SPECIAL POINTS OF

INTEREST:

Mar. 6 & 20 - Kid’s

Night Out

Mar. 6- Ash

Wednesday

Mar. 13,20,27 -

Lenten Soup Suppers

V OLUME 9 , ISSUE 3

MARCH 2019 Memos from Memorial

MEMORIAL UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Children/Youth News

The Spoken Word 2

Around the Church 3

Missions 4

What’s Going On 5

Volunteers - Birthdays 6

Appreciations/

Information 7

Calendar 8

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Kevin’s Korner

At the February Session meeting, your session approved a motion to begin open conversations about the possibility of merging with Westminster Presbyterian. I know this is not the first time these conversations have been had. I know there may still be some raw feelings about how the process went the last time this was considered. But I also have come to know of the deep affection many of you have expressed for our cross-town sisters and brothers. The warm way many of your session members talked about them and the true

sense that God is leading us into these discussions was very present in our meeting.

What all this means is simply that we are interested in talking about and sharing our thoughts with each other and with members of Westminster about this. Our Lenten Wednesdays, that we are conducting with Westminster, will be the perfect opportunity to have those conversations. Each Wednesday evening, beginning at 5:30, we’ll gather for a simple soup supper, a service project and a quiet time of prayer and song. Sitting at table together, working on a service project together and gathering for prayer and worship together will be the perfect opportunity to have those conversations and I invite all of you to

come and be a part this.

Bear in mind the folks from Westminster are still in a season of discernment. They are considering several options for their future and merging with us is only one of those options. So our conversations are not meant to convince them this is the right thing for them to do. They have to discern that on their own just as we have to discern for ourselves what future God has in mind for us. Think of this as a “dating” time. We’re not necessarily getting married. We’re not even getting engaged. We’re just testing the waters to see if this seems

like a God-inspired thing.

With the session’s action we have already changed course for this congregation. I was contracted to help prepare this congregation search for and call your next installed pastor. My work has now changed. We have halted work on the interim process of preparing you to elect a Pastor Nominating Committee and search for a new pastor. Should a merge happen, that work would need to be done with the newly formed congregation. I have indicated to the

session that I am willing to work with you through this process for as long as it takes.

This is an exciting time as any time of change is. It is also an anxious time as any time of change is. There are a lot of unknowns out there and a lot of great questions to be asked, but I am confident God is in our midst, guiding us and encouraging us to seek new ways of being the gathered community of the faithful here in Xenia Ohio. My prayer is that you will openly and honestly and prayerfully enter this season of discernment and truly seek the path

of God.

I’ll see you in church and as the church in the world.

Peace,

Kevin

V OLUME 9 , ISSUE 3 P AGE 2

Our Annual “Breakfast Challenge” began Sunday, February 3. The Children’s Christian Education Class and the Youth are competing against the Adult Christian Ed classes to see which class will be able to collect the most breakfast items and personal care items for the FISH pantry. This is always a friendly competition and goes to such a great organization. During the winter months, many families visit the FISH pantry and our donations go a long way to help them. We are collecting peanut butter, cereal, granola bars, pop tarts, fruit chews, tooth paste, tooth brushes, bars of bath soap, toilet tissue, shampoo and deodorant. We will continue collecting items thru the week of March 3. There will be large boxes to put your donations by the FISH boat in the Narthex and outside my office for each class. We invite everyone in the congregation to help collect the items and put them in the team’s box that you are supporting. The teams or classes are Exodus, Wired Word, Covenant, and CHILDREN. As a reminder, please be sure that the items are new and in date. Thank you so much for always supporting the children and youth.

Kid’s Night Out for the month of March will be on Wednesday the 6th and 20th from 5:30-7. Please bring your children for Faith, Friends, and Fun.

Mark your calendars for our next movie night which is Friday, April 5 at 6 in the fellowship hall. Everyone is invited for a relaxing evening. It was suggested after our last movie that some of our families would like to see the original version of a current movie that is in theaters now. We have a copy and are excited to watch this classic movie. Not only will you be seeing a fun movie and spending time with our church friends, there also will be popcorn and candy to enjoy.

Easter this year is on Sunday, April 21 and we are looking forward to sharing this holiday with your families. Don’t forget to bring your children and grandchildren to our annual Easter egg hunt on the front lawn!

Blessings,

The Children and Youth

News for the Younger Set

March 3 Transfiguration Sunday Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper Psalm 99, Luke 9:28-36 “Now This is Something Different”

March 10 First Sunday in Lent Psalm 91, Luke 4:1-13 “Temptation”

The Spoken Word

March 17 Second Sunday in Lent Psalm 27, Luke 13:31-35 “Too Much Scurrying”

March 24 Third Sunday in Lent Psalm 63:1-8 Luke 13:1-9 “Wake Up! Time’s a Wastin’”

March 31 Fourth Sunday in Lent Isaiah 43:16-21, John 12:1-8 “Perfume of Love

V OLUME 9 , ISSUE 3 P AGE 3

Around the Church

: In case of snow emergencies with travel prohibited, services

will be cancelled. Turn to Channels 2, 7, 22, 26, or 45, check Memorial’s Facebook page, or check your email for information on cancellations of activities or services. If Xenia Community Schools are closed due to ice/snow, call the office before coming in to make sure that the church is open. Kids Night Out will not meet if school is cancelled. Please stay home if you feel the conditions are hazardous, even if activities or services are not cancelled! We want everyone to stay safe and healthy this winter!

Now Showing: A Musical Classic For All Ages

Friday, April 5 at 6:00p.m.

Popcorn and Snacks Provided!

A Birthday Reception

The Wired Word Sunday School Class invites you to a 100th

Birthday Party for John Bloom. Please join us on Saturday,

March 30th from 1:00-4:00p.m. in the church fellowship hall

to celebrate John’s birthday with friends and family. No

presents please, but cards and well wishes are welcome.

Pass this invitation along if you know a friend of John’s who

should come, too!

Experience Lent

Lenten Soup Suppers: Beginning Ash Wednesday, March 6th and continuing every Wednesday in Lent we will gather in our Fellowship Hall for soup supper, service, supplication, and song. We will be joined by our Presbyterian cousins across town from Westminster Presbyterian. If you’d like, you can also sign-up to bring a pot of your favorite soup to share. Our evening begins at 5:30 with supper followed by a small hands-on service project and rounded out with a quiet devotional time of scripture, song and prayer. We should wrap-up each evening around 7:00. Please plan to make these evenings a part of your Lenten devotion as we prepare ourselves for Holy Week and Easter.

MEMOS FROM MEMORIAL P AGE 4

Mission Opportunities

FISH FOOD PANTRY

Sunday, March 24 is collection day for the FISH Pantry. Please check to make sure that

the food isn’t expired! Monetary donations are always appreciated as well. Please place

your food donations in the FISH boat in the Narthex. Specially marked envelopes are

available in the pews and can be dropped in the offering plates.

Our first Lenten Service Project will be collecting and packing bags for X-Out Hunger here in Xenia. This program provides food for the 60% of Xenia’s elementary school students who receive free or reduced price meals at school, but have little to no food at home during the weekends. Students and their siblings who are identified by school personnel for being at risk are eligible to receive a bag of food to meet their needs over the weekends.

The food items needed are:

Pop top microwaveable Chef Boyardee (single serving) Non-refrigerated pudding (3.5oz)

Pop top tuna (3oz) Dinty Moore Beef Stew (7.5oz) Pop top chicken (4.5oz)

Individual oatmeal (box of 8-10 servings) 10 pack fruit juice (6.75oz)

Squeezable jam/jelly (20oz) Pop top canned fruit (8-9oz)

Pop top canned vegetables (8.5oz) Goldfish and Animal Crackers (box of 8-10 single servings)

Cereal bars and Granola bars (box of 8-10 single servings)

Cheesy Mac (2-3oz singe serving) Peanut butter (18oz)

(Backpack food items are designated by a grant, which this program was created to supplement, so these are the only items which may be included. Any brand of item is fine.)

You can also donate money and we’ll do the shopping for you!

The Mission Team will have a sign-up sheet out in the vestibule so that we can collect the whole variety of foods to pack approximately 20 bags for these children in need. We will be doing this project at the Lenten Soup Supper on March 13 with Westminster Church.

Our Mission Team has chosen two more programs to support through our hands-on service projects. These programs are run by the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance of the PC(USA).

On March 27, we will be packing hygiene kits which can then be distributed world-wide to people impacted by natural or human-made disasters. These kits include: a hand towel (app. 16”x 28”), washcloth, comb, nail clipper, soap bar (bath size in wrapper), toothbrush (in original packaging) and Band-Aids.

On April 10, our final project will be to pack school kits. Our children and youth will provide the cloth bags and we will fill them with: blunt scissors (round tip), 3 70-count spiral or other note-books (total 200-210 pages/no loose-leaf paper), 30cm ruler, hand-held pencil sharpener, new pencils with erasers, a large eraser, and a box of 24 crayons.

Sign-up sheets for these projects will be available closer to the dates listed. If you would like more information on any of these programs, brochures are available on the Welcome Center or in the church office.

MEMOS FROM MEMORIAL P AGE 5

What’s Going On

Session Update, January 2018

This is a column to bring you information from the latest session meeting we think you would be interested in

learning. If you want additional information on the topic(s) we present, please contact Mary in the office and

she will attempt to find the information or person you need to contact.

Session approved/accepted/discussed the following:

We voted to open discussion and explore possible merger with Xenia Westminster Presbyterian Church. Our transition team will segue into a team helping lead the way with Pastor Murphy and Westminster. So…. we will no longer be interim mode for the time being, but in possible merger mode. God is good and will find ways for us to grow in love and service.

Pastor Kevin will give us training moments as elders during future meetings to guide us to be better leaders in our respective responsibilities.

the treasurer’s report was accepted, and it was noted the January financial statement reflects a lower than anticipated January contribution because of the two Sundays that the Church was closed due to hazardous weather conditions.

We accepted a proposal from the Worship and Music Team to purchase new hymnals for the congregation and are sending it back to them to come up with ideas for financing the hymnals.

We sent a proposal to the Presbytery for them to establish a Love Thy Neighbor/Good Samaritan fund to which all church members in the Presbytery can contribute voluntarily to help with maintenance costs as they try to maintain solvency.

We have been reviewing our membership roles and voted to delete or send letters to those on the roles who no longer attend or contribute to the church in any measure.

Memorial Ladies Lunch

A group of ladies in our church who are single are getting together to eat out once a month. This month we will be

gathering on March 18, to eat at Clifton Mill. We will meet at noon at the

restaurant. Call Linda Howey at 376-9686 if you are interested in joining us

or car-pooling.

BAGS 4 BEDS - Time to get out the scissors and crochet hooks for a new year of making sleeping mats for the homeless. Anyone interested in learning how to make the mats is invited to join the dedicated ladies who have been doing this since the project began in 2011.

We'll meet this month on 3/12 and 3/26 from 9:30 to 2:00. Bring a sack lunch and bever-age if you are staying over the lunch hour. The more, the merrier! For more info, contact Elaine Anderson at 372-7139 or Ruby Rector at 372-6771.

V OLUME 9 , ISSUE 3 P AGE 6

Morning Fellowship Coffee Schedule March 3 - Stewardship Team March 10 - Deacons March 17 - Deacons March 24 - Deacons March 31 - *5th Sunday Carry In April 7 - Women’s Association

If I have missed anyone’s

birthday, please let me know in

the office. Mary

Remember in Prayer: Barbara Meade, Ann Edwards, Mary Jo Black, Carolyn and John Sparks, Joan Anderson, Ben White, Julie Martin, our shut-ins, and military personnel and their families who wait for them to come home.

Lay Readers Children's Time Ushers

Birthdays/Volunteers

3/3 Kevin Jacobs Jerry Randall Elaine Anderson

3/10 Barbara Meade Mary Ann Van Horn Bob Carlson

3/17 Terry Reiff Kevin Jacobs Jeanette MacMillan

3/24 Carolyn Randall Tracey Haines John MacMillan

3/31 June Gorham Carolyn Randall

Pastoral Needs Information

If you are hospitalized, want to receive a

pastoral visit, or know of someone who does,

please call the church office at 376-9461. If it

is after office hours, you may contact Elder

Kathleen Strickland 287-1451 or Deacon

Robin Fife-Riley 510-1865 and Pastor

Murphy can be reached at (859)391-7867.

Please contact the church office (376-9461 or

mquinn@xeniamemorial.org) to add a prayer or praise to the

list in the bulletin. If you prefer your need to remain private,

you may request that details not be included.

March Birthdays

Mary Boggs 2-Mar

Eric Van Horn 2-Mar

Kevin Murphy 3-Mar

John Bloom 5-Mar

Maryssa Smith

Misamore

5-Mar

Morgan Detty 6-Mar

Nicholas Bradley 8-Mar

Shayna Caraway 9-Mar

Keegan Noble 11-Mar

Harry Davies 14-Mar

Madeline Davis 15-Mar

Carol Ondercin 15-Mar

Bonnie Berry 18-Mar

Betty Van Horn 19-Mar

Luke Prindle 20-Mar

Jacqueline MacIntyre 21-Mar

Dana Caraway 22-Mar

Larry Ellsberry 25-Mar

Tony McIlvaine 26-Mar

Mary Beam 27-Mar

Gail DeWall 27-Mar

343 West Ankeney Mill Road, Xenia, OH 45385

Church Office – 376-9461

Memorial United Presbyterian Church

Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 9:00 am-2:00 pm

E-mail: xmpc@xeniamemorial.org

Website: www.xeniamemorial.org

Memorial United Presbyterian Church

Rev. Kevin Murphy

Interim Pastor kmurphy@xeniamemorial.org

Nancy Beam, Director of Youth & Children’s Ministries nbeam@xeniamemorial.org

Michael Weller, Music Director

Jill-Ann Bryant, Organist

Dixie Szalejko, Memorial Preschool Director

Mary Quinn, Secretary mquinn@xeniamemorial.org

We’re on the Web:

xeniamemorial.org

Appreciations

Thank you for your generous donation of $100 to our Holiday Appeal Campaign. Faithful friends like you enable us to accomplish our mission of reducing family, relationship, and sexual violence and their impact on our community. Debbie Matheson, Family Violence Prevention Center

*****

Thanks so much for your generous $150 contribution to the ministries of the Mobile Health Fair. Raafat Zaki, Synod of the Covenant

*****

On behalf of the Xenia Area FISH Food Pantry, thank you for your generous monetary support of $277. We served 1320 adults and 750 children in October and the number of people in need continues to grow. Gail Matson, Xenia Area FISH Food Pantry

*****

Church Family, Thank you all for the prayers, cards, food, and outpouring of love to my family during both my surgery and the heartache and unexpected loss of our nephew, Marc. We have felt and been comforted by each and every prayer! Thank you for sharing God’s love in such a powerful way to so many. Love, Kevin and Sandi Jacobs

*****

We would like to thank you for opening your hearts and church to our family. We especially want to thank Pastor Kevin and Jill-Ann Bryant for a beautiful service. Sincerely, The Family of Marcus James Ankeney

*****

Thank you so much for your continued generous support of the ministry of Kirkmont!

*****

*all thank you notes are posted on the bulletin board outside the office

Prayer Circle: If you are in need of prayer,

you can contact the office Monday-Friday

from 9-2 or call Kathleen Strickland (287-

1451), Robin Fife Riley (510-1865)

Bulletin information must be received in the office by Wednesdays at 9:00 a.m. to guarantee inclusion in the next week’s bulletin. Newsletter information and articles must be received in the office by the 22nd of each month to guarantee inclusion in the next Memos from Memorial. Committees and Teams, please let the office know of any meeting schedule changes.

Interim Pastor Contact Information:

kmurphy@xeniamemorial.org

Office Hours: Monday - Wednesday , 10 - 5

After Hours: please leave a message on office phone

extension and Pastor Murphy will return your call

as soon as possible

M ARCH 2019 (NON -CHURCH EVENTS IN GREEN )

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

March 1 World Day of

Prayer

2

3 9:15 AM Christian Ed

Classes - East Wing &

Parlor

10:30 AM Worship with

Communion - Sanctuary

11:45 AM Fellowship -

Narthex

4 9:00 AM Preschool

East Wing

10:30 AM Bible

Study - Library

5 9:00 AM Preschool

East Wing

6 Ash Wednesday

9:00 AM Preschool

East Wing

5:30 PM Kid's Night

Out - Art Room

5:30PM Lenten

Supper - Fellowship

Hall

7 9:00 AM Preschool

East Wing

2:00 PM Women’s

Club - Parlor

6:30 PM Bell Choir

Parlor

7:30 PM Chancel Choir

Choir Room

8 9

10 9:15 AM Christian Ed

Classes - East Wing &

Parlor

10:30 AM Worship

Sanctuary

11:45 AM Fellowship

Narthex

11 9:00 AM Preschool

East Wing

10:30 AM Bible

Study - Library

1:30 PM Ruth Circle

12 7:30 AM Men's

Fellowship Breakfast

Xenia Frisch's

9:00 AM Preschool

East Wing

9:30 AM Bags 4 Beds

Fellowship Hall

4:00 PM Stewardship

Team - Library

5:00 PM Worship and

Music Team

Computer Rm

6:30 PM Mission

Team - Computer Rm

6:30 PM Spiritual

Growth Team - Rm 1

13 9:00 AM Preschool

East Wing

5:30PM Lenten

Supper - Fellowship

Hall

14 9:00 AM Preschool

East Wing

6:30 PM Bell Choir

Parlor

7:30 PM Chancel Choir

Choir Room

15 16

17 9:15 AM Christian Ed

Classes - East Wing &

Parlor

10:30 AM Worship

Sanctuary

11:45 AM Fellowship

Narthex

18 9:00 AM Preschool

East Wing

10:30 AM Bible

Study - Library

12:00 PM Memorial

Ladies Lunch -

Clifton Mill

19 9:00 AM Preschool

East Wing

20 Spring! 9:00 AM Preschool

East Wing, FH

5:30 PM Kid's Night

Out - Art Room

5:30PM Lenten

Supper - Fellowship

Hall

21 9:00 AM Preschool

East Wing, FH

6:30 PM Bell Choir

Parlor

7:30 PM Chancel Choir

Choir Room

22 Deadline for

Memos

23

24 FISH Food Pantry

Collection Day

9:15 AM Christian Ed

Classes - East Wing &

Parlor

10:30 AM Worship

Sanctuary

11:45 AM Fellowship

Narthex

25 10:30 AM Bible

Study - Library

26 9:30 AM Bags 4 Beds

Fellowship Hall

6:00 PM Deacon

Meeting - Room 1

7:00 PM Session

Library

7:00 PM Trustee

Meeting - Computer

Room

27

5:30PM Lenten

Supper - Fellowship

Hall

28 6:30 PM Bell Choir

Parlor

7:30 PM Chancel Choir

Choir Room

29 30

1:00PM John Bloom Birthday Reception Fellowship Hall

31 9:15 AM Christian Ed

Classes - East Wing &

Parlor

10:30 AM Worship

Sanctuary

11:45 AM 5th Sunday

Carry In - Fellowship Hall