2017 marks the 500th anni-versary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. On October 31, 1517, an ob-scure German monk named Martin Luther published 95 theses for debate in Witten-berg, Germany. Little did he know that this act would ig-nite a revolution that would reshape the Christian church and change Western civiliza-tion forever.

In anticipation of this im-portant anniversary, Christian History Institute has pro-duced a groundbreaking three-hour documentary se-ries called This Changed Eve-rything. Narrated by the re-nowned British actor David Suchet, the program tells the dynamic story of the people, places, and events that shaped the Reformation. Topics include: indulgences, the printing press, the 95 the-ses, the Diet of Worms, Ana-baptists, separation of church and state, adult baptism, Ul-rich Zwingli, John Calvin, Ge-neva, King Edward VI, Bloody Mary, Queen Elizabeth I, Puri-

tans, the First Amendment, the Eucharist, and the sacra-ments.

This Changed Everything features expert commentary from Dr. Michael Horton, Dr. Frank James, Bishop Robert Barron, Shane Claiborne, and over twenty other schol-ars and clergy who bring new insight into how the church came to be where it is today and where it may go in the future.

This Changed Every-thing celebrates the fruits of the Reformation while grap-pling with difficult questions about the legacy of divi-sion. Clearly, the medieval church was in dire need of

reform, but could complete schism have been avoided? Why does the Protestant movement continue to splin-ter into ever increasing fac-tions? How should we think about our divisions in light of Jesus’ passionate prayer that his followers be “one"?

For the next five or six weeks, the combined adult Sunday School class is meet-ing at 9 a.m. in Fellowship Hall to view this interesting presentation. Pastor David Schaefers and Rev. Bev Hughes will moderate the discussion.

This Changed Everything

Elementary Playground Meetings We have to move the elementary play-

ground. What? Why? Where? How? The Rich-ardson Police/Fire Department expansion will take about half the land where the playground now sits, so here is an opportunity to make im-provements or additions to the equipment.

Do you have some ideas? Come to the Town Hall meetings in Fellowship Hall on Sunday, February 5, at 11:30 a.m. or on Wednesday, February 8 at 4 p.m. to share your insights and plan the move.

You may have noticed a few new people in the choir lately. Ron Wilkins is a long time Presbyterian who loves to sing. He has been singing with our choir for several months and has recently attended the new members class. Vanessa and James Crixell are both music teachers and came to the choir at the urging of their friend and fellow music teacher, Mack Liening. Mack sings in the tenor section and has directed the choir in my absence a few times. Vanessa is the assistant choir director at Poteet High School and James is the band director at Mansfield High School.

Randy and Cele (pronounced “seal”) LeBlanc have been church hunting and discovered FPC back in the fall. As a former church choir director himself, Randy was insistent that the church they attend have a good music program. After several visits to our worship services, Randy and Cele ap-proached me about visiting a choir rehearsal and after sitting in with the choir, decided to officially join the choir. The Leblancs also attended the new members class. Please help me welcome all these new folks, and together, let’s encourage and pray for them as they seek answers in their walk of faith towards eventual membership at FPC.

Our Winter Cinema Series debuts Friday night, February 10, at 7 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. The first movie will the blockbuster musical, Singin’ in the Rain, with a very young Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly, and Donald O’Connor. Critics hail the movie as possibly the best musical that Hollywood ever produced. It’s chock full of great songs and terrific

dancing. I found a fully restored copy on BluRay Disc and the quality is outstanding.

When Harry Met Sally is the featured film on February 17. I personally think it’s one of the funni-est romantic comedies ever made. It stars Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, and the late Carrie Fisher has a great supporting part. The story follows two lost souls who eventually find their way to love and happiness but not without a lot of drama along the way. The movie deals with adult themes so it’s slightly inappropriate for young children.

The series will end on February 24 with Cool Hand Luke. Paul Newman leads an all-star cast that includes the late George Kennedy. Luke is a war hero who has lost his way in life and, being a non-conformist, finds himself on a prison chain gang, searching for redemption. Kennedy won Best Sup-porting Actor for his portrayal as the tough but lovable fellow prison inmate. The movie is one of a small handful that have ever won the 100% rating from the Rotten Tomatoes movie review site. If you’ve never seen Cool Hand Luke, then the Win-ter Cinema Series is the perfect time to come and see Paul Newman giving perhaps the greatest per-formance of his career. Most quoted line from the movie—”What we have here, is a failure to com-municate!”

So there you have it! Three great films—music, comedy and drama! Join us for all three! We’ll have the hot buttered popcorn waiting!

Grace and Peace, Ralph

Girls Turn Origami Art into Clean Water

Paper for Water, the interna-tional ministry started by 2 ele-mentary school girls from North-Park Presbyterian Church in Dal-las, has received a $100,000 Birthday Offering grant from Presbyterian Women (PW). This grant allows the girls to continue to bring clean water to those who have none. It all began in 2011, when sisters Isabelle and Kathe-rine Adams, who were ages 8 and 5, learned that girls their age in third world countries often did not attend school because they were hauling water for their fami-lies all day. They also learned that a child died every 15 seconds

from unclean water. The girls came up with a simple plan to help. They would make origami Christmas ornaments, sell them, and then donate the money to clean water projects.

The girls had learned the art of origami from their physician father, Ken Adams, who has Jap-anese ancestry. (Ken’s father was a long-time Presbyterian minister in Grace Presbytery.) An evening at a local Starbucks brought in $700 for their paper ornaments, and the project took off from there. Friends, family, class-mates, and fellow church mem-bers were inspired to join the

effort. They helped the sisters make and sell paper ornaments to raise funds, which led to the creation of Paper For Water.

Fast forward to 2016 and Pa-per for Water has raised more than $850,000 and has helped fund more than 110 water pro-jects. Paper For Water has part-nered with Living Water Interna-tional and with DigDeep, an or-ganization striving to bring clean water to Navajo who have no direct access to water. Paper for Water has received international attention and Isabelle and Kathe-rine have been recognized for their efforts.

Each year, I look forward to the annual congre-gational meeting. It is a time when we can gather together and set an agenda for the year ahead. It is also a wonderful opportunity to look back and see what we have accomplished. This year was no different, except for the fact that we are in the middle of a lot of projects. We have made signifi-cant progress on the Christian Education Building. Unforeseen issues with the air conditioning system have set us back a bit, but we hope to complete the project by the end of March. Over the next few months, we will be exploring possibilities for the daily use of parts of the CE Building. We may be able to start a preschool program or a mothers’ day out program. Only time will tell.

At the conclusion of 2016, the church was in a good financial position. We hope to use the 2016 surplus to expand ministry in 2017. One of the ways that may happen is in calling an Associate Pastor. During the congregational meeting, we voted to begin that search process. It may take six months to a year to complete that search. Please keep that process in your prayers.

One of my favorite parts of any congregational meeting is where we share our joys and concerns. This year, we had much to be joyful for. Our mis-sion ministry has continued to serve our communi-ty in a good number of ways. We have a very gen-erous congregation and its members give of their time, talents and treasures. There is much to be proud of as we look at our ongoing ministry in Richardson and in the surrounding area.

Looking forward, we know that there will be some staff changes. Rev. Bev will be retiring at the end of May and we are not sure when the search process will bring us an Associate Pastor. Our Direc-tor of Christian Education, Debbie Rowley, plans to stay on staff at least until the associate pastor is in-stalled. Our hope is that we will be able to have both the Associate Pastor and Director of Christian Edu-cation positions filled. This will require some addi-tional revenue, but we are hopeful that the new min-istries that the CE Building will allow may be suffi-cient to bridge that gap. As you might guess, there are a lot of moving parts to keep up with this year.

One thing that I keep in mind, daily, is that we are called to be faithful for what God has put before us for that day. It is great to have long range goals, but our faithful response shouldn’t suffer today be-cause of the future unknowns.

Remember “the lilies of the field,” scripture tells us. And how much more does God love us, and want good things for us? That helps me, in part, to set my worries aside and give thanks for the amazing jour-ney that we are on, and for God’s faithfulness over the years. I believe that the more we allow God to partner with us, the more we will see God’s plans fall into place. Often this is in ways we could never have imagined.

Blessings, Pastor David

What is an FPC 101 Class? Well, it is a great place to start! Whether you are a first-time visitor wanting to know more about what FPC has to offer, or you are a long time member who wants a refresher, you will find this new class to be a re-warding experience. In just an hour, we will cover what it means to be on a faith journey, how our congregation fits into your busy world, a little his-tory, a lot of mission, and some possible next steps for anyone who wants to get more involved. The class meets at 9 a.m. on the last Sunday of each month.

But the fun doesn’t stop there! On the first Sun-day of each month (Communion Sunday), those

who have attended the FPC – 101 Class will be invit-ed out to lunch by members of the congregation. If there are folks who would like to join the church, we will do that on the second Sunday. We will usually have a Fellowship meal on Second Sundays, which will provide another opportunity for new members to get to know folks in the congregation.

By the third Sunday, the Invitation Ministry and the Session will assign each new member a “buddy” to make sure that their first year at FPC is a good one. We are looking forward to all that this new class will contribute to the mission and ministry of FPC!

FPC 101: the next class is Sunday, February 26

Each year the Taiwanese community world-wide holds a ceremony to com-memorate the tragedy which oc-curred on February 28, 1947. On that eve in Taipei, two Chinese po-licemen severely hurt a woman cig-arette vendor who begged the two men not to confiscate her “untaxed” cigarettes. The brutal action of the police angered the bystanders and resulted in commotions. The next day, a crowd gathered on the plaza in front of the governor’s building to protest and ask for justice.

They did not get what they wanted. Instead, many were gunned down by the machine guns mounted on top of the building, causing an island -wide uprising. What ensued were massive arrests and massacres by the military forces, and a long era of repression by Chiang Kai-Shek’s authoritari-an regime. However, Taiwan has since evolved into a democracy, thanks to the sacrifices of the free-

dom and lives of countless Taiwanese people. Feb-ruary 28 has been designated as a national holiday and this year marks the 70th anniversary of the tragedy.

The Dallas chapter of the Taiwanese Associa-tion of America, along with co-sponsor the Tai-wanese Presbyterian Church of Dallas, will hold a commemoration concert Saturday, February 25, in the sanctuary of FPC. The Rev. Willie Tsai of TPCD will lead the participants with an opening prayer. It is particularly appropriate that TPCD be a major part of this commemoration, because, after forty repressive years, the harsh martial law in Taiwan was lifted in 1987, and the newly-formed Taiwan-ese democratic opposition and the courageous Presbyterian Church started to push the Kuomin-tang authorities to stop covering up the facts, and to come to a full airing of the matter. It wasn't until 1990 that the Kuomintang finally decided, albeit reluctantly, to open the records.

Vandals hit St. Stephen in Ft. Worth

2-28 Commemoration Concert

On Saturday night, January 7, vandals entered St. Stephen Presbyterian Church in Ft Worth. Over a period of hours, much of the educational building was destroyed. The vandals were unable to enter the sanctuary building, but did major damage to the educational wing. It is presently unusable. Sun-day morning’s service was cancelled. However, Sunday afternoon, approximately 300 people in the community joined for worship under the lead-ership of Rev. Fritz Ritsch, pastor, and Rev. Dr. Warner Bailey, Parish Associate. The service was transformative and renewing, painful and grief-filled. The DFW area press covered it and you may have seen it.

The church will continue its ministries as best it

can. For example, “Room at the Inn” ministry to homeless persons was moved to the sanctuary building. Other programs and meetings will find other locations.

The session has received the support of Grace Presbytery. We will apply for a $7,500 grant from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. Grace Presbytery will set up a fund to receive donations for St. Ste-phen. Please direct any donations, so marked, to Vicki Roberts, Finance Coordinator, at the Presby-tery office.

Please keep this congregation in your prayers. Janet M. DeVries General Presbyter

Many thanks to those hearty souls who attend-ed the CPR and AED (defibrillator) training on Sun-day, January 22. We understand good knees were a necessity. Ginger (Bob) Anderson, Dona Blodgett, Steve Bowen, Carrie Fox (Infant as well), Lynne Kraus, Shirley Latham, Becky Lormor, Col-leen and Stephen Oates, Mary and Bob Pavelick,

Debbie Rowley, Gillian Smith (Infant), Bill Warner (Infant). Carrie won the coveted “Compression Award.”

The free training is a ministry of Mary and Dr. Phil Shul.

CPR Training Heroes

Yaya is doing well in school— GPA 95.6. She has become fo-cused on Social Work as a career. This past summer she spent time with a Social Worker to have a better understanding of the job and the requirements.

Yaya continues to mature and take more responsibilities. She is now a Mentor Volunteer to assist and support new students as they

enter PPAS. She is also Volleyball Team Manager.

Yaya has impacted her village of Huejotitan by being a role model to get a better education. Her mother surprised Yaya in May with the news that she had been taking classes and had achieved their 8th Grade Certifi-cate! Janet has continued study-ing and hopes to get a high

school diploma! Yaya has commented on the

quality of education and great opportunities in the USA. She is very excited about staying here for her college education! She asked us if all kids in Texas knew how fortunate they are because they have so many more choices and decisions to choose from.

Interfaith Family Services

Keeping Up With Yaya

Here's information from Interfaith Family Ser-vices, one of the programs FPC helps support. This agency began as a Presbyterian mission and First Church Dallas and Preston Hollow PC are both ma-jor supporters. I thought you would find this inter-esting. Blessings, Ernie Gotts

Happy New Year! First, I would like to thank you for your support of Interfaith in 2016. Togeth-er, we have made a big difference in the lives of families.

We served 87 families, 100% of whom were living at or below the poverty line.

Our families had an average wage of $13.51/hour, almost twice the minimum wage.

Residents saved on average $1,631 and reduced their debt by $1,167.

But our work is far from over- we anticipate serving 75 additional parents and children over the next 12 months. These hardworking families are looking for a hand-up when crisis strikes. With your support, Interfaith is here to help rebuild lives and break the cycle of poverty.

If you enjoy watching home im-provement shows and always want-ed to prep and decorate a living space, join us on a Second Saturday! In addition to providing new resi-dents fully- furnished apartments, we also fill their kitchen cabinets with necessary food staples. We're looking for individuals, families, small groups and businesses to assist our Housing and Facilities staff with cleaning and decorating apartments for incoming residents. We also need items for our apartments. To arrange for pickup of your donations, or if you are unsure of what quali-fies, contact us at donations@interfaithdallas.org or 469-828-1812.

Last year, the Interfaith Auxiliary raised $304,930 in its inaugural luncheon to help fight poverty. Robin Roberts will be the speaker at the 2nd Annual Inter-faith Auxiliary Luncheon on Friday, March 31, at the Dallas Country Club. You do not want to miss this exciting event. For information, contact Ester Harri-son at eharrison@interfaithdallas.org.

Winter Cinema: “Best Ever”

Winter Cinema opens a three-week run in Fellow-ship Hall on Friday, February 10, at 7 p.m. with Singin’ in the Rain, featuring Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor. This may be the best movie musical ever! The second feature on Friday, February 17, is When Harry Met Sally, starring Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, and Carrie Fisher. Maybe one of the funniest romantic comedies ever! The final showing on Friday, February 24, is Cool Hand Luke, featuring Paul Newman in one of his best roles, and George Kennedy who won the Oscar for his terrific supporting role.

The Mission Ministries of FPC and West Plano Presbyterian Church are planning a fund raising High Tea Luncheon at FPC to benefit Yaya Velasquez, the Pan American School, and David and Addy Markham’s Bible Translation Ministry. The event, on Saturday May 6, will have a silent auction, door prizes, and entertainment, all for $39! Reservations/tickets are available from Feb-ruary 1—April 28.

Men’s Bible Fellowship

The Men’s Bible Fellowship, led by Bob Puig, meets on the first and third Saturdays of each month at 8 a.m. On February 4, we begin a study of the Gospel of Mark; study guides will be availa-ble. All men are welcome to be a part of our fellow-ship which seeks the messages of scripture for the 21st century. Come join us for coffee, donuts, and a wonderful opportunity to discuss the teachings of Jesus. If you have any questions, please text to 972-977-4924 or email at bobpuig@gmail.com

Thursday Evening Circle

Evening circle meets Thursday, February 9, from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. in the church library. Lesson 5 – Who is Jesus? According to Paul, will be discussed. All women are invited to join us. For additional information, contact Ginger (Bob) Anderson.

Sunday Book Club

We meet at 5 p.m. on February 12, in the church library to discuss The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown. This is one of our longer books, so it is good that there is an extra week to read it! Con-tact Ginger (Doug) Anderson for more information.

Shufflers

We meet for casual bridge at 1 p.m. on Wednes-day, February 22, in the office commons. To re-serve a seat, contact Barbara Chapman or Frankie Markham.

Monday Book Discussion

Join us in the church library February 27, at 2 p.m. when we discuss The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt. Questions? Contact Anne Healy.

News You Can Use

Through our partnership with West Plano Presbyterian Church we have learned of the need of full length prom dress-es for students at the Presbyterian Pan American School in Kingsville. If you can help with this, please contact Linda Yeager at 972-231-1995 or linda@yeagernet.com. The dead-line is early March - thank you!

Sunday, February 12 Fellowship Hall at 11:30

Fried Chicken Please bring sides or desserts

Crafts for the kids

Talent Show and Spaghetti Dinner Sunday, March 26

Ralph Stannard is the talent scout. Contact him to book an act.

Our sympathy and prayers to the Mike Haun family on the death of Mike's mother, Betty Haun, on Sunday, January 22. Services will be February 11, in Sherman. Sympathy and pray-ers also to the Turnbull family (Julia Haun) on the death of Julia’s nephew, Alec Turnbull, last month.

Congratulations to Elle Weeks who will be par-ticipating with her choir from Westwood Junior High as the Honor Choir for the Texas Music Educations Convention in San Antonio this spring. Elle is an eighth grader and the daugh-ter of Amy Weeks.

Congratulations to Dr. Judy Bozone who will participate in a Symposium for Emerging Com-posers with the Minnesota Orchestra. Judy was chosen as one of the seven emerging compos-ers to have their compositions featured in a concert by the Minnesota Orchestra Friday, February 3. The orchestra will play Judy's piece "Spilled Orange". Judy is the daughter of Mike and Julia Haun.

Congratulations to Waite and Becca Colbaugh on the birth of their daughter, Ruby Arrow. Proud grandparents are Penny and Phil Colbaugh.

Notes and Notables

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February/March 2017

February 1, 2017

Residents of Presbyterian Village North who call themselves the Knit Wits thought it would be fun to teach children the lost art of knitting. Chil-dren and seniors spent time together during “gift hours,” where residents imparted their knowledge of hobbies, interests, and activities with partici-pating children. Among all 12 members of the Knit Wits, it is estimated the group has a combined 500 years of experience.

The Knit Wits were excited to see the joy that radiated from the chil-dren’s faces as they created something unique. The residents spent four days working with the children, helping them to make flowers, headbands, and other items. After hosting this series of activities, they are contemplat-ing hosting other tutorials during school breaks and on weekends. They experienced much joy in passing down their family knowledge of knitting and crocheting.

The Knit Wits also have discussed using their talents to make items like scarves, hats, and lap blankets for people in need, such as soldiers, the homeless, and hospitalized children. The group started just a few months ago, so they are still discussing how to use knitting to help others. In the meantime, members meet once a week to work on their own knitting and crocheting projects and to share their patterns, yarn, advice, and stories.

‘Knit Wits’ Teach Children Lost Art of Knitting