TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2025

PW Thank Offering this Sunday

This Sunday, November 23, Presbyterian Women will collect their annual Thank Offering during worship. This year’s offering will support grants to ten outreach ministries around the country, two of which are in our Synod of the Sun including one within our Presbytery of South Louisiana in Hammond. These outreach ministries offer assistance to those in need with focuses on healthcare, nourishment, youth job training, and general well-being support. Your gifts go so far to provide the care that God has called us to do, and we thank you!

Youth Parent Discussion Group this Sunday

We are introducing a new group for parents of 6th–12th grade students called PATH612 (Parents Abiding Together in Hope). This group will have gatherings throughout the year during regularly scheduled youth group programs. It will be a time to come together for fellowship, socializing, a meal, and discussion. Our first event will be held this Sunday, November 23, from 5:00–7:30 p.m. in the Land Building. Dinner and drinks will be served. The topic - Using Social Media Responsibly - will be led by Lexi Daly, Learning Innovation Coordinator and Reading Teacher at Trinity Episcopal School.  Whether you are a member of our church or are a parent of a visiting student, and whether your child is super active in youth group or has only come a few times, YOU ARE WELCOME to this event. You are also invited to come and go as you please if you don’t have availability throughout the whole time span. 

PW Sign-Up for Eden Centers Thanksgiving Dinner

Presbyterian Women and the SCAPC congregation are asked to support our PW November Mission Partner, Eden Centers for Hope and Healing, for their Thanksgiving feast on Tuesday, November 25. The event has grown to include both Eden Center houses and their outreach center, creating a much larger feast for 150 people. Given this increase in size, we will be joining a few other churches in providing the meal. Please click the link below for further details and sign-up. Volunteer help will also be needed at the event itself. Advanced food delivery or monetary donations can be coordinated with Paige Morrison (pesmorrison@gmail.com).

The Latest at Aden

Last week the staff, volunteers, and participants of SCAPC's Aden Program for Elder Care enjoyed a Thanksgiving celebration, followed by dancing with the SCAPC Nursery School children!

Alzeihmer's Caregiver Symposium

From the Aden Program and Congregational Care Committee

On Thursday, November 20 from 5-7 p.m., Ochsner Hospital and Xavier University are presenting a one-day symposium for caregivers entitled "Voices for Awareness: Understanding Alzheimer's Together." Expert speakers will share practical guidance on care planning, recognizing cognitive changes, and the importance of early detection. The program will feature presentations from a neurologist, elder law attorney, researcher, and caregiver, followed by a Q&A session. Attendees can also explore the Caregiver Resource Fair, where local organizations and community services will provide valuable tools and support to help caregivers thrive. Find the registration link on our Aden webpage (scapc.org/aden).

White Gift Is Underway!

The White Gift tree is now up in the Chapel hallway! A host of ornaments have been hung, each with gift requests for families in need from the St. Thomas Community Health Center, Raintree Children & Family Services, and the New Orleans Women & Children’s Shelter (NOWCS). We invite you to pick up an ornament this Sunday. Please note that gifts for NOWCS should not be wrapped. If you are unable to pick up an ornament, please consider bringing unwrapped gifts of the following: sports equipment, Foot Locker gift cards, board games, and art supplies. These gifts will also be distributed to NOWCS. Please bring your gifts to be dedicated on Sunday, December 7 during 10:30 a.m. worship. 

SCAPC Mission Market

Following both morning services on Sunday, November 30, there will be a “Missions Market” in Frampton Fellowship Hall where our community and global ministry partners will present special gifts for sale. All proceeds will benefit their organizations. Participating will be: Café Reconcile, Eden Centers for Hope and Healing, Crescent City Café, Program of Hope homeless ministry, Raintree Children and Family Services, STAIR, SCAPC Cuba ministries, Global Ministry Fair Trade and Mexican artisan goods.

McMillan Society "Songs & Sips of Joy!"

The McMillan Society will host "Songs & Sips of Joy!" on Thursday, December 4 in the Land Building at 5:30 p.m. We’ll enjoy carol singing led by Steven Blackmon over wine and light bites. The cost is $15/person. Reservations are required by December 1 at noon, and your check is your reservation. Please make checks payable to SCAPC with “McMillan” in the memo and direct to Pierce Young in the church office. Questions should be directed to miriam@scapc.org.

Children's Christmas Play

We will present our Christmas Play on Wednesday, December 10 from 6:30–7:15 p.m. It's time to sign up! The Mysterious Animal is a new nativity play for kids that tells the story of Jesus’ birth from the perspective of the animals in the barn. It’s a funny play with a sincere message: the creatures who share the barn with baby Jesus are among the first to receive and understand the Good News of the gospel. The play is open to all students age 3 through 5th grade. Youth group students may sign up as stagehands. The deadline to sign up for speaking roles (limited number) is November 19 and the deadline for non-speaking roles is November 24. For a rehearsal schedule and sign-up, please email Michele Murphy with the names and grades of your children.

Texas Mission Trip

Last week ten members of the SCAPC community headed to the Hill Country of Texas to visit and work in areas that were directly impacted by the July 4th floods along the Guadalupe River. In addition, the group took items and set up a respite room for the Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Conference Center Staff. Each day the SCAPC team (Anderson Baker, Gail Louapre, Sally Wimberly, Ruth Hickox, Lisa Eldredge, Mary Malone, John Wade, Will Tietje, Aimée Bell, and Chris Currie) ventured out to a neighborhood of homes that were destroyed or damaged by the flooding river. On one lot, they scoured it for personal effects, cleared brush and broken items, and mowed, weeded and pruned all the trees and shrubbery. On another lot, they stained the wooden cedar siding of a house that had taken over eight feet of water though was several hundred feet from the river. Perhaps most meaningfully, the group worshipped together and shared their reflections at Mo-Ranch's Chapel on the Hill Saturday night before returning home. As one of the group members eloquently put it, "So many people came to New Orleans after Katrina that I vowed that I would always try to participate in future work efforts in other communities."

Borderlands Experience Trip

Last week a group of SCAPC members and friends traveled to the U.S./Mexico border in Texas to experience border ministries first-hand. This trip was led by Caly Fernandez of the House of Love and Justice. Participants learned more about migrants, the Rio Grande Valley community, and U.S. immigration policy from the people who live and work along the border. The group engaged in service work, distributing food and other supplies to migrant communities on both sides of the border.

Jim and Bonnie Hobden and Wendy Capo pray at the border wall in Hildago, Texas

Bonnie Hobden, Ruth Hickox, and Caly Fernandez pack food donations at Border Missions in Hildalgo, Texas. 

Celebrating the Ordination of Liv Thomas

This past Sunday, November 16, members of the Presbytery of South Louisiana Administrative Commission gathered at the Labyrinth Café at NOLA Wesley on Tulane’s campus to ordain Liv Thomas, the director of the program, into the Ministry of Word and Sacrament. It was a joyful and deeply moving service, filled with prayer, music, and many blessings. Many students whose lives have been shaped by Liv’s leadership were present, along with representatives from several other Presbyterian churches in the area. Chris Hazlaris and Miriam Hollar attended on behalf of SCAPC to celebrate Liv, offering the support and gratitude of our congregation. The service was a powerful witness to the Spirit at work in Liv’s ministry and in the lives of the young adults she serves.

NOLA Wesley Campus Ministry, where Liv serves as Director, is Tulane and Loyola’s open and affirming campus ministry. Though rooted in the Methodist tradition, NOLA Wesley also partners closely with the Presbyterian Church (USA) through UKirk and the 1001 New Worshiping Communities initiative. It has become a vibrant spiritual home for students from diverse backgrounds, including college-aged members and visitors from SCAPC who worship or study Uptown. SCAPC participates on NOLA Wesley’s Board and helps support the weekly Sunday night dinner ministry.

We give thanks for Liv’s ordination and for the thriving ministry of NOLA Wesley/The Labyrinth Café. Shown here is Liv (left) with Linda Trueblood, RE, Berean Presbyterian Church/Moderator, Presbytery of South Louisiana, as Liv signs the Presbytery’s Book of Obligation, a tradition for all Ruling Elders when they are ordained or installed in our Presbytery.

Confirmand Class

25 youth confirmed their baptismal vows during worship on November 9: P.J. Able, Rhys Breaux, Liam Carlisle, Sadie Duvernay, Emma Edgecombe, Nina Edgecombe, Regan England, Henry Frame, Parker Frame, Jack Grabill, Jason Hardie, Lizzie Hope, Liam Kennedy, Cora Landry, Sterling Lanier, Adeline Lemoine, Maggie Mackenroth, Hadley Meyer, Baldwin Montgomery, Logan Montgomery, Claude Roth, Leighton Smith, Elliott Stagg, James Starr, and Marian Vorhoff.