Give to the Peace & Global Witness Offering

The peace of God, which is central to the gospel, starts with us! By giving to the Peace & Global Witness Offering, one of four special offerings of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), you can help sow seeds of peace by addressing violence and systems of injustice in our own community and around the world.

Participating congregations designate 25 percent of the offering to support ministries of their choosing. The remainder of the offering supports peacemaking and justice work of our presbytery and the PC(USA). The offering is collected on or before World Communion Sunday, October 5. You may give online or mail a check to the church. Please give generously!

The NOW Committee has proposed to Session that CHPC’s 25 percent of the offering go toward the art piece by Craig Kaviar for the front plaza. Craig is working on a piece called “Healing the Earth,” made of metal from guns collected at Guns to Gardens Louisville events plus other donated metal. The project also received funds from last year’s Peace & Global Witness Offering.

September 28—Join Us in Preparing for World Communion

Sunday, October 5, is World Communion Sunday. These days we typically approach this sacrament as the joyful feast of the people of God. One of the names for the sacrament, after all, is eucharist, which means thanksgiving. We often observe world communion by hearing many languages spoken in the service of worship, signifying that the Holy One welcomes the whole global community to the table.



But there are other meanings for communion. In the past, preparation for receiving communion was a time of reflection and prayer. Christians sought to approach the table not just with joy, but also by seeking to reconcile themselves with all those they may have harmed in some way. In that sense, communion—joining together in community—was not just thanksgiving and remembrance but also a time to examine being in right relation with others at the table.

This year, the Middle East Prayer Group invites CHPC adults to join us on Sunday, September 28, from 9:45-10:45, in the Gathering Room, as we seek to be open to the movement of the Spirit. We will focus our prayer on discerning ways we may be complicit, both individually and corporately, in causing the wounds this world is experiencing. Specifically, our prayers will focus on the devastation and horror taking place in Gaza and the West Bank.

Faith in Action with Palestine—September 30

Genocide and starvation in Gaza. Destruction of homes in the West Bank. How can people of faith respond to these atrocities and help bring peace with justice to Palestine?

All who want to learn more and get involved are invited to gather at Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church, 142 Crescent Ave. (back building), on Tuesday, September 30, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. There will be time for prayer/reflection and for exploring options including book/study groups, congregational prayer groups, advocacy for Palestinian women and children in prison, legislative advocacy, and local actions.

Bring your own ideas and hear from others who are already engaged in this work!

Note: This is an in-person event. There will be no Zoom option.

CHPC Deacons Thank You

Thank you to all who baked cookies for the reception following Don Mead's memorial service. Thank you, too, to Tami Recob, Ben Langley, and Shannon Langley who assisted the deacons with the reception. The deacons are grateful for all of you.

Prayer Shawls

Prayer shawls are a way to show care to someone in need. Prayer shawls are available in a bin in the church office. Notes of care are also available in the bin. It is helpful if you would note the recipient and date on a list found in the bin. Thank you for showing care in this way. Questions? Contact Patti Marcum (pdwmarcum@gmail.com or 502-403-8269).

Prayer and Action for Middle East

Feel free to join us Thursdays 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

PC(USA) Book of Confessions

Many people are confused by talk of “confessing,” “confessions,” and “confessional” churches. Both inside and outside the church, confession is ordinarily associated with admission of wrongdoing and guilt: criminals “confess” that they have committed a crime; famous people write “true confessions” about their scandalous lives; persons visit a “confessional” to tell of their sin. In Christian tradition, however, confession has an earlier, positive sense. To confess means openly to affirm, declare, acknowledge or take a stand for what one believes to be true. The truth that is confessed may include the admission of sin and guilt but is more than that.

When Christians make a confession, they say, “This is what we most assuredly believe, regardless of what others may believe and regardless of the opposition, rejection, or persecution that may come to us for taking this stand.”

A distinction must be made between confession as an act of Christian faith and a confession as a document of Christian faith. On the one hand, all Christians are by definition people who confess their faith—people who make their own the earliest Christian confession: “Jesus Christ is Lord.” The Christian church, called and held together by Jesus Christ himself, lives only through the continual renewal of this fundamental confession of faith that all Christians and Christian bodies make together. On the other hand, a confession of faith is an officially adopted statement that spells out a church’s understanding of the meaning and implications of the one basic confession of the lordship of Christ.

Such statements have not always been called confessions. They have also been called creeds, symbols, formulas, definitions, declarations of faith, statements of belief, articles of faith, and other similar names. All these are different ways of talking about the same thing, though “creed” has ordinarily been used for short affirmations of faith, while other names have been used for longer ones.

https://pcusa.org/sites/default/files/boc2016.pdf 

September 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.

9/4 - Christi Boyd

9/8 - Aaron Davidson

9/13 - Emily Pauw

9/18 - Marsha Myers

9/19 - Stewart Bridgman

9/21 - Beth Yeager

9/22 - Stephen Bartlett

9/23 - Stephanie Gregory

9/28 - Donna Burch

To double-check your listing, contact the office at office@crescenthill.church or call 502-893-5381.