Decatur Presbyterian Church Apri l 2014

Decatur, Georgia

DECPRESS

Meet Allysen Schaaf 2

Endowment Grants 3

Goodbye Ken Hughes 4

Prayer List 5

Trip to State Gardens 6

Campus Spotlight 7

DPCC Events 8

(404) 378-1777 | dpchurch.org

HO LY WEE K SERV IC E S OFFER RE F L EC TIO N , PR AYER , AND JOY

W e look forward to the mean-ingful services and events planned for Holy Week from

Palm Sunday April 13 through Easter on April 20. On Palm Sunday, our regular 10:15 a.m. service will include a procession with palms into the sanctuary. We will serve communion and invite everyone to partici-pate in a craft of making a cross with a palm leaf. On April 17, attend the 6:30 p.m. Maundy Thursday service in the sanctu-ary. Dr. Todd Speed will offer the medita-tion, and communion will be served by intinction. The Chancel Choir will provide anthems, and the service closes with the somber stripping of the Chancel.

Please note that Hugh Burns will hold his Widowers Support Group at 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening at his home. Jill Joyner will continue her series of “Moving in Wholeness” at 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday in the Crusaders Classroom. No Bible study will be offered that night.

On Good Friday, we will have a Tene-brae: A Service of Darkness in the sanctu-ary at 7:30 p.m. The Chancel Choir will sing anthems on the seven last words of Christ

as candles are extinguished one by one and the sanctuary darkens.

The Festival Service of Easter begins at 10:15 a.m., and features Dr. Todd Speed preaching, the Chancel Choir with brass ensemble, and a One Great Hour of Shar-ing offering.

Easter also is “Name Tag Sunday” and “Bring a Friend to Church Sunday” — a perfect time to invite a colleague, friend or neighbor to DPC.

You are invited to bring flowers and greenery from your yard at 9 a.m. and par-ticipate in the Flowering of the Cross. Fol-lowing the Easter service, we will gather for Punch on the Terrace Garden.

Instead of supper on Wednesday night, we will move that event to Thursday for this week only. Enjoy a traditional East-er meal in Slack Fellowship Hall before the 6:30 p.m. service for the whole family. The

T hose on the Israel Pil-grimage this winter

visited the Stations of the Cross or Via Doloroso (Way of Sorrows) depicting Christ carrying the cross to his crucifixion.

Most Roman Catholic churches contain Stations of the Cross along their side walls.

Dr. Todd Speed will preach on the Stations of the Cross Palm Sunday and the suffering of Jesus as we enter Holy Week and the joy of the Resurrection cel-ebrated Easter Sunday.

Continued on page 3

For me, kind Jesus, was thine incarnation. Thy mortal sorrow, and thy life’s oblation

Thy death of anquish and thy bitter passion For my salvation

Ah, Holy Jesus by Johann Cruger

Apri l 2014

M E E T A L LY S E N S C H A A F , A S S O C I A T E P A S TO R F O R Y O U T H A N D F A M I L I E S

A fter a lengthy search, the Associ-ate Pastor Nomi-

nating Committee found Allysen Schaaf to serve as our new Associate Pastor for Youth and Families. The congregation voted to accept her selection on Sunday, March 30, and she will join the staff in June. Allysen says, “I am ex-tremely grateful that the call of God has led me here! I can’t wait to connect with the youth and their families in new and creative ways and to connect with the entire congregation through worship, prayer, mission, fellowship and study.” Members of the APNC shared their enthusiasm when they introduced Ally-sen to the session in March. Mike Florence said,

“Allysen will be a tre-mendous asset to this community, and a great fit for the congregation as a whole.

David Wiley was im-pressed that “she has prepared herself in a way that shows her pas-sion for working with youth.”

Allysen will graduate with honors in May from Union Presbyterian Semi-nary in Richmond, Virginia. In addition to a Master of Divinity degree, she will earn a Master of Arts in Christian Education.

Her undergraduate de-gree in Exercise and Sport Science came from the Uni-versity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill four years ago. The Nebraska native grew up in High Point, NC, attending Forest Hills Pres-byterian Church. Her pastor Rev. Joe Blankinship said, “Allysen is gifted with or-ganizational expertise, pas-toral sensitivity, and Biblical scholarship.” Hobbies? She enjoys cooking, playing guitar, and lots of sports from soccer to ultimate Frisbee.

Elder Mary Wilson, right, greeted Allysen Schaaf when she visited DPC in March and was approved by the Session.

“Allysen has it all! Wheth-er she is writing liturgy, leading worship, planning programs for youth, ar-ranging a mission trip to Ghana, organizing an ulti-mate Frisbee tournament for six seminaries, she works with patience, ma-turity, creativity and a wonderful sense of humor. Undergirding her many skills and talents is her firm faith which she shares with passion and compas-sion.”

Edna Banes Retired Dean of Students

Union Presbyterian Seminary

Richmond, Virginia

Staffing Note: “Interim” no longer applies to Ann Bees-ley, who is DPC’s Financial Administrator. Ann is usually in the office two days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can reach her by email at abeesley@dpchurch.org or call her at (404) 378-1777, ext. 224.

THANKING APNC Dr. Todd Speed says, “The APNC has done their work exceedingly well. Allysen is a wonderful candidate for this position and an excel-lent match for Decatur Presbyterian Church in gen-eral.”

Ashley Drake, Chair Catherine Carter

Nancy Downs Mike Florence

Katy Lyle Charles Orth Judd Owen

Jake Vaughan David Wiley

DecPress

By Dan Shelles, Chair, Endowment Com-mittee

T he 2014 round of grants from the Endowment Committee has been announced to council chairs. Now

in our third year of awarding grants, this round was delayed by a few complications, not the least being that this round generat-ed the largest number of applications we have ever had.

For 2014, there were grants totaling more than $50,000 awarded with more than $100,000 requested.

As you may know, the Endowment Plan specifies that the income earned by the endowment fund may be given for projects which present unusually outstand-ing opportunities or need, areas which are not normal-ly funded by the annual op-erating budget.

For 2014, the following awards were granted to these councils/teams or projects:

Evangelism Council for website upgrades and for expanded media content management;

Mission and Outreach Council – assistance paying for the Threshold Ministry intern and re-placement of some drinking fountains (requested by the Envi-ronmental Task Force);

Worship Council for a display of the Psalm 23 series of photos taken by the late Ken Gehle and used in the 2013 summer series. These will be displayed

in the hallways of the Philips annex.

Refurbishing of memorabilia for the Philips Conference Room;

Retreat Center Ministry Council trail enhancements (phase 1) and re-stroom improvements;

The Global Village Project housed at DPC also received a grant for their Inten-

sive Literacy Program.

In addition, the Ad-ministration Council, whose budget is the largest in DPC and includes all property expenses, re-ceived funds for:

the purchase and in-stallation of a video camera security sys-tem, covering the en-tire DPC complex;

replacement of the folding machine and paper cutter;

purchase of mats for entrances and hall-ways;

repair and painting of specific interior and exterior walls;

exterior signage;

replacement of the Fellowship Hall exteri-or door;

improvements to the sanctuary sound sys-tem;

Endowment awards are project specific; that is if a given project is to be

funded by a grant, and for some reason the project cannot be completed – the funds are returned to the endowment.

$50 ,000 I N P RO J E C T S , P RO G R A M S R E C E I V E 2014 E N D OW M E N T G R A N T S

Website Upgrades

Walls Painted, Door and Entrance Mats

Replaced

Drinking Fountains Replaced

children’s choirs also will rehearse on Thursday in-stead of Wednesday.

The serving line opens at 5:15 p.m., as usual. The menu planned by ZestAt-lanta includes baked ham with potato salad, black eyed peas, deviled eggs, salad bar, rolls and dessert. For children, the menu in-cludes cheeseburger slid-ers, potato chips, baked beans and dessert.

No reservation is re-quired, and the cost is $7 for adults, $4 for children, and $22 family maximum.

Throughout the week, please attend Midday Holy Week community services at Decatur 1st United Methodist Church featuring pastors from various Deca-tur congregations each day. Monday, April 14: Rev. Dr.

Walter Kimbrough, Co-lumbia Drive United Methodist Church

Tuesday, April 15: Rev. Dr. Todd Speed, Decatur Presbyterian Church

Wednesday, April 16: Ken Carter, Bishop of the Florida Area, UMC

Thursday, April 17: Pastor Nathan Hilkirt, Luther-an Church of the Messi-ah

Friday, April 19: Dr. Katy Hinman , Decatur First UMC

A free sandwich lunch will be provided by the church following each mid-

Holy Week Continued from page 1

4

Page 4 Apri l 2014

“ C A R E A N D C O M PA S S I O N ” A R E R E M E M B E R E D I N F A R E W E L L T O K E N A N D P A M H U G H E S

T he congregation said farewell to Dr. Ken Hughes and his wife

Pam at a roast on Wednes-day, March 19, and a recep-tion following his last ser-vice on Sunday, March 23. Laughter and tears were shared with hugs and well wishes for his new position as pastor of the Springville First Presbyterian Church in New York, where they will be near both their families. The Friendship Sunday School Class thoughtfully sent flowers to Ken for his first Sunday in the new pul-pit. He wrote, “God bless you, Friendship Class, for the delightful surprise that greeted me on my first Sab-bath at FPC, Springville. ” He sent his thanks to the congregation. “I just wanted to say one more time that Pam and I will not soon forget you. In fact, I can safely say that DPC will be in our memories forever. “All of the ways in which you are growing as a

community of faith even while maintaining treasured traditions is a testimony to the Spirit moving among you. We gained much during our time with you. “We are especially grateful for the many kind-nesses you showered on us in our departure. The Wednesday night ‘roast,’ the reception after our last

worship service, the flowers, cards, emails, and phone calls were all signs of a lov-ing and caring congregation, and we thank God for each one of you.” A packed Fellowship Hall heard tributes from members of the congrega-tion who had worked most closely with Ken on his many initiatives, from cre-ating our Threshold Ministry to the New Song Sunday worship service, Honduras Mission trips and bucket brigades sending supplies to tornado-stricken communi-ties. Master of Ceremonies Bo King set the tone. “We are losing somebody we love – this is a true war of northern aggression! Jan Bedol had served on

D PC’s Threshold Minis-try has changed its

operating hours. Volun-teers now staff this out-reach program on Mondays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. until 11:45 a.m.

Donna Stroup is serv-ing on an interim basis as coordinator, and says, “We would love to talk with you about volunteering with Threshold. We have needs beyond counseling clients. Stop by any Monday or Thursday morning, or me at (404) 218-0841 or send-ing an email to dstroup@dpchurch.org.

“We have several con-tinuing needs crucial to operating this ministry, in-cluding the donation of healthy snacks such as fruit cups, granola bars, ap-plesauce, small packs of raises and peaches, and cheese-filled crackers. “ Lists of hygiene kit needs are found on the bulletin board outside the Threshold Ministry office (M205) and include items such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, new socks, de-odorant, small pads and pens.

As the staff closed out Ken’s roast March 19, Amy Chas-tain shows her banner with the words of “empathy and caring” to describe his ministry at DPC.

Continued on next page

5

DecPress Page 5

Ed & Jody Sauls on the 2/2 death of Ed’s sister, Sherl Craig

Florence Fivecoat & family on the 2/10 death of her brother in Florida

Lori McMahan & family on the 2/22 death of her aunt, Patsy Bowen

Kyle & Evan Drenner on the 3/1 death of their mother, Pam Drenner

Family & friends of Dot

McCain, who died 3/5,

in Clinton, SC

Family & friends of

Mayme Stiver, who

died 3/14 in Florida,

with memorial service

and internment at DPC

4/8

Former member Mark

Lester & family on the

4/3 death of his mother,

Mildred Lester

Nancy Allen & family

on the 4/7 death of her

daughter-in-law Mary

Allen, Myrtle Beach, SC

Kim and Wick Campbell

and family on the 4/10

death of her step-

mother, Sheila Melus-

key, in Miami, FL

SYMPATHY

Mardia Brown fell and cracked a rib, re-covering at home Ralph Chastain, recovering from triple by-pass surgery on 6/10 Elinor Cook, recovering from surgery re-pairing the orbital floor of her eye socket after a fall in January June Dollar, chemotherapy treatments for return of colon cancer Florence Fivecoat, chronic respiratory is-sues Larry Fossett’s wife, Ann Fossett, chemo-therapy for pancreatic cancer Ken Graff, heart surgery 1/31, recovering at home Jo Ann Hutton, heart cath on 3/6 Frank Jacks rehab at Manor Care after sur-gery 2/25 to repair broken hip after fall Anne Jackson, surgery 3/5 to remove breast malignancy Susan Johnson now home after treatment

at Emory and rehab facility for pneumonia John Kline hospitalized with kidney issues and suffering from back pain (requests no visitors or calls at this time) Matt Moore, at Budd Terrace for rehab for fluid buildup in legs and feet Pat Morris, tumors on her esophagus and bladder Greg Perry’s mother, Hilda Perry, fell and broke a hip at her home in Florida Iris Pollock’s brother, John Pyles, has been diagnosed with lung cancer Charles Scott ask for prayers for his friend Richard Robertson, who is seriously ill with cancer Kris Taylor’s mother, Meredith Jane Kilmer, serious health issues, Syracuse, NY Judy Toole asks for prayers for her cousin, Carra Smith, who had a massive stroke 4/9 and is in ICU in SC

HO S P I TA L A N D HE A LT H C O N C E R N S

the committee that first found Ken as our new Associate Pas-tor. “You are everything we had hoped for, and more. You brought energy and enthusi-asm to every challenge we pre-sented.” Sue Bingeman spoke of Ken’s caring notes about the congregation, and his support of the Nestorine Team. “You taught us to be not our broth-er’s keeper, but our brother’s brother.” Ken’s gift for teaching was highlighted by Jeff Vaughan. “I would al-ways look forward to the point where Ken would leave off teaching and start preach-ing, where Ken’s preparation met his pas-sion. Ken promoted conversations and prodded us to think. His goal was to help us become a better Christian community.”

Jim Keith and Larry Fosset recalled trips to Honduras. “Ken always made a point that these trips were not about the houses you build and the la-trines you dig, but the people you do it for.” Donna Stroup spoke of

Ken’s “deep seated passion for

addressing injustices in society

and providing a voice for those

in need” when he arrived three

years ago. He established our

Threshold Ministry two years

ago and “continued to remind us that the

purpose of Threshold is not, first and fore-

most, to hand out Marta cards and refer-

rals for utility assistance, but to exhibit rad-

ical compassion. Ken constantly brought us

back to our spiritual roots.”

H U G H E S F A R E W E L L | C O N T I N U E D

Page 6 Apri l 2014

E xplore a conservatory and take a leisurely stroll down garden paths on a trip to the State Botanical Gar-

dens in Athens May 6. The event is planned by DPC’s Senior Adult Ministry (SAM) and is open to every-one.

On Tuesday, May 6, ride the DPC bus or car pool 70 miles east of Atlanta for a day enjoying the best of native plants of Georgia and international favorites.

Lunch is available in Dondoros’ Café at the gardens, offering salads and sandwich-es, beverages and desserts. Don-doros’ also has a popular shop in the historic area of downtown Athens.

The State Botanical Garden is a 313-acre garden with a conservatory operated by the University of Geor-gia. It includes 11 botanical and hor-ticultural collections, including: annual/perennial garden heritage garden with plants of

historic and social interest to

Georgia, from cotton to magnolias international garden native azalea collection native flora garden

(ferns, trilliums, bloodroot, and lady slipper orchids

rhododendron collection Watch for information on how to make

your reservation for the trip, and invite your friends to join you. The cost of botani-cal garden tour is just $5, with lunch addi-tional. We will leave DPC at 9 a.m. and re-turn by late afternoon.

S AM T R I P S C H E D U L E D M A Y 6 T O S TA T E B O TA N I C A L G A R D E N S O F G E O R G I A

Welcome New Members

Richard Robertson joined DPC March 30 by reaffir-mation of faith. He is a res-ident of Stone Mountain, retired, and has two sons and a daughter.

Decatur residents Dennis and Dana Griener (who was not available for a photo) joined March 30, transferring from Peachtree Presbyterian Church. They have two daughters and a son.

DecPress Page 7

By Ridgley Beckett, Pastoral Intern for Campus Ministry

W hat is your hometown of Mexico, Missouri known for?

Kaitlin: We used to be the fire brick capitol of the world, and William Shatner buys his horses from some-one in Mexico, so I guess that's cool? Do you have a home church? Kaitlin: I do! When I'm at home, I got to First Pres in Mexico. What is your major at Agnes Scott? Why did you choose it? Kaitlin: I'm a Religious Studies major on a pre-medical track. Not only does it look awesome on med school appli-cations to have a humanities major, but I love the department and the courses they offer. I've always found religions to be fascinating, so it just sounded like a good idea.

What has been your favorite class? Kaitlin: Ooh, that's tough. Right now I'm enrolled in Buddhism with Dr. Jan Willis, who is visiting this semester.

She is a phenomenal professor, and I could just listen to her speak all day long. What do you like to do when you're not in class? Kaitlin: There are times that I'm not in class? I guess I just like to hang out on campus with my girlfriend and my roommate. I knit a lot to relax. I also try to read whenever I get the chance. Why are you a part of PCM? Kaitlin: Youth group was always my favorite part of church back home, and PCM just felt like a good way to continue that. It's always nice to have a community like PCM where I know that I am loved no matter what. What is your favorite part about PCM? Kaitlin: Getting off campus once a week! Kaitlin’s birthday is May 31.

C A M P U S S P O T L I G H T : K A I T L I N H A R L O W O F M I S S O U R I

COLLEGE CONNECTIONS The congregation is encouraged to keep these students in your prayers. Send a card or little treats, or email gift cards to let them know they are being thought of, especially this month.

SEAN GRIMES is a junior at Georgia College and State University with a major in marketing and a minor in management. He enjoys both indoor and outdoor Intramural soccer and dodge ball. Sean is an active member of an Environmental Science Organi-zation, tutors history at a local high school and will study this summer in Seville, Spain. Birthday: 7/30 Address: 451 E. Montgomery Street,

Milledgeville, GA 31061. Email: Sean.grimes@bobcats.gcsu.edu

JOHN SPEED is a Freshman at Pres-byterian College and is active in the Kappa Alpha fraternity. He is a starting “striker” on the College’s Di-vision 1 soccer team. Birthday: 12/14 Address: 403 South Adair Street, Box 51027, Clinton, SC 29325-2993 Email: jmspeed@presby.edu CATHERINE WARREN is a junior at the University of Georgia majoring in International Affairs and Spanish. She participates in the UGA Presbyterian

Student Center activities, and enjoys swimming, reading and travel. Birthday: 12/2 Address: 250 Little Street, Apt. 305D, Athens, GA 30605 Email: cgwarren2@gmail.com

GRAHAM GODWIN is a freshman at Mercer University and is majoring in Biomedical Engineering. Graham is vice president of the swim club and plays and referees for intramural soc-cer. Birthday: May 7 Address: Mercer University, P.O. Box 71196, 1400 Coleman Avenue, Macon, GA 31207

Page 8

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by the 15th.

● 9 a.m. Sunday School

for all ages

● 10:15 a.m. Sunday

worship service

● Office open from

8:30 a.m. to 4:30

p.m. Monday

SU P P O RT DPCC A T B I K E -A-T H O N A P R I L 26 I N C H U RC H P A R K I N G LOT

D PCC is hosting its First Annual bike/Trike-A-Thon on Saturday, April 26, in the parking lot and

Slack fellowship Hall. The goal is to have each DPCC family raise just $25 to benefit the school.

There will be a prize for the participant who raises the most money in pledges. The class that brings in the most pledges also will earn a Pizza Party.

You can help by attending and by spon-soring one of the tykes who will be riding a bike! Students are collecting pledges from their family, friends and neighbors through April 25. Checks should be payable to

DPCC. Include the

child’s name, class and teachers in the check memo – or just donate to the school in general. ZestAtlanta is providing a continental

breakfast (including “good” coffee) available all morning, free to families attending.

Michael Levine will offer a live perfor-mance from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. He is the co-founder of the Learning Grove and the music producer for the “Pete the Cat” series.

A Cake Walk will take place during the Trike-A-thon. If you love to bake, con-sider donating a cake for this event.

Special thanks to Bike South for helping to make the event possible.

D o you have spare change lurking in your couch? A

handful of pennies left in the bottom of your purse? A jar full of random quarters on the top of your dresser? From April 13-22, the Decatur Presbyterian Chil-dren's Community (DPCC) is holding its “Spring Pennies for Preschool” drive. We're collecting spare change as part of our ongoing fund-raising efforts. We would be grateful for any spare change you might have – and every penny is important. School

tuition and fees go to sala-ries and general upkeep. Everything else big (replacing PMO ceilings, long-term goal of retro-fitting classroom door frames, etc.) or small (paint,

playground upkeep, copier repair, etc.) comes from our fundraising programs and efforts. If you would like to put your spare change towards keeping our wonderful school the best that it can be, we would welcome it. Ellen McClure, DPCC school director will have a collection bucket in her office at the school during school hours. Or email Eliza-beth Durel, at elizabethdu-rel@gmail.com, the Pennies for Preschool Chair, to ar-range a convenient way for you to donate.

“ P E N N I E S F O R P R E S C H O O L ” H E L P S R A I S E F U N D S F O R I M P R O V E M E N T P R O J E C T S

First Annual Bike/Trike –A-Thon

9 AM—12 Noon | DPC Parking Lot and Slack Fellowship Hall