S p r e ad in g B r an c h e s
“I am the Vine, you are the branches;
he who abides in Me bears much fruit...” John 15:5
May 2017
www.lansdalepres.org
The Newsletter of Lansdale Presbyterian Church
215-368-1119
e-mail: [email protected]
Deacons’ Work Day a Success!
God blessed us this year with a break in the rains
for our April 1st work day. In God’s wisdom
and providence, he gave us wet ground---not
something we usually would want---but which
served to make some of our digging easier
(although some areas were pretty mucky).
Digging this year was necessary in preparation
for our renovations out front later this spring.
We saved several newer bushes by moving them
to a new planting area-- a small privacy berm we
created between our south parking lot and our
neighbor in front. We also dug out and moved
an estimated four tons of garden block from the
front walk and garden areas---rescuing it from
the renovators for possible future use.
In addition, we did our usual Spring maintenance
in cleaning out all the front garden beds, interior
courtyard beds and parking lot stone beds of
weeds, plant debris and tree branches, raking the
front beds (which had to be releveled due to the
removed block), mulching the areas that won’t
be touched by construction, laying new wood
chips in the playground, planting flowers and
grass seed, repairing playground equipment,
interior wall repairs, trim paint in the sanctuary,
and more. Not sure how far we would have
gotten without the very good turnout of help plus
one of our helpers donating the use of his garden
tractor and trailer. So thank you God for your
provision.
Also thank you to everyone who was able to
participate and help our congregation care for
God’s gift of our own church building and
property.
From your Board of Deacons
Thank You from Presbyteriano’s
Thank you to all who came out to enjoy the
evening at Presbyteriano’s and support Youth
Missions at LPC. Your generosity allowed us to
bring in over $3,000 in donations!
Based on reports it sounds like everyone had a
lovely time. We had 68 in attendance and nearly a
third of those were from outside the members and
regular attenders of LPC. It is always exciting to
see how many are inviting others to this event.
More than just increasing the donation pool,
having so many visitors allows our youth to let
their light shine as they work hard in serving the
Lord. When it comes to a fundraiser for youth
missions, the situation is really that they are
working hard serving the Lord so that they can
work hard serving the Lord. All this is for God’s
glory and I heard several attendees give glory to
God for what they saw (Matthew 5:16).
Speaking of workers…it took more than 30
workers over two nights to make the event a
success. Thank you to everyone who set the time
aside to serve. Special thanks are in order to Tom
and Chris Greene for holding down the kitchen and
keeping things running smoothly. Special thanks
also to Mary Hand for providing the childcare.
Lastly, special thanks are in order to John, Dave,
and Joe Hathaway. An event like this that runs late
into Saturday evening results in an extra late night
in order to get things ready for Sunday morning.
Finally, I’d like to mention a word of appreciation
to Lansdale Meats & Deli. They provided the
chicken at a significantly reduced cost, both for
Presbyteriano’s and for the March Food from the
Heart dinner. If you are not familiar with this
business, it is a local business located in the
Pennwood Plaza on Broad Street in Lansdale. They
have always given us good service and prices for
every Men’s retreat and Presbyteriano’s that I have
run.
- Brian Hand
May 2017
Spreading Branches
S.L.I.C (Seniors Living in Christ)
Short-term Mission Trip
On April 19th, fourteen seniors met together to
watch "Atta Girl, Kelly". This Walt Disney
movie followed the training of a German
Shepherd being taught to become a seeing eye
dog and how she changed the lives of three
masters. It was filmed on location in
Morristown, NJ. We then enjoyed our lunch of
pizza with fruit for dessert.
“Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the
Lord, all the earth!” Psalm 96:1
On Wednesday, May 17th, we will have Walt
Fitzgerald, from the Montgomery County
Beekeepers Association, speak to us. Plan to
come for lunch (hoagies) at 11:30am with the
program after. Look for the sign-up sheet for
further information.
SAVE THE DATE!
“I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing
with my mind also.” 1 Cor. 14:15b
The first two weeks of July, Henry and I, along
with Dan McBride, will be in the West African
country of The Gambia, encouraging the church
to use the local musical styles in Christian
worship that speak most deeply to them so that
they can sing new songs to the Lord from their
heart. We have been invited by Pastor Abou
Camara, of the Presbyterian Church of Gambia
(he spoke at LPC a few years ago), and he will
be our host. Our time there will be in two parts:
first, Pastor Abou will take us to several places
so that we can listen to and learn about Gambian
music first-hand and interact with musicians;
then, he has arranged for pastors and lay
musicians to attend a 5-day seminar where I
(Ginny) will present topics for study and
discussion such as, What does Scripture teach us
about worship and making music? and How can
we apply that in our local congregations? Lord
willing, this will culminate with several sessions
of actual scripture-song composition.
We would appreciate prayer not only for our
time there, but for our preparation and financial
support for this trip. Support can be given
through LPC’s Dedicated Missions Fund, noting
that the contribution is for the mission and music
ministry. (Please do not put any names on the
memo line of the check.) It is privilege to
represent the body at LPC in this way.
July 23rd
Plains Mennonite
Pavilion
May 2017
-
Spreading Branches
Ginny Whitney
LPC’s Updated Missions Budget
2017 Missions Budget breakdown
MISSIONS
MTW Missionaries
Angert
McBride
Ramsey
Rathbun
Talley
Wessel
Eide
Fitzpatrick
Other Missionaries
Imbert (Huguenot Fellowship)
Klett (CHAIM)
Gituka
Zaka (Church Without Walls)
Newbrander (ISI)
PCA Organizations
Eastern PA Presbytery
Church Planting (Hollenbach)
RUF (Mitchell)
Discretionary Missions Fund
May 2017
2017
39,648
22,700
2,300
6,600
2,300
2,300
2,300
2,300
2,300
2,300
8,400
2,300
600
1,200
2,000
2,300
3,000
2,000
500
500
5,548
Final as decided at
Mission Committee Meeting 2/6/17
$
39,648.00
$
24,200.00
$
2,500.00
$
6,600.00
$
2,600.00
$
2,300.00
$
2,500.00
$
2,500.00
$
2,600.00
$
2,600.00
$
9,700.00
$
2,300.00
$
1,000.00
$
1,400.00
$
2,400.00
$
2,600.00
$
3,600.00
$
2,000.00
$
800.00
$
800.00
$
2,148.00
Spreading Branches
May 2017 Schedules
Greeters:
7th John & Sue Hathaway
14th Craig & Anita Schwartz
21st Dave & Wendy Fox
28th Michael & Kay Kennedy
Food From the Heart Dinner *
Date: April 30, 2017
Number of Guests: 38
Counters:
7th Dennis Nice, Rick & Lori Davis
14th
Dennis & Carol Nice, Phil Mooney
st
21
Dennis & Carol Nice, Phil Mooney,
Henry Whitney (refresher)
th
28
Henry Whitney, Shelley Berg, Janet
Younathan
Ushers: Tom Greene, Larry Snell, Ari
Koudis, Henry Whitney
Thanks to our many volunteers who help
things to run smoothly every Sunday!
Building Fund Update as of: 4/30/17
Estimated Project Cost: $1,500,000
Building Fund Balance: $1,369,578
Total Commitments:
$630,558
Commitments Fulfilled: $415,758
May 2017
Spreading Branches
Menu: Tossed Salad, Roll/butter, Ham,
Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans,
Applesauce, Apple cobbler with
whipped cream
Head Chef: Al Zeller
Speaker: Rev. Brian Hand
Topic: Personal Testimony
* Food from the Heart Dinners are
the last Sunday of each month
at 1:00 pm.
This Month at LPC
1 7:00 pm Women’s Ministry Planning Meeting
3 6:00 am Men’s Ministry (weekly)
6:30 pm Choir Rehearsal (weekly)
7:30 pm Band Rehearsal (weekly)
4 National Day of Prayer
9:00 am Ladies Bible Study (weekly)
- last one until the fall
6:30 pm Session Meeting
5 10:30 am Small Group Study (weekly)
6 7:30 am Men’s Breakfast at Hennings’ Market
11:00 am Memorial Service for Louise Blake
7 9:15 am Sunday School (weekly)
10:30 am Worship Service (weekly)
1:00 pm Multipurpose Room Reserved
5:30 pm Youth Group (weekly)
5:30 pm Small Groups (weekly)
8 7:00 pm MOPS
10 7:00 pm Finance Committee Meeting
14 Mother’s Day
2:00 pm Meadowood Ministry
No evening ministries
15 7:00 pm Deacons’ Meeting
16 7:00 pm Board of Christian Ed. Meeting
17 11:30 am Seniors Living in Christ (SLIC) :
Lunch and Beekeeper Program
20 11 am – 3 pm MPR Reserved
21 5:30 pm Children’s Ministry
28 1:00 pm Food from the Heart Dinner
29 Memorial Day
1
4
6
7
9
15
17
19
20
21
22
24
27
5
15
19
21
23
26
30
Ruth Rush
Martha Foote
Tom Strohlein
Erin Godshall
Stephanie Miller
Matt Brumbaugh
Sybelle Gunnell
Sue Snell
Laura Santos
Judah Hand
Riham Halvorsen
John Hathaway
Janet Younathan
Sarah Brumbaugh
Albert & Becky Swartz
Bill & Myrt Jones
James & Martha Gunnell
Tom & Lydia Keane
Henry & Ginny Whitney
Scott & Shirley Wilson
Jeff & Jennifer Gray
Jamie & Sherrie Bard
Matt & Riham Halvorsen
If your birthday or anniversary does not appear on our list or
if there has been an error, please contact the church office.
Thank you.
May 2017
Spreading Branches