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Epiphany 2018

First Presbyterian Church is an inclusive community of faith called to proclaim the good news of the love of Jesus Christ for all people, and to join God in the building of a just, peaceful, and compassionate world.

First Presbyterian Church 1328 Griffith Avenue Owensboro, KY 42301

May the peace of Christ be with you!

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What will

Your

2018

“Star Word”

be?

Star of Wonder , Star of Night ...

Join Us On January 7, 2018

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In this Issue

Page

1 From Christine

1 Stewardship Update

1 Quote of the Month

2 Birthdays

2 Anniversaries

2 Session Highlights

2 Committee Highlights

3 Church Night Out

3 Church Treasurers

3 Trivia Night

3 Church Work Day

4 December Pictures

5 Our Youth

5 Pastor’s Study Group

5 Children’s Day Out

5 New Church Website

6 Sunday School

6 Group Study

6 Fellowship

6 Weekly Prayer Group

6 Sunday Flowers

6 Prayer Blankets/Shawls

7 Calendar

8 Epiphany Sunday

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Last year on Epiphany Sunday, we introduced the idea of receiving “Star Gifts” or “Star Words”. As people came forward for communion, they were in-vited to reach their hands into a basket filled with golden stars, each of which had a unique word written on it. This “star word” was then meant to serve as a guide for the coming year. Like that star hanging over the Bethlehem manger, our “Star Words” were meant to lead us into a deeper relationship with Christ in the coming year.

While I’m sure a few people lost their star between the sanctuary and the parking lot, it has been amazing to hear how powerful those words have been for people in this past year. I received the word “Perseverance,” which has been incredibly meaningful for me in a year marked by pregnancy, childbirth, and learning to parent two children.

Our daughter Madeline, received the word “Restraint” - an apt intention for a two-year-old. Some may not have connected with their word on Epiphany Sunday but they nonetheless kept it, and placed their star in a special place, like their car, their vanity or their bathroom mirror. As the year has drawn on, that word has come to have meaning in ways they rarely expected.

This year we will again receive our “Star Words” on Epiphany Sunday, Jan-uary 7th. You will be invited to come forward on your way to the Table and draw out a star that might guide you in unexpected ways. Just like the wise men, who traveled great distances to offer their gifts to the newborn Christ-child, we will come forward in reverence and receive God’s gift of grace.

As we commemorate the arrival of the wise men and remember their offer-ings, may our “Star Words” enable us to also remember God’s gift of presence and generosity in our lives.

Every journey, honestly undertak-en, stands a chance of taking us toward the place where our deep gladness meets

the world’s deep need.

Quote of the Month

“People of Grace” A monthly newsletter for First Presbyterian Church

JANUARY 2018

Dear Friends,

Being involved in our Stewardship campaign gives me the opportunity to delve into and reflect on the work and spirit of our church. This is a process that brings me joy, even more respect for our First Presbyterian community, and reveals a multitude of blessings to count. We do so much and want to do so much more. I sincerely thank each of you who have returned your pledges for the work of the church in 2018. We have many hopes for our ministries this year. Your pledges are a critical piece to making these hopes a reality.

As we enter 2018, we find ourselves roughly $10,000 short of our stewardship needs. If you have not yet pledged, we hope that you will consider doing so. If you have pledged and feel you could increase your commitment, it is not too late. Or, if you would like to make a contribution toward (continued on page 3)

Stewardship Update

Christine

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Christian Education

• Church had well attended Advent

Service and Workshop

• Mealtrain was created for Dale

and Suzanne Guyer

• Hired another nursery worker,

Mallory Polston

Congregational Care

• Cards and poinsettias to be taken

to our elder members

Congregational Life

• 2nd Annual Trivia Night will be

January 28th

• February 11th Family Night to be

a Mardi Gras Party

• Online Church Directory to be

updated

Finance

• Our 2018 budget proposal pre-sented to Session for review

Mission

• Session approved donations from the Elizabeth Todd Fund: $3000

to Habitat for Humanity Apostles Build, $3000 for the Help Office, and $3000 for the Pitino Shelter

• 80 food baskets were delivered by members on December 17th

• The next Pitino meal is Sunday, December 31st

Congregational Committee Highlights

January

Birthdays

1 David Searles

2 KellyDuncan

3 Betty Calkins

5 Robert Kirtley

5 Maxine Price

6 Otis Hicks

9 Shelby Taylor

10 Carla Clancy

11 Sally Helwig

12 Sarah Bowley

12 Helen Kline

12 Nathan Malony

12 Bill Conley

13 David Purdy

14 Hunter Harris

17 Cindy Little

19 Suzanne Guyer

21 Dogabier Gonzalez

21 Winny Lin

22 John West

24 Kay Coomes

26 Doris Black

27 Tom Bowers

29 Amanda Kirtley

29 Sadie Baker

30 Kay Evans

31 Lee Helwig

31 Kenny Hobson

Anniversaries

2 Deanna & Loyd Wehrung

29 Rosie & Samuel Tandy

Session met on Sunday December 10, 2017

• Manuals of Operation are being updated to reflect our committee system • Creda Heffelfinger will retire as church treasurer effective December 31,

2017. Patti Price has accepted the appointment of treasurer effective Janu-ary 1, 2018.

• Motion passed to have an external audit every 5 years rather than 3. Next external audit will be in 2020.

• Approved Ken Dick to fill pulpit on Sunday, January 14th. • Elder and Deacon Installation will be Sunday January 7th with Elder Train-

ing following worship. • Session meetings will return to the 2nd Monday of the month at 6:00

Session Highlights—December 2017

Outreach & Evangelism

• Visitors in November: 22

Personnel & Planning

• Staff performance reviews were conducted; annual Pastor review

planned for January.

Property

• Security review conducted with

O’boro Police Dept.

• 3 portable dehumidifiers pur-

chased for basement and chapel.

Worship & Music

• Attendance November: 5th-128; 12th-120; 19th-127; 26th-127

• Acolyte program coordinated by Linda Morris has begun

Pastor’s Report

• Did funeral services for Marylou

Edwards and Marie Harrison

• Attended Presbytery meeting No-vember 14th

• Coordinated staff review process

• Worked w/Budget Group on budget

• Worked w/Christian Education on

Advent Workshop planning

• Met with Deacons to help plan their ministry

• Worked with Diane Bowers to plan

daily Advent devotionals

• Coordinated first Christmas Pageant

• Met with CDO Board to plan 2018 budget and program name change

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SSunday

MMonday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

aSaturday

1 Office Closed

2 10:30 Lydia Circle

3 10:00 Book Group

3:00 Coffee Cup Theology

4:00 Prayer Meeting

7:00 Choir

4 5 Twelfth Night

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7 Epiphany Sunday

Elder Installation

(during worship)

Officer Training (after worship)

8 9:00 Staff Meeeting 6:00 Session

9 6:00 SpiritLifters

10 10:00 Book Group

3:00 Coffee Cup Theology

4:00 Prayer Meeting

7:00 Choir

11 Human

Trafficking Awareness

Day

12 13

Make Your Dreams Come

True Day

14 5:00 Youth Group

15 9:00 Staff Meeting

Martin Luther

King’s Birthday

16 10:30 PrimeTimers

17 10:00 Book Group

3:00 Coffee Cup Theology

4:00 Prayer Meeting

7:00 Choir

18 19 World Day of Migrants &

Refugees 6:00 Church Night Out

20

21 11:30 Outreach Committee Mtg

5:00 Confirma-tion Class

22 9:00 Staff Meeting 4:00 Property Meeting

23

National Pie Day

24 10:00 Book Group

3:00 Coffee Cup Theology

4:00 Prayer Meeting

7:00 Choir

25 10:00 Pastor’s Book Study

26

Fun at Work Day

27

28 9:30 Christian Education Mtg 11:30 Annual Meeting

11:30 Mission Committee Mtg

5:00 Youth Group

6:00 Trivia Night

29 9:00 Staff Meeting

30 31 10:00 Book Group

3:00 Coffee Cup Theology

4:00 Prayer Meeting

7:00 Choir

Every Sunday

9:00 Spanish Worship 9:30 Sunday School

9:45 Children’s Choir 10:00 Fellowship

10:30 Worship 4:00 Spiritual Formation

JANUARY 2018

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Group Study Opportunities

Children’s Sunday School (preschool - 5 class) Begins at 9:30 in the first floor Kin- dergarten Room.

Youth Sunday School Class Meets at 9:30 in the Youth Room to study Echo the Story curriculum.

The Adult Sunday School Class Meets at 9:30 in the Gardenside Parlor to look at various topics related to the church, Bible, current events and social topics.

The Men’s Bible Class Meets at 9:30 downstairs and uses The Present Word literature.

Spanish Language Worship Group Meets at 9:00 in the Chapel. All are invited whether or not you speak/understand Spanish.

Sunday School Opportunities

SpiritLifters

Tuesday January 9th 6:00 pm Nancy and Bill Harris Home 4045 Foxtail Place Bring a favorite tailgate dish! RSVP: Pat Hale haleres@bellsouth.net 270-691-4806

PrimeTimers Tuesday January 16th 10:30 am

Program: Alan Youngman - Church Safety Tips Lunch will follow ($5.00) RSVP: Charlotte Puckett charlotte214050@yahoo.com 270-926-2532

Church Night Out Friday January 19th 6:00 pm Restaurant: Colby’s RSVP: Christine Coy Fohr ccoyfohr@gmail.com, 270-570-3462

Fellowship Opportunities

Sunday Flowers

As a community of love and care, we want to know how we can be in prayer for one another. Be-cause of this, we meet on Wednes-days at 4:00 in the Gardenside Parlor.

Just come if you would like to pray with us - Wednesdays: January 4, 11, 18, 25. If you have a prayer request, email Christine and your person or re-quest will be included.

Spiritual Formation Meets on Sundays at 4:00 pm Prayer and Discussion - No Reading in Advance Dates: January 7, 14, 21, 28.

Lydia Circle Meets First Tuesdays at 10:30 am - Bring a lunch Date: Tuesday, January 2 Reading: PW’s Cloud of Witnesses Bible study

Wednesday Book Group Meets on Wednesdays at 10:00 am Dates: January 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 Reading: The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt

Coffee Cup Theology Meets on Wednesday at 3:00 pm Dates: January 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 Discussion: Coming Lectionary

Mom’s Book Group Meets on Tuesdays at 9:00 am Dates and book TBA – Stay tuned!

Paster’s Study Group Meets the last Thursday of the month at 10:00 am Date: Thursday January 25th Reading: Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer.

*All study groups meet in the Gardenside Parlor

Weekly Prayer Meeting

Prayer Blankets/Shawls

If you knit and crochet, the Weekly Prayer Meeting group invites you to make prayer lap blankets or shawls to be given to church members with seri-

ous and long term health or personal needs. They can be given to Christine any time.

If you would like to offer flowers in worship, just fill out an order form and place it in the Worship Commit-tee box. Your order will be placed with Gary’s for $45 + $6 delivery.

For more details, contact Brad or Sasha.

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Church Work Day

At the December Session meeting, Creda Heffelfin-ger tendered her resignation as Church Treasurer at First Presbyterian Church so that she might pursue more family and personal projects.

Creda has served as our treasurer for al-most ten years. She has been writing checks for our expenditures in good times and in bad and we appreciate her many years of service more than words can convey. Thank you Creda!

Beginning January 1, 2018, Patti Price will become our next Church Treasurer. Our funds will continue in very good hands be-cause Patti has many years of banking expe-rience! Welcome Patti!

Patti also carries on a tradition - did you know that Maxine Price also served as our church treasurer? She served us for around ten years before Creda! We have come full circle!

Our Church Treasurers

Join us again for our annual Trivia Night fundraiser for the Youth Group. We will cover a wide range of categories, with

something for everyone. Teams of eight people can enter. Would you like to play but don’t have a team to join? Email Christine and she will help put additional groups together. Teams will answer as a group and the team with the most correct answers will win the night and of course Bragging Rights!

Dinner will be available, but we need your RSVP to Sasha no later than January 24th so food can be planned. Childcare can be available upon request.

All donations will go towards our Youth Pro-gram (see Youth article on page 5). Plan to come out for good fun while helping our youth too!

Church Night Out

Tragically, 2017 reminded us, yet again, that even churches are not safe from the threat of gun violence. When a gunman attacked the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, TX on November 5th, it sent churches around the country ask-ing how they might better protect their congregations.

Our Property Committeehad already begun the pro-cess of reviewing our security needs before this event happened. Since then, Session has begun organizing a team to review our safety needs and specifically our safety procedures for Sunday mornings. If you have thoughts which you would like to share with this team, please contact Christine.

It’s Back...Trivia Night!

Our January Work Day is Saturday Jan-uary 20th from 8:30 am to noon. During the next few cold months, work will focus on inside tasks and projects. As always there will be food and beverages. If you have questions, contact Chris Gramelspacher.

(cont. from page 1) the ongoing mission of our church, know that every dollar counts.

Think about all that 2017 offered; a growing youth group, vibrant children’s ministries, incredi-ble music, meaningful mission, and Spirit-filled worship. We will see even more exciting things happen in our church if we can meet or exceed the budget proposals. We would all love to see our dreams and wishes become reality.

Grace and peace to you in this exciting new year.

Stewardship Update (cont.)

New Safety Team

Bill Duncan

Church Night Out is a monthly fellowship event for young adults and young families in our congrega-tion. We gather on the third Friday

of each month at a local restaurant for fellowship and fun while babysitting is provided at the church for those who RSVP.

This month’s Church Night Out will be on January 19th at Colby’s. Babysitting starts at 5:45 with dinner at 6:00. Please RSVP for dinner and babysitting by Monday January 15th.

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December Happenings—Oh What Fun!

Advent Workshop

Hanging of the Greens

PrimeTimers

SpiritLifters

Small Dancing Light

Longest Night

Christmas Baskets

Poinsettias

Advent Candles

Christmas Pageant

“Silent Night”

Prophets Gabriel Mary, Joseph, Innkeeper

The Wise Ones Shepherds Angels

Christmas Eve

Caroling

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Our Youth

Join Christine each month to study a brief but meaningful book that connects to the life of faith. On the last Thursday of each month, you are invited to meet for a whole book discussion.

We will gather this month on Thursday, Janu-ary 22nd at 10:00 am in the Gardenside Parlor and dis-cuss Let Your Life Speak: Listening to the Voice of Vo-cation by Parker J. Palmer.

“Is the life I am living the same as the life that wants to live in me?” With this searching question, Parker Palmer begins an insightful and moving 108 page medita-tion on finding one’s true calling. With wisdom, compassion, gentle humor and stories, he invites us to listen to the inner teacher and follow its leadings toward a sense of meaning and purpose.

If you are interested in participating, call the office by January 5th and we will order you a copy ($7.00).

Children’s Day Out

Our youth kieked off the holiday season by being part of the Advent Worship Service and helping with all of the Advent Workshop activi-ties. On the 16th they had their lockin—a Christmas Party which fea-tured a Dirty Santa gift exchange, crafts, movies, pizza and black out.

The next morning, a bit bleary-eyed, they filled the balcony during worship and provided much appreciated muscle in getting our Christmas Baskets to car. Stephanie and Will are really proud of them and all of us should be too. Tell them thank you next time you see them!

SUMMER 2018 HIGH SCHOOL MISSION TRIP

This summer our Presbytery Youth will travel to Lithia, Florida to the Cedarkirk Camp ad Conference Center southeast of Tampa. They will work with the Beth-El Farmworkers Ministry, helping with their food pantry, leading VBS for children and maybe even doing some home repairs. For fun, the camp offers swim-ming, climbing wall and zip line. Evenings will have them gather to reflect and worship together. The trip

will be capped off with a beach trip on the Gulf of Mexico.

Date: June 16-24 Eligibility: Rising freshman through graduated srs. Registration Due: February 9, 2018.. Deposit Due: $150 each with Stephanie by Jan 28th.

Pastor’s Study Group

New Church Website

CDO’s December theme was “Winter Wonderland” and we really enjoyed making hot chocolate, crystal snowflakes and orna-ments. Then, on the 14th we had our Christ-mas Program and a special North Pole visitor!

With a new year comes a new church website! We are already hard at work finishing up a new easy to use site, but we could use folks with some keen marketing, photography, writing and editing skills to help get it fin-ished.

Please let Christine know if you would be willing to serve on this “Final Push!” team for finishing our website and getting it live online.