PRESBYTERIAN MID-WEEK VISITOR

February 16, 2012

 

February Birthdays:  Noel Jackson, 20^th; Rachel Thomas, 23^rd.
March Birthdays:  Jane Lueking, Noël Jackson, 1^st; Cathi Peterson, 2^nd; Don Noel, 3^rd; Brian Gainey, Phyllis Holt, 5^th; Dale Isenogle, 8^th; Kayla Hendrix, 9^th; Jeri Wampler, 10^th.

Anniversaries:  Aaron & Tisha Kivett, February 24^th; Bob & Sue Lorimer, March 10^th.

Church News/Preview

            All our church family and friends are invited to a Sunday School Breakfast this Sunday, February 19^th, from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.  Come and enjoy a wonderful time of fellowship along with a delicious breakfast with biscuits and gravy, fruit, juice, and coffee.  Following breakfast, everyone is invited to attend a Sunday School class of their choosing. 

            Souper Bowl of Caring collected 77 donations of non-perishable food items along with monetary donations of $70.00 for our local food pantry.  Nationwide 6,622 groups raised $7,229,753 for local food pantries and shelters.  A big thank you goes out to everyone who supported this special project.

            The Session will meet on Monday, February 20^th, at 7:00 p.m. in the Miss Maud Library.

            The Central Greene County Ministerial Association will host several community services during the Lenten season beginning with a community Ash Wednesday service on February 22^nd, at 7:00 p.m. at the First Christian Church located on the corner of Spring St. and Jefferson St.
            The CGCMA will once again host the annual Lenten breakfast series each Saturday morning through the season of Lent.  Each breakfast will be from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. as follows:
            February 25^th – Holy Name Catholic Church; March 3^rd  - First Presbyterian Church; March 10^th – First Christian Church; March 17^th – at Tulip Church of God with Word of Life Fellowship; March 24^th – First Baptist Church; March 31^st – Mineral United Methodist Church.

            The Annual Corporation and Congregational Meeting to review the committee and financial reports for 2011 will be held on Sunday, February 26^th, following worship service.  All financial reports and committee reports need to be into the church office no later than February 16^th.

            World Day of Prayer will be on Friday, March 2^nd, at 1:00 p.m. at the Bloomfield First Christian Church on the corner of Jefferson and Spring Sts.  The women of Malaysia have written the service around the theme “Let Justice Prevail.”  If we stand together in peace, we can go forward into justice.  There is no other path than the path to justice for those grounded in peace.
            The offering collected at World Day of Prayer will help meet the needs of families who are victims of many forms of poverty, violence, and human trafficking.  World Day of Prayer was founded on the idea that prayer and action are inseparable in the service of God’s kingdom.

            The Women’s Association will meet on Thursday, March 8^th, at 6:00 p.m., in Fellowship Hall.  This will be the first Pre-Tasting dinner.  Please bring a new meat or salad recipes along with the recipe.  All women of the church are invited to come and enjoy sampling new dishes and to help determine the recipes to be served at this year’s Tasting Luncheon.  Hostesses are Deb Cullison and Susan Isenogle.  Rose Floyd will give the devotions. 

            The Library Express is a wonderful outreach for those unable to get out much.  The Bloomfield-Eastern Greene County Public Library provides FREE personalized delivery of library materials to Richland Township residents confined to their home.  Residents may choose books, magazines, books on CD, DVDs and more.  To register please call 812 384-4125 or an application is available at the church office.

            The Tulip Church of God invites the community to come and enjoy the “Amazed Christian Vocal Band” on Sunday, February 19^th, at 6:30 p.m.  The church is located on the corner of County Road 325N and Country Road 175E.

            Children’s Minutes – We are looking for energetic and imaginative people to present the Children’s Minutes now and then during the worship service.  Please contact Bonnie Jackson to volunteer.

            Karin and I would love the opportunity to visit with our church family and friends at your convenience.  We enjoy getting to know everyone better.  Pastor Murray.

Dear First Presbyterian Church Members & Friends,

As disciples of Jesus, we are called to a discipline that contends against evil and resists whatever leads us away from love of God and neighbor. I invite you, therefore, to the discipline of Lent –  self-examination and repentance, prayer and fasting, sacrificial giving and works of love – strengthened by the gifts of word and  sacrament. (Common Order, Augsburg Fortress, 2006)

During this month, with these or similar words Christian clergy from both East and West and North and South will invite the faithful to “the discipline of Lent” in anticipation of the preparation for the Pascal mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection. In light of this sacred time on our Christian calendar, I must confess, I admire my Byzantine Catholic and Orthodox colleagues who maintain such a rigorous fast throughout the Season of Lent in comparison to some of us, like me, who only give up our daily libation of Diet Coke or indulgence of chocolate, or even more libertine Christians who see no need for fasting (since we are free from the works of the law).

I too appreciate the extra liturgies and daily devotionals that have become part of our forty day observance. Gone in most parishes are the daily dime or quarter folders that many of us took home from church during the Lenten Season back in the 1950s and 1960s which helped us mark the Lenten journey and contribute to “sacrificial works of love.” If we’re with it, in today’s 21^st Century world, we are more likely to seek those extra offerings via Pay Pal or a Facebook donation. Still, for most of us and our fellow Christians, our Lenten discipline, it seems, is neither very costly nor time consuming.

I wonder, could it be that as modern day disciples we aren’t serious about “contending against evil,” nor have the will to resist that which “leads us away from love of God and neighbor”? Have we become so personally immersed in the culture of secularism, self-indulgence and outright greed that we can’t see them as evil far greater than the supposed threats coming to our shores from across the planet? Is Lent a time for we as Christian people to name not only the individual sin for which we each need to repent, but also to name and repent of our corporate complicity with evil wherever it may be found?

It is my prayer that all of us will be gathered in a community “strengthened with the gift of word and sacrament” throughout this time of turning from self to God and neighbor beginning with Ash Wednesday on February 22^nd. May your Lenten discipline be personally and corporately transformative so that you and yours are properly prepared to celebrate with joy the Paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Peace and Grace to you all, Murray

 

Serving on the Lord’s Day

	February 19th	February 26th
Worship Leader	Mr. Ted Hawkins	Mrs. Doris From
Greeters	Mrs. Bobbi Vandeventer	Mrs. Bobbi Vandeventer
Music	Mrs. Rose Floyd, Mrs. Ardith Richardson, Mrs. Mary Jane Vandeventer, Mr. Bobby Burch

 

Weekly Scripture Readings
Transfiguration of the Lord	1st Sunday in Lent
2 Kings 2:1-12	Genesis 9:8-17
Psalm 50:1-6	Psalm 25:1-10
2 Corinthians 4:3-6	1 Peter 3:18-22
Mark 9:2-9	Mark 1:9-15

 

Church Officers and Administration
Administration	Session	Trustees
Reverend Doctor Murray Thompson	Brian Gainey, Finance	Deb Cullison
LuAnne Allen, Financial Secretary	Melinda Hendrix, Membership	Susan Isenogle
Deb Cullison, Secretary	Alicia Holt, Mission	Steve Kirby
Lola Mowery, Sunday School Secr.	Bonnie Jackson, Worship	Jim Lueking
Connie Hawkins, Treasurer	Greg Thomas, Clerk	Kenny Nocus
	Bobbi Vandeventer, Christian Ed.	Donnie Noel

 

Women’s Association Local Service Committee for December/January/February:
Deb Cullison, Chair Susan Isenogle, Teresa Chesnut-Bohn, Connie Hawkins,
Melinda Hendrix, Cheri Stone, Jeri Wampler, Lynette Burch, Barbara Myers

Church Information

Church Office: (812) 384-8424; Pastor’s Home: (812) 227-8185

Pastor’s Hours:  Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Secretary’s Hours: Mondays and Thursdays, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Church Website:  www.fpcbloomfield.org; Facebook:  First Presbyterian Church of Bloomfield;
Bloomfield Presbyterian Women’s Association

Church E-mail: 1presbyterian47424@att.net  Pastor’s E-mail:  RevDoctor70@gmail.com

Presbyterian Church (USA): http://www.pcusa.org  

Central Greene County Ministerial Association President:  Rev. Murray Thompson

PRAYER REMINDERS

Cancer Treatment:  Harmony (6 year old friend of the Burnfield family), June Arthurs (Amber Thomas), Rose Ballard (Mae Nocus), Paul Burch, Larry Cagel (Alicia Holt), Nancy Cummings, Albert DeGott (Bob Kirk), Bonnie Funderburg, (Doris From), Jim Funkhouser (Bobbi V.), Eric Harrah, Velma Heaton, Bob Heidenreich (Diana Jackson), Dorothy Hicks (Doris From), Darvin Holder (Alicia Holt), Duane Kaffenberger (Deb Cullison), Jerry Lester, Carolyn Luessow (Bobbi V),  Julie Palmer (Arlene Ross), Danny Player (Deb Cullison), Ann Portoff (Alicia H.), Eric Rogers (Dave Holt), Dr. David Shires (the Thompsons), Bonnie Yatsko (Pastor Murray)

Immediate Concerns:   Baby Wendall and his family (Ruth Workman), Young woman facing breast cancer, Lesa Barker (Cindy Schulte), Dan Bates (Connie Hawkins), Karen Blaker, Jyme Bucher (Jim Richardson), Jason Burnfield, Wendell Fuller (Kayla Hendrix), Taylor Gilmore (Bonnie Jackson), Raymond Johns (Karin Thompson), Jeri Kane (Karin Thompson), Jerry Lewis (the Noels), Neil Schulte, Ralph VanMeter, Janice & Floyd Vaughn, Cade Warren (Dave Holt), Winifred Weaver (Pastor Murray).

Missionaries:  Amanda (East Asia), Nathan & Bethany Scott and Full Life Development, Thailand

Nursing Homes and shut-ins: Ralph and Patty Buescher (Ken Nocus), Lois Corwin, Hazel Crays, Wanda Deckard, Max Floyd, Herbert Fuller (Bobbi V.), Lola Gholson, Betty Hasler, William Richardson, Karlene Schmidt, Mary Wampler.

American Troops:  Josh Cullison