The following highlights some important events taking place in October, here at

Community Presbyterian Church.

Sunday, October 2 – World Communion Sunday. On this special Sunday we’ll

celebrate and partake in communion along with brothers and sisters in Christ all

around the world. This has always been a very special Sunday for me as pastor

and as participant. Join in this special celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

Thursday, October 6 – 11 am till 2 pm – Ham and Bean Dinner. We’re hosting

this event and inviting people in the community to join us. Cost is $3.00 for adults,

children free. Great time to invite your neighbors to come and enjoy food and fel-

lowship at our church.

Then the Sundays of 16, 23 and 30, will be focused upon stewardship of life and

gifts of life. The elders want to be honest about our finances as a congre-

gation, knowing that God will help provide all the financial resources for us to do

all we’re called to do in God’s holy name. The last Sunday, October 30, will con-

clude with a catered meal, being paid for by special gifts given by members of the

church. As odd as it may sound, I look forward to this season of stewardship, as it

gives us an opportunity once again to celebrate all the gifts God has given unto us.

Make plans now to be in attendance each of these Sundays.

Here are two things I’d like you to think about as we enter this season of steward-

ship:

My friends, I believe that we are special in God’s sight. We are located where we

are because we make a real difference in God’s ministry and mission in Forsyth

and surrounding area. We’re a significant part of what makes ministry and mission

possible between the area churches. We help with the Relational Ministry

(budgeting class) of Love INC, the Mentor program and now the Community Day

of Sharing (community Thanksgiving meal). Also many of our members serve on

local agency boards and thus we have an impact through these different organiza-

tions; from the Senior Friendship Site board to Advisory board for Boys and Girls

club. So, you can see how we impact the lives of the youth and seniors in our ar-

ea. Along with these our benevolence fund helps many with shelter, food, trans-

portation or utilities.

Secondly, I’d like us all to be aware of the many blessings God has given us. Indi-

vidually we have special gifts, talents and abilities. Collectively these gifts make up

Christ’s body active and alive through Community Presbyterian Church. I believe

we have exactly the gifts needed for doing all God calls us to do. This includes the

spiritual and financial gifts. A spiritual exercise I’d like all of us to do in the next

couple of weeks is counting our many blessings. God has truly blessed us and one

way we say thanks is through our tithes and offerings. Prayerfully consider your

many blessings and how you can say thanks unto God who truly blesses us with

life.

Thanks be unto God for all the gifts of life. Throughout this month let us celebrate

together.

Pastor Dennis

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Session Digest

8 of 12 elders were present for our regular meeting Thursday evening, September 16, 2016, at 5:30 pm.

Meeting opened with prayer and then discussion as to our core values as a congregation.

Elders remembered Jim Weeks and Lenice Matthiesen who had died since the last meeting. Both will be missed.

Progress report on the refurbishing project was heard and committee members were thanked for their diligent and hard work. Bids are presently being looked at for the power washing and painting of the back of the church and eaves around the church. Elders set a limit of $1,400 to get this work done.

The elders voted to have a congregational meeting on Sunday, October 2 for the purpose of electing 3 congregational members to the nominating committee.

The elders looked over the financial reports through the end of August. It was decided to have a budget and finance meeting so they can look at the shortfall thus far this year and make plans for 2017. It is hoped that we can come up with a lean budget for 2017, that helps bring expens-es and income in line. Yet it was noted to balance the budget would mean making drastic cuts in several areas. This will be looked into and be shared during the stewardship campaign in Octo-ber.

Stewardship/New Consecration Committee will meet soon to make plans for our season of Stew-ardship.

Parish Activities continues to work on plans for the Ham and Bean Dinner on Thursday, October 6 from 11 – 2 pm. All are encouraged to invite friends to join us. Also plans are in the works for the Community Day of Sharing (Thanksgiving Dinner) to be held at the Forsyth High School on Thanksgiving Day. It was noted that we are one of several churches helping with this event. Plans are in the works also for the Christmas Candle Light dinner. More details to follow.

The Personnel Committee reported that Gala Vrionis has been hired as church custodian. She comes from having worked at Big Cedar in their housekeeping department.

Meeting adjourned with prayer at 7:56 pm. Next regular meeting will be Thursday, October 20 at 5:30 pm.

Food Pantry Sundays

The first Sunday of each month we will have a special offering for

Christian Action Ministries Food Pantry. Although food can be donated for this

effort, CAM can turn each $1 into $4 to purchase food for the pantry.

The total food pantry collection for September was $133.

2016 Per Capita Rate Per capita is an amount of money per member that our congregation pays to our larger Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This annual amount is shared between our local presbytery, regional synod and Gen-eral Assembly. For 2016, our per capita rate is $31.00 per member. Any contribu-tions toward this amount would be appre-ciated. Please note your contribution as “Per Capita” to be sure it’s credited cor-rectly.

To date we have received $654 toward the per capita assessment.

Thank you!

Called Congregational Meeting-October 2, following worship. Purpose of the meeting is to elect 3 congregation members to the nominating committee.

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Benevolence Fund Report:

During September we helped 21 people: 9 with rent, 5 with utilities, 4 with transportation, 2 with family/household needs and 1 with food.

We also received 3 donations to the fund this month. Thanks for your wonderful gifts!

If you would like to make a donation to the Be-nevolent Fund, please do so by marking your check “special gift - benevolent fund”. You can also donate to the fund through our website’s PayPal button. It’s toward the bottom on the first page. Please mark your gift for the Benev-olent Fund. Those who receive our assistance greatly appreciate your gifts!

Diabetic Focus Group

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Diabetes Focus Group will be on Monday, October 3, at 10:00 a.m. We have a guest speaker coming this month, Heather Tuck, CPed, CFom, of JP&O Prosthetic and Orthotic Lab, located at 526 Branson Landing Blvd , Ste 1 in Branson. Come and join us and bring a friend or a neighbor!

Community Presbyterian Church Income and Expense Statement (UNAUDITED)

ACTUAL TO BUDGET GEN FUND JAN 1 THRU SEPT 28, 2016

Current Period Year to Date Budget

INCOME BUDGETED $89,251.28 $88,875.09 NON-BUDGETED

DONOR RESTRICTED 2,000.00 0.00

Subtotal Non-budgeted 4,018.90 0.00

TOTAL INCOME 93,270.18 88,875.09

EXPENSES PASTOR $54,520.97 $57,599.19 STAFF SERVICES 20,079.47 22,788.72 CARE OF PROPERTY 15,582.75 15,660.09 MISSIONS 8,759.25 9,224.91 OTHER 3,960.84 3,630.15

NON-BUDGETED 2,071.56 1,496.25

TOTAL EXPENSES 104,974.84 110,399.31

TRANSFERS -$2,000.00 $0.00

TOTAL TRANSFERS -2,000.00 0.00

EXCESS INCOME\EXPENSES -$13,704.66 -$21,524.22

Does not reflect all of the salaries through the end of September.

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DRIVERS NEEDED!

The Senior Center is desperately seeking drivers to deliver

meals. Potential volunteers, please call the center at 546-

6100. Ask for Lynie.

Refurbishing Project Report

It all began with a serious electrical wiring problem in the Old Fellowship Hall. Old wiring had

become a fire hazard and urgently needed to be replaced. To take care of this problem the

ceiling tiles would have to be removed. There were also plumbing issues that needed atten-

tion so it made sense to deal with both issues at the same time. This was a major project

that would require financing from the meager sources available. Thanks to a generous pa-

rishioner that came forward with the offer of a matching funds project we were able to pro-

ceed. The plan was that any funds the congregation could raise would be matched up to a

maximum of $25,000. Thus our drive for funds began! Our congregation stepped up to the

place and raised that amount!

Following is a list of upgrades we have been able to complete:

1. The replacement of wiring in the old fellowship hall, as well as new lighting fixtures in-

stalled.

2. The needed plumbing repairs completed.

3. Ceiling sheetrocked, textured and painted.

4. Safe room (in old fellowship hall) cleared, painted and prepared for use in case of emer-

gencies.

5. A thorough cleaning of cupboards, & Sunday School rooms (which resulted in holding a

rummage sale of the items we no longer needed, and the proceeds placed in our Matching

Funds plan.)

6. Clearing & redecorating of the entry room to Old Fellowship Hall.

7. Repair of wiring & new lighting for the New Fellowship Hall

8. The remodeling of the downstairs bathroom making it wheelchair accessible.

9. The repainting of the sanctuary.

10. New carpet for the sanctuary and hallway.

11. The installation of a surveillance camera that enables our Secretary to monitor the front

door leading to the office area.

To date we have spent $30,527 on the above projects (with the bill for the sanctuary light

bulbs still outstanding as they are on backorder) and have $19,473 available for additional

projects. We still have a few items on “our wish list” and plans are underway for acquiring

them. New, more efficient, light bulbs have been ordered to replace the present bulbs in the

Sanctuary. We also look forward to upgrading the Sanctuary sounds system as soon as pos-

sible. Also, plans are under way for repainting the exterior of the back of the church and the

soffits.

A big “Thank You” to one and all who helped make this endeavor a success by providing the

necessary funds, the volunteer labor, as well as the needed encouragement, necessary to

bring this project to a successful conclusion.

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One reason I like October is because it begins with World Communion Sunday. There is some-

thing sacred about sharing communion the same day with Christians around the world. It is an

affirmation that Christians can be united in their belief that Jesus Christ is Lord. This tradition

got it’s start in 1933 at Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, PA and in 1940, when the

Federal Council of Churches endorsed it, World Communion Sunday grew to include other de-

nominations worldwide. Today it is a time to celebrate the fact that we are interconnected as

Christians. World Communion Sunday is an opportunity for churches to explore the way con-

gregations around the world celebrate communion. There are churches that use many different

breads in the service. Some churches sing songs from other nations. And still others invite

people from others countries to help them celebrate this holy meal. No matter how your church

celebrates World Communion Sunday, may your spirit be renewed and refreshed with a sense

of belonging to the community of Christ.

Rev. Susan Rosenbaum

Pastoral Presbyter

The Bookies

The next meeting of the Bookie Club is scheduled for Thursday October 6 1, 2016, at 10:30 AM in the hospitality room at For-syth Community Presbyterian Church.

We will be discussing All the Light We Can-not See by Anthony Doer. Ten years in the writing, Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See is an epic work of historical fiction. With richly detailed language and characters who are both brave and heart-breaking, Doerr weaves together the stories of a French girl named Marie-Laure who has lost her eyesight and a German orphan named Werner. As Hitler’s occupied territory grows, Marie-Laure and Werner’s lives and families are torn apart by the war, yet this gorgeous novel is the story of people who, against the odds, find good in one another.

Our November book will be The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. A classic work of American literature that has not stopped changing minds and lives since it burst onto the literary scene, The Things They Carried is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling.

Please join us and bring a friend!

Presbyterian Women

A reminder to all: We started our yearly Bible Study “Who Is Jesus” on Wed. the 21st , with Pastor giving our first les-son, those of you who chose not to attend missed a great presentation, and an oppor-tunity to more understand this year’s study. If you have not obtained your study books as of yet, you can still pick them up from the Church office. The Esther and Hannah circles will continue to meet as before, Hannah on the first Wednesday of the month @ 1:00 P.M. and the Esther Circle meets on the second Friday of the month at 11:00 A.M. With regret we accepted the resig-nation of Cindy Werner from our P.W. board, due to personal reasons. Cindy has been in charge of our mission projects and has dine a great job for us. However, we need someone to fill her position and we are please asking for someone to volun-teer. Please as Church women support the P.W. we need you! Any meetings and pro-jects will be noted in the Church calendar or Sunday bulletins. Blessing To All

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This year we celebrate 10 years for the Pan-ther Partners Mentor Program in the Forsyth Public Schools. In early September, 7 new mentors received training to be mentors this year. In total, there are 65 mentors with 15 in Middle School and 50 in Elementary School. Last year there were 74 mentors but, for the first time, school staff asked that we not recruit as many new mentors (there were 20 last year!) as they are lacking in space for the mentors to meet with the students this year.

Many thanks for the awesome support from our church for these students over the past 10 years. We started the program in 2006-07 school year with 14 mentors from Commu-nity Presbyterian and 6 from United Methodist Church. Pastor Dennis was highly enthusiastic when I discussed with him a mentor program in which I had participated in Jefferson City. He was eager to join me in meeting with the Elementary Principal and the rest is histo-ry! Pastor Dennis, Pat Seals, and Gretchen Keith have continued to serve on our Coordi-nating Committee for all 10 years, with repre-sentatives from the other 8 churches involved: United Methodist, First Baptist, Forsyth Chris-tian, Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran, Branson East Seventh Day Adventist, Our Lady of the Ozarks Catholic, Forsyth Church of Christ, and the River.

Welcome to our new mentor, Robyn Hurst (Anna Koelling's daughter!) and special thanks to these returning mentors: Ken Bavuso, Reed Click, Gina Davis, Juanita Elders, Vera Hardin, Madelon Kinkade, Anna Koelling, Doreen Kuhlmann, Ed Legge, Jeanne Legge, Becky Roberts, Pat Seals, Cathie Sutherland, Bill Winkert, and Janell Winkert.

Panther Partners Mentor Program

CHOIR FEST 2016!

Sunday, October 16, 4:00 p.m.

Southminster Presbyterian Church

2245 South Holland Ave, Springfield

You are invited to attend CHOIR FEST, a service of liturgy and music.

Special guest conductor is Alberta Smith, choral music instructor at Ozarks Technical Community College and emeritus director of the Central High School Choir in Springfield.

Our choir is participating in the festival and they would love for you to come and enjoy

this uplifting and exciting service!

Saturday, October 15, 4:00 p.m.

At the Gailey Farm

2961 Moore Bend Road, Cedarcreek

Those who plan to attend are asked to

bring a side dish for “pass around” and to make a reservation by calling the church office (546-2584) no later

than Wednesday, October 12th.

Come and join the fun with good food and fellowship!

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Quote of the month:

Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.

—Sam Levenson

BIRTHDAYS

2 Lee Click, Richard Hibben 7 Ken Bavuso 9 Jeanne Legge 13 Ramona Hawthorne 15 Ginger Clifford 16 Allison Merrell 25 Jim Robbers 26 Nancy Iden 28 Tex Ritterbush 30 Cathie Sutherland

ANNIVERSARIES

16 Aage and Joyce Jensen, 34 years 17 Jim and Debra Robbers, 39 years

A Letter of Appreciation from Mary Parr, Ch. Building and Grounds Committee

In the September Chimes, Pastor Dennis in-serted a few photos of the new look down stairs. Of course, some changes such as plumbing and electrical wiring are not as pho-togenic as the new decorating. If you have not had the opportunity to visit the Old Fellowship Hall down stairs, please do. Enjoy the new colorful and welcoming atmosphere that sup-ports our dedication of God’s love.

All that has been accomplished to date (all up-grades are not completed) is due to an anony-mous gift from a donor of $25,000. Its focus was to the Building and Grounds Committee for much needed improvements. This gift of love and support challenged the members of the Community Presbyterian Church to match this amount. Thanks to our generous mem-bers we met the challenge giving us a total of $50,000.

In addition to the necessary funds, much vol-unteer labor was needed to complete the up-grade project. I’d like to bring to your atten-tion the many, many hours of hard and dedi-cated work our members and non-members put in. Let me explain, in order to begin the process to upgrade our building, we had to purge closets, storage shelves etc. Then ad-vertise and organize for a church sale, make rooms available for the plumbers, electricians, painter and carpet people.

All these tasks were successfully accom-plished. However when clearing the now “storm safe room” down stairs of a large cabi-net, Buddy Roberts, Steve Wood, Tex Ritter-bush and Pastor Dennis could not get the big and very heavy wooden cabinet through the entry way door of the Old Fellowship Hall. So it was temporarily left there.

Linda Reynolds and I did not want the cabinet to be sawed into pieces and hauled away be-cause we saw the beauty in this dirty, beat-up old cabinet. So we took it apart, restored it and now the cabinet can be put to good use. Soon (wouldn’t you know) Vera Hardin walks in and claimed it for Parish Activities.

The decorating team members were Susan

Wood, the professional decorator for color, Pat

Seals, the check writer, Vera Hardin the sharp

eye on expenses and me, using my eclectic

and visionary skills of what we had and what

might be. Thanks to these and many others

for a job well done!

Obituary for Lenice Matthiesen

Lenice I. Matthiesen, 101, of Forsyth, formerly of Mexico, died Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016 at the Forsyth Care Center.

Graveside services were held Friday, Sept. 9, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. at East Lawn Memorial Park. There will be no visitation.

Lenice was born on March 10, 1915 in Valley Springs, SD. She married G.H. Matthiesen on June 10, 1939 and they spent most of their married life in Mexico before moving to Forsyth in 1990.

She is survived by three children; Glen Mat-thiesen and wife Carol of Forsyth, Ted Mat-thiesen and wife Celia of St. Peters, MO and a daughter Gaye Nease of Nashville, TN. She is also survived by nine grandchildren, fourteen great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by a granddaughter and a sister.

Lenice joined Community Presbyterian Church on May 17, 1991, and was active in the church for many years. Pastor Dennis says of Lenice, she was one of the most positive people he has known and was grateful for the care she re-ceived the last several years of her life and was always grateful for whomever came by for a visit. She will be missed.

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Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Every Sunday: Sunday School 9:00 am Worship 10:30

1

AA 7:00 pm

2

CAM Food Pantry Sunday Called Congre-gation Meeting 11:30 AM

3 Diabetic Focus Group 10:00 am

Yoga 5:45 pm

4 Exercise class 10:00 am Yoga 5:30 pm AA 7:00 pm

5 Wmn’s Breakfast 8:15 am Men’s Breakfast 8:15 am

Hannah Circle 1:00 pm

Choir 7:00 pm

6

Exercise class 10:00 am The Bookies 10:30 am Ham & Bean Dinner 11-2

7 Care Center Birthday Party 2:30 pm

8

AA 7:00 pm

9 Dinner with Friends-11:30 am at Fat Daddy’s

10

Yoga 5:45 pm

11 Exercise 10:00 am Chamber Lunch 11:30 am

Yoga 5:30 pm

12 Wmn’s Breakfast 8:15 am Men’s Breakfast 8:15 am Calico Cutups 10:00 am

Choir 7:00 pm

13

Exercise class 10:00 am

14

Esther Circle 11:00 am

15 Forsyth Sr. Ctr. Breakfast 7 – 10

Church picnic 4:00 pm

AA 7:00 pm

16 Choir Fest 2016 4:00 pm

17

Yoga 5:45 pm

18 Exercise class 10:00 am Yoga 5:30 pm

AA 7:00 pm

19 Wmn’s Breakfast 8:15 am Men’s Breakfast 8:15 am

Choir 7:00 pm

20 Exercise class 10:00 am Session Meeting 5:30 pm

21

22 AA 7:00 pm

23

24

Yoga 5:45 pm

25 Exercise class 10:00 am Yoga 5:30 pm

AA 7:00 pm

26 Wmn’s Breakfast 8:15 am Men’s Breakfast 8:15 am

Choir 7:00 pm

27 Exercise class 10:00 am

28 29 AA 7:00 pm

Ushers/Greeters Liturgist

Deb and Jim Robbers

Kathy Weeks

Cindy Werner

30

Stewardship Catered Lunch 11:30 AM

31

Yoga 5:45 pm

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Community Presbyterian Church

Staff Members

Pastor....................................................Dennis D. Winzenried

Secretary…………………………………….....Denise Carr

Choir Director………………………………….Arliss Stillings

Organist………………………………………….Linda Stillings

Custodian……………………………….……...Gala Vrionis

COMMUNITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH P.O. Box 486 Forsyth, MO 65653-0486

Sunday School 9:00 am Sunday Worship Service 10:30 am

C O M M U N I T Y

P R E S B Y T E R I A N

C H U R C H

PO Box 486

271 Main Street

Forsyth, Missouri 65653

(417) 546-2584

Dennis Winzenried, Pastor

Website: www.compresby.org

Email: compresby@centurytel.net