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Reception for New Members
Please join us in Fellowship Hall
at 10:30am on October 25
to welcome our new members:
Aage and Catherine Christensen, Frank Novak, Cindy and David Theobald, and Cecily Weber.
PADS Lunches
The October thru April lunch program has begun. A sign up sheet is in the Connecting Link for the first months of October and November. We will be preparing 35 to 50+ lunches on the 2nd and 5th Sunday of each month, plus the 4th Friday. If you are available, please do consider this mission. Just making a lunch with love, for a homeless person, is a wonderful reward.
Help Needed
We are in need of $20/$25 Jewel gift cards which can be used for gas and/or food. People are hurting and our need to assist people who come in during the week is growing. If you feel you could purchase a gift card or two, please place them in an envelope with your name marked on it in the offering plate. These cards will be turned into the church office where we can allocate them as needed and you will receive a letter confirming your donation. Thank you for your generosity.
Cookie Walk Volunteers Needed
Our Cookie Walk is Saturday December 12th and we need to start planning but first we need a few good volunteers! The Cookie Walk has 5 committees with two co-chairs for each committee. We are delighted to have some of our co-chairs from last year but do however need four more to fill those open spots. Please check out the sign-up sheet in the Connecting Link and be a part of this awesome group and important Mission for our church. If you have any questions please call or e-mail Nancy Blakely. Thank you!
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.
Coming Soon! “Read with the pastor” Book Group!
Have you ever wondered where your pastor learns these things, what your pastor does with her time, or what kinds of things pastors are reading these days? Well, here’s a chance to find out! The pastors will tell us what they are reading, and we can join them in discussing those books on the third Tuesdays of the month, beginning in November. Watch this space to find out what the first “read with the pastor” book will be!
This Just In...
The new PHOTO directories are ready to be picked up in the church office. The printed directories are only $3 each to cover the cost of printing. If you would like a copy of the printed PHOTO directory, please see Kim Stewart...
Thank You
We would like to thank the Welcoming Team for taking all the pictures over the summer for our new photo directory: Dave Steele, Laurie & Rick Pohl, David Palmer, Jean Joslyn, and Dorothy Vick. Thanks also to everyone who participated by either getting your picture taken or emailing a photo in to the church office.
Share the Bounty
Where did the summer go??? If you have tons of green tomatoes, never fear; Fried Green Tomatoes are here! Try this southern delicacy today; pick up your free recipe at the “Share the Bounty” table. While you’re there, don’t forget to check out the variety of locally grown veggies which have been generously donated: corn, bell peppers, tomatoes, squash, zucchini and green beans to name a few. Goodness, we have some talented gardeners in our church! Again, your donations to this worthwhile mission are greatly appreciated and will be used to provide meals for the local PADS program. Thank you! ~Mission Outreach
Cookie Walk Volunteers Needed
Our Cookie Walk is Saturday December 12th and we need to start planning but first we need a few good volunteers! The Cookie Walk has 5 committees with two co-chairs for each committee. We are delighted to have some of our co-chairs from last year but do however need four more to fill those open spots. Please check out the sign-up sheet in the Connecting Link and be a part of this awesome group and important Mission for our church. If you have any questions please call or e-mail Nancy Blakely. Thank you!
Saving Jesus
I thought Jesus was the Savior, why does he need to be saved?
Have you ever felt like the Jesus we hear about in pop culture, the news, or from other (loud) voices isn’t the same Jesus you thought you knew?
Have you ever wondered just what this Jesus guy is all about?
How is someone who lived 2000 years ago in the middle east relevant in the 21st century?
Join us from 6.45-8 on Wednesday evenings (feel free to keep eating dinner as we begin class!) as we, with the help of many of the leading Biblical scholars of our time, explore just who Jesus is, what kind of world he lived in, what he did, what’s important about him, and how/why we can be a part of a movement reclaiming Jesus from pop Christianity.
20th Anniversary! Fairhaven School, Alexandria, Egypt
Pastor Gendi Rizk is in the process of inviting those who have been instrumental in the growth of Fairhaven School for children with special needs to their 20th Anniversary celebration on Easter Sunday 2010. RCLPC has a 30+ year relationship with Pastor Gendi and has been a loyal supporter of Fairhaven. We have visited the school on each of our three trips to Egypt. We have hosted teachers from the school as they honed their skills at local non-profit agencies for the challenged, like NISRA and Pioneer Center. We are presently providing scholarships for three of the students so they can continue to attend life-giving classes there. (Please take a few moments and look at the pictures on the Mission Bulletin Board in the Connecting Link.) If you are interested in a trip to Egypt next year, please let one of the Mission Team members know in the next few weeks (Ann Legg, Rebecca Floyd, Cheryl Brincks, Rick Johnson, Joy Martin).
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October 14, 2009
The Spirit
of Ridgefield Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church
RCLPC turns Restaurant
ONE NIGHT ONLY!
On Saturday, October 24th, come to the best and most affordable restaurant in town—Ricklepickles! (don’t worry, pickles are not on the menu this time!)
The Fellowship Hall will be transformed, and you can dine in an elegantly casual atmosphere. This is a family friendly restaurant, and we also provide childcare for those of you who’d prefer to let kids play while you eat!
There will be a three-course menu, as well as a variety of beverages, all for the low-low suggested donation of $8 per person! And if you bring a stock certificate purchased from the youth group last spring, that is your ticket to a FREE dinner!
There will be one seating only for this fabulous opportunity!
Come to Ricklepickles for a 6pm dinner on October 24th
—see you there!
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Meals On Wheels
We are involved in mission in many different ways—one of those is the Meals on Wheels program. This is hands-on involvement that costs us only a little bit of our time (1-1/2 - 2 hours). Meals on Wheels provides regular contact with the elderly, and the primary goal is to help people remain in their home as long as possible. This is a ministry that would not be able to operate without volunteers from this and other congregations. Our participation is a vital contribution to this program. If you feel you could join others from this congregation in providing delivery service during this week of Oct. 19 – Oct. 23, please call Marina Hoffman or sign up in the Connecting Link. Your participation is greatly appreciated.
Hope, Change and Human Rights
“El Salvador: Hope, Change and Human Rights” will be presented on Saturday, October 17 at 7:00pm at the church.
The Salvadoran community leader, Rosa Centeno, is on a Midwest speaking tour to build awareness of the current situation in El Salvador and to build solidarity with the Salvadoran people as they defend their human and environmental rights. Rosa Centeno is the President of the Association of Rural Communities for the Development of El Salvador (CRIPDES). CRIPDES is the largest rural grassroots movement in El Salvador which coordinates organizing, education, and mobilization in over 300 rural communities. She will be accompanied by Sarah Bishop, an El Salvador Coordinator for the US-El Salvador Sister Cities network who is the translator of the tour.
The event is sponsored by Friends of Chilama, a McHenry County based sister city to the Salvadoran village of Chilama. The presentation is open to the public; there is no fee and refreshments will be served. For more information contact Ann Legg.
October 18th, 1:30 PM
It is that time again...
Time to support
Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty (CROP).
25% of your contribution will be equally divided between PADS and the Food Pantry. The remainder goes to Church World Service where funds are used to help children and families around the world. Please contribute or walk.
Make a difference. You can also donate on the web at www.cropwalkonline.org for Team RCLPC.
Report of the Building Committee
Progress on the plans for Church building expansion continue. After review and synthesis of the many questionnaires returned to the committee, a meeting with the architect was arranged. During the meeting we discussed the views expressed by the congregation, along with specific needs and general goals as communicated by participants in various church activities and representatives of ministry teams. Participants in the meeting included:
Administration –Kim Stewart
Caring –Ed Waters
Christian Ed – Connie Rasmussen
Custodial – Cindee Robinson
Fellowship and Welcoming –Jean Joslyn
Mission –Rebecca Floyd
Music Groups – Sherri Dees and Cecily Weber
Music Staff - Sherri Dees
Pre-School – Cynthia Maron
Youth – Teri Peterson and Cecily Weber
Worship –Lois Johnson
Based on the information developed during this meeting the architect is now in the process of developing a “program statement” which will describe in detail the design parameters that will be used to drive the actual design phase. The committee will review this “program” and the schematic phase of design should begin in November.
Youth News
Sunday October 18: CROP walk! Meet in Fellowship Hall between 12.30 and 1.10 for lunch. We leave at 1.10. You can be picked up after the walk (about 3pm) at Bethany Lutheran in downtown Crystal Lake. Confirmation class: You’re coming back to church for class and can be picked up at 5pm as usual.
Middle School Lock In Saturday October 23, 7pm-9am! Bring your pjs, your sleeping bag, your toothbrush, and a snack to share! Wear your Halloween costume, and be prepared for a frighteningly fabulous good time!
High School Youth Mission Trip Information Meetings: Sunday October 25th at 6pm OR Monday October 26th at 7pm. Come learn more about next summer’s mission trip to Broad Street Ministry in Philadelphia! Deadline to sign up for the mission trip (with $100 deposit) is November 1.
During this month of October,
we ask that you think about Stewardship.
To set your mind on the proper course, here are some thoughts...
We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give. - Winston Churchill
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Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. - Albert Einstein
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Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Love is a spendthrift. It leaves arithmetic at home. - CS Lewis
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The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. - Albert Schweitzer
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We have to learn to give, learn to share, learn to think of others. We have to learn to hold life loosely and freely; to give away our time and energy and money for the purpose of helping others, trusting that there will still be enough to take care of our needs and give us joy. - Thomas Kinkade
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It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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It is the heart that gives, the fingers just let go. - Nigerian proverb
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In the bearing of another's burdens, in the sharing of another's pain, we begin to dance. - Jim Cotter
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The Stewardship Team
Bike 350 McHenry County
As Christians, gratitude for God’s creation prompts us to care for all of the Earth—its people, plants and animals, the Earth itself. The effects of climate change increasingly impact the Earth in a myriad of ways.
October 24, 2009, has been designated an International Day of Climate Action. 350 is the number NASA Climatologist Dr. James Hansen and a team of scientists have set as the maximum amount of carbon (in parts per million) in the atmosphere. The world's leaders will meet this December to craft a new global treaty on cutting carbon emissions, and people all over the world—1859 actions in 145 countries—are showing their support for 350. Visit www.350.org to see what's happening worldwide.
People of faith are invited to join in prayer, meditation, action, and celebration for 350. You can become part of a local action by joining Bike 350 McHenry County. A low-key, low-carbon event, riders register online ahead of time. They select segments from a road/bike trail map of the county that shapes the number 350. And you can choose a segment as short as you wish, or as long as the whole 135-mile route.
At the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County’s website, www.mcdef.org, you’ll find the map, a registration form, and more details. You may also call 815.728.7002 to register. Help yourself to a flyer from the mission bulletin board.
Fair Trade Chocolate Is Back!
As fall settles in, we are able to offer fair trade chocolate once again. Look on the Coffee Cart in Fellowship Hall for your favorites. Both dark chocolate minis and bars of various sorts will be available.
Coffee and tea are available year ‘round on the cart. The coffee for sale includes regular and decaf, ground and whole bean. The cart is self-serve, with either cash or checks to RCLPC accepted. Anytime you are looking for a product you don’t see on the cart, just leave a note or see Lois Johnson, and we’ll include your request in the next order.
Coffee is the second most heavily traded commodity in the world after oil. The small farmers who grow our coffee often struggle just to make a simple living. Many live in the poorest countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, isolated from markets and without affordable credit.
On the Coffee Cart we offer Equal Exchange’s fair trade products, ensuring that farmers are paid a fair price, offered affordable credit, and supported in sustainable agriculture practices. We also serve brewed fair trade coffee. If you drink tea or coffee, or enjoy chocolate treats, join us in partnering with people of faith to make a difference for farmers and their families. Visit http://www.equalexchange.com/ to learn more about this organization.
A Word from Your Interim Pastor
Get your plaid out of the closet; on October 25th we’ll celebrate the heritage of our Reformed Tradition. If you have a Scottish plaid or a family plaid -- a kilt, a scarf, a cap -- or any plaid, you are encouraged to wear it. We’ll also be throwing a birthday party for John Calvin at age 500!
Yawn... roll your eyes…that’s dead history, you say. But the Reformed tradition is the Presbyterian way of doing church. This is just a start on understanding the tradition we are a part of. It all began in the sixteenth century with the efforts of Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church on the basis of scripture alone; eventually the reformers followed the many paths of Baptist, Mennonite, Disciples, Congregationalists and others.
So who is John Calvin? The perspectives of Calvin, a Frenchman, who lived, preached, and wrote in Geneva, Switzerland shaped the Reform movement. His major work begins with God the Creator and ends with reflections on civil government. He pastored a church and preached daily, wrote commentaries on almost every book in the Bible, trained and sent out missionaries, and influenced schools and civil governments. His personal seal – a heart held in his outstretched hand – was a symbol of desire to offer his heart in God’s service.
We often think of Calvin as cranky and gloomily obsessive. But he said this, “There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world, that is not intended to make us rejoice.” He loved music, particularly the psalms; he published a hymnal of the popular music of the time. Queen Elizabeth called his music “Geneva jigs.” Calvin placed a high value on Christian education, believing that scripture was central and all people (even women and children) should read the Bible. Studying science and nature was important to discovering the wonder’s of God’s world.
While theologians study his precise and rational arguments, he also wrote: “There is no worse screen to block out the Spirit than confidence in our own intelligence.” Here are few of his other thoughts, not his most profound, but they might generate a nod, a laugh, a groan, or applause: “Man with all his shrewdness is as stupid about understanding by himself the mysteries of God, as an ass is incapable of understanding musical harmony.” “Build a man a fire and he will be warm for a day; set him on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life.”
Another of our big-time ancestors was John Knox, the Scottish reformer who met Calvin in Geneva and then returned to Scotland to teach and write. Our peculiar brand of Protestantism came to America from Scotland.
Is this just yesterday’s news? No – we are connected to a tradition shaped by the belief that God is always reforming the church by Word and Spirit. With new thoughts and new inspiration, things change. We honor our ancestors’ faith, and we are still free to reform a new kind of church and not settle for the vision of what went before.
What would John Calvin and John Knox think if they visited our church today?
~Grace and Peace~
Jan
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