Upcoming Events
Farmer's Market -
Closed til next summer.
Communion Service -
January 8-
10:00am
Pantry -
January 13 and 27-
10 - Noon
Visit our
Calendar of Events
An Ordination and Installation service will take place on Sunday, January 8, 2012 during worship for elected officers. Elders and Deacons that were elected in December must attend! Please join us as we celebrate our officers.
News from Outreach
Food Pantry Thank you for your generous donations to the food pantry. We have been providing food for an average of 44 community residents per month. We purchased 2631 lbs. of food from the Mid-Michigan Food Bank in December and also received donations from the "Fill-A-Cop-Car" event that was held at Carl's Market in December. Thank you to the volunteers (Scott & Terri Edick, Don & Doris Krepps, Dave Figg, Monty Whipple, Keith Jones, and Karen Dunckel) who helped with picking up and putting away the food order from the Mid-Michigan Food Bank. It was a big job! We are very thankful for our volunteers. The grocery cart item for January is canned goods. We are also always in need of frosting, jello, and pudding, items we cannot purchase from the Mid-Michigan Food Bank. Please contact Karen Dunckel, Jill Brown, or Monty Whipple if you have questions about the food pantry or would like to have a tour and see what it's all about!
Thank you also for your generous contributions to the Christmas Joy Offering and for the donated items for the City Rescue Mission of Lansing!
Fellowship Member Care News
Fellowship and Member Care will meet one week later in the month of January, the fourth Tuesday, January 24 in Room 105 at 1PM. We will catch up with the health of members, the persons moved to inactive and what we see ahead for our team in 2012. A key member is out of state earlier in the month. Hopefully this will work for Reverend and everyone else.
News from Worship and Music
The Worship and Music Ministry Team was very busy planning for two Christmas services. With the help of Rev. Paula and the work the team accomplished, we were able to provide services for both days. The team would like feedback on the services-both positive feedback and suggestions-so we may plan for the future. We are so grateful to have Paula with us and hope that all who attend our church have an opportunity to meet her and spend a little time with her. She is a remarkable person as well as warm and inviting. We wish and pray for a happy and peaceful holiday season, winter, and 2012 for everyone.
MEMBERS AND FRIENDS - SHARE YOUR NEWS
Fellowship and Member Care is concerned that we are hearing of illnesses and surgeries - after the fact. We feel badly to hear about an issue where we could have offered up prayers to you. Pastoral care is available to everyone and Rev. Child stands ready to support you in your time of need, and so do the members of the congregation. We understand that some surgeries may be of a nature that you don't want publicized and that would be respected. Our prayer chain is extensive and prayers are always important - let us at least do that for you. Call or email the office or Shirley Watson or Carol Kepler with information about illness, surgeries, or situations where you would like prayers.
Altar Flowers
Session has made the decision to change the method of supplying flowers for the altar during Sunday Services beginning May 6, 2007. Originally, the intention was for the donors to pay the church for the flowers they volunteered to supply. The church had a standing order with the florist in Dimondale. The church does not bill individuals for the flowers; the donors are expected to voluntarily pay the church for the flowers. However, the church paid for many of the flower arrangements. The sign-up calendar is still going to be used and is located in the hallway outside the administrative office. Individuals will sign up for the desired Sunday and provide the flowers themselves. There will no longer be a standing order with the florist in Dimondale, which will give donors many additional choices regarding how to supply flowers for the altar. They may use any florist, design an arrangement themselves, or bring flowers from their gardens. Donors’ names will be announced in the weekly bulletin. The reason for this decision is cost savings for the church. We will no longer receive monthly invoices from the florist. There will be no flowers on Sundays for which no one has signed up. Questions or suggestions may be directed to Mary Lou Garrison, Chair of Worship and Music.
Dimondale Community Pantries
Due to increased request and the need for more holistic support for those requring assistance, we morphed our food pantry into an ecumenical venture with Dimondale United Church.
Please call 517-646-6183 or 517-646-0641 and leave your name and phone number and volunteer will return your call within 48 hours to discuss your needs, pick up times, and location. Pick up your food at First Presbyterian Church and personal needs at Dimondale United Methodist Church on either the 2nd or 4th Friday of each month from 10am - Noon. We can dispense a week's worth of items once a month per household.
Giving Tree
Session has created a “Giving Tree” on the bulletin board in the Great Room. Each item on the Giving Tree is approved by session for various needs around the church. You can help us keep the church clean by donating to a new vacuum cleaner for the church. Other needs will appear as session adds them to the tree. Thank you for checking it over each Sunday! Mark your name and an amount by items you wish to contribute toward & put your donation in the offering plate (mark it for the item) or bring them to the church office.
Go Green
We are the stewards of God’s creation. One small way we can improve our environment is to reduce waste, one cup at a time! We have volunteers who are willing to wash coffee-hour cups, glasses and plates. So, if you have graciously volunteered for coffee-hour and find ceramic cups, plastic glasses and plates sitting out, sit back and enjoy, they will be washed for you!
Also, we are now recycling paper, magazines, and plastic/styrofoam. Bins are located in the Administrative Assistant's office and the kitchen. During coffee hour, place your empty cups in the blue bin.
Holy Communion
The Lord Jesus Christ requests the honor of your presence at the serving of Holy Communion, generally the first Sunday of the month during worship.
We receive 2 cents a meal contributions on Communion Sundays dedicated to the hunger relief project. Each time your family shares a meal, remember those in the world, including our own community, who do not have enough food by putting 2 cents per person per meal in a can or bank. Bring your offering to church on Communion Sunday to be collected in the fish bowl. The money is then forwarded to join other gifts at the Presbyterian level, dispersed through a variety of hunger relief programs.
Mission Work
Elders, Deacons and members of our church regularly reach out to those in our community and around the world to offer assistance to those in need. Our church runs a “Pantry” and regularly accepts and distributes food from our “Pantry”. In addition, a Caring Fund has also been established to help those within our congregation and in the community with emergencies or special needs. For additional information, visit the Mission Work page.
Nominating Team
The Nominating Team will begin asking members if they would like to become a deacon or elder for the coming 2010 year. Be discerning and praying if God is calling you to help us lead the church and keep it vibrant. We are especially looking for elders to serve on Business Affairs and Worship and Music
Prayer Chain
Our church has in place a phone prayer chain and an email prayer chain. At the present time we have about 30 persons involved. If you would like to be added to one of the prayer chains, call either Carol Kepler or Shirley Watson.
If you have a prayer request please call Kay Jones. If you get Kay’s answering machine, please call Carol or Shirley. Our goal is to send your prayer request to the prayer chains as soon as possible.
Prayer Pagers
Our church now owns two Prayer Pagers! The idea of letting someone know you have just lovingly prayed for them is a hit! We have purchased a second Pager from Memorials to Judy Armstrong. Kirk and Judy held the Pager during Judy’s illness, and Kirk could think of no better way to use her memorial funds. The Fellowship/Member Care team intend to be diligent about placing our two Pagers in the hands of members who may be ill, having surgery, holding a church office, facing a difficult issue – or to simply let a member know they are held in prayer by their church family. You may not always know who you are praying for – but the Lord knows. The person holding the Pagers when they vibrate will know, too! We hope to be so tuned in to “need” that you can be sure whoever has the pager needs your prayers of comfort, support, healing and peace. Both Pagers will be continuously in use so you can call anytime. It’s okay to call at night, too, since the pagers are set to vibrate and can be turned off when need be.
The Prayer Pager phone numbers are 517-251-1110 and 517-251-1119. When you dial the numbers you will either hear a beep or a voice says leave a message. In both cases, just press the numbers on your phone key pad that spell “PRAY” – 7729 and immediately hang up. And be sure to say a prayer when you do! Both Pagers are already in good hands! They are just waiting for your prayers.
Supplemental Hymnbooks
The Worship and Music Team hopes all of you are enjoying the new supplemental hymnals! To purchase these books, we used endowment/memorial funds allocated just for musical needs, and then supplemented the remainder of the cost from the general fund. To help replace the spent General fund monies, session has granted us permission to give all members and friends of the church the opportunity to purchase, for $10.00, a “memorial,” or “in honor of,” or a “just because” identification plate which will be placed inside the front cover of the book. Envelopes will be provided on Sundays. The outside needs to be filled out, the money inserted, and the envelope placed in the collection plate.