Live Portrayal of The Last Supper

Trinity Lutheran Church at 102 N. Hellertown Ave. Quakertown will be presenting for the twenty-second year their live portrayal of the Last Supper. The portrayal is based on the Da Vinci Painting of the Last Supper. This is an important part of Holy Week at Trinity. The portrayal is done yearly on Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter. This year the date is April 6, and it will begin at 7:30 PM in the Church. All are welcome.

The portrayal has now had over sixty different participants over the years. It is redone every year and is different every year based on the study that the thirteen participants have done after eight weeks of preparation. This extremely moving portrayal includes words from Jesus that are directly from the Bible. The rest of the portrayal is written by the participants after they hear Jesus say to them, “One of you will betray me.”

Over the years, Ray Fox has been the director and a participant in every performance. He says,

“It has helped me to learn more about my faith and it brings this important part of the story of Holy Week to life. This year’s participants include Tom Ruffner (Jesus), Dan Hunter (Simon), Mike Carbone (Thaddeus), Mike Heisey (Nathaniel) Mike Juszynski (James the Less), Rich Enders (Andrew), Bill Bohner (Phillip), Harry Haney (Thomas), Riley Ruffner (James the Great), Fox (Peter), Jon Millisock (Judas), and Braydon Ruffner (John). I even remember a time when, we were in our pose representing the Da Vinci painting, one young boy in the congregation asked his father if the people sitting at the table for the Last Supper were real The congregation would like to invite anyone who is interested in attending to see this amazing portrayal.

Additional Holy Week services will be held on Palm Sunday at 9:00, Good Friday at 7:30, and Easter Sunday at 10:00. All are welcome.

Pennridge Christian Fellowship

720 Blooming Glen Rd, Blooming Glen 18911 215-257-7309 pastor@pennridgecf.org www.pennridgecf.org

Pastor: Thomas Vargis

Multicultural Charismatic church worshipping God in a casual, friendly atmosphere. Our service consists of song service, testimonies, and teaching of the word. Live Spanish translation & children’s service at 10:30 Sunday worship. Livestream: fb.com/pennridgechristianfellowship

Quakertown United Methodist Church

1875 Freier Road

Quakertown, PA 18951

215-536-4992 barb@qumc.com www.qumc.com

Pastor: Rev. Richard K. Brown II

Sunday schedule: Worship 8:30 am, Sunday School 9:45 am, Worship 11 am Communion first Sunday of each month.

St. Isidore Roman Catholic Church

2545 West Pumping Station Rd

Quakertown, PA 18951

(215) 536-4389

Pastor: Rev. Kenneth C. Brabazon izzyparoff@comcast.net www.stisidores.org

Sunday Masses - 5:00pm Saturday evenings; 7:00am, 9:00am, & 11:00am on Sunday mornings; 1:00pm in Spanish Sunday afternoons

St. John’s Lutheran Church 4 South Main Street • PO Box 458 Richlandtown, PA 18955 215-536-5027 Admin@stjohnsrpa.org www.stjohnsrpa.org

Pastor: Rev Dr. David A Genszler

In person worship service Sunday at 9:30 am, Watch our Worship Service anytime on stjohnsrpa.org/sermon or on Facebook. Activity Center Rentals Open, Capacity 125, call 215-536-5027 to book.

St. John’s Lutheran Church of Spinnerstown

1565 Sleepy Hollow Rd, Spinnerstown 18968 (GPS Quakertown 18951) 215-536-0734 stjohnsspinnerstown@gmail.com www.stjohnsofspinnerstown.org

Worship Service: 9:30 a.m. Service also is live-streamed on Facebook (St. John’s Lutheran Church, Spinnerstown, PA) and video available on the church website.

St. John’s Lutheran Ridge Valley

910 Allentown Road, West Rockhill Twp 215-257-9643 stjohnsridgevalley910@gmail.com www.stjohnsridgevalley.com

Pastor: Rev. Lauren Bruno 8:30am Traditional - 10:15am w/praise band. Grape juice & gluten-free wafers available. Adult Forum 9:40, Handicapped accessible. All invited and welcome to Share the Joy!

St. John the Baptist Parish 4050 Durham Road, Ottsville 18942 610-847-5521 pastor@stjohnsottsville.org www.stjohnsottsville.org

Pastor: Selvaraj Lucas, MSC St. John the Baptist, the first Catholic parish in Bucks County, has served the pastoral needs of Catholics since 1743.

St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of Applebachsville 837 Old Bethlehem Road, Quakertown 215-536-5789 stpaulsqtown@gmail.com www.stpaulsqtown.org

Pastor: Rev. David Heckler

We believe in sharing God’s love in joyful service. Come and see. All are welcome. St. Paul’s United Church of Christ 104 Green Street Sellersville, PA 18960 215-257-7268

Pastor: Rev. Trudy Irving secretary@stpaulsucc.net www.stpaulsucc.net

Sunday Worship 10:15 in Sanctuary Springfield Mennonite Church 1905 Pleasant View Road Coopersburg PA 18036 267-999-1404

Pastor: Rev. Joseph Wames pastorjoe@springfieldmennonite.org www.springfieldmennonite.org

Join us at 10:15a Sunday Mornings for a Blended Worship Service, Multi-generational, loving congregation. Biblically and Doctrinally Sound.

Trinity Lutheran Church 102 N. Hellertown Avenue Quakertown, PA 18951 (215) 536.4345 www.trinityquakertown.org

Pastor: Dayle Malloy

9 a.m. Traditional service, 11 a.m. Contemporary Service, 10: 15 a.m. Sunday School, Handicap accessible, Family Friendly, Dynamic Music Ministry, Living God’s Love for All

It's Hard to Give Things Up

BY REV. JON BAUMAN

It’s hard for us to give things up.

I have a building collection of birthday and Christmas cards, cards from church members from different seasons of my time at First UCC, and random cards I get just because. And I can rarely get myself to throw out these cards, even when they fill my drawers or my baskets because they have gained a lot of value to me.

But what about when they begin to take up space that prevents me storing something more needed to my every day life?

I also have a fairly sizable library, that spans 2 walls of my house, and one of the walls in my church office. Some are certainly college or seminary books, but most are now books that I’ve picked up from thrift stores, from online used book sellers, or from kind people who allow me to pick through a library they no longer utilize. Yet, every once in a while, I find a new collection of books that are more valuable to me than the ones I had before, so I have to donate the books I would no longer pull from the shelf, to put up books that I am excited to one day get to. Or at least…that’s my goal.

There are other things that I’ve accumulated over the years that are not as pure-hearted, or as useful: An attitude that compares my home with the home of others, an addiction to scrolling on social media in my downtime, or a desire to debate strangers on the internet. These things, I have to learn to give up too if I want to live more at peace with what I have, if I want to spend valuable time with my family and friends, and if I’m serious about the whole “love of neighbor and enemy” thing, that Jesus was all about.

It’s hard for us to give things up.

The Christian season of lent is all about prayer and fasting. It’s meant to draw us closer to God to prepare our hearts and minds for the message, the cross, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

When you spiritually fast from meat, or chocolate, or bread, you’re giving something up that you enjoy so that you can focus more on prayer; on your walk with God.

When you fast from tobacco or alcohol, and you have an addiction to either, you’re fasting from something that you enjoy, but that is harmful, in order to strive to rely on God to get you through your desire for the substance that you want to give up for Good.

Some people don’t give things up, but they add things into their life in order to grow closer to God - like reading the Bible, a devotional, or committing to a routine of prayer. Yet even without consciously “giving anything up”, they are utilizing time they would have maybe spent sleeping, watching TV, or scrolling online, in order to devote themselves to faith.

Within the season of Lent, I invite you to give things up, or add things in, so that you can draw closer to God.

It’s hard for us to give things up. But it is good.

PaStor Jon iS tHe Senior PaStor at firSt united CHurCH of CHriSt in QuaKertown. He Can be reaCHed at Jbauman@firStuCC net