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Table of Contents 2. Pastoral News, From the Pastor
2. Birthdays, Anniversaries, Prayer Corner
3. Book Review
4. In A Different Voice
5. Noah’s Ark, I’m Fine, Thank You
5. Something is Rotten in Denmark by Bill Evens
6. Message from Lew & Dolores Moon
7. Los Noticias
8. Spring Bash @ Miriam Reeds
9. Calendar of Events
First Presbyterian Church of Florence
May 2014 Volume 7 Issue 5
First Presbyterian Church of Florence P.O. Box 950
Florence AZ 85132
Ph. 520-868-5634
Fax : 520-868-3053 Email : [email protected]
Web site: http://florenceazchurch.org
Sunday Church Service
10:00 a.m.
Fellowship after worship
Pastor
John Johnson
Cell: 312-933-3494
Home: 520-529-2773
Session Members
Clerk of the Session
Nancy Blank 520-868-5538
Ministry of Management
Administration/Finance
Robert Woodhull 520-840-9740
Property
Roger Hiestand 520-868-0343
Building
Allen Saunders 480-656-8816
Congregational Care
Verna Boyle 520-868-8182
Fellowship
Laura Hofmann 520-858-2845
Evangelism
Sandra Saunders 480-656-8816
Mission
Vera Schell 520-868-8720
Worship
B.J. Ferguson 602-989-2108
Christian Education
????????
Stewardship
LeRoy Bring 520-518-5129
Floater
Anita VonWagner
Bookkeeper
Judi Hyland
Treasurer
Vicky Bahme
Assistant Treasurer
Agnes Eeg
Anita VanWagoner
520-868-4671
Prayer Chain
Vera Schell 520-868-8720
Newsletter
Sandra Saunders
Deadline is 20th of month
Church Secretary
Joan Phillips
520-840-9143
Church Hours
Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday
8:30 – 11:30 a.m.
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PASTORAL NEWS
From the Pastor . . .
We are on vacation. See you all next month.
Blessings, John
The session met on March18th in Hanna Hall
1. There are 79 active church members;
2. New Elders were indoctrinated on April 6th. Laura Hofmann, BJ Brown-Ferguson, Anita Van
Wagoner
May
9. Margie Thompson
18. Phyllis Carlson
21. Alice Winn
Please let me know if I missed your Birthday or
have the wrong date. Thanks
May
Please let me know your anniversary.
Pray For:
Gary Ellsworth, Emily Wren, Dick & Myrt Lowater, Marilyn Bring,
Mary Palmer, Junior Hiller, JL Hooper, Heidi Lowe; Maria; Kurt;
Billy Boehme; Bob & Verna Boyle; Alice & Phil Winn;
Prayers for our military: Lord hold our troops in your loving hands.
Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for
selfless acts performed.
Don’t forget to pray for our Police Officers and our Fire Fighters.
DISCLAIMER Articles shared or written by individuals are not necessarily the views or opinions of the church.
If you have something you would like to share or something you have written, I would be happy to
include them in the newsletter.
All shared or written articles will be attributed to the person who sent them in. Thank you, Sandra Saunders…. Newsletter Editor
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BOOK REVIEW This book review, The Snow Leopard, was first published” in August, 2009. We are repeating it in memory
of the author, Peter Matthiessen, who died April 5, 2014, at age 86, of acute leukemia. Matthiessen was
an American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer, and a three-time National Book Award winner. Also a
prominent environmental activist, one reviewer noted,” No one writes more lyrically...about animals or
describes more movingly the spiritual experience of mountaintops, savannas, and the sea.”
His was a many faceted life – born to a well-to-do family; served in the Navy; a degree from Yale; founding a
literary magazine, The Paris Review, to cover his work with the CIA; 2 marriages and fatherhood; early pioneer
vof LSD; oceanographic research, and becoming a Buddhist priest.
The Snow Leopard
by Peter Matthiessen
Like Thomas Moore’s Care of the Soul, The Snow Leopard also expands the view of the Soul
as Matthiessen takes the reader on a perilous but awe-inspiring journey, totaling over 500
miles on foot through the Himalayas in northwest Nepal near the frontier of Tibet with his
zoologist friend, George Schaller. George wants to study the bharal, or Himalayan blue sheep,
in rut to determine whether they may be more goat than sheep. Matthiessen hopes to see the
rarest and most beautiful of the great cats, the snow leopard. Only two Westerners, George
being one of them, had seen a snow leopard in the past 25 years.
Their destination is the Land of Inner Dolpo and the Chrystal Monastery, said to be “the last
enclave of pure Tibetan culture left on earth, and Tibetan culture was the last citadel of ‘all that
present-day humanity is longing for, either because it has been lost or not yet been realized or
because it is in danger of disappearing from human sight: the stability of a tradition, which has
its roots not only in a historical or cultural past, but within the innermost being of man...’.”
On September 28, 1973, the journey begins with 4 Sherpas and 14 porters, mostly bare-footed
and carrying 80-pound loads. Matthiessen’s journey concludes on November 29 followed by
George’s on December 15. What transpires during the intervening weeks is certainly
nourishment for the soul, both for the author and the reader.
Most of Earth’s peoples have a limited concept of the Himalayas, mainly from photos of Mt.
Everest. We are unaware of the dark gorges of wild water and ice that never see the sunlight;
of the panoply of wildflowers and songbirds that soften the ragged, icy crags; of the numerous
vegetables grown by tiny groups of isolated families who live at 15,000 feet or more, scattered
among the 20,000-foot peaks that tower over their rough huts and beautifully decorated
Buddhist monasteries, some thousands of years old.
Bharal herds, yak herds, wolf packs, Yeti sightings, rice-and-water meals, a joyous feast with
musical instruments and dancing, wet sleeping bags, blizzards, hours of meditation, days of
silence, haggling with the porters and Sherpas, doubting one’s survival---Matthiessen treats us
to meticulous observations of the ever-changing, always unpredictable, and death-defying
events of each day.
Oh, did I hear you ask if Matthiessen ever saw a snow leopard?
Judith Johnston
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It is never too early or too late to care for the well-being of the soul. Epicurus, Greek philosopher, 341-270 B.C.
They question thee concerning the soul. Tell them: The soul has been created by the command of my Lord; and
you have been granted but little knowledge concerning it. Koran 17:86
Farewell: that is to say, give your soul good fare. But you fare well if you feed it, not on
great quantity, but on the best quality. Marcilio Ficino, Renaissance philosopher, 1433-1499
My soul waits in silence for God only;
From Him is my salvation. Psalms 62:1
46) And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord,
47) And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. Mary, mother of Jesus, Luke 1:46,47
In a Different Voice (A monthly column written and submitted by Judith Johnston)
Strange, interesting, weird, charming, scary—as America becomes increasingly diverse, we are
confronted by more & more people whose ways are not our ways. Yet, God seems to have spoken
to His children in many different places at very different times. Some of these diverse views will
be featured each month to encourage a healthy curiosity about other spiritual writings and to open
us up to possibilities for a larger spiritual awareness.
It is a riddle and one needs to figure out the hidden message in it - it goes like
this ;
GIVE GET
GIVE GET
GIVE GET
GIVE GET
Miriam Reed
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I am not afraid of tomorrow for I have seen yesterday and I love today.
Noah's Ark : Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah's Ark .
ONE: Don't miss the boat.
TWO: Remember that we are all in the same boat!
THREE: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
FOUR: Stay fit. When you're 60 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
FIVE: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
SIX: Build your future on high ground.
SEVEN: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
EIGHT: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
NINE: When you're stressed, float awhile.
TEN: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
ELEVEN: No matter the storm, there’s always a rainbow waiting.
Received in an email from a good friend… Sandra
On April 27th, Reverend Bill Evans filled in for
John and once again, we were inspired by one of
his original songs.
I’m Fine, Thank You
There is nothing the matter with me,
I’m as healthy as I can be,
I have arthritis in both my knees
And when I talk, I talk with a wheeze,
My pulse is weak and by blood is thin,
But I’m awfully well for the shape I’m in.
Sleep s denied me night after night
But every morning I find I’m all right,
My memory is failing, my head’s in a spin
But I’m awfully well for the shape I’m in.
How do I know my youth is all spent?
Well my “get and go” has got up and went.
But I really don’t mind when I think with a grin,
Of all the grand places my “get up” has bin.
“Old age is golden,” I’ve heard it said,
But sometimes I wonder as I get into bed,
With my ears in the drawer, my teeth in a cup
My eyes on the table until I wake up.
‘Ere sleep overtakes me, I say to myself,
“Is there anything else I could lay on the shelf?”
When I was young, my slippers were red,
I could kick my heels over my head.
When I was older, my slippers were blue,
But still I could dance the whole night through.
Now I am old, my slippers are black,
I walk to the store and puff my way back.
I get up each day and dust off my wits,
And pick up the paper and read the “obits.”
If my name is still missing, I know I’m not dead,
So I have a good breakfast, -- and face what’s ahead.
Submitted by Nancy Blank
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"Ring the Bells of Heaven!" "Ring the bells of heaven, there is Joy today."
"Tell the Joyful tidings, bear it far away".
Glory! Glory! How the angels sing.
We, the gathered people, All in our place,”.
Pealing forth the message of God’s Grace
We have been away from Florence for one Sunday and already miss our church and all its experiences. We
recall with fondness the sound of the bell in the church courtyard that John Thompson would ring to call us to
worship. The Bell has always been an important feature in Christendom.
The old two story brick school building in the small town of Nashua, Iowa where I grew up, had a
very large bell in a tower above the top floor. A big, long rope reached all the way to the ground
floor entrance. Every morning and every noon the janitor would pull that rope and the bell would
ring. It was big enough to be heard all over that little town. Kids on the way to school would know
that they had five minutes to get to their class room.
Some of us kids had a special relationship with big Reggie the janitor, and he would let us ring that
bell. We had to be careful to get in sync with the rope before we grabbed a hold, because when the
rope went up it would lift us right off our feet and then on the down pull we had to give a mighty tug
to keep it going. Reggie would let us ring the bell as he watched his pocket watch. Just before class
would start we would jump off the rope and run up the stairs to our room. Reggie would keep
ringing until he figured we were well into our seats.
While that old bell in the church courtyard may not be the bell of heaven; for the next few months, you will
have to keep the bell of the church and of heaven ringing until we all return.
Rejoice & Celebrate
Grace & Glory
Bread & Cup
Love & Hope
Justice & Peace
Worship & Service
Restoration & Forgiveness
The Least, the Lost, the Littlest, and the Last!
As these great themes are sounded, may they lift us off our feet and send the message out across the
community.
It will take a mighty pull on the part of all of you to keep things moving during this interim. Just
keep pulling the rope to keep the bells of Heaven ringing until we can all return and everyone is in
their place.
We are looking forward to Another season of “Church Life” with you when we can help pull the
rope.
Lew Moon
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April 11, 2014
Las Noticias
ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP Embracing a Culture of Failure
The Christian faith is filled with failures! Moses never made it to the Promised Land. David acted like the
godfather while on his deathbed and would have made Bill Clinton blush given the way he treated Bathsheeba.
Jeremiah never did convince the king and leaders of Judah to trust in the Lord. And, of course, there is Jesus. It
is our Christian proclamation that the glories of resurrection are only known because of the humiliations of
crucifixion; our redemption was purchased at the price of his shame - victory through defeat. As we are on the
cusp of Holy Week, may we embrace a culture of failure for the sake of Jesus.
Healthy church leadership embraces failure, for only failure can teach certain lessons. Many a pastor has
entered a new ministry setting only to step on a land mine hidden by decades of peculiar, idiosyncratic,
congregational life and habits. Often the pastor thinks to him or herself, "I would really like to have my leg back,
but at least I now know what to look for so that I can keep my one good leg!" And the pastor hobbles forward
into the life and ministry of that particular - and peculiar - congregation as a better pastor.
Healthy church leadership embraces failure because to avoid any whiff of failure is to live in fear; it
requires great faith to embrace failure. The late Alban Institute founder, Loren Mead, famously encouraged
churches to become experimental. Dr. Mead's argument was that (a) we live in a new day in which Christian
faith is not at the center of culture, (b) we need to experiment with new ways of connecting Christ to those who
neither accept nor reject him because they do not even think about him at all, and (c) experiments, by their very
nature, often fail. Dr. Mead suggested the new criteria for successful leadership in the church should be 50%
and that any congregation whose pastor succeeds more than 50% of the time should be sternly criticized for
playing things too safe.
Healthy church leadership embraces failure as the path toward "adaptive change." Adaptive change is a
buzzword, perhaps, but I believe it conveys a helpful notion: raised in a world in which we have been taught
that problems can always be solved by technology, the "technical fix," it is a difficult lesson to learn that what is
needful is to become a new kind of community, a new kind of leader, a new kind of Jesus follower. Adaptive
leadership is not about learning how to do new kinds of things but about becoming a new kind of self,
recognizing that who we are in Christ takes priority over what we do for Christ. Adaptive leadership asks,
cajoles, encourages and inspires the faith community to become the people of God for such a time as this,
asking, "Who are we in Christ and how do live that out for the sake of Jesus and those for whom he died?"
Jesus and Paul were both proponents of the glorious freedom found in failure. Paul said, "When I am
weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10) Jesus said, "You must lose your life before you find it" (Matthew
10:39). There is a humility to letting go of one's hold on past lessons in order to learn new ones; releasing
preconceived notions of ministry in order to be led to Spirit discerned opportunities is a sacred pilgrimage. As
Holy Week approaches, my prayer for the churches of this presbytery is that we learn anew the lessons of
embracing loss, emptiness, weakness and defeat, for only the lifted cross leads to the empty tomb.
Grace Out,
Brad
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GOOD TIMES, GOOD PEOPLE @ MIRIAM’S SPRING BASH Thank you, Patty Brink, for all of the wonderful pictures!!!!!
Answer to riddle: Forgive Forget
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___________________________
First Presbyterian Church
Box 950
225 E. Butte
Florence AZ 85132
___________________
The Mission of the First Presbyterian
Church of Florence
Is to share Jesus Christ through word and
action
with all whose lives we can touch.
The Mission of the First Presbyterian Church of Florence
Is to share Jesus Christ through word and action
with all whose lives we can touch.
