CHURCH CURRENTS First Presbyterian Church 210 S. Wayne Street

Milledgeville, GA 31061

phone: 478-452-9394

fpchurch@windstream.net

www.fpchurch.org “like” us on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/First.Presbyterian.Church.Milledgeville.GA

We seek to glorify God through:

Inspiring worship in Word and music, Inquiring study for adults and youth,

Inclusive hospitality locally and globally, Industrious outreach for social justice

and environmental stewardship.

September2016

We are on the radio Our worship service is broadcast on WKZR

(102.3 FM.) every Sunday morning at 11:00AM

GAME NIGHT

Our first game nights have been filled with fun and laughter!

Bring your friends, neighbors and relatives,

the next game night is September 19 at 6pm.

Bring your own drink and a small snack to share.

Contact Margie Dodd if you have any questions,

thirdbrown136@yahoo.com

Hope to see you there!

SUNDAY FLOWERS You are invited to join our bunch! Marion Robinson has been arranging flowers for the Church each Sunday and she needs

contributions and she has agreed to be our leader. It is very simple, just look around and see if you have a small or large bunch of

flowers in your yard, let Marion know by Friday, bring them to Church on Sunday morning by 9:30-10:00.

A few blooms from several people will make a large bouquet!

Let us know if you have any questions and if this is a way you would like to serve.

Love and Peace, Margie Dodd thirdbrown136@yahoo.com Marion Robinson mrobinson31061@gmail.com

Coord. of Children &

Youth Ministries:

Gloria Burns

Issue No. 246 September 2016

First Presbyterian Church

Organists:

Kate Phillips

Jenny Moore

Director of Music:

Dr. Jennifer Flory

Admin. Asst.:

Dianna Hendricks

Child Care Providers: Charis Andrews Kathleen Green Sarah Patrick

Pastor:

Rev. Susan

Balfour

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Grace and peace to you, in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ! I give thanks to God for you each

day! In Dianna’s office, there is a philodendron; amongst its trailing vines, there is also a vase full of

cuttings from this philodendron. Several members of our congregation have taken rooted cuttings from this one plant, and everyone is welcome to a cutting or two.

This philodendron is a wonderful illustration of the connectedness of our church family. As Christ has said, he is the vine, and we are the branches; so, too, is our church philodendron the

root of the plants in so many of our homes. Just as many of us have taken home cuttings from this one plant, there are so many other ways in which we are connected. We share a common experience that binds us together as a family. Our many households combine in the church

household, and it is a wonder to see!

In addition to the plants we’ve brought home from church, several households contribute plants to the church—for sanctuary flowers and table decorations. We also contribute the fruits of our labors to our common household, in terms of the gifts of our time, talents, and resources. Our

children learn together about the Christian faith, and find in one another a kind of friendship that goes deeper than school mates. We worship together, feast together, learn together, pray together, and serve together, all rooted, like our philodendron cuttings, in the one plant. In

Christ, we find our roots and grow; in the church, we find the loamy soil that nourishes. And I am so grateful for this fertile ground, and for

having been grafted onto this wonderful vine with you.

Yours, in Christ, Rev. Susan

2016 2017 2018 Elders: Marianne Edwards Jan Clark Dave Baarda

Sam McChesney Doris Moody Faye Heal

Nancy Miller, Clerk Lee Gillis Holley Cowan Deacons: Joseph Dean Joel Burns Mary Baker

Becky Henderson Irene Tchamna Donna Gautier

Alice Tenold Margie Dodd, Moderator Barbara Rowe

JOIN US FOR WORSHIP & FELLOWSHIP

PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN

The Presbyterian Women study groups will resume meeting in September. The Sunday group will meet on the

second Sunday of each month (September 11) at 5:00 in the parlor. The Tuesday group will meet on the second

Tuesday of each month (September 13) at 11:00 in the parlor. After its Bible Study, the group will have lunch at a

local restaurant.

The Bible Study this year is written by Judy Yates Siker and is entitled Who Is Jesus? It will examine

various interpretations of the life of Jesus based on the four gospels, the writings of Paul, the book

of Hebrews, the Non-canonical Gospels, the other Abrahamic faiths and contemporary cultural

interpretations. Rosemary Begemann will lead the discussions. You may purchase a copy of the

book for $8.00 from the church office or from Rosemary.

JOIN US FOR STUDY & WORSHIP

Sunday School 9:45AM Potluck Wednesday 6:30PM

Sunday Morning Worship 11:00AM Bible Study 7:15PM

NURSERY SCHEDULE: September 4 Margie Dodd

September 11 Anne Smart

September 18 Jackie Northington

September 25 Gloria Burns Thank you for continued

support in this service to our

church.

Anne Smart

FPC Book Club

The FPC Book Club met in the parlor of the church on August 11 to discuss our book of the month, a science fiction book

entitled, "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin. A brief bio of the author was given by Millie Murphy followed

by a discussion of the book led by Mike Tenold. Many people were surprised to learn the number of books

the eighty-something-year old author has written. Not only is she a well known author in the genre of fantasy/

science fiction, she has written non-fiction books and is also a famous children's book author. Although it was

generally agreed that this was not one of our favorite books to read, we did have one of the most interesting dis-

cussions that we have had in our book club meetings.

The book selection for September is "The Class of '65: A Student, a Divided Town, and the Long Road to For-

giveness" by Georgia author Jim Auchmutey. This is a true story of a teenager whose family lived on the farm

commune Koinonia near Americus, Georgia in the 60's. (One of the founders of Koinonia went on the establish

Habitat for Humanity.) The book chronicles the abuse he endured from the other students in school because of

the prejudice, bias and lack of understanding of Koinonia from the surrounding community. The forgiveness

mentioned in the title of the book comes at the end of the story. This should be a very interesting discussion.

There could be the possibility of a field trip, as Koinonia is still active and does provide tours. We might want to

wait for cooler weather, as they do not have air conditioning, I have been told.

Please join us to discuss this book and to make choices for books to read in the upcoming months. If you have

a friend that would enjoy our group, please bring them along. Our group is growing through word of mouth.

For information, please contact Millie Murphy at mmurphy1611@yahoo.com or Alice Tenold at

amtenold@charter.net.

THANK YOU ALL!

Thank you to Rev. Susan, Marion

Robinson, Nancy Miller, Rosemary

Begemann, Donna Gautier and Anne

Dennis for covering the office

during my vacation time, it is very

much appreciated.

Many blessings, Dianna

BACK TO SCHOOL SWIM PARTY

September 10, 2-5pm All of our children and youth are invited to join us for fun and fellowship at a Swim Party at the home of Holley Cowan and

Sunda Coleman, 102 Pine Ridge Road SW. We will have a lifeguard for the party. A snack will be provided.

Thanks so much to Holey and Sunda for your wonderful hospitality and your ongoing support of our children and youth.

Any questions, please contact Gloria Burns, gloryb.ce@gmail.com

PUPPETS

Our puppet ministry will continue to meet on Sunday mornings at 10am.

Thanks to all of you for the many talents and hard work put forth by our members in

preparing for Children’s Time during worship each Sunday.

S.T.A.R.S.

Students That Always Rejoice And Serve (S.T.A.R.S.) will begin fall meetings on September 11

from 3:30-5:30pm. This group includes children four years old up through elementary school age.

We meet to sing, pray, do crafts or art projects, and learn Bible Stories.

We will begin the year with this scheduled time, and make adjustments if necessary.

Ruby Werts and Gloria Burns work with these students.

MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH

Those students in Middle and High School will begin meeting

September 11 from 3:30 - 5:30pm.

Activities will include Bible Study, fellowship,

service projects and music.

We will begin the year with scheduled time

and make adjustments as necessary.

For more information on any of the children’s activities, please contact Gloria Burns, gloryb.ce@gmail.com.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

VIP’S CORNER (Visually Impaired Persons)

All About the OrCam

The August VIP speaker was Don Emons of Mons International. Mr. Emons brought the latest device to the meeting called an OrCam. It is

designed to assist people who are blind or visually impaired. The device is a small camera worn in the style of Google Glass,

connected by a thin cable to a portable computer designed to fit in the wearer's pocket. The system clips on to the wearer's

glasses with a small magnet and uses a bone-conduction speaker to offer clear speech as it reads aloud the words or object to

the user.

It can read text such as books, menus, labels, and computer screens, but can

also be programmed for facial recognition and money recognition. It has a

point and speak setting that lets one select what is read to the wearer. It

comes in 2 models with different capabilities. The aid is expensive, and is

not covered by Medicare or most insurances, but it offers capability not

available on many other devices. For more information you can go to

www.orcam.com. or contact Mr. Emons at 877-778-4342

( wmons@vifga.org).

Other VIP news: Doctors from Emory Eye Care now come to offices in

Athens and Macon ( Eye Care of Central GA) once a month, saving patients

the long drive to Atlanta and the Atlanta traffic snarls.

The next VIP meeting is Wednesday, September 21 at 10:30 AM, when

our speaker will be a member of the Milledgeville Lions Club. Those

attending are asked to bring any eyeglasses/frames that they no longer

need/use to donate to the Lions Club Recycle for Sight Project.

Meetings are open to the public and those seeking more information about

resources available for people with visual impairment are invited to attend.

PRISON FAMILY LUNCH

About 50 visitors from the Atlanta area joined us for lunch on Saturday, August 20. We all enjoyed good fellowship

and a meal of meatloaf, mac and cheese, veggies and a wonderful green salad, as well as an assortment of delicious

desserts. Thank you to all who brought food or volunteered to help, and especially to those who did both!

We plan to serve pork roast on September 17 and will let everyone know by e-mail what we need to round out the meal.

The day is always a blessing to those who come to help.

Maybe next time some who have missed this opportunity will take it -- might it be your time to pitch in ? Let us know

when the e-mail goes out.

Thank you to all who serve in this special ministry, whether regularly or occasionally.

Donna and Barbara

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

COMMUNITY OUTREACH FPC FOOD PANTRY

Our food pantry here at FPC is always looking for donations of

canned meats, fruit, vegetables, and beans; dry rice and beans,

cereal, peanut butter and jelly, mac & cheese, and other non-

perishables foods to be distributed each Tuesday to folk in our

community in need. You may bring your donations to the

Church Office, Monday-Thursday, 11:30 - 3:30; or we also

accept food donations during church service on the first

Sunday of each month, the

same day that we celebrate

Communion.

Any questions, or to arrange a

different time to give a dona-

tion, please call the Church

Office at 478-452-9394, or

contact Mary Baker at

mmbaker65@hotmail.com

Thank you for your

continued support to this much

needed ministry.

BOTTLE BRIGADE

Please remember to bring in your empty prescription

bottles. Our Bottle Brigade team will then fill them

with hand lotion to distribute to the

Open Door Community.

Bottles may be brought to the Church Office Monday -

Thursday, 11:30 - 3:30, or call 478-452-9394 if you

need to make different arrangements. Thank you.

MONTHLY SOUP AND SANDWICH MINISTRY

“Beginning in October, we will be partnering with Flipper Chapel and St. Stephen's to provide a soup and sand-

wich lunch for our neighbors in need! On the first Saturday of each month, we have been asked to provide volun-

teers, pb&j and meat sandwiches, crackers, Little Debbie snacks, tea, and volunteers. The kitchen will operate out

of Flipper Chapel, and we are asked to contribute our time from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

What we need:

- volunteers!

- donations of individually-wrapped dessert snacks

- deli meat

- bread

- pb&j

Please bring your donations to the church office, labeled for the

Flipper Chapel soup kitchen, to distinguish it from food pantry

donations. Also, please let Rev. Susan know if you are willing

to participate, either in time or in donations!

We're looking forward to contributing to this ministry to and in our

community, to meet the needs of the many who have fallen victim to

difficult economic times and circumstances. We are so blessed to have

this opportunity, and we're excited about increasing the ways we can

serve our neighbors!”

Grace and peace,

Reverend Susan Balfour

Pastor, First Presbyterian Church

210 S. Wayne Street

478-452-9394

FROM THE TREASURER: Once again, summertime has many of us taking vacations and enjoying a break from school and our regular activities. Our

work here at the church continues through the summer and relies on your continued contributions to meet our expenses. As

you can see, we show a deficit for the month of July and the year to date.

This month our Session will begin the task of preparing a budget for 2017. Part of that process will include reviewing this in-

formation when they plan for next year. It is impossible to know what the future will bring, but I hope we will continue to

show improvement as we have compared to last year.

An update on our financial progress for the month of July and the year to date:

July 2016 YTD 2015 YTD

Contributions $14,285 $109,032 $118,421

Other Income 137 3,697 2,383

Total Income $14,422 $112,729 $120,804

Budgeted Expenses 22,085 132,792 143,284

Net (Loss) $ (7,663) ($20,063) ($22,480)

As always, if you have any questions, please contact me. Online giving is

Anne Dennis asdennis@windstream.net or 478-452-6860 available at fpchurch.org

Those with Limited Mobility: Mrs. Gerry Califf

Mary Carlton

Martha Chappell Helen Danuser

Bob & Eloise Lamb

Jo Ann Manley

Polly Morrison

Joe & Charlotte Owens

Ruth Treptow

Church Family:

Harry Beck, malignancy, chemotherapy

Rosemary Begemann, recovering from surgery Amy Smith, recovering from surgery, at home Extended Family:

Janice Clark, Sunda Coleman’s sister, recovering at home

Judy deGrandcourt, Sandra Balfour’s sister, advanced MS

Russell & Kathleen Edwards, Marianne’s parents, numerous health problems

Marty Flory, Jennifer’s mother-in-law, ongoing health issues

Leigh Humphrey, friend of Bill & Ruby Werts, kidney failure

April McMillan, Jeanene Vinson’s granddaughter, in remission

Glen Miller, Carl & Nancy Miller’s brother, stage 4 cancer

Jordyn Miller, Rosemary's great-niece, at home

Arthur Montemayor, Becky Henderson’s father, recovering from surgery, at home

Julie Montemayor, Becky Henderson’s mother, recovering from surgery, at home

Tom Murphy, Kathy Carroll’s brother, colon cancer

Betty Owens, Joe & Charlotte’s sister-on-law, cancer

Chris Pearson, Sunda Coleman’s son, under heart specialist care

Roy Pound, Sunda Coleman’s father, at home

Runette Pound, Sunda Coleman’s mother, at home

Suzy Smith, Lois Callender’s mother, prayers for improved physical & mental health

Sue York, cancer treatment

In Assisted Living: Sandra Balfour, recovering from surgery, Green Acres

Katherine Lyda, Louise Sallstrom’s mother, Green Acres

Marguerite Owens, Gloria Burns’ mother, Savannah Court Reba Vaughan, Antebellum at Arlington, 684 Arlington Ave. , Macon, GA 30210

Hospice Care Laurette Smith, Harbor Chase Room 319, 1385 Silver Bluff Rd. Aiken, SC 29803

Birth

days

An

niv

ersa

ries

September 1

Jan Thompson

September 2

Sheree Applebury

Elizabeth Baarda

September 4

Joseph Dean

September 8

Eloise Lamb

September 9

Frankie Holder

September 10

Tom Wood

September 1 Roy & Kate Phillips

September 3 Thomas & Mary Lucik

September 21 George & Nan Carpenter

September

September 11

Mollie Ritchie

September 18

Blair Harshbarger

September 14

John Bradley

Ellen Thompson

Reba Vaughan

September 19

Stephanie Azahar

Sandra Balfour

Iain Flory

“This is the day

which the LORD

hath made;

we will

rejoice and be

glad in it.”

1

7:00 Choir

2

3

4

9:45 Sunday School

10:00 Puppet

11:00 Worship w/

Communion

Food Offering Received

5

5:30 CE

OFFICE CLOSED

6

9:30-10:30 Food Pantry

12:00 Kiwanis

5:30 Deacons

7

6:30 Pot Luck

7:15 Bible Study

8

10:00 Bottle

Brigade

2:00 Book Club

6:30 IOBI

7:00 Choir

9

5-9:00 MNS

Choral Retreat

10

2-5pm Youth

Pool Party

11

9:45 Sunday School

10:00 Puppets

11:00 Worship

3:30-5:30pm S.T.A.R.S.

3:30-5:30pm Youth

Group

12

5:30 Stewardship

& Finance

13

9:30-10:30 Food Pantry

12:00 Kiwanis

4:00 “Mourning After”

4:00 Worship Committee

5:30 Property

14

6:30 Pot Luck

7:15 Bible Study

15

2:00 LIR Reading

3:00 LIR Writing

(Learning In

Retirement)

7:00 Choir

16

17

12:00 Prison

Family Lunch

18

9:45 Sunday School

10:00 Puppets

11:00 Worship

19

3-5:00 BCREA

6:00 Game Night

20

9:30-10:30 Food Pantry

9:30 Samaritan Ministry

12:00 Kiwanis

5:00 Session

21

10:30 VIP’S

(Visually Impaired

Persons)

6:30 Potluck

7:15 Bible Study

22

4:00 MCGA

(Milledgeville

Community Gar-

den Association)

6:30 IOBI

7:00 Choir

23

24

25

9:45 Sunday School

10:00 Puppets

11:00 Worship

26

6:00 GS Leaders

27

9:30-10:30 Food Pantry

12:00 Kiwanis

5:15 Kiwanis

6:30 Bridge

28

6:30 Potluck

7:15 Bible Study

29

7:00 Choir

30

OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED LABOR DAY

Office Hours August 29 - September 7

Monday 11am-3pm

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 9am - 3pm

September 20

Lonnie Bales

Polly Morrison

September 22

Alice Tenold