May 2008 www.cpcaustin.org Monthly Publication Volume 34 Number 5 Contents of this Edition: AAIM Book Club........................................2 About the Central Thought.......................... 8 Caring for the Body.....................................5 Circle News..................................................2 CPC Tablecloths..........................................3 Food on the First..........................................3 >From the Pastor............................................1 May Prayer List.............................................3 Mission Trip to El Salvador .......................4 Music Notes.................................................6 Per Capita Information..................................3 Poetry........................................................5 Session Highlights.......................................6 Thursday Noon Concerts.............................2 the sheep know the shepherd's voice From the Pastor by Greg McDonell Taking You with Me After church on June 1st I will be away from you for five weeks. I will be on sabbatical. I have rented a place in a little fishing village called Sayulita. It is located in the state of Nayarit, Mexico, situated on the Pacific Ocean. The definition of sabbatical from the Greek sabbatikos: 1, of or relating to the Sabbath; 2, being a recurring period of rest or renewal. This wonderful opportunity you are affording me is greatly appreciated. While away I have several goals. 1. The first is to develop a program for our congregation on the "Healthy Church." I will have attended a conference in Richmond, Virginia, on this very topic. I plan to share with you what I have learned. 2. Secondly I hope to make some progress on a book that I started on my last sabbatical in 2002. 3. I also have a stack of books I am dying to read. 4. And I plan to walk on the beach, fish in the ocean, and sleep under my palapa. But I want to do one other thing. I want to take you with me. During those five weeks I will take time to pray for each and every one of you (adults and children). I am taking the church directory and a list of folks who are not in the directory, and each day I will be holding you in my heart and lifting you in my prayers. If you have any specific prayer needs you would want to share with me before I leave, please do so. All prayer requests will certainly be held in the strictest confidence. And I would ask that while I am away that you pray for me as well. The relationship we have with God and one another is priceless. Let us handle it with care. Amor y paz, Greg Thursday Noon Concerts Come experience music of the season in various formats: May 1 Waller Creek Woodwind Quintet May 8 Austin Flute Choir May 15 We are the Chorus, Don Rettburg, conductor May 22 Chaski May 29 Eric Hicks & Lynn Ledbetter Violin & Piano A light lunch is served following the concerts. Reservations are required. E-mail reservations to concerts@cpcaustin.org with "lunch" in the subject line or call the church, 472-2445, no later than 10 AM on the day of the concert with your reservations. The cost is $5 per person. EASY PARKING: Park in the Perry Brooks Building parking garage just north of 7th St. on Brazos (turn into the garage on the west side of Brazos). From the 3rd level, go to the north wall and enter the door there; take the elevator down to 1; you come out across the corner from the church. Bring your parking ticket to the church office to get stamped; then it will cost $3 instead of $5. Circl e News Presbyterian Women in the Congregation (PWC) are organized into small groups, called circles, that meet regularly to provide an inclusive, caring community of women. Circles II and III are using the 2007-2008 Bible study, "Above and Beyond: Hearing God's Call in Jonah and Ruth" by Carol Bechtel. Circle I is meeting rather erratically, due to greatly varying schedules of the members. May meetings: Circle II will meet Thursday, May 8, at 7:00 p.m. (half-hour earlier than usual), at the home of Virginia Stotts. Marcia Tompkins will lead the study of chapter 3 of Ruth. Circle III will meet on Tuesday, May 13, at 10:00 a.m. at the home of Margaret Harren,10117 Pinehurst Dr., 78747 (telephone 282-9958) for our final meeting of this spring. Please bring a salad. AAIM Book Club Book People, at 6th and Lamar, and Austin Area Interreligious Ministries offer a Spirituality Book Club. The group reads spiritual writings from different faith communities, and the members are from a variety of faith traditions. May 12 - A History of God, by Karen Armstrong (Chap. 1-6) June 9 - A History of God, by Karen Armstrong (Chap. 7-11) Meetings are from 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm, on the third floor. May Prayer List 1 Redden, Cristy 2 Ribar, Fred 3 Richter, Susan & Win Bent 4 Risher, Sharon 5 Robinson, John 6 Roman, Lee & Luz, Ivan 7 Rountree, Elizabeth 8 Ruderman, Tucker 9 Sansom, Andy & Nona, Marian Wood 10 Scofield, Greg & Dana, Max, Cooper 11 Serumgard, Will & Dallas, Elinor, Sophie Jane 12 Shaw, Bob, Barbara 13 Sherrill, Kay 14 Soderlind, Cliff & Pat 15 Soderlind, Denise, Dorothy 16 Stevenson, John 17 Stoddard, Mark & Laurel, Elizabeth, Leah 18 Stotts, Virginia 19 Suchma, Chris & Katherine 20 Swisher, Elizabeth Brammer 21 Talley, Austin & Kimberly 22 Taylor, Mark & Brian 23 Terrell, Tracy 24 Terry, Peggy 25 Tilly, Carlie 26 Tompkins, Jerry & Marcia . 26 Tovar, Melany, Kathy, Gedy 26 Tritschler, G-G 26 Van Zant, Alice 26 Vogel, Pat 26 Voorhis, Bette Lou 26 Waggoner, Amy 26 Wahl, Willyn 26 Waide, Jack & Adele 27 Wallace, Alex 28 Walls, Lloyd & Gloria, Aaron Ryan 29 Walters, Mark & Laura, Katie, John, Jane 30 Wheeler, Heather 31 Wilder, Elizabeth Food on the First Remember to bring Food on the First, which is April 6 (first Sunday of the month). CPC supports the food pantry at Manos de Cristo. Some highlighted items in terms of need are powdered milk, eggs, flour, sugar, cooking oil, and cereals. There is a list on the Manos website (www.manosdecristo.org) that will be updated weekly to indicate the most urgent needs. From the Programs tab, click on Basic Needs to see Highlighted Items for the Food Pantry to see the current needs. Remember that packages of one to two pounds are best, because many clients must carry their items on the bus. CPC Tablecloths Women's Circles 2 and 3 have helped purchase 12 round tablecloths for use in the fellowship hall. They are light blue and will be used for special events. They are kept in the storage cabinets outside the kitchen. They are easy to wash with no ironing required if folded right out of the dryer, and they have a stain-resistant finish. If your group uses any of them, please be responsible for spraying any spots with a pre-wash spray and washing them in cool to warm water. Fold them and get them back to the cabinets before the next group needs to use them. Thanks for your help. If this process works out, we can save for another set of cloths in other colors for future events. Contact Frances Cerbins with any suggestions or questions. Per capita Web site goes online Cyber offering provides resources for interpreting vital funding source by Evan Silverstein *LOUISVILLE ---* The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has launched a new Web site featuring interpretive and educational materials about per capita funding at the General Assembly level. The site, Per Capita: The Presbyterian Covenant Community Fund , is sponsored by the denomination's Office of the General Assembly (OGA). It is designed to address such questions as: What is per capita? Why is it important? What do General Assembly per capita dollars provide? Per capita is a set amount of money (apportionment) per member that congregations pay to the larger PC(USA). The money covers such things as the administrative expenses of the General Assembly, the OGA, and a portion of activities of the General Assembly Council (GAC) executive director's office. Per capita also funds the expenses of the PC(USA) General Assembly moderator and vice moderator, the Presbyterian Historical Society, and the production and distribution of the PC(USA)'s Book of Order, The Book of Confessions, and other General Assembly publications. And that's not all the funds go for. A complete list of church entities, agencies and programs supported by per capita funding at the General Assembly level is detailed on the Web site's "What per capital supports" page. "Per capita is the primary funding source for OGA," said Sharon K. Youngs, OGA's communications coordinator. "There's always a lot of questions about it and so we wanted to offer some resources to help interpret it. And the plan is to add resources along the way." The Web site's resources page includes a downloadable brochure with a detailed description explaining GA per capita. A downloadable news article is available on the resources page, which details the origins and impact of the per capita apportionment as a means of financing the General Assembly. Also available on the resources page is an advisory opinion by PC(USA) General Assembly Stated Clerk, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, that provides clarification about per capita and its impact on the church. A page outlining the "Importance of per capita funding" explains that per capita giving makes church governing possible, along with fostering unity in the church and allows the PC(USA) to maintain its historical awareness. There's also a "Frequently asked questions" page that sheds light on such queries as what per capita is, how long it's been around, and who pays the apportionments and how much. ˇRUMBO A EL SALVADOR! HEADING TO EL SALVADOR! The delegation going to El Salvador this summer, August 7th through 14th, is working hard to get ready to go. There is still time to join the delegation, but if you can't come with us, then please join us in our fund raising efforts. MOTHER'S DAY BRUNCH Treat your mother to brunch at Central's five-star restaurant Smoot Hall Bistro with award-winning chefs from the Delegation Team to El Salvador! MENU Building Block Beef Home Builder Pasta Life Line Muscle Builder Rice Sweet Crunchy Salsa Jungle Salad Pan de Vida Dulce Respites Rˇo Punch Sunday, May 11th After Worship Smoot Fellowship Hall Cost: Contribution Please RSVP by May 7th to Carlie Tilly at 461-6724 or cc.tilly@sbcglobal.net All donations directly help offset the cost of the trip. LIFE CHANGE JARS Faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains and pennies can change lives. Drop all those heavy coins in your pocket into the jars on the tables outside the sanctuary. Or take a jar home to drop your daily change in. All donations directly help offset the cost of the trip. FRUIT TREES FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN Help us make sure we have plenty of work to do and help feed children for years to come! Every tree purchased will be planted by Central members and the Salvadoran children helping us. Cost: $10 per tree Make checks payable to: CPC Write "Fruit Trees" on your check Checks can be given to the Mission Team via the church office Contact Allison Danforth for more information at 445-4614 or shagbarkdr@yahoo.com Delegation activities include planting organic crops and trees, building homes, visiting a sea turtle nursery and youth art and radio projects, and touring historic religious and political sites in the capital San Salvador (our tour guide might even be a former Salvadoran priest who worked alongside Archbishop Romero!). Accommodations are dorm rooms, and meals are provided by Salvadoran hosts. The trip is facilitated by the Foundation for Self-Sufficiency in Central America, based in Austin. Caring for the Body Pray for comfort and continued healing Gail T.A., Audley B., Fon‚e B., David B., Jay H., John H., Dwight H., Herman H., Mary Nell H., Ada J., Jean K., Howard L., Riva L., Raymond M., Deanna N., Sunny P., Emily R. and family, Elizabeth R., Lee R.,G.G. T., Bette Lou V., Jack Y., Evelyn Y. Poetry by Katy Dyer To count the number of stars in the sky. To see a tree turn into a cross. To imagine a baby coming out of the womb. With all of these Love is enough. To watch the sky turn bright red. To capture a lightning bolt. To swim in a a river as yet unsped. With all of these Love is enough. To grapple with someone over needless things. To smile and watch another smile. To speak in tongues that please all. With all of these love is enough. Music Notes: Section Leaders and Soloists Central Presbyterian has a long history of section leaders and soloists who vastly improve and support our music ministry. They provide special music as soloists, in ensembles and are the core of each section in the choir. Although we have many fine volunteer singers, we would not be able to sing the quality of music that we do without them. We even used to have a music intern from the seminary who conducted the bell choir and served as an assistant to the music director. Over the years we have had exceptional people and singers worship with us as section leaders. Many of these singers have gone on to have successful careers in opera and as college voice professors. We have always been fortunate to find singers who worship with us, as well as make music with the choir. Here is a little background on one of our current section leaders. We will follow up in future months with others. Becky Clark began singing with the choir last August. She is also our children's choir director. I thought that you might enjoy getting to know her better. She is a native Austinite and attended Crockett High School. She was in the band and choir there. Becky has a music degree from UT and was a band director for several years. She plays trumpet, as well. She taught band at Midway H.S. in Waco for three years; in the small town of West, Texas; and at Burnet Middle School in Austin. She sings with a number of choirs in Austin, including Conspirare and the Choral Arts Society. Becky also played trumpet with the Austin Symphonic Band. She grew up at Faith Presbyterian Church in Austin. Her mother has been in the choir there for 40 years! Some interesting little facts from Becky: Her uncle helped design the sanctuary at Central (then First Southern) back in the '50s. Her folks were married in our sanctuary in 1960. Becky knew Carlos and Susan Fernandez growing up at Faith Presbyterian. Her Dad knows Bo Byers through their work in journalism. Becky is now working full time as a massage therapist. Her practice concentrates on relieving chronic pain, as well as traditional massage therapy. Session Highlights The stated meeting on March 24, 2008, was called to order by the moderator at 6:30pm. The devotional was an Easter response: "Christ is risen!" "He is risen indeed!" After an opening prayer, a quorum was declared to be present and the agenda approved. The following minutes were read and approved: stated Session meeting of Monday, February 25, 2008. Communion was celebrated each Sunday in Lent (Mar 2, 9 and 16, 2008), as well as Easter Sunday, Mar 23. Reminder that Communion will be celebrated every Sunday at the 8:45 worship service, beginning in April. Membership: No new members. One death: Alice Jean Smith. The number of members on the active roll is 239. Correspondence: Letter of thanks from several organizations for support from Central. Various newsletters and ads. The Clerk presented a request from the Session of Faith Presbyterian (Austin), for Session members of Central to participate in a meeting with them and others. This meeting is to craft a response to the recent Advisory Statement from the PJC, with reference to local governing bodies' flexibility (or lack thereof) in considering the qualification of candidates for ordination. After discussion, the Session agreed that we should join with Faith and the other churches. Greg McDonell, Chuck Kreutz and Laura Walters have agreed to work on this, and one or two others will be asked. Pastor McDonell presented Crystal McCormick, seminary student under care of CPC, and her liaison Celeste McDonell, to report to the Session on Crystal's progress. She is scheduled to do her pastoral internship at San Gabriel Presbyterian, starting in the fall of 2008. Upon recommendation from Celeste, it was moved, seconded and passed to recommend to Mission Presbytery that Crystal McCormick be advanced to Candidacy. Laura Walters and her liaison Sally Estes also reported to the Session on Laura's progress. She has been a pastoral intern here at CPC since the beginning of the year, and says that the daily experience of being in a church reminds her why she is here; it's the reason she felt the call in the first place. Upon recommendation from Sally, it was moved, seconded and passed to recommend to Mission Presbytery that Laura Walters be advanced to Candidacy. Ministry Reports Support Ministries Facilities: Recommended that Session approve the expenditure of up to $5000 to complete work on the courtyard, including the "community area" terrace; and that memorial funds be allocated to this terrace to dedicate it to the memory of Jack Stotts. Moved, seconded, passed. Other work completed: trimming, A/C blind repairs. In progress: wheelchair ramp improvement, Brazos Street entrance improvements. Hands-on Housing project is being coordinated. Coordination/Administration: No recommendations. Communication: No recommendations. Plans are being made to improve signage (room numbering) in children's wing, and to give clearer directions on where children's activities are to take place. Stewardship Ministries Finance: Recommended that Tom Estes be compensated $1200 for his service during Greg McDonell's upcoming sabbatical, to be paid from the Continuing Education fund. Moved, seconded, discussed, passed. Team has in mind a leader to chair the next Stewardship campaign. Session accepted the February 2008 financial statement. Staff: No recommendations. Membership/Connection: No recommendations. Looking at revamping the Time & Talents sheet, updating the lists of people, and getting those names out to the team leaders on a more regular basis. Spiritual Growth Ministries Worship: No recommendations. All the Lenten, Holy Week and Easter services and special events were very successful! Planning of upcoming minutes for mission: One Great Hour of Sharing, El Salvador Mission trip, IHN. Education: No recommendations. Work on goal of having regular newsletter articles about Christina Ed at Central ("C.E. Corner"). Looking for a Vacation Bible School director to work with Kathy Escandell (VBS in August this year). Relationship Building: No recommendations. Blood drive went well around 20 donors. Potluck planning, Easter breakfast; need more people to sign up for after-church refreshments. Ice cream social scheduled for July 20! Outreach Ministries Mission: 1) Recommended these dates for IHN in 2009: the weeks starting Feb 22, May 10, Jul 26, Oct 25. Seconded, discussed, passed. 2) Recommended fundraiser for El Salvador mission trip this summer: Life Change Jars, for people to take home (or elsewhere) and deposit their change into, then turn them in when full. Proceeds to help pay for mission trip costs. Seconded, discussed, passed. Evangelism: No recommendations. Partnership: No recommendations. SXSW very successful, both people-wise and financially. Other Business Laurel Stoddard reported on the March Presbytery meeting held at Westlake Hills Presbyterian: 3 CPC choir members sang in the joint choir for the opening worship service. The Priorities & Design Task Force led a discussion on possibly splitting the Presbytery into two. Our Presbytery is growing, which is unusual, and is geographically quite large. Small group discussions came up with ideas of regional meetings and establishing "hubs." Faith Presbyterian brought an overture about the Iraq war; it failed, after a civil discussion. The Committee on Preparation for Ministry presented 5 people for Candidacy; 2 were from the New Covenant Fellowship! In conjunction with the June Presbytery meeting, congregations are invited to send 1 or 2 youth for the Youth Connection event. Prayer concerns about members and friends of the church, as well as local and global concerns, were shared. After the closing prayer, the Elders passed among themselves the peace of Christ and were adjourned at 7:50pm. About The Central Thought The Central Thought is a monthly publication of Central Presbyterian Church. 200 East Eighth Street Austin, Texas 78701 512-472-2445 (voice) 512-472-2446 (fax) 512-370-WORD (9673) Office Hours 9:30-1:30 Monday-Friday Pastor: Greg McDonell ext: 101 greg@cpcaustin.org Parish Associate: Tom Estes Business Manager: Rick Carlson ext: 102 rick@cpcaustin.org Administrative Assistant: Win Bent ext: 100 askcpc@cpcaustin.org Concert Schedule: concerts@cpcaustin.org Webmaster: Win Bent webmaster@cpcaustin.org Newsletter Editor: Laurel Stoddard newsletter@cpcaustin.org