Ministries in the larger community
Campaign for Campus Renewal"Building in Faith for People of Faith" |
 Picture courtesy of LTSP website |
One of the important ministries we support in the ELCA is the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP). It's campus is in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. LTSP prepares men and women for lay and ordained ministries. Pastor Mary is a recent graduate of its program and Pastor Mike received his doctoral degree from the school. Our seminarian, Karen Kohl is also a student there.
The Philadelphia Seminary is at a critical point in its history. The student body has doubled in size over the past decade - making it the fastest growing seminary in the ELCA, but severely straining its facilities. The growth is important since the church is facing a growing shortage of pastors that is projected to continue well into the future.
Reformation and the Philadelphia Seminary are going to collaborate in a new way - a capital campaign to support the campus renewal effort now underway at the seminary. Groundbreaking occurred on March 13 for the Learning Center which features:
The original dormitory building will be at the heart of the integrated center for faculty, students, and staff, offering spaces ranging from a 500-seat hall to classrooms, a computer lab, and areas for individual and group study. Also part of the campus renewal program is an addition to the library to provide:
According to the LTS website: "The learning center is being integrated into a large portion of the 1888 "old dorm," which was decommissioned in 1998. Keeping some of the façade of this old structure [seen above] will allow the seminary to have a 21st century building that retains an important part of the school’s 19th century heritage."
We are excited about collaborating with LTSP in this new way. "Building in Faith" is a joint campaign that will begin in April. Gifts committed to this will be divided between the Seminary's campus renewal effort and a debt reduction effort for Reformation. Our goal is to provide the opportunity to both support the ongoing mission of the ECLA and to reduce the total principal that Reformation will need to fund through a mortgage for our own new additional space.
Please watch for the upcoming communications and events!
Additional information for this endeavor and for the ministries and programs of the Seminary is available on the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia website.
Our church volunteers assist in preparation and serving of meals at the Reading Emergency Shelter. We assist in serving one day per month.
One of our fund raising ministries is Burger-a-Month Club (BAM). Many of our members donate the equivalent of the cost of a hamburger per month, each month. There are various levels of giving: a junior burger, a burger, a burger and fries, and supersize. The monies go to support the ELCA World Hunger Appeal.
Youth from our teen class work at a local Habitat project to provide low cost housing to needy families.
Ministries in our community
Women of ELCA meet on the last Monday of every month for a Bible Study at 7 p.m. in the Lounge. Pastor Mary leads the Bible Study. Any woman is welcome to attend!
The women have chosen two projects for the year 2004. First, they are assembling layettes. Lutheran World Relief (LWR) layettes are distributed to refugee camps, hospitals, and villages around the world.
Their second project is LWR quilts. The group will assemble the quilts, which are sent to LWR for distribution. Donations of fabric and quilt materials are welcomed.
Reformation charters and proudly supports Cub Scout Pack 315 and Boy Scout Troop 315.
As one of their many service projects, they regularly assist in our church members during our spring cleanup day.
On Scout Sunday in February, the Pack and Troop worships with us and actively participates as ushers and readers.
