nov2014courier

The Family, Events, and Ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Springboro

Covenant

Happenings Page 2

CPW

Page 3

Service Schedule Page 4

From Pastor Lee

Page 5

Calendar Page 6

Kid’s Korner Page 9

The Alternative Gift Market

You will have an opportunity to purchase an alternative gift after church on Sunday, November 2nd and Sunday, November 9th. An

alternative gift is humanitarian support given in honor of a friend or family member. There are 30 causes in categories such as hunger, education, child mortality, environmental sustainability. This is a

wonderful opportunity to give a gift that impacts the lives of others. The Alternative Market is an easy way to shop for the holidays and at the same time impact change in the world. If you would like

to learn more about the projects, pick up a catalog from the information table at church or visit the website - www.altgifts.org.

The Heaven and Hearth furniture ministry roof is leaking! The furniture is getting wet

and the floor is getting ruined! How Can YOU Help?

Collect your pocket change, look in-between your couch cushions and check the cup holders

in your car. Bring your change to church on Sunday, Nov. 2nd, the day of the fall time change. Let your change provide a positive

“change” to the Heaven and Hearth building so that the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Warren

County can provide good as new furniture to needy families and individuals in Warren County.

Thank You!

The Christmas Angel Tree will be available on November 16 and 23. Please return

your wrapped gift with angel on the outside by November 30. Hannah’s Treasure Chest

will pick up and deliver the gifts. Help make Christmas wishes come true for the

needy children in our area. Thank you.

Interested in Finding Out More?

Are you interested in learning more about

Covenant Presbyterian Church? Would

you like to know more about opportunities

and/or ministries that exist that you may

want to become involved with? Or maybe

you are interested in finding out how to

become a member of CPC. If so – we are

going to have an INQUIRERS CLASS on

Sunday December 7th following worship.

The plan is to meet from 11:30 to 1:30 with

lunch provided. If you would like to

attend please contact either Lee

(748-0272 / [email protected])

or Steve Hegwood (885-1031 /

[email protected]) to let us know

you would like to attend.

will be continuing their current Horizons

study of “Reconciling Paul: A Contemporary

Study of 2 Corinthians.” Join them at

1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 25, here

at Covenant. Everyone is welcome!

Prayer Shawl Ministry will meet again on Nov. 3 at 6:30 p.m. in the library. This ministry knits shawls and baby items for those in the hospital or recuperating at home. They’ll gladly

teach you how to knit or crochet, too!

The Thank Offering is a Presbyterian Women offering collected in the fall of each year that gives women a tangible way to express their gratitude for the special blessings in their lives. When Presbyterian women pool resources by giving to the Thank Offering, we make a big difference. The Offering will be

received on Nov. 16. Thank you for making a difference!

CPW

Team

11/20

1PM

your wrapped gift with angel on the outside by November 30. Hannah’s Treasure Chest

will pick up and deliver the gifts. Help make Christmas wishes come true for the

Thanksgiving Baskets will be provided for several families this year through the SCAC. Grocery bags will be available for filling with

the lists attached on November 9 and 16. Outreach will be supplementing with perishable items. Bags will need

to be returned by Nov. 23. Thank you!

Fellowship 02 Choir 09 Volunteers 16 CPW needed! 23 30

Worship Ushers/Greeters Mary Lehman, Ginny Requarth, Vera Escott Counters 02 Debbie Shear & Mary White 09 Dave Payne & Flossie Power 16 Jay White & Dave Siegler 23 Tim Knoth & Debbie Shear 30 Ken Shear & Le’Anne Leahy

Pre/K 02 Yvonne Craycraft 09 Erica Hicks 16 Susan Pfeiffer/Pam Goins 23 Kristin Tibbits 30 Yvonne Craycraft

Grades 1-6 02 Steve Hegwood 09 Maureen Justice 16 Jen Knoth 23 Loretta Sebastian 30 Alysia Fuchs

Jim & Carole

Hepp would like

to thank the

Men’s Group for

taking over the

Flower Ministry!

Recently, I was talking with a friend and I mentioned that I was thinking about writing an article titled Three Good Reasons to Give More in 2015. As often happens in our conversations, one thought sparked another. I said, “Or maybe I could create a Top Ten List of Reasons to Give More.” Laughing, she said, “How about a Top Ten List of Reasons Not to Give More? I bet that would get someone’s attention.” “That is, if they were in the habit of reading what I write each month,” I replied, “Then again, maybe I could create a Top Ten List for Reading the Newsletter… or a Top Ten List for Not Being Informed.”

Of course, we went on to brainstorm some possibilities…

A good reason to give more is the tax benefit… a tangible way to love God and your neighbor… to be faithful.

A good reason not to give more is to keep more for yourself just in case of an unexpected emergency… to have less motivation to trust God for your daily bread… to assume that others can and will take up the slack.

A good reason to read the newsletter is to know what’s going on… to have well informed conversations with others… to pray with intention.

A good reason to not be informed is be able to say, “I don’t know what’s happening,” whenever church life is discussed… to think of the church as just a place where God’s people gather only on Sunday mornings… to stay on the margins and not be overly involved.

In the end, I decided to stick with my original idea. So here are Three Good Reasons to Give More in 2015…

The first reason is that we can do more together than what any of us can do alone. Together, we can support the vision, mission, and specific goal of our mission study to the extent that it becomes more of our reality. Together, we can continue to finance the things we value in our church life; full-time pastoral leadership and spiritual guidance, quality music and youth programming, and having a space to gather, grow, and serve with and within our community. Together, we can raise the $158,000 that is the projected budget for 2015. Together, we can ready ourselves for the arrival of our next pastor.

The second reason for giving more is that by increasing the percentage of our household income that we give to others, especially to God through our church, we are forced to take a broader view of our financial stewardship and lifestyle. When we increase the percentage of what we give, we begin to see what we are actually doing with our discretionary income. We begin to see where we waste or spend without thinking or intention. We begin to see creative ways that we can live more fully with less so we can give more faithfully. We begin to see our life of faith as more of a whole than a small percentage. We begin to see that enough is enough.

(continued on page 11)

Sun Mon Tue

2

10:00 AM Worship

& Children’s Church

11:15 AM Alternative Gift Market

3 5-7:30 PM Weight Watchers

6:30 PM Prayer Shawl

4 7:00 AM Men at McDonalds

7:00 PM Outreach Ministry

9

10:00 AM Worship


11:15 AM Alternative Gift Market


7:00 PM Youth Ministries


6:30 PM Administration

16 10:00 AM Worship


17

5-7:30 PM Weight Watchers


6:30 PM Session

23/30 10:00 AM Worship


11/30


7:00 PM Deacons


1:00 PM Amicae Circle

Birthdays and Anniversaries are published with your

permission only. In an effort to update our list, please notify the office of your family’s special dates,

especially if you are new to our fellowship.

We want to include you!

Please email any updates and articles to the secretary at: [email protected] or call me at 937 748-0272.

2 Morgan Teska 4 Tim Hegwood Erica Hicks 6 Andy Shear 7 Debbie Shear 8 Frank Hess 9 Yvonne Craycraft Amy Cimprich 12 Mike Gardner Steve Teska 13 Keane Leahy 17 Benjamin Justice 18 Loretta Sebastian 22 Jim Hepp Kyle Rone

5 Mike & Ella Wentzel 22 Mike & Mary McKitrick

Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

8-9:30 AM Weight Watchers

7:00 AM Men at McDonalds

7:00 PM Outreach Ministry

5 10:00 AM Adult Bible Study

6

7

8 8-9:30 AM Weight Watchers


6:30 PM Administration

12 10:00 AM Adult bible Study

6:45 PM Choir Practice

8:00 PM Praise Band

13 1:00 PM CPW Team

14

15

8-9:30 AM Weight Watchers



20

21



1:00 PM Amicae Circle


6:45 PM Choir Practice

8:00 PM Praise Band

27

28


Financial Info Year-to-date Year-to-date

Operating Fund Sept. 2014 Sept. 2013 Sept. 2014 Sept. 2013 Receipts $10,263 $8,642 $95,473 $118,036 Expenditures $14,777 $6,227 $114,198 $110,481 Net Receipts (Expenditures) -$4,514 $2,415 -$18,725 $7,555 Mortgage Reduction Fund Year-to-date Beg. Balance $111 $566 Receipts $1,958 $18,303 Mortgage Payments $2,100 $18,900 Balance End of Month -$31 -$31 Cash Flow Beginning Cash $59,087 Cash Used (received): Operating Fund -$4,516 Other Designated Funds $1,180 Payroll taxes $76 Mortgage Payments Principal -$1,862 Total Cash Used (received) -$5,122 Ending Cash Balance $53,965 Please get your pledged donations in. We are $22,563 below last year in income.

THANK YOU!

Diane and I want to pass along our thanks for the Reds’ tickets you gave us at my retirement party last August. We want you to know we did use all 40 tickets this past baseball season. We took

family members (and future family members), a teacher with whom Diane worked and her husband and their two elementary age sons, and friends from our first church in Indiana. We finished out the year by going to the last Friday night game against Pittsburgh – and some who went with us

were even Pirate fans! Just the two of us went a couple of times!

We know the season wasn’t what Reds’ fans (or the players) had hoped to experience. Of the 40 tickets, only 9 of them were to games the Reds won!!! 9 and 31 – we sure didn’t bring the Reds any luck, did we? But we still had a blast. We saw Friday night fireworks three times and actually won

free LaRosa’s pizza a couple of times when the Reds’ pitchers struck out at least 11 opponents. Thanks for your generosity. May God continue to bless and guide your PNC and all of you as you

search for your new pastor. - Ken and Diane

November Services If you would like to have your concern lifted to the Lord through the Prayer Chain, contact Debbie Shear at [email protected] or 748-2809. Please pray for: Karen Ritzinger Nadine Drew Eleanor Axiotes Mike & Ella Wentzel The family & friends of Jeannette Montgomery. All of our men and women in the military and their families. Our Pastor Nominating Committee.

Office Hours The Pastor is in the office Mon-Wed. mornings. He is available other times by appointment by calling the office.

Our secretary is generally in the office Tuesday through Friday from 9:00a.m. to 12:00p.m. Phone: (937) 748-0272 & (937) 748-4734 Fax: (937) 748-4734

Church Staff Dr. Lee Dorsey Pastor Alysia Fuchs Youth Director Janet Wayne Church Secretary Kim Denney Music/Choir Director Susan Pfeiffer Pianist/Organist Vera Escott Treasurer Debbie Shear Financial Secretary Cam’s Cleaning Svc. Custodian

Covenant’s Email Addresses [email protected]

[email protected] [email protected]

Special Dates

November 02 November 09 November 16 November 23 November 30

November 01 - All Saints Day November 02 - Daylight Savings Time ends November 11 - Veterans Day November 23 - Christ the King Sunday November 27 - Thanksgiving November 30 - First Sunday of Advent

Finally, the third reason is that we can make giving more a spiritual practice. We can learn how to connect our giving to our faith on a regular basis… daily... weekly… monthly… yearly. We can learn how God’s faithfulness and steadfast love is more like manna in the wilderness than it is about moving mountains. We can learn that we are all in this boat together… that we have all been called to this place… and that our connections in Christ challenge us to be sacrificially generous and encouraging toward one another. We can learn to live into God’s grace and peace, faithfully, hopefully, and lovingly.

I hope that this is helpful to you in understanding what is happening in and around the church these days, the steps we will be taking, and how you can participate in the process. Let me or one of the other members of the Session know if you have any questions. Thanks for sharing the journey. I am grateful for your support and encouragement.

Grace and Peace,

Lee

CPC - Called and Connected by Christ,

Partners in Our Community, Committed to Serve

Worship Guide Deadline By 9:00 a.m. on the Tuesday before the Sunday you would like it to appear in the worship guide.

Courier Newsletter Deadline November 19, 9:00 a.m. for the December edition. You may leave articles on the office desk or e-mail them to [email protected]. Men’s Fellowship Men meet weekly at McDonalds every Tuesday morning from 7:00 - 7:30 a.m. Contact John Ritzinger (748-1437) if you have any questions. If you’ve never joined us, we would greatly welcome you! Administration Ministry Administration will meet on Nov. 11 at 6:30 p.m. Contact David Payne for questions. (513-836-3464) Personnel Ministry The next meeting will be on an “as needed” basis. Contact Barbara Mourouzis, (748-3049) for questions.

Adult Ministries meets on various dates each month. If you have any questions, please contact Steve Hegwood at (937) 885-1031.

Session Session will meet on Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m.

Prayer Partners We have a vital prayer ministry here at Covenant. We have an electronic prayer chain for those who would prefer to be notified of needs as they arise via email. To get connected in prayer through the internet, email Debbie Shear ([email protected]). Outreach Ministry meets the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. Contact Susan Stewart for questions. (937-746-3343) Youth Ministry meets the second Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. Contact Erica Hicks for questions. (937-748-6352)

Covenant Presbyterian Church 415 N. Main St.

Springboro, OH 45066 address correction requested

Worship Service:

10:00 a.m. Worship Toddlers and children through 6th grade have age appropriate learning opportunities. Nursery - provided for ages 2 and under.

www.covenantspringboro.com

nov2014courier

Documents

cpw page

wrapped gift

alternative gift market

calendar page

positive change

pocket change

fall time change

pastor lee page