We would like to thank Ben and Ashley Laws and Beth Willock (with family) for completing the nursery updates. Ben assembled our shelving and Beth added the final touches.
With appreciation,
The Faith Formation Team
A congregational meeting is called for Sunday, April 15 to act on the dissolution of Pastor Anne Epling's relationship with Faith Des Peres Presbyterian Church. The meeting will be held in the sanctuary immediately following the worship service. Annie informed Session on March 19, 2018 that she has accepted another call for service as head of staff at First Presbyterian Church of Fort Wayne, Ind. We are excited for Annie and the Epling family for this wonderful opportunity and at the same time are sad to see them leave Faith Des Peres. Please plan to attend the congregational meeting on April 15.
Come join members of Faith Des Peres at Food Outreach on Saturday morning, April 28th. There we will pack food into individual meals that will be given to those living with HIV/AIDS and cancer that are living at or below the poverty level. We start at 8am and are done before 11 am. Food Outreach requests that volunteers be at least 11 years old and in 5th grade. Food Outreach is located at 3117 Olive Street. Meet us there.
Mark your calendars now for Sunday, April 29. That's the day we will celebrate Annie and her time as Faith Des Peres' pastor. The worship service at 10:30 a.m. will be Annie's last Sunday in the FDP pulpit, and Session is planning a special luncheon after church for all of us to spend time with the Epling family and share many fond memories. Hope you can be with us on April 29. More details will be available soon.
Dear Faith Des Peres Friends,
I could try and convince you to come to Easter worship (10:30am) because the music will be great, the sanctuary will look beautiful, and the message will have meaning. All of which is true and reason enough to come.
But at the end of the day, I hope you'll come on Easter because you need to hear the Easter story. You need to hear it because Easter is the assurance that whatever happens to you, whatever a day may hold, God has the power to strengthen and uphold you; whatever you may face, you do not face it alone, that nothing you encounter is stronger than God’s love; that ultimately God gets the last word; that in the end, God’s love is triumphant.
You can't get that message at home, on Facebook, at an egg hunt, or eating a Cadbury egg. You just can't.
So I hope you'll come, and I hope you'll invite someone to join you who also needs to hear this message. (Don't we all need to hear this message?)
And when you come, I hope you'll bring lots of food for Feeding the Flock (we're having communion). Because we're also called to practice resurrection, and one way we do that is by serving others.
So I hope you'll come.
Because Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!
Blessings,
Annie
It’s a communion Sunday which means the kids will pull the wagon and collect food for Circle of Concern during the offering time. The idea behind Feeding the Flock is that while we are spiritually fed at Christ’s table, we are called to physically feed others. This is an important outreach ministry of Faith Des Peres, and is one that gets everyone involved. Even if you forgot food today, you can always donate food to Circle of Concern by dropping it off at the church. Thank you.
In the season of Lent, we brought our prayer concerns and uncertainties to the cross as a way of giving those concerns to God. Now at Easter, our prayers and concerns are transformed with the resurrection, because with the resurrection God makes all things new. The cross will remain up through the Easter season which ends on Pentecost Sunday (May 20). Thank you to Ben Laws for making the cross and to the Worship Arts Center for covering it with flowers and our transformed prayers and uncertainties.
A congregational meeting is called for Sunday, April 15 to act on the dissolution of Pastor Anne Epling's relationship with Faith Des Peres Presbyterian Church. The meeting will be held in the sanctuary immediately following the worship service. Annie informed Session on March 19, 2018 that she has accepted another call for service as head of staff at First Presbyterian Church of Fort Wayne, Ind. We are excited for Annie and the Epling family for this wonderful opportunity and at the same time are sad to see them leave Faith Des Peres. Please plan to attend the congregational meeting on April 15.
Mark your calendars now for Sunday, April 29. That's the day we will celebrate Annie and her time as Faith Des Peres' pastor. The worship service at 10:30 a.m. will be Annie's last Sunday in the FDP pulpit, and Session is planning a special luncheon after church for all of us to spend time with the Epling family and share many fond memories. Hope you can be with us on April 29. More details will be available soon.
One Great Hour of Sharing 2018
Faith Des Peres is collecting the One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) offering on today. OGHS is a Presbyterian Church (USA) ministry that supports Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Hunger Program, and Self Development of People. This year’s goal is $1750. Help us help others. Thank you.
We have five great projects for Go! Sunday 2018, outlined below. Don’t forget to sign up in the Gathering Space.
Blanket Making (FDP Gathering Space) – Mary Dingus will lead this project to make 9 – 10 fleece tie-blankets for children at Children’s Hospital. No sewing skills needed! If you have good cloth-cutting scissors or shears, please bring them. We need 10 – 12 volunteers for this project. Community Garden (FDP Garden) – Jim Gerst will lead this project to prepare our Community Garden for the spring planting season. FDP donates some of the food grown in our garden to Circle of Concern, where we also donate food through our Feeding Our Flock food collection each month. This group will help prepare the top soil and get the garden ready for spring planting. Bring gardening tools and gloves if you have them. We need 8 – 10 volunteers for this project. Lydia’s House (Location will be provided to team) – Erica Abbett will lead this project. We will meet at the Lydia’s House corporate offices and then travel to our work location, where we will do light yard work (mulching, weeding), planting of potted flowers and general clean up in the front yard. FDP will provide flowers, planters and mulch. Please bring yard work and gardening tools, gloves. We need 8 – 10 volunteers for this project. Buddy Packs (FDP Fellowship Hall/Basement) – Gina Bright will lead this project, which will include packing 100-plus Buddy Packs for April delivery, plus doing inventory of current Buddy Pack supplies and cleaning and organizing the Buddy Pack storage closet and room. We need 8 – 10 volunteers for this project. Provident Mental Health Awareness Ribbon Making (FDP Adult Discussion Room) – May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Barb Abbett will lead this project to make 500 green Mental Health Awareness ribbons that Provident, which provides mental health counseling and suicide prevention/intervention support, will send to friends, donors and staff in early May. Provident will provide ribbon and safety pins for this project. Please bring scissors for this project. We need 6 – 8 volunteers for this project. Lunch Makers – We need five people to make lunches for our Go! Sunday volunteers. Each lunch maker will be assigned to a Go! Sunday project and will pack lunches for the number of people signed up for that project. Lunches can be lunch meat sandwiches and should include a small piece of fruit and small bag of chips. Numbers will be communicated to lunch makers by Thursday, April 5. Bottled Water – We are also looking for people to donate approximately 80 bottles of water (2 bottles per volunteer) for our Go! Sunday volunteers. Please contact Erica Abbett if you can donate water and let her know how many bottles you will provide.
Worship on Go! Sunday will be at 10 a.m. and is a brief commissioning service before going out to serve; coffee and doughnuts will be available at 9:30 am.
Invite your friends and families to worship with us at 10:30 Easter morning! Join us for worship to hear an inspiring message, special musical guest and beautiful flowers proclaiming Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!
Dear Members and Friends of Faith Des Peres,
From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all of you who have reached out to me via phone, email and text following the announcement of my new call. Many of you have said you don’t know how to feel or what to say, and I understand completely. I’m reminded that when the women found Jesus’ empty tomb, Matthew tells his readers that the women felt both “fear and joy”. That’s an odd mixture of emotions that we don’t always know what to do with: do we say “congratulations”, cry, get angry, or grow silent? While any of those reactions are natural, here’s what I’d encourage you to do: talk to me. Tell me you don’t know what to say or how to feel. That’s OK! I’m processing the end of my time with you, too, and also facing the same emotional roller coaster. So please don’t feel like you need to feel whatever you’re feeling alone. I’m here for you, the Session is here for you, and so is your church. We’ll get through this.
This Sunday is Palm Sunday, my favorite Sunday of the year, and I can’t wait to celebrate it with you. Guest musicians will join us, if the weather is OK we’ll start outside, and for the 4th year we’ll observe the ritual of handwashing. I hope you’ll be here as we enter this holiest of weeks.
Lastly, don’t forget the Maundy Thursday supper and worship at 7:00 pm in the Gathering Space. If you have not yet signed-up, you can RSVP here. We need a count to know how many tables and chairs to set-up. And of course, Easter is just a week away!
I look forward to seeing you Sunday.
Grace, peace and blessings,
Annie
The Worship Arts Center sincerely thanks Ben Laws, husband of Ashley Laws, who built the cross we’ve been using during Lent. It is a work of art! Thank you for building it and adding to our liturgical art collection.
Join FDP tonight for alot of Fun, Food, and Fellowship as we host our Adult Easter Egg Hunt. Everyone is a winner and we are sure you will have a ball. Invite your friends and family to share in the fun. Don't forget to bring a flashlight, snacks to share and a beverage. We are excited and can't wait to see you tonight!
The Worship Arts Committee invites you to take part in what is known as an “Agape Meal”. Loosely based on the Jewish Seder meal, this service will begin with a simple dinner around tables in the Gathering Space. Towards the end of the meal, we’ll “Move” into a worship service that focuses on Jesus’ final meal with the disciples and a reading of the Passion story. Sign-ups are needed, so please sign up by emailing Tiara at adminasst@faithdesperes.org or by signing up in the Gathering Space. This event is for all ages. If you can bring soup or bread, please indicate that on the sign-up sheet, or if you’re willing to do a simple reading at the service, please indicate that, too. Thank you.
Again this year, we will decorate the Sanctuary with a variety of blooming flowers (6” pots). Cost per plant will be $10. See the sign-up sheet in the Gathering Space to place your order, or email Tiara in the office. Please designate if the flowers are being given in honor of or memory of loved ones. Make checks payable to Faith Des Peres and note that the funds are for Easter Flowers. Thank you.
One Great Hour of Sharing 2018
Again this year, Faith Des Peres is collecting the One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) offering on Easter. OGHS is a Presbyterian Church (USA) ministry that supports Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Hunger Program, and Self Development of People. Next Sunday, we’ll distribute the fish coin boxes to all members and friends. Drop your loose change in the fish during Lent, and then bring it to church with you on Easter Sunday. (We’ll also take a check!) This year’s goal is $1750. Help us help others. Thank you.
After the resurrection, Jesus told his disciples to “Go!” and on the Sunday after Easter, we’ll do just that! Mark your calendars for Sunday, April 8 when we’ll go into the community and serve at several organizations in our community. Worship is at 10:00 am and is a brief commissioning service before going out to serve; coffee and doughnuts are available at 9:30 am. More details to follow. Please sign up in the Gathering Space.
Dear Faith Des Peres Community,
This Sunday Rev. Miriam Foltz, pastor of UKirk, is preaching while my family and I head out of town for Spring Break. I hope you’ll be here to welcome Miriam as she leads you in worship. Also, we will pack Buddy Packs after church this Sunday. Join us in Fellowship Hall to help.
It’s hard to believe that Palm Sunday (March 25) is around the corner and with it Easter (April 1)! In the mail this week you’ll get a postcard with details about the Holy Week worship services. Since you probably know the details already, how about sharing the postcard with a friend? Believe it or not, people are looking for someplace to worship on Easter. And just like people go to restaurants based on friends’ recommendations, people also attend a church based on friends’ recommendations. So I hope you’ll recommend this one and invite your friends and family to join you!
If you’re traveling for Spring Break, I wish you safe travels, Godspeed and warm weather with sunshine!
Blessings,
Annie