September 8

“Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God!” What does that statement mean to you? Do you believe it? Can you describe what it means? Read Matthew 16:13-20 and bring someone to worship with you as we think on these things.

September 16

Can the same person be both blessed and satanic? How’s about this one? “Any person will do anything if the circumstances are right.” Hummm! Let’s all read Matthew 16:13-23 and bring someone to worship to hear more about this.

September 22

“I’ll forgive you this time, but it had better never happen again!” Ever say that? “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”. Ever pray that? Forgiveness – is it easy or difficult, cheap or costly? Is it easier to forgive, or to be forgiven. Read Luke 17:1-6.

September 29

Have you ever put off until tomorrow something you should do today? And then did you discover it was too late? Read 2 Timothy 4:6-22.

A Called Meeting of Presbytery was held on August 17th at Camp Chimney Springs. The purpose of the meeting was to act upon the call of the First Presbyterian Church of Deming to Rev. Rose Commodore as pastor. The Rev. Commadore is a minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. She was examined at that meeting.

Presbyters also approved Installation Commissions to install new pastors at Deming, at Hobbs, and at Westminster in Roswell. Permission was granted to the Rev. Kenneth Davis from Mission Presbytery to serve as Stated Supply Pastor of the Ruidoso Church.

Those attending from First Church were Moderator of Presbytery, Joel Tomlin, Larry Cooper, Marcus Burr, Florence Hamilton, and our Interim, Gus Schmitt.

The Stated Fall Meeting of Presbytery will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Dexter on Friday and Saturday, September 27 & 28. This meeting will be in conjunction with the dedication of the new Sanctuary of the Dexter Church. The congregation held its first worship in the new Sanctuary August 25^th

On Sunday, August 18^th, Amy Poling Sutherlun appeared before our Session and the Preparation for Ministry Committee of Sierra Blanca Presbytery. The purpose of the meetings of both groups was to examine her to become an Inquirer for the Gospel Ministry. To become an “Inquirer” is the first step a person takes on the journey to becoming a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

The interview proved to be a most inspiring one for all present as Amy gave testimony to her faith journey and sense of call in a wonderful way. She will be under the care of our session and the Presbytery’s Committee during the years of her seminary training.

Amy will be attending Princeton Theological Seminary along with her husband, Joshua, who is also planning of going into the ministry. We pray God’s blessings upon them.

On Sunday, September 15^th, from 2:00 PM until 4:30 PM, a class will be held for those considering membership in our church. The class will be led by our Interim Pastor and other leaders of the church.

If you are interested in learning more about the Presbyterian Church and First Church in particular, we invite you to attend. In order that we might adequately plan for this, please complete the form below and place it in the offering plate at worship, mail or bring it by the church office, or call the office. We look forward to hearing from you.

Like a python digesting a wild pig, the PNC is finally getting our list of pastors down to a manageable size. We have considered and reviewed a total of 61 Pastor Information Forms to date. All of them describe amazing and talented people, some matching our church better than others.

Although applications are still coming in at a slow pace, in answer our magazine advertisements, our list of finalists will soon be coming down to a handful. From these we will decide on maybe three or four to interview and of these we will hear maybe two of them preach and then confer with them in person. Optimistically, we should finish our interviews in September and be in the throes of a final selection in late October.

We are looking at some excellent ministers with exceptional skills and gifts. We trust that we will be guided in our selection and that our new pastor is likewise being called to us. We know the guidance of the Holy Spirit will be there and our challenge is to recognize it. It is here that we need your prayers and once again thank all of you for your patience.

Super Sunday is the beginning of new classes and new adventures as a nurturing family of Christ. Sunday School classes will begin on that day for all ages – birth to adult! Our emphasis will be Remember the Sabbath. In addition to worship on Sundays, we will be gathering for fellowship, prayer, and study. All classes will begin promptly at 9:00 AM Please come and join Christ’s family in fellowship and faith.

After church, there will be an all-church luncheon featuring red and green enchiladas prepared by our senior high youth. Registration for Salt and Light will be held at this luncheon. Adele LaVerne and Peggy White will be there to assist you with registering your child/children.

Come at 9:00 AM on September 8 and experience a Super Sunday with your family and friends in Christ.

The Salt and Light program of our church is widely regarded as one of the best programs we have. It was praised often on the recent survey conducted by the Pastor Nominating Committee. Nevertheless few people realize just how large a program it is and how dependent it is on volunteers to work in this program.

The multi-dimensional program has many purposes. It is designed to encourage, teach, and inspire young people; to create a community of faith; and to bring together people of all ages.

The program itself is highly developed. National support for personnel and planning is provided by Logos Associated International. A program manual, which is well over an inch thick, is provided by this organization. Last year four people from our church attended a national training session for leaders. Our version of the program, which is not the only one in town, meets every Wednesday during the school year. The first eight grades come at 4 PM and leave at 7:15. The older participants come at 4:45 and leave at 8. Everyone eats dinner at family-sized, decorated tables at 6:15. Some of the older students come early to help with the younger ones. This aspect of the program is encouraged because it fits in well with the goals of creating community and mixing ages. Every week there is some activity under each of four headings:

All this effort takes a lot of people. There is a board of from 10 to 12 people, under the leadership of Adele LaVerne assisted by Peggy White and Judith Ames. There are three other groups of workers:

There are about ten teachers, 30 kitchen workers, and 16 table parents, so clearly a large number of workers are involved. In fact, it is estimated that around 300 person-hours are contributed to the program each month. Some of those workers have been involved for the entire ten years that the program has been in place here. Marsha Topley, the Christian Education Director, estimates that there will be 70 students involved this year. Thus the student - worker ratio at any given time is about 2:1, a very favorable ratio indeed.

One problem the program is facing is the matter of workers. Not everybody can commit large blocks of time to one effort and some people like to vary their activities. One way of overcoming these problems is by having four kitchen crews which rotate during the month so that any single crew member is not overburdened. Adele is always looking for people who want to be involved with this effort.

Leadership training is imperative for this highly structured and subtle program. The teachers, kitchen crew chiefs, and table parents all undergo special training. It is this training, the dedication of the workers, and our facilities which make the program the success it is.

People are urged to sign up their children at the special table at the all-church luncheon on Super Sunday, September 8. If you can not sign up then, come to the church office anytime. The cost, which includes the dinner, is $40 per semester (with a maximum of $100 per family). Scholarships are available. As important as the money, is the fact that the family of the participant must agree to support the program in some way. Many parents sign up for a kitchen crew position. Attendance at Sunday School and worship is strongly urged. This in not just a program for children but one for the whole family (and the church). In fact, everyone from the congregation is invited to the dinner (advanced notice helpful).

The important Salt and Light dates to remember are

Presbyterian Women took advantage of their Mission Opportunities program to send four boxes totaling 118 lbs. of supplies including hospital gowns, baby gowns, and blankets sewn by our members, hand-knit and hand-rolled bandages, new and used sheets, new thermal blankets, plus four medical kits each consisting of $100 worth of vitamins, bandages, and medicines. The value of these supplies totals in excess of $2000. The boxes were sent to Maryland where they are stored until ordered by our mission hospitals in Africa. Jean O’Neill, chairperson thanks all the women who contributed their skills and money to this very successful project.

Thursday, August 8, the church was “hit” by lightning. Lightning is a powerful phenomenon which is not well understood. It is more than just a large concentrated current flow. It affects a much larger area than just the region which carries the current which causes the physical damage one can often see.

Thursday evening Susan Grandle was at the church with her Scout Troop when she head the bolt which struck the church grounds. She thought that it had hit either the sanctuary or Jones Hall. No physical damage was noted to those buildings, but the telephone system and the business computers in the church office were damaged.

Lightning damage to electronic equipment is hard to localize. Often small parts will be damaged and the malfunction will not be detected for some time. In this case the phones, the financial secretary’s computer, and the internal network stopped working. Other parts of the system operated strangely, if at all. Fortunately it appears that no data were lost.

Hank Stevenson is the person to whom the office turns to whenever they have computer trouble. He spent much time Friday trying to get the system back in operation with only partial success because he does not have spare parts or an extensive collection of test equipment.

A commercial firm was called in and by Wednesday they had most of the equipment back in operation. Most of the network equipment had to be replaced and Kathy’s computer rebuilt.

Hank has determined that the computer lab was undamaged and he is looking at some unusual responses given by the pastor’s computer and Kathy’s printer. Both usually can be made to work but may need additional repairs.

The Church’s web site is designed to be a repository of information and it is. It contains more than 340 pages and 380,000 words. In addition there are numerous pictures and other graphics. It has so much, in fact, that it can be difficult to find just what you want.

There are four features which will help you:

The Home Page serves as an introduction to the web site. It provides easy contact with the church, information as to location, and an introduction to the program and organization of the church

There the Table of Contents will give you an overview of the site. The title of every page is listed. If one page refers to another, the second page is listed under the first, more general, page. Thus you have sort of an outline of the whole site. One difficulty with the Table of Contents is that if two or more pages link to another one, the other page will only be listed under the first linking page.

The What’s New page is an easy way to keep up with changes to our web site. Any major (and some minor) changes are noted on this page, complete with a link to the new or changed page. If you want to keep up with the changes in the web site, you might bookmark this page.

For a more detailed look at the structure of the site, follow the Search link. It will take you to a page which will connect you to other search aids.

The most powerful way to find items for which you are looking is to use one of the two search forms at the bottom of that page. These forms have just been added and allow you to search for every occurrence of a word or phrase. All you have to do is type in the item for which you are looking and click the search button. The search engine will then send you a page listing links to the occurrences of your search term. Some of the context of the term is included as well as an estimate of the probability that the link is to the information you wanted.

The second form works in the same way as the first, but allows you to narrow the search down with several factors, including dates. It even has a sounds-alike search for poor spellers. There is also a page that contains hints on how to most effectively perform your search.

With the addition of these search aids, you should be able to find the information you are looking for more easily on the web site at www.zianet.com/fpc.

A Cub Scout Pack and Boy Scout Troop are being formed here at the First Presbyterian Church. Boys in grades 1 to 5 can join the Cub Scout Pack. Boys in grades 6 and up can join the Boy Scout Troop. It is never too late to become a Boy Scout. Adults wishing to join the Boy Scouts of America are also welcome. If you have any questions please contact Adrienne or Keith Cline at 522-9997.

Presbyterian Women Association plans a Creative Style Show and Potato Bar Luncheon 10:30 AM September 17^th. The style show will feature Fashions from Charlotte’s and will include hand-crafted clothing created by PW members. All Presbyterian women are invited to come and to bring friends to this event.

Our first gathering of the fall will be Tuesday, September 10^th at 9:30 AM in the church parlor. All women are welcome to join us in Bible study, prayer and fellowship. This year’s study, “What Happens When Women Pray” along with a study guide, is available in the church office. Be sure to pick it up before the tenth.

At 10:30 AM on Tuesday, September 17^th, Mary Martha will host the Potato Bar luncheon after the PW style show. Barbara Aiken has agreed to chair this luncheon, so please help her out when you are called. Juanita Treat has planned a wonderful and entertaining style show for all women of the church.

We hope to see everyone back on the tenth so that we can all be together to begin our exciting prayer study.

Presbyterian and Disciples

Campus Ministry at NMSU

2511 Chaparral St. 522-6404

David Sallee, Campus Minister

This month Jodie Trout, the librarian, suggests the following books:

Deaths:

Communion will be served on September 1 and October 6.

Any meeting scheduled by a committee needs to go through the church office. In that way it will get on the church calendar and it can be assured that the appropriate room is available.

The Lantern deadline for the month of September will be Monday the 23^rd. Please get your articles into the office by this date.

Justin Newby

701 Coal Ave. SW #361

Albuquerque, NM 87102-3074

Robert and Janet McPherson

7000 Rio Bravo – 81

La Mesa, NM 88044

Don Rubart

3245 E. University Ave. Apt. 1107

Las Cruces, NM 88044

Operating Income $28,817.02

Operating Expenses 48,617.34

Total * -$19,800.32

*Negative balance due to the 2^nd payment of $24,000.00 written for the new air conditioning and heating system in the sanctuary. Excess funds in the operating accounts were used.

Year to Date Summary

Operating Income $222,376.65

Operating Expenses 217,016.64

Balance $5,360.01