2017

Jacksboro Parish

Contact Us

Give us a call for information about our Worship Service.

Jacksboro Parish

115 N. Knox St. P.O. Box 716

Jacksboro, TX 76458

(940) 567-3735

jackparish@att.net

Visit us on the web at www.jacksboroparish.com

First Presbyterian Church & Memorial Christian Church:

A combined ministry for

over 40 years.

December Attendance

December 4th— 34 December 11th— 50 December 18th— 35 December 25th— 35

December Finances

Giving $18,147.47

Expenses $12,680.71

January 8th, in

worship, we will

bless our 2017

leaders! This

includes our

Parish Council,

Session, Board,

Elders and

Deacons.

Commissioning of Leaders

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

No Sunday

School

2

Church

Office Closed

3 4 5 6 7

8

Commission

of Leaders

9 10

11

Youth

MS 6-7:15p

HS 6:45-8p

12 13 14

15

Parish

Council

12:15p

16

Food

Pantry

2:30p

17

18

Soul Support

12noon in

Annex

Youth

MS 6-7:15p

HS 6:45-8p

19

20 21

22

23 24 25

Graceists

7pm

Youth

MS 6-7:15p

HS 6:45-8p

26 27

28

Parish

Planning

Retreat

8:30a @

Maddox

Home

29

30

31

Suzanne on vacation

Parish

Planning

Retreat

Saturday, January 28, 2017 | 8:30am

The annual Parish Planning Retreat is a time for ALL members of our church to come together and plan for the upcoming year as we strive to make a difference in the life of the Parish.

We will be planning activities and events for the entire 2017 year and need YOUR input! Come share your ideas, dreams, and thoughts as we plan for all the new and exciting events that will be happening around the Parish.

Bob & Roxanna Maddox are graciously hosting the Planning Retreat at their home on Live a Little Lane in Jacksboro, Texas. Please contact the church office for directions.

We hope you will put this date on your calendar and make this a special part of your day. We need you!

Don’t forget to bring your favorite breakfast item for a potluck breakfast!

Hope to see you there!

Submitted by Jerry Mower

The Parish Christmas Carolers were certainly a welcomed surprise to

the residents of the Jacksboro Healthcare Center and to those at

Greystone Park on Sunday afternoon, December 11. Led by Martha

Salmon and Miss Claire Davenport, the Parish Carolers sang to their

heart’s delight and to the delight of many others as well. It was a

wonderful afternoon of singing and spreading of the Christmas cheer

to many throughout the community. This was followed by the annual

Christmas pot luck dinner and a very special visit from Santa!!!

Nurture & Evangelism submitted by Roxanna Maddox

Youth Ministry submitted by Kristine Tisinger

There will be no youth Sunday School class on January 1, but the class will resume at First United Methodist Church on January 8. Wednesday night youth group will start up again on January 11 at The Parish. The youth will go paintballing one Sunday in January after church. More info will be available in Sunday school and on Wednesday nights.

Midwinter retreats at Disciples Crossing are coming up in February. MS camp for Disciples Crossing is February 3-5 and the HS camp is from February 17-19. The cost is $100 per student although scholarships are available, and transportation to/from camp can be arranged.

Speak to or text Kristine at (817) 863-1555 to discuss options. Mission trip 2017 is being planned now, and the most interest has been in a trip painting homes for the elderly in Montgomery, AL. Dates and costs are currently being determined, so be watching for more information soon. If you would like to partner with the youth group as a co-sponsor and enjoy a free trip to Alabama, we would love to have you! Please speak to Kristine about those opportunities.

SOUL SUPPORT

Do you have lunchtime open? Join a small group of ladies who join together the 3rd

Wednesday of every month at noon! Lunch is always provided, along with some fun spiritual

content that allows us to develop deeper relationships with one another. Our next gathering

will be January 18th at noon, in the ANNEX, across the street from the church building!

Won’t you join us?

GRACEISTS

Our evening small group for women is centered on real, raw and renewing relationships. This

year, we will tackle the topic A WOMEN & HER RELATIONSHIPS, using material from

Rosemary Flaaten. Our next gathering is will be January 25th at 7pm! Make plans to join us

for snacks, beverages and conversation as we explore this topic. Be on the lookout for the

location!

Women’s MinistriesWomen’s MinistriesWomen’s MinistriesWomen’s Ministries

Parish Site Committee Update

The Parish Site Committee has been busy the last several months. We are happy to report

that we are inching closer to fulfilling our calling by being able to unveil a plan for an

expanded student center, newly constructed kitchen, and enlarged Fellowship Hall. We have

shared the Parish needs with the architectural firm Harper-Perkins and Associates and have

been redefining building plans in our last several meetings.

In January, we are going to interview general contractors who can take our visions into the

new reality for the Jacksboro Parish. Ideally, we hope to initiate construction in the spring.

The entire project should be completed 6-9 months following its start up date. Each

denomination has made sizable investments in this project’s feasibility,

but we are going to need the financial help of all Parish members. The

opportunity for each individual to invest in this undertaking will be

called upon in the near future to help complete this project. We look

forward to building something great for the current and future needs of

the mission and vision of the Jacksboro Parish.

1 Corinthians 1:10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. What a gift you have given the Jacksboro Community Food Pantry and Christ with a united mind set to feed the hungry. In 2016 JCFP distributed 74,625 meals to 4,975 individuals living in Jacksboro. You know the recipients, they are your neighbors. Please realize that without you they would go hun-gry, worry about how they are going to feed their children, their parents while sinking fur-ther in despair and in poor health from lack of nutrition. In 2016 the Produce Express Truck brought 70,242 pounds of fresh produce to Jacksboro. A God-send to add to the non-perishables you bought and distributed. Please realize that be-cause you are a beautiful example of perfectly united mind and thought, you stopped a child of God from going to bed hungry. Your congregation leads by example and I am both honored and humbled to serve by your side. Let us continue feeding the Spirit through food as we enter a joyous new year. All thanks be to God. 1 Corinthians 12:13 For we are all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body-whether as Jew or Gentiles, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

Jack County Food Pantry submitted by Sheri Kettlety

It’s Jelly January

at the Parish!

Please help us stock the shelves at the food pantry by

placing jars of jelly inside the basket in the church foyer

during the month of January. (no glass jars please) Thank you!!

MDO Xtreme

December was such a fun month at MDO! The children heard the Christmas story,

learned silly songs, baked gingerbread men, made Advent trees, read lots of

Christmas books, painted with Christmas tree branches and made several arts and

crafts centered around the season. The children also wrote letters to

Santa and then mailed them in our hallway mailbox! We also had a

surprise visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus one morning and the children

loved it! (Well...most of them.)

Our two, three, and four year old classes performed in a Christmas program for their family

and friends. They did a great job of singing Jingle Bells, Away in a Manger, and Twinkle,

Twinkle, Little Star! After the program, everyone enjoyed cookies and juice and the children

made Christmas cards that were given to the residents of the local nursing home.

We are excited to begin our second semester in January with more creative and engaging

activities! We have a few spots open in our classes, so please refer anyone you know that may

be looking for a preschool.

MDO will also be participating with the Parish in the food collection for the local food pantry,

so we are encouraging families that are able, to bring jars of jelly to help us fill our box. As

always, thank you for your interest and support in MDO Xtreme. We appreciate you!

Lindsey P ee�y MDO Director

Senior Minister’s Article

(940) 567-3735

jackparish@att.net

P.O. Box 716 | 115 N. Knox, Jacksboro, TX 76458

It’s a new year. 2017! I can’t even believe it! And with the new year, many of us

are looking to what we want to change as 2017 dawns upon us. For some, that

means making resolutions (eating healthier, traveling more, be intentional

about family time.) For others, it’s a time of deep cleaning the house, the clutter,

the garage. But what does a new year mean for a church?

FIRST IT MEANS EMBARKING ON OUR BUILDING PROJECT

As you know, our Parish Site Committee is spending a lot of energy dreaming into being a youth/

mission facility and considering upgrade projects to our facility to better serve our changing

demographics and ministries. Please pray for them and us! Building projects can be stressful, and we

will all need to be on the same page, getting excited and telling the story to the community about our

project. What can you do to help?

You could consider giving a monetary gift to the PARISH BUILDING FUND. You could pray for the

building, who will be using it and for our leadership. You could offer to help come clean out closets,

the kitchen and more.

NEXT, WE ALL NEED TO GIVE ATTENTION TO WHAT NEEDS TO BE LET GO OF

It’s so easy to keep doing the ministries, activities and mission work we have always done. It makes

us feel good. We know what to expect. Those are not bad things in and of themselves, but they can be

detrimental to noticing when something needs to die. Think back to the churches the Apostle Paul

started. Most of them are not in existence any more. Every institution, group, ministry, mission has a

life span. Has something we have been doing for a while lost its luster? Is our energy lacking for

something we have “always” gone to? That might be a key that we need to give space to something

else.

LAST, WE NEED TO EMBARK WHERE GOD IS LEADING THE PARISH

When our church calendar is clutter it is hard to see where God might be pushing us in a new year.

When we keep doing things as we’ve always done them, it can be difficult to birth new ministries or

give new opportunities. 2017 will give us a chance to start fresh. How are you hearing God? Is our

mission changing? Is there an opportunity we need to get hold of in our community? Are you

spiritually hungry for a program we aren’t offering? These are all important signs that God is at work

in our world, and I hope we pay attention!

Get out your pen and paper and start jotting things down! Talk to me! Talk to our leadership.

Together we can have a God-infused 2017 that will be memorable and meaningful. Happy New Year!

Suzanne Castle