From the pastor’s study By Murray Richmond

In the early 2000s I was at a conference in Nashville, and when you are in Nashville one of the things you must do is visit the Grand Ole Opry. While I’m not a big fan of country music, I can appreciate it, so off I headed to the Opry.

The music was wonderful that night. One of the bands played Ashokan Farewell, which is one of my favorite songs. There was an up-and-coming Australian guitar picker, and a fiddler whose fingers raced up and down the strings as he played jigs and Appalachian reels.

But the thing that impressed me most was the demographics of the crowds. There were grandparents and grandchildren, mothers and fathers, young couples, and singles of every age. Unlike almost every other concert I attended, no one demographic group dominated the crowd. It was an incredible cross section of ages.

Ever since then I have wondered if the church could ever duplicate that. There’s no shortage of church specialists who recommend, “If you want to bring in young people, you have to…” and then list ten different things, eight of which would drive most of our congregation away if we adopted them.

I think we can diversify our congregation without making a dramatic overhaul to everything we do here. There is no silver bullet, no secret formula, and no one-size-fits-all plan to diversify a congregation. It takes time, commitment, and perseverance. And it takes intentionality.

We will spend this year looking at how we can better attract, welcome, and bring new members into our fold. Why? Two reasons, one practical, one theological. The practical reason is that if we are not growing, we will die. That is a hard but inevitable truth.

The second is because we are called to spread our faith to others. Jesus told us not to hide our light under a bushel. God is at work here in this church, and we are called to invite others in to join us in this work. It doesn’t just happen. We must be intentional about it. We must want it. Looking ahead, I think it is im-portant. More than important, it is crucial. More than crucial. It is God’s call for us at this time.

8th

& Holly newsletter First Presbyterian Church 85 South Holly Street Medford, Oregon 97501

New elders and deacons elected

8th

&Holly

Our 134th

year

The monthly newsletter of First Presbyterian Church of Medford, Oregon February 2019

Address service requested

NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. Postage paid Medford OR 97501

Permit No. 383

Some of the new class of church officers gathered after the annual meeting last Sunday. From the left Elder Jim Foucault, Deacon Jeannine Foucault, Deacon Sally Densmore, Elder Bob Frey, Deacon Harold Sudmeyer, Deacon Carol Sharp and Elder Vickie Reierson. Not shown are elders Rita Reitz and Kristy Denman.

Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV) 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

February at First Celebrating 30 years of ordination

3 Sunday Worship Informal 8:30 a.m. Traditional 10:30 a.m. 11:45 a.m. New member class, library 4 Monday 10:30 a.m. Fellowship Commit-tee, library 4 p.m. Mission Committee, li-brary 5 Tuesday 10 a.m. Staff meeting, workroom 6:45 p.m. Shepherd’s Bells re-hearsal 6 Wednesday 10 a.m. Food Bank set up 1:30 p.m. Food Bank 4:30 p.m. Wed. Night Live, Fellowship Hall 7 p.m. Choir practice 7 Thursday 10 a.m. Church Growth, workroom 4:30 p.m. Wednesday Night Live planning, Fellowship Hall 9 Saturday 2 p.m. Bob Elert memorial service, Sanctuary 10 Sunday Worship Informal 8:30 a.m. Traditional 10:30 a.m. 11:45 a.m. New member class, special Session meeting, Fire-place Room 5 p.m. Jazz Vespers, Mark Hamersly Trio, Sanctuary 11 Monday 5:45 p.m. SonShine Singers, Fel-lowship Hall 12 Tuesday 10 a.m. Staff Meeting, workroom 6:45 p.m. Shepherd’s Bells re-hearsal 13 Wednesday 10 a.m. Food Bank set up 1:30 p.m. Food Bank 4:30 p.m. Wed. Night Live, Fel-lowship Hall

16 Saturday 1 p.m. Women’s Fellowship movie afternoon, Fellowship Hall 17 Sunday Noisy offering Worship Informal 8:30 a.m. Traditional 10:30 a.m. 11:45 a.m. Worship committee, library Deacons, Fireplace room 19 Tuesday 10 a.m. Staff Meeting, workroom 6:45 p.m. Shepherd’s Bells re-hearsal 20 Wednesday 10 a.m. Food Bank set up 1:30 p.m. Food Bank 4:30 p.m. Wed. Night Live, Fel-lowship Hall 7 p.m. Choir practice 21 Thursday 9 a.m. Personnel committee, Library 10 a.m. Finance committee, Workroom 23 Saturday 2 p.m. Morrie Leonard memori-al, Sanctuary 24 Sunday Worship Informal 8:30 a.m. Traditional 10:30 a.m. 25 Monday 5:45 p.m. SonShine Singers, Fel-lowship Hall 6:30 p.m. Craft Night, Fellow-ship Hall

26 Tuesday 10 a.m. Staff Meeting, workroom 1:30 p.m. Book Nook, library 6:45 p.m. Shepherd’s Bells rehearsal 7 p.m. Session, Fireplace Room 27 Wednesday 10 a.m. Food Bank set up 1:30 p.m. Food Bank 4:30 p.m. Wed. Night Live, Fellowship Hall 7 p.m. Choir practice

February Birthdays 4 Dorothy Heintz 6 George Hollingsworth 7 Nancy Leever 8 Suzann Harrison Linda Maxwell

9 Andy Ullrich 13 Rod Rancik 17 Marg Funch 22 Mary Lynn Lucas 23 Linda Campbell 25 Lou Yardumian 27 Linda Colehower Sue Silfvast 28 Jaycee Lowe

Lunch bunch Meet Sunday in the Fellowship Hall

after the second service. All are welcome. Here’s our schedule:

February 3 Shari’s 71 E Stewart Ave February 10 Bonsai Teriyaki and Sushi, 1808 E. Barnett Rd. February 17 Red Robin, 499 Medford Cen-ter February 24 Roosters, 350 E. Barnett Rd.

First Presbyterian Church 85 South Holly Street Medford, Oregon 97501 Phone: (541) 779-1711 Email: fpcm@firstpresmedford.org

Office hours Mon-Thurs 8:30 am to 3:30 pm

Pastor …Rev. Murray Richmond Congregational Care Associate ………......Mike Hubbard Associates for Visitation and Pas-toral Care …..Rev. Mary Wright Gillespie ….Rev. Barbara Haddon Administrative & Financial Assis-tant……….…….Elizbeth Mahan Sarah Corson Childcare & Learn-ing Center……….....Jaime Snider

Session Committee chairs

Building & Grounds—Scott Harrison (541) 890-0767

Christian Education— Bill Silfvast Josie Metz (541) 857-6137 (541) 301-1417

Church Growth — Bob Frey Tom McDermott 1-(503) 779-5558 (541) 734-4675

Fellowship— Carolee Jones Josie Metz (541) 601-3194 (541) 301-1417

Finance — Dwight Sinner (541) 770-5720

Personnel—Dan Johnson (541) 826-7736 Mission— Tyler Johnson Evonne Hubbard 1-(971)-244 2762 (541) 778-3501

Worship & Music— Marg Funch Doris Sjolund (541) 857-6173 (541) 857-6646

Body type TNR 10

Your newsletter team Paulette Avery, Vickie Reierson,

Barbara and Tam Moore (541) 608-0171

Copy deadline: 4th Monday of the month prior to publication email: newsletter.firstpresmedford@gmail.com

Women’s Fellowship Join women of the congregation Saturday, Febru-ary 16 for a 1 p.m. showing of Robin William’s Mrs. Doubtfire. Your tickets are tooth-brushes and tooth-paste for the Food

Bank pantry

A Latin beat The Mark Hamersly Trio returns to our Jazz Vespers Sunday, February 10 with their take on Brazilian Jazz. Hamersly on

classical guitar is joined by Bob Rawl-ings on reeds and Theresa McCoy on percussion. “Expect to see some arrang-ing on the fly,” says Hamersly. Visual artist for the month is Russ Chandler, a photographer. He’s worked as professional for decades, from wed-dings to commercial images, and likes landscapes, too. The service begins at 5 p.m.

Shenanigans Save Saturday evening, March 16 for an all-church game night in the Fellow-ship Hall. The pre-St. Patrick’s Day she-nanigans are sponsored by our Fellow-ship Committee. You’ll hear more about the party next month.

Pastor Murray was roasted by Marthanne Dedrick January 27 as the congregation celebrated the 30th anniversary of his ordination. A graduate of Duke Divinity School in North Carolina, Murray began his service at St. John’s Church in Durham in 1989.

Concert tickets The church office has a limited number of tickets for the March 8

Concordia College Choir concert which will be held in our Sanctuary. These are available on a first-come-first-served basis, and are selling rapidly. If the office is out by the time you ask, there are some tickets being sold on the Internet at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4017586. Ticket prices are $20 for adults, $5 for students. We are hosting the 72-voice choir at the mid-point of their winter Pa-cific Northwest tour.

House arrest A Russian nobleman, put under house arrest by the Soviet govern-ment in 1922, is the protagonist for this month’s read by our Book Nook group. Amor Towles’ A Gen-tleman in Moscow tells the story of what becomes 30 years of living under guard in a Moscow luxury hotel. All are welcome to read the book and join the discussion which takes place at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Febru-ary 26 in the church library.