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Pastor ........................................ Andy Gans
Visitation Pastor (Ret.) ............ Tom McNeil Music Director
.......................... Rick Roberts Executive Assistant
................... Pat Brown Nursery Attendant
.................... Tammy Keeslar Proofreaders
.............................. Susan M. Jensen and John Stewart
Contributors ............................... Members of Ft. King
Assembling ................................. Phyllis Altonn,
Bobbie
Burns, Sue Chancey, Kay Dahlen, Joyce Gauntt, Donna Johnson, Pat
Merrill, Roselle Pringle,
Alice Reffner Bulk Mail Handling ................... John
Stewart
Office: (352) 694Office: (352) 694Office: (352) 694Office: (352)
694----4121412141214121 FAX: (352) 694FAX: (352) 694FAX: (352)
694FAX: (352) 694----5226522652265226
13 NE 36TH AVENUE13 NE 36TH AVENUE13 NE 36TH AVENUE13 NE 36TH
AVENUE OCALA, FLORIDA 34470OCALA, FLORIDA 34470OCALA, FLORIDA
34470OCALA, FLORIDA 34470
www.fortking.orgwww.fortking.orgwww.fortking.orgwww.fortking.org
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
Worship: Sundays 10:00 a.m. through August 23, 2015Worship:
Sundays 10:00 a.m. through August 23, 2015Worship: Sundays 10:00
a.m. through August 23, 2015Worship: Sundays 10:00 a.m. through
August 23, 2015
PASTORS LETTER Summer greetings,
Although we have entered the slower summer
months, plans for our churchs 50th Anniversary
celebration have picked up. The Session has ap-
proved October 24-25, 2015 to be the weekend
of our celebration. We still have a lot of plan-
ning to do to make this a celebration worthy of
our fifty years of ministry in Ocala. We would
love your help in many different areas. We
need people to help organize a special worship
service, a church-wide mission project, and an
exceptional reception. We also need your stories
and photos that tell the journey of our church,
its family and its mission. If you would like to
help in any way or have a story or photos to
share please bring them to the church office.
Fifty years is an incredible milestone in the life
of a church, and especially this one. Our church
was birthed at a very challenging time in our
countrys history. Many thought that an inte-
grated church with social justice issues as its cor-
nerstone would never succeed. Well, we have,
thanks to the hard work, foresight, and strong
faith of many courageous saints. This church
continues to stand on the high ground of seek-
ing peace and justice for all of Gods creation.
This reason is why I was attracted to this
church. I wanted to be a part of a group of faith-
ful Christians who were putting treads on their
feet of faith, and gloves on their outward
stretched hands of grace and welcome.
I look forward to all those who will gather on
these grounds to celebrate the mighty works of
God, our faith in Jesus the Christ and the works
of the faithful over these past fifty years.
With excitement!
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ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE
April 2015 Financial Results
Operating Income
Actual = $25,655.91
Budget = $23,427.17
Variance = $ 2,228.74
Expenses
Actual = $22,116.38
Budgeted = $23,418.41
Variance =
Year-to-Date as of 4/30/15: our income is $4,038.59 ahead of
budget. Our expenses are $10,347.89
under budget. We fully expect our expense line to catch up with
the budget by year end. It is most im-
pressive that our income exceeds our budget. FKPC is a most
generous congregation! Praise the Lord!
The Finance Ministry is still in need of new members. If you
have elementary school math skills and a
desire to keep your church relevant in the upcoming years, we
would be thrilled to have you join us.
We meet on the second Tuesday of each month and I promise to
bring chocolate! Please contact Steve
Layendecker if interested.
Steve Layendecker
Chairperson
CONGREGATIONAL CARE
Happy Birthday
A birthday is a special time as everyone should know. It means
living another year, another year to grow.
A birthday is a special time for each to then reflect, on the
past and on the present and what the future might expect.
A birthday is a special time for each to start anew, for setting
goals and striving to make every wish and dream come true.
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CONNECTIONS
Oklawaha, Divided - a poem by Lola Haskins
Between here and the Silver Run are trees drowned for the sakes
of men and women who fish not for food but trophies, who don't see
the point of anything that can't be hung gape-mouthed from a
hook.
Between here and the Silver Run lie the ghosts of dozens of
green-and-russet curves lined with laurel oak and palm, and
cypresses at whose feet spider lilies gleam like stars.
Here below the dam, water thunders into the river whose body it
spread. This is the roar of the beast called money and it believes
it will always win. But not yet, for soon enough
the thunder fades, and is replaced by a pair of late owls
seeking each other through the trees-- call and throb, call and
throb, until one takes flight. Rhythmically across
the tangled bank a kingfisher rises, dips, and disappears into
cypress and switch cane. So much beauty, I think, lies in
vanishment. I pass a thickly-vined arch and this
is how I would like to be married-- to take this river as a nun
takes Christ, understanding that its water will always fall through
my cupped hands. A great blue
stands sentry in the spatterdock. It should never have let me
pass, nor the two men casting from their jonboat with the radio
turned up. What kind
of bird do they think they are? Twelve thousand years ago, our
elders hunted these shores. We paddle by one of their mounds where
looters
with lanterns picked through the dirt, looking for something to
sell. Perhaps when the night is full, the bones they missed slide
into the river, to spear
what the moon reveals, swimming over white sand. We can't see
beneath us any more, but there are still people who remember when
this water
ran as transparent as if it were not there, good people raised
in the woods, who lived by poaching, who knew how to blind the
boats of the law that came in chase. A cooter slips off an algaed
log. There are only a few now, but come summer, they will line up
by size again
to plop into the dark, as they should, at the sound of one of
us. Now, slowly, the river widens. It is dreaming of the St. Johns,
magnificent to it
as the sea. Not yet, we tell it, don't end yet, as on our left
ibis after ibis lifts away until there are eight, flying in close
formation.
Two meanders, and there are twenty. One more, and I feel what I
felt when I was a child and turned a page of talk and suddenly
saw
antelopes, thousands of them, spread across an African plain--
for suddenly too many ibises to count swirl into the blue air
and
settle at the top of an oak whose limbs spread to receive them.
It's a celebration! It makes everyone in the sky so happy
they shred their poems and drop them out their windows without a
thought! But soon, as moments do, this one evanesces and
we join the wide St. Johns, where fish camps and houses gleam in
the sun. Some day we will follow it north to a place
we cannot see across. But not today. Today, we have to face
again what we drowned so people who take reservoirs
for nature can pull their trophies and go home, people who, if
they happen to pass the mucky river above the dam, will not see
the connection. But it's there: a moth in Brazil, a clutch of
gator eggs in tangled grass, we who claim to love freedom but fold
our hands.
Reprinted with written permission from the author, Lola Haskins,
Executive Committee Secretary and
Trustee for the Florida Defenders of the Environment.
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ADULT DISCIPLESHIP
Letter From a Birmingham Jail Written by Dr. Martin Luther King
in 1963
How do Kings words challenge us today in Ocala?
The focus of the adult portion of Vacation Bible School this
year will be to examine how Dr. Kings profound
letter speaks to us in Ocala in 2015, and how we might act to
help transform our own communitys challenges
regarding racial, ethnic and religious differences.
Be a part of the discussion 6:00 7:40 each evening, June 28 July
2
Sunday, June 28 An introduction to Letter From a Birmingham Jail
John Moxley
Monday, June 29 Issues of the Latino community in Ocala Reina
Mendez and Gilbert Malave
*Tuesday, June 30 Our relationship with the Jewish community in
Ocala
*Wednesday, July 1 Our relationship with the Islamic community
in Ocala
*Thursday, July 2 - Issues related to the African American
community in Ocala
*Speakers have yet to be determined.
CHILDRENS DISCIPLESHIP
Send your kids on an icy expedition!
At Everest VBS, kids embark on the coolest adventure of the
summer! Everest VBS is
Filled with incredible Bible-learning experiences kids see,
hear, touch and even taste!
Sciency-Fun Gizmos, team-building games, cool Bible songs, and
tasty treats are just a few of the standout
activities that help faith flow into real life. (Since
everything is hands-on, kids might get a little messy. Be
sure to send them in play clothes and safe shoes.) Plus, well
help kids discover how to see evidence of
God in everyday lifesomething we call God Sightings. Get ready
to hear that phrase a lot!
Your kids will also participate in a hands-on mission project to
help with the earthquake disaster in Nepal.
Parents, grandparents, and friends are invited to join us at the
end of each evening at 7:30 p.m. for Sum-
mit Celebration, a daily exploration of Gods mighty power you
wont want to miss.
So mark these dates on your calendar: June 28 July 2. The fun
starts at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday with a cov-
ered dish meal; at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday;
and at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday for a po-
tato and salad bar. We will end at 8:00 p.m. each night.
Call the church at 694-4121 to register your children,
grandchildren, or children of
friends for this life-changing adventure! You may also see Cate
Martin after church each
Sunday beginning May 31st. The total cost for the week is $5 to
cover food.
Sincerely,
Cate Martin, Your Everest VBS Director
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Crafty Ladies Crafty Ladies meet every Thursday from 1:00 - 3:00
p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. We hope to see all of you there. If
you would like to join our group, come for a visit and see what we
are doing and how you can help. We welcome new people and new
tal-ents!
Mens Night Out The next Mens Night Out is in September. Stay
tuned for more details later this summer.
Sassy Seniors The Sassy Seniors will not be going out for lunch
during the summer months of June, July, August, or September.
Lunches will resume in on October 13th.
Tai Chi Classes Tai Chi will not meet during June, July and
August. We will resume classes in Septem-
ber. Hope to see you then!
Mary Beth Neely and Donna Lavery
YOUTH DISCIPLESHIP
GROUP ACTIVITIES
50th Anniversary Coee Mug
On Sale Now
Celebrate 50 years of Fort King with your very own 50
th Anniversary
Coee Mug. The Youth Group is selling these beau ful
collector
mugs; one for $8 or two for $15. All proceeds from the mug sale
will
help our youth a(end Montreat in June and
other mission trips. If you reside outside Ocala
and want to purchase a mug or two, please
contact the church oce at (352) 694-4121.
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MISSION MINISTRY
The Staff of Fort King and the Property Ministry wish to thank
everyone who volunteered on
Church Clean-Up Day. The pews were polished, cobwebs were swept
away, weeds were pulled,
trees were pruned, gutters were cleared of needles, floors were
scrubbed and so much more. A lot
was accomplished because each of you worked tirelessly and
efficiently. We could not have done
it without you. Thank you for your enthusiasm, hard work and
dedication!
MISSION MINISTRY
PROPERTY MINISTRY
Nepal Earthquake
Sisters and Brothers in Faith,
The recent earthquake centered in Nepal has been devastating to
tens of thousands of
peoplenot just in Nepal, but India and Bangladesh too. At the
time of this publica-
tion, its known that more than 8,000 are dead and 17,000 have
been injured. And the
needs of survivors and those affected by this terrible tragedy
will be great for months
even years to come.
As people of faith we know you will pray for those who are
suffering greatly. Our Presbyterian Disaster
Assistance (PDA) ministry is working with our partners to
provide financial and other support on the
ground. Visit our PDA web site (http://pda.pcusa.org/) to learn
how you can help in this time of great
need, and be the presence of God with Presbyterian Disaster
Assistance for the people of Nepal.
Faithfully in Christ,
Sara Pottschmidt Lisherness
Director, Compassion, Peace and Justice Ministry
Thank you to the Choir for serving the Interfaith Meal in May.
The Tripodi Family is scheduled to serve the June Interfaith Meal
and the Boy Scouts, Troop #196 will serve the July meal. We
appreciate all those who have signed up for this great mission.
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SESSION
At its May 19, 2015 meeting, the Session approved/heard
from:
Approved the minutes of the May 17, 2015 congregational
meeting.
Approved, after examination, to receive Bernice Henry as serving
Ruling
Elder to complete the two-year term (Class of 2017) , vacated by
the death
of Elder Jim Copeland, and to install her during the regular
worship service on May 24, 2015.
Approved to tentatively set dates of October 24-25, 2015 for the
50th Anniversary celebration, pend-
ing any conflicts on the calendar.
Elder Margy Marshall reported as Commissioner to the spring
stated Presbytery Meeting. She high-
lighted that:
Cheryl Gans was examined and welcomed to be a member of the
Presbytery and will be or-
dained at Fort King Church on July 12, 2015.
Approval was made for the Belhar Confession to be added to the
Book of Confessions, with
little discussion.
Summer hours (10:00 a.m. worship) will begin on June 7, 2015 and
continue through August 23,
2015. Winter (regular) hours (10:30 a.m. worship) will resume on
August 30, 2015, to coincide with
Rally Day.
Sunday Worship
10:00 a.m.
beginning June 7, 2015
through August 23, 2015
Come a little early and stay a little late; get
to know everyone in your Church family.
No Adult Bible Classes during this time.
WORSHIP MINISTRY
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WORSHIP (continued)
REMEMBER THE SABBATH TO KEEP IT SEPARATE (HOLY)
EXODUS 20:8
Compare wording Deuteronomy 5:12: the difference between
Remember and Observe.
Shirley Turkle, an MIT sociologist, recently called into
question the almost universal use
of electronic technologies for communication which is
accompanied by the contempo-
rary inability to be alone, to engage in solitude, which, she
says, is the bedrock of develop-
ment as a person! Because of our use of those technologies, no
one is ever truly alone; were on call
24/7, and weve become dependent upon the IPhone, etc., which
enables communication at any time,
day or night (see Shirley Turkle, The Networked Primate in
Scientific American vol. 311, NO. 3, pp. 83-
85). The question she raises is this: where are we as a species
going? Why? What does it mean?
She calls into question our dominant culture of more, better,
faster! And, she asks us, as human beings, to
create sacred spaces- without technology - so that I can
encounter and critique my own self and con-
front/meet others, face-to-face, as human beings, as persons,
rather than either as biological or social
functions, i.e. as things!
The Chancel Choir Invites You to an
Evening of Music Wednesday July 15, 2015
5:45 PM Fellowship Hall
Bring your Favorite Covered Dish to Share and Invite a
Friend
Music from Broadway to Gospel
Show Tunes to Patriotic
And
A Load of FUN!
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WORSHIP (continued)
Abraham Joshua Heschel (1951, 2003 The Sabbath) commented:
Technical civilization is the product of labor, of mans exerting
of power for the sake of gain, for the
sake of producing goods the Sabbath is the day on which we learn
the art of surpassing civiliza-
tion (p. 17).
The seventh day is the exodus from tension, the liberation of
man from his own muddiness, the instal-
lation of man as a sovereign in the world of time (p. 20; my
emphases).
Indeed, says Heschel, the Sabbath is the place in time in which
each person is at home with the di-
vine and with ones neighbor and family (p. 4). When Sabbath is
vulgarized to become just anoth-
er day for exploitation and acquisition, then our humanity is
degraded, and we each become an-
other thing among things, something to be used, absorbed,
consumed by the Frankensteins of spa-
tial things (p. xii).
Ben Franklin said in his 1778 Ways to Wealth: Lost time is never
found again - especially when it
comes to making money! And it is precisely such an orientation
to mind and life - centered acquisi-
tion that T. S. Eliot wrote:
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpieces filled with straw. Alas!
(T. S. Eliot The Hollow Men 1925 lines 1 -4)
So, there has been considerable historical and scientific
response to the materialization and the
networking of human beings, their persons/souls. This was
precisely the point to Remember
the Sabbath: the concern is not just with setting aside a day
apart from work. To remember Sab-
bath is to become a witness, as a person and as a community of
persons, to the Creator of all life,
to celebrate life, not only with prayers and worship, but in
sharing with one another as a communi-
ty (recall the table-fellowships of early Christianity) our
common humanity and the ingenuity of
our differences.
We have become entrapped and enslaved by our own creations and
imaginings. Sabbath offers us a
golden opportunity to be liberated from them, to be human again
rather than to be led and
dominated. It is time for a new Exodus, for us to reflect on our
relationships with one another
as human beings and with God, our Creator, and to choose a new
direction of life when our ways
of doing things create alienation rather than
reconciliation.
Something to think about.
Shalom,
Tom
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Flower CalendarFlower CalendarFlower CalendarFlower Calendar
Thank you to these people as they share in donating flowers for
the following worship services: June 7, 2015 In memory of our
parents, Aleta, Max, and Robert, from the Repp family.
June 14, 2015 From Bernice and Bob Henry in celebration of their
55th wedding anniversary.
June 21, 2015 In celebration for three June anniversaries and
four June birthdays in our family, and in celebration of the life
of my father, Gwynn Skelton, from Gwynn and Cash Pealer.
June 28, 2015 In honor of our 53rd wedding anniversary from
Charles and Mary Ellen Vowinkel.
July 5, 2015 God Bless America and a special Thank You to all
those men and women who serve or have served our country in any
capacity! from Pat Brown
July 12, 2015 In loving memory of my mother, Ann Patnode, and my
brother, Edward, from Kay Dahlen.
July 19, 2015 OPEN
July 26, 2015 Praise the Lord for 50 years of marriage from Rhea
and Keay Forman.
August 2, 2015 OPEN
August 9, 2015 From Jim and Donna Johnson
August 16, 2015 With love to my two daughters, Judith Bullen and
Pam Lewin, from Lena Lewin.
August 23, 2015 From Marianne Fullarton, in loving memory of
Dave on the anniversary of their wedding.
August 30, 2015 OPEN
Please Note: If you would like to commemorate a special
event/occasion/memory etc. for a specific date, please call me as
soon as possible. It is never too early to select your chosen date.
Please dont hesitate to call me if there is a Sunday you would like
to commemorate by sharing with the church some type of flowers or
plant of your choice. The flowers or plant could be from your yard,
a super-market, a florist, or etc. Thank you.
Nancy Hall 694-3221
WORSHIP (continued)
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JUNE 2015 Italicized items are non-FKPC activities using FKPC
facilities
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1
7:30 Mens Bible
Study
5:00 TOPS (FH)
6:00 Mission
Ministry
6:00-8:00 Marions
United (CE)
2
9:30 Prayer Shawl
Ministry
5:00 Property
Ministry
5:30 Connec ons
Ministry
7:00 Boy Scouts
(YH)
3
4
7:30-9:00 BNI
(FH)
1:00 Adult
Discipleship
Ministry
1:00 Cra>s
7:00 AA (FH)
5 6
7 Communion
by In#nc#on
9:30-11:30 Library
9:30 Choir Prac ce
10:00 Worship
4:00 Small Group
Study (o-site)
8
7:30 Mens Bible
Study
5:00 TOPS (FH)
6:30 Children's
Discipleship
6:00-8:00 Marions
United (CE)
9
6:00 Finance
Ministry
7:00 Boy Scouts
(YH)
10
10:00
Congrega on-
al Care
Ministry
11
7:30-9:00 BNI
(FH)
1:00 Cra>s
7:00 AA (FH)
12
14 Flag Day
9:30-11:30 Library
9:30 Choir Prac ce
10:00 Worship
4:00 Small Group
Study (o-site)
15
7:30 Mens Bible
Study
5:00 TOPS (FH)
6:00-8:00 Marions
United (CE)
16
7:00 Boy Scouts
(YH)
17
18
7:30-9:00 BNI
(FH)
1:00 Cra>s
7:00 AA (FH)
19
20
21 Fathers Day
1st Day of Summer
9:30-11:30 Library
9:30 Choir Prac ce
10:00 Worship
4:00 Small Group
Study (o-site)
22
7:30 Mens Bible
Study
5:00 TOPS (FH)
6:00-8:00 Marions
United (CE)
23
6:00 Session
7:00 Boy Scouts
(YH)
24
25
7:30-9:00 BNI
(FH)
1:00 Cra>s
7:00 AA (FH)
26
Turning
Point
Set up
(FH)
27
9:00 - 3:00
Turning
Point
28 Mission Sunday
2 Cents-A-Meal
Food 4 Kids
Equal Exchange
9:30-11:30 Library
9:30 Choir Prac ce
10:00 Worship
4:00 Small Group
Study (o-site)
5:30 Potluck & VBS
29
7:30 Mens Bible
Study
5:00 TOPS (FH)
6:00-8:00 Marions
United (CE)
6:00 VBS
30
7:00 Boy Scouts
(YH)
6:00 VBS
Y O U T H AT M O N T R E AT
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FORT KING PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
13 NE 36th Avenue
Ocala, Florida 34470
Non-Profit
Organization
US Postage Paid
Ocala, FL 34478
Permit #100
RETURNED SERVICE REQUESTED
Label
Boy Scout Fundraiser
Ft. Kings Boy Scout Troop #196 is selling meat sticks as a
fundraiser for their various scouting activities. The meat sticks
are made at Ocala based Country Meats, an FDA certified facility.
The sticks sell for $1.00 each. If interested, contact Bob Barton
425-8500. See a sample on the church bulletin board.
