1. religion and spirituality
2. christianity

C ELEBRATION P RESBYTERIAN C HURCH
V OLUME 120
PASTOR’S ARTICLE
MAY 2015
By Pastor Tom
One of my favorite “new-to-me” hymns in our
CELEBRATION PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH IDENTITY STATEMENT
new Glory to God Hymnal is number 301 “Let
Us Build a House / All Are Welcome”
WE ARE CHRIST FOLLOWERS WHO
written by Marty Haugen in 1994. I included
ARE OPEN, ACCEPTING, LOVING AND
this hymn in the Installation Worship Service
WELCOMING TO ALL!
on March 15th because I love that it speaks to
We want this statement to be not only
how I see Celebration live out community.
meaningful in its description of who we are as
Verse 1 – Let us build a house where a love can
a church but also memorable enough for each
dwell and all can safely live, a place where saints
member to be able to repeat it and share it
and children tell how hearts learn to forgive. Built
with people in our community who may just
of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and
be seeking such a church as ours. We have so
vault of grace; here the love of Christ shall end
much love to share and the Session’s hope is
divisions: all are welcome; all are welcome; all are
that we can embrace this new identity
welcome in this place.
statement and share it widely within our
community as we reach out with the Love of
Our Session recently spent time in our
God made known to us in Jesus Christ.
planning retreat talking about the
characteristics of Celebration that we feel
Like my new favorite hymn’s refrain states, let
really identify who we are as a church. Time
us affirm and celebrate that ALL ARE
was spent sharing ideas and characteristics and
WELCOME IN THIS PLACE!
then we began to distill the common themes
into what we are referring to as an IDENTITY Blessings Abound at Celebration so Share the
STATEMENT FOR CELEBRATION. Here is Love!
what the Session has refined and approved to Pastor Tom
include in our publications, bulletins,
newsletters, media shout, and promotional
materials:
Thank you to our landscaping volunteers who help keep our church
looking pretty with the flowers they tenderly care for. Take a
moment to stop and see the beautiful gardens around our church.
Pastor Tom Dendy
I NSIDE THIS ISSUE :
Session
2
Landscape pictures
2
Breakfast Buddies
3
Our Mission
3
Ladybug Luncheon
3
Meet Your Elders
4
Hospitality
4
Volunteers/Month
5
Meet Your Elders
5
Birthdays
6
Youth News
6
Preschool
6
Calendar
7
Endowment
8
Finance
8
V OLUME 120
P AGE 2
SESSION
Holy Communion will be served May 3.
Next Session Meeting Sunday,
May 17 at 12:30 PM
The Session met for their monthly stated
meetings on March 29, and again on April
19. Here are the actions your Session has
taken and some information on what we
are working on:
The Session has made a commitment to
spending time each month
discussing strategic and generative
topics, and not just spending the
entire meeting working on
fiduciary tasks. Simply stated, we
are making time for strategic
planning and thinking and praying
about how we can realize our
dreams for Celebration Church
with God’s help. Plans and dreams
are given equal priority to the
business side of running the
church. Please pray for us and with
us that we may discern God’s will
for the future use of our land,
Holy Week events, as well as
Eggstravaganza were well
attended.
The Youth are hard at work on a
number of fund raisers that will
help them pay for summer camp.
Their new popcorn machine was in
action at Eggstravaganza and at
their movie night. Please
remember to support the Youth.
The Session voted to postpone the
Fashion Show until next year. The
event will resume in 2016.
Fundraising for the Relay for Life
Walk was approved.
The Property Committee and
gardeners of the church planted
spring flowers.
The bomb removal process is expected
to resume during the summer.
Jan Coulter, Chairperson of the
Finance Committee, attended the
Stewardship Kaleidoscope
Conference and came back with
new insights for our stewardship
efforts.
Three members from the congregation,
Jean Bredbeck, Paul Youngblood,
and Betsy Hughes, were appointed
to the Endowment Committee
joining Jan Coulter, Gretchen
Deubler and Pastor Tom. Our
Endowment Fund has been
established, and is up and running.
You will be hearing more about it
in the next months.
An offering to the Presbyterian Agency
for the Developmentally Disabled
was approved.
The annual review of the Session
minutes by Presbytery was
completed.
The Blessing of the Bikes event is
coming on May 9. Members of the
Blue Knights motorcycle club and
other local bikers will come to the
Celebration Church parking lot for
a blessing by Pastor Tom, and a
meal of chicken bog and barbeque.
The Session approved letting the
By Nancy Torcivia
Blue Knights sell raffle tickets for
their fundraiser at the blessing
event.
Work is in progress to revamp the
church website.
Discussions are taking place with the
county planning office regarding
drainage and land use for our site.
With the removal of all of the
trees, the Session is gathering
information to formulate a plan for
our site.
Pasta with the Pastor is planned for
May 3. Visitors and inquirers are
welcome to attend and find out
about membership at Celebration
Church.
Your Session is praying for the many
people in or touched by our
congregation who are fighting
cancer and other illnesses. In the
midst of illness and loss, we
encourage you to also praise God
for the many blessings we have in
our lives. We are especially
thankful for a loving congregation
full of people willing to help others
and spread the love of Christ in our
world.
An article introducing two Elders each
month will be included in the
newsletter so we may all get to
know one another. This month
they are on pages four and five.
These flowers are so much
prettier in person. So, when
you come to church on
Sunday, pause and enjoy the
beauty that the landscape
volunteers have so lovingly
tended to this spring.
P AGE 3
N EWS OF C ELEBRATION
BREAKFAST BUDDIES
The next
Breakfast
Buddies will be
held on May 22
at 9am
at Mammy’s
Kitchen
Even though it was a dreary
day, the sun was shining in the
Olympic Flame, where the
breakfast buddies were
laughing and enjoying their
yummy breakfast. Judy
Leonard was our hostess, and
we thank her. Jim, the owner,
gave us a nice discount off our
bill.
We have a new place to meet
next month, and the date will
be changed from the third
Friday, to the fourth Friday,
May 22, at 9:00 a.m.
By Pat Teal
Please sign up in the front of
the Narthex, so we know how
many to plan for.
We will have breakfast at
Mammy's Kitchen, 1010 N
Kings Hwy, Myrtle Beach.
Jorge Flores will be our host.
OUR IDENTITY STATEMENT
We are Christ followers who are open, accepting, loving and welcoming to all!
OUR MISSION
Proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior, Praise and Worship God,
Prepare our hearts to share God’s Word, and Provide Love and Service to ALL!
OUR PURPOSE
Celebrate God’s Glory by
Reaching, Teaching, and Sending People to Love and Serve the Lord.
LADYBUG LUNCHEON
The Next
ladybug
luncheon will
be at the
Café Old
Vienna
May 7
12pm
Our March luncheon took us
to the somewhat new IYQ Tea
Room in Garden City. Thanks
to Karen Williams for hosting.
There were 11 Ladybugs in
attendance. Connie Dowd,
Linda McCaskill and Priscilla
Mulligan were a tad late
because Linda’s GPS took
them the wrong way, but we
were glad they were able to
join us.
The tea room was beautiful
and filled with lots of tearelated items decorating the
walls and shelves. Some items
were also available for purchase. They had numerous teas
to choose from, hot or cold,
and a number of specials for
lunch. Many of us had the soup
and half a sandwich. The food
was excellent as was the
service and the owner came
out to greet us.
We collected $40.00 for
charitable needs which will be
added to last month’s collection. A thank you note
received from the Horry
County Animal Rescue thank-
By Carol Butler
ing us for our donation was
passed around for the ladies to
read.
The next lunch will be
Thursday, May 7, at the new
location of Café Old Vienna
located at 1604 N. Kings Highway. Yours truly will be your
hostess. Sign up in the Narthex
if you know you can make it.
Let me know if you need a
ride. All Ladybugs, their
friends and family (female of
course) are invited…..hope to
see you there.
V OLUME 120
P AGE 4
MEET YOUR ELDERS
Name: Bernadine
Lamar (Bernie,
Bernadette,
Bridgett, Dean,
anything close will
do). My Daddy was
Bernard so that is
where I got my
name!
Family: My partner in the good and the
bad is Beth Bruton. We share a home in a
small community outside of Conway. I
have one sister, Mary Alice Hendrix
(husband Jerry), two nieces (Treena
Smith and Wendy Bennett) and one
nephew, Jay Hendrix. I am also grateful
to have three great nieces and three great
nephews.
Church Background: I grew up in the
Baptist church in Savannah, Georgia but
wandered off during my college days. My
job brought me Georgetown in 1975 and
I fully intended to stay in South Carolina
for just one year. The Presbyterian manse
was just a few houses away from my
home in Georgetown, which nudged me
to visit Georgetown Presbyterian
Church. They were warm, loving and
accepting, just like Celebration is today. I
was elected a deacon and elder. I have
chaired various committees over the last
training them and scheduling them.
30 + years, but my current duty as
chairman of the worship committee is my You are invited to join the worship team!
favorite!
We have a good time and it is a
wonderful way to experience and spread
the love of CPC. Call me at home (234Career Background: I have a
1935 or 997-6830) if you have questions
Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. My
or suggestions.
career was with the Social Security
Administration in various positions. I am
currently retired. Yay!
My favorite thing about
Celebration Church: Celebration is a
Hobbies and Activities: Growing up diverse church. We have visitors and
on the coast most of my life, I still enjoy members from all walks of life who have
boating and being outdoors. I volunteer lived throughout the United States. Every
time I have an opportunity to talk to
at Brookgreen Gardens throughout the
someone at Celebration it warms my soul
year as a “dirty girl”, working in the
to hear how God has brought us to this
gardens with other horticulture
place, at this time. We are blessed. I am
volunteers.
thankful for my opportunity to be a part
Celebration Activities: I am currently of Celebration’s journey.
chairman of the worship committee. Our
I am your Shepherd Elder:
mission statement is – To provide a
unique worship experience by
Myra, Ashlyn, Katelyn Burrows
proclaiming Jesus as Lord and Savior with Jim and Jan Coulter
song, Scripture, message and prayer.
Kerry and Nanette Kelly
Becky Kiser
The Worship Team is responsible for the Priscilla Mulligan
Alan Perry
worship service, including music,
Janet Rouseff
communion and regular service set up
and the church environment – the sound Bill and Pat Teal
system and decorations (flowers, candles, George and Anna Vaupel
Sandy Wallace
banners, paraments, etc.). We are also
responsible for ushers and liturgists –
Save your IHOP Restaurant receipts and turn them in to the church office. IHOP is giving back to the
church a percentage of your total bill. Eat at IHOP and in turn support Celebration. Thank you in advance.
HOSPITALITY
Pasta with the Pastor will
be held on May 3. If you are
interested in finding out more
about Celebration, please join
us right after the worship
By Laurie Andrews
service for lunch and an
informal time of discussion.
The 3rd annual Blessing of
the Bikes is Saturday, May 9,
from 10am-12 noon. Food and
drinks will be served. Ride on
in on your bike and leave
blessed.
P AGE 5
N EWS OF C ELEBRATION
VOLUNTEERS SERVING THIS MONTH
Elder of the Week
May 3—Terrance Baker
May 10—Mary Ann Bowie
May 17—Carol Butler
May 24—Jan Coulter
May 31—Cheryl Dulin
Liturgist
May 3—Carol Butler
May 10—Karen Williams
May 17 —Peg Speidel
May 24—Carla Baker
May 31—Paula Jansson
Visitors Table/Greeter
May 3—Priscilla Mulligan
May 10—Mary Ann Bowie
May 17—Heidi Cherry
May 24—Margaret Reeder
May 31—Jade Bender
Ushers for May
Bob and Linda Miller, Leo Dalphond,
Barb Johnson
Nursery Melanie Mosley and
May 3—Carol Mitchell
May 10—Vicki Jacobs
May 17—Vicki Simons
May 24—Denise Galli
May 31—Betsy Hughes
PreK Children’s Church Mary Kait
Jones and
May 3—Mary Ann Bowie
May 10—Karen Williams
May 17—Sharon Hills
May 24—Cindy Bramble
May 31—Tiffany Bowie
Grades 1-5 Children’s Church
May-Kelly Preciado
Sound Board
May 3, 17,31—Harvey Dulin
May 10, 24—Neil Carter
Media Shout
May 3, 17, 31—Bernadine Lamar
May 10, 24—Katrena White
MEET YOUR ELDERS
Name: Nancy
Career Background: BS in
Torcivia, Elder and Accounting, worked in public
Clerk of Session
accounting, and as an executive for credit
unions (Sr. VP- Ft. Bragg, VP-Finance Family: Married
Andrews AFB, VP Operations - Bethpage
to Dominic
NY, and the CEO - New York Times
Torcivia. We have
Credit Unions). Now happily retired!
four grown
daughters: Heather (lawyer in Miami),
Hobbies and Activities: Golf, oil
Stephanie (Chemistry Teacher in the
painting, loving my three cats. Member
Bronx), Becky (Pastry Chef in
of the Board of Directors, Finance and
Jacksonville) and Teddy (Hair Artist in
Fundraising Committees for SOS
Charlotte). My Mom, Margaret Reeder, Healthcare, an organization that helps
is also a member of CPC and an ordained kids and adults with Autism.
Deacon in the PCUSA.
Celebration Activities: As Clerk of
Church Background: Raised in the
Session, my duties are to maintain and
Presbyterian Church USA at various Air preserve accurate records for the Session
Force Chapels across the USA as a child. and the congregation, to be
As an adult, became a Deacon, Elder and knowledgeable about Presbyterian polity,
eventually Clerk of Session for The Old and procedure. I’m the moderator’s right
First Presbyterian Church in Huntington, hand, the parliamentarian, the secretary
NY. Mission trip to Havana, Cuba with
and the resource person for the Session
youth. Previous member of First
and the congregation. WHEW! What a
Presbyterian Myrtle Beach – Stewardship blessing! Because the Clerk duties
Committee and Mission trip to build a
consume a lot of time, I don’t chair
house in Mexico. Member of CPC since another committee, but I’m training for
2013.
the Befriender ministry and cook for
Shepherd’s Table. I’ve also worked on
the Endowment Committee and am
currently working on our Website
revamp.
My favorite thing about
Celebration Church: Love! Every
time we pass the peace, I am
overwhelmed with the strong sense of the
love of our savior all around me. The
members of CPC really care about each
other and show it in how they love and
support each other.
I am your Shepherd Elder:
Sarah Abushakra
Barbara Barranco
Jeanne Bredbeck
Mike and Cecilia Evans
Barb Johnson
Bob and Carol Lagassee
Nona Mattson
Scott, Jaime, Maccall, Maggie Milanovich
Thom, Karen, Samantha, Steven Siewert
Grace Vought and Cheyenne Cseh
P AGE 6
V OLUME 120
BIRTHDAYS FOR MAY
Take a moment to wish those
who have a birthday this month
birthday wishes or send them a
card.
If your birthday is not listed in
your month, please contact
Linda in the office to be
included.
3—Glorianna Belyski
5—Jean Markiewicz
8—Mark Hills
13—Joey Bruce
14—Carol Lagassee
15—Vicki Jacobs
18—Mike Wechter
19—Mike Evans
21—Dorothy Parker
23—Alana Sinnet
YOUTH NEWS
Ashlyn, Jade, Nicklaus and
Katelyn popping popcorn for
the movie night.
The youth had a busy April.
They kicked off with Journey
to the Cross. The youth hosted
50 guests both members and
non- members of the church.
The 13 stations reminded us of
Jesus's last days. Thank you to
the youth who helped with the
event and all those who came
to the event.
The youth spent April 20
hosting a movie night featuring
24—Scott Sinnet
26—Lois Krone
27— Bill Basden
27—Nancy Galloway
28—Jan Lisboa
By Cecilia Evans and Jackie Sinnet
the movie God's Not Dead. We
had 7 youth who participated
in popping popcorn and
serving soda. It was a great
night of fellowship. Stay tuned
for the next movie night!
Thank you to everyone who
supported the Belk Charity
Days fundraiser. We
appreciate the support and
generosity of the congregation.
PRESCHOOL
I just can’t believe we are
already at the end of the school
year. It seems like just
yesterday was the first day of
school and everyone was trying
to get settled in. Now, we are
preparing for our 4K children
to graduate and move on to
“big school”. This is always a
very exciting time at the
preschool.
Upcoming events include
bowling on May 8 and a
boating outing on June 7.
We will hold He-brews Cafe in
the month of May and then
take the summer off. There
will be opportunities for
fellowship in the summer and
plans for a Youth Sunday in
August.
By Susan Spraker
This year’s graduation will be
Thursday, May 21. Due to the
size of our 4K program, we
will hold two different
graduation ceremonies. They
will be at 9:00am and
12:30pm. If you are free on
this day, please stop in and
share in our special day.
The last day of preschool will
be May 22. We will end our
I would like to take this
school year with a “CPP large
opportunity to invite all of you play date at the beach”. We
to our preschool graduation.
will all meet at Myrtle Beach
State Park and spend the
morning playing in the sand
with all of our school friends.
We did this last year and
everyone loved it, so we
decided to do it again.
The teachers will return in mid
August to begin setting up
classrooms for the fall. We
hope everyone has a great
summer.
P AGE 7
N EWS OF C ELEBRATION
MAY 2015
Sunday Schedule:
9:30am—Adult Sunday School
10:30-10:50 am - Fellowship and Coffee
11:00 am Worship—Nursery and Children’s Church
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
1
Sat
2
Belk Charity
Days
3
COMMUNION
4
5
Quilters
10am
Pasta With the
Pastor 12:15pm
10
Men’s Breakfast
IHOP 9am
Choir Rehearsal
7pm
11
He~Brews
Café for Youth
12
Quilters
10am
MOTHER’S
DAY
17
6
Presbytery of
New Harmony
at Camp Pee
Dee 9am
18
He~Brews
Café for Youth
19
Quilters
10am
13
7
8
LadyBug
Luncheon
Café Old
Vienna
12noon
Pentecost/
Mission Offering
Piano Recital
4pm
31
Youth Bowling
7pm
Blessing of
the Bikes
10am-12noon
14
15
16
21
22
23
Choir Rehearsal
7pm
20
Choir Rehearsal
7pm
Preschool
Graduation
SESSION
24
9
Breakfast Buddies
Mammy’s Kitchen
9am
Preschool Fun Day
at the beach
25
offices
closed
26
Quilters
10am
27
Choir Rehearsal
7pm
28
29
30
Celebration Presbyterian Church
2300 Carolina Forest Boulevard
Myrtle Beach, SC 29579
Phone: 843-903-0308
Fax: 843-903-0345
[email protected]
www.celebrationpresbyterianchurch.org
Facebook—
Celebration Presbyterian Myrtle-Beach
Dr. Tom Dendy—Pastor
Ms Sarah Abushakra—Music Director
Mrs. Linda Berry—Office Administrator
Friend us on Facebook at
Celebration Presbyterian Myrtle-Beach
ENDOWMENT
This is the preamble of our Stewardship
Policy, which has been established for
Celebration church.
By Jan Coulter
our Christian identity to include being
stewards of the gifts of God, this
heightens our awareness of our
responsibility to respond to God joyously
and generously. Stewardship may be
expressed in short-term and long-term
ways.”
“Christian stewardship is the awareness
that everything we have is a gift of God.
We are absolute owners of nothing.
Rather, we are stewards of all we receive,
and we must use such resources wisely in One of the long-term ways that we can be
our life-long calling of service in the
good stewards of all that God has
Kingdom of God. When we understand provided for us is to set aside a portion of
our assets to be placed in the Endowment
Fund to ensure the future of our church.
The common way is to do this in our
wills, but there are many other ways to
contribute as well. We will be providing
you more information in the coming
months. For more information, talk to
Jan Coulter.
FINANCE
One of the blessings
Celebration has is our Pastor’s
Discretionary Fund. This fund
is separate from our operating
funds and is to be used by the
Pastor for emergency
situations for members and
friends of CPC. It is funded by
By Jan Coulter
donations from members and
friends of Celebration so that
he has the resources to assist.
There is always an ongoing
need and we encourage you to
remember this fund in your
giving plans. The money can
only be used to pay third party
obligations such as utility bills,
gas or groceries, depending on
the need and at the discretion
of the Pastor.