FINLEY
FOCUS
February
2007
Founded 1891
Picture by
From
the Pastor’s Desk
I
believe it is important for every church to always evaluate how it ministers to
each other. This includes both the
pastor and the congregation, because we are all ministers together called to
embody the ministry of Jesus Christ.
With the start of the new year, it is time for me to once again evaluate
how I do things and to make appropriate changes to best serve Christ, you, and
our community.
At
the January session meeting, the Session unanimously approved a new way for us
to envision our mission here at Finley Memorial. This vision is articulated in five missional
statements that will be the focus and goal of how each ministry of the Session
carries out its work, and I hope that you will embrace these missional
statements as well as you participate as members in our faith and life
together.
As a missional church, we commit ourselves to…
Welcome
All
Welcome all who enter our doors with a Christian acceptance inviting them to join us in a fulfilling and loving relationship with God and our congregation.
Worship
Together
Worship together as the community of believers giving
glory, and honor, and thanksgiving to the God of our salvation.
Nurture
Each Other
Nurture each other in a supporting, loving
relationship offering a sanctuary that all may experience the reconciliation
and peace of Jesus Christ.
Teach
One Another
Teach one another God’s word that will inspire and empower Christ’s disciples to respond faithfully to God’s call to ministry and mission.
Serve
God and Neighbor
Serve God and neighbor with passion and commitment sharing the love of God as witnesses of the good news of Jesus Christ in the world.
As
I evaluate my own participation in this vision for our church, I feel it is
important to make some changes that will allow me to serve you as your pastor
in a more intentional way, and I will need your help to do this through the
work of the Congregational Care Ministry.
Soon
you will find in the pews a “Care Card” where you can put information about
personal needs, prayer joys and concerns, and other information that will help
me, the Congregational Care Ministry, and the church serve you better. As you become accustomed to these cards,
please be sure to help me stay involved in your lives. If you would like a visit, do not hesitate to
call. If you are going into surgery or
the hospital, please let me know the date, time, place, and how long you will
be there. If you want to have lunch
together, I would love to do that with you.
If during the day is not possible for a visit, then I am willing and
want to find time to meet you at your home in the evening.
I want
to be with you where you are in your lives, and I am making changes in my
ministry to be able to do this better and more intentionally, because it is
important for me, for us, and for our relationship together as members of this
community of faith.
Your partner and companion
in ministry,
Dan
Inclement Weather
It is a
good time now for us to review the inclement weather procedures in preparation
for the rest of the winter. Please keep
in mind that we will do all we can to have worship on Sunday mornings if
possible, therefore we will always try to make a decision to cancel by 8:00am
at the latest on Sunday morning, so you will need to keep looking and listening
for information about cancellations after 8:00am. Please remember that it takes time for the
information to be posted on the news and reported on the radio. Sometimes it is difficult to get through to a
person to give information about cancellations.
Below is a listing of where you should be able to find information about
our church services on Sunday morning should there be inclement weather.
WHSV – TV 3 Channel 3 This is the best and quickest way to
find out info.
WVIR – TV 29 Channel 4
WKCY 1300AM / WKCI 970AM
WNLR 1150AM
Our monthly Men’s Fellowship Breakfast will
be served on Sunday, February 4, at
Our
Sunday School: Spring Program
Time to Grow
Each Sunday in
the pews of our Finley church are the many truly faithful members who are very
regularly there to hear “the Word of God.” It is an experience that is always
uplifting and sustaining thanks to t6he deeply thoughtful and prayerful
preparation of the sermon by our pastor
Sunday School, well planned and offered
with opportunities for “spirited” questioning and exchange, is obviously that
smaller group opportunity to obtain the fullness of Holy Presence in the
breadth of member relationships. Holy Presence can be a new insight, a deeply
felt moment of kinship or a very sustaining sense of personal conviction in
various Christian concepts.
The suggestion by this writer is twofold.
1.) that Sunday School is the completion of the other half of worship and
sustaining personal strength in Christ Jesus; 2.) Sunday School can be increasingly
richer and more powerful when a high number of church members are there to
contribute their energies and insights.
As a new Elder among the many who over the
years have built and maintained Finley it “wonders me,” (Pennsylvania Dutch)
what our Lord would provide in renewal and growth if every Elder attended
Sunday School as often as able during the spring schedule. When ordained, we
took vows to serve all within the church to the very best of our knowledge and
resources. I would ask, are all Elders needed now for a spirited uplift of the
presently lagging “other half” of the life of our church?
The last date for Winter Sunday School is
February 18th. Spring Sunday School starts on February 25th
and continues through May 27th. The themes to be focused upon during
that time at all levels; K-12 will be Beatitudes, Lord’s Prayer, Golden Rule,
Easter (Resurrection), One Lord, Different Gifts (each person), Love of the
Highest Order, Members of One Body. Adult groups will share Bible Study with Andy
Wenner and Spiritual Disciplines with
Finley education is only as good as we are
together in Mind and Spirit…and our ever-present Lord knows that we want that
to be very good, indeed.
Blessings, Don Markle, Christian Education
Committee
Presbyterian Women will meet Tuesday, February
6 at
Souper
Bowl Sunday
Souper Bowl of Caring: Over 1 billion people—1 in 6 people around
the world—live in extreme poverty, defined as living on less than $1 a
day. 852 million people across the world are hungry, up from 842 million
a year ago. The Souper Bowl of Caring is a nationwide, grassroots
movement of caring. It works because you get involved. As a Souper Bowl of
Caring participant, you are demonstrating your belief in the power
of individual people to make a difference in the lives of others.
Last year Finley donated $384.42 and 133 cans to the Blue Ridge Area Food
Bank. This is one of the few chances that we have to give where 100% goes
to the charity of our choice. Let's aim for $500 and 200 cans this year!
from Elise
One of my goals for 2007 is to add to the
choir membership so that we have at least 22 active members of the choir. I
have chosen the number 22, because there are 22 chairs in the choir loft. At
the same time, I want the people in each one of those chairs to be (of their
own choice, not just mine) “called to the ministry of worship through music.”
On this past Wednesday evening, I mentioned
this goal to the choir. I had been thinking that all WE needed to do was
add one new member per month. I also thought (and still think) that prayer for
the goal would help. I didn't realize that God is already working on the goal!
After Christmas, June Craft joined our membership and this past Wednesday,
David Wenner joined us!
There are still empty chairs waiting for
dedicated people to fill them. I am hopeful that folks who have sung with us in
the past will find their way back to sing with us again. Young people in eighth
grade or over are also encouraged to sing with us. If you need transportation,
let us know so we can provide rides. If you are new to Finley and have been
thinking you would like to share your voice with the choir, choir practice
starts every Wednesday evening at
There are many good reasons to sing with
the choir. Probably the best reason: God wants your company and enjoys hearing
your voice. Imagine how wonderful your voice sounds when included with the
voices of other gifted and most importantly, “called” people of God. There is
not a better group of people with whom to fellowship! When you have challenges,
they pray with and for you. When you have joys, they rejoice with you.
There are 22 great chairs in the choir loft
(I've even heard they are "the best seats in the house") and I’d like
to see a person in each one of them every Sunday. So, I ask that you pray with
and for our choir and its members as we start a new year. Whether we fill all
the chairs or have MORE than 22 people and need to bring more chairs in, we
need your prayerful support to fulfill God's will for our church and its
members.
God is already working on the goal, so I
suppose that also means we need to begin counting the number of pews in the
sanctuary, too.
Choir practice
- Wednesday evenings
Youth News
Middle School Youth Group:
Meetings will
be at the Nelson’s house Sunday nights at
High School Youth Group:
Sun. Feb. 4 is SOUPER BOWL Sunday ! Our Senior
Highs will once again be collecting cans and money for Hunger Relief, followed
by a party at the Elliott’s to watch the game.
Feb. 9-11 Senior High Retreat
weekend at Massanetta. See
Sun., Feb. 18 and 25 Fellowship &
Devotion at the Coble’s
Presbyterian Youth
Triennium 2007
Triennium
will be our Presbytery sponsored summer youth trip for 2007 (similar to
Montreat, but on a much larger scale). Shenandoah Presbytery has been given 20
slots and is so hopeful to have a great crowd that they have requested more! Places
will be given to youth on a first come first served basis. If you are
interested in attending, please see the Presbytery website for information and
an application http://www.shenpres.org/2007YouthTriennium.html).
Help Support
our Youth!
February 9-11, several of our Senior Highs
will be participating in a Youth Conference at Massanetta Springs entitled
“24/6: Even God took a day off”. They will be using this opportunity to
explore these simple truths in their complex lives: God is with us. God
loves us. God calls us to Sabbath. We are led to balance our lives with
doing the journey and resting from the journey. Please pray for our youth and
that their weekend will be a time of respite, retreat and renewal as they learn
the art of Sabbath keeping. As part of the retreat, they will join with
other youth throughout the Presbytery to make “Gift of the Heart” kits for
disaster relief. If you have any of the following items that you’d like to
donate for the retreat, the kids will collect them in the Narthex on Sun. Feb. 4
(or if you want to drop them by the church office by Fri., Feb. 9, we will look
for them before we head up to Massanetta).
• Rubbermaid® Clear
Impressions shoebox with lid, 6.5 qt., or other flexible clear plastic 6.5 qt.
shoebox with lid
• small stuffed bear
• soft small ball
• harmonica, or other small
musical instrument
• 6” x 9” non-spiral bound
pad of regular or construction paper (60-100 sheets)
• slinky
• yo-yo
• 7-foot child’s jump rope
• comb
• toothbrush (in original
packaging)
• tube of toothpaste (4-7
ounces)
• box of 24 crayons
• large eraser
• new pencils with erasers
• pencil sharpener
• 30-centimeter ruler (12”)
• pair child’s blunt
scissors
HUNGER/POVERTY IQ TEST
- How
many of the World’s children under age five are malnourished?
a) 2 million b) 6 million c) 50 million d) 160 million
2. How many
a) 100,000 b) 1 million c) 3 million d) 9.7 million
3. How much money will it cost to purchase a 30-second commercial during the 2006 Super Bowl?
a) $1million b) $2 million c) $2.6 million d) $4 million
4. How many children could be fed one meal a day for one year with $500,000?
a) 1,000 b) 1,800 c) 2,400 d) 5,000
5. How long could your entire school eat lunch for the price of one missile?
a) 1 week b) 5 months c) 1 year d) 5 years
6. True or False? More than one in ten households in the
7. True or False? One in every ten people standing in line at a soup kitchen in the
8. True or False? The
9. What percent of Americans over the age of 65 live in poverty?
a) 1% b) 5% c) 10% d) 20%
10. One in ____ people in the world live on less than $1 per day or in extreme poverty.
a) 4 b) 6 c) 8 d) 10
Answer Key:
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1) D |
4) D |
7) False—1 in 4 is a child. |
10) B |
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2) D |
5) D |
8) True |
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3) C |
6) True |
9) C |
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Nursery
Schedule |
Visitation
Schedule |
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Feb. 4 |
Greg & Amy Allen; |
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Feb. 11 |
Darlene Bowles, |
Marjorie Shreckhise |
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Feb. 18 |
Bing-Wo family; Esther
Winton |
Esther Winton &
Beverley Ellis |
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Feb. 25 |
Leslie & Lance Allen;
Linda Peery |
John Gibson & Gloyd
May |
Usher List
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John Gibson |
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Beverley Ellis |
Dave Wenner |
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Faye Wellborn |
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Birthdays and Anniversaries in February 2007
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Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
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4 |
5 Kyle Seaman’s Birthday |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
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11 |
12 |
13 |
14 Sue Brubaker’s Birthday |
15 |
16 |
17 |
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18 David Brubaker’s Birthday |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 Art Hendrickson’s Birthday |
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25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
Donna Swink’s Birthday 2/29 |
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February 2007
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Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
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1 No |
2 |
3 |
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4 Men’s Breakfast 4¢-a-Meal Souper Bowl of Caring |
5 |
6 Presbyterian Women |
7 Chancel Choir practice |
8 |
9 |
10 |
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11 |
12 Session |
13 |
14 Valentine’s Day Chancel Choir practice |
15 |
16 |
17 |
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18 Transfiguration of the Lord |
19 Presidents’ Day |
20 Pray for the Nations 7-8:30 |
21 Ash Wednesday Chancel Choir practice Focus article deadline |
22 |
23 |
24 |
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25 1st Sunday in Lent Covered dish lunch after worship |
26 |
27 |
28 Chancel Choir practice |
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