UPC October 2020 Newsletter

Birthdays  

01-Steve Peters 02-Mary Steiner O5-Stephanie Stroud 06-Regina LaRue 10-Jill Watne

14-Pauline Rier 17-Frank Sharp 26-Kaeden Langfitt 27-Chris Sharp 28-Lori Wason

Greeters 

04-Greg & Carol Chapman 

11-Pat & Sherri O'Brien 

18-Jim Howieson 

25 -Greg & Tricia Polzin

SERVICES WILL RESUME AT THE CHURCH STARTING ON October 4th at 9:00 am.

Please practice social distancing and use the hand sanitizing station when arriving.

Greetings!

Yoo Hoo! I never imagined that it would be this long until we could safely gather together again for worship. It seems like a very long time since we have worshiped in our buildings. I am looking forward to seeing you on October 4.

Remember-the Presbyterian Church will gather at 9:00 a.m.and the Congregational Church will gather at 10:30a.m.

I know that some of you will not feel comfortable in returning to worship inside the buildings and I totally get that. We will continue to make some of our worship experience available on line. It looks like the Presbyterian Church will be purchasing an FM transmitter that will allow us to broadcast our service to you FM radio. You will be able to park outside the Presbyterian Church, tune your radio to a specific station (not sure what that is just yet)and follow the service from the privacy of your own car. Let the office know if you want to do this and we will make sure you get a bulletin. More information will becoming about this.

I did want to share a few reminders as we begin worshiping in our buildings again.

1. Please wear a mask. Both churches will have a limited supply of disposable ones available should you forget yours.

2. Please use the hand sanitizer as you enter the building. Each church will have some available at the door.

3. Please place your tithes and offering in the offering plate that will be on a table in the back of the sanctuary.

4. Please remember to practice social distancing as you find a place to sit for worship. At this time we are not planning to mark off the pews.

5. Please note that we will not have an official fellowship time and if you do visit before or after church please

remember to practice social distancing.

6. Please take your bulletin home with you.

7. Our services will be very similar to what we have been doing in the park.

8. If you have any questions feel free to call the church office.

Truth be known, I have really enjoyed worshiping in the parks. That being said, I am very happy to be worshiping in our buildings. Hope to see you there.

May God bless you with his Holy Spirit, Pastor Bill

Session Minutes

United Presbyterian Church Clarion, Iowa

Sept ember 9, 2020

The stated meeting of the Session was held Wednesday, September 9, 2020, at 4:00 p.m.in the Fellowship Hall. Those in attendance:  Peg Bunn, Jeff Fankhauser, Mark Fisher, Frank Sharp, Karen Wason, Deb Olson, Clerk, and Rev. Bill Kem, Moderator . Excused: Mary Kallem. Rev. Kem opened with devotions and prayer.

TREASURER'S REPORT:  Session approved the Treasurer’s Report.  Bruce Frink will be reminded to move $1,200.00

monthly from the General Fund into the Building Fund.  Reminders that Per capita is $36.95 per person will be placed in the newsletter and bulletin.

PASTOR'S REPORT: Worship in the sanctuary is scheduled for October 4, unless the weather forces us indoors earlier. The following protocol for indoor worship was discussed:

Masks will be available for those who need one.

The door to the Fellowship Hall will be open, wit h chairs set up to allow for social distancing. The worship service will continue to be abbreviated, with no singing.

Ushers will hand out bulletins.

Offerings can be placed in the pl ate.

Three hand sanitizer stations will be set up near t he entrances. Different cleaning options for our custodian will be explored.

It was decided to look into the possibility of a FM transmitter for those who would prefer to sit in their car and hear the

worship service without entering the church building.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION REPORT: The Adult Sunday School class will meet in t he Family Conference Room following worship, starting Sept ember 20.

Senior High Sunday School class is considering options for meeting. Junior High Sunday School class may use online material.

Providing a children ' s bulletin for elementary youth to use for famil y discussion throughout the week is being considered.

The United Presbyterian Church will have one confirmand this year. We are working with the United Church of Christ Congregational and the Lutheran Church to establish meeting protocol.

Rev. Kem closed the meeting with prayer at 5:08 p.m.

To: The members of a concrecation

Re: Per capital contributions Dear Friends in Christ,

As you know, the presbyteries, synods, and General Assembly of our Presbyterian an Church (U.S.A.) annually

make assessments that,  in our presbytery, total $36.95 per member. Our session is committed to paying the full assessment for all the members on our roll because we treasure our relationship with the wider church, and the congregation benefits when members contribute their share to the whole.

Why do we pay this assessment known as per capita? Because we value our Presbyterian heritage and identity. As a congregation we derive many material benefits from our Presbyterian association. At the General Assembly level, these include the oversight of preparation for ministers and the mechanisms for calling new ministers, the maintenance of the wonderful Presbyterian historical collection in Philadelphia, the biennial meeting of the General Assembly, resources ranging from training for ruling elders to assistance with immigration, and so much more.

But it is not these benefits alone that make us so deeply committed to the per capita offering. It is our shared sense of our Reformed heritage and our Presbyterian identity that compels us to take our covenantal relationship with the whole Presbyterian family so seriously.

You may remit your per capita contribution, paying the full amount for the year for each adult or confirmed youth in your household/ fa m ily simply by writing "per capita" on the memo line of your check.

We look forward to your participation in per capita giving, an expression of your commitment to ministry both within our congregation and beyond.

Birthdays:

02-Paul Hardy                          12-MaryLou Holley

02-Taylor Keller                        17-Mary Kallem

06-Quinton Jenson                  19-Mary Goemaat

06-Paula Kruger                       21-Blayke Nerlien

11-Harper Nerlien                   24-Dante Waller

12-Alycia Fankhauser              28-Taylor Kruger

We will be having worship on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. at the Swimming Pool Park. Bring your own communion, chairs and face coverings/mask.

From Pastor Bill.

Greetings! 

As always, I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones doing well. 

We have been following the Lectionary series for our Sunday morning scriptures and I have really enjoyed going through the book of Matthew. The reading for last week and the reading for this week both have some great things to say to us. (I shouldn’t be surprised since it is God’s word.) I think there is a particular important point that the two readings make when looked at together. 

In last week’s reading (Matthew 16:13-20) Jesus asks the disciples; “Who do you say that I am?” Peter speaks up for the group and says that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus responds by saying that Peter is blessed and that Peter knew this because he heard it from God himself. I can’t even imagine how incredible that would feel to have Jesus say those words to me. Peter was definitely filled with the Holy Spirit of God – probably so excited that he was floating three or four inches off the ground. But…

In this week’s reading (Matthew 16:21-28) Peter doesn’t like what he hears from Jesus about suffering and so he attempts to correct Jesus. That doesn’t go so well for Peter. Jesus refers to Peter as Satan and tells him to get out of his way. Jesus goes on to say that Peter did not have the things of God in mind, but the things of this world. Wow! If Peter was floating before, he certainly came crashing to the ground now.

One minute Peter is blessed by Jesus because he seems to understand who Jesus is and the next minute Jesus is referring to Peter as Satan because he seems to completely misunderstand who Jesus is. That is exactly who we are. One minute we seem to know precisely who God is and what God wants for our lives, then the next minute we seem to have no idea who God is and no idea about God’s will for our lives. One minute we seem to “Super-Christian” and the next minute we are “Super-Failure”. These two stories remind us of the obvious truth that life is full of ups and downs. 

Notice that in spite of such extremes Peter remains a follower of Jesus and Jesus remains his Savior. Notice that Jesus never abandons Peter. The hope found in Jesus our Savior is with us through all of our ups and downs. 

Keep on keeping on,

Pastor Bill