Highlights of January 15 OPS and NOW Meetings

Due to weather and road conditions, meetings of the OPS and NOW committees took place on Zoom January 15.

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:

• Finished work on the 2025 budget to present to Session for approval.
• Tabled discussion of various deferred maintenance projects until spring.
• Discussed a new/recurring issue of bats in the rafters of both buildings.

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:

• Affirmed a proposal by Phil Lloyd-Sidle to offer weekly Lectio Divina sessions in the Gathering Room during Lent. Proposed dates and times are Thursdays March 13, 20, 27, and April 3, 10, from 5:30 to 6 p.m.
• Approved a request from Ben Langley to use $300 from funds left in the church’s 2024 Build-a-Bed account to purchase supplies for the Community Build-a-Bed event April 12. Ben will recruit a team of 8 people from CHPC to participate.
• Affirmed a proposal by Rebecca Barnes and Chris Bischoff for a community contra/square dance in the Henry Young Fellowship Hall in May (date TBD).
• Heard about plans by the Master Gardeners to offer a class on pruning at the church on Saturday, February 8.

Mark your calendar for the next meeting of NOW/OPS: Wednesday, February 12, opening with a fellowship meal (homemade soups!) at 6 p.m.

Deacon/Elder Retreat at Sisters of Loretto

On Friday through Sunday, January 24-26, new and existing deacons and elders will meet for a time of retreat, refreshment, and renewal. We will be spending time together team building, visioning CHPC's future and ministries, and in worship.

We will begin about 7:00 p.m. on Friday evening and conclude after worship Sunday morning. Please bring casual clothes, toiletries (including bath soap), walking shoes, snacks, or drinks to share (healthy

snacks are allowed, and wine is always appreciated!) and any games you like to play. You are also encouraged to bring dessert items to share during fellowship time on Friday and Saturday evenings.

You may wish to bring a Bible, journal (if you keep one), or yoga mats for use during free time. We have been asked to leave plastic water bottles at home and use the filtered water there. Linens are provided, unless you want an extra blanket (sometimes the old buildings are a bit drafty in January). We look forward to seeing you there!

Because Pastor Tami will be at the retreat, Perry Chang will be preaching in the CHPC sanctuary on Sunday. 

How to Help Our Immigrant Brothers and Sisters

CHPC members Perry Chang and Rebecca Barnes are both serving on the Mid-Kentucky Presbytery’s Committee for Hispanic/Latino Ministry in the Preston Highway area. As we all know, this is a fraught, precarious, and potentially dangerous time for our immigrant siblings, with the incoming administration's promises of mass deportations and increased surveillance. This will create impacts throughout our region and presbytery.

What can you do to help? The Preston Highway Ministry has a “diaconal fund” that Rev. Elmer Zavala uses to help meet some of the emergency needs of participating households. Those practical needs sometimes include legal aid. If you feel so moved, please help to increase the Diaconal Fund. See below flyer about the Hispanic Latino Ministries, and use the QR code to donate!

Readers Theater

Sunday, February 2

The sequel! On Sunday, February 2 from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., Phil Lloyd-Sidle will host a second “Adult Sunday School” group reading of the sequel to the Nativity morality play “The House by the Stable.” This play, also by Charles Williams, is entitled "Grab and Grace" and features some of the same characters plus two more: "Faith" and “Grace." It is a fun and thought-provoking play about the time following the death of Jesus.

The reading will take place in the Gathering Room. As before, the bonus of coffee, teas, and baked items will be provided.

Charles Williams was a friend and contemporary of T.S Eliot, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and others in mid-20th-century England. He was most known as a novelist, but also published poetry, works of literary criticism, theology, drama, history, and biography.

Prayer and Action for Middle East

If you are struggling with your feelings about all that is happening in the Middle East and yearn for shared information, prayers, and other possible responses, please join our small group. Here is our schedule for the remainder of January.

• Thursday, January 30, 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., on Zoom. Email Soni Castleberry at soni.castleberry@gmail.com to get the Zoom link and to be added to the group email list for regular communication.

DID YOU KNOW?

What Presbyterians Believe

Good News- Our salvation through Jesus is God’s generous gift to us and not the result of our own accomplishments. It is everyone’s job — ministers and laypeople alike — to share this Good News with the whole world. That is one reason the PC(USA) is governed at all levels by a combination of clergy and laity that includes women, men, and nonbinary people.



https://pcusa.org/about-pcusa/who-we-are/reformed-theology

February 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.

February 2 - Brooke Yeager

February 10 - Beverly Bartlett Turner

February 17 - Judy Steer

February 18 - Elinor McNinch

February 22 - Kate Husk, Jerry Van Marter

February 25 - Allen Bridgman

February 27 - Stewart Bridgman Sr.