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HAPPENINGS
First Presbyterian Church, 1601 Main Street, Murray, KY 42071
CHURCH STAFF From the Pastor:
Pastor:
Rev. Dr. Renee
Meyer
270-227-7714
Administrative
Assistant:
Dawn Boyd
Accompanist:
Christy D’Ambrosio
Choir Director:
Chris Mitchell
Clerk of Session:
Carol Allen
Treasurer:
Tim Belcher
Nursery:
Liz Wall
Youth Director:
Brittany Hesson
Custodian:
Monte Fisher
OFFICE HOURS:
Monday—Friday
9:00—12:00
1:00—3:00
Pastors Office Hours
Monday
9 a.m.-Noon
Personal Study
Noon-3:00 p.m.
visitation, office time
Tuesday
9 a.m.-Noon
Personal Study
Noon-3:00 pm visitation,
office time
Wednesday
office 9 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.
Thursday
office 9 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Friday
Day Off
I can’t say that I am a Nicolas Cage fan, but one of his movies made quite an
impression on me—I guess because I saw a lot of theological significance in it. Meg
Ryan co-stars. The movie is City of Angels and it is an American remake of the
Franco-German film Wings of Desire. For those not having seen either, a synopsis
follows.
Cage is an angel. Specifically he is the angel that leads those that are dying,
across the great divide into eternity. Angels, as depicted in these two films, may
look human, but they are far from it. They cannot see color (Wings of Desire),
taste, experience touch, know pain or pleasure, or feel any emotion. Clearly,
therefore, they are not human.
Meg Ryan plays a cardio-thoracic surgeon who loses a patient in surgery.
Cage is the angel going to escort the dying man to the other side but becomes
fascinated by the surgeon’s passionate attempt to save her patient’s life. He also
witnesses her distraught reaction to the loss. So the angel becomes a little
obsessed with her. I will spare you the details and jump to it. He gives up his
immortality so that he can experience life, love, and ultimately loss. Meg Ryan’s
character dies in a tragic bicycle accident a mere 24 hours after her beloved angel
had become human. In the final scene, one of his former angel friends asks him this
question: “Knowing what you know now, would you do it again?” He replies: “I
would rather have had one breath of her hair, one kiss of her mouth, one touch of
her hand, than eternity without it. Just one.” Then we see him on the beach—feet
and sand displayed in such a way that we can imagine the sand squeezing between
our own toes. Then he runs into the waves and the joy flows over us. And for a
moment—we remember our humanity—and thank God for it.
We are in Eastertide. It is the time in the liturgical year when we attend to
the resurrection stories of Christ. These are stories about how he appeared to
those who loved him. They talk about him being seen and touched—he tells Thomas
to feel his wounds and his side. After the Emmaus road and the two disciples who
traveled it with Christ returned to Jerusalem to tell the others what had happened,
Jesus again appeared. “‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your
hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see;
for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he said
this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were
disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’
They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.”
(Luke 24:38-43)
While some might use these texts to argue for the resurrection of the
physical body, I want you to think for a moment about another dimension. When
we plumb the depths of our truest selves—what is it that we find? We find
tremendous capacities. We have the capacity to see and create that which is
beautiful; we have the capacity to experience joy; we have the capacity to
appreciate nature; we have the capacity to feel what others feel; we have the
capacity to bear one another’s burdens; we have the capacity to love greatly and
deeply; we have the capacity to experience enormous spiritual depth and finally,
we have the capacity to see the Divine in others as well as in ourselves. Therefore
we might be able to say this: To know God is to sink deeper into our humanity.
Many religious traditions have taught, or still teach, that to know God, one
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HAPPENINGS
must forsake the corporeal. To know God is to rise above the material world. The Desert Fathers
and Mothers are a testament to this perspective. The sannyasins of Hinduism and the monks and
nuns of various Buddhist sects are good models for rising out of one’s humanity in order to be
immersed in God.
However, I think the incarnation and the resurrection both point to God’s love of the
human experience. It is God’s way of connecting to us—understanding us. Our humanity is where
God meets us.
This life is a gift. Take yours and live it to its depths—and there you will surely find God.
And God will say, “Come, sit down and let’s have breakfast.”
Shalom,
Pastor Renee
Join us
each Thursday @ noon
for The Lunch Bunch
May 7, 2014
May 14, 2014
May 21, 2014
May 28, 2014
August Moon
Los Portales
Tom’s Grille
Culvers
Every Wednesday morning @ 7
a.m.
May 6th-Cracker Barrel
May 13th-Hih Burger
May 20th-Martha’s
May 27th-Mary’s
HAPPENINGS
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Presbyterian Women
PW Brown Bag Lunch: PW will be meeting May
2nd at 11:30 at FPC
New PW Circle will meet May 14th @ 6 p.m. at
Debbie Burgess’s house. This circle is for anyone
one who would like to join, especially those who
work during the day.
Dorothy McKenzie Circle will meet on May 11th @
1 p.m. @ Mary Ellen DeBoer’s home.
May 10th
Dorothy Moore Circle will meet on May 12th in
the Session room at FPC @ 10:30 a.m.
Church Potluck
We will be having a church-wide potluck on
May 3. Sign-up sheets are on the table in
the narthex.
As the out-going moderator of Presbyterian
Women of the Western Kentucky Presbytery, I
would
like
to
Presbyterian
Gathering
thank
Church
on
April
the
for
women
of
hosting the
16th.
The
First
Spring
food
and
hospitality was tremendous and we heard so
many gracious
compliments during the day.
This church and this Presbytery appreciates all
your hard work and dedication.
Head & Heart
Head and Heart will meet on May 21 at 7
pm to continue our discussion of John
Selby Spong's A New Christianity--in the
Session Room at First Presbyterian
Church
Cheryl Pittman
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HAPPENINGS
Outreach News
Graduate reception will be immediately
following worship on May 17, 2015 in the
fellowship hall.
The Outreach Committee is encouraging an
increase in Need Line food offerings. Since
it's spring and very green, let's go for the
green stuff - canned green beans, green
peas, green limas, green spinach! I think you
get the picture. Let's also add a little bit of
protein with macaroni and cheese mixes or
jars of peanut butter. Thank you!
Our High School Graduates
Stephanie McClain
Calloway County High School
Plans on going to Centre College
Josh Howe
Murray High School
Plans on going to Murray State
From the Stewardship and Finance Committee
Giving for the first three months of the year was $37,857, only 1.6% less than
budgeted. Expenses were also in line with the budget at $43,082. Thanks for your
generosity and faithfulness in giving.
As of the end of March, we owed $210,472 on the church building. Please see that
your building fund pledge is current. If you have not made a pledge to the building
fund for 2015 year and would like to, see Whitey Adams, committee chair, or Tim
Belcher, church treasurer, for a pledge card.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, and all these things shall
be yours as well” Matthew 6:33.
HAPPENINGS
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Clerk's Corner
Stated Session Meeting
April 20, 2015
“KEEPING UP WITH
YOUTH”
Youth group meets at the MOTA house
Sunday afternoons from 4-5:30 p.m.
Youth Sponsorships
Looking for a way to support the young
people at FPC? How about sponsoring
students for the Montreat Youth
Conference or Alabama Mission Trip this
summer? There are 3 students going to
Montreat and 4 students going on the
mission trip. These trips are great for
students to grow in their faith journey
and give back to others. The cost per
student for Montreat is $525 and $400
for New Jersey. Any size sponsorship is
greatly appreciated ($5, $20, $100, etc).
Let's share the gifts that God has given us
so that our young people may do the
same. For more information about youth
sponsorships, please see Brittany.
 Session approved Jordon Boyd's plan for
building a walking path from the church
to the MOTA house as his Eagle Scout
project.
 The Presbyterian Investment and Loan
Program rebate of $662.58 will be
applied to the building fund.
GROUP EVENT
Y'All Come! It's that time of year for the
Group Fish Fry at the Pittman's on
Saturday, May 30th from 2:00 pm to ???
Bring a dish to share and lawn chairs as
we gather for a day of fellowship and fun
at the lake. Look for sign up sheet in
narthex.
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HAPPENINGS
Prayer Concerns
“Blessed be God, because God has not rejected my prayer
or removed God’s steadfast love from me.”--Psalm 66:20
Church Members
Mary Lynn Christensen
Earline Clark
Jean Lindsey
Charlie Miller
Rosemary Moore
Mildred Valentine
Managing Alzheimer’s
Toni Belcher’s mother, in hospital
Home recovering
At Spring Creek room #206 for rehab
Health issues
At Spring Creek with dementia
Family of Church Members
Smith Broadbent
Anne Adams’ brother-Parkinson’s
Jimmy Hardy
Ralph & Cheryl Pittman’s Son-in Law, diagnosed with Peripheral T-Cell
lymphoma
Heidi Hedstrom
Gary & Justines Ostlund’s granddaughter, hospice has been called
Dick Mainord
Lisa Polivick’s father, end stage of lung cancer, hospice has been called
Rebecca Webb
Niece of Ralph & Cheryl Pittman, breast cancer & erythema multiforme
Friends of the Church
Edna Davis
Helen Keener
Friend of Pastor Renee, IV breast cancer
Pastor Renee’s friend, possible ALS diagnosis
Since I have been homebound, I have very much appreciated the cards and notes I have received from my
friends in the church. Thank you.
Also-thanks to the children of the church for the beautiful Valentines they made themselves and the box of
candy brought to my door. That was a special treat.
Also- thanks to the young people who cleaned my walk and driveway of snow after our “blizzard”.
It warms my heart to be remembered in so many ways.
Barbara Simons
Special Dates
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HAPPENINGS
National Day of Prayer
May 7, 2015
Mother’s Day
May 10, 2015
14th
17th
19th
29th
Margaret Boone
Tonie Belcher
Victoria Holmes
Nancy Pople
Ascension of the Lord
May 14, 2015
Armed Forces Day
May 16, 2015
Pentecost
May 24, 2015
Memorial Day
May 25, 2015
Robin & Terri Holmes
May 25th
Trinity Sunday
May 31, 2015
Mark Your Calendars!!
Summer Worship hours
begin on Memorial
Weekend, May 24th.
Worship begins at 10 a.m.
Building & Grounds
Thanks to all who came
out to help with the
spring spruce-up inside
and outside the church.
Let’s
do
it
again
sometime!
--Don Fleming
HAPPENINGS
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
1601 Main Street
Murray, KY 42071