First United Presbyterian Church The Alliance PRES: January 2016 What s Inside 2 Pastor s Letter 3 Rev. Dr. Burguss Property 4 Note From Building Cte Sojourners 5 January Calendar & Birthdays
Pastor s Letter God s Goodness We begin a New Year and what are we looking forward to? In the short term there may be events on the near horizon. But unless we have a crystal ball we cannot know how things are going to turn out or what we will see. So how do we approach the future? If we cannot go forward with knowledge and surety, we can go forward in faith and the surety that comes from faith. We go forward knowing that the God who has taken us this far will be with us throughout all eternity. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) God has blessed each of us with family and friends that have stood by us and gave us the strength to get through our days. God has done that for our church too. In the past year we have said goodbye to wonderful saints that were a blessing to us. This should make us remember that God gave us these saints and friends to be with us. That is a wonderful thing to remember. As we go forward we go with our God. God goes before us. (Psalm 68:6, 2 Corinth. 2:14) he surrounds us with his love and care. In doing this we remember that God has always been with us. Jesus said, I will never leave you. And God never will leave us. So let our faith keep us confident and strong. For God is so good to us.
Rev. Dr. John P. Burgess Expert on Russian Christianity sharing about Russian Missions. January 17 th 2016: Preaching at Worship Service. The Rev. Dr. John P. Burgess has taught at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary since 1998. He was awarded his bachelor s from Colorado College, his M.Div. from McCormick Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D. in Christian theology from the University of Chicago. An ordained Presbyterian minister, Burgess has served several congregations part time. He is currently a faculty mentor for the Company of New Pastors, a Lilly Endowment-funded program that assists Presbyterian candidates in the transition from seminary into ordained ministry. Burgess was a Fulbright Scholar to Russia in the fall of 2011, a Luce Fellow in Theology for 2011-2012, and a research fellow at the Center of Theological Inquiry during the 2014-2015 academic year. These awards have supported his current research on the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in shaping a new national identity for post-communist Russia. Burgess is married and has three daughters, who are also his theological teachers. Picture of the New Property On Beech St between Union and Ridgehill is the new property we will be building on. On the same side of the road as the Lutheran Church our property is located between the school and the road. Here are some pics of the property. You can see the school directly behind where the church will be.
As the year comes to an end we are moving closer to finalizing the parcel split and property purchase. The surveying should be done for the new parcel as well as the necessary easement by years end. We will then move on to obtaining final approval from the city. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Matt Maxwell Beginning on January 10th, the Sojourner s Sunday School class will continue with our study of the Holy Life in a class entitled Daring Greatly: Seeking a Holy and Wholehearted Life. We will use scripture and the lectures/ writings of Dr. Brene Brown for this study. Everybody is welcome. The freezer in the small kitchen is for the worship & Music Committee to put the communion bread in. If you have frozen goods please put them in the big freezer in the main kitchen. Thank you.
January 2015 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 / Communion *Rev. Chris Stewart 4 10 am Line Dancers 5 6 7 8 9 10 12-2 Kids Club & Youth Group 11 7pm Worship Cte Meeting 10am Line Dancers 12 13 14 15 Session Retreat New session members 7pm- 9pm 16 Session Retreat all session members 9am-noon 17 *Rev. Dr. Burgess Ordination, Installation New officers 18 10 am Line Dancers 19 20 7pm Session Meeting 21 22 23 24 12-2 Kids Club & Youth Group 31 25 10 am Line Dancers 26 27 28 29 30 January Birthdays 01/02 Beki McCurdy 01/03 Barb Pierce 01/07 Carmen Pritchard 01/10 Bob Madison 01/15 Brynnlynn Klinginsmith 01/22 Lois Bossert 01/23 Jen Harris 01/27 Lyle Melick 01/28 Lois Thompson
Happy New Year! from the Staff at First United Presbyterian Church Rev. Dr. James McCurdy Amy Maxwell Melissa Brand, Kelly Douglas John Reeder, Pam Reeder Linda Moulin, Alexia Maxwell-Andrews Brian Whitaker Church Office Hours: Monday Thursday 9:00 2:00 (330)821-5340 425 E. Market St, Alliance, Ohio 44601 www.alliancepresbyterian.com NEXT ISSUE OF PRES: DEADLINE: MON, 01/25/16 VOLUNTEERS: Thurs., 01/28/16