The Crier From: Covenant Presbyterian Church

J u l y , 2 0 1 7 V o l u m e V ~ I s s u e 7

Meanwhile ...

(Front page)

INSIDE:

Calendar p. 2

Session Highlights p. 3

Gift of Music p. 3

Community Life p. 4

Stewardship and Finance p. 4

Worship p. 5

Mission and Outreach p. 5

Food Distribution p. 6

Book Grp. p. 6

Life Long Learning p. 7

Meanwhile conclusion p. 7

Birthdays & p. 8 Anniversaries

An Open Letter to the CPC Pastor Nominating Committee from Lynda Hyland Burris

Dear Ryan, Liz, Cal, Donna, Russ, Carol, Lee, Carla, and Chuck,

Congratulations to each of you on your election to serve on the Pastor

Nominating Committee (PNC). I’ve been told that this is one of the hardest

tasks to undertake in church leadership. And also the most rewarding. If you

heard Tom Webster (our COM liaison) speak on Sunday, then you’ll re-

member that he used words to describe his personal experience on three

different PNC’s as “enthralling,” “magical,” and “sacred.” May it be all of that

and more for you in these coming months together.

As a pastor, I have been at the other end of the table as a candidate

three times, and while I would echo Tom’s words, I would have to add

“agonizing,” “mysterious,” and “holy hell” (as in, did they really ask me what

I think they just asked me?). Sometimes the waiting, waiting, waiting to hear

back from a committee seems to go on forever. And from my experience on

COM, sometimes if a PNC takes too long, the candidate moves on, accepts

another call. It is a balancing act on both sides.

When you get around to reading, perhaps for the second time, the Mis-

sion Study, you will undoubtedly notice certain trends in our congregation’s

answers, desires, must-haves, the first one being Growth. To translate that

more definitively, it means Attracting Young Families. Of course we want to;

and so does every other church in the universe. So here is some

healthy advice from Jan Edmiston, Co-Moderator of the 222nd

General As-

sembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):

Young families are great. Old families are great. Families made up of

child-free couples are great. Families of single people are great. Imagine if

every church simply wanted A Pastor Who Could Bring In Broken People.

Now that’s a church.

Instead of seeking a Pastor who can bring in those Young Families,

we need to call a Pastor who knows how to shift congregational culture. The

culture in which we live and move and have our being has changed, but we

are killing ourselves trying to maintain a dated congregational culture.

continued, pg. 7

MEANWHILE ...

The Crier

Reporters: Church leaders, members and friends.

Editor: Sue Harrison ( cpoffice@sbcglobal.net )

Church Staff ~ Pastor Rev. Lynda Hyland Burris

Music Staff: Mark Osten, Ted Lassagne, musicians Mark Teeters, Music Director

Administrative Assistant, Sue Harrison

Pastor Emerita Rev. Dr. Deana Reed

The Session

Moderator Lynda Hyland Burris

Clerk of Session Paula Jones

Com. Life/Evangelism/Membership Michael Burkett Jenna Cooledge

Life Long Learning Diana Greenwood

Mission/Outreach Kathryn Tiberend

Property/Bldg. Use Josie Jenkins

Special Projects Bev Penry

Stewardship/Finance Cal Groeneweg

Barb Pahre

Worship Bill Lockhart

Covenant Presbyterian Church: A Welcoming Community

Covenant Presbyterian Church is a fully welcoming church,

which invites all to life and leadership regardless of age, race, gender,

sexual orientation or any other worldly condition. We pray, as those who follow Christ,

for the capacity to envision life as it could be and, with the help of our loving God,

to unite ourselves across our differences and to treat all with respect, dignity, love,

compassion, understanding.

Volume V ~ Issue 7 Page 2

July Worship on Sundays at 10:30 am

7-1 Saturday—Nothing on Calendar

7-2 Worship; Communion Sunday

7-4 Holiday. Office Closed

7-6 Deacons Meeting, 7 pm (Parlor)

7-7 Summer Fling Begins N.A. meeting, 7 pm

7-9 Worship; Hunger Offerings

7-10 Last Day: Summer Fling

7-14 N.A. meeting, 7 pm

7-16 Worship; Celebrate Birthdays &

Anniversaries

7-21 N.A. meeting

7-23 Worship, 10:30 am (Sanct.)

11:30 All Church Picnic (Grove)

7-27 AAUW Luncheon (Hall)

Session Meeting, 7 pm (Parlor)

7-28 N.A. meeting, 7 pm

7-29 Bob Grove Memorial, 11 am

Reception to follow (Hall)

7-30 Morning Worship, 10:30 am

7-31 Tai Chi (see below)

NEW THIS SUMMER: Tai Chi will be meeting through the month of JULY!

Here is their schedule ~

Exercise Class

TAI CHI ~ Mon &Weds

9:45 am and 1 pm

In Covenant Hall

V o l u m e V ~ I s s u e 7 _ P a g e 3

SESSION HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights from the Session meeting held

on June 22, 2017:

• Nominating Committee: The names that will

be presented for nomination to the PNC at a

Called Congregational meeting on June 25th

are: Ryan Cooledge, Liz Groelle, Cal Groe-

neweg, Donna Kadel, Russ Kindig, Carol

McCormick, Lee Stanford, Carla Yost and alter-

nate, Chuck Youngson.

• Mission/Outreach: CPC has joined the Food

Bank Distribution Network. June 30, 2017 will

be the first distribution date. CPC will be the

distribution center on every 5th Friday of the

month. Any excess food not distributed will be

delivered to The Table.

• Worship: The choir room has been cleaned

and organized. Judy Sargent is sorting and or-

ganizing all of the choir’s music. There will be

a concert on August 11th at 6:00 pm presented

by The Lighthouse for the Blind to benefit En-

chanted Hills. All are welcome to attend this

wonderful event. There will be a free will offer-

ing that will go to The Lighthouse for the Blind.

• Community Life: The all church picnic being

held in Grove’s Grove has been moved to July

23rd and an outing to the River Cat’s baseball

game in Sacramento will be in August with sig-

nups starting soon.

• Life Long Learning: The Sunday school room

cleanup is scheduled for *Wednesday, August

23rd

and Sunday school will resume September

10th. There are 4 openings in the Faith Journey

program which will begin when all 6 slots have

been filled.

(*Plans being made to switch to a Thursday)

• Stewardship/Finance: The annual fundraiser,

Clue the Musical, went well with the goal being

met for the operating budget. Approval was giv-

en at a Called meeting of the session to transfer

the funds needed to pay off the Synod Line of

Credit before June 29th.

• Landscape project: Phase II of the landscape

project will begin on June 23rd

. This includes the

front parking lot planter and the area in front of

the office and hall.

The next scheduled meeting of session is Thursday, July 27, 2017 at 7:00 pm in the parlor.

Paula Jones Clerk of Session

The Gift of Music

July 30th Special Music

Come and hear the Napa Valley

Threshold Choir … it is one of over

100 Threshold Choirs

around the world.

The director, Sudie Pollock, says:

“We bring gentle songs to the bed-

side of people who are dying, very ill,

or in pain.”

Three or four of us sing in private

homes, hospitals, nursing homes, to

one person at a time. We train our-

selves to sing softly, sweetly and in 3

-part harmony. Our angelic voices

help our clients to relax, breathe

more easily and ultimately to let go.

Our songs are written for this work—

they will not be familiar to you.”

Volume V ~ Issue 7 page 4

Community Life by Michael Burkett

DATE CHANGE: On July 23rd, we will host the annual All-Church Picnic in the Grove. Please bring a salad or side dish to share. Community Life will provide drinks, paper plates, cups, silverware, HOT DOGS and HAMBURGERS.

We are going for “old

fashioned” picnic fun … with

good food and outdoor games

and laughter and conversation!!

If you have a favorite outdoor

game you would like to have us

play, please tell Michael Burkett

or Jenna Cooledge (Co-chairs).

Both of them have mail boxes

here at the church.

Or, Michael’s email is napavallemichael@gmail.com.

Jenna’s email is: jennaleigh06@gmail.com

Thanks for your help!

Stewardship/Finance Commission

Announcement

by Cal Groeneweg

At the June Stewardship/Finance Commission meeting,

we reviewed the current line of credit with the Synod that

will be due June 29, 2017. The Finance Commission will

be making a recommendation to Session to take the fol-

lowing action:

Move $15,000.00 from Covenant Funds to Oper-

ating to pay off the line of credit .

Moving into our new pastor search, we believe that it’s

important to be debt free. If additional funds do come

in to “Close the Gap” or the “Priority Project” account,

we will move money back into Covenant Funds—as ap-

propriate, when we have sufficient funds.

If you have any question please feel free to talk to

Pam, 479-2912, Barb, 301-5638 , or Calvin, 253-8236

TEAM

DEANA

IS GETTING

Look for information on the

Poster hanging on the bulletin

board

Balance as of today $20,686

Closing Gap funds ($920.00)

PPO funds ($900.00)

Other funds ($750.00)

$18,058 approx. balance to pay off

LETTER BLOCKS:

Move the letters around so that words are formed on the top and bottom that you can associate with occupations.

T C R E A E H

D T T E N S I

A Word from the Worship Commission

Summer is the time when the flowers in

your garden flourish and your vegetable

garden is prolific! Sometimes, truly, “your

garden overflows!” If you have been

blessed with a green thumb and would like

to share the bounty, the Worship Commis-

sion would love to have some of your flow-

ers to grace the sanctuary on Sunday

mornings. We will help you pick them, if

you’d like.

Perhaps you would like to donate flowers

from your yard in memory (or honor) of

someone; we can coordinate placing an

arrangement and getting the info in the bul-

letin. Just call Carla Yost, 1-815-7294, to

let her know you have flowers to donate

and call Sue in the church office, 255-

9426, to let her know the information you

want in the bulletin

About those extra zucchini?? You might

want to chat with the Mission Commission!

Volume V ~ Issue 7 Page 5

Mission and Outreach by Karen Grobl

As you may recall, a portion of the Pentecost

Offering is retained by local churches for support

of local mission work of their choosing; the rest

is sent to Louisville for use in national and global

mission projects.

The Mission and Outreach Commission of

CPC has designated the 40% of our 2017 offer-

ing to be used in support of supporting young

people and have chosen as our recipient Puertas

Abiertas, which means Open Doors. Puertas

Abiertas is a local non-profit resource center, es-

tablished in 2004 to bridge the gap between ser-

vice providers and the Latino community.

To quote from their website, their goal is to

“empower families by helping them access

health and social services, improve educational

skills, become more engaged in the community,

and achieve self-sufficiency.” They offer many

programs including Spanish literacy; English as a

Second Language; tax preparation; support

groups, computer skills, as well as help with

passport and immigration status. A very active

organization - and their doors are open to all.

We hope to continue to support

this valuable organization.

What is the new

date of the

All-Church Picnic?

JULY 23RD ~ 11:30 am

in the Grove.

Our thanks to Paula Jones,

Registrar for our Summer Fling Event

at Tahoe this year.

Our CPC Group will be enjoying a time of

rest and renewal

from July 7th through July 10th.

Volume V ~ Issue 7 Page 6

Covenant Joins the Food Bank Distribution Network

June 30, 2017 marks the first, but not the last, 5th Friday Food Bank Distribution of the

year. Covenant asked if we could be a Food Distribution Center for the Napa CanV Food Bank,

and we were given “every 5th Friday.” June 30th will be our first distribution day!

Here is what our day will look like:

Food arrives from the Food Bank at 1:00 p.m. Two people are needed to unload (and two have volunteered!). Thank you, John and Jenna). We set up 6-8 tables and get ready for people to arrive. From 2:00 –4:00 pm, anyone who needs food comes to our Distribution Center We will be in the Hall or outside on the patio, depending on the day’s temperatures. Three or Four people are needed to distribute food. Anyone available??

Any food that is not distributed will belong to CPC, to be used at our discretion; per-haps it will go to The Table.

Finally, Two people are needed to take down the tables and process the undistribut-ed food.

Anyone want to help?? “Many hands make light work” and, except for the un-

loading, the tasks on Distribution Day are pretty easy and very rewarding. If you can help in

any way, let the church office know (255-9426) or contact Barb Pahre via e-mail

(bpahre@pacbell.net) or 224-7129 (leave a message).

Once our garden starts to produce, food will come directly from the CanDo/CanGrow

garden to be distributed. WOW!

Barbara Pahre, Garden Facilitator

QUEST for KNOWLEDGE by Karen Grobl

The Book Group met on June 5th to enjoy a discussion of our latest read, The All-Girl Filling Sta-tion’s Reunion by Fannie Flagg. We agreed that it is a good summer read. It is a Southern tale of family, small town, adoption and mystery. In addition, it introduced us to the history of the Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs). Our group generally enjoyed this book and would recommend it. The next meeting of Quest for Knowledge will be on August 28th at 7:00 pm in the church Parlor. We will be discussing Born A Crime by Trevor Noah. Trevor is the new host of t.v.’s The Daily Show. He was born in South Africa, the son of a Xhosa mother and a Swiss German father in the time of apartheid, when his birth as “half white, half black” was a crime.

We look forward to seeing you!

Volume IV ~ Issue 7 page 7

Our CPC Serving Team has standard

staples they use to prepare the meal

they serve at The Table on the

fourth Friday of each month.

While you are shopping, pick up ‘extra’:

Ranch Dressing, Picante Sauce

Canned Corn (not creamed)

Jarred Jalapeňo Peppers

Canned (Pitted) Olives

Enchilada Sauce,

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Pasta noodles (Not spaghetti please)

Bring your gifts and put them on the shelves

of the House that Bob Built,

which is located in the Hall.

Thank you for your on-going support of

our Cooks and Servers!

Monetary gifts are also appreciated and

help us purchase milk, meat, and other

perishable items, as they are needed.

Bring your gifts and put them on the shelves

of the House that Bob Built, which is located

in the Hall. Thank you!

Life Long Learning: SHARING YOUR STORY

Life Long Learning Commission is now gath-ering names of people who would like to share their Faith Journey. Typically, we have offered Faith Journeys as a six week series; a different story each week, following worship. There are helpful guide-lines available. These stories have been so meaning- ful to both the Story Teller and those who have been for-tunate to hear the story! In a way, it is like gather-ing around the dinner table at Grandma’s house, telling family stories. We all hold a ‘family memory’ of how we became part of the Christian family and while it is the basis of our connection here at CPC, it is also unique to each of us. If you have an interest in participating as a Story Teller this year, please contact Diana Green-wood to sign up: digreenwood@sbcglobal.net. We plan to offer the next Faith Journey series be-ginning in late summer.

MEANWHILE ~ continued from p. 1

News flash: Most pastors will fail at “Bringing in

Young Families.” Families of every kind are drawn

to communities that are in touch with real life.

Listen to parents’ concerns. Listen to children’s con-

cerns. Ask how we can pray for them. And then pray

for them.

Allow/encourage messiness. Noses will run and

squirming will ensue. There might be running. There

will definitely be noise.

It’s also okay not to have Young Families in our con-

gregations depending on the context. Some neighbor-

hoods have very few young ones living nearby. But

there are still people who crave some Good News.

I want a Pastor who can minister to whoever lives in

the neighborhood in the thick of these cruel and

beautiful times.

CPC does a beautiful job at being welcoming to chil-

dren and youth. I don’t see “the Stink Eye” as the au-

thor describes it, when babies cry or children run.

The key to these suggestions is what Edmiston refers

to as a “congregational cultural shift” which has to

take place to meet the needs of young families today

– times of worship, programs and ministries for chil-

dren, youth and parents that are relevant, support pro-

grams – to name a few.

Most pastors (even retired ones!) have been reading

about this shift for years, and some have offered sub-

tle changes to make advances in offering radical hos-

pitality, seeking God in the Neighborhood, exploring

what it means to be a Missional church. And some-

times they work, and sometimes not. When they fail,

the pastor gets blamed, and more often than not it’s

because the congregation couldn’t/wouldn’t/didn’t

wanna make the shift.

You were called by the congregation because of your

specific gifts for this ministry, because we believe

you each have something to say, and you know what

is best for CPC, and most of all, because you all

share one thing in common: your great big hearts. So,

go follow Jesus. We’re all behind you.

Lynda

Volume V, Issue 7 Pg. 8

TUESDAY

BIBLE STUDY

WILL NOT MEET

IN JULY.

Visit our Website! www.cpcnapa.org

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/cpcnapa

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