As you know, Reverend Steven E. Jelensperger will be retiring in August. You are invited to help us show our appreciation to Rev. Steve for his service to Deerhurst Church and to God in any or all the following ways:
1. Attend a party in Rev. Steve’s honor on Saturday, August 24, 2024, 4 to 7 PM
@ Ellwood Fire Dept. Hall
1000 Englewood Ave.
Tonawanda, NY 14223
• A dinner of Southern soul food catered by The Kitchen will be followed by games and good conversation.
• Cost: $25.00 per person. Children 10 and under are free.
• To pay securely online CLICK HERE or pay by check made out to Deerhurst Presbyterian Church. Checks may be mailed, placed in the offering plate, or given to Joann Collis. Please indicate the number of adults and children 10 and under who will be attending in the memo.
• All reservations must be made by August 4.
2. Attend a special coffee hour after Rev. Steve’s final service on
Sunday, August 25, 2024, 11:15 AM - 1:00 PM.
3. Write Rev. Steve a personal note in a card or letter and place it in a special
Remembrance Box available at the party on 8/24 and at the coffee hour on 8/25.
4. Share pictures for a special photo album. Please submit pictures to Bob Patterson by June 30.
5. Contribute to a gift by donating an amount of your choice online CLICK HERE or by check by August 4. Contributions will be used to purchase a special handmade gift for Rev. Steve, and for Steve and Amy to do some long-awaited travel. Please identify your donation as a gift for Rev. Steve.
If you have any questions, please contact a member of the Transition Team:
Tom Rolle
Robin Reese
Jeannette Pease
Bob Patterson
Cara Matteliano
Linda Donner
Joann Collis
Dear Deerhurst Presbyterian church family,
On Sunday August 25th, 2024, three things will happen. I will be 67 years old. It will be my last Sunday in the Deerhurst pulpit. I will be retiring. Amy retired from Trader Joe’s over two years ago. She has been schooling me on how to do retirement well. She is still responding well to treatment for metastatic breast cancer. Now is the perfect time for us to begin a new style of adventuring together.
At the January meeting of Session, Bob Sillars from the Presbytery of Western NY’s Committee on Ministry, will be at the meeting to answer any questions Session has regarding “what’s next.” The Session will then bring everyone else on board.
I was ordained in 1985. I arrived here, Easter time, in 2005. In those 19 years I have fulfilled my first obligation to the PNC to try to have something going on in the building so often that the neighbors get suspicious. Getting through Covid together was a challenge. I believe we are “healthier” and ready to serve in new ways because of the adventure.
As a congregation, you have been incredibly supportive as Amy and I have gone through cancers and parental deaths. When I was recovering from kidney surgery one of my greatest joys was to stand by the door waiting for someone from the congregation to bring us dinner. I felt “loved, known, and remembered.”
I am honored to be your pastor. I will be honored to have been your pastor.
Peace on all of us as we celebrate past, present, and future.
Rev. Steve