And On The Third DayApril 2017

ON MY MIND, ROB BLUMER I have a very perceptive, intelli-gent and observant friend in another state who was involved in a freakish traffic accident. He told me about it last fall. It involved something falling from a truck and careening into multiple cars including his, and cars swerving and colliding while trying to avoid that hunk of ricocheting debris. My friend took his turn to tell the cop what he had seen, and waited to be dismissed. Eventually a cop came back to his car and told him that what he had reported couldn’t possibly have happened the way my friend described it. Then the cop proceeded to explain to him the physics of the event. What shocked my friend was how his experience of

the freakish event had been miscon-strued in his brain. When he told me the tale, I immediately thought of the Easter event. That freakish, once-for-all-time event through which Christ de-clares his power over sin and death: four gospels, four different accounts.All those encountering the empty tomb, or the risen Lord, recount what happened each in his and her own way: an angel announcing Christ is risen, or a young man, or two persons; Mary Magdalene alone at the tomb, or several women? The only thing that holds these accounts together is the stunning encounter with the empty tomb and later, meeting face-to-face with Christ, resurrected from the dead.

Our nor-mal experi-ences don’t prepare us for Christ’s resurrection. Only our faith does. Even if our faith fails to grasp the reality of Christ’s victory over death, by his victory, Christ has succeeded in grasping us…and that’s what counts!

Happy Easter to all.

2 | SHARON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

AT A GLANCE SHARON EVENTS

Key Box Codes! We will be resetting all the key codes to all the buildings on April 3, 2017. Please be sure to schedule all meetings and events through the church office and make arrange-ments to get a key box code if your meeting or event is outside of regular church office hours.Donations of individually wrapped PEANUT-FREE candy are needed for our children’s Easter Egg Hunt. Donations can be placed in the collection bins in the sanctuary narthex and church office.

INVITEHoly Week ServicesPalm Sunday - April 9th, 10:30am, SanctuaryMaundy Thursday Worship Service - April 13th, 7:30pm, SanctuaryEaster Services - April 16th 7:00am - Sunrise Service, Cemetery 7:30am - Breakfast, Gym; No Reservations Required 8:30am - Morning Song Service, Chapel 10:30am - Traditional Service, SanctuaryEaster Egg Hunt - April 16th, 11:30am, Church LawnCome join us for our children’s Easter Egg Hunt (Pre-schoolers – 3rd Grade) & Scavenger Hunt (4th – 5th Graders).Mother’s Anonymous - 3rd Wednesday of the month, 6:30pm, Rose Bride’s Room in Worship Bldg.We are fortunate to have Brant Piper, Pastoral Counsel-

or with the Presbyterian Psychological Services, join us as our facilitator, bringing leadership and professional insights to our discussions. If you have any questions, contact Phyllis Acton at pacton70@gmail.com.

TEACHFoundations In Christ Workshop - April 21st-23rd and May 5th-7th - 7615 Colony Rd. Friday 6:00pm and Satur-day and Sunday 9:00am. To learn more or register go to www.InChristSupport-ingMinistries.org or contact Rev. Sarah Kromer or Marcy Doak at 704.554.2490. Fees apply and scholarships are available.Maker Fun Factory Vacation Bible School - June 19th-23rd, 9:30am, Entire CampusRegistration for Participants and Volunteers is avail-able online now through June 2nd. Please contact Lisa Weyhrich at lisaweyhrich@yahoo.com or Liz DeNittis elizabethdenittis@gmail.com if you have any questions.

SERVEPerú Mission Trip - July 27th- August 7th The 2017 Peru Mission Trip Team is seeking donations of new or gently worn children’s clothing for this year’s trip. Donations will be transported to Peru by the team and presented to pastors in the local churches for distri-bution according to needs.

For more information go to www.sharonpcusa.org

Upcoming Events

Chili Cook Off WinnersIn the corn-bread competi-tion, the grand prize winners were: in

the “Sweet” category – “Cornbread Maxwell” by Eliz-

abeth Bashore; in the “Traditional” category – “Glu-ten-free Cornbread” by Bev Johnson; and in the “Other” category – “Hot Taco Cornbread” by Bill Mathers. In the chili competition the grand prize winners were: in the “Hot” category – “Spice, Spice, Baby!” by Rebecka Nelli; in the “Mild” category – “Turkey Yum” by Lauren Wall; in the “Veggie” category – “Veggie Power” by Lynne Koeni-ger; in the “Cincinnati Style” category – “Skyline” by Rob Blumer; and in the “Other” category – “Jalapeno Popper” by Carmen Adams.

SHARON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH | 3

Youth Ensemble Welcoming New Members!

GROW WORSHIP & MUSIC

Ever played gui-tar? Love to sing? Play in your school band or orches-tra, or just at home for fun?

The Sharon Presbyterian Youth Ensemble is always open to new members! Feel free to join us for one Sunday, or come on a regular basis. We will be playing several pieces for Youth Led Sunday on April 30th at the 10:30 AM service. This would be an opportunity to

participate on a song or two! The Youth Ensemble is for middle and high school students and rehearses on Sundays in the Choir Room from 12:00pm-1:00pm.

For more information about Youth Ensemble or Children’s Choir contact Allison Schommer, Director of

Youth Music, at allison@sharonpcusa.org.

Special Guest Entertainment for April SNL! April’s Sunday Night Live will feature local musician and member of our very own Sharon Presbyterian Youth Ensemble Aron Stornaiuolo performing a collection of old jazz standards. The concert will be held in the Chapel, following Sunday Night Live dinner on April 2nd. A talented young guitarist and vocalist, Aron will put his own twist on songs done by artists such as Nat King Cole, Julie London, Frank Sina-tra, and other jazz-pop singers.

At just thirteen years old, he has accepted invitations to play with national recording artists such as Muriel Anderson and The Kennedys. Never far from his guitar, Aron can

be found playing with the Jazz Arts Initiative, Sharon Presbyterian Youth Ensemble, Charlotte Folk Society, and as a solo artist at venues around Charlotte such as the Evening Muse.

To listen to Aron, go to https://youtu.be/lPNdYt1PXlo.

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CONNECT COMMUNITY LIFE

Meredith Lewis was baptized at Sha-ron Presbyterian in 1997 and has been a loyal member ever since. She graduated from Covenant Day School in 2014 and now attends the University of North Carolina at Wilmington where she is double majoring in political science and communications.

Anyone who knows Meredith will not be surprised to learn that she adores living near the beach and that she is the director of chapter events for her sorority, Alpha Phi. She is also currently serving as president of the Junior Class at UNCW and is a commencement marshal. Meredith recently won the election to serve as Senior Class President next year and as president, will speak at her graduation in May 2018.

From SPC to Leaders in the Community Grant Parker, a college mem-ber of SPY will be graduating from UNC Char-lotte in May.He will be pur-suing a Master’s Degree in High-er Education Administration and Student Af-fairs at Clemson University be-

ginning the upcoming fall. Grant was recently awarded Who’s Who among Students in American Colleges and Universities. During his time at UNC Charlotte, Grant became Chief Student Conduct Counselor or SGA Judicial Branch, Executive Vice President of Inter Fraternity Council, Vice President of Kappa Sigma Fraternity, Community Service Chair of Order of Omega and a member of Greek Weekend Executive Board. Grant has been involved with the UNC Charlotte Center for Leadership Development and graduated from the Leadership Fellows Program in the Fall of 2015. He indicates that it has played a key role in understand-ing his leadership style and to meet and network with other campus leaders. Grant believes in the importance of pushing your-self. “One piece of advice I would share with other stu-dents is to never be complacent. Join something new every semester and push yourself out of your comfort zone. College is arguably one of the last chances some of us will have to be in such a diverse population, take advantage of that opportunity and learn about peo-ple who are not like you and it will make you a better person.”If you would like to share a special recognition, please

send a write up and a picture to spcsubmit@sharonpcusa.org

Price Burgess and Brinley Evans from Elizabeth Lane Elementary recieved the Terrific Kid Award. Terrific Kid is a student recognition program that promotes character development, positive self-es-teem, and perseverance. Way to go Price and Brinley!!

SHARON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH | 5

SPY YOUTH CHILDREN’S CORNER

For the March edition of Sunday Night Live at Sharon Pres, the Sharon Pres Youth put together a great eve-ning. Youth and Parents from every

grade level worked hard to put together a program that would serve as a Spring Fundraiser, but more impor-tantly a congregational event for the whole Church. The finished product turned out exactly how they would have liked! In a poll of the youth group when asked “what are your favorite foods?” the overwhelming favorites were A) Tacos and B) Ice Cream. For the event, the youth got exactly what they wanted with a full taco-bar prepared by the youth and their parents and an even fuller Ice Cream Sundae Bar! Everyone filled up and there was plenty for seconds, thirds, and for the middle school boys, fourths! Following a full dinner families and individuals broke themselves up into teams for Trivia hosted by SPY along with Jeff Brewer our Emcee for the evening. The questions came from the categories of general trivia, history, geography, sports, pop culture, and a bonus round called “Sharon Pres People” with pictures of SPC members dating back as far as forty years! Do you know what the Roman Numeral “D” stands for? How about naming the most popular board game of all time? Can you name five countries that begin with the letter “T”? Do you know what the acronym NASCAR stands for? Everyone who came had a great time and the youth will look forward to your continued support throughout the year and at next year’s event!

SNL Hosted by SPY Last year, your Sharon Pres Youth Group, along with its leader Martin Pruitt noticed that for many youth and even whole churches, we don’t know a lot of other peo-ple or do much with Charlotte Presbytery. They came up with an idea to fix that by putting together the first ever Charlotte Presbytery Youth Kickball tournament. Middle and high school students from all over Charlotte including Sharon Pres, Covenant, First Pres, Myers Park, Matthews Pres, Trinity and more gathered together right here on the SPC Ball Field for a friendly kickball tournament. The goal when it was started was to gather together the Presbytery’s youth every year around Palm Sunday to meet and reconnect with the other youth groups. This coming April 2nd we are doing it all again! We expect to have even more churches and youth repre-sented than last year! Anyone who wants to watch is welcome to come out between 3:30 and 5pm to watch the tournament! Thank you for your continued support of your Sharon Pres Youth Group and its efforts to cre-ate community.

For more information about SPY, contact Martin Pruitt, Director of Youth Programmin and Seminary Student, at

martin@sharonpcusa.org.

Kickball Anyone

6 | SHARON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Sat-urday, March. 25th, marks the conclu-sion of Sharon’s 20th straight year of participation in Room In The Inn (RITI), an emer-gency winter program sponsored by the Urban Ministry Center. Every Friday night during the four cold-est months, volunteer drivers greet up to 12 guests and bring them to our church, where they receive the essentials that our homeless neigh-bors need: nutritious food, a warm shelter, a place of safety, and a sense of community. (And don’t all of us have those needs?)

In the greater Charlotte area Sharon is one of 135 congregations, colleges, and YMCA’s who offer these services through RITI. On any given night, there are 10-15 host sites in operation, each serving on average 12-15 of our most vulnera-ble neighbors. In each of the last 5 years Sharon has hosted on average

164 neighbors. Interestingly enough, it has taken on average 164 volun-teers a year to accomplish this task, according to our program’s leader, David Beers. David told us a while back our RITI program serves enough of our homeless brothers and sisters each year to fill the center sections of the sanctuary. What are some of the jobs volun-teers do? Here are a few:• Middle School Sunday School students put together small bags for each guest consisting of personal items donated by traveling church members, such as small hotel soap, shampoo, conditioner, tooth brush-es, tooth paste, and so on. • A team spends part of Friday after-noon converting Room 6 in the CLAB into a sleeping area. • Dedicated Circles of Presbyterian Women, Boy and Girl Scouts, some families, and others prepare to serve a warm meal that evening, and also prepare in advance a bag lunch for our guests to take the next day. • Three dedicated drivers bring our guests from the Urban Ministry Center.• Two men and one woman spend the night and to offer assistance at any time when needed. • A crew the next morning prepares a hot breakfast of eggs, sausage, grits, and biscuits.• Three drivers return our guests downtown Saturday morning, or in some cases take them to their jobs. • A crew does a thorough clean up

afterwards. • Four “Team Leaders” assure that on any weekend enough volunteers are in place to carry out all the tasks required.

This year Ann Mallard, Phyllis Acton, Pat White, and Tom Skin-ner have served as Team Leaders. Other help has come from Sharon Towers, who for 11 years has done the laundry each week, cleaning and folding 15 sets of sheets, pillow cases, blankets, towels, and wash cloths, all fresh for our guests and for our SPC volunteers who spend the night. Reta Lefeber was Sharon’s first RITI coordinator. She led the team that surmounted all the questions and concerns voiced by well-mean-ing church members and started the program. RITI is now accepted at Sharon as a normal, annual program where our members can visit with those who are homeless and see them as unique individuals and chil-dren of God, just like us. “Reta set the tone for how we should properly host our guests. How our guests are welcomed by the drivers bringing

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20th Anniversary of RITI at SharonSUPPORT SERVE

SHARON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH | 7

CHURCH LIFE

Please remember in prayer: those at home: Ray Shrum (CMC Rehab Pineville), Bob Cottom (Sharon Towers Re-hab), Marvin Ward, Wayne Bryant, Eloise Rushforth (Sha-ron Towers Health Care), Earl Ferguson, Jim Bjorneboe, Chris Price, homebound members; additional concerns: Ron Hoven (Marna and Ray Polhill’s son-in-law); Roger Wise (Sarah Brewer’s father); Robert Allen Phifer (Beth Flordelis’ nephew); Brian Buchanan (Chris Buchanan’s brother); Katie Dimmock (our former missionary family); Marlene Cafferty (Amanda Knepp’s mother); Jeremy and Luta Garbat-Welch (PCUSA Missions in Malawi); Pres-bytery of Huanta in Peru; Rusty Edmondson and Sara Armstrong (PCUSA Missions in Peru). The prayer list is reset on the second Monday of each month. To submit or resubmit a prayer request, please send to ron@sharonpcusa.org. By request, prayer concerns may remain private and will not appear in the published list.

In Memory:Joan Clark - March 4thBarbara Heuser - March 9thRobert A. “Bob” Winfrey (Member) - March 17th

Our deepest sympathy is extended to family and friends.

REMEMBER IN PRAYER20th Anniversary of RITI at Sharon

Baptisms: Oliver Kells Lluberas, son of Luis and Meghan Lluberas was baptized on March 26th.

continued from page 6them to Sharon from the UMC and how they are greet-ed when they all come in the door sets the tone for the

entire evening. Sharon volunteers do this very well!!!” Sharon gets high marks for this welcoming spirit and for trying to apply some special touches. Our guests have also expressed ap-

preciation for the fact that we serve them their Friday dinner at their tables, rather than having them come up to the window to serve themselves. Also, our Friday night volunteers make it a point to eat and interact with them. And finally, Sharon is unique in that we offer our guests a rousing, spirited game of Bingo, with all partic-ipants guaranteed to win prizes donated by members of our church community. As we celebrate the legacy of RITI and this anniver-sary, we need to be keenly aware of the challenges that we continually face. “Getting enough volunteers is al-ways a critical issue,” David concludes, “especially find-ing those willing to spend the night and those willing to clean up after our guests leave Saturday morning.”

CELEBRATION

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHT

THE CHURCH SCENE

5201 SHARON ROAD, CHARLOTTE, NC 28210704-553-0869 | WWW.SHARONPCUSA.ORG

DEADLINE FOR THE NEXT ISSUE IS:MONDAY APRIL 10, 2017SPCSUBMIT@SHARONPCUSA.ORG

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE APRIL NEWSLETTER:

Writers & Editors:Rob BlumerGreg LewisRon NelsonSuzanne ParkerMartin PruittAllison SchommerTom Skinner

Photography Francis FurrGreg LewisRon NelsonSuzanne ParkerDawn Rogers

April 2017

April Birthdays

1 Leslie DuBois, Lisa Tiller, Doris White 2 Danelle Martin, Tripp Smith 3 Ed Nesbitt 4 Andrew Dries, Meier Murray, Brooke

Odom 5 Noel Ennis, John Farnham, Carolyn

Nowaczewski, Susan Smith 6 Gina Crocker, Jane Starnes 7 Craton Hart, Mills Hart, Kelley Mickler,

Jane Campbell Perry, Chandler Schramm, Wesley Wiebel

8 Ann Jolly, Truman Talley, Chip Welton 9 Abby Doak, Michael Jones, Carroll

Thomas 10 Blake Cline, Tad Duddelson, Fulton

Ennis, Mary Queen, Claire Setser 11 Bill Acton, Steven Grier, Ladson Hart,

Bethany Jenkins, Riley Jones, Don Presson

12 Cliff Deal, Susanna Greiner, Barbara Lopez, Jackson Mays

13 Casey Butler, Charley Dunbar, Kurt Edwards, Tom Fedell, Chris Moffat, Don Steelman

14 Kevin Bennett, Blai Spicer 15 Helen Hutchison

16 Suzy Bell, Mikayla Hailey, Peyton Hulighan, Rachel Hutton, Carol Ann Jamison, Mary LaRoach

17 David Barker, Pam Beers, Amanda Buchanan, Skip Schramm, Nancy Thompson

18 Carrie Dilsworth, Anna Shealy 19 Nancy Carr, Blanche Hunt 20 Trish Thompson 21 Gae Broadus, Brinley Evans, Jake

Parker, Mike Young 22 Andrew Foard, Addison Gifford, Zackary

Nelli, Evan Scott 23 Eunice Brade, Heather Burnell, Ann

Cannon, Norman Cook, Joyce Garbee 24 Beth Flordelis, John Houston, Mark

McGinn, Kathy Sattizahn 25 Steven Bagyi, Jackson Rogers 26 Pierce Cooper, Stephanie Dooley, Jeff

Elliott, Alex Flordelis, Isabelle Stanford, Lauren Worsman

27 Rich Boersema, Pat Holton, Debbie Peterson

28 Jacqueline Gearhart, Jennifer Hulighan, Gemetta Stanford

29 Phyllis Acton, Krista Henderson, Jenny Pusser

30 Andy Aldridge, Colton Griffith

April Anniversaries 3 Bob and Lisa Moore 4 Craig and Laura Clark 6 John and Trish Thompson 10 Ralph and Janice De Silva, Dave and Letty Latta 13 Larry and Karen Auten, John and Elaine

Eichler, Michael and Kathy Micheau 16 David and Merrill Tibbals, Travis and

Amy Vermillion

17 John and Christy Crews 18 Scott and Kathy Odom 21 Porter and Lisa Tiller 25 Tim and Sarah Brown 27 Ken and Nina Sumner 29 Taylor and Rachel Busby 30 Randy and Carolyn Butler

April 2017

Gifts In Memory and in Honor of Loved Ones:

In Memory of Bob Ballantyne, by Stephanie Bliss In Memory of Roddey Brown, by Ruth C. Roddey

In Memory of Anne Hopkins, by Edith Ann McDonagh In Memory of Bob Winfrey, by Eleanor Lockwood and Bill Adams Insurance Agency Church Attendance Statistics February 26, 2017 Morning Song 87 Sunday School 120 10:30 Worship 253 March 5, 2017 Morning Song 97 Sunday School 107 10:30 Worship 268 March 12, 2017 Morning Song 73 Sunday School 53

10:30 Worship 167 March 19, 2017 Morning Song 85 Sunday School 108 10:30 Worship 320