Worship Committee

Join us for Rally Sunday on September 10! We will celebrate with a single worship service at 9:30 AM followed by fellowship, food, and fun. It’s a time to re-energize and re-engage in the vital life of the church. Hope to see you there and don't forget to wear your church t-shirt, if you have one!

The Worship Committee is seeking volunteers to read the scripture selection at all services on Sunday mornings. The signup sheet is on the table in the Narthex.

We hope everyone is enjoying having coffee available on Sunday mornings! We still need a person or persons to clean up the pots after the 11am service. There is a signup sheet in the small kitchen.

Links of Love: Many thanks for your wonderful help in donating to the VBS offering! $502 was raised, half of which ($252) will buy 105 Bibles thru Operation Kid-to-Kid. The other half ($250) will buy a set of 5 chickens for each of 10 families thru the Presbyterian Giving Catalog. That’s an amazing total of 502 Links of Love!

Dignity Items: Also, many thanks for all the dignity items (tees, sweat pants, undies, and socks) you donated for boys and girls ages 5-10 in Kindergarten thru 5th grade. These items were distributed among Bloomer, College View, Franklin, and Kreft schools.

Special thanks are due to Sarah Young for producing a wonderful directory for us. Now we can learn who everyone is at New Horizon! Thank you, Sarah!

Mark your calendars! Our Fall Adopt-A-Street trash pickup will be Sunday, October 1, at 4:00. We pick up along McPherson Avenue from Bennett to Ferndale. Bags, gloves, grabbers, and safety vests will be provided. Treats to follow!

Fellowship Fun

Ollie the Trolley Tour of Council Bluffs..... still time to sign up for the historic tour of Council Bluffs on September 8th. Registration is required. Meet at the church for a 2:00 p.m. departure, returning at 5pm. You can reserve your spot by contacting Marcia Antworth at 712.545.3285.

Save the date! Join New Horizon Presbyterian Church for a potluck luncheon following the 11am service on October 15. After the luncheon, we are hosting a wonderful guest Speaker, Olesia Repichowskyj. Ms. Repichowskyj lived through the Soviet occupation of Ukraine, being born just a year after the Holodomor, or forced starvation by Stalin. After coming to America at age 15 and learning English on her own, she taught Native American children in South Dakota on the Rose Bud Reservation of the Lakota & Dakota Tribes. She will speak on Ukrainian history and culture.

Outreach Committee

The Outreach Committee is sponsoring a school supply drive in August. It is well known that teachers spend a lot of their own money on supplies for their students and classrooms each year. We would like to support the teachers in our congregation by donating supplies to them for use at their schools. There will be a collection box in the Narthex starting on August 6 through Rally Day, September 10. We welcome any donations, but we are providing a list of specific supplies that our teachers requested. Thank you for supporting this mission and the teachers in our church family! After Rally Day, any teachers in the Congregation may pick up any supplies in the school bus box.

School Supply Wish List

• Expo (brand) black dry erase markers
• Highlighters
• Pre-sharpened #2 pencils
• Audio headphones with cord (not wireless)
• Reusable water bottles
• Packs of washable markers
• Composition notebooks
• Black Sharpie (brand) permanent markers
• Individually wrapped snack items for students (fruit chews, granola bars, etc.)
• Boxes of Kleenex / facial tissue

Musical Mentions

If you would like to be a part of our music family with the Chancel Choir, Bell Choir, Praise Team and Folk String Ensemble, please join us for the potluck on September 6, and rehearsals every Wednesday night.

5:30-6pm: Praise Team Practice

6-6:45pm: Potluck

6:45pm: Choir Practice

The Choir will sing at the Sept 10th Rally Day Service!

The Celebration of Hope 2023 is fast approaching, and we can't contain our excitement! Not only will Sandi Patty and Anita Renfroe be performing - but YOU can sign up to sing in the choir to sing with Sandi Patty! Click here for more information about participating in the choir - the rehearsal dates, and short form to sign up!

Event Details: Thursday, September 21st; 5pm at The Relevant Center, 21220 Elkhorn Drive, Elkhorn, NE

If you sign up to be in the choir, you can come to the event for free! To invite your friends and family to come, please click on and share this site for them to purchase their tickets -- they're only $35 each. If you or your friends can't join us in person, don't worry! The event will be live-streamed, allowing you to experience the joy and inspiration from the comfort of your own home. This Celebration of Hope promises to be an unforgettable experience, uniting hearts and spreading positivity. Mark your calendar and share this wonderful moment with us! For more information and to secure your tickets, click here. Again, to sign up to join the choir, click here.

Thank you for your support, and we're looking forward to celebrating with you!

Cub Scout Corner

It was Back to Pack time in August! Our Scouts spent the night on the field at Werner Park, cleaned up the school yards at Lewis & Clark, Hoover & College View elementaries before Back to School Night, and held our annual Sign Up Night, with several new youth joined the Pack and more will be joining soon! Our popcorn fundraiser is right around the corner, starting September 8. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year, with 73% of each sale going back to the Cub Scouts in our Pack.

PCUSA Calendar Items of Note

World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation

September 1 is the World Day of Prayer for Creation and the start of the Season of Creation. This day of prayer was established by Patriarch Dimitrios I for the Orthodox in 1989, and was then embraced by major Christian European churches in 2001 and by Pope Francis for the Roman Catholic Church in 2015 when he issued a new statement for the day of prayer, calling for a “renewed and sound relationship between humanity and creation”.

The Season of Creation ends on October 4, the Feast of St. Francis and the traditional day for the Blessing of the Animals. Today, Christians around the world unite to pray as one. On World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, the Hunger Program offers the prayer from Laudato Si’ below:

A Prayer for Our Earth

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God…

Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.

Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth.



Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature.

September 3 – October 1, 2023

Welcome to the 2023 Season of Peace. This four-week pilgrimage is designed to deepen the pursuit of peace for congregations, small groups, families, and individuals. Through daily “Path of Peace” reflections, “Peace Cards” for children and families, Bible and book studies for adults, children’s curriculum, a coloring poster, an intergenerational peace fair, and other downloadable resources, Participants are invited to define and deepen their calling as peacemakers. This season is a time of encouragement, challenge, inspiration, and education.

While these resources are designed to culminate in the Peace & Global Witness Offering, they are appropriate for any time of the year. This year’s theme is drawn from Psalm 23: “You are with me.” It is our hope that you will remember God is with you in all your peacemaking and global witness efforts. click the Read More button to, well, read more or to download free Season of Peace materials.

International Day of Peace - Sept 21

In the past several months, Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations has been leading peacemaking efforts in Israel-Palestine, the Korean Peninsula, and Sudan and South Sudan at the U.N. Some of these conflicts have been around as long as the United Nations has been in existence and appear intractable. Others are new, such as the war in Ukraine, as we note with concern the rising levels of political instability around the world. Peace is fragile, and justice is hard-won.

Most recently I had the privilege of participating in the International Meeting for Reconciliation in Colombia hosted by DiPaz, an interchurch platform for dialogue for peace in Colombia. It followed on the heels of the signing of a cease-fire agreement between the government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) that brought hope for greater sustainable peace in Colombia.

Churches have played a vital role in the peace process. Whereas the U.N. approaches peace as cessation of violence and peacebuilding as conflict management, I met church leaders who have a deep and abiding commitment to transformative peace and reconciliation, by building bridges, trust and understanding through dialogue. Local churches and presbyteries have accompanied communities that have no access to government services in hard-to-reach rural territories that are targets of violence.

The church envisions a radical peace, ambitious in scope, beyond path of law and coercion, not about dominating the enemy but transforming it, not to oppress but to live out in justice and harmony. Recognizing the fragility, but always striving toward the peaceable kin-dom. “For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. … The wolf and the lamb shall feed together. … They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.” Isaiah 65:17-25 (NRSV)

-Sue Rheem is the coordinator of the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations. She is PC(USA)’s representative to the United Nations advocating for the PC(USA) General Assembly policies at the United Nations.

Evangelism Sunday Sept 17

Evangelism is the work of the entire congregation and the church universal. Evangelism is not about drawing people to church. Though it is wonderful to invite people to church and even better to have them join in the ongoing work of the church, the ultimate goal is that of building relationships that draw people closer to God and God’s intention for Creation.

Native American Day - Sept 20

Native American Day is celebrated in the Presbyterian Church, USA on September 22nd or 23rd (Fall Equinox). You may celebrate the day on the Sunday before or after or on another appropriate day. Worship resources follow.

Since 1994, Native American Day appears on the Presbyterian Calendar as the day to recognize and celebrate the contributions of Native Americans/American Indians to the life of the church and community. The date of September 22nd or 23rd was selected and established the date for Native American Day. Ironically, Fall Equinox is noted on one or the other date. The Fall Equinox has marked “harvest time” for many Native American tribes for centuries and is a time of celebration and preparation for winter.

To the family of Lois Nihsen, on her passing on August 5, 2023.

Congregation,

Thank you for all your assistance with our scrapbook event!

Marsha Hoffman, Preceptor, Delta Omega Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi

Congregation,

Thank you for prayers, cards, & calls for Dennis while he was in the hospital. He is home still recovering.

Sincerely,

Dennis& Sheri Wallace

New Office Hours

Mon: Jun - Aug: 9 - 2pm

Mon Sept - May: 9 - 1:30pm

Tues - Thurs: 9 - 2pm

Fri - Sun: Closed

Sandy Larsen's address has changed. It's now 1681 College Road, Apt 209, Council Bluffs, IA 51503.

If anyone else that has read through the directory sees anything that needs to be changed, please let Sarah Young know. The next printing will be in January, 2024.

You can access the NHPC public calendar anytime by clicking the button below. Be sure to bookmark the calendar to your favorites bar! You can also download a hard copy of the September calendar. Have an event, like a wedding, graduation, Sweet 16, large group meeting, etc. you would like to reserve the church for? Simply click here to download, fill out electronically or by printing, and email to Sarah Young or drop off in the office.

The Prayer Shawl Ministry Team is a fellowship group who knit or crochet shawls. They meet on the second Monday of the month at 3pm, to crochet, knit & to pray for the people who receive the shawls.

Shawls are given for baptism, for confirmation, to people who are ill, or in a crisis situation, or to any person that wants one. If you feel God calling you to use your knitting or crocheting skills in this ministry, call Pauline Larsen, 402.740.9453 or the Church office 712.323.7129.

Online Giving is available through our website or with a free mobile app. Make one-time or recurring donations using your debit/credit card or checking/savings account. Log in or donate as a guest. Visit the link above or download the free mobile app, Vanco Mobile in the App store or Google Play.

Membership Directory

If your contact info has changed in the last year (phone, email, address), or we do not have your picture, please send to Sarah Young.

Research Services are still underway conducting studies mandated by the General Assembly and we need to hear from you! This survey is the second of the two GA mandated surveys that request your feedback. 

The 225th Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly approved overture RGJ-10 (Resolution on Race, Reparative Justice, and the PCUSA—From the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy.) 

This survey is to gage the reparatory work being discussed and/or pursued by congregations and mid councils and draw distinctions between repair and Reparations as these terms apply to the situation of Indigenous nations and Afro-American people.  

If Church Services are cancelled due to weather, check our Facebook page! The information will be provided to the local television stations for airing & posting on their web page/apps.

Unearthing Our Collections: The Story of Rev. Bruce Klunder

Bruce Klunder (July 12, 1937-April 7, 1964) became aware of the civil rights movement when he was 18 years old. At the young age of 26, he lost his life fighting for that same cause.

The Reverend Bruce Klunder died protesting the construction of a segregated school in Cleveland, Ohio, in April of 1964. During the protest, several other activists used their bodies as blockades, throwing themselves on the ground to block a bulldozer’s path. As the driver backed away from them, he drove over Klunder, who had laid down behind the machine. Klunder’s death was ultimately ruled an accident, but it served as a turning point in the fight against Jim Crow segregation, polarizing the Cleveland community and inspiring others to join the discussion.

The American Red Cross is looking for friendly, customer focused individuals to volunteer at blood drives right here in Council Bluffs. The need for blood is constant and volunteers are essential to ensuring drives continue to take place and blood continue to be provided for patients in need.

Blood Donor Ambassador volunteers engage donors by greeting, registering, answering questions, providing information, and supporting them through the recovery process at the refreshments table. The special attention volunteers give helps create a favorable impression that encourages ongoing donor support. The Red Cross provides training on all systems, and staff are available to lend a hand and answer questions.

Being a Red Cross Blood Donors Ambassador volunteer is a great way to meet new people from all walks of life. Volunteer opportunities are flexible. You can pick the days and times that work best for you.

Help patients in need by giving your time to serve as a Blood Donor Ambassador. To learn more, visit 

redcross.org/volunteer.

Did you know that the Presbyterian Church has a cross icon? Find a host of religious icons here.

Sept. 4: A Social Creed for the 21st Century. Download a copy of the Creed

Christian Formation Week Sept 10-16

The Presbyterian Church (USA) planning calendar recognizes a week of Christian Formation in churches and faith communities. This week begins the Sunday after Labor Day but churches may choose different weeks depending on their particular calendars and practices. When considering all the ways in which formation happens in our faith communities, we can use this time to kick-off a new program year for Christian education, commission faith formation leaders as well as highlight and start ministries.

Gifts of New Immigrants Sunday - Sept 24

*Immigration is an act of hope, a faithfulness in God’s promise of abundance. People arriving in the U.S. carry this hope and faithfulness with them and become a gift to the communities they join. Sunday, September 24, is designated as Gifts of New Immigrants Sunday and during the worship service many Presbyterian churches will be lifting up the gifts that immigrants bring.

It will also be a time of lament as so many immigrants face an uncertain future as access to processes to gain status are blocked and immigration raids and enforcement are on the rise. In this time, when our members fear raids and the end of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and so much more, the church offers two prayers of lament.

*Article & prayer are from 2019.