first presbyterian church 482 tequesta drive 2018 - our...

2017 Issue 7 - 2018 Issue 1 Holiday Issue Dec 2017 - Jan 2018

First Presbyterian Church 482 Tequesta Drive Tequesta, FL 33469

561-746-5161

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Description Dan Commerford - Thank you, Jesus, Amen Advent sermon series 2017, Live Nativity and Christmas Eve Fellowship and Special Events - Picnic Presbyterian Women Finance and Stewardship Preschool News Crystal Botha - Horizon Views Pie the pastor Rachel Commerford - Connecting Families Trunk or Treat Youth Group Session Report Downs 65th Anniversary Music New Members Highlights Men’s Breakfast and Prayer Chain Birthdays

UPCOMING EVENTS: Sunday - Dec 3 Wednesday and Thursday Dec. 6-7 Sunday - Dec 10 Sunday - Dec 17 Sunday - Dec 24 Sunday - Jan 7 Thursday - Sun - Jan 12 - 14 Thursday - Jan 18 Saturday - Jan 20 Sunday - Jan 21 Saturday - Jan 27

Youth Group Christmas Party Preschool Christmas Program Sunday School birthday party for Jesus and Christmas Concert Confirmation class and Live Nativity Christmas Eve Service Confirmation Class and Unhanging of the greens Family Ministries Cedarkirk trip Beacon Deadline for items to be included in Feb-Mar Beacon issue Generations Bible Study Confirmation class Gleaning

In This Issue

2018 - Our 58th Year

The First Presbyterian Church, Tequesta, Florida

“Thank You, Jesus. Amen.”

One of the greatest joys and responsibilities of being a parent is helping our children develop their faith. To that end, Rachel and I have spent the past few months teaching Hannah how to pray. Every night, before we start dinner and then again be-

fore she goes to bed, Hannah repeats this very simple prayer: “Thank you, Jesus. Amen.” It’s a simple prayer that takes about twenty seconds, and we then move on to the next thing almost immediately. But in those twenty seconds, something holy occurs. In many ways, we have seen the spark that has begun Hannah’s relation-ship with her creator. Now, when we ask her how much Jesus loves her, she replies “So big!” Hannah also loves going to church because “Jesus lives there.” It has been such a joy to see her faith ignited and kindled in such a special way, and I believe that it has all started with a very simple prayer that she prays every night. What I believe Bonhoeffer means in the quote above is that, at the core of our faith, is an amazing yet mystical connection we have with God, who became known to us in Jesus Christ and is revealed to us today through the power of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is one of the founda-tional ways we strengthen our connection to

God. But I think that, as fundamentally neces-sary as prayer is, it’s often the component of our faith we let slip at times. Perhaps we are too busy with life’s responsibilities. Perhaps we struggle to see the impact our prayers have. Perhaps we struggle with prayer because we feel that we do not know how to pray. If we find ourselves struggling with the role prayer plays in our faith, I encourage us to get back to the basics and pray the same prayer Hannah prays every night: “Thank you, Jesus. Amen.” It’s a simple prayer, but boy is it pow-erful! When we pray these four words, we thank Jesus for being the same God who cre-ated the heavens, earth, all that dwell within them, and for creating us. We thank Jesus for revealing God’s love to us and for us, and for showing us how to live. We thank Jesus for go-ing through the greatest lengths to save us, and for conquering death for our sake. When we pray, “Thank you, Jesus. Amen,” we proclaim that Christ offers us new life, both on heaven and in earth, and commit to follow him in eve-rything we do. With those four words, our sim-ple prayer can convey a lifetime of proclama-tion, gratitude, and discipleship. As we begin to prepare for the birth of our savior, let us take time to pray this season. Whether we have prayed everyday as long as we can remember, or have never spoken a word to God in our life, God is speaking to all of us. Now, it’s time to listen and respond to him! Even though every day presents us an op-portunity to deepen our connection with God, I hope that this upcoming season of Advent and Christmas is special because of our heightened

Daniel Commerford, Pastor

“Prayer is the supreme instance of the hidden character of the Christian life.”

– Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Pastor Dan continued...

awareness of God’s love for us. May our sim-ple prayer of gratitude bring us closer to Christ, so that we may follow him wherever he leads us.

Thank you, Jesus. Amen!

Grace This quotation is from Wishful Thinking by Fred Buechner.

“Grace is something you can never get but only be given. There’s no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth. A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace. Have you ever tried to love somebody? A crucial eccentricity in the Christian fait is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There’s nothing you have to do. There’s nothing you have to do. The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen Don’t be afraid, I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It’s for you I created the universe. I love you. There’s only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you’ll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it as a gift too.”

December 2017 - January 2018

Fellowship and Special Events - Picnic The Fellowship Committee is pleased to say that the annual picnic ,held October 15 at the Carlin Park Pavil-ian, was a well-attended happy event. The weather coop-erated and the turn out was great. As in previous years, the children from the Real Life Children’s Ranch were invited and the games, rope pull and ball toss were thor-oughly enjoyed by the children - and a few adults. The hot dogs and hamburgers were again cooked by our fa-ther/son team of Chuck and Chas Lofquist. The fellowship ladies created a very appealing atmos-phere with many different kinds of salads, baked beans and wonderful desserts. Submitted by Joani Thomas Co-Chair of the Fellowship and Special Events Committee

Joani

Fellowship Committee

The cooks



Presbyterian Women

Women with Purpose

Co‐Moderator Gail Jordan 561‐745‐1836 Jordan rainbow @gmail.com Co‐Moderator Kenly Drummond 561‐746‐6488 [email protected] Vice‐Moderator Judy Campbell 561‐214‐3488 Secretary/Search Chair Jane Speak 561‐746‐0386 [email protected] Treasurer: Vivian Carney 561‐308‐9732 [email protected] Gathering Times: Second Monday of the month

11:00 am Harrington Parlor. 12:30 optional Dutch treat lunch out.

Please feel free to join us for lunch even if you cannot attend the gathering.

Future Meetings: 12/11/17, 1/8/18, 2/12/18, 3/12/18

Hopefully, our January 15

meeting will be held at Waterford with lunch at Casa Mia, 337 E. Indiantown Rd. next to (Fresh Market) around 1:00 p.m. For this luncheon R.S.V.P. Jane Speak 561-746-0386 or [email protected].

We are happy to announce that a couple of circles will be starting after the first of the year in January. Please watch the Sunday worship bulletins in December for more details.

Our Women’s Literary Center has found a wonderful home. We have adopted the alcove in Harrington Parlor for the Presbyterian Women’s Literary Center (thanks to Pastor Dan). Now comes the difficult task of finding books with limited resources. Since PW is not a session committee it receives no budget from the church. Items we donate to the church such as the “kiddie message pew cards” and the recently added” kiddie worship bags” must come from our own pockets. We would like to add a few shelves of children’s books to the center. At the national level the PW office promotes children’s literacy world-wide. They have released the following books which we would like to place in our literary center. If you would like to donate a book or money to purchase one we will place a box in the entrance to the church each Sunday during the month of

Presbyterian Women continued

January. We can purchase used books from Amazon at a very good price and would be happy to do so with your donation.

God’s Creation

Aani & the Tree Huggers by Jeannine Atkins

Bringing the Rail to Kapiti by Verna Aardema

He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands by Kadie Nelson Sam Snead

In the Canyon by Liz G. Scanlon

Old Turtle by Douglass Wood

God’s Diverse People

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Abuela’s Weave by Omar S. Castaneda

All the Colors of the Earth by Sheila Hamanaka

The Amazing Erik by Mike Huber III

Around Our Way on Neighbors Day by Tameka Fryer Brown

From all the Presbyterian Women in the church best wishes for a spirit filled 2018 and please remember…

His story is our Story

Be Part of the Story!

By Gail Jordon

Gail



A Message from the Finance and Stewardship Committee

Soon it will be our time …together…as a fam-ily… to discuss money. Oh, we will spend more time enjoying and celebrating all gifts of steward-ship here at FPC Tequesta. However, all families, from time to time, need to review the financial as-pects of the household and how much needs to be set aside for the overall budget. Our church family is no different than individual families. We need to pay the bills. We need to plan for the future. We need to make repairs. Thankfully, we are blessed with a core of faith-ful stewards who work day after day monitoring the financial needs and overall structure of the church campus. Those that come to mind include Elder John Rich, who can be found on the church grounds early every day. John knows every inch of the structures. I have seen him many times work-ing across the parking lot with bags of garbage. Sounds like home…well, I am sure to John this church is another home. John heads up the building and grounds committee which literally “keeps a roof over our heads”. Scott Rippe is our church treasurer who works quietly and diligently behind the scenes to monitor the overall budget, spending patterns, income pat-terns, and investments. Scott is our “house guard” protecting our assets. Also, Vivienne Bellardo who literally is our “walking checkbook”. She is on top of daily mone-tary operations and I am amazed at what she can keep in her head. She can answer any question on the spot. This church is blessed to have her. The Finance and Stewardship Committee

consisting of co-chair Marilyn Mote, Dennis Kelly, Ken Sloan, and Dave Thomas are invalu-able to the upcoming 2018 Pledge Campaign. Cur-rently, each one is involved in several aspects of the campaign. You will see and hear from them fre-quently during the next few months. The last and most important member of our Fi-nancial Team is Pastor Dan Commerford. Pastor Dan has a bold vision for First Presbyterian of Te-questa in 2018. He is well grounded in financial matters and accessible whenever we need him to consult with. He smoothly handles all of our dif-ferent personalities as we continue to work on the important task of keeping the church financially strong and well maintained which can be an emo-tional and challenging task for each of us. During our annual offering drive, you will have an opportunity to fill out a gift pledge card and mail it to the church. A gift pledge is a good faith esti-mate of your future monetary support of the church expenses. It is not a legally binding agreement. Should your personal financial circumstances change you are encouraged to talk to the Church office manager (Vivienne Bellardo) or an elder to discuss changing the terms of your pledge. We un-derstand that circumstances change, and no one should be uncomfortable making a pledge because of what “might” happen in the future. As you pray over your gift you may find comfort in the follow-ing scripture…

“For I have learned to be satisfied with what I have. I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have more than enough. I have learned this se-cret, so that anywhere, any time, I am content, whether I am full or hungry, whether I have too much or too little. I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.”-Philippians 4:11b-13 In closing, please remember,

HIS STORY IS OUR STORY.

BE PART OF THE STORY!

By Elder Gail Jordan

It is time to talk!

We know, it seems like such a small gesture; Pulling coins or dollars out of our pockets. Sometimes we even write a check. It makes no sound as it is dropped into the offering plate. Silence, silence; But there is a sound of our hearts opening, Giving you a gift from our labor. It is our collective offering of love, Our weekly deposit showing our faithfulness. Our weekly corporate act of self-dedication. We do this week after week in your name.

(Author: Carol Penner)

Well as usual our Christmas season will be filled with fun and learning about our Savior’s birth. As in past

years, we expect a wonderful turn out for our Christ-mas programs and we will sing our hearts out! We made lovely presents for our parents and we collected food for those less fortunate. We will also take part, along with the congregation, collecting shoe boxes for

Samaritans Purse Ministries. It warms our hearts to help others during this special season as well as all

year long.

January is a month of new beginnings and we will begin our Fitness Fridays with Coach JJ to learn how to take care of our bodies and exercise for good health. We also have our PJ days at the end of the month and get to come to school in our PJ’s and make pancakes with our teachers! Yum!

Registration will also take place for our in-house families in January in prepara-tion of our 2018-2019 school year!

Life is Good!

God Bless!

Preschool News !

Penny Rogers, Preschool Director

The preschool childen enjoy our beautiful Christmas tree


Family Ministries

There is some-thing extra special about coastal living during the winter months. Those snowbirds really are onto something! I can honestly say I am not one of those people who, just because I live near the ocean, I never go there. I go to the beach frequently,

and not always to swim in the waves or soak up the sun. The seaside is my “hiding place.” For me, there is nothing quite as calming as the sound of the waves crashing, the wind in the seagrass or the sound of sea-gulls flying over me. It is the perfect arrangement of time, space, and solitude. It is there that I am able to capture my most intimate, quiet moments reflecting on God. Whenever I have a bad day I can always turn my mood around just by changing my environment. One of the things that captures my awe more than anything is the view of the horizon. It is completely mesmerizing to look out and see the water and the sky just melt into one big blue canvas. Seeing so many beautiful hues reminds me of how we are all unique in God’s eyes, yet still made in his image. Throughout history, one of the driving forces of ex-ploration has been the view of the horizon. Many have stood at the water’s edge and pondered what lies be-yond. Only a few have been brave enough to go the distance and actually find out. Typically, when I think of Advent my focus turns toward consciously marking time. Recently, however I came across this wonderful perspective of Advent as it relates to our view of the horizon…to what lies ahead. “The season of Advent means there is something on

the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before… .What is possible is to not see it, to miss it, to turn just as it brushes past you. And you begin to grasp what it was you missed, like Moses in the cleft of the rock, watching God’s [back] fade in the dis-tance. So stay. Sit. Linger. Tarry. Ponder. Wait. Be-hold. Wonder. There will be time enough for run-ning. For rushing. For worrying. For pushing. For now, stay. Wait. Something is on the horizon.” Jan L. Richardson, Night Visions: Searching the Shadows of Advent and Christmas Advent reminds us to find joy in the lingering. We are reminded of God’s love in the anticipation of the birth of the Christ child. I find that in keeping my focus on these four weeks of anticipation, I am able to slow down the pace of my everyday life and truly reflect on my Lord and Savior. I think of Mary and how she must have felt waiting to give birth to the Savior of the world and how awesome and over-whelming at the same time that must have been. God sent his son to the world in the gentleness of a per-fect night with humility and peace. What lies ahead the horizon of Advent is truly spectacular. The miracle of Jesus is worth waiting for! As you journey through this season of Advent, don’t miss out on what lies ahead. Rest your heart and mind in the knowing of the great miracle that is to come. My prayer is that we may all linger a little longer in the moments at the manger and that we may be brave enough to explore beyond the horizon with Jesus at our side.

Crystal Botha Director of Family

Ministries

Horizon Views


Family Ministries Happenings

Family Ministries Calendar

Dec. 3rd Youth Group Christmas Party 2:00pm

Live Nativity costume fittings after worship

Dec. 9th Generations Bible Study Christmas Party

Dec. 10th Sunday School Birthday Party for Jesus

Children singing in worship

Confirmation Class 11:30am

Live Nativity costume fittings after worship

Dec. 14th Youth Breakfast 8:00am

Dec. 16th Dress Rehearsal for Live Nativity 10:00am

Dec. 17th Sunday School Christmas Bake Sale after worship

Live Nativity 6:00pm

Dec. 31st Youth Group Lock-In 5:00pm

Pie the pastor

Dan before

Dan after

Shannon and youth sell pastries and “pies” at the fun fundraiser


Family Ministries Happenings...Continued


More “pie the pastor” fun

Chelsea smash

Simone Smash

Family Ministries

It’s that time of the year again… School is back in full swing, the holidays are approaching and people are making their way back down south for the winter months. Before we know it, our sched-ules will be full and overflowing with parties, ac-tivities, plays, school assignments, you name it! I want to share with you what God showed me the other day while I was reading my devotional.

“This is a time of abundance in your life. Your cup runneth over with blessings. After plodding uphill

for many weeks, you are now traipsing through lush meadows drenched in warm sunshine. I want

you to enjoy to the full this time of ease and re-freshment. I delight in providing it for you… My kingdom is not about earning and deserving; it’s

about believing and receiving.”

Jesus Calling Devotional

Is that not a wonderful reminder of just how much God pours out his blessings on us? Have you taken time to step back and count your blessings? Just like the hymn, count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God has done.

Just like the hymn and this devotional, our church is reaping the benefits of God’s blessings as well! We have such a wonderful congregation and place of worship and I feel the Holy Spirit working through all of us. We have many activities and events at our church to help us not only strengthen our relationship with God but also to strengthen our relationship with each other. God gave us the church so that we would not have to live our faith journey alone but rather we can come alongside each other to journey together! What a privilege it is to have each other! I have been reflecting on this lately through our Family Ministries meetings and soaking up just how wonderful it is that we have such a vibrant and active church!

The Family Ministries committee meets once a month to pray over and lift up the families of all kinds in our church, plan events and work on strengthening the relationship of our congregation. We are looking to have more families getting in-volved in the daily/weekly activities of our church and we want to hear from you! How can we be of assistance to your family? Are you moving soon and really could use some help with getting a meal brought to you? Are you struggling with the death of a family member and need someone to pray with you? Do you want to find a place to plug in deeper and build some friendships in the church? If you could plan some events, what would you want to see our church do? Please let the Family Ministries committee and elders know how we can help your family!

Just as God has poured out his blessings upon us, so should we pour out our blessings on one an-other. I strongly urge each of you to find a place where you fit in to our church and become in-volved! God has gifted each of us with different talents and we all make up the Body of Christ. Every job and every person is important in further-ing the Kingdom of God.

Blessings to all of you!

Rachel Commerford

Connecting Families

Rachel


Family Ministries Continued….

“Trunk or Treat”

Connor Family Contest Winner 1

Contest winner 2 Contest winner 3



More “Trunk or Treat” Grand Prize winner Fred Cone

The O’Neill Family

Hayride


During Sunday School Hour December 10 December 17 after worship


Family Retreat at Cedarkirk, January 12 - 14.


The Youth Group has had such an amazing, fun packed couple of months, and we are really looking forward to all that we have planned for the next couple of months.

We started the month of October with the Pie the Pastor fundraiser to help raise money for the Family Ministries Mission Trip Fund. This fund helps supplement the many trips we are fortunate enough to take each year, includ-ing our summer mission trip, Night of Joy, the Spring Retreat, and the Cedarkirk Family Re-treat. Thank you to everyone who helped by donating yummy treats; buying those yummy treats; helping before, during, and after the event; and to everyone who bought a pie to help Pastor Dan get really messy. We raised

over $1000 in support of our Youth and families! Thank you all so much!!! In October, the Youth Group began participating in the Edna Runner Food for Families Program. Once a month, we will help sort and deliver food in place of our normal evening meeting time. I felt strongly that the Youth needed to experience what it truly means to be the hands and feet of Christ and this is such an amazing mission. Not only will our Youth get to see the adults doing this important work, but the children at Edna Run-ner will be able to see people their own age participating as well. We started in October and the Youth helped place the boxes and bags of food into everyone’s car and they participated in prayer time, as well as meeting and spending time with the children who were there with their families. It was an amazing experience and I feel so blessed that we can be a part of this wonderful mis-sion.

On October 29th, the Youth Group and Pastor Dan performed a skit for the sermon entitled “How Is Any-one Still Hungry.” The Youth prepared for this skit for many weeks and did an amazing job! They spoke about why we still have hunger in our world and how we as a church can, and are, helping. Later that afternoon, the kids helped collect food during Trunk or Treat that was donated to CROS Ministries. I am in awe of the dedica-tion and hard work these young men and women always demonstrate when asked to give a sermon or serve the church. December is a very busy time for the Youth Group. We have our Christmas party on December 3rd and are

Youth Group December 2017 - January 2018

Youth continued...

going to the Flying Panda Trampoline Park in Port St. Lucie for some bouncing fun, then to dinner. On De-cember 10th, we are helping with the Sunday school class during the Happy Birthday Jesus party. That af-ternoon, we are helping sort and deliver food for the Edna Runner Food for Families program. The Youth Group and the members of the Generations Bible study have pitched in to purchase a gift for all the chil-dren at Edna Runner: a night light that shines the moon and stars on their ceilings. On December 14th, we have our Youth Group breakfast at Starbucks and on the 17th, we will be helping with the Live Nativity and the cookie fundraiser. And on December 31st, we will have our annual New Year’s Eve lock-In. We are going to Palm Beach Ice Works for an ice skating party, then to dinner, and back to the church for devotion, prayer time, games, dancing, singing, and up-all-night fun. Friends and guests are always welcome at any of our gatherings and the kids are already inviting many of their friends to join us. From November 26th until December 17th, we will be selling God’s Creation wall calendars. These beau-tiful calendars make great Christmas gifts. Each

month includes a scripture and inspiring photo-graphs. Proceeds will benefit the Youth Group Mis-sion Trip Fund. We continue to learn about our New Testament an-cestors and have devotions, discussions, and prayer time during both Youth Sunday School and Evening Youth Group. We are also looking forward to many activities in January, including the Cedarkirk Family Retreat from January 12th – 14th and gleaning for CROS Ministries on Saturday, January 27th. More details of both events will be in the bulletin and you can also contact Crystal and me for details. Both events are not just for the children; everyone is welcome. With all the busyness that this season brings, I want to take a moment to thank every-one for all they do and to pause to remember that the love of Je-sus is everything and the true meaning of why we are celebrat-ing. Thank you!

Shannon Trevino Director of Youth

God is good!

Shannon


Finance and Stewardship report that year- to- date general income is below the projections for pledges and plates; consequently all committees have been asked to tighten their belts. General church ex-penses year-to-date are also under budget and the stars of cost cutting are the Evangelism and Mis-sions and Building and Grounds committees. Thank you for your efforts and keep up the good work.

This committee is also working on next year’s Stew-ardship and Per Capita campaigns. Look for more information as we get into the New Year. Personnel and Planning is working on an Em-ployee manual and job descriptions for the Pre School and Church Staff positions. It’s a useful tool to clarify and upgrade the different positions that exists within the Church.

The committee is also working on a hurricane plan to assist the community and church in preparing for, and then dealing with the results of a hurricane. Ministries with Families reports the following events to take place:

Evangelism and Missions reports that we had a new member class of 14 on November 5, 2017. The new members bump up our membership to 318 members. We’ve had one death, and I’m sad to an-nounce the passing of Gloria Belden on August 9, 2017. Building and Grounds reports that the roof project is underway as I’m certain you have noticed on Sun-days. They have also been assessing the a/c systems

on the church property and have come up with a list of repairs, replacement and maintenance items to be addressed. They will go thru the list in order of priority. They also ask that we all be more consci-entious of dripping water faucets and running toi-lets, please report these items to Vivienne, the of-fice manager at 561.746.5161 press 101. Thank you.

Session Report

Lynn Weidman Clerk of Session

Lynn


God’s creation calendar sales beginning the Sunday after Thanksgiving

Cookies Sales – Dec 17, the day of the Nativity

Youth Skit – Oct 29 on Hunger

Elder John Rich presents details of Shaffer Hall roof project


Chet and Mary Jane Downs - 65th Anniversary

Marlyce and George

Marlyce Pedersen Music Director and

Organist

George Sullivan Choral Director

Music Report

God bless you.

Greetings from your music department. We hope you have been blessed by all the beauti-ful music that has been happening during our worship services on Sun-days. There were several meaningful hymns for you all to sing with the choir, mostly keyed to Pastor Dan's sermons to help emphasize and di-rect our thinking to the topic of the day. Special anthems and solos also underlined the message as did the Prelude, Offertory and Postlude each Sunday. Thanks to Lynne Spotts for "Still, Still With Thee" during communion; to the jazz trio for inspir-ing arrangements of some old favorites; to Robin Sykes-Rowe and Debbie Bosic for some fine flute selections, including accompanying the Chancel

Choir; and to our fabulous Hand Bell choir for adding beautiful sounds to the worship. We also were all amazed to hear the premiere performance of "The Power of His Word" written by choir alto Lyn Snyder. It was inspired by her friend Ginny Willoughby and written especially to mark the oc-casion of Ginny's 90th birthday.

Bell Choir rehearses for December 24 service Photo by Jill Esposito


Come, enjoy this year’s Christmas Concert

CHRISTMAS CONCERT SUNDAY DECEMBER 10 4:30 P.M.

"Come, Ye Faithful" A Service of Carols by Hal Hopson Come to Bethlehem with the wise men, shepherds, angels and animals! Come along as the story of the birth is told through scripture and music! Come and join in singing familiar Christmas carols! Come and bring a friend! The concert will feature the Chancel Choir and guests with chamber orchestra, in-cluding strings, harp and hand bells. A free will offering will be received. No tickets required.

Artwork by Kristen Schade



Beacon Highlights

New Members and Baptisms

New Members left to right are Christina Benevides, Mary Doyle, Kristin Doyle, Bob Kay, Shirley Kay, Robert Brighenti, Audrey Brighenti, Regina Young, Hank Taylor, Stu and Lynn Dammeyer, Lynn Donley.

Twelve of the new members introduced to the congregation

New Members Tom Aiken, Katie Aiken, and Lily Aiken being baptized

The Beacon Highlights...

Family from as far away as South Africa join Tom and Katie Aiken for the baptism of Lily, their beautiful baby girl

Food, supplies and contributions were gathered for flood and hurricane victims. Shown below are some of the supplies collected for Key West victims


In October, the Ladies’ Lunch Bunch celebrated 4 birthdays at Rancho Chico. Left front, Lynn Donley, Vivian Carney, Judy Campbell, Chris Moats and Libby Over. Birthday girls from right front, Jane Speak, Kenly Drummond, Loretta Glevis and Gail Jor-dan.

Ladies Lunch Bunch Birthday Celebration

Poem by Dave Wallace Zephyr Way of Thrush and wren Ghost like gentleman

Hannah’s first ever trick-or-treat experience begins at Jim Snyder’s house!




THE MEN’S BREAKFAST meets on Wednesdays at 7:30 a.m. at the Corner Café and Brewery, 289 S. US Hwy One, Tequesta, in Village Square. Come join us for good food and fellowship.

Men’s breakfast

In addition to guest speakers, the Men’s breakfast sponsors birthday parties for the kids at Real Life Children’s Ranch and they also schedule trips to interesting places and museums.

Prayer Chain?

As

Christians, it is our

privilege and responsibility

to pray for others.

To join the prayer chain, contact Bette

Walker at (561) 744-

5904 or walker_johnd

@bell-south.net. Prayer re-quests may be received by phone or

e-mail.

Hannah Commerford at the head of the table


Happy Birthday !!! December 2017 January 2018

Ben McClain

Luke Beach

Braam Botha

Karla Ludwick

Jackson Melendy

Caitlyn Pinkston

Clayton Pinkston

Anne Scholl

Rosemarie Von Zabern

Lynn Donley

Laura Cochran

Martha Mazzella

Mark Eyeington

Jack Saffold

George Sullivan

Judy Finn

Craig Simon

Jim Scalf

Hazel Barry

Ann Young

Bethany Connor

Kim Miller

Jeff Price

Joan Smith

Mason Hires

Carolyn Quigley

Libby Over

Sarah Mock

Stella Williams

Bob Ause

Dec 3

Dec 4

Dec 5

Dec 5

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Dec 30

Leon Greyvensteyn

Keira O'Neill

Emily Overfield

Rion Hamelin

Cassie Lofquist

Brenna O'Neill

Dennis Kelly

Sasha Melendy

Michelle DeVivero

Diane Beach

Jack Noble

Heather Adams

Tim Palmer

Doris Cline

Phoebe Saffold

Crystal Botha

Mary Hudson

Al Dowrick

Galen Rowe

Elise Overfield

Sophia Sloan

Emil Conti

Roan Greyvensteyn

Bailey Rigsby

Chet Downs

Ronald Fenaughty

Liani Trevino

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Jan 28

Jan 28


The Beacon The First Presbyterian Church

482 Tequesta Drive Tequesta, Florida 33469

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage Paid West Palm Beach, FL Permit No. 1894

Rev. Dan Commerford, Pastor Crystal Botha, Director of Family Ministries Penny Rogers, Preschool Director Marlyce Pedersen, Music Director and Organist George Sullivan, Choral Director Shannon Trevino, Director of Youth Ministries Jim Scalf, Beacon Editor Church office 561-746-5161 FAX 561-746-7709 Email : [email protected]

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