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We have just finished the experience of Holy Week, and Sunday,

April 1, is Easter Sunday. (Feel free to add your own April Fool’s joke here.) As is our custom, we will celebrate with traditional worship and a typically nontraditional message.

As most of you are aware, however, Easter isn’t just one day on the liturgical church calendar. It is an entire church season, which lasts until Pentecost Sunday on May 20.

Throughout this season, therefore, we will focus on the promises of Easter: Hope • New Life • Transformation . These are more than just abstract theological issues, for they continue to be remarkably appropriate themes for the life and ministry of this congregation.

As I as shared in the past, the ‘Living the Questions’ curriculum, Saving Jesus Redux , talks about “Practicing Resurrection.” It states:

The real power of the Resurrection comes when the followers of Jesus become the body of Christ in the world, striving to bring new life to the world, to eradicate injustice, poverty, and violence. In both the society at large and in people’s personal lives: the practice of resurrection is about otherwise “dead” people being inwardly transformed and empowered to transform society.

There are both personal and societal dimensions to “practicing resurrection” in the here and now. In an Easter sermon a few years ago I stated:

The very heart and core of the Easter message is about hope!  The Easter promise of hope is this: the ways of God ultimately prevail over the attitudes, behaviors, and systems opposed to God’s ways . Our world is indeed often filled with injustice, oppression, violence, cynicism, despair, emptiness, loneliness, suffering, sorrow and fear. Yet , the Sacred Presence of God (as revealed in and through the life and ministry of Jesus, and through this story of his resurrection) is always with us and within us – miraculously enabling us to initiate and participate in profound moments of love, charity, compassion, peace, joy, justice, dignity, and therefore hope. This is what marks us as ‘Easter people’ and as a ‘resurrection community.’

During this Easter season, let us work to promote what we love and hope for in the life and ministry of this remarkable congregation, and in the world we encounter each day.

Oh, and by the way, what an honor it is for me to have had the opportunity to serve as your pastor for the past 10 years. The past decade has been a true blessing in my life. I truly experience a sense of call, both God’s and yours, to serve here at College Hill!

Blessings,

Rev. Todd

The church office will be closed Monday, April 2,

in observance of Easter.

Friday, April 13

6:30 p.m.

It’s a Fiesta!

Pastor Todd recently celebrated his 10th Anniversary

since beginning his ministry at College Hill Church! 

We are commemorating this important event with a dinner party in his honor on Friday, April 13th, 6:30 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. 

 We will have a catered taco bar (with vegetarian and gluten-free options), fun decorations and a slide show (and maybe a surprise or two!). 

All this for the low, l ow price of $10!  Tickets are now limited , so please do not miss the fast-approaching April 4th deadline !  If you have any questions, please (click name to) contact Marilyn Hill .

We are also taking up a separate collection for a special surprise gift. Please (click name to) contact Marilyn or Johnna Thurston for more details, or just specify your gift amount on the memo portion of your check.

PHOTOS

All Church Work Day

3.17.18

Building & Grounds Ministry Team

Co-Moderator, Gini Fox, said that a good time was had by all! The volunteers that came out to help, accomplished so much around

the building and are truly appreciated!

A big THANK YOU goes out to

John Gammie , who has evolved into our resident church photographer and provides us with all the congregation/church event photos

that we all enjoy.

Building & Grounds

Co-Moderators

Mark Miller*

Gini Gox*

Christian Education

Stefanie Olson*

Congregational Care

Marilyn Hill,* Becky Doyle

Fellowship

Alicia Odum*

Finance & Stewardship

David Robertson*

Nominating

Marilyn Hill*, Robert Babcock

Outreach & Mission

Terry Baxter*, Gay Miller

Personnel

Robert Babcock*

Technology & Communication

Terry Gamel*

V isitor & New Member Nurture

Sue Haskins*

Worship & Music

P.J. Brobston*, Bill Nole

*Denotes Ministry Team Moderator

College Hill

Recycle and Donation Center

We have re-purposed the cabinets in the hallway outside of Fellowship Hall for use as a place to deposit recycling and donations.

Recycle bins will accommodate paper, cans, plastic bags, compact fluorescent lamps, batteries, and printer cartridges. 

Donation bins are also available for diapers and baby care products, dry goods and hygiene items, and school supplies.

Penny Fund Donations Welcome

Thank you for your donations to the Penny Fund! You are always welcome to donate your pennies (or any loose change ), in the red container on the Narthex table.  

This money goes toward funding many College Hill needs and events we enjoy throughout the year!

Flower Chart

  

If you would like to  bring flowers to decorate the sanctuary for an upcoming worship service, please  sign up on the Flower Chart on the bulletin board in Fellowship Hall. There are many open dates available for the new year. Your dedication will also be announced in the worship bulletin.  

  

Flowers can be purchased from any store or brought from home. Please bring them in two containers the morning of the service for which you have signed up.

2018

Birthday Endowment Fund

 

A meaningful way to celebrate your Birthday this year is to donate an amount equal to your new age to the Endowment Fund.

This donation is also a wonderful way to honor others such as children, grandchildren and friends and allows the church to have funds available for special projects.

Checks can be made payable to College Hill and marked "Birthday Fund" on the memo portion of the check.

April

1 - Jerry Abercrombie

3 - Will Nole

7 - Lee Collins

8 - Stefanie Olson

8 - Cara Wood

10 - Nancy Vanderburg

12 - Elizabeth Buchner

12 - Jana Stagner

14 - Carol Wimmer

16 - Gavin Buchner

18 - Carolyn Brady

19 - Pat Lucy

20 - Nancy Gammie

22 - Lilianna Coleman

22 - Margaret Watson

23 - MaryAnn Bumgarner

25 - Elizabeth Brady

25 - Doris Moser

25 - Andrew Redding

25 - Marianne Stambaugh

28 - Terry Baxter

29 - Aidan McCullough

Remember the 

Birthday Endowment Fund!

Worship Schedule

Easter Service of Worship ~

April 1, 11:00 a.m.

Our celebration will include special music, accompanied by guest Trumpeter Ian Betty,

the Chancel Choir, the BELLissimo Handbell Ensemble, and our organist, Mike Gibson.

If you ordered an Easter Lily, please be sure to take it home with you after the service.

Welcome

New Member

Eric Nelson

One Great Hour of Sharing!

Thanks to the kindness and generosity of CHPC's members and friends, $1,748 was collected during our recent One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS ) special offering!

BECOME A READING PARTNER

Make a lifelong impact on a child

who struggles with reading.

Reading Partners provides one-on-one reading instruction to elementary school students reading below grade level to help them succeed

in school and in life.

·     Give as little as one hour a week. We welcome more!

·     Flexible weekday volunteer times are available Monday through Thursday between 8am and 3pm.

·     Follow a highly effective, structured, and easy-to-use curriculum.

·     No formal teaching experience is required.

For more information or to sign up:

or click here to email, or call

918-949-1979

Test Proctors Needed

at KWE This Month

School testing season is here, and Kendall Whittier Elementary needs adult volunteers to serve as proctors to monitor testing rooms for the first several weeks of this month. You need do nothing but be present and be a helpful set of eyes and ears as students test.  A direct link to sign up is provided below.

Volunteers will be contacted later this month with more information, and you may also (click name to) contact church member Marianne Stambaugh , or 918.289.9484) who has proctored for the past 2 years, and is in touch with the 3 ^rd grade team to assist with the coordination.

KWE Teacher / Staff

Appreciation Lunch

Wednesday, May 9 ^th

College Hill will be thanking the Staff and Teachers at Kendall Whittier Elementary School by preparing and delivering lunch to the school for each of them. Our Outreach & Mission Ministry Team will be working up a menu as soon as we have received any special dietary requirements from the school. 

There are 130 staff and teachers at the school, so we will be needing your help and assistance with food preparation and delivery. Food would need to be ready to be delivered by 10:00 a.m. on that day.

Since we don’t yet know the menu, it is a bit open-ended, but we promise whatever is done won’t require significant culinary expertise! If you would like to help out, please ( click name to) contact Terry Baxter, our Outreach & Mission Team Moderator, or call him at 918.747.0249.

Game Night

Friday, April 20

6:00 pm

Please join us to play some games, munch on some snacks and have a fun time in fellowship with one another! 

We’ll meet in Fellowship Hall at the church with lots of games – but if you have a favorite game, feel free to b ring it (and a snack to share). See you there! If you have any questions, please (click name to) email Marilyn Hill .

Celtic Circle Gathering

Tuesday, May 1 at 6:30 pm

We will observe the Celtic Fire Festival of Beltaine at the home of Gini Fox.

This will be a celebration of the coming of Summer and the beginning of the growing season.

Please (click name to) contact Mark or Gay Miller for more information about the group or upcoming meeting.

Adult Church School Class

The Book of Acts

and Christian Beginnings

Sundays at 9:30 am

•      What is the truth about our Christian Beginnings?

•      Is Acts a reliable historical source for the birth and early years of the church?

Join us as we continue to read and discuss the book of Acts, using the Acts Seminar Report by the Westar Fellows (who brought us the Jesus Seminary), along with other sources.

Help us to discern the core values of Act's visionary portrait of Christian community and how they may apply to our own faith community today.

This series of classes is being led by Bert Woodall, with John Gammie.

The Book of Acts was long thought to be a first-century document, and its author Luke - a disciple of Paul - an eyewitness or acquaintance of eyewitnesses. It was considered history, pure and simple .

But Westar's Acts Seminar concluded that Acts is from the second century, a conclusion that directly challenges the view of Acts as history and raises a host of new questions, addressed in this final report of the Acts Seminar.

April 2018

Sunday, April 15 ^th after Worsh ip

Americanah

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Published in 2013, Americanah was named one of the best books of the year by numerous newspapers, magazines, and critics. Having grown up in Nigeria and moving to the United States as a college student, and now splitting her time between the two countries, through this novel Adichie tells the story of a young woman who followed a similar path in the experience of being not an African American, but an American African. 

Book Club will meet for lunch and discussion at Panera Bread (1624 E. 15th St., just west of Utica on the south side of 15th St.) immediately following worship service (about 12:15pm). This book can be purchased online, at book stores, your local library, and other book sources. 

Please ( click name to) contact Fritha Ohlson if you are interested in more information about this fun group.

Something for the Spirit

EASTER ENCOURAGEMENT

FOR THE JOURNEY

by Bret Myers

progressivechristianity.org

Remember that resurrection is more than mere resuscitation! It is life transformed!

It is faith in possibilities, when others are convinced of inevitability.

It is the courage to love others, when they don’t love you in return…

to show compassion, when others are heaping judgment…

to live by peace, when others are being violent…

to work for justice, when others are working for wealth…

to respond with gentleness, when others are reacting with rage…

and to trust that life, well-lived, even if short-lived,

is preferable to longevity without virtue.

Don’t remain caterpillars when you can become butterflies!

Live beautifully! Birth goodness in all you think, say, and do!

For you are called to life abundant!

God’s blessings be with you.

COLLEGE HILL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC

Dr. Kim J. Childs, Director of Music

Mike Gibson, Organist

April 2018

Sunday Morning Music Offerings

Featuring the Chancel Choir

with Mike Gibson, organist

--------------------------------------------------

A pril 1    ~ EASTER SUNDAY

Introit    

BELLissimo ~ Ode to Joy ~arr. David Angerman

Choral Anthem ~  Now Let the Heavens be Joyful ~ Everett Titcomb   ~  Ian Betty, trumpet

April 8              

Choral Anthem ~ This is the Day ~ arr. Hal H. Hopson

April 15           

Choral Anthem ~ Draw Us In the Spirit’s Tether ~ Harold W. Friedell                      

April 22            

Choral Anthem~  Cantique de Jean Racine ~

Gabriel Fauré

April 29           

Choral Anthem ~ The Lord’s My Shepherd ~

David W. Music

- -------------------------------------------------

CHANCEL CHOIR

The Chancel Choir of College Hill Presbyterian Church rehearses Wednesdays at 6:40 p.m . in the second story choral room (next to the church office) for singing, fellowship and fun! If you would like to sing with the Chancel Choir, this Spring we are welcoming new members. 

BELLISSIMO

HANDBELL ENSEMBLE

BELLissimo Handbell Ensemble of College Hill Presbyterian Church rehearses Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. in the second story choral room. If you are interested in playing in this fun ensemble (permanent member or substitute) this Spring, we are welcoming new members.

Please (click name) to contact our

Director of Music, 

Dr. Kim Childs.

LISTEN TO PAST PERFORMANCES

Luncheon Club

Thursday, April 19

at Noon

Luncheon Club typically meets the third Thursday of the month (except in July) for delicious food, fun & fellowship!

Please plan to join us this month for our program “Down Under: My Trip to New Zealand”, with Susan West . Our meal is potluck , so please bring a dish to share .

Everyone is welcome ~ we hope to see you there!

(Click names to) contact Gretchen Hannefield or Gay Miller for more information.

CHPC

Members & Friends

Visit our Facebook page for

more photos!