March 2014 Newsletter

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
356 Summit Road, Springfield, Pennsylvania 19064
610-543-5110, fpcspringfield.org
…to show and share Christ’s love.
Dear Church –
I used to like winter. There was a time when I looked forward to snow
and ice, even shoveling! I know. I’m from Georgia and Georgia folks
March 2014
Volume 49-Number 7
don’t get much cold weather and so we aren’t supposed to be a chillloving people. But I grew up in NORTH Georgia, in the mountains. And
I’ve lived in New Jersey, Maine, Michigan, and Pennsylvania for the last fourteen years. I like cold
weather. I really do. Or, shall I say, I did. This winter has ruined everything.
Are you with me, people? Are you tired of all this slush? School closings, postponements, power
outages, trapped inside under grey skies, shoveling sidewalks, scraping windshields, and piles of
sloppy boots, socks, coats, and mittens. Merciful Heavens! Somebody, please pray for God to stop
smiting us. Somebody, please pray for all the homeless folks, those who can’t afford heat, and those
beautiful souls who plow the roads, clean up debris, and make the world safe. Somebody,
everybody, pray for relief. Pray for sunshine.
Thinking of spring,
Jeff
BOWLING
(AT SPROUL LANES)
SUNDAY, MARCH 2
2 P.M.
Please join us for fun and fellowship
at Sproul Lanes.
Snacks and drinks will be provided.
Please RSVP ([email protected]) so that
we are able to reserve enough lanes
ALL ARE WELCOME!!!!
NEW MEMBERS’ CLASSES: SUNDAYS,
MARCH 2 AND 9 during the Sunday School
hour
at
9:15
a.m.
Please
e-mail
[email protected] or call the church
office if interested.
OUR CHURCH STAFF
Jeffrey E. Bryan, Teaching Elder
Megan Prescott-Ezickson, Music Director
Noha T. Khoury, Director of Children and Youth Ministries
Janet Fonash, Office Manager
Anne Branton, Office Assistant
Bruce Esbensen, Custodian
Darla McNulty, Director of Rabbit Hill Nursery School
Katherine E. Doyle, Clerk of Session
Jim Orlando, Financial Secretary
Nancy Hartrum, Treasurer
FROM THE MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
SIGNING IN ON SUNDAY
To maintain accurate records regarding your ch
urch attendance, please sign the blue pew pad each Sunday
that you attend Worship.
FROM THE OFFICE
OFFICE HOURS: 8:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Mon. & Wed.
8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Tues. & Thurs.
(closed on Friday)
UNDER THE STEEPLE
MARCH 2014
. . . to show and share Christ’s love.
PAGE 1
THANK YOU
Dear Friends of First Presbyterian Church:
Thank you so much for the beautiful altar flowers
and the wonderful cards and caring notes during
my illness. Prayers and telephone visits have been
greatly appreciated.
I have come a long way and am feeling better and
stronger.
You are a great church family.
Love and prayers,
Carole Guttschall
Our heartfelt thanks to
Mayra Gibson and
Angie Giuliani, Nursery
Attendants, for their
many years of dedicated
faithful service to our
youngest children on
Sunday mornings.
OUR CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY IS EXTENDED TO:
Dear First Presbyterian Church family,
The family of Mary Miller wishes to thank each
of you for all you did for mom over the last few
years especially. Our mother knew you loved
her as you expressed it by your visits, rides,
cards, flowers and calls. She was so very
grateful for her beloved church family – as are
we. Thank you so much,
Gary Miller, Nadine Ogden and Sandy Genzel
Rich and Mary West on the death of Rich’s mother,
Marjorie West, on January 16.
Dear Church,
I appreciate all your good wishes, prayers and
donations for my Haiti trip. The personal
hygiene items will be going to an over-crowded
prison in Port de Paix, while the other items will
mostly go to the orphanage at the campus in St.
Louis de Nord, where we are based. (The high
temperature in Saint Louis de Nord for Saturday,
February 15 was 81 degrees!)
Joe LeGrand
Date
3/2
3/9
3/16
3/23
3/30
Date
3/2
3/9
3/16
3/23
The Adams family on the death of Paul Adams on
January 25. Paul was a former member, whose parents
George and Emma Adams were very active members of
FPC.
The Califano family on the death of Alva Kent (former
member).
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to Anna and Marty Greene (parents)
and Alex (big brother), Jim and Donna DeRose
(grandparents) on the birth of Kaley Valentina Greene
on January 14, weighing 9 lb. 3 oz., 20 inches long.
THOSE SERVING FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH
Ushers
Ed Clapper, Jim Orlando, Jr., Frank Santini, Bob Simons
Ed Clapper, Jim Orlando, Jr., Frank Santini, Bob Simons
Anne Branton, John Gibson, Ted Hidell, Deb Miller
Anne Branton, John Gibson, Ted Hidell, Deb Miller
Cathy Agan, Jim Harrington, Aletha Sciubba, Mary Louise Smith
WOW WORKERS
Grades K-3
Grades 4-6
Bonnie McAnally, John Reed
Noha Khoury, Violette DeSantis
Christa Reynolds, Vince Latchford
Noha Khoury, Kathy Doyle
Kim Paulina, Jeanne Richards
Noha Khoury, John McKee
Cindy Reed, Christa Reynolds
Noha Khoury, Colleen Sullivan
.
Liturgist
Joe LeGrand
Colleen Sullivan
Debbie Rhodes
Jeanne Richards
Jim Doyle
UNDER THE STEEPLE
MARCH 2014
. . . to show and share Christ’s love.
Greeters
Bill Winans
Margie Hamilton-Bair
Bob Simons
Aletha Sciubba
Gussie Logue
PAGE 2
FROM KATHY DOYLE, CLERK OF SESSION
At the congregational meeting on January 26th:
The Nominating Committee for 2014 was
elected including Meg Mayo-Lucas (Chair and Session
rep.), Kim West Bryan, Kara Collins, Joanne DeCaria
and John Gibson. Jeff Bryan is an ex-officio member.
Thanks were given to the House & Grounds
Committee for the Narthex renovation. They presented
a “wish list” of items to be completed.
Stewardship was presented.
Annual reports from all the committees were
presented and accepted.
After adjourning to the corporation meeting, Ed
Clapper, Corporation President, agreed to serve for
2014. He reported that the corporation is in good order,
the audit was done, and we have a balanced budget.
The 2014 budget was presented and approved.
The congregational meeting was reconvened. As a
church congregation we are doing good work with our
children and missions. Special mention was made of
Joe LeGrand going to Haiti in February. A question
was raised about the search for a new Director of
Children and Youth Ministries.
There are three
applicants and interviews are being conducted.
Hopefully a new person will be hired shortly.
There being no other questions, the meeting was
adjourned.
On January 29th a meeting of Session was held.
Because there was not a quorum no official business
could be conducted. Several members were absent
because the meeting had been rescheduled because of
the snow storm the previous week. Items that were
discussed included the following:
A big thank you was given to all who helped with the
Presbytery meeting on January 28th. It was very
successful and Jeff received many compliments from
attendees.
Our sexual abuse awareness policy includes the
admonition that if anyone is aware of any abuse the
police should be the called.
Committee assignments were made. Colleen Sullivan
will be on the Finance Committee. We will need a new
At Large member for the Administrative Committee.
Communion serving was examined. A communion
commission was proposed, three people would be
responsible for all communion preparation and cleanup. The other ordained members of the congregation
would be able to serve communion.
UNDER THE STEEPLE
Are monthly meetings of each committee necessary
was another point of discussion. Some committees
could function very well meeting only when
necessary.
The benches in the Narthex seem to have legs of
their own and move around. Jeff will mention this at
a service.
More publicity of church activities is needed.
Weekly mention in the Springfield Press would be
good. We need some picture takers who would then
write a caption and send it off!
Tentative special calendar dates were approved;
these include holidays, special services and
congregational activities.
A brief update on the candidates for the position of
Director of Children and Youth Ministries was
given.
Next Session meeting is Wednesday, February 26, at
7:00 p.m. in Lambert Hall.
“CONNECT BY NIGHT”
First Presbyterian Tower Youth children and adult
helpers fed approximately 56 single homeless adults
as part of the Connect-By-Night program on Sunday
night January 19th at Riverview Presbyterian Church
in Drexel Hill. Connect-By-Night is a shelter churchbased, overnight, mobile emergency shelter for
single homeless adults in Delaware County.
Now the adults of the congregation have the
opportunity and challenge to support this
ministry on Sunday, March 30th. We are looking
for about 5-8 adults to help serve a snack and
share in fellowship on March 30th from 8:30 11:00 p.m. Sign up in the Narthex or contact the
church office or John Reed.
MARCH 2014
. . . to show and share Christ’s love.
PAGE 3
One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) is the March
Mission of the Month. For sixty years, Presbyterians
have joined with Christians throughout the nation in
supporting One Great Hour of Sharing, responding to
Christ's love for all people by joyfully sharing that love
with people in need. Our gifts support the work of
three programs including: The Presbyterian Committee
for the Self-Development of People, the Presbyterian
Disaster Assistance Program, and the Presbyterian
Hunger Program. These three programs of OGHS inturn support ministries of disaster response, refugee
assistance and resettlement, and community
development that help people find safe refuge, start
new lives, and work together to strengthen their
families and communities.
In places like Eugene, Oregon, New Orleans,
Louisiana, and the many other recovering communities
along the Gulf Coast, those most in need are finding
hope and help through the work of OGHS programs
and their partners in ministry. In this media-driven
environment it is easy to become distracted from the
reality faced by our brothers and sisters around the
world where poverty, disaster, and war cause
displacement and suffering. When we give to OGHS,
we give in faith—knowing that staff in the three
programs will be responding in Christ’s name to the
cries of our sisters and brothers throughout the next
year. We trust that they will respond as they did in
Newtown, Connecticut and in the wake of the
devastating spring storms that ravaged both Oklahoma
and Texas: immediately, directly, and through our
partners wherever the emergency occurs. But equally
important, we know that they will remain in areas of
devastation long after the news cameras have moved
elsewhere as they continue rebuilding both lives and
communities. Feeding the hungry, helping people
build up their own livelihoods, responding to
disasters—these are all ways that your gifts to One
Great Hour of Sharing are changing lives, changing
communities, and changing the world. Please give
generously to this worthy Presbyterian mission.
FROM HOUSE AND GROUNDS–Bill Winans
Now that the ice and snow is behind us (hopefully) we
can look forward to spring. I know I do. Now I can
weed and feed my lawn so I can mow it more often.
Something's wrong with that picture. But I love doing it
anyway. As lon g as God gives me the strength and
UNDER THE STEEPLE
health to do it. It's mostly time for clean-up of
branches and twigs all over the place; nature’s way of
pruning the trees. To those who lost power in
February, I am deeply sorry and hope it was not too
much of a burden on you and your family. I also hope
that you incurred little or no damage due to the ice.
Unfortunately I had some serious damage to the pine
trees in my yard. So much that I have to remove them.
Although I won't miss the raking of the needles and
pine cones, I will miss the shade they provided over
the last 30 some years. But for safety reasons I have
to take them down.
As I mentioned in last month’s article, we will need
some help in cleaning up the church area. Some
painting needs to be done, and weeding, mulching,
and removal of the hedges outside of Fellowship Hall,
as well as putting crushed stone in that area to prevent
any growth there. I am very glad that we did not do
the parking lot last fall because of all the ice and snow
removal it took its toll on the whole area, and it would
have been a waste of money. We do plan on doing it
this spring. So if you’re visiting the church during
that time please be aware of the contractors doing the
job. I will inform you by Janet's e-mailing, and the
Sunday bulletin on the days the work will be done.
They will do one lot at a time. The upper lot one day
and the lower the next and possibly a third day to do
the striping. Let's hope that March comes in like a
lamb and leaves like a lamb. But remember it's not
our choice, it's God's and we should accept whatever
He sends us and be thankful. So hang in there; it soon
will be shorts and tee shirt weather. Let's try not to
complain about the heat and remember the past
winter.
Until next month, God Bless.
ALTAR FLOWERS
There is a sign up sheet in the Narthex of the church
for anyone who would like to provide Altar flowers
on a given Sunday. They can be given in honor of or
in loving memory of someone. The cost is $45 for
two bouquets or $22.50 for one. You can leave them
to be delivered to one of our shut-ins or take home.
You can also call the church office or contact Jeanne
Richards at [email protected].
MARCH 2014
. . . to show and share Christ’s love.
PAGE 4
Sun
Mon
Nursery Care Provided
on Sunday Mornings.
2 9:15 am SS for All- 3 7 pm Membership
New Members Class Committee (LO)
10:30 am Communion
Worship
2 p.m. Bowling @
Sproul Lanes
6:30 pm Tower Youth
9 (Daylight Savings Time 10
Begins)
First Sunday of Lent
9:15 am SS for AllNew Members Class
10:30 am Worship
6:30 pm Tower Youth
16 Second Sunday of 17 St. Patrick’s Day
Lent
9:15 am SS for All
10:30 am Worship
6:30 pm Tower Youth
23 Third Sunday of 24
Lent
9:15 am SS for All
10:30 am Worship
(Turning Point)
6:30 pm Tower Youth
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
4 9:30 am Circle
#1 @ the
Harrington’s
12 pm Circle #3
(LH)
5 9:30 – 10:30 am RH 6 6:30 pm AA (LH)
(FH)
6:30 pm Handbells
6 pm Circle #2 (LO) 7:30 pm Chancel
7 pm Ash Wednesday Choir
Service
7 pm Del. Valley Show
Chorus (FH)
11 7 pm
12 7 pm Finance
13 5 pm Girl Scouts
Administrative
Committee (CR)
(FH)
Committee (CR)
7 pm Del. Valley Show 6:30 pm AA (LH)
Chorus (FH)
6:30 pm Handbells
7 pm Mission
Committee (LO)
7:30 pm Chancel
Choir
18 6:30 pm
19 7 pm Board of
20 1 pm Newsletter
Christian Ed (CR) Deacons (LH)
Volunteers (CR)
6:30 pm Del.
7 pm Del. Valley Show 6:30 pm AA (LH)
County Educators Chorus (FH)
6:30 pm Handbells
(LH)
7:30 pm Chancel
7 pm House and
Choir
Grounds(LO)
(Spring Begins)
7 6:30 pm Al
8 4 pm City Team
Anon (LH)
Ministries
Newsletter deadline,
firstpresby.office@
comcast.net
25
28 9:15 am Mom 2 29
Mom
6:30 pm Al Anon
(LH)
26 7 pm Session
27 5 pm Girl Scouts
(LH)
(FH)
7 pm Del. Valley Show 6:30 pm AA (LH)
Chorus (FH)
6:30 pm Handbells
7:30 pm Chancel
Choir
14 9:15 am Mom 2 15 9 am – noon, SW
Mom
Region Meeting,
6:30 pm Al Anon Thomas M. Thomas
(LH)
Presbyterian Church,
Chester
21 6:30 pm Al
Anon (LH)
22
30 Fourth Sunday of 31
Lent
9:15 am SS for All
10:30 am Worship
6:30 pm Tower Youth
8:30 – 11 pm Connect
By Night @ Riverview
Presbyterian Church
CO – Church Office, 2nd – Fassitt Hall
CR – Conference Room, 2nd –Fassitt Hall
CS – Church Sanctuary, 2nd
FH – Fellowship Hall, 1st Lower Rear
LH – Lambert Hall, 1st
LI – Library, 2nd
UNDER THE STEEPLE
Room Assignment Key, Floor
LO – Lounge, 2nd
MR – Music Room, 2nd Rear
PO – Pastor’s Office, 2nd – Fassitt Hall
RN – Rabbit Hill/Nursery, 1st
RW – Rabbit Hill West Room, 2nd
SM – Sunday School Moses Room – 3rd
SN – Sunday School Noah Room, 3rd
SS – Sunday School Office, 2nd – Fassitt Hall
ST – Sunday School Tent Room, 3rd
YD – Youth Director’s Office, 2nd – Fassitt Hall
YT – Youth Tower Room, 3rd
MARCH 2014
. . . to show and share Christ’s love.
PAGE 5
First Presbyterian Church
356 Summit Road
Springfield, PA 19064-1499
USPS-198—180
Periodicals
POSTAGE PAID
Media, PA 19063
Officers of First Presbyterian Church
Kathy Doyle, Clerk of Session
Session
Class of 2014 Class of 2015 Class of 2016
Jim DeRose (1 Violette
Vince
yr. term)
DeSantis
Latchford
Meg MayoLori Hendrzak Colleen
Lucas
Sullivan
Susan Naylor Kim Paulina
John Reed
Board of Deacons
Class of 2014 Class of 2015 Class of 2016
Anne Branton Kara Collins Matt Paulina
(Secretary)
Donna
Nanci Petroski Jeanne
DeRose
(Treasurer)
Richards
Tracy Doyle
Debbie
Mary Louise
(Moderator)
Rhodes
Smith
Helen Neff
Mary West
UNDER THE STEEPLE
SUNDAY
9:15 a.m. Sunday School for All
10:30 a.m. Worship Service
(Nursery care is provided throughout the morning)
WOW (Worship Our Way)
Kindergarten through Third Grades
TWEEN WOW (led by Noha Khoury)
Fourth through Sixth Grades
(Children leave the worship service)
6:30 p.m. Tower Youth
NEWSLETTER DEADLINE:
March 7
[email protected]
MARCH 2014
. . . to show and share Christ’s love.
PAGE 6