St. John’s Outreach Committee is hosting an Ice Cream Night on Thursday, September 23 at Drizzle Ice Cream of Alburtis (47 W. Penn Ave.) as a fundraiser for East Penn Neighbors Helping Neighbors. Bring the whole family to Drizzle — anytime from 3 – 9 pm — and help support East Penn Neighbors Helping Neighbors with your purchase! A portion of each sale will benefit East Penn Neighbors Helping Neighbors. You can also order online from Drizzle through the website: https://my-site-drizzleicecream.square.site/ . Members of St. John’s Outreach Committee will be at Drizzle that evening with information about East Penn Neighbors Helping Neighbors.

East Penn Neighbors Helping Neighbors continues to be an organization St. John’s Outreach Committee is trying to support and help. There are many families in our local community who need help right now, including those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. As the community continues to feel the effects of the COVID pandemic, these families desperately need our help.

East Penn Neighbors Helping Neighbors has a simple mission: to serve the families in our local community who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless through multi-faceted short-term assistance in order to help restore and sustain healthy, independent living. A family is welcomed into the temporary transitional housing, and EPNHN volunteers with the skills to help meet the family’s needs form a support team for the family. This model is proving successful, having helped transition several families into places of greater independence! If you can’t join us for ice cream, those who wish to financially support this initiative can:

• Send a check to:
  East Penn Neighbors Helping Neighbors (EPNHN)
  418 Elm St.,
  Emmaus, PA 18049
• Donate through their website: http://www.epnhn.org/donate.html
• Send a check in to St. John’s, and we will make sure it gets to East Penn Neighbors Helping Neighbors!

If you are interested in helping EPNHN as a volunteer — please give Audra Berner a call at 610-967-5432.

St. John’s received an invitation to participate in Allentown Rescue Mission’s Thanks 4 Giving
Campaign 2021 – a special drive for heavily used and needed items highlighted in the box below. In conjunction with “God’s Work. Our Hands.” Sunday on September 12, the Outreach Committee is asking you to consider adding a few of these items to your shopping cart and bring them to church ESPECIALLY on September 12; however contributions are also being accepted throughout the entire month beginning September 5. Look for bins at the back of the church and in the coat room.

If you would rather purchase a gift card from either Weis, Giant or Jaindl (for Thanksgiving
turkeys), please put the gift card in an envelope labeled Allentown Rescue Mission. Drop the
envelope in the collection plate or give it to Barbara in the church office or to any member of the Outreach Committee. As you might know, the Mission certainly does have a spiritual component as part of their program. Committee members are Mary Ann Aten, Mary Bealer, Audra Berner, Faith Drescher, Cheryl Kraemer, Pastor Jeff, and Roger Timm.

On Sunday, September 19, St. John’s had two in-person worship services again. The weekly services will be at 8:00 am and 10:30 am. Communion has also resumed weekly, with the pre-filled communion cups used at the pews.