PresbyNews for March

Pastor’s Note

This month will mark one year of pandemic ministry that has required creativity, technology, adaptability, and grace. Our first virtual worship service last year was on March 15. (You can revisit it here.) I remember it well for recording the postlude from inside the pipe organ chambers and recording the sermon from my couch. I re-visited the message that I shared that day. Here is the conclusion:

You are not alone. As we have to make some accommodations in our worship and ministry together, we need remind each other of the ways that we are not alone. I need you to call one another. I need you to pray for another. Call a neighbor who isn’t maybe a part of a church—and then tell them to call someone else. Call a nurse, who is probably stressed. Leave a message. Call a teacher—whose curriculum is being shuffled as spring break is extended. (Speaking of which, there are three weeks of spring break. Have your kids call each other!) Even if you don’t say these words, you are telling them one important thing: You are not alone. It is both a propositional truth and a prayer: You are not alone.

In retrospect, the extended spring break led to a virtual learning for the remainder of the academic year and, in some places, longer. We were not anticipating at that time that we would still be facing these challenges a year later. We are still dealing with a very isolating time, and loneliness is still real. Even though it is a year later, I offer the same charge to you today. Call one another. Pray for another. Build each other up. At the center of our faith is a definitive claim from God: You are not alone. - Michael Isaacs

COVID-19 Reminders

Please continue to be diligent about wearing a mask and social distancing during in-person worship. It is important as ever not to let our guards down in dealing with this public health crisis that it affecting the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of so many people. Continue to pray for our healthcare workers, patients, families, and public servants, as well as for each life that has been lost. If you, or someone you know, needs additional hand sanitizer or masks, please call the church office, and we can help provide these important resources.

Worship Notes

Holy Week and Easter

Holy Week begins on March 29. We will post a pre-recorded Holy Week service on YouTube and Facebook. We are planning on hosting two Easter morning services. A 10:00 service will be inside the sanctuary, and we will worship outside at 11:30. Both services will include Communion.

Upcoming Worship

March 7 – Jonah 3 & Communion
March 14 – Jonah 4
March 21 – Matthew 12:38-42 & Annual Meeting of the Congregation
March 28 – Palm Sunday
April 4 - Easter & Communion

Note from Music Director

Even though our worship still looks and feels different, we continue to sing to the Lord and make music for the rock of our salvation. We are so grateful for the continuing gifts of music from our volunteer singers, ringers and instrumentalists. I am grateful to the Music Ministry Team that continues to give their gifts of time, talent and creativity.

The Music Ministry Team loved the challenge of commissioning, learning and presenting the three instrument (organ, piano and keyboard) pieces at Christmas. The response to these pieces from our congregation and many people beyond our congregation was exciting and heartwarming.

The Team wanted to give that kind of gift to the congregation and beyond for Holy Week. We have commissioned composer Joel Raney to create an arrangement of “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” and “Lift High the Cross” for three keyboard instruments for Holy Week. We hope and pray that this music, and all the music of Lent and Holy Week, will inspire you, comfort you, and lift you up. - Joyce Zigler

Christian Education Notes

Stories of God at Home

The Purple Table is offering resources for you to share Godly Play stories at home! Email Lisa (lisa@fpcmiddletown.com) to sign up to borrow a story kit. Story videos are easily accessible online (https://www.storiesofgodathome.com/events).

Lent at Home in Community

See, taste, hear, smell, touch, give. Gather at your home table for brief and engaging-for-all-ages sessions of reading a Psalm passage, doing an activity based on that passage, and praying together. Weekly resources will be posted online at The Purple Table.

Stay connected on March 15!

Join our online gathering via Zoom at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, March 15 for a time of fellowship and activities. (Zoom Meeting ID: 357 756 9746)

The Purple Table is a pop-up welcome space, online and in-person, that builds community, affirms, and supports healing. Let us encourage one another as we play, share stories, listen, and find a way through, together! Connect instantly with The Purple Table by visiting the website: https://the-purple-table.mn.co

Tarshish Moments: Lenten Luncheons Online

We are excited to introduce a twist to our Lenten Luncheon this year. We have invited faith leaders from across our denominational to lead our discussion. Come on Zoom at noon on Wednesdays, except Ash Wednesday and Holy Week, and bring your own lunch! Link: https://zoom.us/j/3577569746

The theme is Tarshish Moments. God asks Jonah to go to Nineveh, but he heads to Tarshish instead. Each speaker has been invited to explore a time when they feel like they went in the opposite direction of what God intended, that they felt relentlessly pursued by grace, or how they overcame cultural resentments to discover the breadth of mercy.

Upcoming speakers:

March 10 - Kristy Farber, Mercer Island Presbyterian Church, Mercer Island, WA
March 17 - David Ealy, Hawfields Presbyterian Church, Mebane, NC
March 24 - Keith Grogg, Montreat Presbyterian Church, Montreat, NC

Weekly Online Gathering

Join us on Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. on Zoom. In honor of the Java Johnny Knitters, we gather weekly via Zoom to share a time of fellowship and creativity.

Stewardship Notes

We are going to begin highlighting different aspects of stewardship and church finances in PresbyNews. This may include resources about giving or highlighting certain financial commitments that we have made as a congregation. Please let the office know if you have any ideas or questions that we could highlight. This month we’ll offer some insight of of our building costs.

Our Building & Grounds budget is typically around $90,000 each year for routine maintenance of our building. Improvements and repairs—such as sidewalk repairs, steeple painting, boiler fixes, etc.—come from other support funds. This $90,000 budget is funded through our generous endowment. This year the Finance Committee determined that we will draw 5% of our endowment, which is less than our rate of return. Many contributions to the endowment come from planned and estate giving.

This means that the money we receive through our regular giving does not go to the building! The resources we receive through our stewardship campaign and the offering plate go towards the program of the church, such as music and worship, Christian education, mission, and personnel costs.

Congregational Meeting

The annual meeting of the congregation will be held in worship on March 21. We will elect new officers and review the pastor’s terms of call. The annual report will be available in the narthex and gathering are on March 21. It will also be found on the “From Us” section of the website.

In Memoriam

We give thanks to God for the life of…

Bev Chalfin, who died on February 5.