Church and Home December 2015

First Presbyterian Church 1901 W Leota Street

North Platte, NE 69101

Telephone: (308) 532-1083 Fax: (308) 532-2968

Web site: www.fpcnp.org Church e-mail address:

office@fpcnp.org pastorpolly@fpcnp.org

STAFF PASTOR:

Polly K. Deppen-Williams

ADMIN ASSIST: Naomi Okoye

CUSTODIAN: Regan Brown

CHOIR DIRECTOR: Connie McCreery

BELL DIRECTOR: Ann Jones

CHILD CARE: Deb Welsh

ELDERS Clerk of Session:

Jon Beggs Dean Kurth, Treasurer

Rachel Allison Scott Baker

Lowell Fenster Chuck Francis

JoAnne Greene Ann Jones Ned Mack

Ron Ochsner Martha Orcutt

Cyndee Orr Glenn Petersen Mandy Vargas

Jim Whitney

DEACONS Glenda Feeney

Howard & Ruth Gebhardt Janet & Leroy Hare

Jim McClymont Tammy Miller

Marlene Minshull Maxine Mulder

Scott Orr Susan Peters

Betty Priel Irene & Danny Ridgway

Gertrude Stewart Robert Weber

Doris Wells

PW MODERATOR: Dixie Francis

“Boldly with Christ We Belong, Believe, Grow and Reach Out”

Dear Friends,

December 4, 2011 was my first Sunday as the Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in North Platte, Nebraska and December 6, 2015 will be my last Sunday. As I look back on my four years here, I pulled out a book I have called a “Pastoral Record” which lists many of the events of my ministry. If you look in the book you will see that I have preached 189 sermons and performed 11 baptisms, 45 funerals, and 10 weddings. The numbers, however, don’t tell you that I preached my first Easter sermon at this church. They don’t tell you that my first baptism here was Chloe Kaminski on January 22, 2012 and that the last child I baptized was Maverick Vargas on November 22, 2015. They don’t tell you about each person whose life I was able to celebrate at their funeral - the tragic death of Lexi Wiezorek at the age of 17 and the long life of George Robertson at the age of 100 whose funerals were two weeks apart. The numbers don’t tell you about the people who have joined the church during my four years here and have become active members of this congregation. The numbers don’t tell you of about the events we have held, the meals eaten together, the homes I have visited, the people I have come to love and care about here at FPC.

When I moved to Nebraska, I didn’t realize how much my life would change. Not only would I become a Solo Pastor for the first time, but after 47 years of being single, I never expected to meet Matt and become his wife. This church will always hold a special place in my heart and in our lives because it helped to bring us together. Our wedding was made even more special by celebrating with each of you in this church with our family and friends.

Pastors will come and go in the life of a church, and I am honored to have been called to be one of those pastors for the past four years. May God continue to richly bless this congregation as you move forward in your commitment to go boldly with Christ!

Grace & peace,

Pastor Polly

Join us in an Open House Soup Luncheon in Honor of Pastor Polly Deppen-Williams Saturday, December 5 from 11:30am—1:30pm

This will be a time to thank Pastor Polly for her time here at First Presbyterian Church and give her your blessing in her future ministry.

“Second Sunday = Second Purchase”

of an item for the Pantry

Fellowship Time!!! MS Friendship meets Friday, December 4,

at 6:00pm at the airport Everyone is Welcome!

We extend our sympathy to the family of Myrtle Schroeder who passed away November 13. We extend our sympathy to the family of Edwin Laurinat who passed away November 21.

Hospital visits: If you need a hospital visit or know of a member who needs a visit, contact the church office. Due to privacy laws, a family member or the hospital needs to contact the church to let us know when someone is

admitted to the hospital.

1 Mike Shultz 2 Elizabeth Williams 4 Hanna Godbey 6 Renee Callaghan 10 Morgan Libsack 14 Cheryl MacDonald Dan Wesslund 16 Earlene Kuhl Mike McConnell 18 Deb Weitzel

18 Harper Whitney 19 Evan Miller Gary Thies 20 Barbara Barr Connie Sedlmajer Dennis Toillion 21 Connie McCreery 22 Jim McClymont 24 Pat Johnson 25 James Whitney 26 Madeline Ochsner 27 Naomi Okoye 28 Grace Forrester 29 Kelsey Callaghan 30 Jane McCarthy

Jerry & Linda Nelson 4809 Parklane Drive, Kearney NE 68847

Poinsettias are available for purchase at $15 each or any amount you would like to donate. Forms are available in the church office. We will set them out for the cantata on December 13th and you may take them with you following the Christmas Eve service. Thank you, they add greatly to worship during the Advent/Christmas season.

December Anniversaries 12/4/1998 Pat & Lyle Johnson 12/6/2009 Nicole & Paul Wiezorek 12/7/1985 Sandy & Gordon Johnson 12/23/1988 Susan & Jeff Petersen 12/26/1981 Martha & Jim Orcutt 12/27/1983 Deb & Steve Welsh 12/31 Jackie & Brad Dawson

Thank you for your cards, visits and prayers while I was recovering from surgery. God Bless you, Marlene Minshull

Christmas Schedule: No bells December 23, 30 and January 6.

Practice will resume January 13. Chancel Choir will not meet December 16,

23, 30. Practice will resume January 6. K-5 FPC & Me will not meet December 16, 23, 30, January 6 FPC & Me will resume again on January 13. Soup Supper - Christmas Eve 5:30-6:30pm Christmas Eve Service - 7:00pm

The K - 5th grade group has been busy learning songs for the cantata on December 13. They will be singing with the adult choir during part of the service and also singing on their own. There's something about sharing

the message of Christmas that brings out the best in their voices. We do meet on December 2 and 9 for final preparation. FPC & ME will not meet December 16, through January 6. They will gather again on January 13. In this time away our hope is for a joyous time with family and friends. And in that togeth-erness a warm welcome to Jesus, God's won-derful gift to us. Thank you to those who make Wednesday evenings with our children and youth meaning-ful and fun!

- - Ann Jones

Senior High Youth Group December Schedule: Wednesday, December 2 – Care Packages Wednesday, December 9 - Ringing bells for Salvation Army Wednesday, December 16 - Pizza night

Contact Renee Callaghan or Susan Petersen

Soup will be served Christmas Eve from 5:30pm–6:30pm in the Family Life Center. Come for food and fellowship before the worship service at 7pm.

From the Properties Committee The 2016 properties budget has

been submitted. Jim Orcutt has fixed the leak on

the roof by the north windows over the chancel area of the church. THANKS JIM

The broken kitchen window will be installed

on November 30th or sooner if Larry’s Glass can fit us into their schedule. One of the two furnaces that heat the Family

Life Center needs a condenser and a control panel. Parts were ordered and have been in-stalled. Chuck Francis will take over the duty of

checking to see if custodial duties are performed as of November 15th. The following procedures will be expected to

be followed by church members: 1) If you have a suggestion or complaint about properties, please put it in writing and place it in Chuck’s box in the office (he will get back to you about your concern). 2) If you want Regan to do something for you, (outside his normal duties) he is expected to document who asks, the work requested and when it is done. Submitted by, Chuck Francis

The Chancel Choir and Our Children and Youth

will be celebrating the Birth of our Lord

on Sunday, December 13 at 10:00am

On October 23rd, goulash was served to 114 people with 53 second helpings at the Salvation Army dinner. Our goulash is always a hit. We had 48 volunteer hours to make the

dinner happen. Because of the increase of food needed, we have increased the amount we make. As all of us are aware, there are a great many people in North Platte that need assistance. We are also aware that groceries have increased in price. We will have envelopes on the Christmas tree for donations to fund this and many other projects that the Deacons do throughout the year. Thank you for your help. This is an amazing group of Deacons who volunteer our time and money. We couldn’t do what we do without the help of all of our Church families. Thanks to Pastor Polly for her support of the Deacons. She will be missed, but we are happy that this move will benefit her and Matthew. The next Deacons’ meeting will be January 10, 2016. We have many openings for ushers in December. Need Deacons and our fellow parish-ioners help filling the spots May we all have a blessed holiday month and a wonderful Christmas.

Irene M. Ridgway, Secretary

Adventures of Bob and Kristi Rice Democratic Republic of Congo / Kanaga, West Kasai

Keeping up With the Rices http://bobandkristi.blogspot.com/

FROM THE PANTRY:

How can the end of 2015 be upon us? It has been a busy year again at Grace Ministries, and it has been an honor to receive your many financial gifts and food donations. Seeing such nice contributions come in month after month gives us the strength and determina-tion to carry on with this important work, and seeing all of you stay true to your pledge to staff the Pantry is equally heartwarming. As always, we say thank you to all who have helped so faithfully!

October was another busy month. We served 135 households, which was not a record, but was certainly a lot to handle in a month! In those 135 households were 333 individuals. We were pleased to be able to feed SO many! I always find it interesting to know what those 135 households received from us in a month's time…the numbers boggle my mind! 594 cans of soup, 473 cans of fruit, 385 pounds of frozen meat, 332 boxes of cereal, 176 jars of peanut butter…..just a small portion of what we actually gave out. Wow! All of this food doesn't come into, and leave from, the Pantry on its own either! It took 238 hours of volunteer time to get the job done. Thank you volunteers!!

So, with December upon us, and the new year close behind, we hope you'll take time to count your many blessings. If you have food on your table when you need it, you are blessed. If you have the money to purchase food that you enjoy, and can purchase all that you need, you are blessed. If you are able to share your bounty with others less fortunate, you are blessed. If you are able to share your time helping feed the hungry, you are blessed. All of us on the core team of Grace Ministries Food Pantry thank you all for another very successful year. WE are blessed! We think we have the most generous and kind hearted congregation anywhere! Together, we are providing local families nutrition and HOPE that their situation will get better. It is an honor and a blessing to serve them!

- - Leigh Henline

Christmas Joy Offering For more than 80 years, Presbyterians have given generously at Christmas to lift up those who have devoted their lives to the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The Christmas Joy Offering is shared equally by the Assistance Program of the Board of Pensions, which provides much needed assistance to PC(USA) church workers and their families, and Presby-terian-affiliated racial ethnic schools and colleges, which enable students to develop their gifts and find their calling. Every congregation’s gifts to the offering are critical to the future of these programs, especially now.

Christmas Special Offering

The session has designated the Christmas Special offering to the Radio Ministry. Our Sunday worship service is broadcasted over KOOQ 1410AM and is a ministry to our members and members of the community who are homebound. Envelopes for the special offerings are available in your packets and in the pew racks.

Thanksgiving Offering This offering is collected by the Deacons for their various projects of helping those in need throughout the year. Envelopes are provided in your packets and also in the pew racks.

NOTE: Whoever borrowed the snow blower from the storage shed, please bring it back to the church. Thank you!

DECEMBER SERVICE COMMITTEE Coordinator: Doris Craig Members: Tenaj Erickson, Marilyn Jones, Tammy Miller, Marlene Minshull, Toni Volcek

BIBLE STUDY: Come to the Waters Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. We can understand physical thirst: a parched throat, cotton mouth, dry lips, weariness, dizziness, irritability. Prolonged thirst can lead to dehydration and even death. Water is essential to life! The Israelites experienced physical thirst in the wilderness. The result was fear, grumbling, quarreling, anger toward Moses, and testing of God's presence and provision. In summary, people acting badly. But God did intervene and did provide water. God was faithful in spite of the unfaith-fulness of the Israelites. This was true for the Israelites, and it is also true for us today. God chooses to bless God's creation even when creation does not deserve God's blessing. What a powerful metaphor physical thirst makes for soul thirst. In Psalm 42:2 the Psalm-ist calls out, “My soul thirsts for God, for the liv-ing God.” And in Psalm 63:1 “my soul thirsts for you (God); my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Jesus, after he said “It is finished” from the cross, said, “I'm thirsty.” It is ironic that the one who is the living water is thirsty. Jesus longs for it to be over so he can be with God. He thirsts for God. Our author describes soul thirst as the worst kind of homesickness. We know too well what we are missing, and we yearn all the more. Words from Augustine's Confessions “. . . .our hearts find no peace until they rest in you.” May these thoughts sustain you in your life's dry spells. Seek God. He is there for you. December 10 at 9:30 or 6:00: Dangerous Waters – God's Deliverance

GATHERINGS AND FELLOWSHIP TIME: PW Coordinating Team will meet next on

Thursday, December 3 at 10:30am

Women’s Fellowships will meet Thursday, December 10,

at the church 9:30am - Morning Fellowship Hostess: Dixie Francis 6:00pm - Evening Spirits No Hostess - All Share

Presbyterian Women Hosting the 1st Annual

Holiday Tables & Style Show

Saturday, December 12 Starting at 11:30am

Lunch Style show with Christopher & Banks and CJ Banks Special Music Door Prizes

Benefit for the “Gift of Hope”

Tickets: $10