What a great celebration we had last month. It was great to see old friends of Community Presbyterian Church come back to help us celebrate. The reflections from ministers past and present helped bring even the recent years to life. A high- light for me was learning how the elders and members often struggled with the finances of the church. In recent years we’ve been concerned, yet never faced what those before us faced. They really persevered through some very rough times. The other thing that stood out to me is how being a part of the community was important in the beginning and still is. The Union Chapel was established to be a place of worship for people of different denominations. Today, we may not be sharing our facility with another church, yet we share our facility with many others and participate in the ministry of the area. We have had and have an ecumenical spirit. For this I am very glad. I want to say thanks for everyone who helped make the 125 th a success; Becky Roberts, Vera Hardin and their crew. Also Leslie Wyman and the staff of the White River Historical Society for their help with digging into past records and finding the many different tidbits. We may run some of those in the future as a special col- umn in the News Letter. On a side note, the “head of staff” is supposed to know what’s going on in the life of the church. Yet everyone, including my administrative assistant, kept me in the dark about your thanking me for my 15 years of ministry here at Community Pres- byterian Church. On July 20 , I celebrated 43 years of marriage with Phyllis and my 37 th anniversary of my ordination. Let’s see, of my years in ministry, I’ve spent over 40% of it here at Community Presbyterian Church. I continue to give thanks for God’s call for me to be your pastor and your appreciation of our ministry to- gether. Thanks for the gift. Phyllis and I plan to use it on an Alaskan trip, where we travel on a smaller cruise ship and see some of hidden places of Alaska. Thanks for giving us a gift that will help us attain going on this trip. Having celebrated 125 years, it is now time to focus upon the future into which God is calling/leading us. We’ll experience a change come September 1. The change comes from your having agreed with the elders decision to move elders terms of office from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, to Sept. 1 to August 31. The new elders will be ordained and installed the last Sunday of August or first Sunday in September. This will give us the ability to have our planning session in September, form com- mittees for the year and hit the ground running come November and December. I believe this change will help us this year and in the years to come. Please be thinking as to how you’d like to, feel called to, participate in the work of the church. There is a place for you. We need people who will pray for us. People who will assist with the different fellowship functions. People who will help with repairs around the church. People to be liturgist and/or ushers or greeters. We all have gifts to share. Please be open to sharing your gifts in the life and work of your church. In closing, again I say thanks for making July 2017 such a memorable month for me, for the church and community. Blessings, in the name of our risen Lord. Dennis
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What a great celebration we had last month. It was great to see old friends of Community Presbyterian Church come back to help us celebrate. The reflections from ministers past and present helped bring even the recent years to life. A high-light for me was learning how the elders and members often struggled with the finances of the church. In recent years we’ve been concerned, yet never faced what those before us faced. They really persevered through some very rough times. The other thing that stood out to me is how being a part of the community was important in the beginning and still is. The Union Chapel was established to be a place of worship for people of different denominations. Today, we may not be sharing our facility with another church, yet we share our facility with many others and participate in the ministry of the area. We have had and have an ecumenical spirit. For this I am very glad.
I want to say thanks for everyone who helped make the 125th a success; Becky Roberts, Vera Hardin and their crew. Also Leslie Wyman and the staff of the White River Historical Society for their help with digging into past records and finding the many different tidbits. We may run some of those in the future as a special col-umn in the News Letter.
On a side note, the “head of staff” is supposed to know what’s going on in the life of the church. Yet everyone, including my administrative assistant, kept me in the dark about your thanking me for my 15 years of ministry here at Community Pres-byterian Church. On July 20, I celebrated 43 years of marriage with Phyllis and my 37th anniversary of my ordination. Let’s see, of my years in ministry, I’ve spent over 40% of it here at Community Presbyterian Church. I continue to give thanks for God’s call for me to be your pastor and your appreciation of our ministry to-gether. Thanks for the gift. Phyllis and I plan to use it on an Alaskan trip, where we travel on a smaller cruise ship and see some of hidden places of Alaska. Thanks for giving us a gift that will help us attain going on this trip.
Having celebrated 125 years, it is now time to focus upon the future into which God is calling/leading us. We’ll experience a change come September 1. The change comes from your having agreed with the elders decision to move elders terms of office from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, to Sept. 1 to August 31. The new elders will be ordained and installed the last Sunday of August or first Sunday in September. This will give us the ability to have our planning session in September, form com-mittees for the year and hit the ground running come November and December. I believe this change will help us this year and in the years to come. Please be thinking as to how you’d like to, feel called to, participate in the work of the church. There is a place for you. We need people who will pray for us. People who will assist with the different fellowship functions. People who will help with repairs around the church. People to be liturgist and/or ushers or greeters. We all have gifts to share. Please be open to sharing your gifts in the life and work of your church.
In closing, again I say thanks for making July 2017 such a memorable month for me, for the church and community.
Blessings, in the name of our risen Lord. Dennis
2
Session Digest
Due to a change in the meeting schedule this month, the digest is not yet available.
It will be back next month.
From a thank you note we received: Thank you for including us in your cele-
bration! It evoked many fond memories
of your care of our family.
May God’s blessings for you continue.
George & Gaylene Jones
3
Benevolence Fund Report:
During July we helped 8 people: 5 with rent, 2 with utilities, and 1 with food.
We also received 1 donation to the fund this month. Thanks for your wonderful gifts!
If you would like to make a donation to the Benevolent Fund, please do so by marking your check “special gift - benevolent fund”. You can also donate to the fund through our website’s PayPal button. It’s toward the bottom on the first page. Please mark your gift for the Benevolent Fund. Those who receive our assistance greatly appreci-ate your gifts!