Faith & the Power of Prayer
By Marlene Werkheiser, Licensed Lay Minister of St Paul's Lutheran Church, Fountain Hill (Bethlehem)
Photo by Tami Quigley, Lehigh Valley Press News. Retrieved from lvpnews.com on September 24, 2024
St. Paul’s, Fountain Hill, never lost hope...never lost faith that their prayers would be answered. Although not sure what the answer would be to the months of praying, we all believed that God was not ready for us to close and leave the community. Iglesia Cristiana Shekinah was praying at the same time...praying to find a larger place to worship and offer more community outreach. Neither of us ever questioned our faith….we both knew that God had a plan for us, we just needed to be patient.
Thanks to divine intervention, the two churches met to discuss how we could mutually work together to serve the ever growing, and changing, community of Fountain Hill. It was obvious that St. Paul’s major gift to offer this joint venture was a building that had become fairly vacant except for Sundays due to an aging congregation. Igelsia Cristiana Shekinah has a larger younger membership, including many who have the gift for community outreach. The solution was a “no brainer”...a partnership that would serve the community – allowing each congregation, individually and jointly, to serve others using our God-given gifts and talents. Each church feels compelled to serve and love others...we hope to be a huge blessing.
St Paul’s members are happy to remain in the church were most of them are life-long members. They didn’t want to see the only remaining Lutheran Church in their immediate area close. And although we realize we probably won’t see major growth, this partnership in ministry is what the area now needs. Times have changed, demographics have changed, and the church needs to be flexible to meet these changing needs. We truly feel that opening up our building for future events, with the help of Igelsia Chrsitiana Shekinah members, the Borough of Fountain Hill Council and the Fountain Hill Coalition, will show Fountain Hill residents that we care...that God cares and loves all.
To learn more about this story, click the button below to read the article from the Lehigh Valley Press.
Thanks, St. Paul's, for your story
St. Paul, Fountain Hill
