Faith Presbyterian Church

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December 01, 2005

December Newsletter

Pastor’s Pen

Faith Church has been described to me as a congregation of refugees. We come from all over the faith community map: Baptists (of several kinds), Presbyterians, Lutherans, Methodist, Episcopals, Christian & Missionary Alliance, Church of God, Church of Christ, Roman Catholics, Jews, Mennonites, Brethren—I’m sure I’ve not named all the different backgrounds from which our people come. Denominational loyalty, we’re told, is a thing of the past. Some who are with us regularly have not joined officially. Some who have “joined” are not with us regularly. The number on our church roll has diminished because our marvelous Clerks of Session have taken off our list folk who long since have moved or ceased to attend, but did not ask for transfer letters.

Each successive pastor has stayed longer than the previous one. The first pastor, Ken Edelman was here three or four years, if I recall right. Scoti Old was here twelve years. I am in my twentieth year. This suggests stability. Perhaps refugee pastors fit with refugee congregations.

My father grew up in the Church of Scotland, became Lutheran, and ended “nondenominational.” My mother moved from the Cumberland Presbyterian to Evangelical & Reformed, and then was part of my dad’s odyssey. They served first with a small mission agency (Ceylon & India General Mission) and then with a very large interdenominational mission (The Evangelical Alliance Mission) as missionaries in India. At the time my father died, they lived in a Plymouth Brethren retirement community. I returned to my paternal roots to be a pastor. The PCUSA is the American child of the Church of Scotland.

We look around us and see other churches growing with leaps and bounds while we remain essentially the same size. Our gains mostly balance our losses. Since numerical gains and the swelling of facilities are estimated the marks of church success, it can be a bit intimidating to take note of the absence of these marks here. We’ve done needed repairs, but we haven’t built on to our facility since the fellowship and education wing were added to the sanctuary in 1985. That’s twenty years ago. We’ve had remarkable people come and go. Many of these wish they could have stayed. They remain in touch with me long after they finished at Purdue, or had job changes. Our tensions and controversies have not been seismic.

Strangely, though there are signs of being static, there are aspects of our life together that are enviable as others look at us. Churches do a lot of looking at one another, you know, “to see how we’re doing.”

We are that rare fish called a “traditional church.” Our worship style has not followed the trends that have attracted throngs elsewhere. We’re neither “liturgical” nor “seeker friendly.” We’re orderly and, I hope, friendly. I sense that the pastors here have been seen as a bit stodgy, but stable. The preaching is “serious,” a mixed blessing. I get the feeling that our reputation in town and in the presbytery is favorable. We’re tolerant of people who are at various stages of the ticking of their faith clock. To some this is a good thing; to others it doesn’t give the sense of security they look for in a more homogeneous community. As a solo pastor I often feel stretched very thin, a thinness I make still more taut by taking an active part in the life of our community. I function as pastor to many who do not attend Faith Church.

It is natural at my stage of life to wonder what Faith Church will be like after I take down my shingle. It would not surprise me if a very different kind of pastor is called, one who is more of an administrator, one who has more vision that will induce growth. We think wistfully about growth, knowing that there are some kinds of changes that are qualitative as well as quantitative. We want that quality of worship that has nurtured us; we want to remain a church with a sense of being a family; but it sure would be nice to burst at the seams.

It has not yet become our custom to put up photographs of former pastors at some place in the building, but I foresee that should this happen, the stage of our church’s story that I and my predecessors have presided over will be the “former” stage, that is in contrast with the “later stage.” When I totter back on my bionic knees to visit Faith Church some years hence, I’ll not recognize it.
I have been urged by many of you to keep our worship service orderly, to keep singing the great hymns, to keep reading the Scriptures at worship, and to keep on preaching “seriously.” When I made the small change of alternating a Psalter reading with a Confession of Faith on successive Sundays, there were those who felt badly about losing part of the service that was beloved to them. I did so for reasons of time. With Sunday School following worship it was important not to run over time at worship.

I know that there are some great and large churches in our country that have retained traditional worship. Where they differ from Faith Church is in intangible ways, I suppose. But common to every church that flourishes is consistent loyalty and participation by significant numbers of its people. The members tell others of their church and welcome new folk when they arrive into the mix of the congregation.

I love Faith Church. I think it is a wonderful community. It sometimes gives me sleepless nights, but I know the desperation that afflicts many colleagues who serve other churches too. Some of you would delight to change this or that about this church, and maybe a bunch of things about the pastor, but somehow we are what we are. And we have a terrific role to play in the work of the Kingdom of God.
Looking forward to the year ahead I hope you will participate in what we do together with a full and grateful heart. Let us see what God can do with us, a bunch of refugees from everywhere, a winsome community of people who love God and one another with a pure heart, fervently.

Pastor Stuart D. Robertson

Worship Schedule

December 4th - Second Sunday in Advent - Communion
“To Do or to Debate, That is the Question”
Rev. Principal Joe Simfukwe preaching
Leviticus 19: 9 – 17
Luke 10: 25 – 37

December 11th - Third Sunday in Advent
“Why Cantatas in Advent?”
Choir Cantata

December 18th - Fourth Sunday in Advent
“The Glory of the Virgin Mother”
Genesis 18: 9 - 15
Matthew 1: 18 – 25

December 24th - Christmas Eve – Service at 7:00 p.m.

December 25th - Christmas Day – Service at 11:00 a.m.
“The Trajectory of the Incarnation”
Philippians 2: 1 - 11

Clerk’s Corner

Future Events of Note:
The Faith Women’s Fellowship Advent Breakfast is scheduled for Saturday, December 3, 2005 from 9 AM to 11 AM. Please contact Grieke Toebes (463 7136) for further information.
The Christmas Jubilee event will be held on Saturday, December 10, 2005 at 10 AM in Memorial Fellowship Hall. There is still a need for volunteers to help with staging the event, purchasing gifts, and providing monetary assistance. Please contact Lonni Kucik (497 5696) or Dorothy Bethel (497 4673) if you can help out.
The Christmas Eve service will be held on Saturday, December 24, 2005, at 7:00 PM in the Sanctuary.
This year Christmas Day falls on a Sunday. The Sunday morning service on December 25, 2005 will be held at 11:00 AM in the Sanctuary. Please note the time change.
At its November 1, 2005 meeting the Session approved implementation of the plan to expand the program of a children’s ministry, coupled with the construction of a children’s playground (see the Clerk’s Corner in the preceding issue of the Newsletter). The program will be communicated to the Congregation both from the pulpit and after the Sunday morning service
on January 22, 2006. Tables will be set up in Memorial Fellowship Hall at which members of the Session further explain the various aspects of the plan and actively seek inputs and responses from the Congregation. Members of the Congregation are invited to sign up for projects of greatest interest to them. This event is to be followed by the formation of committees on February 12, 2006 to get the work underway.
J.M. Honig, Clerk of Session

Sunday Evening Bible Study

There will be no Sunday evening Bible Study Thanksgiving Sunday, November 27th. There will be Sunday Evening Bible Study on December 4th and 11th. The 11th will be the last meeting for the Fall semester. We will resume in January.

Many thanks to the following people who ushered and helped with the collections during November: Jim & Shirley Bosler, Thom & Eleanor McKay, Jim & Julie Powell, Dave & Lonni Kucik, Ken & Lois Wark, Ron Smith, Isaiah Bertsch, Donna Lofgren, Tom Van Horn, Don & Penny Winship

Jubilee Christmas is well on its way!

Thanks to one and all.
Questions? Lonni Kucik 497-5696, Dorothy Bethel 497-4673

A Note from Principal Joe Simfukwe, of the Theological College of Central Africa

Schedule Information

Bach Chorale Singers

Community Worship Services

Worship With Us

Spiritual “Wisdoms”
Some people are kind, polite and sweet spirited—until you try to get into their pew.
–George Goldtrap, Madison, TN

Quit griping about your church; if it were perfect, you couldn’t belong.
–Msgr. Joseph P. Dooley, Martins Creek, PA

Every evening I turn my troubles over to God—He’s going to be up all night anyway.
--Donald J. Morgan, Columbus, OH

Birthdays

Anniversaries

The World Thru The Eyes Of A Child
Dear God,
Please put another holiday between Christmas and Easter.
There is nothing good in there now.
Amanda

Dear God,
Thank you for the baby brother but what I asked for was a puppy. I never asked for anything before. You can look it up.
Joyce

Faith Presbyterian Church, 3318 State Road 26 West, West Lafayette, IN 47906 (765) 743-3683
An answering machine is available. Email: office@faithpresbyterian.org Home Page: www.faithpresbyterian.org
Stuart D. Robertson, Pastor Ralph Smith, Parish Associate Stephanie Cardwell, Admin. Asst.
Ordinarily submit articles to the church office by noon on the last Friday before the last Monday of every month except when deadlines are announced.
You are welcome to worship with us at 9:30 am each Sunday and 7:00 am each Wednesday.

The Christmas Spirit
When the Christmas spirit springs to life
In the human heart each year,
The world becomes, for a little time,
A haven of love and cheer.

But the days go by, and the spirit dies,
So busy with living are we,
And the poor and the lonely are left once more
In hunger and apathy.

The poor in body are clothed and fed,
And the lonely know once more
The warmth of hearing a welcome knock
On a too long silent door.

I have been guilty too, God knows,
Too busy to lend a hand,
Too busy to stop for friendly chat,
Too busy to understand.

For these few days we remember well
That all mankind is kin,
Bound by the love of the Babe who found
No room in that long-ago inn.

“No more, no more let this happen to me,
Dear Lord,” I earnestly pray.
“Let me keep the Spirit the whole year through
As bright as it is today.”
--Virginia Blanck Moore

The 7 Ups
1. Wake Up !!
Decide to have a good day. “This is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalms 118: 24

2. Dress Up !!
The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. “The Lord does not look at the thins man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” I Samuel 16: 7

3. Shut Up !!
Say nice things and learn to listen. God gave us two ears and one mouth, so He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking. “He who guards his lips guards his soul.” Proverbs 13: 3

4. Stand Up !! ………………… for what you believe in.
Stand for something or you will fall for anything. “Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good…” Galatians 6: 9 –10

5. Look Up !! ………………… to the Lord.
“I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4: 13

6. Reach Up !! ………………… for something higher.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.” Proverbs 3: 5 – 6

7. Lift Up !! ………………… your Prayers.
“Do not worry about anything; instead PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING.” Philippians 4: 6

Posted by faithpres at December 1, 2005 08:08 AM

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