Early SabbathMarch 2017

ON MY MIND, ROB BLUMER As a pastor, I have a dual focus: ministry to and for our faith com-munity and ministry to and for our Charlotte community. I believe that I am seeing a new ministry need in both. For our mobile membership and within our equally on-the-go com-munity, long weekends always mean reduced worship attendance. We, I mean, you (I’m still here on long weekends, preaching) head to beach houses and mountain houses and even zoom off to exotic locales. Got kids? If yours happen to be involved in club sports, Saturdays and Sun-days are full days of games, matches and contests… alas, even during worship hours. Historically, when there have been cultural shifts, the church of

Jesus Christ has responded. It is not a coincidence that Christians con-scripted the pagan celebration of the Winter Solstice transforming it to celebrate the birth of Christ, nor that in the Spring we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, which oc-curred around the time of Passover, by calling the holiday Easter – an 8th century Christian/historian, The Venerable Bede, tells us that Chris-tians took the name, Eostre, a pagan goddess of spring, and redirected it to focus on God’s higher purpos-es for human life through Christ’s redemptive act for all. With many families in our com-munity embracing their affluence and the opportunities for their kids, the discipline and joy of worship, the centering of life on our Maker,

Defender, Redeemer and Friend, falls by the wayside to the long-term detriment of human life. At the last Worshiping Committee meeting, I signaled that it was time to explore a worship service to be conducted on another day of the week: I’m thinking Thursday evening.

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AT A GLANCE SHARON EVENTS

March SNL!, Featuring Sharon Presbyterian Youth! Sunday, March 5th, 5:45 pm, Gym $8.50 Adults | $4.50 Children (10 and younger) For more information contact Martin Pruitt at martin@sharonpcusa.orgWomen’s Bible Study Wednesdays, 9:30 am, Gathering Room 202Workbooks are available for purchase on line at Chris-tianbooks.com. If you have questions, please contact Carol Howie at chowie723@gmail.com.Presbyterian Women’s Luncheon March 12th, 11:45am, ChapelOur speaker this year will be Denise Price Thomas. Check her out on her website, www.denisepricethomas.com. For more information contact Cary Young at joklyoung@aol.comCommunicant’s Class March 26th, 11:45am, Room 6 in GymThis class is designed to help young worshippers under-

stand the gospel, the sacrament of communion, their relationship to God, and what God is doing in the world through His church. Please go to www.sharonpcusa.org to register. For more information, contact Martin Pruitt at martin@sharonpcusa.orgHallelujah - The Bible and Handel’s MessiahMarch 2nd-23rd, 6:00pm, Gathering Room 202 New lessons, texts and music each week. First Time At-tendees welcome. Contact elizabeth@sharonpcusa.org

Key Box Codes! To help keep our buildings secure and to be good and faithful stewards of the resources God has entrusted to our care, we will be resetting all the key codes to all the buildings on April 3, 2017. Please be sure to schedule all meetings and events through the church office and make arrangements to get a key box code if your meet-ing or event is outside of regular church office hours.

For more information go to www.sharonpcusa.org

Bach St. John Passion at Sharon Pres On Saturday, April 1st 2017, SPC music director David Tang will lead a rare, semi-staged performance of J.S. Bach’s majestic St. John Passion in the Sharon Presbyterian Church Sanctuary. The St. John Passion is one of the most dramatic and spiri-tually profound portrayals of Christ’s last hours and an undeniable cor-nerstone of western art. Performers include Tang’s semi-professional chorus - VOX, the Wingate Universi-ty Chamber Singers, North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, and world-class vocal soloists. “What distinguishes the St. John Passion from other choral works is Bach’s extraordinary musical setting of the text’s violent and dramatic

narrative. In both, humanity is por-trayed at its worst – full of weakness and malice, while Christ is presented as the omnipotent and all-righteous God who willingly submits to a hor-rible death with love and grace,” says Tang. “Bach captures this enormous spiritual divide between God and man by contrasting some of his most savage and groundbreaking music with some of his most ardent and sublime. The St. John Passion is one of the greatest explorations of hu-man iniquity, love and forgiveness.” The St. John Passion is normal-ly performed in concert, but this unique performance will semi-stage the action and include dance. “In our ongoing efforts to foster cut-

ting-edge artistic collaboration, we are working with baroque stage director and choreographer Paige Whitley-Bauguess as well as several dancers to perform the passion as it has never been seen in Charlotte. The task is difficult because some of the music is far more complex than music you might find in an opera, for example. We also face the rela-tively uncharted challenge of stag-ing music that was never intended as musical theater. Our hope is to enhance, not detract from the work’s profound spiritual message of love and redemption.”

Tickets can be purchased at www.voxfirebird.org.

Upcoming Events

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Celebrating Youth Musicians at SPC! GROW WORSHIP & MUSIC

Sharon Presbyterian is fortunate to have a number of musically talented children and youth in our church community. Here’s what they have been up to, both at church and out in the local community: The Sharon Presbyterian Youth Ensemble has enjoyed continued growth as a group, recently experimenting with more vocal harmonies and trying new genres of music. In addition to playing several pieces at 10:30am worship last month, they have also been working on mu-sic for the Ash Wednesday service on March 1st. The Sharon Presbyterian Children’s Choir has re-cently reached a few goals as a group, including singing vocal harmonies and expanding their understanding of music through the church’s collection of chimes and Orff instruments. They will be singing several pieces on Sunday, March 5th at 10:30am, including an early American hymn called “I Will Arise and Go To Jesus” and “Christ Be All Around Me”, which is based on the Prayer of St. Patrick.

Youth Ensemble mem-bers Jackson Meacham (double bass), Olivia Lind-quist (fiddle), and Nick Tutwiler (fiddle and banjo) were recently spotted jam-ming together with other musicians at the Charlotte Folk Society Old Time and Bluegrass music jam ses-sions.

Jane Wieland recently performed in a violin recital and graduated Book 1 in Suzuki violin.

Rachael Knepp received the part of Small Alice in McAlpine Elementary School’s spring musical Alice in Wonderland. As part of her role, she will get to sing a solo on the song “The Caucus Race”.

Congratulations to Audra Nelson and Aron Stornaiuolo, who both made CMS Honors Or-chestra last month for cello and recently auditioned and qualified for the 2017 Jr. Western Region Honors orchestra.

Myree Kromer and Aron Stornaiuolo both participat-ed in Carmel Middle School’s production of the musical Willy Wonka. Aron played the character of Grandpa Joe, and Myree was part of the stage crew, helping to create the elaborate set for the show.

Nick Tutwiler was recently selected to participate in the South Mecklenburg Chamber Orchestra for the 2017-2018 school year. The Chamber Orchestra is the school’s most advanced ensemble. Nick is also now a Junior Board member of the Charlotte Folk Society.

Aron Stornaiuolo’s original music composition “That First Note” was awarded first place for all of Charlotte Mecklenburg Middle Schools in the PTA Reflections contest and qualifies him to compete in the State com-petition in March.

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CONNECT COMMUNITY LIFE

This March marks our or-ganist’s 29th an-niversary at Sha-

ron. We have been blessed beyond measure with Sandy Breaux’s beau-tiful music and steadfast devotion. Several times during her tenure she was asked to fill in as choir director, a task she performed willingly and capably. Veteran choir members like to recall Sandy’s uncanny ability to both play the organ and simultane-ously bobble her head to give them their entrances. Sandy was around 5 or 6 when she first started playing the piano. The organ came much later, while she was tending to her young chil-dren at home here in Charlotte. Be-cause they “were driving me out of my mind,” she started taking lessons from the renowned Richard Peek at Covenant Presbyterian, the church the family was attending at the time. Because she had played the piano for Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and other shows Dr. Peek and his wife Betty had produced, Dr. Peek knew of Sandy’s talents and was all too glad to take her on as an organ student. Sandy started out memorizing everything she played. When I asked her how difficult it was to memorize Widor’s “Tocatta and Fugue in D Mi-nor,” a piece she has thrilled us with

on many occasions, both joyous and sad, she modestly explains, “It was really not hard. It’s so repetitive!” At the young age of 11 Sandy performed with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. She has an amazing story to tell about that experience. She was actually 10 when she was invited to audition. The audition consisted of Fiedler sitting on the bench next to her, playing the or-chestra part for a children’s concert while Sandy played the piano score. Although she won the job, calamity struck. The night before the con-cert, she ate some fried clams that made her deathly ill, in fact giving her ptomaine poisoning. They called a doctor to examine her early that morning. Because she registered a 102 temperature, the doctor had to break the news to Fiedler that no way was this girl in any condition to perform. Fiedler had to find a substi-tute, but he did not forget Sandy. He invited her up the next year to per-form at another children’s concert. The following winter after that concert, she had the opportunity to play also on the Kate Smith show. This time the show was taped, so she had the chance to get back home in time to see herself play on TV. Some may be surprised to learn that Sandy majored in English and not in music. She did receive both academic and music scholarships to attend Rollins College in Florida, but “dropped music completely” to concentrate on English. She loved to read and was inspired by an excel-

lent, dynamic English professor who later became her academic advisor. She dove into her coursework and graduated after just 3 years at the tender age of 19. Sandy remains an avid and vora-cious reader, consuming 2-4 books a week. She used to buy books “by the ton,” but Hugo came and tore up her house, forcing her to move to a condo and sell 2/3 of her book collection. She now frequents the public library on Independence. “No more book-buying for me,” she says. She has no favorite authors. If the book grabs her in the first few para-graphs, she is hooked. She watches no TV except for the news and the Panthers. It was Providence that brought Sandy to Sharon. When her former church wanted her to change from part-time to full-time status, she was heavily involved in nurturing her daughter Christy’s passion for ice-skating. Being an enterprising seamstress and businesswoman, she was spending many hours making costumes for Christy and the entire troupe. So when Sharon advertised for a part-time position, Sandy was primed to check us out. David Beers enjoys telling the sto-ry of his mother, herself an organist, visiting our worship one Sunday and hearing Sandy play. At the end of the service, she asked him for the name of our organist, and then said, “Well, I don’t know what you pay Mrs. Breaux, but whatever it is, it is not enough!”

Thank You for 29 Years of Music!

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SPY YOUTH CHILDREN’S CORNER

Over the next 4 months, volunteers and church staff will be meeting and preparing for one of the biggest church-wide events of the year: Vacation Bible School (VBS). I’m beyond thrilled to be leading this year’s Maker Fun Factory VBS alongside Liz De Nittis. As a previous VBS Crew Leader, Station Leader, Assistant Director, and now Director - the week of VBS is my favorite week of the summer. The volunteers, the children, the message, the music, and the laughter - these all make up my own wonderful memories of Vacation Bible School from when I was a child. Growing up in a faith-filled home, I have so many fond memories of Vacation Bible School. I admittedly even sing some of my childhood VBS songs to my own children (who are now almost five, and two years old). At VBS, I enjoy being able to help create these memories for all our children each summer. VBS is a uniquely inviting and exciting event for ev-eryone involved. The event belongs to the community, to the church, to the participants and to the volunteers, leaving meaningful and lifelong memories with all. Va-cation Bible School is a ministry that allows us to share

God’s love and word. Beyond wonderful memories, the weeklong program helps children grow in their relation-ship with God. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?This year the participants of Maker Fun Factory VBS will discover they’re lovingly crafted by God. During the exciting week, children and adult volunteers will become hands-on inventors and experience God, the ultimate Maker, in new and wildly creative ways. KidVid Cinema, Bible Discovery, Imagination Station Art, Game Markers and Snack Factory are all included in a day at VBS! Let the new memories roll-in. Please help us get the word out, spread it around on Facebook, talk to your neighbors, mention it to the friends of your children. INVITE them! The greater the attendance, the more children hear God’s word. We have a lot of work ahead, but knowing that each child who attends VBS this year will have fun in faith while making their own wonderful VBS memories, makes every hour of preparation worth it. I hope to see you and your chil-dren in June.

For more information contact Lisa Weyhrich at lisaweyhrich@yahoo.com

Let the Planning Begin - VBS 2017!

Bulldog Prayers Student OutreachIn his first year as Sharon Presby-terian’s Pastor, Rob Blumer worked alongside First Presbyterian, Myers Park Presbyterian and Covenant Presbyterian to take on a commit-ment to community outreach in Southpark. From that commitment, Bulldog Prayers was started at Alex-ander Graham Middle School in 2011. Rob was the very first speaker. When Martin Pruitt was hired on in 2013 he took over and has, with Sharon Pres-byterian support, led the program over the last five school years. Bulldog Prayers is described as a multi-faith morning devotional

group and meets every Thursday before school and has speakers from congregations of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Faiths from all over Char-lotte. The most commonly asked question is “How can a religious group meet at a public school?” Part of the answer is that AG’s Principle, Bob Folk is a wonderful and sup-portive leader in the community but the core of the answer comes in the Bulldog Prayers Mission Statement stated every week. “Bulldog Prayers is a multi-faith devotional group where all are welcome regardless of their faith and our speakers will

tell you what they believe, not what you should believe because you are a person and you can think for your-self!” This program has grown astronomi-cally and now regularly has over one hundred students each week. This is considered our biggest and one of the most important youth outreach programs that Sharon Presbyterian leads. This past week Rob returned to Bulldog Prayers and spoke about the Book of Isaiah and how God washes our sin away!

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On February 8th, the Boy Scouts of America celebrated its 107th Anniversa-ry with a

weekend of community service and worship. Scouts from our own Troop 34 and Cub Scout Pack 34 joined with scouts throughout Mecklen-burg County as they collected food for their annual Scouting for Food service project. Scouting For Food is the annual Good Turn for America for the Mecklenburg County Council of Boy Scouts. Last year this effort resulted in the collection of 282,000 pounds of food for Loaves & Fishes. Loaves & Fishes is a local organiza-

tion that provides a week’s worth of nutritionally balanced groceries to individuals and families that are ex-periencing short-term crisis. Loaves & Fishes supplies a network of 20 food pantries located throughout the county. In 2015, they provided food to 71,766 people, 48% of which were children.

This year, Sharon Presbyterian had the pleasure of serving as one of 9 regional Scouting for Food collection sites located throughout Mecklenburg County. You may have

seen the two big trailers parked on the Chapel side of our parking lot. Scouts and adults from Troop 34 joined other Scouts and members of the community as they sorted food items and loaded them onto trucks bound for Loaves & Fishes. In addition, scouts and adults prepared and served meals to 12 guests at Room in the Inn. The Cub Scouts from Pack 34 held their an-nual pancake breakfast and Scouts helped usher and lead the worship service on February 5th. It was a busy weekend of scouting. Sharon Presbyterian Church has sponsored Troop 34 for 59 years and 116 Scouts from the troop have earned the rank of Eagle Scout. The troop would like to thank the mem-bers of the church for their continu-ing support.

A Weekend of ScoutingSUPPORT SERVE

Girl Scout Troop 1460 would like to say “Thank You” for supporting our Girl Scout cookie booth on Satur-day, February 11th! We were a very busy group of Girl Scouts selling cookies to hungry basketball players, as the teams came and went for basketball games at Sharon church. The weather was absolutely beautiful and the girls enjoyed their time together! Our troop is earning money for a final senior trip together before they are off to college. Your support of our troop has been amazing! On Sunday, March 12th, Senior/Ambassador Troop 1460 will join with Junior Troop 2191 to participate in the annual Girl Scout Sunday service at Sharon Presbyterian Church. Girl Scout Sunday marks the birthday of Girl Scouting in the United States. Please plan to join us, as our young women help lead in worship on this import-

ant day in Girl Scout history. Right after the service, the girls will enjoy lunch together before visiting a college fair at Independence Hall. We have come a long way from when we started as kindergarten girls, and Sharon Presbyterian has been with us every step of the way!

Thank You from Troop 1460

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CHURCH LIFE

Births: Van Wagner Martin, son of Chris and Danelle Martin, grandson of Don and Bernice McCullough, was born on February 9th.

Welcome New Members: Alan Christian, joined February 26th.

Matt and Jane Mackey, joined Febru-ary 26th.

Bob Nelson, joined February 26th.

Baptisms: McKager Louise Stone, daughter of Ryan and Kristin Stone was baptized on February 5th.

CELEBRATIONS

Early SabbathContinued from page 1 For those with a busy weekend ahead, an Early Sab-bath is an opportunity to keep Christ at the center of life within a company of believers before venturing out for the weekend. When I left seminary, I never anticipated entertain-ing such an outrageous idea; now, however, it is time to consider it. Will we as a congregation discern that this is a direction Christ intends for our ministry? Don’t know. Your input is welcomed. There is much to discuss. My only plan at the moment is to lead this to resolution so that should we choose to do it, we may begin, well prepared, next fall. Or, if by fall there are no firm plans in place, to shelve it. Thoughts?

As directed by the church’s insurance carrier, the Session adopted the following statement at its Novem-ber 2016 stated meeting regarding the use of personal vehicles for ministries and volunteering at Sharon Pres-byterian Church:Those who are using their personal vehicles for minis-tries and volunteering at Sharon Presbyterian should maintain minimum automobile policy limits of $250,000 per person/ $500,000 per accident and $100,000 property damage. Vehicle operators should maintain their personal vehicles in a safe condition, use properly fastened seatbelts for all occupants, and operate their vehicles in a safe manner, respecting all applicable traf-fic laws

A NOTE FROM THE OFFICE

THE CHURCH SCENE

5201 SHARON ROAD, CHARLOTTE, NC 28210704-553-0869 | WWW.SHARONPCUSA.ORG

DEADLINE FOR THE NEXT ISSUE IS:MONDAY MARCH 13, 2017OFFICE@SHARONPCUSA.ORG

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE MARCH NEWSLETTER:

Writers & Editors:Rob BlumerRon NelsonMartin PruittAllison SchommerTom SkinnerDavid TangLisa Weyhrich

Photography Francis FurrSherry MeachamRon NelsonDawn Rogers