Worship

Pastor discusses 'Superiority of the New Covenant' at service LA CRESCENTA -- Pastor Mark Copeland will address "The Superiority of the New Covenant" during the 10:45 a.m. service Sunday at the First Baptist Church at La Crescenta. Child care is available. Sunday School for all ages begins at 9 a.m. and everyone is welcome. For seventh- and eighth-graders interested in serving the Lord, a Mystery Mission trip is planned for Aug. 31. Come dressed to work and prepare to serve.

The Glendale First United Methodist Church held its Sunday Easter sunrise service outdoors at Casa Adobe de San Rafael under clear blue skies and sunshine. About 50 parishioners came for worship and listened to Associate Pastor Heather Blackstone deliver the sermon. Blackstone started the Easter service with a story of a young girl named Sarah who needed a heart transplant but had little hope of getting the heart she needed until a boy, Lucas, died during a shooting, and his family donated his heart to her. Blackstone?

A Halloween party with bingo and a costume parade will be held at the La Cañada Flintridge Church of the Lighted Window on Saturday, Oct., 28, at 7 p.m. The free event is for kids of all ages and every one who attends should bring a prize for children or adults. Costumes are optional. Pastor Skip Lindeman will lead the 10 a.m. worship service on Sunday, Oct. 29. Mrs. Marilyn Sauer and Mrs. Harlane Lindeman will greet the arriving worshipers in the narthex. Music for the service will be provided by the Chancel Choir, with accompaniment by Joseph Klice on the piano.

Many church leaders have begun to take advantage of the talented actors and singers in the area to draw in new congregants by offering their divine venues as a place to share those talents. Churches in the area are experiencing a growth in their music ministries. They are attracting new congregants and generating excitement in longtime members by integrating music into Sunday services and special performances at other times, church officials said. Music ministry has always played an important role at La Cañada Presbyterian Church, said Tony Chunn, director of Worship, Music and Arts.

A church in Augusta, Ga., has reportedly begun using ATMs as a way for its parishioners to tithe. The effort, says Pastor Marty Baker of Stevens Creek Community Church, is simply a way to adapt to a credit-card-happy society in which plastic is overtaking paper as a form of payment. Proponents of the "Giving Kiosks" say such a use of technology is a way to boost donations using modern tools while adjusting to an age when churchgoers are more likely to have credit and debit cards in their pockets than cash.