Newsletters: Faith Presbyterian Church
December 01, 2011December Newsletter
Pastor's Pen
This Christmas will be the 9th occasion in my lifetime that Christmas will fall on a Sunday. Six of those have occurred during my career as a Pastor. Many of you may not realize the “crisis” that having Christmas on a Sunday brings to church leaders. There are decisions that they think must be made, and, if they decide to eliminate or scale down the normal Sunday services and Sunday School, there is usually a bit of guilt felt by them in accommodating to the mercantile culture and allowing time for families to exchange gifts. After all, how does one rationalize canceling Worship in order to allow Christians to celebrate the birth of our Savior?
Some of that “crisis” is not felt by the Worship leaders at Faith Church because we have a Christmas Service regardless of what day Christmas falls on. Our pleasant task was to choose from the “smorgasbord” of services that we could schedule to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Of course, we will have our Christmas Eve Service on Saturday the 24th at 7:00.
But then we thought about what we would do on Christmas Day. Should we have the “regular” service at 9:30 and then have the Christmas Service at 11:00? We thought that might be a bit too much and cause people to make decisions about which service to attend. So, we decided to do either the 9:30 service or the 11:00 service. Because of having the Christmas Eve Communion service the night before, we thought that retaining the 11:00 Christmas Service would be better. And many of us really like the “special” nature of the format of the Christmas Service.
So, on Christmas Eve we will meet at 7:00 for the service of Lessons and Carols and Communion. We will also have a reception following the service to greet visiting ex-members and friends. Then on Sunday, we will have our annual Christmas Service at 11:00. We hope you agree with our decisions and we hope that we will see you and yours here at Faith Church sometime during the Christmas Season.
I also hope and pray that our Worship opportunities this Christmas Season will assist you as you lead your families in a true celebration of the incarnation of our God as Jesus, the Messiah. None of us understand the mechanics or biology of the doctrine of the Incarnation, but it is a part of what we accept and believe as Christians. The pre-existent Son of God, one of the eternally existent persons of the trinity, became a human being named Jesus. Through his life, words, and deeds, he revealed God and God’s will to us. In his death he reconciled all who believe in Him to God. In Him we have life, and forgiveness and eternal life.
These are the things we celebrate at Christmas. The legend of Santa (St. Nicklaus) Claus and other Christmas legends merely assist us in celebrating the one truth written about by John the Apostle: “…God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Diane and I wish each of you a very Christ-centered Christmas and a New Year with many opportunities to serve our God.
Your Pastor,
Dave Horner
IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ!
Beginning January 1, 2012 we will be sending out the monthly newsletters by email. If you would like to receive the newsletter, please send your email address to office@faithpresbyterian.org. Whether you are on an email list now or not you will need to send your email to receive the newsletters. If you do not have email and live locally your newsletter will be available for pick up at the church but you must let Stephanie know. If you live out of town and do not have email let Stephanie know and will we mail those.
Thank You
Dear Friends at Faith,
Thank you all for your prayers, flowers, cards, food and visits you surrounded me with during the last couple of weeks.
It made me feel very special, as well as reminding me again how wonderful it is to belong to the household of God.
With a grateful heart,
Grieke
Homework Club
December will be the second month for our Homework Club at Klondike Elementary School. We have been having a good time and are getting to know some of the students. We can still use a few more volunteers, and it is not complicated. Sometimes all that is needed is for an adult to listen to students read stories and help them with their pronunciations as they sound out words. Other times we help students compose sentences using their vocabulary words. Basic math skills are also utilized as we watch students add, subtract, and multiply. We do hope that more of you will help us reach out to the children in our community and that all of you will pray for this ministry. The hours of this ministry are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:45 to 5:00. To volunteer, call Lou Ann Johnston at 583-0739 or email her at ljohnston@tipmont.net
Ho Ho Ho
The Christmas trees have sprouted in almost every store in Lafayette, the Sunday ads are featuring toys, and a freeze is predicted, so perhaps it is time to think of Christmas. Christmas at Faith Presbyterian wouldn’t be the same without Jubilee Christmas. Jubilee Christmas will be December 10th. Jubilee requires many people, many cookies, many toys, and many prayers. Please look for sign- up sheets in the fellowship hall. The tree with toy requests will be up on the second Sunday in November. LUM sends out invitations to families who have required assistance throughout the year. This year the invitations went out to over a thousand families. Please help us make a merry Christmas for 18 families who are in need.
Community Worship Services
Sunday, December 4
St. Mary’s Healthcare
2:30 pm
Sunday, December 11
Tippecanoe Villa
1:30 pm
Sunday, December 11
Friendship House
3:00 pm
Sunday, December 18
No Cumberland Point
Sunday, December 25
No Rosewalk Commons
The Deacons invite you to become a part of this ministry.
Worship Information
Sunday, December 4
The Voice in the Wilderness
Isaiah 40: 1 - 11
Communion
Sunday, December 11
Several Good Songs Deserve Another
Luke 1: 46 - 55
Sunday, December 18
Responding to Christmas
Titus 3: 1 - 8
Saturday, December 24
Christmas Eve Worship
Sunday, December 25
Following Wise Practice
Galatians 4: 1 - 7
Birthdays
December 1 Sue Anne Bergmann
December 6 Barbara Muller
December 13 Carol Fillmore
December 13 Valentina Hinkel
December 14 David Czerwonky
December 15 Alexandra Dubikovsky
December 15 Laura Wilcoxson
December 16 Jakob Housley
December 16 Ann Landgrebe
December 16 Dae-Hee Lee
December 27 Alex Dale
December 27 Lillian Parker
Anniversaries
December 1 Yancy & Laura Wilcoxson
December 20 Stuart & Bonnie Robertson
Clerk's Corner
At its October 24, 2011 meeting the Session:
• Accepted Adam Fassel as an active member of the Congregation
• Authorized the baptism of Noah Fassel at the October 30, 2011 morning service
• Received a report by Pastor Horner on his meeting with General Presbyter Frank Vardeman
• Prepared for the upcoming Annual Congregational Meeting by reviewing the newly instituted ordination of practicing homosexuals and the new form of government, and by studying recommendations concerning our relations with the Presbytery of Wabash Valley
• Reviewed and accepted the current financial report by Treasurer Gentry
• Voted to pay the per capita assessment of $3.81 and $ 28.37 for the Synod of Lincoln Trails and for the Presbytery of Wabash Valley respectively, but not to honor the $ 6.63 per capita assessment in support of the General Assembly
• Reviewed the purchase and installation of two new doors at a cost close to $ 4,000 and of 16 of the 44 windows in the church building at a cost close to $ 8749
• Agreed to make a set of obsolete tapes available to Pastor Robertson and to the Congregation; any remaining tapes will be destroyed.
• Was advised of special banners that will be placed near the front entrances to advertise special events such as the Thanksgiving service
• Noted the special Pasta Buffet on November 6, 2011, the Greening of the Church on November 26, 2011, and the special Christmas program for young children.
• Was notified that special baptism certificates and handkerchiefs are routinely presented to parents of infants that are being baptized
• Was asked to encourage greater attendance by youngsters at Sunday School and explored options to achieve this goal
• Was advised that the Homework Club for Elementary grades at Klondike School would commence on November 15, 2011, with the encouragement of school teachers in those grades
• Was told that the monthly Family Newsletter would soon be distributed electronically; extra copies will be available in the narthex, and sent by ordinary mail to those who specifically request this option.
• Noted that pictures of members and friends of the Congregation will be taken by volunteers after Sunday services
• Was informed of upcoming changes to the church website
• Referred the request by the Family Selection Coordinator to Daniel Trinkle, concerning permission to park their truck in the church parking lot on November 13, 2011 for publicity purposes for Habitat for Humanity
• Requested Pastor Horner to use his discretion in handling a request by Holly Hill for use of the Church Sanctuary to conduct a wedding not officiated by Pastor Horner
• Took note of two memoranda submitted by John Miller
• Was informed that the Nominating Committee had completed its task of presenting a slate of nominations to fill positions of Elders for Session and of Deacons, for approval by the Congregation at the upcoming Annual Congregational Meeting. Said list will be posted for two weeks that advertise this meeting in future Sunday Bulletins
• Scheduled the next Session meeting for November 14, 2011.
Submitted by
J.M. Honig, Clerk of Session