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JOYS AND CONCERNS
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Carol
Masters, wife of the Rev. Al Masters at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church,
is beginning a new treatment regimen in her continuing battle against
cancer. She and Al are very encouraged by her inclusion in a
groundbreaking new study which will enable her to receive advanced
therapies. Please keep the Masters in your prayers.
We extend our sympathy to
the Rev. George Harper, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in
Westminster, on the death of his sister Mrs. Naomi Harper Jones of
Columbia on June 15. The funeral service was held at Good Shepherd
Episcopal Church in Columbia on June 18. Please remember the Harper
family in your prayers.
Prayer list for this
week:
Rusty Benton, pastor of Grace Covenant Church; Bessie Black, Stated
Supply at Westminster Saxon Church; Charles Blakely, Adjunct Faculty
member at Presbyterian College; and Nancy Blakely, Chaplain at Hospice of
the Upstate.
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Guest Speaker at Nicholtown Church
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Daniel Osei Bediako Akoto
from Kwahu Presbytery in Ghana will be the guest speaker at Nicholtown
Presbyterian Church in Greenville this Sunday morning (June 24) at 11:00.
Daniel just recently completed some graduate work at Princeton
Theological Seminary and is working this summer at Camp Buc. He is serving
the camp as Chaplain in Residence.
The Worship Committee of Nicholtown would like to invite you all to be a
part of this service.
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Presbyterian Women News
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Juliane
Taylor and Anita McLeod, members of St. Giles Presbyterian Church, are
holding a Horizons 2007-08 Bible study leaders orientation session for
anyone who wants to attend. Juliane and Anita attended the PW course for
Bible study leaders at Columbia Theological Seminary and want to pass on
some of what they learned.
The session will be held on Sunday, August 5, from 3:00 - 5:00 at St.
Giles Presbyterian Church in Greenville in the Sunday School building. If
you have questions, contact Anita at armclead@aol.com
or phone 234-6617. The church phone is 244-2887.
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C.A.R. Ministry Needs Your Help
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The Counseling and
Automobile Repair (C.A.R.) Ministry of Inman Presbyterian Church needs
your support and your prayers. This ministry provides vehicle repairs and
automobiles (when they are available), as well as financial counseling.
They need your referrals of deserving persons who need this type of
ministry. They also very much need the gifts of automobiles that can be
donated to this cause. Please keep this ministry in your prayers and
share the news of their work throughout your congregations. If you would
like to contribute names, donations, or a vehicle, please contact Gordon
Raynal, pastor of the Inman Church, at 472-4534 or scudi1@charter.net.
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Ghana Delegation will be in the U.S. in
the Fall
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Just a reminder that a
delegation from Ghana will be visiting our area September 28 to October
15. As you know, Foothills Presbytery has been in partnership with Kwahu
Presbytery for many years and supports work at the Donkorkrom
Presbyterian Hospital and orphanage, and the Kwahu Presbytery. If your
church is interested in hosting a visiting speaker, please contact Beth
Meyer at 297-6221 or Bmeyer3245@bellsouth.net
or Minnie Thomas at 232- 1153 or la723@hotmail.com.
Our visitors from Ghana welcome the opportunity to be in our churches and
to speak to congregations about their ministry in Africa.
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Order for 2008 Mission Yearbooks
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You have one more week to
place your order for the 2008 Mission Yearbook and the 2008 Childrens'
Mission Yearbook. The deadline for getting your order to the presbytery
office is June 29. If you would like to place an order, and have not yet
done so, please contact Sandy so that an order form can be sent to you.
Payment must accompany the order. Call 288- 5774 or email ssharpe@foothillspresbytery.org.
Thank you.
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Letter from GA Moderator
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Hi Friends!
"Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up*"
I Thess. 5:11
Why does the writer of the letter to the Christians at Thesolonica need
to tell them to encourage each other? I believe he did it because it is
much more natural for us to DIScourage each other. Bad news and bad
attitudes love to be passed on, and misery does love company. Anxiety is
more contagious than the common cold, and there is a lot of it going
around the PC(USA) today. It is much more natural to us to wring our
hands in anxiety or to bat out with ill- considered plans to fix things
in our own power than to look to God for guidance and support.
What is it that we should
be encouraging each other with at this time in the life of the PC(USA)? I
would suggest that:
-We should be encouraging each other to remember whose church this is. It
is not ours. It belongs to Jesus Christ who gave his life for it. The
church is very precious to our Lord, and we should be looking to him and
have confidence in his ability and desire to do his will among us.
-We should be encouraging each other to pray. Prayer is the door that God
has ordained for grace to flow into this world. There are things that
will never happen unless God's people ask for them.
-We should be encouraging each other to keep the main thing the main
thing. What is the main thing? The story of Peter walking on the water reminds
us that the main thing, the only thing, really, is keeping our focus on
Jesus. He can lead us to do things beyond our wildest dreams if we only
let him.
These ways of thinking and acting are very contrary to ordinary human
nature. They require a faith that can look beyond the cross to the
resurrection and to Pentecost. God promises us that ALL things work to
the good of those who love [literally "are loyal to"] God and
are called according to his purposes. Do we believe this? Then beloved,
let us encourage one another in these things!
Grace and Peace, Joan
(Pictured is Joan S. Gray, Moderator, 217th General Assembly)
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