ICHTHUS April 2015 In This Issue: The Newsletter of First Presbyterian Church, Smithfield, North Carolina Did You Know Easter Egg Hunt Finance Report Holy Week Schedule JOY Connection PALM SUNDAY Sunday, March 29 Kids Page Membership Team News Memorials Nursery Needs One Great Hour of Sharing Noon to Noon March 30—March 31 Paraments Prayer Concerns Presbyterian Women Relay for Life SECU Hospice MAUNDY THURSDAY Meal, 6:00 p.m. Service, 7:00 p.m. Session Highlights Smithfield Rescue Mission Thanks Vacation Bible School Yes We Can Youth Fundraisers April Calendar Lectionary Building Officers Fellowship Time Flower Calendar Ushers Lay Readers Acolytes Trinity Ringers Time with Children Shepherds Birthdays Anniversaries A publication of First Presbyterian Church 215 S. Third Street PO Box 1159 Smithfield, NC 27577 919-934-0988 [email protected] www.fpcsmithfield.org EASTER EGG HUNT & HOT DOG LUNCH Noon Home of Stan and Kelly Coats COMMUNITY SUNRISE SERVICE Easter Sunday 6:45 a.m. The Mausoleum at Sunset Memorial Park EASTER WORSHIP 11:00 a.m. FLOWERS ON THE CROSS following Worship Prayerful Support for Mary Alice Thomas who is in Charlotte. Jane Cunningham who is in Wilmington. Helen Godwin who is at Smithfield Manor. Ellen Rogers who is in Raleigh. Her updated contact information is Sunrise of Raleigh, 4801 Edwards Mill Road, #210, Raleigh, NC 27612; 919-977-1977. Martha Rogers who is in Norfolk, VA. Mable Surles who is in Fayetteville. Hazel Whitehurst who is at Carolina House. Nor Bell who is at Barbour Court.. Marie Atkins who is home. Eula Brown who is home. Charlie James who is home. Bernice Johnson who is in Rehab at Barbour Court. Eddie Perkinson who is home. Devon and Phyllis Pollard who are home. Nelson Vaughn who is home. Betty Welch who is home. Hilda Worsham who is home. Bill Leist who is in rehab. You may send cards to 1575 John Knox Drive, Apt. A-205, Colfax, NC 27235. Marie Maddox, Shelley Maddox’s mother, who is home. of March Session Approved a request from the Relay for Life team to display and raffle a quilt as a part of their team fundraising projects. Approved Nichole Booker as Education Team chair in the Educational Development Quadrant. Approved our church’s participation in a Johnston County mission project in partnership with Mosaic Church in Clayton on August 1-3, 2015. Approved an evaluation process for the Educational Development Quadrant and Spirituality Quadrant for this year’s youth activities and internship. Approved the dates of July 17-23, 2015 for Vacation Bible School and Kelly Coats and Shelley Roberts to serve as the co-directors. Approved the final disposition of preschool items. Presented a change in the pastor’s terms of call for 2015 at a Congregational Meeting. The change was approved. If you have items you wish to be brought before Session, contact an elder or Debbie Jacobs, clerk. —Debbie Jacobs Words are inadequate to express my gratitude for your recent kindnesses. The cards, calls, visits and food are greatly appreciated. With your prayers and God’s love, Norwood and I knew we were not alone these last months. Our family deeply appreciates all you did. We are blessed with a wonderful church family. Jean Worley Did You Know . . . John Booker, Tom Howerton, Ann Huckenbeck, Rich Huckenbeck, and Myra Wallace participated in the recent Heritage Center Banquet and/or the Bentonville Celebration. Twenty First Presbyterians attended and/or participated in the Johnston County Arts Council Arts and Food Festival. The Frank Creech Art Gallery at JCC is exhibiting the illustrations of Emily Wallace through April 9. Will Jones was accepted at UNC-Wilmington; he will begin there in the fall. Kenny Duncan participated in a welding course offered by the American Welding Society in Richmond. Fourteen were in the class, but 42 took the test, 28 for the second or third time. Kenny passed with flying colors on the first try and is now a certified welding inspector and a certified welding educator! Way to go!! Dwight Dockery conducted the Concert Choir of the Greenville Choral Society and the New Carolina Sinfonia in War and Peace featuring music by Haydn, Mendelssohn and Wilberg. Shelley Maddox sang in the choir. The concert was attended by First Presbyterians Joe Hester, Wayne Dockery, Ellen Adams and Myra Wallace. The Hand Bell Choir has moved into its new music room. The room upstairs which was its former home is now used to store Christmas and JOY Connection decorations. In Memory of Norwood Worley, Clem and Mikki Sharek, Robert Backner, Richard Moore, Thelma Jo Smith, Kitty Lippitt, Linwood Nixon, Harvie Jean Gower, Marveline Lee, James House. Donors: Jim and Debbie Henderson, Benny and Pam Pope, Frank and Lisa Deans, John and Maxine McFadyen, John and Shirley Booker, Lamm Media Group LLC, David and Beth Johnson, Wingate and Susan Lassiter, Debbie Collins, Ray and Billie Peal, Neil and Lucy Watson, Mabel Yelvington and family, David Ewing, Kornegay Family Farms, Lib Radford and family, David and Joyce Lee, Greg and Ruth Bell, Earline Richardson and the NC Department of Transportation, Dot Ellmore. Nancy Lee and Will Jones for moving the Christmas and JOY Connection decorations to a new room and for organizing them. Stan and Kelly Coats for once again hosting FPC’s Easter Egg Hunt. Evans Horne for being the chief cook and bottle washer at the Oyster Roast. Martha Taylor for heading up our Prayer Chain. Jimmy Hooks for mowing our church lawn. Kathy and David Rice for preparing the lawn cross for flowers. Ken Allen and Evans Horne for putting up the crosses in the sanctuary and on the lawn. Judy and Hubert Schmidt for taking care of our shrubs, flowers and plants. Sandy Perkinson, Shelley Roberts, Benny Pope, Jennifer Templeton, Starr Henderson, Camille Boone, Kathy Rice, Joe Hester, Jane Allen and Nichole Booker for volunteering for Time with Children. But from this earth, this grave, this dust, My God shall raise me up, I trust. —Sir Walter Raleigh Christendom has had a series of revolutions, and in each . . . has died. Christianity has died many times and risen again, for it has a God who knows the way out of the grave. —G.K. Chesterton Fund Raising Success! On behalf of the PYC members and their parents, a heartfelt thank you goes to all of you who came out and enjoyed oysters, chili, baked spaghetti and yummy meatballs. Oh . . . and let’s not forget the awesome desserts provided by some of FPC’s best bakers! A huge thank you to our chefs and outside stinky crew: Evans Horne, Roger Horne, Ken Allen, Jake Jacobs and Scott Holzshu. Additional thank you’s to all of the parents and PYC members who worked so hard collecting shells, waiting on tables and cleaning up. Stay tuned for another oyster roast when the weather gets cold! Nichole Booker, Ruth Bell and Pam Pope met with these groups on March 22 to gather information. These results will be reported to Session at their April meeting. There is currently $17,623.78 which has been separated from the budget to use for future youth programs once we have a permanent youth leader in place. If you would like to add your opinion about what leadership is needed for the youth program, please feel free to contact Nichole Booker, Ruth Bell, Joe Hester or Pam Pope with your comments. We see a lot of renewed energy and progress with our youth programs this year and hope to continue that forward motion as we move to the fall! —Pam Pope Egg Hunt and Hot Dog Lunch Get ready to hop along the bunny trail at noon on Saturday, April 4, at Stan and Kelly Coats’ house! PYC will be hiding prizes and candy for our younger crowd. This is a wonderful opportunity to join in the fun and fellowship, so invite your grandchildren, friends, and neighbors to enjoy some hot dogs and fellowship after the egg hunt. If you would like to attend, there is a sign up sheet in the old parlor. We would like to ask for donations of side dishes to go with hot dogs, including mustard, chili, onions, chips, baked beans, deviled eggs and other yummy items. If you need directions to the Coats’ house, please contact the church office. Please note that PYC members should be on site no later than 10:00 a.m. Liturgical Space — Paraments The Lectern Bible markers have small dowels in one end which are correctly called registers. Some of these have been removed from various markers and cannot be located. New ones have been purchased, at considerable cost, and are not to be removed for any reason other than having the paraments cleaned. Betsy Olive, as one of the leaders on the Sacred Spaces Team, takes care of the paraments, and only she or the pastor change them. Please do not remove the knobs or the entire register from any marker. Your help with this is greatly appreciated. —Pam Pope Youth’s Great Year! As we start to gear up for summer and the end of another year of our PYC and KICKS programs, this is a perfect time to look back, reflect and evaluate what the youth and our youth intern have accomplished over the past few months. · PYC began the year by attending a Christian rock concert at Triangle Presbyterian Church. · They participated in our stewardship campaign by actually making Jacobs Ladder. · Next, the PYC and KICKS members participated in October in gleaning sweet potatoes and raising money through the Souper Bowl of Caring in February to feed the hungry. · Our middle school youth, enjoyed fellowship and learning at Camp Don Lee. They did a little bit of canoeing, too! · In November, the youth enjoyed attending Duke Youth Day at Wallace Wade Stadium and seeing the Blue Devils play football. · They enjoyed spreading Christmas joy to our elderly and those who are shut in before Christmas by caroling to them. February also brought the Cross m\Mission Project for our kids to participate down in Charlotte through Myers Park Presbyterian Church. They enjoyed meeting new friends from Wilsons Mills Christian Church who joined our crew. The Cross mission provided our youth and their leaders the opportunity to sort coats which had been donated (1,000+) and then play games with the homeless. · Our high school youth and their chaperones, Jane and Ken Allen, experienced the fun and fellowship of the High school Retreat at Camp Willow Run in March. · Youth Sunday will be May 31, so make sure to join us for worship. · The PYC and KICKS are looking forward to the Johnston County Mission Project coming up August 1-3. We hope to work side by side with many of our members for this project. There have been wonderful lessons learned when not out doing the “fun” stuff. Our Duke intern, Samuel Best, has brought excitement to our youth programs, assisted with worship and led worship from the pulpit on two Sundays so far. Additionally, Sam has worked with our Scouts and also our Confirmation class. Although we are only able to enjoy Sam’s presence and help on Sundays, we have learned from Sam, and we hope he has learned from us as well. Sam’s last day with us will be May 3. So what are we doing about a Youth Director, Youth Intern or some other variation to oversee the youth program for the fall? The Session has requested a post-evaluation be conducted with our youth, parents and youth leaders. — continued next column First Presbyterian Church Operating Results: January—February 2015 Actual vs Budgeted Jan—Feb 2015 Jan-Feb 2015 Actual Budgeted Revenue General Offering Disbursements 36,608.66 43,850.00 Education Quadrant Mission Outreach Quad. Spirituality Quadrant* Stewardship Quadrant Total Disbursements 222.50 2,183.60 22,630.11 16,289.09 41,325.30 649.98 2,585.48 26,713.10 18,006.22 47,954.78 Net Income/(Deficit) (4,716.64) *Adjusted for Youth Intern prepayments Want to pledge? Need giving envelopes? Contact Beth Daniel at 919-630-3654 or [email protected] (4,104.78) Vacation Bible School Sunday, July 19—Thursday, July 23 Many opportunities to volunteer: Teaching, Donating Supplies, Decorating, Making Snacks, Helping with Crafts Please see Shelley Roberts or Kelly Coats if you can help! CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED APRIL 2015 First Presbyterian Church PO Box 1159 Smithfield, NC 27577 NON-PROFIT STD MAIL US POSTAGE SMITHFIELD, NC 27577 PERMIT #93 Fliers and Registers, Bulletin Boards and Bookmarks The Membership Team will deliver flyers to two different areas, Chandler Ridge in Clayton and Forest Oaks in Smithfield. The fliers will have information about our church on one side and will invite families to attend our Vacation Bible School on the flip side. These will be delivered in a time for families to sign up for VBS. If you wish to help deliver, please contact Ann Huckenbeck or Judy Schmidt. A new attendance register has been developed, and the membership should see it very soon. We hope that it will be easier to use for our visitors and members. Our bulletin board will be retired in May until the new school year at which time it may have a new face, so be sure you look for it in August. Bookmarks are being designed for use in the pew Bibles so that you can find and mark the appropriate scriptures before worship. There will be other bookmarks that will be available to all members and guests for personal use. We hope to give them to visitors who attend our special events such as our Fireworks cookout. —Judy Schmidt New Toys Needed Our baby nursery is in need of a few new push/pull type of toys for our toddlers. This is the nursery for our youngest members, ages birth to two. Frances Churchill lovingly and faithfully attends this nursery each Sunday. —Ruth Bell Hospice Meal The Mission Outreach Quadrant collaborates with area churches and the Smithfield Hospice House to give our church an opportunity to provide a meal for the families visiting patients at Hospice House four times a year. Our next meal is on Sunday April 12. Thanks to Liz Craig, Tom Roberts, Ann Huckenbeck, Tom Barwick, Hubert and Judy Schmidt, Greg Knoll, Betsy Olive and Ann Ragland for signing up for this meal. —Joyce Knoll Presbyterians may find it meaningful to give something up for Lent - but it is not required. It’s good to be Reformed—being Presbyterian means we are not required to give up anything, nada, nothing during Lent, let alone fast. To all our Catholic friends—eat your hearts out. No obligation to fast or sacrifice means eating steak throughout Eastertide, eating anything but fish on Fridays, enjoying that bowl of Cherry Garcia without regret, sipping on that delicious glass of red wine with no guilt, watching plenty of television. Yes, indeed! It’s good to be reformed . . . still Christian though. So what’s the party line for Lent.? According the PC(USA), “the idea of giving something up for Lent came out of this tradition, when fasting—abstaining from food as an act of discipline in solidarity with others in the community— was used to raise one’s spiritual consciousness and empty oneself before God. Fasting or giving up something for Lent can be a good way to explore a deeper expression of faith, if not adopted as a show of piety, martyrdom, or moral righteousness. Some disciples may find a more valuable spiritual exercise in taking something on during Lent—a more Christ-like attitude toward others, a humble spirit at work, or a feeling of gratitude in the midst of scarcity.” (http://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/ curriculum/lenten-practices-101/) If this is what our faith requires, let’s squeeze the most out of it and spiritually let’s kill two birds with one stone: fast or give something up and take on something new. Go to your own pantry, give something up—a can of corn, macaroni and cheese, mushroom soup, a bag of rice. NOW, turn your sacrifice into something positive. Take on our Hunger Missions and bring your sacrifice to church and place it in the shopping cart. Lent IS a time to reflect on Christ’s sacrifice for us; let us, than, sacrifice for others. He’d want it that way. —Tom Barwick, Chairman, Yes We Can Expanding Our Mission Services The Mission Outreach Quadrant members have voted to expand services to Smithfield Rescue Mission. We will be working with them to install a much-needed emergency exit door to their kitchen. Funds will be provided for the equipment and installation, and we will replenish our budget with the donations collected at our It’s at 11:00 in Fourth of July Food and Fireworks cookout. JOY Connection Time Change for April Meeting The Mission staff is also in need of wire April 2, 2015, is right around the corner. That’s the April!! shelving that can be installed in both their kitchen and clothing first Thursday of the month, and we will meet disbursement areas. If anyone in the congregation knows where as usual in the church fellowship hall for our we can obtain used wire shelving or shelving at a discounted monthly JOY Connection. Don’t forget that price, please contact Greg Knoll at 919-550-5710 or Ann we will meet at 11:00 on that day due to our Huckenbeck at 919-359-2760. speaker’s busy schedule. Please remember these dedicated servants at the Mission who We will first of all enjoy our program at help those less fortunate. 11:00 with WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze, —Ann Huckenbeck and then after the program we will enjoy lunch together. So put on your toboggans and your furry boots, or put on your sundress and your sandals, or put on your raincoat with your matching umbrella, and join us at 11:00 on Thursday, April 2, to Relay for Life Fund Raiser learn about this crazy weather we have been having! FPC’s Relay for Life Team is selling tickets for a lovely quilt As always we ask that you reserve a place by signing the sheet made by Judy Schmidt. Tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5 and may be at the reception desk or by calling the church at 919-934-0988. purchased from Martha Taylor, Joy Worsham, Betsy Olive or at the church desk. The drawing will be at Relay on June 6. In April we And of course you are welcome to bring a dessert to share if you will also be selling tickets on the three beautiful afghans that Becky would like. I look forward to seeing you at 11:00 on April 2 come Peele made for us. Those tickets will be the same price. rain, shine, sleet, or snow! We thank you for your support to help us find a cure for —Ann Ragland cancer! Most of the money stays right here in the Triangle for cancer research. We would also love to add members to our Presbyterian Women’s Spring Gathering Missions team. If you are interested, please contact Presbyterian Women are collecting money for Barium Martha Taylor or Joy Worsham. Johnston Springs and Living Waters (wells) and bras for abused County Relay will host a Survivor Dinner on women (women rescued from trafficking!) to donate at April 14, and we hope some of our survivors will the Spring Gathering on April 18. The PW circles and any attend. PW women may participate. There is more information on —Martha Taylor the bulletin board. —Lee Johnson KIDS PAGE As Jacob used a rock for a pillow — later to become a pillar honoring God — which of the following did he experience in a dream? A. Angels going up and down on a ladder between earth and heaven. B. The Lord promising that Jacob’s family would be a blessing to all nations. C. God’s assurance: “Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go.” D. All of the above. Answer: D (See Genesis 28:10-19.) Bible Quiz
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