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The Spirit of |
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A Note From Richard Hello friends. By the time you read this, I will be
in There’s not much
left to say at this point. I
preached a couple of hundred sermons in my time at RCLPC, so I’ve about
run out of words. I do have one
word left: thanks. Thanks for
your support, thanks for the way you embraced me and my family, thanks for
the way you challenged me, thanks for your life and energy and creativity,
thanks for your humor, thanks for your generosity, thanks for your faith,
thanks for the honor of having been your pastor. And a special thanks to
everyone for the fabulous send-off party on August 3rd. Thanks to everyone who helped to organize,
set-up, tear-down, and make delicious food. Thanks for the cards, the gifts, and
the hugs. Thanks to the band for
“The Devil Went Down to As an aside, Emily, Anna,
and Ella attended church down in I’ve said before
that while our pastoral relationship has come to an end, I hope our
friendships will continue. Below
you will find our mailing address and email address. I hope we will stay in touch and
continue to share each other’s journeys, even if long-distance. |
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Let
me close with a blessing: May the road rise to meet
you May the wind be at your
back May the sun shine warm
upon your face May the rain fall soft upon
your fields And until we meet again May you be held in the
palm of God’s hand -Richard |
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Thank
You From the Floyds Dear RCLPC Friends, Thank you so much for
your unexpected and very generous financial gift! This move has been harder than any of
us expected. We have grown so
fond of our friends in -Richard, Emily, Anna,
Ella |
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Emily
and Richard’s Farewell A BIG “Thank
You” to all that helped to make Richard & Emily’s farewell so
special
Our congregation is filled
with such wonderful helping hands.
Thank you so much for your generosity! ~ Kathy Rabe |
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Wondering what our high
school youth DID while they were in |
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Adult
Choir Retreat The annual adult choir
retreat brunch is Saturday, August 23,
in the fellowship hall, from |
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Adult
Choir The adult choir is an
all-volunteer group which leads worship at |
Meet Julia Mick Meet
Julia Mick, our new children’s choir director, in the next Spirit and
on Wednesday, Sept. 3rd, during
the dinner hour for WEAVE. |
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Calling
All Children! Children's Choirs are starting soon, and we need plenty of new members and all of our returning members! Rehearsals will be on Wednesday evenings, starting with full rehearsal on Wednesday, September 10th. |
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Jubilation
Choir (grades 6 – 12) Jubilation choir meets
weekly, following the |
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Kick Off
Sunday September 7 Join us the morning of
September 7 as we begin an exciting new season at RCLPC. Lots of things are going on that day! ·
Ministry Fair
in Fellowship Hall from 9:15-12:15:
learn about the various ministries and teams, what’s going on
here this fall, and how you can be involved. Plus have snacks! ·
Sunday School begins, 9:30-10:30! All kids are invited to bring school
supplies or gift cards to donate so kids in need can have a successful school
year. ·
Blessing of
the Backpacks: During
children’s time (which will again be at only the 8:30 and 11:00
services) kids and youth (and any other students or teachers in our midst!)
are invited to bring their schoolbags forward for a school-year blessing. ·
Jubilation
choir (youth grades 6-12) kicks off at noon in the choir room. |
Monday,
August 18, Join us to make things happen!! Education – planning for adult education in the fall Worship – brainstorming our worship space &
ideas Fellowship – building community one event at a time! Welcoming – you are invited! Stewardship – helping us use our gifts Caring – caring for our RCLPC family Mission - being Jesus’ hands and feet! Admin – you know the drill |
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WEAVE preview Our W ednesday E vening
AVE nues will kick off September 3 with dinner, fellowship, a chance to meet our new
children’s choir director, and a preview of the fall adult education
classes. Join us for food, fun,
meeting and greeting, and learning together! The schedule for the 3rd: The regular WEAVE schedule begins September 10 and
will include children’s choirs, adult choir, adult education,
children’s storytime, and dinner! For dinner we ask for a
donation—we are trying to break even this year. Suggested donations are
$5/adult, $3/children. |
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Come
Break Bread with Us… Do you love to eat? Talk with friends? Try a new recipe? Then we have just the thing for
you! Something new, but created
from an old idea. Something just
for fun and friendship . . . . cuisine with
comfort! Have we piqued your
interest? More clues will
soon be coming your way. Dale Prindiville or Kathy
Rabe might be able to give you a hint or two! |
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Care
Packages and Notes to RCLPC’s Troops Please come to Fellowship
Hall on |
Food Pantry News The reverse
offering was a great help. We
collected hundreds of pounds of food!
The last time we ran the pantry we set a new record of over 55
families served. Thanks so much
to all our wonderful volunteers. Without
you and the generous people of RCLPC the pantry would have a much more
difficult time. Bless you all and
come and help next time if you can.
Our next work day is scheduled for Friday, August 22nd. ~ Nancy
Vazzano |
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What’s
up with Taizé? Our prayer service in the
spirit of Taizé has been on sabbatical for the summer. It will
return, on a new day and with refreshed and full-of-the-Spirit leaders, on
the First Tuesday of October at What is Taizé anyway? Taizé is an ecumenical community of brothers (sort of
like a monastery), located in Who goes to Taizé? Today
thousands of people go to Taizé for a week (or sometimes longer) to
pray, to learn about justice and peace, and to build community. Each week during the summer, thousands
of young adults (teenagers up through about age 30) gather there—and
then take the spirit of Taizé home with them. Today, Taizé prayer is one of
the most popular forms of worship and prayer among young people worldwide. What is “prayer in the
spirit of Taizé”??
What do you do? Well,
we gather as a representation of community to pray for peace and
reconciliation. But we
don’t “do” anything in the traditional sense. Taizé prayer is founded on the
idea of simplicity and of crossing boundaries. One of the ways we do this is by singing. Singing is one of the most essential
elements of worship. Short songs, repeated again and again, give it a
meditative character. The songs use just a few words, often words of
scripture, to express a basic reality of faith, quickly grasped by the mind.
As the words are sung over many times, this reality gradually penetrates the
whole being. Meditative singing thus becomes a way of listening to God. It
allows everyone to take part in a time of prayer together and to remain
together in attentive waiting on God, without having to fix the length of
time too exactly. In
addition to praying through song (as Augustine famously said, “whoever
sings prays twice!”), we also pray the psalms (much as Jesus did), we
hear scripture, and we sit in silence together, listening for God’s
voice. And, of course, we pray
aloud for people, places, and our world. Look
for more on Taizé in the next Spirit as we prepare for a new season of
praying for peace and reconciliation!
To learn more about the Taizé community, visit www.taize.fr/en. |
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Native
American Connection In the Last issue, some
of the participants in the most recent trip to Rosebud and Pine Ridge, offered a few thoughts
about their feelings as a result of the experience. Gloria Thorson asked me
to be sure and reinforce what was already stated about our Indian friends amazing
hospitality. Our trip came on the heels of the Sundance which is a four
day event that requires a lot of energy and long hours of preparation and
endurance. And yet, as exhausted as the leaders were, they couldn't
have been more hospitable to us. To recap: The
participants from Fourth Presbyterian Church Chicago, It was reassuring to see
that Tillie Black Bear, an elder from Rosebud and Executive Director of White
Buffalo Calf Woman's Society was back to her active, productive schedule
after breaking her hip and a femur bone last year. Dr. Francis White
Lance, a Medicine Man from Pine Ridge generously shared from his wisdom one
beautiful afternoon. I was particularly gratified to hear the two
first-timers from RCLPC talking on the way home about "the next
trip". We found that, having an
opportunity to learn first-hand about the Lakota culture and experience their
spirituality, deepens our individual faith. ~
Joy Martin |
Native
American Facts w
Population on
Pine Ridge Reservation: 36,000 Lakota people w
One half of
the population is under the age of 18 w
Life
expectancy on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in w
Male
55 (U. S. Average is 75) w
Female
60 (U. S. Average is 80) w
Unemployment
on Pine Ridge Reservation: 85% w
Per Capita
Income: $4,000.00 |