The Fear and Faith of Eastertide by Richard Lapehn

A dictionary may define Fear as a “feeling of uneasiness; disquiet, anxiety, or concern.”

The first followers of Jesus knew a great deal about fear. The women who first went to the tomb of our Lord Jesus were fearful on the first Easter morning. The Greek word in Matthew’s Easter story which we translate as fear is phobos, from which we derive our English word “phobia.” I am not surprised by their phobia, anxiety, and concern. I know I would have been fearful had I been in their shoes on that morning.

Life is filled with potential for fear. Toxic elements in our surroundings make us fear the degradation of our health. Violent and malicious actions mentioned in the news can make us fear certain destinations.

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fpc news

Monthly Newsletter of First Presbyterian Church | May 2020

5.3 ZOOM Worship

5.10 ZOOM Worship

5.12 ZOOM Finance Meeting

5.17 ZOOM Worship

5.20 ZOOM Session Meeting

5.24 ZOOM Worship

5.25 Office Closed

5.31 ZOOM Worship

Subject to change depending upon directives from the Ohio

Department of Health.

Mark Your Calendar

FLASHES

Pastor’s Pen Continued …

Fear is also a constant in the public health news of these days. We fear for ourselves. We fear for our family’s health and wellbeing. We are anxious about the unknown, the unexpected, and the possibility that any illness that may crop up in our lives may be related to COVID-19.

On that first Easter morning, the words of Jesus to those women were spoken to calm their fear in that immediate environment. As we recall Jesus’ words, however, we can hear him say, “Do not be afraid,” and hear them as words directed to whatever circumstance we experience today.

God does not abandon us to failure, to caring for ourselves alone, to disgrace, to loneliness.

As Paul says, “You see, just at the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly... And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:6-8).

May we place our fears at the foot of the cross of Christ. Rejoice in the name of the one who can dispel our fears and reveal to us the glory of God.

Holding you in my prayers while we are apart from one another, Rich Lapehn

The Session of First Presbyterian Church offers their gratitude for your continued financial support of the church.

A Note from the Session to the Congregation . . . At our most recent online meeting of the Session, the Elders agreed that we would continue to follow the guidelines for group assemblies from the Ohio Department of Health. Out of concern for the most vulnerable among us, our in-person, on-site worship in the Sanctuary will continue to be suspended until further notice.

Please join your fellow members and friends of the congregation as we gather online each Sunday morning at 10:45 am for our Zoom Worship. Contact the Church office, or call the personal cell phone of Pastor Lapehn, for more details.

May Birthday’s & Anniversaries

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Everyone has a place here at FPC!

The month of May has many unknowns for our Children and Youth programs. As the month goes on, it is my hope that we will be able to begin to meet with the students again. As it stands now, all communication is either done through phone calls, text messages, social media or Zoom meetings. Communication is essential for the families at times like these and as wonderful as technology has been to keep the doors of communication open, not seeing one another in person has been hard for us all. For Easter, each of the families were "Egged" with plastic Easter eggs. Each child received about 10 candy filled eggs each. Each family loved the little surprise. The youth group has been able to meet with Zoom. Seeing one another in that format has been wonderful. The hope is that Zoom meetings will extend to other children in other families. Please pray for each of these families. The biggest struggles they are facing are; loss of employment, digital learning challenges, the inability to socialize and the fear of the unknown. Catherine Adkins, FPC Children & Youth Pastor

Youth News from Catherine

Happy Birthday! 5.3 Karl McConnell 5.9 Sheila Hoefler 5.14 Yola Chapman 5.19 Sam Ketcham 5.19 Judy Littlejohn

Happy Anniversary! 5.3 Larry & Vicki Perkins 5.9 Dave & Karen Alexander