The APC Corner-stone

Transcription

1 Ardmore Presbyterian Church The APC Corner-stone We are members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:19b-20) September 2015 From Our Pastor James Hodsden: GOD S STORY, OUR STORY In this day and age, our families are strewn around the world. Getting everyone physically together in one place is challenging. As a result, when it happens, it s a big deal. There will be tears, laughter, hugs and kisses. And the family will share stories. Some of those stories will be new. The young couple announces that they are going to have a baby. Some of the stories will be old. Great Grandfather facing hardship immigrated to this country. Some of the stories might be funny. There was that time when dad sang to mom in front of the whole restaurant. Some of the stories might be sad. Our aunt was incredibly brave as she faced Alzheimer s. Stories are important. They embody meaning and purpose for us. They help us find our place in the world. If you want to know what is important to a person, listen to the stories that he or she tell. As part of God s family, we also have stories. In fact, one could argue that the Christian faith itself is simply a story. God created a world that was good. God intended for us to live in relationship with him and with each other. Sadly something went wrong. Nonetheless God did not allow our rebellion to change his love for us. Instead God pursued us. When the time was right, he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to redeem us. Our lives are now dedicated to God living out the love and joy that he intended. As Christians we declare that the Bible is our only rule of faith and life. It describes our obligations to God. It teaches us morality and ethics. However, the Bible does more. We are invited into God s story. When civil rights leaders echoed Moses declaring, Let my people go, they were accepting that invitation. When a missionary responds personally to Jesus words, Go and preach to all creation, she is accepting the invitation. When we respond to the prophets by Seeking the peace of the city, we are accepting the invitation. This year, I want to invite you into a deeper relationship with the Bible. There will be a number of opportunities to explore God s story. The choir will be sharing it through Handel s Messiah. Our Spiritual Enrichment Retreat will take us into the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. Through a variety of small groups, we will be exploring how we can make God s story our own. It all starts with Homecoming on September 13, As we gather the family, let us share our stories together. Grace and Peace,

2 2 NOTES FROM THE DESK OF MUSIC DIRECTOR, GARY GARLETTS Greetings from the Music Ministry of APC! A new program year is just a few weeks away. Do you hear God calling you to serve through our music ministry? Are you eager to enrich your spirit through the many special events that our church sponsors? Here is information on both topics. God bless you for your support and encouragement! OPPORTUNITES TO SERVE Chancel Choir begins Thurs., Sept. 10 th at 7:30 p.m. These adult volunteers (with professional section leaders) meet weekly for 1½ hours, and sing like angels in worship (Sept. 13 th May 29 th, with breaks). This year they will offer the three parts of Handel s well known Messiah during three different worship services. Handbell Choir begins Wed., Sept. 16 th at 7:00 p.m. An adult ensemble, Handbell Choir pumps bronze weekly for one hour, and offers beautiful music about five times per year in worship. Wednesday PLUS begins Wed., Sept. 16 th at 5:00 p.m. This two hour event (gathering, singing, dinner, and activity) is held weekly, Sep 16 May 4 th, with breaks. Both Children s Choir (grades 2 nd 5 th ) and Cherub Choir (grades pre K 1 st ) sing joyfully several times throughout the year. Youth Choir begins Sunday, Sept. 20 th at 11:45 a.m. Our youth choir (grades 6 th 12 th ) sings exuberantly several times per year, plus joins others for special events. This year they will team up at a local choir festival (February 21 st ), and then renew their friendships in Arlington with the much anticipated youth choir exchange (April 3 rd & 10 th ). Youth Ringers meet for brief rehearsal segments, after which they play in worship. Their playing is always energetic! Watch your e mail or our website for an exact schedule. Young Adult Choir, Women s Chorus and Men s Chorus each sings twice per year. Watch your worship folder, newsletter, or our website for specific dates. SPECIAL EVENT DATES TO RESERVE Sunday, September 13 th Homecoming Sunday Sunday, October 25 th Reformation Sunday (Bagpipes, Three Choir Anthem) Sunday, December 6 th Advent Family Night (all choirs except Chancel) Sunday, December 20 th Chancel Choir Messiah, Part I Thursday, December 24 th Christmas Eve Services at 5 & 10 p.m. Sat Sun, January 23 rd 24 th Spiritual Enrichment Retreat Sunday, February 21 st Children s/youth Choir Festival (Overbrook P.C.) Sunday, March 6 th Chancel Choir Messiah, Part II Sunday, March 27 th Easter Sunday with QuintEssentially Brass Sundays, April 3 rd (APC) and 10 th (Arlington) Youth Choir Exchange Sunday, April 17 th Chancel Choir Messiah, Part III

3 September Birthdays 1 Connor Dillon 4 Pearlie Diesinger 6 Kelly Nicholson 6 Maddie Taverno 7 Sam Pulsifer 8 Jim Rowe 10 Sherina Poorman 12 Faith Morse 12 Charles Whinney 13 Eliza Brooks 14 Louise McLean 14 Hymee Kim 15 Tom Mattson 16 Jay Straub 18 Jean Shrader 19 Bill Gray 21 Mary Lee Straub 22 Anne Conroy 22 Dorothy Ramsay 22 Elijah Calpas 23 Isla Grant 24 Sara Nelb 25 Sandra Pfaff 25 Debby Rochon 25 Dan Potter 26 Rich Turner 28 Susan Gichomo 29 Claire Harris 29 Elisa Halteman We d like to list all of our members and friends birthdays & can only do so if we know when it is. Please admin@ardmorepres.org or call and leave a message. 3 Contributions of fresh baked cookies are welcome, for the Welcome Church s Monday Teatimes, all summer long! Please consider donating cookies for use on any Monday, with special request being made for cookies for any of these dates: September 14 th, 21 st, 28 th October 5 th, 12 th, 26 th November 2 nd, 9 th, 23 rd, 30 th Up to cookies are useful, each week! Contributions can of course be given to Schaunel Steinnagel, on the prior Sunday. Thank you for this special help! Collecting Items for New Welcome Home Kit in Fall, 2015 by Rev. Schaunel Steinnagel, for The Welcome Church The Mission Awareness Committee is calling for the collection of necessary household items for the assembly of a Welcome Home Kit in early fall The Welcome Home Kit will be delivered to a person who has moved from homelessness to housing, known to The Welcome Church. The Welcome Church is a congregation predominately made up of people who have experienced homelessness, in Center City, Philadelphia. Please bring something that is new, and as soon as possible from the following list, to Ardmore Presbyterian Church, labeled for Welcome Home Kit! This project really helps to fill a need! Thank you! Dishes: set of 4 8, including glasses Bathroom accessories Utensils: set of 4 8 Plastic food storage container Pots/pans: 2 frying pans, 2 pots, 1 soup pot Ice cube trays: 2 Dish towels/dish cloths Waste baskets: 2 & 1 garbage pail Bath towels/wash cloths (4 each) Shower curtain/liner Bed linens (queen size): 2 sets (fitted & flat) + 1 blanket Toiletries Pillows: 2 (new)

4 4 New Members Confirmation Class 2015 R.K. Cobb 65 Woodcroft Road Havertown, PA R.K. has lived in Havertown since birth. He will be entering his sophomore year at Haverford High School. He enjoys the freedom and his friends in high school and is an honor roll student. He particularly likes math and history. R.K. played on the Soccer and Ultimate Frisbee teams which consumed more time than he anticipated. R.K. enjoys being with his family and he also likes a variety of music. He thinks he may be interested in a career in finance. Church is important to R.K. and he has grown up being part of many activities provided for children starting with the Weekday Preschool continuing with Sunday School, Wednesday PLUS, VBS and Youth Group. R.K. felt confirmation class was a great growth experience for him, including the mission projects and bonding with the group. He is looking forward to being a teaching assistant in the Third, Fourth and Fifth Grade Sunday School Class in the fall. He likes the thought of watching younger children grow up in the church. Lexi Fowler 416 Rittenhouse Circle Havertown, PA Lexi has grown up in Havertown and will be entering her freshman year at Haverford High School. She enjoys science and social studies and has been a straight A honor student for the past three years. She has an avid interest in photography as well as web site design and virtual architectural design. She has been interested in the Unless Club which is a school organization which is involved in environmental and green activities. Lexi was in a select Women s Choir which was based on sight reading ability and performance. She also played soccer in a traveling league for the Lower Merion Soccer Club. One of Lexi s hobbies is stop motion animation, using wooden art figures to tell stories. Lexi has attended Sunday School and the Spiritual Enrichment Retreat. She felt she learned a great deal in Confirmation Class. She enjoyed volunteering at the Welcome Church and making new friends. Lexi looks forward to assisting in the Kindergarten, First and Second Grade Class in the fall. Let the little children come... Openings in the Preschool for the School Year If you have a 2,3,4 or 5 year old or know someone looking for a Preschool, please contact either Pearlie Diesinger or Michelle Butera at We would love to share our special programs here at Ardmore Presbyterian Weekday Preschool. Hours are now 9am - 12pm.

5 5 Niels Terwiesch 1226 Knox Road Wynnewood, PA Niels has grown up in Wynnewood and will be entering his freshman year at Harriton High School. He is interested in math, science and computer science. He is an honor roll student and has taken some outside course work in the computer field. He likes to read and loves to travel with his family, having traveled all over Europe. He has picked up some fluency in French and Spanish and is quite fluent in German. His athletic pursuits include tennis, rowing and skiing, He plays team tennis at a club and rows competitively for a boat house on the Schuylkill River. He hopes to row for Harriton in the future. Niels started out in the Weekday Preschool and has been a faithful participant in Sunday School, Wednesday PLUS, the Children s and Youth Choirs and VBS. Niels appreciates the strong foundation Confirmation Class has given him and enjoyed the fun and camaraderie of the group. He looks forward to being an assistant teacher in the Preschool Sunday School Class in the fall. Madeline Steinnagel Taylor 242 W. Montgomery Avenue Haverford, PA Madeline was born in Elkton, Maryland and will be entering her freshman year at Harriton High School. She is an honor student and enjoys biology, French and Chorus. She plays soccer in the fall, runs track in the spring and swims at the YMCA. She sails in the summer in Cape Ann, Massachusetts and hopes to join the crew team in high school. This summer Madeline is attending Explo, a creative and fun academic experience at Wellesley College. Madeline LOVES animals, especially her dog, Nikki, and wishes APC would have a blessing of the animals. She thinks that being a veterinarian would be to her liking. She takes piano lessons, loves reading, cooking, fashion and shopping. Madeline has been an active participant in Sunday School, VBS, Wednesday PLUS, Youth Group and both the Children`s and Youth Choirs. She particularly enjoys mission activities. Madeline will be an assistant teacher in the Kindergarten, First and Second Grade Sunday School Class in the fall. Anna Wolverton 198 Lakeside Road Ardmore, PA Anna has grown up in Ardmore and will be a freshman at Lower Merion High School. She enjoys science, literature, creative writing and social studies and has been an honor roll student. She wants to continue running cross country and is contemplating trying out for the crew team. Anna enjoys singing (not solos) and was in the Advanced Chorus in Middle School. She likes reading, jogging, swimming and hanging out with friends. The vacations at the family gathering place on Grindstone Island in upstate New York are always a highlight of each year for her. Anna has been involved in life at APC beginning with the Weekday Preschool and continuing with Sunday School, VBS, Wednesday PLUS, Youth Group and both the Children s and Youth Choirs. She looks forward to attending church regularly now that she has completed Confirmation Class and will be assisting the teachers in the Preschool Sunday School Class in the fall.

6 6 WHEN DOES WORSHIP BEGIN? On September 13th, Sunday worship will return to 10:30 AM. The church leadership began a discussion of worship times this summer because a number of parents asked whether an earlier start might help with scheduling conflicts. Our survey results suggested that this is true for some parents. However, other parents felt that a later start helps families get organized and prepared for worship. Both groups were just as passionate. Looking at the overall data, we see a preference for the 10:30 AM service. That does not mean that we will simply ignore the needs of those people who wanted an earlier service. The session is committed to reviewing these numbers. Over the next year, we will be evaluating various solutions. MY COMMITMENT TO YOU In the meantime, I want to make a personal pledge to you as your pastor. I understand how Sunday worship is a sacrifice in our busy lives. As a culture, we no longer value making Sunday a Sabbath. Personally, I find that tragic, but I do understand it. As a congregation, we should expect that our members will be engaged in Christian education, personal devotions, prayer and service beyond Sunday worship. With those high expectations, I commit to keeping the Sunday morning worship to minutes long each week. For the past few weeks, I have asked people in the congregation to time the various parts of the worship service. I am trying to make adjustments to the service to meet our goal without sacrificing the integrity of our worship. On occasion, the service may be longer. If we know that ahead of time, we will announce it. If it just happens, I ask for your forgiveness in advance. Notice that my commitment to a minute worship service is not a lowering of expectations. Instead, I am actually raising expectations. If you are only giving one hour a week to God, that's simply not enough. A consistent expectation of one hour for Sunday worship respects all the other time you give. ABOUT THE SURVEY I want to thank everyone who participated in the survey. We sent two e mails and distributed a paper survey in worship. We also followed up with those who have no e mail by phone. Considering an average attendance of 150, we had over 75% of our average attendance participating. That's a significant number especially during the month of August. With such a diverse congregation, it is difficult to please everyone. As we make tough decisions, please understand that we value everyone here. As your pastor, I am committed to you. Grace & Peace, James Hodsden

7 7 ONGOING PRAYERS FOR: Emily Aman, Rose Ball, Kate Brooks (MS/mobility), Chloey Egge, Skip and Mary Ellison, Twila Garletts, Dollie Graham, Ruth Jenkins, (Beaumont, Personal Care # 2007), Morry Livezey, Mike Michaelson, James Mitchell s father (heart problems), Denny Nicholson, Sr., Mary Quigley, Mark Ramsay (seizures), Arthur Robinson (ALS), Diane Robinson (COPD), Mary Schreiber (MS), Peggy Shaver, Jean Shrader, John Shrader, Heather Stahler (MS/optic neuritis), Newt and Mary Spencer, Roy Sullivan, Ray and Mary VanLeeuwen, Lily Young and others who struggle daily because of difficult health issues. SUNDAY SANCTUARY MEMORIAL FLOWERS NEW SIGN UP BINDER AT THE BACK OF THE SANCTUARY There are many Sundays without dedicated flower arrangements. Sign in the book to dedicate flowers in memory of loved ones, or in honor of a special occasion. If you have any questions, please contact Raelyn at x101, or admin@ardmorepres.org. Each arrangement is $50.

8 8 ARDMORE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 5 West Montgomery Avenue Ardmore, PA Phone: admin@ardmorepres.org Please notify the office if you prefer to receive your newsletter via . Celebrating Our 108th Year of Service to the Lord Jesus Christ A R D M O R E P R E S B Y T E R I A N C H U R C H James Hodsden, M.Div., Pastor (pastor@ardmorepres.org) Sturgis Poorman, M.Div., Parish Associate (sspjrp@yahoo.com) Graham Robinson, D. Min., Parish Associate (gjmtk5@gmail.com) Gary Garletts, M.M., AAGO, Director of Music/Organist (music@ardmorepres.org) Michelle Butera, Director of Weekday Preschool (preschooldirector@ardmorepres.org) Pearlie Diesinger, Preschool Administrator/Church Secretary (preschool@ardmorepres.org) Raelyn Harman, Church Administrator (admin@ardmorepres.org) Walter Haenn, Business Manager (walterhaenn@ardmorepres.org) Don Tokash, Finance (finance@ardmorepres.org) Jim Moore, Custodian