New Leaders Elected

Please click here for the list of new elders, deacons, and Nominating Committee members elected at our congregational meeting last Sunday.

Thank you, God, for all those who have answered the call to serve. We also give thanks for the hard work of this year’s Nominating Committee: Eva Stimson, Beth Yeager, Gail DeMarsh, Ben Langley, and Janine Linder.

Coffee with the Pastor

Do you have something to talk to the pastor about, but you'd rather talk outside of the church environment? Do you just want to meet and have a chat about absolutely nothing (which I am really good at!!!) over a great cup of coffee or a sandwich?

You are invited to stop by Blue Dog Bakery on Frankfort Avenue with Pastor Tami on either Thursday, October 17, or Thursday, October 24, between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m.

Highlights of the October 2, 2024, Session Meeting

The Session met with Richard Recob and Debbie Braaksma, liaison for Richard with the presbytery’s Commission on Preparation for Ministry (CPM). After Debbie explained the preparation for ministry process and Session talked with Richard about his call to ministry, the Session voted to endorse Richard’s request to be enrolled as a Candidate for Ministry. Following an affirmative vote by CPM this week, Richard will appear before Mid-Kentucky Presbytery at its November 16 meeting to speak about his sense of call and answer questions. Then presbytery will vote on whether to enroll him as a Candidate for Ministry. Soni Castleberry is liaison for Richard with the CHPC Session.

Among other actions, the Session:

• Recommended that the OPS Committee take on duties formerly handled by a finance committee, such as oversight of financial reports, renewing insurance policies, etc.
• Continued to move forward on treasurer Jack Marcum’s request to retire as church treasurer by the end of the year, with a vote on a new volunteer treasurer expected at the next Session meeting.
• Heard an update on deferred maintenance issues, including removal of the breezeway between the two buildings and prep work for exterior painting.
• Approved a proposal from the NOW Committee that CHPC’s 25% of the Peace and Global Witness Offering go toward an art piece by local blacksmith Craig Kaviar for the front plaza. Craig has given an estimate for a piece called “Healing the Earth,” made of metal from guns collected at Guns to Gardens events plus other scrap metal donated by church members. Session has already approved spending up to $10,000 from the church’s general treasury for such a sculpture, which would be a witness to the community of our church’s commitment to earth care and ending gun violence.
• Heard a report from Don Mead and Eva Stimson, commissioners to the September 16 meeting of Mid-Kentucky Presbytery at Okolona Presbyterian Church.

Invitation to Support Spirit of Sophia

Spirit of Sophia has the opportunity to receive a $30,000 matching grant from the PC(USA)’s 1001 New Worshiping Communities. Mid-Kentucky Presbytery has already pledged $15,000 toward this match. It is up to Spirit of Sophia to raise the remaining $15,000 by the end of 2024.



Recognizing Spirit of Sophia’s valuable partnership with Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church in offering Taize services and opportunities for spiritual growth, our Session has voted to donate $1,000 to help the group qualify for this matching grant. CHPC members are invited to donate toward the church’s $1,000 gift so that it does not all have to come out of general treasury funds. If you feel led to invest in the future of Spirit of Sophia, please write a check payable to CHPC, with Spirit of Sophia on the memo line, and place it in the offering plate or mail it to the church. Thank you for supporting this valuable ministry!

Sundays with Sid, October 13

The next date for Sundays with Sid (the puppet) on Zoom will be on Sunday, October 13, from 9:45 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. We will show several Sid videos and discuss the Bible stories. All children and the young at heart are invited join us, and feel free to bring pets and friends.

Dates for the rest of the fall are November 10, and December 8 (all Second Sundays). We look forward to seeing everyone!

Please contact Jerry Van Marter at Jerryvanmarter@gmail.com or Eva Stimson at Eva.stimson@gmail.com to be added to the list to receive the Zoom link for our monthly Sundays with Sid gatherings.

High School Youth Group Going to Huber's!

Saturday, October 19, at 1:30 p.m.

After a fun kick-off meeting in the youth room in August, followed by an excellent road adventure together to IKEA in September, the high school youth group plans to celebrate the fall by heading up to Huber's together.

We will meet in the church parking lot on Saturday, October 19, at 1:30 p.m., and return by approximately 5:30 p.m. If possible, it would be great if each youth member could bring $20 to cover activity fees and light supper on the way home (probably Subway), their own water bottle, any car snacks desired (optional), and clothes/shoes appropriate for hayride/maze/walking through pumpkin patches.

As always, please don't let money be an issue. If someone is unable to afford all or any of the fee, the church youth budget line will pick it up, so please don't be shy about letting that need be known. Please RSVP to Rebecca Barnes so she will have accurate counts for transportation.

Prayer and Action for Middle East

Please join us for prayer each Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Zoom. Thanks to Phil Lloyd-Sidle for hosting the Zoom calls while Soni Castleberry is on vacation. Email Phil at phil.lloydsidle@gmail.com to get the link for the next three weeks (Oct. 10, 17, and 24) and to be added to our group email list for regular communication.

All are encouraged to attend “Gaza: a 1-Year Remembrance,” Sunday, October 13, from 3 to 5 p.m., at the Big Four Walking Bridge.

DID YOU KNOW?

What Presbyterians Believe About the Bible

For some of us the message of the Bible is consistent from Genesis to Revelation. To say the Bible is inspired is to say it is accurate and factual—and therefore contains only one viewpoint, that of the Creator. If other people arrive at different beliefs from reading the same Scriptures, it is obvious to us that the problem lies with interpretation. Either the scribes who copied the manuscripts misinterpreted what they were copying and introduced error, or the person reading it is misinterpreting the meaning.

For others of us, the Bible can be used to support a variety of different beliefs and ideas because it contains not a monolithic point of view, but different points of view. These differing ideas were expressed, not just by named writers, but by sometimes quite large groups, schools of thought such as priests and scribes, cloaked by a particular name like Moses over a period of about a thousand years.

Battling about the meaning of the Bible is not new, not an innovation of the modern division between conservatives and liberals. There have always been a variety of different ways of interpreting Scripture.

The apostles themselves differed over the interpretation of key Scriptural passages. Witness the battle over circumcision in the story of Acts. Consequently, there existed in the early church two quite opposing viewpoints, both strongly defended from Scripture. Jewish Christians, headed by James and Peter, had the clear testimony of Scripture that circumcision and the law of Moses were based on an “eternal” covenant, and therefore essential for salvation for not only Jews but also Gentiles. Paul taught differently. Eventually, at a conference in Jerusalem not unlike our General Assembly today, they decided to tolerate each other’s viewpoint, remaining in fellowship while agreeing on some points and disagreeing on others. As a result, two quite different churches emerged, one distinctively Jewish and the other liberated from the law of Moses.

The great strength of Presbyterianism is its uncanny knack of fostering a fellowship in which people of different viewpoints continue to dialogue.

Excerpt from an article by David Robert Ord published in the April 1995 issue of Presbyterian Survey (now Presbyterians Today)

https://www.presbyterianmission.org/what-we-believe/the-bible-ii/

October 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.

October 1 - Ben Langley

October 2 - Richard Recob

October 3 - Jack Marcum

October 5 - Lucy D. Steilberg

October 8 - Martha Gee

October 12 - Perry Chang

October 19 - Ginny Brown

October 23 - Brad Castleberry

October 26 - Gayle Collins

October 27 - Luiz Kemmerle, David Wilding