Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

The United Church of Schellsburg United Church of Christ is a unique congregation of servants of Christ who are dedicated to helping others find a welcoming place to call their spiritual home. We strive to live by our denomination's motto, "No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you're welcome here." Our congregation spans several generations and experiences, including farmers, tradesfolk, retirees, and professionals as well as children and youth. If you are looking for a place to worship God in Christ's name where you can "come as you are" as you become who God wants you to be, then we might be the place. I invite you to come and see why so many of us call this "home"!

It's only fair to give you a sense of what our "home" is like.

Worship at the United Church is a wonderful combination of traditional and contemporary music with an attitude of loving informality. On any given Sunday, we may sing "A Mighty Fortress is Our God", hear one of our outstanding soloists sing "Thy Word" as our sacred dancers grace our aisles, and laugh as our children share their insights during the Children's Message. We believe strongly in the power of prayer and lift our concerns and joys to God seriously.

Our communion service is the first Sunday of each month and our table is open to all who seek relationship with Jesus Christ our Savior. We use grape juice in deference to those who may struggle with addiction to alcohol.

Most services and sermons are based on the Revised Common Lectionary readings used by Episcopal and Roman Catholic congregations as well as many congregations in Protestant traditions. As a pastor, I don't believe that anyone should "check his/her brain" at the door, so I work hard to prepare sermons that are informative, thought-provoking, and memorable. I very rarely preach from prepared manuscripts, which is a challenge as such preaching requires extensive preparatory work and great faith that all I've prayed about and learned during the week will be available to me on Sunday morning. That is truly preaching by the Grace of God! We do record the Sunday service, however, and if you would like a cassette tape of a service to preview, please do not hesitate to contact Linda Kibler, our church secretary, in the office at 814-733-4811.

I am privileged to have the opportunity to write our Sunday School curriculum for the children. This allows me to "be in" the classroom with them in one sense while I am preaching and they are studying. The lessons they learn are coordinated to the topic of my sermons; one of our Scripture lessons each week is presented as the Children's Message before our children are released to class. This way, we are all working on similar themes and ideas even though we are not all together. As a church, we are blessed to have an excellent team of teachers who give 110% and more each week to help our children grow in faith and in spirit. All children in Pre-School (age 3) through Grade 6 are welcome to come and participate in our Sunday School program.

Our Prayer Shawl Ministry has been going strong for a year already. We have been blessed by the work of many knitters and crocheters and doubly blessed to have been able to share the fruits of their labors with over 250 people thus far; we also provided shawls or scarves to 120 "critters" that were given to Your Safe Haven, our local domestic abuse shelter, for guests of all ages. (Visit the Prayer Shawl Ministry Homepage to see "Critter Pics" and for more information about this international movement.)

I sincerely hope that you will join us for worship and fellowship on Sunday mornings. We are a loving congregation ready to welcome you with open hearts, minds, and arms as so many of us have been welcomed through the years. So come home to the United Church of Schellsburg. We've even baked a cake! (or cookies, brownies, fruit tarts, strudels, whatever floats our boat that week.)

In Christ's name,
The Reverend Ruth E. Shaver,
Pastor and Teacher