RCLPC

Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church
8505 Church Street (in Ridgefield)
Crystal Lake, IL 60012
815-459-1132 * office@rclpc.org

Who We Are
   Contact Us
   How to Find Us
   Our History
   Our Mission Statement
What's Happening
   Announcements this Week
   Calendar
   Sermons
   SPIRIT Newsletter
   SPIRIT Archive
Photos
   Notes from Our Troops
   People in the News
   Photo Albums
Other Links of Interest
   Blackhawk Presbytery
   Daily Readings
   For Our Volunteers
   PCUSA News
   Presbyterian Church USA

Youth News:

High School Lock-In,
January 29-30, 7pm-9am!!
And... a mission project from 9am-noon.
Help make disaster relief kits to send to Haiti and other places in need of help after a tragedy. Please RSVP for any or all of these events by FRIDAY the 29th at noon!
Valentine’s Day Bake Sale:
We’re looking for bakers and sellers and money counters…watch your email/FB/texts for more info!

Hello Teachers

We have decided that we will cancel Sunday School on Sunday, February 14th, because of the children's musical that will be performed during the 9:30 service. This will be for preschool through 5th grade. Middle school and high school will meet as usual. This will give a chance for the teachers who have children performing in the musical to be able to attend the 9:30 service. Thanks for all you do. Karen & Patti

PADS Lunch Program

A new signup sheet is in the Connecting Link for this period through April 23. Needed NOW are 2 or 3 assemblers for Friday, February 26 at 9:30 AM. We are currently making 45 lunches on Fridays. This mission takes so little of your time and is so much appreciated by those who are without a permanent home and any resources.

Thanks!

Thank you, friends, for your generosity and kindness during the holidays. Your gifts, your kind cards and words, and your smiles made my Christmas and New Year bright—thank you! Peace, Teri.

Giving Statements

Please save the church postage by picking up your end-of-the-year statements that are in the box out in the Connecting Link. Thank you. If you have any questions about your statements, please contact Rick Pohl, our Finance Secretary.

Shepherd’s Fold Preschool

The Shepherd’s Fold Preschool is now accepting applications for the 2010-11 school year. Please contact Cynthia Maron at 815-715-2751.

PowerPoint Ministry
Team Needs Help

If you can help create and run PowerPoint, then please contact the church office at 815-459-1132 or email office@rclpc.org. Thank you.

“HOPE” Fundraiser for Make-A-Wish Foundation

RCLPC is hosting a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish foundation. The fundraiser will be honoring a few kids that have either lost their battle to cancer or who are fighting cancer. It will be held on Saturday, February 20th from 6 to 10pm. There will be silent auctions and also a pasta dinner. The prices are as follows:
Without pasta dinner -
  $5 for adults and $3 for
  children (10 and under)
With pasta dinner -
  $10 for adults and $5 for
  children (10 and under)
Thanks, Kayleigh Jensen

Seven Last Words

...of the church: “We’ve never done it that way before.”

January 27, 2010

The Spirit

of Ridgefield Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church

The Design Phase Work Continues...

The Building Expansion Committee continues to work with an architectural firm, David F. Schultz Associates of Barrington, on design ideas. Our goal remains to bring to the congregation a plan that adequately addresses our design priorities, including a dedicated youth space, an expanded sanctuary, and improved parking and building access, while also allowing for possible future expansion.

Given the congregation’s operating budget shortfall in 2009 and the current financial outlook for 2010, the timing of a capital campaign remains uncertain. Only after such a campaign has been conducted to determine the level of financial support will the congregation be asked to vote to proceed to the construction phase. In the meantime, our committee continues to work on the design phase, trusting in God’s great blessings and guidance.

At the beginning of the year, we said goodbye to one of our faithful committee members, Stan Sumner, who is moving to Ohio. His good counsel and good humor will be missed. Fortunately, our committee has been reenergized with new members Ken Stewart, Al Esche, Andrea Pracht and Bruce Randall. If you have questions, please speak with a committee member. Thank you.

The Building Expansion Committee: Chairperson Wayne Prindiville, David Dees, Al Esche, Kristi Geggie, the Rev. Teri Peterson, Andrea Pracht, Bruce Randall, Ken Stewart

Souper Bowl Sunday! – February 7th

It’s time for the Super Bowl. . . time to cheer for your favorite team or maybe just your favorite player. It’s time to join with friends for food and fun. It’s also time for the Souper Bowl of Caring, when we remember that as we have our parties and stuff ourselves with junk food and watch a game that costs millions of dollars to put on, there are people who have nowhere to go, little or nothing to eat, and need our help. While out shopping for your Super Bowl needs, pick up an extra box or can of food and bring it to church. Please bring your donations of canned food and money for the Crystal Lake Food Pantry on Sunday, February 7th! Our middle school youth will be collecting these donations at all services. We hope to beat last year’s RCLPC record of $1512 and 151 canned goods. Don’t know what to bring? Check out the Food Pantry’s website at http://www.clpantry.org/ for a list of their 20 most needed items. Thanks! See you at our “Souper Bowl of Caring” on Sunday.

It’s Bowl Time—the Bible Bowl, that is!

Not just the Super Bowl, and not even just the Souper Bowl… but also the BIBLE BOWL! Our Sunday School students will be practicing up for the Bible Bowl, a friendly competition between students and between classes. With categories like “places in the Bible” and “sayings of Jesus” our Sunday School youth will be learning about Scripture and earning prizes—as well as earning some bragging rights! They’ll practice each week and then the Big Event—Bible Bowl II—will take place in Fellowship Hall at 10:30am on February 7. Hope to see you there!

Men’s Breakfast Group

Hey men!! Remember that old saying? "Taxation Without Representation is Tyranny." How about: "Being taxed without knowledge of your 1040 is unfortunate!"

You can get much knowledge about the 1040 and other tax items at the next meeting of RCLPC Men's Breakfast. Dick Virkus will lead the discussion. Dick was with Sears in managing and then for the past 17 years has worked for H. & R. Block in tax preparation. His knowledge of the tax field will be of benefit to all. Let's get prepared. The next meeting is coming up on Saturday, February 6, at the Colonial Cafe in Crystal Lake at 8:00am. Hope to see you there!!

The Tale of the Three Trees—a musical!

The children’s choirs of RCLPC will present The Tale of the Three Trees as the message in worship on February 14 at 9.30 and 11! (There will be no 8.30 service that day.) Please come support our children as they lead worship, and hear the wonderful message of this story, showing how each of our callings, though different and seemingly small, is important! Remember Jeremiah 29.11? “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord—plans for your welfare and not for your harm, to give you a future with hope.” See you on the 14th!

Chili Cook-Off Winners

We had a wonderful time at the chili cook-off and bingo night. The highlight was definitely Teri handing over the best vegetarian chili prize to Bob Tripp, whose chili was amazing enough to make even Teri vote for it over her own! Congratulations to all our winners: Best Down-Home/Comfort Food Chili: Raechel Sowa; Best Spicy Vegetarian Chili: Ann Legg; Best Spicy Meat Chili: Jonathan Horvath; Best color/flavor combinations: Bill and Pat Moll; Best Vegetarian Chili: Bob Tripp. Thanks to all who made this such a wonderful event—to the Wesas for bingo calling, to the many chili makers, to the many chili eaters and voters! See you next January! Pictured above from left to right: Karen Boyles, Wayne Prindiville, Jason Nosbaum, Ann Legg, Bob Tripp, Paula Ekstrom, Pat Moll, Vincent Horvath (down in front), Jonathan Horvath, Rev. Teri Peterson, and Raechel Sowa.

Curious?

Join Teri in the sanctuary Sunday mornings from 10:30-10:50am for a new class exploring the question “why do we do that?” We’ll be talking about worship, theology, the life of faith, and the life of the church, wondering together just why we do the things we do as Christians. Have a question? Write it down and put it in one of the Mystery Boxes near the entrance to the sanctuary, and we’ll answer it in class!

Read with the pastor book group!

In February we’ll be reading a new book, Everyday Justice by Julie Clawson. The first words of the book are: don’t panic! We’ll meet in “the living room” area of Fellowship Hall on Tuesday, February 23 (please note the week change…) at 7pm to talk about this book that helps us take a look at how our everyday choices help us participate in justice or injustice. The book is available from any of the online booksellers (amazon.com, borders.com, etc), or if you’d like us to order one for you, please let us know in the office.

Explore themes of faith and theology in pop culture!

Join us on Wednesday Evenings from 6:45-8pm to look for and explore together our pop culture—movies, TV, and music—and look for themes of faith and theology. We’ll be exploring themes like Call, Grace, Justice, and just what Prayer is... by looking at films like Harry Potter, the Pursuit of Happyness, Kung Fu Panda, and more… and through television shows (not much Buffy, though, so you’re in luck!)… and through some of the music you might hear when you turn on your car radio. See you Wednesday!

Family and Handicapped Seating available in the sanctuary

We are experimenting with more accessible seating in our sanctuary, so if you need more room (for wiggly children or for wheelchairs/walkers), feel free to come on up to the front left side of the sanctuary, where you’ll find more space available between pews. There are activity sheets to help engage children in the scripture for the day, as well as good sightlines for children or those in wheelchairs. Of course, families are welcome to sit anywhere you like—to help you out, there are also children’s worship bags and pew pals at the bottom of the brown stairs. And if you or someone you worship with needs extra assistance with a wheelchair or walker, please just ask an usher and we’ll do everything we can to ensure you are able to fully worship within the community!
RCLPC nightclub

Get Your Act Together!
The RCLPC Talent-Optional Show is coming!

Sunday, February 28th, from 5-7pm, come to RCLPC for an evening of performance fun! Have an act you want to do? Email or leave Teri a note about your act and how long it is (so we don’t have duplicate acts and so we don’t end up with 8 hours of fun—it’s a school night after all!). Our youth will be displaying their talents, their non-talents, and their senses of humor—will you display yours too? Skits, music, stand-up comedy, and many other acts welcome! Come one, come all—talent optional! Tickets to the show will be by donation to the summer high school mission trip to Houma, Louisiana.

Session Highlights
January 11, 2010

  • Treasurer David Woodruff gave the financial report. Expenses have been trimmed, and income needs to increase. 2009’s $25,000 shortfall was taken from the surplus
  • Elder team assignments for 2010 were made:
    • Worship (Lois Johnson, Sally Weller, Darryl Bessant)
    • Stewardship (Tom Lilly, Rick Thompson, Nancy Koenig)
    • Christian Education (Connie Rasmussen, Jodi Iddings)
    • Administration (Barb Dolmon, Jim Pracht, Elizabeth Novak)
  • Plans made for joint meetings in February with the Board of Deacons to enhance communication between the two groups.
  • The Session also voted on the following action items:
    • The Annual Congregational Meeting was called for January 24 at 10:30 for the purpose of receiving the budget and approving Rev. Teri Peterson's terms of call.
    • Last year's budget was accepted as the budget for 2010 with the exception of 3% pay raises for all staff members.
    • It was voted to include an additional two weeks study leave in Rev. Teri Peterson's terms of call. This would be the same as last year and was done since Rev. Teri is carrying the bulk of responsibilities without a Head of Staff.
  • The next scheduled Session meeting will be Thursday, February 11, 2010.

MCC to Host “2010 People in Need Forum” – January 30

Volunteers and human service staff members can mark their calendars now to continue the holiday spirit of helping others with the 2010 People in Need Forum, featuring resources to help people in the community, from 8am to 12:30pm Saturday, January 30, 2010, at McHenry County College.

The forum connects volunteers and staff from human service, civic and faith-based organizations to community resources available for those in need. This annual opportunity for volunteers and staff from human service, civic and faith-based organizations started in 2003 and has steadily grown since that time. The forum provides an opportunity to learn about community resources available for those in need.

Workshops will provide practical information to help resolve care-receiver issues. Representatives from human service organizations will be in attendance with informational handouts on such timely issues as utility assistance, food stamps, transportation options, homelessness, domestic violence, legal matters, and loss of job. All participants will receive the 2010 People in Need Community Resource Directory. Admission is free and CEUs are available.

The People in Need Forum is sponsored by the McHenry County College Center for Non-Profit Leadership. Registration is available online at the website www.peopleinneedforum.org, or by calling the United Way of Greater McHenry County Volunteer Center at (815) 344-4483, or Bev Thomas at MCC at (815) 479-7792.

WANTED:
Your smile and warm handshake to greet friends old and new.

The Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church is a warm and welcoming place to worship God in community with others.  To continue being a warm and welcoming place, the Deacon Welcoming team needs more people to greet.

A greeter arrives 20 minutes before the service and welcomes everyone who comes in. They show visitors where to hang up their coats, answer any questions, show visitors where the sanctuary is and introduce them to other church members.  Greeting is a great way to say hello to friends and meet new ones.

If you are willing to help, please fill in this form and place it in the offering plate, or return it to the church office.  For more information or to volunteer, call Dave Steele.

      Name _____________________________       Phone ____________________________

      Email ______________________________________________

      Service preferred:   _____8:30   _____9:30   _____11:00

      Family will help greet?   _____yes   _____ no

[ back to the top ]