THE SAMARITAN E-CONNECTION
The E-Newsletter of the Samaritan Counseling Center
For our Partner in Ministry Churches
May 2009
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God’s gift in May:
Gardening
Reprinted with permission from this month’s “Worship Notes” by Rev. Dawn Yoder Harms
of Akron Mennonite Church, a SCC Partnership in Ministry congregation
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” ~ Margaret Atwood, novelist and poet. I couldn’t agree more! One of my greatest joys in the spring is poking around in my flower beds, pulling weeds, transplanting perennials, and getting dirt under my fingernails.
Of course, what really draws me into my gardens is my eagerness to see what new bit of life I will see pushing up through the dark earth. It all begins with the snow drops, then the spring aconites, then the daffodils and tulips and hyacinths, and soon the irises. It always amazes me to see this new life emerge from the ground, on its own, without my effort. All I do is stand by and take in the beauty and wonder.
And I am reminded: I am not the creator of this new life. God brings it forth, and it is a gift. My job is to simply prepare the soil to receive it: nourishing it with compost, pulling the weeds that can choke out life, planting seeds and corms with a prayer for them to take root and grow and spread beauty throughout the garden, giving thanks for it all.
As you can gather, this process of gardening is not only physical work for me; it is reflective time, prayerful time, a time to hear God’s voice as I enjoy God’s creation and allow it to speak into my life. I find myself wondering: what new life is trying to push up through the soil of my soul? What weeds threaten to choke it out? How might God be calling me to nourish it?
And I find myself reflecting on those questions in regards to our congregation: What new life is God giving birth to among us? What might we do to encourage it to take root and grow and spread beauty throughout the “garden?” What “weeds” do we need to clear out to make space for its growth? And are there times when we can simply stand back and take in the beauty and give thanks to God?
Celebrating Mom on her Special Day
WORKING MOTHERS & STRESS
Mothers! Friendships can be a source of stress relief.
Mother’s Day is a wonderful way to recognize the amazing strength, courage and skill that mothers everywhere exude. While motherhood can be full of amazing rewards, it can also bring about large amounts of stress leaving mothers exhausted and even at an increased risk for depression. Self care is an important factor in decreasing your stress level and one way to care for yourself as a mother is to plug into social supports. Your friends and other mothers can be a resource for stress relief for the following reasons:
- Connection with and support from others can increase resilience, multiply joy and soften sorrow.
- Sharing your parenting joys and struggles with other mothers will leave you feeling that you are not alone and others may even be able to provide you with solutions to your challenges.
- As a mother, it can be easy to become so immersed in parenting that you forget about the other parts of yourself. Being with other adults can help you to again enjoy your other interests.
Tips for using social support to relieve stress:
- Get together for play dates
- Have a Moms Night Out-take a break together!
- Form a babysitting co-op-rely on your social support as a resource for shared childcare
Happy Mother’s Day!
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Partnership Matters!
A few reminders for Partner clergy:
-Misplaced or lost your 2009 vouchers? That happens. Call Barbara at 560-9969 Ext. 256.
-Please share all applicable information from the Center with your appropriate staff and lay leaders. You might begin by forwarding this online newsletter. Thank you!
-Use your vouchers for counseling for church members, or towards educational programs including the follow-up series to our Clergy Breakfasts.
-Mark your calendar for the next Clergy Breakfast seminar: Thursday, September 10th. A switch has been made in topics: September topic will be “Developing Ministries of Health in the Congregation” with our staff expert on that subject, Dr. Ruth Stoll.November 12th topic: “Communicating with the congregation in times of crisis” with presenters The Rev. Dr. James Hanna and Linda Crockett, Director of SCC’s Walking Together Program.
Be an early bird – sign up now!
-SCC staff and board members would like to be invited by you to make a “Minute for Mission” presentation at your church. Call Barbara at 560-9959 Ext. 256 to arrange.
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Samaritan Counseling Center’s
Congregational Ministries of Healing and Wholeness
Presents:
A “NETWORKING BREAKFAST”
For Parish Nurses, Lay Care Leaders, and Clergy
Saturday, June 20, 2009 9:00 am – 11:30 am.
If you find our midweek seminars impossible to attend due to work and family responsibilities. Here is an opportunity especially designed with you in mind! Time gets away from us and does not provide enough opportunity to share and brain storm with each other in ways that can benefit our ministries and personal practice. This Saturdayopportunity will afford you time to share experiences and concerns and hopefully discuss some questions like:
- “What ideas, tools, or activities are you finding most helpful for your parish nursing and health ministries?”
- “What are the most challenging aspects of your ministry? How are you meeting these challenges?”
- “How can we be of help and support to each other by sharing resources?”
Place: Parish Resource Center
633 Community Way, Lancaster, PA. 17603
Cost: $10 fee covers breakfast and program. Pay at the door.
Registration: Reservations are required byJune 16. To make
reservation(s) please call Ruth Stoll @ (717) 697-6560
or e-mail Ruth at
Contact Hours: Available for parish nurses.
“Got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through? God specializes in things thought impossible. He does the things others cannot do.”
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New Reports from Prepare-Enrich
Premarital Assessments and Marriage Enrichment
Prepare-Enrich has made improvements to the feedback that they provide for couples who complete the premarital and marriage enrichment inventories. In addition to a two-hour session in which a therapist presents the assessment results to the couple, they are also given a report to take with them that summarizes the various topics covered in the inventory, as well as a Couples Workbook to use as a resource for strengthening their communication and conflict resolution skills. The workbook provides discussion questions covering various aspects of the couple’s life together: financial management, leisure activities, sex and affection, relationship roles, spiritual beliefs, marriage expectations, children and parenting, couple and family maps, and personality styles. Total cost for the inventory, reports, and feedback session is $200 for couples who belong to partner churches, and $225 for non-partner participants. For further information or to refer a couple please contact Anita Hanna at or 717-735-8776, extension 14.
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It’s Spring…you have just dug a trench, what will you put in it? Failures, regrets, excess weight from the winter, fears, clutter…..?
A PURIFICATION by Wendell Berry
At start of spring, I open a trench
in the ground. I put into it
the winter’s accumulation of paper,
pages I do not want to read
again, useless words, fragments,
errors. And I put into it
the contents of the outhouse:
light of the sun, growth of the ground,
finished with one of their journeys.
To the sky, to the wind, then,
and to the faithful trees, I confess
my sins: that I have not been happy
enough, considering my good luck,
have listened to too much noise,
have been inattentive to wonders,
have lusted after praise.
And then upon the gathered refuse
of mind and body, I close the trench,
folding shut again the dark,
the deathless earth. Beneath that seal
the old escapes into the new.
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Sponsored by Samaritan Counseling Center:
Congregational Ministries of Healing and Wholeness Seminar
“Planning for the Future”
NOW, not later, is the time to “get your house in order,” provide for Power of Attorney, make a Living Will, arrange for a Patient Advocate, learn Executor duties, write down Last Wishes, etc.
Facilitator: Linda Shugart, Parish Nurse, Highland Presbyterian Church
Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Noon - 1:30 p.m.
Place: Parish Resource Center
633 Community Way, Lancaster, PA. 17603
Who should attend: Clergy, Parish Nurses, Lay Care Leaders
Contact hours are available for parish nurses.
Reservations are required by May 13th $10 fee due at the door covers costs for luncheon and program. Lunch is catered by Kitchen Kettle.
To make your reservation(s) please call Ruth Stoll @ (717) 697-6560 or
e-mail Ruth at
“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.”
Proverbs 21:5
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CIRCLE OF LIFE GROUP COACHING
Do you want to reduce stress? Lose weight? Take better care of the environment? Start exercising? Deepen your spirituality? Explore your life purpose? Clean out clutter? Learn to play? Improve your relationships?
These are just some of the “change” processes supported by the Circle of Life.
Quite different than typical support groups, CIRCLE groups do not focus on “how you got lost” and telling your story, but like a GPS navigation device, hone in on “where do you want to go?” and show you how to get there.
Using the Circle of Life, we can become better stewards of our lives and enhance our health as we connect with the “healer within” us. Stress mastery practices are included in each session because at the center of the Circle is SELF CARE.
Next Available Group: Tuesday May 19- Tuesday June 23**** 6:30 PM – 8:15 PM
6 week group cost: $210 (includes Circle of Life Participant Guidebook, a $35 value!) Location:Samaritan Counseling Center, 1803 Oregon Pike, Lancaster PA 17601
Complete a Circle Group Open Enrollment form and send it in today to reserve your spot! Spaceis limited. Questions? Contact Linda Crockett, Certified Coach, 560 9969 x 226 or email .
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COMMUNITY CORNER
Samaritan Counseling Center Announces 6 New Board Members
Samaritan Counseling Center has announced six new members to its Board of Directors for 2009:Scott Scheffey, President and Strategic Director of Scheffey Integrated Marketing; Gerald W. Rothacker, Jr., M.D., Orthopedic Associates of Lancaster, LTD; Judith S. Sandt, Community Volunteer; Douglas M. Good, Retired IT Executive, Armstrong World Industries; Melissa Weik, Orthopedic Associates of Lancaster, LTD; and Patti K. Maurer, Paralegal, Gibble, Honberger, P.C.
Officers of the Center’s Board of Directors for 2009 are: Chairman, Michael Leichliter, Assistant Superintendent, Penn Manor School District; Vice-Chair, Christopher J. Churchill, Esq., Barley Snyder LLC; Treasurer, Eric G. Hoerner, Partner and Chief Executive Officer of Greenleaf Financial; Secretary, Linda Rice, Community Volunteer; and Past Chair, Randall M. Johnston, Senior Vice President, Graystone Bank.
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WE HOPE YOU HAVE ENJOYED THIS ISSUE OF THE SAMARITAN COUNSELING CENTER’S E-NEWSLETTER FOR PARTNER CHURCHES. If you would like to add any of your church staff to our e-mail list, just let us know! If you have any comments, suggestions or articles to include in the next issue, or if you would like to be removed from this mailing list, please contact us at .
‘Til next time!