Our anniversary year is drawing to an end. The final celebration will be on October 26, Reformation Sunday, with the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA, Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, worshiping with us and preaching and a closing banquet that evening. The year has been full, beginning with the renovations to the church including a sound system. As we appreciated the refurbished altar furniture, new communion rail, and restored pews, we also enjoyed the new banners that welcomed the year on the outside wall and the sanctuary. We celebrated a new ministry, Edna’s Haven, launched with our financial support and participation in conjunction with Faith Kitchen in Dover. We would venture as a congregation to Germany to walk the streets of Luther in Wittenberg and meet our ancestors who came from the Palatine area so long ago to begin Zion. The church was filled with the sound of music from the Wagner College Choir, and a three-volume set of books was created to tell the story of Zion. The story would also unfold in our newsletter and a logo was created to celebrate our anniversary year.
In May, we would welcome the Bishop of the New Jersey Synod, Bishop Tracie Bartholomew, and all of our mission partners to a day of celebration and worship. A video would be created to share the story for all to enjoy, beginning with the New Jersey Synod in assembly. A music competition was established at Westminster Choir College to create a choral piece to capture in new ways “Rise, Oh Children of Salvation” by Rev. Justus Falckner. A bronze plaque was commissioned by the Society of Colonial Wars to commemorate the beginnings of Zion and would be dedicated at our anniversary celebration in August. A CD is being created by Rod Briscoe and me in this anniversary year. Hand-painted Christmas ornaments are being made to remember this special time in our life. A tree has been planted at the CEB and in Wittenberg, Germany. The parsonage has been renovated and trees have been planted to replace the ones that fell during Super Storm Sandy. This fall, the Sunday school is focusing on our history and the history of the church. And finally, we gathered on August 3, the present day members of Zion along with the descendents of the original members at that first service in 1714, to give God thanks and praise.
Of course, giving God thanks and praise is at the heart of this year of celebration. The story of Zion is a wonderful story, but we know God is the author of that story. I marvel at the blessings we have received time and again through the years. For 300 years, God has been faithful to us. And I find great hope in that faithfulness of God as we look into the future. May He continue to bless our ministry together!
Peace,
Pastor Summer
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