The White Spire March 2015 First Presbyterian Church Taizé Again So, twenty-eight of us assembled on a cold winter’s night last month to celebrate Ash Wednesday with a service that featured moments of silence, candlelight, and the music of Taizé, an ecumenical monastery located in Taizé, France. We prayed for peace, and we sang . Looking to the pro mise of spring, the Worship Committee has decided to hold a series of monthly Taizé services beginning Wednesday, March 18th, at 7:00 p.m. Members are invited to taste a different experience in worship. One that is quieter, less filled with words, and more focused on the inner spirit. And, you are invited to bring a friend or neighbor. Speaking Christian The week of April 1 3th, Herb will begin three special study groups aimed at studying the basic beliefs of the Christian faith. The study guide is a book by Marcus Borg entitled, Speaking Christian, which contains brief chapters that are easy to read and understand on various key Christian beliefs. Call these groups “Christian Beliefs for Dummies,” if you like. The goal of these groups is to provide a study opportunity for those who are looking for a very basic introduction to our faith. The groups will meet weekly for nine weeks for about one hour. The times are: Monday evenings, 7:00 to 8:00 pm; Wednesday afternoons, 4:00 to 5:00 pm; and Sunday evenings, 6:30 to 7:30 pm. If you are interested, please let Herb know. 1 7707 N. State Street Lowville, NY 13367 3153763631 [email protected] www.preslow.org Rev. Dr. Herb Swanson, Pastor Jennie Kelly, Admin. Assistant Trina Stahl, Music Director Rodney Rubar, Custodian Inside this issue Front Page From Herb's Desk Lenten Services Holy Week Easter Flowers Session Notes Beyond Our Church Thanks Page Stows Square Misc. Daylight Savings Time begins March 8 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 6 6 7 fellowship. Our call to membership and leadership is not to add involvement in one more organization to a long list of other involvements. It is an invitation to be a part of a family of faith. To “do church” means to pray together, study together, laugh and cry together, worship and sing together, and serve our community together. Members of the church are From Herb’s Desk While we normally don’t put it this way, we Presbyterians are good at taking oaths and making promises. When we ordain new ruling elders and deacons, for example, they are required to affirm their faith and promise to be faithful in their duties. When I was installed as pastor of this church, I had to do the same. These things are required of us by our denominational constitution, The Book of Order. So too, all new members of Presbyterian churches are called on to affirm their faith in Christ and willingness to be faithful, active members of the church. Once we take our oaths, whether it is as a member, an elder or deacon, or as pastor, we then face the challenge of fulfilling our promises. The challenge, of course, is to balance our commitment to the church with the other priorities we have. There are times when one priority takes more of our attention than the others. Healthy church leadership and membership does not mean always putting the church first, but it does mean making a full-faith effort to live out the oaths we took when we became a member, an elder or deacon, or pastor. In light of all of this, the session has undertaken a period of prayer for those members who for one reason or another are finding it difficult to make participation in the life of our church a priority. In the fall, it plans to “clean the rolls” of the church prayerfully and with the hope that some of those who are currently barely or not participating will find their way back into the full life of the church. Our prayer is not that they become mere cogs in the organization of the church. We have been working in recent years to grow our church spiritually and in invited to join the session in prayer for those who are finding it difficult to make participation in the life of our church a priority. We know that being part of the family matters. Amen. Blessings on the journey, Herb Lenten Services Ecumenical Lenten Services are held on Wednesdays at 1 2 noon followed by a fellowship luncheon. See schedule below: March 4 St. Peter’s Church March 11 First Presbyterian Church March 18 United Methodist Church March 25 Trinity Episcopal Church Maundy Thursday Service 2 As has been the case for several years now, our congregation will join with the other Black River Churches to celebrate Maundy Thursday, April 2nd at the Boonville Presbyterian Church. The service will be at 7:00 pm. And bring along a friend. Mar. 29 1 0a.m. Mar. 30 9a.m. Mar. 31 9a.m. April 1 9a.m. April 2 9a.m. April 2 7p.m. April 5 7a.m. April 5 8:30a.m. April 5 1 0a.m. Palm Sunday Worship Service Women's Holy Week Service at Brookside Women's Holy Week Service at Brookside Women's Holy Week Service at Brookside Women's Holy Week Service at Brookside Maundy Thursday Service at Boonville Presbyterian Church Sunrise Service in front of church or inside if needed Choir Practice Easter Sunday Worship Service EASTER FLOWERS Flowers for Easter worship may be purchased through the church and a list will be published in the Easter bulletin. All plants will be delivered to our shut-ins unless you specify to the church office. The deadline to order is March 11. Your name as you would like it to read in the bulletin. _____________________________________________________________________ In memory or in honor of (indicate how you would like it to read in the bulletin). _____________________________________________________________________ Flower selections: Lily_____ Hyacinth _____ Tulip _____ Daffodil _____ Begonia _____ Azalea _____ Mum _____ $11 $1 0 $1 3 $25 Please make checks payable to First Presbyterian Church. Thank you for participating in our Easter tradition! 3 TV monitors- the computer system is down, approximately $2,000 to hard wire the system- on hold for now. • Steeple clock is not working- quotes are needed, it is feared it may be expensive to repair. • Approved study leave and vacation time for Herb in 201 5. Session Notes • The following notes were taken from the regular session meeting on February 10, 2015. Faith sharing/meditation and discussion was focused on Chapter 2, The Churchless, and how we can reach out to the un-churched, busy people in our community. • Cleaning the membership rolls; a list of inactive members was compiled and reviewed. Some members have begun attending other churches or moved from the area. Some are adult children of current members and we will follow up to see if they wish to remain on the rolls. After some discussion it was suggested to pray for some folks to come back to the church. Session members will pray for these members at session meetings and in our daily devotions. We will revisit this again in September 2015. • Approved 2014 Statistical Report and Annual Clerk’s report. • We will be receiving a monitory gift from the Rev. and Mrs. Robert Stover from a charitable gift annuity. • Pat Parker shared a written report from the Presbytery meeting held January 27, 2015. • Report of the Treasurer-Carole Dunbar shared a written report of income and expenditures. • Report of the Pastor- Herb reviewed his written report. Thursday, January 12, 2015 we will host a meeting of legal representatives from the Youth Court, DSS, Brian Finn and a representative from the legislature. • Stows Square monument- Pat Homer reported they still need $2,21 8 to complete the project. Approved to request funds from congregational members. • Prices on sheds were reviewed. • County property inspection was held January 16, 2015, fire exits are in need of some lights. • Do you know about CHEAR? (Church Helpers Emergency and Respite) CHEAR is a service of the Board of Deacons that provides meals to members and friends of the congregation in times of special need. In the past, CHEAR has helped families who have lost a loved one, are going through a difficult time, or have a member hospitalized or suffering from an illness. Kelly Adsit is the coordinator of CHEAR. If you have a need or know of someone who might, you may contact Herb, the church office, or Kelly. Usually, meals are provided for a few days up to a week by members of the congregation recruited by Kelly. UTG4 UTG4 has just finished doing “Unbinding the Heart” for the second time in honor of our two new members: Donna Diller and Judy Waligory. They join current members Rosalee Boissy, Pat Homer, Shirley Merry, Lydia Middaugh and Sylvia Virkler. Fourth Sunday Fellowship Dinner Sunday, March 22 is our fourth Sunday Fellowship meal of the year. Please bring a main dish, salad, or dessert and join us after worship for good eats, fun, and fellowship. The Board of Deacons are our hosts. 4 The Lay Academy of Utica Presbytery An Opportunity for Christian Learning Leading to Christian Service Making Spirituality Count An Important Part of Your Congregation’s Life Saturday, March 21 9am to noon at Preswick Glen - Clinton Road, New Hartford. Refreshments will be served. For more than a decade, the Lay Academy of Utica Presbytery has served the churches of the presbytery by providing quality lay education for those who want to better understand their faith and use that understanding to serve others. The Academy offers a series of basic and special courses in a three-year cycle. The basic courses include Old Testament, New Testament, Church History, Congregational Care, and (yes!) Preaching. Originally intended to train lay pastors, it also serves “regular” members of churches who simply want to know more. Some of the courses meet monthly for up to a year. Others meet only once or a few times. Almost all of them meet on Saturdays, and most of them meet in Utica. There is no tuition, and the only expenses are for travel and books. If you are interested or want more information speak with Herb and/or contact the Rev. Lawrence Bartel (pastor at Old Forge) at [email protected], PO Box 605, Old Forge, NY 1 3420; 31 5369-3475. Herb Swanson will speak on the small group program that has had great success in Lowville and Janet Hoover will be talking about integrating spirituality beyond Sunday mornings. “Loving Lewis County” Many churches sponsor annual adult mission trips to various spots in the U.S. and sometimes overseas. For some years now, Bethel Church of the Nazarene has every other year taken their mission trip here in Lewis County. This year, they have invited other churches to join together in an ecumenical mission “trip” right here at home. The session accepted that invitation, and we have been actively involved in the planning of this mission week experience. The trip is called, “Loving Lewis County.” So far, about a dozen churches are involved. We are hoping for more than a hundred volunteers and maybe as many as two hundred to take part. Loving Lewis County will take place during the second week of August (Aug. 1014). Work crews will undertake repairs of homes in the county belonging to those who struggle to keep up their property. Those taking part are asked to donate $80/day for each day ($400 for the week) they can work for those in need here at home. These funds go to buying building materials for the repairs. The session has set a goal for our church of at least twenty members giving at least one day’s service. The more of us involved and the more we can do the better! Inquiry Day April 25th In the spring, the Academy annually holds an “Inquiry Day” for those who are considering taking courses. This year Inquiry Day will be on Saturday, April 25th, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm at WestminsterMoriahOlivet Presbyterian Church, 714 Washington Street, Utica. 5 Stows Square Monument Update You may remember that in 201 2 the obelisk that marked the Presbyterian Church of Stows Square (about 4 miles north of Lowville on Rt. 26) was knocked down and later destroyed by a group who had purchased the land on which it stood. Since that time there have been a number of us who have worked very hard to rectify this great wrong. Special thanks to: Everyone who provided food for our Fourth Sunday Fellowship Dinner on February 22. * Phyllis Rohr for her Minute for Mission in February promoting Blanket Sunday. * Everyone who supported our Blanket Sunday/Tools of Hope Program. * All our contributors to our February Food Pantry food collection. Your support of this local ministry is greatly appreciated. * Two special ladies who covered the nursery while our nursery care providers enjoyed their school vacation, Kelly Rohr on February 15 and Runee Swanson on February 22. * Those who participated in our Ash Wednesday Taizé Service by providing candle holders, participating and being there! * February worship participants: Lee Vance, Tracey Koss, Kelly Clark, Kelly Adsit, Carole Dunbar and Kelly Rohr. * UTG 3 for feeding breafast to 20 scouts at their recent lock-in held at church January 1 February 1!!! * Rodney Rubar for all his snow blowing and shoveling around both buildings as he works hard to keep snow out of our way! * Carole Dunbar and Jim Schlieder who have taken on the busy task of property concerns and attention as co-chairs of this committee. * We would like to erect a new monument (a five foot granite obelisk on a three foot two part base) as identical to the original as we can make it. We have secured a small piece of property, which will have a “forever” clause in its deed in the form of an easement upon which it can be erected. This piece of property is as close as we can possibly get to within a few hundred feet of where the monument originally stood. Total cost for a new monument is $8,600.00 including footers and base. Attorney fees and the property have been donated. The very good news is that we are now within $2,21 8.00 of this goal; and can see that erection may very well take place in the spring or summer of this year. I am coming to you to ask for any donation that you might want to make towards meeting this goal at this time. This month I plan to do a minute for mission in worship to once more tell the story of its initial erection by members of this church in 1 899 and its destruction in 201 2. Please come to me with any questions you have. Checks can be made out to First Presbyterian Church with “Stows Square Monument” in the memo line. Dear Friends, Thank you for your generous contributions to Christmas Sharing Holiday Assistance! -Mike and Nancy Hanno, Committee Co-chairs 6 Thank you so very much, Pat Homer April White Spire Deadline Sympathy The sympathy of the congregation is extended to Mary Rhode and family on the death of Mary's sister, Grace Rupert who died February 4. Her funeral was February 8 with Herb conducting at Sunquist Funeral Home. March 23 Communion Celebrated March 1 Prayer Corner Esther Feldmann (Rochester) Lewis County Nursing Home Esther Windover #436, Marian Holliday #434 East Road Adult Home – Mary Rhode, Don Virkler, Ray Kennison Serving in the Armed Forces – Petty Officer 2rd. Class Lance Gormley USN, (Grandson of Jean & Dave Puddington), Sgt. Jamie Byrd in Afghanistan (son-in-law of the Davey's) Church Contact Information •7707 N. State Street, Lowville, NY 1 3367 •Visit us on Facebook •Office Phone: 376-3631 •Fax: 376-7707 •Email: [email protected] •Website: www.preslow.org •Treasurer: Carole Dunbar, call 681 -7798 (home) leave a message •Church Secretary: Jennie Kelly •Prayer Team: Mary Lou DeMinck ([email protected]), 51 3-4057 •Facebook Editor: Mary Lou DeMinck Herb’s Contact Information •Office Hours: Tues. & Thurs., 9a.m.1 2:00p.m. •Study Day: Monday •Day off: Friday •Home Phone: 874-421 9 •Email: [email protected] •Pastor’s Blog: www.herbswanson.blogspot.com 201 5 Session members: Kelly Clark, Carole Dunbar, Pat Homer, Mary Anne Kingsley, Kelly Rohr, Roger Quay, Jim Schlieder, Joanne Vance and Heidi VanZandt 201 5 Board of Deacons: Kelly Adsit, Jan Cook, Barb Golas, Daryl Lehman, Phyllis Rohr and Bonnie Tarasek Phil McDowell Author Routledge Press has published the book Thinking About Thinking: Cognition, Science, and Psychotherapy by Phil McDowell. Parts of the book were utilized in a Theological Study Group of Einstein’s God by Krista Tippett. Phil’s book can be accessed at http://routledge.com/books/details/97811 38823969. Craft Group and PW Circle Come and be a part of the group that gets together monthly to work on crafts for the Holiday Bazaar on Tuesday, March 10 at 9:30a.m. at church. Then move on over to the AH for the PW Circle that gathers at 11 :00a.m. Please bring a sandwich to share and join this important ministry. Stone Soup Dinner Our March Stone Soup dinner is Thursday, March 19 and the menu is baked ziti and tossed salad. To sign up, please look for the clipboard. Help is needed donating food, cooking, setting tables, serving and cleaning up. Head Start Preschool Registration 7 Head Start is a free family-oriented full day pre-school or home based program with socialization opportunities for 3 and 4 year old children who meet the income guidelines. Slots are available for children with special needs. Parents may register from 8-4 p.m. at the Beaver Falls location, 9601 Mira Lane, 346-6645, the Lowville location, 7673 N. State Street, 376-7531 or the Lyons Falls location, 401 5 Center Street, 348-4001 .
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