What s Up Wickliffe! May 2018

Transcription

1 May 2018 What a winter it has been! When s it going to end? Everyone s saying the same thing and asking the same question. Hopefully, by the time you ve received and read this Newsletter. Our temperatures will be in at least the 50 s and the Sun will have shined upon us more frequently. And hopefully. Just hopefully, we can dry out a bit. But, I know what you re thinking. The way our weather s been, Mark! Nothing will surprise me! And I couldn t agree with you more. Our weather so far has gone up and down. The Spring Jacket one day and back to the Winter Coat and Gloves the next. So where am I going with this? By now, you all know I am a big fan of Nature. Like you, I get excited to see flowers poking up through the ground. And it feels so good when the Sun shines and warms our face. The grass transitions from brown to green. And the buds can be seen on the trees. And you say, Oh, yes! Oh, please! Anything but! No, I am not even going to say the word. You all know the word I am thinking of. But, I dare not say it! Chuckles! The signs of nature bear witness to the changing of the seasons. But, Nature also bears witness to something else. Nature is reminding us we all pass through our seasons of faith. When it comes to our faith. The light and warmth of the Sunshine does not always shine brightly every day. We don t keep track or number our days. But, we ll admit. The dark and gloomy clouds looming over our own heads. Some days are our own clouds. On some days, we look to others for light, warmth and joy. But, instead we find more clouds and rain. Not only are we creatures of habit. We re also creatures of nature. We re subject to change. Some days we re up. And some days we re down. Life does not fill all of our days with joy. So, what does nature and our own human nature tell us? Whether or not, the weather is good or bad outside. Even when we are weathering through the storms of our own faith. We all need something to constantly hold on to. The God of Creation wants to remind us. *The Sun is always shining above the Clouds! Yes, the Sun is always shining above the clouds. Nature s weather and the weather of our own lives is always changing. But, another Sunny day is coming. Our own human nature needs to be reminded. God s love, grace, compassion and forgiveness are continually shining upon us. Even when we don t see the Sun. Even when we realize we may possibly be that dark gloomy cloud. Even when we intentionally put a Cloud up between ourselves and God. God s love is constant. God s love never changes. God s love is never subject to the weather. Be it, nature s weather or our own personal weather. God s love does not change! Fortunately, our faith is not built upon the weather of our faithfulness to God. Our faith is built upon God s constant unwavering faithfulness to us. Regardless of the weather, the clouds, the cold and the. I didn t say it! Regardless, God pours and pours and pours and pours out his love upon us. Be sure to soak up the Sunshine of God! And remember, Sunshiny days are ahead! ~ Pastor Mark Check Out What s Inside Page 2 - May Schedule Sunday Schedules Page 3 - Birthdays/Anniversaries Church Contact Information Soup Ministry Church Notes Page 4 - In Step with Session Deacons Ice Cream Social Mother s Day Poem Page 5 - Church Financials Pentecost Offering Church Notes Page 6 - Mission Notes from Rwanda Page 7 - Taste of the Faiths Festival Page 8 - May Calendar

2 Page 2 May 6 May Schedule ********************************************************** Sixth Sunday of Easter Communion Moment for Mission - Pentecost Offering Gerbert & Bill O Hara Growth Birthday Coffee Hour (May/June/July) May 13 May 20 May 27 Seventh Sunday of Easter / Mother s Day Moment for Mission - Pentecost Offering Mother s Day Coffee Hour hosted by the Men s Group Day of Pentecost Pentecost Offering Deacon s Ice Cream Social - Following Worship Trinity Sunday Benevolence Offering Worship May 6 * * * * * Sunday Schedules * * * * * Janelle Truslow May 13 Dennis McMahon May 20 Shirley McMahon May 27 Volunteer Needed Ushers 1st Week - Dennis McMahon, Nancy O Hara, Bill Schoenfeld, Neil Truslow 2nd Week - Kevin Yacucci, Sherry Yacucci, Bill O Hara, Ricky Witt 3rd Week - Bev Bagoly, Barb McKinney, Bill Wayland, Volunteer Needed 4th Week - Jamie Bryant, Debbie Marshall, Bob Fabian, Volunteer Needed Acolytes Volunteers are needed for weekly acolytes. 5th Week & Evenings - Bill O Hara, Ron Salo, Dr. David Ritchie, Volunteer Needed Alternates - Bill O Hara, Bev Bagoly, Nancy Truslow

3 Page Per Capita is $ Per Capita informational flyers available at the church. Church Office Hours: Monday - 12:00pm - 2:00pm Tuesday - 9:00am - 2:00pm Wednesday - 12:00pm - 2:00pm Thursday - 9:00am - 2:00pm Friday - 12:00pm - 2:00pm Church Website: Secretary s wickliffepc@gmail.com Wickliffe Presbyterian Church 45 Idlewood Rd. Austintown, OH P: F: TLCC Daycare and Preschool Director, Norma Johnson Sdsds May 9 - James Burnett May 10 - Connor Smith May 11 - Kevin Yacucci May 14 - Gary Booher May 20 - Alec Smith May 31 - Ingrid Thompson May 31 - Ralph Brown May 21 - James & Lisa Bryant May 28 - Roger & Susan Burnett Needle s Eye Soup Ministry May will be the last month for large cans of soup. June through September, large cans of beans and large jars ofpeanut butter will be needed. Check for your initials this month! This month s initials are: P - S Thank you for your generosity! Donna Cooper Bill and I would like to thank everyone for their cards thoughts and prayers during his hospitalization and rehabilitation. He is now at home and on his feet walking with a walker. For those who don't know we have a new address. It is: 3400 McMillen Road, Apt 314 Wylie, TX Bill and Pat Sywy Norma & Glenn Johnson would like to thank everyone for the cards and phone calls on the death of Glenn s mother, Nancy, last month in Texas.

4 Page 4 IN STEP WITH SESSION. The 4 th meeting of Session for 2018 began at 6:00pm on Tuesday, April 17th, with all Elders present. We listened to Jeff Botos from Universal Church Directories who spoke on an upcoming pictorial. Session moved to allow him to work with us on a pictorial sometime in the Fall. Our normal business was approved and we took the time to discuss the following brought up by each Team: CE: (Donna)-They are looking for ideas to involve the youth. Also, we want to be ready when a nursery is needed in the near future. Janelle spoke on a retreat that Miranda attended entitled Celebration at St Joe s. Growth: (Janet)- Next Birthday celebration is on May 6 th. Janet and Kathy are working on the new directory. If anyone knows of any changes, please let Kathy know. Talked in length about Home Communion and/or visitation to sick and shut-ins. Pentecost will be on May 20 th with minute for missions on 6 th & 13 th. Service: (Dennis)- Neil to help with fundraisers. First one is T-shirts. Worship: (Shirley)- Easter Service went very well. Cross and guitarist were well received. Support: (Nancy)- Concerns- Unhappy with snowplowing not doing a very good job. Take note of envelopes for Benevolence, Windows and Grass cutting in Narthex. Please support when able. Jamie also mentioned that our Financial report showed we were in the black. Will be paying the Per Capita in payments. I had found an article entitled, Protecting your Church against Violence. Pastor passed out copies for all of us to read. As you can see, your Elders, as a whole, have been busy working for the good of the Church and beyond. Please let your Elders and Pastor know if there are any concerns you wish to have addressed. We have one more Session meeting before we postpone our meetings for two months in the Summer. I m sure you all are aware that, even thought our meetings are suspended, we still are diligently doing the work we need to do with our members in mind. God Bless and have a very happy Spring Nancy O Hara, Clerk of Session Please support the Deacon's annual Ice Cream Social May 20,2018 after our church service! We will be having hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans, strawberries and ice cream. A free will offering will be taken for our Deacon's mission work. Thanks for always being there for Wickliffe Deacons. Hope to see you there! ~ Wickliffe Deacons Here s wishing you a Mother s Day That s filled with every pleasure, And a future that s as happy As the memories you treasure! ~ Anonymous

5 Page 5 Wickliffe Presbyterian Church Financial Report - March /28/18 Total Available Funds (checking/savings) $120, Total Cash Received 8, Total Expenditures 6, Total Interest /31/18 Total Available Funds (checking/savings) $122, Account Balances: Savings Checking Benevolence Memorial Balance as of 02/28/18 $45, $74, $1, $5, Deposits , Interest Received 3.22 Withdrawals , Balance as of 03/31/18 $45, $76, $1, $5, Per Capita ~ Received - $ Paid - $0.00 GOD, FROM MY YOUTH YOU HAVE TAUGHT ME (PSALM 71:17) Excerpt from the letter from the Office of the General Assembly: "Friends, In celebration of God s steadfast faithfulness, the psalmist declares, God, from my youth you have taught me. This year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Pentecost Offering. Your congregation s support for the Pentecost Offering is a sign of your faith and your hope for the future! We are grateful for your generosity that provides programs for our children, youth, and young adults. Your gift will join a churchwide effort to support young people in Christ. Your gift will inspire them to share their faith, ideas, and unique talents with the church and the world. Your gift will support the Young Adult Volunteer Program, ministries with youth (including the Youth Triennium) and programs for children at risk. In addition, your congregation retains 40 percent of the offering you receive to develop and support programs for young people in your own church and community. The Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly. I thought you all may like to hear the explanation of the Pentecost Offering from the official voice from the General Assembly. I couldn t have stated it better! Our offering will be taken on May 20, Pentecost Sunday. Please give as generously as you are able. Thank you! Donna Cooper Christ Church Presbyterian Rummage Sale - Friday & Saturday, May 4 & 5 This event is a fundraiser conducted by the Women s Organization of Christ Church to replace the roof on the church s sanctuary and beyond. Pizza, soft drinks and water will be available for sale. Come out to shop and support a great cause! 1933 Canfield Rd., Youngstown. Deacons Closet Donations The Deacons are requesting that any donations be brought on Sunday mornings so that they can be put away. If you need to drop off on a different day, please see one of the Deacons to make arrangements. And as always, thank you for your generosity!

6 Page 6 Mission Notes From Rwanda! The Rev. Kay Day, One of the international Mission Co-Workers we are getting to know! Below you will find Kay s latest letter from Rwanda. Please continue to hold her in prayer! You may follow Kay s work at Kaydaysdiary.blogspot.com You may also her at mkayday@gmail.com Beloved in Jesus Christ, Easter Greetings from Rwanda As the Christian world celebrates the power of the resurrection, we in the churches in Rwanda are trusting God for that resurrection power in a very specific way this year. The Rwandan government has closed more than 1,500 worship centers in Rwanda because they have determined the buildings to be unsafe or unhealthy. Over 2,000 more have been given a time limit of 3 weeks to 3 months to correct imperfections in buildings or they will be closed. This impacts all denominations in the country. For a country the size of the state of Maryland, this is signficant, For instance, in Gitarama Presbytery, the one of which I am a part, of the 93 worship centers (39 churches and 54 chapels a satellite worship center of the main churuch), 10 churches and 26 chapels have been closed and the remaining 29 churches and 25 of the chapels have required renovations to make or they will be closed. These renovations range from replacing windows and doors to putting on new roofs, improving rest rooms, fencing property, providing rain harvesting cisterns and paving dirt floors. In the Mugombwa sector, about 12 kilometers from Huye where I live, all the Protestant churches in the sector have been closed. Everyone in the sector must travel to Huye to worship until their worship centers can reopen. The Presbyterian chapel there is a small one, only 36 members. Before they can reopen, they are required to build a church building rather than renting a space, as they have been doing. Easter Sunday, with help from our English chapel, which is not closed. they have hired two mini-buses to carry the congregation to the main church in Huye so that they can at least worship together on Easter. We at the English chapel have been partnering with them in a number of ways in the last year and are delighted to assist them in this way, but it is only for one Sunday. The long-term need of a new building is at least a year in the future. In the meantime, they are not allowed to meet as a congregation. They must do their fundraising and their building without gathering together as a congregation. This is just one of over 1,500 worship spaces in this situation. The amazing thing, to me, is that these folks are not discouraged. They have accepted the government s orders and are working to meet the demands. There is no grumbling. They are moving on in the faith that God has a plan for them and he will bring about that plan in his time and in his way. They are working in that faith. They believe in the resurrection power that raised Christ from the dead is the same power that will enable them to rise to the challenge of building and reopening their congregation. As you celebrate this Easter season, I invite you to remember the Christians in Rwanda who will not be worshipping in their sanctuaries this year. Pray for Christ s resurrection power to enable them to renovate and reopen those spaces to the glory of God. Pray for the resources necessary to do the necessary renovations in each location. As you pray for us, I pray that you will be drawn closer to Christ and experience his resurrection power in your own lives. Yours in Christ s power, Kay (Cathie to the family)

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8 May 2018 Wickliffe Presbyterian Church Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sundays 9:30 a.m. - Worship Service 10:30 a.m. - Sunday School (all ages) 8:00 p.m. -AA 1 2 Denny's (Austintown) - 11:30 am Growth Birthday COFFEE Hour 7 7:00 pm - Al-Anon TLCC Mother's Day Program - 11:00 am :30 am - SUPPORT Meeting 14 7:00 pm - Al-Anon 15 6:00 pm - Regular SESSION Meeting 16 12:00 Noon - Esther CIRCLE :00 am - CHOIR Practice 20 DEACONS Ice Cream Social 21 12:30 pm - DISCOVERY Group TLCC Graduation - 7:00 pm :00 am - CHOIR Practice 7:00 pm - Al-Anon 27 Benevolence Offering 28 7:00 pm - Al-Anon Stated Presbytery Meeting June 5 - North Benton PC 5:00 p.m.