August 2014 NEWSLETTER UPCOMING EVENTS
2nd Sports Camp - 2 August 4-8th
Women’s Small Group Resumes August 6th Pg. 5
H.S. Lake House Bash August 16th Pg. 4
His Kids & Kids Etc. Resumes August 17th Pg. 6
Book Club Resumes August 21st Pg. 5
M.S. Pool Party August 23rd Pg. 4
Backpack Blessing August 24th Pg. 6
Ignite Kick-Off August 27th Pg. 4
F ro m P a s to r Z a c I have told the story from the pulpit about how, when I was growing up on military bases, my parents would host holiday parties for the young military personnel. Dozens of 20-somethings who were called to remain on base and yet still needed that sense of home would fill our house. The food was always rich and filling as were the conversations and the games we played. Those acts of hospitality left an indelible mark on my life about how families should treat those without families. A few years ago, Jules and I felt called to do the same and threw a Thanksgiving dinner party for those without close families in our former church. We thought maybe a couple of dozen people would be interested only to have more than 75 respond; it was such a larger number that we moved the event to the church building to accommodate everyone. It was a true blessing to see my wife and mother-in-law in action in the kitchen as Caleb and I greeted the widows, the single parents, the elderly couples, and families who couldn’t afford to provide a meal for themselves. As a church family, we invite people into the church house for worship services, Wednesday night dinners, children’s and youth events, and there are always guests in our midst. Guests who may be lonely, widows, people estranged from family, folks who are financially down-trodden, people facing health crises, and they came hoping to find the warmth only a family can give. Imagine if at one of those parties my parents threw for the military men and women, my family had only talked amongst itself my siblings and I played in our rooms, and my parents had exclusively private conversations. Imagine at the Thanksgiving dinner, if Jules and I had only talked to her mom or tended to Caleb. How would the guests respond? In Hebrews 13:2 we read, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Continued on Next Page
Often, when we read that verse we get hung up on the “angels” part of it, but the focus of the verse is on the word hospitality, or philoxenias in the Greek... which literally means love of strangers. The idea is that when we show love to those we do not know good things happen. Hospitality was to be a mark of the early Church, and it was the love of strangers during the Roman Empire - especially toward those who were outcasts - that helped spread the gospel of Jesus so quickly. When we show up on Sunday morning for a worship service or Sunday School there is a temptation to head for the donuts and coffee, greet the people we know, and put blinders on to the people we do not know. FPC is a great church, full of wonderful, godly people. Our goal should be to find those “strangers” in our midst and extend to them the warmest philoxenias we have. God has called us to act as though we are throwing a dinner party for those who need to feel the goodness of his love in the presence of his people, and we all can be great hosts for the Lord at FPC!
August 31th
August 24th
August 17th
August 10th
August 3th
Sunday Mornings at FPC
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8:15 & 10:30 am Classic Services
If I Could Start Over I Would Face Up to Life Dr. Mike Loudon
10:30 am Vine Service
God’s Hospitality to Us Zac McGowen
8:15 & 10:30 am Classic Services
If I Could Start Over I Would Learn to Remember Dr. Mike Loudon
10:30 am Vine Service
God’s Community of Hospitality Kenny Ellis
8:15 & 10:30 am Classic Services
If I Could Start Over I Would Learn to Forgive Dr. Mike Loudon
10:30 am Vine Service
Obstacles to Radical Hospitality Kenny Ellis
8:15 & 10:30 am Classic Services
If I Could Start Over I Would Form Better Habits Dr. Mike Loudon
10:30 am Vine Service
Everyone’s Responsibility Zac McGowen
8:15 & 10:30 am Classic Services
Faith Goes to Work Marilyn Cummings
10:30 am Vine Service
Sermon Kenny Ellis
September
Looking Ahead to
September 1st
Labor Day (Church Closed)
September 7th
Callison Mission Lunch
September 10th
Family Night Resumes
News fro m th e P e w Religious Composition in the U.S. 2%
3%
Breakdown of Christian Denominations in the U.S. 2%
17%
1%
1%
Evangelical Protestants Catholic
9%
Christians
34%
Unaffiliated Jewish
0%
Mainline Protestants Historically Black
23%
Mormon
other
Jehovah's Witness
78% 30%
Orthodox Other Christian
According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center the vast majority of people in the United States are Christian- over 78% of the population. The next largest group is those who have no church affiliation for one reason or another. Many of them are simply “secular.” What may be surprising to many is that the historic mainline churches, like Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopal, and Lutheran, now account for only 18% of the population, and 23% of the Christian population. Our numbers are waning. The Presbyterian Church USA (now at 1.1% of the total population) has been declining in membership for the past 40 years, but sadly we are not alone. All of the old mainline denominations have declined steeply in numbers. In early America, mainline Protestants made up the vast majority of the church population, but such is not the case today. The Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical denominations surpassed us mainline Protestants in numbers years ago. There is nothing “wrong” about that fact. God is working through those groups also. He is Lord! The important question for us to ask is “How can we be witnesses for Christ and point people to the Savior?” Our church will grow numerically only as we reach out to family members, neighbors, co-workers and friends and invite them to worship and study God’s Word with us. We are certainly not “the only true church in town.” God is at work in marvelous ways in all sorts of wonderful congregations in Lakeland of all stripes and affiliations. But, we are a vital and Christ-centered church and you and I should be inviting people who do not have a church home to become part of FPC and grow in faith here.
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New S t u d e n t L i fe D i re c to r FPC is pleased to announce that we have selected a new Student Life Director: Brian Morgan! Brian Morgan has been serving the FPC youth as the Interim Leader through the summer and has volunteered with the missions and youth programs for several years. Brian moved to Florida from New York to persue a degree in Physical Education from Florida Southern College, from which he graduated in 2007. Afterwards he worked as a Wreslting Coach and Health and Nutrition Teacher for students in grades 6-12 at McKeel Academy. Brian is curently attending Asbury Theological Seminary to recieve his Masters of Divinity. Brian and Amanda Morgan have two wonderful children: Trinity (19 mos.) and Titus (newborn). Welcome Brian and Amanda!
H elp S t udent s a t P a rk e r S tre e t M i n i s tri e s Be a blessing to parents, students and teachers by helping provide 125 students with backpacks and uniforms, so they are appropriately dressed and supplied for the first day of school through Parker Street Ministries. Monetary donations are needed for the purchase of backpacks, school supplies, and school uniforms. Donations can be made to FPC with “PSM Backpacks & Uniforms” on the memo line and placed in the offering plate or dropped off at FPC office by August 3rd. Contact Parker Street Ministries at 863-682-4544 for more information.
“ B ac k to Sc h o o l , K i d s !” His Kids will begin its new season on Sunday, August 17th, from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. We look forward to seeing those from Preschool to 5th Grade. We hope all of you have had a memorable summer! Kindergarteners and first graders will meet in Room 116 with Ruthie Teets and Nicole Prokopf, second and third graders meet in Room 117 with Heather Byers and Lisa McCrea and fourth and fifth graders meet in Room 115 with Kim Bowers. We are excited to welcome more than 12 new kindergarteners who are joining us in Elementary His Kids on August 17th. Welcome to “The Garden”! Parents of all Elementary children, please mark your calendars for August 24th when the Kindergarten to 5th grade children will process in the 10:30 a.m. Classic and Vine services with their backpacks for school and share in the blessing from our Pastors. The kids love this special time!
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S pec ial Repor t fro m C h i l d re n ’ s M i n i s try
Alyss Ruster, our Mini Miracles Director, has proven there was a need for camps for our special needs children. FPC offered 4 weeks of camp and all of them were attended to the max. Kim and Craig Spurlock spent many hours building an activity board for the children and it was the highlight of the activity room during the camps. Thank you for being so creative!! We thank Alyss and all her volunteers for heading up these camps and doing it so well! The Mini Miracles program has been a huge success which has allowed the parents of these children to attend worship and also enjoy some free time while their children attend the camps. God’s presence has been evident in this program. Our summer camps have been enjoyed by many children from Kindergarten through 5th grade. David Joyner and his team have done a great job, as usual, implementing fun camps for our children. We thank you!!! Our teachers for the Sunday preschool and elementary programs took a much needed break in July, and all programs will be eager to start up again on August 3rd. Our preschool and elementary Sunday School children will be celebrated as they all move up one grade. Special thanks to all our volunteers in Children’s Ministry and we hope you had a great summer!! Kids Etc. Reminder – New location will be in Room 115, starting August 3rd. Please come to the Welcome Center to check in. All third graders, please mark your calendars for the upcoming Third Grade Bible program. It will take place on Sunday mornings at 9:15 in the Bell Room on October 12th, 19th, and 26th. The Bibles will be presented on November 2nd. The classes will take place. We look forward to seeing you at this program which is facilitated by Kim Bowers. Please contact Jo Ahearn at 686-7187 or
[email protected] if you would like to participate and receive your very own personally engraved Bible.
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First Presbyterian Church of Lakeland invites you to come celebrate the ordination and installation of
Kenny Ellis
This joyous event will take place on
Sunday, August 10, 2014 at 4:00 p.m. Join us at
First Presbyterian Church 175 Lake Hollingsworth Dr. Lakeland, FL 33801
for the ordination, installation, and a reception to celebrate Rev. Kenny Ellis 6
S um m e r V o l u n te e rs A big thank you to all the Presbyterian Women circles that helped make snack time a success for the more than 100 Vacation Bible School Volunteers. A special thanks to Rita Drake, Jo Fogg, Cathy Gilbert and Barbara Davis who gave of their time.
Wo me n ’ s S m a l l Gro u p The women’s small group study resumes Wednesday, August 6th, at 6:00 p.m. in the parlor, led by Bev Bigelow and Kim Manske. Join them as Andy Stanley shows the difference between faith and hope in a 5-session study called “Faith, Hope, and Luck.” Childcare is available.
Celebr at ing a N e w Sc h o o l Y e a r The High School Back to School Lakehouse Bash is Saturday, August 16th and the Middle School Back to School Pool Party is Saturday, August 23rd. We expect to have a great time at each of these parties. Contact Brian Morgan at
[email protected] for more information. High schoolers and middle schoolers should RSVP by August 10th and August 17th, respectively. Also, don’t forget the Ignite Kick-Off Party on Wednesday, August 27th - no RSVP needed. Please bring a friend!
Congr egat iona l C a re F e a tu re d Mi n i s try Check out our “Care Notes”. These are Inspirational Booklets covering subjects such as Grief & Loss, Family Care, Aging & Long Term Care and more. We also have Care Notes for kids like Bye-Bye Bully, Happy to Be Me, Standing Up to Peer Pressure. The booklets are located on racks in the Welcome Center & Narthex. If you have not looked at these, it is well worth a few minutes to stop and see what is available. These are placed for the use of the congregation, and we thank Marge Boyer who does a great job of keeping them current.
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T he B eginn i n g o f a N e w C h a p te r The Jerry Crane Book Club will meet in the Parlor on August 21st at 10:00 a.m. Please come and share the good books you have read this summer with the group. Two books will be discussed: East Wind, Rain by Caroline Paul and Home Front by Kristin Hannah. The love of good books and the fellowship of friends is what the Book Club is about. New members are welcomed! Call Marilyn Leonard 863-646-0132 for more information or questions.
Fo o d D ri v e Our annual Food Drive was a huge success. This year we collected a total of 4,394 pounds of food items for 6 of our local ministries. Of this, our VBS crews collected 2,305 pounds of food! As always they do a wonderful job bringing in donations. This year, we were able to cut down on the 50-pound rice donations and brought in smaller sized packages, enabling use to serve more of the local needs in our ministries. We were also able to accept slightly dented items and items that were a tad bit out of date and allowed the ministries to decide on those items that were outdated. We collected 436 pounds more than last year. Thank you FPC family & friends for your generous donations. It was a complete joy to head this much needed ministry and I enjoyed having Shelly Gerber, Heather Byers, and a few of the visiting moms help with the daily weighing and sorting of the many bags of food. - Gwynn Butterfield
S e s s i o n R e p o rt The FPC session met on June 24th, 2014. It was noted that presbytery was having a special meeting to vote on moving Kenny Ellis’ ordination and on selling the presbytery office in Tampa. The special meeting was held on June 26th and Kenny Ellis was approved for ordination in the PCUSA, and the presbytery voted to move ahead with the sale of our presbytery office building. Three new members were received into FPC- the Rochester family. Session voted to request the Commission on Ministry of the Presbytery to approve the St. Andrew’s Ministry at FPC as a validated ministry in the presbytery, thus allowing Dr. Paul Suich to move forward in his ordination as a Teaching Elder in the PCUSA. Dr. Angelo Spoto appeared on behalf of the St. Andrew’s ministry committee requesting that the session increase the draw down from the St. Andrew’s endowment from 6% to 8% for 2014. Pastor Loudon reported on the recent actions of General Assembly. In light of changes concerning “same-sex marriage” the FPC session voted to write into our minutes and wedding guidelines that only weddings between one man and one woman will be permitted. Further discussion on denominational issues will occur at the Session retreat in August, and a motion on joining the new PCUSA affinity group “The Fellowship of Presbyterians/ Presbyterians for Renewal” will be discussed.
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9
Marge Boyer John Buma Evan Gonzalez Bernice Gutshall Steve Johnson Kevin Nixon Nancy Richards Aaron Smith
David Mal Donado Rachel Meinke Olivia Sale Carol Ziegler
Charlie Cobb Gwen Gallaher Victoria Holmes Alyce Jodice John Midyette Patricia Moor Tram Toadvine
Betsy Agey Caleb McGowen Katherine McQuown
Doug Gokee Rodney Naughton Brady Pennington
Sunday
31
24
17
10
3
Justin Bolding Bob Butterfield Marcie Cummings Paul Pearson Jack Schraw Sarah Yang
Ellen Andersen Ron Atkinson Jesse Chappell William Crede Jon Scott Bryan Snapp
Maryon Bramley Caroline Cleghorn
Pam Drake Nancy Yocum
Monday
25
18
11
4
David Ellington Shirley Goodman Georgia Hart Chuck Ladendorf Steven Sawyer Ashley Sowell
McKenna Clark Kyle Giesel
David Daniel Douglas Duncan Michael Grubb Mike Loudon
Thomas Fowler Bailey Hamic Jeff Horvate Alex Nicolo Stan Royal Cole Sellers
Tuesday
26
19
12
5
Betty Hogge Chris King Jeff Lazenby Jim Marler Mary Ann Merriman Peggy Snow
Ashton Fitzsimmons Jackie Hansen Faith Parks Jameson Roberts Michael Roberts
Janis Alford Nadia Charchyan Jean Coleman Leigh Hughes Lee Martin
Johnathon Gerber Mary Nicholas Maddie Rodriguez Robin Stewart Katie Wilson
Wednesday
27
20
13
6
Evan Bushong Monica Carlile Larry Connelly Sarah Franklin Landon Naughton
Charleen Crane Becky Rodda John Snapp
Samantha Butterfield Anthony Davis Marti Murvin Ashley Rastatter
Bert Radovan
Thursday
28
21
14
7
Dick Huggins Josh Richter Melody Russo David Shannon Ryan Smith Henry & Rick Ziegler
Cole Daly Elizabeth Grove Garth Pennington Caroline Ruthven
Roger Burna Jennifer Cantey Holleman Hughes Leslie Norman Heather Prahl
Beverly Bigelow Ginny Burris Lisa Burton Pat Engle Scott Sklenicka
Allison Black Patricia Byers Alice Duling Randy Gilbert Carole Marler Jeff Nave Jane Spencer
Friday
Birthday Calendar - August 2014
29
22
15
8
1
Bob Foxworth Fay Hill Ray Phillips Matthew Reinstetle
Giavanna Aulisio Sheenah Betz Scott Franklin John Frost Doris Lyons Andrew Whittington
Jason Antaya Helen Herring David Hurd Jordan Siegel
Shirley Janssen Randi Jones Heidi Lamb Jean Mutz
Carole Bolter Jane Hamic Kit Mullis Jay Speed
Saturday
30
23
16
9
2
August
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