St. Paul Lebanon Evangelical Lutheran Church - Felton, PA

March 1, 2011

Dear Members of St. Paul (Lebanon) Evangelical Lutheran Church:

At the Congregational meeting held on Sunday, January 16th, a proposal was presented to the membership present to join with St. Luke Lutheran Church and St. James the Apostle Evangelical Lutheran Church to create a joint ministry. This joint ministry is called Unified Lutheran Ministries. The outcome of the vote was in favor of joining with St. Luke and St. James to establish the Unified Lutheran Ministries.

After approximately a year of meeting, discussing and developing, an agreement was finalize by the Presidents and Vice Presidents, and on a few occasions the whole Church Council, of each individual church. The agreement drawn between the three churches defines the duties and responsibilities involved with the joint ministry. On February 13th a special service was held at St. James for the official signing of the agreement by the Presidents and Vice Presidents of each church’s Congregational Council.

What the agreement will do for St. Paul (Lebanon) is provide us with ordained leadership in the form of one full time pastor and one part time pastor. These two pastors will share all duties necessary to provide leadership to the three churches. The cost for the calling of these two pastors will also be shared by the three churches. This arrangement will also provide opportunities for the three churches to schedule joint services for special occasions such as Maundy Thursday. Having a joint ministry as outlined in the agreement allows each church to retain their individual identities; we will still be St. Paul (Lebanon) or St. Luke or St. James.

We hope you will join us in sharing our worship services including those with our brothers and sisters in Christ at St. Luke and St. James.

If you have any questions concerning the Unified Lutheran Ministry between St. Paul, St. Luke, and St. James, feel free to call the Congregation Council President, Galen Dietz at 717-993-6753 or call the church office at 717-244-8780 and leave a message. I will get back to you. Everyone’s support for this new venture to keep our small churches viable and active will be greatly appreciated.

Yours in Christ,
Galen D. Dietz
Congregational Council President
St. Paul (Lebanon) Evangelical Lutheran Church
6955 Rippling Run Road
Felton, PA 17322

Return to home page