Board of Witness & Outreach Update
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Question for you…..did you ever wonder what our services are like at Neffsville Nursing and Rehabilitation, also known as Neffsville? Well, keep reading and I can tell you all about how Mount Calvary is serving those living their last days in a suboptimal nursing home.
A team of 9 – 11 members gather the 2nd & 4th Wednesdays monthly at Neffsville in their solarium – a huge room, with a very high ceiling, a central stone fireplace, chandeliers with some light bulbs not working, and windows looking out at an unkept garden.
As we arrive around 2 PM, residents are eagerly gathering for their worship service. We visit with the residents, who are mostly in wheelchairs or behind a walker. We place a white altar cloth on a credenza creating a makeshift altar, place a wooden cross and battery-operated taper candles along with some religious ceramic pieces donated by one of the residents.
Roger Heiser, our pianist (Deb Lynch substitutes when Roger and Deb are vacationing), comes prepared with some preludes as we mingle among the residents, chatting with them and passing out large-print hymnals. We gather some residents from their rooms and bring them into the service. The activities staff take some residents in portable beds to our service. We started with about 15 residents 4 years ago and we are now worshiping with about 32-40 residents and 2 staff members!
Pastor Seifferlein comes in at about 2:25 and dresses in his black cassock, white surplice, and appropriate stole according to the liturgical season. Pastor has prepared the hymns for the day on papers which the team members have all received. We start with the invocation, confession of sins, and the first hymn. Pastor will then relate words from the first hymn to what we will be hearing that day from the Bible. We sing more hymns, and the Mount Calvary Outreach volunteers go around to each resident, helping them find the page or giving them a thumbs up that they found the correct hymn. The aging voices of the residents sound glorious as they sing, some of them knowing the hymn by heart, some just listening since their eyesight has now faded and can no longer read, others only know Spanish but enjoy the hymns with God’s promise of eternal life and His care for us while we struggle here on earth.
Pastor reads scripture for the day, from a lectern, and delivers the sermon. For the sermon, Pastor takes the mic off the lectern stand and walks in front of the rows of residents and explains the scripture to them, bringing them hope of salvation that only God can provide. The residents are enthralled with the message, hanging onto each word as Pastor relates God’s Word in a way they can relate to, asking them questions, asking them to repeat, drawing out of them the love they have for God. If the microphone cord works, it is all good. (Neffsville needs some new equipment.)
After the sermon, we turn to page 111 for the Apostle’s Creed and flip to the page before for the Lord’s Prayer. We close with the Benediction, the blessing of the Lord reminding us of His presence with us, and Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow. Pastor gives a reminder of when we will be back again. We collect the hymn books as Pastor greets as many residents as possible. Many of them holding his hand looking for reassurance that God is looking after family members, their declining health, the passing of their roommate, and more. The same things we all pour out to God for help. There is one resident who slips Pastor an offering! A kind gesture from a sincere worshipper.
I have been told by the activities director that Pastor Seifferlein’s services are the most popular activity at Neffsville. God is working among those residents! Please join us on April 9, 2:30 PM as we read the Passion of Christ and sing Lenten hymns. There are plenty of seats. You do not have to assist with hymn pages unless you desire. There is parking out front, sign-in at the receptionist desk, and walk straight ahead. You can’t miss the huge room. Come see what Mount Calvary is doing at Neffsville Nursing and Rehabilitation!
Mount Calvary Neffsville Team Members: Lynn Allison, Deb & Roger Heiser, Kip & Deb Lynch, Nancy Marshall, Ryan McMinn, Candace Ord, Joan Marie Sipe, Nancy Steigler, Michael Usner, Jeanie Zentz
