sharing Christ's love with all.

Glorify God: Glorify and praise God through worship, discipling, sharing faith and serving with love

Show Compassion: Compassion expressed as care and concern for all

Share Hospitality: Inclusive hospitality through welcome, acceptance and fellowship

Nurture Relationships: Nurture relationships through respect, support and communication

Steward God's Gifts: Faithful stewardship of all God's gifts

Please join us on November 27th at 9:00 am for the Annual Hanging of the Greens. Jobs include hanging roping in the Meeting House, decorating the Christmas tree, hanging wreaths on Church Campus, replacing batteries in candles in windows, putting poinsettias in Meeting House and Chapel, hanging greens on light poles, decorating the chapel, etc.   

Families are welcome. If we have plenty of help, we can finish by noon! Supplies needed are gloves, garden clippers and a ladder. Thank you in advance from the Worship Committee!

There are two worship services this Sunday-

The church office is closed on Friday, November 26 and will reopen on Monday, November 29.

6:30 - 7:15 pm: Drive-thru

7:30 - 8:00 pm:

A HUGE "thank you" to all those who gave monetary donations for the Thanksgiving gift cards this year. The Deacons delivered 20 Giant gift cards to families in need with hope that they would enjoy a delicious turkey dinner on Thanksgiving Day. Due to your generous donations, local families have been blessed with the love from SSPC.

We begin again! Please join us for a new beginning to Adult Sunday School, starting Sunday, November 28th as we launch a four week Advent Sunday School Session. We will undertake a four week study on best selling author Max Lucado's Because of Bethlehem - Love is Born, Hope is Here!

We will gather in Room 204, starting promptly at 9:50 am and ending promptly at 10:50 am, study guides will be provided. This session is part video and part conversation and it will launch a new format starting in January 2022 for Adult Sunday School. Please join us for Christianity, Conversation and Coffee, as we study the scripture, build relationships and talk about God in our lives. For all adults 19 to 99! Scott Pepperman will be teaching. Also beginning on November 28th, our Nursery will be open and available to those with young children during church and Sunday School.

Join us in Advent on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 pm in the Meeting House for a 30-45 minute concert and worship. We will be privileged to have the following groups perform on these dates:

December 1: Perfect Harmony - This service will be live-streamed.

December 8: Lancaster Trombone Ensemble

December 15: Cedar Cliff High School Chamber Singers

The Angel Tree is ready to have you pick your angel tags. Each angel tag represents a local child's wish for a Christmas gift.

The Christmas poinsettia order forms are available in the Gathering Place or by clicking here. Please return the form to the box in the Gathering Place by Monday, December 13. The names of dedication will be listed in the bulletin on Sunday, December 19. The cost of each poinsettia is $10.

Help is needed to bake 100 dozen cookies for the Carlisle Truck Stop Ministry on November 30 from 10 am until when we get done, at the Silver Spring Church kitchen/chapel area. Need bakers and packers. No skills needed, we will teach. Please contact Roy McLain at 717-421-2065.

Your fun-loving Fellowship Committee is hosting a unique Mountain Music concert on Sunday, December 5 during daylight hours from 3-4 pm in the Meeting House.  The “Grapes of Rhythm” is a lively band playing classic Appalachian and country Christmas songs.  This unique concert will feature instruments such as the auto harp, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, and upright base.

Please join us for this unique concert and invite your neighbors, friends, and family to join us too. A free-will offering will be collected.  Masks are required for this event.

Join us for this year's Annual Christmas Cantata on Sunday, December 12 at 10:00 am in the Meeting House.

The Christian Education Committee invites you to join us for an Intergenerational Advent Event, following the Cantata Service and refreshments on Sunday, December 12th. We will gather together in the church gym and enjoy a Christmas movie for families, popcorn and beverages. We will also work on several crafts that will be distributed to the church shut-ins. We will mask up and practice social distancing as we enjoy each other's fellowship and work. No cost, but please RSVP to either Scott Pepperman, [email protected], or Laura Shoop, [email protected], the CE co-chairs so that enough supplies and refreshments can be purchased by Monday December 6th.

Responding to the appeal for assistance from local Afghan immigrants who were extremely concerned for the safety of their relatives in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, the ISC has initiated the AFR Project. The main purpose of the AFR Project is to help at-risk people from Afghanistan reunite with their relatives in the United States, and to help ease their transition once they get here.

One of the challenges of the transition is that some of the food available from traditional food banks/pantries is not familiar or comfortable to the Afghan diet. The Mission Committee and CORE have selected Saturday December 11, 2021 from 1 pm to 3 pm for a drive thru food drive targeting the specific foods that are part of a normal Afghan diet. You may also drop food off in the labeled container outside the Chapel. A condensed list of the foods we are looking for are lentils, kidney and pinto beans, peanut butter and jelly, sugar, flour, tomato sauce, pasta, cumin, canned peas and potatoes, and cooking oil. There is a more detailed list on the container. Please limit your donations to the specific foods that the ISC/AFR Project has requested. Thank you in advance for helping our soon to be central PA residents from Afghanistan.

The Children's Choir will be performing at the Christmas Eve Family service at 5 pm. If you have a child in Kindergarten through 8th grade, please consider having them sing with us. We will be holding three 15-20 minute rehearsals in between the Traditional and Gathering Services. All rehearsals will be held in the choir room, masks required with safe distancing. Regular weekly rehearsals will resume once Sundays School is back in session. Please check your inboxes for an email and respond to Tracy with your preferences. If you did not receive an email and are interested, please contact Tracy Wieseman.

We meet every Wednesday afternoon at 1:00 pm in the Parlor (please wear a mask). Our study is on The Women of the Bible Speak by Shannon Bream. For any questions, please call Carolyn Dorward (717.737.6481) or Ruth Stoll (717.697.6560).

Please pay your per capita apportionment to free up church monies for other needs. The amount for 2021 is $24.20 per member. If you do not have church envelopes, simply write Per Capita in the memo line of your check. Thank you.

This summer the Earth Care Team shared a survey to learn more about our members’ stance on environmental topics that apply to our local community, our church property, and the goals of the Earth Care Team. We were pleased to have 72 returned surveys. These responses have helped our team learn a little more about our congregation, and how we can be a better committee at SSPC.

We discovered the vast majority of our members are involved in some form of earth care stewardship to reduce their environmental footprint. The most popular activity was recycling, followed by installing LED lights, and driving electric or hybrid vehicles. Other popular activities included composting, buying locally grown food, reducing water use, and creating wildlife habitat. Many of our members have accepted environmentally friendly cleaning products into their homes, with products from Blueland, Mrs. Meyers, and homemade vinegar blends being the most popular. The congregation had new ideas for the Earth Care team as well, including more accessible recycling bins on church property, creating a community garden, and continued monitoring and cleanup of Trindle Run.

One of the survey questions asked specifically about a community garden installment at Silver Spring; there were a handful of individuals in the congregation showing interest in this idea. We plan to reach out to these individuals in the coming months to pursue this project further.

To view the data collected from the Earth Care survey, visit the link on the side panel of the Earth Care Team page on Silver Spring’s website. And if you are interested in becoming an Earth Care member, please reach out to Stefan Karkuff to join our monthly meeting.

November 29 is 'Buy Nothing Day'. This was created by a Canadian, Ted Dave, as a challenge to find out what it feels like to step out of the consumer culture for just one day. Here are some suggestions for what to do on that day:

DIY gifts - homemade gifts for loved ones for the holidays [see Pinterest for ideas], go outside, read a book. Whatever you do, be very thankful for all that you have and all that you have the opportunity to do.

Click HERE for the December birthday list.

If you are celebrating in December,

we wish you a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

We are back (hopefully) to a regular schedule for ROAR Mission trips. The winter trip for February of 2022 is in Gainesville, Florida. We will be working with Alachua Habitat For Humanity building new homes with Habitat partner families. The work week will be Monday, January 31 through Friday, February 04, 2022. Volunteers will arrive at the hotel on Sunday, January 30, 2022 with an option to arrive on Saturday, January 29, 2022.

The plan is to frame up at least two homes during the week. As always, you do not need building skills to be a part of the team. Everyone can do something to help build the homes and learn a new skill at the same time.

If you are interested in being part of the 2022 winter ROAR Team or need additional information please contact Terry Reed at [email protected], or call Terry at 717-766-2714, or see Terry at church.

Local musicians have united again in 2021 to create the 3rd annual Joy to the Burg Christmas album to benefit people experiencing homelessness. Albums are on sale now and proceeds will support the homelessness programs of Christian Churches United (CCU) in Harrisburg.

100% of all album sales go directly to the homelessness outreach efforts of expanding winter walk-in shelters for both men and women in Harrisburg as well as helping those on the street get into long-term housing. When someone gives the gift of Joy To The Burg, they not only support the local arts community and bless their loved ones with the gift of music, they provide hope and housing to our most vulnerable neighbors.

Albums are available at Karns or at www.JoyToTheBurg.com

Hey all! I have news about 2022 already! What happened to the time? January 9th, we will begin Youth Sunday prep and Sunday School! February 13th, we will be hosting a Valentine's Day Special from 5-8. The purpose of this event is to entertain kids of all ages, to give parents a chance to have dinner together. February 19th is the Last Youth Sunday Rehearsal. February 20th is Youth Sunday!

ZETEO 2022 is February 4-6, 2022 (Friday evening to Sunday afternoon): Let me know by 12/27/2021 if you would like to go so, I can get you a ticket!

December 5, 2021: CORE from 6-8

December 12, 2021: NO CORE, but the festivities in the morning/early afternoon

December 19, 2021: NO CORE

December 26, 2021: NO CORE Merry Christmas!!!

December 27, 2021: Deadline to let me know if you are coming to Zeteo

January 2, 2022: NO CORE Happy New Year!!!

January 9, 2022: Sunday School Begins, CORE from 6-8, Youth Sunday Prep Begins

January 16, 2022: CORE from 6-8 Youth Sunday Prep

Email [email protected] for more info or to subscribe to email and/or text announcements.

Prayers of healing: Ken Pfaff, Susie Truckor, Louise Weldy

Prayers for our military members: Justin Ledvina, Josiah Scandle, Wyatt La Pointe, Brandon Johnson

To my Silver Spring family,

A special thank you for all the prayers, cards and phone calls. I am so blessed for all of you.

May God bless you, Florence Bellis

Ushers: Terry Reed and Jonathan Service

Lay Liturgist: Bob Davis

Gathering Snack: Cindy Corbin

1- Direct Link to our Website: https://onrealm.org/silverspring/-/give/now

2- If you’d like the church to set up contributions for you, please complete and return the attached form by clicking here.

For any questions, please email Diane Rabold, Business Manager, at [email protected].