Highlights of March 12 OPS and NOW Meetings

Members of the Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church community enjoyed fellowship and pizza March 12, followed by meetings of the OPS and NOW committees.

OPS Committee—This group oversees the nuts-and-bolts, day to day operations of the church, including building and grounds, maintenance, stewardship campaign, budget development, investments, online giving, personnel and payroll, AV, marketing and social media, insurance, and church policy. Actions included:

• Discussed estimates for gutter repair.
• Planned to fix leaking commode outside the narthex.
• Noted completion of vacuum replacement and faucet for kitchen.
• Authorized treasurer Aaron Baer to investigate construction of a base for the Kaviar art piece to be built and installed in front of the church.

NOW Committee—This group guides programmatic work of the congregation, activities formerly coordinated by the Nurture, Outreach, and Worship Committees (including music and worship, Christian formation, earth care, gun violence prevention, garden ministry, mission beyond church walls). Actions included:

• Discussed Lent/Holy Week activities including lectio divina sessions on Thursdays, 5–6:30, and joint worship services with First Christian Church (our Build-a-Bed partner): Maundy Thursday service at First Christian and noon Good Friday service at CHPC.
• Made plans for an Easter Sunday breakfast, with bagels, doughnuts, etc., before worship, and discussed ways to invite the community and people who have visited our church whose addresses are on file.
• Proposed a building cleanup day before Easter to clean nursery and straighten up other parts of the buildings.
• Discussed ways to make the church a safe place for immigrants in danger of deportation, including designating as “private” 1 or 2 rooms that can be locked and not naming vulnerable people online.
• Asked Soni Castleberry to draft a letter of support for our mission coworkers (Jeff and Christi Boyd, Eliane Menezes, and Leslie Vogel), letting them know we are praying for them during this time of upheaval when many PC(USA) mission workers are losing their jobs because of budget cuts.

Mark your calendar for the next meeting of NOW/OPS: Wednesday, April 9, opening with a fellowship meal at 6 p.m.

Memorial Service

A memorial service for Claudia Foulkes' sister, Dorothy J. Smith will be held this Sunday, March 23 with visitation from 3:00 p.m.-to 5:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall with a service to follow at 5:00 p.m. in the sanctuary.

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/louisville-ky/dorothy-smith-12282184/share

Cookie donations will be accepted for the visitation.

A Lenten Opportunity — Lectio Divina

CHPC is offering a Lenten group devoted to contemplative reading of Scripture. Phil Lloyd-Sidle will be facilitating, using a method of prayerful reading that dates back to the early church called Lectio Divina — “divine reading."

When?

Five Thursday evenings in Lent, 5:00-6:30 p.m. The dates are March 20, 27, April 3, and April 10. There will be no group during Holy Week.

Where?

The Gathering Room of the back building.

What is Lectio Divina?

It is a method of contemplative reading that seeks to invite our hearts and minds into an ever-deepening experience of God and God’s word as it comes to each of us in Scripture. We will be reading passages in Matthew and Luke that lift up various aspects of Jesus’ teaching and ministry.

Some details:

As a group process this practice can be very profound. Please be punctual. Things to bring: a Bible version you like, a journal (or paper). Some people like to draw; feel free to bring some colored pens or pencils. Also, it is encouraged that people try to make all five sessions, if possible. There is a great gain in trust and companionship as we each commit to this small-group experience.

Trivia Night!!!

March 22, 2025

Join the Jefferson County Master Gardeners for a fun Trivia Night with a garden spin! There will be some plant-related trivia along with general trivia. Proceeds raised will be split between CHPC and JCMGA. Proceeds will fund a rainwater collection system to water the on-site garden.

Winning team receives a gift basket. Team costumes encouraged and/or decorate your table with any plant related theme. Best decorated receives a trophy! Bring your own refreshments. No alcohol allowed on premises. Baked goods and drinks will be available to purchase.

Details: We have room for 9 teams of 6 players each (minimum age 18), so sign up soon! If you don't have a team, please sign up anyway. All are welcome. Cost is $90 per team/$15 per person. No cell phone use during the event. No smoking.

Date: March 22, 7:00-10:00 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Where: CHPC Fellowship Hall

Registration: Deadline is March 14 or when 9 teams are fully registered. Please send funds via Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/JCMGAKY or mail a check to Ed Hill, 5411 Navajo Rd, Louisville, KY 40207. Make checks out to JCMGA. Once funds are received, your captain will receive a confirmation email that you are fully registered. Contact mgevent@jcmgaky.org for additional information or questions.

Lunch and Learn

Anti-Death Penalty Speaker

Thursday, March 27, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Joe Ingle, a close friend of Brad and Soni Castleberry, will be here at CHPC speaking about his fourth book, Too Close to the Flame (2024, Simon and Schuster Publisher). Feel free to bring your own brown bag lunch. We will meet in Henry Young Hall in the back building.

For 45 years, Joe has been an advocate for the men and women condemned to death by an unjust legal system that routinely victimizes the marginalized. Ingle has often found himself waiting through the darkest hours as the spiritual advisor and sole companion of those on deathwatch--the brief period of isolation that precedes an execution. He has been nominated twice for a Nobel Peace Prize. Joe will be available for book signings and will have some copies available with him.

If you can’t come that day, or want to hear more, please come the night before, Wednesday, March 26, 7:00 p.m., to First Unitarian Church 809 S. 4th St (4th and York Sts., entrance off Library Lane).

More about Joe Ingle on these links:

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Too-Close-to-the-Flame/Joseph-B-Ingle/9781637632918

https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Joseph-B-Ingle/223261972

Volunteers Needed for Our CHPC Kitchen

The NOW Committee seeks three CHPC folks willing to volunteer as a Kitchen Team to look at our space and things in the back building once a month and handle any needed tasks.

Possibilities include: straightening up counters or drawers, donating to a charity any type of excess items we have accumulated, disposing of old, unlabeled or undated items in the refrigerator, and light cleaning as needed.



Groups using the kitchen are expected to do their own clean-up and Tim Miller, our custodian, does the floors. The team would need to inventory extra supplies in the storage room next to the kitchen, restock kitchen shelves with disposable serving and cleaning supplies, and let Megan Cahill, our administrative assistant, know when to place orders. The team will arrange its own work schedule and a key will be made available. If you are willing to serve our church in this way, please let Beth Yeager or Soni Castleberry know.

Jean Leake Scholarship Fund

The Jean Leake Fund offers assistance to the children and youth of Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church for camping opportunities. Applications for the Jean Leake Fund are now available.

Please contact Patti Marcum at pdwmarcum@gmail.com or 502-403-8269 to request an application or ask questions.

Deadline for applications is April 15. Scholarship applicants will be notified of their award amount by May 1. Payment will be made according to information provided in the application.

Healing the Earth

Members of the CHPC community are invited to donate to an exciting art project that will be a visible witness to our commitment to earth care and ending gun violence. The Session has agreed to contract with local blacksmith Craig Kaviar to create a six-foot iron sculpture for the front plaza. The art piece, called “Healing the Earth,” will be made of pieces of guns chopped up at Guns to Gardens Louisville safe-surrender events.

The cost of this project is $28,514, plus stand, lighting, and installation. Session has set aside $10,000, plus $548 from the Peace and Global Witness Offering, toward the art piece. The remainder of the cost will be covered by grants and donations. If you would like to donate, please make your check out to CHPC and specify in the memo line that the donation is for the sculpture. Or you can use the QR code below.

If you have a tool or other item that you would like to donate for possible use in the sculpture, please contact the church office. Please make sure the object is iron (attracts a magnet).

Guns to Gardens Louisville, which grew out of a Sunday school class in our congregation, has so far received 88 unwanted guns to transform into garden tools, art, and jewelry. Craig Kaviar is a valued partner in this effort. His art piece—along with the gardens flourishing on church grounds—will symbolize to the community our commitment to healing and caring for God's creation.

Prayer and Action for Middle East

Upcoming Prayer Group for the Middle East will meet on Zoom, Thursdays March 20 and 27, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Feel free to join us on Zoom, in-person, or both. This group has enabled such support for one another as we all struggle to cope with the tragedies in the Middle East and the on and off cease fires and prisoner releases. We would be grateful to have others join us. Email Soni at soni.castleberry@gmail.com to get the Zoom link and be added to the group email list for regular communication.

DID YOU KNOW?

What Presbyterians Believe"

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States, formed in 1983 through a reunion of branches that had separated around the time of the Civil War. As expressed in a 1958 church statement, since 1789 the General Assembly has affirmed “its responsibility to speak on social and moral issues for the encouragement and instruction of the [c]hurch and its members, seeking earnestly both to know the mind of Christ and to speak always in humility and love.”

https://pcusa.org/about-pcusa/who-we-are/history

March Birthdays

Please remember these wonderful folks in prayer and, if possible, reach out to them with a card, phone call, text, email or however you choose to honor them.

To double-check your listing, contact Soni Castleberry at soni.castleberry@gmail.com or phone or text at 502-417-6481.

March 11 - Eva Stimson

March 12 - Bill Gee, Shannon Langley

March 13 - Lengulula Kashama

March 17 - Katharine Griswold

March 19 - Andrea Trautwein

March 22 - Christy Bott-Baird, Rachel Brewer

March 28 - Ethan Myers

March 29 - Dawn Pendleton