www.westfieldchurch.org 1

M ARCH 2018

The CORNERSTONE

2 JOY! Senior Ministry

2 Easter Prayer Vigil

3 Maundy Thursday

3 Replogles’ Trip to Love

Packages

4 Easter Egg Hunt

4 Special Friends

5 Parenting in a Digital

Age

6 YO! Update

8 Dave Spears and

Hurricane Harvey

A publication of Westfield Presbyterian Church, New Castle, Pennsylvania What’s INSIDE

Two Sundays and a Friday A Jews for Jesus Lenten Presentation

Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter.

Jewish holidays? Christian festivals?

Learn more about the Jewish roots of our

Christian faith.

Join us on Thursday, March 22, at 7:00

P.M. in the sanctuary as Stewart Weinisch

from Jews for Jesus gives this special

presentation. This event is open to the

community and a free-will offering will

be taken to support the ministry of Jews

for Jesus.

TOTAL PRAISE is the theme of this

year’s Palm Sunday Choir Festival at

Westfield on March 25 at 3:00 P.M. It is

sponsored by the Mohawk Area Church

Association (MACA).

The MACA Mass Choir will consist of

singers from area churches: Bessemer,

Bethel, First Covenant, Mahoning, Mo-

ravia, Mt. Jackson, New Bedford, Plain

Grove, Wampum and Westfield. This

year we also hope for participation from

the various Catholic parishes: St. An-

thony, St. Camillus, St. James and St.

Vitus.

Soloists will include William Ambert,

Dr. Anne Hagan Bentz from Opera

Westminster, and Katelyn Stivers

from Westfield. Instrumentalists will

include Edelweiss, Evan Gottschalk

on drums and Sarah Phillips on or-

gan and piano. The Faithful Bells,

under the direction of Marcy McCly-

monds, will also be featured.

Total Praise: Palm Sunday Festival by Sarah Phillips

Evan Ernst and Maribeth Jones will

be worship leaders. There will be audi-

ence participation when favorite hymns

are sung.

The event is free, but an offering will

taken to support Project HOPE. Re-

freshments will be served.

This event is a labor of love and each

anthem is based on scripture. It is al-

ways a thrill to hear diverse churches

coming together and singing in one

accord. I am sure it foreshadows our

participation in the “great heavenly

choir”.

Your Voice is Needed A special invitation is extended to

anyone who would like to join in

singing at this special event - even

if you aren’t a full-time choir mem-

ber - come and sing! There are

three rehearsals for the Palm Sun-

day Festival:

Sunday, March 11 at 2 P.M.

Sunday, March 18 at 2 P.M.

Sunday, March 25 at 2 P.M.

prior to the service

www.westfieldchurch.org 2

A Guided Prayer Experience

Contemplate the suffering and

death of our Lord...Our prayer for

you is that this experience will

help you draw closer to your Sav-

ior and come to know Him and His

amazing love as you remember

the sacrifice that was made for

you when He conquered death so

you could have eternal life.

Beginning March 4 you can sign

up to pray for one hour between 4

P.M. on Good Friday, March 30,

and midnight on Saturday, March

31.

The CORNERSTONE March 2018

Corn Hole & Crafts & Cards ...Oh MY! by Doreen Hietsch

Old Man Winter has not gotten the best of

us at our JOY meetings. All of our activi-

ties, old and new, have helped us get

through the winter months with love and

laughter. The highlight of February may

have been our Winter Olympics, or was it

our Valentine Celebration? Or maybe our

guest speaker? Whatever YOUR personal

favorite was, you can be sure there is

more to follow!

This month will be our Spring Swap Meet

(Bring up to three items someone else can

use, choose one item from someone else

to take home, if you wish, and items left

will be given to charity.) It’s a great

way to share some things that you may

no longer be using and “shop” for free.

We’ll also be making clothespin crosses,

have some activities to celebrate St. Pat-

rick’s Day and (YES!) the first day of

spring with a great group game

(Remember “JINGLE”?)

JOY suggestion of the month:

Bake (or buy) a treat for a neighbor.

Clockwise from top: JOY Win-

ter Olympic Team and the

Olympic Flames, Balloon Vol-

leyball Action, Team Warm-

Up, Mary Mikesell Competing

in Paper Plate Ice Skating

www.westfieldchurch.org 3

Melvin and I left on Thanksgiving morn-

ing, with a truck overflowing with 23 ba-

nana boxes of Bibles, Sunday school ma-

terial, and books, with hardly room for a

suitcase. We traveled to Butler, Illinois,

where Love Packages has their ware-

house. We met with Steve Schmidt, who

runs the organization. Their mission state-

ment is: Love Packages exists to glorify

God through the distribution of the Word

of God to hungry hearts throughout the

world. That His name would be made

famous and that He would receive the

reward for His suffering. He alone is wor-

thy.

Just log on to their website, Lovepack-

ages.org to see what they do. It is impres-

sive to see how much material they send

to other countries. Just picture one Bible

being taken apart to be shared in different

villages, or a preacher who is receiving a

Bible for the first time. It was a blessing

to have a very large donation from Paul

Votaw’s library to include in our deliv-

ery.

We want to thank all who donated books

to this organization. You were mission-

aries as soon as you handed over your

materials. We also gave $1,000 as a do-

nation to help ship cargo containers

overseas.

As you can see from the picture, we ad-

vertised all the way out. At a rest stop

we enjoyed a moment of prayer with

another believer who saw our sign.

Thank you for all you contributed. This

is our third shipment in 13 years and we

can‘t do this without your help. We will

continue to collect, so bring in your old

Bibles.

Butler, Illinois or Bust! by Deborah Replogle

The CORNERSTONE March 2018

Angel A’s Update

Welcome Basket. We are so happy

to welcome Pastor Mark and his

family. Discipleship & Membership

(D & M) is trying to fill a Welcome

Basket with gift cards to present to

them on March 18. We are asking

for gift cards from around the area ─

restaurants, shops, etc. Introduce

them to the area by picking a card

from one of your favorite places. If

you cannot get out to purchase a gift

card, monetary donations for the

purchase of gift cards are welcome.

The deadline is March 11.

Coffee & Conversation. In my

spare time relaxing on Cloud 9, I

was watching the Angel Food Net-

work. It got me thinking of all the

great cooks and bakers we have at

Westfield. Coffee and Conversation

could sure use you on a Sunday

morning. Pair up with another mem-

ber or two, or a Sunday School

class. It can be a heavenly Mission

inside Westfield!

Spring Potluck. Looking ahead, our

spring Potluck is April 8. D & M is

trying a new approach so if asked to

help with an event,

please say yes

if possible.

Winging it,

Angel A

Maundy Thursday Dinner and Worship

Maundy Thursday should always be a time of sharing with others, showing loving con-cern for one another, and partaking of Holy Communion. That is what the Lord asked of his disciples and asks of us. Our Maundy Thursday dinner will be March 29, hosted by the Faith Seekers Sunday school class. They will provide ham balls, rolls, dessert, and drink. The congregation is asked to bring their table service and a side dish or salad. The dinner will start at 6:00 P.M. and a communion service will follow at 7:00 P.M.

www.westfieldchurch.org 4

Judy & Russ Bryan

at their residence

Alice Fullerton

in Sun City Center, Florida

Shirley Gibson

at her residence

Eleanor Gwin

at Avalon

Harry & Pearl Jolley

at their residence

Mary Lou Williams

at Avalon

Family Event and Egg Hunt

Our annual Easter Egg Hunt will take place on Saturday,

March 24, at 10:00 A.M. This event begins with 12 Resur-

rection Egg Stations where families create and assemble

their own set of Resurrection Eggs as they share the

Easter story with one another. We will also feature a

cookie decorating area and lunch will be available. Don’t

forget to bring your basket!

“The Bridge” Opens at Kwetu Faraja Palm Sunday Offering Benefits Children’s Home

The CORNERSTONE March 2018

The Kwetu Faraja Children’s Home was

founded 10 years ago by Lorien Knapp as

a result of the needs she witnessed on the

streets of Mwanza, Tanzania. She and her

husband Paul and their two children have

worked tirelessly to provide hope for the

street children who have nowhere else to

go. The home is located on 35 acres front-

ing lake Victoria.

In January, Lorien wrote, “Today we

opened our new school ‘The Bridge’. 55

new students have agreed to join us on

this adventure. Several months ago - in

true African spirit, I mentioned that we

might not have windows, doors, or desks -

but we will move forward and education

witll happen!

“All of the remaining details will fall into

place. We are not yet breathing a sigh of

relief as the work load is still tremendous.

But we have taken a step closer to our

goal.

“I love beginning pictures like the one

below, because I am certain that by the

end of the year this classroom will look

like a completely different place. It is

good to see where we started, as we look

to where we will go. Thank you to eve-

ryone who has helped us make it this

far.”

On Palm Sunday we will receive a spe-

cial GLAD offering for the benefit of the

Kwetu Faraja Children’s Home. Give

Lovingly As Disciples, or GLAD. Please

be generous with your support.

HOPE Food Pantry Needs

This month: canned fruit

Always needed:

coffee dish soap

laundry soap cereal juice

Please leave your items in the coat rack area. Check expiration dates—outdated items cannot be delivered! Monetary donations are also helpful. Make your check payable to “Westfield” and indicate “HOPE Food Bank” on the memo line.

www.westfieldchurch.org 5

Our annual Family VBS weekend on Feb-

ruary 10 included a parents’ discussion

group. Our main topic this year was Par-

enting in a Digital Age. Much of the con-

versation was centered on social media

and ways to navigate it well. One thing

we can all agree on is that social media is

an important part of the teenage culture

and to completely ignore it is to com-

pletely ignore their entire social structure.

Social media is the 21st

century version of the bur-

ger joints, Friday night

movies and football games

we used to use to socialize

with our peers.

There are numerous apps

out there like Facebook,

Twitter, Instagram, and

Snapchat. Spend some time

researching these apps and

ask parents of older stu-

dents about them and their

students’ use of them. Ask

about the social benefits,

the dangers, and ways they

can be used properly. In-

stead of always speaking about the dan-

gers of social media, or simply ignoring it,

try asking your student who posted what

and show that you are interested in his or

her social world, even if it is a little dif-

ferent than how many of us socialized in

high school.

Finally, Focus on the Family, a Christian

organization that seeks to strengthen

families, has a free resource that I rec-

ommend called “2018 Parent’s Guide to

Technology”. Click here to

sign up to receive this help-

ful information. It walks

through the contemporary

video game culture, social

media and all of the apps,

and hidden apps on smart

devices, and cyber bully-

ing. This can be a great

starting point to under-

standing the modern age of

social media.

The most important thing to

do, of course, is to pray for

your students, but also to

talk to other parents and

learn from them how they

are navigating the tricky waters of social

media.

Parenting in a Digital Age by Rev. David Champ

The CORNERSTONE March 2018

Building Project Update Things are moving along with our building project. Westfield Facili-ties Use and Development Group (WFUDG) has met and Dave Lig-gett has made trips to Wexford to meet with Eric Green, our archi-tect. We are reviewing a contract from a Civil Engineer, going over prop-erty boundaries, checking sewer drawings from previous construc-tion projects, getting ready to have trees cut, and working with adjacent land owners for place-ment of a water retention pond. Civil Engineering Companies will make formal bids for their ser-vices shortly. Once that is done and their costs are better known, then a second contract with RSSC Architects will be signed and the working design drawings will be completed. The trustees will be busy moving some of the playground equip-ment and the Gilchrist Memorial until a suitable place can be found to reinstall. Thanks to Dave Liggett for his many trips to Wex-ford to meet with RSSC.

Community Holy Week Services

The Mohawk Area Church Association

is sponsoring Holy Week Community

Services at Mt. Jackson Church on

Monday, March 26 - Wednesday,

March 28 from 6:45 to 7:15 A.M. Area

speakers are featured:

Monday, March 16: Steve Plyler

Tuesday, March 17: J.V. Lamb

Wednesday, March 18: David Clark

Order Easter Lilies Now

The lily is perhaps the most common Easter symbol because it’s displayed during Easter worship services and blooms around this time each year. The lily’s bulb decays in the earth, yet new life sprouts from it in the form of the flower — reminiscent of the new life that emerged from the tomb so many years ago. Lily order forms will be in the bulletin now through March 18. Plants are $7.25 each and will be displayed in the sanctuary on Easter morning and may be picked up after our 11:00 A.M. worship service.

www.westfieldchurch.org 6

Christian Symbol

YO! Heads to Pine Springs Camp Youth Ministry Update by Rev. David Champ

The CORNERSTONE March 2018

This continues to be a great year for the

youth and family ministries here at West-

field. We just wrapped up our Winter Dis-

cipleship Now weekend for YO! and our

Family VBS for parents and kids in

grades K-6. It was a great weekend full of

learning about God’s care for us and how

to parent in the digital age.

Coming up over the next couple of

months for YO! we have our annual Pass-

over Seder Meal in March and our Pres-

bytery-wide Spring Retreat April 27-29th.

This retreat will take place at Pine Springs

Camp near the Laurel Mountains. It will

feature a high ropes course, zip line, many

sports and other outdoor activities, as well

as over 100 students from churches

throughout our Presbytery. The cost is

$40 per student.

Please pray for our students as we con-

tinue to study our curriculum on Spiri-

tual Friendship and the Book of Romans.

If you would like to continue to support

YO!, we are looking for people to pro-

vide snacks for our Sunday meetings and

dinner for our Wednesday meetings.

Please sign up on the sheets on the YO!

bulletin board outside the church office

or just contact me.

Presbytery-Wide

Spring Retreat for

Junior and Senior High

Pine Spring Camp

in Jennerstown

April 27-29

Birds became prominent in Christian art during the Medie-

val and Renaissance eras. The lark came to symbolize the

humility of the priesthood because it flies high and sings

only when flying upward.

Our True Power Source

The story is told of someone who

plugged a power strip into itself and

then couldn’t understand why the sys-

tem wouldn’t turn on! We get a kick out

of such tales, yet how often do we try to

“power” our own lives? We frequently

think we need to be the source of our

own strength, joy, peace, energy and

wisdom.

Jesus doesn’t teach us to find life within

ourselves — or in any human being or

earthly circumstance, object or philoso-

phy. Rather, calling himself the good

shepherd, Jesus says, “I have come that

[my sheep] may have life, and have it

abundantly” (John 10:10).

We don’t access that abundant life by

“plugging into” ourselves. Instead,

Jesus invites us to plug into his power

— and joy, peace, hope, truth —

through prayer and Scripture,

worship and service, fellowship

with other Christians and the

beauty of God’s world.

Unconditional Love “No matter what sin we have committed, no matter how terrible it may be, God

loves us.” —Billy Graham

www.westfieldchurch.org 7

There are 225 million unchurched people

in America. One of our denomination’s

Core Values is Kingdom Vitality. It states,

“We believe congregations should vigor-

ously reproduce new missional communi-

ties to expand the Kingdom of God.” The

term “missional communities” here com-

municates being both sent on mission

from churches as well as planting new

churches. I would like to highlight a dif-

ferent church plant each month and pro-

vide some updates as I can. The best way

to stay up-to-date on ECO’s church plant-

ing efforts is to check out the website

www.ecoplanting.org.

This month I will highlight Missio Com-

munity Church in Pasedena, California.

The main church planter there is Len

Tang who is an experienced church

planter and is working for Fuller Theo-

logical Seminary to develop a training

and research center there on church

planting. Len’s vision for his church is to

reach a number of the international stu-

dents that attend the various schools in

the Pasadena area such as Caltech. They

just launched their public worship por-

tion of church planting this past January

and are focused on walking with scien-

tific minded students as they wrestle

with the truths of Scripture. To find out

more information about this church

plant, visit their website:

www.missiocc.org.

ECO Church Planting by Rev. David Champ

The CORNERSTONE March 2018

Lenten Bible Study Continues

Intergenerational Missions for Our Community is the theme of our Lenten Bible Study

which will be held on Sundays ─ February 25, March 4, 11 and 18 from 6-8 P.M.

Lessons include the following topics: Listening to Each Other, A Culture of Empathy, A

Warm Community, and Be the Best Neighbors. Please join us for some lively discussion!

Top: Worship at Missio Community

Church, Left: The Missio Team at Caltech,

Right: Amy and Len Tang

www.westfieldchurch.org 8

On August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey

hit Texas as a category 4 hurricane. It

caused $125 billion in damage and ef-

fected 13 million people from Texas to

Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and

Kentucky. It damaged 203,000 homes, of

which 12,700 were completely destroyed.

In the days following the storm, Dave

Spears was watching the televised reports

and feeling a need to do something. “I

had the time and the resources,” he says.

“People told me to talk to Dan Kaufman,

my neighbor, who also happened to be a

team leader for a mission group headed

to Texas.”

Dave joined 12 volunteers, including

6 youth, who were sponsored by First

Baptist Church in New Castle. They

traveled to Santa Fe, Texas and be-

came one of five teams set up in

and around Houston by Samari-

tan’s Purse.

“We know Samaritan’s Purse through the

Christmas Shoebox project,” Dave ex-

plains, “but they also offer medical ser-

vices like emergency field hospitals and

crisis and disaster relief teams that pro-

vide supplies and repair and rebuild

homes.”

The team arrived 5-6 weeks after the hur-

ricane and the standing water was gone by

then, revealing the devastation left behind.

Housed in First Baptist Church in Alto

Loma, Texas, Dave was up at 6 A.M. for

breakfast and devotions, on the job site

by 7:30 for a chance to meet the home-

owners and get the day’s assignments.

Dave’s hands-on work included demoli-

tion of floors and walls and placing

heavy-duty specialized tarps on roofs.

The work was exhausting and the hu-

midity tough to endure. Wearing a face

mask was often necessary to avoid dust

and mold and some even wore full

hazmat suits for protection.

Chaplains at each work site were there to

talk and offer prayer. Dave recalls, “We

were working on the home of a handi-

capped woman. While part of our crew

was working on her roof, the kids in our

group sang for her. Everyone’s job was

important and necessary.”

Each evening included dinner at 6 P.M.

followed by a recap from Samaritan’s

Purse which included not only work

progress but a report on those who had

been led to Christ as well as “God Mo-

ments” that were experienced. Some

homeowners came to dinner with the

team and shared their personal stories.

“It was a heartfelt and heartbreaking

trip,” Dave recalls. “It was a great ex-

perience on my life journey. 744 volun-

teers passed through that area in 6

weeks. I’m glad I was a part of that ef-

fort.”

Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenomina-

tional evangelical Christian organiza-

tion providing spiritual and physical aid

to hurting people around the world. Visit

Samaritan’s Purse and select U.S. Dis-

aster Relief.

Hurricane Harvey Relief Dave Spears Joins Mission Team Rebuilding in Texas

The CORNERSTONE March 2018

The Cornerstone is a monthly

publication of Westfield

Presbyterian Church.

We are a congregation of the

Covenant Order of Evangelical

Presbyterians.

We worship together every Sunday at

11:00 A.M. We welcome all members,

friends, and visitors to join us.

Editor & Office Secretary:

Maribeth Jones

Church Staff:

Rev. Dr. Mark Hughes

Senior Pastor

Rev. David Champ

Associate Pastor of Youth & Family

Ministries

Sarah Phillips

Organist/Choir Director

Doreen Hietsch

Director of Senior Adult Ministries

Stacy Cosgrove

Financial Secretary

Dave Micco

Custodian