Extraordinary Mission Giftsimages.acswebnetworks.com/1/2618/newsletter5317.pdf · Gateway of Grace, which serves refugee families in our area, will re-ceive $1,500. Several of our

This year, FPCR is going above and beyond in mission giving. In addition to our budgeted mission giving, de-nominational support, and special offerings, the Session has designated $20,000 to be used for special mission gifts. These funds come from the sale of land to the City of Richardson.

Over the past several months, the FPCR Session and the Mission Ministry have discussed how to designate the $20,000 in order to pro-vide help where it is most needed. The Session and Mis-sion Ministry believed that both international and local mission projects should be supported. During these dis-cussions, there was a strong desire to maximize the im-pact of these gifts.

In February, while discus-sions were still underway, a request came for assistance. The National Synod of Syria and Lebanon (our Sister de-nomination in the Middle East) asked for help in pur-

chasing a reliable used car for one of their pas-tors. There had been some sort of catastrophic failure in the electrical system of a car used by one of the more mobile pastors in Southern Lebanon. He was unable to serve the multiple congregations under his care until a suitable re-placement could be pur-chased. While there are often designated funds in that re-gion earmarked for ministry with refugees, there were no funds available for this type of purchase. After receiving the plea for help, one congrega-tion in Ohio (led by Pastor Brad Dardaganian), Grace Presbytery, and First Presby-terian Church of Richardson pledged funds for the pur-chase of one half of the car. The Outreach Foundation pledged to cover the other half. Using $1,100 from the

sale of the land, and combin-ing those funds with the gen-erous gift of an FPCR family, we sent a check for $2,500. The pastor was able to pur-chase a reliable used car and he is again serving multiple congregations in southern Lebanon.

After that, the FPCR Ses-sion and Mission Ministry re-ally went to work to desig-nate the remaining $18,900. Under the expert guidance of Ernie Gotts and Lea Perkins, the Mission Ministry came up with a great plan. They sub-mitted the numbers to the Session, who also discussed the possible ways to disburse the remaining funds. In the

(Continued on page 3)

Extraordinary Mission Gifts

Help Rev Bev celebrate her retirement! Join the celebration! On

Sunday, May 28, at an all con-gregation picnic on the front lawn, we will rejoice with Rev. Bev Hughes as she retires. Bring your folding chairs and blankets to spread out under the trees.

We want to have enough fried chicken for everyone, so please make reservations by calling the church office or marking the Friendship Pad during worship on Sunday mornings. Note any special diet requests. The cost is $7

per person, $3 for children ten years and under. Reservations will be honored first. You know the Fellowship Ministry can do amazing things, but only Jesus could feed 5000 people with two fish and five loaves of bread!

You may have heard through the grapevine that The Sanctuary Choir will lead another choral concert tour to the UK in June 2018. This will mark our sixth international tour and I’m excited to share the basic details of this trip with you.

The genesis for this trip began when Paul Led-dington Wright, director and organist at Coventry Cathedral in England, served as our FPC artist in residence back in October. You might recall that Paul shared the organ and conducting duties with Shirley and me that Sunday morning and per-formed an organ recital the next evening. During his visit, Paul mentioned that if we were to return to the UK someday (we had been there in 2000) we should come and perform with him at Coventry Cathedral. Well, I wasn’t going to let that invitation fade into obscurity so I vigorously pursued Paul over the next few months and we worked out a date where our choir would come to Coventry and perform with his St. Michael Singers, the adult choir of the Cathedral. Paul already had a dynamic program in mind and was thrilled to know that we would be able to come and participate.

Now that a key piece of the trip was in play, my next step was to find a competent tour company. I talked with several companies and two in particu-lar who had worked with us before…ACFEA and KI Tours, but after a lot of thought I decided that it was time to make a change. It was during this peri-od that I remembered meeting John Sabol, the president of United States Integrity Tours (USIT) at one of the music conventions. USIT has several former choral directors on its staff and my initial meetings with them were terrific. I really liked the way we communicated so easily and they provided a lot of great references from other directors I know. So I decided to work with them on this trip.

A third key piece fell into place when The Sanc-tuary Choir sang in CMI Church Music Festival in the Meyerson Symphony Center last fall. Leading that festival was Bob Chilcott, former baritone with the English super a cappella group, The King’s Singers. Bob and I had met at other workshops over the years and I mentioned to him that my choir would be in the UK in 2018 and how great it would be if we could somehow get together while there. After numerous conversations with Bob and his agent, I’m super excited to announce that our choir will have an exclusive choral workshop with Bob in Oxford. That’s something that rarely hap-pens as the demand’s on Bob’s time are so rigid.

So now armed with the Coventry date with Paul, a good working relationship with John Sabol and USIT, and an Oxford choral workshop with

Bob Chilcott, I began the arduous process of plan-ning the rest of the trip in detail. I decided that the Coventry Concert with Paul would be a great way to finish the tour so I began scoping out the week prior. John and I made contact with several church-es that I would like to experience and that might host our concerts. That process is very tedious as each church requires a lot of specific information and several audio recordings…you simply can’t imagine what I had to go thorough to get permis-sion for the choir to perform in Notre Dame (twice!) and Sagrada Familia on our prior trips. Church confirmations are still pending but I’m con-fident that we’ll prevail.

With all this in mind, here’s a snapshot of what the tour will hopefully look like in June 2018.

Friday, June 8: Direct overnight flight from DFW to London Heathrow

Saturday, June 9: LONDON - Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace; city tour of London’s most famous sites; late afternoon hotel check-in; welcome dinner at hotel.

Sunday, June10: LONDON – Morning worship and short concert at St. Paul’s Church in Covent Garden OR concert at The Temple Church; short concert in the new atrium of the British Museum; afternoon visit to the Tower of London; evening West End theater option.

Monday, June 11: LONDON - Free Day! Tuesday, June 12: LONDON – day trip to Ox-

ford; college tour; exclusive afternoon choral work-shop with Bob Chilcott; dinner in Oxford.

Wednesday, June 13: STRATFORD UPON AVON – Leave London for Stratford-upon-Avon with lunch stop in Windsor and visit to Windsor Castle; check in and dinner at hotel.

Thursday, June 14: STRATFORD UPON AVON – Day trip to Warwick with short concerts in both Cathedral and Castle; attend play at the Royal Shakespeare Theater in Stratford that evening.

Friday, June 15: STRATFORD UPON AVON – tour of Stratford; joint choir rehearsal with Paul Leddington Wright in Coventry that evening.

Saturday, June 16: STRATFORD UPON AVON – tour of Coventry with orchestra rehearsal that af-ternoon; dinner in Coventry; gala concert that evening in Coventry Cathedral.

Sunday, June 17: Hotel check out and back to London Heathrow for flight home.

This snapshot doesn’t begin to give you all the details and things you will see and experience on this trip. But I hope it will whet your appetite and pique your curiosity and leave you wanting more.

(Continued on page 4)

When you think about church, what comes to mind? For some, it is worship on Sunday morning, and that is certainly one of our most visible actions. Some folks think about the building, the place where friends and family have celebrated with joy some of life’s best moments, or how those same friends and family have gathered to proclaim God’s goodness as we say goodbye to loved ones. And for others, church is a place (and a people) for gathering to learn more about God. All of these answers are good answers, but they miss out on one key component of church life – mission. Mis-sion is the lifeblood of the church. Service to others is not just an idea that we like to kick around, it is one of the foundational pieces of our identity.

When we think about mission, some will imme-diately picture trips to far away countries. That is certainly how mission has happened in years past, but it is not the only way mission is done. Mission can be international or in our own back yard. Mis-

sion opportunities spring up out of needs. And there are lots of needs these days!

Some folks like to do mission together with oth-ers and some like for their mission activities to be prayerful, intentional, and solitary. Whether it is knitting hats for the homeless or building homes through Habitat for Humanity, every mission project is important when it helps us to grow as Christians.

So our challenge, which has always been our challenge, is how to engage the whole congregation in mission activities. Some can do a little and some can do a lot! Together, we can probably do more than we even believe we can. So, as we consider how we are being called to serve in Christ’s mission, per-haps one of the most important parts is to remem-ber that everyone needs a mission that they can get behind. It is time to decide!

What will your mission be? Grace and Peace! Pastor David

end, the Session approved the following gifts: In March, $1,500 was sent to the Mission Agency-PCUSA for a water

well in a village in Africa. $1000 has been sent to Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Their office of Institutional Advancement has been in contact with FPCR recently. We look forward to expanding the relationship with APTS as we search for an Associate Pastor and as APTS completes a Distance Education Center which will be used to share live video lectures.

Gateway of Grace, which serves refugee families in our area, will re-ceive $1,500. Several of our members have recently signed up for volun-teer activities there. We look forward to growing this relationship.

In that same vein, we decided to send funds to Refugee Services of Texas. Almost immediately after making the decision to fund this minis-try, Ernie Gotts found that there was a matching grant available. We let the congregation know about this in case anyone wanted to support this mission. We received an additional $700! So, in the end, we cut a check for $1,600 to RST. This will be matched dollar for dollar and will be used in our area to serve refugees who have gone through the vetting process – the majority of whom are children.

Interfaith Family Services, which receives $1,800 annually through our operational budget, will receive an additional $4,000 through this special gift.

Finally, our largest gift has been designated for the Presbyterian Chil-dren’s Homes and Services. We will cut a check for $10,000 to PCHAS and we will be a lead donor for their luncheon on November 1. Save the date! We will want to have as many folks as possible from FPCR in at-tendance.

Caring Funds Special Offering Donations will be collected beginning Mothers’ Day, May 14, through Fathers’ Day, June 18.

This fund provides support for: Faith Presbyterian Hospice Grace Presbyterian Village Presbyterian Village North

Watch for more information coming soon.

Mission Gifts from page 1

East Texas Tornadoes The Rev. Jim Reinarz (1st Presbyterian, Grand Prairie) is the moderator of the Presbytery disas-ter response team, working with PDA to respond most appropriately. He has provided the follow-ing information:

Some families in the rural areas need assistance, and First Presbyterian Church of Athens will be the point of contact for volunteer teams that want to help.

Anyone wanting to make a monetary donation may send a check made out to Grace Presbytery and memo for East Texas tornadoes. Send to:

6100 Colwell Blvd. Suite 100 Irving, Texas 75039-3148

What a joy it has been to spend my last three and a half years of professional ministry among you. It will also be fun to come back and be a vol-unteer here at First Church in September.

It was just over 30 years ago that I accepted my first job as a student pastor in Coggon, Iowa. Zion Presbyterian was a small rural church with around 100 members when I arrived. I was giddy with hope that the church and I would witness to God’s pres-ence in our community. When I arrived I discovered a church that was ready, actually hungry, to hear the word of Christ made alive in the congregation again. (That s the most important fuel a congrega-tion can give a pastor to produce a good working environment.)

In the seven years I served there and in the oth-er churches I served, I discovered there were situa-tions I would hate and others I would love. There were people who I would truly enjoy being around and others who made me nervous just to see com-ing down the street. Some things I could do easily and others I did only by the grace of God and the encouraging power of the Holy Spirit. I discovered that some would question whether they wanted a woman preacher but gave me a chance, and some would never say anything but left the church for it was wrong to have a woman in a position of power in the church. Most of all I found people who want-ed to engage in growing their faith and growing their congregation. Through it all, ministry has been an adventure in faith and faith has never let me down.

Wayne and I look forward to a few months of

getting things caught up at home and traveling. We will be gone almost all of July as we travel to Disneyland with our children and then on a cruise from Basel to Amsterdam with my sister and her husband. Wayne and I have many places in the US we would like to see as well, so throughout the year we will be taking special trips while we can.

When we get back I will still be a Parish Associ-ate without pay or hours, but I’ll be around to do things when Pastor David has special assignments for me. I look forward to seeing who God is going to send to the church as your new Associate Pas-tor. The committee chosen to do the work will do a good job! They, along with Pastor David (who is always full of energy), will be busy putting our newly remodeled educational building to good use. I know all of you will be there to help things get off to a great start.

For now, I thank Pastor David, the staff, the Session, and most of all you the congregation for making my last three and a half years of ministry some of the most enjoyable of my professional life. I am a bit nervous about retirement. Still I can work at retirement for “I can do everything by the power of Christ. He gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13 NIV) Coming home to this church was a blessing beyond words. Coming back in a few months will be different but I am sure it too will be a blessing beyond measure.

Thank you for working with me in serving the Lord.

Your Sister in Christ, Rev Bev

2018 Choir Tour continued from page 2

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I’ve planned a “meet and greet” with John Sab-ol and a few others from USIT for Tuesday, May 9, at 7 p.m. in the FPC sanctuary. The meeting will start in the welcome center with some light re-freshments, then move to the sanctuary where you’ll receive the complete itinerary and hear from John about USIT and our tour. That will be fol-lowed by a question and answer period.

I sense that your main question at this very mo-ment is “how much will this tour cost?!” Well, I’ve worked very closely with John and USIT to keep the costs as low as possible and I’ve put caps in place to help hold the cost down. The airfare in 2018 is an unknown and the exchange rate floats up and down, but based on current fares and rates,

the trip is around $3,700 per traveler for the full tour. That includes non-stop round-trip airfare, four nights in London, four nights in Stratford, dai-ly breakfast, and four dinners, plus admission to several sites and shows. A “land only price” will be available as well so you can expand your tour if desired.

Even if you are only mildly interested in the tour, please come to the May 9 meeting and hear more of the details. I know you’ll want to reserve your place!

Grace and Peace, Ralph

For several decades, food insecurity and hunger have been a major concern in the extreme north region of Cameroon. The situation has been attributed primarily to erratic rainfall, the semi-arid Sahel desert climate, rocky topography and inade-quate food storage facilities. Hunger is widespread during the lean period that generally occurs between June and September and many families find it difficult to afford even one meal a day.

Since 2013, the situation has been further aggravated by the insurgency of Boko Haram which has been terrorizing the region in its attempts to establish an Is-lamic caliphate there and in Nige-ria. Boko Haram’s terrorist activi-ties in Nigeria have prompted an influx of refugees fleeing vio-lence. As a result of these atroci-ties, around 60,000 refugees and 100,000 internally displaced per-sons (IDPs) are currently living in the northern region of Came-roon. Their presence has placed enormous pressures on the avail-ability of food, water and fire-wood as well as placed an up-ward pressure on the price of daily goods.

Boko Haram militants have been in search not only of hos-tages, but of food and livestock to feed their “army.” This has further aggravated food insecuri-

ty and hunger in the extreme north of Cameroon.

Back in 2006, supported by the Presbyterian Disaster As-sistance (PDA) and the Presby-terian Hunger Program (PHP), RELUFA, the Joining Hands network in Cameroon, togeth-er with some local communi-ties in the extreme north initi-ated a community grain banks program with the aim of ad-dressing recurrent hunger problems there.

Community grain banks were proposed to ensure the availabil-ity of food in the community at all times. Community grain banks permit community members to borrow grain during the lean peri-od and to reimburse grain during the next harvest. Sixty bags of maize grains, weighing 100kg each, stock each village grain bank to provide a rotating stock of food throughout the year. Cur-rently, a total of 45 community grain banks have been created and continue to operate in select-ed villages, ensuring access to food for around 30,000 people.

In July 2016, the Presbyterian Church USA assisted five more villages affected by food insecuri-ty through the allocation of 250 bags of maize grains. Additional-ly, two grain storage facilities were constructed in two commu-nities.

The community grain banks can serve as an important social safety net against food insecuri-ty. Most humanitarian agencies and government programs focus on emergency responses. Provid-ing food to those in dire need and during emergencies is necessary, however, addressing the root causes of hunger and poverty is important. RELUFA believes that community grain banks can serve as an important alternative to emergency food distribution. RELUFA plans to continue en-gaging government authorities and other stakeholders to devel-op long-term strategies that ad-dress food insecurity and hunger in the extreme north region.

This is taken from a longer article by Jaff Bamenjo, RELUFA, Joining Hands Came-roon, in the UCUSA Mission Newsletter.

A Letter of Thanks to Pastor David

Community Grain Banks Address Food Insecurity

Please share with your First Friday team my thanks for all the work you and they do providing this wonderful service to our community. My five year old daughter, Sarah, looks forward to going to "Bible Study" each month. My wife and I look for-ward to the night out! Thank you, again.

Your church is really a shining example of what church should be in my opinion - you are good neighbors. You always think of us (we live just

down the street on Fairview) in your special pro-grams be it holiday organ recitals or talent shows or input on the playground and we always enjoy taking part. We are a Catholic family but we are "Presbyterian neighbors!" We really enjoy FPC and are glad you are here.

Bravo to FPC for being Christ-like! Philip Cook

Sunday Book Club

Change of date! Join us in the church library at 5 p.m. on May 7, when we discuss The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah. Call Ginger (Doug) Anderson for more information.

Thursday Evening Circle

Please join us Thursday evening, May 11, from 6:30-9 p.m. for our potluck supper at the home of Gin-ger (Doug) Anderson. All are invited to bring a dish to share. We will continue our Horizons Bible Study, Who Is Jesus? with discussion of Lesson 8: According to Other Abrahamic Faiths. The meet-ing begins with supper, followed by circle business, prayer requests, and our lesson. Please call Ginger (Bob) Anderson for more information.

Retire-eze

The Retire-eze meet on Wednesday, May 17, at 11:30 for lunch, followed by the movie, "Sully". Call Shirley Bridges for further information.

Monday Book Discussion

Because of the Memorial Day Holiday we will meet a week earlier on May 22. Our book is The Nightin-gale, by Kristin Hannah. An historical novel of World War II, set in occupied France, author Han-nah follows the lives of two sisters as they struggle for survival while dealing with bitter hatred, love and enduring strength. This book has been on the Best Seller List for a long time and is only now available in paperback, the choice for our group. All are welcomed to join us at 2 p.m., in the church Library, as Barbara Rice leads our discussion. Question - contact Anne Healy.

Wednesday Morning Circle

Wednesday Morning Circle will meet at 9:30 a.m. on June 7 for the Annual Spring Luncheon, our final meeting until September. We don't normally meet in June but had to miss our November meeting so this is our make-up. For more information contact Susan Johnson or Anne Healy.

News You Can Use

FLASH! We have added more tables for the High Tea Style Luncheon on May 6 and we have a few more tickets available for $39 from Linda Yeager or the church office! Arts Alive folks have been busy creating auction items and table settings and other auction items are promised. This fund raiser is an event not to be missed and we appreciate your support! Entertainers are exercising their vocal cords and Rev Bev is—well you'll find out! If you cannot use your already purchased tickets, please contact Linda or the church office so they can be used.

New Book in Library

Have you been enjoying the roses by the south entrance to the Narthex? Well, you can thank Sometimer David Carpenter who has made it his mission to care for those roses.

The Wednesday Morning Circle has placed a book in the li-brary in loving memory of Sharon Babb. She was an avid read-er and one of her favorite books was Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth. It is an engrossing historical novel of those in-volved in building "the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known." Follett is known for his memorable charac-terizations, intriguing mystery and captivating narrative. We hope you will enjoy this addition to the library and remember Sharon with love. You'll find this book in a special section ded-icated to books given in memory of beloved members of FPC.

High Tea Luncheon News

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

30

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31 1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

May/June 2017

May 3, 2017

Artisans from Peru, Cambodia, and other countries who have struggled with poverty most of their lives are celebrating. Partners for Just Trade (PJT), a nonprofit that connects artisans from impoverished areas with North American consumers, has commemorated its 10th anniversary. PJT began as an initiative of Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery and the Presbyterian Hunger Program when Presbyterians began bringing handicrafts back to the United States for sale in churches. With strong support from PHP’s Joining Hands network in Peru, a group of volunteers and Giddings-Lovejoy, the nonprofit has taken off, providing invaluable support for artisans seeking better wages and a better life. Now, more than 15 artisan groups with over 200 artisans work with PJT through the Peruvian trade partner Bridge of Hope.

Presbyterian Hunger Program coordinator Ruth Farrell, who served as a mission co-worker in Peru, describes the Bridge of Hope fair trade corridor as one of the biggest blessings of her life. “I remember visiting a knitting cooperative, and the women were planning their campaign to get city water into their hillside. Prior to the cooperative, the group wanted to remain invisi-ble, having moved to the hillside to escape years of political violence in Peru’s mountains,” she said. “Now, through their coop-erative, the group proudly pointed out that they were paying municipal taxes and felt they deserved the water. As taxpaying citizens, they now had no need to be invisible and carried themselves differently.” Farrell says the women working in the coop-erative not only learned to organize their business, but were organizing the community as well.

“My initial reaction was to see all the reasons a fair traded corridor couldn’t work, but I learned to step out in faith and trust sisters and brothers in the communities of Peru and in Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery who knew a better life for all was possible,” said Farrell. Started by a $7,000 One Great Hour of Sharing grant, PJT helps secure fair wages for the artisans, enabling them to provide food, shelter, and medicine for their families, educate their children, and reclaim dignity.

“Without the support of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), particularly the Presbyterian Hunger Program, there would be no PJT,” she said. “PHP has provided ongoing support for our organization and our Joining Hands network partner in Peru. PJT grew out of PC(USA) initiatives and is really a daughter of the church.”