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The Spirit of |
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WEAVE—Wednesday
Evening AVEnues—returns September 3! Our Wednesday evening
program will return in full force this fall with lots of fellowship, music, and
learning! Each week we’ll have dinner,
adult education opportunities, and choir rehearsals (both children and
adults). This is a great opportunity
for a mid-week connection over fabulous food and fellowship! Can’t make the class? Just come for dinner! Can’t make it in time for dinner? Just come for the class or for choir! We’d love to see everyone involved as we
weave ourselves (and are woven by the Spirit) into community. On September 3, we’ll
have dinner (Mexican!) at The regular WEAVE
schedule begins September 10: 7:30-8:00: Storytime and
Homework Help for 1st-5th graders (meets in preschool
room) Dinner is catered by a
local restaurant each week. Suggested
donations for dinner are $5/adult, $3/kids.
We often have leftovers and if you’d like to take some home after This fall our adult
education hour will feature a “101” series.
Several of you have asked for something like this, and it’s a great
follow-up to our summer of Scripture reading (though that’s not a
pre-requisite!). Join us in Fellowship
Hall as we explore theology, Christian ethics, spirituality, worship, and
history. WEAVE is coordinated by
your Fellowship and Education Teams—if you have questions, comments,
suggestions, or ideas, please contact them!
If you’d like to volunteer to help out (we need help with set-up,
usually 30 minutes or so from 5:30-6pm, clean up from 7-7:30, and either
being here to meet the food delivery or picking up the food from the
restaurant, both around 5:30pm), please sign up in the Connecting Link or
contact someone on the Fellowship Team.
Thanks! |
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Meet Julia Mick, our new
children’s choir director, on Wednesday,
Sept. 3rd, during the dinner hour for
WEAVE. |
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My name
is Julia Mick and I am excited to join Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church
as the new children’s choir director.
I have been involved in many musical groups over the years in
churches, schools and the community.
My most memorable musical experiences include singing with a college
choir in I enjoy performing as a
musician but even more I love teaching children the joy of music. I grew up in |
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Children
at RCLPC Children are an important
part of our church family, and we strive to include them as participants in
our community life. Whenever there is
a baptism, we as a congregation take vows to nurture and love these children,
to include them, and to pass on our faith to them. As part of this commitment to share
Christ’s love with our children, you are encouraged to look over these 6
“privileges of the child” and find ways to incorporate our children more
fully into our life together. Each child has the
privilege: w
To be in the
midst of the congregation, not on the sidelines. w
To wander
among us during worship, being the responsibility of each of us. w
To give
answers during children's time without being laughed at. w
To be called
by name by each adult. w
To be a
valued person in the congregation. w
To be led to
faith by the Christ-like love, care, and model of each adult. w
To be an
active participant in worship. |
Calling all Sunday School
Teachers! This coming Saturday,
August 30, at |
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September
7: kick off Sunday with Ministry Fair! There’s a lot going on
here at RCLPC these days! We are a
congregation with a lot of energy and passion, and we use that energy and passion
in a variety of ways. On September 7
between Also on September 7,
regular Sunday School begins (in the classrooms—if you aren’t sure which
classroom to go to, please ask!). Children
are asked to bring school supplies or gift cards for school supplies to
Sunday School that day, to start our year with mission. These will be sent to one of our mission
partners for distribution to needy kids in our area. Worship on September 7 will
include a blessing of backpacks, for a great start to the school year. All students and teachers (of all ages!)
are invited to bring your backpacks/bookbags/briefcases
to worship! |
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Do you
have Frequent
Flier Miles? Some of the adult leaders
of your RCLPC youth ministry would like to attend a training event led by a
nationally-known youth ministry expert—at |
Inquirer’s
Class scheduled
for September Interested in exploring more about our church? A
three-session Inquirer’s Class, in which we will discuss “What does it mean
to be a Christian?” and “What does it mean to be Presbyterian” and “What does
it mean to be a member of RCLPC?”, will be offered
on September 14, 21, and 28, from |
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Youth
Ministry kicks off a new year We kicked off a new year
in our RCLPC youth ministry with a great “initiation” event, “kidnapping” our
new 6th and 9th graders as well as youth new to our
youth ministry, taking everyone out to breakfast and a team challenge course
and then out for pizza. 23 youth
participated! It was a great time. If you weren’t able to participate, please
feel free to join us anytime along the way this year. High School Youth Ministry: we meet
on September 7 for a kick-off and
gathering day from 5-7pm. (note the new
time!) Bring your parents! Middle School Youth Ministry: we meet on
September 14 for a kick-off and gathering
day from 1-3pm. Bring your parents! Watch your mailboxes and
the church website for our calendar of youth ministry events, coming in the
next week or so! |
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The
RCLPC Café A new group is beginning
at RCLPC! Come enjoy an evening with friends, including casual dining and
great conversations. Are you
interested? Well then, come join the
RCLPC Café Group! Eight to ten people
will meet in participant’s homes and share a meal and a relaxed evening
together. Join us on September 20 at Kathy & Lou Rabe’s home to learn more about this new group. Sign up in the Connecting Link today! |
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Cookie
Lift Project Brings
Back Treats to Fellowship Hall Have you missed the treats
in Fellowship Hall between the services? Volunteers for the Cookie Lift
Project are bringing them back on the second Sunday of the month! We plan to
start putting them out about |
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Adult
Choir The adult choir is an
all-volunteer group which leads worship at |
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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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Wanted:
Links in Our Prayer Chain One of our tasks as a caring
community is to surround people with prayer when they are in need. Can you be a link in our chain? We are looking for people willing to pray
for needs in our community whenever they come up. Emails are sent describing the need and
asking for prayer and all you have to do is pray for that person. If you are able and willing to do that,
please email the church office asking to be put on the prayer chain
list. Thanks. |
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The
Caring Team is Coming Your telephone will ring one
of these days and it will be a member of our RCLPC Caring-Calling Team,
calling just to say “hi – how are you doing?”
We are planning these calls to help keep the church records up to date
and to keep everyone connected. You would be surprised at
how many people move, get a new email address or have other changes and the
church isn’t aware of it. The
Caring-Calling Team is just that, a caring voice from the church, making sure
you are up to date and included. If
you have concerns or questions, the Caring-Calling Team member will direct
you in the right direction. The Caring Team is one of
four Deacon Teams, particularly charged with helping RCLPC become and
continue to be a caring connected community. The Caring Ministry is
divided into three sections. Karen Hutchings is the Deacon for the
Caring-Calling Team. Tom Walters will handle Special
Services, a network for providing occasional special and emergency care such
as light help around the house or meal preparation along with overseeing the
group that handles funerals, while Barb
McCreary will coordinate Pastoral Care to assist the pastoral staff with
hospital visits and home contacts.
Please call the church office (815-459-1132) or any of us if you have
questions. |
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“Even
your silence holds some sort of a prayer” Apache Looking at the big
picture –Native Scientists – by Laurel M. Sheppard in Native Peoples mag. With their long-term
outlook and deep sense of belonging, Native Americans can bring a unique
point of view to science and engineering.
Although they are typically not as well recognized for their
contributions and achievements in the sciences, there are a significant
number of Native people working in these fields. Note the comments of four individuals
leading the way: Donna Nelson – Being
different makes you see things others don’t see or have missed before, and
you effortlessly can bring creativity to your profession. Nancy Jackson - …because
of our peoples’ strong relationship to Earth, I wanted to work on
technologies that would not damage the environment. Marigold Linton – My
greatest achievement is taking the modest abilities I have and doing a decent
job. Rick Stephens – I want to
develop a culture where learning occurs throughout one’s entire life and communities
recognize their role and responsibility in achieving this type of
education. The Native American Connection |
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What happened to Taizé? Our service of prayer in
the spirit and style of Taizé went on a little summer
sabbatical, but it will be returning soon, with newly invigorated and
inspired leadership! The Taizé Prayer Service will be back at RCLPC on Tuesday, October 7, at What exactly is Taizé prayer? A prayer service in the
style of Taizé is marked by simplicity—the songs we
sing are simple, often just a short phrase of scripture, and we sing them a
number of times so we can all learn the simple tune and have both the words
and the music become a part of us, so we are in fact praying without
consciously praying. Paul urged us to
“pray without ceasing” and Augustine said that “whoever sings prays twice” so
this is one way to make simple sung prayer a part of our very beings. We also hear scripture; we pray a psalm
(just as Jesus did and as faithful people have been doing for thousands of
years); we sit in silence together, listening for the still small voice of
God, the quiet rustle of the Holy Spirit; we lift up our joys and concerns to
God. We pray for peace and
reconciliation in God’s world—for the kingdom to truly come on earth. One of the ways we do that is to sing in
various languages—from Latin to French to English and more—as a reminder that
God’s people live and work and pray in many places, all in need of
reconciliation and peace. Why do we have this kind of
prayer service at RCLPC? Our worship life tends to
focus on words, on learning, on participating. This is a prayer service in which we can learn
about stillness and silence, when we can connect with God on a more intimate
level, when we practice the spiritual disciplines of praying together and
being in silence together, when we can be more “vertical”—between us and
God—so that we are empowered to live both vertically and horizontally
(between us and other people). This
service is an important part of our life as a spiritual community, a
different way of connecting in our busy and over-programmed and over-noisy
world. Who leads this service? The service is almost
entirely led by our talented RCLPC musicians—in varying combinations we have
a cellist, a flutist, a clarinetist, a guitarist, a pianist, and a
singer. These musicians both set the
atmosphere and provide the support and leadership for our sung prayer. The readings can be provided by anyone who
is present, and we pray together.
Often a pastor provides spoken leadership by welcoming people and
reading scripture. The sanctuary is
prepared by dedicated volunteers who spend a significant amount of time
setting up many candles and fabrics to create a peaceful environment for
prayer, and who pray over the room and the decoration in the hope that the
space will be welcoming and conducive to prayer, and that each person who
comes might find rest and peace as well as strength to be a force for peace
in the world. We hope you’ll join us on
October 7 at |