Pastor’s Notes
This coming Sunday we will celebrate the birthday of the Church. Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Easter or the seventh Sunday,
is remembered as the day the One who was promised by Jesus came into/upon the disciples who were gathered in the Upper Room. On that same day Peter, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, preached his first powerful evangelistic sermon to those who were gathered in Jerusalem for the Festival of the Weeks, fifty days after the Passover.This Sunday we will receive 5 confirmation students as new members in our congregation. As we studied over the last 35 weeks all of us in the class thought about God the Father, Jesus His Son, the Holy Spirit, God’s Word for us in scripture, and the Church. Together we talked about our own explanations of these and why we believe as we do. We all wrote down what is what we believed and why and throughout the process we learned that we had questions. Some of the questions we had no answers for and some we worked on together. We discovered that we are all still learning. God isn’t done teaching us yet.
So, I guess that means that we still have much we can learn about God and what he is doing in our lives. This month at our session meeting I put this question before the elders, “What is God up to in our community? What does our community need us to be?”
I believe we need to be reminded that the God we worship isn’t dead. He is very much alive and active all around us. God isn’t waiting for us to begin his mission. He is still out there, in front and behind us, preparing the fields. God has a mission and he has a church for his mission as Rev Lyle Meester reminded us at the Presbytery meeting held here May 19th.
There is much to be done and the numbers of workers available don’t seem to be enough to accomplish what God would have done. That sounds like what Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Things haven’t seemed to change much have they?
Last Sunday’s lesson from the gospel of John reminded all of us that Jesus is praying for us as we are sent out into the world to be his hands and feet. God has something for all of us to do. It may not be what we imagine but it is part of God’s plan for the world. We are all called to be ministers. I pray that you will answer his call in whatever it is he calls you to do.
God started his church with just a few disciples in Jerusalem and that same day 3,000 more were added to their rolls after Peter’s Message. Just look at the Church today. We worship a God who empowers his people to accomplish wonderful and amazing tasks that are beyond everyone’s imagination.
May you be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit as you walk this road God has placed before you. Tell everyone you meet what God has done in your life and what he can do in theirs.
God’s grace, peace, love, and joy be with you all,
Pastor David
In Memoriam
Dr. Lauren Weir
October 14, 1917-May 19, 2009
Thank-You
- Chuck Ploen for putting new light in round stained glass window
- Leo Rechtenbach and Chuck Ploen for cleaning our gutters (and Pastor for cleaning up all the water in the basement
- Gloria Myers for speaking at the Presbytery meeting about the history of our church
- Leo Rechtenbach and Bobbie McDermott for painting the door to the office and scraping the windows and painting them, also for getting the new restroom sign
- The Choir for singing at the Presbytery meeting
- To everyone for their generous donations of food for the numerous funerals we’ve had
- For helping and providing cakes for Peace Haven birthday/bingo (for P.W.)
- To everyone that provided cookies for the Presbytery Meeting
- Big, Big Thank-you to Jim McDermott for filling in for Pastor David when he was sick.
CONGRATULATIONS
- Collin Shutters, kindergarten good citizen of the month
- Tori Sievers, second grade good citizen of the month
- Jessica Ploen named to the Dean’s List at Creighton University and was inducted into Alpha Gamma Delta (an honor society)
DON’T WAIT FOR SIX STRONG MEN TO TAKE YOU TO CHURCH!
July Ushers and Communion Servers
Ushers: Jack & Judy Ploen, Gloria Myers & Barb Eslick Communion Servers:Valerie Sievers-chm, Brittni Johnk, Mary Ellen Woltmann, Jack Ploen. June ushers and communion servers are at bottom of calendar.
Did You Know?
Did you know that Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson were Elders in the First Presbyterian Church in
Dodge City, Kansas? Presbyterians have always been known to be “straight shooters”!
Sunday School
May 10th the Sunday School sang for the congregation. What a nice addition to our
Mother’s Day service.
Confirmation Class
The confirmation class of Hunter Nielsen, Michael Mertz, Alyssa Becerra, Emily
Mitchell and Chris Guthrie did a great job of leading the service on May 10th.
Hunter Nielsen giving the Children’s Sermon.
Chris Guthrie and Alyssa Becerra putting on a skit for Church
Emily Mitchell leading the service May 10th.
Flowers for Pulpit
June 7 -------Barb Eslick
June 14------Bible School program at Peace Church
June 21------Antique Walk
June 28------Robin Tooley
Upcoming Events
Bible School---Peace UCC/First Presbyterian Vacation Bible School will be June 8-12 from 9:00 AM-11:00 AM at Peace United Church of Christ. The theme is “Kingdom of the Son” the Lord’s Prayer safari. The program will be held on Sunday June 14th during worship at Peace Church at 9:30 AM. We will not be having worship at our church that Sunday so we can attend.
Items needed for Bible School: Medium sized round canisters w/lid ex: small coffee can
Empty plastic frosting cans
Empty rectangular plastic disposable baby wipe boxes
Small puzzle pieces
Metal frozen juice can lids
Empty shoe boxes with lids
Small baby food jars w/lids
Empty ½ gallon milk or juice CARDBOARD cartons
Plastic jar lids w/ribbed edge (instant coffee, peanut butter)
Spring type wooden clothes pins
Empty toilet paper tubes
Spray paint: gray, gold, clear acrylic, brown, orange, yellow
Wiggle eyes: 20mm & 7mm
Presbytery Women—Saturday, June 6 at Neola Presbyterian Church – Annual Brunch - Presentation by Penny Christensen (Penny is the artist wife of bronze artist, Russell Christensen, sculptor Pottawattamie County Eagles of Honor project. Open to all women of our church; if you would like to go let Charlotte know by noon, Wednesday, June 3. Meet at the church Saturday morning 8:30 a. m. to car pool to Neola.
Antique Walk—The Food Stand work schedule is included in this Gleaner (for all you people involved). If you can’t work your time please check the schedule and call someone to trade with.
Session Minutes
May 12, 2009
The session of Walnut First Presbyterian church met in regular session on May 12, 2009 in the south Sunday School annex.
Those in attendance were Darlene Stuart, Leo Rechtenbach, Linda Ploen, Jim McDermott, Dennis Jensen and Bonnie Holtz. Absent were Gloria Myers, Val Sievers, Bobbie McDermott, and Robin Tooley.
Moderator David Krueger opened the meeting with prayer and scripture from James 2:14-17. For reflection he read the day’s devotion from “These Days”.
The minutes of the April 14th meeting were read and approved.
The treasure’s report was approved as read. It was moved and 2nd to reinvest $80,000 from a CD coming due, with the remainder being placed in the general account. Motion carried.
Pastor David presented his report. There were 256 miles traveled and 16 were served communion. A thank-you was read from Wee Kirk for our donation.
There was no Clerk’s report, no deaths, new members, or membership transfers.
Stewardship and Mission
Linda Ploen reported that there are 8 girls and 5 adults planning to go on the mission trip to Shell, Wyoming. Jim also reported on the boys’ trip to Canada.
May 19th, our church will be hosting the Presbytery meeting. It will be from 5:00-8:20. They ladies will serve cookies and drinks, Gloria Myers will give a brief history of our church, and David will be helping to serve communion. It was voted to have Jim serve as our voting elder.
Christian Education
Bible School will be June 8-12 from 9-11 a.m. at the Peace Church. The program will be June 14th at Peace Church. Confirmation Sunday will be May 31st. We need to visit with the confirmation class before then. Great Plains Presbyterian Pilgrimage #6 will be October 15-18,2009. Joyce Serenil is the rector.
Worship
The confirmation class did a great job with the May 19th church service! There will be no church service at our church on June 14th because of the Bible School program, and no church on June 21st due to the Antique Walk.
Finance and Property
We need to find someone to replace Betty Sunderman to make up the work list for the Antique walk. Jim will work on this. We also need to talk to Mary Ellen Woltmann about heading up the food stand for the Walk. We will work on spring cleaning as needed. Leo will speak with Bruce Rosenboum about painting all the wood trim on the church. Leo and Bobbie painted the trim around the south door entrance. Linda Kureger has planted the flowers around the church and Chuck Ploen fixed the lights in the stained glass window on the front of the church. We also need to talk to Jo and Cody Cable about mowing up everything nicely before the May 19th Presbytery meeting.
Personnel
David again asked for any pastor evaluations.
New Business
David asked us to think about “What God is up to in our community” and “What does our community need us to be?”
The meeting was closed with prayer and the Lord’s Prayer.
The next meeting will be June 9th at 7:00 p.m.
Linda Ploen
Clerk of Session
