The Good News. January Community Presbyterian Church 2279 North Wedgewood Lane Cedar City, Utah In This Issue...

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1 The Good News From the desk of Pastor Nancy Pearson January 2018 Community Presbyterian Church 2279 North Wedgewood Lane Cedar City, Utah Happy New Year 2018! A new year always prompts us to want to clean out, get a fresh start and organize. I have an itch right now to clean things out and throw things away. What does it look like for us as 2018 Jesus followers to make a fresh start, to organize our spiritual lives, to clean out & throw away? To start with, I think it means that we must take some time to reflect and to think about where your life with Jesus is right now. Call it A New Year s Assessment. What does your prayer life look like? Are you praying as much as you d like to? Do you have a way to recall all those things that you ve committed to pray about? Do you have a quiet place to pray? What does your worship life look like? Do you take time to praise God? Do you worship with others regularly? When you come to a worship service, are you engaged with God there, or do you feel like part of an audience? Where are you serving God? Do you have a ministry (or more than one) that you are participating in in the life of the church? Are you serving others in the community? Are you reading the Bible regularly? Are you involved in a Bible study, discovering new truths about God and his Word with others? Are there things in your life that need to be thrown out habits, addictions, poor choices? How can God help you make these changes? As a church, the new year is a good time for a refresher of who we are and what God is calling us to pursue in 2018 as a community of faith. Let s take a fresh look at our vision statement: Reach, Grow, Send How are we as a church reaching others with the good news of Jesus? How can we learn to better welcome and reach others with the love and grace of God? What will we do to continue to create a place where others will want to come to explore their faith? How are we growing? What will we do to create more opportunities for ALL of our members and friends to grow in faith? Who will lead new Bible study groups, small groups, interest groups so that everyone is connected and growing? And how will we learn what it means to be SENT by God? To say yes to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior means saying yes to serving him. How will you allow God to send you out, into your family, your neighborhood and your world? How will our church equip each of us to be sent? It s a new year! Let s brush off our resolve and commit ourselves to Christ in a fresh new way! In This Issue... Children s Ministry 2 20th Anniversary 3 Focus on Deacons 4 CPW News 5 Session Notes 6 Talent-no-Talent Show & Dinner Upcoming Sermons 7 Presbytery News 8 Birthday Celebrations 9 Mission News 10 Treasures 10 January Worship Leadership 7 11 January Birthdays 11 See you in worship! Pastor Nancy The Good News January 2018 Page 1

2 The Children s Christmas Party a Success The Children s Ministries team hosted the annual children s Christmas party on December 9th following the rehearsal for the pageant. There were 12 children plus parents in attendance. The children and parents enjoyed pizza, cookies, & drinks in the fellowship hall. The party ended with the excitement of a gift exchange. Fun was had by all. Rejoice in the Spirit of Christmas Touched Our Hearts The Children s Ministries team led by our faithful Nancy Osborn, worked hard to pull together another creative and heart-warming pageant for this year s Christmas season. We hope that you attended and enjoyed your time with the children! Rejoice in the Spirit of Christmas touched our hearts and showcased the talents of many. It was a blessing to relive the birth of Jesus through the eyes of children. Big thanks to Nancy Osborn for bringing her vision to life. Thank you to Greg & Mimi Knell for sharing your amazing voices with us. Thank you to Robyn Eddy, Common Ground, all the children & the youth for your participation. We are extremely thankful to ALL that participated in making this a memorable pageant. Happy New Year It s a new year and our Sunday school classes are off to a great start! Teaching our children to be good Christian disciples is so important. Thank you to the parents and grandparents for your diligence in bringing your children to Sunday school - your efforts are much appreciated! We are always looking for Sunday school teachers, if you find it in your heart to serve in this way please contact Nancy Osborn or Dianne Morrison We teach on a rotating schedule so it would mean a commitment of only once every 5 weeks. The Good News January 2018 Page 2

3 CPC Celebrates a 20 th Anniversary Time flies when you are having fun or so the saying goes. And, regardless of whether or not the past 20 years in our current CPC building was all fun, there was much to laugh and reminisce about on December 3 rd! Many of our older members remember worshipping in the previous Community Presbyterian Church building which was southeast of Main Street Park on the corner. Our beautiful little church was built in 1926 by a dedicated group of Presbyterians and our church was the oldest one in continuous use in Cedar City! We were always proud to tell that fact to folks who assumed the LDS Rock Church was older not so! The first baby baptized in the old Presbyterian Church was Edwin Larsen and he continued to worship with us his entire life! His dear daughter Jennifer remains an important member to this day. In the mid-1990 s, Rev. Jeff Garrison was our pastor and his energy and community outreach helped our congregation to begin growing at a rapid pace. Although we loved our little old church and were very attached to many memories there, the Lord was calling us to grow and expand in our ministry. Fortunately, we trusted in God to lead us down the best path for achieving this mission of outreach and purchased some land in the little-developed Fiddler s Canyon area. With the combined efforts, knowledge and talents of many of our members and friends, the building was started and we were ready to move into the new facility on December 7, 1997! Luckily, many took pictures starting from the dedication of the land/groundbreaking ceremony to the final procession from the old church to the new one. We celebrated this anniversary of 20 years with a pot-luck luncheon and special program after church on December 3, The food as always was delicious and the program organized by Marci Beck and Pastor Nancy was super special. A select group of those who were more very involved with the building project were asked to share memories and fun anecdotes. It was a delightful trip down memory lane and we all had a great day! Many beautiful scrap books were on display and we had a wonderful time reminiscing about events and people. And, as the day came to an end, we all agree that we love our new church building and are re-dedicated to following our mission to Reach, Grow and Send so that everyone we touch will have the opportunity to share in Christ s amazing love! The Good News January 2018 Page 3

4 Coming in 2018 for Deacons Our church leadership continues to explore ways to more effectively serve the needs of our congregation. Beginning in January, we will implement a new structure for our Deacon ministry. We will have three ordained deacons who will serve a three year term. Serving with each of these deacons will be three shepherds. These caring people will serve for just one year each. Together these four will make up a care team. We are hoping that having care teams will help us connect more meaningfully with you, the members and friends of our congregation. Coming in January! Pastor Nancy will lead a weekly Bible Study group studying the gospel of John. We will meet on Thursday afternoons at 3 p.m. We ll be using a study book from Intervarsity Press. If you would like to participate, please watch for more information about the start date. Bring yourself and your Bible and enjoy studying God s word together. The deacons and Pastor Nancy will meet regularly; and each of the care teams will meet regularly to stay on top of the needs of our people. The full board of deacons and shepherds will meet quarterly or as necessary. Please pray for this new structure and for the people who will volunteer to serve. Home Communion If you have difficulty getting to worship regularly and would like to have the deacons or ruling elders serve you the Lord s Supper at home on the first Sunday of each month, please call Marci at Worship Services on our Website If you missed a service or wish to see one again, they are available anywhere you are in the world on the cedarpres.org website. DVD copies of the Sunday Services are also available to check out from the church office. Check them out!! Please Pray For Patt Behrens Song Wiebusch Lee DeFever Kim Fiero Elaine Moores Steve Covey Charlie Brazier Valerie Orlemann Ruth Kinney, bereaved Joyce Vandever, bereaved Alex Mansour s family, bereaved Jane McCoy, bereaved The Good News January 2018 Page 4

5 Annual Meeting of the congregation Bible Study for all women! Abigail Circle will meet January 10 at 6 pm. They are studying Philippians, "Run The Race" by Bill Hybels. Call Jeanine Howells at for more information. Martha Circle: The next meeting will be January 11. Please study the chapters, Jacob s Ladder, Home Schooling and Mild in the Wrong. Contact Sonya Swatsley at for more information Mark your calendars for the Annual meeting of the Community Presbyterian Church congregation on Sunday January 28 immediately following the worship service. We will receive the yearly reports of church committees and receive the budget for We will also elect new deacons and elders to serve for the coming term. It will be our privilege to recognize and thank our outgoing elders and deacons as well. Please plan to be there; your presence is important! Dining for Women (ecumenical women s mission group) meets the second Tuesday of the month at 5:30 pm. If you are interested, contact Ann Johnson, The next meeting is January 9. Prayer Shawl Ministry Has new Winter hours! They will meet on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays from 9:45-10:45 am in the library to knit or crochet prayer shawls. If you don t know how to knit and want to learn, Jane or Gen will help you learn. See you there! Stewardship 2017 Where the Rubber Meets the Road We continue to receive faith pledges from our members and friends for the 2018 year. Currently we have received 62 pledges commitments from YOU to support God s work in the coming year. If you have not had the opportunity to make a faith commitment, please consider doing so. Pledge cards are in the pew pockets and in the office. Pledges help our finance committee and our Session plan for what funds will be available in Thank you for your generous giving and for your support of what God is doing in and through us. The Good News January 2018 Page 5

6 Session Notes Session met on December 12, 2017 Clerk: Letters of transfer were sent for Carol Cheney and Jack Ewing. Pastor: Pastor Nancy is using a few suggestions from the ebook How to Have the Best Christmas Eve Ever this year for our Christmas Eve services. Pastor Nancy reviewed with the elder nominees the constitutional questions given at Ordination and Installation. Pastor Nancy has interviewed and talked with each nominee about the commitment as elders. Worship: A motion was passed to ask Susan Allman to be pulpit fill on January 7th in Pastor Nancy s absence. Church Life: The celebration of the church building anniversary was a success with a nice program and an all church pot-luck. Personnel: Updates on the development of a job description for a nursery worker-the position will be circulated. The annual reviews of church staff will occur in January. Children s Ministry: The children s pageant was a great success this year. Kudos to Nancy Osborn and the ministry team Youth: The youth leaders have an ongoing committment to working with the kids. They plan to continue as they are for now, with the possibility of coming changes for the spring and summer Old business: The Jews for Jesus event will be February 11. Church Life committee will plan some kind of meal with this event. David Kirmeyer has agreed to be a part time resource as IT support for the office. A motion was approved to have David as IT support. Pastor Nancy spoke with Jennifer Larson about an inquiry into the purchase of the mountain property. Pastor Nancy will follow up more on this and report in the January meeting. Presbytery: The winter Presbytery meeting will be February 10 at Cottonwood Pres. The meeting was adjourned with prayer led by Brad Phelps. The next meeting of session will be January 23, at 6pm. Church Historian Did you enjoy the pictures and scrapbooks from years gone by during our anniversary celebration? Would you like to take pictures that others will enjoy in the years ahead? Perhaps you would like to volunteer to be the church historian! We d love to know that someone is cataloging our events and taking some photos so that we can remember what we ve done as a church family. Contact Marci Beck for more information. Evangelism: The team has met in the past week with new energy and ideas for incorporating new attendees in the life of the congregation Finance: The November finance report was approved. Long discussions of the 2018 budget were held with Jeanine and Rick. Many cuts were made to the budget, and Jeanine will revise the 2018 budget with those cuts, and changes to some of the lines of income. There was a lot of discussion about the use of designated funds. The Good News January 2018 Page 6

7 Upcoming Sermons January 7 Epiphany: Matthew 2:1-12 Susan Allman preaching January 14 I Have Seen your Salvation Simeon & Anna Luke 2:22-40 Bible n Brew! Join others on Tuesday mornings for a time of Bible study together. We reflect on and talk about a brief Bible passage each week, sharing our insights with each other. I hope this can be a time that we can grow in our knowledge and our love of the scriptures, and draw closer to one another as we share our hearts. Join us! And bring your coffee with you!! January 21 At the River Mark 1:4-11 January 28 We Have Found Him! Phillip & Nathanael Follow John 1:43-51 Brush Up your Talents to Share Our annual Talent/No Talent Show will be hosted by Church Life on Saturday January 20 th! This event is always fun and also amazing to see and hear some of the extraordinary talents that our church congregants possess! We will have a potluck dinner. Please bring a dish to share. There is a sign up sheet so we can get a sense of the number of talent numbers and how many will be attending.so brush up on those hidden talents and prepare to share them with your friends! Come to the 10 th Annual All Church Beat the Winter Blues Talent-No-Talent Potluck And Show Sat. January 20 Fellowship Hall 6:00 pm The Good News January 2018 Page 7

8 Presbytery of Utah News Our Presbytery Executive Jeff Silliman hosted our southern Utah pastors for a Pre-Advent dinner at Milt s in Cedar canyon. We enjoyed fellowship and a delicious meal. In attendance were Pastor Nancy, Pastor Robyn Eddy, Pastor Ralph Clingan (St George), Pastor Adolph Kunen (Mesquite), Pastor Martha Moler (Kanab), Pastor Nancy Holve (Richfield) and Pastor Harold Wylie (St George). The winter meeting of the Presbytery of Utah will be held on February 10 at Cottonwood Presbyterian Church in SLC. Pastor Nancy, Pastor Robyn Eddy and Elder Ruth Kinney will be attending a Pastors retreat in the Salt Lake area on February 8 & 9. Pastor Nancy has been invited to attend the General Assembly of the PC(USA) in St Louis, MO, in June. She will attend with other representatives from our Utah Presbytery. Pastor Nancy continues to meet monthly with the Virgin River pastors. We have received news that Adolph Kunen, pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church, Mesquite NV will be retiring at the end of the year. We wish God s blessings to Adolph and his wife. Christmas Begins When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and the princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flocks, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among the people, To make music in the heart. Online Giving We are offering online giving to our members and friends. This is a convenient way to give regularly, or an easy way to make a one time gift to a specific ministry as one option for your tithes and gifts. You may still donate with a check or cash. Check out this new way of giving to God through the church. And please contact Jeanine Howells or Rhonda Vasquez for more information. Community Presbyterian Financial Update 2017 Budget $253, Income: (11/30/17) $156, Expenses: (11/30/17) $179, Balance: (11/30/17) -$23, Thank you for your stewardship of God s good gifts for keeping your giving current and for your support of Community Presbyterian s ministries. The Good News January 2018 Page 8

9 Youth News Our ministry for Middle School and High School students will make a shift in the New Year. On Sunday mornings after the worship service, students will join their leaders for a Bible Study on the gospel of Mark. We encourage students to bring their Bibles (if you don t have one, we have one for you!) and their questions. We are hoping this new approach will be meaningful for our students as they grow in their faith. We ll continue to do social activities together every other month. Please encourage your students to be a part of this group! Missing Pronouns You cannot pray the Lord's Prayer and even once say I. You cannot pray the Lord's Prayer and even once say My. Nor can you pray the Lord's Prayer and not pray for one another, To ask God for our daily bread, you must include your brother. For others are included... In each and every plea, From the beginning to the end of it, it does not once say Me. December Birthdays A Penguin Parable During storms, emperor penguins huddle for warmth, taking turns at the center and on the perimeter of the group. While incubating eggs, up to 6,000 male penguins have been observed clustering for shelter against the harsh Antarctic winter. Partially grown chicks gather in protective crèches (French for cribs ); often surrounded by a colony of adults, these groupings ward off predators and cold. In stormy times, humans also need supportive groups; we can t survive alone. A church family allows us to take turns giving and receiving care. Amid social upheaval, injustice, illness, natural disaster and any loss or crisis, God invites us to gather for protection and warmth. In the church community, we support and strengthen one another and are empowered to go out again into the less-sheltered world. The Good News January 2018 Page 9

10 MISSION NEWS Jews for Jesus Mark your calendars for a fascinating Sunday evening event on February 11. We ll have with us, Bruce Rapp, a missionary with Jews for Jesus. He ll be sharing with us about the Passover from a Jewish and Christian perspective. His presentation will include a model Seder meal, and will be a good preview for us as we prepare to begin the season of Lent on February 14. A potluck dinner will be held at 5:30 p.m. just before the presentation. Watch for sign ups on the fellowship hall bulletin board. We look forward to a great evening together. Iron County Care & Share How can you help? Care and Share especially needs pasta, noodles and rice. Thank you for donating for local needy families. You can donate perishable foods to the shopping cart anytime. You can deliver your donation directly to 222 West 900 North, Cedar City. The food bank is open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm for donations. Monetary donations are always gratefully accepted! Go to Care & Share website for information about specific needs at careandshare-ut.org News from Treasures Treasures will be closed from December 23 through January 3. The store will open as scheduled on Thursday January 4 at 10 a.m. Our thanks to those of you who faithfully volunteer your time at Treasures. There s a camaraderie amongst those who serve, and it s fun to be a part of this venture. Special thanks to Bob Pearson and Jan Ackart for their continuing leadership. We are beginning to establish ourselves as a great place to shop in our community. Could you be one of our new volunteers? We welcome those of you who have not yet volunteered: please look into this great way to serve! Call Sonya Swatsley for more information. Many of you have wondered about the status of the Thrift store. It has become a successful business venture, and the proceeds are now in an account at the bank. Decisions need to be made in the coming months as to what the future holds for the store. Do we have enough committed volunteers to staff the store into the coming years? Are we interested in purchasing the building where Treasures is located? (we are currently leasing) If so, where will the money come from to make the down payment? And when will our church begin to see the proceeds contribute to our church s mission and operating budget? We will have a report about Treasures at the annual meeting on January 28. The Good News January 2018 Page 10

11 January Birthdays Bill McKinney 1 Justin Whipple 1 Sara Penny 2 Nancy Judd 3 William Eaton 4 Ann Johnson 10 Kim Fiero 11 Matthew Berndt 12 Daniel Hall 15 Diana Peveler 24 Barbara Orr 28 Evelyn Brazier 29 Paul Roelandt 30 We apologize if we missed your birthday! Please call the church office so that we can update our records. January Worship Leadership and Coffee Fellowship Hosts January 7 January 14 January 21 January 28 Annual Meeting Liturgist Mary Belle Royer Dana Covey Stephen Fish Dennis Gregz Communion Coordinator Ruth Kinney Children s Message Gen Phelps Becky Hill Robyn Eddy Ann Johnson Special Music Terry Metcalf, soloist TBA Choir Praise Band Fellowship Hosts Martha Circle Cake for January Birthdays Dana Covey Neal & Joyce and friends Ann Johnson & friends The Good News January 2018 Page 11

12 Community Presbyterian Church 2279 North Wedgewood Lane Cedar City, UT Address Service Requested Dated Material We are especially thankful for... The Session Class of 2018 Class of 2019 Class of 2020 Stated Clerk Janet Ackart, Rick Osborn, Klaus Stetzenbach Lynne Brown, Dianne Morrison, Rita Osborn Mary Belle Royer Dana Covey The Board of Deacons Class of 2018 Peggy Dahl, Jan Hite, Linda Stetzenbach Class of 2019 Steve Covey, Martha Bayer, Amarante Vasquez Class of 2020 Les and Elaine Holland, Ann Johnson, Debbie Vogel Staff Pastor Nancy Pearson Administrative Assistant Marci Beck Treasurer Jeanine Howells Music Director Harry Taylor Property & Maintenance Neal Lundberg Contact Us Office Phone (435) Webpage Facebook Community Presbyterian Church "lnviting people to experience Jesus Christ and to become his joyful disciples!" The Good News January 2018 Page 12