FIRST LOOKAUGUST 2020

MINISTRY HIGHLIGHT:CENTRAL MIDDLE’S NEW PRINCIPAL:CENTRAL MIDDLE’S NEW PRINCIPAL:

KEITH PAUTLERKEITH PAUTLER

AUGUST ANNOUNCEMENTSAUGUST ANNOUNCEMENTS

FEATURE ARTICLE:GROW in intimacyGROW in intimacy

The GospelThe Gospelon theon the

PlaygroundPlaygroundLauren Mitsuhashi and her children,

Austin and Ryleigh, who attend the First Pres. ECP

MISSION MOMENTMISSION

G AT H E R F O R W O R S H I P & C O M M U N I T YG R O W I N I N T I M A C Y & U N D E R S TA N D I N GG O T O S E R V E & S H A R E

|“It’s cool how God has worked through this even during Covid when it’s hard to minister to each other, physically. There are moms who are having huge struggles and moms dealing with major illnesses in their families. Most of the playdate moms had moved to Edmond during Covid and had not come up to the school and experi-enced the playground.”

We want to reach families, and the best way we can help them is to share the gospel with them. Lauren and Laura scheduled a playdate of their own before they got started reaching these oth-er moms. With three kids at Top Golf, they planned, prepared, and prayed for these gospel conversations.

Since then, Lauren has had five play-dates with moms at the church’s play-ground, plus multiple conversations with other moms.

“We are eager to be used by God among people who are hungry for a relationship or are not connected to a church,” said Lauren. The two contin-ue to check back with the moms on their prayer needs.

“Because of Lauren’s efforts to share the gospel, two preschool moms joined the summer Women’s Bible study. This came at a time when they needed the body of Christ to surround them,” said Burton.

“The husband of one of these moms is currently in a hospital in Atlanta, undergoing partial lung removal and cancer treatment, while his wife and children are unable to join him be-cause of Covid restrictions.”

So, how do we do the transforming work because of Covid? How do we form a new normal in our call to trans-form the world when it might seem we are restricted in every way? As

Grow in Intimacyby: Carol Hartzog

Covid-19 is on everyone’s mind. Ev-erything -- as we once knew it -- is unsettled. Covid can instill fear, pan-ic, and anxiety in people, but it can-not transform us into the people that God wants us to be.

In fact, God can even use a global pandemic to serve His purposes…and so can we. We can be transfor-mative in the midst of Covid, living out our mission of “New Life through Jesus, for Edmond and the world.”

Lauren Mitsuhashi is.

She and her husband, Ryan, are vol-unteers with FamilyLife® and look for opportunities to serve families in transformative ways. With two kids in the church’s Early Childhood Pro-gram (ECP), it was a natural place to build relationships and encourage these First Pres preschool moms who feel especially isolated during Covid.

“Moms need to be ministered to, and I asked ‘How could we reach these moms, especially moms of pre-schoolers and toddlers – the “littles?’ Not having school, they have been stuck in the houses, and then still had a long summer ahead. This puts a strain on these moms,” Lauren said.In late June, with the help of Laura Burton, Director of Small Groups and Sunday School and FamilyLife (trade-mark) partner, the two split the ECP roster, and Lauren started calling and texting through the list. She reached out acknowledging Covid was hard on moms and we were checking in with them to see how they were do-ing and asked how she could pray for them. Many are new to Edmond, so they need recommendations for services, from doctors to hair stylists, she said. A good portion of the fam-ilies are without a church home, too.

Lauren scheduled playdates every day for over a week because moms were responding to her.

Pastor Eric has said, “what’s normal for Jesus is supernatural.”

How do we invite every person to en-gage in the church’s mission in the midst of this season?

“There is a deep calling from Almighty God to contribute and not just con-sume,” said Burton. She references a recent article by Carey Nieuwhof, blogger, author and speaker:

“I think being the church has some-thing to do with living your life for Christ, demonstrating God’s love by serving others, and sharing your faith with people. That’s very different than consuming church in a back row, which you can just as easily do on your back deck.”

Investing in others is transformative, especially in the midst of Covid.

Lauren says it best: “I think First Pres has an amazing opportunity because there are so many families that come into the building (for ECP) and so many that are not connected. The op-portunity to minister to those families is critical.”

If you feel the Holy Spirit’s tug to min-ister to ECP’s families, contact Laura Burton at lburton@fpcedmond.org or call her at 405-341-3602 x105.

Lauren Mitsuhashi & Laura Burton planning at Top Golf

C.M.S. Disposable Mask DriveKeith Pautler, Central Middle School’s new Principal, has asked the good people of FPCE to help provide disposable masks for the students and staff for their upcom-ing school year. Since there are 900 students and 100 staff, we are tasked with helping protect them with 2 masks each…which equals 2000 disposable 3-ply masks. Our completion deadline is Monday, August 17. Let’s rise to their need and help our neighbor! Drop off location is the Hospitality and Wel-come Desk Monday-Friday 9:00am – 12:00pm. Contact Sharon for more infomation at sboecking@fp-cedmond.org.

A Chance to ReconnectOn Sunday, August 16th we will be creating a space in the FPCE Backyard where you can reconnect in a safe environment. There will be no Sunday School that day, but during the Sunday School hour (10-11am), everyone is invited to gather at safe distances to reconnect with friends, enjoy some de-licious coffee and a Bondi Bowl from a food truck (check out bondibowlsokc.com), and learn a little more about the adult Sunday School classes that will be offered beginning on August 23rd. For August 16th only, we will have large screens outside live streaming the 9:00am and 11:15am worship ser-vice from inside. Bring your lawn chairs, your face masks, and get ready to see some friends you haven’t seen in months! WE ARE HERE, and look for-ward to reconnecting!

Fall Sermon Series: Life on the RockThe Sermon on the Mount is one of the most famous speeches in the history of the world. It is also among the most mis-understood. It is not a prescription for righteousness, a list of commands, do’s and don’ts that we need to do. It is, in-stead, a description of living filled with the Holy Spirit, as a citizen of the Heaven, of choosing to build our existence on the immovable rock of the Lord’s character. The Sermon on the Mount addresses the condition of our heart, the shape of our life, and the community we create. Please join us beginning August 16 for this sermon series on the most impactful and best-known sermon Jesus delivered. You can join us in person or on-line for this series or participate in one of our small groups looking deeper into this life-changing teaching! This series will run from August through November.

FPCE | DISCIPLESHIPWe are planning to start Adult Sunday School on Sunday, August 23rd. A list of class options will be available soon. Please remember that our leaders will ask you to prac-tice social distancing, and some teachers may require masks for all who participate. As always, keep in touch with FPCE through social media and our weekly Enews

for updates related to Covid 19. If we need to increase restrictions or to further open the church, we’ll let everyone know! On August 26th, the City of Edmond will be under the mask mandate. Churches will not be exempt.

You can still watch online!

• Number of students who attended the July Make It Matter Experience at FPCE: 41 • Number of small group leaders for the same event: 18• Number of service projects our students participated in that week: 5• Average number of views each session of the Make It Matter Experience had: 60

Church Attendance recently:June 28: 490 online plus 187 on-site = 677 July 5: 424 online plus 150 on-site = 574July 12: 376 online plus 179 on-site = 555 July 19: 370 online plus 184 on-site= 554July 26: 438 online plus 200 on-site= 638 August 2: 364 online plus 185 on-site = 549

FIRST, BY THE NUMBERS

MINISTRY HIGHLIGHTA Letter from the PrincipalFirst Presbyterian Church,Greetings from Central Middle school ~ an AMAZ-ING place to learn. My name is Keith Pautler, and I am proud to serve as the new Central principal. I am reaching out to you as a congregation to not only introduce myself but to help continue to foster the long standing relationship between our organiza-tions.

It is an honor that the Lord has blessed me to be a part of Central Middle School, and I know that it is only through His grace I am able to lead. Each sum-mer, as I plan the upcoming year, I spend time pray-ing for our students, staff, and school community. In a year that is shaping out to be one for the books, I ask that you take a moment and pray that God gives us, as leaders, the wisdom to work with students who are coming to us with the extreme challenges of a new COVID world.

In the past, First Presbyterian has played a crucial role in filling gaps and meeting the needs of our young scholars. From providing a safe and healthy environment after school to pitching in and supporting us with volunteerism, food, and gifts of kind, you all have been there for us. For that we thank you and continue to appreciate our growing relationship. I ask that you consider continuing these acts of devotion to our school as we enter what could be the most unique school year any of us have experienced.

As a faculty and staff, we look forward to seeing our students as they once again bring life back to our FANTASTIC school. As you know, it will be mandatory that all students wear a mask while attending Central Middle School.. Can you imagine a time where every middle schooler remembers to wear their mask daily? Honestly, neither can I. This is why we are planning to have MANY extra disposable masks available for stu-dents who forget. We’ve ordered some, but we are falling short on funds to be able to adequately supply our school with masks to get us through any length of time, and this is where we could use your help. As a call to action and a way to contribute that immediately and directly impacts the health and safety of our students, would you consider donating disposable masks for our Central Tigers to wear? We thank you in advance - from the bottom of our hearts - for your consideration, and we’re looking forward to providing a school year where we live up to our school wide 2020/21 theme of “human.kind be both!” God Bless!

Keith PautlerPrincipal, Central Middle School

Keith Pautler, Central Middle School’s New Principal