October From the Pastor s Study

Transcription

1 Good News From the Pastor s Study October 2008 Martin Pike, a contributing editor to The Presbyterian Outlook made a contribution to me that I want to contribute to you. The line of traffic was bumper to bumper. We were still blocks from our destination. Drivers were turning off on side streets looking for a place to park. Others, having already parked, were walking and the auditorium was still a half-mile away. I encouraged my mother to follow their example. This is as close as we can get, I said. Mother would have none of it. I m going right up to the front entrance. There will be a parking place. Everyone else thinks the good spots are already taken. She was right. A vacant place awaited our arrival. Occasionally, in the years that have followed, I have taken that advice. Most of the time I have profited by her wisdom. There usually is a parking place right up front. In the life of the church there are vacant spots that are never filled because the rest of us are sure that someone else has already filled them, and not just the parking places, either. Every week I learn too late something I should have known earlier. As many as three people have decided not to call me because they are sure someone else has given me the information. A job goes undone that a dozen people would have gladly tackled. Each is sure someone else has done it. I have been and continue to be impressed by the substantial volunteer contributions of time, talent and earnest effort given by so many members of PPC in support of our mission and ministry. In other churches I have served, I have cultivated the practice of sending notes of appreciation to volunteers thanking them for their significant gifts. One reason for this administrative habit is that it has been my perplexing experience through the years that, too often, church volunteers receive more criticism than appreciation and more neglect than affirmation. Most volunteers offer whatever they can give because they want to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ and not because they seek public applause. At the same time many wonderful volunteers burn out because critique and neglect diminish their reservoir of spiritual strength and resolve. So, in years past, I wrote notes letting volunteers know that their Christian service is valued. I have had a difficult time with this administrative practice at PPC because so many of you are doing so much that it would take more hours than I can find to properly thank each of you. continued on page 2

2 SESSION HIGHLIGHTS Session met Tuesday, September 9, 2008 at 7:30 pm where they: > Heard a report from the Finance Committee on the current state of the church budget. The importance of meeting pledge projections was emphasized so that the financial needs of the church can be met during the current year. Church committees were asked to review expenditures and conserve where possible. > Approved that the next Stewardship campaign will be in October. > Scheduled a review of the fee schedule for church facilities rental for the next meeting. > Heard a report on new facilities that are available for use, although there are still some things to be completed on the builder s punch list. > Heard an update on the Capital Campaign including information about the work of the Bridge Committee to follow up on pledges. The committee will present a report to Session. > Heard updates on getting engineering drawings for build-out of lower level of Mission Hall for CORE and Youth Lounge. Additional information will be provided at the next meeting. > Heard from the Communications Committee which suggested that Elders be available one Sunday a month to answer questions from the congregation, and that information about Session activities be published in the Good News and the Sunday bulletin. The possibility of using a wiki or other electronic resources was discussed. > Heard that PPC has applied for a permit to have a school in the church building. Session will meet on Tuesday, October 7, 2008 at 7:30 pm. Tommie Curtis, Clerk of Session From the Pastor s Study continued from page 1 Hence, this article is a note to thank you for your volunteer work as an officer, member of the PNC, committee member, maintenance and repair expert, gardener, flower arranger, teacher, program administrator, singer, instrumentalist, LOGOS cook, office staff supporter, hospital and home visitor, record keeper, researcher, sound system technician, installer and operator, major building maintenance supervisor and implementator, greeter, usher, financial adviser, wall painter, Shelter Meal cook, bulletin board designer and the list goes on. What good news! Thank you for your gift of volunteer power that makes ministry happen at PPC. More volunteers are needed! There are still parking places up front. Some of our volunteers need to take a break. Some are ready to move into a new and different area of service. If you are open to receiving an invitation to volunteer service in support of PPC s witness to the love of Christ, call me or Mary Rodgers at the church office. We will be delighted to work with you to discover a service opportunity to match your interests and spiritual gifts that will encourage your growth-in-the-faith and PPC s growth in Christian Witness. Grace and Peace, Roger October 2008 Page 2

3 CONCERT SERIES EXPANDED The MUSIC & ARTS AT PROVIDENCE series has expanded this season to include two free concerts. The first concert will be Sunday, October 26 th at 7 pm, featuring the choral ensembles of George Mason University. The University Chamber Singers, the Select Women s Choir and the University Chorale will be singing works to include Galuppi s Dixit Dominus and Rheinberger s Mass in A; Alleluya Psallat, and Let the People Praise Thee, O God by William Mathias. A brass choir from GMU will be joining them for a Gabrieli triple choir selection. The singers will be assisted by accompanists Jane Kaye, Alice Mikolajewski, and Jihae Lim. Donations to benefit our church will be accepted. The George Mason Choral department will be hosting a reception in the Fellowship Hall following the concert. Season ticket holders will receive priority seating by showing their Season Ticket Holder Pass found in their ticket envelope. All are invited to attend this wonderful evening of choral music. The other free concert this season will be an Organ Recital and master class sponsored by the Northern Virginia Chapter of the American Guild of organists on Friday, June 12. Details will be provided at a later time. ADOPT-A-SPOT Looking for a few good Men, Women & Children One of our adopted spots The first impressions visitors have of our church are the grounds. Have you taken a good look at the PPC grounds lately? The areas needing care, mulch and weeding have increased considerably due to the new construction. Currently, only a few members, with the occasional help of volunteers on work days, are struggling to keep up with the maintenance and there is no money in the budget to hire a service to take care of the job. So, we are looking for men, women, children, families, small groups or any other combination to adopt a spot. There is a map in the Commons Area that is numbered for various areas to be adopted. As a Gardening Guardian, your job will be to maintain your adopted space at your own pace on a time schedule that fits you. Please, look the property plan over, select an area that you will take responsibility for and sign up. Please Bertha McClintock with the area you would like to adopt. MEDICAL EQUIPMENT FOR BORROWING Providence Church has medical equipment available for members and friends to use in their own homes. We have a wheelchair, walkers, crutches, and bedside commodes. Please contact the church office if you have a need! CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER Monday, October 20, :30 9:00 p.m. in the Parlor This is a drop-in group composed of different people each month. Give it a try! Roger Shoup will present an examination of the prayer principals established in the classic book, Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life written by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn and Matthew Linn. All are invited to participate in this casual time of study of prayer. Page 3 October 2008

4 OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD Holiday Mission Project Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God s love. This program of Samaritan s Purse ( provides an opportunity for people of all ages to be involved in a simple, hands-on mission project while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas Jesus Christ. Instructions for assembling a shoe box can be found on the Samaritan s Purse web site or in directions that will be in the Commons Area early in October. A collection box will be available towards the end of October for delivery to a local collection point the week of November Last year PPC provided 32 shoe boxes during the Christmas holiday season! Many thanks to the Providence members and friends who provided funds to purchase clean-up buckets for those who experienced recent disasters floods, hurricanes, etc. Eighty-two buckets were purchased 41 by members and friends, matched by 41 more from the Mission Committee. Many will benefit from your caring and generosity. BUCKETS! AND MORE BUCKETS!! THE WORKPLACE GIVING CAMPAIGNS No doubt many at Providence will be hearing about workplace giving campaigns in the next few weeks. Two organizations supported by Providence through the benevolence budget and with many volunteers would also like you to know about their designation numbers do remember them as they provide emergency assistance to many of our needy neighbors. ACCA Fairfax FISH (Annandale Christian Community for Action) (For Immediate Sympathetic Help) United Way #8058 United Way #8305 Combined Federal Campaign #58934 Combined Federal Campaign #72413 Commonwealth of Virginia #8233 Commonwealth of Virginia #8400 WHITE HOUSE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS The Men of the Church will be taking orders until Thursday, October 2, for the 2008 White House Christmas ornament Ornaments $18.00 each Ornaments $16.95 each 50+ Ornaments $16.00 each You may orders or questions to Peter McClintock. Ornaments will be available for pick up on Sunday, October 19. Proceeds benefit church activities. October 2008 Page 4

5 KidsQuest KidsQuest is our new name for the Providence Children s programs. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to go and make disciples, to teach those younger in the faith, to pass on the truth that lies in God s Word. In KidsQuest this year along with the rich curriculum used, we will be emphasizing the need to spend time with Jesus through prayer and being in the Word of God. Students will be practicing prayer and learning skills to study God s Word. Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6 The structure of our KidsQuest Sunday morning programs is as follows: Nursery. Nursery childcare for infants through age 3 is available in Lower Williamson in Room 101. Children enjoy a time of play, reading and at 10:00 those ready to participate may go to our Early Childhood Music time in Lower Williamson. Our childcare providers are Hillary Boyce, Glecy Groyon, and Soheila Taheri. 10:00 KidsQuest Hour. We continue to use Walk With Me Bible curriculum. Four year olds and Kindergarteners meet downstairs in Lower Williamson and will begin their hour with 15 minutes of music, led by Allison Hagner. Our three year olds can join with the singing from the Nursery if they are interested. Grades 1-6 are meeting in Upper Williamson 1 st /2 nd grades in Room 201A; 3 rd /4 th grades in Room 201B; and 5 th /6 th grades in Room st 6 th grades will close their Sunday School hour with a time of praising God in Room 202 led by Holly Marcario. 8:45 & 11:15 Worship KidStyle. All children are invited to worship with their parents. Following the Children s Message, four year olds through 1 st graders are invited to Worship KidStyle. Children meet their teachers in Room 202 for a time of Worship and activities usually held in Room 201. Parents, it would be helpful if you could walk your children to Room 202, at least for the first month. These children may be picked up in either Room 202 or 201 at the end of the service. If you have a child in Worship KidStyle, you will be asked to teach on a rotation with other parents. KidsQuest Registration. All children must be registered. All teachers will be asking you to register your children. It is important we know who to expect each hour in order to plan for the necessary staffing, materials and appropriate activities. Other Activities. Stay tuned for details concerning KidsQuest Fellowship activities, Bibles for the 4 th Graders, and the Christmas Pageant. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:2,3 Ongoing Concern of the Church Members of the Pastor Nominating Committee: Doris Bates Chris Becker Leigh Burke Rose Clark Harvey Doerksen Nancy Jones David Kepley Rob Moss David Ranowsky Paula Rogers Maralee Syers Robert Porter (Presby. Liaison) Page 5 October 2008

6 Dearly beloved staff, members and friends of Providence, How blessed I am for having all of you surrounding me like angels. I don t know how to thank you for the kindnesses, notes, cards, phone calls and visits to David during the last few months when I was mourning the death of our daughter, Barbara, and anticipating the loss of David, Darling as I called him privately. So I will continue to ask God s blessing on you all. I have felt His presence during this time, thanks to your support. I know it was time for David to leave us, and he is surely at home now, reunited with our beloved daughter. I am especially grateful for those who planned the beautiful memorial service, especially Mary Rodgers, Terry Stoneberg, Jane Kaye, John Burns and Bill Sargent, and Joe Moss who had agreed to sing The Lord s Prayer at MY service, and I hope he will still do so! The choir was magnificent, as always, and Sarah Davis and the Pastoral Care Committee were a tremendous help with everything. May you all be as blessed as I have been. Barbara Jones Providence members and friends, I want to express my thanks to everyone who sent their messages of kind encouragement during my hip replacement and recovery. Your messages were the best therapy. Bill Taylor YOU CAN SAVE A LIFE! PENNIES FOR PEACE First tally!! On Rally Day you contributed 23,849 pennies and 1,040 other coins and bills for a grand total of $375.44!! Please tell your friends, neighbors, and co-workers about this wonderful mission opportunity and about how they too can make a difference in the world one penny at a time! Pennies for Peace is a program of the Central Asia Institute founded by Greg Mortensen, author of Three Cups of Tea. The institute has been building schools in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan since 1993 and offering children there hope for a better future. Thanks again for your support! There is one more Blood Drive at Providence scheduled for It will be held on Tuesday, December 9, from 2:30 7:30 pm. Sign-up for this drive will begin in early November in the Commons Area. For more information, you can contact Elden Wright. Providence has a long history of supporting the community with life-saving blood since We have provided more than 1,500 good units during this period. Please consider this worthwhile outreach. October 2008 Page 6

7 CORNER October is going to be a big month for the youth! We ll be asking them to dig a little deeper, ask tough questions, step into the realm of the uncomfortable, and jump off a platform 40 feet off the ground to sail 400 feet down a zip wire I don t know about you, but that sounds like a good month! Here s how we ll be doing it all: LOGOS starts October 1. If you haven t registered yet, please do! Jr Highs meet weekly on Wednesdays from 4:30-7:30, Sr Highs meet from 5:15-8:00. The Sr Highs will be jumping into the deep end head first with some important small group time. This will be a chance for our fabulous youth to really get to know and support each other, and be connected to some wonderful adults who will share their lives with them. If your youth wants to be a part of this, but cannot commit to being at LOGOS the whole evening, see Mary Ellen. We would LOVE to have everyone participating in this small group experiment. Please pray for our group leaders! Jr & Sr High Sexuality Retreats are this month! For Jr Highs it s October 10-12, and for Sr Highs it s October Believe it or not these weekends are going to be fun as well as memorable! Come explore all sorts of black, white and grey areas with us as we wrestle with questions like: Are we just the sum of our urges? What can I say to a friend in need? How can we be sexually responsible but not repressed? Or even, How can I turn down a date without breaking a heart? It s going to be a great weekend, complete with the fabulous Camp Highroad zip line! Meanwhile, at PYF The Sr Highs will be focusing on Prayer on October 12 (while the Jr Highs are home sleeping off the crazy weekend!). We ll either be heading to the National Cathedral for a unique prayer service or we ll transform Providence into a house of prayer with stations all over the building with different ways to be alone with God. Stay tuned, we ll either need drivers or lots of help transforming the church! The Jr Highs will have PYF all to themselves on October 26 while the Sr Highs catch up on homework and sleep! We ll be watching an entertaining and relevant movie that will lead us, hopefully, into all sorts of interesting discussions. Plan to arrive around 5:00 pm and be picked up at 7:30! And of course, the end of the month brings us to Halloween and Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF! Dress your best and you might win our costume contest! We ll head into the neighborhood collecting spare change for children in need all over the world. And, who knows? We may come home loaded with candy as well that s just the price we pay for social awareness! It s going to be a great month with lots of ways to get outside of our comfort zones. What s a church family for if not to support, challenge and stretch us! I can t wait to get started! Mary Ellen LOGOS LOGOS begins October 1! 1st through 8th graders: 4:30-7:30 Sr Highs: 5:15-8:00 To register, to volunteer, to get more information, contact Vicky Hayes or Mary Rodgers. October Themes I Love Virginia 10/1 Take Me Out to the Ballgame 10/8 Sundae Wednesday (Bring a Friend) 10/15 Round the Clock 10/22 Crazy Critters 10/29 Page 7 October 2008

8 Worship - Sundays Communion, 1st Sundays each month Traditional Worship, 8:45 Christian Education for All Ages, 10:00 am Traditional Worship, 11:15 am Contemporary Service, 11:15 LOGOS begins Wednesday, October 1, 4:30 & 5:15 pm M & A Concert Sunday, October 5, 7:00 pm Office Closed Monday, October 13, for Columbus Day Faith in Film Friday, October 17, 7:30 pm Contemplative Prayer Monday, October 20, 7:30 pm Providence Presbyterian Church 9019 Little River Turnpike Fairfax, VA Office Fax STAFF Interim Pastor: Roger Shoup Associate Pastor: Mary E. Rodgers Director of Youth Ministries: Mary Ellen Moss Children s Ministry Coordinator: Holly Marcario Director of Music: Terry Stoneberg Organist: Jane Kaye Music Leader & Technology Coordinator: Rick Thiele Providence Singers: Gene Kaye Business Administrator: Joe Moss Executive Secretary: Kathy Knorr Sexton: Richard Mudd Good News Editor: Kathy Knorr Providence Presbyterian Church 9019 Little River Turnpike Fairfax, VA ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Non Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Merrifield, VA Permit No October 2008