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September 2010 FROM THE PASTOR: The congregation will save over $1,600/year… beginning in 2012! That needs some explanation. In reviewing our rolls, Cherrie discovered a number of errors that had been made over the years, for example, deaths not recorded. These errors have inflated our rolls for a number of years and are the result of multiple hands being involved at different times. The Per Capita payment is calculated on the membership at the year-end and then billed during the next year for the year following that. So, there is always a 2 year lag before our payment rises or falls with changes in the active membership. When I asked the Stated Clerk about correcting the overpayment, he compared it to the way that property taxes are figured. First the anticipated cost is calculated and that is divided by the number of people paying, or the value of all property that is being taxed. There cannot be adjustments to any individual without having to reassess everyone. It’s one of those good news/bad news things. We’re going to save a good amount of money … but not yet. Well, it’s exciting getting everything back on the regular schedule soon and having the building filled with more activity and good work in service of Jesus Christ. I hope everyone has had a good summer and is ready to get back into the swing of things here at First Presbyterian Church again. Church School and JAM and choir in worship every week await your prayerful participation. We need everybody’s enthusiastic support, maybe especially during this time of transition in leadership. The PNC has prepared an excellent Church Information Form that should be approved by the Presbytery Committee on Ministry and be placed on line in the next few weeks. They will then receive dozens of resumes to sort through to locate the person that God has in mind to lead this congregation into its next chapter. This is a critical time in the church’s history. The congregation is going through a time of adjusting to loss of members and income and perhaps prestige. Clearly, changes will need to take place. The right leader is needed to help move the congregation into the next stage of life and service. Please keep the members of the PNC in your prayers. Pastor Tom
PNC The Pastor Nominating Committee would like to report that the Church Information Forms have been approved and the Committee should be receiving Pastor Information Forms within a short time. (The Pastor Information Forms are resumes from ministers who might be interested in being our new minister.) Kick-Off Sunday is September 12! ~ 9:30am: ~ 9:30am: A light breakfast will be available in the Fellowship Hall followed by a Sunday School Forum to discuss your ideas and interests for this year’s Sunday School program. We will then determine a Sunday School class schedule based on your feedback and the Sunday School Survey results (see enclosed survey.)September 12 10:30am: Worship service with the Chancel Choir~ 11:30am Carry-In Lunch featuring Roast Beef sandwiches. Please bring a side dish or dessert to share for the lunch. The Council of Christian Education will provide beverages and the Roast Beef sandwiches. <>< <>< <>< Information from the Session: Tuesday, September 21st at 3:00 p.m. there will be a meeting of the Maumee Valley Presbytery to be held at the Toledo Fairgreen Church. Reservation deadline is September 14th. The cost of the meal is $7.00 per person. Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at Market Street Presbyterian Church, Lima Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at First Presbyterian Church, Bowling Green Visitors are always welcome. Per Capita The church’s per capita to the denomination pays the administrative costs of Presbytery, Synod and General Assembly. It is assessed according to the number of members. The per capita payment due from First Presbyterian Church of Van Wert for 2010 is $9,680.00. Earlier the request was made to the congregation that if you were able to make this payment to the church, please do so. To date approximately $1,419.79 has been paid from the congregation. Thank you for your generous help with this obligation. The church has made two quarterly payments to the Presbytery for our obligation; a total of $4,800 has been paid to date. Again, if you are able and have not made a payment to our church for your portion, please consider helping. Your payment would contribute to keeping our budget in check. ************* Stewardship Committee: from Dianna Early, Clerk Stewardship—giving a portion of your time, talent, and treasure back to God—is an act of faith and an expression of gratitude. It’s what you do when you realize that your life, your work, your abilities and skill, the people and the places you love—all—are gifts from the God who created you. You are probably already giving some of your time and talent in service to God, but are you giving a portion of your income? It’s not easy to promise a portion of your living for God’s purposes, to let go of control of what you earn. Just as God has shared so generously with us, we too wish to share with others. Personnel: from Michelle White, ChairChurch Office Hours are Changing Cherrie has decided to decrease her hours to part-time, so that she may spend more time with her family. In response to that, we will be changing the office hours, as of October 1, 2010. The new hours will be as follows: Monday-Thursday 8:00 am-12:00 pm. The office will be closed on Fridays. If you need to meet with Cherrie and those times will not accommodate your schedule, please call Cherrie and she will make arrangements to meet with you. The office does have an answering machine where messages can be left. Also, on the answering machine, is Pastor Tom’s contact information if you should need to speak with him when the office is not open. Please assist us in making this a positive transition by supporting Cherrie in any way possible. <>< <>< <>< MISSION COMMITTEE REPORT: from Rex Fortney, Chair The Mission Committee reviewed the success of the garage sale. The sale received $814 in food sales and $1028.35 for the garage sale. There are a few bills yet to be paid, but the profit is expected to be between $1500 and $1600. Leftover items were delivered to Goodwill, Transition House and Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen. The net proceeds were designated for local missions. The committee will be meeting in October to decide the allocation. If you have any specific suggestions, please contact one of the Mission Committee members. The Mission Committee thanks everyone for their hard work and support of this project. The Peacemaking offering will be received on Worldwide Communion Sunday, October 3, 2010. The local portion (25%) has been designated for Salvation Army and Trinity Friends Food Pantry. The church will again participate in the Christmas Shoebox Project, so if you see some school supplies on sale, you might want to put them back in anticipation of this project. The national collection dates are November 15-22. Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen Mission Update: from Fred Early, Mission CmtThe mission of Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen on Central St., Lima has remained strong this summer providing noon meals, clothing, and personal hygiene supplies, serving an average of 200+ people each day. We the First Presbyterian Church of Van Wert and the Market Street Presbyterian Church of Lima have responsibility of being volunteer food servers and dining room helpers on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Each month we have taken a supply of clothing items collected, sorted and bagged by Jola Coplin and members of our congregation and large cans of vegetables and canned meats. During June their large walk in freezer malfunctioned resulting in the loss of a large quantity of fresh meats. A call went out to the supporting churches for donations of canned chicken and other meats. Thank you for the good response and quantity of canned meats that we delivered to the Soup Kitchen the following week. The need continues as always for gallon cans of vegetables, paper towels, personal hygiene items such as tooth paste and brushes, bar soap, shampoo, and clothing and bedding. Items for donation may be dropped off at our church office. The honor roll of volunteers serving during June, July and August include, Lois Harrow, Sally Hangartner, Sue Gates, Bonnie Jones, Barbara Presar, Harriet Schaadt, Lelia Sunday, Lyn Warren, Dottie Zabicki, Dianna Early and Fred Early. The sign up calendar is on the Missions bulletin board hanging in the south hallway. BOOK CLUB Welcome back, Read and Review Book Club Members! Here it is already the end of August! Our first meeting of the fall season will begin at noon on Thursday, September 2. The summer seems to be slowing down with the heat and humidity, so personally, I need a diversion which comes with reading, conversation and fellowship. We will meet at noon in the basement Fellowship Room at church. Please bring your lunch; beverages and dessert (Sue Gates) will be furnished. The book, "A Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls will be reviewed by Joan Blankenmeyer. Personally, I loved this book! See you on the 2nd….Bonnie Jones PRISCILLA CIRCLE On Monday, September 20, at 7PM in the Frantz Room Priscilla Circle will resume its meetings. Susan Darrah will give a Minute on Mission, Sara Green will have devotions and Lee Sunday will present Lesson #3 "Entry Into the Land". Hostesses for the evening are Joann Adams and Tracy Baer. All women of the church are invited to attend. NUT & CANDY SALE BEGINS Presbyterian Women will once again this fall be selling nuts & candy. The order has been mailed to Terry Lyn Inc, Elgin, IL with delivery to be in mid-October. Order forms are include in this newsletter and are available in the south hallway. FALL GATHERING . . . by Lee Sunday "Telling About Trafficking Is a Way To Save Lives" Presbyterian Women of Maumee Valley Presbytery will hear reports on the subject of trafficking in Maumee on October 2. A representative of the FBI team working in this area will present a power point presentation on the subject. In addition, State Senator Teresa Feder will speak about Bill 235 which needs to be passed in Columbus. Ohio is one of six states in the United States that does NOT have a law making trafficking a felony. That means people selling children for prostitution cannot be convicted for their crime. A delegation of Presbyterian Women from Van Wert will be going to the Presbyterian Church in Maumee to attend the Fall Gathering on October 2. We will leave Van Wert at 8:30AM. Lunch will be served at the church. If interested about being informed of these heinous crimes, and learn what individuals can do about it, call the church office 419-238-3670 or 419-238-1717. The new moderator of Presbyterian Women in Maumee Valley Presbytery is Peg McKinney. She is a nurse who lives and works in Fostoria. Her sister is the minister of the Presbyterian Church in Fostoria. The cover story of Horizons magazine, the magazine for Presbyterian Women for March/April, 2010 is "Trafficking: Facing the Human Commodity." If you would like to order a copy of that issue call the Peacemaking Office at our national office in Louisville. The number there is 800-872-3283. A quote from Horizons reads: Who in our world needs rescuing more than the two million children forced into slavery each year?
First Presbyterian church invites all youth 4 yrs-6th grade to: on Wednesday’s, beginning September 15, 3:30 – 5pm! Yummy snacks, outrageous games & activities! Parents: Kids can take a bus from their Van Wert school to the Goedde building each Wednesday and walk to the church with a JAM adult Leader. It’s easy! It’s free & so… much fun! Contact Susan Munroe for additional information at susan@vwpresby.org or at 419-238-3670!YOUTH GROUP IS SHAKING THINGS UP! All youth in grades 6-12 are invited to participate in our youth group activities! NEW FOR THIS YEAR… we will meet directly following the worship service, usually around 11:30am, typically on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month! Our first official youth group meeting of the year will be Sunday, September 19, following the worship service. We will have a causal lunch, followed by a 10 Mighty Minute Devotion and then we’ll perform a church service project. Michelle White is our parent leader for this meeting. Please email Susan Munroe at susan@vwpresby.org if you do not receive youth group information emails. Guests are always welcome to join us!
Puerto Rico "Week of Hope" Mission Trip Review: July 11-16, 2010 The following is an excerpt of a review presented to the Synod of the Covenant Assembly by Susan Munroe, Ellie Adams and Claire White. Why we chose Group Week of Hope in Caguas, Puerto Rico: Ages 12 & up were included We would serve side by side with others from around the country Emphasis was not only serving, but also the experience of worshipping with other Christians as well. Our Costs: Twenty-two people participated in the trip. The youth group participated in four fundraisers including: a yard work day, worked for tips at the church auction, sold holiday evergreens and prepared a cavatini lunch for our congregation. Many participants received grants based on membership in the PC-USA and active membership in First Presbyterian. There were also individual church member donations. Cost of trip with airfare, transportation in PR and Group Week of Hope tuition per person totaled: $866. This did not include baggage fees and spending money. If you were active in all the fundraisers and qualified for all of the grants, the total trip cost was very reasonable. The Experience: Accommodations: We stayed at the rustic Santa Maria Del Camino Retreat Center nestled very high in the mountains of Cayey, Puerto Rico not far from Caguas. We were on a side of a mountain that overlooked beautiful, tropical vegetation. There were plantain, avocado and banana trees at our location with many coquis (frogs), lizards, a few iguanas, a peacock, guinea hens and a few dogs from nearby residents. And…lots of mosquitoes. Who was there: Our group of 22, a non-denominational group of 20 from western Illinois, an Episcopalian group of 20 from San Antonio, TX and a Methodist group of 14 from Wilmington, NC. The majority were youth, with about 20 adults. Of course, they’re all facebook friends now! Also, each youth group had to help prepare one meal and perform certain cleaning assignments. Our Work Sites: Our work groups: All of us were divided up into "crews" of 5-6 people with at least 1 adult. Each of us chose a job to perform for our crews such as "lunch maker," - responsible for packing the cooler each day with drinks and lunches or "devotion leader" - lead devotions after lunch at the work site. Worksite locations: Two low-income elderly living facilities in Caguas and in rural Caguas- performed maintenance work including cleaning empty or occupied apartments, scraping and painting, yard/landscape weeding clean-up work, some sewage clean-up. A cathedral & school in downtown Caguas – scraping and painting, power washing roof, general maintenance. A women’s domestic violence shelter: general maintenance, scraping and painting. Yard clean-up of a resident who was in drug rehab: yard was completely over-run with weeds and was littered with needles. The work was hard, hot, and pushed us sometimes to our limits, but each day we pushed forward to complete our tasks. Some of us worked in the least desirable locations in the Caguas area. Getting to know those we served: Each work site location allowed us the opportunity to interact with the residents. Most spoke little to no English, but somehow we got by. Most children were bi-lingual. We all have stories of those we met and got to know. There were tears shed by us and those we served on our last day, gifts exchanged and pictures taken. Some played pool or dominoes with the elderly, or exchanged "silly bands" with children. One resident prepared sandwiches and drinks for some workers. Residents were amazed that we came all the way to PR to serve them. There were astounded and so thankful. I believe we all knew at that point that we were the face of Jesus to them, serving them in his name. The impact of getting to know those we served was a unique experience of this trip and I know our kids brought it home with them. Programming & Worship Experience: All centered around the story of the Prodigal Son from Luke 15:11-32 and the theme, "Underserved." There were 4 main times each day for worship and programming: Morning: This consisted of all participants in the pavilion. "Get Down, He Lifts Me Up" Song & Dance to get us moving! It worked! Introduction to the theme of the day, special work crew and work site announcements Work site devotionals: This was an opportunity for each crew to discuss the daily theme, the work performed, and to share about themselves and where they were in their faith journey. Evening: This was as a large group in the pavilion. Consisted of praise music, a short video each night that gradually told the story of the prodigal son, and some sharing by the leaders. One of the evenings, we were able to travel to different stations in silence where we were invited to give our struggles & past mistakes over to God and fully accept his grace and love – all through using our five senses. Another evening we were invited to accept a ring symbolizing our "Underserved" love that God freely offers us, (like the father gave to the prodigal son upon his return.) This was quite a moving moment for our youth and adults. It was an emotional time for our kids and a completely new experience for them. It was completely joyful and inspirational to watch our kids take part in this program. Our own youth group devotions: This occurred after the evening program. Each youth group that attended met on their own and followed the devotion guide that was in our handbook. This allowed us time to reconnect, review the day, share and discuss how we can take this experience home with us to First Presbyterian. We actually had one of our youth that volunteered to lead our youth group devotions for two evenings, which was awesome! We also discussed our desire to make service a much bigger part of our youth group activities. Fun & Play: Free afternoon & evening: We mostly explored Old San Juan and had dinner out. Some had traditional Puerto Rican food (yummy Mofongo!) Some toured one of the forts, and the others shopped. Our last day before flying out, part of our group went to the rainforest and the rest went to a beautiful beach in Old San Juan. All arrived back in Ohio safely with lots of new facebook friends and many mosquito bites! Our Faith in Motion in Puerto Rico and Home Hearts were transformed; new relationships formed with one another, with others from different states and from Puerto Rico and our eyes opened. We discovered that we each could make a difference in the lives of others not only by serving, but also by sharing of ourselves… a smile, a game of dominoes or a hug. We thank our church family, the Presbytery and Synod for their financial support and prayers. We are grateful for the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with others in need in Puerto Rico. We are also eager to take our experience to serve those in need to our community and to our church. We discovered that, though undeserving, God's loving mercy, grace and forgiveness are ours to receive. First Presbyterian Sunday School Survey We’re looking for your input into the direction for Sunday School. Yes, most of us are more time-constrained these days. There’s more to do with less time to do it in. But where does that leave the traditional Sunday School program? The Council of Christian Education is exploring the possibilities. Please answer the questions below and place in offering plate or return to the church office by Kick-Off Sunday, September 12. We’re looking for your honest feedback. Your responses will direct us to better address your interests and schedules. Please contact Susan Munroe ( susan@vwpresby.org) or a CCE member* with additional questions or input. We welcome your ideas and suggestions.Did you or your children attend Sunday School during the last church school year (September 2009 – May 2010?) How often? Do you believe Sunday School is primarily for children and not adults? Would you consider attending Sunday School if the topic was of interest to you? What topics? Would you like to take part in a fellowship activity before church instead of Sunday School? Would you like to participate in a small group Bible Study that meets once or twice a month? For parents of school age children: Would you like to participate in a monthly family Sunday School program? Additional comments: *Council of Christian Education Members: Sandy Adams, Angela Crosby, Drew Creekmore, Glo Parrish, Lee Sunday and Leah Treece
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