THE BREEZEWAY The monthly newsletter of Northwood Presbyterian Church April 2018

Transcription

1 1 THE BREEZEWAY The monthly newsletter of Northwood Presbyterian Church April 2018 Pastor s Corner H ang around a Presbyterian church long enough and you'll hear the word "lectionary" tossed around. A lectionary is simply a reading plan for the Bible. There are a list of assigned passages given every day to guide the reading of scripture. The most common lectionary is called the Revised Common Lectionary. In order to decide what to preach on Sunday, a pastor can just refer to the lectionary and use the passage assigned. This has a couple of advantages. First, the preacher is not tempted to only preach on his or her "favorites." Also, since the lectionary is so commonly used, it's helpful to pastors in their preparation. Why all this talk of lectionaries? Well, beginning after Easter, Northwood will be making its way through a new lectionary called the Narrative Lectionary. As the website explains, "The Narrative Lectionary (NL) is a four-year cycle of readings for use in congregational worship and preaching. The goal is to preach annually through the biblical narrative in order to center the lives of believers in God's story. Each week, two texts are assigned -- a preaching text, and an accompanying text." The Narrative Lectionary breaks down in this way: Easter - Pentecost (7 weeks): Move from resurrection stories to the early church. Summer: Three series: one Old Testament, one New Testament, and one teaching series. Continued on page 4 Images from Palm Sunday, courtesy of Sarah Clapp 1

2 Now You Can Give Online! W e are blessed as a community here at Northwood. This year s budget is composed of several sources of income. Some new income items are monies from our investments and an increase in the monies from the Day school. This year we have chosen to take 1% per quarter and add it to our general fund to provide revenue for our mission and operational costs. And a second new source of income is monies that lie in our restricted fund. These monies were given to the church for a particular reason. This year our restricted funds will allow us to do work in the areas that the other income would not cover. After reviewing the financials for January and February, I would like to point out a couple items for you. Our pledged giving is about 10% over the budgeted year to date. Our expenses, in this period, are slightly higher than income by $ Want an easy 24/7 way to donate/pay your pledge? The stewardship team has put a donation button on our webpage. When you click on the button and follow the onscreen commands, your contribution is charged to your credit card and your payment is recorded by our bookkeeper, So, I hope that you will share your gratitude with me about our financial stability and the excellent programs that are going on at Northwood. If you have any questions, just let Jay Maust or me know. Joe Montagna Men s Ministry Join us for our monthly Men s Breakfast on Saturday, April 14, 8:00 a.m. The food will be scrumptious and the conversation lively. Special thanks to David Middleton who led us in a stimulating look at Faith and Sports in March. Please RSVP to Joe Montagna by Thursday, April 12: jam@syscomsa.com; Seekers Study Discipleship E nergized by Resurrection Sunday, we plan thereafter to introduce a new DVD-based program on DISCIPLESHIP created by the always insightful scholar, Adam Hamilton. And who might you guess Hamilton would select as the prototype disciple of all time? Of course Saul-on-his-way-to-becoming-Paul the one who never knew Jesus in a face-to-face sense, but who, despite that, made knowing Him by revelation into a gold-standard of being called!" Consider coming along for a close look at this ferociously industrious spreader of the Good News: Christ s living ministry and his call to mission for those of us now on our own Christian journeys. David Middleton

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4 Continued from page 1 September - December: Follow the broad outline of the Old Testament story with accompanying texts from the Gospels. Christmas - Lent: Move through one Gospel per year with accompanying texts from the Psalms. I have looked at the Narrative Lectionary for a couple of years and found it to be logically organized and a great way to gain basic Biblical literacy. It's my hope that as we study these texts together we are able to find ourselves immersed in the story of God's word as we journey week by week. Here's a sneak peek at what's coming up in April: April 8 - Life in the Spirit - Romans 8:1-11 April 15 - Paul and Ananias - Acts 9:1-19 April 23 - Grace in the Midnight Hour - Acts 16:16-34 April 31 - Paul's Sermon at Athens - Acts 17:16-3 Faith Café R egardless of where you are in your faith journey, this is a safe, laid-back, welcoming place to come each week, explore God s Word, and talk openly about how it applies to our lives. So please join us for good coffee and even better conversation. We are brewed and ready each Sunday in the Parlor at 9:30 with a start time of 9:45. After a week off on Easter, Jennifer and Nick Roberson will be our teachers for April O Social Justice League ur group will c o n t i n u e i t s e x a m i n a t i o n a n d discussion of social justice issues in our times at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 21. In keeping with our hosting of the Jennifer Knapp event, this month s topic will be LGBT issues. Come and join us at the home of Sarah and Elizabeth Clapp. For more info, contact Karissa Arnett. 4

5 Holy Smoke! 5 Mission Matters, by Patty Clark A fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity and the Presbyterian Cluster Build is coming up! Where: Covenant Presbyterian Church When: Sunday, April 29, 2018 What: Dinner 5:30 6:30 pm and Entertainment 6:45 7:45 pm Tickets are $12 pre-sale /$15 at the door/ children under 12 FREE. There will be a raffle for gift baskets and a beautiful quilt! Raffle tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5. See Tommy Moreno for tickets and more information. Recycling comes to Northwood Northwood now has the big blue recycle bins provided by the City! We can now recycle for more than we have been able to before. Look for blue recycling trash cans around the church. Accepted Items: Paper office paper, newspaper, magazines, catalogs, flattened cardboard, junk mail Plastics bottles, bowls, cups, food tubs, Styrofoam food containers Glass bottles, jars Metals aluminum cans, aluminum baking tins, steel/tin food cans Do not put your recyclables in plastic bags before placing them in the recycling cart and make sure to empty and rinse recyclables to prevent contaminating other recyclables. Not sure if something is recyclable? throw it in the regular trash! When in doubt, throw it out! Gun Violence Video Screening and Discussion Join us for the video screening and discussion of Trigger: The Ripple Effect of Gun Violence produced by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance in The video examines the ripple effect that shootings have on a survivor, family, community, and society. It is a story told from the perspective of those who have been directly impacted and those who are called daily to respond to this ongoing tragedy. The documentary frames gun violence as both a disaster and a public health issue. It addresses the critical issue of gun violence prevention by moving the conversation away from the polarizing extremes that have long dominated the debate and lifting up the voice and experiences of those who seek common ground and a new way forward. The video screening and discussion will be on Sunday, May 6 at 12:30 pm. Older youth may attend with their parent or guardian. Light lunch will be provided. Child care will be provided. For more information, visit 5

6 6 Welcome our Newest Members! Sarah Higgins Virginia, Elenor, and Annabel Dibrell News from the Northwood Presbyterian Day School A nd the winner is. Northwood Day School has been awarded a $27,000 grant from PreK4SA! Ms. Rebecca has worked hard the past few months putting together the grant proposal. She presented to the San Antonio City Counsel who then chose NPDS as one of the child development centers in San Antonio to receive the Pre-K4SA grant! The grant will assist NPDS in the areas of accreditation, increasing the number of teachers with a Child Development Associate credential, staff development, student assessments, family and parent education, health screenings for the children and adults, equipment upgrades, and adding new and updated teaching materials. NPDS s major goals for the grant include reaching state and national levels of accreditation (both Texas Rising Star and NAEYC), all teachers obtaining the CDA credential or higher, and securing sound curricula and an assessment tool to ensure the children are receiving the best opportunities for learning. Congratulations Ms. Rebecca and NPDS! Thank you for continuing to provide such highquality care and education for our children! - Martha Sherrod 6

7 7 Clerk of Session Report, March 2018, by Ellen Patterson Greetings All! I am happy to report a very busy and productive stated meeting of the Session of Northwood Presbyterian Church which took place on Tuesday, March 20, 2018, in the Activities Room of the church. Motions made and passed during this meeting included: That the Session approve of two additions (Kate Carey and Wes Collier) to the Day School Board. To move $100, from the Day School s money market account at Broadway Bank to a Texas Presbyterian Foundation investment account. The interest of $4, earned per year will be used to fund a new program for scholarships at the Day School, called the Reduced Fee Program. From the Christian Education Committee, that we change Vacation Bible School to an Intergenerational Jamboree for this July It was suggested that this event occur once a week for a period of time, rather than a whole week. Ideas for themes included: Campfire night, Escape Room, Movie night out on the lawn, with different committees in charge of the meals on different nights. The Finance Team successfully recommended that the Wells Fargo account, which contains the Nancy Wilson Bequest, be made into the Northwood Presbyterian Endowment Fund; whereas the monies of the church currently in Texas Presbyterian Foundation, National Presbyterian Foundation, and Vanguard will be consolidated into an account with the National Presbyterian fund. The Finance Team also successfully recommended the creation of a building fund initially containing $200, (in the National Presbyterian Foundation account) to provide monies for maintenance projects that are not budgeted in the current operational budget. The requests for monies to be spent from this fund shall be presented by building and grounds committee to the Session for approval. The Stewardship Team successfully recommended that Northwood Presbyterian Church establish a Legacy Society for the purpose of educating our members about Planned Legacy Giving, growing our Endowment, and planning for the future. The Congregational Care Committee successfully recommended the adoption of policies, procedures, and prayer request forms relating to Congregational Care concerns. Reports of the various committees and the Day School included: Northwood Presbyterian Day School: 101 children are currently enrolled, so the enrollment goal has been met. The Day School is partnering with Trinity University on a cognitive memory project for children ages 2-5. On March 7, NPCDS became a recipient of a sizeable grant from PreK4SA. Easter Sunday: 10 youth being are being confirmed on Easter Sunday this April 1, There is also an Easter egg hunt planned Committee Meetings normally scheduled for May 20, 2018 after church are now moved to May 27,

8 8 News from Presbyterian Women MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Sunday, APRIL 22 nd is our Women s Spring Gathering, immediately following worship. It is Fiesta month! Come celebrate San Antonio s 300 th Anniversary with us. We may have a surprise or two for you as well! You don t want to miss this one! WOMEN S SUNDAY: May 13 th. Yes, Mother s Day! Our theme is: Women Called to Lead with Love. We are still asking and looking for women to participate in the worship service: Ushers, Choir, Scripture Readers and who knows what else (TBD). Come join us!! CIRCLE NEWS: The Day Circle will meet at the church in the Visions Room on Wednesday, April 11 at 10:00 AM for snacks and Lesson 8. The Saturday Circle meets on April 14 at 9:30 AM for breakfast and Lesson 8. The Evening Circle will meet at 6:30 PM on Monday, April 9 for dinner at the home of Anne Detweiler, and is studying Chapter 9 of their book, Reading the Bible for the First Time. All are welcome at any circle. Questions? Call Judy Harris, Bible Study Leader. Northwood Presbyterian Church 518 Pike Road San Antonio, TX PLACE STAMP HERE 8