Newsletter - WordPress.com · Newsletter 250 W. Huron, Vassar, MI 48768 VassarFPC.org June 2017...

First Presbyterian Church

Newsletter 250 W. Huron, Vassar, MI 48768 VassarFPC.org June 2017

...from Doug’s desk... Pentecost is a truly special day in the life of the church, but oft-overlooked by most traditions of our faith except the more charismatic-leaning. Perhaps we are uncomfortable with the story told of the amazing expressions of the Spirit’s coming that the disciples manifested. Perhaps it just seems too “out there” (as if the resurrection of Jesus isn’t!). Many times it’s simply that the holiday was not emphasized in the past, so it is not in the present.

At VFPC, I have tried to make a concerted effort to lift up this important holiday in our life of worship together. This is because Pentecost means more than remembering some strange things about tongues of fire and speaking other languages. Pentecost is, quite literally, the birthday of the Church! It is easy to overlook that even after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension the disciples were still missing something. They were overjoyed at seeing their risen Lord, yet they had not yet gone out in mission to proclaim the message of salvation to the world. Jesus himself still had things to share with them after he arose, and he gave them instructions to wait for the Holy Spirit’s coming once he departed.

Pentecost is the day the Church was born because it is the day the Spirit came upon us in an entirely new way. No longer did the Holy Spirit come and go on rare individuals for short times and specific tasks. Now he came and took up residence in us and among us, to teach us to better follow Jesus and empower our mission to the world. The Holy Spirit has been present in the Church ever since, leading and guiding and empowering her even through the darkest of times. He teaches us God’s word if we will seek to know it, He speaks to us the words of Jesus himself as we find our way through life. He guides our steps. He gives us spiritual gifts that go beyond mere natural talents or abilities. And He empowers our mission together to serve God’s people and proclaim His message of hope. Without the Holy Spirit calling us into being and empowering and guiding us, there would, quiet literally, be no Church today.

This raises some implications for us to consider. If the birth of the Church is as much by the Spirit as the birth of Jesus was, the Church is not of human origin, although it is made up of human beings. It is to be the most visible expression of God to the world today, just as Jesus was when he walked the earth. Paul, using the analogy of a physical body to describe the Church in 1 Corinthians 12, makes clear that Christ is the Head of that body. We, the Church, are not our own. We are God’s.

If that is the case, we do not get to define what “Church” or “our church” is. Our task is to discover what we are according to God’s will, and get in step with it. We are not a mere human organization. We are part of a supernaturally empowered and sustained movement. We have a mission, the origin of which comes from God, not us, and which is way bigger than us. Faithfulness as a “church” is not determined by our own opinion of our selves, or even the opinion of those we serve, but by God alone.

As we celebrate our birthday together, do we know what we are celebrating? Are we celebrating the beginning of a religion, or the birth of a movement of God? And if it is indeed the latter, what are the implications on my life? May we be found faithful to God’s vision for “Church” in our life together…

http://vassarfpc.org

http://vassarfpc.org

Our last Tip Nite for the Reach 2017 trip will be at Riverside Grill in Vassar Tuesday June 20th. Tip Nights are the 3rd Tuesday of each month from 5:30-7:30 PM. Enjoy a meal served by our youth and your tip goes 100% toward the REACH Youth Mission Trip and any excess will benefit Reach 2018 when they come to Vassar!. Come support a local business & our youth!

Do you or someone you know need visitation?

In the hospital? Home bound? In a nursing facility? Please let the church office know so that Pastor Doug can visit them! You may also call your care team Deacon.

FINANCIAL NOTES

APRIL 2017: ACTUAL INCOME: 7,612.61 EXPENSE: 12,241.11 NET: (4,628.5)

JAN-APR: ACTUAL BUDGET INCOME: 34,086.24 33,333.33 EXPENSE: 40,598.90 39,718.37 NET: (6,512.66) (6,385.04)

NEWSLETTER INFORMATION DEADLINE

June. 27th

PASTOR DOUG’S CONTACT INFO: Cell/Text: (989) 780-2813

Email: [email protected]: facebook.com/pastordougabel

LinkedIN: linkedin.com/in/pastordougabel TWITTER: @REV_DSA

Happy Father’s Day!! June 18th!

Fire Pit Fridays at the Abels will resume this weekend!

Every Friday, weather or travel permitting, 7:30pm until whenever

you leave!

Come for good conversation and fun around the fire. BYO drinks and snacks,

although we often have supplies for S’Mores or

other fireside treats.

The Man Cave is also open to kids/teens for

gaming extrodenaire, movies, and/or general raucuss, as is the yard.

http://about.me/pastordougabel

mailto:[email protected]

http://facebook.com/pastordougabel

http://linkedin.com/in/pastordougabel

http://twitter.com/Rev_DSA

http://about.me/pastordougabel


http://facebook.com/pastordougabel

http://linkedin.com/in/pastordougabel

http://twitter.com/Rev_DSA

GREETERS June 4~Dan & Star Munroe June 11~Bob & Jackie Strecker June 18~Ray &Helen Waggoner June 25~Shane & Kate Pease

USHERS June 4~Lyn Childs, Bill Shoop, Tanya Steele June 11~David, Scott & Zack Wegrzyn June 18~Lori Hubbard, Mary Kennard June 25~Mark Biblee, Mark O’Connor, Bobby Staten

WORSHIP LEADERS June 4th~Steve Franko June 11th~Tanya Steele June 18th~Dianne Hackett June 25th~Kim Wegrzyn

VIDEO/TECH June 4th~TBA June 11th~Dianne Hackett June 18th~Shelley Abel June 25th~TBA

Communion Servers June 4th Assist~ Steve Franko #1~Kevin Haines #2~Bob Strecker #3~Nicole Baker #4~Dianne Hackett

02 Bob Strecker 06 Mary Johnson 7 Diane Rice 08 Colin Childs 10 Cheryl Childs 10 David Wegrzyn 14 JoAnn McCrumb 14 Bob Rice 15 Betty Atkins 26 Bill Shoop 26 Mark Dowe 27 Dan Holzhei

03 Dan & Mary Johnson08 Bill & Marge Clark 14 Larry & Carole Essenmacher 26 Bill & Linda Shoop30 Kirk & Susan Atkins30 Alice & Selwyn Stuart

WHAT’S GOING ON???

**Choir and Hand Bell Choir rehearsals are done for the summer! See everyone in September!!**

June 2017 May 2017S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5 67 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 2021 22 23 24 25 26 2728 29 30 31

June 2017S M T W T F S

1 2 34 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 1718 19 20 21 22 23 2425 26 27 28 29 30

July 2017S M T W T F S

12 3 4 5 6 7 89 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 2223 24 25 26 27 28 2930 31

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday28

9:00 AM Sunday School10:00 AM Worship

29Memorial Day

30 311:30 PM Pastor's Of-fice Hours7:00 PM Joint Choir Practice8:00 PM Hand Bell Choir

16:30 PM Discipleship & Growth Team7:00 PM Cancer Sup-port Group

2 3

4Pentecost SundayCOMMUNION9:00 AM Sunday School10:00 AM Worship

5 61:30 PM Pastor's Of-fice Hours

79:00 AM Vassar Min-isterial Alliance12:30 PM Study: Breathe1:30 PM Pastor's Of-fice Hours

85:30 PM Deacons7:00 PM Session

9 10


126:00 PM Bible Study

131:30 PM Pastor's Of-fice Hours

14Flag Day1:30 PM Pastor's Of-fice Hours

157:00 PM Cancer Sup-port Group

16 17

18Father's DayFather’s Day10:00 AM Worship

1910:00 AM Book Club

208:30 AM WIC1:30 PM Pastor's Of-fice Hours

2112:30 PM Study: Breathe6:30 PM Communica-tion & Publicity Team

7:30 PM Mission & Outreach Team

227:00 PM Worship & Music Team

23 24

2510:00 AM Worship




29 30 1


29Memorial Day



2 3





9 10






16 17







23 24

2510:00 AM Worship




29 30 1


29Memorial Day



2 3





9 10






16 17







23 24

2510:00 AM Worship




29 30 1


29Memorial Day



2 3





9 10






16 17







23 24

2510:00 AM Worship




29 30 1

Page 1/1Eastern Time Time Zone

Vassar First Presbyterian Church Ministry Team Summaries

Administration (Scott Wegrzyn)This team has two sub-teams: personnel and finance. It oversees these and other general administrative concerns of the church. It crafts a budget proposal each year for Session to approve, oversees staff, considers staffing structure, crafts job descriptions, and recommends building use policy. Buildings & Grounds (Lynn Childs)This team handles all things related to facility and property, such as routine maintenance, small repairs, facility or equipment upgrades, tech needs, or large projects as approved by Session. The church owns not only the church building and grounds, but also the upper parking lot and the pastor’s manse, as well as the equipment and appliances inside them.Communication and Publicity (Shelley Abel)This team’s focus is providing for and managing communications and publicity, with internally and externally, by prioritizing and appropriately timing these things and implying the most effective method for them. This is not only so that any given need gets the best exposure appropriate to it, but so that key events or initiatives don’t get “lost in the noise.” The team will work closely with the church secretary to execute communication and publicity, but will curate what, how, and when any communication publicity is done, and help establish processes and strategies for easy management of the same.Community Connections (Lynn Childs)This team’s focus is any event or project that brings the community together in Christian fellowship: which is “Christian-speak” for having fun and making connections. It serves a practical and cohesive function in our community of faith, and at the same time provides a safe space for new people to get to know us. The team executes several events each year to that end, and looks for smaller ways to facilitate a sense of connection between friends and members as well.Discipleship & Growth (Kevin Haines)This team’s stated mission is “Inviting you on a Journey with Jesus.” It oversees, enables, resources, and supports the person-inviting, disciple-making and disciple-growing aspects of the church’s ministry, from nursery to families to ecumenical Youth Group and VBS, to adult professionals, to retirees. It is concerned with education, but not merely as knowledge transfer, but heart changing: helping people of any age or stage meet Jesus, grow in faith, and become committed followers of Jesus. This team also oversees and resources any small groups that form, from study groups to affinity groups to service/mission groups. Mission & Outreach (Shelley Abel)This team concerns itself with supporting mission efforts that do not typically fall under our own congregation’s ministry. These may be local, regional, statewide, national, or global in nature. In many cases that support is financial, such as perhaps funding a missionary abroad. It may also sometimes be more personal, like forming a work trip to a devastated area of our nation.Worship & Music (Steve Franko)The worship & music team concerns itself with providing for the worship and music aspects of our congregation, and considers not only present needs but future directions for forms of and tools for worship. There are practical matters like making sure ushering and children’s sermons are covered, resourcing our choirs and accompanists, making sure candles are stocked, etc. It also, in collaboration with the pastor and music staff, considers weightier matters like the practice and philosophy of worship.

(Note: Nominating team is not listed because at-large members of this team are nominated by previous nominating team and elected at the congregational meeting. Steve Franko is the chairperson this year)

If you would like to be a part of any of these ministries, please contact the chairperson.Come find your place with us as we build God’s Kingdom together!

CONTACT PERSONS

Pastor Doug Abel, (989) 780-2813 (Voice, VM, or Text) Angie Ayotte, Church Office: (989) 823-7671

Elders

Shelley Abel (989) 780-2817 Kevin Haines (989) 871-3293.............. ....................

Nicole Baker (917) 776-9546 Dan Johnson (Clerk) (989) 823-2525............. ........

Alex Campbell (989) 823-3848 Diane Rice (989) 992-9333........... ........................

Lynn Childs (989) 868-4802 Scott Wegrzyn (989) 529-1147............... ..................

Steve Franko (989) 823-7590............

Deacons

Louanne Campbell (989) 823-3624 Bobby Staten (989) 823-1235... ....................

Mike Kennard. (989) 823-2192 Tanya Steele............... (989) 823-2278........... .....

Cheryl Sholty (989) 823-2438 Carol Swaffer (989) 823-3756............ ...................

Kim Wegrzyn, Mod (989) 233-8460...

PRAYER CHAINS

Telephone Chain: Louanne Campbell....823-3624

Email Chain: Angie Ayotte ([email protected])

or Pastor Doug ([email protected])

Contact Persons Session Ministry Teams: Administration (Finance & Personnel) Scott Wegrzyn 529-1147 ........................... Buildings & Grounds Lynn Childs 868-4802 ...................................................... Discipleship & Growth Kevin Haines 823-3293 ................................................... Communication & Publicity Shelley Abel 780-2817 ............................................ Community Connections Lynn Childs 868-4802 ............................................... Mission & Outreach Shelley Abel 780-2817 ....................................................... Nominating Steve Franko 823-7590 .................................................................... Worship & Music Steve Franko 823-7590 ...........................................................

Deacons Kimberly Wegrzyn 233-8460 ...........................................................................Vassar Community Youth Initiative Pastor Doug 780-2813 ...................................Choir (Shared with FUMC) Pat Middlin 545-0948...............................................





SessionHighlights

Session met on Thursday, May 11th, 2017. Here are some of the highlights of the mee<ng. Pastor Doug Abel was our Moderator.

• Shelley Abel was excused, all other elders and Pastor Doug were present.

• Minutes of the April 20th, 2017 Stated Mee<ng were approved with one correc<on.

• Financial report shows we are opera<ng on a YTD -$6,512.66 shorLall. Don’t forget that if you can pay your appor<onment of $26.17 per member, it would really help.

• Next 5th Sunday is July 30th.

• Communion was served on May 7th, 2017. Next communion will be served on June 4th,

2017.

• REACH <p night was held on Tuesday, May 16th, 2017. Next one is June 20th, at Riverside Grill here in Vassar. Please plan to support our Youth Mission Trip!

• Deacons have reallocated care groups. Next mee<ng is June 8th. Kim Wegrzyn has

stepped up to be moderator, with thanks to Mike Kennard for his faithful service.

• Holy Week services were very good, especially the Tennebrae service.

• Approved bap<sm of Kamryn (Kammy) A_arpour, son of Keri and Kavon A_arpour, July 16th, 2017

• A concern was raised that food/drink items have gone missing. Please make it a point to replace food or any other items you use if not yours.

• Next Session mee<ng will be Thursday, June 8th..

RespecLully submi_ed,

Dan Johnson

ClerkofSession

First Presbyterian Church

P.O. Box 117

Vassar, MI 48768

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