Presbyterian 101 from Karen Nielsen, Liaison to PCUSA
We've been challenged by Pastor Jeff for more than two years now to seek to grow a
healthy, missional church. Well, we're well on our way to doing just that!
News from Our SOUL Garden
Work Day #1: Our first official Work Day, guess what? It rained on our parade
but that couldn't stop us! It was just great! In a total of 17 gardeners
representing 19 gardens, 8 Boy Scouts with 6 Boy Scout leaders, there wasn't a
cloudy face anywhere. We planted flowers in the Labyrinth area (there are more to
come), weeded walkways and refreshed the wood chips in the pathways. One of
our garden friends made sure our tummies were filled with hot dogs, chips, and
lunch just before the rain started.
Changes in the Patio/Arbor: We decided to move the grapes to another area
and replace them with Virginia Creepers. Nurserymen told us they would grow
rapidly and provide the shade we need in that area. This is a beautiful vine in the
fall and, because it is deciduous, it will give us warmth from the sun during winter,
shade in summer, and gorgeous foliage in the autumn weeks.
Thanks to Friends: We received a very generous donation to our garden from
another church member, Sally Dahlstrom. Thank you Sally! Your donation will
help us do some other things we might not have been able to do otherwise.
Carolyn Cushman, a neighbor, donated a lot of her perennial flowers for the
Labyrinth. This helped us a lot because nursery-grown perennials are very
expensive and our small budget cannot always allow for the expenditure.
Both of these women are now officially "Friends of the Garden."
New Ingredient for Compost: Stale bread!
We are always looking for ways to increase our compost and keep our gardens
healthier. Bring us stale bread, egg shells, potato peels, etc., etc., but no
tomatoes please. COTTONWOOD COURIER – May 2012
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The PC(USA) General Assembly Mission Council with its Office of Church Growth is
announcing the arrival of a Congregational Transformation discernment process.
"Starting New Initiatives" is not designed as a "quick fix," but rather, is a process of
prayer, discernment, and conversation for congregations to decide how they can best
minister in their particular context(s).
For the past few years, Cottonwood has worked diligently to pray, reflect, and gather
information. Then we set our hearts and minds into action to become the hands and
feet of the resurrected Christ in our neighborhoods, city, and world. Look at how
God is at work sending us out as a new people with:
• Abundant participation in Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday
worship services
• Increased attendance in Christian Education classes and Senior Adult Fellowship
• OUR CHILDREN! If they're not learning about God's abundance in the Soul
Garden, they're singing or waving palms, attending an Earth Day Celebration, or
collecting clothes for those in need
• Faithful Deacons caring for their individual "flocks" with members in need
• An extremely successful and well-attended "Interfaith Choir Festival" with two
other faith communities
• The new Planning and Budget Committee continuing their work for long-range
planning
• Member Care's tireless work with activities like Chat & Chew, Singles Events and
beautiful, new church directories
• The Pastor Nominating Committee's diligent work to find a pastor for us
• Presbyterian Women's multiple programs, groups and bible studies
• Classes and support from our Parish Nurse, Cherie Paulson
• Several new members in the past year and more to come soon
• But an even greater, outward look beyond our doors sees:
1.Mission Committee stronger than ever with our numerous programs of outreach
2.A growing community Easter Egg Hunt for children of the church and
neighborhood
3.An expanding "Soul Garden" whose benefits reach into the community and
provide extra food for our sisters and brothers in need
4.Continued support of our resident Neighborhood House Adult Day Care
5.Growing attendance at worship with our outreach to disadvantaged young
mothers
6. Increasing membership with our brothers and sisters from Pakistan and Africa
Can you feel it? You can certainly see the excitement of a
new congregation whose decision to grow in vitality and ministry
is leading them in new directions. How exciting! God is calling us
to be a spiritually dynamic community of faith and we are
becoming a Disciple-Making Church. May God bless us as we seek
to become part of a movement of the Holy Spirit that speaks hope
and brings grace and purpose into people's lives.

 

PRESBYTERIANS IN ZION:  History of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Utah by Frederick G. Burton

 

This excellent history, authored by our own Fred Burton, is now available in Amazon.com and in bookstores.  Publisher, Vantage Press, Inc., New York, states, “This well-researched and well-documented study, illustrated with nearly 100 photos, highlights the conflicts that Presbyterians faced when coming to an area already heavily populated by the Mormons.  Naturally, the Mormons had their own ideas and principles, many of which ran counter to those of the Presbyterian faith.”

 

EXERCISE CLASS TO KEEP FIT

 

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:00 a.m. an exercise class is held in the gym.  We have an excellent instructor who is helping us to regain balance, flexibility and other strengths we may have neglected.  It is about 20 minutes of low impact aerobics, then some weight training, flexibility and balance work until about 10:00.  This is not a spandex group and special clothing is not needed, just a floor mat and some hand weights.  Our goals are just to keep our parts moving as long as we can.  Both men and women are cordially welcome. If you would like to look in at those times to see if you might be interested, please do so.  There is no cost, but a collection is taken at the end of the year to go to the instructor and to the church.