Presbytidings – April 2022
The Newsletter of First Presbyterian Church
216 West Third Street, Wayne, Nebraska 68787
(402) 375-2669 + www.fpcwayne.org
“Our chief end is to glorify and enjoy God forever.”
LENTEN SUPPERS & SERVICES
Our church family will continue to gather for weekly Wednesday night suppers at 6:00pm during Lent ending on Wednesday, April 6th. The supper sign-up sheets are on the Opportunity Table in Fellowship Hall. Afterward, we will gather for Lenten services at 7:00pm. All are welcome.
HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE
- Palm Sunday with the Presbyterian Pealers, April 10th at 10:00am
- Maundy Thursday with communion: April 14th at 7:00pm
- Easter Sunday Celebration with the Presbyterian Pealers: April 17th at 10:00am
- Easter Sunday brunch: April 17th at 11:00am
(Signup sheet is on the Opportunity Table)
EASTER LILIES
Easter lilies are welcome to decorate the sanctuary for Easter. If you would like to donate a lily (lilies) for the Easter service please bring the flowers to church by Friday, April 15th before 1:00 p.m. If you would like an acknowledgement in the bulletin on Easter Sunday please contact Jenny by April 13th. Please remove your lilies from the sanctuary after the service on Easter Sunday. Thank you.
BRIGHT SUNDAY – APRIL 24th
The Sunday after Easter, April 24th, we will celebrate Bright Sunday or Holy Hilarity Sunday. On this day we celebrate the biggest joke ever played on the devil which was the resurrection of Christ. You are encouraged to wear bright colors to worship. If you have funny stories appropriate for sharing in church, email them to Pastor Teresa and we will see if they make their way into the service. If there is anyone who wants to share their talents either musical talents or acting, please contact Pastor Teresa by Tuesday, April 19th.
ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING
The One Great Hour of Sharing is the church saying, “We’ll be there when you need us.” Since 1949, Presbyterians have joined with millions of other Christians through One Great Hour of Sharing to share God’s love with people experiencing need. Your gifts support ministries of disaster response, refugee assistance and resettlement, food for the hungry, and community development that helps people find safe refuge, start new lives, and work together to strengthen their families and communities. The One Great Hour of Sharing offering will be collected on Palm Sunday & Easter Sunday.
Prayer for One Great Hour of Sharing
God of mercy, help us look past the walls
and doors of this church.
Help us to open our doors
to walk alongside the vulnerable
to whom we have been called.
As we share through this Offering,
may all your children feel
the love of Christ and share in
the justice, compassion, and joy
you offer. Keep us unsatisfied with being
THIS church on THIS corner,
so we shall be known as
CHRIST’s church to the whole world.
Amen.
From the Pastor….
This week I was reminded of a quote attributed to theologian Fredrick Buechner “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.” Our human experience is always a pendulum, between good and bad, beautiful, and terrible. Often not an either/or, but sometimes a both/and, occasionally on the same day! Beautiful and terrible things are happening in our world ALL the time! Amid the news of events such as war, natural disasters, disease, violence, discord, and the pandemic, it can feel like we are bombarded with terrible news. We may want to cover our eyes and ears, so we don’t have to see or hear any more.
I heard the expression once that sometimes when we feel we’ve been buried, we’ve instead been planted, and God is at work growing something new. Beauty and joy can come from dark places, think of all those spring bulbs just waiting to emerge. Look to the sunrise which follows the darkness of night and see that our Triune God is at work offering the assurance that we are not alone, and beauty can be found around us. The words of Psalm 46:1-3 offer comfort and assurance in challenging days: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”
Even in dark days we need to try to minimize the suffering and pain of others, to show love to our neighbors as Christ taught. Since the early days of the Ukrainian war, I’ve been struck by Ukrainian musicians and artists who are sharing their talents, both to mourn what is happening in their country as well as to offer resistance and encouragement, even joy. Did you see the video of 7-year-old Amelia, from Ukraine, who was filmed singing “Let It Go” in a Kyiv bomb shelter? (Link- https://youtu.be/JSXjocOpGwA). Recently Amelia performed a moving rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem at a relief concert in Poland. In troubled times music can be an expression of comfort, resistance, an expression of solidarity and hope, a counter to fear.
The online site, Daily Mail, recounted the story of professional pianist Irina Maniukina and her poignant goodbye to her home and hometown. (Link- Ukrainian musician plays piano in her bombed-out family home before fleeing Bila Tserkva [Video] | Daily Mail Online). The 48-year-old mother and her two children were forced to leave their home after a bomb from a Russian airstrike landed 30 feet from their house in Bila Tserkva, south of Kyiv early in March. The family relocated to western Ukraine. In a video linked to the online article you see the ruins of the home as Maniukina uncovers a beautiful, white grand piano, she brushes away the ash from the keyboard and begins to play. Her daughter recorded the beautiful music while filming the rubble of the house, blown out windows and doors, glass and debris everywhere. The beautiful and terrible side by side in the same day.
NPR featured an article about Ukrainian-born photographer and artist, Yuliana, who created a portrait of a woman which for the artist emulates the “indestructible” spirit of Ukraine. The woman’s body appears cracked, but the Ukrainian flag shows beneath the gaps. Yuliana told NPR “I wanted to show that no matter how much destruction Ukrainian land will have to endure, bombs and bullets can never destroy the will, strength and spirit of the Ukrainian people.” They will “stay strong till the end,” she said, “and never surrender.”
Ukrainian musicians and artists even under terrible conditions and at risk to their own safety are using their art to encourage and uplift others as well as document what is happening in their county. Many of these artists and musicians are using their gifts and talents to raise money for humanitarian aid. Americans can also offer financial support for humanitarian aid. When you give be sure to donate through trusted agencies such as your church or a well-known international organization.
Jesus didn’t fully explain why bad things happen and neither can we. Sometimes misfortune is of our own making by our poor choices, sometimes people are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sometimes terrible things like violence and war are the result of human sin, manifest in trying to take, hold power or control others. No matter the source of terrible things, God understands our suffering and is with us. God has promised to redeem all things, suffering and injustice do not have the last word in our lives and world.
Read Luke 13:1-6 and you will see that Jesus used the news of his day, as we can the news of our day, to remind us that life is a gift. God wants to be in relationship with each of us. None of us know the number of our days, how or when they will end, but we do know life is not to be squandered but rather spent in relationship one another and with our Triune God, an ever-present help in beautiful or terrible times.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Teresa
COMMUNITY CHAPEL SERVICES
- Wayne Country View Chapel: Pastor will lead chapel at Wayne Country View on Sunday, April 3rd at 1:30pm.
- Radio Devotions: Pastor Teresa will be giving devotions on 104.9 Big Red Country KTCH during holy week Monday, 4/11 – Friday, 4/15 at 5:40am.
COMMUNION
We will celebrate the Lord’s Supper on the following days in April:
- Sunday, April 3rd at 10:00am (Communion elder, Mark Hammer)
- Maundy Thursday, April 14th at 7:00pm
SESSION
The Session will meet Monday, April 4th, at 7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall.
RUNZA FEEDS THE NEED
Our local Runza Restaurant is hosting a special fund-raiser for the Wayne Food Pantry & Backpack Program on Tuesday, April 5th. Pastor Teresa will be representing the Wayne Food Pantry for an interview with KTCH announcer Aaron Scheffler during the 11:00am hour. Please support us by making plans to pick up Runza for lunch or dinner that day!
GRADUATION SUNDAY
Join us on Sunday, April 17th as we recognize our FPC senior graduate Taytum Sweetland, who will be graduating from Wayne High. Following the service, there will be a time of fellowship. All are welcome! If you have a college graduate, please let the office know so we can acknowledge their accomplishments.
HIGHWAY CLEAN-UP
We will do our spring highway cleanup after worship on Sunday, April 24th (rain date: May 1st). Please wear your work clothes to church that day. We will depart after worship to our stretch of Highway 35 (markers 33-35 east of Wayne). This is a great time for families to do a service project together. With plenty of help, this project can take less than one hour.
SPRING GATHERING OF HOMESTEAD PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN
The Homestead Presbyterian Women will have their spring gathering via Zoom on May 7th beginning at 8:30 a.m. During the event new officers will be installed. The coordinating team will share about their March and April road trips to various churches. You will get to hear about the new Horizons Bible study. You will also hear about the Synod gathering in June. All those interested are welcome to join Pastor Teresa in Fellowship Hall on the 7th and we will join the meeting via our technology.
SUMMER CAMP @ CALVIN CREST
Summer is coming! We promise! And what better way to spend your summer than going to camp learning about Jesus with friends? Calvin Crest is officially open for summer camp registration: http://www.calvincrest.org/summer-camp/ Pick out your week of camp and register your kid(s) or grandkid(s). Adherents of our church may apply for a scholarship to pay ½ of the cost of registration. Additional scholarships, based on financial need may be available. Please ask Jenny or Pastor Teresa for an application.
GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP
Have you lost a loved one recently? The grief can be hard to handle. Please consider joining the Providence Medical Grief Support group. We will meet Wednesday evenings (June 1 – 29) from 6:00-8:00pm. A light supper will be provided. For more information or to pre-register call 402-375-7659.
SYNOD SCHOOL
Want to go to camp as a family this summer? Plan to Join Presbyterians from all over the Midwest at Buena Vista College, in Storm Lake, IA July 24-29, 2022. Plan on a week of inspiring worship, educational speakers, arts and crafts, and lots of new friends for the entire family. There is programming available for every age and every interest. Want more information? Go to http://www.lakesandprairies.org/SynodSchool
The Hands of Christ
Leslie Savage Clark
A Baby’s hands in Bethlehem
Were small and softly curled,
But held within their dimpled grasp
The hope of half the world.
A Carpenter’s in Nazareth
Were skilled and tooled with wood;
They laid the beams of simple homes
And found their labor good.
A Healer’s hands in Galilee
Were stretched to all who came
For him to cleanse their hidden wounds.
Or cure the blind and lame.
Long, long ago the hands of Christ
Were nailed upon a tree,
But still their hold touch redeems
The hearts of you and me.
APRIL BIRTHDAYS
(Would you like to see your birthday listed here?
Just contact the church office 402-375-2669 or fpcwayne@gmail.com)
4 Bev B.
6 Shari D.
9 Kevin A.
26 Phil G.
27 Verianne Mc.
29 Heidi A.
April 2022 – First Presbyterian Church
Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
Sunday Mornings: 9:00 Handbell Choir 10:00 Worship 11:00 Fellowship | 1 | 2 | ||||
3 10:00 Worship with Communion 11:00 Fellowship 1:30 Wayne Country View Chapel | 4 7:00 Session Meeting | 5 11:00 Pastor at Runza Feeds the Need | 6 6:00 Soup Supper 7:00 Lent Service | 7 | 8 | 9 |
10 Palm Sunday Special Music by the Presbyterian Pealers One Great Hour of Sharing Offering | 11 5:40am Pastor has KTCH devotions | 12 5:40am Pastor has KTCH devotions | 13 5:40am Pastor has KTCH devotions 10:30am WACAM | 14 5:40am Pastor has KTCH devotions 7:00 Maundy Thursday Service with Commun-ion | 15 Good Friday 5:40am Pastor has KTCH devotions 1:00pm Easter Lily deadline | 16 Great Vigil of Easter |
17 10:00 Easter Worship Graduate Recognition & special music by the Presbyterian Pealers 11:00 Easter Brunch One Great Hour of Sharing Offering | 18 | 19 | 20 Eleanor Edwards Scholarship Application Due | 21 | 22 | 23 |
24 Bright Sunday! Highway Cleanup after Church | 25 | 26 1:30 Pipe Organ tuning | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
Contact Information:
First Presbyterian Church
216 W. Third Street
Wayne NE 68787
FPC Office & Wayne Food Pantry:
402-375-2669
Tuesday – Friday, 9am – 12 noon
Websites:
Church: https://fpcwayne.com/
Wayne Food Pantry: https://fpcwayne.com/food-pantry/
Wayne Coat Closet: https://fpcwayne.com/wayne-coat-closet/
FIND US ON FACEBOOK
First Presbyterian Church – Wayne, Nebraska
Wayne Food Pantry – Wayne, Nebraska
Wayne Coat Closet – First Presbyterian Church
FPC Service Recordings
can be found at:
*Facebook @ First Presbyterian Church – Wayne, Nebraska
*Our website @ fpcwayne.com
*YouTube @ FPC of Wayne Nebraska
FPC Online Worship Bulletins can be found at:
Pastor Teresa Bartlett
402-375-2669 (office)
319-795-2911 (cell)
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