April 2016 Chatter - fpcwinc.orgfpcwinc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/April-2016-Chatter.pdfApr 01, 2013 · April 2016 Rending the Note On Sunday, April 3, all four services included

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHWINCHESTER, VIRGINIA

April 2016

Rending the Note On Sunday, April 3, all four services included a special celebratory component: Elders came forward at each service and joined Dan or Maren and Rich Reifsnyder in ceremoniously tearing up facsimilies of the $7.9 million promissory note which the

congregation engaged in 2006 to build Fellowship Hall and renovate portions of the existing campus. The new facility made it possible for First Church to launch the New Stone contemporary service, whose popularity has grown every year, and to expand outreach programs like Jubilee Kitchen and WATTS. It also provides a gathering place for congregational dinners and celebrations. “Presbyterians are allergic to debt,” Dan joked, so it was especially satisfying to retire the debt on that building campaign in less that ten years’ time. Maren decided that the celebration between services should be a two-cake affair.

Spring Youth Update By Kelley Connelly

The Youth of First Presbyterian Winchester are off and running with mission trip plans! As mentioned last month, we are beginning to plan, fund-raise, prepare, and pray as our summer mission trip approaches! July 9th-16th we will travel to McDowell County, West Virginia for a week of home repair, community outreach and much more.

WWW.FPCWINC.ORG Page �1

FPC Chatter Serving Christ and neighbor in the heart of Winchester and beyond

Thought upon entering: “Friends, every day do something that won’t compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Take all you have and be poor. Love someone who does not deserve it.”

—Wendell Berry

Transition Feedback We’re in transition — there’s a lot going on. Your input during this important time is essential. So, how are we doing? We’d be grateful for any feedback you may have regarding any ministry area of the congregation — leadership, worship, education, facilities, mission, fellowship, communications. Our goal is a strong congregation engaged in effective ministry. Information can be shared with Ann Burkholder, moderator of our Staff Relations Team, at [email protected] or 540-539-3066.

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http://WWW.FPCWINC.ORG



April 2016

Though West Virginia is our next-door neighbor, it will still take us about five and a half hours to travel there. Here are some surprising facts about the area:• In 2013, only 5.8% of residents had obtained a Bachelor’s degree or higher.• McDowell was known for its popular coal mining industry, but after 1950 mine mechanization led to widespread job losses.• Since the end of the 20th century, McDowell has been the poorest county in the state of West Virginia. In fact, McDowell was recently ranked the third poorest county in the nation with a 10% unemployment rate and a shocking 36.3% poverty rate. However, we cannot let these facts scare us; we can only let them act as reminders of why we have been called to serve there. On February 10 the mission trip team held its first fundraiser for the trip. Several youth, adult helpers and the dynamic cooking duo of Debbie Lawall and Jenny Callis came together to prepare a delicious pancake dinner for the FPC Wednesday meal! Thank you to all of you who helped to prepare the food, helped serve, cook and a huge thank you to those who came and ate! It was a deliciously successful evening! If you are feeling called to participate in this trip, feel free to contact Kelley at [email protected] for more information!


Adult Christian Education

Sycamore Class A small group dedicated to intensive studies of books of the Bible, classic Christian literature, and doctrines of the Christian faith. This fall’s text is Steering Through the Chaos, by Os Guinness, which pairs the Seven Deadly Sins with the Beatitudes, using short segments from various authors. — Donegal House South; Marge Toxepeus and Cindia Stewart.

Thoughtful Christian Transitional Issues in the Church Today, a five-week class beginning April 3. Donegal House North; Charlie Webster.

Discovering First Presbyterian Church A multi-week exploration of the life and ministry of First Presbyterian Church for persons who may sense a call from God to unite with the congregation. Loudoun Hall; Bob Lizer and Beth Kane.

iDisciple: The Courage to be an Imperfect Parent (or Grandparent) A five-week class beginning April 3. Graham Room; Dick Betts and Kirsten Sonstegard Men’s Bible Study Weekly Bible Study, Fridays at 6:30 a.m. in the Graham Room. Shared leadership.

Faith Stretchers Monthly book study, fourth Mondays at 7:30 p.m at members’ homes. Group discussion with shared leadership. Contact Dan McCoig.



April 2016

Ways to Frame it By Lara Davis Chief among the tools in a toolbox is the carpenter’s square. There are numerous ways to look at this versatile tool. It can be used for framing, roofing, working on stairs, measuring, and even for squaring up a quilt! Versatility is helpful when using the skill of empathy as well. At the heart of empathy is the ability to understand another’s feelings and perspective — without judgment — and to use that understanding to guide our actions. We need not take on the feelings of others, nor is it our job to “happy a person up.” Instead, our job is to be willing to listen, to support, and to guide children toward solving a problem that resulted in their upset. Becky Bailey describes this process using five steps:

1.I Am: Something has triggered an emotion in a child which causes upset. This upset can be acted out physically (pushing, hitting, kicking, etc.) and/or emotionally (yelling, name-calling, etc.). The adult will help the child to remain safe.

2.I Calm: The adult guides the child by offering ways in which the child can breathe and calm himself.

3.I Feel: The adult assists the child in naming the emotion she may be feeling…sad, angry, frustrated, etc. For younger children, the adult may notice the child and say, “Your face looks like this (using descriptive words).” “You seem angry?” This allows the child to recognize and to respond with “yes, I am feeling angry” or “no, I am feeling frustrated.”

4.I Choose: The adult will now reframe the upset by using phrases such as: “you wanted ____” or “you were hoping _____.”

5.I Solve: The child is now able to seek solutions and resolve conflicts. What might the child’s next move be? The adult and child will work together to look at choices and options for resolution.

Consider this scenario using the five step process: Sally has finished building a castle using blocks. A friend comes over and knocks it down. Sally pushes her friend and begins to cry. The teacher walks over to Sally, saying, “Something must have happened, Sally. Your eyebrows look like this, your hands are going like this (mirroring the child’s). Breathe with me, you are safe, you can handle this. You must be feeling disappointed? You were hoping that you could show your castle to the class. I get it…that can feel very disappointing. What might be helpful for you right now? If you are interested in rebuilding your castle, you may build it here or you may decide to join the children at the table who are looking at books about princesses.” This process provides valuable life skills for children. They learn to calm, identify, and acknowledge the emotion associated with the upset, choose acceptable ways to handle the upset, and problem-solve alternatives. The reframing of the original upset supports healthy emotional growth and assists in accessing higher-level problem-solving skills. For more information about this process, visit: www.consciousdiscipline.com and search “emotional regulation.”


http://www.consciousdiscipline.com



April 2016

Scarf, Hat, and Glove Drive By Kelley Connelly You may have seen a plastic bin overflowing with winter accessories in the past weeks. Youth Ministry’s drive was extremely successful — we gathered dozens of items and were even able to extend the drive because people kept on giving! If you have been on the walking mall lately, you may have seen some scarves and things hanging from trees; the youth at FPC are partially responsible for those! Each item was paired with a tag that read; “I am not lost. If you are stuck out in the cold, please take this to keep warm! From, your neighbors at First Presbyterian Church”. Again, thank you!

Fasting for the Way Forward By Maren Sonstegard-Spray

The members of the Women’s Faith Study group will be undertaking a one-day fast on April 13th, to pray for our congregation as we move forward in our life together. We will especially be praying for the Nominating Committee as they seek people to serve on the Pastor Nominating Committee; for those called to serve on the PNC; and for our future pastor, asking for the Holy Spirit’s guidance as they and all of us seek to discern God’s will for our church. We invite everyone to join us that day in fasting from sunrise to sunset, each of us in our own place and in the way that God directs us. (Some might like to break their fast at the Weekday School Spaghetti Dinner and Auction, to be held that evening.) Since fasting is not something we do routinely in the Presbyterian Church, here is some basic information from the book “Fasting” by Lynne M. Baab:• Fasting does not necessarily mean going without food. Many people cannot or should not fast in this

way, especially young children and people with health or food issues. Rather, fasting is “the voluntary denial of something for a specific time, for a spiritual purpose.” Fasting might involve giving up social media, or TV, or shopping, or a favorite food, or jewelry, or any number of things. A food fast may involve abstaining completely from food and water, or it may involve going without food but drinking water or fruit juice. In planning a fast, ask for God to guide you to the right type of fast.




April 2016

•Whatever the type of fast, fasting should always be coupled with prayer. A key purpose of fasting is to draw closer to God, to open the way for God to guide us. Many people pray during the time(s) that would otherwise be devoted to whatever they are fasting from. Even if you don’t feel led to fast, please join us in prayer for this important time in our church’s life.

Viewing the World From Different Perspectives By Lara Davis

This month we add a “five-in-one” painter’s tool to our parenting and teaching toolbox. This tool reminds us that there can be more than meets the eye when viewing children’s “misbehavior.” We can never really know for sure what the intent behind a child’s (or adult’s) actions are. We can only offer our best guess. So, why not make that positive? Consider the following:

A three year old has just pushed a classmate and knocked over his block structure while saying, “You dummy!” We could respond to the incident with, “Why did you do that? That wasn’t nice. We don’t treat our friends that way! You need to tell him you are sorry.” Or, we could pause and take a breath, reflecting on the children and the situation, reach for other tools in our toolbox and respond, “You were hoping that your friend would let you build a tower with him. You didn’t know how to tell him that, so you kicked over his building and called him a name. Your friend’s name is John. Use his name when you talk to him. Say: ‘Hey, John, can I have some blocks and build with you?’” At this point, the teacher would accompany the child and support him as he talks to John. The fact that blocks were knocked over and there was name-calling won’t change…the moment is as it is. Now, what can be done about it? It is okay to feel whatever emotions that we feel, but it is not okay to do whatever we want about them. Our goal is to assist the child in claiming personal responsibility and clarity for his actions. By assigning positive intent to the child’s reactions, we are able to lovingly teach a skill that he/she is lacking. We build security and cooperation by saying, “You wanted____.” “So you_______” builds awareness/consciousness. We define the child as a person who made a mistake by saying, “You didn’t know what to do (or say).” Now we can teach the child with “When you want _____, say (or do) ________.” We can also follow up with, “Look at you! You did it (vs ‘good job’)!” when the child complies.


Ageless Adventurers 2016 Schedule

Ageless Adventurers, formerly the Deriters, meet monthly on the third Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. unless indicated otherwise. Please join us. We love to learn and enjoy one another’s fellowship.

April 12: Dan McCoig will discuss the Presbyterian mission in Alaska at 11:00 in Loudoun Hall.April 19: Outing to Mt. Vernon. Sign up in the church office.May 17: The Natural Treasures of the Shenandoah Valley with a local naturalist.June 21: Planning meeting to schedule activities for the 2016-2017 program year. Bring your enthusiasm and ideas.



April 2016

We can look at the painter’s tool as a scraping tool or putty knife, hammer, nail-puller, roller cleaner or can opener. What we use the tool for depends on what the job requires. Will we look at the child who has just called us an inappropriate name as one who is disrespectful or intentionally pushing our buttons? Or we will see this situation as an opportunity to teach, look at that child with love, knowing that he is needing our help? The life skill “tools” that we provide the child will depend on how we answer that question.

Sermon Notes

One of the great blessings of attending First Presbyterian Church is the chance to listen to our pastors share their inner conversations with the Bible. The sermons that come out of those conversations often inspire us to refocus our own relationship with holy texts — and with the world that they describe. Sermon Notes, a new feature of the FPC Chatter, is a chance to revisit memorable sermon moments from the past month. Here’s the conclusion of Maren’s sermon “Jesus and the Rich Man,” from February 16:

“Michael Norton, who is a social science researcher, gave a TED talk on money and happiness several years ago, and he begins with a 2011 CNN article about lottery winners and their happiness. This article and many others since pointed out that winning the lottery does not always make you as happy as you think it will. In fact the majority of lottery winners end up worse off, more unhappy, than they were before they won the lottery. So Michael Norton says, “It turns out people think when they win the lottery their lives are going to be amazing. This article’s about how their lives get ruined.” What happens when people win the lottery is, number one, they spend all the money and go into debt, and number two, all of their friends and everyone they’ve ever met find them and bug them for money. And it ruins their social relationships, in fact. So they have more debt and worse friendships than they had before they won the lottery. What was interesting about the article was people started commenting on it. And instead of talking about how it had made them realize that money doesn’t lead to happiness, everyone instantly started saying, “You know what I would do if I won the lottery … ?” and fantasizing about what they’d do. And here are just two of the comments that are really interesting to think about. One person wrote in, “When I win, I’m going to buy my own little mountain and have a little house on top.” And another person wrote, “I would fill a big bathtub with money and get in the tub while smoking a big fat cigar and sipping a glass of champagne.” This is even worse now: “Then I’d have a picture taken and dozens of glossies made. Anyone begging for money or trying to extort from me would receive a copy of the picture and nothing else.” All this got Michael Norton thinking that maybe there is a correlation between money and happiness, that it is not how much money you have but what you do with it. So he and his colleagues ran a number of




April 2016

social experiments comparing the happiness levels of people who were “anti-social” in their spending and people who were “pro-social” in their spending. So you give people money and tell them either to spend the money on themselves or to spend it on other people, or you take sales teams in a workplace and give them money to spend individually or on something for the whole group. People who spent money on other people got happier. People who spent money on themselves, nothing happened. It didn’t make them less happy, it just didn’t do much for them. The sales teams that spent the money on the whole group — for example they bought a piñata that they all got to take whacks at — they vastly outsold the other sales teams. They tried the same experiment with dodgeball teams (because they thought, if the theory doesn’t work for dodgeball, then it is a stupid theory) and the pro-social dodgeball teams had more wins at the end of the season. Michael Norton is a professor at the Harvard Business School so his bent is towards how businesses and employees can function better, but I saw this talk and thought, Jesus was right all along: Lives that are living out salvation are orientated towards other people, even when it comes to our money. Jesus is very clear that we don’t earn salvation – we are saved by grace alone – we often have to remind ourselves of this – nothing you do can earn you God’s love, nothing you do can lose you God’s love. But

that is not the end of it: it is the start – God’s gift of salvation actually frees us to do something to love each other and care for the world and God’s people and live out the good news, and to be generous and give away some of our abundance, to orient our lives differently, to orient our lives towards other people. So often we hear God speak to us personally through scripture, through God’s word in the Bible, and we think “that’s nice” but nothing changes, there is always time for our lives to

look different later on. But the season of Lent reminds us that our need for change in our lives is urgent. I had this moment of realization at the end of this past week, as I was praying over the week, that time is precious and short.




April 2016

On Ash Wednesday this past Wednesday we were reminded that we are dust and we will return to dust – this life is just a breath – there is no time to waste doing things that don’t matter, to waste time doing things that bring us dis-ease rather than life with God, and love and wholeness. This week I watched my first baby sign his full name and get his first library card on the very same day I visited with a friend on the day of her passing away. This week we learned that a billion years ago two black holes collided and we are just hearing now the reverberations – and at least for me, that’s a statement on the immensity of time. We have just a moment to live out our salvation here and now, and do what matters, so let’s get to it. Amen.”

Here’s the conclusion of Dan’s Easter sermon, which is based on the last verses of the Gospel of Mark:

“Sometime in the late 2nd or early 3rd century a scribe added another ending to Mark, what is now our verses 9 through 20. The new ending provides appearances of the risen Christ to Mary and two other disciples. It adds Jesus’ commission to the disciples to proclaim his gospel but not before adding a finger-wagging lecture to the disciples by the risen Christ. You lack faith, he said. You are stubborn, he said. And, finally, it adds Jesus’ ascension into heaven. But that’s not Mark’s original ending. Where we would expect to find a resurrection account we find an empty tomb account. The story of Jesus that began with his baptism by John in the Jordan ends with an empty tomb. The disciples who come across as thoroughly human in the course of the story stay true to their characters to the bitter end. They are dutiful but uninsightful. Their fear that was on display so often in the story persists. They remain afraid. Their fear is so great it

renders them speechless. The more I read and reread our passage for the day the more I scratched my head. I was perplexed. What kind of messiah dies crucified, end of story? What kind of God dies crucified, end of story? Then it dawned on me. That’s it. That’s the point. Mark is intentionally provoking his readers to be perplexed. It worked. He certainly perplexed me. One thing that is true of Jesus throughout Mark’s gospel is that he shattered every human expectation. Another thing that is true of Jesus throughout Mark’s gospel is that he worked with and through imperfect disciples. Why wouldn’t such a messiah shatter expectations in his death as he did in his life? Why wouldn’t such a messiah continue to work with and through imperfect disciples at his death as he did in his life? Every Easter I remind myself that if I can know it, if I can understand it, if I can define then it isn’t God. Those aren’t my words. They’re 19th century Danish Christian philosopher Soren Kierkegaard’s. Perhaps Mark ended his gospel with an empty tomb because that he could know and understand and define. Any number of things could have resulted in an empty tomb. But that’s not where Mark leaves us. It’s not the arc of his gospel. Mark wants us, in faith, to conclude, that this empty tomb is the result of one thing and one thing only — a resurrection wrought by the power of God.




April 2016

Resurrection is a great word. It’s definition is quite simple. It comes from the late Latin. Surrectus means arisen. Add the prefix “re” and you get resurrectus, which means arisen again or to rise again. It implies that a person or thing was dead but is dead no longer.

Christianity is an extravagant religion. At its heart is resurrection, the conviction that the very thing that God was up to in Christ is the very thing God is up to in all creation — the very thing that God is up to in you and me. By the power of God, all dead things — not just physical bodies —are made alive again. One word that has fallen from contemporary use is quicken, that is to make alive. It appears in the Apostles’ Creed — “the quick and the dead.” Easter presents God as a quickening God, a God who makes alive. Author and speaker Anne Lamott describes herself as a broken person and a resurrection person. I think that’s true of every person. I know it’s true of me. In a recent interview, Lamott said: “All of my work in the last 28 years has been about becoming a resurrection story – slowly, painstakingly healing from the damages of childhood in a family where the parents didn’t love each other; the damage this

culture does to children who are different; how the love of God, through friends, slowly helps us be restored to the person we were born to be. Being resurrection people despite being broken people is, of course, the challenge. The customary declaration on Easter is “He is risen.” To which another replies “He is risen indeed.” How about if we changed that to “By the grace of God, I am risen.” And others can reply “By the grace of God, you are risen indeed.” Let’s try that. What is that thing in your life that is dead that God needs to quicken, to raise, to make alive? I know what mine is and you know what yours is. Easter is the day to be done with death. Easter is the day to be done with dead things. Easter is the day to quicken, to rise, to live. Amen.”

And here’s the conclusion of Charlie’s Maundy Thursday sermon entitled “The Frame and the Picture”:

Back in 1955 Salvador Dali painted a startling picture of Jesus with his disciples, unlike any painting of this event I have ever seen. Maybe you have seen this painting at the National


Deaths

Seth Rutherford, father of Gary Rutherford, on January 31, 2016

Beth Moore, daughter of Jane Cunningham and sister of Ellen and Stephen Cunningham, on February 12, 2016

Edward Owen Clarke, Jr., father of Carolyn Gartner, on February 27, 2016

Bobby Drunagel, son of Kathleen Oneal & Fred Drunagel and brother of Todd Drunagel, on February 27, 2016

Howard Schmitt, husband of Karen Schmitt, on March 16, 2016

Rev. Loren Schroeder, father of Mark Schroeder, March 29, 2016



April 2016

Gallery of Art. The face of Jesus is young and strong and full of life. It is a face serene with confidence, and bright with courage and clarity. With his left hand Jesus points to himself. With his right hand he points up to God, and with unflinching eyes he looks boldly into the future, regardless of what the future may bring. It is the picture of one whose life has a frame and one who knows what the frame is. And because he knows the frame of his life, the picture is superbly clear. “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and he was going to God…” If God were the frame of your life, if you knew where you had come from and where you were going, and if you knew that God has made you for this moment, then you too might be brimming with confidence and courage and clarity! You too might know exactly what to do. If this is the frame of Jesus’ life, what is the picture? What do you see Jesus doing while the disciples are waiting and wondering? “Jesus got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet.” That is what you do if you know where you have come from and you know where you are going, and you know that God has made you for this moment. If you have God-given clarity, you reach out to people around you in simple acts of compassion and love and service. This is the invincible life, empowered by God, and no worldly terror can snuff it out; not even the terror of tomorrow’s cross. Even so, the disciples lack that understanding. The surrounding terror seems overpowering, and a life of compassion and love and service seems hopelessly fragile by comparison. That is why Jesus broke the bread and poured out the wine and said: “Do this, remembering me.” Even people who are scared and confused know that life is not possible without food and drink. But the ancient mystery of this Table is that people, who eat this bread and drink this wine, remembering Jesus, are empowered to see his face again and know that his confidence and his courage and clarity are Christ’s gift to each of us, by faith. Tonight, Jesus Christ invites you, his disciples, to the Table, saying: “Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.” If you are scared or confused by the uncertainties that surround you, you are in good company with those disciples who ate bread and drank wine with Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed. But we are not alone here. The host at this Table knows where he came from, and he knows where he is going, and he knows that God has made him for a purpose. His life has a frame and he now gives that life to you, with his confidence and his courage and clarity. It is the invincible love of God that no terrorism can overcome. Now our life, too, has a frame. Christ has shown us what to do and the Holy Spirit gives us the power to do it. Tonight, Christ calls us to remember him and to celebrate his new commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.”


The FPC Chatter is published at the beginning of each month. Articles and information may be submitted to [email protected] or [email protected].






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April 2016 Chatter - fpcwinc.orgfpcwinc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/April-2016-Chatter.pdfApr 01, 2013 · April 2016 Rending the Note On Sunday, April 3, all four services included