Beacon. the church. A Faith That Matters. Easter Sunday. Newsletter of John Knox Presbyterian Church April Easter 10am

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1 the church Beacon Newsletter of John Knox Presbyterian Church April 2018 Easter Sunday Easter 10am Our Church family will share in a time of fellowship and amazing food. What s better than celebrating our redemption with those that we love? Easter 9 & 11am This service will be the last in our Give It Up series. The topic will be Giving Up Death. Christ not only conquered Death physically, but in light of the Resurrection, we are called to give up death as well, but in a different way. Come join the family for our Easter Celebration! Musical Note At the 9am Easter service, the John Knox Ringers will be playing a song entitled Easter Triumph. We will also be having a Celebration Choir at 9am. They will sing Embrace the Cross. The Children s Choir will be singing at the very beginning of our 11am service. Come hear the great sounds of our Church Music Groups! A Faith That Matters You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:13-14 Dear John Knox Church family, Our faith matters! It has enormous significance for us in our lives. It also impacts those with whom we interact. This is one of the things that is so powerfully on display during the seasons of Lent and Easter. We see Jesus walking the journey to Jerusalem and the cross. We notice the many hardships that he faced along the way. We watch the rejections and persecutions that he encountered. And in it all we recognize that he lived this life because it was what mattered most. And after the cross, we see through the disciple s eyes that the tomb was empty and that lives were changed. What an amazing story of God s love and faithfulness! It has been exciting to see how the demonstration of our faith at John Knox has mattered over the past few months. The Family Matters class has invited the community to learn with them about how to parent children. In particular, the last seminar spoke directly about how to

2 New Series Prove It! A Christian s life should be living proof of their connection to the Father. Essentially, our sacrificial love for others is a testament of our sacrificial love for God. In his first epistle which forms the basis for this series the apostle John walks through several aspects of the Christian life, revealing where the evidence lies for each. Do you know God? You can prove it because the evidence is in your obedience. Do you truly love your neighbor? You can prove it because the evidence is in your sacrifice. We don t earn God s forgiveness with our good deeds, but a transformed life should look just like that transformed. Each sermon in this series examines different claims made within the church and asks for the evidence to prove that it s true. It deals with themes like sin, the identity of Christ, and obedience. This will be a great way for all of us to evaluate the areas of our lives we need to change to be more obedient to Christ. We can say it with our mouths, but the evidence is in our actions. The series will begin on April 8th. A study through 1John A Faith That Matters...cont d build resiliency in our children in an anxious world. A team of our members went to serve at Canton Calvary; many others contributed the food for the meal. Many of our church family served at a touch-point for local children at the Easter Eggstravaganza. I have observed a number of our members stepping up and leading our children and youth ministries. Our faith matters to us and to the world around! Invite someone to join you as we continue through the story of God s redemption. Who can you invite to the Eggstravaganza or to worship on Easter morning? What a difference it will make to you and them. This Lenten Season has been a blessing and there is much more for us to learn and experience together. I love how these seasons bring us together. I will be praying for you throughout these days! Tom New Church Sign!!! Over the past few years, many have shared that the church desperately needs a new sign. Our current sign is showing its age and has begun to break down. The new sign has been planned to express the vitality that exists in our church. A team that consisted of Mike Skrjanc (organizer), Mark Belgya, Ted & Becky Hall, Amy Mast, and Gabriel Miller looked over options for the sign and contacted local sign companies. A close representation of the sign appears with this article to help everyone visualize what the sign will look like. The final product will feature prominently our name, logo and web site address. It will also contain a high quality digital display where we can share about all the things that happen in our church life together and all the ways we desire to serve our community. The brick base will be an attractive upgrade. We have already saved almost $5,000. A major portion of the Easter Serve Offering contributions have been designated to go toward the sign. If we are still short of the amount we need for the sign, the Administration Team is prepared to authorize up to $10,000 from one of our Building Funds to complete the project. We are excited for how this sign will witness to what God is doing at John Knox.

3 Dates to Remember April 1 Easter Celebration and Brunch April Birthdays! April 22 Community Outreach Kickoff Parenting Seminar (4pm) Weekly Events to Attend Sunday Morning Worship (9 & 11am) The GROW Hour (10:00am) Youth Group (6:00pm) Tuesday Women s Bible Study (9:45am) Bell Choir (6:00pm) Monday Men s Prayer Group (6:30am) Wednesday Choir (5:45pm) Worship Team (7pm) Nancy Busby Jacob Knisely Kathleen R Beels Ben Houston Garrett Schatzley Caitlyn Jeanne Sproul Laurel Walczyk Kathleen Kovach May Anne Makley Nicholas Schatzley Irene F Udall Matthew Warren Natali Masters Barbara Culp Joann Todd Christine Wood William McDonnell Dave Doll Williamina Jane Groetz Christina Warren Martha Meadows Denny Printz Richard Stockburger Brandon Morrison Walter W Schwabe Trevor Sproul Life Groups meet different places, days, and times through the week! If you are interested in a growth group, please ask a staff member. Sunday Worship Schedule 9am Traditional Worship 10am The GROW Hour 11am Contemporary Worship April Anniversaries! Gene & Pam Barnhill Ted & Becky Hall Kevin & Betsy Davidson Eric & Gail Mueller Larry & Diana Jones Ray & Ellen Thompson Cameron & Staci Kennedy Sam & Katy Kovach

4 Community Outreach - intentionally making a loveimpact in our community We are looking forward to another year of radiating the peace of Christ in our community. The kickoff date for this initiative is Sunday, April 22. The Community Outreach team (Martha Gerber, Bill Foraker, Christina Warren, and Ryan Johanning) has been working diligently to plan several projects that reflect the passions of the congregation and assist people in our community. We felt God calling us to reach out to a few groups of people including veterans, residents at ManorCare Health Services, and the Interfaith Campus Preschool. We coordinated projects that all ages from our congregation can participate in. We hope that you will consider helping with one or two of the projects. Sign-up sheets will be available at the Connection Center in April. Here is a list of the projects 1. An activity team that will plan a program and appreciation meal for local veterans. 2. A children s team to create placemats and sing some songs for the Veteran s Appreciation Program. 3. A team to fill gift bags for the residents at ManorCare Nursing Home. 4. A visitation team to converse and deliver the gift bags to the residents at ManorCare Nursing Home. 5. A hands-on team to help a local family. 6. An outdoor team to prepare the raised garden beds for the Interfaith Campus Preschool. ongoing work with the interfaith campus preschool Canton Calvary Mission Recap Saturday, March 24 Canton Calvary dinner was a huge success. Close to a hundred people were served not only dinner, but they were able to have seconds and also take home dinners for another night. We received many compliments for the food that was served. Thank you to everyone who cooked, donated food and helped serve the needy. Baby Bottles Thank you to all who participated in the Pregnancy Choices Baby Bottle Boomerang. With the Baby Bottles and the Chili Challenge combined, JKPC raised $1,564.96, well over our $1,200 goal. Pregnancy Choices has sent their heartfelt thanks for supporting their mission. Last year the Community Week Team led the congregation in numerous projects supporting the Interfaith Campus Preschool. We have continued this special partnership. Some of the ongoing projects consist of 1. Mystery Readers- Our church family goes down to the preschool and reads books to three classes. 2. Book Drive Collection- Our church family brings in gently used books for the kids. 3. Book Drive Handout- The children are able to come upstairs and pick out one or two books of their choice. 4. Appreciation Meal- Our church family makes a delicious lunch for the staff members. 5. Raised Garden- Our church family helps to maintain the garden with the children. 6. Prayer Team- Our church family prays for the staff members and students.

5 Easter serve offering The Easter Serve Offering will be collected on Easter Easter serve morning during worship. It is one of 3 special offerings thatoffering our church receives each year. We have set a goal of $15,000 to support One Great Hour of Sharing, Community Week, and the purchase of a new sign for the church. You can contribute at give.jkpc.org or use the envelope that was provided in the mailing last month. Personnel News Baptism Seth Howryla We celebrated the Baptism of Seth Howryla on March 18th! Please pray that he lives into the life verse that Derrick and Kathryn chose for him: Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 We have exciting news: we have hired an organist/pianist, Nursery Worker and have increased Natali Miller s responsibilities! Jessica Kapraly has agreed to join the staff as our Organist/Pianist. She studied music at Malone University and has been involved in ministry both in college and post-college. Jessica currently works at Timken and is excited to start being involved in the music ministry at John Knox. Stacey Zimmer will be on hand all morning on Sundays to staff the nursery. Stacey works at the Interfaith Campus Preschool. She has a great spirit and much experience working with children. Natali Miller has begun serving as Ministry Intern. She will work part-time in filling in some gaps that currently exist primarily supporting the Children s Ministry Team and the Youth Group Team. She will also assist in leading worship and in other ways. These responsibilities will allow her to use her ministry gifts and her education at Malone University. Parenting Seminar - Family Finances Join us on April 22nd at 4pm for our final FREE parenting seminar. The topic will be Family Finances and will be led by Mike Beels. Do you have too many demands and not enough finances? Come to this seminar and learn about how to deal with the day-to-day challenges of raising a family on a limited budget. Free childcare and refreshments available. Please RSVP to ryan@jkpc.org if childcare is needed. Vacation Bible School We will hold Vacation Bible School the week of July This week in July has worked out well for the church over the past few years. A team is being gathered now who will prepare for a week of great fun and learning! Parents: please reserve this week on your calendar now! Congregation: Get ready to invite friends, family and neighbors to join us for this great week!

6 John Knox Presbyterian Church 5155 Eastlake St. NW North Canton, OH Phone: Newsletter 2018 APRIL