THE LAMB S KIN. First Presbyterian Church A Hymn for November. While challenges prevail, one thing remains: We are the Body of Christ

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1 First Presbyterian Church A Hymn for November We gather together to ask the Lord s blessing; He chastens and hastens His will to make known. The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing. Sing praises to His Name; He forgets not His own. Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining, Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine; So from the beginning the fight we were winning; Thou, Lord, were at our side, all glory be Thine! We all do extol Thee, Thou Leader triumphant, And pray that Thou still our Defender will be. Let Thy congregation escape tribulation; Thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free! THE LAMB S KIN November 2013 A message from our pastor Bill Proctor While challenges prevail, one thing remains: We are the Body of Christ L ast month I began my column by stating, At the moment there are a few challenging concerns before us as a congregation, and now you know that I was not exaggerating! On Sunday, November 10, at a congregational meeting following that morning s worship service, you will be asked to vote on whether or not you agree with the findings of the Denominational Task Force and the recommendation of Session to initiate the process whereby we evaluate our continuing affiliation with the Presbyterian Church USA. Please note, you are not being asked to vote on whether or not to leave the PCUSA. You will only be voting on whether or not to initiate a process of discernment. This process is laid out for us by the Presbytery of Tres Rios and, according to the guidelines ordered by the presbytery, a vote on whether or not to leave the denomination takes place at the end of the process and not at the beginning. It is the process that was followed already this year in the dismissal of First Presbyterian Church in Eldorado to another Presbyterian denomination. Entitled the Presbytery of Tres Rios Reconciliation and Dismissal Process, there are specific steps for us to follow, including a minimum of five meetings over the course of several months between four representatives from this congregation and four representatives from the Presbytery of Tres Rios. Any additional meetings will be determined mutually by members of the Discernment Team. In addition, at the congregational meeting on Sunday, November 10, if a simple majority votes in favor of initiating the discernment process, then a second vote will be required to set a minimum of 30% of the official membership of the church to be present for any future votes. This is also a part of the process outlined in the Reconciliation and Dismissal guidelines. Some other information that may be helpful as November 10 approaches is that the members of the Denominational Task Force were not chosen by Joel or me. They either volunteered to serve or were asked to serve by Lee Puckitt, who is Chair of the Task Force. Their appointment was then approved by Session. This is a very diverse committee made up of individuals who represent a fair cross-section of the congregation. In addition, neither Joel nor I attended any of the meetings of the Task Force. The Task Force did its work independently. The Task Force Continued on Page 2

2 P A G E 2 Continued from page 1 Happy Thanksgiving! spent seven months researching the denominational issues, which included reading vast amounts of information both pro and con regarding disaffiliating from the PCUSA. Some of this information was from congregations that have already departed. At my suggestion, and in an effort to hear from those who remain supporters of the PCUSA, the Task Force interviewed Blair Monie, the pastor/head of staff at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas, and Carl Travis, the pastor/head of staff at First Presbyterian Church in Ft. Worth, in order to gain a different perspective on the issues facing the PCUSA as a denomination. You should also know that in the months since our Task Force was established several other congregations across Texas have also entered into this process, including First Presbyterian Church in Amarillo, Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Grace Presbyterian Church in Houston, and Matthews Memorial Presbyterian Church in Albany. Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lubbock has already been dismissed to another Presbyterian denomination and First Presbyterian Church in Houston began their discernment process prior to the formation of our Task Force. In listing the names of the above Presbyterian congregations I am not trying to suggest that we in San Angelo need to take action regarding our denominational affiliation just because others are now engaged in the process, but I am saying that our Task Force is not alone in its recommendation that we enter into such a process as well. The Task Force has prepared a power point presentation for the congregational meeting, and they will be present to answer any questions you may have before a vote is taken. If the majority votes in favor of initiating the discernment process, further information will be then made available, both for and against disaffiliating with the PCUSA. God bless you!

3 11/1 Ethan Collum, Chelsea Zipper 11/2 Christopher Lauer, Dave Stinnett 11/3 Jasper McClellan, Hannah Jones 11/4 Leslie Turner, Cori Mae Sturm 11/5 Cynthia McManus, Paul Little, Carrie Henderson, Noma Perrine, Bill Vickery, Dorothy Schuch, Martha Williams 11/6 Donna Palmer 11/7 Colby Koenig 11/8 Hubert Whittley 11/9 Eloise Hodapp 11/10 Mike McCammon, Gabriela Spraggins 11/11 Davis Allison P A G E 3 11/12 Hayden Gray, Cash Millican 11/13 Patty Gardner, Blake Vincent, Ruth Hunt 11/14 David Vann 11/15 Madison Bates, Bill Jones 11/17 Anne Dymond, Carlie Jane Smith 11/18 Georgia Alice Edwards 11/19 Philip Vann, Jackson McQueen 11/20 Ginger Treadwell, Katie Rigdon 11/21 Liz Bates, Shay Neal 11/26 Sandy Puckitt, Gwen Parsons 11/27 Susan Woods 11/28 Luke Puckitt 11/29 Ellen Brown, Kyle Grafa, Tim Edwards 11/30 Addison Walling Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat TIME CHANGE w/communion 5:00 Family Faith Ground Up YC :45 MBS :00 Sr Hi Lunch 5:15 Handbells Praise Team 5:30 Wed at FPC 6:30 Chancel Choir 7 10:30 WID - CR 8 Handbells to San Antonio :00 Family Faith Ground Up YC 11 VETERANS DAY 12 8:45 Staff - CR 12:45 CE Co - CR 5:15 Nominating Co :30 Exec. Co - CR 13 6:45 MBS :00 Sr Hi Lunch 5:00 Diaconate & Boxes :30 Wed at FPC Music & B/S above 14 10:30 WID - CR :00 Family Faith Ground Up YC :15 Session :45 MBS :00 Sr Hi Lunch Wed. at FPC END Music & B/S above 21 10:30 WID - CR CHURCH-WIDE DINNER 5:00 Family Faith Ground Up YC 25 Soup Kitchen 26 8:45 Staff - CR 27 NO SCHOOL 6:45 MBS NO AA 28 OFFICE CLOSED 29 OFFICE CLOSED 30

4 P A G E 4 Annual Thanksgiving Lunch Following the Worship Service. Bring a side dish or dessert to share! Thankful Hearts Dear Pastor Proctor & Congregation, Our family so appreciates your willingness to host Billy s Memorial Service. Your beautiful church was such a lovely setting and was so accommodating to the many family and friends that attended. Thank you for your kindness during this very difficult time. Sincerely, Mary Golder Roberson Dear FPC, I wanted to say thanks for the beautiful flowers which were delivered to me. They brought many hours of pleasure. Thank you to the Williams who gave them and to Gabriela for delivering them. Yours truly, Margaret Jorgensen Dear All, Thank you so much for the lovely flowers. They really made our day. We are most grateful for our church family who has enriched our lives so much. They say friends double our joys and halve our sorrows & we can certainly attest to doubling our joys! Love, Sandy & Hubert Whittley Reflections from Guatemala... I believe one of the most memorable moments I had was when the moms brought their children to children's ministry and they also had a baby strapped on their back. The mothers who were children themselves, watch their kids color with such smiles on their faces. I asked them if they wanted to color and you should have seen the look on their faces. They smiled, nodded yes and took a lot of time making their picture perfect. While they were bending over coloring, their babies were still strapped on their backs. When they left at the end of the day, they had their papers with them that they colored just like their children did. They all had big smiles as they walked off and you could hear the laughter. Colleen Hair Guatemala 2013 Photo by Carl Kunath

5 Dan Brand Dan began life in Ft. Worth, TX, and moved as a young teenager with his family up to Maryland after his father was transferred with Bell Helicopter. Dan is a graduate of the Air Force Academy and is currently stationed at Goodfellow Air Force base as a Second Lieutenant. Crystin and Derek Darby have returned home to San Angelo and to First Presbyterian Church. They are graduates of Central High School and, after sojourning in Houston and Austin, they are back with their two children William Davis age 6 and Mary Catherine age 4 and on or by November 18 there will be baby number three! At this point in her life Crystin is a stay-at-home mom and Derek is a lawyer at the firm of Hay-Darby. They are transferring their membership from St. Luke s Methodist in Houston. Leah and Ricky Duerksen Ricky is returning to FPC where he grew up the son of Kay and Richard Duerksen. Ricky is a selfemployed electrician and is the father of a 15-year-old son. Leah is Welcome to the FPC Church Family... coming to us from First Baptist Church in Bronte. She works for Shannon, Porter and Johnson and is the mother of five children the youngest of who is a senior at Bronte High School and two of her sons are students at ASU. Aaron Foster Aaron grew up a Presbyterian in Londonderry, New Hampshire. He has an older brother who is stationed in Wichita Falls at Shepherd Air Force base. He is a graduate of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and is stationed at Goodfellow Air Force base, where he serves as a Second Lieutenant working in basic intelligence. Sue and Bill Hipp Sue is a retired teacher and Bill is retired from A&M. Bill has his PhD in soil management. They have both been active in the Presbyterian Church for many years, helping to start a new congregation up in Allen, TX, which is north of Dallas. They are parents of two grown daughters one daughter lives in Newfoundland and the other in Beaumont they have five grandchildren. Cynthia and Bill Keel now that they are both retired they are back in San Angelo once again. For many years Bill owned an auto parts store in Sonora. They have been members of St. Paul Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church in Eldorado. Bill was baptized in FPC San Angelo in They are parents P A G E 5 of a grown daughter. Chris Sturm Chris is married to Chelsea Grigg Sturm and they are parents to Caden age 4 and Cori age 11 months. Chris works for Tom Thorp Transports. Pastor Bill had the honor of officiating at their wedding which was held outside in our beautiful meditation courtyard. Kaylin and Raul Valldejuli Kaylin, who grew up in Connecticut, is a teacher at Cornerstone Christian School. Raul, who calls Queens, New York,home, is employed by the US Army and is stationed at Goodfellow Air Force base. They both grew up Orthodox Presbyterians did you even know there was an Orthodox Presbyterian denomination? They met in church. November 10, 2013 Following the Worship service.

6 Carol Dotson on the loss of her husband, Jessie Dotson, Who passed away on Thursday, September 19, Roena McCoulskey and family on the loss of her son, Kevin McCoulskey, who passed away on Friday, September 27, 2013 Patty & Randy Gardner on the loss of Randy s mother, Alta Baucum Gardner, Who passed into eternal life on Monday, October 28, 2013 Food for the month of November Non-Perishable Thanksgiving Trimmings of ANY KIND! Please place your donations in the basket in the Commons. The Lamb s Kin is published monthly for the members and friends of First Presbyterian Church. Deadline is the 20th of each month. Please your news to Susan Gober gosusan@msn.com Church office: Church office choffice@gte.net November 3 Ronny Hooker Janet & Warner Phillips Bill Morehead Suzanne & Richard Dorris November 10 Steve Stephens, Julie Cecil, Evalie & Neal Grigg, Bette & Don Allison November 17 Julie Quam, Mary Louise Strain, Kathy & Ken Newman, Susan & Bub Williams November 24 Steve Boster, Ginger Heare, Randy Gardner, Cybee & Bob Hamblen, Tom Granaghan Flower Delivery November 3 Casey Puckitt Doran Reynolds November 10 Gabriela Spraggins Lane Puckitt November 17 Paul Little Colleen Hair November 24 No Delivery Church-Wide Thanksgiving Lunch