What's Happening
Kensill Fund for Hope Auction Cancelled
 The Kensill Fund for Hope Auction scheduled for September 26, 2020 has been cancelled. The Kensill Fund for Hope is a foundation established to provide both educational services and scholarships for students who need financial aid for their studies and who participate in the ministries of the Mid-Town Parish UMC in North Philadelphia. We will miss our time of fun and fellowship, the delicious food and great treasures to be had at the auction. We will also miss the main source of income for the scholarship fund this year. It is our hope and prayer that you will continue to support KFH with monetary donations this year. (Save those other donations your unearthed from your storage areas and closets during your stay-at-home weeks until we hold our next auction!) Checks made payable to KFH may be sent to Leola UMC. The foundation is a 501(c)3 and you will receive a receipt for your donation. Thank you for your support. |
News about Church Sanctuary Opening, Trustee Report
 July 8, 2020 A special meeting of the trustees was held virtually on July 5, 2020, to get ready for the first inside-church Sunday worship service. These are the items, steps and requirements that must be adhered to in order to accomplish that. 1. The equipment that has been collected includes masks, gloves, face shields, spray bottles, a None Contact Thermometer, microfiber cleaning clothes, and hand sanitizers. 2. The sanctuary will have to be cleaned and disinfected after each service. 3. It will take 10 volunteers to effectually disinfect the church. We had a good response from the survey that was sent to our members. There were approximately 16 volunteers that are willing to help us. We will be training the volunteers to disinfect the sanctuary, the narthex, the elevator, all entrances, exits and railings. 4. The first inside worship service, for members of the congregation, will be on Sunday July 26th at 10:00 am. We will continue to offer the Zoom service and other options that are in place at this time if requested. 5. There will be only one entrance into the sanctuary and three or four exits out. 6. There will be ushers to help in assuring the social distances between different groups and guidance markers to assist in the distancing. 7. All worshipers will be required to wear masks at all times including singing and following social distancing. 8. Families with children are welcome to attend the worship service. The children will need to remain in their seats with their parents. There will not be nursery or Sunday school provided. 9. Masks and hand sanitizer will be available at the entrance and all exits. 10. Collections plates will be at the entrance to the sanctuary 11. Bulletins and song sheets will be on the tables at the entrance of the sanctuary. 12. When the sanctuary is cleaned and disinfected, it will be lock until the next service. The Trustees have struggled with making these decisions. It surely is not what we are accustomed to or how we would like to continue. This is a very uncertain and challenging time with a lot of unknowns. Our focus has been and will always be the safety of our members and until we have more definitive answers, we have no options but to follow the rules.
Other decisions made going forward. 1. We will do only one service until more information is available. 2. Children’s Sunday School will be considered to open in September, with parental support. 3. Adult Class will be at the instructor’s request and support for the attendees, who will be responsible for the planning and disinfecting of the space that is being used, using the disinfecting processes identified by the Trustees. The option to have classes by Zoom is available with the help of the staff. A plan to hold classes in the church must be presented to the Trustees for approval. 4. No other events in the church are being planned. The Trustee’s Committee is submitting this request to the Church Council for approval to begin having in-church Worship services on July 26th, with the recommended regulations.
Please feel free to contact me If there are any questions or concerns
Respectfully submitted, Mary Clinton – Chair, Trustees Committee
*This proposal was accepted and endorsed by the council on July 8, 2020. |
Drive-In Church Service June 21, Photos
LUMC held their first Drive In Service on June 21. Thanks to all who helped plan it. So good to actually see our worship leaders and members of our congregation in person.
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Upper Room, Envelopes, Communion Elements for pick up
Members Envelopes, Upper Rooms and Communion elements are available to be picked up at the church Monday-Thursday 9:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., If you would like them to be delivered, please call the church office during the times listed above. |
Noon Zoom with Pastor Tom begins May 27
 ZOOM ALONG with US!Friends. Each Wednesday at 12 I host “Noon Zoom with Pastor Tom”. We cover a variety of topics from discussion of current events to matters of Scriptural interpretation, and more. It is a safe zone where all opinions are respected. Pastor Tom Leola UMC is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Leola UMC's Wednesday Noon Zoom Meeting with Pastor Tom Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83832810266?pwd=ODQ5dmtFeHA0R2lNZWFuMVFSNTYxUT09 Meeting ID: 838 3281 0266 Password: 955680 One tap mobile +13126266799,,83832810266#,,1#,955680# US (Chicago) +19292056099,,83832810266#,,1#,955680# US (New York) Dial by your location +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Meeting ID: 838 3281 0266 Password: 955680 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kNssxOpXd |
E-giving Option for LUMC
 With the limitation of no in-person services, LUMC has added a way for you to give online without leaving your home. |
Pastor Tom's Encouraging Mini Messages
 Philippians 2: 1-16 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
 4/29/20 Cow Manure and Bells and Wealth T.S. Eliot wrote, “All our life is exploration, and the end of all our exploring is to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” Tonight, at 6:00 P.M., I stepped outside and took in what is likely an unpleasant odor to many. To me it was rejuvenating. The church bell rang, and a moment of transcendence occurred. Childhood. That hell from which I vowed to escape. Those long, dreary days of boredom and labor. Those grown-ups who seemed content with life and each other in a world which promised glamour and wealth and happiness. Then, the smell. The
bell. The memories of those saints. And for a moment, I realized, “This.”     Video of Pastor Tom "The Hat Video" April 15, 2020
Palm/Passion Sunday: I Love You Sunday!”  The great irony of the crucifixion
is that Jesus, who was everything, had everything taken away from him. Jesus, a King who will die with nothing but a crown of thorns.
Jesus, who was willing to bring all humanity to his side, putting others first, ended his journey walking alone. All that love, and this was the payoff.
Jesus, who was one with creation, dies nailed to it, a wooden cross. With his arms still wide open.
My mentor led me to wonder if Jesus was crucified because he offered something that we always say we want: Love.
It has been said that when we say those words, “I love you,” we give the other power over us. We give them power to destroy us, shape us, break our heart. Perhaps that’s why true love is so dangerous; perhaps so rare.
Love can hurt and love can crucify.
And yet, here is Jesus, showing us on Easter, that love remains the only
way to a resurrected life. Lazarus Saturday John 11: 43-45  Today is the day before Palm Sunday. In the Orthodox tradition, this day commemorates the raising of Lazarus by Jesus. It is called “Lazarus Saturday.” Yes, Jesus brings Lazarus back to physical life. But the main point of raising Lazarus is not to show us that Jesus can raise a dead man back to life for a brief period of time. The main point of raising Lazarus is to teach that Jesus, here and now, can overcome death! It is a revelation that Jesus offers life now. Right now! Jesus offers us a life that will never die because it is God’s only life! Lazarus died eventually. And so will you and I. But Jesus offers us a life right now that lives through death so that when we die we already have God’s life running through us! Be at peace! Pastor Tom  This is a photo of a section of the Valley of the Shadow of Death mentioned in Psalm 23. Once it was a road of great risk and fear. Today we walk a different kind of road, a virus that has stunned the world and each day brings fear and sorrow. Many today pray Psalm 23 and find the comfort and faith it has provided for centuries. Why not open your Bible now, turn to the Psalm, and draw on that same strength?Pastor Tom  Pastor Tom |
Coronavirus updates from Pastor Tom & Committee
Church Services thru Sunday, April 26 will be cancelled. The links below are letters from Pastor Tom and committee with more information about our church and the Coronavirus. Café will be closed until further notice. Click for link to Pastor Tom's May 24 Letter (info about opening church) Two Plagues; One Reformer In the year A.D.1527, the bubonic plague broke out in Germany. In the midst of this terrible crisis, Martin Luther spoke words on personal responsibility and caring for one another: “I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God” I find this comforting and encouraging. God will lead us if we seek His face, hear His voice, and follow. Shalom, Pastor Tom |
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