February The Chimes. C O M M U N I T Y P R E S B Y T E R I A N C H U R C H R e f l e c t i o n s F r o m P a s t o r D e n n i s

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1 The Chimes February 2014 C O M M U N I T Y P R E S B Y T E R I A N C H U R C H R e f l e c t i o n s F r o m P a s t o r D e n n i s Here are some verses on love that hopefully will help us get into the spirit of this month. It may be cold outside yet as the saying goes; cold hand warm heart. Our hearts can be full of God s love even as we continue to experience the deep cold of this winter. I m glad not every winter is this way. Psalm 36:7 - How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. John 3: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a - Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. 1 John 4:7 - Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Here s a good question for each of us not only for February but for all of life, how do we show God s love unto others? One of Jesus commands, which he said often, was; love your neighbor as you love yourself. May we strive to do just that this month and always. I want to highlight a couple of things that will be happening in the life of the church this month. On the second Sunday of the month, February 9 we ll be holding our annual congregational meeting and our first potluck dinner of the year. So, plan on staying after worship for the meal and for fellowship. Denise has done an excellent job putting together the annual reports. During our meeting we ll take time to look back yet also look forward to things God has in store for us. Members and friends alike please plan on attending this important meeting of the congregation. Also a new round of classes for Transformational Ministries, a ministry of Love INC begins on February 17. We ll begin with the ten weeks of classes that helps people with budgeting and getting a firm grasp of where their income is going and what all their expenses are. Feel free to pass on this information to people you know who might benefit from this important class. In closing blessed February to one and all, Pastor Dennis

2 Session Digest January 10 & 11, 2014 Annual Planning Meeting Moderator Dennis Winzenried opened the meeting with prayer, followed by devotional from Isaiah 60:1-6. Session members shared their thoughts on the meaning of being God s Light. Officers of the session were elected for 2014 Clerk and Clerk Pro Tem: C. J. Gailey, clerk with Gretchen Keith and Leslie Wyman as clerks pro tem. Treasure and Assistant Treasurer: Clayton Cooper and Pat Seals Commissioner to Presbytery and alternate: Reed Click and Liz Rogers In groups of three, the session members were asked to envision CPC in 2019, our hopes, and/or fears and then share them with the group as a whole. We would hope to: Preserve the image of Community Presbyterian Church as an open and caring church, which welcomes all and is active in the community. Maintain the church, beautify its grounds and preserve the integrity of the existing building. Promote good signage and publicity and take advantage of technology, possibly exploring Podcast. Grow in spirit as a congregation and recognize the maturity of our members. Involve others in events whenever possible. Meet the challenge of fearing change when it becomes necessary. The elders set some SMART GOALS (specific, measurable, action oriented, realistic and time restrained) for 2014 Signage: (July, 2014) By consensus, a new sign in blue & yellow will be placed at Hwy. 160 & 76. Cost figures will be obtained. (Dec., 2014) A new sign in blue & yellow will be placed on the property. Committee: Mary Parr, Pat Seals, Liz Rogers Events and Small Groups: Three events involving community; gain 12 new members. (Committee: Ken Bavuso and Pastor Dennis. Three or four small groups, 6 weeks. Committee: C. J. Gailey, Georgia Roe. A chiming bell for the church was also discussed. Elders signed up to help on the different committees of the church. See the annual report for this portion of the sessions report. The annual report is available through the church office or on the church s website. The end of the year financial reports were reviewed. See the Annual Report for details. The elders approved the purchase of more reusable shopping bags with the church information on them. Communion will be served this year on the first Sunday of every month and these special days; Maundy Thursday, April 17; Easter Sunday, April 20; Christmas Eve, Wed., Dec. 24. The meeting closed with prayer lead by pastor Dennis. 2

3 Does not include end of month salaries or expenses. Benevolence Fund Report: During January we helped 17 families: 4 with utilities, 4 with rent, 3 with transportation, 3 with medical needs and 3 with family expenses. We also received several donations to the fund from the congregation. Thanks for your gifts! If you would like to make a donation to the Benevolent Fund, please do so by marking your check special gift - benevolent fund. Those who receive our assistance greatly appreciate your gifts! Diabetic Focus Group The Forsyth Diabetic Focus Group will meet on Monday February 3, weather permitting. The topic will be Living a Healthy Life with a Chronic Disease. Everyone with an interest in this topic is invited. Mackenzie Winzenried is selling Girl Scout Cookies! If interested in purchasing, please contact Grandpa Dennis at Cookies are $4 per box. Varieties are: Thanks-A-Lot, Cranberry Citrus Crisps, Lemonades, Shortbread, Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Patties, Caramel delites, Peanut Butter Sandwich. Thanks, Jack 3 Sponsored ad paid for by Grandpa Dennis!

4 Beautiful Paintings in Fellowship Hall! If you haven t been in Fellowship Hall lately, you are in for a treat! We re so thankful to have some very talented artists among our congregation. One of our artists, Liz Rogers, gave us a beautiful gift of stained glass paintings on the wall in Fellowship Hall. The pictures below simply do not do the paintings justice because they do not show the depth of the work involved. You ll just have to come and see them! Thank you Liz for such a beautiful gift! 4

5 Seniors Did you know? By Debra Robbers As of Jan.14, I am back on the senior center board. Some great things are planned for this year! SAVE THE DATE! Feb.22 from 4:00 to?. The center will be having it's annual SOUP SUPPER. There will many types of soups served this year and as always there will be no shortage of homemade desserts. Sugar free desserts will also be available. Tickets are $6.00 in advance and $7.00 at the door. Look for flyers on the bulletin boards...we will have tickets at that time. Hope to see you there! I am also very exited about the Educational programs that will be presented by Jim Wirth Ph.D. Human Development Specialist from the University of Missouri Extension. He will discuss many topics of interest to seniors, such as crime prevention, dealing with grief and depression, memory enhancement and chronic disease self-management. Too many topics to mention here (137 to be exact). I will keep you posted as dates for these presentations are set. My New Years Resolution was to keep my brain active by learning new things. You know you have to use it or lose it! Hope its not too late for me! God Bless You All and have a Happy and Healthy New Year! Potluck Lunch/Annual Meeting of the Congregation We will enjoy a Potluck Lunch and the Annual Meeting immediately following worship on Sunday, February 9, This is a true Potluck-meaning bring whatever you like! The printed Annual Report Booklet is available to pick up at church or you can download a full-color PDF of the booklet on our website at On the first page of the website is a picture of the booklet (which is shown to the right.) Click on the booklet and the PDF will download to your computer. If you do not have a PDF viewer on your computer, you can get a free one at getadobe.com/reader/ 5

6 As we settle into winter, I have found it interesting that once the New Year arrives, people want it to be spring. To me, this has always seemed weird since technically winter doesn t even begin until the end of December, but I think it goes back to our longing for renewal. To some, winter with its bare trees, dormant plant life and short days, is a bit depressing while spring offers the beauty of early flowers and warmer temperatures. Spring is a time of renewal. Christians especially celebrate that renewal with the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord. However, I believe we can experience spiritual renewal even in the midst of the cold, short days of winter. To me, winter can be a time of doing things for others when they cannot do for themselves. Like shoveling the sidewalks of our elderly neighbors so they can get to their doctors appointments. Or baking cookies or bread for the new members at our church who are trying to fit into the community. Or even visiting the new single mother down the block and offering to help her out in any way you can as she struggles with work and active children. Spiritual renewal can happen any time and we need to be prepared to jump right in and participate. My prayer is that we will all use the days we are given to renew our spirits by living out of faith. Have a great rest of the winter. Pastor Susan Rosenbaum Pastoral Presbyter Doorway to Heaven? This was in our mailbox on the front of the church one morning: This is the door to Heaven (center-right). Be reminded that one needs to go to meetings in the building beneath the steeple (center-left) to access the door! Photo and note by Robberta Messenbrink 6

7 it turns out that Click's graduation marks a serendipitous milestone for her and the family. "Come to find out, my great-grandfather graduated from Austin Seminary in Seeing as I will graduate this May when all is said and done, my great-grandfather and I will graduate from this institution exactly a century apart," said Click. "I am still astounded as to how the timing works out!" Above: Kristi Click with children on her trip to Guatemala Kristi Click To Graduate Exactly 100 Years After Great-Grandfather Kristi has recently been featured in the e- newsletter of the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, The Reed, which can be found at p=2610 "When I arrived at Austin Seminary I wanted to learn about my great-grandfather the Reverend Dr. John Milligan (Jack) Lewis," said Click. "I had been told that he graduated from the Seminary before pastoring several congregations; his longest term was at First Presbyterian Church of Lubbock, from 1922 to I asked around and was encouraged to talk to our archivist, Kristy Sorensen. What Kristy found was, in my opinion, amazing. "When Kristi first contacted me, I started by searching through our records to determine when her grandfather graduated from the Seminary. After we found his graduation date and his full name, I was able to use my inventory of the Austin Seminary records to locate an alumni address he gave at commencement in 1932 as well as his signature in the original Declaration of Intent book. Finding Kristi s signature when she started Seminary in 2009 in a later book let us see those two symbolic documents side-by-side. The research yielded surprising and compelling results, including a revelation that Lewis' father, Rev. Wilber Mason Lewis, was also a Presbyterian minister in Texas. Along with that, Margaret Jang once wrote that, "To know your future, you must know your past." With this in mind, it's clear that Click's future in the church and beyond will likely bless many lives, and it is a vocation grounded in the strong roots her father and greatgrandfather set before her. Thanks to Click's pursuit of knowledge and Sorensen's work, we get to see just how far those roots extend. In December, our P.W. meeting was devoted to filling and taking for delivery of the Christmas Bags for our shut-ins. I would especially like to thank Nancy Czerniak, and Pat Seals for all their work in getting it all together, also to all who helped with filling and delivering the bags. Our plans for our February 19 th meeting include inviting the Hollister Presbyterian Women for a patriotic day, our program subject will be "Travel-log" with guest speakers. The meeting begins at 1:00 p.m. Please come, welcome the Hollister women, and enjoy a fun afternoon hearing about some places of interest. Looking forward to seeing you there. Presbyterian Women 7

8 Dearest Friends! BIRTHDAYS 3 Johnie Jones 6 Charles Worster 8 Frieda Staake 9 Becky Roberts 10 Nancy Brush 11 Max Merrell 13 Deidre McCormick 19 Cheryl Cleveringa 23 Celeste Reece 24 Bonnie Pinet 25 Lera Warren 27 Buddy Roberts ANNIVERSARIES 9 Don & Helen Clotworthy, 64 years 14 Bob & Gerri DeBres, 44 years 16 Bill & Janell Winkert, 1 year 19 Ryan & Allison Daniels, 2 years 20 Howard & Judy Gathman, 60 years 23 Charles & Linda Worster, 46 years We are so very thankful that God guided us to the Community Presbyterian Church in Forsyth, MO. It was so wonderful to feel welcome with smiles, handshakes and just the feeling that this was a church with a truly Christian family. All our experiences at church functions, services, and I must say especially the choir what a wonderful Christian fun group and they all work very hard on the anthems & specials! What is especially great about the choir is we choir members can sit up there in the choir loft and view all the people all of which look so content and if not a smile the faces are still pleasant. What a wonderful fulfilling sight. We are here BUT don t ask where anything is!!! We may never find some of our stuff but we play the game every day, Have you seen? Or do you know where? Someone could be living upstairs because I don t go up there well, I went up a few times but don t tell my girls!! I still fall now and then but it s getting further between each one. Paul is fine he has so much fun outside working on trimming bushes & trees, etc., etc. We miss each and every one of your smiles. Come see us, you ll always be welcome. Have a wonderful Our love, Pat & Paul Wearne PO Box Leta s Trail Mountain Home, AR Paul cell phone: Pat cell phone: Happy New Year! Many thanks to all for the cards, phone calls, Gift Bag and prayers. I hope to be back to church soon. The boot is off my leg now, so with more therapy I ll soon be good as new! Well, be myself again anyway! I ll be fine. Special thanks to Ed Hawkins, he made me a step for the front porch. Sure makes going in and out easy for me. Thanks & Love, Pat Hibben Dear Friends, Thank you for the gift bag and the wonderful thoughts & prayers. Your kindness is much appreciated. Denny Harvill Of the Forsyth Flower Cottage 8

9 Ushers/Greeters Ed & Bonnie Hawkins Liturgist Mary Prewitt Glad Haltom Cheryl Cleveringa Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 Every Sunday Sunday School 9:00 am Worship 10:30 am 2 3 Diabetic Focus Group 4 Yoga 9:00 am 5 Wmn s Breakfast 8:15 am Men s Breakfast 8:30am Hannah Circle 1:00 pm Choir 7:00 pm 6 The Bookies 10:30 am Bar Assoc 11:30 am Potluck Lunch & Annual Congregation Meeting 11:30 am 10 Esther Circle 11:00 pm 11 Yoga 9:00 am Chamber Lunch 11:30 am 12 Wmn s Breakfast 8:15 am Men s Breakfast 8:30am Calico Cutups Choir 7:00 pm Yoga 9:00 am 19 Wmn s Breakfast 8:15 am Men s Breakfast 8:30am 20CHIMES Deadline Yoga 9:00 am PW Meeting 1:00 pm Choir 7:00 pm 26 Wmn s Breakfast 8:15 am Men s Breakfast 8:30am PW Sewing 9:30 am Choir 7:00 pm Session Meeting 6:30 pm

10 COMMUNITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH P.O. Box 486 Forsyth, MO C O M M U N I T Y P R E S B Y T E R I A N C H U R C H PO Box Main Street Forsyth, Missouri (417) Dennis Winzenried, Pastor Website: compresby@centurytel.net Community Presbyterian Church Staff Members Pastor...Dennis D. Winzenried Secretary...Denise Carr Choir Director.Arliss Stillings Organist.Linda Stillings Custodian....Paul Weeks Sunday School Sunday Worship Service 9:00 am 10:30 am 10