NORTHMINSTER

Grapevine January 2018 Vol. 33 Issue 10

January Worship

January’s Second Mile Offering

is for Student Ministries

Phone: 931-0243 Fax 931-0260 e-mail: office@nmpchurch.org website: www.northminsterchurch.net

Sunday, January 7 - Communion Epiphany/Baptism of our Lord

“Rejoice in Hope! Philippians 4:4-7

Greg Kennedy

Sunday, January 14 - Ordination/Installation Worthy?!

Ephesians 4:1-6

Greg Kennedy

Sunday, January 21 Peacemakers

Romans 12:18

Nancy Ross-Zimmerman

Sunday, January 28 - Congregational Meeting Single Service at 10:30 A.M. in the Sanctuary

Overcome Evil with Good Romans 12:14-21/John 1:1-5

Greg Kennedy

9:00-10:00 A.M. Breakfast in Disciples’ Hall with breakfast casseroles, fruit,

coffee and orange juice

from Greg Kennedy, Pastor/Head of Staff

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Angel Tree Party

NSM is having a Planning Meet-ing on January 17 at 7:00 P.M. in the Upper Room. If you have a middle school or high school stu-dent and would like to be in-volved and help plan events for 2018 please join us.

You’re Invited to Northminster Presbyterians Church’s

THE NEXT STEP CLASS

On Sunday, January 14 at 12:00 P.M. downstairs in Disciples’ Hall

We are glad you’ve been worshipping with us and we’d like to get to know you

better and to share our Mission and Vision for Northminster.

Join us for conversations about Faith: where your faith journey is taking

you, how Northminster can support you along the way, where we feel

God is leading Northminster Church and how you can join the journey.

A simple lunch will be served

TO RSVP call the church office at 931-0243

Hey friends, “I guess it comes down to a simple choice: get busy living or get busy dying.” with these super direct words, in the movie “Shawshank Redemption”, Andy Dufresne en-courages Red to find something/someone to live for. I often think of these words at the beginning of the year, when I flirt again with the idea of resolutions. I am super at-tracted to the aim of living fully. However, I must admit to hav-ing become a bit jaded on the idea of “big” or “many” when it comes to resolutions. It seems that when I have too many resolutions or too big of a resolution I accomplish nothing. I end up a little more dis-couraged and a bit more cynical about the whole idea of growth and change. I hear a refrain in my head about old dogs and new tricks. Rather than become a resolu-tion curmudgeon, I have opted to be guided by one of my personal core commitments: small steps/small wins/small is big. Against all my cynical instincts, throughout the year I attempt one small step in one

of the major areas of my life: my heart (key relationships - God first among them), my hands (growing in ministry or work), my soul (things that keep me filled and healthy), and my mind (reading or attempting things that stretch me). It simply hasn’t worked for me to attempt too many at once, so I don’t attack all these areas at once. I am a one or two change(s) at a time kinda pastor. One is not none! One change is something to celebrate! This time of year Andy Du-fresne speaks to me and asks, “So are you going to get busy living?” I hear my Lord inquiring, “Are your experiencing life abun-dant?” (John 10:10) I hear Paul reminding us, “Little by little, glo-ry by glory, we are being trans-formed back into His image.” (2 Corinthians 3:15-18) So my friends, what are one or two small things you can do dif-ferently, or add to your life that will have the biggest possible re-turn on investment? Dream a lit-tle, and share with someone your

one small step. This way you will encourage them to ask themselves, “Have I figured out my small step?” and you will create some accountability – which if you’re like me you will need. I have heard one of Northminster’s Ro-mans 12 core values is, “Be trans-formed by the renewing of your minds!” Let’s live it together.

Sunday, January 28

Breakfast will be served from

9-10 in Disciples’ Hall.

Worship will begin at

10:30 A.M. in the Sanctuary.

The Congregational Meeting

will follow worship in the Sanctuary.

NSM Planning Meeting

There will be a small Thank You Party in Room 2 between church services on Sunday January 7. This is for those church members who delivered presents to families of prisoners or called those fami-lies to confirm gifting information. We appreciate all you have done To make Angel Tree a success again this year

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Inside this issue

Page

2 . . . . . . from the Senior Pastor

2 . . . . . . . . . New Member Class

3 . . . . . . .from the Assoc. Pastor

4 . . . . . . . . . . Session Highlights

5. . . . .January’s Missional Focus

5 . . . . . . . . . . .Church Financials

6 . . . . . . . . . . . .Journey to Hope

7 . . . . . . . . . . . January Calendar

8 . . . . . . . . .Adult Opportunities

8 . . . . . Book Discussion Group

9 . . . . . . . . Children and Family

9 . . . . . . . . Co-Op Open House

10 . . . . . . . . . Family News

As 2017 ends, my heart is full with gratitude: to God, for his steadfast love and presence throughout each day of the year, and to the people of Northminster, who have stepped up in ways sim-ple and profound, to be the Body of Christ. My long list of Gratitude in-cludes: the members of the Pastor

Nominating Committee and their faithful, dedicated work of listening for the Spirit’s leading, and in Calling Pastor Greg Kennedy.

the wonderful worship and mu-

sic leadership of staff and vol-unteers alike: seasoned staff like Karen Balogh, Carolyn Miller, Lissa Ray and Gary Tyler and our newest music/worship team members who serve in Crosspoint, Brenda Hartman and Rachel Steel. Northminster Worship is greatly enhanced through the music provided by our musicians who energetically work with singers and instru-mentalists of all ages.

those who participated

throughout the year in missions and our volunteer Director of Missions, Laurie Laning. This Advent season saw Northmin-ster members and friends meet-ing and exceeding the goals set for jars of peanut butter donat-ed and holiday cards signed for our military men and women serving away from home this Christmas (over 1,000 cards were completed and returned by you!)

the amazing outpouring of love

and dollars for the NmPC fami-ly in tough times. Thanks to

your generosity, the family was blessed with a reliable minivan, furniture for their apartment, and presents under the tree. The blessings will continue into 2018!

the superb team of the Angel

Tree ministry, who guaranteed a happy Christmas for 56 children who have parents incarcerated. The team included Coordina-tors: Bob and Kathryne Brock-field. Administrative team: Carol and Paul Drees, Margaret and Al Neumann, Ruth Shaw, Edie Harper, Diane Siegel. Phone Team: Forrest Cress, Flo Beall, Sheryl Rajbhandari, Carol Drees, Amy Lewis, Ed Sawyer and Carolyn Miller; and the De-livery Team: Jan Hendrix, Art Oliver, Keith McGuire, Dale Elliott, Bob Friedhoff, Forrest Cress and Chris Hasler.

all who stepped up and jumped

in on Christmas Eve, providing amazing Hospitality (Meredith Hasler, Elder chair) – for baking and sharing cookies, setting up hot chocolate and ‘fixings’, tidy-ing up and re-setting between each service and clean-up at midnight. I trust that everyone felt incredibly ‘welcomed home’ on Christmas Eve!

for those brave servants who,

without prompting or twisting of arms, spread salt on side-walks and even out into the parking lot on Christmas Eve (the snow was picturesque, but the walkways were slick!)

for Deacon Dan Wells and his

Poinsettia delivery team and for all who provided the flowers this season.

a personal thank you to those who have chosen to bless my sabbatical time away with a fi-nancial gift. Please know that I will keep you updated as to my travel/study plans as the sabbat-ical time nears. Your generosity again has overwhelmed me.

for the unseen ways you serve

as companions for others: of-fering a smile and word of wel-come, assisting someone using a walker, or carrying a small child, sharing in conversation over coffee in the Commons, caring for each other throughout the week… please know that your pastors are blessed to serve alongside you all. I look forward to another year of Kingdom work!

Cheers in Christ,

from the Associate Pastor

Session Highlights

In November and December, Your Session:

Conducted its annual joint meeting with the Board of Deacons. A inspiring part of this meeting is the opportuni-ty to hear faith statements from our newly elected offic-ers (elders and deacons in this case).

Received a report that as of the mid-November meeting our stewardship campaign had produced pledges totaling about $850,000. Although not everyone who pledged for 2017 has made a 2018 pledge, this appears to put us on track to balance our proposed 2018 budget. If you haven’t pledged yet, please get a pledge card, fill it out and turn it in to Church Financial Sec-retary Marianne Lord.

Moderator of Deacons Laura Engleman reported that the Board is continuing its “Meet the Deacon” program. In this program, a team of two dea-cons will be in the Commons before/between services on selected Sunday mornings to talk with folks about the Board’s work and how anyone can contact his/her deacon.

Received a report that $3,000 was raised to provide Thanks-giving meals for 60 needy families.

Approved the scheduling of a single worship service and program for Sunday, January 28, 2018 as follows: Brunch beginning at 9:00 AM; fol-lowed by a single worship ser-vice in the sanctuary at

10:30 AM. The Annual

Congregational Meeting will begin immediately after this service.

Decided to hold all January regular session meetings on the second Tuesday (instead of the first Tuesday) in order

to allow for the closing of the previous year’s books prior to the meeting.

Had an opportunity to meet Cathy Wells, our new Church Administrator. Cathy takes over for former administrator

S t e v e

February 3, 2018

Troop Support Holiday Card Mission Update

Thanks, Northminster for all those who participated in card writing for those in our US Armed Services. A grand total of 1,198 cards were given to Blue Star Mothers to send to our sol-diers. When the representative from Blue Star Mothers picked up the boxes of completed cards they

mentioned how overwhelmed their group is with the generosity of this church Whatever needs they have Northminster by far is their largest contributor. FYI: 1114 Christmas Cards went to the Soldiers, 50 Christmas Cards went to Veterans and 34 Hanukkah Cards went to Jewish Soldiers.

Over 40 regional visual artists will descend on Finneytown for an incredible day of visual arts features high-quality oil paintings, drawings, water colors, prints, pottery, wood turning, photography, fabric art and one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces shown by artists from Ohio and Kentucky. The art will be sold at prices ranging from a few dollars to several hun-dred. There is also a fair-trade market, comprised of vendor booths sell-ing international handcrafts, jewelry, coffee, and chocolate. A children’s area provides the free opportunity to work on a variety of art projects. They can also make a pot on a pottery wheel (for a $3 fee). 4

January’s Mission Focus

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Financial Report Through November YTD actual YTD Budget % of Total Previous Year % of Total Budget Budget YTD YTD previous year Revenue $ 897,000 $872,000 84% $936,000 87% Expense $ 916,000 $977,000 85% $923,000 86% Surplus/(Deficit) ($ 19,000) $ 13,000

Missionaries in Northern Iraq The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) partners with and sup-ports the congregations in Iraq. PC(USA) currently has two mis-sion co-workers serving in Iraq, and a regional liaison who visits there regularly. These PC(USA) missionaries were invited by the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Iraq. The PC(USA) also helps Iraqi churches connect with other Presbyterian churches in the region, such as the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Egypt, the National Evangelical Synod of Syr-ia and Lebanon, and the Reformed Church in Kuwait. Northminster supports the two mission co-workers, a hus-band and wife team that serve as PC(USA) ministers working in the north of Iraq, in the Kurdish re-gion, in a ministry of witness to Christ among the majority Kurdish population, mostly of Muslim background. This is a ministry sim-ilar to what they did for many years among the Kurdish refugee and immigrant population of Ber-lin, Germany. But in Iraq they are also doing bridge-building activi-ties in support of the Christian population in the Kurdish region, including Iraqi Presbyterians. Be-cause of violence elsewhere in the country, Christians have been flee-ing to the safety of the Kurdish region, Presbyterians among them.

Iraq needs our continued sup-port and help to continue a lengthy and historic tradition of mission work in this country. Iraq contains some of the oldest orga-nized churches in the world. Iraqi Christians were pioneers in spreading the gospel to China, In-dia, Persia and Arabia. However, in modern times, political changes, social changes, two major wars, and persecution have led many Iraqi Christians to emigrate from the country. Since the 8th Century Christians have been a minority in Iraq, but the precipitous decline of Christians in Iraq over the last 25 years—especially since 2003—now threatens the very existence of Christianity in Iraq. Among their visits to 55 Pres-byterian churches and 4 Presbyter-ies in the US in 2016, the mission co-workers were at NmPC on July 17th and spoke at each of our Sunday services as well as to about a dozen members in their ministry.

They were greatly encouraged by their visits. (“for security reasons nothing about the PC(USA) mission co-workers should be put on any public website or social media”)

The Sanctuary Flower Calen-dar for 2018 has been posted in the hall out-side the volun-teer office. If you are interested in providing an arrangement for the sanctuary, sign your name by the date you prefer or call the church office (931-0243). Remember, if you want a par-ticular date, please sign up early. The cost of the arrangement is $35.00 in 2018.

2018 Sanctuary Flowers

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Journey to Hope

Caregivers’ Support Group

Crohn’s Colitis Group

Grief Coaching #1

Diabetic Support Group

Now What?

Action Board

Steady U

All support and coaching groups at Journey to Hope are open to the greater Cincinnati community. Please share this information freely with anyone who could benefit from any of our programs. Your pre-registration is essential for us to plan for materials and group leadership. We would pre-fer that you register at Eventbrite: jtoh.eventbrite.com, but you may also still register by calling or e-mailing Linda Grant-Foxx (931- 5777 or lgrantfoxx@jtoh.org). Monthly Groups: Sunday, January 7, 3:30 – 5 PM We welcome the new year with a speaker, Angie Homoelle, the Co-ordinator of the Caregivers’ Assis-tance Network! Angie will be sharing information on Stress Re-duction and some upcoming pro-gramming at Catholic Charities. Please join us! We continue on our winter break. The next meeting date is Monday, February 19, 7-8:30 PM. Be well...and See You Then!

TBD Please stay tuned to the e-newsletter and look for a postcard for details about January’s meet-ing. Mary Alicia Feist, RN, has had a change in positions and we are still working to coordinate a time that will work for her and you! Starting in February: 90 Days to a New Life Direc-tion - Tuesday, February 6, 3-5 PM, for 10 weeks Limited to 8 people If you are feeling “stuck” in any area of your life, this group is for you! Through this coaching process you will reflect on your life, identify your transferrable skills, identify driving motivators, interrupted dreams & golden threads throughout your life, dis-cover new “packages” for your skills, identify an “ultimate” direc-tion and a strategy for getting there. At the end of our 90 days together you will be headed to a new life direction! Led by Coach Diane Kinsella, an authorized facilitator of the Now What program. Journey to Hope’s sponsorship of the pro-gram reduces the cost to $175.00 [before January 29th], which in-cludes: book, workbook, 28 hours of group coaching, private groups & e-mail access to Coach Diane. After January 29, the cost is $195.00. Wednesday, February 7, 1:30 – 3:30 PM for 8 weeks. Please call or email Linda Grant-Foxx (513-931-5777 or lgrantfoxx@jtoh.org)

to put your name on our waiting list for this group so that you will be notified when the date is final-ized. Tuesday, February 20, 7-8:30 PM for 5 weeks This new ap-proach to grief work is focused on guiding participants through the process of mourning their loss and getting started on the road to re-covery. Coach leaders will help participants to recognize their own ability to heal, confront the chal-lenges, and take action at a time when these attributes are not read-ily apparent to a struggling survi-vor. Tuesday, February 20, 7-9 PM for 3 weeks “Vision without action is a dream. Ac-tion without vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference.” ~Joel Barker Trying to make a positive change in your life? Give yourself the gift of supported, focused time to transform your vision for a bright-er future into an action board. Ac-cording to Neil Farber, M.D., Ph.D., Action Boards are based on research studies in psychology, mind-brain science, and goal achievement. Through this group you will have the option to cut and paste inspir-ing images and words onto physi-cal or online virtual boards (usable as a screen saver). The goal is to create a useful transformation tool (continue on page 8)

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Job Search Accelerator #1

Journey to Hope (cont.)

(continue from page 6) that you use regularly, not just pretty pictures that gather dust. The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to set your focus and intention for 2018!

Wednesday, February 21, 7-9 PM, for 6 weeks Limited to 12 Learn from a 360° personal brand survey to give you the external in-sights essential to your career tran-sition or action plans for develop-ment. We will use this feedback tool to develop your LinkedIn pro-file so it expresses your unique point of view and attracts the re-cruiters and businesses who need you. We will incorporate all that we know about Search Engine Opti-mization to make your LinkedIn profile your “Marketing Magnet!” Led by Certified Social Media Branding Analyst, Diane Kinsella. Cost: $50 to cover assessments, tools, and materials. New in 2018! Monday, February 26, 1:30 – 3:30 PM for 6 weeks Limited to 8 people working with 2 coaches This unique coaching cohort is based on the various tech accel-erators in town. Each weekly ses-sion will include: presentations from subject matter experts (based on the needs of the group), time in the session to apply what you’ve just learned to your own job search, and individualized coaching within a smaller sub-group of four people working with a coach. Expectations for participation are

that you are ready to make commitments to achieve

your personal goals and be held accountable to them, and you want to make serious progress to-ward your next position. There is an application to participate so that we have an understanding of where you are on your search so that we may build a cohort that is in a similar space. Like other accel-erators & UC’s Back to Business Basics, there is a cost of $100.00. However, you have the opportuni-ty to earn back $75 by meeting the milestones that you set for weeks 2, 4, and 6. Your participation in this group will provide dedicated, structured time to accelerate your search, fill in the blanks of “I don’t know what I don’t know,” and be equipped to carry through to the successful end of your search. You will also have a team to support you, encourage you, and share in the joys as you go, knowing that you are not alone in the job search wilderness. To apply, please call Diane Kinsel-la at 513-931-5777 or email dkin-sella@jtoh.org. We hope you’ll join us! Starting in March - Here are a few of the groups that will begin in March. If you would like to be among the first to know more about these and other programs, please sign up for our weekly emails. You can do that by calling/emailing Linda Grant-Foxx at 513-931-5777 or lgrantfoxx@jtoh.org Art of Becoming – Wednesday, March 7th QiGong & Tai Chi Flow – Tuesday, March 20th Grace Trail #1 – Thursday, March 22nd

Social Media Branding #1 Men’s Ministry

Adult Opportunities

Bible Believers Adult Study meet Sundays in Room 1 at 9:15 A.M. For questions contact Harry Stone (hstone6148@aol.com or 563-8266) Men’s Bible Study meets on Fri-days at 6:15 A.M. in Room 5 for Bible Study and breakfast. Men’s First Thursday Lunch Group will meet on January 4 at 12 noon at the Manor House at Maple Knoll. For questions call Gordon Jewett at 782-6437.

Presbyterian Women’s Cir-cle meets on the 4 th Tuesday of each month (September-June) at 1:30 P.M. in the Lounge. For questions contact Judy Laning at 821-3978.

Sunday Bible Study

Women’s Ministry

Book Discussion Group

The Book Discussion Group will meet Wednes-day, January 17, at 7:00p.m. Our book will be "The Paris Architect", by Charles Bel-foure. Read it and join the dis-cussion.

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A huge thank you to the C h i l d r e n and Family

Team for a fun and exciting Ad-vent Festival. Seventy guests en-joyed a variety of crafts, reading of the Christmas story and caroling with a special thanks to Carolyn Miller for accompanying us in the singing. Dinner of homemade soups and of course Birthday Cakes for Baby Jesus. There were crafts for after dinner which gave parents extra time to visit with each other. The students from NSM helped with the crafts and clean up. The Children and Family Ministry Team wishes all a Happy New Year.

All of the chil-dren are learn-ing about God’s love. Parents be looking for student pages coming home with family conversation ideas. Preschool/Kindergarten Sun-day School We are look-i n g f o r teachers to cover the preschool/kindergarten class and other openings on Sun-day morning. If you or someone you know might be interested in joining our Children’s Ministry Staff please contact Mary Hensey (Mhensey@nmpchurch.org or 513-931-0243 ext. 106). A complete background check is required. This position offers a small weekly pay.

Children and Family

Sunday Morning News

Mid-Week

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J A M Club is on break until February 21. Ses-sion 3 will run from February 21-March 21. Family Story Night

On February 9th we will have another story night where par-ents and their chil-dren will enjoy the

telling of a Valentine themed chil-dren’s book, related craft activity and popcorn and hot chocolate. Look for more details in the Feb-ruary Grapevine.

Northminster Children’s Co-op

will be hosting an

We offer a creative play-based curriculum designed to meet the social, emotional, physical, cognitive, and language needs of children ages 2-5. This is an opportunity to:

Explore our child-centered preschool classrooms

Interact with our educat-ed, experienced teachers

Learn about our highly rat-ed early childhood program

Register your preschooler for the 2018-19 school year

For more information, please call 931-0243

or email us at northminstercoop@gmail.com.

or visit our website at:

www.northminstercoop.weebly.com

OPEN HOUSE

& Registration Day Saturday, January 27

10:00 A.M.—1:00 P.M.

WE ARE IN NEED OF VOLUNTEER

SUBSTITUTE TUTORS If you travel or you are not availa-ble every Tuesday afternoon, 4:30-5:30, but you would like to make a difference in a 2nd through 5th grade student, this is for you!!!! We will train you and provide you with plenty of resources to help the student in reading and math. If you are interested in being a Whiz Kid Substitute Tutor please contact Karen Kremzar at fin-neytownwhizkids@gmail.com or (513) 235-4670.

FINNEYTOWN

Northminster Grapevine 703 Compton Road Cincinnati, OH 45231

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NORTHMINSTER GRAPEVINE: (USPS 601070) is published monthly by Northminster Presbyterian Church, 703 Compton Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45231. Periodi-

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Family News

Subscribe to the e-newsletter which appears in your emails on Thursday mornings. The e-newsletter contains events for the upcoming week-end and beyond and prayer concerns of our mem-bers. To sign up for the e-newsletter go to our web-site: www.northminsterchurch.net under

“Resources”

Ways to keep informed about Upcoming Events at Northminster:

Did you know that you can get the monthly Grapevine emailed to you? Save a tree and some postage for the church. Just

send your email address to ssmith@nmpchurch.org.

Deaths

Charles Kennedy (father of Rick Kennedy) November 18, 2017

Bob Strom (father of Olaf Strom) November 29, 2017

Jack M. Holt (brother of Hilda Hunter)

December 4, 2017

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Nelda Moeller

December 11, 2017

Eileen Hafer December 17, 2017

Katrina Mayo

(aunt of Treva Wympie) December 21, 2017

Dr. David Eriksen (brother of Sharon Bauman)

December 26, 2017

Annual Reports

The deadline to get your Annual Report to Susan Smith is Friday, January 12, 2018. Email your re-port to ssmith@nmpchurch.org.

Katy Lord (mother of Gary Lord) December 30, 2017