West Park-O-Gram April 2012 Volume 59 Number 5 SHINE! This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!

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1 SHINE! This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! (Psalm 118:24) What day am I talking about? Well, every day! But there are two days in particular that are really days in which to rejoice. One of them was Easter. The other one is when you receive your new pastor. One of these days of rejoicing is past, but another is on the way. But for them to truly be times of rejoicing, we need to prepare ourselves - spiritually! All of our activities of Holy Week and Easter were ones in which we were able to let our lights shine. May God s light shine on our worship services as we rejoice in those special days that God has made for us to be glad. Through these and all of our activities at West Park, let us continue to rejoice As for your new pastor, your Pastoral Search Committee is working hard to find just the right person. Pray for them. May the light of Christ shine through them as they meet with prospective candidates. And when your new pastor does arrive, that will be a great day of rejoicing in a day that the Lord has made. You will certainly be glad and rejoice on that great day for that day will signal a new beginning in the life of the West Park United Church of Christ, a day when you will let your light shine before all people, being a beacon of hope and joy for your community. I like to use the word SHINE as an acronym for the final stage of interim ministry. That time is now! Now is a time for West Park to put its best foot forward in attracting the best possible candidate for its future. And again, all five of the developmental tasks of interim ministry come into play: S-strengthening your denominational connections, celebrating your H- history, building upon your strengths, lifting up and promoting your I- identity, creating unity toward new mission directives, trusting N - new leadership with responsibilities for guiding the church, and generating E - energy for your new leaders, new pastor and new future! Jesus said, Let your light SHINE before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to God in heaven. (Matthew 5:16) Pastor Dave NEWS FROM THE SEARCH COMMITTEE As you know, the Search Committee has been hard at work for months trying to accomplish the task set before us. It is with great joy in our hearts that we are able to inform you that we have a candidate that we believe is the best choice for the next settled Pastor of West Park United Church of Christ. We must follow the By -Laws and Constitution of our church. However, many plans are underway and will be shared with you as soon as they are confirmed. We are anticipating a wonderful future with our new Pastor as we move forward with hope and joy. We remain your Search Committee: Kathy, Matt, Rachel, Felix, Judi, Dan, and Pat A CONGREGATIONAL MEETING IS BEING CALLED FOR MAY 13, AFTER WORSHIP SERVICE. PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND. - 1

2 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION PAGES Learning In God s House Together I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in shadows but will have the light of life. John 8:12 Inter-generational Family Faith Formation Chick Flicks!!!!!!! You re Invited.. BRING FRIENDS! Our Next Chick Flicks will be hosted by Mandi Salvino on May 11 th, 6:30 P.M. The Movie will be 13 going on 30. A Mother /Daughter event! PLEASE LET MS. MANDI OR MS. WENDY KNOW IF YOU RE COMING! DON T MISS THE FUN! Adult Faith Formation Reminder - You re invited to join us at the Weekly Adult Bible Study is on Sunday 9AM Come a little early, have some refreshments, and refresh your spirit together at Bible study ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **20TH Anniversary All Church Retreat** You re invited to celebrate at our church family reunion anniversary retreat on Pentecost Sunday! We will be Celebrating God and relationships with each other! West Park T-Shirts will be ordered for this event! (Yes, you can order one even if you can not attend the retreat! $10.00 if not attending) Also, sweatshirts can be ordered at a cost of $20.00 each, not included in the registration Plan on joining your Church family for this annual event Cost: whole event $100 per person, children reduced! Saturday only is $25. Retreat Flyers with information will be on the Caring & Sharing Table. Deadline for registration May 4 th.thank you for your cooperation! If needed, Financial Grace is available upon request, to set up payment plans by deadline of May 4 th. - 2

3 Young Adult Faith Formation Jr. High ( 6th-8th ) & Sr. High ( 9th - 12th ) Let light shine out of darkness 2 Cor. 4:6 June 20-23, 2012, INDEPENDENCE, OH ALIVE FESTIVAL TICKETS $120 Registration Forms are due by May 24! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HIGH 5~ Fifth Sunday Celebration! EARTH WEEK APRIL 22-29, 2012 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SonRise National Park VBS JULY 30-AUGUST 3, 2012 Get ready for exciting wilderness thrills as you head out to beautiful SonRise National Park! Kids will be awestruck by snow-capped mountains, thundering waterfalls, wildflower meadows bursting with color, and amazing animals like soaring eagles, friendly huskies, and herds of caribou. As kids explore SonRise National Park, they ll learn the most important survival skill of all: they can always depend on Jesus and His promises of true peace, true riches, true power, true love, and true hope! At SonRise National Park, kids will learn to trust Jesus as their all-powerful guide and Savior! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ARE YOU GRADUATING? We want to honor you! Whether from high school or from college, any degree over the past year, we want to honor your accomplishments! Please the church office by May 15 with your name, school you are graduating from, diploma or degree, and future plans work, college and major, etc. The church is: wpaaucc@sbcglobal.net. Thank you! **May 27 Pentecost Sunday ** Please order your Red Geraniums; the youth group members will plant them around the church. The cost of each Geranium is $5.00. Order form is included in this WPOG. - 3

4 THANK YOU to all who came to the April Saturday Work Morning Bob Arcuri, Bryan Hrehocik and kids, Jane Vogt, Dennis McCormack, Mark & Pat Rust, Jeff & Laurie Dobransky, Lois Cole, and Dolores Holliday. We hope to see a lot of people on May 12! We ll beautify the outside of the church, spread mulch, and put screens up to let the fresh air in along with our normal work. Thank you! Easter Beauty - Once again, the Deacons thank the many members who purchased plants to make the church so beautifully refreshing for Easter. The Risen Savior was remembered through the loveliness and fragrance of the Spring blossoms. Thank you to all who so generously made donations in memory of my sister, Delores Pratt. Our family is very appreciative of your faithfulness and kindness. Ed & Trudy Fowler Thank you for all the Easter Cards; I love you and miss you all Pearl Degnan Thank you to everyone who has come together to help with the meal program for those in our neighborhood. At our last meal, music by Ted got people up dancing the waltz and polka. Gail Kenney mentioned that one of our guests commented, You are helping so may people with these meals. Besides the food to feed the body, the fellowship they share is feeding their spirit. The next meal will be Sunday, June 10, and July 22 will be a cookout on the front lawn to increase visibility in our community. Also, Thank you to those who continue to make monetary donations to keep this outreach going. - The Board of E & G OUR LECTIONARY FOR MAY 2012 Pink Envelope Alber Scholarship May 6: Fifth Sunday of Easter Worship and Communion ~ L.I.G.H.T. ~ Coffee Hour Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 22:25-31; I John 4:7-21; John 15: 1-8 May 13: Sixth Sunday of Easter, Mother s Day Worship ~ L.I.G.H.T. Acts 10:44-48; Psalm 98; I John 5:1-6; John 15:9-17 May 20: Seventh Sunday of Easter Worship ~ L.I.G.H.T. ~ Boards & Committees ~ 3 pm Acts 1:15-17;21-26; Psalm 1; I John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19 May 27: Pentecost Worship ~ L.I.G.H.T. ~ All Church Retreat Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-34,35b; Romans 8:22-27; John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15 NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER We are invited to share in the National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 3, at 7:00 p.m. at the West Park Christian Reformed Church, Triskett Road, Cleveland. For more details, see Pastor Dave. GAME NIGHT FRIDAY, MAY 18, AT 7:00 P.M. IN BARTTER HALL! Bring your favorite childhood game, a friend and a snack to share. SECRET PRAYER PAL REVEALING PARTY! Come find out who your secret prayer pal is Wednesday, May 9 at 7:00 p.m. in the Parlor. - 4

5 WOMEN'S FELLOWSHIP WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2012 NOON The Women's Fellowship will hold its next meeting on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at noon with a Brown Bag Lunch. Hostesses Janet Beutel, Dolly Chappell and Grace Green will furnish dessert and beverages. Then the "experience" we've all been waiting for!! Phyllis Schroth, the famous Bingo Caller will lead us in games of Bingo and laughter. We hope you will bring a lot of your treasures to be used as prizes for the lucky winners. Wrap them in paper bags or fancy paper just so the winners won't know what they've selected. The games last as long as the prizes last. We all know about children being Home Schooled. Now under the guidance of Clara Strodtbeck our Sewing Angels are Home Sewing. So far they have already sent 68 puppets to Fairview Hospital for the children. They're working hard on many more. Our next meeting is Wednesday, September 12 with our Annual bounteous and delicious Salad Luncheon. Bring your favorite salad for the buffet table. Hostesses Elaine Barry, Nancy Olsen and Anna Belle Rice will furnish table settings, rolls, butter and beverages. For a delightful interlude with our kind of music, Ted Litchney will entertain us with both his gift of gab and his wonderful gift of music. Come and bring a friend in addition to your salad. Mother s Day Music and Celebration on May 20 th Please join us for our first annual WPUCC Mother s Day concert and celebration! We are looking for various talents of our church and community to participate in this event. Acts could include, poetry readings, various musical acts of all shapes and sizes, scripture readings that remind you of your mother, or any other creative ideas you may have. The music committee is sponsoring this event on Sunday, May 20 th at 3pm. Please see one of the committee members (Judi Wiseman, Marilyn Furry, Doug Miller, DeDe Todd, Doug Henderson, Beth or Rachel Gibson, Joy Kiedrowski, or Kathleen Bosl) if you are interested in participating or have any ideas for this event. Hope to see you there! ANNUAL PRAYER AND PICNIC IN THE PARK SUNDAY, JUNE 17, :00 A.M. TO 2:00 P.M. It s early, but it s still not too early to mark your calendar for our Annual Picnic. The date is Sunday, June 17 from 9-2. It s also Father s Day so we will honor all the fathers. Your destination for that day will be the cabin at North Olmsted Park, Lorain Road, North Olmsted. (THERE WILL BE NO SERVICE AT CHURCH THAT SUNDAY) The service in the park will be at 10:00 in the cabin followed by a delicious pot luck. After the Pot Luck there will be a drawing of special gifts from our generous vendors and then games of all kinds. You can also be a spectator and watch the games, so bring a chair for comfortable watching. It s also not too early to get out your picnic baskets and your favorite hot or cold recipe to serve 8 for the main course or a special dessert for sharing. Our buffet table is always laden with a bountiful assortment of delicious food the best buffet in town. Donations can be given to Janet Gorman to help defray expenses. Patti and Ken Jacko are furnishing tablecloths. Coffee, tea, sugar, cream and pop will be furnished. Please bring your own place setting and beverage glass or cup. See you at the picnic! - 5

6 LIGHTS OUT?? That s what we all need to ask ourselves when leaving our church buildings. In an effort not to waste WPUCC & Discovery World dollars, please take the time to secure all outside doors and to FLIP THE SWITCH. This simple task is not only the right thing to do, but will be greatly appreciated by all. Thank you. Board of Trustees NEW MEMBERS West Park UCC is planning to welcome new members in the near future. If you are interested in joining the church, please see Pastor Dave. STRAWBERRY SOCIAL SATURDAY, JUNE 9, :30-7:30 P.M. This year we will have a new and revitalized group of young women who are sponsoring, preparing, and serving the Strawberry Social. They have taken over the duties from the former Friendship Guild. Guild members who have been well trained through the years are asked to do the preparation of the strawberries on Friday, June 8 at 1:00 p.m. Elaine Barry (440) and Dolores Holliday (216) will be in charge of the strawberry cleaning and slicing. Former members are asked to volunteer. Tickets are $7.00 for adults and youth 12 and over; $4.00 for children 4-11, and free for children 3 and under. Tickets will be sold Sunday, May 6 and Sunday June 3 at the Coffee Hour and in the Narthex. The Sundays in between they will be sold only in the Narthex. Get your tickets early because they go fast. It s one of the most popular events in the church year. The menu will feature Sloppy Joes, Hot Dogs, Pickles and Chips and as always, Strawberry Shortcake and Sundaes. Beverages will be Ice Tea and Lemonade. Call Robin Jessen at home (440) or (raj7760@yahoo.com) if you would like to volunteer your time and talents either before, during, or for clean up afterwards. This a popularly delicious festivity fun for both eating and helping. IN TOUCH WITH ZION... Just a few quick notes about our sister church. Zion is partnering with Christ Church of Columbia Station for the time being, and they are doing great things together. They are revitalizing both the building and programs, bringing in new life and great numbers to meet the needs of the community. Zion s Pantry Day will now be the 3 rd Saturday of the month from 1-4 p.m., piggybacking on the Hot Meal program. June September, on the 4 th Saturday, 11 2, they will hold a fresh produce giveaway, with donations from the Cleveland Foodbank. Please remember the pet friends of Zion with your pet food donations. - 6

7 This page for the Easter Flower and Memorials - 7

8 1 Helen Saccone 2 John Newman 4 William Barry 5 Susan Kirst Barry Barthelman 6 Holly Sinnema 7 Joseph Ross Nigro II Dennis McCormack 9 Molly Strachan Tim & Betsy Bruening Robert & Marlene Arcuri MAY BIRTHDAYS 11 Ellen Armstrong Adam Bonsell 13 William Vastag 14 Marlene Arcuri 16 Robert Lamb Rachael Thayer Lynette Lyons Melissa Miranda Pastor Dave Brown 17 Rebecca Brown (Don t forget to use your Birthday Envelopes!) Wedding Anniversaries 19 Jackson Kraus 20 Kirk Barry 22 Patricia Jacko 23 Ruth Finley 25 Jim Hutchings 26 Dolly Chappell Laurie Dobransky Lois White 27 Lora Mosier 30 Douglas Miller 31 Grace Burgess Lori & Michael Conley Dan & Kathleen Moreland Jim & Sandy Zmina Please call the church office if you are ever omitted or if your Birthday or Anniversary is incorrect. STEEPLE CHASE FUND RAISER: THE GOLD GALS Sunday, May 6, 2012 at the Coffee Hour As reported at West Park UCC s recent annual meeting, we ve made great progress funding the purchase and installation of our new church steeple, but we still have a way to go to achieve our $125,000 Capital Campaign goal. To help get us there, West Park UCC will be hosting the Gold Gals at an upcoming coffee hour on Sunday, May 6th. Licensed precious metals dealer Jan Lehrer, a friend of Ruth Clements, who currently serves on the Board of Stewardship & Finance, will be on hand to purchase your gold or sterling silver jewelry, gold coins and other gold items, with 10% of total purchases going to The Steeple Chase Campaign. As a small, locally owned business, the Gold Gals offer competitive pricing, but there is absolutely no obligation or pressure to sell. Now is the time to begin collecting any old or discarded gold or silver items around your home. May will be here before you know it! KIWANIS FUNDRAISER AT HUNTINGTON PLAYHOUSE! Come and see Nunsense, a fun comedy! Mark your calendars for May 20, at 2:00 p.m. Price of the Tickets are $ See Willie Cunningham for tickets and details - 8