Helping You Deepen Your Faith
48 Colony Church Rd, Newberry, SC 29108Worship Sundays @ 11:00am in the Sanctuary and on Facebook
Church office hours:
Monday through Friday
9 am to 1 pm
CONFIRMATION
Colony will have 4 confirmands to be confirmed on Sunday, May 19th –Conner Black, Cooper Dowd, Benjamin Morris and Milum Sinclair. After the service, there will be a covered dish dinner in honor of the confirmands. Bringa well filled picnic basket and enjoy an afternoon of meal and fellowship with our confirmands as we celebrate this milestone with them.
FIRST COMMUNION
SUNDAY SCHOOL RALLY
Sunday School Rally over lunch follows worship on Sunday, April 14th after church in the Crosson Fellowship Hall. Lunch will be provided. Colony is coming back from the Covid pandemic and a pastoral vacancy. It’s time to renew our faith-forming opportunities and we want to have each of you in the conversation over lunch about how best to begin. Where do we start? What’s most important? When do we start? Who will help? It’s an exciting time for Colony. Help us move forward! We will have activities for the kids during the meeting!
MOTHER'S DAY
We will honor the Women of Colony on Sunday, May 12. If you would like to place a gerber daisy in honor or in memory of someone on Mother’s day, please fill out an envelope in the pew or contact Dannette at the office. We estimate the cost will be $10 – $12 per plant.
By the grace of God and the generosity of so many at Colony, individuals, families, Youth, Adult Sunday School Class and WELCA, the final payment on the loan for Colony’s Bus Building Fund was made Tuesday, April 16th! A small balance remaining in that fund will now be used to establish an ongoing “SPECIAL PROJECTS FUND” for property maintenance, upkeep and improvement of Colony’s facilities. Contributions are always welcome and should now be designated for the Special Projects Fund.
Some great ideas and suggestions emerged from last Sunday’s SCS Rally Day luncheon discussion. It’s not too late to offer your ideas and suggestions in response to the questionnaire in last Sunday’s bulletin. If you need a questionnaire , please let Dannette know. We’re looking now for several volunteers to form a small team to use these suggestions to shape Colony’s faith formation opportunities for all ages. We also welcome volunteers willing to share their growing faith with others as we structure the learning ministries here. Pastor Jan and/or Jennifer Nichols welcome your interest!
This year’s Synod Assembly will be a one-day, online Assembly on Saturday, June 8, 8:30am-5:00pm. Colony needs several volunteers to serve as the congregation’s official voting members for this Assembly. Online bible studies, pre-assembly forums to review the budget and other assembly decisions will be provided earlier that week. A registration fee of $75/voting member will be paid from the church budget. If this is an opportunity to serve that interests you, please contact Pastor Setzler by phone (864-942-2974) or email ([email protected]) ASAP. Registration closes May 6
We will honor the Women of Colony on Sunday, May 12. If you would like to place a gerber daisy in honor or in memory of someone on Mother’s day, please fill out an envelope in the pew or contact Dannette at the office. The deadline to order will be May 1st, we will know the exact price by next week.
God makes some wonderful things happen with some part of every dollar you contribute through Colony to ELCA Churchwide Benevolence.
As a member of the ELCA your gift helps support 26 Lutheran colleges and universities across the US (with Newberry College among them); 7 theological seminaries (with Southern Seminary in Columbia among them); Global Missionaries around the world; 120 Lutheran Outdoor Ministries across the nation; Lutheran Campus Ministries (including Clemson & USC); Mission Builders work; ELCA World Hunger; Lutheran Disaster Response; Lutheran Services in America and so much more. Lutheran Services America is a network of over 300 Lutheran health and human services organizations (including Lutheran Homes of SC) providing direct services each year to more than 6 million Americans. One in every 50 Americans receives some direct service from an LSA ministry, making this the largest faith-based social service system in America! That dollar you contribute to Benevolence does some amazing things near and far! Thank you!
By God’s grace, we welcomed to Colony’s mission and ministry on PalmSunday, March 24, Don and Kathy Fulmer Morgan as members and The Rev. Melissa Chappell as an Associate Member.
Don and Kathy Morgan, of Pauline, SC come to Colony by transfer from Glen Springs Presbyterian Church, Glen Springs, SC. Rev. Melissa Chappell, of Pomaria, is a member of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, Pomaria, SC and now an Associate Member of Colony.
Sunday Services
We offer Holy Communion on the first Sunday of the month and occasional festival Sundays.
There is no dress code. Some people wear suit jackets and ties, others wear blue jeans. Jesus wore a long robe, so who are we judge?
We are a liturgical church, meaning portions of our service are part of the ancient tradition passed down from the early church.
As Lutherans, we talk a lot about “grace.” For Lutherans, God’s grace is the divine mercy, love, and forgiveness we are offered daily. It cannot be earned or bought. We do not deserve it in any way and yet it is given to us daily.
Join us, we would love to have you.
About Us
Members of St. Luke’s and St. Paul’s Lutheran churches in Prosperity and Pomaria founded this congregation in 1845 as a “colony” located halfway between their former churches. Its founding pastor was Rev. William Berley. The first Colony church was built in 1846 using wood from the old St. Luke’s church. Congregants joined the South Carolina Synod on March 2, 1848.
By the early 1850s, Colony members began using the land just NW of the church as a cemetery. A second frame church was constructed here c.1884. In 1957, it was replaced by a brick Gothic Revival sanctuary, where congregants still worship. A year later, Colony called its first full- time pastor, having previously been part of Beth Eden parish. Colony’s fellowship hall was built in 2000.
Colony is a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.
But what does the ELCA teach about the Bible?
The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the written Word of God. Inspired by God’s Spirit speaking through their authors, they record and announce God’s revelation centering in Jesus Christ. Through them God’s Spirit speaks to us to create and sustain Christian faith and fellowship for service in the world. We accept the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life.
How do you use the Bible in worship?
Our worship is steeped in biblical songs and prayers. Sermons at Colony often used the Bible to interpret the Bible. We following the Revised Common Lectionary.
Why do we follow the Revised Common Lectionary?
Each week, we are reading the same lessons as millions of others around the world. Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, and so on. It is an expression of our unity in Christ.
What do I have to do to be saved?
This is the crux of our theology. We cannot save ourselves. If we could save ourselves, if we could be good enough, holy enough, faithful enough, then the Jesus would not have needed to die for us, his sacrifice would have been unnecessary. But we human beings are fallible and foolish. We often choose what is in our best interest over what is in God’s interest, or the interest of our neighbors. The Law acts as a mirror to show us our sinfulness and drives us to our knees so that we will cry out “Lord Jesus save me.” God chooses to save us, not because we are good or righteous. God loves us, and because God loves us, Jesus came to us. Jesus, God-With-Us, dwelled among us, and then allowed himself to be put to death on the cross, to show us the depth of God’s love. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day as proof that not even death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. We are saved by the grace of God alone.
Our Mission & Vision
Colony Evangelical Lutheran Church:
God’s People Making Christ Known
Latest Message
Our Latest Messages Playlist
About Our Interim Pastor, The Rev. Dr. John L. (Jan) Setzler
Pastor Setzler, with his paternal family roots in Pomaria, SC is a native of Kingstree, SC, a product of a worshipping group of Lutherans too small to organize.
He is a graduate of Presbyterian College, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary and Candler School of Theology, Emory University.
Pastor Setzler served parishes in Clinton, SC; Trenton, NJ; Columbia, SC and Greenwood, SC. He was a member of the staff and faculty of Newberry College from 1979-1993; Dean of the College and VP for Academics when he left to return to parish ministry.
He retired in 1994 after 27 years of active and reserve service as an Army Chaplain (COL).
Pastor Setzler retired in 2009 after 40 years of rostered service in the Church. He served as Interim Pastor of Crossroads Lutheran Mission, Indianland, SC in 2009-2010. From Jan. 2010-Dec.2023 he served as a member of the NovusWay Development staff. He began his service as Colony’s Interim Pastor (part-time) March 3, 2024.
He is the husband of Deacon Staci Gillespie Setzler, an Emergency Room Nurse; father of 2 sons, 8 grandchildren and 3 step-children.
