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The SPIRIT of Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church      Oct. 25, 2006
Click here to see the October calendar.
Click here to see the November calendar.

The Heart of Stewardship

Our stewardship campaign is underway. In the midst of all our talking about pledges and budgets and all the rest, I think it’s important to remember that, while stewardship is about money, it’s about much more than that. It’s about how we manage everything God has given us.

  • Stewardship begins with life itself. Our lives are not our own; they have been given to us by God. Every breath is a gift. Our lives are sacred trusts, and we are called to live them in ways that embody God’s grace and love and peace. “What you are is God’s gift to you; what you make of yourself is your gift to God.”

  • Stewardship includes time. None of us knows how much time we have in this life, so we must be thoughtful in how we use it. We must budget our hours so that we have time for work and worship, leisure and learning, celebrating and serving.

  • Our bodies and our minds are also gifts from God. We are called to be good stewards of our bodies and minds, to make healthy and responsible choices in all that we do so that we are able to offer our best to God.

  • God also gives us the talents we possess. We are called to develop our talents and use them wisely in ways that bring compassion, hope, and joy to other people.

  • We must also be good stewards of our relationships. Whether at home or at work or at church, we should care for one another and speak the truth in love to one another. We should always be seeking to build up, rather than tear down, in our relationships.

  • And, yes, stewardship includes property. We bring nothing into this life and we take nothing out of it. Everything we have has been given to us by God. Out of love and gratitude, we give back a portion of our property to support the work of the church.
Stewardship is about how we order everything we’ve been given—life, time, bodies, minds, talents, relationships, property—to keep God at the center. Our whole life is a partnership with God. Of course we can’t really “give” anything to God, but we can “work with” God by using our gifts wisely and sharing them with others.

Of course the church has bills to pay. We have vital ministries that we want to continue and expand. But in the end, the heart of stewardship is your commitment to offer your life to God in love and gratitude. Everything else flows from that.

-Richard

SESSION HIGHLIGHTS for October

* approved baptism for Brooke, daughter of Scot and Melissa Prindiville (Nov. 5)
* approved reimbursement to Cindee Robinson for pumpkins purchased (out of fellowship funds)
* set budget priorities for the coming year: fully funding the associate pastor position, increasing funding for music program, and increasing mission funding
* called a congregational meeting for Nov 18-19 for the purpose of electing elders for the class of 2010 and nominating committee for 2007
* heard a status report from the Building Task Force
* began planning for upcoming visioning process
* next meeting: Nov. 20

CONGREGATIONAL MEETING Called for Nov. 18-19

A congregational meeting has been called for the purpose of electing elders for the class of 2010 and nominating committee for 2007. In an effort to accommodate worshipers on both Saturday and Sunday, the congregational meeting will begin on Sat, Nov 18, at 6pm (immediately following NewWay worship) and will then resume on Sun, Nov 19, at 10am (after the 9am service). Ballots will be collected from each "session" and counted together. Look for information on our elder and nominating committee candidates in upcoming newsletters.

SANTA GOES TO IRAQ

A huge thanks to everyone who contributed to the Christmas Party in Iraq that Major Tom Lenhardt (Patti Hill's brother) will sponsor for his 300 soldiers. So many of you wrote Christmas greetings and gave all kinds of fun and useful gifts for the stockings project that Nancy Vazzano suggested. Nancy Vazanno planned ahead and bought more items in case we ran out of stocking stuffers (and we did!).

Leanna Miller, Val Krukiewicz, Raj Dencker, Dawn Condill, Kathy Rabe, Dorothy Vick, Nancy Vazanno, and I with the help of Richard and Teri liberated Friday the 13th from its superstitious connotations, and we stuffed 300 boot sox while listening to Christmas music, drinking hot cider, and eating cheesecake.

Joyce Berube talked to the store manager at Borders Bookstore, Annette, and she donated over 600 CDs, so each soldier will get 2 CDs in his or her Christmas stocking along with candy and all of those neat items that you contributed. As we were racing to get all of the stockings in boxes and clean the lounge so that it would be ready for a wedding on Saturday, we ran out of boxes. Dorothy Vick and Kim Stewart made a dash to McHenry County College's Maintenance Department to get more boxes, and Ed Bennett and Cindee Robinson helped carry the boxes to Ed's and my cars. Thanks also to my husband Ed for helping carry all of the boxes to the Post Office.

The Christmas in Iraq project to date has amounted to about $200 worth of stockings, $400 of candy and cookies for the stockings, 815 pounds of donated items with an approximate value of $9056.50 that cost $990.86 to ship by the less expensive Parcel Post. All of us working on this project are grateful to the Deacons in charge of Missions and Richard who have designated the proceeds from Share the Bounty and Panera donations to be used to pay for the stockings, the extra stuffers that were bought, and the postage.

~ Mary Moltmann

P.S. We have two more friends of our congregation who have recently deployed to the Middle East: Lou and Kathy Rabe's nephew and Rob and Julie Baser's nephew. I will be mailing them boxes soon, and I am waiting to hear from their families as to items they would like.

NEWS FROM IRAQ

My family and I would like to extend a HUMONGOUS thank you to everyone for their prayers and efforts to help make this Christmas brighter for our soldiers. I was pleasantly surprised the other day to receive a phone call and hear Tom’s voice all the way from Iraq. I relayed to him how much everyone has been working to donate and put together a special Christmas for his soldiers. Tom asked that I pass along this message --

He was so excited and appreciative of all that you are doing to help give his squadron a Christmas party. Being away from family is very difficult, especially during the holidays. Our service men and women are very dedicated to protecting our safety and freedom. Receiving prayers, words of support and packages from home are the highlight of their day. On behalf of Maj. Tom Lenhardt and the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16, I would like to say God Bless You and Thank You All!

~ Patti Hill

MISSION OUTREACH INVITATION

Dear Friends,

I would like to invite you to join me and the Mission Outreach Ministry on Sunday, November 5, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Fellowship Hall for a presentation on my recent trip to Colombia. Please note this date and time is a change from the original announcement.

As you know I spent 3 ½ weeks in Colombia. The first 2 weeks I was part of a Chicago Presbytery delegation which went to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Presbyterian Church in Colombia and to investigate ways to support Afro-Colombian displaced communities. During the final days of the trip, I was with a group from Witness for Peace whose focus was U.S. drug policy. We visited a number of human rights leaders and representatives from the U.S. Embassy and traveled to the department of Putumayo.

Colombian Mennonite Pastor, William Calcedo, and his wife, Marina Gil, will be joining me. Because of their work with the poor in Colombia, William and Marina’s lives have been threatened by members of paramilitary groups. As a result they are in sanctuary in Chicago until January.

A sign-up sheet is on the bulletin board in the Connecting Link or you may call the church office at 459-1132 to make a reservation. A light supper and childcare will be provided.
Sincerely, Ann Legg

FAIR TRADE COFFEE

Did you know 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.

In Fellowship Hall we serve fair trade coffee, ensuring that farmers are paid a fair price, offered affordable credit, and supported in sustainable agriculture practices. Farmers can build better lives for themselves and their families.

We purchase our coffee from Equal Exchange, the oldest fair trade company in the U.S. Other items that can be ordered are tea, sugar, cocoa, or chocolate bars and many other fair trade products. For more information, please see the Connecting Link on how you can find retail locations for fair trade products.

THE CARING TEAM IS COMING

Your telephone will ring one of these days and it will be a member of our new Caring Team, calling just to say “hi – how are you doing?” Actually we are planning these calls on an annual basis and it will help keep the church records up to date.

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 new Caring 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 Team member will point you in the right direction.

This is all part of a new direction the Deacons are going. The Board of Deacons is a flexible group of members whose duties change as the needs of RCLPC change. Each Deacon is now covering a specific area and more information will be provided as projects are implemented. Karen Hutchings is the Deacon for the Caring Team, so call her if you have questions.

WOW!! -- LET'S START THINGS UP AGAIN!!!
Pizza, Christian Music, and Roller Skating…all in one afternoon!

**Please sign up in the Connecting Link, so that reservations can be made.**

Who:Anyone and everyone!!
What:“Circle of Friends”
Where:Two Places! Whoa!!!
When:Sunday, January 28th (last Sunday in January)
3:00 pm ‘til around 8:00 pm
Why:Time to slow down, meet new friends, and re-connect with each other

First, let’s meet at 3:00 pm at Nick’s Pizza for an early dinner… all you can eat pizza and all you can drink soda. They will start bringing out the pizza around 3:15 pm, and we have the room for 2 ½ hours. $13 per adult, children 5 and under are FREE, children 6 and up are $9.

Please RSVP for the pizza portion of the event in the Connecting Link. If we don’t have enough for the room reservation, we can still meet at Nick’s and have pizza as a walk-in group.

Then… we’ll head over to Xtreme Wheels Roller Skating Rink (Crystal Lake) for Christian Music Night. $4 with free skate rental! 5:30-8:00 pm (stay as long as you’d like).

Questions???: Please contact Debi Keyzer or Julie Baser

BUILDING & GROUNDS CORNER: Workday Last Saturday

I saw a huge pile of wood chips by the shed on Sunday, did we buy them?

No we didn’t buy any chips, they are the result of extensive tree trimming accomplished on workday. We had a very small crew of hardworking folks show up who did an incredible job Saturday morning. Unfortunately many needed jobs were left undone due to a lack of volunteers. If anyone who couldn’t make it on Saturday would still like to help by raking leaves, or cleaning specific areas of the church, we can team you up with others for a more convenient time. Just drop Wayne a note or call and say, “I’d like to help”. And many many thanks to those who came out and worked so hard to improve the appearance of our church and grounds.

NATIVE AMERICAN CONNECTION
Miracle’s Second Chance

Miracle, the female Sacred White Buffalo Calf was born in Janesville, Wisconsin the morning of August 20, 1994 and died on the small Heider family farm on September 19, 2004 of natural causes.

However, on August 25, 2006, shortly after a severe lightning storm, another white buffalo calf was born to the Heider Herd from a different genetic line and definitely not an albino. This calf is a male but exhibits a very similar personality to Miracle and has been named Miracle’s Second Chance. Oh yes, there are other white buffalos, most being albino and not considered true “white buffalo” and many others did not survive very long and were crossed-mix of buffalo and Charolais cattle, yak or other bovine. Few are legitimate white buffalo calves.

The Heider’s are not Native Americans but their land is considered highly sacred by the region’s Native American Nations, a fact respected by the Heider family. The little one is strong, healthy, obviously happy and rambunctious delighting in cavorting around the pasture and trying to play with the older calves. The Heider’s relate that the herd treats Miracle’s Second Chance like it did Miracle by keeping him in the center of the herd, the most protected position. Additionally, the other mother buffalos step in and keep their own calves from being too rough with him. Interesting, huh?! Although the Heider’s have never capitalized on either calf, you can see pictures by visiting their website at www.whitebuffalomiracle.homestead.com.
Dawn Condill, Alice Haznedl, Ann Legg, Joy Martin, Janet Pearce, Rod Russell, MJ Towne, Gloria Thorson.

P. S. Don’t forget to let us know if you are interested in visiting The Trickster Gallery or a Pow Wow, by completing the Sign Up Sheet in the Connecting Link.

ORDINATION of Teri Peterson
Sunday, Oct. 29 at 6:30 pm
Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago
(corner of Michigan and Delaware)

You are invited to come to the ordination of Teri Peterson at 6:30 pm on Sunday, October 29th. The church is across the street from the Hancock Tower. Parking is available at 900 N. Michigan. The entrance to the parking deck is off of Walton Street (one block north of Delaware). A reception will follow the service in Fellowship Hall.

GLOBAL GIFT SHOP Coming Nov. 18-19

Ready to do some Christmas shopping?
Intrigued by a way to alleviate poverty and move people toward self-sufficiency at the same time?

A Global Gift Shop offering fairly traded handicrafts and food items from developing countries around the world will be held in Fellowship Hall during the weekend of November 18-19. Open before and after each of our worship services, the gift shop will help provide income to disadvantaged artisans and farmers from developing regions of the world. Items for sale include housewares, baskets, candles, jewelry, and decorative items, plus coffee, tea, chocolate, and nuts. Prices range from $1 for a chocolate bar from Ghana to $34 for a mother and child sculpture from Haiti. Please join us in spreading hope and justice. If you could assist with the sale, please contact Lois Johnson.

Looking for ways to have fun and meet with new friends?

Check out the new opportunities for social gatherings on the poster in the Connecting Link. Some ideas are there, but please share ideas you would like to participate in at RCLPC.
Fellowship Ministry: Cindy Borre, Doug Crane, Laura Pohl