|
The Chronicle
is
Published by
First Presbyterian Church 49 South Portage Street Westfield, New York
2019 |
Church Office Hours 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday
Office: (716) 326-2643
Website:
E-Mail:
Administrative Assistant Polly M. Knopp
Custodian Daniel E. Dibble
Deacon of the Month February 2019 Pat Sciarrino |
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
A Perfect Christian
~ By Joanna Fuchs ~
You could count on a perfect Christian
To always be gentle and humble,
To be immune to sin,
And never, ever stumble.
He’d study and remember
All of God’s commands;
He’d be trustworthy, moral and honest;
You’d know just where he stands.
With others, she’d be in harmony;
She’d never lose her cool;
Forgiving and forgetting,
Following the Golden Rule.
He’d surrender his life to God,
Full of joy and peace,
Free of stress and worry…
Perfect, pure release.
She’d lift up everyone,
Full of sweet compassion,
Free of worldly wants,
Ignoring worldly fashion.
But we can’t ever be perfect,
So we always need to pray
For the strength to do our best
To love God and obey.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
February Pulpit Supply
Please join us in February for family worship - the the pulpit supplies are:
February 3
Rev. Bruce Archibald
Bruce retired from the First Presbyterian Church in Glendale, OH in 2004. Bruce and his wife, Beth, moved to Chautauqua in 2010. They have 2 children, 5 grandchildren and one spoiled dog. Beth is an Elder at the First Presbyterian in Jamestown, and Bruce has led worship services in several churches in our presbytery and served as co-transitional pastor for the Jamestown Church. He is active in the Presbyterian
Association in Chautauqua.
February 10
John Daily, Elder
February 17
John Daily, Elder
February 24
Marie Edwards, Elder
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
SUNDAY FRESH FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS
For 2019 we will have fresh flowers on Sundays when a request is made by members and friends of the
congregation. We are returning to artificial flower
arrangements for Sundays we do not have a request.
We encourage members and friends to give fresh flower arrangements in memory of loved ones, or in honor
or appreciation for a special person throughout the year. Please call the church office/326-2643 or email at onestpresby@fairpoint.net to reserve a special date.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Mission/Outreach News....
The Mission Committee wishes to thank all who supported the Bucks and Dimes for Buckhorn project. These funds are being used to support the Nehemiah Project at Buckhorn Children’s Foundation. The focus of this three year project is the renovation of the cottages that house the children including new roofs, bathrooms and upgrades to interior walls and floors. Our contributions are greatly appreciated.
We encourage everyone to join us at SOUPER BOWL SUNDAE on February 3rd. You will be able to enjoy a delicious lunch and then hear a presentation about our next Mission project “ Train a Nurse”. Patrick Coughlin, our representative from Medical Benevolence Foundation will be present to help us kick off this mission effort.
MISSION IS THE HEART OF THE CHURCH SO LET’S KEEP THE HEART HEALTHY!
Pennies for Hunger
Our church will again receive the "Pennies for Hunger" offering the last Sunday of every month in 2019. During the month, have a jar or basket on your kitchen or dining room table. Each member of the family may put in two cents for each meal. Then bring all the pennies the last Sunday of the month. If everyone does this, you will be amazed at how much we can raise to help feed the hungry. This would amount to about $1.80 per person each month. Multiply that by 50 and we could raise at least $90 during that time, or more than $1,000 per year.
"Souper Bowl Sundae" Luncheon
The Mission Committee invites you to its annual "Souper Bowl Sundae" get-together after church on Sunday, February 3. Come and join your friends for a bowl of homemade soup, salad, bread and make-your-own Ice Cream Sundae for dessert. Coffee, tea and juice will be provided. A suggested donation of $10.00 is requested. Proceeds will benefit the Haitian Nurse Scholarship. In addition to your monetary donation please bring a can of soup(s) which will be given to the Westfield Food Pantry. There will be NO charge for children and/or students. Please call the church office if you plan to attend.
Westfield Community Kitchen
For the month of February, we will be collecting some much-needed items for the Community Kitchen. The "Wish List" is as follows: small dessert plates, napkins, paper towels, individual sugar packets, salad dressings, decaf and regular coffee, dry soup mixes, Jello, puddings, powdered creamer, canned carrots, chicken broth, biscuit mix, cake mixes, aluminum foil (wide), Sweet n' Low and bleach. The Community Kitchen greatly appreciates our help!
Chosen International Medical Assistance
Chosen International Medical Assistance needs your shoes! Everyone has shoes they are no longer wearing, and don't know what to with, right? Chosen International Medical Assistance partners with funds2org to collect your used shoes. The shoes (including sneakers, boots, sandals, etc.) will be used to create and sustain micro-enterprise opportunities for low income entrepreneurs in developing nations. They will also stay out of landfills, AND, the more shoes collected, the more money Chosen IMA receives to continue its ministries! It's a Win, Win, Win! You can drop off your shoes at the church office or drop in a box located at the Portage Street entrance. Please rubber band each pair of shoes together. Thank you!
NEW MISSION COMMITTEE PROJECT
On Sunday February 3rd, the Mission Committee will begin a campaign to raise funds for a scholarship to support the education of a nursing student in Haiti. This program is under the auspicious of the Medical Benevolence Foundation whose representative Patrick Coughlin will speak at the “Souper Bowl Sundae” luncheon after church.
All proceeds from the luncheon will go to this fund. In addition other fundraising projects will be undertaken throughout 2019. Among these will be specially marked envelopes in the pews for donations. Pill bottles will be distributed in which participants will be asked to contribute coins for designated “medical activities” and the Yard Sale proceeds during Arts & Crafts week-end will be designated for the scholarship.
The Committee thanks Session for including $1500 in the budget towards the $4500 scholarship cost. And asks for your prayers and support as the funds are generated to make this scholarship a reality.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
~ Author Unknown ~
A small congregation in the foothills of the Great Smokies built a new sanctuary on a piece of land willed to them by a church member.
Ten days before the new church was to open, the local building inspector informed the pastor that the parking lot was inadequate for the size of the building. Until the church doubled the size of the parking lot, they would not be able to use the new sanctuary.
Unfortunately, the church with its undersized parking lot had used every inch of their land except for the mountain against which it had been built. In order to build more parking spaces, they would have to move the mountain out of the back yard.
Undaunted, the pastor announced the next Sunday morning that he would meet that evening with all members who had "mountain-moving faith".
They would hold a prayer session asking God to remove the mountain from the back yard and to somehow provide enough money to have it paved and painted before the scheduled opening dedication service the following week.
At the appointed time, 24 of the congregation's 300 members assembled for prayer. They prayed for nearly three hours. At ten o'clock the pastor said the final "Amen".
"We'll open next Sunday as scheduled," he assured everyone. "God has never let us down before, and I believe He will be faithful this time too."
The next morning as he was working in his study there came a loud knock at his door. When he called "come in", a rough looking construction foreman appeared, removing his hard hat as he entered.
"Excuse me, Reverend. I'm from Acme Construction Company over in the next county. We're building a huge new shopping mall over there and we need some fill dirt. Would you be willing to sell us a chunk of that mountain behind the church?
We'll pay you for the dirt we remove and pave all the exposed area free of charge, if we can have it right away. We can't do anything else until we get the dirt in and allow it to settle properly."
The little church was dedicated the next Sunday as originally planned and there were far more members with "mountain-moving faith" on opening Sunday than there had been the previous week!
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Clerk's Pen(cil) II
Following the call to order by Moderator Rev. Cynthia Wicker-Lundquist and devotions and prayer by Mike Ricketts the Session took up the work of the church on Tuesday, January 15, 2019.
Actions taken at the meeting are summarized as follows:
~ Received the treasurer's report
~ Approved to amend the $2019 Budget: adding a line item for Mission/Haitian Nursing Student for$1,500 and to deduct $1,500 from the Pastoral Salary. This will not affect the expenses for the budget.
~ Approved the 2018 Annual Statistical Report to the General Assembly - Membership Statistics, MIscellaneous Information, Racial Ethnic & Disabilities and Financial.
Other Business...
~ The YWCA has notified the church that the Daycare/Pre-school will be closing on
June 30, 2019
~ The Personnel Committee conducted an exit interview with Rev. Ronald Sumption prior to his retirement date of December 31, 2018.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
the simple solution to community fundraising
As a church we continue to participating in TOPS Markets "Cash for Causes" program. We have purchased TOPS "Cash for Causes" gift cards that are available to church members and friends. You pay the cash value of the card and the church earns 5% on each card sold. We all buy groceries! There is no additional cost to you; you simply use the gift card. Cards are available in $50 and $100 denominations. Please call (326-2643) or stop in the church office to purchase a gift card.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
'Donate Now' button
The church has a "Donate Now" button on our website ~ steeplesinthepark.com. To donate to our church and ministry simply click on the donate tab located on the right hand side of the website. You will be directed to a secure Pay-Pal site to complete your donation. The Church greatly appreciates any and all contributions.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
The PER CAPITA is an amount of money assessed each member of the local church for the administrative costs of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church the Synod of the Northeast, and the Presbytery of WNY. The church pays approximately $31.00 per each active member of the congregation for the Per Capita.
Any contribution to help defray the cost of the Per Capita expense would be appreciated. Please make your check payable
to First Presbyterian Church, earmarked "Per Capita ~ Ecclesiastical Apportionment" and mail to the church office or place in the offering plate on Sunday mornings.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Prayer Concerns
A special prayer that you'll be blessed with tender care and needed rest, warm thoughts of friends that mean so much and most of all, God's healing touch.
REMEMBER TO PRAY FOR....
Members of Our Congregation
Kay Hall, Dorothy Near, Betty Reid, Lillian Saunders, Mark Robbins, Barb Lynn, Ople Gollnitz, Sharon Bane,
Family and Friends of our Congregation
Darrell Colgrove, Mary Grygier (Sister of Elaine Parker), Mike Strada (Brother of Elaine Parker), Abigail Jopek, The Pandolph/Peary Families (Friends of John Daily),
Dave Schutter (Brother of Carolyn Bills)
Our Servicemen
Chief Petty Officer, James "JD" Watkins (Grandson of Betty Reid)
Lt. Victgor Gutirrez, U.S. Army Rangers (Grandson of Jack Beckman)
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Celebrations of Eternal Life...
Our deepest sympathy as a congregation is extended to the family and friends upon the death of their loved one:
Beverly Yeaney ~ Sunday, January 27, 2019
Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with all who have lost loved ones recently.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
FINANCIAL REPORT
Income through December 31: $119,797.56
(2018 Pledges Paid to Date: $51,911.00)
Expenses through December 31: $172,750.55
Investment Funds used through December 31: $54,700.00
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Attitude is Everything
By Francie Baltazar-Schwartz
Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was
doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant.
The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.
I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose
to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."
I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We los touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice
about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at
gun point by three armed robbers.
While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live."
"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared.
I read, 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action." "What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything." "Yes," I replied.
The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, "Bullets!"
Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
Attitude, after all, is everything.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS
We all join in extending Greetings
and Best Wishes for a Happy Birthday.
May this day be Richly Blessed
With Peace and Joy and
Everything that makes for Happiness
1st
Mae Machemer
2nd
Bill Bills
Ralph Bohall
Tim Truitt
4th
Larry McGuinn
Brenda Steele
5th
Dean Mead
9th
Jennifer Barber-Banschback
14th
Dean Gollnitz
15th
Ryan Norton
Cole Tenamore
Montana Truitt
18th
Mindi Guest
Al Hall
19th
Carolyn Bills
23rd
Barry Wright
24th
Peter Bills
Mary Beth Boyle
Ople Gollnitz
Erica Sanderson
25th
Gini Gollnitz
28th
Jeremy Riedesel
FEBRUARY ANNIVERSARIES
A special Anniversary Prayer...
That God's Eternal love
Will fill your heart this day
With joy and blessings from above
7th
Cindy & Doug Norton
18th
Bonnie & John Wysard
23rd
Trudy & Wade Gollnitz
Sunday, February 3
10:00 a.m.
Choir Rehearsal
Christian Nurture - Adult Education
11:00 a.m.
Family Worship
12:00 Noon
"Souper Bowl Sundae" Luncheon
Monday, February 4
7:00 p.m.
Mission/Outreach Meeting
Sunday, February 10
10:00 a.m.
Choir Rehersal
Christian Nurture - Adult Education
11:00 a.m.
Family Worship
Sunday, February 17
10:00 a.m.
Choir Rehearsal
Christian Nurture - Adult Education
11:00 a.m.
Family Worship
Monday, February 18
Presidents' Day
Church Office Closed
7:00 p.m
Deacon Meeting
Tuesday, February 19
7:00 p.m.
Session Meeting
Thursday, February 21
7:00 p.m.
Presbyterian Women's Board & Planning Meeting
Sunday, February 24
10:00 a.m.
Choir Rehearsal
Christian Nurture - Adult Education
11:00 a.m.
Family Worship
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
