The Prairie Light First Presbyterian Church ◦ P.O. Box 236 Liberal, KS 67905 ◦ presby@swko.net (620)624-5487 Office April 2015 edition

From the Pastor by Rev. Kitty Lum

Lenten and Easter blessings to everyone! It has been an exciting and productive month. As I look at what has happened so far this Lent and at what is about to happen this week and next week during Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, I think that it has been a gradual journey to discovering that our Lord Jesus came not to be a typical dominating king but rather a humble, gentle king. Often ministers are referred to as “servant-leaders,” who lead their flock by being willing to serve them with a humble and compassionate spirit. Well, I think of Jesus as a “servant-king” who came to lead his people out of the bonds of political, religious, physical, emotional, and economic injustice by being willing to serve them with a humble and compassionate spirit. So, as I have walked through this Lenten season with the good folks at FPC Liberal this year, I hope that I have reflected this humble, understanding, and loving attitude in all the different ministries/activities in which I have served. Though I grew up in the Church and have been a disciple of Christ since I was a little child at age 7, my faith is still a work in progress like everyone else’s and I am still growing closer to God every day.

The first highlight of what I and our new Office Manager, Megan, have been working hard on this month is the financial situation of the Preschool/Daycare. Megan started with us a little over a month ago and she is doing a fantastic job and quickly getting up to speed on the church and Preschool/Daycare work! So far, along with help from Preschool/Daycare Director, Rose Ramirez, Volunteer Bookkeeper, Tammy Abbott, Elder Marvin Chance Sr. and other Elders/Deacons, we feel that we have made significant progress in getting the bookkeeping and payment process into order. We will soon be meeting with some Elders and the Director about establishing new policies for the Preschool/Daycare. We hope to move to a more proactive system of payment for the Preschool/Daycare services, which we believe will greatly help us keep it a viable non-profit that provides a much-needed service to the community. I hope that Megan, the Director, the Elders and I, as the leaders of the Preschool/Daycare, will reflect this humble, compassionate, and understanding spirit toward the parents/clients as we move forward. The second highlight of this past month is our new church website. Megan and I have worked hard this month to create all the main pages of the website.

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Megan has also researched the possible web companies to select the most cost effective one, so that with our in-house design and this web company, we will be able to create and maintain the website without spending thousands of dollars for a webmaster. We are so excited about this website! I hope that what we have created really reflects the humble, gentle and loving spirit of Jesus and of this congregation. We believe that this website will be the church’s “face” to the world and we pray that many people will find their way to our church through these online pages. The third highlight in this month was having the privilege of conducting Vera Peery’s graveside service and provide pastoral care to Vera’s daughter and her family during a difficult time. While this was a sad event and time, I think it is a sacred honor to be invited in by a person or the person’s family at this stage of life, as a minister, to offer presence, prayer, and comfort, as well as a formal service. Vera was a long-time member of our church who, according to what our members and her family said, was a strong, bright, and loving woman who had a sharp wit and I wished I could have known her. I certainly felt honored to be the one to conduct her service. The fourth highlight of my month was visiting Kathryn Wood and Leon Onions. I have been wanting to visit members who are not able to attend church and with Deacon Janet Lewis’ help, I finally was able to do it! Praise God, Leon is now back in church! I very much enjoyed our visit with Kathryn, who is a very gracious and kind woman. We also had a wonderful

visit with Leon, who at the same time was surrounded by his loving nieces. We were happy to help Leon feel even more loved and popular than he already was! The fifth highlight of this month was the Lenten Prayer Group. This group has met during each Wednesday of the season and it seems to have been meaningful and enjoyable to some of our members. It certainly has been a restorative and energizing experience for me, both because of the centering prayer and the fellowship time. Sometimes, we were able to offer each other care. Other times, we just offered our friendship and had a fun time talking and laughing. There were even times when we were able to discuss theological issues which bothered us or which are controversial. This, of course, is one of my favorite past-times, so it made the fellowship time an especially rewarding one for me. A sure highlight of April will be Easter Sunday. There will be an exciting and fun Egg Hunt for the children of our church and the Preschool/Daycare and an Easter Breakfast! I hope that everyone will see Jesus’ humble, loving, and joyful spirit reflected in us as we prepare for these events. Megan and her family plan to come to the Breakfast and we look forward to seeing many of you there! Christ is risen! -Kitty Lum

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Stepping Stone Shelter’s Spring Sing BBQ Thing The Stepping Stone Shelter's 10th Annual Spring Sing BBQ Thing will be held Sunday, April 26 from 12:00 p.m. noon - 2:00 p.m. at 1015 N. Washington. There will be a BBQ dinner, music, and a raffle. Your $10 plate will support the Stepping Stone Shelter and you pay at the door. To buy raffle tickets for the events, stop by the Stepping Stone Shelter at 1015 N. Washington, call (620) 626-6024 or e-mail steppingstone@swko.net. Raffle tickets are $5 each or $20 for 5 tickets. Your raffle ticket puts you into the raffle for 1 of 2 32GB iPad minis - one white and one black, valued at $389.99 each. Please support the Stepping Stone Shelter at their Spring Sing BBQ Thing!

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Commit to be Fit!

COMMIT TO BE FIT is a program sponsored by the K-State Extension Office, aimed at helping people become healthier, in mind, body, and finances. The program believes that all of these aspects of our health and lives are connected. There are inspirational speakers speaking on different topics about our health every month and participants form a team, so that they make and carry out goals, to improve their health, as a team. The next meeting will be Monday, April 20 at 6:00 p.m. at the Activity Center and all are welcome to attend. The focus will be on financial health. Please talk with Kathy Bloom or Amy Thompson to find out more information on this program as they are in charge of it.

Kiwanis Garage Sale The Noon Kiwanis Club of Liberal is having a garage sale in April. The garage sale will benefit various kids’ projects in our community. Anyone who would like to donate items can call Greg Bird at Edward Jones, (620) 624-1612 or deliver donations to their office, located at 16 E. 2nd Street in Liberal, KS. The garage sale will be in the building behind the Edward Jones office on Saturday, April 11, 2015.

Lunchtime Prayer Group Information

Please join us on Wednesdays at 12:00 p.m. in the Family Room for a lunchtime prayer and time for visiting and discussion of faith. You are welcome to bring your lunch and a friend – or many friends!

Easter Sunday is April 5 – there will be an Easter breakfast at 9:00 a.m., followed by worship at 10:30 a.m. and an Easter Egg Hunt at 11:45 a.m.

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Easter Egg Hunts - Fri. April 3, 6 p.m. @ Blue Bonnet Park - Sat. April 4, 1 p.m. @ Arkalon Park - Sun. April 5, 11:45 a.m. @ First Presbyterian Church of Liberal Hunting eggs for Easter seems like a strange tradition, but the egg itself has been an Easter symbol of the resurrection of Jesus for a very long time. Lizette Larson-Miller, a professor with the Graduate Theological Union of Berkeley, explained that the Easter egg tradition can be traced back to the Protestant Christian Reformer Martin Luther. “We know that Martin Luther had Easter egg hunts where the men hid the eggs for the women and children and it probably has this connection back to the idea of the eggs being the tomb.” Reverend Mary Jane Pierce Norton, the Associate General Secretary of Leadership Ministries at the General Board of Discipleship, added that, “there’s something about going to hunt the eggs just as we might go to hunt for Jesus in the tomb. And when we find them it’s that joy that the women had when they reached the tomb first and found that Jesus was no longer there.”

Barbershop Quartet

The Liberal chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society "Wizards of Harmony" presents the 23rd anniversary parade of quartets! The event will be held on April 11, 2015 at the Liberal High School James Maskus Auditorium from 7-9:00 p.m. Tickets are $4 for students 18 and under, $8 in advance for 18+ or $10 at the door for 18+.

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Extreme Weather & Church Closings On days of extreme weather, we are more concerned about your safety and health than you taking risks to attend worship. Pastor Kitty suggests that you spend time in family or personal devotions/bible study on such occasions. When Pastor Kitty and the Elders determine that the weather is unsafe for people to come to worship, she will notify you using various methods. Pastor Kitty recently had Megan send out an email to church attenders asking for their preference in how to be contacted during this kind of event. We received very few responses so far, so please reply if you have not done so. In addition to this, Pastor Kitty will use Remind.com to send out a group email to everyone who is registered on Remind.com. Please see your email from Megan and the information in this newsletter on how to register with Remind.com or see the article about Remind on the next page.

Also, as time permits, Pastor Kitty may call or use a link for the news station in Wichita, KAKE, and ask them to run a written message along the bottom of the T.V. screen or call the local radio station, KSCB and ask them to make an announcement. You may also call Pastor Kitty’s cell phone at (707) 483-1122 if you have any questions about whether or not there is worship. She does not usually bring her cell phone to church Sundays, but she will have it with her on days of extreme weather. Let’s brave the weather wisely and safely!

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Craft Night Friday April 10 is the monthly Craft Night in the Family Room from 7:00 p.m. to midnight. Bring a craft to work on and a snack to share. Invite a friend! All adults are welcome! The group craft from March, the ‘Sharpie Mug,’ is still available on this craft night! We will be using special pens to decorate ceramic mugs in a way that will last and is safe to keep using your mug. Bring $5 if you want to do this mug craft.

Stay in Touch With Remind.com! This month the church began using a new tool to help keep in touch with congregation members and to inform them about church closings – Remind.com! Remind.com is a one-way text messaging and e-mail system. All personal information remains completely confidential and there is no third-party spam or unauthorized messages being sent to your phone. To receive important alerts and closing information via text, text @fpclib to 81010. You can opt-out of messages any time by replying unsubscribe @fpclib. If you have trouble using 81010, text @fpclib to (620) 450-4232 instead. If you’d like to have the messages sent to your e-mail, send an email to fpclib@mail.remind.com. You can unsubscribe by sending another e-mail with “unsubscribe” in the subject.

Annual Book Sale The Memorial Library invites you to come shop at their annual book sale. The sale will be from Tuesday-Thursday April 14-16 from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. You can shop on Monday evening if you become a Friend of the Library. If you’re interested in becoming a Friend of the Library for only $5/person or $10/family, contact Amy Thompson at (620) 960-3802 or e-mail rubyslipperwarrior@yahoo.com.

LARC Fundraiser The Liberal Area Rape Crisis & Domestic Violence Services, Inc. will be holding its sixth annual fundraiser on April 11, 2015. The fundraiser, called “Denim and Diamonds,” will be held at the Seward County Ag Building at 6:30 p.m. Dinner will be served from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. A silent auction will be occurring simultaneously from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and a live auction begins at 8:00 p.m. Church member Bill Lewis plays in the RBC band, which will be playing until 11:00 p.m. Tickets to the fundraiser cost $15 per person and can be purchased from any board or staff member of LARC/DVS or by calling 620-624-2774. Director Lori Hensley also has tickets and can be reached at 620-391-2279. Please come help support the Liberal Area Rape Crisis & Domestic Violence Services, Inc. and have a great night of fun activities!

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April Birthdays

April 1 Lewis Gilbert

1 P.J. Carlisle

4 Alex Chance

5 Lester Caldwell

6 Addison Yates, daycare

7 Dick Farmer

7 Ryan Oliver

9 Susan Hall

9 Carter Krause, daycare

10 Megan Spain

11 Devin Gardner, daycare

16 Dan Lewis

16 Inabelle Peters

19 Taylor Abbott

19 Alberta Gilbert

21 Teagan Hensley

22 Jessina Sauls

23 Shamari Lewis, daycare

27 Kolt Pitts, daycare

30 Fred Bloom

30 Jerry Stuckey

April Anniversaries

April 1 – Mike & Tonya (Pittman) Navarette

2 – Bill & Connie Lewis 16 – Jim & Martha Darnell

17 – Chris & Zuki Vermillion 23 – Jerry & Judy Stuckey

24 – Anthony & Lindsay Hall

Are we missing your birthday or anniversary? E-mail presby@swko.net or

call 620-624-5487 to have your date added.

Connect with us on Facebook!

We invited you all to join us on our Facebook page in October. Since then, we have increased our ‘likes’ from 24 to 63. Thank you for adding our additional way to stay in touch! We are keeping it filled with local church news as well as news from the PCUSA denomination and our community, not to mention current and past photos. You can find us as “First Presbyterian Church of Liberal.”

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First Presbyterian Church Pre-School & Day Care Center

March was an exciting month for the children attending the First Presbyterian Church Child Care Center & Preschool. The Center welcomed two new employees, Lourdes Terrazas and Jaden Lee, to its family. The daycare employees were also lucky enough to be able to attend a mini-conference held at Seward County Community College/Area Technical School in Liberal. The mini-conference centered around early childhood care and development and had sessions specializing in how to help children develop listening skills and other useful tips. Nearly all employees attended. If you walked through the halls towards the end of the month of March, you would have likely noticed a theme – dino mania! The children learned about dinosaurs and went on a dinosaur hunt. They also completed dinosaur-themed crafts like using dry pasta noodles to make “bones” on a painted dinosaur silhouette. As always, it’s a lively place to be during the day. A few highlights from the month include listening to the children’s renditions of the popular Christmas song “Feliz Navidad” and “Let it Go” from Frozen, as well as overhearing a gravely serious “Close. The. Door.” from a commanding four-year-old heading out to recess! Teeth were lost and collected by

the tooth fairy, spring break was celebrated, and the days continue to grow warmer. The children are now able to go outside and enjoy the colorful playground as the weather gets sunnier. There’s also an Easter Egg Hunt planned for Thursday, April 2 for the daycare children and they were also invited to the First Presbyterian Church’s Easter Egg Hunt on April 5 at 11:45 a.m. We look forward to April and all of the surprises and good times it will bring!

Volunteer Opportunities There are several opportunities for you to volunteer at the church. There are various projects we hope to get done and these are things that will allow Kitty and her new office manager to make a smooth transition together.

Copy and fold the weekly bulletin –

Friday mornings.

Proofread the monthly newsletter,

The Prairie Light.

Scan our historical records so that

we have them all digitally recorded.

Defrost the refrigerator in the Food

Cupboard

If there are other projects you can think would benefit the church, please talk with Kitty or Megan in the church office.

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Share your Skills and Passions We have three committees lead by our Session and you are invited to contribute to any of these committees. Listed are those who have already signed-up. Please contact the italicized Elder to visit about how you can participate. *Note that you do not have to be a member of the church to serve on a committee. Congregational Life led by Lester Caldwell – lestercaldwell@gmail.com This committee includes Worship, Fellowship, and Christian Education Worship (special music, flowers, Advent decorations, etc.) – Kathy Bloom Fellowship (coffee time, potluck dinners, etc.) – Jonice Oblander, Veronica Zainali, Martha Darnell, Janet Lewis Christian Education (Sunday School, Bible Study, Children’s Church, etc.) Congregational Outreach led by Fred Bloom – fbloom@swko.net This committee includes Moments for Mission, Child Care Center, outside groups such as 4-H, Presbyterian denominational offerings, community projects, etc. – Amy Thompson Congregational Resources led by Bob Oblander – obbob@swko.net This committee includes building and grounds involving both the church and the Child Care Center (mowing, snow removal, AC/heat, locks, etc.).

A Place for Moms to Connect Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) is an international organization providing moms the opportunity to meet together for Bible study and fellowship. The Liberal MOPS group meets bimonthly at FSBC. If you are interested in participating in this Bible study, contact Raygan Caballero at 480-307-4727 for more information. The Liberal MOPS group is looking for volunteers to care for children during their bimonthly meetings. If you could bless this ministry by being a volunteer childcare provider and would like more information, please contact Raygan Caballero at 480-307-4727

Hour-Long Book Club You are invited to the Hour-Long Book Club at Liberal Memorial Library. The Book Club meets the third Thursday of every month from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. An article or short story will be read and then discussed. It’s a fun way to be involved in the community!

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April 2015 Gatekeeper: Jonice Oblander

GR = Greeter WL = Worship Leader FR = Family Room SM = Special Music

Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Kitty’s office hours:

Monday: off Tuesday: 1-5 p.m.

Wednesday: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Thursday: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Friday: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Megan’s office hours:

Monday - Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Highlight key: USD480 / FPC /

SCCC / misc.

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2 Daycare Easter Egg Hunt

3 Good Friday Daycare Closed USD480 No School

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5 Easter & Egg Hunt

GR: Marvin Sr. & Nancy Chance WL: Bob Houck

6 USD480 No School

7 8 9 10 11 LARC Denim & Diamonds Wizards of Harmony Barbershop Quartet

12 GR: Cathy B. & Mary Lambert WL: Bob Oblander

13 14 15 16 Session Meeting @ 6:30 - FR

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19 GR: Leroy & Johnna Black WL: Dan Brown

20 21 Women’s Presbetery Spring Gathering @ Hutchinson

22 23 24 USD480 Teacher Inservice – no school

25 Relay for Life 5K @ Light Park

26 GR: Fred & Kathy Bloom WL: Fred Bloom SSS Spring Sing BBQ Thing SCCC/ATS Spring Fiesta

27 28 29 SCCC/ATS Poetry Coffeehouse

30 31

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First Presbyterian Church

P.O. Box 236 Liberal, KS 67905-0236

Did you know that you can reduce our paper usage and cut down on costs for the church by

opting to receive this newsletter via e-mail? If you would like to receive your monthly newsletter this way, please contact the Church Office at presby@swko.net

If you have e-mail, you can also use our e-mail to notify the Church Office on any changes to

your address, births, deaths, to add your name to the Prayer Chain e-mail list, or other questions.

Of course, we always love to visit with you on the phone or in person!