First Presbyterian Church of Highlands
MISSION MOMENTS WHAT WOULD WE DO
WITHOUT YOU….........2 CHURCH HAPPENINGS…….3 VALENTINE’S CONCERT….4 TRIBUTE TO JENNIFER.........5 BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES TREASURER’S REPORT WOMEN’S STUDIES FOND FAREWELLS NEW MEMBERS….…….......6 CALENDAR…………............7 LECTIONARIES PRAYER LIST…….................8
FEBRUARY 2017
FROM THE PASTORS
Every February 14, candy, flowers,
and cards are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. He was a priest in the early church who was executed, one tradition says, for helping people escape from prison who were jailed for their Christian faith. Then, when he himself was imprisoned, he wrote the “first” Valentine letter to a young girl, signing it “From your Valentine.” Another “love” letter was written to us from St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 13. It’s a familiar “letter,” one that is often used in weddings. In part it says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” It’s a wonderful statement on love. Yet, it holds a secret. The word for “love” in this letter is the Greek word “agape”, which means “divine love”. So it really reads like this: “God’s love is patient, God’s love is kind. God does not envy, God does not boast, God is not proud. God is not rude, God is not self-seeking, God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs.
God’s love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God’s love never fails.” However, to highlight this quality of God’s love, substitute your own name. I did, and realized the difference: “Curtis is patient, Curtis is kind. Curtis does not envy, he does not boast, he is not proud...” To be sure, all of these remarks are almost entirely false! You can ask my wife! The point here is that when we see the quality of God’s love for us, we come to see that God’s love is the source of our life. Yes, I personally want to be patient, kind, without envy, not boastful... yet, the only way to come close to these goals is to live in the depth of God’s love. It’s a matter of living as one who is loved first by God. The source and quality of the life I live, comes from the love of God. Yes, patience, kindness and letting go of self-centeredness are goals that we fall short of achieving. Still, we are not hopeless and we cannot give up. We all hunger to love and be loved. We all hunger for a love that stays with us, is patient and kind. A love that keeps no record of wrongs. A love that always protects, hopes and perseveres. Listen, God loves you with a love like that -and God’s love never fails!
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PRESBYTERIAN WORLD MISSION Presbyterian World Mission brings God’s global family together to heal the wounds of poverty and violence and proclaim God’s saving love in Jesus Christ.
The year 2016 marks 179 years of international mission by the Presbyterian Church. Over the years, Presbyterian missionaries have planted churches, built hospitals, and started schools on every continent. The seeds sown by those missionaries have, in many places, developed into self-sustaining churches and institutions now led by local Christians. In fact, more than 94 million Christians around the world now belong to churches that were founded or co-founded by Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) mission workers. Today, nearly 200 mission co-workers in approximately 50 countries are engaged in equally vital ministries of sharing faith and working against poverty and violence. Presbyterian World Mission helps Presbyterians offer a witness to Jesus Christ in today’s world by sending mission personnel to face the challenges of evangelizing and continuing the historic emphases of the Church. In collaboration with U.S. Presbyterians and global partners, World Mission inspires, equips and connects communities of mission practice to engage in God’s mission: to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, help the most vulnerable—women and children—and promote reconciliation amidst cultures of violence.
We invite you to step into the circle of global discipleship with World Mission.
Highlands First Presbyterian Church is proud to support through Presbytery of WNC the missionary work of John McCall in Taiwan; Barbara Nagy in Malawi; Chenoa Stock in Bolivia; and Brian and Sandi Thompson-Royer in Guatemala.
MISSION MOMENTS
Our Mission Moment for January was UKIRK (University Church) by Rev Karol Farris, Campus Minister with UKIRK at West Carolina University. Rev. Farris gave us an update on all of the exciting events going on through this Presbyterian ministry.
UKIRK
WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT YOU? January may seem like a quiet month in Highlands but it’s anything but quiet in the church. You might not be aware that this is one of the most challenging times of the year for Jennifer Creswell. She has been diligently at work closing the books on 2016 and sending out year-end giving reports for our members and friends. In addition, Jennifer has spent countless hours pull-ing together our Annual Report of the Congregation. Gratefully, our treasurer, Steve Mehder, and our Elders joined Jennifer in this exacting process! A rousing thanks to you all!
We are also aware, by their absence, of how much we depend on our wonderful choir each Sunday. As most of you know, the choir took January off for a well-deserved rest. They return the first Sunday in February. Many thanks to each choir member, and to Mike Lancaster and Angie Jenkins who continued to hold up the music ministry during the month of January. Finally, we thank Duncan Greenlee, Bob Tietze, Kevin Gates, and Lance Wilmarth for their huge efforts to shovel the church sidewalks after the snowstorm!
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FEBRUARY CHURCH HAPPENINGS
Bagpiper Cameron Nixon, accompanied by Angie Jenkins on organ, opened the New Years Day service with Highland Cathedral. Our Chancel Choir baritone Farrel Zehr sang a stirring solo of “Mary Had A Baby” for the
Offertory. We were honored to have Rev. Dr. Don Mullen back in the pulpit on the first Sunday in 2017.
At our January 15 Service we were blessed with special music from choir
intern Garrett Whipkey, who played a spirited saxophone medley, and
Jacob Plaisted, who sang “Ye Servants of God”.
Many thanks to Rev. Tempe Fussell
for preaching a sermon entitled
“Follow Me” on January 22nd.
At our January
22nd service, tenor Wayne
Coleman gave a solo performance of
“The Lord Is My Light” during the
Offertory.
Pastors Emily and Curtis
conducted a service of
Ordination and Installation on January 29th,
followed by the laying on of hands by the
church Elders.
We were delighted to have Carrie Berkompas on viola as our musical guest on January 29th, along
with Garrett Whipkey on piano. Baritone Stell Huie beautifully sang “The Beatitudes” as the
Offertory on the same day.
Newly installed members of the Session are Teeter Smith, Kay Holland, Carol
Hughes, Delaine Langston and Donna Philips.
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THANK YOU JENNIFER CRESWELL FOR 11 YEARS OF OUTSTANDING SERVICE!!
What a joy it is that First Presbyterian has chosen to celebrate Jennifer Creswell's decade of dedication to the congregation! I had the privilege of working alongside Jen for 5 1/2 years, and in that time I came to recognize, respect and depend upon her plenteous array of gifts. Jen is 'wired' in such a way that she's a talented idea person, someone who has a
gift for seeing the big picture. But she is at the same time one who is able to shepherd those ideas so that they become a reality. That is a rare combination, in my experience. Most of you know that First Presbyterian completed a 3-phase Capital Campaign in 2009. Thanks to the tireless work of so many in the congregation, the leadership of my predecessors Hunter Coleman and Don Mullen, and the
generosity of the entire congregation, this ambitious project was fully-funded. But what you may not know is that the thankless task of keeping track of money that came in and went out, the contractors who were engaged and paid, the systems that were installed and each have their own complicated service contracts was duly and faithfully recorded by Jennifer. And thanks to her extraordinary attention to detail--working in the present but always with an eye toward the future--anyone can still find those facts and figures. During my tenure as pastor of the church I was fortunate enough to have a remarkably talented staff. Jennifer is quite simply the glue that held us all together. She did that not by drawing attention to herself but by making sure that each of us put our best foot forward. Because of her, our staff team became greater than the sum of our parts because she always had our backs. It is not too strong to say that Jen was a gift from God for me personally and for the whole church, and I join you in giving thanks for her decade of dedication at First Presbyterian Church of Highlands. Lee Bowman
Jennifer was a junior in college when she came into our lives (circa 2000). Marty and I owned Lakeside Restaurant at the time and this pretty, long curled (very curly) haired young lady came in and applied for a job. She was poised and self-confident and we hired her immediately. Turned out she wasn’t just another immature college aged kid, but someone we knew we could trust and take on
more responsibility. She quickly became our manager and for approximately 6 years we felt Jennifer was more like family than an employee. We worked together, played together, traveled together, laughed, cried and grew. As life went on, Jennifer married, had her sweet son, William and she realized the restaurant life and family life didn’t work out so well. The First Presbyterian Church (MY church!) needed an Administrative Manager and as heartbroken as we were, Jennifer took the job. Of course, we knew she was doing the right thing for her family.
Wow, fast forward 11 years from that time to 2017 and Jennifer has continued her role at our church and of course, does it with ease and grace while raising her son, who is now a teenager! She has served several pastors, starting with Hunter Coleman and continues to keep everyone in check with deadlines, Session, the Book of Order and all of our members. Jennifer knows more about our beloved church than many of us put together! She is a loving and caring individual that handles many responsibilities and wears many hats. As Jennifer (and our church) just celebrated over a decade of her service, we hope and pray that she will continue her passion and compassion to serve our church in her beautiful and gracious way. Some of you may not know Jennifer as she works all week in the office downstairs and rarely makes the drive from Franklin (again) on Sunday. If you have the Opportunity, stop by her office sometime during the week and say “THANK YOU”! She is used to interruptions in her day as we all have questions and she always greets us with a smile and has just the right answers as she quietly and efficiently runs our church! WE love you, Jennifer! Donna Woods and Marty Rosenfield
Jennifer, During my six years as Elder for Personnel, you were the perfect one to have as a partner as the church transitioned in leadership. Many clichés come to mind such as “Smooth transition”, “Go to person”, “Glue that held things together”, “Right person at the right time” and “Calming influence”. I want to personally thank you for being “ALL OF THE ABOVE”. You were then and are now the perfect ambassador for our church and I cannot imagine having anyone else represent us as you do. Again, thank you for being Jennifer. Obie Oakley
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December 2016 Treasurer’s Report Operating Income and Expenses Budget Actual Difference
YTD Income 811,320 821,901 10,581
YTD Expenses 847,620 855,010 (7,390) Net Income (36,300) (33,109) 3,191
Please keep your pledges current!
February Birthdays
Feb. 4 Brenda Manning Feb. 9 Ann Herbert Feb. 11 Jim Bean Cary Fondren Feb. 12 Bob Wright Feb. 15 Carroll Peacock Feb. 16 Nancy Chandler Feb. 18 Donald Carpenter Feb. 20 Keturah Paulk Feb. 21 Dallis Copeland Feb. 22 Bill Gaston Feb. 23 Richard Betz Feb. 28 Tim Perry
February Anniversaries
Feb. 5 Dee & Gary Carnes Feb. 6 Kay & Teeter Smith Feb. 10 Ann & Claude Sullivan Feb. 28 Carroll & Triddy Peacock
Stay in Touch!
We will miss our dear friends who have said goodbye to their mountain homes and we wish them Godspeed as they embark on their
next life adventure. You will always be in our hearts and in our prayers!
MaryAnn Sloan & Skip Taylor Nancy Cox 63 Warrior Hills Lane c/o Bill Yde Tryon, NC 28741 1603 Pinecreek Way Woodstock, GA 30188
March Birthdays
March 1 Betty Fuller March 4 Horst Winkler March 8 Jill Wolfe March 10 Alice Gadilhe March 14 Triddy Peacock March 15 Carol Young March 18 David Rozendale March 20 Marc Pittman March 21 Fran Matthews March 22 Linda Brannan March 23 Madaline Huie March 30 Gwen Brammer March 31 Nancy Cox
March Anniversaries
March 1 Constance & Russell Jobson March 4 Tricia & Tom Graves March 19 Carol & Skip Hughes March 20 Leslie & Don Stewart Janey & Jon Swift March 25 Louise & Rick Demetriou Veda & Jimmy Sherard
Women’s Studies
The Morning Study group will not meet in February.
BIRTHDAYS
&
ANNIVERSARIES
Sympathy
The First Presbyterian Church family extends prayers and sympathy during this time of loss for Marlene Eichman and her family upon the
death of her husband, Don Eichman, on December 26, 2016.
We are very pleased to welcome to the congregation Brenda and Butch
Woodward, who joined First Presbyterian Church on January 29th
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Page 8 First Presbyterian Church of Highlands
471 Main Street
P. O. Box 548 Highlands, NC 28741
828 526-3175 Fax: 828-526-0784
E-Mail: [email protected] Web Page: fpchighlands.org
Sanctuary hours for meditation are 9:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Office hours are 9:00 to 4:30 Monday—Friday
Church Sunday School 9:30 a.m. 8:30 a.m. Church Services
June through Labor Day weekend Communion served every Sunday
11:00 a.m. Communion served the first Sun-day of every month
Session Class of 2017
Vision 20/20, Tom Joyner Adult Education, Chad Lucas
Congregational Care, Deborah McKnight Property, Bob Tietze
Class of 2018 Personnel, Mike Campbell
Worship, Kat Evans Finance, Tom Smith
Mission, Gerri Tulley
Class of 2019 Children’s Ministry, Kay Holland
Congregational Care, Carol Hughes Clerk of Session, Delaine Langston
Membership, Donna Philips
Ministers The Congregation
Staff Jennifer Creswell, Administrative Manager
Christy Kelly, Administrative Assistant Steve Mehder, Church Treasurer
Michael Lancaster, Director of Worship/Music
Angie Jenkins, Organist/ Music Coordinator
Marty Rosenfeld, Food Coordinator Kyle Clark, Property Manager
Janice Mathis & Keri Raby, Nursery Assistants
Mozelle Edwards, Judy Mouchet and Rita Paoletti,
Sonshine School Directors Briana Jenkins, Sonshine Assistant
Pastors
Curtis Fussell Emily Wilmarth
Lectionary Texts for February
As you prepare to come to worship, here are the scripture texts that will make up the services during the month of February:
February 5 Isa. 58:1-9a (9b-12) 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Ps. 112:1-9 (10) 1 Cor. 2:1-12 (13-16) Matt. 5:13-20 February 12 Deut. 30:15-20Isa. 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Ps. 119:1-8 1 Cor. 3:1-9 Matt. 5:21-37 February 19 Lev. 19:1-2, 9-18 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time Ps. 119:33-40 1 Cor. 3:10-11, 16-23 Matt. 5:38-48 February 26 Ex. 24:12-18 Transfiguration of The Lord Ps. 2 or Ps. 99 2 Peter 1:16-21 Matt 17:1-9
Please keep in your prayers these members and friends of the congregation:
Frances Boggess (Sally Copeland’s niece), William Creswell, John Dixon (Judith Sterling’s husband), Cam Dowdle (Nancy Lowe’s nephew),
Don Fisher, Curtis Fussell, Anna Griffin, Jo Ann Lacy, Kay Philips (Donna Philips’ mother-in-law),
Veda & Jimmy Sherard, Shannon Sticka, Kevin Tietze, George Thomas, Veronica Vogt, and Sherry Ward (Pam Peacock’s cousin).
Please keep in your prayers these members in the community and beyond:
K.C. Hembree, Herb James, Linda James, Tom James, Frank Jemison, Cherry Martin, Jim Shearon, Sandra Simmons, and Yancey Stribling.
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