From the Pastor May 12, 2013

Transcription

1 From the Pastor May 12, 2013 Deuteronomy 4: 9-10 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Proverbs 3:1-2 My son, do not forget my teaching but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Deuteronomy 6:12.be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. At the very heart of the Old Testament and the experience of the people of Israel was their slavery in Egypt and God deliverance through the hands of Moses. So central was this redemption that all through the Bible there is reference after reference to what God had done and the people were told, Do not forget. The above passages are just a sampling. Here is my thought. One of the reasons we sometimes find our faith not as strong as we would like, sometimes when our life seems to be drifting, sometimes when it seems we are going through a moment of decision and cannot seem to find a clear path I think it is because we have forgotten who we are and what God has done for us. I do not think we forget on purpose, we just get distracted by the world around us that offers such easy and simple solutions, entices us to take a substitute, to settle for the comfort of Egypt over the incredible life God is leading us toward each day. Jesus is calling all of us out of Egypt just as the Moses called the people out. The way isn t always clear, and the temptation to settle for something less than God s abundance is strong. So, take time, think and pray. Examine your daily life and see if there are places you have settled for Egypt instead of the promise. Steve

2 Birthdays for MAY 1 st Steve Rhodes Stephen Godfrey 4 th Gabe Stoeppler 5 th Buck Joyner George Wenger 6 th Jim Hartell 7 th Newman McGarity 8 th Ruby Greene 11 th Pam Bishop Gordon McKinney Sarah Hinson Tyler Christian 13 th Bob Haynie David Moody 14 th Fay Tillotson Jane Kathryn Hucks 15 th Allison Mitchell Jackson Regnier 19 th Candy Hendricks 20 th Alexis Deal 21 st Maddux Young 22 nd Cindy Carter Bruce Tillotson 23 rd David Hinson 24 th Margaret Ann Cunningham Patrick McGarity Jerry Parris 31 st Wanda Hyatt Spencer Culp Circle #1 Tuesday, May 14 th 10:00 am Circle #2 Monday, May 13 th 11:45 am (Bring your own sandwich) Circle #3 Tuesday, May 14 th 7:00 pm Circle #4 Tuesday, May 6 th 5:30 pm Price Hall (Bring your favorite salad to share) Circle #5 Saturday, May 11 th 9:00 am

3 VBS July Covenant Presbyterian 5:30-8:00 pm Thank you so much to those of you who have already volunteered to help out with VBS! We are currently looking for a nursery volunteer and a music leader for each evening. If you are available, your help would be greatly appreciated! Please contact Reynolds Atkinson at reynatkinson@yahoo.com or (864) Congratulations to Mary Kate Gamble! She is a Wofford Student who has been visiting with us in our Sunday morning worship services. God Bless you Mary Kate!

4 Many hands and hearts contributed to the Life Celebration and Reception for Katherine Sippola. To all who gave of their time and talent; whether it was moving tables and chairs, setting up Price Hall, ushering, nursery duty, baking cookies, setting up audio visual, music, attending service, taking food to Katherine s family, or sending a flower or contribution, THANK YOU. Katherine shared her wisdom and love with all who knew her and your generosity is a reflection of her devotion to her Christian Faith. Praise be to God for sharing Katherine with our circle and congregation. Katherine's Circle - Circle #4 The Presbyterian Women sponsored Birthday Celebration Offering will be collected within the Circles at their scheduled May meetings. Hope everyone has had a chance to take note of the theme this year "Helping our Neighbors". Please lend your support to this great opportunity. Circle chair persons will distribute and collect envelopes at your May meeting. Thanks to the Royal Ringers for their devoted attendance to rehearsals and commitment to ringing some beautiful pieces as they assisted the congregation in worship this past season. This Sunday is the last time for these volunteers to ring before they take a well deserved break during the summer. We look forward to hearing them again in the fall. Ringers are: Katie Wall, Carole Tillotson, Alex Wall, Jane Frost, Quin Holden, Amanda Bennett, Anthony Wall and Beverly Reynolds. Jackie George Director Our sympathy and love extend to Bert Sippola and his family in the loss of their beloved Katherine. She will always be in our hearts. Our sympathy and love goes to Loree George in the recent loss of her sister in law. Attention all Veterans If you are a military veteran and would like to stay informed of current legislative changes that may affect you, please contact Elder Steve Reese. In the long term, he hopes to establish a veteran support group. His contact information is below. Steve Reese (864) enreese@windstream.net Keep these families in your thoughts and prayers.

5 Pentecost Offering Invest in our greatest resource! The Pentecost offering will be received on the day of Pentecost, Sunday, May 19 th. Your generous gifts to this special offering will enable the PC (USA) to encourage, develop, and support its young people as well as provide assistance to at risk children. A portion of this offering is kept by our congregation for supporting our young people. For more information, visit and search for Pentecost Offering. New Address Richard and Diane Jones 1173 Webber Way Spartanburg, Sc There is a SAILBOAT in the newsletter. Can you find it? The Spartanburg Soup Kitchen is hosting a fundraiser. A gas grill valued at $ will be given away to a lucky winner on July 4, The cost is 5 tickets for $20.00 or $5.00 for one ticket. Help the Spartanburg Soup Kitchen with their mission of continuing to feed those that hunger. Gas grill donated by our friends at Freeman Gas. Tickets will be available at the church office.

6 Congregational Meeting Sunday, May 19, 2013 A Congregational Meeting will be held immediately after the worship service on Sunday, May 19 th. The congregation will be asked to vote on the following question: Will Second Presbyterian Church exercise its option to purchase from Foothills Presbytery, the former PSA House, located at 121 College Street, for the sum of $100,000? Background Information: After months of study and at the recommendation of the Joint Building / Budget & Finance Ad Hoc Committee, the following 2 motions were passed by the Session on April 25 without opposition. 1) To seek congregational approval to exercise our option to purchase the PSA building (former Long/West Office Building) from Foothills Presbytery for $100,000 provided that a) a satisfactory nonresidential 2 year lease agreement-in-principle can be agreed upon with JumpStart Ministries and b) that Presbytery accept a 4 year payment plan with $20,000 down at closing, with four annual payments to follow. 2) To set Sunday, May 19, 2013 for the Congregational Meeting to vote on the purchase of the PSA building pending that a satisfactory non-residential 2 year lease agreement-in-principle is reached with JumpStart. Full implementation of this recommendation will provide a means for our church 1) to retain control over this neighboring property, 2) to maintain the building on a cost-neutral basis, and 3) to expand upon an existing ministry partnership with JumpStart. JumpStart Ministries would like to use this building as a potential office headquarters but more importantly as a work training center. According to Chuck Fields, JumpStart Chairman, this building is an ideal location for our men to develop their work skills, start learning to budget their money, set goals for their transition back to the community and begin working immediately after release. Questions and Answers: 1. Why is Foothills Presbytery selling the PSA House? Foothills Presbytery has been under budgetary constraints since losing a few of its churches to the new ECO denomination (Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians). With the loss in income, funding for PSA was decreased. Foothills Presbytery could no longer afford to maintain and pay the monthly utilities of the PSA House. Therefore the decision was made for the PSA organization to vacate the premises and to sell the property. 2. What is meant by exercising our option to purchase? Foothills Presbytery purchased this property from Second Presbyterian in 2003 for $100,000. In the closing contract, it was stated that if Foothills Presbytery would ever sell the property, then Second Presbyterian would have the option to purchase the building back for $100,000 before it being offered on the open market. 3. What will happen to 121 College Street if Second Presbyterian does not purchase? Foothills Presbytery will likely sell the property through a realty company. We would have no control over who our new neighbors may be. 4. How is the building currently being used? For the last several months, Foothills Presbytery has been renting the lower part of the building to JumpStart Ministries. The JumpStart residents have been using the conference room areas to conduct light assembly work or piece work. These are just temporary types of jobs for these men to have while they seek permanent employment in the community. 5. What is the building worth? The building was appraised in the summer of 2012 by Willard Inc. to have a potential value of about $175,000 with the assumption that $75,000 in improvements would be made to the property. Therefore the net value assigned to the property was $100,000. This valuation was based on the rentability of the property with the lower floor being used as office space and the upper floor being used as residential space. 6. What do the utilities cost for this building? The average monthly cost for utilities was about $750 per month.

7 7. Did the Ad Hoc Committee contact any other organizations to see if they were interested in the building? Yes. Wofford had no interest. The Northside Development Initiative had no interest. Spartanburg County expressed potential interest but never offered any definitive proposals. Hub-Bub Artists in Residence program toured the building but decided not to pursue. The Urban League expressed interest but realized the monthly utilities were more than they could afford. FYCBT (Family You Can t Beat Them) expressed interest but the Session did not enter discussions with them. Finally JumpStart, made a formal written proposal on March 16 and an agreement-in-principle is currently being negotiated. 8. Why not buy the property and sit on it for a while to see what other opportunities would develop? The Ad Hoc committee thought that if the building was not used upon its purchase, it would continue to deteriorate and lose value. As for renovating the property ourselves, we did not believe we had adequate funding to both purchase AND renovate the building. 9. What makes JumpStart an attractive partner? JumpStart provides a vital Christian-based ministry for re-introducing its men back into the community so that they will become productive citizens. We participate in this ministry now by providing JumpStart with our property at 458 N. Church Street (the former Haven building). In exchange for us providing the building, JumpStart makes needed repairs and improvements, and covers all utility costs. Our only required expense is the property insurance. With this arrangement, we can participate in the ministry on an essentially cost-neutral basis. For those that have toured the JumpStart house next door, most all have agreed that our property has increased in value from all the improvements that have been made. 10. Shouldn t we gain more experience with JumpStart before allowing more residents next door to us on College St.? Yes we should. For that reason, the 2 year agreement being negotiated with JumpStart will be a NONresidential one. The building will be used for work training programs, meetings, corporate offices, and perhaps the JumpStart headquarters. No overnight lodging will be allowed except for the Executive Director when he visits from out of town. 11. What happens after the 2 year agreement period? The agreement can be renewed or it can be terminated if we find other uses for the building. Any improvements made to the building by JumpStart become the property of Second Presbyterian. 12. What will be the timing of the purchase from Presbytery? If the congregation votes to exercise the option to purchase on May 19, Foothills Presbytery will be notified. The formal approval to sell will have to go through at least 2 committees before being voted on by the entire Presbytery on August 17. Therefore, the official closing would not be expected until September. 13. Do we have enough funds to purchase? Our proposal to Presbytery will be to make an initial $20,000 payment at closing and then 4 more equal payments over the next 4 years. Under this plan, the B&F Committee believes that the building can be purchased without having to take money from the Cornerstone Fund, and most likely without having to borrow from external sources. At most, it is thought that up to $20,000 may have to be borrowed in the 4 th year, but this will be avoided if at all possible. 14. How much non-designated money do we have on hand? At the end of March, Second Presbyterian had $363, held in undesignated funds. This total consists of $241, in the Cornerstone Fund, $40,000 in a budget reserve fund, and $82, as undesignated monies coming from estate gifts, Memorial funds, and leftover insurance proceeds from the Haven restoration. 15. Could buying this building affect the funding of our new CE staff positions? The B&F Committee thinks that this building can be purchased without adversely affecting the potential salaries of new CE staff. In addition to the funds available, we also had a successful stewardship campaign where many members pledged to increase their giving by at least 10%. Together, our available cash and planned giving increases make this undertaking possible. 16. What does this purchase do for us in terms of affecting our local missions? After The Haven moved to their new location and after the Soup Kitchen moved to their new location, we were left with a major void in our local mission program. Now with this purchase, we are clearly reestablishing our identity as a mission-related church. Through JumpStart, through AA, and through PSA, we can all be proud of what we are doing for our local community.

8 This coming Sunday there will be a guest speaker for our morning worship service. welcome Rev. Elliot Smith, president of Thornwell Home for Children in Clinton, SC. Please Founded in 1875, Thornwell is Second Presbyterian Church's ministry with children in need and their familes. Each year more than 120 children who have been abused, neglected, abandoned or have experienced other family crises, are provided with loving homes, food, dental and medical care, counseling, educational support and faith development opportunities that bring hope, healing, and wholeness in the name of Jesus Christ. Beginning this year, Thornwell is expanding its ministry into community-based settings where families can get the support they need to work through the crises threatening family stability and stay together as a family. Says Elliot, Children are a wonderful gift from God. Sadly, child abuse, neglect, abandonment and other family crises threaten that gift. You and I are blessed to share in Thornwell s ministry, for it is by God s grace and working together that we are able to keep the promises we all make in Baptism and heed Christ s call to serve the least of these.

9 SCHEDULE FOR WEEK OF May 12 th - May 18 th SUNDAY May 12 th 9:45 am Sunday school 11:00 am Worship Service MONDAY May 13 th 9:00 am Ladies Bible Study 11:45 am Circle #2 Meeting 5:30 pm Circle #4 Meeting 6:00 pm FYCBT TUESDAY May 14 th 10:00 am Circle #1 Meeting 6:00 pm FYCBT 7:00 pm Circle #3 Meeting 7:00 pm AA Closed Meeting WEDNESDAY May 15 th 6:15 pm Royal Ringers 7:15 pm Choir Practice THURSDAY May 16 th 6:00 pm FYCBT FRIDAY May 17 th 7:00 am Men s Breakfast 9:30 / 11:00 am FYCBT SATURDAY May 18 th 7:00 pm AA Open Meeting Liturgist for May 12 th Roy Bishop 19 th Steve Godfrey 26 th Jim Hartell Ushers for May John Goodwin, Michael Bennett, Joe Corpening, Cal Cannon, Steve Godfrey, Buddy Greene, Tom and Sandy Lathan Offering Team for May Jeanette Reeves / Bruce Tillotson Elder on call for the week of May 12 th Cal Cannon. He can be reached at: (H) (C) May Nursery Volunteers 5 th Sarah Hinson / Beverly Reynolds 12 th Betty Pryor / Martha Waters 19 th Margaret Ann Cunningham / Barbara Darwin 26 th Katy Ballard / Reynolds Atkinson People with Special Needs to Pray For: Dawn Lowe, Payton Dominick, Margie Goodwin, Mary Lee Hayes, Pat Miller, Anslie Waters, Ava & Garrison Williams (grandchildren of JoAnn & Roy Bishop), Juanita Smith, Rachel Hart, Loree George, Sandra Sweet, Marlene Towery, Pat Stephens, Betty Taylor (Jan Sumeral s Mother), Ellen Davis, Agnes McElrath, Fay Tillotson, Phyllis Moore, Baby Royce, Mattie Allen In Assisted Living or Nursing Home: Eden Terrace Martha Wharton Eden Terrace Pat Stephens Eden Terrace Mattie Allen Eden Terrace Juanita Smith Maranatha Manor Marlene Towery Mountainview Nursing Home Janet Baker (Loree George s sister-in-law) Presbyterian Home Jackie Parris (Clinton) Skylyn Place Rachel Hart (Assisted Living) Skylyn Place / Skilled Nursing Lowry Outz (Vicki Rhodes father) Summitt Hills Sandra Sweet Summit Hills Fay Tillotson White Oak Estates Agnes McElrath (Assisted Living) At-home Members: Marjorie Allison, Agnes McElrath, Roy Hall, Everett Tillotson, Grady Towery, Willie and Jimmy Hill Paul Atkinson Adam Patterson The prayer room is always open. Bring your burdens and your praises. God will meet you there! Second Presbyterian Church Contact Information Ph: Fax:

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