The FPC Newsletter 601 Pine Street Klamath Falls, Oregon May 2016

Transcription

1 The FPC Newsletter 601 Pine Street Klamath Falls, Oregon May 2016 Westmont College Choir visits FPC On Wednesday, May 11 at 7:00 p.m. one of the finest schools on the West Coast, Westmont College, showcases its choir and ensembles here at First Presbyterian Church. Westmont College is a Christian College beautifully set in the Santa Barbara area. Westmont s principal choral ensemble is under the direction of Dr. Michael Shasberger. The choir performs the classic repertoire of the past five centuries, along with spirituals, folk song arrangements, and music of other cultures. The College Choir also appears at Westmont events, performs in chapel, ministers in local church services, and participates in regional choral festivals. In addition, each year they tour the West. This concert is part of that tour. Please invite friends and family to join us for that evening. You won t be disappointed! And, if you would like to help out with the dinner beforehand for the choir or with housing them, please call the office;

2 Page 2 Upcoming Events Children s Ministry Congregational Meeting for the Election of Officers On Sunday, May 22 there will be a meeting of the congregation between services for the purpose of electing officers to the offices of elder or deacon. Look for information on the individuals coming soon. Klamath Joyful Ringers Handbell Choir Presents Concert Saturday, May 7 The Klamath Joyful Ringers Handbell Choir presents its spring concert on Saturday, May 7, at 7:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Klamath Falls. Admission is free, but a free will offering will be received to help defray expenses for the choir. The 10-member choir, under the direction of Steve Mitchell, will present a variety of handbell music, much of it based on traditional hymn tunes. Among the hymn-tune inspired pieces are God Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens, Now All the Vault of Heaven Responds (known by some as All Creatures of Our God and King ), How Can I Keep from Singing, and Fantasy on Terra Beata (based on This Is My Father s World and The King of Love My Shepherd Is ). Fantasy on Terra Beata features recorder, to be played by local music teacher Charles Charles. Other pieces include the newer hymn One Bread, One Body and Canon in D by Pachelbel. Susan Scrimsher will play the organ with the handbells on the Pachelbel Canon. Thank you so much for bearing with us during this wonderful time of change and transition. It has been fabulous getting to experience worship with the kids a bit longer each Sunday. Sunday school has been a joy! The kids are getting settled into their new classrooms and are loving the new teachers and curriculum. Please arrive minutes early to check your kids in at our new check-in station located downstairs at the Pine Street entrance. Kids remain in worship through the Praise Team set after which Stuart will dismiss the children to Sunday school. As kids come downstairs, we will get them into their appropriate classrooms.

3 Children's Ministry (cont.) R.O.C.K. Youth Group Page 3 Sunday School ends at 10:10am. You can find your kids in the following locations: Preschool Fireside Room, Kindergarten & 1 st Grade Creation Room (at the end of the Fellowship Hall), 2 nd & 3 rd Grade Fireside Lounge, 4 th & 5 th Grade the Nursery. At 10:10am, you may check your kids out at the check-in station and go pick your kids up from class! Thank you again for being so patient as we work out the kinks in these new processes! by Anne Taylor Youth Group Schedule for May May 1st 6-7:30pm FPC May 8th Mothers Day-No Meeting May 15th 6-7:30pm FPC May 22nd 5-9pm Movie Night at Austyn & Jakes May 29th Memorial Day-No Meeting Vacation Bible School We are looking for 3 helpers that can commit to one Sunday a month to work with a fabulous lead teacher. We also need two teaching teams (one for preschool and one for Kindergarten/1 st ) to commit to once a month. Sunday mornings are prepped and ready to go. All you have to do is review your lesson (that we provide ahead of time) and bring your bright and shiny selves Sunday morning! If you are interested, please contact Anne Taylor. Save this date! VBS July 25th-28th 9:00am-Noon Closing Ceremonies will be the following Sunday, July 31st at First Presbyterian Church 601 Pine St.

4 Page 4 Mother s Day Holiday May 8th Did you know? More phone calls are made on Mother s Day than any other day of the year. These holiday chats with Mom often cause phone traffic to spike by as much as 37 percent. Mother s Day is a holiday honoring motherhood that is observed in different forms throughout the world. The American incarnation of Mother s Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in Jarvis would later denounce the holiday s commercialization and spent the latter part of her life trying to remove it from the calendar. While dates and celebrations vary, Mother s Day most commonly falls on the second Sunday in May and traditionally involves presenting mothers with flowers, cards and other gifts. Mother s Day: Historical Precursors Celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who held festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele, but the clearest modern precedent for Mother s Day is the early Christian festival known as Mothering Sunday. Once a major tradition in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe, this celebration fell on the fourth Sunday in Lent and was originally seen as a time when the faithful would return to their mother church the main church in the vicinity of their home for a special service. Over time the Mothering Sunday tradition shifted into a more secular holiday, and children would present their mothers with flowers and other tokens of appreciation. This custom eventually faded in popularity before merging with the American Mother s Day in the 1930s and 1940s. Memorial Day Holiday May 30 Did you know? Each year on Memorial Day a national moment of remembrance takes place at 3:00 p.m. local time. Memorial Day, an American holiday observed on the last Monday of May, honors men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. Unofficially, at least, it marks the beginning of summer. The Civil War claimed more lives than any conflict in U.S. history, requiring the establishment of the country s first national cemeteries. By the late 1860s Americans in various towns and cities had begun holding springtime tributes to these countless fallen soldiers, decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers. On May 5, 1862, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month. The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land, he proclaimed. The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn t the anniversary of any particular battle.

5 Page 5 Senior s News (The 50+ Club) In April, we enjoyed another Senior Luncheon! Lee Juillerat (retired from the Herald and News) was our guest speaker. He spoke about what it was like to make copy and print before the computer age. I never thought about this, but when the words were set (called manual typesetting), you had to set all the letters and punctuation symbols backwards, so they would print forward. Very interesting. Another thing that Lee said is that he really missed being able to work with all the small communities; Merrill, Malin, Tulelake, Bonanza, Christmas Valley and so many other outlying communities. As an example Lee used Leonard and Iva Jane Will and spoke about them being homesteaders and over the years of featuring them in the H&N, Leonard and Iva Jane and Lee have all become friends. He cherishes these connections. And by the way, Leonard did a fabulous job introducing Lee. In the picture above you will notice the first table has copies of old news paper articles for us to look at. In learning about Lee, we also found out that he is a marathon runner. He has been all over the world running in these marathons. Planning for future luncheons, we will have the Klamath Falls Kitchen Band for our May 16th entertainment. Their members consist of retired Klamath County Educators. They always present lively and thoughtful songs, all with the use of their kitchen utensil instruments. Their theme this month will be Reminiscing about World War II and they have planned some lively songs for us that include Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition, When the Lights Come On Again, Johnny Zero, and a few other songs. Come on out for our May 16th luncheon and you will be surprised and maybe a little inspired at how much fun you will have! by Belinda Reno

6 Page 6 Baby Bottle Campaign Mother's Day kicks off this year's Baby Bottle Campaign to support the Pregnancy Hope Center. I will have a table set up in the front entrance with baby bottles. Please take one, fill it with change or donations and return it to the church on or before Father's Day. Your gracious donations help support our community's women and families that find themselves in crisis with an unplanned pregnancy. We show each client love and support through free pregnancy tests, ultra sounds, parenting classes, post abortion support services and mentorship. Reaching out to hurting and broken women is how we share Christ's love with our community. Your donations go a long way in keeping this outreach available to save the lives of babies and heal families with Christ's love. Thank you for continuing to support this program. by Karli Fussell Deacon s Fund The man was waiting for me Monday morning on the steps. "Bill" is a veteran who has no teeth, who has one cat, and who lives in one room. And there is sometimes too much month at the end of his paycheck. He has given money on occasion to the church. But this Monday morning he is trying to avoid the power being shut off. "I just need a little help," he says to More on Deacon s Fund me as he shows me the power bill. We cannot pay all of it. But we can do something. He left to walk the check down to a pay station. That is just one example of what the resources are used for when you give to the Deacon's Fund. We are careful to not give too often to the same person and to not give too much. But, thanks to your gifts, we can be a place of compassion for people in hard times at our church and for Bill. Thank you for your support of the Deacon's Fund. Pastor Stuart MOPS Fundraiser MOPS & MOMSnext is continuing to grow and encourage moms in our community. We so very much appreciate the welcome home our group has found here at FPC. We are hosting a women's Bunco Night on Friday, May 20th at 7pm in the Fellowship Hall. Tickets are $20 and we will have prizes, a dessert dash, crafts for sale and a photo booth! All proceeds will go to support a few of us leaders going to MOMcon this Fall in Milwaukee, WI. This conference helps build our leaders to continue growing the program. Contact Karli Fussell for additional details and come out to support us! by Karli Fussell

7 New to the Library These books and many other thought provoking non-fiction books are available in our church library. To Heaven and Back: A Doctor s Extraordinary Account of Her Death, Heaven, Angles, and Life Again: A True Story by Mary C. Neal In 1999 in the Los Rios region of southern Chile, orthopedic surgeon, devoted wife, and loving mother Dr. Mary Neal drowned in a kayak accident. While cascading down a waterfall, her kayak became pinned at the bottom and she was immediately and completely submerged. Despite the rescue efforts of her companions, Mary was underwater for too long, and as a result, died. Amazon.com What Am I Supposed to Do with My Life?: God s Will Demystified by Johnnie Moore In What Am I Supposed to Do with My Life?, author Johnnie Moore provides spiritual direction and clear guidance on the most frequent question that he is asked as the campus pastor at a Christian university with over 100,000 students. It is crucial information for all ages but especially those in their 20s and 30s who are seriously concerned about their futures and want to do God's will as they try to determine, "What in the world am I supposed to do in life?" Amazon.com 1st of the Month Lunch Page 7 First Sunday of every month is not only communion but also connection. We will be sharing a meal together on May 1st after the second service and enjoying the fellowship of being together. Families welcome! Please join us if you can. This is just one more way for us to underscore the fact that FPC is a family. Blue Zones Project FAITH - BASED FORUM Monday, May 9, :00pm to 6:00pm Sky Lakes Community Health Education Center 2200 N. Eldorado Blvd. Please RSVP by May 2, 2016 at the following URL: Join us to learn what the Blue Zones Project YOU RE INVITED TO THE can do for your Faith-Based Organization! Network with representatives of all faiths Learn how participation in the Blue Zones Project can enhance your member wellness Get inspired to make your congregation and our entire community a healthier and happier place to live! Please Erin Cox (erin.cox@healthways.com) with any questions YOU

8 Page 8 First Presbyterian Church 601 Pine Street Klamath Falls, Oregon (541) Return Service Requested FPC Parish Zones and Deacons Zone 1 Tammie Williams and Scott Senter Zone 2 Sharon Nelson and Lee Woods Zone 3 Stacy Howard and Denny Fullerton Zone 4 Suzanne Bocchi and Dustin Demetrakos Zone 5 Alison Martin and Mark Benson Zone 6 Janell Knutson and Dewey Bodtker FPC Elders Heidi Biggs Don Boyd Thelma Cox Bill Kennedy Tim Meidinger Ryan Mengis Steve Schultz Andrew Smith Keith Stone Pam Swisher Rich Touslee Gay Woods Contacts at First Presbyterian Church Pastor Stuart Bond - contact@klamathfpc.com Anne Taylor - Children s Ministry Director - ataylor@klamathfpc.com Heather Bartlett - Children s Ministry Assistant - hbartlette@klamathfpc.com Karli Fussell - Women s Ministry Director - karlifussell@gmail.com Kris Bienz - Financial Secretary - kbienz@klamathfpc.com Susan Scrimsher - Choir Director - sscrimsher@klamathfpc.com Mary Kern - Praise Team Director - maryekern@hotmail.com Belinda Reno - Administrative Assistant - breno@klamathfpc.com WEBSITE: Prayer requests: contact@klamathfpc.com