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The Bible Bowl is Coming!
It’s a little later than your average bowl game, but just as fun! Our Big Event – Bible Bowl I – will take place in Fellowship Hall at 10.30am this Sunday, May 31st. Hope to see you there!
Save the Date
June 7, 8:30 – 12:00
Get your car washed while you are in worship! Donations go toward the youth trip to Montreat.
Church Picnic!!
June 28
Our 170th church picnic will immediately follow the last service on June 28. Fun for all ages!!!
Save the Date for VBS: June 22 – 26, 2009
Anyone who would like to help can contact Denise Sokoloski or Jodi Iddings.
VBS Registration Forms Now Available
Registration forms for Vacation Bible School are now available on our website at www.rclpc.org or you can pick them up from the tables outside the sanctuary.
Fall Sunday School
Teachers Needed
We are looking for volunteers to teach or assist Sunday School in the fall. Teachers are scheduled to help on average once a month. If interested, please contact Patti Hill or Karen Nelson.
Share Your Music in Worship this Summer
Summer is around the corner. If you would like to share your music in worship this summer, please sign up on the sheets posted on the bulletin board outside the music room. Please contact Sherri Dees with questions or suggestions.
CL Food Pantry Update
Thanks to all who donated items to the food pantry during our 30-Hour Famine. RCLPC collected 243.25 pounds of the most wanted and needed food items.
Spring Chocolate Special
The Fair Trade Coffee Cart will continue to offer coffee and tea throughout the summer months, but the chocolate would not fare so well as the temperatures increase. Look for bags of 12 mini-bars for $2 on the cart, and stock up for the months ahead.
Deacon Family Groups:
...An old-new way of connecting and caring within our community
Our congregation is growing, and it’s getting harder to know one another and to care for each other, not to mention the challenges of communication and connectedness! In an effort to continue to create and maintain a caring community, the Deacons are trying a new thing. The new Family Group ministry will help us build community and establish connections within our ever-widening circle. You should be receiving your invitation from your Deacon soon.
Thank You from a
Soldier with the Woodstock National Guard in Afghanistan
Dear Ridgefield
I wanted to send you a note and thank you all for the cookies and encouraging notes. As I am kind of a health nut, I shared them with my soldiers. I did have two lemon and one shortbread, and they were great. I then went and ran for 4 hours – just kidding!
We are starting to talk about coming home. It has been a long year. I am really looking forward to getting home and getting to work again.
I would love it if my wife and I could share a service with you all once I get home so I can thank you all in person for your thoughts and prayers.
All my love and prayers,
Brett
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May 27, 2009
The Spirit
of Ridgefield Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church
There’s at least ONE stock that’s not declining in value!
Buying stock in our high school youth group is a great way to help with the summer trip to the Montreat Youth Conference, a time when our youth and leaders can grow in faith, learn together with other Presbyterian youth from around the world, and serve others in mission. Ten of our high school youth, along with five adults, will head to the North Carolina mountains for a week of learning about our calling, about God’s mission in the world, and about our faith. They’ll also spend time serving with the Asheville Youth Mission, so they can apply the things they’re learning even while they’re still learning them.
Why buy stock? What kind of return will you get?
Well—you will get a certificate saying you bought a share of the youth group’s trip from a particular member. You will also receive a postcard from that participant during the week they are gone, and close-up seating at the luncheon where they share their experiences with you.
How much is a share of stock in this trip?
One share costs $25. Feel free to buy from as many trip participants as you’d like!
When does this opportunity go public?
Stock will be on sale from May 3-31.
Who can I buy it from?
Alex Nelson, Amanda Nelson, Carl Wesa, Chris Palmer, Dale Wesa, Jessie Gronset, Kayleigh Jensen, Meredith Mitchell, Norma Thompson, or Samantha Koenig.
Thank You!!
A long overdue thank you to all who worked to rebuild our badly deteriorated front steps this past spring! Not only did they do a beautiful job but they also saved RCLPC a very large repair bill. Thanks to Dan Gilman, Jeff Klaus, Eric Nelson and Wayne Prindiville for their hard labors. Thanks also to Chuck Rasmussen’s boss at PaveLoc for supplying concrete block at cost and Marcy Marks, office manager at Horizon Landscaping Supplies, for delivering the block and needed stone screenings at a very reasonable cost. We are so lucky to have such talented and dedicated folks in our midst.
Adopt a Plot
This summer we are trying a new idea for the church grounds. Lou and Kathy Rabe maintain the church garden areas, but they are getting older by the minute and need your help. Claim a small garden area to maintain during the growing season and not only will Kathy and Lou be there to guide you, but also will give out free cookies to the first 10 volunteers. Call Kathy and Lou.
It’s Spring Work Day Outdoors!
On Saturday, June 6, we will be sprucing up the church grounds, moving a few plants, cleaning some windows, and enjoying free donuts! Come join us any time during the morning to help make our church grounds look grand. Kathy Rabe will be there (along with some mulch) from 8:30 to 12:30. She really hopes you can be there to help, even if it is only for an hour or so. Many hands make light work!
 | Congratulations to Our Graduates
Alex Nelson is graduating from Prairie Ridge HS and will be attending Carthage.
Anna Woodruff is graduating from Woodstock HS and will be attending Illinois Wesleyan.
Anna Zoerner is graduating from Prairie Grove HS and will be attending U of IA.
Charlie Weller is graduating from Central HS and will be attending U of IL.
Kristen Bauman is graduating from Prairie Ridge HS and will be attending
St. Joseph's College in Brooklyn, NY.
Matt Hillmann is graduating from Prairie Ridge HS and will be attending ISU.
Matt Miller is graduating from Prairie Ridge HS and will be attending U of Kansas
Taylor Maron is graduating from Woodstock HS and will be attending McHenry County College |
New Mission Opportunity for PADS
In response to interest expressed by members of RCLPC Youth and Adults, we are offering a new Mission Opportunity that will run from June to October. A Sign Up is posted in the Connecting Link.
We would need three people each week on an agreed upon day - either Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday to pack 25 lunches which will be picked up about 10:30-11 am on the designated day each week by the PADS shuttle driver for delivery to the Woodstock PADS Center for lunch.
Rebecca Floyd has offered to shop once a month for supplies so we need a commitment by three people each week to assemble the lunches. If this is something you can do to help the homeless in our community, it would be greatly appreciated.
Please indicate your willingness to help with this program and the days that you are available, on the Sign Up Sheet in the Connecting Link. We will contact you as soon as we see if it is possible for RCLPC to join the two other churches presently supplying lunches on Monday and Thursday.
Depending on when people are available, we would either pack the lunches the morning of the designated day or the afternoon before the day agreed upon so please be specific about your availability on the Sign Up Sheet. Joy Martin ~ MISSION OUTREACH MINISTRY
Native American Opportunities
* Soon to be unveiled by the Chicago Public Art Group and Alderman Smith is mosaic artwork on the Foster-Lake Shore Drive underpass depicting the culture, motifs, stories and current day Indians in the Chicagoland area. A group of 40 local Indian artists and scholars have been working since the beginning of the year on this macro design concept with the first night on May 30th when volunteers will begin to outline the design.
* Mark your calendar for the 56th Annual Chicago Pow-Wow at the UIC Pavilion on Nov. 7 and 8.
Reverse Mission
Joy Martin will be making a reverse mission journey to Rosebud and Pine Ridge Indian Reservations on June 20th. If you would like to send a donation with her for the work of the White Buffalo Calf Woman Shelter, please let her know. A brochure is on the bulletin board in the Connecting Link.
Share the Bounty
Spring has finally arrived, and our Share the Bounty table is ready to receive perennials and garden produce. This year we’re adding something new to our Share the Bounty table – cut flowers! If you have beautiful flowers growing that you would like to cut and share, then Share the Bounty is for you! Every Sunday morning from May until October, you can bring all your extra homegrown veggies, fruits, flowers and plants to our Share the Bounty table located in the Connecting Link. Please don’t forget to label your plants. Then, feel free to take anything you may need from the table, and leave a free will offering in the container provided. If you would like to help us with this important mission, we need volunteers to clean up the table at noon each Sunday; just look for the sign-up sheet in the Connecting Link. All proceeds collected will be used to support our local PADS program. Thank you! Mission Outreach Ministry
BENEFIT CLOTHING SALE
for the Build A Dream Project
At The Congregational Unitarian Church
221 Dean St., Woodstock
(2 blocks south of Woodstock Square)
100% of the proceeds will benefit Project: Build a Dream
and our current mission to assist a school in El Vaquero, Mexico.
Donations: We are in need of gently used
summer clothing, shoes and linens.
Donation drop off date and time:
Thursday, June 4th: 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM
To arrange for a donation pick up, or to drop off on a different date, please contact Wayne Prindiville. | |
Dog Days of Summer Care Packages for the Troops
We will send Dog Days of Summer packages to the Woodstock National Guard and RCLPC’s troops in early June. You can help by donating items such as anti-itch crème or powder, sunblock lotion, lip balm with sunblock, flavored drink packets for water, saline nose drops, and money for postage (check to RCLPC – Cookie Lift). Notes of support from you or photos or paw prints or notes from the family dog would be appreciated, too! Stay tuned for the day that we pack the items. Thanks, Mary Moltmann and Ed Bennett
Thanks for Supporting the Troops!
Thanks to all of the members and friends of RCLPC who support the Cookie Lift project that supports the troops. On May 17 we offered pastries in Fellowship Hall, and people donated a very generous $255.00 that will be given to the widow and six-week old daughter of Sgt. Lukasz Saczek who died May 10 in Afghanistan. Thanks to all of the people who joined us in baking or buying pastries this year: Kathy Rabe, Jodi Iddings, Sally Weller, Patti Hill, Doug Crane, Cindy Borre, Julie Baser, Jodie LaFevre, Deb Steele, Joyce Lande, Denise Sokoloski, Dawn Condill, Jayne Zoerner, Lois Johnson, Joan Jensema, Rebecca Floyd, and Paula Ekstrom. Over the 10 Sundays that we offered pastries, you donated $1845.32 that gave us the opportunity to buy requested items and ship them to the Woodstock National Guard and RCLPC's troops. Look for Pastries in Fellowship Hall starting again on September 13! - Mary Moltmann and Ed Bennett
A Carpenter Gothic Church
At a recent meeting of the Administrative Committee the members of the committee were astonished at my comment regarding the architectural style of our church building. Apparently they had never heard of the expression “Carpenter Gothic”.
 In any event, in case there are others in the church who are likewise unfamiliar with that architectural style I am offering my understanding of the phrase.
Carpenter gothic is a North American architectural style applied to wooden residential and church structures built by house carpenters. The abundance of lumber supplies in North America made it possible for carpenters to build picturesque improvisations of stone Gothic churches. These buildings became common in the late 19th century following the lead of Andrew Jackson Downing. He adapted Gothic elements such as pointed arches, steep gables, and towers to traditional American light frame construction. Carpenter buildings were relatively unadorned retaining only the basic elements of pointed arch windows and steep gables. The best known example of Carpenter Gothic is the home in Eldon, Iowa that Grant Wood used for the background of his famous painting “American Gothic”.
If you want to see examples of Carpenter Gothic churches in the United States, search for Carpenter Gothic churches on Wikipedia or Google images. There you will find, for example, a picture of the First Baptist Church in Methuen, Massachusetts, which is startlingly similar to our church building. There are many more examples including one in Dwight, Illinois which is called the Pioneer Gothic. Just like our church building it also is on the National Register of Historic Buildings. J.T. Fankhauser
Civil Union Legislation
There is before the Illinois legislature a Religious Freedom and Civil Union bill #HB 1826.
The Civil Union Bill provides for:
- Medical decision making and hospital visitation for partners
- The right to control disposition of remains of a partner
- Inheritance rights
- Domestic violence protection
The Civil Union Bill does not:
- Amend the Illinois Marriage Act to recognize same-sex marriages
- Require religious institutions to solemnize or officially recognize civil unions
- Provide any of the more 1100 federal and 645 state benefits of marriage to these couples
This bill is a first step towards fairness and treating all Illinois families fairly and equally.
There are, at present, twenty-three (23) organizations in Illinois supporting this bill. Among these organizations are Protestants for the Common Good, Illinois Federation of Teachers, National Association of Social Workers of Illinois, Chicago and Illinois Bar Associations committees supporting the rights of gays and lesbians, and the Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Rights.
Please write your state representative in support of this important legislation.
J.T. Fankhauser
Thank you for your gift to the Colombia Accompaniment Program
Dear Friends at Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church:
The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship Colombia Accompaniment Program wishes to thank you for your generous gift last January of $277 to our ongoing work. As you may know, the Presbyterian Church in Colombia works under great pressure as it serves impoverished and forcibly displaced people residing in areas surrounding major cities in Colombia.
Leaders in the Colombian Presbyterian Church are often threatened when they provide assistance by identifying and training community leaders in these depressed circumstances. They also provide support and pastoral counseling to families and children grieving the loss of their husbands and fathers. They provide services in job training and entrepreneurial activities. Equally important, they provide worship and Christian education opportunities.
Due to their dedication to the spiritual, social and economic development of displaced people, Colombian Presbyterian and other church leaders receive death threats from the armed groups doing the displacement. That is where accompaniment comes in. Just as in biblical times, the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship sends out our US accompaniers in twos.
They walk and talk with the same displaced people with whom our Colombian Presbyterian leaders work. They hear the terrifying stories of displacement. They worship and pray with our brothers and sisters in the Colombian Presbyterian Church. Together we are learning how to bring peace to threatened communities and to the Colombia nation. The presence of our US accompaniers makes a difference and sends a message to those who would do our brothers and sisters harm. It tells them that we are watching what is going on and that we care for our sisters and brothers in Colombia. We thank you for your empowering gift and your care.
Sincerely, Rev. Sarah Henken
Colombia Accompaniment Coordinator
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
Camp E.D.G.E. Counselors Needed
VBS Camp E.D.G.E. is still looking for Camp Counselors. These are individuals that take the kids from station to station and at the end of the day go over what they have learned. We also need any extra helpers. Even if you can only come for a few days and not the whole week, we can still use your help. Please call Denise Sokoloski or Jodi Iddings. Thank you
Vacation Bible School
Camp E.D.G.E. (Experience and Discover God Everywhere)
is in need of donations/supplies
Please read the list below and anything that you feel you could donate, or let us borrow, please bring to the church and drop it off at the VBS corner across from the office. PLEASE remember to put your name on anything that you want returned so we are sure to get it back to you. Everyone’s help is greatly appreciated!!
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Undecorated Christmas Trees | Tents |
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Sleeping bags | Backpacks |
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Outdoor folding chairs | Camp stools |
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Coolers | Canteens |
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Lanterns | Mountain bikes |
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Snowboards | Ropes |
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Hiking boots | Inflatable raft |
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Oars | Kayak or canoe |
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Helmets | Beach balls |
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Tree stumps/Logs/firewood | Pinecones |
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Ferns or large potted plants | Artificial greenery/flowers |
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Stuffed animals
(bears, raccoons, and other forest wildlife)
| Tape/Masking Tape |
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Talcum powder | Cups/plates/napkins |
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Dish soap | Food coloring |
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Craft sticks | Glass measuring Cup |
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Yarn or string | Empty tin cans |
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Dowel rods | Balloons |
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Hangers | Flashlights |
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Construction paper | Hula hoops |
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Compass | Traffic cones |
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Hat pins | Index cards |
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Magnets – sheets or rolls | Paper, all colors / card stock |
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Corks | Maps (any kind) |
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Water bottles | Fabric markers |
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Marbles | Large Ball |
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Potato sacks | Water balloons |
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Plastic crates | Paper bags |
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Mens’ work gloves | Pool noodles |
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Hobby Lobby Gift Cards | Monetary donations |
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9 wrapping paper tubes | Poster board |
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3 shoe boxes | Plastic table cloths |
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Large/small river rocks | Cotton batting/cotton balls |
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Blue painters tape/colored duct tape | Clothes pins |
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Kleenex boxes – empty all sizes |
Newspapers |
Clear plastic Bowls
large and small
| Foam shapes, stickers and stencils of
camping or outdoor shapes |
We will post a new list each week, so be on the lookout for new items that may be needed!! Thanks
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