Word from the Pastor

Friends,

We are gearing up for a second Compassion Camp  between Tuesday-Friday next week. Last year we had an awesome time getting to know children from our neighborhood and learning how to show lovingkindness to ourselves, our neighbors and our planet. 

This year we are continuing with the theme of compassion. I think we all agree that when we look around in our world, we recognize that there is room to grow in showing welcome to all; to affirm them as God's Beloved. We could benefit from practicing compassionate living--to show love, kindness and care to our neighbor, ourself, and creation. 

Hope you share the word! It is not too late to. You can register at the door on Tuesday still (See the information below). We'd love to have you! 

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Eniko

More about GA225 Decisions

The General Assembly of our denomination, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved creating a commission with the power to act and the responsibility of unifying the Presbyterian Mission Agency and the Office of the General Assembly. The aim is to restructure the national structure of the PC (U.S.A.) to make the mission of our denomination sustainable for the future. 

The decision follows a 4-year process of listening, envisioning, and planning. “We know there is a need for a new funding model,” said Valerie Young, co-moderator of the Special Committee on Per Capita Based Funding and National Church Financial Sustainability, a special committee the General Assembly created in 2018. “As membership goes down, per capita goes up. … Our current funding model is strangling our churches, and has a significant negative impact on small congregations.” 

You can read all about the process leading to this important decision regarding the work of our denomination and about the funding models proposed on https://www.percapitaunification.org.

If you'd like to learn more about the work of the 225th PCUSA GA, Muskingum Valley Presbytery is going to host an online gathering mid September where Catherine Bigler, Ruling Elder (Church of the Covenant, Canton) and myself will be sharing about our experiences as Ruling and Teaching Elder Commissioners at the GA. We will also respond to questions regarding decisions of this year's GA. I will share the date when available.

It will be a good opportunity to stay informed about the life and work of our larger church body. As you heard me say it before, I appreciate that we are a connectional church. We have the privilege and responsibility to shape the life of our church/denomination. Our voice matters! Let us use it to build up the Beloved Community!

Image - Laura Cheifetz (left) and Valerie Young, co-moderators of the Special Committee, present in the Financial Resources Committee meeting. Photo by Gregg Brekke for Presbyterian Outlook.

Highlights From This Month's Session Meeting

The Westminster Session met in via Zoom on July 20, 2022 at 6:30pm. The following are highlights from the meeting:

The meeting began with a discussion of the article from The Presbyterian Outlook magazine “Why am I a Presbyterian: It’s the questions” by Rebecca Gresham-Kesner. We explored what information and training would help the Elders be better leaders of Westminster Church.

Clerk’s Report –

Membership on 5/25/2022 – 109

Notification of Death of Otis Whitmore #3469, Born 12/27/1951, Died 6/2/2022, Joined 3/29/2015

Alazar Coetzee #3475 – notification of transfer of membership to University Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, TX on 6/26/2022

Membership on 5/25/2022 – 107

Pastor’s Report

• Feedback about the last two months
•  Compassion Camp: August 2-5
• Memorial Service for Dr. John Paul and Mary Vimmerstedt, July 23, 3pm, Freedlander Park (Dave Houser Pavilion)

Congregational Life Cohort

Worship Committee:

• Reported there was an excellent response to the outdoor service and outdoor picnic held at Clear Creek Park on July 10, 2022.
• The search for a Minister of Music continues. Divine’s last Sunday with us will be July 31, 2022.

Education Committee:

• Compassion Camp, Aug 2-5, planning is in progress. Signup opportunities are being sent out. See the newsletter for details. If you are interested in helping, please contact the church office.

Congregational Care Committee:

• They have been reaching out to those who have not been attending Sunday worship.
• The option of at-home communion is available as requested

Mission Cohort

Benevolence Committee:

• A Congregational Fundraising meal will be Sunday, August 28 after church along with packing up the School Kits for Church World Services.
• The final amount collected for the Pentecost Special Offering was $750. PC USA will receive $450 and $300 will be donated to OutSupport, Inc.
• Due to a generous donation, Westminster will be a Gold Sponsor of the 12^th Annual Break the Cycle event on Saturday, August 27, 2022
• The Committee voted to provide $500 from the Mission Contingency Fund to Divine Gbagbo to help defray the cost of sending his books to his new residency in California.

Immigration Justice Committee:

• “Welcome Bags” items were delivered to the Hartville Migrant Ministry Center providing a portion of items needed by the many families working in the Hartville-area farms this summer.
• The Open Arms Hispanic Ministries summer “Kids’ Camp” is now in progress with 28 children and 22 volunteers on Wednesdays in June and July at Orrville Mennonite Church.

Property, Finance and Personnel Cohort

Finance Committee

• Budgeted pledge income $96,000. The six-month actual (Jan-June) is as follows:
• Total pledged -- $90,694 (93.43)
• Total paid    -- $46,227 (51.54%
• Total balance -- $43,467 (48.46%)
•  Non-pledge income budgeted $10,000, actual $240.
•  Other income budgeted $4,000; predicted estimate to be around $2,500 by the year end.
•  In other word, we might be 15-16 % short of meeting the $110,000 budgeted revenue.

************

• New procedures for pink slips for expense payments were shared. Please contact Sue-min if there are questions.
• The Investment Report that covers the first six months of 2022 was shared.

The next Session Meeting will be Wednesday, August 24, 2022 at 6:30 pm in the Lounge.

Respectfully submitted,

Josie Drushal, Clerk of Session

Donations Requests for August

The following food and hygiene items are needed this month and can be placed in the People to People bin located in the Narthex:

School Kits

for Church World Service

Items Still Needed:

• 17 boxes of 24-count crayons
• 21 BLUNT tip kid's scissors
• 35 hand-held pencil sharpeners
• 20 - 12-in rulers WITH METRIC SCALE

We again will be collecting items for schools kits as in the past. 

Great prices begin to appear after July 4! 

Please watch for updates as we begin collecting to see what may still be needed. 

Help children in disaster areas

prepare for school. 

Any questions, please contact Linda Barbu.

Remember that the Ohio sales tax holiday is coming up from

Friday, August 5 through Sunday August 7. 

It is the perfect time to stock up on essential school supplies.

Volunteer Opportunities for the Viola Startzman Clinic

The Benevolence Committee is now offering support to The Viola Startzman Clinic.

They are seeking volunteers to send cards and notes of cheer to their clientele. You can write your own notes at home and drop them off directly to the clinic. If you do so, please mention that you are participating through Westminster Presbyterian Church.

You can also volunteer to do this at the clinic and they will provide the cards, pens and addresses. The Benevolence Committee is considering doing this as a group. If you are interested, please reach out to any member of the Benevolence Committee or contact Dawn Kridel at mdmesk@ gmail.com for further information.

The Viola Startzman Clinic is also looking for healthy, budget friendly recipes for their clientele. If you have any to share, let Dawn Kridel know and she will get those forwarded to the Viola Startzman Clinic.

In addition for our support of the Free Clinic, we will be having a harvest themed luncheon after church on Sunday August 28 with corn dishes being the featured food of the day!   During this time, we will also be filling the bags with school supplies that we are collecting for distribution by the Church World Service.

It might sound corny but please plan on attending our "Shuck and Stuff" Event on August 28th. You are welcome to bring a corn related dish if desired

This will benefit the Startzman Clinic's Encouragement Bundles to help fund the collection of items including chapstick, candles, blankets and books.

Due to a generous donation, Westminster will be a Gold Sponsor of the 12th Annual Break the Cycle event on Saturday, August 27th. Here is the website link for detailed information. 

Break the Cycle celebrates recovery and promotes wellness with three bike routes, a Holmes County Trail bike ride and two 5K walks. This event is centered around the mission to reduce the stigma surrounding the issues of substance abuse and addiction and to support the treatment/prevention services offered at OneEighty.

Westminster members are encouraged to participate by riding or walking that day. We have been offered a complimentary team of 10 as a perk of our sponsorship, but the Benevolence Committee will offset the cost of registration by 50% if we have a larger group. All individuals that register before August 4th will receive a free t-shirt. Children 12 and under accompanied by an adult can participate for free. 

If interested, please contact Lemoine Peart about biking (lwmn@bright.net) or Linda Barbu about walking (lsbb1949@gmail.com) ASAP to be part of the Westminster Team!

Student Loan Forgiveness

We would like to share some imporantant information Melonee Tubb provided. Mel is associate for Financial Aid for Service in the Presbyterian Mission Agency, as well as the the resource person for the Theology, Worship & Education Committee for GA 225.

Please share the word about the Student Loan Forgiveness. This website will provide you with detailed information.  

First Aid for Earth Emergency - No. 7

Contribution by Juli Douglass-Gillespie

If prayer empowers us through a partnership with God, empowers us to not just keep crises like the climate crisis in our “thoughts and prayers,” but to call us to action as true stewards of God’s creation – the Earth and all life on it, then we’d better get busy and act like real partners in this fight for preserving life! Eniko reminded us in her sermon on Luke 11: 1-13 that we should not expect our requests in prayer, like the one below, to be answered as we desired or expected it. 

“God, please stop this hideous accumulation of carbon, methane and greenhouse gases in our atmosphere which is killing human beings and all life through pollution, forest fires, drought, floods, insanely strong storms and making life so difficult for so many!” 

We all know why that doesn’t work with God. That would be shoving the job in God’s court, ignoring our responsibility for letting the fossil fuel companies keep pumping endless supplies of dirty energy which we are so accustomed to using to keep our lifestyles as comfortable as we want. 

So what can I alone do about it, you ask? Right at this moment, the most pressing responsibility we have is to vote in the August 2 election. Living in the democracy called the U.S.A. gives us the enormous power to elect our officials. Our environmental stewardship can become the law of the land depending on who you vote for. If you care about the future (I ask, who doesn’t?) but you don’t vote, you might as well live in dictatorship. Are you willing to obey whatever laws are enacted, when you know they are unjust? 

Just praying about who is elected to the Ohio state legislature, the Governorship, the judicial offices is not enough. By making your vote count to choose who you think are the best candidates, and by encouraging others to do the same, you are taking action. Yes, there are many candidates who know the urgency of the problems of global warming and will do their best to make change happen before it is too late. Find them, and vote them into office. It would be naive to think everyone you wanted would be elected, but some is much better than none. Your single vote actually makes a huge difference. Remember, we are individual beings made by God who collectively take care of one another.

God is waiting for us to take action to save the Earth. God is watching to see if we put our prayers into meaningful action. The planet will survive, no matter what we do or don’t do to save life. Our immediate intervention is critical. The election on August 2 is for you. Vote like the Earth depends on it.

Westminster Book Group

The Westminster Book Group welcomes all! 

We are currently reading Mitri Raheb's The Politics of Persecution: Middle Eastern Christians in an Age of Empire.

Our next meeting will be on

Thursday, August 18 at 7:00pm.

At this meeting we'll cover the Introduction and first two chapters.

There are no wrong questions. We honor each other by creating space for openness and vulnerability. 

We are meeting online to make it accessible for everyone. Here is the Zoom link for the gathering:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88403318289?pwd=MVh1cit4L2o3VGxNK1B1TXNMcjlqZz09

Meeting ID: 884 0331 8289

Passcode: WPC353

Later this summer, we will also be reading The Book of Hope by Jane Goodall.

Feel free to invite friends. Hope you join us to share about life and faith...

our passions and struggles!

Westminster's Mail Call

This month we received a several pieces of communication. First, a letter and pamphlet from Pregnancy Care Center. of Wayne County that was sent to the area churches to help explain and update all of us with the overturn of Roe. Please click here for their information on Abortion Laws in Ohio.

Additionally, please click here for a thank you letter from International Institute of Akron for our church's donation on behalf of their efforts for the immigrant community as well as here for a thank you from Trinity United Church of Christ.

We also have received the July Newsletter from Open Arms Hispanic Ministries as well as a letter of thanks  from Hartville Migrant Council.  

Public Health Safety Update

We continue under the policy of Mask Optional, following the guidelines of the College of Wooster.

As masks may be required in specific, private areas, please make note of any exception signage.

Westminster Church will continue to encourage safe health practices

and will adjust our guidelines as needed.

Thank you for your understanding and support to keep all of us safe.

August & September

Hospitality & Liturgist

Westminster's worship and fellowship time is an important way to build relationships among all attending. 

We invite you to participate as a liturgist, assistant or provide flowers to decorate our alter. 

If you are able to fill one of these areas, 

please click here to sign up. 



Thank you for your contribution to our worship service.

Church Office Hours

Tuesday - Friday, 8:30 am - 1:30 pm

Church Office will be closed Friday, August 5th.