Experiencing God’s Love Together … Writing a New Story February 2017

Worship - Sundays - 9:05 am Traditional 11:05 am Praise

Feb 5 Vision: Anyone Seeking to Experience & Share

Feb 12 Vision: More deeply … through all the seasons of life

Feb 19 Goals: Become More Relevant & Fruitful

Feb 26 Strategies: Name,

Contact - John Calvin Presbyterian Church 8102 Midcrown Drive San Antonio, TX 78239 210-657-4441 JohnCalvinPresbyterian.org Office Hours: M, T, TH, F, 8:30 am-4:30 pm

Dear JCPC/ Cross Roads Church Family, Our annual theme for 2017 is Writing a New Story. It will be meaningful because it is your story - and therefore it requires all of your participation. What will the first chapter look like? What will unfold in the months to come? What new ideas and ministry partners will emerge? I am excited to see with you what your new story looks like in the year ahead! Along the way, I invite you to use the Mission and Vision statements as a template to begin writing the first chapters of this new story. The Mission and Vision state-ments are deeply meaningful guides for your ongoing new beginning as a church. To help you write the new story, two important teams have begun their work. Last month both the Campus Utilization Team (CUT) and Sanctuary Task Force (STF) be-gan meeting. They are actively discerning the extraordinary options available to help stimulate your future flourishing as a church. I believe that with a few key ad-justments in externals and internals (e.g. property, programs and attitudes) JCPC/Cross Roads Church will be poised to grow again. Among the positive signs for future growth, is the Pastoral Nominating Committee (PNC). Your PNC is well underway. The church Mission Information Form (MIF) was approved last month by the Presbytery and is online available for seeking pastors to review. Soon, the PNC will be engaging in one on one interviews. Even now, the Ho-ly Spirit is preparing your next permanent pastor for years of fruitful ministry. Finally, as we approach Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday, March 1st, I encour-age you to deepen your prayer for the PNC and to memorize the new Mission and Vision statements. God is with us, and is our strength and source of life and love. How will you contrib-ute to this new story being written among us in this beautiful community of faith? Every blessing in Christ, Pastor Peter, Interim/Transitional Minister

Staff - Peter Haas, Interim Pastor Lisa Ringler, Office Manager Amy Oxley, Director of Music Gordon Ringler, Director of Music Linda Wilson, Pianist Edward Esparza II, Campus Tech

Writing a New Story - our series continues ...

February 5

Vision: Anyone Seeking to Experience and Share Psalm 112:1-9; Matthew 5:13-20

Note: Celebrate the Lord’s Supper

February 12

Vision: More deeply … through all the seasons of life Psalm 119:1-8; Matthew 5:21-37

February 19

Goals: Become More Relevant & Fruitful Psalm 119:33-40; Matthew 5:38-48

February 26

Strategies: Name, Campus, Worship Psalm 99; Matthew 17:1-9

Note: Annual Congregational Meeting at 10:15 am

Pastor Nominating

Committee News We are extremely happy to report to the con-gregation that our Ministry Information Form

(MIF) has been loaded into the PC USA matching system (Church Leadership Connection or CLC)

and has been approved by Presbytery. As a matter of fact we have already received our first batch of Personal Information Forms (PIF - you can think of this as a Pastor's Resume) for re-

view. We plan to take two weeks to review this first batch (27 in all) and then move on from

there. We can't really guess how many batches we might receive, but it will likely be sever-

al. The PNC doesn't look at this like a race to be won quickly, but rather like a puzzle that needs to be put together correctly. When completed, that puzzle will show us the way to THE Pastor

God has prepared for JCPC / Cross Roads Church. We ask for you continue prayers for en-

ergy, wisdom and discernment as this is when the hard work begins.

CrossRoads Church PNC Update

Your Birthday Fund at Work

Thanks to the generous gifts of this congregation to the Birthday Fund, a new ice machine has been installed in the church kitchen. After numerous repair bills to the old ice machine during 2016 and with it not working once again, the session authorized the Buildings & Grounds Ministry to replace it with gifts from the Birthday Fund. This fund was established a few years ago and is used to purchase items beneficial to the life of the whole congregation that may not be part of the operating budget. Simply make a donation in the amount of your age as a thanks giving to God for anoth-er year of life!

Women’s Circles The Lydia Circle will meet Thursday, February 2nd at 1 pm and the Mary Martha Circle will meet Monday, February 13th at 9:30 am in the JCPC Parlor. Come and enjoy fellow-ship, talk of mission and ministry and study.

2016 Contribution Statements 2016 Contribution Statements have been completed and are ready for you to pick up on Sundays in the Narthex. If you find a discrepancy in your statement or would like your state-ment mailed/e-mailed to you, simply call Lisa in the church office. Thank you for your continued faithfulness to the life, ministry & mission of JCPC / Cross Roads Church!

Men’s Breakfast All men of the church are invited to the men’s breakfast for delicious food, lively fellowship and a timely devotional. Come to the Windcrest Golf Course Clubhouse on Saturday, February 11th at 8:00 am.

Church Office Closed-President’s Day The church office will be closed Monday, February 20th in observance of President’s Day. Please plan accordingly when making trips and calls to the church! Thank you.

In the life of JCPC ...

Esther Scholarship Applications Esther Scholarship applications are available at the Wel-come Center in the Hospitality Hall for those going to col-lege during the 2017/18 academic year. Application dead-line is April 1, 2017.

Newcomer’s Class Wanting to become a member of JCPC – soon to be Cross Roads Church? Maybe just want to learn more about the Presbyterian faith? Maybe you’re already a member and want to refresh your knowledge in the life and history of this church? If so, consider coming to the next member-ship class on Sundays March 19th and 26th from 10:15 am – 11:00 am in the Parlor. A light breakfast will be served. Sign up today at the Welcome Center or by contacting Lisa or Peter in the church office.

Book Group The Read & Dialogue Book Group will meet on Thursday, February 9th at 7:00 pm in the church parlor. This month’s selection is Eve-rybody’s Fool.

Rollicking and heartfelt.” —

Jeff Baker, The Seattle Times

Campus Utilization Team & Sanctuary Task Force The Campus Utilization Team (CUT) and Sanctuary Task Force (STF) began meeting in January and will soon be providing regular updates to the congregation via the Fri-day e-mail blast, bulletin, newsletter and minute-for-mission type updates during worship. You’ll remember that the session-approved “Cross Roads Church Proposal” which was congregationally approved in October, 2016 called for the creation of a task force to develop a plan for the use of vacant church land and accessibility to the campus (CUT) and a team to explore the feasibility of new seating and configurations for worship in the sanctuary (STF).

Prayer Quilt Ministry

Prayer is woven into the fabric of who we are as followers of Christ. Through the years, quilts have been given as an act of love - pieced together from bits and piec-es of material representing care and devo-tion. From the time the fabric was pur-chased until the last knot is tied, it had been prayed over by many hearts and hands.

The session authorized the start of the Prayer Quilt Ministry in late 2016. The ministry finished the first two quilts which were prayed over in worship on January 22nd and then pre-sented to Jim & Kaye Loman. The Prayer Quilt Ministry is feeling the need for many quilts and has added an extra work day to their calendar each month. They will meet the first Friday of each month and the third Mon-day of each month in the Youth Building at 9:00 am. No skills required! Come and cut fabric, sew blocks togeth-er, sandwich quilts, stitch the beginning of knots, bind quilts, pray, fellowship … whatever your skill, we need you.

The Ministry has four quilts ready for you to pray over be-ginning Febru-ary 12th. If you notice a quilt draped over the front pew, step on down, tie a knot and say a prayer for that

individual. Names and prayer specifics will be located next to each quilt.

Another way to be involved in the Prayer Quilt Ministry is through a donation. Do-nations are requested from church members of fabric, batting, thread, sewing ma-chines, irons, ironing boards, notions, etc. that they no longer need. An Ongoing Gathering Fund has also been established by the Finance Ministry to accept monetary donations to help support this minis-try.

If you are interested in more information about this ministry or would like to donate materials, please contact Beth Powell at beth-pow@aol.com or 210.421.9339 or Debbie Gilbert at dstgil-bert@aol.com or 210.625.1572.

Ministry Notes ...

Cherished Child Development Center By Barbara Froebel, Board Member Our CCDC staff is wonderful and we thought you might like to know a bit more about them. This month we will feature Di-rector Susan Moore. Susan grew up in San Antonio and she and husband Randy have 3 children, Michael, Robert & Christa, and 6 wonderful grandchildren. Susan also has a twin sister who lives in Aus-tin. Susan was always interested in working with handicapped children and majored in Child Development in college. Her first job was with Judson ISD in handicapped classes. Randy was Army and off they went to Germany for 4 years, living in an unpronounceable village close to Stuttgart. After the tour in Germany they moved to Bulverde where Susan worked as Nursery Coordinator. Later she became Di-

rector of their Day Care program and held that position for 15 years. Then we were lucky enough to find her. For relaxation, Susan likes reading, crafts and “lovin’ on her grandbabies!” If you see Susan around—say hello! Current enrollment for January was 29 full time students and two part-time. We have 8 staff and 1 Director. On February 10th, the children will have a presentation about good dental health and on Valentine’s Day the children will celebrate with a pizza party followed by Rodeo Day on February 22nd with a bean and cheese taco breakfast.

Current needs for the CCDC are paper towels, Clorox wipes and gallon zip lock bags. Thank you for your continued sup-port - may you be as blessed as you are a blessing!

Evangelism & Missions Ministry By Silbia Esparza, Elder We would like to thank our congregation for supporting thi Lunch ‘n Love. You are cordially invited to be a part of this ministry by simply visiting and socializing with our guests. If you are able, you can help in other ways by simply showing up and seeing where you are needed. Sample of tasks available are: Filling orders for toiletries in the stage area Runner-take order form for toiletries to the stage area

for filling and return filled bags to distribute Package to-go bags filled with non-perishable food items

for our guests Help bring out food to serving table Wash dishes as they become available In 2016, we served a total of 536 guests (averaged 45 per

month). This is an 8% increase from 2015. We have blessed by different groups that commit to provid-ing food and desserts in any given month. Here is a schedule for the remainder of 2017: February: Providence High School Drama Club March: Vern Handel’s small group April: Windcrest Lion’s Club May—December (open) If you are able to serve, please contact Silbia Esparza at 210-

860-7293.

Ministry Notes ...

Finance Ministry By Lorry Houtman, Elder Many thanks to our wonderful and loving congregation for again supporting our church budget for the new year. Your tithes and offerings are so important to the mission of our church and you have been so faithful. Thank you!

Christian Ed & Youth Ministry By Barbara Froebel, Chair

Sunday School Adult & Jr./ Sr. High: Rob Spitznagels’ Journey through the Old Testament continues with 2nd Samuel and the adventures of King David. If you want to understand the Bible that Jesus knew and have fun doing it, this is the class for you! K-5: Lisa McDougle, Barbara Froebel: Classes are prepared for each Sunday in the Youth building, downstairs.

Small Groups Buzz Bacon and Lynn Catalina’s Monday night group are studying Adam Hamilton’s Half-Truths. Tuesday Mornings at 10:30 in the Sanctuary, Pastor Peter continues his Books & Bible series. The Wednesday afternoon small group has selected “Jeremiah - Daring to Hope in an Unstable World”’. as their new study. Feel free to refresh yourselves in 2017 by joining them Wednesdays at 1:00 pm in the Parlor. Cinna-montwist32@yahoo.com for more information. Vern Handel’s Thursday evening group will be starting a new study , Timothy Keller’s “This is Roman’s 1-7 For You”. Con-tact Vern for more information. VBS The first informational/ brain-storming meeting was held Jan 31st . 7 angels came with brilliant ideas. We are looking at several possibilities, all of which are on the “short and sweet” side. Since our volunteers are few and our budget very small, we are thinking outside various boxes and are doing some fact finding for the next couple of weeks.

Watch the Friday e-blast for the next meeting date. Can you help? Perhaps your ideas will be the best of all! Contact Bar-bara at Cinnamontwist32@yahoo.com or 210-649-8547.

JCPC Youth at Mo-Ranch for the mid-winter retreat:

Ministry Notes ...

Worship Ministry By Ann Zeigler, Elder

A BIG THANK YOU. Jo Tippett and her crew carefully took down, wrapped, and boxed the Christmas finery that we all enjoyed during the holidays. "What a magnificent tree", "the tree was so beauti-ful and grand this year", "I want a picture of my family by the tree", "the greenery with the red balls added so much", these were just some of the comments heard as we all enjoyed the Sanctuary so beautifully dressed up for Christ-mas. Even though the tree and ornaments have been put away for the year, be reminded and keep in your heart the powerful meaning and symbolism of the new Christmas tree that was purposely decorated with red, white & clear items. Red sym-bolizing the love and lifeblood of the folk in the church, white for those who are no longer with us and clear for the clear path that now lies ahead of us as we prepare the way in writ-ing our new story. A wonderful analogy of our church family.. Past, Present, Fu-ture. The balls are round, never ending, as is our love for one another. MEMBERS OF JO TIPPETT'S CREW INCLUDED: Diana and Buzz Bacon, Mary Ann and Jim Browning, Lynn Cat-alina, Chris Deitch, Barbara Froebel, Joyce Foster, Terri and Jack Leonhard, Carole and Bob Robbins, Joe and Jo Tippett, Ann Zeigler. THANK YOU!

You’ll remember that we’ve been praying for Dan Shippy’s grandchildren throughout the

last year. Two of his grand-daughters, Dayziah and sister Amen-zie, were in a bad car wreck leaving Amen-zie (12 years

old) with an uncertain prognosis after she was helicoptered to University Hospital where the left side portion of her skull had to be removed and she was placed in a medically induced coma. After 5

months of recov-ery (and rehabilita-tion continues to-day) and the day before she was to undergo yet anoth-er skull operation, her brother, Ca-den, was injured when kicked by a bull during a bull-riding practice ses-sion. At one point, brother and sister were down the hall from each other

recovering. Their story is featured in the annual University Health System “Community Trauma Report.” This from Grandpa Dan … “I would like to share [article] with you all. I would also like to thank all of you for the prayers over the last 10 months or so. Amenzie is doing just great. She still has a blood clot which they hope will go away in time. She is not going back to school till the fall—the school and doctors don’t think it’s a good idea yet. Caden is doing real well also—no bull rid-ing for the next 6 months. I do thank you for the prayers you all have said for my grandkids. Thank you all so much.” Dan Shippy

The Purpose is a monthly publication of John Calvin Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, Texas. If you have information to submit for the newsletter, a change of address, or if you would like to receive this newsletter electronically, please contact:

John Calvin Presbyterian Church Attn: Office Manager 8102 Midcrown Dr., San Antonio, TX 78239 Or e-mail to: jcpresbyterian@sbcglobal.net

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 1 PM Small Group 6:30 PM Choir Rehearsal 6:30 PM BBALL 7:30 PM Praise Team Rehearsal

2 1 PM Lydia Circle 5:30 PM PNC 6:30 PM BBALL

3 9:00 AM Prayer Quilt Ministry 6:30 PM BBALL

4 10 AM BBALL 12 PM BBALL 4:00 PM BIAH-BBALL 7:00 PM BBALL

5 9:00 AM Traditional Wor-ship 10:05 AM Sunday School 11:05 AM Contemp Wshp 1 PM BBALL (Terrell) 4:00 PM BIAH-BBALL 7:00 PM BBALL

6 6:30 PM Bridge Group 6:30 PM BBALL

7 10 AM Prayer Group 10:30 AM Books & Bible 2:00 PM Staff Meeting 6 PM Prayer Group 6 PM STF 6:30 PM BIAH-BBALL

8 1 PM Small Group 6:30 PM Choir Rehearsal 6:30 PM BBALL 7:30 PM Praise Team Rehearsal

9 5:30 PM PNC 6:30 PM BBALL 7:00 PM Book Group

10 6:30 PM BBALL

11 8:00 AM Men's Breakfast (Windcrest Golf Club) 10 AM BBALL 12 PM BBALL 4:00 PM BIAH-BBALL 7:00 PM BBALL

12 9:00 AM Traditional Wor-ship 10:05 AM Sunday School 11:05 AM Contemp Wshp 1 PM BBALL (Terrell) 4:00 PM BIAH-BBALL 7:00 PM BBALL

13 9:30 AM Mary Martha Circle 6:30 PM Bridge Group 6:30 PM BBALL

14 10 AM Prayer Group 10:30 AM Books & Bible 2:00 PM Staff Meeting 6 PM Prayer Group 6 PM STF 6 PM Scottish Society 6:30 PM BIAH-BBALL

15 Newsletter Dead-line 1 PM Small Group 6:30 PM Choir Rehearsal 6:30 PM BBall 7:30 PM Praise Team Rehearsal

16 5:30 PM PNC 6:30 PM BBALL

17 6:30 PM BBALL

18 10 AM BBALL 12 PM BBALL 4:00 PM BIAH-BBALL 7:00 PM BBALL

19 9:00 AM Traditional Wor-ship 10:05 AM Sunday School 11:05 AM Contemp Wshp 1 PM BBALL (Terrell) 4:00 PM BIAH-BBALL 7:00 PM BBALL

20 9:00 AM Prayer Quilt Ministry 6:30 PM Bridge Group 6:30 PM BBALL

21 10 AM Prayer Group 10:30 AM Books & Bible 2:00 PM Staff Meeting 6 PM Prayer Group 6 PM STF 6:30 PM BIAH-BBALL 7:00 PM Session Meet-ing

22 1 PM Small Group 6:30 PM Choir Rehearsal 6:30 PM BBALL 7:30 PM Praise Team Rehearsal

23 5:30 PM PNC 6:30 PM BBALL

24 6:30 PM BBALL

25 10 AM Lunch n Love

26 9:00 AM Traditional Wor-ship 10:05 AM Sunday School 11:05 AM Contemp Wshp

27 6:30 PM Bridge Group 6:30 PM BBALL

28 10 AM Prayer Group 10:30 AM Books & Bible 2:00 PM Staff Meeting 6 PM Prayer Group 6 PM STF 6:30 PM BIAH-BBALL