Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Lancaster Newsletter
Board of Witness and Outreach Update
Operation Christmas Child is completed and we thank you for your generous contributions. 50 boxes were filled! You are bringing joy to many children AND bringing the gospel of Jesus to those children and their families and villages. Thank you!
We just celebrated Thanksgiving, giving praise and gratitude to God for His many blessings bestowed upon us. As we begin Advent in anticipation of Christmas, we return those blessings to those who may be in need.
Neffsville Nursing & Rehabilitation is conducting their Christmas Gift Request campaign. A list of needed items for their residents have been inserted in your Sunday bulletin and a list is posted in the Narthex near the galvanized drop-off bin. These residents may not have family support or resources for items we may take for granted. Thank you for your gifts for these residents as part of Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Lancaster PA community outreach. Also, please sign a Christmas card for a resident. The agency is currently caring for 191 residents. Thank you!
4th quarter Mission Offering is designated for Lutheran Hour Ministries. Lutheran Hour Ministries is a global mission organization that shares Christ’s love in more than 60 countries, often bringing His message of hope to places where no other Christian organizations are present. When people experience the Gospel message through their programs, they are encouraged to respond by contacting the LHM staff or volunteers. LHM then cultivates relationships with those who respond, ultimately facilitating a connection between them and a Christian community, thereby helping to grow the kingdom of God.
1st quarter for 2026 Mission Offering is Lutheran Heritage Foundation. We are assisting the foundation in translating 500 Luther’s Small Catechisms into the Mongolian language. Sarnai Miller traveled to her native country this past summer and met the translator! Rev. Nathaniel Jensen engaged us in an interesting talk on his work among military personnel in Germany and other European countries. LCMS missionaries must raise their own funds for their work and we were happy to donate $500 toward his mission. Other members have also donated. Thank you! One item of interest we learned that night is the number of men who after hearing God’s Word, experiencing Confession and Absolution, decide to attend one of our seminaries. What wonderful work Rev. Jensen and other missionaries are performing all over the world. Please keep Rev. Jensen in your daily prayers.
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Mount Calvary Congregational Meeting Coming Up
A special Congregational Meeting will be held after the service on Sunday, December 28. The following nominees are up for election: Evan Geesey – Head Trustee, Karen Dowbnia – Social Ministry Chair, Ron Stiegler – Elder. Preparatory documents are available here: Executive Summary: 2026 Budget Rationale; 2026 Budget Rationale; 2026 MCLC Budget.
2026 Offering Envelopes have been placed in your mailbox in the narthex. (Please note that the location of your mailbox may have changed.) The finance team cannot accept 2026 envelopes until January. Thank you!
The Third Sunday in Advent at the Confessional Church in Lancaster
On the third Sunday in Advent, John the Baptist, the one to point to Jesus during an exciting ministry of preaching and baptism, is the one who also pointed to Jesus during the disappointments of his imprisonment. Even in Herod’s prison, John is sending messengers to Jesus as he wonders (and possibly doubts) if Jesus is truly the Promised Messiah. Our haunting questions find their answers as we go to our Lord and Savior Jesus in the places where He is found (in His Word and Sacrament) and listen to His messages to and for us. John shows his greatness in life and in death in pointing us to the source of where our life comes from.
The bulletin for the service is available here.
The sermon text is available here.
