Morgantown/Honey Brook townlively.com
JANUARY 8, 2025
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL XXXII • NO 49
St. Paul’s UCC welcomes new pastor BY FRANCINE FULTON
Musicians and singers gathered for the December community jam session at the Village Library of Morgantown.
Community jam sessions strike a chord with local musicians BY FRANCINE FULTON
“A slow jam is for all levels. You don’t have to be an advanced or even an intermediate musician.” The December session not only attracted people playing guitars, but other instruments as well, including an accordion. “We had five violins and a recorder - all kinds of instruments,” Thorpe reported.
“(We had attendees ranging from) age 4 to 70-something.” She added that those who do not play an instrument may attend the jam sessions to sing and that percussion instruments will be available for younger attendees. During each session, sheet music will be provided. “It will be chord charts, (with) the lyrics and the chord written above (them),” explained T hor pe. “Melody instruments will play by ear, and I will help them with that. If there is a song they don’t know how to play, they can just sing.” Thorpe noted that musicians sit in a circle in the library’s community room, and everyone has an opportunity to choose a song for the group to play. “It’s a circle jam in that the book (of songs) will go around, and people can
The Rev. Deb Parker-Hill
my profile sent to this church.” After several inter views, a trial sermon and a unanimous congregational vote, Parker-Hill began work at the church last August and was officially installed as pastor on Nov. 17, 2024. “There were several interim (pastors). The last pastor left in 2020 and was called to another See Pastor pg 8
Great things in store Lighthouse enters new church building BY ANN MEAD ASH
When Steve Ritchey and his family - wife Lori, daughter Logan, and son Landon - took me on a tour of the nearly finished Lighthouse Assembly of God Church, 1279 Main St., East Earl, the watchword for the new facility was “expansion.” Ground for the new church building was broken in spring of 2023, and as the building nears completion, staff members, including the youth and connections pastor, Landon, and the
See Jam sessions pg 8
administrator, Logan, are looking forward to the grand opening during the 9 a.m. service on Sunday, Jan. 19. The congregation began holding services in the new building on Dec. 8, 2024. “We have a little over 60,000 square feet, but everything is built to expand,” said Steve, who celebrated 30 years pastoring the church on Dec. 8. “ The reason we built this large was because our expectation is that God will do great things and that He has great things in store for our region,” said Steve. See Lighthouse pg 2
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usicians and singers of all ages and skill levels are welcome to join community jam sessions that are being offered at the Village Library of Morgantown. Led by private music teacher Virginia Thorpe, the group will meet from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month, with the exception of this month when the jam session will take place on Jan. 9. The first jam session, described by Thorpe as “a musical melting pot,” was held on Dec. 5, 2024, and it featured Christmas music. Among those in attendance were Thorpe’s music students. “I did an adult guitar class at the Village Library on Thursday nights, and this was the culmination. I had
14 participants in the adult guitar class, and a lot of them came and will continue to come to the jam sessions,” Thorpe said. “People in my (other music) classes also invited people, so it spread beyond (the guitar class).”
“I saw this church’s profile and saw their passion for work in the community and thought to myself, ‘This is exactly what I have been looking for,’” said the Rev. Deb Parker-Hill, who is the new pastor at St. Paul’s United Church of Christ (UCC) in Birdsboro. “I was not necessarily looking for a church. I also work in the Reading Hospital lab, and I was doing some supply preaching, but I was missing leading a church.” Parker-Hill explained that the Birdsboro church was in need of a pastor and posted its profile through the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference UCC. “Instead of a resume, the church does a profile. They do some self-examination to figure out who they are, so they know what they are looking for, and the pastor does the same thing,” she explained. “I asked to have