first pres magazine march/april 2012

Dear Friends at First Pres,Easter is April 8th this year, which is a wonderfully normal date for Easter. In 2007 we celebrated Easter on that exact date. In 2008, we celebrated Easter on March 23rd, the second earliest date it could possibly be and that won’t happen again until the year 2160. The earliest Easter can be is March 22nd and the last time Easter fell

on that date was 1818 and won’t do so again until 2238. Last year (2011) we had Easter on April 24, which is the second to latest date

Easter ever comes. It was 1943, the last time Easter fell on the latest possible date, April 25th, and that won’t happen again until 2038. So I am relieved we are at a normal date again.

Easter is called a moveable feast because the date moves every year. Why does the date for Easter move around so much?

Easter is set on the first Sunday following the paschal full moon. The paschal full moon is the first full moon that falls after the vernal or spring equinox (March 21). Likely that is more than you wanted

to know about dates for Easter, but I do love those kinds of facts.

I encourage all of you to participate in some way in the Journey to the Cross. If you haven’t

already signed up for daily devotionals, you can go to www.first-pres.org/journey. The daily devotionals also

include specific activities for families and individuals. During Holy Week we will have daily worship services including the noon services which will be livestreamed, as well as our own version of Stations of the Cross. Check the website or pick up a schedule from the church to know more about these things.

Last, our Sanctuary choir joins the Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestra to bring a Good Friday concert at

the Pikes Peak Center. Conducted by Josep Cabelle-Domenech, choral works include Lux Aeterna by Morten Lauridsen and excerpts from Brahms’ Requiem. Tickets are available at the Pikes Peak Center Box office (or Tickets West). What a great gift to our city.

Stay connected this Lenten season. We are called to live in relationship with each other and with Christ.

In Christ,

Jim Singleton, Senior Pastor First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs

contentsA Journey Like No Other 4 Katie Dayton

What is the Purpose of Your Life? 6 Paul Batura

What is Kingdom Living to You? 7

Ready Set Go! 8 Becky Armstrong

Get to Know Your Pastors 9

God, Please Help Me 10 Hugh Eaton

Meet Your 2011–2012 Elders 11

MAR/APR 2012

Contributing Writers: Becky Armstrong, Paul Batura, Katie Dayton, Hugh Eaton

Contributing Editors: Becky Armstrong, Pam Bland, Alison Murray

Graphic Design: Beryl Glass

Photographers: Becky Armstrong, Mark Rantal

Proofreading Team: Mary Bauman, Chris Dellacroce, Daisy Jackson, Betty Haney, Marty Kelley, Karen Kunstle, Gretchen Murphy-Bowman, Linda Pung

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, © 1984 International Bible Society Used by permission of Zondervan All rights reserved

First Pres Magazine March/April 2012, Volume Four, © First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs, CO Published by First Presbyterian Church, a non-profit organization

To contact First Pres Magazine: 719-884-6231 or 219 E Bijou Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80903-1392 or magazine@first-pres org Printed in the U S A

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ur church is again going deeper this Lenten season by participating in Journey to the Cross, a fundamentally-simple idea, to walk closely with our Savior Jesus

as he walks the way of the cross. Journey to the Cross is about pursuing Christ together. It’s a journey to the very heart of

our God. It’s a journey where we seek to align our lives with God’s heart and purposes.There are five main components of Journey to the Cross and you can choose to partici-

pate in some, or all. First, there are daily devotionals where as a church we immerse ourselves in God’s Word. Sign up to receive the devotionals via email at www.first-pres.org/journey, each devotional has specific actions for engaging God’s word that can be done individually, as a family or group.

Second, we encourage all participants to become part of a small community where you can process what God is saying to you and discern how God is calling you to respond. When you sign up for the devotionals online, be sure to select the small communities option if you are interested.

By Katie Dayton

3-4/12 | www.first-pres.org | 5

Third, during Holy Week, there will be “Stations of the Cross” set up around Colo-rado Springs. All participants will be encour-aged to visit a few of these stations, places like Dale House and Solid Rock—places where our Savior is making himself known. Some of the stations will be family-friendly and some will be more appropriate for adults to visit.

The fourth component will be gathering as a community in worship, including the Ash Wednesday service and mid-day worship services during Holy Week. This year we will also have a special worship service on Sunday, Feb. 26th at 6:30 p.m. in 225 N. Weber. At this service, we will participate with churches around the world in something called Free-dom Sunday. Reflecting on the freedom we have in Christ, we will consider how we are called as Jesus’ people to respond to the 27 million modern day slaves in our world today who are caught in human trafficking.

Finally, we will conclude with a powerful Reflection and Celebration Potluck on Wednes-day, April 11th in the Sheldon-Jackson room.

You may wonder how an investment of your time in the Journey to the Cross might affect you. Well, one of the many participants in last year’s journey, Trudy Strewler-Hodges, shared her thoughts in a letter. Trudy is a member of our church and also the Executive Director at C.A.S.A. (Court Appointed Special Advocate), which was one of the “stations of the cross” on last year’s Journey.

“…I personally was deeply touched that members of my church cared enough about the suffering of child abuse victims in our community

that they would open their lives and hearts to enter into this suffering with us, and with Christ during Holy week. Child abuse is a topic we would just as soon avoid, it happens in someone else’s family, and it is frankly easier for us to stay in our own safe and secure space. But you who took this journey opened your hearts and minds to learn of the pain and suffering of others and you carried that pain to the cross on Good Friday, just as Christ did. I was deeply touched by you and spent a good part of that week weeping, because I felt your love, support and prayers. I felt my church sharing in and carrying the burden with me, which meant so much to me personally. Your caring hearts lifted mine.”

During this Lenten season, I pray God would show us what it means to be people of the cross. As we visit the stations during Holy Week and move out into places of brokenness in our city, I pray that we would see the move-ment of our Savior and catch a vision for God’s Kingdom purposes for this city. As we study God’s word and gather in small communities, I pray that God would transform us and abso-lutely have his way in us.

In all of this, may the cry of the Apostle Paul be on our lips as well, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, some-how, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11). May we know Christ more, may we love Christ more because of this journey with him to the cross. Katie Dayton has served on staff since 2008 and is the Associate Pastor of Missional Strategies.


If our priorities are best reflected by what we spend our money on, could our deeply held desires be best revealed in what we read? Since its release in 2002, Rick Warren’s

book, The Purpose Driven Life, has sold more than 30 million copies. For context, the aver-age new book in the United States sells just 500. Warren’s work obviously struck a nerve. Why? At the very core of it all, people desper-ately want to know not only why they’re here —but what it is they’ve been placed here by God to do.

Can you answer that latter question to your own satisfaction? To do so is to discover and define what “Kingdom living” means to you.

For First Pres’ Graphic Designer Mark Rantal, “Kingdom Living” isn’t just about creating beautiful images that please the eye. It’s about investing in the lives of the first and second-grade children’s choir. It’s about help-ing six and seven year-olds see God’s love through laughter and zany antics.

For Tim York, head usher at the 9:45 service in the sanctuary, it’s about making even the loneliest person feel loved and appreciated. It’s about being a friend to the friendless.

For Tracy Elpers, a devoted dad, Elder on Session and member of the Co-Pastor search committee, it’s about giving up his precious free time in order to help find the next senior shepherd of the First Pres flock.

For my wife, Julie Batura, a wonderful mother to our young children and a member of Big Blue, it’s about tenderly leading a Bible study for women who are struggling to find their way through the agonizing and confus-ing world of infertility.

In short, to experience “Kingdom Living” is to recognize that we were made by and for God. It’s to identify and pursue the purpose of your life. It’s to embrace the belief that the only two things that are going to last forever are the “word of God and the souls of men.”

What is thePURPOSE OF YOUR LIFE?

By Paul Batura


Ali Jo Forester Greenhouse, Senior High Youth Intern & Boys & Girls Club leader at a local elementary“Kingdom Living is a life-style of opening your heart to serving where God has

called you. In some sense it is giving your life away so others can find theirs. For me it is high school kids; they have always been my element. Through my part-time Greenhouse job, I have come to find that if I can show all kids they are loved, they don’t struggle when they get to high school.”

Curtis Holloway Usher for over 20 years “I love greeting people. What else can I do to show my love for God and appre-ciation for what He has done for me?”

Chris Sebby First Pres Assis-tant for Music Administration“It (Kingdom Living) is easier to talk about than to do. Life gets in the way and you can lose focus on the things you want to be focused on.”

Susan Crofton Nurse “Culture can make it (King-dom Living) difficult and people living for the culture can make it difficult.

Working in the medical field I have come to admire doctors and nurses who will pray with their patients. I wear a ring with a cross on it and if a patient asks me about it, then I offer to pray with them.”

Christine Weems Member since 1979, and volunteer in many areas, including Children’s Minis-tries and Stephen Ministry. “I volunteer (with Sunday school) because I feel called by God. I don’t do anything

unless I talk to God first. I invest in the next generation and I am blessed to see how God works. I can share with the children the stuff that happened to me when I was growing up; not being allowed to walk into a certain hotel or people who didn’t want my kids in their house because they were black. We need to learn that we are all God’s creation. Where God is, there is no room for hatred.”

Belle Brown Member since 1946, volunteered “just about everywhere in the church,” but most recently in the Welcome Center and Stephen Ministry. “I just serve God because that is what the Lord leads me to do. I get blessed in doing this. It is my second family. When my husband died, I didn’t give up, so I wouldn’t give up on my church either. You know, no church is perfect, because we are all human.”

Dakota Bauman Senior High Worship Team & Caper-naum volunteer. (Capernaum is a Young Life outreach to chil-dren with disabilities.) “King-dom Living is a reminder we are all God’s people and

this is what we are called to do. Music is a passion of mine and I just want to do it for the right reason.”

What Is KINGDOM

LIVING to You?

By Paul Batura


SO YOU’RE CONVINCED. You have listened to the sermons over the last several months and are inspired by the ways others are using their God-given talents How does one get started living for the Kingdom? Chances are … you already are!

Many of us can relate to Route 56 Director Collin Grant when he shares, “For me, Kingdom Living is not so much about finding something new to add to my schedule, but instead it’s about seeing what I am already doing through a Kingdom lens I believe that God has been at work to place me in my neighborhood and on the sidelines of a soccer field several times a week, so I trust that God can use me in those places I am asking God to make those places my mission field and to give me opportunities wherever I find myself to love people and bring Him glory ”

I believe the key to Kingdom Living for many of us is to be available for God’s use

every day Ask God to allow you to be more aware of the opportunities he puts before you, and then don’t be afraid to act: open the door for a customer behind you at the coffee shop, return the neighbor’s runaway dog or make time to listen to a neighbor’s woes at the mailbox It may be something comfort-able, and perhaps it won’t be Here are a few ideas for getting started:

PRAYER Seek how God would want you to get involved

ACTION Start with something If, after time, it doesn’t feel right, then try some-thing else

COMFORT ZONE God may call you to work in an area of your interest Or he may call you out of your comfort zone, so you can be more reliant on Him

For more ideas on how you might serve at First Pres, contact Judy Bosin, Director of Involve-ment Ministry at 884-6162.

ready ... set ... go!

Join our own Sanctuary Choiras it partners with the

Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Josep Caballé-Domench

Good Friday, April 6, 8:00 pm

at the Pikes Peak Center Tickets at the Pikes Peak Box Office or Tickets West

PASSION | LIGHT ETERNAL

By Becky Armstrong


“I am becoming increasingly aware of my need for Jesus. As a husband and father of three young boys, I often find myself acknowledging that my own strength fizzles out pretty quickly. I also find

this to be the case as a worship leader. However, the call of Christ comes to encourage me in John 15, “Abide in me and I in you, and you will bear much fruit.” It gives me hope to know that ‘the fruit’ will come, if I would only make time for my Maker.”

—Matt Holtzman, Worship Leader

“As our faith family here at First Pres is going through a time of major transition, calling a new Senior Pastor and making decisions about leaving the PCUSA, God is filling me with a deep sense of trust that he will faithfully guide us and fulfill his good plan for us. I also believe that he will use all we are experiencing to draw us more deeply into his word and closer to himself. My response must be grace-filled toward everyone as we move forward together.”

—Nancy Maffett, Director of Caring Ministries

“God is calling me to see more vividly and feel more deeply. He is refreshing within me the wonders of his natural world and the relationships all around me I am privileged to enjoy.”

—Jim DeJarnette, Director of Worship

“God has been confirm-ing a lot of things in me as of late. The joy I’ve had in welcoming my first nephew into the world helped confirm my call to children! What a joy to

see my brother become a father. I have seen God’s encouragement in amazing ways too. The Connection’s curriculum team has been a major answer to prayer! They have been working diligently throughout this year to help develop our rotation curriculum.”

—Danny Shaw, Children’s Ministry

“Here are two ways God is working on me right now. One thing I am learning (re-learning, to be honest) is about my faith in God’s sovereignty. Do I really believe and trust God? With all the change and uncertainty ahead, do I really trust God knows about it, cares about it, is involved with it? Yes, I do. But I also feel stretched. Even though I am hope-ful about so much of it, I am tested every day to believe and trust the Lord. The second way is regarding Sabbath and rest. I rolled through a full Advent and had two consecutive weeks of travel in January, and God is now quietly whispering words like “rest” and “breathe”. Not that I have done a great job of it … yet. But I have heard his invitation.”

—Joe Farrell, Associate Pastor of Young Adult and Marriage

Question: What is God currently doing in your life?

Get to Know Your Pastor

Join our own Sanctuary Choiras it partners with the

Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Josep Caballé-Domench

Good Friday, April 6, 8:00 pm

at the Pikes Peak Center Tickets at the Pikes Peak Box Office or Tickets West


Do you remember the old song titled “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden?” Most of us realize that even rose bushes have

thorns, and even we Christians, as we try to live acceptable Kingdom lives, face challenges, ranging from minor irritations to real body-

slams. How do we deal with those situations?

The apostle Paul has some instruction for us. In 2 Corinthi-ans: 12, Paul discloses that while he has been spreading Christianity he has dealt with an

undisclosed “thorn in the flesh” so severe he asked the Lord three times to take it away. God tells him, “… My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul concludes his personal weaknesses have led him to use God’s strength to deal with his problems. Is that good advice for us today?

Jim Chamley and his wife, Gail, were married at First Pres in 1983. Jim is a Deacon and has taught Sunday school. He is a good example of weakness becoming strength, spiritually-speaking.

Jim grew up in North Dakota and thirty-two years ago was living the raucous life of a rodeo cowboy. One night he found himself in a hospital in Kansas City, physically and morally bankrupt.

In the middle of the night on his knees, without any hope, he

screamed out a plea to God for help. Jim says, “God answered my call. The Holy Spirit immediately filled the room and I heard God say, ‘Jim, everything will be OK’. I suddenly felt stronger physically and mentally and went through my back operation without fear.”

“I gave up alcohol and tobacco and got involved in the Fellowship of Christian Cowboys (FCC) movement, and I’m still active in FCC today.”

But sometimes after the blessing, another battle appears. In 1999 Jim was away on a business trip when he got word his son, Alan, had died. Jim says, “Losing a child was the hardest thing I’ve ever dealt with.” But he had given his soul to God and says “My faith, the support of Gail and friends, a Cursillo (Pilgrimage) weekend retreat, and the Grief Workshop—all godly sources of strength—sustained me through this tragedy.”

In Kingdom Living, among the blessings, we may find some giants we have to wrestle with to get what we need to complete our crown of righteousness. But “If God is for us, who can be against us?”Hugh Eaton is a regular contributor to First Pres Magazine and a founding member of First Pres North.

God, Please By Hugh EatonHelp Me


DICK SCHULTZ

First Pres’ warm atmosphere and Bible-based teaching first attracted Dick Schultz and his wife, Jackie, fifteen years ago. They continue to love FPC, and serve the church in a variety of ways. Professionally, Dick has been involved in sports coaching and management most of his life—including leadership positions in the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the United States Olympic Committee. He is now the Chairman and CEO of International Partnerships LLC, spending much of his time in China, with both Chinese and U.S. clients. He has always been active in community and Christian activities, including Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the CEO Forum, a Christian ministry to over 200 Fortune 500 CEO’s in the United States, and nearly 200 in Asia. In his free time, Dick enjoys gardening and yard work. His favorite books are those by Henry and Richard Blackaby.

AN ELDER, SOMETIMES CALLED A RULING ELDER to differentiate between those ordained and called to preach and minister, serves on the body called the Session and their role is to watch over the business of the church. Within the body of Elders, some serve specifically as Trustees or with the First Pres Foundation. An Elder serves a three year term. First Pres has 21 Elders with seven Elders turning over each year. The Elders in partnership with the Senior Staff Leadership determine the path of our church.

For information and updates from our Elders, meeting notes and Elder news go to first-pres.org/elders.

MEET YOUR 2011–2012 ELDERS

LINDY KEFFER

Lindy Keffer is a farm kid, originally from southwest Ohio. She has been attending First Pres since 1999. Lindy met her husband, Josh, in the Bridges ministry, and they were married at First Pres in 2004. Daughter Lorien was born in 2009 and son Josiah in 2011. The Keffers enjoy being a part of a small group of First Pres couples that has been meeting together for more than four years. They regularly attend the 9:45 Fellowship Hall service, and Lindy occasionally lends her voice to the worship team in that service and the 11:10. Lindy works with college students at the Focus Leadership Institute, Focus on the Family. She rates a coffee shop on the merits of its mocha and enjoys photography and being outdoors in the Colorado sunshine. Her favorite book is A Severe Mercy by Shel-don VanAuken, and her favorite movie changes on a regular basis.


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first pres magazine march/april 2012

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