First Presbyterian Church PresBits 503 West Sixth St. Red Wing, MN 55066 PH: 651/388-9584 The Rev. Greg Bolt February The Rev. Heidi Bolt Volume 17 Number 1 Pastors Some of the highlights from the Christmas Pageant which took place on Sunday, December 18th. Thank you to all of the youth/children who participated, the parents for making sure they were at the practices, Deb Griffin for the costumes, Lynn Dulak and JoAnne McNamara for providing the music, Jennifer Beck for writing the play, the congregation for being the Heavenly Host and last but certainly not least, Jennifer Beck and Julie Martin for directing the pageant. CHRISTMAS PAGEANT 2016 1
Please join us for a brunch welcoming Pastors Greg and Heidi Bolt And their children, Sophia and Thaddeus Sunday, January 8, 2017 In the fellowship hall Following worship (A sign-up sheet is on the kiosk or you can email fpcrw.admin.asst@hbci.com or call the office at 651.388.9584) 2
Monthly Activities MINISTRY MEETINGS Finance & Stewardship Tuesday, January 3, 8:00 a.m. Deacons Tuesday, January 3, 5:30 p.m. Mission Thursday, January 5, 4:30 p.m. SESSION Wednesday, January 11, 7:00 p.m. Christian Education Sunday, January 15, 11:30 a.m. Building & Grounds TBD Fellowship & Membership TBD Intra-Church TBD Worship & Sacraments TBD I would just like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone for all of the Christmas wishes, cards, and gifts. I am truly blessed to be employed by First Presbyterian Church and am very grateful to be able to work closely with such a wonderful group of people. I hope that each and every one of you have a safe, healthy and blessed New Year! Julie Cashmore CHURCH OFFICE HOURS: Monday Thursday, 8:30 a.m. 2:30 p.m. DEADLINE SCHEDULE(S): Bulletin and Thursday Email Announcements: Wednesday at noon. (If an announcement is to be included for multiple Sundays, please indicate that as well.) PresBits Articles: The 15 th of each month. (If this falls on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, I need them by 8:30 a.m. Monday morning.) Committee Minutes: Thursday (prior to the Session meeting) at noon. Email to: fpcrw.admin.asst@hbci.com Thank you Volunteers! CHURCH CONTACT INFO. : Church Phone: 651/388-9584 Rev. Greg Bolt and Rev. Heidi Bolt Birth Announcement Congratulations to Sarah and Michael Milbright, along with big sister Ashlyn, on the birth of their new bundle of joy, daughter Brinley Raine, who was born on November 4, 2016. Blessings to you all! PH: 651/327-2351 Email: fpcrw.pastor@hbci.com Tom Erickson Email: fpcrw.treasurer@hbci.com PH: 651/327-2350 Julie Cashmore Email: fpcrw.admin.asst@hbci.com PH: 651/327-2358 Email: fpcrw.christian.ed@hbci.com PH: 651/327-2355 January 1 8 15 22 29 FLOWERS Helen Beard & James Bingham in memory of grandchildren Jessica and Oliver OPEN OPEN OPEN OPEN Z GREETERS Jane & Ron Ward Betty Beck Brenda Hendrix Richard and Nancy Scheerer Elliott Mann HOSTS Scott & Mary Ellen Halverson Welcome Brunch for the Bolt Family Missy Phillips and Ernestine Houston David & Sylvia Anderson Dean & Bev Massett 3
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION NEWS The Deacon One Sunday morning at a small southern church, the new pastor called on one of his older deacons to lead in the opening prayer. The deacon stood up, bowed his head and said, "Lord, I hate buttermilk." The pastor opened one eye and wondered where this was going. The deacon continued, "Lord, I hate lard." Now the pastor was totally perplexed. The deacon continued, "Lord, I ain't too crazy about plain flour. But after you mix 'em all together and bake 'em in a hot oven, I just love biscuits." He paused, "Lord help us to realize when life gets hard, when things come up that we don't like, whenever we don't understand what You are doing, that we need to wait and see what You are making. After you get through mixing and baking, it'll probably be something even better than biscuits. Amen. **************************************************************************************** ~~~Happiness comes through doors you didn't even know you left open.~~~ 4
Presbyterian Women will meet at 9:30 am in Fellowship Hall Tuesday, January 10, 2017 with Kay Strobel as hostess. Dolores Rootes will be our study leader as we begin our new study Who is Jesus? What a Difference a Lens Makes. This lesson will be based on Mark 8 The Healing of the Blind Man at Bethsaida. We encourage all women of the church to join us in this new Bible Study. We look forward to having our new pastors lead the bible study on occasion. In December, we donated $150 to Steve Johnson for his mission trip to Africa. We also purchased two large poinsettias for the front of the church sanctuary. At our December meeting, we provided cookies and delivered them to twelve of our church s shut-ins. We find this to be a very satisfying service, both in baking and delivery of our cookies and visiting with our shut-ins. From our small group of 7-10 attendees, we provide frequent services to our church members. Kay Strobel will be retiring as Women s Association chairman after twelve years in this position. We seek a replacement chairman and encourage any women who may be interested to contact Kay. submitted by Kay Strobel DEACON NEWS The Deacons give a huge thanks to everyone who selected a tag from the Deacons Christmas Project tree or who provided knit items for the cold winter. With your help, you made Christmas for12 families much brighter and joyous and we appreciate your kind hearts and caring spirits. Christmas cards and poinsettias were delivered to 12 people on the Deacons visitation list as well. FOOD SHELF NEWS January s goal is to collect 75 boxes of cereal. Please be generous and help others have healthy meals. The tuna and/ or financial donations may be left on the shelf in the lounge. Thank you for your help and generosity!! 5
DECEMBER 2016 SESSION HIGHLIGHTS Plans laid for arrival of The Reverends Heidi and Greg Bolt on January 3. Brunch to be served in Fellowship Hall January 8 following worship. Approved youth collecting donations February 5, 2017, Souper Bowl Sunday, with proceeds to be donated to local hunger projects. Approved distribution of final $1500 in Mission budget as follows: $200 each to Salvation Army; Faith in Action; Red Wing Food Shelf; Hope Coalition; Habitat for Humanity and $500 to the Homeless Project (Hope Coalition). Read letter of appreciation from 98 year old lady who was served by our Urban Immersion youth in October. Expressed grateful appreciation to The Reverend Deb DeMeester who has served with skill, patience, humor and commitment as our moderator since January 2016. Submitted by Betty Beck, Clerk of Session Tomorrow, is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one. Brad Paisley We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. Edith Lovejoy Pierce 6
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 1 10:30 Worship 11:30 Fellowship 2 Church office will be closed in observance of New Year s Day 3 8:00 Finance & Stewardship Cmte 3:30 F & M Cmte 5:30 Deacons 4 6:15 Men s Book Study 5:30 Confirmation 7:00 Choir Practice 5 7:30 Women s Bk. Study/St. James 4:30 Mission Cmte 6 7 6:30 PEO Mtg. 8 9:15 Sun. School 10:30 Worship w/ Ordination & Installation of new officers 11:30 Fellowship - Welcoming Brunch 9 10 9:30 PW 11 6:15 Men s Book Study 5:30 Confirmation 7:00 Session 12 7:30 Women s Bk. Study/St. James 13 14 15 9:15 Sun. School 10:30 Worship 11:30 Fellowship 11:30 CE Meeting 16 Church office will 17 be closed in observance of MLK Day 18 6:15 Men s Brkfst Grp. 5:30 Confirmation 197:30 Women s Bk. Study/St. James 20 21 6:00 p.m. Movie Night 22 9:15 Sun. School 10:30 Worship w/ Youth Drama 11:30 Fellowship 23 24 25 6:15 Men s Brkfst Grp. 5:30 Confirmation 26 7:30 Women s Bk. Study/St. James 27 28 29 9:15 Sun. School 10:30 Worship 11:30 Fellowship 30 31 Please note that we do our best to be as accurate as possible with our information so please let us know if you see errors or if we forget to include something so we can correct any mistakes for future publications. Thank you! A New Year s Prayer May God make your year a happy one! Not by shielding you from all sorrows and pain, But by strengthening you to bear it, as it comes; Not by making your path easy, But by making you sturdy to travel any path; Not by taking hardships from you, But by taking fear from your heart; Not by granting you unbroken sunshine, But by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows; Not by making your life always pleasant, But by showing you when people and their causes need you most, and by making you anxious to be there to help. God s love, peace, hope and joy to you for the year ahead. Amen. Have a wonderful 2017! 7
PRES-BITS YOUR CHURCH NEWSLETTER First Presbyterian Church 503 West Sixth Street Red Wing, MN 55066 Address Service Requested Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Red Wing, MN Permit No. 327 Recipe for a Happy New Year.............. Anonymous 01/01 Ellie Halbach 01/05 Benjamin Stone 01/06 JoAnne McNamara 01/11 Lucy Boxrud Benjamin Tittle 01/16 James Tittle 01/17 Fred Pfeiffer 01/18 Rhonda Foster 01/20 Caleb Rosenow 01/24 Pam Paulus Sara Rayner Alexander Pfeiffer 01/25 Elliott Mann 01/26 Ethan Goham 01/28 Amy Engnes Take twelve fine, full-grown months; see that these are thoroughly free from old memories of bitterness, rancor and hate, cleanse them completely from every clinging spite; pick off all specks of pettiness and littleness; in short, see that these months are freed from all the past have them fresh and clean as when they first came from the great storehouse of Time. Cut these months into thirty or thirty-one equal parts. Do not attempt to make up the whole batch at one time (so many persons spoil the entire lot this way) but prepare one day at a time. Into each day put equal parts of faith, patience, courage, work (some people omit this ingredient and so spoil the flavor of the rest), hope, fidelity, liberality, kindness, rest (leaving this out is like leaving the oil out of the salad dressing don t do it), prayer, meditation, and one well-selected resolution. Put in about one teaspoonful of good spirits, a dash of fun, a pinch of folly, a sprinkling of play, and a heaping cupful of good humor. Pour all of this into a vessel of love. Cook thoroughly over radiant joy, garnish with a smile, and serve with quietness, unselfishness, and cheerfulness. Your final result may vary depending on your attitude. Have a Happy New Year! 8