A Message From Pastor Jill My dear Northminster family, Before too long, we will begin the season of Lent. It is a season that is often set aside to give something up. Many people choose this practice as a means of honoring the time that Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting and praying. This is a beautiful thing- anything done to honor God or to make time and space to deepen our relationship with Jesus brings God joy, I believe. I wonder, though, if sometimes our giving something up becomes more of a challenge than a spiritual practice. It has for me in the past- a race to get to Easter to be able to enjoy the thing I had once tasted or en-joyed. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday this year, on February 14th. I invite you to make Lent a “set-apart time”. Perhaps that will mean giving something up to make time or space to deepen your relationship with God. Or perhaps it may mean taking something on. Perhaps this Lenten season you might try something new: meditation or a new devotional or prayer guide. We are excited to announce that this Lent, we will offer small groups: Beloved Community Groups, or BC Groups, for short. These groups will have different meeting times and spaces, with different interests or curric-ulum to guide them. You've already heard a little bit about these in worship and you'll continue to hear more as we begin this Lenten journey together. Beloved Community groups will meet weekly during the 6 weeks of Lent and focus on deepening relation-ships with God and one another, the great joy of God's Beloved Community it-self. However you choose to journey through Lent, may you know that God's gra-cious and abundant welcome is for you and that God's peace, strength and love go with you wherever you go. Blessings and peace to you my friends, Jill

Vol. 50 No. 2 · “Rooted in Christ, Reaching in Love” · February 2018

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The Finance committee met on Thursday, January 11. Below are the keypoints of the meeting. We had strong revenue in December which resulted in an $8,000 gain. The year ended with our expenses exceeding our revenues by $7,700. The deficit will be made up with funds from savings. A $19,000 loss had been budgeted but some of the short-fall was offset by the delay in our new pastor joining us. The Stewardship/budgeting season is over and a 2018 budget will be presented to Session in January for approval. The 2018 budget will also reflect a deficit due to declining reve-nue. The Northminster Preschool is in a profitable position thanks to funds from a gift, the yard

sale and church contribution. It is expected that by the end of the school year in May 2018,

the school will be near an operational breakeven position and those additional will be seed

money for the 2018 school year.

Finance John Lundeen, Treasurer

Souper Sunday!

February 4th after worship

Come root for your favorite "Souper" Bowl team. Please bring a pot of your favorite soup to share.

New England chowder?

Philly chili?

Drinks and dessert provided.

Donations will go to CCM's food bank.

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Northminster Child Development Center

In January the NCDC kids learned all about our seasons and weath-er. And what a wacky weather month it has been! We made snowmen, rain sticks, and tornado bottles. Our letters for January included the letter J, so we also continued making J for Jesus crafts well after Christmas! We look forward to our field trip to Patrick Beaver Li-brary on February 6th to participate in their magical music story time, and to enjoy a picnic lunch.

Now that the second semester of school is here, we are in need of snacks and a few other items. If you can donate, please bring items to my of-fice in the education building or to the church office. Here is a list of what we need: fruit snacks, goldfish, pretzels, Cheese-Its, vanilla wa-fers, paper towels, napkins, and baby wipes.

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How Abraham Unites Jew, Christians and Muslims

The Catawba Valley Interfaith Council invites you to think seriously about what Jews,

Christians, Muslims have in common as we present a four-part series on the

book Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths. Our presentations will include

four evenings of study on February 11, 18, 25, and March 4th as follows:

Four Study Evenings: Feb. 11, 2018, Temple Beth Shalom, Rabbi Dennis Jones Feb. 18, 2018, Corinth Reformed, UCC, Rev. Dr. Robert Thompson Feb. 25, 2018, Northminster Presbyterian Church, Imam T. A. Mutakabbir March 4, 2018, Belk Centrum LRU, Dr. Mindy Makant

Each of the sessions will begin at 2:30 pm and conclude by 4:00 pm.

Published by Bruce Feiler in 2005, the book tells the powerful story of one man's search

for the shared ancestor of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Traveling through war

zones, braving violence at religious sites, and seeking out faith leaders, Feiler uncovers

the defining yet divisive role that Abraham plays for half the world's believers.

To get the most out of the discussion, we recommend that you purchase (or borrow) and read (or listen to) the book in advance. There are a number of new and used formats cur-rently available on Amazon for $10 or less. Feel free to forward this email to others who may be interested in this discussion.

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Save the date! REAP Gathering!

WHAT: Photo exhibit by National Geographic Photographer ENDANGERED: Joel Sartore Retrospective WHEN: Friday, February 16 @ 10:30 WHERE: Hickory Museum of Art

We will meet at the museum, view the exhibit, then go to lunch for fellowship and discussion for those you can.

What is REAP? REAP stands for

Relaxing Educational Affordable Programs

NPC students recently voted on topics they wish to explore this semester during WHAM on Wednesday nights. Their top choices were: Anxiety, Sexuality, Being Gift-ed and Called, and Science and Faith. If your student has been looking for a good time to dive into the NPC youth program, now is the perfect time! We meet each Wednesday at 6:15 in the MU. February Events: Friday, February 2: 6pm-8pm Bonfire at the King-VanBenschoten’s Saturday, February 17: 9am-5pm Faith and Sexuality Event at Montreat (This is an event for students grades 5-8 and their parents. Pre-registration is required. See Jackie for more details.)

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The word “Lent” comes from the An-glo Saxon word lencten, which means "spring." It is the 40-day period leading up to Easter on the Christian calendar. During Lent, we recall the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness before beginning his ministry. During this season, we traditionally practice “burying the alleluia” in our worship, refrain-ing from using the word “alleluia” until East-er morning. Some Christians observe Lent by making a personal sacrifice for 40 days (e.g. giving up soft drinks or fried food). This

year, we are encouraging Northminster folks to practice taking something on, rather than giving up something. Beginning in mid-February, we will be launching small groups called “BC Groups,” or Beloved Community Groups. These groups are designed to build stronger relationships and refo-cus our energy on God. It is our hope that every person at Northminster will join a BC group for the 6 weeks of Lent. If, after the 6 weeks, your group wants to continue meeting, that’s great. If not, that’s okay, too! We are working on solidifying group leaders, dates, and times, but potential group opportunities include: -crafting group -book study group -“theology on tap” group -dinner group -woodworking group -men’s group -Sunday morning breakfast group Ash Wednesday Schedule Dinner- 5:15-6:15 Ash Wednesday Worship- 6:30-7:15 Choir Practice- 7:15-8:15 Handbell Practice- 8:15-9:00

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JANUARY WORSHIP ATTENDANCE

January 7 70 January 14 69 January 21 73 January 28 61

To the Women of the Church: The Mary Cater Circle will meet on Feb-ruary 12 at 7:00 pm in the Session Room (Educational Building). All Women of the Church are welcome.

FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS

2 Susan Rudisill 9 Kelly Bridgeman 10 Gene Rice 12 Juanita Clark 13 Bea Manuel 16 Barbara Kenny 23 Amy Coffey 25 Jim Crook 26 Tom Tisdale 28 Caite McKinney

Volunteers are needed to change the message on the church sign in April, May, July, September and Octo-ber. No experience or age limitations…just a desire to contribute to the life of your church. If you are looking for an opportunity to serve with-out having to tie up a lot of time, please call the church office (324-6634) to sign up for one of the above months.

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Northminster Presbyterian Church 3730 North Center Street

Hickory, NC 28601

Phone: (828) 324-6634 Fax: (828) 324-2007

Email: office@npchickory.org www.npchickory.org

NORTHMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Staff Directory

Pastor ......................…………………........................................................Rev. Jill Isola Director of Christian Education & Youth.............................................Jackie Putnam Music Director………………..............................................................Nathan Crabtree Office Administrator………………………………..…………….….....Patty Williams Financial Secretary…………………………………………………….....Sheila Young Organist………………………………………………………………….Ruth Sperring Director of the Child Development Center...........…………………...........Mary Ann Crozier