Local Girl Scouts recently held their annual Girl Scout Sunday and World Thinking Day at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lehighton.

The Scouts, representing eight troops from the Lehighton area, opened the service with a flag ceremony and color guard. They also assisted throughout the service.Service Unit Manager Kathy Hosler greeted the congregation, which included many of the Scouts' family and friends. She shared information about Girl Scouts and what they do and noted that it's not just selling cookies although cookie sales teach an important lesson in responsibility and handling money. The Lehighton troops have gone camping, snow tubing, and earned badges during their regular meetings.Hosler thanked the community and family members for their support.The service was led by the Rev. Paul Schoffstall. He also greeted the Scouts and thanked them for being good hosts."The world that you are in, and the world you are going into, is not the world that your parents know," he said. "Your task in life will be to enter the world with its new technology and to do good things for people, not just good things for you."Schoffstall noted that this is a difficult task, but one given to each new generation as they leave their mark on this world.The Gospel for the week was taken from John 2:13-22, the story of Jesus driving commercialization and merchants out of the temple. Schoffstall noted that a visit to the temple in those times was akin to a visit to the Vatican today. People from all around the world visit each day, bringing many different countries and cultures together.At that time it was customary to sacrifice an animal at the temple to atone for one's sins. Merchants and coin changers had taken advantage of the fact that people could not bring livestock from their far-away homes, and were selling livestock and exchanging foreign currency outside the temple."It's a big system to make sure everything works out," Schoffstall explained.But while the system worked, it also got in the way of the true purpose of attending the temple, he added. Jesus overturned coin changers' tables, drove animals out of the temple, and told the merchants to stop making His Father's house a marketplace."It is right, in all times and in all places, that we examine our institutions," said Schoffstall, who noted that he must also step back and remind himself to consider his actions in everyday life."Pay attention to who you are," he added.World Thinking Day was held in the fellowship hall after the service. The theme for this year was, "We can create peace through partnerships."World Thinking Day is a day to raise awareness and honor sister Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in other countries. Girls from each troop dressed as their sister Scouts in other countries and shared food and facts with their family, friends, and members of Trinity.Both during the service and at World Thinking Day, Hosler encouraged those with a young girl in their lives to consider Girl Scouts. Adult volunteers are also needed. For more information about Scouting, contact a local troop leader or go to

www.girlscouts.org."We want to help them, and to give them the experiences we had as kids," she said. "Kids don't go outside to play anymore. They don't go camping. This is a way to broaden their horizons."She noted that the Scouts go on frequent field trips and occasional overnight stays, including camping and a cruise for the oldest girls in their final year of Scouts. They are actively raising money for the trip.