Selections from The Lantern, January 2003. The Lantern is the monthly newsletter of the First Presbyterian Church.

Which is it? That what a person believes makes up his or her behavior; or that a person’s behavior makes up his or her beliefs? Does a person say “God is what God is and therefore I must behave in a way that suits what God is?” Or does a person say, “This is what I want to do, this is the way I will take, this is what my behavior is…therefore, I will make up an idea of God that will suit the circumstances.”

In our deportment, do we seek to conform to what we believe, or do we go ahead with what we want to do and then make up a doctrine to fit? Are we governed by a revelation from outside us, or are we governed by our own whims and prejudices, proceeding then to work up a doctrinal justification for what we do?

Does action come before belief, or does belief come before action, and where does this belief come from? If it should be true, as we might be willing to confess after a period of self-examination, that we fix up our doctrines to fit and justify our behavior, then why do we put so much emphasis on our beliefs? We ought, it seems, to try to figure out just what is the truth about us. Then….maybe we might repent.

PEACE!

January 6^th is observed by Christians as the Day of Epiphany. The word “Epiphany” means “Manifestation of God.” On Christmas, God appeared in the world as a person in the baby Jesus. “Epiphany” celebrates the person Jesus being recognized as God.

The color of this season is white, signifying joy, purity, happiness, light and glory. We will observe the beginning of this season on Sunday, January 5^th. Gus will be preaching on The Rest Of The Story.

Our Interim Pastor’s sermons during the month of January will be as follows:

Christmas is over. Now what? Anything different? Do we now return to the real world or did we ever leave it? Read Matthew 2:1-2 and 12-18.

Did you ever feel you were being “pious” when you were “putting yourself down” and prostrating yourself before God? Then did you discover there are some things God cannot say to a person who is lying face down? Read Ezekiel 1:1-3 and 28-2:2

“I belong to the First Presbyterian Church,” we casually say. “I belong to Jesus.” Have you ever stopped to think what that word “belong” means and what we are really committing ourselves to when we make those statements? Read Luke 22:24-27 and John 12:26 and let’s discover this together.

“Are you saved?” Have you ever been asked that question? What was your reply? What does it mean to be saved? Read Philippians 2:1-13 and let’s find out.

Bring someone to worship with you each Sunday this month.

A very important meeting of the congregation will be held following worship Sunday, February 2^nd . In addition to the presenting of the Annual Reports of all church committees and organizations, the following items of business will be transacted:

The election of four members to the congregation’s nominating committee and the election of two persons to serve in the 2003 Class of the Deacons.

A review of the church budget for 2003.

A recommended change in the By-Laws of the congregation.

Action on recommendations from the Facility Renewal Committee.

You can prepare yourself for this meeting by reading articles on these items of business on other pages in this issue of the LANTERN. Lunch will be served.

The present By-Laws of the First Presbyterian Church of Las Cruces were adopted in November of 1988. Included in the By-Laws is a section regarding Congregational Meetings. Article V. paragraph 1 is out of line with present practice. It reads:

“Annual meetings of the congregation shall be held in the church on the first Sunday of November for the purpose of electing officers, reviewing the proposed budget and to authorize any changes in the pastoral calls, and on the first Sunday of February for the purpose of receiving the annual report of the congregation and conducting any other business necessary.”

To bring our By-Laws in line with present practice, the session is submitting the following for the congregation’s consideration and action:

“Annual meetings of the congregation shall be held in the church on the first Sunday of November for the purpose of electing officers; and on the first Sunday in February to authorize any changes in pastoral calls, to receive the Annual Report of the congregation, to elect the congregation’s representatives on the Congregation’s Nominating Committee, to review the budget and the conducting of any other business necessary.”

Questions regarding this minor change will be responded to at the meeting February 2^nd.

The congregation will be asked to approve two very important proposals at the Annual Congregational Meeting scheduled for Sunday, February 2^nd.

The first proposal will be to approve an $850,000 church facility renovation project. If approved, the construction will begin on March 2 and be completed by November 2003. An outline of the work that will be accomplished is attached and is as was presented on October 20^th at the called congregational meeting for the purpose of approving the Master Plan.

The second proposal is to approve leasing space for a Day Care Service at First Presbyterian Church. The Facility Renewal Committees have been meeting with the Session and Christian Education Committee to formulate a plan and contract which will allow this service to co-exist with our other church functions and services, while ensuring that our Christian principles are present in their programming. If approved, this contract will pay nearly 50% of the costs for the renovations, provide a needed community service, and give our church family an outreach into young Las Cruces families.

If you have any questions that you would like answered before the February 2^nd congregational meeting, you can call Otis Farmer, Chairman of the Facility Renewal Finance Committee, Charlie Yaryan, Chairman of the Facility Renewal Construction Committee, any member of these committees listed at the end of this article, or Linda Ramirez, our church secretary, who can put you in touch with those members of either committee.

On Sunday, January 19^th, the officers-elect of our church will be ordained and installed in an impressive laying-on-of hands ceremony by the Session during Worship. Those elders being ordained will be Carl Connor, Cheri McMillan, and Don Rhodes. Those already ordained and being installed are: A.B. Conrad, Jacque Parks, and Nora Yaryan.

Deacons being ordained and installed are Millie Conrad, Jon Gorzeman, Dina Schroeder, and Jennifer Topley. Rusty Smith has already been ordained and will be installed.

Every member should plan to attend this special service, showing our encouragement and support to these new officers.

Dear Friends, you have been patient as we have requested. Things are happening and the possibilities are bright. There is a chance that our job is drawing to a conclusion. But again, we caution that we cannot foretell how or when God will bring the work of the PNC to a close.

The committee has reviewed something like 90 Pastor Resumes and has in hand 23 new Resumes to review. More are arriving almost weekly. The committee has interviewed more than 50 references and a select group of pastors. We have reviewed a large box full of sermons, cassette and video. Many of the pastors appear to be exceptional candidates. Some have visited with us and others may visit. The committee members have willingly spent a great deal of time on these visits and making them happen. It has been a rewarding and educational experience for the committee.

The church office staff has provided considerable and excellent support for many of these activities and is to be commended. The session and several committees have provided much needed guidance and support. The Presbytery through the Committee on Ministry has also provided considerable help and insight. Special recognition is due to Susan Raby, the COM liaison to the PNC. Last but not least we must recognize the support of the congregation, without which nothing in the church can happen. Your prayers and your gifts sustain us.

Because we cannot know when our new pastor will be selected, we are continuing our reviews of resumes and sermon tapes. This process is continuing through the holidays, albeit at a slightly slowed pace. When you feel anxious about the nominating process, the committee would request that you pause in prayer for our church, our congregation, and those pastors who are considering us.

Sierra Blanca Presbytery will hold its Stated Winter Meeting on Friday, January 24 and Saturday, January 25 at the First Presbyterian Church in Alamogordo. Representing our church will be Ruling Elder Tommy Matkin and our Interim Pastor. Ruling Elder Joel Tomlin of our church will be concluding his year of service as Moderator of Presbytery. You are encouraged to be in prayer for this meeting.

The Christian Education Committee, The Christian Education Director, and all those who have contributed to our Christian Education program wish to thank Judith Ames for her tireless effort and dedicated service to the Christian education of our young people. Judith is rotating off Session in January and will be vacating the position of Chairman of Christian Education. She has given herself, time after time, to the continually rewarding service of bringing Christ to our children. Those of us who have worked closely with her have greatly benefited from her spirit of giving. There are no expressions to describe the gifts Judith has bestowed upon the children and youth of our church. Thank you, Judith for immeasurable service to Christ and to his church.

The Christian Education Committee wishes to thank Betty Starkey for all the beautiful bulletin boards that she has created for our church. She has resigned from the bulletin board committee and is moving to Albuquerque. We will miss her creativity, friendship, and contagious smile. Thank You, Betty, for bringing us joy and love through your endeavors.

Sunday School classes for all ages are available in the new year. The list is given below.

Adult Sunday School - Attendance is up over the last year by 50%. Come at 9AM Sunday mornings to one of the two adult classes. See what all the excitement is about.

Senior High and Mid High - Gary Gemoets and Charlie Yaryan will continue into the New Year with excellent studies.

Elementary - "God's People Celebrate" is the theme from Gospel Light that the children will be studying using our normal rotation schedule.

Preschool - Judith Ames and Carol Goss will continue with these little ones and Linda Seaton will teach during the Worship hour.

Nursery - Janet Loman continues to keep watch over our growing number of babies.

Even though we have lost our staff Christian Education Director, Marsha Topley will continue helping this department as a layperson. The Christian Education Committee is very grateful that she will still be available.

Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Protestant theologian in Nazi Germany, chose to resist the Nazis in his homeland and was imprisoned and then executed for his involvement in a plot to assassinate Hitler. The influence of a life lived according to uncompromised convictions is matched by that of his theological works accessible to laypersons, the best known of which is Cost of Discipleship. This is a study of the Sermon on the Mount in which he distinguishes between “cheap grace” and “costly grace.” “Cheap grace,” Bonhoffer wrote, “is the grace we bestow on ourselves…grace without discipleship … Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock… It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.”

I read Cost of Discipleship as a young adult in the 60s. I look forward to reading it again with more insight after a few more decades of living. The book is in our church library, catalogued under 226.2.

Bulletin Board Creator - Betty Starkey has created our lovely bulletin boards these past few years. Unfortunately for us, Betty is moving to Albuquerque sometime after the first of the year. If you are creative, we need you.

Sunday School Superintendent - We need someone to commit to serving in this capacity. Please prayerfully consider volunteering. You can get the job description from the church office. Perhaps one of you might want to pair up with a friend?

Sunday School Teachers - The Elementary program is a rotation program, which means that the teachers rotate very often. We have the curriculum; we only need teachers to teach once in a while.

VBS Director - VBS has not been scheduled but the curriculum is here. Anyone out there interested in taking on this task?

Youth - The Holts are on board with the High School but we still need leaders/sponsors for summer mission trips and camps Mid School needs leaders/sponsors to take these young people to their scheduled Winter Retreat at Lone Tree February 14-17. We also need leaders/sponsors for their summer camp.

Please consider these children and their needs. Our programs are running but we need your help.

A copy of our church pictorial directory of 2001. Even though a directory was given to each family pictured in the directory, extra copies were provided by the publisher, and more copies were generously given by some members of our church family, they are ALL GONE.

Please, if you have an extra copy or know of a copy, which might be given back to the church, take it to the church office. If you cannot take it to the church office, let us know and we will make arrangements to pick it up.

Your help will be greatly appreciated. It will be embarrassing to welcome a new minister by having to say, “Sorry, we can’t give you a church pictorial directory. They are all gone.”

Once again, our high school youth will be participating in the international effort to ease hunger in local communities. The Souper Bowl of Caring was started in 1990 in just one city and has now spread to almost every state in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, the Netherlands and the Marshall Islands. This year on January 26, our youth will be standing at the sanctuary doors after worship to collect donations of cash and canned goods. Please join our "team" and make "Souper" Bowl Sunday a day of blessings for those who are hungry in our community.

Every church in the Presbyterian Church (USA) is apportioned a share of the expenses of the presbytery, the synod, and the General Assembly for ecclesiastical purposes. The apportionment is based on church membership. The amount varies with the needs of these entities and is a regular annual expense payable by our church. The amount to be paid in 2003 per communicant members is $21.52. If each member were to pay his or her apportionment separate from their pledge, it would save $8,651.04 from the church expenses.

The cover of this issue shows one of a number of Christmas tree ornaments which decorate our tree in the narthex and which were made by Alice Cooper. It represents the star of David, one of a large number of Christian symbols which she has made into beautiful and meaningful tree ornaments. Photographs and a description of these ornaments appear on our web site, accessible from the home page or directly at www.zianet.com/fpc/chrismTitle.htm.

This section of our web site is one of the most popular with visitors. Alice regularly gets requests for information on how to make these ornaments from as far away as Great Britain.

Don Ragan Gordon Hoff, and William DeBoy died in December. So once again we are reminded of our fellowship with one another in death when death comes to our members and our friends. We offer our sympathy to Bernice Ragan, Ruth Hoff, Mary DeBoy, and to all bereaved. We do not try to sentimentalize. Death is too tough for that. Our triumph is faith.

Dec 1 261

Dec 8 265

Dec 15 301

Dec 22 293

Communion will be served on January 5 and February 2.

Presbyterian and Disciples

Campus Ministry at NMSU

2511 Chaparral St. 522-6404

David Sallee, Campus Minister

The Lantern deadline for the month of January will be Tuesday the 21^th. Please get your articles into the office by this date.

When the 108^th United States Congress convenes in January, it will include 47 Presbyterians. There will be 34 Presbyterians in the House of Representatives (23 Republicans and 11 Democrats) and 13 in the Senate (10 Republicans and 3 Democrats).

Presbyterians will constitute 13 percent of the Senate and 8 percent of the House. Of the 47 Presbyterian members of Congress, eight will be serving their first term; five in the House and three in the Senate.

On January 8, the second semester of our Wednesday after-school LOGOS program will begin. We will celebrate Salt & Light’s 11^th Anniversary with the annual “Purple and Gold” theme. These traditional royal colors signify that we are Kids of the Kingdom, children of the Lord.

This program’s name is taken from Matthew 5:13-16, which speaks of Christians as “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” Please come join us for dinner and help celebrate the beginning of our 12^th year.

This month’s Family Of God (dinnertime) themes are:

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Last update 2002-12-31 11:29:06