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Presbyterian News

First Presbyterian Church of Paw Paw, Michigan

Volume 83, Issue 8 August 2015

All who believed were together, and had all things

in common. Acts 2.44

One early, cloudy morning when I was 46, I walked into a church,

ate a piece of bread, took a sip of wine . . . up until that time I’d lived

a thoroughly secular life . . .this was my first communion. It changed

everything.

Sara Miles take this bread.

Dear Friends in Christ!

It is Friday, July 17, as I write this article for the Au-

gust newsletter. Today marks about a month since the Sum-

mer Solstice June 20. What that means is that the star,

around which Earth and the other planets turn has begun

moving back along a line we cannot see! Beginning at a

place called the Tropic of Capricorn in the south the sun is

swinging from south of the equator— a line we also cannot

see— toward the Tropic of Cancer, the furthest distance

north of the equator! When the sun reaches that place at 23.5

degrees latitude north, we will be at the Winter Solstice,

around December 20 or 21. It will be the beginning of sum-

mer for the church south of the equator and the beginning of

winter for the church north of the equator. Though we may

rarely notice or give it thought, an amazing and truly awe-

some cosmic dance twirls along all of life’s nights and days.

Above our heads an international space station orbits

Earth, and I read this morning all 3 astronauts, 2 Russian and

1 American, had to take shelter in their Soyuz space ship be-

cause a piece of space junk from an exploded satellite was

flying toward them. All the day’s scientific experiments had

to be put on hold until the danger either smashed the station

OR flew on by. The danger flew past at a tiny distance of 1.5

miles! The Soyuz did not have to fire its rockets to return to

earth. All this was happening while you were singing in the

shower or enjoying that first cup of coffee.

Complexity and Wonder. Two sides of God’s great

creation. Complexity and Wonder. Two sides of each mo-

ment, each day, each life. The Paw Paw congregation partic-

ipates in all the Complexity and Wonder of living into a way

of being begun long, long before you were born, even before

any such community called the church existed. God is ac-

complishing so much more than we often have the courage

to believe. Our first response can be to offer a critique of

what God may be accomplishing. Angels however are fond

of whispering, “Be not afraid.” Jesus touches

our hearts with “Peace I give to you.” Whenev-

er we gather it is for the purpose of making Eu-

charist – giving witness to the goodness God

intends and continues to create. We gather to-

gether to allow God to strengthen our weak

knees and infuse our hearts with the courage

and faith we need to live in the Way of Christ.

It has been 21 years (!) since I had the

privilege of being with you as an intern. Many

changes happen in 21 years and still you and I

are being called to the task of making Eucharist

– offering God our hearts so that God can

knead their flesh into the bread of love, peace,

mercy and justice that we can offer to a hungry

world.

Though my time with you will be short,

my hope is we’ll explore God’s recipe for en-

joying the bread that lasts, which Sara Miles

discovered at age 46, and countless pilgrims

following the Christ for centuries have been

offering to others for only one reason – God is

faithful in all things.

Grace and Peace

Pastor Linda

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Presbyterian News August 2015

MISSION NOTES

The sunshine streaming through our beautiful

stained glass window on Sunday, July 12 welcomed

the Rev. Larry Boutelle to our pulpit. Rev. Boutelle’s

sermon was based on his mission work through Lake

Michigan Presbytery in Nicaragua. He shared the

incredible hard work and difficult circumstances

that missionaries experience throughout the world.

Yet after returning from these experiences they

often cannot wait to get back to the mission of

serving others.

Fresh from a week at vacation bible school our

children welcomed Rev. Boutelle with a spiritual

shuffle that they learned while attending VBS. The

children were then treated to a special mission

themed children’s sermon from Rev. Boutelle.

If members or friends of First Presbyterian

Church Paw Paw are interested in international mission work through our Presbytery, contact a

mission commission member. Currently serving on the Mission Commission are: Phyllis Gruiz-

enga-Sahr, Tom Smith, Tom Shoemaker and George Bolton.

AN EXPRESSION OF THANKS

During the past few weeks, Elder Tom Shoemaker has been in Washington State with his

family as they tend to the final needs of his father, Chuck. Tom wishes to thank his church

family for the many thoughts and prayers that have gone out to him, his extended family and

his father as Chuck transitions to life eternal.

CONVERSATIONS WITH THE SCRIPTURES

In the not so recent past, many folks enjoyed a Bible Study Class that revolved

around the scriptures being read for the following week. Rev. Linda MacDonald has generously

and graciously offered to lead a similar class during the month of August on Monday nights.

On Monday, August 3rd, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. the “Conversations with the Scriptures”

class will begin. Please come and take part in a lively discussion while enriching your upcoming

worship experience. How wonderful that we are being offered this opportunity to deepen our

spiritual journey!

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Presbyterian News August 2015

Deacon's Recipe Prize Drawing

is extended until September! Go to www.PawPawPres.org

Currently there are 10 recipes entered. Anyone wishing to turn in paper copies of their recipes can do so. You

can email or drop off at the office if you wish. Recipes entered into the drawing will be printed off and

made available to those wishing to add pages to the traditional church Recipe Book. The more you post, the

better your chance of winning

The Paw Paw Community Chorus, sponsored by the Paw Paw High School Choirs, will begin prac-

tices on September 14, 7:00 p.m., Paw Paw Presbyterian Church, in preparation for their 16th

Annual Christmas Concert. The concert will be held December 6, 4:00 p.m.,

at the Paw Paw High School Performing Arts Center located at 30609 Red

Arrow Highway, Paw Paw. The chorus, under the direction of Theresa Vaughn

and accompanied on piano by Linda Havens, will present a variety of music in-

cluding: “When Will He Come?”, “Can You See the Star?”, “Come On Down To

Bethlehem”, “How Beautiful Is the Gift”, “All For A Baby”, “Stille Nacht”, “On

With the Snow”, “Sending You a Little Christmas”, and “The Twelve Days Af-

ter Christmas”.

For further information, or if you are interested in joining the chorus, please call Bill Buhl at

269-716-0318, Kathy McCloskey at 657-5882, or Theresa Vaughn at 269-668-4631.

To our church family, we thank you for your support. It is hard to find the words to express how much everyone’s love and prayers meant to David and I during my illness. Your cards, notes, phone calls and visits meant a lot to me. ShareNet, I want to thank you for every-thing you did, what great ladies we have, and for all the foo. It was delicious.

Thank You Again, Judy & David Combs

FROM THE DEACONS

to all of you who helped with

the picnic. Whether you

hauled staff, planned activities, brought food,

brought family and/or friends -- the picnic

was a huge success because of what you did.

See you next year!

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Presbyterian News August 2015

What a great time we had on Sunday at the church picnic!!

There were boat rides, fishing, swimming, raft fun with a slide, a balloon toss, “Win,

Lose or Draw”, Euchre, a shell guessing game, and of course, fabulous food!

80 folks joined us for an afternoon of friendship and frolic, and a fabulous time was had

by all! Andy Thorburn’s house at Bankson Lake was the gathering place and it was the perfect

spot – sparkling lake, big shade trees, room for all the games, clean swimming water, beautiful

weather, and an incredible host who generously opened his home to all. Two pontoon boats

were at our disposal, captained by Frank Walters and Andy Thorburn. Many tours of the lake

were given to the delight of the riders.

Upon arrival, participants signed in and joined either the Orange team or the Green

team. The competition was hot and heavy throughout the day, but the Orange Team prevailed

and won the first annual PPFP Summer Picnic Award! One of the point making activities was to

name the oldest and the youngest person of each team, and Dutch Duringer was honored to be

the oldest on the Orange Team. Therefore, we think the award should reside at Dutch’s house

for the year, so he will be the presenter of the award to the winning team next year in 2016.

The eldest of the Green Team was Dave Conner, and there were two ten month old babies who

were the youngest – Mason Riegle and Nolan Silber Smith. The youngest person on the Orange

Team was Taryn Welling. There were 397 shells in the jar and Bill Welling was the winner with

396 shells as his guess.

We were honored to have several new families join us and are excited to include them in

our upcoming Fall activities.

A good time was had by all, no-one went away hungry, and the laughter and camaraderie

were such joyful sounds on a warm summer day – we cannot wait until next year!

Picnic signs by Kendall Welling

Greeters: Randy Silber & Wendy Mickle

Picnic was at Bankson Lake, compliments of Andy Thorburn.

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Presbyterian News July 2015

Orange

Team

Green

Team

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Presbyterian News August 2015

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Editor’s Note: The birthdays and anniversaries are Computer generated. If we are missing your special day

or our information is incorrect, please notify the church Office. Thank you.

Presbyterian News August 2015

08/02 Stephen* & Kathy* McCloskey

08/04 Craig* & Lynn* Hess

08/07 Nate* & Wendy* Pursley

08/10 Thomas* & Mary Ellen* Smith

08/10 Kathleen* & Wayne Weisner

08/12 Jeff* Brown & Kathleen*

Murphy-Brown

08/13 Richard* & Danean* Baker

08/20 Harold* & Zoe* Schuitmaker

Now that it is summer and

school is out, join us for a

wonderful lunch and fellowship!

Wednesday’s at Noon in

Fellowship Hall Bonnie Walter, Marge McKee, Sally and Dick Schallhorn

08/01 Eleanor* Pardike

08/01 Cynthia* Marcelletti

08/01 Cal Beck

08/03 Rick* Boven

08/05 Sue* Vantzelfde

08/06 Kendall* Welling

08/07 Rhonda* Riegle

08/09 Gene* Sahr

08/11 Ruth* Johnson

08/12 Rebecca* Brines

08/15 Crecia* Tiffany

08/16 George* Bolton IV

08/16 Ross Beck

08/18 Eilene* Summe

08/18 Max* Mumford

08/20 Taryn Welling

08/26 Nancy* Turk

08/26 Amy* Weaver

08/27 Sadie Imus (V)

08/28 Jean* Hatton

08/29 Tammy* Hulst

08/30 Edie* Myers

08/30 Tara Burkett

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First Presbyterian Church 120 Pine Street Paw Paw, MI 49079

Return Service Requested

Presbyterian News Volume 83, Issue 8

Returning on Sunday, September 20th:

Bagels & Brew Adult Bible Study

Church School

Presbyterian News

LADIES,

SAVE THE DATE October 6, 2015

for the Annual

Presbyterian Women’s Tea.

More information coming.

There is a congregational meeting following the August 2nd worship service, which Tiffany McCafferty will be leading. The meeting is to vote on extending the call to become our pastor to Tiffany McCafferty.

This is very important and we hope all can attend!

Head Usher for August

Ann McGrew