MISSION STATEMENT Preaching and teaching the Bible with passion and love Bringing the unchurched to a trusting and redemptive relationship with Jesus Christ Nurturing our congregation Serving the needs of our community A Lent Experienced Now that our Lenten journey has begun, I am in wonder that God chose to walk among us. That means God, in Jesus, has experienced what it means to be a person and, in every aspect, to know our human emotions and feelings. God knows what we feel and how we love, why we get hurt, and when we grieve. Yet the amazing truth is that the revelation and relationship work both ways: in Jesus, God also graciously invites us to look up and lean in to see and understand what it means to be God s child to be a beloved, to be sought after, to be affirmed, and to be unconditionally loved by our Almighty Creator. May we carry that experience with us we go through lent following Jesus toward the cross, certain of God s presence and everlasting claim on our lives. Please be sure to plan to join us at FPC in your journey through Lent and especially plan to be with us during Holy Week which is from March 25 th to April 1st. We start the week with our Palm Sunday worship as we celebrate with palm waving. Then Maundy Thursday we will participate in the sacrament of the Lord s Supper and on Good Friday there will be a service of meditation and reflections upon the cross. Finally, we will have our Easter Celebration on Sunday morning, April 1st. Please, be sure to invite your friends and family to join us for our Lenten journey so that together we can stand in humility at the cross and awe and wonder at the empty tomb. Christ s Peace for the Journey, Pastor Sean
CLERK S CORNER Candy Shelton, Clerk of Session The regular stated meeting of the Session of Florissant Presbyterian Church was held on Sunday, February 18, 2018 in the FPC Conference Room. At 12 p.m. Pastor Sean Butler officially opened the meeting with prayer. Lunch was enjoyed from St Louis Bread Company. P Sean shared a report from the Social Injustice Meeting and announced FPC will host GA guests for lunch after service on June 17 th, 2018. P Sean also spoke about the documentary Atomic Homefront featuring North County hazard waste problems. Ten elders were present. Correspondence included a Thank You from Presbytery and information on UKirk. TREASURER S REPORT: Session unanimously approved participation in One Great Hour of Sharing and that the Lenten folder collection be dedicated to OGHS also. COMMISION REPORTS: On motion made and seconded a new commission Evangelism will be created Carlene Moore will chair and the new commission is tasked with defining its mission. CHRISTIAN EDUCATION The Easter Bunny Breakfast and Egg Hunt will be held March 24 th. CHURCH LIFE There will not be a Palm Sunday meal. Per Capita donations ($32) are appreciated by June. CHURCH OPERATIONS Rich Meanor, Chair, shared insulation and carpentry work need to be completed after the pipe break. After discussion on how to repair the roof leaks, Rich will get estimates and ideas. CONGREGATIONAL CARE: Session will do Fellowship clean up on Session Sundays. Next Presbytery meeting will be Saturday, February 24th. Delegates are Joy and Dick Lee. OLD BUSINESS: Cooking with Kindness program is on hold until further discussion. NEW BUSINESS: Food Bank Work Day will be April 21 st from 10 am to 1 pm. PASTOR S REPORT: Asked Session members to recruit additional commission members from the congregation. We will reflect on the Congregational Vitality survey at future meetings. It was agreed lunch at future meetings will be order out or bring your own. Pastor Sean closed the meeting at 1:25 p.m. with prayer. Next meeting Sunday, March 18, 2018.
2 Carol Tumminia 2 Jared Edwards 5 Ronna Smith 12 Jason Piper 19 Ian Arseneau Wedding Anniversaries Doug & Ellen Law, married 39 years on March 3 Steve & Sherrelyn Rosenberger, married 28 years on March 10
By/Betty Walters HAPPY ST. PATRICK S DAY It s fun to be Irish for 24 hours. Our ancestors won t care if we re Irish for just one day. To listen to an Irish song makes us happy and gay. Like Oh Danny Boy, My Wild Irish Rose and on Galway Bay. We sing out of tune in our own special way. And oh the Irish food we eat with such delight. We eat until we finish the very last bite. A Green outfit is what you ll wear. Only to be worn again next year. See you next year same time, same place. Learn the words to the songs Come with an empty stomach Don t worry about what the ancestors think
FLORISSANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION 660 CHARBONIER ROAD U.S. POSTAGE PAID FLORISSANT MO 63031 PERMIT #12 FLORISSANT MO 63033 MARCH 2018 Bell Tower This newsletter is a monthly publication. FLORISSANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy (PCUSA) 660 Charbonier Road, Florissant, Missouri 63031 (314)837-8555 Church Office (314)837-4073 fax E-mail: flopresby@sbcglobal.net Website: www.flopresby.org Rev. Sean R. Butler Phone # 314-807-6877 Email: pastor.sean.fpc@gmail.com Office hours: Monday - Thursday 9am 2:00 pm Paula Finke, Office Administrator Angela Rugger, Director, F.P.C.L.C. Ellen Geerling, Music Director
MARINER LOG CONGREGATION CARE CHURCH LIFE On Sunday February 11th neither cold, snow, or ice kept 42 Presbyterians from gathering to worship and sharing a meal. The worship service was very moving with special music including drums, guitar and trumpet. We were treated to some special trumpet music at the end of worship and then led into Harmon Hall to The Saints Go Marching In. In Harmon Hall we celebrated with a Mardi Gras brunch of pancakes, sausage, fresh fruit, juice, milk, coffee and wonderful King s cake. Barbara Spurgeon, Scott Collett and Carol Tumminia each found the baby in their piece of cake. During the meal we were treated to more trumpet numbers and a CD of Louisiana music. Thanks to everyone who made this a wonderful event. Special thanks to John and Bill Murray, Dave and Julie Beckham, Rolla and Ronna Smith. Please plan to join us for these upcoming events- March 24 th we will help with the Bunny Breakfast (watch for details) Event for April TBD May 13th Mother s Day continental breakfast 9-10 (no tickets-no offering) PER CAPITA Just a friendly reminder, our Per Capita Apportionment for this year is $32.00/person. We would appreciate if everyone could complete this task by July 1st. Thanks for your support. LENTEN OFFERINGS Church News The Session has elected to donate this year s Lenten Offerings to support the One Great Hour of Sharing. This is another way we can fulfill our Mission Giving!
BELLTOWER This is our last mailed publication. The BellTower will be emailed each month to your email we have on file. In addition, you may get the BellTower on line at flopresby.org. Choose home tab, then BellTower and then choose which newsletter you want to view. If you do not have access to a computer, please let the office know so you can receive yours by mail. THANK YOU I would like to thank all of you wonderful ladies who have put the BellTower together all these years. Your time has been greatly appreciated. - Paula CHRISTIAN EDUCATION The annual Easter Bunny Breakfast and Egg Hunt will be Saturday, March 24th. Breakfast (pancakes, sausage, applesauce, juice, milk and coffee) will be served from 9 am to 10 am. The Easter egg hunt will be at 10 am; eggs will be filled with "bunny money" to shop for prizes at the Bunny Store. The Easter Bunny will be there! All are welcome; please let us know if you are coming. Also volunteers are needed. Contact Candy Shelton or sign up at the church office. GREEN COMMITTEE Spring is just around the corner and our community garden is in need of some attention. Anyone who has planted a plot in the past or would like to use a section or just help out please let me know. We will try to schedule some workdays soon to get things growing. Dan Edwards 831-4114 Candyman63121@yahoo.com