First Presbyterian Church - Daily Activities/News

21 West Third Street

P.O. Box 490

Maysville, KY 41056

(606) 564-3639

MISSION OF FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

To worship and glorify God while working together in Christian fellowship.

To grow spiritually both as individuals and as a congregation.

To faithfully respond to God’s call to reach out to all in loving Christian service

CHURCH STAFF

Interim…...............…Rene’ Whitaker

Church Secretary…....Pat Calchera

Choir Director.....…...Nicholas Denham

Music Coordinator….Janet Stitt

Organist…................Suzan Ross

Nursery Attendant…..Kim Thompson

The Session

Clerk of Session – Bruce Bellingham

Treasurer – John McDowell

Class of 2010

Bruce Bellingham

Peg Crum

Marilyn Garlitz

Kate Zweigart

Class of 2011

Pat Webb

Ted Willim

Andrew Wood

Bob Zweigart

Class of 2012

Nicholas Denham

Cathy Webb

Karen Wood

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

2010: Dan Crum

2011: David Harnish

2012: Ernie Siders

SESSION COMMISSIONS

Spiritual Life………………................................................………...Karen Wood and Kate Zweigart

Worship.......................................................................................Nicholas Denham and Ted Willim

Personnel………………………...........………...Bob Zweigart, Andrew Wood, and Bob Hendrickson

Outreach…………………..................................……..…………………….Peg Crum and Pat Webb

Finance & Stewardship……………………….Bruce Bellingham, Taylor Wood, and Sparky McDowell

Congregational Life.........................................................................Marilyn Garlitz and Cathy Webb

HOLY WEEK EVENTS

Palm Sunday is March 28, 2010. There will be a luncheon honoring the ministry of Reverend Rene' Whitaker which will follow the Sunday morning worship service. Please join us for delicious food and joyful fellowship!

Maundy Thursday is on April 1st. It will be celebrated with communion around the table on that date with a potluck dinner and worship in the Fellowship Hall at 6:00 p.m. Please bring a dish to share.

Easter Sunday is on April 4th this year. On Sunday morning, there will be a breakfast at 9:00 a.m. served under the direction of "executive chef" Dan Crum and his trusty crew of men of the First Presbyterian Church. Everyone is invited to attend. There will also be a special collection during the worship service for the One Great Hour of Sharing. Please come join us on the glorious day of worship.

A Lenten Message from Reverend Rene' Whitaker

The more I study the Biblical text, the more I discover that it is a work of questions as much as answers. Moses daring to ask God, "What is your name?" The disciples and others continuously inquiring, "Who is this man (meaning Jesus)?" Jesus asking the disciples, "Who do you think that I am?" It is filled with questions pondered on a starry night in the desert and others asked in the midst of exile in Babylon. There are questions posed by God and to God, some put before contemporary authorities and others asked of ordinary men and women. They are questions asked in hopes of better understanding who we are in relation to God, the created world and one another as part of God's creation. The question found in the 4th verse of Psalm 8 is one such question:

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established, what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?" (New Revised Standard Version)

For me, the question becomes, "Who are we?" In fact, some of you may remember a sermon by this title given on November 22, 2009. "Who are we small spots in the universe? We, who can ponder and wonder at all that is around us and in us and beyond us? Who are we?" It is this question that pulls us back to Psalm 8 again and again.

Psalm 8 is one of 150 Psalms of different types (praise, lament, thanksgiving, etc.) that were collected through the years by the Israelites. They were used in cultic worship and by individuals at prayer. They were read aloud, sung aloud, and recited again and again. Remember there were no Bibles; people didn't own written documents. Most people could not read. But people could listen and hear. People memorized these poems that described their lives and that interpreted their history. These words were passed down from generation to generation. And each generation heard the questions again.

Grandparents and mothers, fathers, sons and daughters all asking the same questions. Can we begin to imagine hearing the words as a family, a tribal group...as a community of faith? Words sung, chanted or read aloud again and again. And then each one (alone and together) listening for the answers in the darkness of the night. No television, radio, internet...not even other books to distract them. Can we understand the impact that these words had? We who find little time for silence and are very seldom without lights all around us.

As we move forward during the weeks of Lent, perhaps each of us can find a few moments of quiet to listen to the worlds of Psalm 8 and ponder the question it asks:

"O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory about the heavens. Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established, what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the fields, the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (New Revised Standard Version)

Blessings and Peace,

Rev. Rene'

Start collecting your old Christmas stuff, clothes you've outgrown, dishes you are tired of, etc. for the rummage sale coming this summer. Last year, the rummage sale generated $600 and half of that went to the Food Bank for holiday baskets. Start simplifying your life while helping others!

Betty Regenstein

Betty Eberly

Kenton Murphy

Earl Kinder

Sherry Nelan

Penny Brophy, Betty Haydon's daughter

Cathy Webb's mother

Victims of the Haiti Earthquake

Candice Beckett and her 3 daughters

Bill Cox, Cathy Reynold's uncle

Crossroads Baptist Church and Alva Puckett

Limestone Ministries

This newly incorporated organization has found a home in the First Christian Church (next to the Mason County Food Bank). This ministry will serve as a clearinghouse for persons needing assistance in Mason County. A nine member board, made up of both clergy and lay people, has oversight of the organization.

Funding for this organization will come from a variety of sources including individuals, churches, and publicly or privately funded grants. The offering from last week's Community Thanksgiving Service was designated for this purpose by the Limestone Ministerial Association. The Session of First Presbyterian Church has also set aside $1,000 of the 2010 budget for this purpose.

If you would like to include this ministry in your holiday giving, you may send a check made payable to Limestone Ministries, c/o Father Michael Henderson, 31 E. Third St., Maysville, Kentucky 41056.

MARCH DATES TO REMEMBER

3- Bible Study 5:45 p.m.

3- Choir practice 7:00 p.m.

5- World Day of Prayer - Church Women United meeting at 6:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church

9- Presbytery meeting at the Beaumont Presbyterian Church in Lexington KY

10- Bible Study 5:45 p.m.

10- Choir practice 7:00 p.m.

10- Evening Circle 7:00 p.m.

14- Daylight Savings Time begins

14- Burnamwood Sunday

14- Lily Order deadline

17- Bible Study 5:45 p.m.

17- Choir practice 7:00 p.m.

22- PW meeting at 10:30 a.m. and visiting Coral Losh at 2 p.m. at Ohio Valley Manor

22- Session Meeting at 5:30 p.m.

24- Bible Study 5:45 p.m.

24- Choir practice 7:00 p.m.

28- Passion/Palm Sunday with luncheon honoring Rev. Rene' Whitaker

31- Bible Study 5:45 p.m.

31- Choir Practice 7:00 p.m.

April

1- Maundy Thursday with Communion around the table and Potluck

4- Easter Sunday with a 9:00 a.m. breakfast

Miranda Bentley.........................................1

Drew Wood...............................................2

Jo Anne Siders..........................................6

Karen Wood............................................14

Patrick Breslin.........................................17

Evan Brothers..........................................19

Martha Denham Bone...............................21

John Van Meter, Jr....................................23

Indea Breeze.............................................25

Coral Losh................................................26

Jane Wise..................................................28

Betsy Parker...............................................31

The youth had a bake sale on February 7th and raised $252. The money raised went to the Mason County Backpack Program, which provides nourishing snacks for those youth in need in our community.

If you wish to donate directly to the BackPack Program, a basket is in the Fellowship Hall. If you wish to donate a check, make it payable to the First Presbyterian Church and note "BACKPACK" in the memo line of the check.

Please remember to continue to donate to the Food Bank. The most needed items are spaghetti sauce, boxed spaghetti, macaroni and cheese dinners, dried beans, saltine crackers, cornbread mix, peanut butter, oats, cereal, canned soups, canned vegetables, and canned fruit. A basket for the Food Bank is located in the back of the Sanctuary. Cash donations are welcome as well. If you wish to make a donation to the Food Bank, you can send it directly to the Mason County Food Bank located at the First Christian Church in Maysville or make the check payable to the First Presbyterian Church and make a note in the memo line of your check on Sunday morning noting the amount of your contribution to the food bank.

NELL JO CLICK MARSHALL

Nell Jo Click Marshall was born in Hamlin, West Virginia in 1919. Her father was one of the first county agricultural agents in West Virginia. Her mother was a home demonstration agent until she married. Nell Jo also lived in other areas of West Virginia as a child (moved to Wayne at age 20 months, then on to Huntington at age 10). She was an only child. Her parents were both college graduates. Her father was originally from Berea, Kentucky and her mother was from Mooresburg, Tennessee. They met while both teaching half-time in Somerville, West Virginia. They both were Presbyterians. Her mother graduated from Maryville College in Tennessee, then a Presbyterian college, at a time when few females were allowed to go to college. Just before his retirement as a county agent, her father was hired as the farm program director at WSAZ-TV and Radio and also wrote a daily garden column for the Huntington Herald Dispatch.

Nell Jo attended Marshall College for 2 years while waiting to be accepted at Berea College. She attended Berea College her junior and senior years and graduated with a degree in Home Economics in 1941. She was first employed by the University of Kentucky as a home demonstration agent in Greenup County, which was located not too far from her parents. She enjoyed her work very much. After working five years in Greenup County, she then transferred into Mason County. After 1-1/2 years in Mason County, she resigned to be married to Charles Marshall, who was a farmer.

Nell Jo transferred her membership to the First Presbyterian Church soon after moving to Mason County. Her husband had been attending the Washington Presbyterian Church for 30 years, but had never become a member, and then after they were married, Dr. Thurm invited Charles to join the First Presbyterian Church. Charles became a deacon soon after and also served as an Elder for the church. Nell Jo also was an Elder. Nell Jo mentioned that Mrs. Gertrude Cochran was one of the first women elected to serve as a member of session at the First Presbyterian Church. Before that, only the men were the decision makers, although the women served in other ways within the church.

Nell Jo has always been active in the church, first in the Westminster Guild, which was the Evening Circle in that day and was very well attended by 25 to 30 women each month, then later on in other Presbyterian Women groups/circles. The Westminster Guild was broken further down when the pastor at the time told the group that the younger women wished to form their own circle, so they were mixed into 3 different circles. She has been the Moderator of the Presbyterian Women in past years and is still active in the meetings. She always attended the two Gatherings the Presbyterian Women have every year. When Linda Reed and Nell Jo are at the meetings, Nell Jo introduces Linda to fellow Presbyterian Women there. When Charles and Nell Jo were a young married couple, they were often invited to some older couples' homes for Sunday dinner. It meant a lot to them to be welcomed in that way by the church members and she tries to continue to invite people to lunch even today, because she knows how much it meant to them. They also played bridge with other Presbyterian couples within the church. Linda Reed noted that Nell Jo always welcomes new families of our town to church and tries to get the members involved in church.

Nell Jo, abiding by the wishes of her husband, did not work outside the home again until her son Bill was six years old. The superintendent at the time asked Nell Jo to come and teach and she turned him down due to the promise she had made to her husband to not work outside of home after their marriage. Her husband came home soon after and asked her if she'd like to teach and she enthusiastically answered him with a "Yes!" She taught home economics at the Minerva school for one year before transferring to the Maysville High School to teach for 3 years. The Ripley, Ohio school system offered her a home economic teaching job for better pay, so she transferred there and taught for 3 years. Her father passed away soon after and she resigned to take care of her mother and family through this time. She then became a science teacher for junior high students (grades 6-8) for a year. The next year she was asked to help the school system out by teaching a special education class, requested because they were going to lose their ability to serve them without a certified person to take the class. She taught 20 special education students that year. She said that she had never been trained and used "horse sense, reading every book I could get my hands on about special needs children and prayer...not in that order! It was usually prayer, horse sense, and then the books that helped me through this period." Nell Jo says, "It was teaching that year that turned my hair snow white!" She said one year was quite enough!

Following those teaching years, Nell Jo concentrated on becoming a full-time homemaker. She raised a garden, her son, and took care of the household duties. She traveled with her husband when he went to assorted Board of Directors meetings. He was also very busy as a dairy farmer and milked 125 cows twice a day when he wasn't on the road traveling.

Nell Jo and Charles were married for 52 years before he passed away. They had one son, Bill, who married Mary Frances Peddie, the daughter of the Church of the Nativity priest, Scott Peddie. They have two children, Nell Jo's grandchildren, who are Charles Scott Marshall and Julia Marshall. Charles graduated from DePaul University and is now a computer specialist in Chicago, Illinois and is married to Melissa. Julia graduated from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and is now employed at the Container Store in Cincinnati, Ohio. Nell Jo's face beamed with pride as she spoke about her family.

Nell Jo said that it is her fervent wish that some of the members who have gotten out of the habit of attending church can realize how much the church family wants and needs them back as active members again. She said although she understands that it is an easy habit to fall into by staying home, the fellowship and worship with other members of the church is a blessing for everyone and is needed to keep the church vital and growing.

"Reach up as far as you can, and God will reach down all the rest of the way." ---John Vincent

Don't forget to "Spring Ahead" on March 14th as Daylight Savings Time starts once again!

Arthur Lichtenberg, when presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, quoted this Lenten advice:

Fast from criticism, and feast on praise
Fast from self-pity, and feast on joy
Fast from ill temper, and feast on peace
Fast from resentment, and feast on contentment
Fast from jealousy, and feast on love
Fast from pride, and feast on humility
Fast from selfishness, and feast on service
Fast from fear, and feast on faith

---The SourceBook of Wit and Wisdom

CANCER FIGHTERS UNITED

Highland Christian Church would like to announce a support group for those fighting the battle against cancer, "Cancer Fighters United."

Lots of resources are available including help for hair loss, prosthetics, makeup, and educational information. For more information, you may call (606) 563-6289.