Charles Town Presbyterian Church

Vacation Bible School Information: Summer 2018 is the summer that two Charles Town churches come together to host one VBS event! Charles Town Presbyterian Church is pairing up with St. Thomas Lutheran Church! We will feature:

• Bible Discovery,
• Imagination Station (Crafts), and
• Kid Vid Cinema.

Are you looking to inspire and teach our children about the Love of Christ this summer? Or lead the children in some “Shipwrecked Games”? If so, please contact Molly Blue at the church office (304.725.5316) or by email (mrogers@ctpres.org). The dates of VBS are July 8 – 12^th. VBS will be held at CTPC each night.

Thank you!

This is going to be the best VBS yet! We are having a VBS Meeting on Thursday, April 26^th @ 7 p.m. for anyone interested in joining or helping! See you soon!

Greetings!

It doesn’t feel like spring yet, does it? This winter has felt like the winter that just won’t end. We get a taste of spring, and then it gets cold again for days, and even weeks. Of course, in a week or two it might be in the 80’s and 90’s, and we’ll be complaining.
Spring is most notably a season of change, and the remarkable process of moving from the dead of winter to the life of spring. Brown turns to green, dead comes to life, and there are flowers every where bringing forth all kinds of color!

When Christ moves in our life, when we come to faith in him, we move from death to life, from winter to spring. In our new commitment to him, we experience Christ doing all kinds of new things in our lives. When our Lord Jesus brings such a change, he occasionally surprises us with a new and unexpected calling.

This coming Sunday, April 29, we are going to hear of an unexpected calling. A friend I have known my whole life, Michael Sander, will share briefly his calling at each worship service, and lead a combined Sunday School class for adults and older youth in the fellowship hall. Michael and his wife, Cathy, are preparing to start missionary work in Swaziland in 2019. This is a most unexpected call.

This Sunday is also Compassion Sunday. We will spend a few minutes in that combined Sunday School class talking about our experiences.  In 2017, eighteen families from our congregation “adopted” Compassion children. There will be information available about Compassion and sponsorship if you are interested.

I hope you can join us this Sunday. It promises to be an exciting day!

Blessings,

Pastor John

As I periodically like to do, I want to review some of the upcoming activities in the life of the church. Though we are past Lent and Easter Sunday, we are still very busy.

Women’s Conference – April 21 (Saturday)

Last year we held the inaugural women’s conference at CTPC. It was a wonderful, one-day retreat for women from all over the Eastern Panhandle and beyond. Once again, the ladies have invited Kelley Latta to speak and lead the event. Ladies, if you have not purchased your ticket, please do so ASAP (you can click here to purchase online)! This is a great event to bring friends to. Last year, everyone spoke positively about this conference and we are excited for another exciting day next Saturday!

Yokefellows Dinners – April 28, May 12

The Yokefellows Sunday School Class will be hosting a barbecue dinner on Saturday, April 28 and a Pancake Dinner on Saturday, May 12. Tickets for the barbecue are $13 for adults, $7 for children ages 3-12. Those attending the pancake dinner will be asked to give donations. These dinners are a fabulous way to introduce friends and neighbors to the CTPC church family. It’s an easy outreach!  Invite your friends, buy their tickets, and come enjoy a great time of fellowship with them.

Visiting Missionaries/Compassion Sunday – April 29, May 13

On Sunday April 29 we will have a visit from Mike Sander and his wife, Cathy. Mike is currently a teacher in Pennsylvania, but he and Cathy are in the midst of preparing to start work as full-time missionaries in Swaziland. On May 13 we will have a visit from Gail, who is on furlough from her work in Central Asia. We have been supporting Gail for many years now, and she is excited to bring us an update. On both Sundays, the missionaries will speak briefly at both services, and host a Sunday School class in the fellowship hall for adults and youth.  On April 29, we will also host our second Compassion Sunday, and hear updates about the sponsorship experience from people in the congregation.

Vacation Bible School – July 8-12
2018 marks a big change for VBS. We are starting a VBS partnership with St. Thomas Lutheran Church, which is three blocks down the street from us. Alternating years each church will host, and we will work together to make VBS amazing each year! This new partnership does not mean we need less people – it means the opposite! So stay tuned – more information about Vacation Bible is forthcoming! —See Molly’s announcement in “From Molly’s Desk!”

Save the Steeple
In the next few weeks, the session will be formally launching the campaign to raise the funds needed for repairs to the church steeple. We will have several events and information forthcoming.

Blessings,

Pastor John

The M.U.M. Group at Charles Town Presbyterian Church is a group for moms and their kiddos to join other moms and kids on the first and third Fridays of each month. We spend our time in fellowship, scripture, and play! Moms Uplifting Moms is a group of moms just like you.

We understand that as a mom, you are no longer on your time… You’re on baby/kid time. If you’re late to our group, don’t worry! We have all been there. Didn’t have time for your morning cup of coffee? We’ve got you covered. Is your sweet babe acting out and not having the best day? We have DEFINITELY experienced a grumpy child before. Come to M.U.M. Group anyway! We are all supportive of each other and pay no mind to fussy little ones.

As mothers we are voices of reason, story tellers, advice givers, caretakers, confidants, comedians, psychologists, chefs, housekeepers, hand-holders, heart-healers. We have shoulders for our babes to cry on, hugs and kisses to fix boo boos, and never-ending love. We spend every minute of every day with (or thinking) about our children. Take an hour or so, twice a month, for yourself. Let your children play with other children, and come and relax.  We’ll be here.

I am always amazed by Easter. It is so vastly different than Christmas.

Christmas has this huge build-up, and even non-Christians get focused on traditions of the season. Most of our culture comes to a screeching halt on Christmas Eve(ning) and Christmas. You can’t shop, few stores are open, and faith or not, people are celebrating the holiday.

Easter is different. Of course, there is the secular celebration, focused on a benevolent bunny, but by and large, Easter barely registers in our culture. Life goes on pretty much the same as it does any other day. There may be a special brunch, lunch, or dinner, but by and large, the world barely skips a beat.

In some respects, that’s a good thing. While the mountaintop high of the resurrection morn is preferable to anything this world offers us, we are called to take the resurrection into the world and to help people discover the hope that is found only in Christ Jesus.

After Jesus fed the crowd in John 6, a crowd of people starts following him. Jesus steals away at one point, and the crowd frantically looks for him. He responds to their concern, saying, “You are seeking me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” In other words, they sought Jesus because of what he did for them.

I wonder if its possible that for many people, Christmas is a time to receive. So, we give it much more attention, we give it far more leeway. Easter demands we do something with the cross and resurrection. Easter demands we consider that our sin separates us from God, and our only hope for salvation is in Jesus Christ who died for us and then was raised to life.

As we gather around the crucifixion and resurrection this weekend, I encourage all who read this to focus on what difference the resurrection will make on Monday, and on the days and weeks ahead. What difference will the resurrection make for your life?

[Christ] is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.  – Colossians 1:18-20

Blessings,
Pastor John

An Invitation
Holy Week is upon us.
WARNING: SPOILERS!

Sunday is Palm Sunday, and it begins a journey. Jesus is appropriately welcomed into Jerusalem as a king. The Passover feast is upon the people of Israel, so the whole nation is gathered in and around the city that is home to the temple. The popularity of Jesus has been building steadily and has culminated in the raising of Lazarus from the dead. The people are excited about Jesus,
and when he comes into the city, they enthusiastically worship him.

As the week progresses Jesus teaches, performs miracles and frustrates the Jewish leaders. The opponents of Jesus plot and scheme and find a willing accomplice in Judas, who betrays Jesus after he shares the Passover meal with the disciples. Jesus is then tried, abused, tortured, and then on Friday morning, handed over to Pontius Pilate. Pilate is not immediately sure what to do with Jesus, mostly because he cannot find anything with which to charge Jesus. Pilate turns to the crowd, a crowd that is now convinced that Jesus must die, and so they ask for his execution. Jesus is crucified and buried.

Holy Week is a journey. There is a movement to the many activities and services we plan and participate in. I think there is something to be missed if one worships Palm Sunday and then on Easter, with nothing in between. We can mark this journey by being present in the events planned for the week. Worship on Palm Sunday. Maundy Thursday worship. The Community Cross
Walk, and ecumenical event with singing and teaching that emulates Jesus’ walk to the cross. The Cross Walk is held on Good Friday and begins at Asbury UMC and concludes at Edge Hill Cemetery.

I encourage you to participate in these events as much as you are able. Let the week that begins on Palm Sunday unfold in such a way that you experience a deepening of your faith and a connection to all that Jesus endured so that we could have eternal life.

In addition to the services named above, it may prove helpful to meditate on specific scriptures each day:

• Sunday – Matthew 21:1-11
• Monday – Mark 14:1-9
• Tuesday – Luke 20:19-26
• Wednesday – John 13:1-20
• Thursday – Matthew26:32-56
• Friday and Saturday – Matthew 27

I hope and pray this Holy Week brings you closer to Jesus.

Pastor John