Dream Acres
Official Newsletter of the First Presbyterian Church Omro July and August 2014
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1Announcement
2Apple Fest
3News & notes
4Peacemaking essay
5News & notes
6July calendar
7August calendar
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SESSION NEWS (June 16, 2014, meeting)
Approved hosting the Back to Books Luncheon for teachers and staff at the end of August. Mission Committee will extend invitation and determine the date.
A VBS planning meeting will be held next month. Watch for the date!
Prepare a mass mailing to the community inviting everyone to the August 31 worship and corn roast at Scott Park, VBS, AppleFest, and Smorgasbord.
Reserved the American Bank Pavilion at Scott Park for August 31 worship service and corn roast.
Invite congregation to make donations for “Gift of the Heart School Kits” for Presbyterian Mission Agency. (See additional article for details.)
The Omro Parent Teacher Organization offered to give us the children’s games they used to use at the end-of-the year carnival. We will accept this offer and store the games in the shed.
Approved the idea of constructing and placing 3 wooden crosses on the berm west of the building.
Approved combining the Nurture, Mission, and Celebration Committees into one committee – “Church Life Committee”. We make recommendations to the session in all areas of church life except building and grounds, finances, and personnel, which are the responsibility of the Administration Committee. Celebration, Nurture, and Mission have been meeting together for about a year now; and we’ve found that it very helpful to have input from more people than just the 2 or 3 individuals on committees meeting separately. If anyone would like to serve on the Church Life Committee, please contact the office.
The Sacrament of the Lord’s Table will be observed Sunday, July 6 and Sunday, August 3.
Received a thank-you note from Carter Memorial Library for our donation of $185 (from our 2013 and 2014 Pentecost offerings) for their summer reading program
We will be giving away free bottled water and other items during the 4th of July parade. (see additional article for details.)
David Morrison has been setting live traps by the storage shed and has captured (and released elsewhere!) two woodchucks. We will try to keep the areas around the shed – and west of the annex – clear in the hopes of minimizing the critter problem.
Approved the purchase of a small rototiller for use in Memorial Garden and flower beds around the church.
Maintaining the Memorial Garden remains a huge chore. Thanks to Sue Koon for her help this summer. We are looking into asking Boy Scouts and persons who must complete community service to help in the garden (under supervision).
Bob Walther will be getting a crew together to strip and wax the floors after Vacation Bible School in August. Contact Bob if you can help.
Approved holding a cash raffle in conjunction with AppleFest 2014. Donations of any amount toward the cash prizes will be welcomed.
Rev. Shafer presented samples of T-shirts, which will be available for purchase by members of the congregation.
WHAT IS PEACE?
by Andrew King
A lot of people have their own meaning of what “peace” is. In the first paragraph, I will be going over what peace is, what peacemaking is as an activity, and where I have seen peacemaking being done. In the second paragraph I will be explaining where I have done peacemaking and what the results of my efforts were. My last paragraph will tell you more about what I would like to be doing in the future as a peacemaker.
Peace has a lot of different meanings, but the meaning that I think is the most useful to fully describe what peace really is the definition from Peace; a stress-free state of security and calmness that comes when there's no fighting or war, everything coexisting in perfect harmony and freedom. Peacemaking as an activity is using your strengths to help everyone around you out of the kindness of your heart to help better their life, and feeling satisfied inside and not asking anything in return. I have seen peacemaking being done in a variety of places and styles, but the main place where I see the most peacemaking would be at the food pantry where I have volunteered to help my grandpa. The reason I picked this example is because the people that go to the food pantry rely on others that are more fortunate. The more fortunate have the self-motivation to spread peace across their community. They do this by giving their time and money for nothing in return except for a smile and a “thank you.” I feel that it is very important to give to others in need, especially in your own community. If you are more fortunate, and you have more than you need, you can give to others the necessities they need to survive. I feel that this is the best way to spread peace because it is peace through God and also gives you peace at mind.
I have done peacemaking all across my community by volunteering in a variety of ways; volunteering to help an elderly woman get to dialysis in the mornings, helping one of my friends rebuild their house interior for nothing in return, working on a farm for free, and the most important to me, helping one of my best friends with family problems and giving him the opportunity to go to college and move out of his house. For the past couple months I have helped an elderly woman get up in the mornings, and walk her out of her house to go to dialysis. She has trouble walking and I assisted her to her ride each week. I feel at peace because I am doing something for someone in need. One of my friends lives in an older house that needed a lot of renovation. Over the past year I have volunteered to help his mom remodel their house, and we have re-done the whole living room and a bedroom. We put in a new ceiling, walls, windows, floor, and re-painted everything. I have helped them pay for bills that they couldn’t pay for. I have also helped his mom look for a job, and she is currently employed as of a month ago. For the past couple of years I have volunteered on one of my friend’s uncle’s farm. He doesn’t make enough money to hire anyone so I previously went out to the farm in the mornings around 4 am to help him milk and do general maintenance. The most important thing I have done by volunteering was helping one of my best friends find hope and self-motivation for the future. I have helped him by giving him a ride every morning to school by 7:30 am even though I don’t have school until 8:30 am. I helped him get financial aid for college and had him sign up at Fox Valley Technical College for his fall classes so he can ride with. He is currently enrolled for his first semester in college. I have given him hope for the future to have a college degree and also gave him the opportunity to move out of his house by talking to my parents and getting permission to have him move in with me since we have extra room. The result of all my efforts has been a feeling of contentment and peace for what I’ve done, and it far surpasses any payment I could have received.
In the future I want to be a big part of volunteering and helping others. One group that I would like to get involved in would be Habitat for Humanity. They help build houses for people in need and their whole organization is about peace. The organization is made up of all volunteers that give their time to others. They give to the less fortunate for no cost and they do it on their own time. I think that it would be amazing to get involved with Habitat for Humanity because my dad and grandpa are actively involved in it. I have helped once before, and I love to help people whenever I can. Another way I would like to be a peacemaker in the future is to open up my own auto body shop in Omro. I am going to school for Auto Collision and Repair, and I am fortunate enough that I have the opportunity to open up my own auto body shop after I get out of college. I want to be able to help out anyone in the community that has car problems, and I will have fair prices and deals at my shop. I think that it is important to be fair especially in a small town and also to be nice and keep peace with anyone you meet. I like to go out of my way and go above and beyond what people expect to be a follower of God and therefore be a great peacemaker.
PRAYER CHAIN (last names are not shown due to privacy concerns on the web)
Let us keep the following members and friends in prayer:
FOR HEALING: Marie S., Rev. John D., John H., Marsha S., Wayne S.
FOR STRENGTH AND SAFETY: Members of the military and their families; victims and survivors of floods, tornadoes, and other natural disasters; Christians throughout the world who are being persecuted because of their faith.
AT CARE/ASSISTED LIVING CENTERS: Marge H., Joan M., Dorothea S.
If you would like to include a prayer request for the weekly bulletin, please call it to the office by Wednesday noon. Let us access God through the power of prayer each week.Names will remain on the list for two weeks, unless we are notified otherwise.
If you would like to place someone’s name on the prayer chain, you may call the church at 685-2610 or Rozanne Werzinske at 685-6074.
When you call the prayer chain, we will assume that it is okay to print the name in the bulletin and will do so unless you say otherwise.
NEED A RIDE TO CHURCH? Do you need a ride to church for worship on Sunday? Do transportation problems keep you from worship? Are you homebound? Shut in? Call the church office if you would like a ride to church for worship. On the other hand, would you be willing to give someone a ride to church for worship? Call the office to be put on the Deacon’s Transportation list. Thank you.
July 2014Sun / Mon / Tue / Wed / Thu / Fri / Sat
1 / 2 / 3
*David & Helen Morrison / 4
Independence
Day
/ 5
*Doris Wright
6
Worship-9
Education Hour-Part I of “God in America”
after worship / 7
No Deacons
*Colleen Baltes / 8
*Jean Koon / 9 / 10
*Bev Ginnow / 11
*Jill Stiller
*Larry Wright Jr. / 12
13
Worship-9
Education Hour-Part II of “God in America” after worship / 14
No Home Communion / 15 / 16 / 17
*Larry & Doris Wright-32 yrs / 18 / 19
*Justin Jackson
*Kenden Wilson
20
Worship-9 / 21
No Session or committees in July / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26
*Max Potratz
27
Worship-9
*Marilyn Jackson / 28 / 29
Apple Fest-6:30
*Lisa Baltes / 30
*Marv Matulle
*Dawn Funnell / 31
*Peggy Allen
August 2014
Sun / Mon / Tue / Wed / Thu / Fri / Sat
1 / 2
*Josh & Ashley Koon-6 yrs
3
Worship-9 / 4
No Deacons / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8
Lucille Verbeke memorial service
*Jody Buttke
*Larry & Stacey Wright-22 yrs / 9
10
Worship-9
*Sue Koon / 11
Home Communion / 12
Admin-6 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16
*Jane Wilson
*Jon & Terri Groth
17
Worship-9
Church Life Committee-10:15
VBS-5:30-8 / 18
Session-6
VBS-5:30 / 19
VBS-5:30
*Bob & Sue Walther-47 yrs / 20
VBS-5:30 / 21
VBS-5:30
*Isaac Koon / 22 / 23
*Teagan Jackson
24
Worship-9
Renee King / 25
*Corbin Jackson / 26 / 27 / 28 / 29
*Nancy Jackson / 30
31
Worship & Corn Roast@Scott Park, American Bank Pavilion-9
Dream Acres 1