizes and a highly qualified teaching staff, all at competitive tuition rates for our community.
This is where we would like to grow in our support of our missionaries. We currently support 3 mission programs: Micah Ruch, Cru, West Chester State University; Henry Hauser, Literacy for All, North Africa, and Rebecca Jacobs, Time Ministries, Dominican Republic. Your gifts to this fund allow us to continue to grow in our support of these folks who have been called to “go” into places of the world, including our local communities, with the Gospel Message.
This is the account that is mentioned above from which we fund our renovations, building maintenance, and other ongoing facility and grounds improvements.
Building Fund:
NOTE: You do not need to utilize the On-line Giving program to utilize these funds. Simply designate on
your check or your envelope the fund that you would like to support, and it will be allocated accordingly.
These are the general categories that we will be utilizing and reporting on as we provide our monthly and quarterly financial data to you. Our Finance Team has been working hard over the past year to restructure our financial platforms to make it more effective while streamlining the ways and the categories in which we give. If you choose not to “designate” a fund, your gifts simply go into our General giving category which can be utilized to support any of the funds. But it is our hope that as we grow as a church, that our giving community may find an area of our ministries which they are specifically passionate about and prayerfully consider providing additional support to that particular area.
Have a great day and a great week!
Peace and Blessings! -pastor dave.
dkominsky@susumc.org 717-858-5870
125 Edgewood Road, York, PA 17402 •
(717)755-4952
• www.yorkshirechurch.org
- Published in What's Brewing
What’s Brewing, March 25, 2022
25 March 2022 Greetings Yorkshire!
I find it hard to believe that we are approaching the last Sunday in March this weekend. I truly believe theyunderestimate the saying, “time flies when you are having fun!” March has been full of activity and if the speed in which the month passed is any indication of what April will be like, we better enjoy as much of April as we can!
I want to thank the team that came out to the church to support the attic cleanout. Although the work was hard, a great deal of fun was had and many laughs shared as tons of stored stuff was effectively re-dispositioned. Much of the stuff that was removed literally fell apart as it was carried due to multiple seasons of intense summer attic heat and the frigid cold experienced over the winters. I was amazed not only how much stuff came out of the attic, but more so that it was put up there in the first place.
Easily the most discussed items to exit the attic after an extended period in exile there were the three Kings, or Wise Men that in years past paraded down the aisle of the sanctuary. Since being removed from the attic, they have shown up at Scout meetings and even participated in the Wednesday
morning 6AM Men’s Fellowship. Mysteriously, they continue to present themselves in places that no one seems to have placed them in. Maybe they are simply happy to be free from the attic?
We have some important meetings coming up this next week. On Monday, March 28, the Staff Parish Team will hold its standard quarterly meeting to discuss all things personnel. On the agenda for this meeting is discussions on the new position we are recruiting for, Director of Youth and Family Ministries. We have received several applications from potential candidates and we will begin the interviewing process in the very near future. We are still accepting applications for consideration. It is our goal to fill this position as quickly as possible to ensure a smooth transition in our Youth Pastor position as well as begin to provide benefit to our younger students and families as well!
On Tuesday, March 29th, at 6:30PM we will have an Administrative Council Meeting that will have two distinct objectives. The first is that we will have an Ad Council Charge Conference to address corrections on Form 6 that was voted on during our Charge Conference back in November. This form has to do with my compensation. After working with our payroll company and the conference, we realized that there
was some confusion regarding how a block that represented my pension was filled out. This is not a large concern , just administrative, but in the correction process, requires a “charge conference” vote to accept the corrected numbers.
The second far more critical objective is a discussion on how we proceed with the Fellowship Hall and facility access project that our Trustee Leadership has been working through to repair the damage from last year’s flooding. We have currently spent over $50,000.00 on immediate repair needs and now must make a decision on how to move forward with the restoration. The Trustees considered two paths forward. 1) Repair the Fellowship Hall with improved convenience/bathroom facilities at an estimated cost of $150,000.00 or 2) Repair the Fellowship Hall with improved convenience/bathroom facilities including an ADA accessible entrance ramp at a total estimated cost of $250,000.00. The plan is to secure financing for the project from an outside bank source as well as get a sense of what type of support the fellowship is willing to provide to offset the financed amount. At this point, the Trustees are recommending Option 2 to the Administrative Council. The goal is for the Administrative Council to consider the recommendation based on our current financial situation and giving trends. Following the Ad Council’s recommendation, we will present the project to the church at a forthcoming Town Hall meeting to ensure that the plan has the support of the church fellowship. This is important. Your input is important! If you would like to attend the Ad Council
meeting on the 29th, you are welcome to do so. It will be held on the second floor of the Education Wing of the Church. If you would like to share your thoughts and cannot attend the meeting, please contact me or Jim Valentine through phone call or email and I will ensure that your thoughts are shared at the meeting.
Everything is going well at Yorkshire Church and our attendance trends are reflecting positively as we continue to grow. It is exciting to see our Bible Study groups reflecting the same trends. As you may notice, I do not dwell on “attendance numbers,” nor do I believe this is an indication of the health of a church. But what I do focus on is the trend. If we are growing, then we must be aware of this to be sure that we have all that we need to facilitate and support the growth. If we would be in a situation where we were not growing, we would want to understand the why of such a trend, and ensure that our forward planning took these things into consideration. Considerations include our financial ability to support and invest in our ministries, while taking care of the administrative needs of our facility and staff. Maintaining the proper balance of ministry, facility and administration spending is a constant challenge. I look forward to sharing with you our 1st Quarter Financial Report early next month.
As always, your input is important and it is valued. Much is going on and many decisions being made. This is part of being a dynamic church. It is part of the growing process. It is exciting. But the ultimate reward is to see how we are making an impact on our church community, those whom we are called to serve, and those that do not yet enjoy a relationship with Jesus Christ. That is being the church!
Have a great day and a great week!
Peace and Blessings! -pastor dave. dkominsky@susumc.org 717-858-5870
125 Edgewood Road, York, PA 17402
• (717)755-4952
• www.yorkshirechurch.org
- Published in What's Brewing
What’s Brewing, March 10, 2022
10 March 2022
Good Day Yorkshire!
It is a great day to be a part of the Yorkshire Fellowship! There are many exciting things in the works for our church!
I am looking forward to our Easter Egg hunt scheduled for April 9th from 10AM to 1PM. Thank you to everyone who is involved in the planning and design of this event. You will be seeing more information on this event in the announcements and in the church, but I want to share how I see the benefits of such an event. First, it is fun for our children. It is fun for the children in our community. It is a positive event for families to participate in. It is an enjoyable time to fellowship with our church family and meet those in our community who venture onto our grounds. Second, it is an opportunity for us to share who we are with those in our community. To many, we are a formal-looking, red-brick, colonial church with a tall steeple. For some, this is attractive, for others, it represents a religious formality that doesn’t effectively represent the times. It might represent a viable alternative for those that want to hold on to the religious traditions they grew up with; for others it might be an escape from sitting in a large auditorium with a thousand or more people. Some may drive by and think we all wear dark suits, long dresses and top hats like some Puritan religious faction and sit quietly in the pews while some preacher-man drones on in two-hour lectionary sermons.
But the truth is, that regardless of perceptions driven by the red bricks and tall spire above, Yorkshire is an awesome group of wonderful folks that represent all walks of life and have fun when we gather for worship. (No comments about the preacher droning on…). We don’t fit any one specific church stereotype, but represent the people in our community very well. When our church gathers for events such as the Easter Egg Hunt (Rally Day, Trunk or Treat, etc.) we provide a clear vision of what it means to be a church. And we have heard this from those in our community that attended any of our functions. Jesus said that we are to “Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35). When we read that in the scriptures, it comes across as a very formal command, but the reality of it is that when we, as a church, gather together in view of our community, it is something that they can witness in a very informal way. It can very quickly change the formal view of “Christianity” that many in the worldtoday hold. We want folks to know that this is a very comfortable, and welcome
place to seek God and develop a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is a place where people can be themselves, feel open to share, and find the value of special interpersonal relationships (See Acts 2:42-47).
We came into an impromptu opportunity for this Sunday, March 13th to share with our community as we host the York County Junior Honors Choir for their first post-Covid concert appearance. The pandemic has made it very difficult on groups such as this and the YCJHC is no exception. This group of 7th to 9th graders have worked very hard to put together an incredible musical program. At 3PM, they will debut their 2022 performance at Yorkshire Church and our entire fellowship is invited to attend! This is a no-charge event, although it is customary for a free-will offering to be taken during their events – which goes to the benefit of the Honors Choir programming. This is an event that I am very excited about as our own Thomas Wakeland is a member- although now singing in the Senior Honors Choir, and it was a program that brought great benefits to our daughter Grace during her High School years. The Junior Honors Choir is comprised of 29 members this year, so it will be a blessing to honor them and their families for their performance – hope to see you there!
Stay tuned for the scheduling of a Yorkshire Church Townhall meeting in the very near future. As I have mentioned in previous correspondence, we are finalizing our repair and restoration plans for the Fellowship Hall which may include accessibility improvements. As we make our final decisions, we want to hear your voice and thoughts on the options available to us. There will be opportunities for significant investments in our facility, but we want to ensure that our final decision represents the will of the church, and that is you. The timing of these investments is coming at a time where all of us are being faced with higher costs in our cost-of- living expenses, so prayerful consideration for all that we do is imperative.
As I close this week’s What’s Brewing dialog, I just want to respond to many inquiries and questions that I receive regarding how we are praying and participating in the events that are occurring in the Ukraine. The events in that nation are of great concern; one that is close to home for our church as we currently have two Ukrainian students in our Joyful Noise Christian Preschool. Absolutely wonderful children. Our response as Christians is to pray for the overall situation and seek any means that we can to bring aid to those in need. We must also pray for the revelation of God’s sovereignty to those who are in the midst of difficulty; that His peace be made known so that even in their tribulation, they may have Hope in His salvation and His restoration.
We must also remember that there are many other parts of the world where these very same types of persecution are being suffered by God’s people, often in the midst of conflict that is not only the result of corrupt governmental power, but directly targeted to individuals because of their faith in God, and acceptance of Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. With so much turmoil in the world, both historically and currently, we can be reminded of why Christ gave us the Great Commission to make disciples, to share His Word, to proclaim the Peace only available through a relationship with Him. In John 16:33 He says this, “ “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
What we can be thankful for is the Joy that we have in Christ and the opportunity we have to be in relationship with the Sovereign God of all of Creation. We can be thankful for the church family and community that He has blessed each of us with at Yorkshire Church. And lastly, we can share these blessings with those around us who may not know that God, through his Son Jesus, wants to have a relationship with them!
Peace and Blessings! -pastor dave. dkominsky@susumc.org
125 Edgewood Road, York, PA 17402 • (717)755-4952 • www.yorkshirechurch.org
- Published in What's Brewing
What’s Brewing, March 3, 2022
3 March 2022 Greetings Yorkshire Churchians!
Lent. Can’t believe we are entering the season of Lent already. But, since we gathered together last evening in fellowship to worship God as part of an Ash Wednesday acknowledgement, I suppose that we have to accept that this year is moving very quickly, and yes, it is actually March.
I have enjoyed our study of Isaiah over the past several weeks. It has served as a great reminder to me that our world has been in seeming chaos forever. As we study of the history of the Israelites, we can see that not only were they constantly turning their backs on God and finding other things to focus their lives on, we also see that world powers were also constantly vying for power. In the history of the Bible, we see constant upheaval in the world, even outside of the Biblical framework of focus. All around the Promised Land vicinity, we see the Persians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, and Romans consistently at odds with one another – all of which affected God’s people in various ways. But regardless of the happenings around them, it was typically when they took their focus off of God, that they were able to be separated, exiled, and persecuted. This doesn’t mean that their lives weren’t affected by the disruptions around them, but, their most significant difficulties emerged when they took their focus off of God and their love for one another waned.
We live in a world that has many disruptions occurring in it. From pandemics to wars, you can’t deny that we live in a world of chaos. We try to make sense of it, but it is often difficult to discern the difference of what is really happening and what is being portrayed as happening from various news sources. On top of the chaos, we are faced with many factions that want to provide information to us to gain a specific response from us, which simply adds to the confusion in the world. I don’t look to the prophetic passages in scripture to predict what will happen tomorrow or next year, but I have learned from historical repetition of how humanity responds to worldly distractions. As the church, we can benefit from the lessons that God has provided us in the Scriptures. And we can simplify it for discussions like “What’s Brewing.” It is my discernment that during these times, it is important for us to focus on God. It is during these times that our prayers should be for wisdom and discernment. It is during these times that we pray for the marginalized, and those that have no voice, no say in the predicament that they face. Although we may not agree with what we perceive to be happening, we also need to look to God’s sovereignty in recognizing that regardless of what is
happening in the world, He is still in charge.
During the Easter season, we will study and hear scriptures that tell us of
what our Lord Jesus went through during His time here on earth. It wasn’t
pretty. In the end, after He is arrested, a dialog occurs between Pilate and
Jesus which is good to reflect on during times where we question why
leaders are allowed to be where they are today. God’s purposes are not
always clear to us in the present and I am sure Jesus’s followers questioned His comments at the time that He spoke them. (Emphasis in following text mine).
10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” (John 19:10-11, NIV).
As I reflect back on Isaiah’s writings to the Israelites in Jerusalem and Judah during a time of great Assyrian oppression – I see that his focus for the people was to repent and turn back to God. Last evening, our service focused on repentance as a means for us to rid ourselves of the things that bog us down and put themselves in the place of God in our hearts. This may be represented in various sins, little or big, or maybe it is simply allowing the noise in the world, the ilk of the media, and the chaos of the world to distract us from our relationship with God. Whatever our primary focus is on, is what we will also reflect to those around us. Our question is, how do we ensure that our reflection is always one that glorifies God?
Now, on to some church happenings! Since my last What’s Brewing, we have hired a Music Director and a Praise and Worship Leader! Steve Fieldhouse has joined our team as the Music Director which includes Choir Director. Steve serves as part of our Praise and Worship team at 9AM worship playing the bass guitar and the saxophone and at 11:15 leading our incredible choir. Through the week you may see Steve in the Joyful Noise Christian Preschool teaching our children different musical lessons, or on Thursday nights directing the choir. Jazzé Palmer has joined our team as our Praise and Worship leader for the 9AM Worship Service and provides his gifts from the piano keyboard and vocals. Jazzé works with our Praise Team on Thursday nights. Thursday nights in the Yorkshire Sanctuary may not be worship in the perspective of a church service, but from the time the choir starts at 6:30 till the praise team concludes at 8:30, there is Joy in that space! Welcome Steve and Jazzé!
Another area of focus for us is in filling the position of Director/Pastor of Youth and Family Ministries. This position is focused on our Youth Ministries as Pastor Megan transitions into her new ministry calling with her husband David in Lititz. The Staff Parish Team has rewritten the job description to include a focus on family and children’s ministry here in the church. This will include working with all of our current youth and children’s ministry volunteers.
We continue to receive quotes on rebuilding our fellowship hall including accessibility improvements. We are finding that pricing for this type of work is experiencing significant increases- even since we began this process last fall. After our first round of proposals, the Trustee leadership decided to seek additional proposals which will give us a solid base of options to ensure that the best decisions are made for our fellowship; weighing the benefits of the investments that will be required. Although we want to do everything that we feel would be best long-term, we want to ensure that we do it in such a way as to not cause financial stress on our fellowship. Step out in faith, yes, but also ensure that we are being wise stewards of all of God’s blessings. But there is work that needs to be done- so our Trustee team will be facing some forthcoming effort to make some key decisions to propose to our church and leadership. Stay tuned!
I am looking forward to celebrating Girl Scout Sunday this week which will be during our 9AM Worship! This is a great group of scouts and leaders and I know that their presence with us in worship will be a blessing!
Blessings to you this day! -pastor dave. dkominsky@susumc.org
125 Edgewood Road, York, PA 17402 • (717)755-4952 • www.yorkshirechurch.org
- Published in What's Brewing
What’s Brewing, February 4, 2022
4 February 2022
Greetings Yorkshire!
It is the first Friday of February, and the weather is certainly validating that! Cold, gray, rain, sleet, and they say maybe some snow later on. Seems dismal, but it is February in Pennsylvania. And the groundhog states that we have six more weeks of this. Well, it would be my hope that if, in fact, we have to persevere this winter weather for any type of extended period, that it would at least include one good actual snowfall!
Now, I know many of you just groaned. I just happen to like snow and I really enjoy at least one big snow per year. We have a tradition that the evening of the first big snow, we dig out our firepit in the back yard and have a snow-fire where many of our neighborhood friends come over and we enjoy fellowship sitting around the fire, outside, in the snow. The deeper the snow, the better. One year we even carved chairs into the snow.
But with that said, I also respect and appreciate the hardship that such weather events can cause for some. When it comes on the weekend it can disrupt our opportunity to worship with one another. As the reality exists for such snow events over the next several weeks, I want to remind you of how we announce any schedule modifications. First, you can go to our church website, yorkshirechurch.org where a banner will be posted at the top of the home page. We will post it on our church Facebook page, facebook.com/YorkshireUMC, and/or you can call the church office and there will be a message on the answering service notifying you of our schedule changes. In any case, we will still livestream a service. We may pre-record our service so that it is available on Sunday morning.
There were some really great happenings at the church this week. On Monday evening, an ad hoc team made up of Joe Blackwood who serves as our Staff Parish Relations Committee (SPRC) Chair, Barb Snare, Rachel Fry, Debra Why and myself met to brainstorm how a Director of Children and Family Ministries position may benefit our fellowship. We enjoyed great discussion and felt that such a position would have great value to our children and families in grades 5 and below. Of course we currently have a position that serves our Youth, grade 6 and up, but we really want to expand our reach to include the rest of our children, including outreach to families in whole, as well. As a result of this meeting, we are working through a job description development process and hope to bring our ideas to the entire SPRC team and the Administrative Council in the near future!
We also have a team that has been working together to select a Worship Leader and a Music Director for our church. Joe Blackwood, Mike Heintzelman, Norey Lucash, Rachel Fry and myself (Steve Spangler and Tara Focht were unable to attend, but are members of this team) met on Wednesday evening to discuss the two candidates that we are currently working with. Over the past few weeks, we have had an opportunity to work with both men and we are seeing some very exciting possibilities for our music ministry at Yorkshire. The team will meet again next week for some one-on-one discussions with the candidates and we hope to make some final decisions quickly! Our candidates spent Thursday evening working with both the Choir and the Praise Team. This Sunday, you will have the opportunity to see them lead worship together at 9AM as well as our candidate for Music/Choir director lead the choir at the 11:15AM service. Great stuff!
Last week I presented our end-of-year financial numbers and this week I want to share our 2022 budget goals.
Income/Offerings: Expenses: Balance:
Money spent on Repairs & Improvements: Money needed from our Savings:
2021 Actual
$ 430,704 416,238 $ 14,466
$ 29,485 ($ 15,019)
2022 Budget
$ 472,920 464,559 8,361
See Notes
We are projecting increases in our income and our expenses. The largest percentage of increase in both categories is a result of growth in the Joyful Noise Christian Preschool as our enrollment has more than doubled which drives income, while our staff has grown from 2 (1 Director/1 Teacher) to 5 (1 Director/4 Teachers) which is reflected in our expenses.
In regards to our general giving, we are projecting a 2.5% growth, which is based on congregational growth. We are projecting reduced expenses in the area of administrative expenses which are the expenses that we spend to run the church such as telephone, copiers, internet, supplies, postage, etc., as we have been able to implement improved processes in these areas. We are expecting slight increases in our facility expenses. A few weeks ago, I reported that our new boiler investment last year has provided us 60% savings in our natural gas bills. This is now a key factor for us to be able to control increases in our costs. But we still have to account for electric and a potential increase in our property insurance.
We will experience increases in our staffing expenses as we will be hiring a Worship Leader and Music/Choir director this year. This increase will be offset by the monies that we have been spending this year on guest musicians and honorariums- but the net will reflect an increase. We are also considering investment in a Director of Children and Family Ministries- a part time position. We will continue to evaluate all of these expenses based on financial trends we experience in January and the first few months of this year.
Another area of our 2022 budget that is not reflected on the numbers above is the repair and rebuilding of our Fellowship Hall. We are expecting the quotes for this work to exceed $100,000.00. In addition, we have many other capital-type expenditures and upgrades that we believe will be necessary to our facility and operations over the next few months. To accommodate this and not create any financial hardship on our fellowship, Doug Berman and Justin Mann are working with financial institutions to secure a $150,000.00 improvement loan, which will be reviewed by our Finance Team in whole. In conjunction with that effort, Steve Spangler and Josh Strange are working with engineers and construction firms to finalize the scope of work and secure quotes for the actual work. The Trustee Team will review and determine our final plans. These two teams are quickly converging with the necessary information so these decisions can be made in the very near future. Although we will hopefully secure the necessary financing, we will also let you know of opportunities to give to this initiative. If we can raise a portion of the funding through your gifts and contributions, it will help us to offset or reduce the monthly/annual debt service that we will incur. Stay tuned!
So, lots going on at Yorkshire. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. I am always happy to share additional information with you, but I’m out of room on this letter! Have a great and blessed day!
-pastor dave.
dkominsky@susumc.org
125 Edgewood Road, York, PA 17402 • (717)755-4952 • www.yorkshirechurch.org
- Published in What's Brewing
What’s Brewing, January 28, 2022
28 January 2022
Good day to each of you!
It is Friday as I write this. For many, Friday represents the end of the week, the final step to the weekend and a break from the rigors of the routines of life. This might include school routines, work routines, meeting routines, or appointment routines. It may include other processes or scheduled functions. These are the things we do on the set calendar of weekdays- things and functions that get us to the weekend. I used to live like that. But now, Friday is the launch of the weekend. It is the day where everything has to be put in place, final plans set, sermon printed for the final time, media in the sanctuary computer, sound system tested, and working with our team to ensure that everything is in place for the focus day of my week, and that is Sunday! And I love Sundays!
Studying the book of Isaiah has challenged me as to what my focus is in life. In the past, it was the stuff of my life, the focus was primarily on the duties contained in the Monday through Friday calendar blocks. The weekend, which included Sunday, were my days off – days where I could simply do some chores around the house, engage in my favorite hobbies or past times, and, if time allowed, even check out what was happening at the church on Sunday morning. I would often hope that if I did attend church there would be good music that I liked and that the sermon would at least have some element of entertainment to it. (An Isaiah message series would have ensured that I had some extra personal time that weekend!). I will confess, there were many times when I drove home thinking, it would have been a good Sunday to miss; was not as relaxing or entertaining as I had hoped.
I fear that in our world, the thoughts that I used to have may not be that unusual. Church does not get the same focus in our lives as our weekly routines. Monday through Friday get our best energy and effort- our focus on accomplishment. By the time we get through Friday, we are ready for some “me time.” And this is understandable. After all, for several days in a row, we have gotten out of bed a few hours before we need to be at work so that we can be sure that we are ready and on time. Many times we spend some time reviewing notes for a meeting or spending some extra time in preparation for tasks that needs to be accomplished; we want to be sure that our mind is ready to ensure the best possible results. These things are of tremendous importance to us, and our way of life- and get the best of our efforts. We want to maximize the returns of the work we put in.
By the time Sunday gets here, the struggle to go to church seems to rob us of the time off that we need. This is life. And like it or not, it is a reflection of the priorities within our life. When I read Isaiah, I see Isaiah’s concern for the people of Jerusalem and Judah in myself. Maybe I haven’t “turned my back on God,” but I also haven’t made Him the focus of my life, the desire of my energy, the object of my worship. Our studies this week end with a question and response that occurs between the Lord and Isaiah, and it frames one of my favorite scriptural passages and is the basis for my favorite Hymn:
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8, NIV)
Now, as Yorkshirians, I know that I can celebrate with all of you that the sentiments I’ve discussed up to this point are all in our past, and that Sunday morning worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ is something that we focus and prepare for all week, even amidst our other responsibilities. It is also a blessing to know that at our church, folks not only look forward to the hour of “worship,” but the hour or Sunday School and the time that they spend serving one another as teachers, greeters, communion helpers, media center team members, ushers and money counters. What a blessing it is to serve God in this manner! What a blessing to have such opportunities to look forward to during the week while we are inundated with far less exciting activities such as meetings, appointments, schedules, and other requirements. We are a blessed people!
With that said, we have some opportunities that you can look forward to and put on your calendars as blessings. We are in dire need of people to serve our church in the media center, both on the media and the sound side.
We have a great team, but they are feeling guilty that they are dominating all of the service opportunities. Many of them are serving every Sunday and would love to allow others the chance to serve at least one Sunday a month. No experience needed, just a desire to serve!
Another area of opportunity is in the area of our greeting ministry. This is where we greet our folks, and also be present to receive and welcome the gift to our church of first-time visitors. God has been so good to us and these opportunities to respond are simply additional blessings that He is affording us as His church.
If you are being called to serve in any of these ways, or any others, please let me know, or simply call the office and let us know. We will help you to get plugged in to whichever opportunity that God is presenting to you!
I want to squeeze in some financial information for you. Here are our 2021 Year End numbers which include the Joyful Noise Christian Preschool ministry. If you would like more detailed reports, please let me know and I will send them to you. I will share our 2022 budget in our next What’s Brewing.
Income/Offerings: Expenses: Balance:
Money spent on Repairs & Improvements: Money needed from our Savings:
2021 Actual
$ 430,704 416,238
$ 14,466 (Pos Working Capital)
$ 29,485 ($ 15,019)
What you see is that our regular weekly giving income was able to cover our bills
and expenses as our Finance Team is effectively managing our resources. The church has required significant repair and maintenance this past year for which we needed to utilize our savings resources to help pay for. We are blessed to have these resources, but as you can see, we also have to ensure that we use great discernment in how we employ them. Your gifts and generosity allow us to do the things we are doing, and we look forward to some really great things in 2022! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
Have a great and blessed week! And don’t forget about the opportunities to serve that are available! Blessings all around!
-pastor dave.
dkominsky@susumc.org
125 Edgewood Road, York, PA 17402 • (717)755-4952 • www.yorkshirechurch.org
- Published in What's Brewing
What’s Brewing, January 14, 2022
14 January 2022 Greetings Yorkshire!
Well, we made it to Friday! It has been a great week. It has been a great week of meetings. Every night. When I look back on this week, I would not change a thing. I would not have wanted it to be any other way. Now, some of you may suggest this is an area where I need help in my life, others may suggest that I simply need a life, others may just say, “that’s not life.” But I say “au contraire!” I see
meetings as an opportunity for fellowship. I see meetings as an opportunity to get to know many of you and learn that you’re not just a face in a pew. I appreciate the dialog, the interaction, the sharing of ideas, the benefit of each of your experiences, and I enjoy the laughter and the joy that occurs. This week, I had four nights of that, and to me, that is life. That makes for a great week. And although this was a particularly busy week for many, it is not the pace of every week.
The first meeting that I enjoyed this week was the Finance Team meeting. Next week, we will share our 2021 financial numbers with you and I am certain you will be pleased with the work of this team. I want to share one item in particular that we spoke about, and that is our natural gas bill. In 2021, we spent $4,862.00 for the natural gas that we utilize. Now, a little over a year ago, we installed a new boiler system, funded by a fundraising drive which raised about $32,000.00. Your generosity was incredible in this endeavor. So, what did you get for this investment? Previous to the new boiler initiative, Yorkshire Church paid an average of $12,000.00 per year for natural gas. This year, under $5,000.00. That is a 60% savings! That investment will pay itself off in only a few years, and our Trustee team believes that through our upcoming renovations and some other adjustments, the system will operate even more efficiently. So thank you Yorkshire for your support of the Boiler Campaign and thank you to Steve Spangler and the Trustees for guiding our church in very positive ways. Thank you to team Finance that helps us to be able to invest wisely and properly in our church infrastructure needs and share with us the results of the gifts that we give!
We also held a Hospitality Team meeting. This included our Greeters and Ushers and we discussed how we greet those who come through our doors each Sunday morning. Seems simple enough to simply say hello, but we want to ensure that we have a coordinated effort to greet each person that worships at Yorkshire in a manner that makes them feel welcome. Of course, the emphasis of our discussion is on first time visitors. Going to a new church can be frightening. What lies beyond the front doors of a church can be a great mystery and sometimes intimidating. Where will I go once I enter? Where are the restrooms? Will they make me stand up and introduce myself? Will I have to fill out a card and divulge all my information? Will I know what to do? Would if they recite prayers and liturgies that I don’t know? What about my kids? Are there places that I can sit that will accommodate my wheelchair, or my rollator?
These are the topics that we discussed at this meeting as well as the logistics of opening doors, security, and the lobby (or narthex) environment. This was a great time of fellowship with about a dozen of our church fellowship. Yes, it was a meeting, but we were speaking about things that are important to each of us and
important to our church. The sharing of ideas will bring great benefit to how we can intentionally make our fellowship participants feel welcome and make our church an easy and friendly one to navigate. We would love to have, and need more of our fellowship involved in this process.
While the focus was primarily on how we provide support to first-time visitors and those who may still considerthemselves “new,” another point was brought to my attention after the meeting. It is of utmost importance for us to also be cognizant of every person in our fellowship. As we are in a growth mode, Sundays are not only a time for worship and personal interaction– it is the execution of the plans to conduct worship, Sunday School, on-the-fly repairs, find our children, be found by our children, adjust the heat, fix a microphone, unclog a toilet, or find out why the livestream cut off mid-service. It can be answering questions for new folks, or addressing some situation with our not-so-new folks. And this is important, but it also results in our taking our eyes off of what is most important, and that is each other.
What I enjoy most about Sunday mornings is the same thing I enjoy about a week of meetings, and that is fellowship with each of you. On the list above, none of those things come close to a personal time of interaction with you. When I get home, I don’t share with Holly about how much I enjoyed troubleshooting some technical glitch, but I do speak about how much I enjoyed discussions that I had that morning. And I recognize that most of your commentaries when you get home are not about some technical aspect of the message or a harmony of one of the songs or hymns that was sung. What you reflect on and remember is the joy of the fellowship that you shared that morning. As a fellowship, this is a need of each person and our challenge is to ensure that we keep our priorities focused on the personal element of who we are, and not the procedural elements of what we do.
With that said, we need to recognize there are things that need to be accomplished in order to carry out our worship services. And this is why meetings are of great value. It is an additional opportunity to meet with one another, share with one another, catch up with one another. Being involved in the activities of the church not only help the church, but it also provides benefit to each of us individually in being a part of something larger than ourselves- with our brothers and sisters in Christ. And it is in the voice of the church that we can share new ideas, benefit from your experience, grow as a collective effort, and enjoy our interactions with one another in addition to the hour or so on Sunday morning! If you would like to be a part of one or more of our teams, please let me know. You are important. If you would like to speak with me or spend some time in discussion, let me know, I will make myself available. It is in our interaction that I find my deepest joy – it just may need to be after the services or on another day of the week that meets your schedule.
There is so much more I could write about this great week, but I am out of space. (I could say the same thing about my sermons each week!). But I thank each of you for making this week the blessing that it was. Yes, we had some challenging moments, mysterious comma’s, early mornings and late evenings, but I give thanks to God for allowing me to be a part of this fellowship. Be blessed Yorkshire!
Have a great week! -pastor dave.
dkominsky@susumc.org
125 Edgewood Road, York, PA 17402 • (717)755-4952 • www.yorkshirechurch.org
- Published in What's Brewing
What’s Brewing, January 6, 2022
6 January 2022 Good Day Church Yorkshire!
It’s 2022. I saw a meme that said that the only problem with 2022, is that it is pronounced, twenty-twenty, too.
Well, I don’t have any concerns that we will experience anything like what we have seen in the near past. I believe we will see new things. As a church that seeks the Lord, we can count on new opportunities that will challenge us both internally and externally. Growth requires transformation and transformation is a synonym for change. And, of course, change can be difficult. Some people might be heard to say things like, “I hate change.” But, in the church and in our growth as Christians, change is not only anticipated, it is desired. If we don’t change, then we will be the same. I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t want to be a repeat of any previous year. I want to live in 2022, not 2020, too. And this is how I see my life. This year, I want to be where I was a year ago–plus all that I have gained. I do not want this to be a year where my faith life and my relationship with God is just another year with a “too” designation. I want it to be a new year with new opportunities and I want to reap the benefits of all that last year and the year before taught me.
In regards to the church, I look to see the benefits that 2022 brings. Most of our leadership team will remain in place for this next year. Our leadership team consists of the following individuals:
Administrative Council Chair: Jim Valentine
Lay Leader: Frank Herron
Trustees Chair: Josh Strange
Staff Parish Relations Chair: Joe Blackwood
Finance Chair: Doug Berman
Treasurer: Justin Mann
Education Team Chair: Rick Focht
Missions/Outreach Chair: Susan Workinger
We have come a long way as a leadership team in the past twelve months and it is
go over the next twelve months. Each team now has experience that they will use
brings. Each of these leaders is supported by team members that now also have experience. For some it is not new experience, but it is more experience, and with more experience can come more ideas which result in new change, new directions, new growth which guarantees that 2022 will be different than 2021, a “2” and not a “too.”
This year, I am praying that God will lift up an individual to lead our Worship Team who would oversee our music processes, ushers, greeters, and media center procedures while working with Pastor Megan and me as we constantly evaluate our worship and worship events. And this is an important area that we must pray is not a “too” this year. We continue to have a need for folks who are willing to spend some extra time a few Sundays a month greeting those that choose to worship at our church. We are seeing many new folks and we must ensure that they feel welcome from the time they are greeted at the door. We have come a long way in 2021, but we must continue to improve in 2022. If you would like to check out this great opportunity and find out more information about the blessings that it provides, we are having a Hospitality meeting (Greeters and Ushers) on Tuesday, January 11th at 6:30PM. The meeting will be held in the Sanctuary Lobby. It will be a great time of fellowship as we discuss our experiences over this past year, and identify opportunities for improvement for 2022.
Another area that we are seeking God’s provision is in the Media Center. A few folks currently provide sound system and media presentation support each week. I am deeply appreciative of their commitment. But it is an area where we need more hands-on deck. Maybe you have an interest but not experience. That is great. Many of our media center volunteers are also supporting other areas of our ministry needs such as ushering, teaching, and participation in our praise team. We have worked hard this past year to streamline many of the process and we are looking to make some technology investments to make our sound management more intuitive and improve the quality of what is being streamed to those who worship on-line. None of these things will be of any benefit if we do not have folks who will operate it. I am planning a gathering of our media team and anyone that would like to find out more information about the media center on Tuesday, January 25, at 6:30PM. This time of fellowship will occur in the Sanctuary Lobby, as well.
I am looking forward to the next few weeks of Biblical Study during our worship. I have been spending time in the Book of Isaiah these past few weeks and have been deeply moved by what God is revealing to me. Isaiah is a book that was written to the nation of Judah and the city of Jerusalem. It addressed things that were happening there at the time of its writing. The idea we will be considering is that Isaiah is not about us, but it is a book that was written as much for us as it was the original audience. As I considered how to approach this book in a message series, I continued to hear Pastor Megan’s voice from Christmas Eve. She introduced the element of “response” to the Christmas story. God sent His Son to live among us. Jesus became Emmanuel, God with Us. And this resulted in a response. The angels responded, the shepherds responded, Elizabeth responded as well did her unborn son John. Mary responded, and last week we saw that the Magi, Gentiles from other parts of the middle east, responded. We often say that Christmas is about the arrival of the baby Jesus in a manger, but maybe another consideration about Christmas is that it also tells about the world’s response.
When I read Isaiah and consider the events of the author’s concern, I think about the response, or lack of response, of the Jewish people. I have approached the scriptures with the idea that these scriptures are not about us, but are rather an example for us. If I am to learn from these texts, what is it that I am to take away? Is it merely a history lesson about some Jewish folks in Jerusalem and Judah? Does God simply want me to learn about events in history? Or, is God showing us something that we should be cognizant of, and can we see similarities in ourselves with the audience to whom Isaiah writes? And what if we do see some similarities? So, with all of this said,
we will encapsulate our messages over the next few weeks under a heading, “Response Required.”
I am looking forward to this study and I think it will be a rewarding one. I know that as Yorkshire Church, we are seeking God’s revelation of Himself to us. We are seeking to grow in our faith. These things will require our response. I believe our response will result in change. This change will ensure that we will grow throughout 2022 and eliminate any chances of simply experiencing a “too.”
Have a great week! Blessings! -pastor dave.
dkominsky@susumc.org
125 Edgewood Road, York, PA 17402 • (717)755-4952 • www.yorkshirechurch.org
- Published in What's Brewing