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In her most recent book, spiritual writer Anne Lamott offers a refresh-
ingly simple approach to the spiritual discipline of prayer, given away in
its title, Help, Thanks, Wow. These are the 3 basic elements of our ex-
periences that we bring to prayer. Struggle, gratitude, and wonder, she
claims, are what we bring to conscious relationship with God, and these
basics transcend doctrine, creed, or religion. The book is not great, but
the ideas behind it are, as are its title and author.
Lamott claims that we derive spiritual power from the conscious prac-
tice of saying, “help, thanks, and wow.” By practicing powerlessness,
we stand in the truth of our limited and broken humanity, and humbly
submit ourselves to God who is our help. By exercising gratitude, we
acknowledge, instead of scarcities, life’s abundance and our depend-
ence upon God for the bounty of good. By practicing wonder, we hum-
bly receive the scale and magnificence of God and life, and acknowl-
edge that reality, though not at all perfect, is more than we could ever
create or even imagine for ourselves.
Church prayer is, of course, a bit more nuanced than this simple con-
struction, but Lamott speaks about prayer from the human side. From
that vantage point, I think she’s right about what we bring of ourselves
to prayer and what we get from doing so.
As a church family, we have experienced, just in the last six weeks, the
spiritual power of prayer, with an intense experience of each of these
three elements. When we prayed for Amanda’s life, we prayed “help,”
and in so doing we understood our own powerlessness. When we re-
joiced at her return, we prayed “thanks.” When we stood in wonder to
behold the miracle of return, we prayed “wow.” Lamott’s claim is that
these are three authentic experiences in lived relationship with God,
and by practicing them in our lives and in our prayers, we grow closer. I
sense that has happened.
We have also, in such an exciting way, experienced the growing and
strengthening of help, thanks, and wow living as we welcomed Rev.
Adam Walker Cleaveland into ministry at WPC. For the many gifts he
brings to leadership here, and for the joy of his family as part of ours,
but also for the bright and fantastic future God has in mind for the
world through WPC, of which this is another energizing installment.
Pray this summer. It’s working. Bring your help, thanks, and wow to
prayer, and let it work upon you in your praying and in your living. Do-
ing so follows in the way of Jesus, in which there exists great power and
promise.
Rev. David Lower Senior Pastor
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Rev. Martha Ross-Mockaitis Director of Children’s Ministries
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Rev. Diann Santschi Parish Associate of Pastoral Care and Counseling
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Rev. Kathy Dale McNair Parish Associate for Adult Ministries
Geoff Duffy Director of Music, Associate Director of Worship
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Jennie Cloud Administrative Assistant
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Michael Jin Accountant
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July 2013
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New Hymnal is Almost Here!
The new Presbyterian hymnal, Glory to God, will be arriving in
late September! This project began in 2004 when the General
Assembly authorized research into a new hymnal. The Presby-
terian Committee on Congregational Song (PCOCS) formed in
2008 and spend countless hours developing our new hymnal.
Hymnal Facts...
Glory to God will contain the following:
• More than 800 hymns, psalms and spiritual songs.
• Approximately 50% of the hymns in Glory to God will be from the 1990 blue hymnal.
• A musical setting of almost every Sunday lectionary psalm in the new hymnal.
• A number of hymns and songs from the global church.
• Music from all major historical and sacred genres, including 35 African-American and gospel hymns.
• Worship aids and printed liturgies for Sunday services (including Baptism and Lord’s Supper) and ser-
vices for daily prayer.
Q and A
Besides English, what languages are in the hymnal?
Korean, Mandarin, Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish, Latin, French, Sotho, and Swahili are among the languages.
What is the first hymn in Glory to God?
The new hymnal is arranged according to the history of salvation, beginning with creation and finishing
with the Church’s hope for the Lord’s return. “Holy, Holy, Holy!” will be the first hymn.
Will the Psalms be together in the middle of the book?
The psalms will not be in a separate section. They will be dispersed throughout the hymnal into topical sec-
tions. There will be a sung setting of each Sunday’s lectionary psalm.
Order A Hymnal Today!
You may purchase a hymnal/s in memory or in honor of a loved one. Just fill out the form below and re-
turn it to the church office with your check. The cost of each hymnal is $17.50 per book.
I wish to donate a hymnal in memory of: ____________________________________________________
I wish to donate a hymnal in honor of: ______________________________________________________
Your Name:__________________________________________________________________________
Amount Enclosed:______________________________________________________________________
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Welcome Rev. Adam Walker Cleaveland!
On June 23rd, the congregation unanimously elected Adam
to serve as our Designated Associate Pastor, beginning Au-
gust 1st. We hope that you all got to experience Adam's
giftedness during his weekend of introduction. Adam, his
wife Sarah, and their son Caleb have fast become treasured
members of the WPC family! Happy days!
Adam Walker Cleaveland is a pastor, blogger, net-
worker, social media consultant, husband and progressive Christian. Adam grew up in Washington
state, and attended Whitworth University and received a BA in Religion, while also focusing on
writing and art courses. During college, he spent his summers working at PC(USA) summer camps,
including two years at Camp Sawtooth (Ketchum, Idaho) and one year at Calvin Crest (Oakhurst,
California). After graduating from Whitworth, he spent two years serving as a youth director in a
Presbyterian church, until he decided to head to Princeton Theological Seminary to start seminary.
After three years at Princeton Seminary and one year at Columbia Seminary (Decatur, Georgia),
Adam graduated in May of 2008 with a Master of Divinity and a Master of Arts in Youth Ministry.
During seminary, he also completed a year of Field Education working with college students at
Princeton University and completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at Robert Wood Johnson
University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Having been selected to be a Ministry Fellow
by the Fund for Theological Education, he spent the summer of 2005 in the Middle East, living and
working with Palestinians and learning about the conflict in the Middle East. Adam also co-
founded Presbymergent during seminary, a group of “loyal radicals” in the Presbyterian Church
(USA).
After graduating from Princeton, Adam and Sarah moved to the Bay area, where Sarah began her
PhD program and Adam served for three years as an unordained Minister for Youth & Young
Adults at Asbury United Methodist Church in Livermore, CA. After just over 3 years in Livermore,
Adam was ordained in November 2011 and accepted his first call to serve as Associate Pastor at
First Presbyterian Church in Ashland Oregon. Adam is relocating to the North Shore with his wife
Sarah, their son Caleb, and their lab/pit mix Sadie.
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Roma Ministry Mission Trip Recap Sixteen WPC adult and youth returned from our Ukraine mission trip last week. All agreed this was
an amazing, eye opening and ultimately life-
changing experience. Our group was blessed with
the organized and skilled leadership of Tom and
Jeannette Eilers, Hans Maljaars (HOE Foundation),
Burkhard Paetzold (PCUSA) and our lovely inter-
preter, Zsuzsa, who all contributed to making our
trip as seamless as possible. We spent 6 produc-
tive days in Nagydrobony, Ukraine. The purpose of
this trip was to support our partner churches, the
Reformed Church of Hungary and the Reformed
Church of Transcarpathia (Reformed Church of
Ukraine) in their outreach to the Roma communi-
ties in the Transcarpathia area of Ukraine.
Tom describes our mission as follows: “Roma
communities in Hungary are subject to institu-
tional discrimination. In the Ukraine, Roma are
dealing with concerns of daily survival. Our fo-
cus is to assist established Roma communities to
cope in these environments of urban ghettos
and rural camps and deepen their faith by pat-
terning the ministry of Jesus who commanded
us to break down social barriers and embrace
marginalized peoples. “
Our group participated in three projects, two of
which took place in a Roma school in Nagydro-
bony. A water filtration system was installed in this school. Following the installation of this sys-
tem, Jeanette Eilers, Jane Rabe and Judy McKee put together a fun filled afternoon of activities for
the Roma children which helped educate them on the importance of clean water and good hygiene.
They organized stations that were manned by our group. The children were filled with such joy dur-
ing this time it was a wonderful event. Virginia Wiltshire Gordon wrote a story about the Red Sea
and read it to the children with the help of a translator. Every time Virginia mentioned the word
“water” the children waved a blue piece of
crepe paper illustrating the Red Sea. The
children loved this and quickly caught on
to the English word for water. They were
extremely enthusiastic! So much fun to
watch!
The second project in this school was
working on the playground. Groups spent
time cleaning the grounds and painting a
fence that enclosed this play area for the
children. We also helped install a wooden
see saw. ….continued
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The third project involved helping to assist in setting up a
Roma children’s camp in Csonkapapi. Those involved washed
and cleaned the chairs, beds, walls and floors preparing for
the arrival of children for the first day of summer camp.
Roma children come for a week at a time where they receive
full meals, comfortable beds and of course plenty of fun!
One can only imagine how wonderful this experience is for
these children who might otherwise not have a chance to
escape their normal daily life in their camp.
Along with our projects we also visited many Roma camps in the surrounding area. We were fortu-
nate to meet several Roma Evangelists and witness the work they are doing in these Roma camps.
We listened to God’s word in Hungarian and prayed with them. We were very touched when Hans
told us a prefab structure that acted as a church in one of the worst Roma camps we visited was
brought to them by WPC! In another camp we walked along a long concrete sidewalk. WPC also
helped fund the work to build this path. This sidewalk paved the way for Roma children to get to
school with out walking in knee-deep mud. It was heartwarming to see WPC’s contributions at work
for these beautiful Roma people. These visits were critical to the success of our trip because they
allowed us to see first hand the life of the Roma people and by interacting with them we could better
understand their situation and stand with them together.
At the end of each day we met and shared devotionals and our personal experiences. This was an
important time for us to remind ourselves each day why we were there and how our lives were being
transformed by this experience.
As we resume our lives back in our homes with our
families we reflect on our many experiences. We
remember what Hans told us about sharing our sto-
ries upon our return. He said that is as important as
the work we did while we were there. I know that
none of us will forget the connections we made with
the Roma people and with ourselves. We are all
feeling very blessed and privileged to have had this
experience and are grateful especially to Tom and
Jeannette for making this happen.
In peace,
WPC Ukraine Mission participants
Youth Car Wash July 21st Is your car getting dirty? Get it washed at the Youth Summer Car Wash on Sunday, July 21
st from 11-
1:30 pm in the WPC parking lot. All donations will go towards the
Backpack Project, which provides backpacks and supplies to stu-
dents in the Rogers Park community. This project is through the
Rogers Park Presbyterian Church and WPC works alongside South-
minster Presbyterian Church to provide the supplies needed for
the children. Without your help, these students will have no way
to get the supplies they need to learn and excel in school. See
Martha Ross-Mockaitis with any questions.
Backpack Fundraiser! The
Rogers Park Presbyterian
Church is asking for 150
backpacks and supplies! We
will aim to supply 50. See
the purple backpack in the
Atrium, with the envelope in
the pocket to place your
check. $26.00 covers all the
supplies and a new backpack
for a child or youth K-12th
grade! Hooray for our youth
for holding a car wash!
Hands on Mission indeed.
4th of July Parking Lot Fundraiser. If the Village can-
cels the event due to weather, we will cancel and re-
schedule per their date. The parking lot will be closed
on July 3rd at 9pm. And will be reopened at 6:30 pm
on the 4th. Parking is $10.00 per car, and is a donation
for the Children’s Ministry Mission Fund. If it is hot,
members can watch the fireworks from the Atrium.
Not the same as being on the lawn, but comfortable.
K-4th Curriculum Resources. If you have a couple of
hours here and there in July, The CE Ministry Team is
gathering the supplies and making the teaching pack-
ets for the next year. Many hands make light work!
Some work can be done at your home while you watch
TV. All help is appreciated. Contact Martha to help.
New Trier Food Pantry. Operating all year long, our
local panty needs some stocking up this summer.
Families who rely on subsidized school lunch are now
faced with providing three meals a day and supplies
run short. If you can donate some items below, or if
you would deliver our donations one week day during
business hours, that would be a blessing to many in
our midst. Items will be collected in the CLC (big room
to the right of the main entry doors) in marked bins.
Take this list with you shopping!
♦ Tissues, paper towels, napkins
♦ Laundry detergent, cleaning supplies,
♦ Dish soap, dishwasher soap
♦ Aluminum foil, plastic wrap, baggies
♦ Shampoo, conditioners, mouthwash
♦ Olive oil and cooking oil
♦ Cookies, crackers granola bars, nuts, raisins, &
other healthy snacks
♦ Juices & juice boxes (smaller sizes)
♦ Canned spaghetti & ravioli
♦ Salad dressing & mayonnaise
♦ Condiments & sauces
♦ Canned beans (all kinds) and soups
LemonAid Fund. We received a letter of thanks
from the Founder, Nancy Peddle, recently in the
States for our donation of $394.83. This is the chil-
dren’s offering since Christmas with a little added
from our Mission Fund. Great job children! The
money will go to the Goshen schools for more ta-
bles and chairs, and paint for the school room
walls. Hopefully some shoes can be obtained as
well!
Nursery Care is provided all summer! Our trained
and experienced staff are here each Sunday to
care for children from infancy through Pre-
Kindergarten.
The children
starting Kinder-
garten will leave
Whales Tales
and begin Faith
Explorer’s in
September, and
other children
may move de-
pending on their
birthdays. Our
goal is to have the children in care with the peer
group they will be in school with, as much as possi-
ble. Questions? See Martha Ross-Mockaitis.
Soles4Souls: Again this fall and winter we will col-
lect new, gently use, worn out or done in shoes,
sneakers and boots. Soles4Souls collects and
matches up new and gently used shoes and sends
them to disaster zones in the USA– like hurricane
relief areas, and to other communities around the
globe where children especially, and adults have
no shoes. So as you start to transition from sum-
mer to fall and make your purchases, bring the
shoes, sneakers and boots you won’t be wearing
to the CLC and put them in the specially marked
box. Your donation might be someone's first pair
of shoes! The 5 & 6th Grade class will be in charge
of this project . A huge success last year, members
and children are still talking about it! Questions,
ask Elder Nancy Holly or Martha Ross-Mockaitis.
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WELCOME!!
Adam Walker Cleaveland
our new Designated Associate Pastor!!!
(Adam will start around August 1st)
Atlanta Mission Trip
July 27 - August 3
D.O.O.R Atlanta
Due to a variety of circumstances, as noted in the
earlier separate email sent to each family, the loca-
tion of the annual youth mission trip has been
changed. Here are the particulars:
Location and project : Atlanta, Georgia. DOOR, and
urban mission collaborative. Serving a variety of
urban missions including ministry to homeless and
those who are food insecure.
Travel and lodging: Travel by van and lodging at
Central Presbyterian Church, Atlanta (former
church home of our own David Lower)
Cost: Approximately $400 which includes travel,
mission program through DOOR, food and lodging.
Excludes snacks, spending money and a couple of
meals during travel.
Who?: Any youth or young adult entering 9th
grade through college.
DEPOSIT: Deadline was Friday, June 28th! ALL de-
posits MUST be turned in by this point (unless we
have spoken). Application and additional informa-
tion available and will be sent upon receipt of de-
posit. Place deposit in Kelsey's folder in church of-
fice.
PAPERWORK: Was due Friday, June 28th. If you
haven't turned it in yet, turn it in NOW.
Youth Car Wash!!! Is your car getting dirty? Get it washed at the
Youth Summer Car Wash on Sunday, July 21st
from 11-1:30 pm in the WPC parking lot. All do-
nations will go to-
wards the Backpack
Project, which pro-
vides backpacks and
supplies to students in
the Rogers Park com-
munity. Without your
help, these children
will have no way to get the supplies they need
to learn and excel in school.
Backpack Project Basically, all we need to do is raise $800 to buy
backpacks with school supplies for students in
Rogers Park. Each donation is $25 for one back-
pack with supplies.
Therefore, we are going to need to advertise to
get our congregation to help out with this pro-
ject. So that's why I'm asking you all because
most of us have expressed a need to do more
local service work...well, here it is. We need
youth to make signs to put up the in the church,
make flyers (maybe?), write a blurb to put in the
bulletin, and talk to our church community to
persuade them to donate. See? Piece of cake (if
you help).
After we raise (at least) $800, we can be done,
or we could possibly deliver the backpacks to
the community and maybe get involved with the
students there.
Let Kelsey know if you are interested in helping.
Page 8 July 2013
Stephen Ministry Will Begin in September! Starting in September, WPC is providing an opportunity for individuals to become
trained as Stephen Ministers. They will be equipped to provide a one-to-one caring
ministry to people experiencing grief, hospitalization, job loss, divorce, loneliness
and many other life difficulties. The application process begins soon. If you are inter-
ested or have any questions, please call Judy Sawdey, 312-848-9439 or Kathy Dale McNair 847-989-
1989.
Calling All Yogis Join us this fall (Sept 21 - Oct 12) for four Saturday morning introductory sessions of
Christian Yoga, with fellow WPC friends. Sessions will use passages from scripture to
engage heart, mind and body through inclusion of an opening prayer, inspired move-
ment and strengthening, and a suggestion for how the inspiration can be applied off the
mat in our daily lives. Beginners and non-WPCers welcome! We will be led by Ali Nieder-
korn, who is a devoted Christian and a practicing yogi. She is a parishioner at Old St. Pat-
rick’s Church in Chicago and has cultivated a daily home practice making yoga a part of
her regular prayer life. After spending time at a Hindu/Catholic Ashram in southern In-
dia, she was inspired to create Prayer Yoga in her own community. She went on to receive her yoga
teacher certification from the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Lenox, MA.
4th of July Parking Lot Fundraiser If the Village cancels the event due to weather, we will cancel and reschedule per their date. The
parking lot will be closed on July 3rd at 9pm. And will be reopened at 6:30 pm on the 4th. Parking is
$10.00 per car, and is a donation for the Children’s Ministry Mission Fund. If it is hot, members can
watch the fireworks from the Atrium. Not the same as being on the lawn, but comfortable.
Soles4Souls: Again this fall and winter we will collect new, gently use, worn out or done in shoes, sneakers and
boots. Soles4Souls collects and matches up new and gently used shoes and sends them to disaster
zones in the USA– like hurricane relief areas, and to other communities around the globe where chil-
dren especially, and adults have no shoes. So as you start to transition from summer to fall and
make your purchases, bring the shoes, sneakers and boots you won’t be wearing to the CLC and put
them in the specially marked box. Your donation might be someone's first pair of shoes! The 5 & 6th
Grade class will be in charge of this project . A huge success last year, members and children are still
talking about it! Questions, ask Elder Nancy Holly or Martha Ross-Mockaitis.
Backpack Fundraiser! The Rogers Park Presbyterian Church is asking for 150 backpacks and supplies!
We will aim to supply 50. See the purple backpack in the Atrium, with the enve-
lope in the pocket to place your check. $26.00 covers all the supplies and a new
backpack for a child or youth K-12th grade! Hooray for our youth for holding a
car wash! Hands on Mission indeed.
Is your car getting dirty? Get it washed at the Youth Summer Car Wash on Sun-
day, July 21st
from 11-1:30 pm in the WPC parking lot. All donations will go to-
wards the Backpack Project.
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You Are Invited: Greetings and Peace Be Upon You! Muslim Community Center (Morton Grove) cordially invites our friends and neighbors
to an Iftar (fast-breaking) dinner during the holy month of Ramadan.
Thursday July 11th 2013 at 7pm, 8601 N Menard Ave. Morton Grove
Program Details:
7:00-8:15pm - Various speakers
Muslim Speaker: Prof. Omar Muzaffer - Building bridges through faith
Baha'i speaker: Ed Price - fasting in the Baha'i faith
Christian speaker: TBA
Jewish speaker: Rabbi Evan Moffic - Fasting and refraining in Jewish faith
8:15-8:45pm - Fast breaking/Maghrib prayers (sunset prayers)
8:45pm - Dinner
9:15pm - Closing prayer/conclusion
Please RSVP (mandatory) by July 5th 2013 to [email protected] or kfah-
Join us in the fasting experience (optional)
Muslims will be fasting from 3:40am till 8:30pm on July 11th. We encourage our
guests to join us in this experience by fasting for the day (or even 1/2 a day).
About Ramadan
Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection and worship for muslims around the world. It
is the 9th month in the Islamic lunar calendar. Muslims fast during this month from
dawn to dusk, and abstain from foods and various temptations in order to get closer
to their Creator. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly ac-
tivities, its purpose being to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm. It also
teaches muslims self-discipline, self-control and empathy towards those that are less
fortunate, thus encouraging actions of generosity and charity.
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July 2013 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1
2 10 am Staff Meeting
7:30 pm AA Meeting
3 9:30 am Women’s Bible
Study
9:30 am Mom’s Group
4 Office Closed
9:30 am LifeTalk at
Caribou Coffee
5 8:00 pm AA Meeting
6 8 am Men’s Group
7 Communion Sunday
9:45 am Worship
11 am Fellowship
8
9 10 am Staff Meeting
7:30 pm AA Meeting
10 9:30 am Women’s Bible
Study
9:30 am Mom’s Group
11 9:30 am LifeTalk at
Caribou Coffee
7pm Iftar Dinner MCC
12 8:00 pm AA Meeting
13 8 am Men’s Group
14
9:45 am Worship
11 am Fellowship
15
16 10 am Staff Meeting
7:30 pm AA Meeting
17
9:30 am Women’s Bible
Study
9:30 am Mom’s Group
18 9:30 am LifeTalk at
Caribou Coffee
19 8:00 pm AA Meeting
20 8 am Men’s Group
21 9:45 am Worship
11 am Fellowship
11-1:30 Youth Car Wash
22
23 10 am Staff Meeting
7:30 pm AA Meeting
24 9:30 am Women’s Bible
Study
9:30 am Mom’s Group
25 9:30 am LifeTalk at
Caribou Coffee
26 8:00 pm AA Meeting
27 8 am Men’s Group
28 9:45 am Worship
11 am Fellowship
29
30 10 am Staff Meeting
7:30 pm AA Meeting
31 9:30 am Women’s Bible
Study
9:30 am Mom’s Group
1255 Willow Road
Winnetka, IL 60093
Office Hours
Monday - Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Articles for the Crossroads are due by the 15th of this month. Email your article to: [email protected] or drop it off in the office.
