MERRITT’S MUSINGS I read somewhere that in a six week stretch, from Thanksgiving through the New Year, the major religions of the world (including Christianity) have 41 different special celebrations and holy days. That's a lot of spiritual activity! Whether Jewish or Mus- lim, Hindu or Buddhist, Christian or Sikh or whatever, humans around the globe find these increasingly darker and colder days to be a time to turn to their faith for mean- ing, for comfort, for inspiration, for direction. Our Christian journey, of course, begins with the message of Advent--the promise of God's coming, first in the child of the manger, and then in His time with His return in glory. The themes of thanksgiving and wonder, grace and mystery infuse all our re- flections in this special season, as we move towards His nativity. Then, at Epiphany, we focus on God's self-revelation, we celebrate coming to Him in the light of His Star, we remember the meaning of our own baptisms in the light of the story of Jesus be- ginning his own ministry. Truly a time of commitment, of prayer, of self-giving, of spiritual growth. In these coming weeks, I invite you to join me on a pilgrimage to Bethlehem and be- yond. In worship, we'll be sharing beautiful music and carols (including the annual "Lessons and Carols" service from the music folks!), we'll consider important scrip- tural themes in sermons, we'll lift up meaningful and purposeful prayers to- gether. There will be special Christmas-related programs (such as our children's pag- eant!), families visiting from here and there, meals to be shared. But hopefully there will also be time for each of us, individually, to come ourselves to the manger, to look upon the face of the Christ child, to re-capture again--or perhaps for the first time?-- the glory of God's presence with us! One of my favorite seasonal books is "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever", which tells of the year that the unchurched, rough-and-tumble Herdman kids took over the an- nual event. Through many twists and turns, the story finally comes to an end around the manger, in the children's Christmas event. As the real meaning of Christmas breaks upon the Herdmans, the youngest of the bunch, who has been cast as the an- gel spokesperson, suddenly remembers his lines, and shouts out with authority, with some defiance, with a certainty that no one should ignore: "Hey! A baby has been born here, and God has made something special happen! And it's for each of you, so pay attention!" Not exactly "Unto you is born this day..." but you surely get the idea. That proclamation, in the simple yet strong words of a child just learning what it's all about, is for us to hear as well. "Hey, Russ! There's a baby that's been born, God has made something special happen, and it's for you! So pay attention!" This season, I'm going to try to do just that---and I invite you to do the same! 3911 Greenland Ave NW Roanoke, VA 24012 (540) 366-8115 Church Office Hours: M-Fri 8:30 am–12:30 pm Staff Pastor Russ Merritt [email protected]540-493-9622 Secretary Susie Tallmage [email protected]Music Director Melissa Hudson [email protected]Elders Class of 2018 Jyke Jones, Barry Ferrell, Ann Pace, Dana Esworthy, Stan Lanford Class of 2019 Margie Cundiff, John Kabana, Allen Kling, Sarah Plymale, Holly Woodson Class of 2020 Lynn Kirby, Dave Snider, Bob Newman, Bob Bielawski, Frankie Bielawski November/December 2018 THE LINK Northminster Presbyterian Church
Transcript
MERRITT’S MUSINGS
I read somewhere that in a six week stretch, from Thanksgiving through the New Year, the major religions of the world (including Christianity) have 41 different special celebrations and holy days. That's a lot of spiritual activity! Whether Jewish or Mus-lim, Hindu or Buddhist, Christian or Sikh or whatever, humans around the globe find these increasingly darker and colder days to be a time to turn to their faith for mean-ing, for comfort, for inspiration, for direction.
Our Christian journey, of course, begins with the message of Advent--the promise of God's coming, first in the child of the manger, and then in His time with His return in glory. The themes of thanksgiving and wonder, grace and mystery infuse all our re-flections in this special season, as we move towards His nativity. Then, at Epiphany, we focus on God's self-revelation, we celebrate coming to Him in the light of His Star, we remember the meaning of our own baptisms in the light of the story of Jesus be-ginning his own ministry. Truly a time of commitment, of prayer, of self-giving, of spiritual growth.
In these coming weeks, I invite you to join me on a pilgrimage to Bethlehem and be-yond. In worship, we'll be sharing beautiful music and carols (including the annual "Lessons and Carols" service from the music folks!), we'll consider important scrip-tural themes in sermons, we'll lift up meaningful and purposeful prayers to-gether. There will be special Christmas-related programs (such as our children's pag-eant!), families visiting from here and there, meals to be shared. But hopefully there will also be time for each of us, individually, to come ourselves to the manger, to look upon the face of the Christ child, to re-capture again--or perhaps for the first time?--the glory of God's presence with us!
One of my favorite seasonal books is "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever", which tells of the year that the unchurched, rough-and-tumble Herdman kids took over the an-nual event. Through many twists and turns, the story finally comes to an end around the manger, in the children's Christmas event. As the real meaning of Christmas breaks upon the Herdmans, the youngest of the bunch, who has been cast as the an-gel spokesperson, suddenly remembers his lines, and shouts out with authority, with some defiance, with a certainty that no one should ignore: "Hey! A baby has been born here, and God has made something special happen! And it's for each of you, so pay attention!" Not exactly "Unto you is born this day..." but you surely get the idea.
That proclamation, in the simple yet strong words of a child just learning what it's all about, is for us to hear as well. "Hey, Russ! There's a baby that's been born, God has made something special happen, and it's for you! So pay attention!" This season, I'm going to try to do just that---and I invite you to do the same!
Kids of all ages enjoyed the Fall Festival at North-
minster. Sixteen children and their parents had fun
decorating pumpkins and cookies. Other crafts were
created and pizza was consumed!
And More Shout Outs
26th Apple Butter Boiling A Success
Tuesday, October 23rd marked the 26th time we have gathered around the kettle and boiled apple butter for the enjoyment of our congregation and friends. This year marked the first time we have held this activity on a weekday, and it was the first time that we started with “applesauce.” We purchased pure apples from Jamison Orchards in five gallon buckets. They had strained the apples through a large sieve so that no peels, seeds, or cores remained. This proved to be highly suc-cessful and meant we didn’t have to perform the laborious process of peeling the apples.
We began early Tuesday morning and were pleasantly surprised when Devin Jones arrived to light the fire. Devin, and her sister Sarah, were
affectionately nicknamed “Apple butter acolytes” for their faithfulness in coming early for many years to light the fire. Now that she’s back in Roanoke, Devin had the honors and Sarah arrived later in the day to help out as well.
We all had a great time sitting around the fire, stirring the apples and telling and retelling stories from the past and current time. After eight hours of stirring, we canned 40 quarts and 190 pints of delicious apple butter, labeled them, and arranged them for pick up.
From beginning to end, we had a wonderful day filled with fun, laughter, and Christian Fellowship. Many thanks to all that participated!
And More Shout Outs
Northminster Member ALLEN KLING Goes on
HONOR FLIGHT
On October 14th Northminster member Allen Kling was recognized by the Honor Flight Organization of Southwest Virginia, which honored veterans by way of a 3-day trip to Washington D.C. This trip was to rec-ognize veterans of WW II, Korea, and Vietnam, and featured tours of Arlington Cemetery and the monu-ments of D-Day, WW II, Iwo Jima, the Air Force, Ko-rea, and Vietnam. Each person in the 12-member group was escorted by a “Guardian”, and Allen’s escort was his own son, Kenneth, making this a very special event for him. Allen, who is a Korea Veteran, was also honored by being asked to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Solder at Arlington Cemetery. A High Honor!
Each veteran was personally greeted and thanked for his service by individuals from a very large group of people upon his return to the hotel. Many tears were shed at that event!
Allen thanks the Honor Flight Organization for their recognition of veterans who have fought for our country and for world peace. And this trip made every veteran feel very special!
And More Shout Outs
The piano was donated at the end of last year to Round Hill Elementary and
was recently dedicated with a short service at the school. Russ, Stan and Lois
represented Northminster in honoring Janet’s memory and gift.
For all the up-to-date news, calendar, photographs, usher, and communion assignments and
audio recordings of sermons check out the website at:
www.northminsterpcusa.org
November Ushers November Acolytes Flowers
4 Jyke Jones, Tom & Jane Olsen,
Dave Snider
Presbytery Women/Communion
11 Emily Allen, Allen Kling, Bob Newman
18 Dave Snider, Holly Woodson
25
December Ushers December Acolytes Flowers
2 Allen Kling, Bob Newman
Advent Wreath
9 Advent Wreath
16 Allen Kling
Advent Wreath
23 Advent Wreath
30
Allen Kling
Sunday Morning Helping Hands
Boy Scout Recognition Service
Our congregation will be honoring
Troop 26 on Sunday, November 18. All
former Troop 26 scouts are invited to
join us.
Men’s Fellowship Breakfast
The men continue to meet for
breakfast on the second Thursday
of each month...The next meeting is
December 13th at Famous
Anthony’s on Williamson Road
at 8:30 am...Come join the fun!
CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE
Once again, Northminster will hold a very spe-cial Christmas Eve service at 4:00 in the sanctu-ary on Monday afternoon. This year, our sister north Roanoke Presbyterian congregations--Green Ridge and Fifth Avenue--will be joining us, and will help in planning and leading the ser-vice. We will celebrate the sacrament of holy communion, and the service will also include a special candle lighting. Please make your plans to join us, and make sure you invite your friends to come as well!
Mitten Tree
The mitten tree will soon be ready for
your gifts of mittens, scarves, and tobog-
gan caps to support local ministries.
Joy Gift
Our annual Joy Gift celebration will be held
Sunday, December 16th following morning
worship. Chicken strips will be provided and
each family is asked to bring a side dish and/or
dessert.
Our Lessons & Carols service will
be held on Sunday, December 2nd
to usher in our season of advent!
Please join us for this inspiring begin-
ning to the Christmas season.
Thanksgiving is coming fast and it is time for one of our traditional projects-Pies for the Rescue
Mission. Each year we provide pies that the Rescue Mission uses for their holiday meal. They can
be frozen, homemade, or “store-bought.” Ready to eat and any flavor is fine. Bring them to the
church kitchen on Sunday before Thanksgiving, November 18th.
The Stewardship Finance Committee is announcing a change in our campaign this year.
There will not be any distributing, and therefore no collecting, of pledge cards. We will, however,
continue with the box of giving envelopes just as we have in the past.
In reviewing our giving, the following information was enlightening:
Northminster has 123 members on the active role.
These 123 members account for 79 family or giving units.
In 2017 and 2018, of the 78 family units, 43 families completed pledge cards.
36 families did not pledge in either 2017 or 2018 but gave regularly to support the church.
Looking further back, since 2010 the same family units that pledge, continue to pledge while
the number that don’t pledge has remained constant yet they continue to give. This history
will allow us to develop our budget with confidence.
Finally, we have talked with representatives from several area churches and none of them use
pledge cards for general giving any longer.
Please understand that the need is still great as we have been running deficit budgets for the past
several years in the neighborhood of $20,000.00 each year.
As always, we ask that you give this prayerful consideration, make your pledge as you are able to
God, and place your envelop in the collection plate.
Worship Christian
Education
Mission Building/
Grounds
Stewardship/
Finance
Judy Ferrell Vee Hayes Ray Williams Jeremy
Newman
Chuck Lockard
Session Nominating Committee
The congregation approved the above slate of elders for 2021 after morning worship, on November 11. Also,
due to her current health issues, Sara Plymale is unable to complete her final year. Susan Graybill has agreed to
fill her term on Christian Education.
Letter From Russ Regarding Stewardship
Dear Northminster Church Family,
I begin with good news! Our congregation continues to serve our Lord well, in many differ-
ent ways. We are reaching out in mission and ministry with his love to our community and
beyond, while providing our members with programs of worship, education, fellowship, and
pastoral care.
That said, it is also worth noting that we are a congregation in transition. We are deep into a
season of prayer, study, and discernment, seeking to know and follow God’s will for us in
these new days of opportunity and challenge. Who is God calling us to be, and what are we to
do in these pressing time? Answers do not come easily, and so we are being very deliberate
and intentional as we listen for God’s Voice.
One important element in that effort is our shared stewardship of God’s resources. Our Ses-
sion is working hard to establish a 2019 budge that is realistic and at the same time meets our
needs. In order to achieve that goal, our members need to step up their level of support.
Currently, we are drawing annually on our savings to meet all expenses. However, if every
household in the congregation would increase it giving in 2019, we could move much closer
to meeting all our financial obligations.
So each of us is being challenged to consider increasing our support by 5% or more in 2019.
The Session will continue to review our finances monthly, to insure that all spending aligns
with what we feel is God’s work in and through Northminster-we have very gifted and com-
mitted fellow members serving in that capacity. What is needed is for the rest of us to do
what we are able to do-hopefully stepping up our giving to a higher level-to help strengthen
our mission and service.
I ask that you prayerfully consider joining the rest of our church family by increasing your
level of support for the church in 2019. While we are not distributing pledge cards this year,
cards are available from the church office for anyone who would like to express their promise
of support. Please be a faithful participant in what God is calling us to do together!
Thanks for all you do for His work at Northminster.
In His service,
Russ
Russ Merritt
Mission Committee Report
The Mission Committee is reporting on the causes that Northminster Presbyterian Church has supported during 2018. Our Committee directed the spending of $18,570. The largest gift was $10,000 to the Presbyterian Community Center in three separate payments. We gave Roanoke Area Ministries (RAM) $2,500 in two installments. The remaining $5,350 was given to Society of St. Andrews, Heifer Pro-ject, Samaritan’s Purse, Feeding America Southwest Virginia, Bradley Free Clinic and Kairos of Virginia (helping women in prison), and Presbytery of the Peaks re-ceived $500 for aid to Guatemala volcano relief and $1,000 for disaster relief-Central America. $757 was paid to the Presbytery and General Assembly.
We delivered two separate food contributions through our Hunger Buster program to the PCC valued at a little over $600. We collected used clothing for Blue Ridge Lit-eracy to be delivered after October 21. We will be participating in the Samaritan’s Purse Shoe Box collection starting in late September and boxes are to be delivered the week of November 12-17. The Mission Committee is responsible for overseeing the four special offerings for One Great Hour of Sharing, Pentecost, Peace, and Joy Gift. We also have overseen the “Mitten Tree” in the narthex every Christmas. Update on new projects are being planned: We want to publish a new brochure for our visitors and new members. Russ is working on this item and hopes to use Jesse Amos as the graphic artist to help update an older brochure. We would also like to have gift bags for adult visitors with a brochure, small jar of apple butter, Russ’s business card, and copy of the current Link. Lois Hopkins volunteered to make the bags from material she has. Any costs from these projects can be covered by our Mission Committee budget. Russ, Lois, and Stan were present when a brass plaque was placed on the piano that NPC donated to Round Hill School at a ceremony held on Thursday, October 18. Holly reported that our little library boxes seem to be getting lot of usage. The church’s web site needs to be updated, and we are seeking volunteers to work on this project. Orlando has approached Russ with idea that he would like to use one of the church’s small rooms to teach local Hispanics English. This would be done dur-ing the hours that church secretary is in her office. We plan to ask Northminster members to bring a loaf of white bread on each communion service Sunday and it will all be sent the Presbyterian Community Center for their clients.
November
11/4/1989 Rob & Jeannette Hayes
December
12/10/1956 Stan & Elise Lanford
November
1 Brett Lemon
1 Angie Pace Gainer
1 Jennifer Pace Baker
4 Frances Stevens
6 Floyd Moretz
9 Susan Graybill
11 Elise Lanford
19 Holly Woodson
23 Jeannette Hayes
27 Bernie Barger
27 Jyke Jones
December
2 Jim Maile
3 Vee Hayes
11 Walter Haines
21 Brett Newman
24 Stan Lanford
29 Christina Amos
31 Betty Hinkle
Financial Summary for September 2018
Budget amount needed per month: $13,525
Total receipts for month: $11,305
Total expenditures for month: $17,104
Total Receipts Year to Date: $101,464
Total Expenditures to Date: $134,394
By The Numbers—Sunday Worship
September October
2 57 7 73
9 68 14 59
16 21 63
23 67 28 85
30 55
Northminster Love & Concern
When we feel those many prayers for one we love and care for are being an-
swered by God in the affirmative, our faith and trust in the Lord grows stronger
and stronger. Sarah Plymale underwent a long, long surgical event and has had a
remarkable recovery period. She is doing well at this time and we know Justin
and her relatives are so pleased. We love you, Sarah, and are ready, willing and
able to help in any way we can.
Did you see Bobby Brammer at church recently? His foot is still “in the process”
and he has a way to go before it is well. He and Di are taking turns staying at
home with Betty Dixon during church. We know this has been a long recovery
for what did not seem so serious at first. Don’t give up!
Betty Dixon is doing well. She is able to be up in a wheel chair. She enjoys
cards and visits.
Michael and Maggie Hambrick met this week with Michael’s surgeon, following
the tests that were run last week. Unfortunately, the physician’s report was that
the cancer has returned, there is a tumor about an inch below where the last tu-
mor had been. The medical team will be meeting next week to make final rec-
ommendations, but as of this writing it looks as if the treatment will be very ag-
gressive-there will be a very lengthy and complicated surgery, followed by what
is called proton radiation therapy, which will need to be done in Hampton. The
decision isn’t final, but things lean heavily in that direction. Please continue to
keep these wonderful folks in your prayers
Betty Hinkle finds it difficult to attend church but she joins some of the ladies
for lunch on occasion. This she did several weeks ago. We were so glad to have
her with us. Her granddaughter, KellyAnn, provided the transportation and
handled the oxygen, etc. We miss you, Betty.
What a pleasure it was to have Barbara Jones with us at church last Sunday. We
were so glad she was feeling better and could come out and be with us. Hope
to see you next week, Barbara.
We are so sorry Kim Merritt got in touch with that “bug” and she and Russ were
not able to make that trip. She is all recovered now and back at church.
Judy Moore got another of those bugs and was down for a few days. She thinks
she contracted this when she made a train trip up to the Washington area. Good
to have you back taking care of all those chores.
We probably mentioned in our last newsletter that Ramona Ortiz was sched-
uled for some surgery. She had gall bladder surgery – was in and out in a day
and had little pain. Those who underwent this procedure in the past will find it
difficult to take it in – the short time in the hospital and relatively easy time.
The medical world has improved, hasn’t it.
Buddy and Sandy Smith have found it difficult to get out and about. Buddy’s vi-
sion has deteriorated greatly and Sandy has trouble walking. They would love to
hear from you.
Shirley Wynn is enjoying being over at Friendship Assisted Living. She is in
Room 319. One of the things she is enjoying about living there is that she does-
n’t have to cook or wash dishes. That does sound good, doesn’t it?
