JPC Newsletter. A Letter from Pastor Andy

Transcription

1 JPC Newsletter A Letter from Pastor Andy Dear JPC members and friends, At the April session meeting I received approval to begin the research for my doctoral project. With the session s consent realized I thought I should share what this will entail. First, a little background: for the past five years I have been in the Doctor of Ministry program at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas. I have taken four classes on various aspects of ministry including congregational spirituality and the sacraments and I have taken two classes on research method. All that remains is the doctoral project. Through the fall and winter, I developed and revised a research proposal that was approved by the seminary s academic dean shortly before Easter. My first chapter detailing my research field and the congregation s context is due in the coming weeks. One Saturday morning in May I will be holding a focus group to learn people s general thoughts on stewardship. I know May is usually a busy month but my hope is that all who I ask to participate will be able to. From the focus group I will select about eight people to participate in two interviews, one at the beginning of June and another mid-fall. Throughout September I will be preaching on biblical call stories, such as Jesus calling the disciples, or God calling Moses at the burning bush. Also in September I will be hosting an education event where we will look at the changing generational landscape and how it affects church life. This event will be open to anyone from the congregation who would like to attend. I will then conduct the second set of interviews, write the whole project up, and if all goes to plan graduate in May of (Continues on page 2) Page 1

2 A Letter from Pastor My hope is that this will be a good experience for JPC and through it we will learn more about why we give and what God is calling each of us to do. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. May the coming days be a time for renewal for each of us, Pastor Andy JPC Mission Committee April 2018 This month our Mission Committee article focuses on the 2018 Rock Prairie / Jerusalem HOPE mission trip we made to Hattiesburg, MS in March. A total of 23 people went on the trip with Dave Carr, Tim Whitmore and Jerry Gapinski representing JPC. This was the sixth year that JPC has teamed up with Rock Prairie in mission doing God s work by helping those less fortunate than ourselves. This year we traveled 2077 miles, applied our skills and talents renovating tornado damaged homes, were reunited with friends from previous mission trips and made new friends in Hattiesburg, MS. Donations from JPC members allowed us to provide modest financial support to a family that did not qualify for any financial support even though their home was heavily damaged by the tornado. Another generous donation allowed JPC to donate a quilt to the owners of each of the houses that our HOPE volunteers worked on and a beautiful blanket to the director of R3 who provides the housing and coordinates volunteer groups who come to Hattiesburg to restore, rebuild and repair the tornado damaged homes. On Palm Sunday we attended church service at the Westminster Presbyterian church in Hattiesburg. This church was heavily damaged during the tornado of 2013, has been completely rebuilt and is now donating funds and repairing homes damaged by the January, 2017 tornado. Following is an article that Mike Williams, our HOPE Trip coordinator from Rock Prairie, wrote for the Rock Prairie Newsletter summarizing our 2018 HOPE Mission trip that we would like to share with the members of our JPC congregation: (See article on Page 3) Page 2

3 2018 HOPE Mission Trip Hattiesburg, MS What do Southern Yellow Pine trees, trains and blooming Azalea bushes have in common? If you guessed Hattiesburg, Mississippi then you are correct. Hattiesburg was founded in 1882 by William Hardy who was a Captain in the Civil War. He named the town after his wife Hattie. Hattiesburg is located at the junction of the Leaf and Bouie Rivers. This area had a magnificent stand of large, native pine trees which were important for the construction of buildings for a growing population. The two rivers and a new railroad line between New Orleans, LA and Meridian, MS provided transportation outlets for the pine wood lumber. The tall, straight pine trees were vertical gold for lumber barons. At the peak of tree harvest in the early 1900 s, there were 59 saw mills in the Hattiesburg area cutting tree trunks into useable lumber for homes and businesses. Today, Hattiesburg, affectionately called Hburg, is about the same size as Janesville, with many beautiful, historical homes built by the lumber barons in the late 1800 s and landscaped with azalea bushes. In 2017, an EF4 tornado descended on Hburg destroying hundreds of homes and killing four people. The 2018 HOPE Mission Group, consisting of 23 dedicated souls between the ages of 15 and 95, headed to Hburg to work on houses damaged by the tornados wind and rain. Volunteers included: John Amstadt, Char Behling, Dave Carr, Dan & Cathy Collins, Bill & Jackie Davis, Jerry Gapinski, Harold Hanauska, Craig Hanson, Anne Hershman, Marv Jensen, Jerry & Barb Kramer, Earl & Jan Marquis, Kathy Peterson, Charlotte & Austin Sartell, Tim Whitmore, Mike & Pam Williams and Irene Williams. Our team worked on four different homes in a poor residential neighborhood of Hburg. Our restoration work included removing carpet and padding, installing laminate flooring, scraping & painting exterior wood siding, roof repairs, installed baseboard and door casement, installed ceiling fans, plumbing repairs, installed kitchen cabinets, painting kitchen wall cabinets and window casement, built a new wood deck, built hot water heater enclosure, built front porch railing, installed new screen door, replaced exterior window sash and built a new side porch overhang. This mission trip was unique in that we worked seven days rather than the traditional five days. In addition, doing restoration work is much more complicated and challenging than new construction. HOPE is blessed to have many talented volunteers with a range of experience to analyze and implement restoration steps which are in the best interest of the home owner. With each HOPE mission trip, I continue to be amazed with how God guides us in the right direction to touch his children who are in such great need of our physical skills, spiritual enrichment and healing embrace. (continues on page 4) Page 3

4 2018 HOPE Mission Trip Hattiesburg, MS The restoration of structures enables the healing of the soul and embracing the emotional needs of the storm victims. I sincerely appreciate the dedication and hard work of our volunteers who made multiple sacrifices in service to others who are in need of our Christian love. Special thanks to the members of our congregation for your financial support and prayers. Without your spiritual support we could not accomplish God s work. Mike Williams HOPE Coordinator Volunteer Opportunity On Saturday, May 12th, you can help the Salvation Army in Waukesha collect food for their pantry with the annual Postal Service Food Drive. Thousands of pounds of food will be collected and sorted that day. Annual JPC Chicken BBQ The annual JPC Chicken BBQ will be on Saturday, June 9 th. I have recruited Jack and Paul to act as co-chairs, with the hope that they will be able to take this event over in the future. Ellie and Phyllis have graciously agreed to run the kitchen in the morning, coordinating making gallons and gallons of salads, for which I am grateful once again. If you have questions or concerns, please don t hesitate to contact me. Kristen McEwing kristenmcewing@gmail.com Page 4

5 Spring Clean Up Spring Clean Up Saturday May 19th at 9 am Come help clean up the church yard on Saturday May 19th. Outside work includes weeding and cleaning the flower beds, trimming bushes, picking up branches and leaves and burning the combustibles in the BBQ pit. Your energy, smiles and yard tools are needed to make this event a success. Contact Walter Schulz for more information. Sock It To Poverty Spring is the time for JPC s Annual Sock It To Poverty, a face off between the sexes. Beginning April 22 nd collect your loose change in a sock. Bring whatever you save to church by Mother s Day May 13 th. The Deacons will total up the collection and award Bragging Rights to the winners The men or women. All proceeds go to the Hope Center of Waukesha. Learn To Play Mahjong Have you heard of the ancient Chinese game of Mahjong? Do you have your own set of tiles? Do you like a challenge? Everyone is invited to join in the fun at the May 15th Family Game Night and learn to play this exciting game of strategy. A variety of card and board games are played following the 5:30 pm meal. Please sign up on the clip board. Page 5

6 Worship Schedule 9:30 Sunday Mornings Choral Sunday, May 6 Choir Director: N. Zywicki Liturgist: Tim Whitmore Hosts: Mike and Mary Bohren/Drake and Edie Reid Communion Host : Linda Ravelo Nursery: E. Copeland ChoralSunday, May 13 Choir Director: N. Zywicki Liturgist: Sue Jack Hosts: Cate and Kyle O Connell Nursery: J. Schulz Choral Sunday, May 20 Choir Director: N. Zywicki Liturgist: Marge Bartz Hosts: Dale and Carolee Heinen Nursery: L. Schueller Sunday, May 27 Liturgist: Don Badgley Hosts: Donna Mickle and Linda Vogel Nursery: L. Schueller May Birthdays Please wish these members a Happy Birthday this month! 3 Wayne Bjorgaard 3 Pat Bjorgaard 5 Marnie Roberts 6 Molly Lecher 7 Anna Mae Badciong 8 Peggy Kilpatrick 11 Claudia Schueller 14 Bailey Copeland 16 Larry Bartz 17 Bev Wilke 17 Nancy Whitmore 19 Farah Stephens 21 Kyle O Connell 25 Laura Schulz 25 Dale Heinen 30 Megan Kalix Activities& Events JPC BOOK CLUB Book club meets every 2nd Monday of the month.. Below are the books for book club.may 14th The Boys in the Boat by Daniel J. Brown June 11th: Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig Bridge Join us for cards at 1:30 pm on Wednesday Sheepshead Last Tuesday of the month at 6:30pm at Three Pillars in Dousman Weekly Attendance April April 8 72 April April April Monthly Contributions Three months ended 3/31/18: Offerings $45,017 Expenses 49,236 Using the Phone: Using the Post: Using the Web: The church office hours are: Tuesday and Wednesday 9 am - Noon Thursday 9 am 1 pm The church phone number is: or Rev. Andrew Holmes At(414) revandrewholmes@gmail.com Our Location Address is: Jerusalem Presbyterian Church 207 W. Main St. Wales, WI Our Mailing Address is: Jerusalem Presbyterian Church P.O. Box 88 Wales, WI, To send an to the pastor revandrewholmes@gmail.com To send an to the church secretary: jpcsec@jerusalempresbyterian.org Visit our website for more information: jpcwales.org Page 6

7 Jerusalem Presbyterian Church P.O. Box Main St. Wales, WI 53183