by John Tyson
Souderton Mennonite Church is coordinating an effort to assist a neighboring church, Zwingli United Church of Christ, that suffered extensive damage from a fire on June 19.
On the day of the fire, Souderton Mennonite contacted Zwingli UCC and offered help.
“The pastor mentioned that one of the needs that came to their mind right away was their Vacation Bible School, which turned out to be planned for the same week as ours. We offered to incorporate them into our morning VBS, or let them use our building for their evening plans. They chose the latter, so we will both have VBS the first week of August. They also asked for our prayers which we assured them they would have, and added to our corporate prayers on the next two Sundays, the option of a special offering that people could give for their needs. We are also collecting the supplies they’ll need for their VBS activities,” said Associate Pastor Sandy Drescher-Lehman.
In addition to offering space for Zwingli UCC’s summer vacation Bible summer school program, Souderton Mennonite is also collecting donations of items for the educational department of the church as well as monetary donations. Items needed for vacation Bible school include baby food jars (four or eight ounces), wrapping paper cardboard rolls, sand for a sand art project, CDs (old and new) that are no longer wanted. Other items needed are crayons, pencils (regular & colored), markers (washable and permanent), washable paint, glue (liquid and sticks), scissors, and construction paper (white and colored).
Checks made out to Souderton Mennonite Church designated for “Zwingli UCC Fire Fund” will be accepted for the next few weeks. Checks should be mailed to Souderton Mennonite Church, 105 W. Chestnut Street, Souderton, PA 18964. Donated items labled “Zwingli UCC” can be dropped off at Souderton Mennonite Church.
For further information, please contact Dan Sell or Mary Benner at 215-723-3088.
The opinions expressed in articles posted on Mosaic’s website are those of the author and may not reflect the official policy of Mosaic Conference. Mosaic is a large conference, crossing ethnicities, geographies, generations, theologies, and politics. Each person can only speak for themselves; no one can represent “the conference.” May God give us the grace to hear what the Spirit is speaking to us through people with whom we disagree and the humility and courage to love one another even when those disagreements can’t be bridged.