FINLEY
FOCUS
March
2006
Founded 1891
Picture by
From
the Pastor’s Desk
“Truly I tell you,
just as you did it to one of the least of these
who are members
of my family, you did it to me.”
Matthew 25:40
I was greatly encouraged and excited about
the turnout to the
It is clear that after Hurricane Katrina it
was members of Christ’s Church who were the first responders. It was the Church
who organized the collection and transportation of supplies, who sent people to
work and to help, who offered compassion and kindness, and who most of all
witnessed to the good news of Jesus Christ through service and ministry. This
is our calling, our duty, and our faithful response to God’s presence and
action in our lives.
The calling before us is not an easy one.
It will require our prayers, our energy, our commitment, and most of all our
faithfulness. We will be stepping out in faith into something we do not have
full control over. We will be stepping out in faith into something that is
bigger than us. But it is a step we are ready and eager to take as we strain forward to what lies ahead and press on toward
the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians
3:13-14).
For those of you who were not able to come
to the lunch, here is how you can help. You can pray for the people affected by
the hurricane and for this church as we step out in faith. You can offer your financial
support for our work and mission. You can join the
I look forward to our
work before us and to what we will discover about ourselves and about the God
in whom we love and trust, as we do our part to help restore and rebuild the
lives of those affected by the hurricane. After all, that is what it means to
be Christ’s church - people helping people to the glory of God in Jesus Christ.
“Now to him who by
the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all
we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all
generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21
Worship
Ministry
Why do we celebrate the season of Lent? For
the first four or five centuries of Christian history, the days or weeks just
before the Easter celebration were a time of emphasis on the church. During
this time church members focused on their corporate life. Lent emphasized that
not one of us is able to endure alone, but that we need the fellowship of the
body to support us and carry us. By the middle ages, Lent had become a time of
individual preparation for Holy Week rather than selfless concern for others.
Through the changes during the Reformation we have the doctrines of
justification by faith alone and God’s gift of grace even when we do not
deserve it. We are again encouraged to look outside ourselves and explore our
love for others that stems from God’s love. Seeing God in others is but one way
to express God’s great love for us.
It is time to order our Easter Lilies! The
Lilies are $9.00 each and your check should be made out to Mary Alice Lunsford.
Please contact Mary Alice by April 2 with your order which may be in honor or
memory of a loved one, if you wish.
Some dates to keep in mind during Lent are
our Maundy Thursday Communion service on April 13 at
Sunday,
March 12, is Girl Scout Sunday. Finley has two troops who meet at the church
during the week - Junior Troop 622 and Daisy Troop 1319. Both troops have been
invited to worship with us on this day. Please welcome the girls and their
families.
Personnel and Finance Ministry
The Personnel and Finance Ministry will be publishing
in the Focus the average weekly income per month from our tithes and offering
in order to keep you informed of our progress throughout the year. The budget,
as approved by the Session and presented to the congregation, was for a total
of $137,718 for 2006. The budget is for the operating expenses of our ministry
and mission here at Finley, which is funded by us through our tithes and
offerings. Keep in mind that our reason for giving is not just to meet the
budget, but most importantly to be faithful stewards of the gifts and resources
God has given to us for the ministry and mission of Christ’s church. In order
for Finley Memorial to meet our budget, we need to receive an average of
$2649.00 weekly. The chart below shows
the average weekly giving per month.
Please note that since the Focus is usually published the last Sunday of
the month, the chart will only show the amount for completed months. 
Presbyterian Women
Our next Presbyterian Women's
meeting will be March 7 at
There are two meetings coming up to mark on
your calendar. The first will be a meeting of the
Member
Involvement Ministry
The Member
Involvement Ministry will have their first meeting on Sunday, March 12, after
worship downstairs in the fellowship hall.
If you would like to come and join with this Ministry, we would love to
have you! Ministry Members, remember to bring your "brown bag"
lunches.
-
Randy Fink and Jill Matthews
Email Changes
Finley is changing Internet service
providers from Ntelos to Verizon. The church’s new email address is
finleypc1@verizon.net and Dan’s new email is fmpcpastor@verizon.net. Please
make a note of these changes and update your email address book.
From The Fellowship Committee
March 5 Men’s breakfast
at
March 26 Fellowship
Coffee after worship downstairs in the fellowship hall.
Join us for good
fellowship with our friends at Finley.
Weekday Religious Education
It has been a tradition for many years to
give each 5th grader in the WRE program a hard cover bible. In many
cases this bible will be their first ever. There are approximately 315
students, and each bible costs $5.75. This gift to the students is funded
strictly by donations. Please consider sponsoring a bible for one or more
children. If you have questions or would like to make a donation, please call
Gil & Nancy Harig, 943-9793.
Amy asked her Sunday School class to draw
pictures of their favorite Bible stories. She was puzzled by Jimmy’s picture
showing four people on an airplane, so she asked him which story it was meant
to represent. “The light to
“That’s
Pontius the Pilot.”
Musical
Notes from Elise
One of my
goals is to encourage congregation members who feel called to the ministry of
worship through music to sing in the choir.
Recently, however, I have been blessed to come in contact with a church
member who is, indeed, called to the ministry of worship through music, not by
singing in the choir, but through doing for the church.
When it
became apparent that the church’s organ was in need of repair, the Session of
the church asked Andy Wenner, chairman of the Building and Grounds Committee,
to muster resources to find out what was wrong with the organ, what would be
needed to repair it, and how much it would cost to make the repairs. In order
to acquire the information and correct the situation, Andy first contacted the
organ manufacturer in
The first
diagnosis from the manufacturer indicated two or three problems that had
varying degrees of difficulty and expense. It was decided that the easiest,
least expensive repairs would be made first and the more difficult, expensive
ones would wait until time and resources were available. It was Andy who took
on the job of making the repairs and because of this he literally went to great
heights in the church. . . .
On at least
one Saturday, he spent a great deal of time climbing around in the upper
recesses of the church sanctuary working on speakers as his wife, Jan, pushed
keys on the organ testing the sound for him. And recently, he made the
electronic repairs to the organ that I thought would have to, for technical and
financial reasons, be put off for some time to come. Andy has worked
tirelessly, not only to make the repairs, but to improve the overall quality of
the sound that the organ makes through the speakers.
Andy uses
his God-given talents to improve the worship experience at Finley and in
particular, the music of the church. For that, I want to thank him AND tell you
a little more about him:
Andy was
born on
Andy is
self-employed and specializes in refurbishing industrial and large quantity
foods kitchen equipment. At Finley, Andy is an Elder, actively participates in
Bible Study and is a Sunday school teacher. Andy is an avid mountain bike rider
and is an enthusiastic train buff.
Like so
many people who work behind the scenes at Finley, Andy is a humble, dear person
who does not seek the limelight or personal attention. What he does, he does
for the pleasure of the doing.
Thank you,
Andy, for all you have done to help us at Finley and thank you, Jan, for
supporting your husband in his efforts to improve and maintain the church
equipment and facilities.
Help Support an Aspiring Eagle
Hello, my name
is Brian Boswell, and I am a member of Finley and of Boy Scout Troop 11 of
Fishersville. I am currently working towards earning the rank of Eagle Scout.
One of the requirements for this is to lead a service project, which will
benefit an organization other than scouting. It was brought to my attention
that the front yard of the church could use some improving. If you have
noticed, the gutters from the roof of the church drain down into the front
yard. This has led to three rather large ruts and mud spots in the yard.
I am
currently working on plans to correct this problem. My plan is to put in new,
underground piping, which would drain the water directly down to the street.
The first step will be to dig the trenches for the pipes. The existing pipes
would be shortened, and the new ones would be attached. The three pipes would
come down the yard at an angle, combine into one, and continue down to the
bottom of the driveway. After the trenches have been refilled, new grass will
be planted over the. If you would like more information on this, I plan on
placing a display in the narthex soon. This plan has been cleared with both the
county and the church session.
I would
greatly appreciate any donations that you would be able to make towards helping
with this project. I believe that this will be a large improvement to the look
of our front yard. If you would like to make a donation, please see the display
in the narthex. Thank you for your time and consideration with helping me
achieve my Eagle Scout rank.
Our Active Youth
Middle School Youth Group: Meetings on Sunday evenings,
High School Youth Group:
Finley’s youth would like to thank everyone
who supported the Souper Bowl of Caring offering with their gifts of canned
goods and money. Combined with our 4¢-a-Meal offering, we were able to collect
a total of $424.42 and 133 cans of food! Stop by the narthex for the totals collected
by each “team.” (the Steelers won both the Super Bowl as well as our Finley
contest), and to view some pictures of our youth pushing their decorated
grocery carts through the neighborhood. As of February 14 a total of $3.2
million had been raised across the country. What a big and wonderful thing to
be a part of!
|
|
Nursery
Schedule |
Visitation
Schedule |
|
Mar 5 |
Sue & Jessica
Brubaker, Gina Henderson |
|
|
Mar 12 |
Esther Winton, Bing-Wo
family |
Marjorie Shreckhise |
|
Mar 19 |
Jeff & |
Esther Winton &
Beverley Ellis |
|
Mar 26 |
Dawn & Jay Christian, |
John Gibson & Gloyd
May |
Usher List
Donnie McCormick (CH)
Steve Nelson
Paul Swink
Andrew Wenner
David Seaman
March
2006
|
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
|
|
|
|
1 Chancel Choir Ash Wednesday |
2 |
3 Garrett Hatter’s Birthday World Day of Prayer |
4 |
|
5 Men’s Breakfast 8:30 4Cents a Meal Offering |
6 |
7 Presbyterian Women |
8 Chancel Choir |
9 Mission & Outreach Committee
meeting |
10 |
11 |
|
12 Girl Scout Sunday Member Involvement meeting after
worship |
13 Session |
14 Bible Study |
15 Chancel Choir |
16 |
17 |
18 |
|
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 Chancel Choir Deadline for Finley Focus articles |
23 |
24 |
25 |
|
26 Coffee after worship |
27 |
28 Bible
Study |
29 Chancel Choir |
30 Dalton Christian’s Birthday |
31 Mark Nelson’s Birthday |
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