UCPC Community Care Line. We invite all to faith in Jesus Christ and growth in discipleship through Word, Prayer, and Service.

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1 UCPC Community Care Line We invite all to faith in Jesus Christ and growth in discipleship through Word, Prayer, and Service. April 2018 Special Points of Interest Pastor s Note Birthdays Anniversaries Monthly Calendar Announcements & Events Session Highlights Birthdays Amara Hackett - 8th Amanda Murray - 10th Janet Johnson - 14th Linda O Neill - 15th Celia Rohwer - 21st Kathy Dohner - 22nd Eliza Bierer - 30th Whitney Wivoda -30th Anniversaries Roger & Isa Smith - 10th Lois Hildenbrand & Bert Lanstra - 27th If your birthday or anniversary is missing from the newsletter, please call or the office with your information. Pastor s Note Friends and Family of UCPC, Well, Easter has come upon us one more time. We have experienced the oasis and the desert of Lent, and ridden the emotional and spiritual roller coaster of Holy Week. We have dined with Christ at the Table, and prayed with him on Gethsemane. We denied our devotion three times before the rooster crowed, but we ran as fast as we could when the women told us that Christ had Risen!!!! Now here we are on the other-side of the Resurrection. We are now firmly in the liturgical Season titled EASTER, and it will be our guide until the day of Pentecost on Sunday May 20th. Take this extended Easter Season to devote yourself to the promises of Christ, to the truth of Resurrection and let that be a transforming Grace in your life and those around you. This is the most secure time of the liturgical year, meaning we have witnessed Christ's death AND RESURRECTION, and he is still making appearances in the life of the Disciples. Jesus is still teaching and leading them, and they maybe for the first time have a true, unveiled understanding of Christ's great truth. Take this Easter season to vision, to look to the future of what life in Christ might truly be. What our Church can accomplish, who our ministry might touch, what you yourself might do to improve yourself in Christ and live the life God intends. Vision is not hope, Vision is a prayer for what is possible, but we have to have the will, the dedication, and sometimes most importantly the courage to see that vision brought forward into the light. Our Church has vision We trusted and worked hard to make the Loving Families program at our Church successful. We supported the concept of the Visionaries and anyone who attended the last concert understands what a tremendous blessing they now are not to our church but to the Fairbanks Community. The same goes to the Church stepping forward to be counted as an Earth Care Congregation if one fewer plastic bottle ends up in the landfield, if we save an extra $100 on fuel by being energy efficient, if one person begins to see Creation not as something to be exploited but held in stewardship, while still using God's provided resource then we have done the right thing. This Easter Season, stand firm on God's Promises, on Christ's Resurrection, take courage in the Holy Spirit and dare to imagine what is possible, what God's Kingdom might truly be with Faith, Vision and the courage to make it so. Peace in Christ, Rev Neill McKay

2 =[Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Room Abbr. Key : CE= Old Basement FH = Fellowship Hall C = Conference Room OL=Office Lounge M= Music Room N=Narthex S = Sanctuary HS=High School Room L = Lounge 1. Easter 8:30AM Breakfast (FH) Adult Study (L) Sunday School (HS & FH Rooms) 10:30AM Worship Service (S) 2:00PM Russian Church (S) 8. 9:00AM Breakfast (FH) Adult Study (L) Sunday School (HS & FH Rooms) 10:30AM Worship Service (S) 2:00PM Russian Church (S) 15. 9:00AM Breakfast (FH) Adult Study (L) Sunday School (HS & FH Rooms) 10:30AM Worship Service (S) 2:00PM Russian Church (S) 4:00PM UCM (FH) 22. 9:00AM Breakfast (FH) Adult Study (L) Sunday School (HS & FH Rooms) 10:30AM Worship Service(S) 2:00PM Russian Church (S) 2. 7:30AM Women s Breakfast (Denny s) 5:00PM Sound Step (M) 16. 7:30AM Women s Breakfast (Denny s) 12 Step (M) Step (M) 3. 6:30AM Men's Coffee (N) 7:00AM Cyberlynx (Classrooms, FH, CE, & C Room) 4:00PM FCAC (C Room) 8:00PM AA (L) 10. 6:30AM Men's Coffee (N) Missions & Outreach (C Room) 8:00PM AA (L) 17. 6:30AM Men's Coffee (N) 8:00PM AA (L) 24. 6:30AM Men's Coffee (N) 12:30PM VOAD (C Room) 8:00PM AA (L) 4. Bulletin Due 7:00AM Cyberlynx (Classrooms, FH, CE, & C Room) Girl Scout Troop (L) Tai Chi (CE) Choir Rehearsal (M) 8:15PM Gospel Group (S) 11. Bulletin Deadline Girl Scout Troop 75 (L) Tai Chi (CE) 6:15PM Worship Committee Choir Rehearsal (M) 8:15PM Gospel Group (S) 18. Bulletin Deadline Girl Scout Troop 75 (L) Tai Chi (CE) Choir Rehearsal (M) 8:15PM Gospel Group (S) 25. Newsletter Due Bulletin Deadline Girl Scout Troop 75 (L) Tai Chi (CE) Choir Rehearsal (M) 8:15PM Gospel Group (S) 5. 7:00AM Cyberlynx (Classrooms, FH, CE, & C Room) Prayer Group (Pioneer Home) Al Anon (HS) Deacons (C Room) 12. Prayer Group (C) Al Anon (HS) 6:00PM Sweet Adelines (CE) 19. Prayer Group (C) Al Anon (HS Classoom) 6:00PM Sweet Adelines (CE) 6:30PM Sessions (L) 26. Prayer Group (C) Al Anon (HS Classroom) 6:00PM Sweet Adelines (FH) 6. Russian Church (M) 8:30PM NA (FH) 13. Russian Church (M) 8:30PM NA (L) 20. 5:00PM Cello Rehearsal Recital (S) Russian Church (M) 8:30PM NA (L) 27. 1:00PM CMA Sale (FH) Russian Church (M) 8:30PM NA (L) 7. 6:00PM Terry (Lounge) :00AM Species Walk (N) 3:00PM Cello Recital (S) 28. 8:00AM CMA Sale (FH) 6:00PM Terry (Lounge) 29. 9:00AM Breakfast (FH) Adult Study (L) Sunday School (HS & FH Rooms) 10:30AM Worship Service (S) 2:00PM Russian Church( S) 30. 7:30AM Women s Breakfast (Denny s) 12 Step (M) 2

3 We invite all to faith in Jesus Christ and growth in discipleship through Word, Prayer, and Service. Announcements & Events Join us before Sunday School for breakfast from 9:00-9:30 am Children and Youth Sunday School 9:30 am Preschool meets in the Nursery. K-4th grade meets in the Fellowship Hall Elementary classroom. 5th-8th grade meets in the Fellowship Hall Middle School classroom. Confirmed students through High School meet upstairs in the High School classroom. Meets at 6:30 am in the Narthex every Tuesday. Meets every other Monday 7:30 Denny's on Airport Way We will meet : 2nd, 16th, 30th You can view the Upcoming Sunday Bulletin on our web page each week Click on the link on our home page. It will be available each Friday after 1pm. 3

4 Everyone s service is essential! We are looking for a few others (men included!) to join our Mission & Outreach Committee. This committee is always busy fostering UCPC s involvement in the work of the Spirit. We promote 4 Special Offerings of the Presbyterian Church (USA) each year: One Great Hour or Sharing, the Pentecost Offering, the Peace & Global Witness Offering and the Christmas Joy Offering. Other areas of ministry include working with Missionaries Ryan & Alethia White, Love In the Name of Christ (Love INC), Stone Soup & The Door. Recently, the committee facilitated UCPC s certification as an Earth Care Congregation. Last summer, we helped organize a work trip to Gambell to help with building the church there. If you are interested in joining our committee, please see one of the following members: Neill, Melissa, Arlayne, Muffie or Norma. 4

5 We wish to thank all those who contributed to our 3 successful host weeks! Your time, love, finances & contributions are so valuable and appreciated!! The program will end in May and will start back up in the Fall. Please join us for our End of the Year Potluck Celebration on May 5 th, 2018 where we will celebrate and uplift the churches, volunteers, Love INC team and the families. For more information contact Norma Wivoda, Send an to admin@ucpcfairbanks.org to sign up for our prayer chain s! 5

6 Cambodia, January 2018 Kathy Dohner We arrived in Cambodia on New Year s Eve, Within four hours of our arrival, we were attending the first of two Christmas celebrations with Anne! Praise God that we had the opportunity to worship with Asian Christians! On New Year s Day we started teaching minority high school students as we had on our two previous visits. One boy remembered us from three years prior and was very motivated to improve both his English and Math skills. Our classes ranged from 6-20 students and we taught three classes per day for the six days that we were in Banlung. Our efforts were mostly focused on conversational English and learning how to speak in past tense. On Jan 6th we traveled by van (17 of us in a 15 passenger van built for short Asians) from Banlung to Phnom Penh where we overnighted on our way to the island. Jan. 7th, after a visit to the Russian Market and attending an Anglican church service which was in English, we took a 4 hour private taxi from Phnom Penh to Kep, the jumping off point for Rabbit Island where we were to stay for 4 nights as we made day trips to Pho Island. Here we met two employees from the deaf school, one hearing and one deaf. What an experience it was for me trying to understand Cambodian sign language. Thankfully, the deaf man, Sokna, knew some American Sign Language which made it possible for us to communicate. We traveled from Rabbit Island to Pho Island three days in a row. Anne needed to oversee the two teachers, Ly and Hien, who are 19 and 21 years old and have a 6th and 9th grade education. They have been trained to teach but still need encouragement and assistance with solving problems in their classrooms because they are completely on their own on this island. We observed the classes and Anne spent time conferring with the teachers and parents, as well as interacting with the students. The money donated by UCPC was used to purchase new literacy reading books. These books have been written by a team of literacy experts to teach reading. Besides the 60 literacy books that were purchased, the money bought pleasure reading books, coloring books, pencils, crayons, erasers, notebooks, and chalk and bought tin roofing to prevent leaking into one of the classrooms during rainy season. Most of the supplies were put away to be handed out as needed. However, a few of the children had their notebooks full and were so pleased to receive new ones. One young girl leads and tutors the younger children and she was given a thank you book. There are some remaining funds from what was donated which can be used for future supplies for the island project or for items needed for the minority literacy materials and production. I left it up to Anne to decide what was the greatest need. Another goal of this trip was to meet with the family of the 15 year old local deaf boy to see if he could be convinced to leave his island to attend the Deaf Development Center in Kompot. After many conversations and discussions with he and his mother and family, they decided that this was not the right time for him to leave as he is now working on a fishing boat and earning good money for the family. Though we felt disappointed, the seed was planted and he still has the opportunity to go to the deaf school in the future. After our four days on the island en route back to Phnom Penh, Anne, Dave and I were able to stop in Kompot and visit the deaf school, see our new friends and meet other deaf workers as well as the teachers at the school. These young deaf students are learning language for the first time in their lives! Thank you for your support of education on this island where children are learning in spite of marginal conditions. After three years of education, some students have moved to the mainland to attend junior high and high school. Your dollars were well spent! If you are interested in further supporting this or other projects in Asia, please talk to me. One need is for funds to cover the salaries of these two teachers which are $100 a month each and are presently only covered through May. 6

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8 UCPC has become the 1 st certified Earth Care Congregation in the Yukon Presbytery! Earth Care Congregation certification is an Environmental Ministries program of the Presbyterian Hunger Program. By applying for certification, UCPC has acknowledged that careful resource stewardship is a good thing, both for God s glorious creation and for our church. Initial certification requires that the applying church conduct an Earth Care Congregation (ECC) audit of the churches practices. The audit form lists a wide variety of practices a congregation can participate in. Points are awarded for taking part in these practices, in four categories: worship; education; facilities; and outreach. In the first year, certification requires 100 points - 25 in each category. Thereafter, yearly recertification requires a total of 50 points, with at least five earned in each category. Congregations choose which practices or items they wish to implement or install. Many of the potential practices are things that UCPC already does, such as recycling paper, making double-sided copies whenever possible and serving fair trade coffee. We also have some money- and resource-saving physical items, such as double-pane windows in the main building and motion-sensor light switches in the bathrooms. Of course, the work the Building Stewards have done over the years with replacing incandescent lightbulbs with LEDs and making sure the building is as weather-tight as possible went a long way toward earning us the necessary points for achieving our certification. Some of the things we can do to earn points over the coming years include increasing our use of reusable dishes and flatware from some to most of the time, holding Sunday School classes outside occasionally (when the weather cooperates!), and encouraging those who are able and so inclined to walk or ride bikes to church when possible. Adding a bike rack would count. Sermons that include topics on stewardship of the Earth also count. Feeding our summer flowers with Earth-friendly fertilizers would earn points, too. Becoming an Earth Care Congregation allows us to acknowledge the work we are already doing to protect and care for our small part of God s creation, to make efficient use of our financial reserves, and will regularly remind us of the importance of responsible stewardship of the Earth s resources. If you would like to be involved in exploring opportunities to care for our world through this program, please contact me. I can be reached by at melissabierer@hotmail.com, or by text or phone at Thank you! Melissa Bierer 8

9 Highlights from Session March 15, 2018 UCPC Session News Finance Treasurer s and Stewardship Report: Account balances for March 12th 2018 at 2.30pm were: Designated: $78,229.96; last month $79, Operating: $36,595.40; last month $30, Fuel: $431.54; last month $4, ($5,000 transfer from Ops needed this week) Savings: $504; last month $504 Business card: $ ; last month $ All bills have been paid on or before their due dates. The financial situation of UCPC is satisfactory. Income Jan: $18, Feb: $20, Mar: $12, after 2 Sundays Update to the 2018 pledge status. The current total is $138,710. This should be compared with the total pledge for 2017 which was $160,090. There has been a request from Lucile Hackett for the benefit our sanctuary grand piano. It has been noticed that the piano is losing its tune much faster than previously. Our piano tuner advises us that the piano needs a new humidifier and dessicater combination to provide servo control of the piano humidity. In addition, he recommends a skirt be fitted to enclose the air space under the sound board. The total cost for purchase and fitting of the new parts is $520. The Finance Committee recommends that this work be done and charged to the Memorials line in the designated account. This would be appropriate since it is in care of the piano which is a memorial for Fran Buswell. Mission and Service: UCPC s Loving Families host week is March There will be a Loving Families End of Season Celebration on May 5 th at UCPC. This will be a potluck with the various host churches providing dishes to share. One Great Hour of Sharing will be collected on Palm Sunday. Bingle Camp brochures are available in the narthex. A flyer with camp dates and schedules is also posted in the narthex. The next Special Offering is Pentecost, which will be received in May. Possible recipients of this year s donations are Interior Center for Non-Violent Living and Stevie s Place (at the Resource Center for Parents and Children). Arlayne will write a newsletter article to assist the congregation in following Ryan and Alethia White s work in Berlin. Melissa will write a newsletter article on how we obtained our recognition as an Earth Care Congregation and what we need to do to get recertified next year. Personnel: No meeting. Faith Development: There was no meeting this month, but there are a few things happening. A new middle school curriculum will be starting soon. The next Garage Guys event is 3/17. Easter Breakfast is scheduled for 8:30. Building Stewardship: Working hard. Right now, the biggest issue is snow removal. They are also working on the possibility of installing a security camera system 9

10 UCPC Session News Continued Additional Topics of Discussion: Jane Steeves presented a detailed report on the Wedding Showcase event at the Westmark, at which she and Lanien Livingston represented UCPC. About 350 people of the 500 or so attending heard about UCPC and our ability to host weddings. People shared experiences from their past, commenting on the beauty of the sanctuary, the convenience of the Fellowship Hall, etc. Jane and Lanien also heard UCPC commended for reaching out to the community on behalf of Christian weddings. Meeting Schedule: Thursday, April 19, 2018, 6:30pm 2 nd Quarter Planning Meeting Saturday, April 28, am to noon Thursday, May 17, 2018, 6:30pm 10

11 SUMMER 2018 BINGLE CAMP SCHEDULE June 3-8 Avalanche Camp Grades 3-5 Cost: $325 Early Bird Price before April 15 is $275 Get buried in God s love! This camp gives you the opportunity to grow closer to God in an amazing atmosphere. You will have the opportunity to swim everyday in Harding Lake, participate in our low ropes course, and learn all sorts of new games. We promise you will walk away from this camp ready to go out and live for God. This is a cabin camp June Challenge Camp Grade 6-8 Cost: $325 Early Bird Price before April 15 is $275 Do you like challenge? Do you like competition? Come enjoy this week long camp of challenges while you compete against others in a team setting. Challenges will include low ropes course, swimming, all camp games every night and much more. Bring an extra pair of sneakers and prepare to be challenged physically, mentally, and in your faith as you grow closer to God. This is a cabin camp. June Base Camp Grades 1-3 Cost: $220 Early Bird Price before April 15 is $170 This is a camp for those that are attending camp for the first time or our younger campers. The registration cost pays for camper and a parent that has the opportunity to be a part and learn what Bingle Camp is all about. Parents or an adult do not have to attend, but have the option if their camper is more comfortable or if it is their first time away from home. We want your first Bingle Camp experience to be a great one. June Splash Camp Grades 3-5 Cost: $325 Early Bird Price before April 15 is $275 This camp is where you will want to bring multiple swim suits as you will spend a majority of your time at camp enjoying water based activities. You will get soaked in Harding Lake and on the shore everyday. Be prepared for amazing water games in ways you never thought you would. This is a cabin camp. 11

12 June Extreme Skills Grades 6-9 Cost: $325 Early Bird Price before April 15 is $275 Come learn all there is to know about the outdoors in this camp. You will be staying in our Outback in our A-frame tents all week while cooking your own food over the campfire and learning how to do everything in the outdoors. Rain or shine you will learn how to be equipped to live in the outdoors. This camp does have the opportunity to swim in Harding Lake some days. We will also be doing some offsite hiking, climbing, and probably a canoe daytrip on a local river. This camp will require hiking and backpacking. It s a 1/4 mile uphill hike to our Outback camp. July 8-13 Night Glacier Camp Grades 9-12 Cost: $325 Early Bird Price before April 15 is $275 Do you like staying up late and sleeping in? Do you love being in the water? Then this is the camp for you. Perfect for teenagers with lots of time tubing and playing competitive games in and out of Harding Lake as well as late night activities every night and a chance to sleep in. This is a cabin camp. July H2O Adventure Camp Grades 6-8 Cost: $325 Early Bird Price before April 15 is $275 This is a camp where you will spend a great deal of your time at camp in water based activities. In Harding Lake and on the shore you will get soaked regularly. So be prepared to enjoy the water through tubing, amazing water games, and in ways you never thought you would use water. Come prepared to learn a lot about the outdoors in this camp. You may be staying a night or two in the Outback in our A-frame tents and the rest of the week in one of our cozy cabins. You will learn to cook your own food over the campfire and learn how to do many other things in the outdoors. This is a mixed cabin and outback tent camp. Register Online at Camp Office Bingle Camp Ministries PO Box Fairbanks, AK (907) binglecamp@gmail.com We offer the following discounts Early-bird discount: All registrations submitted with deposit by April 15 receive a $50 discount. Frequent camper discount: A camper who attends more than 1 camp in 2018 will receive a $50 discount for each additional camp they attend. Family discount: When siblings attend camp, each camper will receive a $25 discount for all camps they attend. 12

13 University Community Presbyterian Church 3510 College Road, Fairbanks, AK Phone: Fax: Website: Elders Lanien Livingston ~ Clerk of Sessions Melissa Bierer ~ Clerk of Sessions Brian Dixon ~ Class of 2018 Doreen McNeill ~ Class of 2018 Roger Smith ~ Class of 2018 Randy Frank ~ Class of 2019 Jane Steeves ~ Class of 2020 Norma Wivoda ~ Class of 2020 Deacons Susan Carothers Judy Fowler-Morris Lynne Krizek Donita Lawhead Darlene Peterson Paula Long Theresa Reed Pastor Rev. Neill McKay RevNeill@ucpcfairbanks.org Office: Cell: Choir Director ~ Lucile Hackett Admin Assistant Amanda Murray Office: admin@ucpcfairbanks.org Office Hours: Mon Fri : 9AM 1PM Organist ~ Pianist ~ Kathy Dohner Kathy Dohner Sound Manager ~ David Rohwer