VolumeVolume 47 50 Number Number 14 |5 August | May 2016 2018 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH | WWW.FPCSALINA.ORG Happy New Year FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PG. 1 Personals FPC Staff HAPPY BIRTHDAY! PASTOR Virgil Bowman will celebrate his 91st birthday on May 17. Rev. Dr. Charlie Smith Stan Nelson will celebrate his 93rd birthday on May 19. Lead Pastor/Head of Staff [email protected] ANNIVERSARY CONGRATULATIONS! SSOCIATE ASTOR A P Helen & John Smutz will celebrate their 72nd wedding anniversary on Rev. Keith Phillips May 12. [email protected] st Carol & Jerry Exline will celebrate their 61 wedding anniversary on CHILDREN’S CHRISTIAN ED May 25. Shelby Dickson Director of Children’s CE IT’S A GIRL! [email protected] A daughter, Piper Jean, was born April 12 to Amanda & Brandon Children’s CE Assistant Ewertz. Welcoming Piper is her brother, Brooks, his grandparents, Britton Zuccarelli Sarah & Dave Morris, his aunt, MacKenzie Morris, and his cousin Nursery Caregivers Liam Morris. Debb Homman, Coordinator [email protected] A daughter, Mariana Leigh, was born April 24 to Britton & Jordan Danielle Hix Zuccarelli. Welcoming Mariana is her brother, Marshall, and sister, Anita Thompson Molly. YOUTH MINISTRY SYMPATHY IS EXTENDED Shelby Dickson Mid-High Youth Leader To Pat, Kathleen, Will & Maria Putzier. Pat’s father, Kenneth Jacob Dickson Putzier, Storm Lake, Iowa, died April 1. Mid-High Youth Assistant To Marj Morrow, whose brother, Fred Dellett, Jr., Shawnee, KS, died Dylan Boyd April 12. Senior-High Youth Assistant MUSIC IN MEMORIAM Richard Koshgarian Phil Krug, a member of the congregation since 1985, died April 7. Director of Music Sympathy is extended to his wife, Rhonda Krug, daughter & family, [email protected] Katie & Ashley Jarvis, Jack and Charley Sue, his son & family, Alex Angie Koshgarian & Alana Krug, Estelle & Bennett, New York, NY, his stepchildren Organist and step-grandchildren, his brothers and many nieces and nephews. [email protected] OFFICE Melanie Spiess Do you have information you'd like to have listed in the “Personals" section of Office Manager the newsletter? Contact Beth at [email protected] today! [email protected] Beth Cormack Communications Coordinator [email protected] Johnnie F. Norton, son of Bryan & Julie CUSTODIAL Norton of Mission Hills, KS, will graduate Ed Zoch from Kansas University on May 13 with a Head Custodian degree in Finance. His grandparents are Frank [email protected] & Jeanne Norton of Salina and Jan Tony Griggs McAninch of Mission Hills. Relief Custodian In June, Johnnie will join the Lockton [email protected] Companies in Dallas, TX. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PG. 2 from Pastor Charlie... When God created the earth, God put all things under our stewardship. God provided the bountiful earth for our nourishment and placed it in our care. Leading Israel from Egypt into the Promised Land was like a new creation. God brought the Israelites into this good land, providing all they needed for food, shelter and industry. For this, God asked for the people’s praise and reverence and that they would recognize God as the provider of all good things. In Israel, barley was harvested around the time of the Passover, and wheat was harvested in May. Wheat was the most important harvest of the year. Bread was the primary food of the people of Israel, providing more than 50 percent of their nutritional needs. At Pentecost, 50 days after the Passover, Israel celebrated the spring harvest of barley and wheat. The Israelites set aside this day in praise to God for his benevolence in providing and blessing their crops. Three times each year, the Israelites gathered to celebrate the harvest. The first celebration, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, was held the day after the Passover and celebrated with the first fruits of the barley grain. The end-of-year celebration, the Feast of Ingathering, celebrated all the year’s harvests. This celebration was similar to our own Thanksgiving. In between at Pentecost, the most important crop of the year, the wheat crop, was celebrated at the Feast of the Harvest. Pentecost, which this year falls on May 20th, is the day the church was born with the appearance of the Holy Spirit to Christ’s disciples. At Pentecost, we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit descending in a mighty rush of wind and flame to inspire the church’s proclamation of Christ’s rising and to empower its mission and ministry to the world. This day is significant. The reason Jerusalem was filled with so many people on that day, people from all around the world speaking in different languages, was because this was the day of the celebration of the harvest. This was the harvest festival. It was a day that people from all around the world gathered in Jerusalem to give praise to God, to celebrate and give thanks for all God had provided to them, to give thanks for the harvest. Within this gathering appeared the Spirit, working through the lives of the apostles, those sent by Jesus, to spread the good news of the gospel. Here on this one day, the gospel could be spread to the whole world, without even leaving the city of Jerusalem. Pentecost, the celebration of the harvest, was the beginning of the church, the beginning of the harvest of lives, those who give thanks for both the wheat bread and the living bread, gifts of God’s love and grace. When we gather to celebrate Pentecost, we also celebrate the importance of wheat and the harvest – something near and dear to the farmers of Kansas. We ask for God’s blessings on the harvest and the farmers who sow the seed and reap the annual harvest, as well as the eternal harvest of God’s abiding love and grace. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PG. 3 Keith’s Corner...Doing Church Intergenerationally Last month, I began a series of newsletter articles inviting you to think with me through the ways people of different generations live together and communicate – especially here at First Presbyterian Church. Last month’s article will give a bit of background on generation theory and how our different generations have been growing apart. This month, we’ll take a look at some reasons in Scripture why we might try to be intentional about doing church intergenerationally. Next month, we will look at other reasons why we might try to be intentional about doing church intergenerationally. As always, I’d love to talk with you about it, so chat with me, call me, email me, or stop by! I strongly believe that our individual and collective journeys of faith will be strengthened if we are intentional about being intergenerational in our church. In the last 15-20 years as the effects of age segregation have become more pronounced, a relative abundance of research has been published on intergenerational church life, and, thankfully, more and more communities of faith are getting on board the “intergenerational train.” If you aren’t sure about boarding the train, let me offer you some biblical reasons in support of intergenerational church life. In the Bible, intergenerationality is the norm – not the exception. In the Old Testament, we learn about the image of the family of Israel experiencing the Exodus, entering the Promised Land, and the exile together. I invite you to look at these passages for just a few insights on intergenerationality from our ancestors in the faith: Deuteronomy 29:10-12 – Moses assembles the Israelites and addresses them before they enter the Promised Land Joshua 8:34-35 – Joshua assembles the Israelites and reads the Torah after a military conquest Think about some of the important intergenerational relationships in scripture, such as Ruth and Naomi (the book of Ruth), Eli and Samuel (1 Samuel 1-4), Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 19:19-21, 2 Kings 2), and Esther and Mordecai (the book of Esther). In the New Testament, we see explicit words and actions, along with implicit nods, towards intergenerationality. We read about: Matthew 19:34-35 - Jesus welcoming the children Entire households worshiping together in Acts (2:46-47, 4:32-35, 16:31-34) Plus, think about how difficult it would be to be the Body of Christ without the gifts of members of all generations (see Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4). I hope this has been some food for thought in our series. I look forward to continuing our discussion together with your input, and with our third article in the series in June. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PG. 4 Children’s Christian Education (FBI) FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PG. 5 God Squad - Mid High Youth Group No school on Monday, April 23rd and beautiful weather made it a perfect day for paintball at Elite Sports Complex! HeBrews - Senior High Youth Group ATTENTION ALL SENIOR HIGH YOUTH. There is a hot FREE breakfast and some spiritual nourishment available every Thursday morning (through May 10) at 6:45 (ish) at Mokas on Crawford. If you would like to receive our weekly materials via a text prior to the meeting, please text your cell phone number to Pastor Keith at 757-660-8219 and we will get you on the text list. Of course, additionally, we would love to have you join us at Mokas! Our discussions in April centered around implications of Jesus’ resurrection, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit’s role in interpreting scripture. We also had a special discussion group led by Senior High leader Dylan Boyd for our graduating seniors. HeBrews will continue to meet through Thursday, May 10. Stay tuned for details on senior high meetings over the summer! We appreciate the support and feedback of all youth and parents for HeBrews at FPC! Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or just want to chat.