Bethany Spirit July 2018 CHURCH STAFF A Monthly Publication of the Bethany Presbyterian Church Our Independence Day Pastor Rev. Dr. Bill Herndon Secretary Tina Douglas Financial Manager Lisa Parris Director of Music Barbara Lawson Pianist Carolyn Peters SESSION MEMBERS 2018 Brandon Douglas Bill Tracy Pirkle 2019 Shannon Henderson Paul Lewis Lanier Inside this issue: Session Reports 2-3 Youth News 3 Calendar 4 Volunteers/Prayer List 5 4th BBQ/Camp Pictures 6 Praise Notes 7 Submitted by Elder Brandon Douglas A s I was sitting here trying to figure out what to write in this article I kept thinking of what the speaker, Jay Miller, at the Edge youth conference was discussing and how it plays in with the 4th of July. He spoke about being comfortable with who you are because that is how God made you. I know that you are wondering how this has anything to do with the 4 th of July. Let me explain. The whole reason we have the 4 th of July/Independence Day in the USA is because we gained our freedom from England. This happened on July 4 th 1776 and we were free to establish our own rules and government. Jay Miller spoke about how Jesus was sent to die for our sins and how Jesus took everything for us so we no longer had to worry about what people would say about us. This is similar too, when the USA gained our freedom from England and we no longer had to worry about what England told us we had to do. The true freedom we should be focusing on this month and forever how no king, no government or any person can ever take from you is the freedom that Jesus gave us when he died for our sins. The Bible tells us that we are ALL BORN PRISONERS TO SIN (Galatians 3:22-23). This means that we need to ask Jesus to forgive us and set us free from sin. In Romans 6:23, the Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. This means that when we SIN, and everybody does, our paycheck is death. So to avoid this God wants us to come to him for our own PERSONAL INDEPENDENCE DAY! Just like Jay Miller said at the conference Jesus died in our place to pay the debt we owe to God. Jesus died for our Sins not his, he paid OUR bill. In Romans 6:22, it says You have been set free from sin. God has made you his slaves. The benefit you gain leads you to holy living. And the end result is eternal life. So as we gather to eat our annual BBQ lunch at Bethany let s remember the real Independence Day, your personal Independence Day. Being set free from the control of sin and death is true independence! If you haven t already, ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life for a real Independence Day celebration! The Bible says, If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:36) and, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be Saved (Romans 10:13). Father s Day 7
P a g e 2 B e t h a n y S p i r i t Session Summary Clerk of Session Paul Lewis he meeting was opened in prayer by Rev. Herndon at 6:30pm in the Church office and a T quorum was declared present. Financial Lisa Parris The Financial reports were reviewed and elders were given the opportunity to clarify and ask questions. BB&T Signature page being updated. Financial report approved. Prayer Cards/Concerns The Prayer List was reviewed and updated. Prayer cards were sent to those in need. Pastor s Comments/Concerns Rev. Herndon New member consideration- Joe Pierce approved Dinner on the Grounds/Music Sunday being planned Approved Rev. Herndon being off Sunday August 12, 2018 Clerk s Report Paul Lewis Starting membership - Membership 103, Ending Membership 103 Correspondence: A letter from John Thompson passed around for session to read. Reports from Ministry Teams Mission and Outreach Shannon Henderson T-Shirts for everyone to purchase being worked on. New logo being reviewed. First Impressions being worked on i.e. front of the church and assembly room. Landscaping for the church being reviewed, Brandon Douglas working on getting quotes. BBQ Event Signs will be put out by Bill and Tracy Pirkle. A new Master Calendar will be put up in the office and maintained by Tina Douglas. This will help session members be aware of upcoming events. Mission and Outreach will be asking the Fun Seekers Group to sponsor a school this coming school year. Administration/Stewardship and Finance Updating the call person for the Alarm System is in progress. Working on updating computers in the office and church, along with long term care. Waiting on quotes from companies. Worship Nothing to report Lanier Building and Grounds Bill Thermostat in Sanctuary will be changed to 80 degrees during non-service hours. Low battery alarm being worked on, possible need replacing in external devices. Reported a problem with a spot in the floor in the Fellowship Hall, will be worked on after July 4th BBQ Boy Scouts approved to use nursery for their meetings. (A classroom is being used for Hand Bells that they had used) (Continued on page 3)
B e t h a n y S p i r i t P a g e 3 Christian Education/Children and Youth Brandon Douglas Reported that all Camp/Conferences went well, the youth group would like to return to the same camp next year Reported that VBS numbers were down this year, also reported that there was technical difficulties with the slide show during the closing ceremonies. Reported that they are looking at changing the date next year to maybe July. Reported that the youth group will meet July 1 & 29 - with a Back to School Bash pool party at the Douglas Member Care/Hospitality Tracy Pirkle Getting ready for the annual BBQ A new member dinner is being planned by Member Care Tracy Pirkle Old/New Business Spirit front page article responsibility for July 2018 will be Brandon Douglas The Docket and minutes pending any corrections that need to be made were approved. Home coming plans being made, requested that David Rodgers be asked to preach Elder Nominating Committee discussed - 2 maybe 3 prior Elders have volunteered to become active Elders. Congregation will need to approve. The meeting was closed in prayer by Rev. Bill Herndon at 7:40 pm. Next Session Meeting: August 21, 2018 at 6:30 pm. Kid s Club / Youth Group News Submitted by Brandon Douglas irst off I would like to say THANK ALL YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT, we couldn t have pulled off the F conferences without you. Tracy and I had the pleasure of taking the middle school age students to Covenant Collage for The Edge Conference. The Edge had between 700 and 800 students so as you can imagine it was a long and LOUD week. As you read on the front page we learned a lot about Jesus dying for us. We also had a lot of fun through water activities and even going to Six Flags White Water. I did ask the kids if they would like to go back and they all said YES so we will need your continued support for the up coming year. Tina had the pleasure of taking the little ones to day camp at Camp Calvin. She said that as the week went on they started talking more about what they had done. They learned about I AM the Vine, I AM the Shepard, I AM the Bread of Life and more. They went swimming and got to play in the lake on a big trampoline. We can not thank you enough for your support and continued support of OUR YOUTH!!! Upcoming Events July 1 Regular Meeting July 29 Back to School Bash
P a g e 4 B e t h a n y S p i r i t July 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 Sunday School 9:30am Morning Worship 11:00am Holy Communion 2 3 4 Church Office Closed July 4th Barbecue 12:00pm No Choir Practice 5 6 7 Jeff Margie Sims 8 Sunday School 9:30am Morning Worship 11:00am 9 10 11 Choir Practice 6:30pm 12 13 14 Carolyn Sullivan 15 Sunday School 9:30am Morning Worship 11:00am 16 17 18 Choir Practice 6:30pm 19 20 21 Hannah Douglas Susan Holmes Bill Foster 22 Sunday School 9:30am Morning Worship 11:00am 23 24 25 Fun Seekers 11:00am Choir Practice 6:30pm 26 27 28 Sack Lunch Prep/Delivery 10:00am Tracy Pirkle Evelyn Capes 29 Men s Breakfast 7:30am Sunday School 9:30am Café Connections 10:30am Morning Worship 11:00am Newsletter Deadline 30 31
B e t h a n y S p i r i t P a g e 5 Children s Worship Monthly Volunteers July 1 July 8 July 15 July 22 July 29 Adrianne Tina Douglas Adrianne Tina Douglas Adrianne Liturgists Carolyn Sullivan Chris Mize Ansley Douglas Kendyl Nimmons Dennis Mills Greeters Ushers Open Bldg. Buddy & Rae Cook Bill Brandon & Tina Douglas Men of the Church Close Bldg. Carolyn Peters Lisa Parris Chris & Wayne Mize Tracy Pirkle Brandon & Tina Douglas Prayer Concerns We need your help to keep our prayer list current. You may make requests / updates by submitting a blue pew card, calling the office (770-786-1629) or by emailing (office@bpccovington.org). Thank you! Joyce & Sam Ball (Boyce) Judy Branch (Pirkle) Cheryl Burke - Forman University (Pakistan) Tim Burke (B. Herndon) Evelyn Capes Emmett Chapman Lisa Cole (O Donnell) Betsy Connolly (O Donnell) Bill Cook (B. & R. Cook) Willene Davis (Ann Herndon) Chris Deaton Kenny Ellis (Peters) Bill Faith (D. ) Jim Fan (Parney) Nancy Fullerton (Sheri Gahwiler s Mom) Zach Foster Joey Hancock (L. ) Hazel (sack lunches) Kenlee Hicks Family of George Hushour (L. ) DeeDee Jones (Sullivan) Kathleen (friend of Boyce) Helen Kohler (Boyce) Jeffery LeMoine (C. Hunt) Mary (R. Cook) Grady & Judy McMahan (Boyce) Irene Mize (W. Mize) Larry Mize (O Donnell) Jane & Bill Moore (Boyce) Joel & Leah Sanders Schuitema Family (Parney) Thomas Sexton (Boyce) Grier & Marge Sims Casey Sullivan (Sullivan) Charlotte Sweeten Matt Tan (Parney) Gloria Tisius (O Donnell) Connie & Bob Warren (Boyce) Kevin Waters (Peters) Mitchell Wheeler (Mize) Lamar Wilkes (B. Hunt) Ava Young (Pirkle) Our College Students Our Military Men and Women Our Session
B e t h a n y Page 6 It s Barbecue Time! Join us, Wednesday, July 4, 12:00pm sharp, here at the church! $8 for all you can eat, BBQ, stew, slaw, chips, and a drink! More Pictures from Our Youth Summer Camp/Conference The Edge Camp Calvin S p i r i t
B e t h a n y S p i r i t P a g e 7 Praise Notes Submitted by Barbara Lawson Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD. Psalm 33:12 It was 1855. To pass the time at the firehouses, the firemen of Richmond, Virginia, sang everything in the songbooks. A new tune was composed but the men had to find words to accompany the tune. This cheerful melody was soon being sung at camp meetings and to words of old hymns. In army camps during the War Between the States, the soldiers sang it lustily, and added Glory, hallelujah! at the end. By 1861, this tune was ringing in the ears of Julia Ward Howe, Boston s gifted writer. She thought the words silly. One night, unable to sleep, she got up from her bed and wrote some verses of her own. The Union Army took the words she had written as its marching song to music written by a Southerner for his friends to sing while passing time at the firehouses of Richmond. There could not be a more appropriate song to honor ONE NATION UNDER GOD than to have this song become the beloved Battle Hymn of the Republic for ALL AMERICANS! Sing it often during this month of July, in celebration of our great and cherished nation. Thank God for the blessing of freedom! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on. Glory! glory, hallelujah! Our God is marching on! Catch the Spirit! Father s Day at Bethany A s is our tradition, we recognized two special fathers in our worship service Father s Day the father with the oldest child and the father with the youngest child. This year the father with the oldest child was Grier Sims, and the father with the youngest child was Brandon Douglas. All the men present at morning worship were honored with a special gift.
Bethany Presbyterian Church 1002 Bethany Road Covington, GA 30016 Phone: 770-786-1629 Fax: 770-786-9676 E-mail: office@bpccovington.org We are PAGE 8 B e t h a n y S p i r i t