MARCH 2015

ROME PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHP O BOX 189939 MAIN STREETROME, PA 18837

“FAITH IS NOT BELIEVING THAT GOD CAN, BUT THAT GOD WILL.”--Abraham Lincoln—

On Ash Wednesday, 11 people gathered to worship from RPC, North Orwell, and RUMC. A small crowd, we suspect due to the cold.

Pastor Jackie and I led the worship geared to prepare us for practicing a Holy Lent. I chose Isaiah 58:1-12 as the Scripture focus although we read Psalm 51 as well. I confess I picked Isaiah because the words in Joel were too harsh. But I think what God had to say through the prophet Isaiah is worth paying attention to, not just for Lent, but for this season in our nation and world.

So I decided that for this month’s newsletter I would simply submit to you the message I spoke on Ash Wednesday. You may want to read Isaiah 58:1-12 before you read the meditation. I bid you a Holy Lent. ~ Pastor Karen

“Are You Serious?”

Lent, this season of the year that is not widely anticipated or practiced. I mean who can get really excited about a season that starts with wiping burnt palm ash on one’s forehead? What are we after here? What are we hoping to accomplish? What is it we are preparing for? And why must it begin with ashes?

Let’s think about ashes for a moment. What are they? They are what is left when all the good stuff is gone. Ashtrays were used to collect the end of the cigarette when all the good tobacco had been inhaled out of it. Ashes are what you sweep out of your fireplace when all the good wood has been burned up and served its purpose. Ashes are what is left when a home is tragically claimed by a fire. Ashes are what remain when a loved one is cremated. Ashes are a symbol of a definite end to something that was once useful.

Why are they used as a symbol to mark our foreheads on a day beginning the season of Lent? I googled the question and found this answer on catholicculture.org:

"Remember, man, you are dust, and unto dust you shall return" are the words we hear as the sign of the cross is made on our foreheads. This is a vivid reminder of our mortal nature. We are bodies fashioned from dust. "Then the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being" (Gen 2:7). Our

bodies were made from nothing, and will return to nothing when we die. Ashes are a symbol of this passing world, a reminder of our death.

The imposition of ashes is also a symbol of penance and sorrow for our sins. The practice of sprinkling ashes on one's head as a sign of penance was customary in the Old Testament—in the Book of Esther, Mordecai put on sackcloth and ashes (Est 4:1); Job sat in sackcloth and ashes to repent (Job 42:6); all of Ninevah put on sackcloth and ashes to repent after Jonah's preaching (Jon 3:5-6). In early Christian centuries the imposition of ashes was only used for public sinners, but around the year 1000 A.D. the church started to receive the ashes as a sincere and external token that we are all poor sinners.

Ashes remind us of the curse from Genesis. After Adam and Eve committed the Original Sin, God expelled them from the Garden of Eden with these words:

Cursed be the ground because of you; in toil shall you eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you, and you shall eat the plants in the field. In the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, since out of it you were taken; for dust you are and unto dust you shall return (Gen 3:17-19).

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=1020

Ashes are the symbol we adopt during Lent to say that we are taking God seriously and that we are taking our sin seriously. Did you catch what God was saying to Israel in the reading of Isaiah 58? God is confronting his people on their sincerity as they practice a season of penitence. He calls them on the carpet and says, “Are you serious?!” He calls them fakes, frauds, liars, posers. He tells them that they are deceiving themselves by going through the motions with no real intent to change, to repent, to live differently than they already are.

The scary thing is, that God might be able to call us, the church today, on the same things. He might want to ask us if we are serious about what we are doing or if we are simply repeating the religious exercises we’ve known since our childhood. He might want to know if when we pray the prayers and sing the hymns and take the Lord’s Supper and witness a baptism if we are really serious about what we are participating in or merely comfortable with the motions of it.

Lent is that season when we’ve been told we have to give things up. I hear people giving up chocolate, or sweets, or doing dishes – whatever. My question for them is: “How is that going to make you more holy?” How is abstaining from those things going to draw you closer to God? Sometimes there are really good answers, most often the answer reveals that it’s just a token. And I hear God ask, “Are you serious?!”

This season of Lent is an opportunity to spend 40 days ramping up our true devotion to God. It is a time set apart by the church to put disciplines into shape that will help us live in a right relationship with God throughout the rest of our lives. In a moment we will receive the invitation to observe a Holy Lent and receive the ashes reminding us of our end and beginning. So I’d like to pose just one question for you to ponder as you come to receive the ashes: “Are you serious?” Will you repent of the real sins that separate you from God? Will you lay down the things you feel you have a right to even if you know that they are not pleasing to God? Will you invest yourselves anew in the worship you are weekly involved in? Will you be serious?

Triad Meeting Summary

Elders, Deacons and Trustees met on February 12, 2015, in the Rome Presbyterian Church sanctuary at 6:30m. Elder Ed O’Connor opened with prayer. Pastor Karen introduced John Bard who is an elder at White Clay Creek Presbyterian Church in Newark, DE. John serves as our liaison on the Ministry and Assimilation Team (MAT) for ECO Presbytery of the Northeast. The purpose of MAT is to support ministers as they transition into ECO and also support them as they are called to congregations. Pastor Karen also serves as MAT liaison to Stevensville and Hallstead. The goal as MAT liaison is to build relationships between churches, which is important for what we’re doing in ECO. John briefly described the legal actions that White Clay Creek went through to be dismissed from their presbytery. Although it was a very difficult and costly process for them, the White Clay Creek congregation remained united and resolute and was finally dismissed to become an ECO church.

Led by Pastor Karen, Triad members then joined in the singing of “Build Your Kingdom Here”. Pastor read from Roman 12:1-8 and focused her message on …how do we “be” the Church of Christ? …We work to build a Kingdom culture by the way we live it out, day to day, person by person…

Deacons and Trustees convened their own meeting, while Elders continued by discussing the following:

Approved January 11th Session minutes, and January 25 Annual Congregational Meeting minutes Received the Clerk’s, Treasurer’s and Trustees’ reports Our Mission Affinity Group (Halstead, Stevensville, Endicott and Rome) will have a Spring

Gathering at Endicott. The Sylvania Presbyterian Church was dismissed to ECO on January 31, 2015, and perhaps they may also join us.

As Moderator Elect, Pastor Karen will be setting up the meeting time and place for the ECO Presbytery of the Northeast meeting

5 Shut-ins - Reuben Brimmer, Marion Jones, Ethel Parks, Charlotte Sandor, and Virginia Willson – please keep them in your prayers and perhaps send cards.

We now have 92 Covenant Partners on our rolls Have received the DVD of the digitization of RPC minutes and registers (2462 pages) from the

Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia. A very special THANK YOU goes out to Betty and Raymond Allis for financing this project in full.

Voted to take part in the Elder Leadership Institute (ELI). ELI is a church leadership-training program in the Reformed tradition. It develops and supports spiritual leadership for the church by training ruling elders (Session members) together with their teaching elder (pastor) over an18-month training period

The January 30th Friday Fellowship dinner was attended by approx. 60 people – donations will be sent to the Endless Mountains Pregnancy Care Center – this Bible study group will continue to hand out flyers for dinners as well as flyers to encourage women to come to MOMs. The MOM’s group continues to meet in the Christian Ed Building twice a month.

Men’s fellowship breakfast will happen on March 14th

CHOW for Children ministry continues to serve 21 Head Start families – have recently applied for grant through Chesapeake Oil and Gas for additional funding

Sunday School classes continue to meet Sunday mornings (Pre-school through 6th, Adult Forum, and Jr/Sr High)

XFA is currently doing a study in Psalms Peggy Hughes will attend the Safe Sanctuary Program training at the Ulster Fire Hall (a

mandated program)

Communion report: February 1 – 66 people were served Pastor Karen continues with Coaching Training. She is also led a Women’s Retreat (Feb. 20-21) in

Honesdale with 45 women attending. Next Session Meeting: March 17th @ home of Sandy Morris @ 6:30pm

Respectfully submitted,

Sylvia Abrams

Clerk of Session

Palm Sunday

3:30 p.m. Cantata at TBA

Maundy Thursday

7:00 p.m. service at North Orwell Community Church

Good Friday

12:00 Cross Walk beginning at RUMC and ending at RPC

Easter Sunday

Early morning Sunrise Service at Sarah Tyrell’s

EASTER FLOWER ORDERS

If you would like to purchase flowers to help decorate our church for Easter Sunday, please fill out the order form below and return it along with your correct money or check. Please leave your order and money in my mailbox or the offering plate. THE DEADLINE FOR ORDERING IS April 22 nd . Your flowers can be picked up following Easter Sunday service.

Peggy C

Plant Quantity Cost Total

6” Lily ___________ $9.00 each __________

6” Tulip ___________ $8.00 each __________

6”Hyacinths ___________ $8.00 each __________

Name: ________________________________________________________________________

In Honor of: __________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

In Memory of: __________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Kaitlyn Bill Perkins Kathy AyresChris CowlesCharlie LaBarre Katie Shelba Flue victims

KevinBill & Sylvia Maryott Cliff & Linda Robinson Bill ShippKianti Reuben Brimmer David Rice Cathy AyresDick Anne Raymond & Betty Allis Kathryn

Leigh SicklerBev Daryl Diane Place Those persecuted by IsisPam Beebe Walter for knee replacement BrodyHarry Williams family Mike Bra

Dear Church Family,

Thank you all for the beautiful flowers and the delicious luncheon that you prepared for us all. You were all very kind!

Love,Reuben, George & Jean Brimmer

The next fellowship dinner will be held on March 27, 2015

3/8 Geri Romanik 3/9 John Lewis 3/21 Alec Morris3/7 Melanie Shumway 3/16 Diana Strope Aaron Pifer

Lola Kunkle 3/19 Kelsie Cowles 3/24 Mary Cole 3/31 Casey

Crawford

3/22 Tom & Karin LeFever