March 2019

Dear friends,

March is a month of new beginnings! It’s the start of spring (which can’t come soon enough!!) plus we celebrate the new FPC website launch and observe the start of the season of Lent. On March 3, we’ll have a post-worship launch party to debut the new website, an effort chaired by elder Jim Gilmore, which replaces the

previous website faithfully maintained by Barb Modrzynski and her nephew Josh Becker. Thanks to all who have helped in the creation of this new online portal--a virtual doorway into the life of our church! March 6 marks the start of Lent, a time of penitence and preparation. Traditionally during Lent, new Christians were instructed in faith prior to baptism on Easter Vigil. Reflecting this custom, a group of team leaders and staff chose our Lenten theme: Baptismal Covenant - Life in Christ. We were blessed to celebrate, the last Sunday in February, the baptism of Molly and Amos Chalfin. As a congregation, our theme for Lent will be reflection on what the baptismal covenant means. In

worship, we’ll move the font front and center, and the prayer of confession will connect the sacrament of baptism to our weekly worship experience of repentance and forgiveness. Rather than sing the gloria, we’ll sing “Kyrie Eleison,” which means, “Lord, have mercy.” My sermons will center on the questions asked during the baptismal liturgy. Christian Ed will also explore this theme. On Sunday, March 10, after coffee hour, I’ll facilitate a community conversation about the meaning of baptism. Selinda will lead an adult bible study on the topic of Faithful Citizenship, examining what baptism means for faithful engagement in public life. The Mission team will give you an opportunity to respond to the baptismal call to service, providing a special daily giving calendar to go along with the One Great Hour of Sharing offering. Congregational Care will facilitate our congregational vow to nurture and instruct the baptized, collecting books for the new babies born and baptized in our congregation. This season of Lent, we’ll have opportunities to worship, learn and serve together, as we seek to follow the one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in whose name we are baptized. Please join in the life of the community! Mark your calendars for the following dates in March: Wed., March 6 at 6:30 p.m.: Ash Wednesday worship Sun., March 10 after worship.: Community conversation about baptism Wed., March 20 at 5:30 p.m: Table at 6:30 p.m.: meditative worship Sun., March 31 Fifth Sunday worship: Lessons/Carols stories of scripture Grace and peace, Margaret I will be out of the office March 13-17 for a Board of Pensions meeting in Philadelphia.

First Presbyterian Church Pastor Margaret Fox presby.pburg@bex.net

200 E. Second Street Perrysburg, OH 43551 (419) 874-4119 Website:

http://1stpresbyterianperrysburg.com/

Adult Bible Study

By Selinda Schultz

DEVOTIONALS FOR LENT

Please choose a booklet or family activity set from the

table in the hall. Use them to guide and strengthen your

time during Lent to prepare for a joyful Easter Celebration.

ADULT BIBLE STUDY

Following our Epiphany time of exploring the nature, call,

problems, paths and fruits of Discipleship we will turn

during Lent to focus on our citizenship responsibilities as

disciples on pressing social issues. We will consider Lent

as a time of growth in community outreach and in our

social vision. We will look at ways to grow in a very

socially minded kind of faith as “faithful citizens.” Topics

include “Covenant for a New Economy,” “Civic

Engagement with the Earth,” “Global Security and

Governance,” and “Global Health.”

Join us on Sunday mornings at 9AM or Tuesday mornings

at 10AM as we are challenged to consider how our faith

informs our sense of citizenship in our communities,

nation, and world. Questions? Call Selinda at 419 865-

8383 or e-mail fpcadulted200@gmail.com.

CHILDREN AND YOUTH By Tyra Jones

First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who prayed

and sent me cards during the time of my great

grandmothers’ death. You guys are an amazing support

system and I really thank you.

Jr. Worship will be taking a break from the theme of “God

and Family” to focus on Lent and Holy Week. The Junior

Worship lessons during Lent will follow the story of

Jesus’ final week in Jerusalem. They’ll also study what it

means to observe Lent and how it ties in with Easter

celebration.

I continuously find ways to get the youth group involved

with church. I have been inviting the youth to help with

Jr. worship such as assisting me in teaching the lesson

during church. And I am always looking for service

opportunities for the youth to do.

Mission Team

Kathy Jarosz, Team

Leader

The Table:

February was another big month. Over 70

people were served a delicious meal of

spaghetti and meatballs, along with the

regular salads and yummy deserts. Thank

you to all who helped with food, set-up,

serving and of course clean-up. A big

thanks goes to Jim Gilmore our resident

dishwasher and Kate Bell and Tim Anderson

for donating the sauce and the spaghetti.

One Great Hour Of Sharing:

With the start of the Lenten season on 6 March,

Ash Wednesday, you are asked to start collecting instead

of giving up something. The collecting can be done by

placing coins in the fish that were passed out along with

a calendar of suggested ways to collect coins. The fish

will then be returned on 21 April, Easter Sunday. This

money will be used by the Presbyterian Mission Fund to

help such groups as the Presbyterian Hunger Program,

Self-Development of People, and the Presbyterian

Disaster Assistance. It also helps bring clean drinking

water to people in need by digging wells and helping

with sanitation. So please think about collecting instead

of giving up something this Lenten season.

PCU Food Collection: The PCU item for this

month is Pork & Beans.

Next Meeting: The next meeting is 6 March 2019

at 4:30 p.m.

Think about joining

the team.

By Lee Murr

The Season of Lent is almost upon us. Our forty-

day journey begins on March 6, with Ash Wednesday

which we will observe with a service of the Imposition of

Ashes at 6:30 in the sanctuary. There also will be two

meditative services during Lent, the first on March 20,

after The Table, and the second on Wednesday, April 3.

These times of reflection and contemplation will include

PowerPoint images and music.

This year, our focus in worship, Christian Ed and

other areas of the church, will be on the theme,

Baptismal Covenant. To emphasize this theme in our

worship, the baptismal font will be moved to the center,

and Pastor Margaret will dip her fingers in the water as

part of our corporate confession. Throughout Lent, we

will suspend the singing of the Gloria and introduce the

singing of a Kyrie – Lord have mercy upon us, to

underscore our need for forgiveness and mercy.

The team has been researching the purchase of

the new Presbyterian hymnal, Glory to God. We are now

using the hymns from it on our screen or in inserts, and

there are differences in the wording from our current

hymnal and the PowerPoint hymns that have caused

some confusion. Having the new hymnal in the pews

would eliminate that confusion. In the coming weeks, the

congregation will have the opportunity to sing some of

the hymns from Glory to God and look through the

hymnal to give the team and the Session input before

any decision to move forward is made.

Welcome to:

The tABLE

First Presbyterian Church, 200 E. Second St.,

Perrysburg

www.fpcpburg.org 419-874-4119

We invite you to please come to the Table! The

Table is a free meal for the community.

Everyone is welcome. Even if you can only

come for a short time – we would love to see

you!

March 20th, at 5:30 p.m.

The Congregational Care team has an opportunity

for you. We'll be gathering books for Chalfin and

Bearden families as gifts for Amos and Priscilla (plus

a smaller big brother bag for William). If you'd like to

bring in a boardbook or picture book, please

do! Bonus points for favorite books and books about

the faith. There's a donation basket just outside the

bathroom. The team will be collecting through

March, and giving the books around Easter time.

MARCH BIRTHDAYS March 5 Earl Witzler March 6 Pat Oberhaus March 9 Robert Mitchell March 9 Selinda Schultz March 10 Rhea Huling March 16 Ken Nesper March 17 Molly Miller March 17 Rusty Phlegar March 24 Geraldine McGue March 28 Erica Hope

Please remember these members and friends in your daily prayers:

Kate Bell Betty Brainard Dorothy Darr Martha Gluth Betty Howald Geraldine McGue Gillian Mitchell Rick Modrzynski Lee Murr Andy Nelson Pat Sheridan Ed & Sue Williams Helen Williamson Earl Witzler

APRIL BIRTHDAYS April 1 Betty Brainard April 4 Irene Smalley April 7 Marty Sloan April 12 Hannah Maloney April 13 Robert Jarosz April 14 Robert Gates April 17 Joseph Brainard April 17 Barry Murr April 18 Michael Cain April 18 Julie Lindsey April 21 Jim Haas April 21 Nathaniel Martin April 22 Bethan Brown April 25 Linda Simmons April 26 Ron Huling

If you have a birthday that is not listed, please contact the church office so that we can update our records.

Congratulations to Abbie Simmons on her 10

years of service at Bob Evans.

SERVING CHART FOR MARCH

GREETER

HEAD USHER

USHERS

ACOLYTE

LITURGIST

CHILDREN’S

MESSAGE

COMMUNION

SERVERS

COMMUNION PREPARERS

POWER POINT

Mar 3

Phyllis Gogel

Jo

Salvage

Randy & Eileen

Phillips

Jane

Merrell

Linda

Simmons

Lee Murr

Don & Brenda

Youel, Fay Mitchell, Randy Phillips

Lowrie

Gilmore, Jan Martell

Barb M

Mar 10

Nancy Gates

Jo

Salvage

Carol Sprague & Lowrie Gilmore

Dylan Schuh

Jim

Gilmore

Margaret

Fox

Gretchen Downs

Mar 17

Helen Haas

Jo

Salvage

Allison Mackin &

Rusty Phlegar

Anthony

Clark

Kathy East

Meredith Bearden

Nancy Gates

Mar 24

Eva

Lengel

Jo

Salvage

Doris Currie &

Sarah Crawford

Lizzy

Crawford

Mike Cain

Tyra Jones

Kathy Jarosz

Mar 31

Lois

Rubright

Jo

Salvage

Marty Sloan &

Jeff Kasza

Logan Kasza

Madeline Duntley

Gretchen Downs

Stephen Potts

If you have a conflict with assigned date, please try to trade with another volunteer and inform Lee Murr at lee.murr@att.net or call

419.861.2005. If unable to resolve conflict, contact Lee Murr as soon as possible. Thank you for your service to FPC.

SERVING CHART FOR APRIL

GREETERS

HEAD

USHER

USHERS

ACOLYTE

LITURGIST

CHILDREN’S MESSAGE

COMMUNION

SERVERS

COMMUNION PREPARERS

POWERPOINT

Apr

7

Sue

Schiffman

Jim

Gilmore

Valerie Rowley,

Carol Sprague

Jane

Merrell

Alex

Bearden

Selinda Schultz

Fay Mitchell, Mike Cain,

Margot Quick, Don Youel

Margot Quick,

Lowrie Gilmore

Apr 14

Helen Haas

Jim

Gilmore

Marty Sloan, Sarah

Crawford

Leo

Crawford

Gretchen

Downs

Margaret Fox

Apr 21

Martha Gluth

Jim

Gilmore

David Miller, Allison Mackin

Isla

Davies

Susan

Rowland Miller

Sarah

Magoun

Rusty Phlegar, Barry Murr, Jo & Jay Salvage

Lowrie

Gilmore, Lois Rubright

Apr 28

Molly

Chalfin

Jim

Gilmore

Kathy East, Julie

Lindsey

Dylan Schuh

Randy Phillips

Tyra Jones

If you have a conflict with assigned date, please try to trade with another volunteer and inform Lee Murr at lee.murr@att.net or call

419.861.2005. If unable to resolve conflict, contact Lee Murr as soon as possible. Thank you for your service to FPC.

March 2019

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 9:00 am Bible Study 10:00 am Worship/ Communion 11:15 am Christian Ed Team Mtg.

10:00 am Bible Study 4:30 pm Mission Team Mtg. 6:30 pm Ash Wednesday Service

6:30 pm Worship/ Music Team Mtg.

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 9:00 am Bible Study 10:00 am Worship/ Congregation Mtg 11:15 am Community Conversation about baptism

10:00 am Bible Study Noon – Women’s Assoc. Luncheon 7:00 pm Session Mtg.

Pastor Margaret -

Board of Pensions

March 13-17

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 9:00 am Bible Study 10:00 am Worship

4:30 pm Stewardship/ Finance Team Mtg.

10:00 am Bible Study 5:30 pm “The Table” 6:30 pm Lenten Service

24 25 26 27 28 29 30 9:00 am Bible Study 10:00 am Worship/ Annual Congregation Mtg.

10:00 am Bible Study 6:00 pm JoyBelles

31 9:00 am Bible Study 10:00 am Worship – Fifth Sunday Lessons & Carols

Bereavement Support Group – 2nd

Tuesday of the month AlAnon – Every Wednesday night Toastmasters – 3rd

Friday of the month

March Newsletter

Service Times:

9:00a.m. Adult Bible Study (Sept. thru May)

10:00 a.m. Worship

Children are excused during the worship

service to attend Sunday School

Communion is served on the first Sunday of each month

Session Members Jo Salvage – Clerk

Nancy Gates, Co-Clerk Melissa Cain, Co-Clerk

Alex Bearden Michael Cain

Jim Gilmore Kathy Jarosz

Jeff Kasza Lee Murr

Rusty Phlegar Jack Simmons

Staff

Pastor ……………..………………………… Rev. Margaret Fox

Adult Education Director …………….. Selinda Schultz

Youth Ministry Coordinator …………. Tyra Jones

Music Director …………………………… Vinny Sauer

Treasurer ………………………………….. Don Youel

Secretary ………………………………….. Linda Bristow

Financial Secretary …………………… Tom Connolly

Custodian ………………………………….. Jay Salvage

Nursery Attendant ……………………… Rebecca Hope