The Salt Shaker
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The Salt Shaker “You are the salt of the earth . You are the light of the world.” — Jesus (Matthew 5:13-14) M AY 2 0 2 0 Parkville OUR MISSION Presbyterian In the Church Late Update: midst of As this issue of Salt Shaker was about to be dis- Where Everyone COVID-19 tributed, Platte County announced a new is Loved, “re-opening” date for businesses, moving it for- Where Everyone we remember ward from May 15 to May 3. The order seems Belongs God’s promise: to make a distinction between consumer ac- tivity in a business and other mass gather- IN THIS ISSUE : ings, which it seems to continue to advise 2. SPEAC, Back to School against. Because this has just happened, and Fair we need more time to parse the order and its 3. Pastor Steve: PPC is meaning, we will continue to follow the infor- Being Church Online! mation and schedules included in this news- letter until further notice. Please look for our 4. Music Search Update; usual emails and Facebook posts for timely Honing our Prayer Life information regarding any schedule changes 5. Mission, Pentecost that may be made. Offering 6. Featured Folks, Giving Blood 7. Extravagant Generosity; Looking Ahead to Summer & Fall 8-10. “Ask Me Anything” 11. May Calendar GOD’S MISSION FOR US: To accept, embrace, and love all people, through Christ who loves us! On behalf of the PPC congregation, Pastor Steve shared the church’s gratitude for Paul Erickson and his nearly 8 1/2 years of ministry with us in April 26 worship, as Paul was preparing to leave for a new church position in Texas. MAY As the COVID-19 crisis impacts our commu- nity, the SPEAC food pantry continues to serve clients, keeping in place modifications to its op- Food Pantry eration for client and volunteer safety. SPEAC receives deliveries by truck from Harvesters and still has sufficient supplies to distribute. At this time, monetary Harvesters has temporarily relaxed its ser- donations—as you are vice boundaries, so the SPEAC pantry is now able—are the best way able to serve clients from other zip codes dur- of supporting our ing the COVID-19 crisis. Therefore, the numbers SPEAC is serving are greatly food pantry and increasing. Approximately half of the clients recently served are new to SPEAC. neighbors in Monetary donations are the most efficient way to keep up with the demand. extreme need. If you wish to donate to the pantry, checks may be made payable to SPEAC and mailed to the PPC office at 819 Main St., Parkville, MO 64152. Donations can The area served by also be made online at the SPEAC website speacpantry.com. SPEAC has been Thank you for your support of the many in need temporarily expanded in our community and beyond. to help during the current health crisis, so the need is great! Next Fall, Schools Will Open Again . and PPC will be there! Little Dresses for Africa: You remain under a “Sew at Home Voluntary Order” At the Back to School Fair, PPC plans again to provide earbuds for use by Platte County students of limited resources. Watch for more details to follow. ~ Risk-Taking Mission Team THE SALT SHAKER P A G E 3 From Pastor Steve ~ Parkville Presbyterian Church is Online — What That Means, How to Connect How long will this season of physical distance For those who are online, here’s how to connect: last? In some ways, it will go on until there is a Facebook Live Prayer Services—We offer vaccine for COVID-19. prayer services on Facebook Live three times a Even when the economy week (Wednesday at 12pm, Friday at 6am, and reopens and we ‘return Sunday at 8am). These twenty-minute services to normal,’ so to speak, feature Pastor Steve reading and reflecting on a we know many of the psalm, taking prayer requests, and praying. vulnerable people in our They can be accessed at www.facebook.com/ congregation will con- parkvillepresby/live tinue to stay indoors, and we encourage their You do not need a Facebook account to view the vigilance to health and service. safety priorities. Typically, around 20 people are viewing these So even when businesses resume more of their services when they are live—including people normal operations, and the sanctuary reopens from around the country and around the world. for worship, we know there are many of you we Around 100 additional people view them later. will continue to miss—many of you we will con- Sunday Worship on YouTube — Our formal tinue to see only from a safe, physical distance. Sunday morning service can be found on You- we will For that reason, even when we reopen, Tube at 10am each Sunday at continue to craft shorter worship services www.parkvillepresby.org/watch meant just for YouTube and longer services we offer live on Sunday morning, even as we You do not need a YouTube account to view the continue to offer other ways to connect online. service, though YouTube will ask if you have one How long will this season last? The Platte and encourage you to sign up for one. If you do County Health Department has issued a stay-at- sign up for an account, and if you view the ser- home order prohibiting gatherings of more than vice when it debuts at 10am, you can participate 10 people through at least May 15th. That’s one in a chat with other church members while we benchmark to clear. In addition, the churches of worship. But even if you don’t tune in at 10am, Heartland Presbytery are working together— you can still view the service anytime at the recognizing that the individual decision to open web address above. or close resides with the Session of each Tuesday Evening Bible Study, Sunday School, church—though we hope to open all at the same and Sunday Fellowship, on Zoom — Faith for- time as a presbytery. mation and fellowship opportunities are being We may be able to open for some small gather- offered through Zoom. They are easy to access ings, like bible studies, even before we open for for anyone with a good internet connection and worship, because reopening will likely be grad- a device (including a computer, smartphone, or ual and done in stages. We also recognize that, tablet) with a webcam and microphone. You can whenever and however we reopen, it will be with also call in with a regular telephone and join any careful measures of sanitation and physical dis- gathering by voice. tance. Make Sunday Morning an Experience — So, when we reopen, we’ll reopen slowly, and Sunday School—currently a study on Revelation we’re going to stay online for those who need us led by Pastor Steve, and attended by 18-20 con- to be online—and we’re going to keep reaching gregation members—is at 9am. Sunday Fellow- out by phone for those who need us by phone. ship is at approximately 10:40am, or whenever continued on next page Parkville Presbyterian Church is Online — cont. from previous page the premiere of the Sunday service ends. One of the better if you can make it to every part of Sunday reasons to tune in for the premiere of worship at morning. 10am on Sundays is the opportunity to join in fellow- Thank you for being part of our circle, strained as ship afterward, even if it‟s only on webcam and we our communications may be in this time. Always re- still have to be apart. member that there is no force that can separate us We know this is tough. Online worship and online from God‟s love or from the bonds we have formed fellowship don‟t feel the same as being together in as the Body of Christ. “For I am convinced that nei- person. It‟s tough to experience a simulation of what ther death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things has been without thinking of what we‟re losing in present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, this strange season of our lives. But there are mo- nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be ments of deep connection, important learning, and able to separate us from the love of God in Christ beautiful worship happening online, and it‟s even Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-40). Music Search Update On Sunday, April 26th, we officially said goodbye to Organist and Director of Music Arts Paul Erickson — who has accepted a new position with First United Methodist Church in Corpus Christi, TX. We wish Godspeed to Paul and his spouse, Michael Nicks, during this transition. For PPC, when Session next meets on May 7th, we will clarify the process for hiring a replace- ment. At that time, we will post the position and connect with applicants. Of course, it will not be possible for us to find one person who can entirely fill Paul’s shoes, because he is so uniquely gifted, so our process may lead us to two music ministers (one organist/accompanist and one choir director). Because of Paul’s reputation in the Kansas City music community, we have already been ap- proached by several high-level musicians with a real sense of care and love for the ministry of offering music in a church. These interested applicants have been advised that we will probably not be able to devote the financial resources to this ministry that we did while Paul was here.