There’s just over a week left to register for Camp Firelight, our 2024 Vacation Bible School (VBS)! Don’t miss out! Visit asburylv.org/VBS for more information and to register now.
Asbury’s Health Ministry Team works to help educate Asbury’s congregation on all things connected to health. Read their recent article by Jamie Laputka about “Adaptive Yoga” and visit the Health Ministry Team page to learn more about the team and their impact.
Asbury’s Health Ministry Team works to help educate Asbury’s congregation on all things connected to health. Read their recent article by Ellen Sagazio, a pharmacist at St. Luke’s Sacred Heart Campus on “Poison Prevention with Mr. Yuk” and visit the Health Ministry Team page to learn more about the team and their impact.
Join the Men’s Social Group on Monday, June 10, as they host a presentation by Dr. Charles Gardiner, a retired large animal veterinarian who will discuss his memoirs and his experiences working with large animals on dairy farms. He relates his experiences to his growth in the Christian faith. The meeting will be held in Room 108 at 9 AM.
Click to contact the group and get connected!Group contact: David Torrey
Mark Mangum, who has served as Asbury’s Director of Finance and Operations since January 2023, has announced his resignation. His final day with Asbury will be Friday, May 24. Mark is excited to begin a new position with the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation near his home in Boone, NC, in the coming weeks. We hope you’ll join us in expressing appreciation for his time at Asbury.
Mark will be remotely assisting with the transition.
Asbury’s Church Council will begin the process to fill the staff vacancy in the near future. In the interim, Asbury’s accountants will be taking on additional responsibilities.
Thanks to your generosity, two 55-gallon drums of pill bottles have been collected and will be shipped to Dr. Chris Hena for her clinic in Kakata, Liberia. Thank you!
Questions? Please contact Dick McCreight or Asbury in Mission.
Looking for a tasty way to support missions at Asbury? Join us on Sunday, June 2, between 8:30 AM and 11 AM for an Asbury in Mission (AIM) Mission Breakfast, supporting Valley Health Partners! The breakfast will take place in the Wesley Center. There is no charge; but your free-will donations will support the efforts of Valley Health Partners, whose mission is “partnering with the people of our community to achieve health and wellness through the delivery of extraordinary care that is compassionate, accessible and affordable in a family-centered and culturally sensitive environment.” They DO NOT turn patients away based on their ability to pay and remove financial barriers for receiving care. Their Lehigh Valley Street Medicine Team provides these services for patients who are experiencing housing insecurity. In addition to the medical services, the Street Medicine Team provides survival supplies (items like heavy-duty gloves, new cold weather rated sleeping bags, etc.) as well as deliver the sleeping mats crafted by Asbury’s own Sleeping Mat Ministry team (the volunteer group co-founded by Asbury Church four years ago to make sleeping mats out of “plarn”).
Registration for Camp Firelight, our 2024 Vacation Bible School (VBS), is open now! Visit asburylv.org/VBS for more information and to register now!
Have a green thumb? Help the Environmental Justice Team plan for a garden on Asbury’s grounds! A meeting will be held on May 5 at 10:30 AM in the Parlor.
ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TEAM
Founded as part of Asbury’s Closing the Gap initiative, the Environmental Justice Team works to create a sustainable future by living an eco-conscious present.
Asbury’s 2024 Charge Conference was held Sunday, April 14. Asbury’s congregation approved the “One Board Model” of leadership as well as the roster of the first group of individuals who will populate that board. Watch a replay of the meeting below.
Help care for our community and our planet at the park cleanup event at Union Terrace School and Park in Allentown on Saturday, April 20. Meet at 9 AM; expected ending around 11 AM. Please bring along a pair of work gloves to use. This community event is to go with Earth Day (April 22, 2024). Registration required; please register by Wednesday, April 17.
ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE TEAM
Founded as part of Asbury’s Closing the Gap initiative, the Environmental Justice Team works to create a sustainable future by living an eco-conscious present.
Volunteer Recognition Sunday
Sunday, April 28, 2024
We are blessed with so many volunteers at Asbury…in fact, odds are that you’re one of them! We’re so grateful for the passion, expertise, and resources that are dedicated to building the Kingdom of God by our congregation. On Sunday, April 28, we want to celebrate and honor all of you who sacrifice your time and talents in service to Asbury Church.
Are you an usher, greeter, musician, Sunday School teacher?
Are you part of our Vacation Bible school week or one of the many who help prepare for Christmas Eve?
There are so many different ways our members volunteer here at Asbury Church and we want to say thank you!
Join us for a special recognition during worship at 9:30 AM and 11 AM. And for all of our faithful volunteers, we have a special gift that you can pick up outside of the Parlor following the service. If you’re worshiping online, you can contact Laurie Wallace Theisen, Director of Lay Ministries, to coordinate a way to receive your gift.
We’re watching the weather for this event. Registrants will be notified by email of any change in the plan.
Help get Asbury’s grounds and building ready for the coming months at Spring Service Day on May 18 beginning at 8 AM with an expected end time at or before 12:30 PM.
Work areas will be selected to allow groups or individuals to work together safely with all skill levels.
Most of the work will include trimming trees and bushes, cleaning up flower beds, and remulching.
The church has some tools, but we would appreciate if you can bring rakes and trimming tools. Also we could use a few additional wheelbarrows.
Your help to maintain our grounds and building are appreciated!
Questions? Contact Asbury’s Trustees.
Sunday, April 7, and Sunday, April 14, 2024, 5 PM – 6:30 PM, Room 217
Join General Conference delegate Judy Ehninger as she presents information regarding the UMC General Conference 2020-2024 (being held in Charlotte, NC, April 23-May 3). Petitions and resolutions for action at the General Conference will be discussed.
The Jubilation Ringers are offering a spring concert at Asbury Church on Sunday, April 28, at 4 PM in the Sanctuary.
About the Concert
The Jubilation Ringers’ spring concert event, “This Is Dedicated…”, comprises performance pieces that have been specifically written for, dedicated to, or composed in memory of some special person or group. Some are arrangements of well-known hymns or folk tunes; some are original compositions. Notable is the premiere of Will Gross’s “The Heavens Are Ringing,” composed in memory of the founding director of the Jubilation Ringers, Phyllis Treby Hentz. No tickets are required.
Free-Will Offering
A free-will offering will be taken and 50% will be donated to Family Promise of Lehigh Valley.
About the Jubilation Ringers
The Jubilation Ringers make music on one of the world’s largest church-owned collection of bells and related instruments: seven full octaves of English handbells, two octaves of Silver Melody Bells, three octaves of Dutch handbells, and six octaves of handchimes. That is 220 instruments in all!
In addition to worship services and annual Christmas concerts at Asbury, the Jubilation Ringers have offered music at other church services, handbell festivals, weddings, and formal concert engagements both in the Lehigh Valley and out of state.
Looking for a tasty way to support missions at Asbury? Join us on Sunday, May 5, between 8:30 AM and 11 AM for an Asbury in Mission (AIM) Mission Breakfast, supporting Laundry on Linden! The breakfast will take place in the Wesley Center. There is no charge; but your free-will donations will support the efforts of Laundry on Linden, which provides free laundry services and healthcare to those in need in center city Allentown.
Asbury’s 2024 Charge Conference has been scheduled for Sunday, April 14 in Asbury’s Sanctuary, following 11 AM worship.
The United Methodist Church’s governing document, The Book of Discipline, gives the following description of a Charge Conference: “The primary responsibilities of the charge conference in the annual meeting shall be to review and evaluate the total mission and ministry of the church, receive reports, and adopt objectives and goals recommended by the church council that are in keeping with the objectives of The United Methodist Church.”
This year’s Charge Conference will feature a vote regarding the One Board Model that Asbury’s Church Council has proposed at two recent Congregational Chats. Asbury members: we encourage you to review the video overview and documents surrounding the One Board Model and join us for this vote on the future of Asbury’s leadership.
THIS EVENT WILL NOT BE LIVE STREAMED. All voting must take place in-person.
Asbury’s Church Council has shared information on a proposed restructuring of church leadership called the “One Board Model.” Learn more about this model – and submit any questions you may have – at asburylv.org/OneBoard.
Asbury’s Church Council hosted a “Congregational Chat” on March 17 to further explain the purpose of the consideration of the shift to a “one board” leadership model. Watch the replay and view their slide deck below.
Please note: this is a follow-up meeting to a prior meeting held on February 25. Resources from that meeting can be found here.
Submit any questions you have about the one-board model. They’ll be sent to the Church Council for review.
Learn more about the Parkland CARES Food Pantry – and the impact your donation will make – in this video from a recent “Mission Moment.”
