First Presbyterian Church
Las Cruces, NM
|
First Presbyterian Church |
Mesilla Valley Hospice
The Tree of Lights
Mesilla Valley Hospice invites everyone to share in their holiday tradition - The Tree of Lights. A contribution can be made to Hospice at their Customer Service Center in the Mesilla Valley Mall or at the Hospice office, 299 E. Montana. Your loved one’s name will then be placed on the tree which will be displayed in the mall from November 24 - December 24.
The Lights of Our Lives Memorial Service
will be held at First Presbyterian Church on Sunday, December 6 at 3:00 P.M. This is a time when families and friends gather in worship to remember loved ones who have died.
Fellowship
Groups
Vine & Branches
This fellowship group of parents and young couples meets monthly for a variety of activities - sometimes with children,
sometimes without. This month Vine and Branches will be participating in the
Christmas Progressive Dinner on December 12 at 6:00 P.M.In-Betweeners
Join this fellowship group of "empty nesters" on Saturday evening, December 19 at 6:00 for a
Festive Christmas Potluck and Party in Mell and Carol Peterson’s home (6828 Camino Blanco). Call the Petersons for more information.The Chancel Choir
presents
a Christmas Cantata
"The Christmas Light"
Edited and Arrainged by
Patrick M. Liebergen
December 20th in the Worship Service
Under the direction of
Bill McMillan, our new Choir Director
Monte Coleman, Guest Organist
A Christmas Recital by the
American Guild of Organists
Tuesday, December 1
7:30 P.M.
Howard Smolleck, our church organist and the Dean of the Guild, invites everyone to the Guild’s annual Christmas program held in our Sanctuary. The program will feature organ music, beautiful singing, and Scripture reading - with several members of our choir and congregation participating in presentations. There is no admission charge.
Meet the Son of God
"Advent and After" Adult Course
Nov. 29, Dec. 6, 13, 20, Jan. 3
9:00 A.M.
Church Library
"Advent is a bold invitation to begin a new life, to enter into a radically different world....Advent pilgrims do not merely celebrate Jesus’ birth in the past; we invite God to create a new life within us that we could never conceive on our own."
During these weeks we will move into a scriptural exploration of God’s alternative reality. Using texts from the Revised Common Lectionary (often the basis for our worship services), this study takes the view that this world is the arena of God’s salvation, and each soul becomes a Bethlehem in which the Son of God may once again be born. John Harnish, a Methodist pastor in Tampa, Florida, is the author of the course materials.
The first class will be led by The Rev. Al Kissling, then Pastor John Poling will teach the remaining classes. Participant books cost $4.00.
Order Your Poinsettia!
The Christmas poinsettias have been ordered and will adorn the Sanctuary on December 20 and 24. Each plant costs $5.00.
You may purchase a plant in memory or in honor of loved ones. Watch for order forms in the Sunday bulletins or call the church office. (526-5559).
First Presbyterian Church
and
The Presbytery of Sierra Blanca
cordially invite you
to a
Service of Installation
for
The Rev. Susan Marie Spencer
as
Associate Pastor
on
Sunday, December 6, 1998
at
6:00 P.M.
200 E. Boutz Road
Las Cruces, New Mexico
There will be a reception following the service.
Welcome
to our new
Associate Pastor!
Sue Spencer has been on staff since November 1 and is already a marvelous addition! She has purchased her first house at 2215 Coleen Court and will move in after Thanksgiving when she returns from her ordination in Colorado Springs.
Busy with our mid-school and senior high youth and also with the Board of Deacons, Sue is here to help pastor the rest of our flock, too. Wouldn’t you like to get to know her? Give her a call and invite her to lunch or dinner. Or, drop by her office and have a short chat. Let’s really welcome her to our church family and community!
Visiting La Posada
La Posada is Mesilla Valley Hospice’s facility at 299 E. Montana - in our backyard! The Deacons have volunteered to visit the patients on Christmas day who have no families. If you would like to help and feel comfortable making a short visit and praying with a patient, please contact the church office or any Deacon.
The BRIDGE
Presbyterian & Disciples Campus
Ministry at NMSU
2511 Chaparral Street
522-6404
David Sallee, Campus Minister
Wednesdays
Fellowship at the BRIDGE
8:00 PM
Bible study at the BRIDGE
9:00 PM
Al and Cathy Reasoner have served on the mission field in Brazil for 37 years with the PC(USA) and have been supported by our congregation much of that time. After their years of faithful service, the Reasoners are retiring at the end of November and returning to the States. We hope to host them for a visit in the future!
The church office will be closed at noon on December 24 and all day on December 28 and 31. Sue Spencer will be on call for emergency and pastoral needs. She will check the church’s voice mail (526-5559) on a regular basis or her phone is 524-2558.
October Income and Expenses
Operating Income $ 26,424.11
Operating Expenses 24,304.87
Balance $ 2,119.24
Year to Date Summary
Operating Income $279,383.43
Operating Expenses 259,719.48
Balance 19,663.95
Year-end Contributions
So that we may properly credit 1998 contributions, please be sure they are received by Kathy Tucker in the office before noon, December 30, or post marked no later than the 31st. Contributions received after this time will be recorded on 1999 statements.
Congregational News
* Tom and Dorothy Carlton will celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary on December 24th.
* Justin Curtis Prouty was born on
November 11 to Helen and Boyd Prouty.
Ed and Donna Mathis are the proud grandparents.
Staff News
John and Jackie Poling:
* On vacation with family in Arizona on December 26 - January 1, 1999.
Holiday Open House
December 20 at 7-9 P.M.
John and Jackie Poling extend an invitation to the staff and the active elders and deacons of First Presbyterian Church and their spouses to a Holiday Open House. Stop by for some warm fellowship and wassail!
APPEAL: Hurricane Mitch Relief and Recovery
Dear friends,
As we have watched the frightful scenes of destruction, it is clear that the devastation is of historic and almost apocalyptic proportions. Recovery will be a long road. In light of the extraordinary need, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has pledged a minimum of $200,000 from One Great Hour of Sharing funds to be divided between the immediate relief and the recovery stage of this disaster. We have already forwarded funds to the region and our partners are active in their response. We are cooperating with the Church World Service in the support of material aid shipments. Shipments of material aid are being scheduled and pulled together for Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. But that hardly touches the pain or need - generous additional giving by Presbyterians is needed.
Already, $1400 has been collected from our congregation. If you would like to help meet the desperate needs of these people, you can send it to the church office or put it in the Sunday offering plate. Just designate your check "Hurricane Relief" and make it out to First Presbyterian Church.
"Honduras is mortally wounded . . . . We are making an urgent and anguishing call to the international community. Our capacity for suffering and pain was never before put to such a hard test." -Honduran President Carlos Flores
Truly, neither the Honduran nor the Nicaraguan people have ever faced such a natural disaster in their history. Along with the tremendous death and dislocation, Hurricane Mitch caused huge shortages of food and potable water, created health hazards, and destroyed means of transportation, leaving rescue efforts unable to reach thousands in desperate need.
The long-term effects may be the most devastating. Much of the infrastructure of both nations has been destroyed and will take tremendous resources to rebuild, while the economies to support such rebuilding, already among the weakest in the hemisphere before the hurricane, have also been devastated. Agriculture, industry, and tourism will all require enormous efforts to bring back. The poorest of the poor have lost everything, and the agencies that helped them survive are already stretched to the limit.
"We see with hope the generosity of Nicaraguans who have given away personal possessions in the midst of the poverty that overwhelms us in order to share with those hardest hit by this natural phenomenon." - Gilberto Aguirre, Council of Evangelical Churches of Nicarague (CEPAD)
The resilience, hope, and generosity of the Nicaraguan and Honduran people are an inspiration. Not only are they digging out and focusing on rebuilding, not only are people in the poorest churches collecting money and clothes for shelters in their area, they are working together across wide denominational differences to organize a coordinated response to the disaster.
1998 Christmas Joy Offering
Generous and joyful giving to the Christmas Joy Offering has
been a Presbyterian tradition for more than sixty years. During
this Advent season it is one of the ways we celebrate our
fellowship and life in the family of God.
The Christmas Joy Offering provides support to church workers
who have faithfully served the church for many years and to the
eight Presbyterian-related racial ethnic schools and colleges where
the gifts of students are being developed. The receipts to the offering
are distributed to the Board of Pensions (50%) and to the Committee on
Higher Education (50%) and disbursed according to a formula set by the
General Assembly. These receipts divided evenly maintain a balance of
support for both causes.
You are invited to participate in telling the Good News of
Jesus Christ by giving generously to this offering. It will
be collected on December 20 and 24 in worship.
Return to home page
Send comments, suggestions, and requests to Alex. F. Burr or send email to aburr @ zianet.com.
Technical assistance and net access provided by zianet.com
.
Last update 2002-06-24 12:44:17