Cupid is sending out his arrow to announce a Valentine’s Day Party sponsored by the Presbyterian Women. Share food, fun, and fellowship with girls of all ages. The fun begins Saturday, February 14, at 10:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall.
Don’t miss out on a delicious brunch and a craft that will be delivered to members who find it difficult to attend church. Add your name to the sign-up sheet in the hall so we know how many to plan for. A freewill offering will be taken to help defray the costs of the luncheon
How are we doing? We have a lot of things going on, and I want to briefly reflect on some of them…
In 2003 we had some major accomplishments, but also faced some tight financial times. Through the grace of God and the generosity of our members, we made it through in far better shape than we might have. Facing fiscal reality, we must operate on a leaner budget this year and probably for the next few years.
How are we doing? In churches, as we worship God and spend time on church-related matters, it’s easy to lose touch with both God’s call and the world around us. Thus, it’s helpful to periodically have an objective evaluation of how we’re doing. This spring, we will have a thorough one. Over the next three months we will undergo a “Complete Ministry Audit,” an extensive set of questionnaires and evaluations of our staff, leaders, and members, in preparation for a visit by church consultant Jeff Patton. We believe that Jeff’s visit will not only give us a “check-up,” but will help us better discern our future directions. Jeff will be with us April 22-25. Mark your calendars for those dates, as there will be some daytime and evening events those days.
How are we doing? This year we will have at least two staff transitions. As explained elsewhere in this newsletter, our financial administration is in the process of moving from Alice Morris to Cinda Olinger. Through the grace, skill, and dedication of Alice and Cinda, this transition is going well. Tim Bontrager, our outstanding youth leader, will be leaving at the end of May, and a task force is now beginning to search for someone to lead our youth program in the fall.
How are we doing? Celia Weiss and I recently attended the Calvin Institute of Worship in Grand Rapids, the third year we have done so. It’s a wonderful conference, full of ideas and resources for enhancing the worship experience. It’s amazing what rich variety of worship is to be found even in Christian Reformed churches. Celia, Kathleen, the Worship Commission, and I are committed to trying to provide the highest quality, most engaging and faithful worship that we can. We will keep pushing one another toward creativity. (On a personal note, I have yet to hear a musician at that conference who is better than Celia!).
How are we doing? I’ve given you something of an “institutional update,” with church matters. How the church is doing is important. But how the institution is doing is not as important as how we are doing as men and women, and as a group, in our spiritual walk, our following Jesus Christ. As we move through this year together, let us seek to love Him more dearly and follow Him more nearly.
At the Annual Congregational Meeting following the 10:00 a.m. service on February 22, the following items of business will be presented:
Nominations: The Nominating Committee will place these names for election:
Session - Pam Duncan, Barbara Harman, Jim Rasp, Starr Robinson, Linda Schrock, John Van Dyke, Steve Eldridge (1 year term 2004-2005), and Rachel Sirinek, Youth Elder (1 year term 2004-2005).
Deacons - Barbara Adcock, Ruth Eraybar, Agnes Grahmbeek, Milcah Kinyua, Pat Van Dyke, and Lauren Pitcher, Youth Deacon (1 year term 2004-2005).
Trustees - Harold Atkins, Alex Eraybar, Bob Huber, Vern Pitcher, and Stephanie Wright.
Foundation - Helen Free and Lee Markel.
Nominating Committee for the year 2004/2005 - Kathy Ritchie Fair, Barbara Hodgson, Gordon MacKenzie, Craig Phillips, and Mike Stoll.
Budget: The session will present for discussion the budget it has adopted for 2004. This budget shows pledged and anticipated income of $446,025 and projected expenses of $452,904.
Annual Report: Church’s Annual Report will be presented, with an opportunity for questions.
Building Committee & Building Fund: Our What Do These Stones Mean? capital fund drive (1999 - 2000) was a great success. Through the generous and faithful giving of our members, over $1 million was raised, enabling substantial capital improvements, including the elevator and stairway addition, renovation of hallways, classrooms, fellowship lighting, restrooms, hallways, and offices, roof work, a new boiler, $50,000 to the Geneva Center, and other renovations. All major projects have now been completed. After the campaign was in process we needed to make substantial organ repairs, and this was done by borrowing from ourselves. Our books show $44,400 remaining from the capital fund drive. Pending final approval from the session, the congregation will be requested to approve using these funds as follows:
$15,100 to retire our accumulated operating deficit.
$19,300 to pay off our organ “debt” to ourselves (which will free the Foundation’s CORE Fund, the income from which has been slowly paying back this “loan,” to return to its original purpose of organ and capital improvements.
The balance ($10,000) to complete a few additional projects and use some operating capital for current operations.
Following the meeting the Fellowship Commission will serve a wonderful lunch in the Fellowship Hall. Everything will be provided — just come and enjoy!
This year’s Confirmation Retreat, sponsored by Geneva Center, will be the weekend of March 19-21. The retreat is open to students in the confirmation program—generally 7th and 8th graders. Confirmation students are asked to attend at least once, in either their 7th or 8th grade year. You may attend both years if you wish!!
You’ll be receiving registration details in the mail soon. Please mark these dates on your calendar now!!! If you are in 7th or 8th grade, and are not currently active in confirmation - and would like to be - please talk with Kathleen O’Connell.
Home bound Communion Orientation
Calling all Deacons & Elders—current and past. Would you like to be able to help deliver the Sacrament of Communion to our homebound members? Come learn more about this very meaningful ministry opportunity.
Kathleen O’Connell will lead an orientation session for interested persons on Sunday, February 22 at 9:00 a.m. in Room 100. (This is prior to the one morning worship service at 10:00.)
Communion is delivered four times a year (Lent, Summer, World Communion Sunday and Advent). Please come and prepare to be a part of this significant act of care and outreach.
Presby’s call it!
Thanks to you, Faith Mission of Elkhart was blessed with a donation of $190.42 from the money raised this past Sunday, which topped our total of $164 from last year. The PYF participated in The Souper Bowl of Caring, along with roughly 9,000 other churches across the country. And together we raised just shy of $3,000,000 to help feed the homeless. The total tally of money received for each team was $97.78 for the Patriots and $92.64 for the Panthers. The Presbyterians predicted the Super Bowl winner for the third year in a row! Thanks for all of your support and contributions!
Interested in a Road Trip?
What? A Christian Concert. When? Friday, March 26 at 8:00 p.m. Who? Newsboys, Rebecca St. James, Jeremy Camp, Don Moen, Lenny LeBlanc, and Sara Groves. Where? UIC Pavilion, Chicago. Tickets? $20.50 per person for a group of 10 or more, plus gas and dinner.
If you are interested please let Tim know by Sunday, February 29.
As good stewards of finances and facilities, we are doing a number of things:
Custodial Needs List.. .lf you see a need for cleaning, repair, or other custodial services, please write it on the notebook now posted on the sexton/custodian office door.
Reduction in Custodial Hours We are facing some reductions in our custodial staff hours, which may mean some minor inconveniences.
Lighting & Weather Stripping We are investigating possibilities for cost-savings in these areas.
Penny-pinching Ideas If you have suggestions for how we can save funds on our facilities, please write them down and leave them
Workshop for Liturgists
To further improve our worship, we are offering a training workshop for liturgists. Chris Witman of our Celebration & Worship Commission, a trained and experienced actor and singer, will be offer a class on effective reading Sunday, February 15 at 9:45 in the Chapel. .To register for the workshop, please call the church office or sign-up on the table near the Gathering Place.
Sonshine Kids class for pre-schoolers in Room 106.
JAM Time for elementary age children upstairs. Bible stories are learned and experienced in creative ways using the Workshop Rotation multi-sensory model.
New Horizons ongoing class for youth and adults with special needs. This is taught by special education teacher, Cheri Lea, and is held in Room 108.
Upcoming Sunday Morning Classes
Costa Rica - Learn more about the country we will visit on our mission triponFebruary 15. This class is held in Room 101 at 9:45 am, and will be led by Judy McDowell. Choices: Ministry in the 21st Century - Steve Braden will lead this video-based discussion of new paradigms and challenges for churches in the 21st century. Some of the material presented will be used in our upcoming church consultation.
Leap Day Intergenerational Workshop...February 29 from 9:45 a.m.
Sunday Night Class at The Bridge
February 8... The Purpose Driven Life Have you been hearing about this book by Rick Warren? Several of us read it last fail at The Bridge, and want another chance to read, discuss and journal our way through this book. We’ll begin Sunday, February 8, and new folks are welcome. Come for worship and dinner, stay for discussion. If you’re interested in joining this group, please call Starr Robinson (522-1950) for more details, and to find out what to read for the first week. If you don’t have a copy of The Purpose Driven Life you can either pick one up yourself, or contact Kathleen O’Connell at church.
Have you heard the buzz about Mel Gibson’s new movie “The Passion?” It is supposed to be a very accurate account of the last days and hours of Jesus’ earthly life. It’s being compared to “Saving Private Ryan” and “Shindler’s List” for its intensity and emotional power. Lots of people are wondering about the film.
Here’s a chance to get a sneak-preview. The movie opens on February 25. (Early shows are already sold out at Encore Cinema.) On Sunday, February 22 at The Bridge, we’ll be showing a copy of the movie trailer, along with some interviews with Mel Gibson (the director/producer) and with the actor who played Christ. We’ll show the DVD after dinner, when the children go to their JAM Time. Come for worship, stay for “dinner and a movie” (at least a movie preview). And join in some discussion about our reactions to the movie. We’ll save an aisle seat for you!!
The First Presbyterian Church basketball team won this year’s Elkhart Area Men’s Church League Championship on Tuesday, February 3. In the championship game with ten seconds on the clock, the Presby’s had the ball and were down by one. After passing the ball around a few times looking for an open shot, Drew Brotherson got the ball and shot a three pointer sinking it as time expired. The Presby’s started the year 1-4, but came on strong and finished with a streak of seven straight wins.
Team members were: Sean Wall, Mike Lowe, Drew Brotherson, Jeremy Pfister, Sam Weirich, Ryan Wall, Tim Bontrager, Terry Wood, Blaine McDowell, Brian Pearson, and Troy Scott.
Summer seems a long way away, but it will be here before we know it. This summer (July 20-25) presents an opportunity for youth between the ages of 15 and 19 years of age that will not be available again until 2007.
Imagine - a gathering of 7,000 Presbyterian young people from all across the nation and the world - right here in Indiana! What a fantastic opportunity for our youth to meet other Presbyterian youth and participate - in exciting worship opportunities and strengthen the connections with other young people!
The theme, “No Longer Strangers” (Ephesians 2:14-19) will be developed throughout the week through daily presentations, worship, workshops, recreation, and small groups. Wabash Valley Presbytery has been assigned 70 delegate spaces, which will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. So........ get your registrations in early!
Registration forms can be downloaded from the PYT website: www.presbyterianyouthtriennium.org Kathleen O’Connell is handling registrations from our church. See Kathleen or Tim for further information.
Foundation News
The Presbyterian Foundation holds permanent endowment gifts to our church. At its quarterly meetings, the Foundation Committee reviews the investment of the funds (currently in Vanguard funds) and allocates the income according to the donors’ wishes. Foundation now has fifteen different funds, which can be donated to or granted from.
The Foundation Committee met Monday, February 2. It gratefully acknowledged gifts received during the fourth quarter of 2003 from the following people: Juanita & Bob Kurtz, Jean Borneman, Betty & Bill Rice, Betty & Lee Markel, and Connie & Ron Minzey.
The board reviewed the Vanguard investment reports from October, November, and December 2003 and noted that our investments are doing nicely. The board also approved five grants totaling $10,808.00. A new fund was established titled the Kurtz Memorial Fund for Plants and Plantings. The fund was established by Juanita & Bob Kurtz and is to purchase and maintain plants and plantings in and around the church property.
Can the Foundation help you realize your hopes and dreams for our church? Contact Bill Rice or one of the pastors for further information. The next scheduled Foundation meeting is May 3, 2004.
The Book Bunch is reading some great books! If you're a reader, come join us! Our next meeting is March 1, 2004, at 11:30 am. Our list of books for 2004 is almost complete, but we can always make room for more. If you have a book to suggest, please do so. We'll see you next year!
MarchOne Thousand White Women, by Jim Fergus When President Grant is asked to trade 1,000 white women to a tribe of Indians for 1,000 horses, he of course refuses publicly. Secretly, however, the government asks for "volunteers" to live with the Indians and "civilize" them. The diary of one woman tells the story of one small group of women who respond to the challenge.
March
One Thousand White Women, by Jim Fergus
April
The Bonesetter's Daughter, by Amy Tan
May
Hidden Power: presidential marriages that shaped our recent history, by Kati Marton
You are invited to celebrate Valentine’s Day with us. All Presbyterian Women - young, old, and in-between - are invited to meet in Fellowship Hall on February 14 for food, fellowship, and of course a mission project. Grandmas, bring your granddaughters. Girls, bring your aunts. Bring a friend; come and make a new friend. Sign up by the Gathering Place or call the church office.
It’s time to retreat! Come to Geneva Center, April 16 and 17, for Let’s Learn Together. It’s a great way to relax, learn something new, and spend time with good friends. Watch for more details.
God’s Vision, Our Calling is the theme for this year’s Spring Gathering, Friday, April 30, at Mishawaka. Janice Cattron will be the featured speaker. Janice led the Bible study at the Churchwide Gathering last year in Louisville. Call Jill Stoll if you’d like to see a copy of Janice’s book.
Reminder! If you haven’t turned in a recipe for the PW Cookbook, there’s still time. Forms are available at the church. Call Mary Seddon if you have any questions.
Coming Events
February 14 Saturday
Valentine's Day Party
March 6 Saturday
Sewing Day
April 16-17 Friday-Saturday
Geneva Center "Knit together in God's love"
April 30 Friday
Spring Gathering at Warsaw "Unity in Spirit - Connecting the Pieces"
(Information provided by Royal Greenwich Observatory)
Our solar year (the time required for Earth to travel once around the Sun) is 365.24219 days. Our calendar year is either 365 days in non leap years or 366 days in leap years. A !eap year every 4 years gives us 365.25 days, sending our seasons off course and eventually in the wrong months. To change .25 days to .24219, we skip a few leap days every one hundred years or so.
Here is the history: The Romans originally had a 355-day calendar. To keep up with the seasons, an extra 22/23-day month was inserted every second year. For reasons unknown, this extra month was only observed now and then. By Julius Caesar’s time, the seasons no longer occurred at the same calendar periods as history had shown. To correct this, Caesar eliminated the extra month and added one or two extra days to the end of various months (his month included, which was Quintilis, later renamed Julius we know it as July). This extended the calendar to 365 days. Also intended was an extra calendar day every fourth year (following the 28th day of Februarius). However, after Caesar’s death in 44 B.C., the calendars were written with an extra day every 3 years instead of every 4 until corrected in 8 A.D. So again, the calendar drifted away from the seasons. By 1582, Pope Gregory X recognized that Easter would eventually become closer and closer to Christmas. The calendar was reformed so that a leap day would occur in any year that is divisible by 4 but not divisible by 100 except when the year is divisible by 400. Thus 1600 and 2000, although century marks, have a Leap Day.
The calendar we use today, known as the Gregorian calendar, makes our year 365.2425 days only off from our solar year by .00031, which amounts to only one day’s error after 4,000 years.
Congratulations to Carol & Steve Eldridge on the birth of their granddaughter, Sophia Elaine Esquivel, born on January 19 in Chicago to Mark & Sara (Eldridge) Esquivel.
PYF There will be regular PYF February 15 and 22. Sunday, February 29 will be PYF to the movies.
Financial Secretary The position of Administrator of Building & Finance is being discontinued as of February 13. Alice Morris, who has held that position for thirteen years, will be leaving that position (but still remains with our church family)!
Cinda Olinger will take on the new position of Financial Secretary, in addition to her duties as the church’s Administrative Secretary. Cinda has extensive experience in bookkeeping for a church, and is familiar with the software programs that we use. After February 13, please address financial questions to Cinda, and she will answer them as quickly as possible. Please be patient during our time of transition.
We will recognize Alice’s many years of faithful service at our congregational meeting on February 22.
Notes on Military Personnel Todd A. Ayre, airman USA, and Paul & Dorothy Randall’s grandson, a career medic, has returned from his second and (his family hopes) last overseas tour. He is now stationed at Pope Air Base at Fayetteville, NC.
Cinda’s son, Luke Olinger, was commissioned on January 30, in Pensacola, Florida. He is now an Ensign in the U.S. Navy. He will be stationed in Charleston, SC.
If you have updates on other service men or women, please give them to Cinda.
Hospital pastoral care When being admitted directly or through the emergency room, your church preference may not be entered into the computer system at Elkhart General Hospital. If you are admitted to one of the other area hospitals, the church may not be notified. Please call or have a family member call the church office to let us know that you are in the hospital, so pastoral care visits can be made.
Leap on Up! On February 29, we invite everyone to visit JAM Time. We’!l have all the workshops open and ready for some fun activities, just for Leap Day! The last time Leap Day was on a Sunday was 1976, and the next one is 28 years away—so don’t miss out on the MOST FUN JAM Time ever!
Sermon Tapes/CDs Available Each week our Sound Technicians tape the 11:00 a.m. worship service. If you are unable to attend worship, and would like to receive these tapes each week, please notify the church office. Also, at least one copy of each week’s worship service is placed in the library. If you miss a week, you may borrow this tape or CD.
You may request CD's of certain previous services by signing the order form in the Gathering Place.
Lenten Retreat Want to try something new this Lent? Looking for a way to “get away from it all” even for a few hours, and let God speak in your life?
We are going to be sponsoring a day retreat, on Saturday, March 20. Marge Braden will be our leader for a day of Lenten reflection, prayer and study. Mark your calendars now - and watch your next newsletter for more details!!
CareNotes Have you seen the “CareNotes” display yet? These small pamphlets are provided by the Board of Deacons, as one way of reaching out to persons who are hurting. CareNotes provide suppor tand encouragement, practical helps and spiritual insight into some of the struggles we face: grief, depression, anger, stress, forgiveness. Look for the display on the hallway table by the Gathering Place. Take one for yourself - or to pass on to a friend.
Do you have a prayer concern? Do you know of someone in the hospital, recovering from illness, etc.? Let us know, so we can hold you or your friend in prayer. Contact Pat Van Dyke or Bea Pyle to be placed on the prayer chain, or send information to prayer@www.presbyelk.org .
Newsletter Deadline The next newsletter will be inserted in the bulletin on February 22, and mailed the following week to those who are not in worship. Please submit articles for that newsletter by February 13..
Reminder! If you haven’t turned in a recipe for the PW Cookbook, there’s still time.