C H U R C H. NPC December Calendar. Christmas Eve Services - 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Christmas Day - 10:15 a.m. WORSHIP CONNECT IMPACT

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1 N o r t h P a r k C H U R C H WORSHIP CONNECT IMPACT December 2016 Volume 115 A Publication of North Park Evangelical Presbyterian Church NPC December Calendar December 2 Friday, Christmas Tea by Women s Connection in the Blue Room at 7:00 p.m. December 3 Saturday, Gingerbread House Construction Party 6:00 p.m. in the Blue Room December 11 Sunday, Advent Brunch 9:00 a.m. in the Blue Room December 18 Sunday, Worship December 18 Caroling Meet at the church at 1:45 p.m. December 24 Saturday, Christmas Eve Services 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.. Nursery only at 6:00 p.m. December 25 Sunday, Worship 10:15 a.m. No nursery. January 1 Sunday, Worship 10:15 a.m. Sunday school begins for all ages on Sunday, January 8. Christmas Eve Services - 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Christmas Day - 10:15 a.m. This is a Christmas Sunday year which means we will have three services in a brief period that weekend. Christmas day worship will run around one hour and will offer no children s programming or nursery. Nursery is running for the 6:00 p.m. service Christmas Eve. Please contact Jill Benson if you are available to assist in the nursery during that special event.

2 2 Contents Front Page NPC December Calendar 2 Safety & Security for NPC Van Sickel Thank You 3 Pastor s Corner Youth Group Schedule for December 4 Gingerbread Construction Christmas Caroling New Hope Christmas Store Tree 5 Did You Know? We Just Disagree 6 Meal Ministry Children s Sunday School Highlight 7 Summer Interns Wanted Fall Retreat Recap 8 Connecting with Coffee Should you go to Laurelville? 9 NPC Family of the Month Back Page Birthdays and Anniversaries Safety & Security for North Park Church By Mark Sharpnack Are you interested in exploring safety and security issues and improvements for North Park Church? As you may be aware, this summer NPC undertook an assessment of our facility to evaluate where we stood in this important area. Under the authority of Session and the Deacons, an outside security consultant visited NPC and provided feedback in various major areas including Children's Ministry, cash handling, access control, safety procedures, and security. The increased security and child safety measures implemented by Jill Benson, Director of Children's Ministry, were based on recommendations written in NPC's Safety and Security Survey that followed the consultant's visit. As the next step, the Deacon's are forming a Safety and Security Committee to review and if appropriate, implement further recommendations from the survey. A short ten minute safety and security information meeting will be held on Sunday, December 11 immediately following the Sunday service. This meeting will be to provide men and women who might be interested with some additional information, provide a copy of the survey, and to schedule the first Safety and Security Committee meeting in early January. For a current look at the NPC calendar, click the calendar link above the newsletter link on the web. North Park Church 600 Ingomar Rd. Wexford, PA We will never be able to thank you all for the prayers, cards, meals, and visits that you showered us with after my accident. We are amazed how God blessed us with the help you gave us. We love you all so much and truly could never thank you enough! Love, Phil and Nancy Van Sickel

3 Pastor s Corner by Dan Hendley November this year marked the 30 th anniversary of the passing of my father, Francis Marion Hendley. My dad, who went by Frank was born in 1917 in Birmingham. He was plenty bright but poverty kept him from finishing even high-school. He went to work right away and at 24 joined the Coast Guard reserves. My father served during WWII in the Pacific theatre where he commanded an amphibious assault craft. He once told me not to buy a Toyota because those people used to shoot at me. My parents married while Dad was on leave and started having babies as soon as the war was over. I was the youngest (by far) of their five. When I knew him, my dad was a real-estate salesman while running our small cattle farm. Neither provided much income. Dad was not a Christian. He did not argue with it but never went to church, read Scripture or pray. He drank to excess. On the positive side, he supported me, loved me and was a close companion in life over the things we shared mostly sports. Dad ran for public office twice and lost twice. My older brother thinks he never recovered from that. When I was fourteen my mother and I moved out into an apartment in town. Dad sold the farm and lived alone for his final fourteen years. Despite having two preachers for sons, my dad never demonstrated any gospel faith. His values were entirely secular and, having failed to achieve a secular success, there was nothing for him to fall back on or live for. Consistent with his commitment not to be a burden to his children, my dad took his own life as he saw his health gradually going downhill. I got the news on Saturday afternoon and spent the evening preparing a different sermon for the day after. I am grateful for my dad s love and for the encouragement I received from him. But, sadly, his life was for me a lesson in how bankrupt we are without a relationship with God. In part, that is why I live to help people discover the real life that is a relationship with God the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 3 Youth Group Schedule for December December 4 (6:30-8:30 p.m.) Youth Group December 10 (8:00 a.m. 12:00 p.m.) World Vision Outreach Event. We will meet in the church parking lot at 8:00 a.m. and then head over to World Vision s distribution center. We will be there until noon and then grab lunch on the way back. December 11 (6:30-8:30 p.m.) Youth Group December 14 ( 7:00-8:30 p.m.) High School Small Group December 18 (6:30-8:30 p.m.) Youth Group Christmas Party. We will be having a lot of activities such as an ugly sweater contest, a Secret Santa gift exchange, and a time of singing Christmas carols. This will be a fun night you will not want to miss. December 25 - No YG due to Christmas

4 4 Gingerbread House Construction We re only one week away from our Gingerbread House Construction Party! We re still recruiting construction workers who will enjoy getting paid with music, snacks and lots of fun! Don t know how to build a gingerbread house? Don t worry, we train apprentices!! And we supply all the tools you will need. All you need to bring is a can of vanilla icing (one per construction worker) and lots of enthusiasm. We are an equal opportunity employer - moms, dads, kids, and all who want to have a great time are invited! Wondering how you can support this event? In addition to attending, you can: Pick up some invites at the table after church on Sunday and invite your friends or neighbors to the event. How wonderful would it be if each family that attended was able to bring another family with them?! If you haven t already, sign up to donate candy at the table after church on Sunday. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Holly Murphy at hollyeward@gmail.com. We can t wait to see what fun houses are created this year! New Hope Christmas Store Tree by Ben Burkholder Why do we participate in the New Hope Christmas Store? For those of you who may be new to our church, New Hope is a church that North Park planted on the North Side of Pittsburgh a number of years ago. It is our privilege to remain involved in the life of this church and its ministry, and the New Hope Christmas store is one small but important way we remain connected to them. As in past years, we are having a Christmas tree in the lobby adorned with ornaments marked with age and gender specific gifts. If you wish to participate, please, take an ornament and purchase an appropriate gift. Then, be sure to have it back to the church in time so that it can be delivered to New Hope and put in the store. This year's collection deadline is Sunday, December 4. The store will be held at New Hope on December 10. If you wish to assist with the delivery of the gifts or helping out with the store, please contact Nellie Luther at naluther724@yahoo.com. Christmas Caroling by Ben Burkholder Christmas is a time that many of us will enjoy special time with family and friends. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to do so. Many folks are confined to assisted living and skilled care facilities, without family and friends. This can be a lonely time for them. Visiting with these folks and singing with them the carols that we all love is a wonderful opportunity to include them in our fellowship and brighten their day. It really doesn t matter how well you sing, it simply matters that you share your time and your joy! And bring the kids - folks love to see the little ones! This is a wonderful opportunity for the entire family to be a blessing! We have connected with 3 area senior homes (Cumberland Crossing, Vincentian Home, and Wexford House) all within 10 minutes of the church. They have all expressed their appreciation for us coming and are eagerly looking forward to it. On Sunday, December 18, we will meet at the church at 2:45 p.m., get our assignments and song sheets, and depart to sing and visit. We have scheduled our time to be sensitive to the schedules of the residents, planning to finish-up no later than 4:15 p.m., when most of the residents will be going to dinner. We are also looking for persons/couples to serve as leaders/coordinators for each of the teams. You can sign-up at the Information Counter or contact Ben Burkholder at benburkholder@northparkepc.org.

5 By Brooke Hopkins Did you Know? Did you know that Linnea Fairfield has been accepted to Grove City College that Sam Buirge made a game-winning goal in OT to propel NA Tigers to a WPIALL tourney victory over Fox Chapel.that Roberto Clemente had exactly 3,000 hits in the big leagues before his death.. that Grace Stitt has recently become a confirmed member of our church..that Chris Wu is a big Chicago Cubs fan..that World Series MVP Ben Zobrist is a Christian. that the father of NBA 7 footer Wilt Chamberlain was that Laura Daly is speaking in high-schools for Women s Choice Network (WCN)..that Jeff Longmore is on the board of WCN..that the official language of England from 1099 to 1399 was French that Laura Story is in concert at Memorial Park Church on December 8 and proceeds go to the mission in Sierra Leone..that Jeff Gingrich has been able to raise $30,000 for construction of a medical clinic in Sierra Leone.that the first state in the US to outlaw gambling was Nevada..that Basseme Mikhael has graduated from Harvard Medical School and is working in Boston..that Al and Pat Schaefer just celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. that a memorial stone honoring Rich Van Newkirk has been placed in our front plant-beds..that Cherophobia is the fear of fun.that those who read the FYI are 19% less likely to suffer from cherophobia than those who don t.. Did you know these things? I thought you should. 5 We Just Disagree What did the politically correct cowboy say? Why can t we all just git along, little dogie. Ok, well, that was sort of like a joke. Except jokes are funny, Brooke. Probably everyone becomes distracted over the term dogie (a calf without a mother), and nobody remembers the old country song by Woody Guthrie. I suppose it s better to write jokes like that rather than say them, because then we re all spared the awkward silence that follows when they fall flat. I should know, as my family will tell you. And with this particular witty gem, everyone starts to think of doggy, which takes all the punch out of the punch line. Come to think about it, I suppose the dog reference may be fitting because, especially in our house, our colossal canine is a big, gentle love sponge with everyone except the five felines. If dogs had a bible, chapter 3 of the first book would include the prophecy, I will put enmity between you and the cat. They just seem hardwired for incompatibility. T ain t no getting along in their world. In this age of preached tolerance when no one really is, we humans find ourselves not able to get along either mostly because we can t get other people to do or believe what we want them to. This has become so clear in the aftermath of the recent election. It strikes me as odd that the side promoting tolerance all the time is seemingly intolerant of the results. Those that embrace co-existence are truly offended by the cross, and can t stand the Christian who actually takes his faith seriously. So, what are we to do? Take our faith seriously, by cracky (tapping into the cowboy theme going, right there). There is only one cure that will heal the great divide that is so evident in our nation, and we have it. At the time of this writing, our family is planning to attend a Thanksgiving gathering with family members who are passionate about politics on the other side of the aisle. It s not my idea of fun, especially as I recall some vitriolic debates in the past, but in this day and age of (Continued on page 7)

6 6 Children s Sunday School Highlight Meal Ministry Coordinator by Beth Morley The Meal Ministry team is looking for an additional coordinator to serve alongside Bethany Mitchell and Beth Morley. Alice LeBarre has been diligently serving and filling this need, but is moving on to serve in other ways. Thank you, Alice, for all of your hard work and service! As a meal coordinator, you would create a meal schedule online and the meal team to have volunteers sign up to bring meals! You would serve as coordinator once every three months as needs arise during the month. Additionally, we are looking to add new cooks to the ministry as well. These volunteers simply prepare and transport a meal every few months to an NPC family in need. If serving as a meal ministry volunteer sounds like a way you would like to serve, please sign up at the Information Counter. If serving as a coordinator is a way you could help, please contact Beth Morley at mrsbmorley@gmail.com. You can also contact the Meal Ministry at npcmealministry@gmail.com. Experiencing the Scriptures Through Play By Jill Benson Play! What a wonderful name for a preschool Sunday School class curriculum! Immediately joy, fun and excitement come to mind when I hear the word what a wonderful way to approach the study of God s word. The Play curriculum we re using for our 3-4-year-old class this year is a part of the Dwell resources mentioned in my November FYI article. Taking stories from Genesis through Acts, Play leads participants on a joyful discovery of God s love. How wonderful to spend Sunday mornings discovering the love of our great God with joy! Under the teaching of Mrs. Holly Fairfield and Ms. Linnea Fairfield, our 3-4-year-olds have praised God for our amazing world as they colored their favorite animals to hang around the room, they ve imagined what it would be like to be Joseph as they glued strips of cloth to their very own coat of many colors, and they ve held their own baby Moses so very tightly as they learned about Moses mommy putting him in a basket to keep him safe. These children aren t just hearing a story each week they are experiencing it as a real story that happened to real people. Each week these children joyfully bound in the room for their lesson. In preparation for their Bible story they clean up their room in record time. They excitedly listen to each week s story and further engage the story as they create coats, rainbows, animals and other craft projects. They take their snack responsibilities very seriously: patiently waiting for each child to get his/her napkin ready before giving the snack and keeping track of anyone who stills needs hand sanitizer. In their teacher, Holly s, own words, How dear and sweet this class is!! What an absolute treasure that they are a part of North Park Church. December s Memory Verse: For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace -Isaiah 9:6 ESV

7 7 Summer Interns Wanted By Katie Burke Do you want to grow in your personal relationship with Jesus Christ while building relationships with Christian brothers and sisters around the world in the global Kingdom that God is building? This summer, discover how God can use you, your gifts even your brokenness as a vessel to pour out His grace to others in cross-cultural ministry. Serge s internship program is your opportunity to spend eight weeks of your summer serving others overseas under the guidance of one of our missionary teams in Europe, Africa, or Latin America. In addition to hands-on ministry work, you ll experience personal discipleship through the Christ-centered, grace-based teaching and mentoring that shapes the vision, mission, and culture of Serge. Interested? Questions? Please contact Katie Burke at kburke@serge.org or visit to get started! (Age restrictions apply and vary between countries.) Fall Retreat Recap By Taylor Brown One of the major highlights of the youth group calendar has always been the Fall Retreat and this year was no different. Our group consisted of 22 students as well as 6 adult leaders and we had an absolutely amazing weekend together at Ligonier Camp and Conference Center from October God blessed us with surprisingly warm weather and we were able to enjoy His creation without the worries of rain or low temperatures. Saturday was packed out with activities as we had our annual football game, played an intense session of laser tag, and participated in a challenging low ropes course. But this weekend wasn t just about having fun as we sought after the Lord together in worship, talks, and discussion groups. We had four worship services over the course of our time at Ligonier that were led by our Youth Group Band. Each service included a short message from one of our adult leaders: Kate Brown started off the weekend with an inspiring message about finding our joy in Christ, Deborah McKinney taught a powerful lesson about forgiveness, and Taylor preached about the importance of guarding our hearts. But the most impactful aspect of our weekend was the time of sharing and testimonies that was led by Bob Arnold on Sunday morning. Several of our students shared their personal stories of how Jesus has changed their lives while others talked about how the retreat had impacted them. This was a weekend to remember, as our group grew closer as a family and pursued after God with passionate hearts. (Continued from page 5) ever increasing, bitter ideological hatred, it is an opportunity to practice the love and humility of Christ instead of engaging in heated discussions over our differing views. It s providential that election day occurs when it does, just prior to Advent and the celebration of the incarnation of Christ. The day after Thanksgiving, the world celebrates Black Friday. Lost in the frenzy of trips to the outlet mall and Amazon purchases is the reality that a different Black Friday 2,000 years ago brought the ultimate victory that made possible what we cannot achieve on our own: peace on earth, and goodwill to men. We re praying about our Thanksgiving encounter. And signing the dog and cats up for anger management and conflict mediation.

8 8 Connecting with Coffee Beginning in December 2016, North Park will be serving La Huerta coffee in the lobby, available for all. The La Huerta Coffee plantation is located in Las Flores, Honduras. It is a dual cacao and coffee plantation, which is why this coffee is very smooth with notes of chocolate. At the moment, Huerta Plantation is home to 30 families who work on the plantation. The plantation's goal is sustainable, responsible farming providing fair wages and safe conditions to their workers. Jorge, the owner of the plantation, seeks to honor Christ through responsible production, environmentally friendly and organic growing methods, and generous, loving treatment of employees and their families. Jorge is also a Christian brother and close friend of Alfredo Umaña and Lisa Anderson-Umaña, long-time NPC missionaries that we support. Supporting this coffee is just a small way we at NPC can take a stand against injustice in our world in Christ's name and build a stronger relationship with Lisa and Alfredo. Plus, offering quality coffee provides a welcoming atmosphere in which we can connect with each other on a Sunday morning. We hope you enjoy it! By Joyce Kish Should you go to the NPC All Church Retreat May 19-21, 2017 at Laurelville? If you answer yes to one or more of these questions, you should definitely plan on going! Are you between the age of 1 month and 100? Would you like to get away to the mountains? Do you enjoy God s creation? Do you like s mores? Do you like hot dogs cooked on campfires? Do you like to worship God? Do you enjoy small groups? Do you like to laugh? Do you like to pray? Do you like to play kickball? Do you like to hike in the woods? Do you like to meet new people? Would you like someone else make you lunch and dinner? Do you enjoy sitting quietly at a waterfall or babbling creek? Do you like relay races? Registration starts in March. If you would like to purchase a gift certificate for Christmas, call the church office. If you have any questions or would like to serve on the planning team, see one of us. Joyce Kish Jen Burkholder Andy Kish Lisa Arnold Adam Bright Norma Lamperski Dick Skillen Sandy Skillen Amber Stites Joe Wanninger Joyce Wanninger Rachel Sharpnack Beth Hendley

9 9 NPC Family of the Month The Altmyer Family By Kelly Laird The Altmyers are our family of the month. Brian, Stacy, Emily, Lindsay and Mark make up this long-time NPC family, plus many other loved ones and pets! (Picture inset: Mark - shortsleeved plaid shirt, Emily in black dress, Lindsay in grey top.) Let s start with Brian. He has worked with Ruthrauff-Sauer for 27 years as a steamfitter. Brian grew up in the North Hills area and graduated from Avonworth and later Beattie Tech. Even though his day begins early, when not working, he enjoys working in the yard or around the house. This great guy is an Elder and meets with a men s small group. His favorite scripture verse is II Chronicles 7:14. Next up, Brian s wife of many years, Stacy. This lovely lady is a hairdresser who works from home. She is involved as the preschool coordinator for CBS and Sunday School teacher here at North Park and can be found doing one or several of the many tasks a stay-athome mom gets to do! Did you know that Stacy and her family were among those who left Melwood Church to start NPC? She invited Brian on, Invite a Friend Sunday and he joined later that year in Luke 1:37 is Stacy s favorite scripture passage. Moving onto the Altmyers three great kids - Emily, Lindsay and Mark. Emily is 22 and just finished Kent State in May of this year and works for Marketing Support Network, using her marketing, graphic and web design skills. Emily enjoys boxing and spending time with her boyfriend, Cole. Her favorite scripture verse is Luke 9: If you know anything about Stacy and Brian s middle child, then you know that she loves kids! Lindsay is currently employed as a nanny for a family in Richland and she works in the toddler room on Sunday mornings here at church. She also enjoys garagesaling and photography. Dylan is her boyfriend. Lindsay looks to Matthew 11:28 for inspiration and hope. The youngest Altmyer is Mark, a senior at Hampton High School. Mark can be found going to school and working at Panera Bread, as well as playing saxophone and fishing. Mark also enjoys spending time with Morgan, who you may see from time to time right here at NPC. Mark loves the reference from II Corinthians 5:17a, which says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. This fun family lives in Hampton with Jenny, a 14-year-old tabby cat and Sophie, their 2-year-old Pit bull mix. If you ask Brian and Stacy how they met, they d both say, At a birthday party! What a great way to meet! Check out the prayer letter for details on how to pray for this North Park Church family. Thank you Altmyers!

10 December 1 December 3 December 5 December 6 December 8 December 9 December 11 December 12 December 14 December 15 Patricia Schaefer Natalie Smalley Daniel Satariano Elaine Longjohn Judy Brooks Katie Wilkin William Jr. Wickard Nadia Wickard Lindsay Altmyer Laura Dzadovsky Sam Zieger Donna Beleski John Holt Andrew Holt Scott Dzadovsky December 19 December 20 December 21 December 22 December 23 December 24 December 25 December 27 December 31 Lorraine Lippert Frank Librich Wade Leakey Denny Koska Jim Baldauff Chad Fairfield Jon Gay Aubrey Mitchell Nancy Van Sickel Abigail Buirge Nicole Hoover Kristin Brown Laura Wiggins Anna Fowler December 16 Grant Lacey Todd Murphy Christine Mikhael HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! December 11 James and Mary Warmbrodt December 12 Gary and Kelly Laird December 12 Bill and Pat Hargest December 14 Paul & Jane Anzaldi December 27 Chris and Annette Wu December 27 Timothy and Rosemary Craft If you would like your name included on the birthday/anniversary list (in each month s FYI), please make sure you have filled out a card with your family s information. These are available at the Information Counter. Human error does occur, so please let us know if we misprint your information.