We better go back to church...

Please note that the following blog post may be depressing and sad to those living in denial that summer is coming to an end.
(DENIAL: It is not just a river in Egypt anymore)
Please be advised.

Well, the summer is wrapping up.  The back to school shopping is all around us and so with some excitement, some concern, some apprehension, and some indifference (and this is just the parents) the school year is starting.  Though students are dealing with these emotions and more, but like it or not it is time to HEAD BACK TO SCHOOL!

Now, this also starts all sorts of school year schedules and calendars.  Different bed times, weeknight activities, homework, sports practice, fitting in family time, and for many it means returning to a more regular Sunday Worship Attendance schedule.  Vacations are over and we all feel like we need to "Go Back to Church" and so the week after school starts everyone comes back and some more sheepish than others.

Now, what if someone said..."Good Morning.  Nice to see you."  do you immediately go into explanation of where you have been and why you haven't been there or do you just embrace the greeting and realize it is just a greeting and this is why you come each week you are able, to see your "family"?

Often people feel like they are coming back and that people expect an explanation for where they have been other than church on Sunday.  Instead why not just greet them and if the conversation arises where people ask about your summer, so be it.  Though there should be no sense of judgement or need to explain where you have been.  While people do miss and care when you are not here, we all have "LIFE STUFF" and it at times means Worship is not able to be at the top each week.

So as we get toward September as the days grow shorter, school and school activities start, and calendars are being made up, don't forget about worship time with us at Upper Dublin.  As a community, we become energized when we all gather together and we want to share in life with each other, so the "LIFE STUFF" can not just take on a negative connotation, but a positive one as well.  We will pray when needed for healing, health, and support.  Though we want to celebrate with you the GREAT THINGS TOO!  The great things, no matter the size, going on in your lives.

Spin the negative sense of "LIFE HAPPENS to a positive:

Do all the tallest men in the area go to this church?

If you have ever stood in a group of taller men at UDLC after the 9 AM Service, then you may have overheard a man say this, then crack a smile, and laugh.

Bill Miller had a theory that every man taller than him decided to attend UDLC.  When prompted, he would say, "Well I used to be taller, but you get old and you shrink."  He loved to laugh, and joke, but he had a very serious side that came out when he talked of things he loved.  He loved his family, his church, and his Lord.

Bill passed away earlier today and the first thing that actually made me (the mysterious blog author) laugh was the refrain from the song "Soliloquy" from Carousel and I actually see the irony in it when it comes to Bill.

My boy, Bill! He'll be tall
And tough as a tree, will Bill!
Like a tree he'll grow
With his head held high
And his feet planted firm on the ground
And you won't see nobody dare to try
To boss or toss him around!
No pot-bellied, baggy-eyed bully'll toss him around
I don't give a d-mn what he does
As long as he does what he likes!

For a man who had to look up to a number of people physically on Sunday, what Bill didn't know was that many of us look up to him.  His tenacity, his love, his humor, and his heart for Jesus are the reasons we loved Bill.  Last February, Bill spoke to our youth about his trials and health issues in 2008.  In that he spoke of how he went from being a member of a church to being a "Christian"  and realized what being a "Christian" was all about.

Bill, you will be missed, but we are grateful for you leaving us with your own words and journey from attending a Christian church to being a "Christian".

You can also hear his Funeral Service in its entirety here. Bill Miller's Funeral (with Prelude)

A change is gonnna come....

So when you think about the person sitting typing this, do you wonder "who is the author"? Then you see Sam Cooke Lyrics posted and the reader has to think about who could pull up Sam Cooke.

Summer is here and people will soon be off with vacation, BBQ, weekends with friends, and just taking lazy weekends with family.  Now, as the writer of this Blog I am not going to say you're doing anything wrong, but while you are gone SOME PRETTY BIG CHANGES ARE UPON US!

You all know that Donna Huxtable has stepped down as treasurer and another member Linda Rozinski has taken the reins there.

Did you know however that our Office Administrator, Kathleen Dombkoski, is moving to Chicago with her family?

Kathleen has been a huge blessing to UDLC in the time she has been here.  She has helped not only get the office organized, plan multiple large projects and create all of the marketing materials, flyers, and postcards for more things than we can list.  Kathleen streamlined "This Week" to save paper each week.

Some things that Kathleen did that you may not know, but benefit from all the time:
* Original reworking of UDLC.org
* Help coordinating the visit of the "Tanzania 3"
* Help getting "Constant Contact" emails to congregation
* Making sure the website is constantly updated
* The most recent UDLC.ORG reworking and upgrade in November 2011
* Helping to get Upper Dublin's computers and network update done.

This change is coming and while it is sad for many of us and we will miss Kathleen, Mark, and the girls, we wish them all the best.

So in all the change with Donna Huxtable moving closer to her daughter, Linda Rozinski joining the staff, Pastor Keith joining us, and Kathleen Dombkoski moving on....

As Sam Cooke sings:

There were times when I thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gone come, oh yes it will

 THE NEXT CHANGE?

OUR VERY OWN THERESA TINO IS TAKING OVER AS OFFICE ADMINISTRATION

As Lutherans, there is a stereotype that we don’t like change, but funny thing is UDLC seems to take on “Change” and embrace it.

Set a goal and see what happens....

On March 10th - 11th, 28 youth and adults got together for two main goals:

1.  Get 50 participants to raise $5,000.
2.  Begin to educate our community in more detail about famine in the East Horn of Africa and locally.

Well, we didn't get to 50 participants, but we did get to 28 and we didn't hit our $5,000 goal.  WE HIT $10,000.

We worked with our friends at Chosen 300 to serve our fellow community members in Philadelphia.

I would give you more details and provide all sorts of facts, but our youth did a great job of recapping for us:

Check out some of the photos from UDLC's 30 Hour Famine.

Happy 21st Birthday UDLC Flea Market

Most 21st birthday's start a lot different than the Upper Dublin Lutheran Church Flea Market, but not many impact as many people in such a positive way and involve as many people.  The funny thing is this 21st birthday is as much fun for the young ones through all of our seasoned Upper Dublin Lutheran veterans.

So, now if this were a movie, we would have a flashback.  You know where the world gets smokey and we can look back on 1990 and see the very first one and end up commenting about hair styles, music, and the clothing we wore.  Now let's be honest this blog is pretty awesome, but it can not control time and space. 

However, it can find pretty old school photos if provoked of members choosing to challenge those of us who post these entries (just kidding, kind of...).


So where did this amazing idea come from?  Who is to credit for such a program who would give blood, sweat, and sometimes tears?  WELL CALM DOWN AND IF YOU STOP ASKING THESE QUESTIONS AND KEEP READING I AM SURE WE WILL ANSWER THEM.


The flea market started 21 years ago when Dianne Schueller wanted to generate some funds for local charities. She realized that no one has flea markets in February. February has not been the same at UDLC since.  Now, we all know Dianne and let’s be honest, when Dianne has an idea and decides to make it happen...IT HAPPENS.  She is a real treasure to UDLC, just look at the gardens all spring, summer, and fall she makes the church look.  Now, when this first started, little did we know that it would grow to be as large as it has grown? Every year, if all went well, you would never know we had a flea market hosting hundreds of people, making thousands of dollars because nothing is left. Some workers go out to dinner together, some go home and crash but the flea market is always a church team effort and a job well done.

Now, this does not happen overnight.  Even given the fact people look for it all the time, people begin to think about it as soon as summer.  UDLC members start asking the Sunday after Christmas when the flea market will be. It is always a good way to remind people to save those gently used items they may get replaced at Christmas to help benefit others. Outdoor signs advertising the market are sent to the sign store for a yearly re-numbering in January and the metal frames are driven into the ground whenever the soil is thawed. Signs are attached to the frames usually on a cold and windy day making the job so much fun.

45 tables are reserved in January from a rental company for a week along with Janet Waechter taking over publicity and she makes sure the advertisements are in the local papers and on the scrolling billboard at the bank in Ambler. Janet also prepares a display of the outreach of the chosen recipients so everyone can learn about these charities.

Set up starts the Monday before with packing EVERYTHING (LITERALLY...EVERYTHING) from the Jr. and Sr. High rooms into the senior high room along with the piano, divider screens, lecterns and anything loose in Fellowship Hall. Monday night someone takes pictures of the Sunday school rooms that will be used so the furniture can be returned to its original lay out.

After that is finished, 45 tables are arranged in Fellowship Hall and in 2 – 3 Sunday school classrooms and for the 2nd year in the new multi-purpose room.  Shelving and other display aids are put in place. Signs are hung over the tables for a general indication of where items will go.

Tuesday – Thursday 9AM – 9 PM is drop off for donors, and marking, pricing and sorting for the workers. EVERYTHING gets a masking tape price tag and is priced at 1/10th to ¼ of retail price.

“Departments” at the flea market depend in what is donated but in general we have:
Jewelry, kitchen wares, dishes, flatware, mugs, glasses, wine glasses (including Build to Serve mugs), linens, holiday items, tools, CDs tapes, record albums, sporting goods, craft items, games, puzzles, gardening supplies, tons of books, small appliances, pet items, frames, posters and artwork; candles, small furniture, children’s toys, clothes and equipment, baby toys clothes and equipment, books and computers and software.

This is the 2nd year we will accept computers. Computers are donated to a company in Ephrata that takes them apart and reassembles parts into a working computer for people needing computers. This is another outreach from UDLC to the community.   Jewelry room workers do the tedious work of untangling chains and pricing each tiny piece. Linen workers measure each textile piece (single bed, double queen etc) and mark and price it.  Someone is busy on a laptop looking up values for any collectible item we may have received. We try to price those higher than other items yet still under the going price so someone can get a deal and we will still sell the item. Who knew that a rubber Playtex girdle in the original package sells for $60?! Some flea market workers know that!

Life goes on in UDLC the week of the flea market, while it can be quite stressful and confusing to those who show up to a space that is in use looking for a meeting. The nursery school teachers do a tremendous job of keeping “life as normal” in their classrooms, even though little notice everything 2 – 4 year old eyes DO see those tempting piles of toys in the downstairs hallway. Kathleen and Theresa, in the office make sure all the groups who use spaces now taken up by tables know the new meeting rooms and help make last minute changes. These two are unsung heroes who also live through this chaotic week in mostly silent observation.

On Friday, the flea market has to be totally priced and no more donations are accepted. The tables for the cashiers are set up, Bruce Waechter makes a trip to the bank so the cashier’s tills can be set up and the floor is vacuumed. A group of people make a sweep to make sure like items are priced the same. Nothing is uglier than 2 people fighting over the same cooler with one marked $2 and one marked $5 on the morning of the flea market. A “Martha Stewart” team comes in Friday afternoon and makes “vignettes” displays. Displaying our stuff attractively has upped our sales. Of course, the displays do not last long come Saturday.


We also contact the Upper Dublin Police department to give them a heads up of Saturday traffic and they are kind enough to sweep through the parking lot the week of the flea market for added security.

Saturday morning is a Cecil B. DeMille production. Cashiers, bouncers, (stair way is down only, please, no strollers,), floor people who rearrange the stuff, bring items under the table to the top of the table, catechism students help customers out to their cars with purchases and oh-so-nicely tell people then cannot come in the side doors. Kitchen workers, (who are responsible to set the year’s menu and make plans to purchase the necessary ingredients and supplies) have fired up the ovens, crock posts, and warming trays for the hungry masses. Thank you David and Charlie for doing this for so long!

Our pastor(s) are there Saturday morning to greet our flea market guests as they rush in. 

THEN THE SALE STARTS! Deals are struck, treasures are found, and those people who made room in their house with donations often find themselves giving new homes to the perfect item found in the maze of household items, electronics, Christmas decorations, or toys.


Saturday afternoon a brand new team comes in and ALL leftovers get boxed (only boxes with a lid please) and packed in the waiting panel truck. Past years have seen John Weiss pushing the driver in the driver’s side so he can squeeze in since the front was also filled. The church is vacuumed and everything from the senior high room is returned to its place and tables are put back to their original position in the Sunday school rooms.


Recipients of our unsold items are contacted and arrangements made although things don’t always end up just as planned. Nothing like having a ton of boxes awaiting the arrival of a truck that never comes! This has happened! The recipients of our leftovers constantly change due to their situations – lucky New Life Thrift Store likes our stuff and we like them. New Life thrift uses their proceeds for charity.

Now, that you know what is going on at UDLC this week when you show up, perhaps a few other people should be recognized for their work. Bill and Kathy James spend hours helping getting the church setup, volunteers in place, setup and tear down complete (not to mention giving us details for this blog entry), and all of this after working all day. We have dozens of setup volunteer adults, teens, Tweens, neighbors, community members young and old, and at times a pastor has even been seen up there lending a hand before shopping!

Oh and once the sale is done and smoke has cleared. The church is reset for Sunday morning and we celebrate the great time we all had, the charities end up receiving between $3,000 and $5,000 for their ministry.

Now, if you got all upset because we told you to wait and we probably will answer your question and now are more annoyed because something is still unanswered I can get you those answers. Just show up on Tuesday - Thursday to help setup or volunteer to help Saturday and ask around while you maybe meet members you may have never run across otherwise.

Oh and if anyone finds a 1st edition of "Lake Wobegon Days" Pastor Lawlor will pay you back! ;-)

Welcome to the Virtual Coffee Hour!

Welcome to our our virtual home for information on ministries and the happenings of UDLC!

It is kind of like being in the Narthex Sunday mornings.  We will work to keep you informed on happenings, share photos, and shre other things from around the web.

Each Sunday our UDLC shares in fellowship between services and this is when we get to catch up on the weeks past or coming up.  Our hope is to make this another place for you to share the amazing things that happen at UDLC.

While we will be sharing information and stories from around the church/Synod/ELCA, we hope to also spotlight on other topics or issues facing UDLC.

So if each week you may not have time to sit down and catch up with your church family....

We are hoping you can take a few moments to check in with us online and maybe have something to share what you love about your church family with others.