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J. Barry Dagenhart, Pastor Philip S. Bunch, Associate Pastor Robert J. Robinson, Pastor Emeritus

Office Hours: Monday - Thursday 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Friday 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

803.327.2009 803.327.4123 fax www.firstarp.org

December 2015

First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church Rock Hill, South Carolina

9 a.m. Acoustic Service • 11 a.m. Traditional Worship Service

10 a.m. Sunday School (all ages)

FIRST CHURCH LIFE

Sunday, December 13

A Service of Lessons and Carols

9:00 and 11:00 am

Scripture, anthems and carols celebrating the prom-ise of the Messiah and the birth of Christ

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

Thursday, December 24

5:00 and 9:00 pm

Our Christian Sympathy is extended to

the family of

Sara Roddey Gettys at her death on October 30, 2015

Rod Graham at the death of his father

Don Graham on November 10, 2015

Stephen and Lisa Cox at the death of Stephen’s sister

Catherine Cox Caldwell on November 21, 2015

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints

Psalm 116:15

Share God’s love with children around the world by simply filling a shoebox. Flat pre-printed shoeboxes are available in the connector. Take one home and fill it with small gifts, toiletry items, socks, books, etc. for a girl or boy. Enclose $7 for shipping (make checks payable to First ARP Church) and return to the church by Wednesday, December 9. After the program, there will be a Prayer of Dedication for our shoeboxes.

LOTS of boxes are available for our congregation —- let’s fill the church bus with these blessings! Boxes will be delivered on Saturday, December 12 at 11:00 am. If you are interested touring the OCC Center in Charlotte, please sign up in the connector-all ages are welcome!

Youth Caroling & Christmas Party: Sunday, December 13 3: 00 pm

Join us for a great time where middle and high school students will carol to our homebound members and then have our Christmas Party; complete with great food, an awesome White Elephant Gift Swap Game and great fellowship!

**College Students — We will be serving at the Dorothy Day Soup Kitchen on Thursday, December 17th. Contact Luke to volunteer (youthdirector@firstarp.org)

High School Catechism Class

Beginning in January, we will be offering an opportunity to all of our 9th-12th grade students to work through, learn, discuss and recite the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Learning the Catechism provides an important foundation for our students and teaches them what we believe. Specific information, including the starting date and the proposed matriculation dates, are on their way out to each of our high school students!

Discipleship Groups (week of December 6th)

Middle School—Sunday, December 6, 4-5 pm at the church High School Girls—Monday, December 7, 7:30 pm at Luke & Molly’s home High School Boys -Thursday, December 10,

7:00 pm at Luke & Molly’s home. If you are interested in serving our High School students, please consider providing a meal for either group! Contact Luke (youthdirector@firstarp.org) with any questions or concerns! If you are not receiving the weekly “Youth Happenings” via e-mail please contact Luke to be added to the list!

On Sunday, November 22, our Vision Team gave a report celebrating the

harvest of revitalization within our church. Below are some of the “Evidences of Revitalization” from the past three years.

Worship: both the 9:00 and 11:00 worship services continue to praise God according to His Word. Both services have strong lay-leaders, particularly in the area of music ministries, with everything from guitars to handbells. We give thanks to God for our Reformed history and tradition that are exemplified in both services. Community worship: gatherings with the congregation of Mt. Prospect; continued community worship with area ARP churches New members: joining with hearts for service and desires to respond to God’s call as officers. Just Joy ministries expansion: a pervasive spirit of joy throughout all church life and at our worship services, annual dances, a dinner for exceptional education teachers, a Just Joy Sunday, and other Just Joy ministries being developed across our state; those affected by special needs are joining and finding avenues of service. First ARP Preschool: thriving under great leadership; Sunday School classes are adopting preschool classes and other individuals/groups are supporting and serving this ministry. We have welcomed Preschool families into our church family. Athletics: an annual basketball banquet is held each year where families join the athletes for a celebration and an inspirational message; devotions and prayer at all practices. River Crossing: a daughter church is being birthed. Christian Education: Simultaneous unified Bible study through all ages in Sunday school; studies on prayer; a harvest of called, trained teachers. Family Promise: expansion of this church-wide ministry to the homeless which offers the opportunity for many to serve; a spiritual component has been intentionally added. International missions renewal: planting of mission seeds with elementary & youth; relationships built with our missionaries; Wales and Berlin friends are now sending missionaries. Relationships: restoration of relationships and building new intimate re-lationships within prayer groups, Bible studies, service and retreats. Authenticity & transparency: sharing of testimonies at meetings of our officers and committees, during Wednesday programming, at worship, with our mission teams and in our prayer groups. Harvest is Plentiful project: members offered their gifts and talents to multiply funds for the daughter church. Retirement of the Debt Equipped for ministry: many of our members are serving as ministers and youth workers.

Men’s Fellowship Breakfast Saturday, December 12 7:00 am

Robinson Hall $2/suggested donation

HARPS Christmas Luncheon Friday, December 11 12 noon

Rock Hill City Club

Everyone is invited to join the Happy A R P’s for their annual Christmas gathering. Park at the

church, ride Philip’s shuttle to the City Club, and enjoy a delicious meal and wonderful fellowship.

The menu includes house salad, chicken marsala, potatoes, green beans, rolls, cheesecake and beverage and is $18/per person. Deadline to sign up is December 6; make checks payable to First ARP Church with “HARPS LUNCH” in the memo line.

“Passport to Christmas” Saturday, December 5 JAARS Center, Waxhaw, NC

www.jaars.org/passport

Families are invited to the JAARS Center on Saturday, December 5 to explore cultures around the world through stories, activities, food and crafts. Designed for ages 6-12 with adult, this is a special opportunity to celebrate God’s gift of Christmas for people all around the world. Our elementary children have visited JAARS and enjoyed learning about their work in Bible translation, missions and languages. Two sessions are offered: 9:00 am -12:30 pm and 1:30-5:00 pm; registration ($5 per person) is required. To sign up for either session, call 704-843-6130 or email tours_jaars@jaars.org

Our next Family Chapel will be Wednesday, December 16 at 9:00 am in the sanctuary. We will present a special version of the Nativity story; please join us!

We are participating in a holiday fundraiser with Texas Roadhouse restaurant. Gift cards are available for purchase through the preschool, which will receive a percentage of the overall sales. Contact Gail at preschooldirector@firstarp.org.

Office Coordinator We are excited to welcome Michelle Tipton as our new Office

Coordinator. Michelle has served the nonprofit sector for over 15

years in a variety of capacities (and states). Her gifts in nonprofit

management grew through leadership roles in the field of early

childhood education. For nearly seven years in Pittsburgh, she was

the executive director of a nonprofit called Angels' Place. Michelle

has a deep passion for helping families in need. She also values being

organized and creating a welcoming environment. Michelle and her

husband Joseph recently joined First ARP and are excited to be

part of this church family. Michelle’s hours are 9 am—4 pm Monday

through Thursday and her email is officecoordinator@firstarp.org.

Toys For Happiness, a local charity that provides Christmas gifts for children in York County, is in need of gifts, especially for older kids, ages 10-14. If you would like to support this outreach, please place a NEW UNWRAPPED toy in the collection box in the connector by December 13th.

1 Josh Ferguson Bill Turner 2 Megan Madsen 4 Lee Carroll Martha Poole Ragan Simpson 5 Barry Poole 6 Chris Fischesser 2 Pressly Dozier 10 Sarah Harper 11 Matt Velkovich 12 Barbara Allan Michele Harbin David Ledbetter Mary Karen Meadows 14 Gail Helms Martin Putnam 17 Ben Simpson Grier Gettys 18 John Barron

19 Betty Powell Sarah Slough Roddey Smith 20 Rachel Dagenhart Allyson Velkovich 21 Chuck Crawford Averi Looper Mary Karen Meadows Tom Simpson Ellen Smith 24 René Herlong 25 Chris Hogue 26 Katie Beth Tinker 27 Buist Eaves Jane Faulkner Polly Herron 28 Kathy Barron 29 Rebekah Allan Christi Gettys Emily Harper

Children’s Christmas Program

“The Christmas Gift”

Wednesday, December 9 ~ Dinner 5:30 pm

Play & Christmas Shoebox Dedication~ 6:30 pm

The WM Board prays each of you has a blessed Advent and Christmas season

Mark your calendars now for 2016

A Morning of Christian Fellowship

Please join First ARP Women’s Ministry

Saturday, January 9, 2016

for a Ladies Brunch at 10 o’clock in the morning

Robinson Hall

Kimberly Johnson, children’s author and motivational

speaker, will speak on the Lord completing His work in

us. Please invite your friends to attend. Cost for meal is

$10. Reservations are required – sign up form available in

Robinson Hall and connector

Childcare available, for preschool and under, upon request

WM Bible studies will resume Tuesday, January 12th 10:00—11:30 am

(study to be announced) Thursday, January 14th 12:00—1:30 pm

(continuing to study the gospel of John)

Anyone is welcome to join either study at any time!

First ARP Women’s Retreat March 11-13, 2016

at Springmaid Mountain, NC Watch your e-mail and bulletin for further details

Join us for a special

Christmas Just Joy Worship

Sunday, December 20 6:30 p.m. in the sanctuary

It's hard to believe that our Winter Season of All American Athletes will be here before we know it. Our Basketball Season will begin Sunday, January 10 and run for 5 consecutive weeks. The playing time will be from 4:00-5:00pm at Northwestern High School. If you are interested in learning more about this Sports League or are interested in serving in some capacity, please contact Jamey Dagenhart (justjoy@firstarp.org) or 803.517.4893.

A Tropical Escape Saturday, January 23

2-4 p.m. in our gym

Our 4th Annual Dance for

"Special Friends with Special Needs"

Put this date on your calendars now and contact

Jeanie Alexander if you would like to volunteer

(jeaniealex@icloud.com or 367.2146)

Gifts to the Church – Now and Later As another year draws to a close, a few words about gifts to the Church are in order. For gifts to be considered tax deductible in tax year 2015, gifts need to be received in the church office no later than 3:00 p.m. by Thursday, December 31, or postmarked no later than December 31, 2015 according to IRS guidelines. It has also come to my attention that there is a misunderstanding among some regarding Memorial Gifts. Memorial Gifts that are undesignated by the giver are automatically designated to Forward In Faith by the Diaconate. Memorial Gifts that are designated by the giver – whether it happens to be Forward In Faith, the Memorial Garden, Building Fund, Maud Martin Gettys Endowment, Linda Miller Endowment, Organ/Music Fund, etc. are placed directly in that fund. Make sure if you want to designate your gift that you always write the name of the fund in the memo line of your check. While all of these ‘funds’ are in one bank account, our financial software makes it easy to track individual funds and make sure that each gift is designated as desired by the giver. Even interest earned (though that is not much these days) is distributed to the appropriate funds based on their percentage of the whole. Should your committee or board need to know the balance of a particular fund, our Office Coordinator can get you that information quite easily. We have also initiated a Legacy Giving Emphasis, which is designed to help you make some end of life decisions that also keep Kingdom Ministry in mind. I have some Legacy Giving Brochures I would be glad to share with you that explain the types of gifts that can be received by a local church when included in your will. Estate gifts to either the local church or denominational causes are so important because ministry can continue and you are able to still ‘speak’ through your faith even though you have died. (Hebrews 11:4) As always, thank you for your generosity to the Lord. As Paul put it to the Corinthians, “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work.” (II Corinthians 9:8) This congregation continues to provide in abundance for many good works, and your generosity helps to make a difference in the lives of people.

— Barry Dagenhart

2016 at a glance Foundations for the Family resumes-Wednesday, January 13

Women’s Ministries Brunch—Saturday, January 9

Family Promise Host Week—January 10-17

Tropical Escape Dance—Saturday, January 23

Ash Wednesday—Wednesday, February 10

Catawba Presbytery Senior High Retreat—March 4-6

Catawba Presbytery Middle School Retreat—March 11-13

First ARP Women’s Retreat—March 11-13

Palm Sunday—Sunday, March 20

Easter—Sunday, March 27

Quest Middle School Conference— June 13-17

Horizon Senior High Conference— June 20-24

Vacation Bible School—June 24-26

Music Conference—July 10-15

Family Bible Conference— July 24-29

The 2016 Flower calendar is available in the T-Hall. Please sign up to honor or remember a loved one by placing flowers in our sanctuary. Following

the services, you may take your arrangement home or have them

delivered to homebound members.

BASKETBALL Practice Schedule Thank you to all those who have volunteered to coach!

We are excited about a great season ahead!

Mondays: 5:30 pm Mite Boys Coaches: John Gettys, Jon Meadows, Chad Ramsey 7:00 pm: Junior Boys Coach: Max Smith

Tuesdays: 6:00 pm: Biddy 6 & 7 Coaches: Bill Nowicki and Mitch Sanders 7:00 pm: Biddy 8 & 9 Coach: Mike Catoe Thursdays: 6:00 pm: Mite Girls Coaches: Bill Nowicki and Mary Karen Meadows Senior Boys Coach: Jerem y Ghent (practice tim e TBD)

CBA games are scheduled to begin January 8-9, 2016

John Revell Basketball Tournament December 16-19

(exact days/time TBD after teams register)

Middle & High School Students have a great outreach opportunity to serve concessions at our upcoming John Revell Tournament— mark your calendars and keep your eyes and ears open for more information!

Continue to pray for our daughter church and for the Stover Family during this Advent season.

During the month of December, we will be updating information for our

church records and for the 2016 Non-pictorial Church Directory.

Help us be good stewards of our resources and communicate better with

you and your family by letting us know of any changes in your contact

information.

Church Office Holiday Hours The church office will be closed Thursday, December 24 and remain closed Christmas Day. The office will also close at 3:00 pm on Thursday, December 31 and be closed Friday, January 1, 2016. All financial contributions must be received by 3:00 pm Thursday, December 31 to be counted for the year 2015.

Many thanks to the volunteers who made our October Family

Promise week a success. Our committee is planning for the

guests who will visit us in 2016. First ARP's first host week is

January 10-17, 2016, and we will soon be giving individuals

and Sunday School classes opportunities to sign up to help

with preparing and serving meals, greeting and interacting

with our guests, staying overnight as hosts and setting up/

cleaning up.

This is important and rewarding work and our committee

welcomes your suggestions and input. For more information,

please talk with: David and Beth Gault, Fran Hancock, Nora

and Eric Madsen, Jan Phillips, Ginger and David Smith,

Marsha and Bill Vogel, and Polly and Wayne Wingate.

"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for

by so doing some people have shown hospitality to

angels without knowing it."

Hebrews 13:2 (NIV)

Please submit information for the next newsletter by December 16.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday

November 29 FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT 9:00 a.m. Acoustic Worship 10:00 a.m. Sunday School 11:00 a.m. Traditional Worship

November 30 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Preschool

1 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Preschool

2 9:00 a.m. Preschool 5:30 p.m. for the Family 7:15 p.m. Adult Choir Rehearsal

6 SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT 9:00 a.m. Acoustic Worship 10:00 a.m. Sunday School 11:00 a.m. Traditional Worship 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. MS D-Group 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. Leadership Training

7 7:00 p.m. WM Circle #3 7:30 p.m. HS Girls D-Group - Grigsby’s Home

8 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Preschool 7:00 p.m. Diaconate Meeting

9 9:00 a.m. Preschool 5:30 p.m. for the Family Meal6:30 p.m. Christmas Program“The Christmas GiftOperation Christmas Child Shoe Box Prayer of Dedication 7:15 p.m. Adult Choir Rehearsal

13 THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT 9:00 a.m. Lessons and Carols 10:00 a.m. Sunday School 11:00 a.m. Lessons and Carols Youth Caroling & Christmas Party

14 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Preschool 7:00 p.m. Session Meeting

15 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Preschool

16 9:00 a.m. Family Chapel9:00 a.m. Preschool

20 FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT 9:00 a.m. Acoustic Worship 10:00 a.m. Sunday School 11:00 a.m. Traditional Worship 6:30 p.m. JUST JOY Christmas Worship in the sanctuary

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27 9:00 a.m. Acoustic Worship 10:00 a.m. Sunday School 11:00 a.m. Traditional Worship

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Additional information about these events may be found within the newsletter or by calling the church office.

Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Preschool 5:30 p.m. Foundations for the Family 7:15 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Adult Choir Rehearsal

3 8:00 a.m. Barry Dagenhart Prayer Team 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Preschool 10:00 a.m. WM Circle #2 12:00 p.m. John Gettys and John Sloop Prayer Teams 7:00 p.m. WM Circle #1

4 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Preschool

5

9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Preschool 5:30 p.m. Foundations for the Family Meal 6:30 p.m. Children ’s Christmas Program The Christmas Gift”

Operation Christmas Child Shoe Box Prayer of Dedication 7:15 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Adult Choir Rehearsal

10 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Preschool 7:00 p.m. HS Boys D-Group - Grigsby’s Home

11 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Preschool 12:00 p.m. HARPS Christmas Luncheon at the City Club

12 7:00 a.m. Men’s Fellowship Breakfast 11:00 a.m. Operation Christmas Child Center

9:00 a.m. Preschool Family Chapel 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Preschool

17 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Preschool Dorothy Day Soup Kitchen

18 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Preschool

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24 5:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Candlelight Service 9:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

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January 1, 2016

To schedule an event, please contact the

church office.

OFFICE CLOSED OFFICE CLOSED

OFFICE CLOSED

John Revell Basketball Tournament