Holiday Worship Schedule
November 24
✵ 9 a.m. – Thanksgiving Breakfast
✵ 10 a.m. – One Worship Service
✵ 11 a.m. – Sunday School
December 1
✵ 9 a.m. – Worship – Fellowship Hall
✵ 10 a.m. – Sunday School
✵ 11 a.m. – Worship in Sanctuary
December 8
✵ No Early Worship
✵ 10 a.m. – Sunday School
✵ 11 a.m. – One Worship Service with Choir’s Christmas Music
December 15
✵ 9 a.m. – Worship – Fellowship Hall
✵ 10 a.m. – Sunday School
✵ 11 a.m. – Worship in Sanctuary
✵ 5:30 p.m. – Christmas Pageant & dinner
December 22
✵ 9 a.m. – Worship – Fellowship Hall
✵ 10 a.m. – Sunday School
✵ 11 a.m. – Worship in Sanctuary
December 24
✵ 5 p.m. – Christmas Eve Candlelight & Communion
December 29
✵ No Sunday School or Crossroads Worship
✵ 11 a.m. – Worship in Sanctuary
Chicken Pie & Spaghetti Sale for Local Missions
Each year, we sell chicken pies and baked spaghetti to help us raise extra funds that can go directly and immediately to the local helping agencies we support. This year’s sale begins on Sunday, October 20 and runs through November 10. It is our hope for this sale to go beyond the membership of the church, so we encourage everyone to invite their neighbors, friends and coworkers to order.
Large chicken pies (which can serve 6-8) are $13.00 each. Baked Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Vegetarian Baked Spaghetti are $13.00 per pan. Orders of any combination of 3 or more of these items reduces your price to $12.00 per item.
Small chicken pies (which can serve 1-2) are $16 for a pack of four pies (must be sold as whole packs).
All the chicken pies are “Moravian-style” (meat only, no veggies). If you order any 3 large items (or more), they cost $12 each (i.e. 1 large pie & 2 spaghettis). Order forms are available at the church or may be downloaded and printed here, and all orders must be paid for and submitted by November 10th.
Payment is due at the time orders are placed. Checks should be made payable to First Presbyterian Church.
Orders may be picked up Saturday, November 16 from 9:00 am-1:00 pm and Sunday, November 17 before & after church in the church fellowship hall.
Grace Sunday Lunch Program Resumes Operations
I am happy to announce that Grace Episcopal Church will restart the Sunday Lunch Program starting in October 2019.
As before, volunteers from First Presbyterian are asked to help serve during the months of March and August.
As a move to ensure that the Sunday Lunch Program remains sustainable in the long run, Grace has opened the opportunity to help with the preparation of the meal to anyone who may be interested. Training is being offered Sundays during the month of October between 9:30 AM and Noon.
I look forward to the opportunity to talk with anyone interested in volunteering.
God’s Peace and Love,
David Durrell,
Volunteer Coordinator
First Presbyterian Church
Presbyterian Women Circles Begin New Year, New Study
Presbyterian Women invites all women to join them this year for the Bible study, Love Carved in Stone: A Fresh Look at the Ten Commandments. There are two options, a morning circle at 10:30 AM and an evening circle at 7:00 PM. Both circles meet in the church library. This study begins on Monday, September 9, and thereafter will continue on the first Monday of each month. It only requires an hour per month of your time, unless you choose to join the morning group for Dutch treat lunch at Village Grill following each meeting, or just be more sociable in the evenings. It is a wonderful way to study God’s word and develop close bonds with other Presbyterian women. For more information or to receive a study book, you may contact Carol Beck, Susan Whitesides, or Jeanna in the church office.
Call it good
“Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” Philippians 2:14-15, NLT
As I have said many times, we are living in a time in which incivility and division characterize much of the discourse we hear in the public square. The worst is assumed of the other person, and this general negativity of our culture leads to a tendency to speak words of criticism first even before learning another person’s story.
We Christians are no less susceptible to this critical spirit than those who don’t know Jesus. I know I have to watch myself to make sure I don’t first criticize or complain when I run up against something that hits me the wrong way; and I have been on the receiving end of people expressing their critical spirit as well. It seems to me that it is worse than it ever used to be. I wonder if you experience this too.
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul is giving encouraging words of instruction to his beloved church. He wants them to shine like stars in the world by “doing all things without complaining and arguing.” In the Greek, the first word is defined as “grumbling or murmuring from discontent.” The second word has to do with contentious disputing. (Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000)).
If there were two words that better describe our world right now, I don’t know what they might be.
For Paul, it was important that the church live differently than the “crooked and perverse generation” by providing an example of another way – a way of love and understanding where Christians would lay aside grumbling and arguing. Instead, they would follow the example of Jesus who looked not to his own interests but to the interests of others, and they would work to live in humility with those around them.
I think one way that we followers of Jesus can apply these words of Paul in our lives, as we seek to “shine like stars,” is to begin to look for ways to call things “good.” Almost always there is something good that we can focus on in another person or situation rather than the “bad.”
My mentor Stan Ott tells the story how a decorating committee of a church he was serving was tasked with changing the decor of the entrance spaces of the church while he was away on sabbatical. When he returned, he was bombarded with complaints about the results. Not everyone liked what was done. However, instead of focusing on the color of the carpet or style of furniture, he focused on their heart of the people on the committee. “Isn’t it good that we have a group of people in the church who are giving their time and effort to make our church’s welcoming spaces more inviting?” The tenor of the discussion changed almost overnight. Instead of complaining about the color of the walls, people began expressing appreciation for the work of the committee.
This is the power of “calling things good” and “doing all things without grumbling and complaining.” Almost always, there is something good that we can focus on rather than allow our culture’s critical spirit to permeate our lives. So, I challenge you to begin to look for ways to call something good – at work, at home, in the community, on the ball field, and in church. As we work to apply this practice in our individual and corporate lives, we will be well on our way to shining like stars in the world, and hopefully we will be part of reducing the rancor and division that is so prevalent in our world today.
May the Lord bless each of you!
Your friend and pastor,
Your friend and pastor,
Pastor Lee
Grace Food Ministries Announcement
The vestry/Board of Elders for Grace Episcopal Church has elected to “stand down Grace Food Ministries while the program is being evaluated.” Both the Saturday Food Pantry and the Sunday Lunch Program will discontinue services during this time-out. The Pantry will cease operation after the food distribution on Saturday, July 13, 2019. The Sunday Meal will cease operations after the meal on Sunday, July 14, 2019.
At this time, there are no answers as to how long this time-out/time of discernment will require or what the outcomes will be.
I want to give my sincere and personal thanks to all of the First Presbyterian volunteers who have graciously and enthusiastically helped in the past. I pray that a new door will be opened in our collective Christian task of feeding His sheep.
God’s Love and Peace,
David Durrell
First Presbyterian Volunteer Coordinator
First Presbyterian Volunteer Coordinator
Adult Fall Mission Trip to the Dominican Republic
It’s time to start signing up for the Fall Mission Trip to the Dominican Republic! We already have several committed participants. Please pass the word to your friends, family, and anyone that would be interested in joining us.
The dates are Saturday, October 12 to either Friday, October 18 or Saturday, October 19, 2019. Cost rates are $1,155 (6 nights) OR $1,275 (7 nights) based on double occupancy rooms. This price includes all ground costs and fees for the time you will be in the DR. Hotel stay, meals, ground transportation are all provided (air fare is additional).
There is a $150 deposit required, with the balance of the ground costs due October 1, 2019.
In addition to doing home construction work, there are other opportunities available, such as: activities with children in the school, making jewelry and other items. in the Woman’s Co-op, visiting and delivering food in the community, volunteering in the Dental or Medical Center, and many more. If you are would like additional information or are interested in joining us, please contact: Craig Koontz.
In addition to doing home construction work, there are other opportunities available, such as: activities with children in the school, making jewelry and other items. in the Woman’s Co-op, visiting and delivering food in the community, volunteering in the Dental or Medical Center, and many more. If you are would like additional information or are interested in joining us, please contact: Craig Koontz.
Registration Open for VBS 2019
We are now accepting registrations for Vacation Bible School. VBS will be held at First Presbyterian June 10-13 (Mon-Thurs) from 9 AM until Noon each day. We will be using Group’s “Roar” VBS, helping children “explore God’s goodness and celebrate a ferocious faith that powers them through this wild life” (Group.com).We ask that you register your child by June 2nd. We will accept registrations the day VBS begins; however, the more children we have registered ahead of time, the more adequately we can plan for materials, crafts, snack, etc., so we appreciate your registering early.
Questions about Vacation Bible School may be directed to Meredith Trout.
Spring Time and Talent Campaign Has Begun
Our annual Time and Talent campaign begins this week! It takes many willing hands and hearts to do the work of the church. Please take this opportunity to prayerfully consider how you might use your gifts to further God’s work through our church and complete the Time and Talent form (“My Commitment to God’s Mission”) accordingly. Blank forms are available in the lobby and narthex at the church or may be downloaded and printed by clicking here. Completed forms may be submitted to the church office. We ask that you submit them by May 31. Many thanks to everyone for all you do for our church and community.
Now Accepting Applications for Winnie Green Scholarship
The Session and the Endowment Ministry Team of the Session would like to invite eligible church members to apply for a grant from the Winnifred Zimmerman Green Higher Education Scholarship Fund. The Scholarship was made possible by a generous gift from the estate of long time member Winnie Green to aid “worthy students of high academic achievement” with their college expenses.
The Session has established guidelines for the awarding of grants. Grants are awarded each spring; students receiving scholarships shall not be guaranteed renewal of scholarships. Students must re-apply for a new grant each year.
The application deadline for this year is May 1. Application forms and the full list of applicant guidelines are available from the church office, on the lobby side of Jeanna’s service window, or may be downloaded by clicking here.
