To: Congregation of Emmanuel United Church of Christ
This is to inform you that I will be retiring on June 30, 2015. I have enjoyed serving Emmanuel
since April 1, 2008. I am well past retirement age and also feel that at this time I need to be more
available to Archie.
I thank God for giving me the opportunity to be with you and I pray for God to be with you in the
future.
God bless y’all!
Pastor Penny
The above is the letter I presented to consistory on April 16 and read to the congregation on April 19. I imagine most of you have already heard the news. It’s pretty self-explanatory. As of April 1 this year I had been serving here for seven years. They have been good years for Archie and me. We have enjoyed being with you. He has enjoyed being able to sing for you on occasion and I have enjoyed getting to know all of you. I pray that I was able to inspire you with an occasional sermon.
We will be living in Sunbury at our house on the Susquehanna. It is nice to be able to sit in our living room and look out at the water and watch the birds and the squirrels, and the ducks and the geese. And yes, this being Pennsylvania we do have a groundhog that runs across our yard on occasion.
I will be around for the next couple of months for anything you may need. I also would encourage all of you to support our new Talent in Bloom coming up on May 16th. We need talent and we need auction items – both for Chinese Auction and Called Auction. If you might have a piece of furniture that is no longer needed or a piece of artwork that you have done it would be wonderful. There is one person making pies to be auctioned off. We also ask that you encourage members of other congregations to participate. We will be praying for a good turnout for this event.
Philippians 4:4-7 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone.
The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
As always I say “God Bless!”
