April 2015 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! I don’t tire of proclaiming this good news year after year, first from the pews and now from the pulpit. After all, this is the basis of our faith. Had Jesus been crucified and that was the end of the story, we would say he taught us good things about God and we’d likely reference his sayings for inspiration and comfort. That he was risen from the dead changes everything. The incarnation let us know that God understood what we experienced, was tempted as we were, felt sorrow and hunger and human desires and needs as we do. The resurrection let us know that God was more powerful than even death and nothing could separate us from this same God who loved us enough to come to us as one of us. That Jesus Christ is risen means that absolutely nothing will keep us from the love of God. Paul said it best in the eighth chapter of Romans: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! If God will do this - conquer death - to bring us closer to God’s self, what else can God do? It’s tempting to limit what God can to do fit into the framework shaped by what we can do. Just because Jesus was human, though, does not take away his divinity, shared with God. God knows our limits but we cannot place those same limits on God. God’s grandeur looks different in each of our lives yet the goodness of God’s greatness remains the same. This is the good news we’ve been called to share, nay, charged with sharing. What is the good news you have experienced? As we go out into the world as Easter people, don’t contain the joy that comes with the good news - Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Abundant life is exuberant life and exuberant life is full of joy which must be shared. This makes us God’s glad and faithful people, no? Thanks be to God for the good news in each of our lives! Nicole First Presbyterian Church of Waukesha 810 North East Avenue, Waukesha, Wisconsin 53186 (262) 542-4243 presby1@sbcglobal.net www.firstpreswaukesha.org April 1 11:30 AM Wednesday Bible Study [Oak Room] 5:30 PM Session [office] April 26 - Fourth Sunday of Easter 10:15 AM Middle School Sunday School [H.S. Room] 11:15 AM High School Sunday School [H.S. Room] 1:00 PM Youth Group* April 2 - Maundy Thursday 7:00 PM Maundy Thursday service April 29 11:30 AM Wednesday Bible Study [Oak Room] 6:00 PM Collaborative Art* [Oak Room] April 3 - Good Friday 3:00 PM St. Luke’s Neighborhood Walk* *see article April 5 - Easter Sunday Communion Sunday 9:00 AM Breakfast 10:00 AM Easter Sunday service Easter Egg Hunt* following worship April 8 11:30 AM Wednesday Bible Study [Oak Room] 6:30 PM Deacons’ meeting [Oak Room] April 12 - Second Sunday of Easter 10:15 AM Middle School Sunday School [H.S. Room] 11:00 AM Sundae Sunday* [dining room] 11:15 AM High School Sunday School [H.S. Room] April 13 10:00 AM Rebekah Circle* [Oak Room] April 15 11:30 AM Wednesday Bible Study [Oak Room] 6:00 PM Mariners’ Club* [dining room] Staff vacation: April 20 - April 22: Nicole off For several years St. Luke’s Lutheran Church has hosted a Good Friday Neighborhood Walk in cooperation with several downtown churches and SOPHIA. The intention has been to carry the cross into the community and pray in those places of hurt and despair and rejoice in those places of healing and wholeness. This year’s walk will begin at St. Luke's (300 Carroll Street) at 3:00 PM on Good Friday, April 3. The theme for this year's walk of prayer and social justice awareness is A PLACE CALLED HOME. If you wish to participate, meet at St. Luke's by 2:45 PM. Wear your walking shoes! April 16 8:00 AM Men’s Breakfast [Dady-Oh’s] April 19 - Third Sunday of Easter 10:15 AM Children’s Sunday School [Oak Room] 10:15 AM Middle School Sunday School [H.S. Room] 11:30 AM Mission Trip Meeting* [Oak Room] April 20 12:00 PM May newsletter submissions due April 22 11:30 AM NO Wednesday Bible Study Join us before worship in the dining room for fellowship and good food at 9:00 AM on Easter Sunday, April 5. The church will provide juice, milk, coffee, and fruit. All are encouraged to bring breakfast pastries or casseroles to share. Future fellowship events: May 3: An afternoon of appetizers Mark your calendars! “May the grace of Christ Our Savior And the Father’s boundless love With the Holy Spirit’s favor Rest upon us from Above.” - John Newton - from, Expressions of Faith, a book beautifully illustrated and available in the Oak Room cabinet library. Rebekah Circle The session met on Wednesday, March 4. We met with Scott Farley and welcomed him into membership here (we’ll welcome him as a community of faith in worship after Easter). We also discussed getting the steeple straightened and hope to have that done soon. We gladly welcomed Marti Boyd’s offer to represent the church on the board of The Caring Place and we made plans for the Easter breakfast, to happen at 9:00 AM, before worship. Immediately after worship kids of all ages can gather in the Oak Room before heading off for an (indoor) egg hunt. April 5 - Easter Isaiah 25:6-9; John 20:1-18 Rejoice in Salvation April 12 - Second Sunday of Easter Acts 4:32-35; John 20:19-31 Doubt and Belief Carrol Hein, 88, died peacefully at her residence at the Congregational Home in Brookfield, March 16, 2015. The Heins were long time members of First Presbyterian Church in Waukesha. Carrol’s husband, Quentin Walter Hein passed away in 2007. She is survived by her five sons and their families: Peter C. (Anne) of New York City; Douglas H. (Cheryl) of Los Angeles; Russell J. of Waukesha; Kevin R. (Hong) of New York City; and George B. (Diane) Hein of Cupertino, CA, and five grandchildren: Peter, Jr., Michael, Melissa, Ashley, and Preston. The family will receive friends at the Congregational Home Chapel, Brookfield (13900 W. Burleigh Rd.) on Saturday, April 4 from 9:30 AM until the time of a service at 10:30 AM, followed by Committal Service at Wisconsin Memorial Park, Brookfield (13235 W. Capitol Dr.). April 19 - Third Sunday of Easter Acts 3:12-19; 1 John 3:1-7 In Him There Is No Sin April 26 - Fourth Sunday of Easter Psalm 23; John 10:11-18 Herding Sheep May 3 - Fifth Sunday of Easter 1 John 4:7-21; John 15:1-8 There Is No Fear in Love May 10 - Ascension of the Lord Acts 1:1-11; Luke 24:44-53 Out of Sight May 17 - Seventh Sunday of Easter Psalm 1; John 17:6-19 Trees by Streams May 24 - Pentecost Acts 2:1-21; John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15 As the Spirit Gave Them Ability The winning chili recipe from our March fellowship event was Mary Ann Sinclair’s. Here’s her awardwinning slow-cooker recipe for chicken chili. Ingredients: 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken (frozen is fine) 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes 1 10 oz. can mild enchilada sauce 1 medium onion, chopped 1 4 oz. can chopped green chili peppers 1 10 oz. package of frozen corn (or can drained) 1 15 oz. can black beans, drained 3 cloves garlic, minced 3 C. chicken broth & 1 C. water 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. cumin, 1/2 tsp. chili powder 1 Bay leaf; 2 T. fresh cilantro, chopped Homemade tortilla strips (see instructions on right) Optional: 1/2 tsp. chipotle powder & 1 T. lime juice We are back from Guatemala, and had a wonderful trip. Peter and I would like to thank all of you for your support and prayers during our time away. We worked with a great team of people, mostly from the Venice Presbyterian Church in Florida. Our work was in Nebaj, Guatemala, a city north of Guatemala City, in a very mountainous region where many of the Mayan Indians still live. There are many homes where women build fires inside the house to heat the house and to cook. This creates noxious fumes which have significantly affected mortality rates in children. Our work, while we were there, involved the installation of new cook stoves (both inside and out), and water filtration units. The stoves that we installed, include a ventilation system that takes the fumes outside of the home, creating a much healthier environment for all involved. We entered a couple of homes where wood fires were burning, and we had to ask to have them extinguished before we could start our work. It was impossible to breath, so imagine what living in that environment all day long would be like! Directions: Place all ingredients in a large Crock-Pot and stir to combine. Cover, and cook on “low” for 6 8 hours or on “high” for 3 - 4 hours. About 15 minutes before serving, remove the chicken, allow to cool briefly, then shred and return to soup. Adding a few raw corn tortillas here will help to thicken the soup. For a creamier version, add a 1/4 Cup heavy cream at this point also. When serving, add tortilla strips and desired garnishes. Enjoy! Directions to make homemade tortilla crisps Ingredients: 4 corn tortillas & 1-3 T. of olive oil Stack tortillas and using a knife or pizza cutter, cut into 1-inch strips. Skillet Method: Heat the olive oil, add tortillas, flipping them ever 20-30 seconds until golden. Remove from oil and place on paper towels to drain. Season with salt. Oven Method: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay tortillas on greased cookie sheet and bush with oil and season. Bake for 5 minutes then flip and bake for another 5 minutes until they are crisp and golden. The Guatemalan families we met and served were very warm, friendly people and welcomed us with open arms. Communication was sometimes a challenge, but with the help of two translators on each team we managed to learn a little about each family. Many of the folks in the area where we were, still speak a Mayan dialect called Ixil. There were from 3 to 12 people living in each home. Sometimes there would be 3 generations living under one roof. The accommodations are very, very modest, mostly dirt floors, and very little furniture. Needless to say they don’t sit around the TV every night watching reality shows! They have very little electricity, usually just a light bulb in the middle of the room, so very dimly lit. Electricity is a relatively new development and is managed via a cooperative. We feel very fortunate to have been able to help others in some small way. This trip has given us a large dose of perspective on how blessed we are to live where we do, to have clean water, enough food to eat, more than adequate shelter from the weather, and so much more. Thanks again for your support. Barb Klemp 3/29/15 aerobic Matthew 21:12-17 memorize a verse 4/5/15 aerobic Luke 24:13-35 memorize a verse 4/12/15 aerobic John 14:1-7 memorize a verse 4/19/15 aerobic John 21:15-25 memorize a verse 3/30/15 balance Psalm 87 meditate 4/6/15 balance Psalm 97 meditate 4/13/15 balance Psalm 124 meditate 4/20/15 balance Psalm 115 meditate 3/31/15 strength Phil. 3:15-21 Lectio Divina 4/7/15 strength Acts 2:36-47 Lectio Divina 4/14/15 strength 1 John 2:1-11 Lectio Divina 4/21/15 strength 1 John 4:7-21 Lectio Divina 4/1/15 rest Psalm 51 journal 4/8/15 rest Psalm 9 journal 4/15/15 rest Psalm 118 journal 4/22/15 rest Psalm 6 journal 4/2/15 flexibility Jer. 20:7-18 John 17:1-26 look for similarities & differences in readings 4/9/15 flexibility Ezekiel 37:1-14 John 15:12-27 look for similarities & differences in readings 4/16/15 flexibility Daniel 2:31-49 Luke 3:1-14 look for similarities & differences in readings 4/23/15 flexibility Daniel 5:13-30 Luke 5:1-11 look for similarities & differences in readings 4/3/15 aerobic Genesis 22:1-14 memorize a verse 4/10/15 aerobic Daniel 12:1-4, 13 memorize a verse 4/17/15 aerobic Daniel 3:1-18 memorize a verse 4/24/15 aerobic Daniel 6:1-15 memorize a verse 4/4/15 freestyle Romans 8:1-11 your preferred exercise 4/11/15 freestyle Acts 4:13-31 your preferred exercise 4/18/15 freestyle 1 John 3:11-18 your preferred exercise 4/25/15 freestyle Luke 5:27-39 your preferred exercise To Members and Guests of FPC: Thank you to all who purchased Easter flowers and donated flowers and Mission Gifts. If you purchased flowers to take home, please find the flower(s) marked with your name and take them with you after our Easter worship service. From the Food Pantry of Waukesha County March 19, the 4th Greater Milwaukee Foundation Match Day, was an exciting day. We continue to be honored by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's trust in us as evidenced by selecting our agency as one of the 20 Match Day participants. We are inspired by the work that is done to help our neighbors in need. And we are honored to be stewards of your generous support. Thank you for making Match Day a success! From Hebron House Thank you so much for your donation! Your donation helps us fulfill our mission to provide Home, Help, and Hope to individuals and families experiencing homelessness. We’re happy that your generous donation had an even greater impact on Match Day through generous matching gifts from community partners like the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Brewers Community Foundation, The Ceres Foundation, Meijer, United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County and Faye McBeath Foundation. Hebron House of Hospitality staff and guests appreciate your generosity. Thank you for your support! From Hope Center On behalf of our guests, staff and volunteers, Hope Center thanks you for your generosity! From The Women’s Center You are providing a life-changing place where women and their families can take shelter and break the cycle of violence and abuse within their homes. On behalf of the clients of The Women's Center, thank you for your donation and making a difference in our community. 4/26/15 aerobic Matthew 7:15-29 memorize a verse 4/27/15 balance Psalm 111 meditate 4/28/15 strength Colossians 1:15-23 Lectio Divina 4/29/15 rest Psalm 66 journal 4/30/15 flexibility Jer. 31:1-14 Luke 6:39-49 look for similarities & differences in readings Join us for Rebekah Circle at 10:00 AM on Monday, April 13 in the Oak Room. Presenting: Kathryn Herman. Sundae Sunday is April 12. Sundae Sunday is a chance for Pastor Nicole and the kids to enjoy casual conversation over ice cream. We gather in the dining room, shortly after worship ends, over mint chocolate chip and vanilla. All kids are welcome! Our April youth group event will be a hike at Retzer Nature Center on Sunday, April 26, from 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM, as long as the weather is permitting. Because we need to worry about seat belts, please let me know by Wednesday, April 22 if you plan on coming along. All youth from fifth grade and up are invited! Dress accordingly! On Wednesday, April 15, the Mariners’ Club is hosting a Night of Poetry in honor and memory of Lacey Ballmann and her many talents. All ages are welcome to join the meal and participate. You are encouraged to bring poetry! The potluck dinner will begin at 6:00 PM followed by poetry sharing at 7:00 PM. Your April hosts are: Earl & Marion Davison and Lawrence & Mary Ann Sinclair. Other 2015 Mariners’ Club Wednesday dates: September 16 and October 21. NOTE: A Chairperson and committee are needed for the October meeting - or - if no one volunteers, we’ll eliminate that meeting. If you are willing to volunteer, please contact Ella Holberg at 542-2145. 4/1 John Pugh 4/9 Sara Winkelmann 4/16 Parnell Ryan 4/21 Marion Ryan 4/21 Buzz Boyd 4/21 John Schreiber 4/21 Dawn Noska 4/23 Marion Davison 4/24 Myrt Christensen 4/25 Kristi Margis 4/25 Penny Goodyear 4/26 Ann Stover 4/30 Alex DuMez Please mark your calendars for July 15, the next date when we will help serve a late lunch to the guests at The Hope Center. Help will be needed setting up, serving, & cleaning up. Desserts are always Each year we participate in the One Great Hour of Sharing offering sponsored by the PC(USA). Since 1949 Presbyterians have joined with millions of other Christians through One Great Hour of Sharing to share God’s love with those in need. Your generous gifts assist those affected by natural disasters and human-made traumas, provide food to the hungry, and assist in helping to empower the poor and oppressed. Please consider contributing when the One Great Hour of Sharing is collected this Easter time. Help save lives! We would like to host an American Red Cross Blood Drive this June or July. In order to schedule a drive, we need a minimum of 30 people interested in donating blood. What a wonderful opportunity to serve God and help out our fellow human beings! Please sign-up today if you are interested in donating blood. If you are at least 17 years old (16 with parental consent), weigh at least 110 pounds, and are in good health, you may be eligible to give blood. A sign-up sheet will be posted in the Oak Room, or you can call (414-7504141) or e-mail (jim@musick8.com) Jim Ziegler. The exact date will be determined once we have the minimum donor interest. Thank you! Please consider praying for the mission sites, including presbyteries and synods across the nation, associated with the dates for this month. Should you want more information on any of the mission sites, you can go to presbyterianmission.org/yearbook April 1: Presbytery of Beaver-Butler 11: Presbytery of Northumberland 2: Presbytery of Carlisle 12: Louisville Pres. Theo. Seminary 3: Good Friday 13:Presbytery of Philadelphia 4: Presbytery of Donegal 14:Pittsburgh Presbytery 5: Easter: One Great Hour of Sharing 15:Presbytery of Redstone 6: Presbytery of Huntingdon 16:Presbytery of Shenango 7: Presbytery of Kiskiminetas 17:Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery 8: Presbytery of Lackawanna 18:Washington Presbytery 9: Presbytery of Lake Erie 19:McCormick Theological Seminary 10: Lehigh Presbytery 20:Presbytery of West Virginia 21:Synod of Alaska-Northwest 22:Presbytery of Central Washington 23:Presbytery of the Inland Northwest 24:Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day 25:Presbytery of Northwest Coast 26:Pittsburgh Theological Seminary 27:Presbytery of Northwest Coast, cont’d 28:Presbytery of Olympia 29:Seattle Presbytery 30:Presbytery of Yukon For youth and adults going on our mission trip to West Virginia, we’ll have our next pre-mission trip meeting on Sunday, April 19 from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM in the Oak Room. Bring your t-shirts and we’ll finish them. We’ll also talk more about our May fundraiser. Volunteers for washing May Caring Place laundry are needed. Laundry may be picked up midweek or after noon on Friday. Washing and drying required only; usually two large loads per week. There’s no folding; clients fold items as part of their activities. Please contact Gladys Manke to volunteer of if you have any questions: 262-5427853 or gmmanke@sbcglobal.net Your help is so appreciated! Thanks, Gladys Just a reminder as we enter Tornado Season that emergency exit maps are posted in each room. Should an emergency alert go out while we are in worship: all people in the front half of the church should exit the sanctuary through the stairwell at the front of the church and head down to the Carroll Room of the Caring Place all people in the back half of the church should exit down either of the two sets of stairs and also head to the Carroll Room of the Caring Place anyone with mobility issues should head to the narthex where the double doors and Oak Room dividing doors will be closed off Please mark your calendars for a special event that will involve the 4 Wisconsin presbyteries (John Knox, Northern Waters, Winnebago, and Milwaukee) on May 3 & 4 at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in Wisconsin Dells. The keynote speaker will be the Rev. Dr. Ken McFayden, author of "Strategic Leadership For a Change - Facing Our Losses, Finding Our Future." We will have opportunities to meet, worship and dine with other Presbyterians from around the state, gather as individual presbyteries for individual presbytery meetings, and enjoy the Kalahari Resort. Registration is now open on the presbytery’s website. You won't want to miss it! Have something for the May newsletter? Please send it to presby1@sbcglobal.net or drop it in Jody’s mailbox by Monday, April 20 to have it included. Any items received after the 20th will be included in the June newsletter. We have recently received two large financial gifts and, as the session has been discussing how to be faithful stewards of these funds, we have begun to wonder aloud for what is our church in this very specific time here - why does it matter to our members, Waukesha, and the world that we are still here? Those questions are too big for six people to answer well on behalf of the whole congregation. After Easter and before Pentecost, members of session will be reaching out to each member of the church to know your thoughts on this question: Why does it matter to you that this church is here? We ask that, through the month of March, you prayerfully consider how you might answer this question so you might be ready when contacted. One of the gifts of this calling is the expectation to study more, to look for ways to improve in what I do for your sake, and my own. The commitment to this expectation is lived out by the two weeks of study leave required by the presbytery and granted by you all in my contract. Earlier in March I had the very good fortune of using some of my study leave time to attend a conference in Chicago called NEXT Church. Below is how the organizers describe NEXT: “NEXT Church is a network of leaders across the Presbyterian Church (USA) who believe the church of the future will be more relational, more diverse, more collaborative, more hopeful and more agile. We provide hopeful space for robust conversations about the theology, culture, and the practice of ministry, to serve as a catalyst for new mission callings, and to support strong leadership in a time of adaptive change. We are fostering a conversation about how to follow Christ in our particular day and age. We are a movement seeking to change the culture of connection in the PC(USA) so that we continue to share faithfully the good news of the gospel in ways that bear fruit in a fractured world.” When I think of Jeremiah 29:11 - a future with hope - NEXT is part of my thoughts. One workshop in particular inspired me toward ways we can be church together. We visited a church in the Chicago-area (Grace Commons) which has been making art as an act of worship. During Advent one year, they created the below image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, significant to many of their members. It’s made in collage form and each week people of all ages, and all artistic abilities, would add pieces from magazines and coupons to complete the image. I’d like to try a take on that in advance of Pentecost, with an image of the dove of Pentecost. If you’d like to come play with art as worship, please join me (in washable clothes!) in the Oak Room on the following Wednesdays: April 29 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM May 13 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM May 20 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM Magazines and coupons with red would be a much-welcomed contribution! photos courtesy Grace Commons flickr album On behalf of the church, the session purchased a gift through the Presbyterian Giving Catalog to recognize the 50th anniversary of our daughter church, Southminster. Below is the kind thank you they sent.
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