FPC Press Services of Worship Sundays 8:30 am & 11:00 am The Newsletter of the First Presbyterian Church of Turlock Rev. Craig J. Wright You think you will never get there when the kids are young, but you do, and they get there too. Where? To maturity, that’s where. Growing a pack of kids can seem like an endless cycle of correction and intense conversation, “Do this.” “Don’t do that.” “Come on, really guys!?” (Spoken in exasperation) And then all of a sudden they grow up. And you look at them from afar and feel like they are not just going to be okay, they might just thrive in this world. If you have raised a few, or just remember being a kid yourself, you understand that eventually some sort of maturity moves in where things like cluelessness and carelessness once lived. It is a wonderful feeling. Times of parental correction give way to times of shared interests and even friendship. That is so rich. Watching the young people around you grow into adults is a wonderful thing. This reflection came to me, not because I have had my own munchkins under the microscope, but because this last week I have been watching many of you moving about in the real world. Moving about, not as children in the faith, but as mature Christians, people whose commitment to Christ and to the world has reached a beautiful and settled maturity. Can I tell you what I saw this week from the members of First Pres.? I was walking out of the hospital from visiting one of our own, when I saw one of our own walking in to visit another ‘one of our own.’ I then drove over to one of our member’s home to offer him a ride, only to discover, one of our deacons beat me to it. . I watched as another one of our dear members poured tea and sat with a grief filled grandmother. I heard about how many of our people have driven to Kaiser to love on Bob and Mary Peterson in the midst of their valley. I heard of this from Mary and Bob, who were themselves so touched by your kindness, by your prayers and by your presence. I smiled many times just this last week, as I thought about how we care for one another at FPC. Jesus said this very thing would be how the world would know we are his disciples, “That we love one another.” I could stop here and say a prayer of thanksgiving to be the pastor of such a very “grown up in Christ” church. But why stop the ’pastoral’ parental gloating now. I also watched as record numbers of you came to share in the blessed work of feeding Turlock’s homeless. Once again you gave all the money we needed, and there were more volunteer hands than we could use. What is it about you people rising up to help others? It is amazing! Clear evidence that the Spirit of Christ is within you. Sunday night the young people fed the first group of homeless folks. It was a nice dinner, served restaurant style. Now it is not easy getting all these kids to show up to do fun things like water-slides and beach trips and laser tag, so why is it that they come out of the woodwork to feed the homeless? Could it be that they are following the lead of their parents and grand-parents in serving the less fortunate? Yes, that’s what I think it is. These are my pastoral reflections for the week. FPC is a magnificent church, made that way because you all love God, you love each other and you love your neighbors. We are not all perfect yet, but I must tell you, I have never been more proud to be your pastor. As we travel through the Beatitudes this Lenten season, the word “Blessed” really captures FPC. We are blessed, because we are a blessing. May that continue to grow as we bear one another's burdens and reach out to the world around us in Christ’s love! With Gratitude Pastor Craig Announcements Page 2 of 13 Table of Contents: Pastor’s Pen 1 Bake Sale 2 FPC Directory 2 Choir Concert 2 Special Report 2 Those Who Serve 3 Worship Assistants 3 Birthdays 3 Calendar Insert Church Grapevine 4 Shut-ins 4 Missions 5 Tri-Tip Fundraising 5 Buildings & Grounds 6 Current Events 7 Presbyterian Women 7 Young Adults 7 Note From Steve 7 Sunday School 8 Children’s 8 Youth Events 8 Zoe Zone 8 The Learning Zone 9 Easter Eggstravaganza 9 Finance 10 Music 11 Holy Week 11 Deacon’s Corner 12 Session’s Update 12 Per Capita 12 NEW CHURCH DIRECTORY MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Beginning on March 4th – 7th, we will be having portrait sessions with Lifetouch Photography to customize a new directory for our church. With each session, you will receive a FREE church directory PLUS a FREE 8x10 family portrait of choice. Each participant will also receive a 20% discount toward their total purchase. If you have not yet signed up, it’s not too late. Please contact the church office for assistance or you may log onto our website: www.fpcturlock.com to schedule your appointment. Palm Sunday March 29, 2015 Following the Combined Single Service Worship Service at 10:30 Am Please bring your donated baked goods to the kitchen prior to the service. And bring willing hearts to purchase baked goods. SUPPORT OUR OWN FPC CHANCEL CHOIR At the 23rd Annual Ecumenical Choir Concert On Sunday, March 8th at 4:00 pm., our very own Chancel Choir will once again join other churches to help raise funds to benefit Habitat for Humanity. The concert is FREE to attend. A free-will offering will be taken during the concert. All proceeds will benefit the Habitat for Humanity in Stanislaus County. Our Church Family requires temporary essential support of individuals and families within our congregation in various specific ways, mostly with meal support and transportation support, especially to and from Church. If you are an individual who would like to help on a temporary basis, or if you have thought about becoming a Deacon but do not want to make a long term commitment, here is your chance to fulfill a desire to nurture your fellow members. If you are willing to assist the Deacons with meeting this necessity, please contact your Deacon, or Polet Yonan in the Church office, at 634-2343, immediately please. Our Church members who are facing this immediate need for support will be most appreciative. Those Who Serve Elders Class of 2015 Gail Ballas Dave Posluch John Sims Polet Yonan Deacons Class of 2015 Alison Aldax Mary Peterson Lois Wilson Wilma Wright Elders Class of 2016 Mark Aldax Kathleen Gunn Gabriel Njock Martin Purdy Elders Class of 2017 Glenda Jameson Margaret Steel Robert Traut Pat Wallace Deacons Class of 2016 Bill Bishop Judy Brighella Marlena Mizicko Joanne Abraham Deacons Class of 2017 Cindy Eisenhut Chris Hughes Pat Rubalcava Mabel Sargis Worship Assistants Greeters for 8:30 worship March 2015 1 8 15 22 29 Communion Team – March Alison Aldax; Marlena Mizicko Gabriel Njock; Glenda Jameson Mark & Alison Aldax Umar Ghuman & Robert Traut Pat Rubalcava, Chris Hughes Robert & Susan England Pat Hickman & Jayne Smith Elder Assistants 1 8 15 22 29 Greeters for 11:00 worship Polet Yonan Margaret Steel Mark Aldax Kathleen Gunn John Sims 1 8 15 22 29 Emilio & Rosa Alvarado Bob & Maxine Kisling Bob & Ellen Santos Mabel Franklin & Melba Jones Mabel Sargis & Pat Weisel Birthdays Anniversaries Mar 1 Mar 1 Mar 1 Mar 3 Mar 3 Mar 3 Mar 5 Mar 8 Mar 13 Mar 13 Mar 15 Mar 20 Mar 24 Mar 27 Mar 29 Mar 29 Mar 31 Mar 6 Mar 11 Mar 21 Mar 21 Mar 22 Mar 28 Elizabeth Arakelian Meghan Sims Terri Rodger Don Ulrich Pat Rubalcava Margaret Steel Steven Eisenhut Mabel Sargis Fran Hooper Del Lansing Ted Brugger Julie Neely Aislyn Castillo Craig Wright Betty Smith Kendra Reyes Charlie Wickwire David & Wendy Warner Robert & Susan England David & Katherine Zollinger Mark & Alison Aldax Del & Donna Lansing Louis & Catherine Randall Prayers This list is compiled by the information that you filled out. If we have missed your birthday or anniversary please contact the office to let us know. Page 3 of 13 Prayers Page 4 of 13 Church Family Grapevine Ongoing Prayer Needs Key Code: P-Personal, F-Family, H-Health, S-Surgery, PGPregnancy, E-Employment, ST-Safe Travel, A-Adoption, SA-Salvation, M-Military Bonander, Mary Lou (Ruth Gaffney’s mom) (H) Brodhag, Deborah Brugger, Ted & Betty (H) Cassay, Laura (H) Duncan, Marian (Marilyn Hoobyar’s mom) (H) Eshoo, Elsie (H) PARAMOUNT Duncan, Marian (Marilyn Hoobyar’s Mom) Paul & Cleone Westby Turlock Nursing & Rehabilitation Center June Limprecht Cleo Spencer Finnegan, Dorothy (H) Gerdes, Anne (H) Hanna, Bill (Rev. Steve Hanna’s brother) (H) Hooper, Fran (H) Hunter, Charliene (H) Lansing, Del (H) Lipe, Ron (H) Owens, Jeanette (H) Peterson, Bob (S, H) Purdy, Norman & Colleen (H) Ribiero, Margaret (P) Runsten, Tricia (H) Salgado, Ester, (H) Sheehan, Kevin (Robert Traut’s brother-in-law) (H) Shippee, Gerry (H) Spencer, Cleo (H) St. Clair, Ellen (H) Steel, Margaret (H) Westby, Paul (H) White, Brenda (H) White, Bob (H) Zollinger, Dave (H) Zollinger, Kay (S) BE JOYFUL IN HOPE, PATIENT IN AFFLICTION, FAITHFUL IN PRAYER.” ROMANS 12:12 Mission Page 5 of 13 This committee meets every FIRST Monday of the month at 7:00 pm. Elder of contact is Martin Purdy. Please join us for this wonderful ministry. PLEASE SUPPORT OUR TEAM ON MARCH 20, 2015 5:00 – 6:30 PM TRI-TIP DINNER $10 per person Contact Marcy Wright or the church office to order your tickets. On behalf of the Mission Committee, we wish to thank everyone that gave a donation, volunteered to help cook, serve, clean up or just sit and talk to our guests during the week of February 22nd through March 1st. It took the commitment of our entire church to feed 60 people every night and then house the women and children and provide breakfast in the morning. Mission Committee Our Guatemala Team is ready for hire AND willing to be put to work for YOU! Keep our team members in mind for any of your household, landscaping, cleaning, even cooking needs: Ryan Enoki Heather Fowler, Daniel Posluch, Ami Washburn-Moore, Marcy Wright, Nicholas Wright Thank you for supporting the FPC team members going to Guatemala. Buildings & Grounds Page 6 of 13 Do you see what we see in FPC’s parking lot? You are right! New flowers, new bushes, new drip lines and new bark! Plus, this new arrangement uses little water. First, let’s get up to speed on our parking lot, followed by the “timberrr!” of a pine tree in back and finally a heads-up for our Saturday, March 21 All-Church Work Day. • • • We royally welcome Queen Ann agapanthus at the front entrance. Robby reports this agapanthus stays small and produces blue blossoms. New pin cushion plants nearby will have lavender blooms. Both plants, Robby adds, are “spring bloomers but have pretty foliage all year.” In our parking lot “islands” are New Zealand Tea Tree shrubs (their pink blossoms are on display now). These are accompanied by a mock orange and new “petite” pink oleanders that bloom all summer. Day lilies soon will burst forth in yellow and pink and our pruned crepe myrtle bushes will add their delicate pinks by summer. To nourish this floral symphony, Robby installed new drip lines, which we then covered with bark. This bark shields the drip lines from the hot summer sun and also keeps precious moisture in the ground. Oh, and look for a new lilac bush in the area beneath our stained glass cross. In time, this bush will be a showstopper, with blooms used in the narthex and sanctuary. • • • In FPC's back grounds, a tree service removed a dead pine tree and also ground up several pesky tree stumps. It was a win-win deal, as several pieces of the tree were hauled away for commercial use by a student. • • • From left: Oleander, mock orange, tea tree bushes, crepe myrtle. Will Buildings & Grounds rest on floral laurels? Hardly! B&G invites everyone to an All-Church Work Day (8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, March 21). On our “to-do list”: prepare sanctuary and grounds for Easter activities. Yes, our work day arrives two weeks before Easter. Let’s hop to it! Buildings & Grounds Committee Adult Ministry Page 7 of 13 We meet as needed. Elders to contact are Glenda Jameson and Pat Wallace. Please contact us if you’d like to participate in organizing events or partake in our ministry. Presbyterian Women Current Events The P.W. Bible Circle will meet Wednesday March 18 at 9:30 am in room #6. We will be on lesson 6 in our study book. If you have questions, do not hesitate to call Irene Lanchester at 634-5844. MARCH 22, 2015 The Elness Convalescent Hospital Birthday Party will be March 11, the second Wednesday at 10:00 am. For more information, please contact Joann Wickwire at (209) 667-2948. Holt International will present their project for our Current Events program in March. Franklin Grubbs, Holt international Ambassador, will be the speaker for the evening. The agency's purpose is to find loving homes for children regardless of race, religion, ethnicity or gender. Their vision,”a world where every child has a loving and secure home.” Holt International is a “Christian organization committed to expressing God's compassion for children While always upholding the highest ethical standards. We: Note From Steve DON'T MISS OUT on a gift that you will keep with you for the REST of your life. The things you learn in this class will radically change how you understand Scriptures which will then radically change YOUR LIFE! It's easy to quote a Bible verse to try to prove a point but try tracing the 'trajectory' of an idea throughout the Bible. We all like to quote the Word but how can we do that if we don't understand the WORLD of the Word? Take my 8 week course and you will walk away with the ability to interact with passages of the Bible in a brand new way! Starts this Sunday, March 1st, at 6pm in Voight Hall. Everyone is invited, Childcare provided! Grace & Peace, Steve Netniss Find and support permanent, loving families for children who are orphaned, abandoned or at serious risk of separation from their family Provide services to ensure that children will grow and develop to their fullest potential Lead the global community in advocating on behalf of the world's most vulnerable children”. Holt International website: www.holtinternational.org Frank's website: www.frankgrubbs.com See you at current events. Pat Hickman YOUNG ADULTS Bring your friends and join us on our next Young Adult Feed on Tuesday, March 3rd at 6:30 pm in Voight Hall. Children’s & Youth Ministry Page 8 of 13 Our ministry meets as needed to plan and organize events for our children and youth. The contact elder is Mitchell Wallace, Director Marcy Wright, and Lois Marsh is Sunday School Supervisor. Please contact either one to join our ministry. Sunday school notes YOUTH GROUP SUNDAY MARCH 15TH AT 3:30 – 6:00 PM $17 per person As we move through Lent the preschool/kindergarten class will be learning about the Lord's Prayer. The lower elementary grades will have the following lessons: "Jesus and the Man Who Was Blind", "Jesus, the Good Shepherd", "Jesus and Martha", "Jesus and the Disciples", and "Hosanna!---Palm Sunday". The junior/senior high school class continues its Bible study. Looking ahead---There will be no Sunday school on Easter Sunday, April 5. Thank you, Lois Marsh CHILDREN’S Join us during worship hour to learn about the greatest example of Jesus’ love for us – his death and resurrection. Wednesday nights we will be exploring space as we learn about Heaven. ZOE ZONE Zoe Zone will be sharing the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection with Westside Ministries, April 1, and our local community at our Easter Eggstravaganza, April 4th. Congratulations to Ryan Njock! You are the first to complete all twelve passages for this year’s Hide it in Your Heart. Everyone else – keep up the good work! Community Outreach SCRIP PURPOSE OF SCRIP – SCRIP saves YOU time and stress. How many benefits are there for using Scrip? MANY! Convenient LESS Stress One Size Fits All Lightweight Shipping No parking hassles AVOID Traffic LOTS of Choice in One PlaceGift Cards good ALL over the Country….Just come on in and pick up gift cards for all your favorite stores. VACATION PLANS? You can order scrip to cover travel, restaurant and motel/hotel costs and return $$$ to the church at no extra cost to you by planning ahead. Check out the list included in this month’s newsletter or see a more complete list at the church office. HOW SCRIP WORKS – when you buy scrip gift cards from the church a certain percentage of profit goes from the gift card immediately to the church to help send our kids to camp this summer. If you pay $25 for a gift card you can use it to purchase $25 worth of merchandise, so it literally cost you nothing since you get to spend exactly what you pay for and our church youth benefit from your generosity. Several hundred merchants are on the list available at the scrip table. SCRIP IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE FROM THE CHURCH OFFICE - during the week you can get Scrip at the church office or by placing an order by phone or email. You can pick up scrip on hand or place an order for delivery in about a week. Page 9 of 13 LEARNING ZONE The tutoring program is off and running with 25 students and counting! We continue to have a need for tutors as we reach out to more students within our community. This program is a great way for us to touch the lives of young kids and their families by offering homework help in a nurturing and supportive environment. If you are interested in becoming a tutor, please contact Meredith at 552-6840 or [email protected]. We will match you up with a student that you will work once a week. It truly is an amazing feeling to know that you can change a child’s life and bring a smile to their face. Come be a part of our program! We are in need of additional snacks for our tutoring program. If you are able to donate, please bring the snacks by the church office. 1. Finance After finishing the past two years with excess income we slipped back this year and realized a net income loss in 2014. Through the hard work of our committees and the diligence of our volunteers we managed to limit our expenses to our predicted budgeted levels; however our contributions fell short of our planned total. On the surface this may be cause for concern, however we also managed to undertake two significant and expensive projects. We resurfaced our parking lot and repaired and upgraded our organ which accounted for almost $40,000. Our loss in 2014 amounted to $14,589. Fortunately we had been contributing to our savings and keeping a larger cash flow balance in our operating accounts and we will be able to absorb this loss. The Session has adopted an ambitious budget in 2015. While it’s important to allocate funds to the necessary expenses needed to run our church and maintain our campus, we feel it’s vital to support our programs that affect the lives of people in our communities near and far. Your support in 2014 has blessed us with the ability to serve over 1000 meals to struggling individual and families in Turlock. Our tutoring program has not only given renewed confidence for the students that participate but has changed the lives of the families of those students. Our missions programs have directly affected families in Guatemala and have supported many others throughout our city, country and world. Our church services and other programs feed our souls with inspired sermons, fantastic music, delicious food and really bad memories of three legged pigs. These are the both tangible and intangible blessings that your contributions support and what we as Christians should strive for. With these thoughts in mind, we are proposing a budget that does include some increased expenditures. First and foremost we have extended a 3.5% increase to all salaried staff members. The Session, and likely many of you, realizes that our staff puts in more time and mental effort that we could quantify; therefore we felt a minimal increase was justified. Page 10 of 13 We are also adding a provision for some paid custodial maintenance service and professional lawn care. If you recall a small contingent of dedicated volunteers replaced the paid contractor we employed to maintain our church and grounds. These volunteers undertook this task on the premise that it would be temporary. Three years later those volunteers are still putting in many, many hours per week to keep our church and grounds looking great. Therefore the Session felt it was time to give them a bit of relief. In order to fund the changes we have proposed we will have to raise an additional $30,000 in 2015. You’re probably thinking how can the Session propose this in light of a 2014 income loss? We are optimistic that we can achieve this goal. Our recent stewardship drive was very successful and resulted in the largest estimate of giving in recent history. During the last four months of 2014 our monthly income consistently rose to a level that would support the 2015 budget. We realize that $30,000 is a large increase, however if each giving unit in our church, which is about 100, raises their monthly contribution by $25, we will achieve our goal. The finance committee and Session will thoroughly review our finances on regular basis and if after the first quarter of the year we are falling short of our income goal, we will have to make some difficult decisions and are committed to communicate with the congregation as needed. Thank you all for your support and dedication to our church and ministry. Mark Aldax Finance Committee Music & Events Page 11 of 13 From the Music Room! The season of Lent on the church calendar is the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday. It is traditionally a time of reflection, of introspection, a time of prayer and devotion. The focus of this time is to ask God how we can follow more faithfully in the footsteps of Jesus, our Lord. How am I doing, Lord, as one of your disciples? How can I do better? In the music of Lent the long tradition has been to refrain from music which has “alleluia” as a part of the text. The “alleluias” have been put away for this season in favor of music which reflects our time of contemplation. I am not too successful in putting away all the alleluias, even if just for this short season. But in all the music which we offer to God, in this season or any other, we hope that you will be lifted up a little closer to God’s throne of grace, to which we are all invited. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, my soul! I will praise him as long as I live; I will sing to my God all my life. (Psalm 146: 1-2) May your Lenten worship be filled with God’s rich blessings! With God’s Blessings, Rev. Wendy Warner Join us for Holy Week Activities First Presbyterian Church Palm Sunday, March 29, 2015 Maundy Thursday, April 2, 2015 Good Friday, April 3, 2015 Saturday, April 4, 2015 Easter Morning, April 5, 2015 Bake Sale @ 12:00 pm Seder Supper @ 6:00 pm Tabernae Worship @ 7:00 p.m. Community Eggstravaganza @ 9:30 am Easter Sunrise Service @ 6:45 a.m. Easter Worship @ 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Deacons & Session Update Page 12 of 13 Deacon’s Corner Session Your Board of Deacons thanks outgoing Deacons, Ellen Santos, Diane Arakelian, Vivien Huntley, and Maggie Hennes for their outstanding and nurturing care to our congregation. We know that these wonderful human beings have impacted many lives in our congregation and community and are very thankful for all their wonderful deeds. Please share your thanks with them if you can. We are also welcoming new Deacons, Chris Hughes, Pat Rubalcava, Joanne Abraham, Mabel Sargis, and Mary Peterson, who have joined our board and will be available for your needs. › Confirmed all arrangements for TGM dinners and for You will be notified soon if you have been assigned a new Deacon. We have several new Church members to welcome into our Church Family so if you are a new member please be assured that you will be contacted within the next month regarding your assigned Deacon. Alvarado, Sarah Kane, Sophie Meiselman, and Robert Wright. Grace and Peace, To help reduce the cost of postage, paper, ink, labor, and wear & tear on the printer, we will be forwarding the newsletter electronically to all our recipients and mail only those who are in shut-ins or have requested one. Please contact the office with your current e-mail address. You may also visit our website: www.fpcturlock.com to view or download your copy. There will also be limited number of hard copies available for your convenience at the church office for pick up. Cindy Eisenhut Deacon Vice-Moderator women & children to be served breakfast; Feb 22 – March 1. › Approved Steve Netniss’ plans to enter care of the Persbytery of Stockton Committee of Ministry with Elder, Pat Wallace to serve as liaison. › Approved the 2014 church Statistical Report which will be forwarded to Presbytery Church USA. › Met with perspective new members: Emilio & Rosa Newsletter Update Thank you for your understanding in this matter. Per Capita Per Capita covers the administrative costs of the Presbytery, Synod and GA levels, so mission dollars can go 100% to designated projects. This year’s per capita, due in April is $19.84 per member. It would be helpful if you make your donation an even $20.00. Please be encouraged to donate more, if spiritually led. The Church may have to cover the shortfall from our operating budget. If you wish to donate towards Per Capita please place your check, marked “per capita” in the offering plate or mail to the church office. Non-Profit First Presbyterian Church U.S. Postage Paid 2619 N. Berkeley Avenue Permit #187 Turlock, CA 95382 Turlock, CA 95382 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Church Information Phone # (209) 632-2324 Fax # (209) 632-9076 E-mail: [email protected] See us on the web: www.fpcturlock.com Church Staff… Pastor: Rev. Craig Wright Student Ministry Director: Marcy Wright Sunday School Superintendent: Lois Marsh Music Director: Wendy Warner Church Secretary: Polet Yonan Bookkeeper: Meredith Lawrence Organist: Bob Peterson Accompanist: Dr. Wayne Kidwell Child Care: Ester Salgado
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