2929 Selwyn Avenue Charlotte, NC 28209, Tel: 7042929 Selwyn Avenue Charlotte, NC 28209, Tel: 704--372372--6836, 6836, www.selwynpres.org

Selwyn Avenue Presbyterian Church Selwyn Avenue Presbyterian Church

THE SELWYN SPIRETHE SELWYN SPIRE May 2019May 2019

The Six Great Ends of the Church are statements created to guide the vision and mission of the Presbyterian Church. Together at Selwyn we take these guiding principles seriously.

The proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind

The shelter, nurture and spiritual fellowship of the children of God

The maintenance of divine worship

The preservation of the truth

The promotion of social righteousness

The exhibition of the kingdom of heaven to the world

The last of these precisely and clearly defines the mission of our church. Sounds daunting, but on a good day we catch glimpses of God’s Reign in the many ways we do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God and our neighbors. If we pay attention, group study, communal worship and our care for one another also reveal a God of majesty, love and grace. How do we at Selwyn exhibit God’s Reign? How do we do, what we believe? A few years ago the Selwyn session claimed the values our church strives to embody. They include:

Joy. Hospitality. A boundless care for all those we encounter. Living in covenant with one another. Inter-generational community. Honoring the uniqueness of each. Openness and transparency. A willingness to have the hard and honest conversation. Maintaining theological integrity. Sharing stories of mission together. Proclaiming the Gospel with how we live.

Selwyn has a history of nurturing emerging leaders within our denomination as an expression of our identity. By encouraging our own seminary students, partnering with Union Presbyterian Seminary, and supporting specific theological publications, we are indeed expressing our identity. This connectionalism can often lead us to host seminary interns as well. A few years ago, I was invited to travel to Scotland with a small team of 12 North Carolinian pastors to participate in a small symposium alongside 12 Scottish pastors. The life-giving experience forged lasting friendships. Last summer one of the Scottish pastors asked Selwyn to consider hosting a seminarian from the Church of Scotland. After months of praying and planning, Josh Milton will be joining the Selwyn community for a 10-week summer placement, beginning June 2.

Josh has years of experience working with youth and families in churches near the city of Stirling. He has also served alongside the Parish Minister of Cambusbarren in worship leadership, teaching and pastoral care. Born and raised in India, Josh enjoyed a successful career in media, film and music production prior to settling in the U.K and moving toward a vocation of ministry. With creativity Josh has found many ways to incorporate those gifts in his ministerial work. Josh is energetic and hopeful and his persistence is evident in both the arc of his life and his ability to navigate the many nuances of an overseas placement!

Josh hopes to engage and know as many of our members and community partners as possible. He will focus on how the church partners with our neighbors in mission and how we equip and connect with our youth. He will travel with our youth on the Appalachian Service Project and to Montreat for the Youth Conference. Josh will also join our efforts at the Montclaire Freedom School. Other days will be spent exploring sister churches, Union Presbyterian Seminary, worship, music and teaching.

In the midst of his busy schedule, we hope to wrap the Milton family in ‘the Selwyn Spirit.’ Malyn and Vince Pratt have graciously offered their home for the month of July when Josh’s wife, Rachel, and their four-year-old daughter, Ava, will arrive. Otherwise, when Josh is not traveling with the youth in June, he will be staying with my family.

Please pray for the Milton family as they prepare to ‘hop the pond’ and consider how you specifically might offer them a Selwyn welcome.

A few ideas:

Serve on the Milton’s support team, planning hospitality and care throughout their stay.

Meet with Josh; tell him about your faith and your experience with the church.

Introduce Josh to our Charlotte community partners, by inviting him to meetings or to take a tour.

Invite The Milton’s into the groups of our congregation or host a fellowship gathering to engage them.

Seek them out! Share a pew, set up play dates or walks, or take them to the park or pool.

Contact Lori if you would like to serve in these ways or if you have other ideas. We are organizing a schedule now and will try to make it all happen!

CONGREGATIONAL LIFE

In Nursing or Retirement Home Aldersgate - Dick Metzler

Asbury Health Center - Dottie Metzler

Carriage Club - Margaret Cunningham, Mildred Long, Chan and Sallye Richards, Herman Thomas

Charlotte Square - La Melle Hagerty

Plantation Estates - Anne McMackin, Cara Munday, Anne Rutherford

Sharon Towers - Richard and Joan Foard

Southminster - Art Jones, Bobbye Linn

The Cypress - Bill and Nancy Budd, Bobby Davis, Jean Rea

Waltonwood Cotswold - Mary Faye Proctor

Births Charlotte Avery Ward, granddaughter of Al and Sue Ward, on April 10, 2019

Deaths Jane Greene, sister of Hiram Greene, aunt of Whitney Loder, on April 1, 2019

Rupert Theodore Hall, father of David Hall and Lynne Wakefield, on April 21, 2019

SAPC BOOK CLUB will meet at 6:30pm on May 21 at Sir Edmond Halley’s.

This month’s selection is Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.

Questions, contact Beth Ramsey, 704-840-9433.

SALT SHAKERS will meet on Sunday, May 5, 6:30pm, at the home of Jim and Terry Glen, 2016 Ferncliff Road.

Questions, contact Malyn Pratt.

AA MEETINGS

Selwyn is the host site for two weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

Mondays from noon-1pm in the Bates House and Wednesdays from 8-10pm in the

Fellowship Hall.

All are welcome to attend.

Please direct any questions to Metrolina AA Intergroup,

704- 377-0244 or 704-332-4387.

CHILD PROTECTION TRAINING

Please plan to attend on Sunday, May 5, following worship in the Fellowship Hall. All volunteers working with nursery, children, and youth should have this training and renew it every three years. This includes those working at Montclaire

FROM THE STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE

Pledges are still being collected for the Giving With Glad and Generous Hearts 2019 Stewardship campaign. While the pledge budget has been set for 2019, there is still a need for $60,000 in Stewardship pledges to meet the goal. To date, $661,925 has been pledged by 52% of the Selwyn households. Please consider renewing your commitment to Selwyn. It is not too late to make a difference in the life of our church through the Stewardship campaign. To make your pledge, email Tonya Moore. Thank you to everyone who has already supported Selwyn’s ministries with your pledge. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Jamie Yearwood, Andy Johnston, Andy Burgin.

The next meeting will be in the Bates House Parlor on May 19 after worship.

Contact Anne Rutherford, 704-341-7585.

COLLEGE GRADUATES AND FAMILIES

If you or a family member will graduate from college or from graduate school this spring we would like to hear from you.

Please contact Lawson, office@selwynpres.org or call 704-372-6836 by May 19 with your name, college, and your degree.

This information will be printed in the June Spire newsletter.

PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN

PROJECT FOR MAY

In 1922 Hallie Winsborough, superintendent of women’s work, visited Miss Dowd’s School

for Girls in Kochi, Japan. Realizing their needs she challenged the Women of the

Church to give one penny for each year of their lives or $1.00 as a “birthday gift” to that

mission. Since then the Presbyterian Women have collected the Birthday Offering to support

projects which vary from the Good News Shelter in Seoul, Korea to the Residence for

Kids in Dublin, Georgia.

This offering is collected at May Circle Meetings.

Due to construction, please call the church office for entry, 704-372-6836, during weekday office hours. When parking in the small lot, please be mindful you will need to walk around the construction area on the pathway through the grass or use the sidewalk at the street.

On the outside at the front of the office building, footings were poured and beams were installed for the new portico.

The new Welcome Center area and Old Session room have been demoed to accommodate changes in the walls and behind the scene systems, including electrical and installation of new HVAC systems. Chair rails were removed in the hallways. New stair treads have been installed from the hallway down to the nursery area.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION AND FORMATION

Spring Fling - April 25, 2019 We came; we saw; we made rainsticks and birdfeeders; tasted honey; munched on chicken

nuggets, tangerines, lemon and lime pie; and left with balloon snakes, swans, and swords. Oh! what fun we had flinging spring!

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL, 9:30AM

Choose from one of the two classes being offered:

Wired for Worship, Fellowship Hall – Why do we worship every week? What is behind the way Presbyterians worship? Explore gathering together, prayer and confession, the sacraments, and more.

White Fragility, Grace Room – If you squirm when the word

“racism” is mentioned, if your heart is broken by the impact racism has had on society, or if you aren’t sure what to do or say, join this honest conversation. Participants will read

White Fragility the book by Robin DiAngelo and commit to attending at least three of the four classes.

DAUGHTERS OF FAITH Young women are invited to meet with Lori Raible at 11am on Wednesdays. The class will resume on May 8. A meeting is also held at 7pm one Monday night each month. The next evening meeting is Monday, May 20 at the home of Deni Pifer.

CHILDREN’S SUNDAY SCHOOL THROUGH MAY

The theme is Love Is…

The children will study the 13th chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. The passage is suited for life together in community.

In love, we bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things.

Join us at 9:30am on Sundays.

MISSION

Contact Ellen Harris to sign up. ellengreerharris@gmail.com

ANNUAL YOUTH BOOK DRIVE, MAY 5 - 19

The youth will be collecting children's books for Montclaire Elementary and Freedom School, as well as young adult and adult books for Habitat for Humanity. Collection bins will be in the Spire hallway beginning May 5.

STOP HUNGER AT MONTCLAIRE ELEMENTARY

Please help to feed some of the Montclaire children and families who are experiencing ongoing hunger. Through May 5, the Mission Group would appreciate your donations of cereal, oatmeal, peanut butter, fruit cups, breakfast bars/granola bars, dry beans, rice tortillas. Please place items in the specified bins in the Spire hallway.

READING MENTOR TRAINING - MAY 7, 5:30-6:45PM, MORRISON REGIONAL LIBRARY

RSVP needed, seating is limited, http://events.cmlibrary.org/eventsignup.asp?ID=308657.

JUST JESUS: FROM SOCIAL JUSTICE TO SOCIAL CHANGE

The May 5 and 6, 6:30pm public lecture series will explore the importance of converting a passion for social justice into a movement for social change. On May 5, the Rev. Traci Blackmon, Executive Minister of Justice and Local Church Ministries for The United Church of Christ and Senior Pastor of Christ The King United Church of Christ in Florissant, Missouri will lecture in the Myers Park Baptist Church sanctuary. Rev. Jim Wallis, president and founder of Sojourners, a social justice ministry, and the editor-in-chief of the ministry’s magazine, will lecture on May 6, in the Myers Park Presbyterian Church’s sanctuary. A reception will follow each lecture. Sponsored by Union Presbyterian Seminary’s Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation.

RISE ABOVE: BECOMING A HEALER IN AN AILING WORLD

You are invited to hear Dr. Jonathan Haidt on May 7, 7-8:30pm at First Presbyterian Church. The Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at the NYU-Stern School of Business will offer ideas to help rise above the issues that divide us. The Willard Lecture reflects the common goal of nurturing and deepening our relationship with God and one another. The cost of the lecture is $10. Order tickets online, www.firstpres-charlotte.org/event/2019-willard-lecture/ Free childcare for ages birth to 5th grade, reservations required.

WORSHIP

FROM THE WORSHIP GROUP If your child truly needs to step out of the worship service, please have them do so during a hymn if at all possible. This will minimize distractions for others. Please refrain from bringing food or drink in the sanctuary, especially during worship. In an effort to streamline the recycling of our church bulletins, we ask that after each service you please drop your bulletins in the basket by the outside doors to the Narthex as you leave the sanctuary.

MOTHER’S DAY CHOIR RETURNS Mothers, daughters, sons, sisters, and brothers are invited to sing on May 12. An easy gospel piece “He Has Done Marvelous Things” will be rehearsed that morning. Since it is Mother’s Day, all mothers and their children are invited to participate: all you need is to be a mother or have one, and a willing spirit! No singing experience necessary. Please contact Fred for more information.

HELP A CHILD CLIMB TO THE TOP Freedom School Runs June 17 - July 25 Help a child at Montclaire Freedom School fight "summer slide", the summer learning loss that hobbles children in poverty. If you volunteer just one time, you'll give a child a boost. Volunteers can sign up to listen to a child read (DEAR Buddy), provide snacks or supplies and more.

MAY BIRTHDAYS

CALENDAR

Wednesday, May 1 6:15 Handbells (B) 8:00 AA Meeting (FH) Thursday, May 2 10:30 CDC Chapel Friday, May 3 6:00 Youth Game Night (BH) Saturday, May 4 1:00 Youth Sunday Rehearsal (S) Sunday, May 5 9:00 Elder Training (SH) 9:30 Youth Sunday Rehearsal (S) 9:30 Sunday School for All 10:30 Youth Sunday Worship (S) 11:30 Administration Group (BH) 11:30 Child Protection Training (FH) 11:30 Personnel Committee (GR) 5:00 Combined Youth Group (BH) 5:30 Mission Group (GR) 6:30 Salt Shakers (Glen’s) Monday, May 6 11:30 PW Circle 1 (Emily Cox’s) 12:00 AA Meeting (BH) 7:00 Boy Scouts (SH) Tuesday, May 7 10:30 PW Circle 2 (BH) 10:30 PW Circle 3 (BH) 7:00 PW Circle 4 7:15 BSA Troop Committee (SH) Wednesday, May 8 11:00 Daughters of Faith (GR) 6:15 Handbells (B) 6:30 Cub Scouts (SH) 8:00 AA Meeting (FH) Thursday, May 9 10:30 CDC Chapel

Friday, May 10 7:00 Men’s Group (BH) Sunday, May 12 9:00 Mother’s Day Choir (S) 9:00 Elder Training (SH) 9:30 Sunday School for All 10:30 Worship with Senior Recognition (S) Monday, May 13 12:00 AA Meeting (BH) 7:00 Boy Scouts (SH) Tuesday, May 14 5:30 Girl Scouts (SH) 6:30 New Elder Dinner Retreat (Raible’s) Wednesday, May 15 11:00 Daughters of Faith (GR) 6:15 Handbells (B) 8:00 AA Meeting (FH) Thursday, May 16 10:30 CDC Chapel Saturday, May 18 6:30 Just Friends (Townley Moon’s) Sunday, May 19 9:00 Chancel Choir (S) 9:00 Elder Training (SH) 9:30 Sunday School for All 10:15 Session Meeting (GR) 10:30 Worship with Baptism (S) 11:30 Session Meeting (FH) 11:30 Prayer Shawl Meeting (BH) 5:00 Combined Youth Group (King’s)

Monday, May 20 12:00 AA Meeting (BH) 7:00 Boy Scouts (SH) 7:00 Daughters of Faith (Pifer’s) Tuesday, May 21 6:30 SAPC Book Club (Sir Edmond Halley’s) Wednesday, May 22 11:00 Daughters of Faith (GR) 6:15 Handbells (B) 6:30 Cub Scouts (SH) 8:00 AA Meeting (FH) Thursday, May 23 10:30 CDC Chapel Friday, May 24 7:00 Men’s Group (BH) Sunday, May 26 9:00 Chancel Choir (S) 9:30 Sunday School for All 10:30 Worship (S) Monday, May 27 Church Office and Child Development Center Closed 9:00 Spire Deadline 12:00 AA Meeting (BH) Wednesday, May 29 8:00 AA Meeting (FH)

Church Office Hours:

9am-5pm Mon.-Thurs., 9am-1pm Fri.

(BH) - Bates House (BHP) - Bates House Parlor (BHB) - Bates House Back Room (B) - Bowman Building (FH) - Fellowship Hall (GR) - Grace Room (S) - Sanctuary (SH) - Scout Hut

1 Bailey King

2 Pam Brownlee Connor Simmons

3 Tate Arrington Abong Fankam

4 Lorelie Moorefield

5 Bob Summers

6 Jodie Bolewitz

7 Sumter Cox Meg Dewey

8 Matthew Sontag

10 David Hall Harrison Rea

11 Dean Ferguson Stratford Kiger Blake Partridge Hank Thrasher

12 Lindsay Craig Betty Gamble Lawson Simmons

13 Kit Daily Carolyn Miller Samantha Salton Charles Wakefield

14 Jack Martin Billy Nauman Colleen Williams

15 Brian Hackman Sarah Rea Jennifer Sweet

16 Grey McLennan Tonya Moore

17 Steele Dewey

18 Nancy Bobbitt

19 Andrea DePhillips August Ollek Harrison Ollek

20 Matt Baskerville Sue McCarter Jim Sanders Cate Schoeneck

22 Mills Roush Glenn Sedam

23 Mary Skibinski

24 Mark Northan

25 Ethan Astroth Quentin Cooper Nan Howard

26 Adam Piacentino Alex Russell John Tibe

27 Ginny Burgin Ainsley Childs Brodie Childs Ben Muldrew

28 Kitty Young

30 Chris Bahr Liza Horne Marsha Thrasher

31 Georgia Aaron Holden Bolewitz Kipp Kiger Drew Thrasher

THE SELWYN COMMUNITY ONLINE

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church, photos, announcements and updates.

Log onto Facebook, search for Selwyn Avenue Presbyterian

Church, typing http://blck.by/2cWheeo into your

browser, or use the QR code shown.

(QR Code Reader app or tech-savvy child required!)

SELWYN AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

2929 SELWYN AVENUE

CHARLOTTE, NC 28209-1734

X

YOUTH NEWS

* Youth Sunday is Sunday, May 5 - The youth will lead us in worship and the Confirmands will join.

* Combined Youth Group, May 5 at 5pm.

* High School Senior Recognition is May 12 (Mother's Day). No evening Youth Group.

* Final Youth Group, May 19, 5-7pm. Dinner at Bailey and Hannah King’s.

SAPC STAFF

Rush Otey, Pastor

Lori Raible, Pastor

Mary Bowman, Associate Pastor for Mission

Lisa McLennan, Parish Associate

Kim Lee, Director of Children’s and Family Ministries

Jay Masanotti, Youth Director

Fred Spano, Director of Music

Gay Pappin, Organist

Marsha Cooper, Church Administrator

Lawson Caldwell, Administrative Assistant

Tonya Moore, Church Accountant

Reba Hardaway, Accounting Administrative Assistant

Jessica Masanotti, Communications Specialist

Steve Stevenson, Facilities Coordinator

Beth Sharpe, Director of Child Development Center

GROUP CHAIRS

Administration - Matt Baskerville

Child Development Center - Jamie Yearwood

Christian Education and Formation - Todd Muldrew

Congregational Life - Christy Parbst

Mission - David Caldwell/Ashley Armistead

Worship - Pam Brownlee