“The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!

” - Psalm 97: 1

Rev. Leigh Benish

SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP Pastorleighb@gmail.com

10:30 A.M.—Worship Service

Elder Louise Evans

Nancy Slezak, Memorial Handbell

Director and Organist

Elean Heist, Administrative Assistant

and Financial Secretary
Elean.hillup@zoominternet.net

Lyn Goehring, Treasurer

John Whittington

Lord’s Supper

501 Second Street

Butler, Pennsylvania 16001
724-287-5427
E-mail: hillup@zoominternet.net
www.hillup.org
WORSHIP SCHEDULE
SUNDAY MORNING
WORSHIP SERVICES
10:30 - 11:30 A.M.
Doors Open at 10:00 A.M.
Services will also continue online.

JUNE 6, 2021
Second Sunday After Pentecost;

Rev. Leigh Benish

Scripture: Isaiah 51: 1-6; Romans 12: 1-12

JUNE 13, 2021
Third Sunday After Pentecost

Rev. Leigh Benish

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3: 9-17; Exodus 25: 1-9

JUNE 20, 2021
Fourth Sunday After Pentecost

Rev. Leigh Benish

Scripture: Matthew 2: 13-23; Isaiah 63: 15-19

JUNE 27, 2021
Fifth Sunday After Pentecost

Rev. Leigh Benish

Scripture: Psalm 33: 109, 20-22; Luke 1: 5-22

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 Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work,
and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. -
Romans 12:1 (MSG)

When I was 14, my youth group attended the Montreat Youth

Conference in Montreat, NC. I was relatively new to faith, but it was during this week
that I first felt called to ministry. It was an incredibly moving time in my life.

One of the songs we regularly sang at our worship gatherings and keynote addresses
that week was “Sanctuary” by Randy Scruggs. The song is simple, yet profound: “Lord,
prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving, I’ll be a
living sanctuary for you.” It is a prayer to become a sanctuary, a dwelling place, for God.

Our lives have been far from ordinary in recent months, and, I don’t know about you,
but I have been so overwhelmed with all of the chaos of the world that I have not done
my best at opening all aspects of my life to God’s presence.

That’s why I am excited to be partnering with Everyday Sanctuary this June. Everyday
Sanctuary is a free daily 5-minute faith practice that uses presence, prayer, scripture,
and gratitude to connect busy (and not-so-busy) people to God every day. In our
worship together this month, we will be exploring what it means to be a sanctuary, to
find sanctuary, to lose sanctuary, and to live in awe as God’s holy temple. Our social
media will also include some practices for you to use to deepen your own faith.

You are also invited to download the Everyday Sanctuary app for your own personal
use. Even for the busiest among us, 5 minutes a day is worth the time spent to grow in
faith and relationship with God.

Whether or not you use the app, however, my sincere hope is that, as things are slowly
getting back to “normal,” you take some time to re-center yourself and your
relationship with God. We have been through so much, personally and corporately, and
this is the perfect time to get our faith lives
back on track. I hope you’ll join me on this
journey to find sanctuary.

Peace-
Pastor Leigh
 Fifteen lunches and 75 dinners were served to the Butler commu-
nity in May. The dinners were packed mostly from foods from
the CARES grant and comprised beef stew, roll, fruit, cheese
stick, and cookies. Volunteers this month were Janet and Leroy
Edinger, Brenda Jacox, Lorna Whittington, Tim Kennedy, and
Barb and Jim Kamerer.
Hello from your favorite procrastinator, Marsh Miller. I wanted to give you an up-
date on my Mom. She has adapted very well to Concordia and the people are won-
derful to her. Mom was a saver in her life and saved so many things. One of the
things I enjoy doing is taking old cards and notes that people have written to her
and reading them to her. Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and concerns
for Mom. It is hard to believe that on June 21st she’ll be 104! She is so grateful for
her many friends here at Hill Church and how they have always remembered her.
Thanks for all you do and have done for her. Oh, by the way, I’m doing okay too
if anyone cares. - Marsh
Flower Donations for 2021
If you would like to give chancel flowers in honor or memory of someone, the following dates
are still available: September 5, 12, 19, 26, November 7, 21, and 28.
Please contact Elean Heist in the church office via phone or email or turn in the form below,
and she will reach you to finalize. You may pay at a later date. The flower donation is $30; include
FLOWERS on the memo line of your check.
THANK YOU for helping to brighten our chancel as you remember or honor loved ones!
Chancel Flowers Request Form

Date Of Placement First Choice:__________ Second Choice:__________ Third Choice:__________

IN MEMORY OF: _________________________________________________________________

OR
IN HONOR OF: ___________________________________________________________________

Given by: _________________________________________________________________________

Please check all that apply: Chancel Flower Donation is $30 and may be paid at a later date.
_____ Yes, please mention this donation in the spoken announcements (live-streamed via internet).
_____ No, please do not mention in the spoken announcements.
_____ Yes, I plan to take the flowers after worship. _____ No, I will not be taking the flowers after worship.

Best way to reach me (email or phone): _________________________________________________

JUNE 6 JUNE 13 JUNE 20 JUNE 27

Donated with love in Donated with love in
Donated with love in
Donated with love in honor of memory of Dr. and
memory of
memory of Ida Miller’s 104th Mrs. Ralph Wymer
Charlotte
Peter Luchkiw birthday and in honor of
Daubenspeck
by Linda Smialowski. by Marsh Miller and Rev. Sam Gamble
by Linda Smialowski.
family. by the Wymer family.

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 JOINT ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE GOES VIRTUAL
Part One of Two: Butler Area Presbyterians Work Together
Posted May 17, 2021 ; Beaver-Butler Presbytery

Recently seven of the PC(USA) Churches in Butler came together for a virtual Ash Wednes-
day service. Intrigued, we decided to explore this unique partnership further.

The “Butler Area Presbyterians,” or BAP for short, is a group of pastors and lay leaders that
come together to explore ways to join in mutual ministry, worship, programming, and fel-
lowship. This collaboration gives congregations a bigger sense of call and belonging as part
of the larger church. For many years, the neighboring congregations of St. Andrews & Cove-
nant joined together to feed the hungry through dinners at St. Andrews and the food cup-
board at Covenant. Members of the churches have participated in joint Bible studies, officer
training, and other worship services. In addition, these congregations jointly represent the
Presbyterians during the Downtown Ecumenical Community Lenten Services each year,
participating with Lutherans, Methodists, Anglicans, and Catholics.

In 2016, Rev. Merry Hope Meloy (St. Andrews) and Rev. Dr. James E. Swanson (former Cove-
nant) brought together pastors and elders from all of the Butler PC(USA) churches to ex-
pand the idea of collaborating. North and East Butler (Rev. Mary Kitchen & Allen Kitchen),
Hill (Rev. Leigh Benish), Trinity (Carmen Shullo, C.P.), and Faith (Rev. Bonnie Taylor) join Cov-
enant (now Rev. John C.R. Silbert) and St. Andrews (Rev. Merry Hope Meloy) in strengthen-
ing ministries by doing things together. Rev. Silbert (Covenant) expresses the benefits of
working together saying, "When we gather together we see a fresh expression of the body
of Christ. The variety of gifts that each church expresses inwardly is given an opportunity to
be expressed outwardly. The special programming and worship events are also ways we
can invite the community to experience who we are together in one place.”

This year, BAP presented a combined virtual Ash Wednesday service. While the churches
annually work on a joint in-person service, this year Rev. Benish (Hill) brought them togeth-
er with the idea of a joint virtual or hybrid service due to the pandemic. The group eventual-
ly decided on an all-virtual service with pastors and musicians filming in their own sanctuar-
ies thus providing familial comfort to each congregation as well as a safe way to visit the
other churches.

The pandemic has enabled fresh thinking about the possibilities of digital outreach and the
need to continue to provide online content, realizing, however, that the face-to-face wor-
ship connection should never be replaced. Pastor Carmen Shullo (Trinity) says, “people
were free to go to church without the rigors that accompany getting out of the house and
or subjecting themselves to anything that may present a roadblock to worship.” Rev. Silbert
(Covenant) points out that the burden and logistics fell hard on the technical/digital end of
the joint service, more flexibility for content was available to worship leaders and musicians
as elements were taped and edited ahead of time.

Feedback from church members is less due to the pandemic, but Rev. Benish (Hill) has
heard many positive things about the joint Ash Wednesday service, saying “They appreciat-
ed seeing all the different churches.” BAP in general heard comments of appreciation for
the ability to deliver a worship experience they might not otherwise have had. While many
congregants welcome upcoming in-person services, BAP foresees these events as having a
digital footprint as well.

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 These collaborating churches learned the importance of standardizing timing of sequences
and working for consistency in technological output. Not every sanctuary has the same level
of lighting, audio, and video capabilities. On the plus side, having a single director/producer
enabled the whole experience to have a much greater consistency than would have oc-
curred had components been left up to the individual churches. Pre-production scheduling,
taping, editing, and post-production has to be in the hands of a professional. The Butler Ar-
ea Presbyterians are blessed to have Elder Brian
Graff’s (Covenant & pulpit supply) expertise and organization to make such a worship ser-
vice unfold.

The BAP group has worked on much more than just this year’s Ash Wednesday service. Joint
worship services have included a Blue Christmas service and an annual Good Friday service.
Watch for part two of this series to learn more about how the collaboration of Butler Area
Presbyterians impacts ministry in our Butler churches.

Pastor Leigh presenting Pastor Bonnie Taylor Elder Brian Graff of Covenant
the communion ele- of Faith United. oversaw the technical aspects
ments. of the service.

Pastor Mary Kitchen (right) and members of North Butler presented a musical piece.

6
 Across
2. David asks God to do this to know
his thoughts and desires and
challenge him.
4. God is light, so if you hid in this
God can still find you.
6. David gets upset when he thinks
about these people.
9. David wrote his thoughts as a way
to God for all He’s done.
10. This is the book in the Bible where
David’s songs/poems are kept.

Down
1. God has more of these than all the
grains of sand.
3. God knew you from the very
way before you were born.
5. We can’t get away from God. He is
with us!
7. God was involved in every
of who you are inside and out.
8. You were planned and made by
God who made you and
unique.