First Presbyterian Church 1169 Clark Street, SW Covington, GA 30014

Nonprofit Organi-zation

U.S. POSTAGE P A I D

Covington, GA 30014

Permit No. 32

The deadline for the April “First Press” is March 15, 2017. Please submit your articles and information to the church office by email: penihaug@gmail.com or by dropping

off your copy to the church office, neatly printed or typed or on a flash drive. Thanks!

Time Sensitive Church News Please Do Not Delay

See our website at: www.fpccov.org

March Birthdays

If your birthday has not appeared on our monthly list, please notify us of the full date and we will add it to our data base so that when your next birthday rolls around, we will be able to help you celebrate!

14 Jessica Vincent 15 Jean Wolverton 16 Shawn Loftin

Terri Digby 17 Jim Halstead

Jonathan Miller Tom Stillerman

18 Miriam Wheeler Taylor Bouchillon

1 Roger Gossage 2 Judy Davis 4 Anne Savage

Michael Thompson 5 Jenna McCurry 6 Harry Hinton 7 Beth Vining 10 Rob Jones

Dylan Jones 11 Doug Bolton 13 Jack Weesner

19 Roger Wallace 25 Sarah Davis 26 Sam Hay, Jr. 28 Anita Johnson Debi Selin 30 Lynn Miller

Louise White Jasmine Ardis Amelia Evans

First Presbyterian Church, Covington March 2017

First Presbyterian

Church

1169 Clark Street, SW

Covington, GA 30014

(770)786-7321

Fax (770)786-6596

www.fpccov.org

FIRST PRESS

First Presbyterian

Church Staff

William B. Wade, Jr. Pastor

wbwade75@gmail.com

Dan Walden Director of Youth and

Children’s Ministry djwalden@mac.com

Peni Kehoe Secretary-Treasurer

penihaug@gmail.com

Alan Bunn Choir Director

abunn@jackson.k12. ga.us

Alice Walker Organist

awalker.organist@ gmail.com

Aubrey Evans Shaun Evans

Nursery

Kara Sugg Director

Early Learning Center fpelcdirector @gmail.com

First Presbyterian Early Learning Center

ART AFFAIR Friday, Ma rch 24th 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.

The Art Affair is a fun, casual, adult evening filled with art of all kinds. You will find art created by the children of the FPELC, lo-cal artists, and friends of FPELC. Come out and enjoy the live auction excitement, silent auction drama, great raffle items, re-freshments, and fun! Be sure to mark your calendars as you will not want to miss this event! Tickets are $15 or 2 for $25 and may be purchased ahead or at the door.

Lent For Christians, Lent is a holy season of prepara-tion and spiritual discipline. Lent consists of the 40 days before Easter, not including the Sun-days. The number 40 suggests the 40 days of Jesus’ temptation and preparation in the wilder-ness after his baptism, and the 40 years Israel spent in the wilderness getting ready to enter the Promised Land. The word “Lent” comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word that means “lengthening”. The days are getting longer, darkness is giving way to light. Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednes-

day. It’s name comes from the custom of “being shriven” (or confessing) on that day. It is sometimes called “Fat Tuesday” or “Mardi Gras” in French, a day of feasting be-fore the days of Lenten fasting. We will have an Ash Wednesday worship service in our sanctuary. It is a joint ser-vice with First United Methodist Church on Wednesday, March 1. This service alter-nates each year between First Presbyterian and First Methodist. We will eat a light meal in our fellowship hall at 6:00 p.m., followed by the service at 7:00. On Ash Wednesday we are marked with ashes in the sign of the cross on our fore-heads. We are reminded of our sin and mortality, but also of the abundant grace of God who forgives us and promises to raise us out of the dust of the ground.

First Sunday in Lent Sunday, March 5, is the First Sunday in Lent. We will celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

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Session & Administrative Notes

Monthly Financial Report

March Usher Chair: Tom Stillerman

Sound Engineer: Ken Walker

Hospital Visitors: 3/5 Cy Wolverton 3/12 Day Kennon 3/19 Alice Walker

3/26 Jean Wolverton

Class of 2017 Baxter Bouchillon

Adriane Ivey Michael Thompson

Danny Vining Jean Wolverton Jake McCarthy

Koen Ardis

Class of 2018 Gary Boteler Billy Fortson

Scarlett Mccurry Stephanie Scarborough

Tom Stillerman

Class of 2019 Carter Gibson John McCarthy Teresa McCurry

Cheryl Meichsner Miriam Wheeler

MEMBERS OF SESSION

February 2017

Session Highlights

Approved: The Early Learning Center to host 10th Annual Art Affair fundraiser on March 24.

Cy Wolverton provided a progress report on capi-tal improvements.

Michael Thompson provided a report on the recent Presbytery meeting.

Approved: Patti Lanford was received as a mem-ber.

For Ash Wednesday, our church will serve a soup and sandwich dinner on March 1.

Dan Walden provided a demonstration of the new sound equipment in the fellowship hall.

Approved: Witness to plan baby shower and fund-raiser for Food Pantry.

Approved: On March 26, the choir loft will be dedi-cated to Margaret Wallace.

Next Session meeting will be March 18 at the Boteler's as part of the annual Session Retreat.

Michael Thompson, Clerk of Session

SERVING US IN MARCH 2017

Weekly E-newsletter: If you are not receiving the FPC weekly E-News, send your e-mail address to: info@fpccov.org or call the church office.

2017 January

Numbers rounded

Monthly Budget

Monthly

Income/ Expenses

YTD Income

/Expenses

Pledged Income 31,666 24,546 24,546

Non-Pledge Income 2,916 4,321 4,321

Other Income 416 40 40

Total income 35,250 29,317 29,317

Expenses 36,556 33,754 33,754

Net Totals 01/31/2017

(1,306) (4,437) (1,306)

If unable to serve, please get a sub for your duties

The Session will meet on Sat-urday, March 18, within the Session Retreat.

Pledge arrears for 2017 -7,120

The Session will be on retreat Saturday, March 18. We have been invited again to the Bo-teler’s house on Jackson Lake. We will be reflecting on our spiritual practices and our role as spiritual leaders in the church, as well as setting goals and coordinating calendars.

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Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

February February 27 February 28 1 Ash Wednesday

6:00 Supper 7:00 Worship for Ash Wednesday

2 10:30 Ambassador Choir

3

4

5

9:00 Handbell Choir 9:30 Children’s Choir 10:00 Sunday School 11:00 Worship with Communion Lunch and Hunger Walk after Worship

6

7 10:00 Elizabeth Circle 10:30 Martha Circle

4:00 Exercise

7:00 Ruth Circle

8

6:45 Sanctuary Choir

9 10:30 Ambassador Choir

10

11

Set Clocks forward 1 hr.

tonight

12 Daylight Savings

Women’s Day Celebration

9:00 Handbell Choir 9:30 Children’s Choir 10:00 Sunday School 11:00 Worship Service 12:00 Luncheon 5:00 Youth Connection

13

14

4:00 Exercise

15 6:45 Sanctuary Choir

16 10:30 Ambassador Choir

17 St Patrick’s Day

18

Session Retreat

19

9:00 Handbell Choir 9:30 Children’s Choir 10:00 Sunday School 11:00 Worship Service Youth Connection to attend “Hairspray”

20

21

2:00 PWCT

4:00 Exercise

22 6:45 Sanctuary Choir

23 10:30 Ambassador Choir

24

25

8:00 Men’s Breakfast & Study

26

9:00 Handbell Choir 9:30 Children’s Choir 10:00 Sunday School 11:00 Worship Service with Dedication of Choir Loft 5:00 Youth Connection

27

28 4:00 Exercise

29 6:45 Sanctuary Choir

31

April 1 April 2

see our website at: www.fpccov.org

Page 6 First Presbyterian Church

Ski Trip Photos

Youth Connection Ski Trip

to West Virginia

They Conquered the Mountain!

First Presbyterian Church Page 3

News of the Congregation

Men’s Bible Study and Breakfast

The Men’s Bible Study this month will be on Saturday morning, March 25, at 8:00 a.m. in the fellowship hall. The group will be reviewing questions that have grown out of their studies. Bring your breakfast and a friend!

Presbyterian Women

An Open Invitation from Our Circles: Here’s an invitation to women of our church to consider becoming a part of Presbyterian Women (PW) at First Presbyteri-an Church, Covington. There are three Circles that meet on the first

Tuesday of each month. The next meetings will be Tuesday, March 7, 2017.

The Elizabeth Circle meets at 10:00 a.m. at FPC in the fellowship hall. The Martha Circle meets at 10:30 a.m. in the home of Day Kennon. The Ruth Circle meets at 7:00 p.m. in the home of Jean Wolverton.

Women's Day Worship Service

Presbyterian Women’s Worship Service On Sunday, March 12, 2017, members of the Presby-terian Women Circles of our church will have their Women’s Day worship service at 11:00 a.m. The ser-mon will be delivered by Dr. Leanne Van Dyk, Presi-dent of the Columbia Theological Seminary, and members of the three Circles—Elizabeth, Martha, and Ruth—will take active parts in the service. An all-ladies choir will present the anthem, and we are inviting willing, singing members of our congrega-tion to participate in this. Three rehearsals will take place after service on February 19th, 26th, and March 5th; after which we’ll be ready to sing. The entire congregation is invited to attend a lunch-eon after the service on March 12, with an urgent need for reservations to be made no later than March 5th. Please indicate your willingness to:

lunch with us by reserving your place, and/or

sing with us by writing your names on the sheets provided in the Narthex each Sunday (1 for lunch and 1 for singing).

During the Sunday morning worship service on March 26, we will be dedicating the new choir loft. It has been given in memory of Margaret Adams Wallace. We are called to “make a joyful noise to the Lord!” (Psalm 100:1)

Remember to vote on Tuesday, March 21.

Camp Calvin Women’s Retreat Janet Carmichael, Diane Loeble, Day Kennon, Grace Ottley, Becky Ramsey, and Alice Walker at-tended "Seeing Jesus Through the Lens of the Arts," a Women's Retreat sponsored by the Greater Atlanta Presbytery on February 18, at Camp Calvin.

Page 4 First Presbyterian Church

Youth Connection

** Early Learning Center News **

Dear FPC Family,

Our students spent the month of February learning all about Art. They’ve read stories, taken fieldtrips, and made some fabulous artistic creations. Thank you to Ms. Anne at Wild Art for the fun field trip! We’d love for you to join our closed Facebook Group “FPELC” and enjoy the many pictures we’ve uploaded throughout the month. Ms. Kara also took the opportunity to show the students all the different musical instrument families this month. The students got to see, touch and play a trumpet, a French horn, an alto saxophone, a flute, a violin, a snare drum, and other various percussion instruments.

During March, our theme will be Jungle, and our verse will be Psalm 150:6, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” We are excited to teach the students all about the jungle and what lives there from plants to animals. We are also excited to have the Reptile Wrangler come visit us later in March with his animals for the students to see and touch.

We are in final preparations for our Annual Art Affair which will be held on March 24, 2017 here at FPC at 6:30 p.m. Event tickets prices are $15 for one ticket/$25 for two. The committee is finalizing the list of donations from local and metro vendors. We’re hoping to secure items from attractions such as Zoo Atlanta (Family Pass $119), The Aquarium (Adult Ticket $31.95, Youth Ticket $25.95), and the like. If you’re interested in making a contribution toward this event, obtaining an individual ticket or family pass to any of these places would be tre-mendously appreciated. We are also selling sponsorship packages with advertising for the evening. There are different price points for various advertising. All donations, whether through sponsorship, cash donations, or actual items donated are tax deductible. If you’re able to contribute in any way, please let me or any of the teachers know. We will have raffle baskets available for preview beginning March 22. You may purchase raffle tickets at that time, and you don’t have to be present to win. We would LOVE to have our FPC family partici-pating at the event.

As always, your generosity and prayers for our school are greatly appreciated. We are so thankful for such a generous church family.

Blessings, Kara

Hunger Walk 5K Sunday, March 5th

The Atlanta Hunger Walk/Run helps raise much needed funds and awareness for local nonprofit hunger relief organizations including our own Community Food Pantry. We’ll have lunch in the Fellowship Hall immediately following worship, then caravan down I-20 to Turner Field where the walk kicks off at 2:00 p.m. Bring or wear

comfortable walking clothes and shoes to worship. Fun for the WHOLE family!!

HAIRSPRAY March 16, 17, 18 & 19

The Oxford Youth Singers will be featured in a musical theater presentation of HAIRSPRAY at Porter Performing Arts Center. Come out and support the arts and artists in our community! Youth Connection will be attending the matinee performance on Sunday, March 19th at 3:00 p.m. For tickets or information, go to www.newtoncountyarts.org , or call 770-786-8188.

First Presbyterian Church Page 5

Community Food Pantry

You may bring food donations to the church or drop them off at the Community Food Pantry from 9:00-11:30 Wednesday and Friday, except for holidays. Call (770) 784-0037 for directions. Any non-perishable food items are welcome.

For March it is suggested that donations be: canned vegetables.

Music News

AMBASSADOR CHOIR NEWS

Ambassador Choir rehearsals will be held each week at 10:30 a.m. in the Choir Room.

Singing Dates so far for Winter/Spring are:

Sunday, March 5, 2017 - FPC Morning Worship - Come to Choir Room at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, April 2, 2017 - FPC Morning Worship - Come to Choir Room at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, May 11, 2917 - Sing at Songfest, Rockdale Baptist Church, Conyers

Looking forward to seeing you! Alice Walker, Director, Ambassador Choir

Witness News

The Souper Bowl of Caring Offering totaled $745.58. Thanks for your generosity. The offering has been sent to our local Community Food Pantry.

Baby Love

Families with low income are having difficulty affording diapers for their newborn and toddler age children. Studies show that leaving babies in soiled diapers can lead to se-rious health issues. The cost to provide either disposable or cloth diapers is approxi-mately $2,000 until the child is trained. The use of cloth diapers is complicated for fami-lies without proper laundry facilities and many laundries ban diaper washing. Assis-tance is provided for formula but none for diapers. Contributions of disposable diapers and or baby wipes may be brought to the narthex on Sundays as food is brought for the Food Pantry. These baby items will be distributed to the Food Pantry, Homeless Shel-ter and the Salvation Army. Monetary gifts may be placed in a pew envelope with your name and Baby Love and your offering statement will indicate this donation. Your sup-port is greatly appreciated.

Our own Patti Lanford has joined the Peace Corps. For the next 27 months she will be stationed in Zambia helping to instruct the locals to “fish farm”. If you would like to write her an encouraging word, the address is:

Peace Corps P. O. Box 50707 Lusaka, Zambia