The Back Pew - Leesburg Presbyterian Church

The Back Pew
THE NEWSLETTER OF
LEESBURG PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Leesburg, Virginia
Serving God and Neighbor in the Heart of Leesburg since 1804
www.leesburgpresbyterian.org
February 2015
Have Courage! Do Not Fear!
Lent 2015
Ash Wednesday, Feb 18 – Easter Sunday, April 8
During this season of Lent at LPC, we will be exploring how we can respond as people of
faith to the different fears we face in the daily living of our lives. We will examine what
courage looks like in the midst of fearfulness on the five Sundays of Lent leading up to Palm Sunday.
You are also encouraged to explore the this topic of faith, fear, and courage in one of the Lent Small Groups that
are forming. These will meet on a weekly basis for five weeks at different times and places. It is my hope that the
small group experience will serve as support, encouragement, and shared wisdom for those who want to make
this a spiritual practice during our journey through Lent. A resource that we will be using is the book, Fearless,
by Max Lucado.
The following are the topics that will be examined in both sermons and in Lent Small Groups
Sunday, February 22 – What Are We Afraid Of? Mark 4: 35-41
Study Groups – Feb. 22-26
Sunday, March 1 – The Fear of Failing God & Everyone Else
Study Groups – March 1–5
Sunday, March 8 – The Fear of What Tomorrow Will or Will Not Bring Matthew 6: 25-34
Study Groups – March 8 – 12
Sunday, March 15 – The Fear of Not Mattering Matthew 10: 26-31
Study Groups – March 15- 19
Sunday, March 22 – The Fear of the End of Life John 14
Study Groups – March 22-26
The times and dates of the Small Groups will be sent out on Feb. 9th and will include Sunday mornings, weekday mornings, and week-nights. You can sign up for a particular Lent Small group by signing up on Sunday
morning, February 15 or 22 or calling the church office.
Back Pew January/February 2015—Leesburg Presbyterian Church
Page 2
Adult Faith Formation Class
Pope Francis: Who He Is and What
His Papacy Is About!
Guest Speaker: Dr. Carl Hemmer, former Jesuit priest
February 8 and 15
Join us to kick off the
Season of Lent
9:45 – 10:40 am Sunday mornings
Location: TBA (depending on size of class attendance!)
Deacons are hosting a pancake supper
Feb. 8 – St. Francis and the Papacy
Wednesday, February 18th
6:00- 6:45 pm
Who he is. Where he comes from. What he faces as
Pope.
Ash Wednesday Service
following in Fellowship Hall
6:45 - 7:30 pm
Feb. 15 – St. Francis, the Jesuit!
How his Jesuit DNA impacts his Papacy
Don’t Forget!
CHILI COOK-OFF
February 1
Immediately following the Congregational Meeting
in Fellowship Hall
TO ENTER THE COMPETITION, CHILI MUST BE IN FELLOWSHIP HALL
CONGREGATIONAL MEETING
FEBRUARY 1
The Session of has called a congregational meeting of
Leesburg Presbyterian Church to be held after the 11:00
worship service on Sunday, February 1, 2015. The purpose
of the meeting is to present the church's annual report,
share information about the 2015 budget, and vote on
changes in the terms of call for the Pastor and Associate
Pastor.
Preschool News
Registration for the 2015-2016 school year is
underway! More information and registration
forms can be found on the LPC website under the
preschool tab or contact Director, Elaine Thiel at
(703) 771-1461."
Help us spread the word!
Deadline for next Newsletter is February 20
Back Pew January/February 2015—Leesburg Presbyterian Church
Page 3
News from the Session
Current members of the Session are Trish Fraker, Frank
Gasperini, Wayne Helge, Kim Hovda, Todd Joyce, Keith
Markel, Linda Rawlett, Wynne Rodgers, Jim Ruddell,
Cameron Spivey and Sheryl Tompkins. Rev. Debbie
Parsons serves as Moderator and Jim Barnes serves as
Clerk.
Among the recent actions of the Session:


Approved the LPC’s budget for 2015;
Authorized the transfer of the $38,622 budget surplus
from 2014 to the Capital Reserve Fund;
 Authorized the transfer of $1,100 remaining in the
hymnal fund to pay for guest musicians in 2015;
 Elected Elder Jim Barnes to serve as Clerk of Session
for 2015; and
 Authorized a Garden Market Table program, where
church members would bring excess garden items to offer
to the congregation for a small donation, with the donations to be designated for a special local mission.
Loaves & Fishes
First Sunday of February
February 1st
I had the pleasure of sitting down with a couple of our
Youth, shortly before the end of Summer, to talk about
their experience of Youth Group, and - more broadly about being young people in Loudon County. I learned
some fascinating stuff, and our conversation helped me to
shape the Youth Group experience in significant
ways. One of the things we talked about were projects,
events, trips they would like to participate in. When we
met as a larger group, we also asked everyone:
"Hey, what would you like to do?"
Y
O
U
T
H
A couple of opportunities came out of those
discussions. The first one took place during
the first two Sundays in January. We spent
time with Finch Sewing Studio (owned by
LPC member, Nicole Morgenthau) knitting
hats for children with cancer. To be honest,
we didn't know how it would go: we were
The Session recently offered commendations for:
pretty sure that between five to eight of our
youth would probably be into it. But we
The LPC Choir, under the direction of Terry Sisk, for
were surprised in a wonderful way. We had
their beautiful performance of the Christmas Cantaeighteen youth join us for the first Sunday at
ta, and for representing LPC in the Choir Festival
Finch, and twenty-three for the second
honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.;
Sunday at Leesburg Presbyterian. Nicole
Jennifer Morris for providing lovely flowers for the sancand Angela Helge came to the second knittuary for Christmas;
ting time, and had the pleasure of witnessing
Angela Helge and Juli Barnes for directing and organizing
what we saw - all twenty-three youth knitthe December 14 Christmas program;
ting
away!
Knitting
a hat, as you probably know, is not a
Wes Rhodes and Pam Poisson for serving as chaperones
four
hour
job
especially
for first-timers, but the fun and
for the youth group lock-in;
fellowship
we
had,
continued
to strengthen our identity as
The Deacons and Nancy Vanzandt for their hard work
a Youth Group that gets down to business when it's time to
organizing the Christmas dinner and decorations;
serve others.
Hong McGill for building LPC’s presence on Facebook
with his photos;
The second opportunity is coming up - a chance to worAngela Helge and Nicole Morgenthau for leading the
ship with another church. On Sunday, February 15th, we
Youth Group in knitting hats for children with
will travel to Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria,
cancer;
Virginia. That morning, our youth with join their youth in
Jeremy Palmer for initiating the collection of coats for
worship. Alfred Street Baptist is a historic, black church in
homeless veterans;
Old Town, and we are honored and delighted to join them
Wayne Helge, Bud Elliott, Scott Lutz, Doug Sweeney and as they praise God and lead us in worship.
Julie Koochagian for their hard work developing the
Coming Up: We will hold our "Dessert Silent Auction for
LPC budget for 2015; and
Summer Youth Ministry" on Sunday, March 22nd. The
Andy Tompkins for the Christian care he provided Hal
silent auction is held each year to defray costs for the
Glovier and his family over many years, particularly
summer camp and service trips.
at the end of Hal’s life.
Grace and peace,
Pastor James
Deadline for next Newsletter is February 20
Back Pew January/February 2015—Leesburg Presbyterian Church
Circles, Studies,
and Fellowship Groups
Emma Clemens/Ruth Circles
Wednesday, February 4 7:30 p.m.
The Emma Clemens and Ruth Circles will meet
in the Memorial Lounge on February 4 at 7:30
p.m. Our lesson (5) will be led by Meredith
Moore. Please read 2 Corinthians 5:11 - 6:10
dealing with the Reconciliation of Paul and the
Whole Creation. All women of the church,
regardless of age, are invited to join us. We can
be a lively group! For more information contact
Shirley Pearson 703-777-7425.
Circle One
Thursday, February 12 10:00 a.m.
Circle One will meet on Thursday, February 12 at
10:00 a.m. in the church library. All women are
invited to join us for bible study and lively
discussion. Our lesson, "The Aroma of God
Among Us", focuses on 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 and
6:14-7:1. How can we, and do we, make God's
presence visible in the world? If schools are closed
due to snow on the 12th, we will not meet until
March.
LPC Book Club
Friday, February 13 9:30 a.m.
Book Club continues our monthly meetings on
second Fridays at 9:30 am. Please contact
Jennifer Marsh ([email protected]).
February’s selection is Orphan Train by Christina
Baker Kline. March’s book is Third Son: A Novel
by Julie Wu.
Monday Morning Stitchers
Monday, February 15 11:00am—1:00pm
We have a great group of ladies who stitch on the
3rd Monday of each month at the home of Jane
Ashbaugh. Bring whatever project you are
working on and stitch and visit with us. If you
ever wanted to learn counted thread, canvas work
(needlepoint) or cross stitch on linen, now is the
time! Call if you have any questions (703) 7790747.
Page 4
LPC GIVES BACK
The Mission & Witness committee knows our congregation
is always generous, but this holiday season you have again
exceeded our expectations! Due to your cash donations and
a number of donated gift cards, we were able to send
Loudoun Interfaith Relief $1,565. LIR used this to purchase
grocery gift cards to add to food baskets so that their clients
could purchase fresh food over the holidays.
We will continue our monthly tradition of accepting
canned/packaged food on the first Sunday of each month, in
our “Loaves & Fishes” collection baskets. If you would like
to make a cash donation on that day, please make the check
payable to LPC and note in the MEMO LINE: “Loudoun
Interfaith Relief”. You may drop the donation at the church
office or into the Offering Basket during worship. You may
also donate online at www.interfaithrelief.org.
In addition, we thank the congregation for their generous
response to the Christmas Giving Tree last November. The
gifts and cash cards were greatly appreciated by Holiday
Coalition. Many families benefitted from your generosity.
Grace2Go
Our LPC Grace to Go volunteers had a very
efficient Sunday, Jan. 4, at Deli South and
prepared 160 dinners. Thank you to our
January volunteers, Charles Medland, Nancy Blaine, Loretta
Kline, Barney McCracken, Kristi Titus, Chryslie Cultice,
Florence O'Hey, John and Connie Niccolls, Don and Linda
Gibson and Gabe, Taylor and Bailey Vigil.
We received an email from the coordinator of G2G at St.
James. She reported that lately every dinner has been taken
and they have been purchasing groceries to give to those
people remaining in line. She thanked LPC for our continued support.
LPC supports G2G with a commitment to prepare and pay
for meals on the first Sunday of every other month. We are
one of many organizations who support this weekly meal
preparation which is coordinated by St. James Episcopal.
Our next G2G mission opportunity at LPC will be March 1,
from 1:30-3:30 pm at Deli South. If you would like to help
on March 1, please sign the G2G sheet on the bulletin board
in the Office Hallway or email Jeff and Trish Fraker at
[email protected].
Deadline for next Newsletter is February 20
Back Pew January/February 2015—Leesburg Presbyterian Church
~ February 2015 ~
◄ January
Sun
1
Page 5
Mon
2
Tue
Wed
3
4
March ►
Thu
5
Fri
Sat
6
7
12
13
14
Circle One 10am
Book Club 9:30am
Loaves & Fishes
Worship 8 & 11am
Ad. Ed 9:45am
Congregational Mtg
Youth Group5:30pm
Chili Cook-off
Emma/Ruth 7:30pm
Choir 7:30pm
8
9
Worship 8 & 11am
Ad. Ed 9:45am
Youth Group5:30pm
10
Worship Cmt 7 pm
CE Cmt 7 pm
11
Deacons 7:30 pm
Choir 7:30pm
15
Worship 8 & 11am
Ad. Ed 9:45am
Youth Group
Trip to Alfred StreetBaptist Church
22
16
M&W Cmt
7:00pm
17
18
Session 7:00pm
Ash Wednesday
Pancake Supper
6:00 pm
President’s Day
Office Closed
23
24
19
Service 6:45 –
7:30 pm
Choir 7:30pm
25
26
20
21
27
28
First Sunday in Lent
Worship 8 & 11am
Ad. Ed 9:45am
Youth Ski Trip
Choir 7:30pm
Needed: A FLAT-SCREEN TV
If anyone is upgrading from a smaller to a larger flat-screen TV, the church could use your hand-me-down.
We want to replace our huge and heavy television that is very difficult to move! Please call the church office and speak with
Pastor Debbie .
Leesburg Presbyterian Church
207 West Market Street
Leesburg, VA 20176
Non-Profit Organization
US Postage Paid
Permit #4
Leesburg, VA
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Leesburg Presbyterian Church
Rev. Deborah Parsons
207 West Market Street
Leesburg, VA 20176
Phone: 703-777-4163
E-mail: [email protected]
www.lpcva.org
Worship Schedule
Sunday Worship
Adult Education
Church School
Youth Group
8:30 am and 11:00 am
9:45am
9:45 am
5:30 pm
The Sacrament of The Lord’s Supper is
celebrated the first Sunday of each month.
Sign up for our weekly electronic newsletter by emailing [email protected]
OUR CHURCH ELDERS: Jim Barnes—Clerk of Session, Trish Fraker, Frank Gasperini, Wayne Helge,
Kim Hovda, Todd Joyce, Keith Markel, Linda Rawlett, Wynne Rodgers, Jim Ruddell, Cameron Spivey
and Sheryl Tompkins.
DEACONS: Rebecca Caprio, Joan Elliott, Christian Hoff, William Marsh, Kristin Moats, Florence O’Hey,
Krista Ritsema, Sharon Schmidt, Sofia Spivey, Susan Sutter, Stewart Weikel, Dennis Welsh.

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