Haney Presbyterian Church

Newsletter
February 2012

Special Feature: Our Youth and Childrens Programs

In this Issue: Why do we worship? The Church Year - Our Finances Being Welcoming - Our Activities - And more...

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Why do we worship? Submitted by: Gerard Booy

Why do you consider worship important? Important enough that you make an effort to come to church on Sunday mornings? Important enough to bring your children to worship? I suppose that we have many personal reasons why we get out of bed on Sunday mornings and come to worship, and why we bring our children and grandchildren with us. There are social reasons for doing this: we have friends whom we like to see and spend time with; worship provides us with a sense of belonging; we feel accepted here; we appreciate the support, care and love of church members. We want our children to enjoy the same. Some people come out of a strong sense of duty to fulfill their vows to the Lord and the congregation. Others come because they have a desire to learn more about God and the Bible, and listening to the sermon gives them something to think about. They want their children to learn about God. It could be that coming to worship has to do with a sense of emptiness that plagues us; we come hoping to fill the void in our lives. There are those who relish the relative quiet of a worship service. Their lives are full and busy and they long for a time to be quiet, to reflect, and to withdraw from the rat-race. Or, maybe you come to worship hoping that that you could somehow convince God to see you and bless you. Maybe God will feel better about you love you more - when you worship regularly It might be that you are longing for God and wish to express your gratitude for Gods blessings. And sometimes we come because it makes us feel good. Many of the reasons we have for worship are purely utilitarian. We worship for what we hope to get out of it. Worship is a means to fulfill our needs. We start with ourselves; it is about us. The problem with that is that we turn worship into a matter of personal taste, preference, convenience, and comfort. Worship then becomes optional. And worship becomes something that adults do while someone else keeps the children busy. We need to start at a different point. Worship is not in the first place about us; worship is about God. We start by thinking about who God is, and what God the Holy Spirit accomplishes in us when we worship. We worship because God deserves our worship. God is majestic, glorious, holy, worthy to receive praise and honour and glory (Revelation 5:13). Worship immerses us in the splendour of God, where we become lost in wonder, love, and praise. We forget about ourselves; in the presence of God, we die to ourselves. Worship pulls us into the presence of God where our awareness of God increases; it trains us to take God seriously. Worship unites us with the community who follow Jesus, and immerses us in new ways of thinking, doing, and feeling. We are transformed. How does this happen? The Holy Spirit uses Scripture to interpret, figure out, and rearrange our lives. This has little to do with our ability to understand, interpret and apply text. It is Spirit work. The Spirit uses the lens of Scripture (a metaphor that John Calvin loved to use) that we might see God through it and look through it at the world and our lives. Like a pair of glasses, the Bible brings focus and clarity to aspects of our lives and let us see what we would otherwise not see (Serene Jones in Inhabiting Scripture, Dreaming Bible). And in time, it becomes impossible to imagine a world without God. In time we are formed in the likeness of Christ. That is why we worship. That is not for adults only. It is Gods way for all Gods people. Father, we adore you, lay our lives before you...

The Church Year - Submitted by: Paddy Eastwood

Since I introduced the children to the Church Year in a childrens story, a number of you have asked me for more details. Briefly, dividing the Church Year into six seasons helps us tell the story of our faith. We begin in Advent with the worlds longing for a Saviour. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of the Saviour. Epiphany is the season for mission, remembering that Christ came to save the world (the magi were from outside the people of God). In Lent we recall how Christ died for us and at Easter we celebrate the resurrection. Pentecost celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit and the resulting growth of the Church. The Last Sunday of the Church Year is Christ the King when we celebrate Christs reign over all the cosmos. Some of these seasons are both days and seasons: for example Christmas Day is December 25th and the Christmas season extends until January 5th (the twelve days). Pentecost is also a day and a season. Each of the seasons also has particular colour. The colour for Advent and Lent is purple, combining both suffering (as we long for God to act, as Christ suffers for us) and royalty; the colour for Epiphany and Pentecost is green , the colour of growth as the gospel is spread; the colour for Christmas and Easter is white or gold, for purity. Pentecost Day is red to recall the flames of the Spirit. Some churches follow this cycle more closely than others. I enjoy it because it helps me keep the whole story of the gospel foremost in my mind. There is one congregation in Vancouver that publishes a calendar that follows the Church Year rather than the Gregorian calendar with which we are more familiar it is very unusual! If youd like more details, this link is helpful http:// www.crivoice.org/chyear.html . The graphic below coordinates the Church Year with the Gregorian calendar which runs January to December.

Good News Concert

Fund Raiser for Nicaraguan Students to enable them to go to school Featuring the

SPREAD THE "GOOD NEWS" TO FAMILY, FRIENDS & NEIGHBOURS!

ALL WELCOME!
Saturday April 28th at 7:30 p.m.

Haney Presbyterian Church

Abbotsford Male Chorus

ADMISSION by donation
Inquiries: 604-467-1715

Our Programs for Children ...

There are several groups for children on

Friday evenings From 5 - 7 pm

The

The CHICKLETTES are for girls ages Story time Games Led By: Susan Reaveley and Robyn White

HPC BOYS are for boys ages 8 - 12

Bible Study Games Led By: Johnathan Booy & James Deutschmann are for high school boys Bible Study Games Led By: Regard Booy and Andrew Newberry Thanks to the hard work and commitment of Paddy and our Youth Leaders, our children and youth programs are growing! Many of these kids are not involved with a church, or not even from a Christian home, so this work is extremely important. Please keep praying for this! The HPC

GODs GIRLS are for girls ages

Devotion Games Led By: Janet Eastwood, Laura Newberry and Ricky Newberry

GUYS

Story time

Bible Study

Devotion

Knitting hats for babies in the hospital

Fun and Games

Why do you do it? One of our youth leaders respond...

I was asked to give a statement on why I believe in God and why am I involved with youth groups. I was raised in a Christian home with parents that were heavily involved with the church. As a little girl I attended Sunday school and youth groups which really touched my life. At age 9 I first attended a kids summer camp and every summer after that, I attended other Christian camps. Camp and youth group helped me to understand more about God and what it means to be a Christian. I first gave my life to Jesus when I was about 11. But it was at camp Douglas when I was attending the LIT program that I decided to fully devote my life to serving God. Attending camps and youth groups has really changed me and helped me to believe in God and begin to understand all that he is capable of. Being involved in childrens ministry is an exciting and rewarding pastime. The kids that come to Haney on Friday evenings are mostly kids that dont hear anything spoken about God in their home. I know that what we are doing in our childrens church ministries is very important to them. As a young camper growing up I often would look up to my youth and camp leaders. I dreamt about one day becoming one of them and leading young children to God in a fun and exciting way. That is why now I lead my own youth group and have been working at summer camp for the past five years. Leading children is a privilege that I am grateful for. I feel that I have been very blessed in my life and I pray that God would use me as a blessing to others. Blessings Laura Newberry

Three of our Youth, who are also leaders at the Friday Night girls groups: Laura Newberry, Robyn White and Janet Eastwood

Ecclesiastes 11:9 (New Living Translation) Young people, it's wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do.

March Madness is coming! The churches of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are organizing a week of events for youth grade 6 and up during Spring Break: every day well do something different. Plans are underway for a wide variety of daytime and evening events including: an evening with Legacy One Dance Crew a prayer event Dodge ball (can we get a co-ed team together?) a neighbourhood blitz and movie night worship at CLA a wild west showdown at the Albion Fairgrounds and ending with an afternoon of serving the community and an evening of worship. See Paddy for more details.

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Our Programs for Youth ...

Youth Lunch and Bible Study

Sundays immediately after the Worship Service

Second Sunday at Seven (SS7)

Our church and the Presbyterian churches in Mission (St. Pauls) and Abbottsford (Calvin) get together every second Sunday of the month for a Youth Evening Worship Service at St. Pauls Presbyterian in Mission

Youth Games Nights

High School and University students from our church and Mission (St. Pauls) and Abbottsford (Calvin) get together every first Friday of the month at Haney Presbyterian for a ...

Welcome Arianna! - Submitted by: Liz Hancock

It is Sunday and today in Church, we watched the wonderful service of Baptism for three children. I always find this a special time, which takes me back to when our own three kids were Baptised when we lived in California. By then our Christian life was well established and baby Sarah came along, so all three were Baptised together with water from the River Jordan. Stuart was ten, Suzy was eight and Sarah was two months old. By the time Sarah was sixteen months, we were back in England and struggling to find a Presbyterian Church. much to our dismay there were none in the South-west of England and we joined a small Methodist congregation of about thirty people in the town of Sherborne Dorset. The children came with us to service every week and gradually we assimilated once again into the English life style. When the two older ones reached their early teens we were hard pressed to get them to join us on Sunday morning and slowly their participation dwindled. Sarah being younger by many years came with us and continued to do so when we returned to Canada. But it wasnt long before she too went her own way. Matthew 28:19 -20 - 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son 28:19and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Now, as adults they are divorced, partnered and married to non-Christians and find our participation in Church life, something that Mom and Dad do, but not them. The lure of the secular world is overwhelming and to encourage and keep our children in the faith becomes harder and harder. That is why it was so wonderful to see Arianna standing proud at the front of the Church a small beacon of hope for the future a little flame to be kept burning by us all.

Our Sunday Morning Programs to teach children about God...

Church School (up to age 10)
For kids to gradually learn to participate in worship, they stay in church for the first part of the service and then leave for Church School after the Childrens Time. In Church School they participate in a lesson and activities that teach them about God and the Bible.

We Believe! (Age 11 - 12)

The older kids are meeting with Gerard at 9am on a Sunday to work through a curriculum teaching them about what we believe as Christians in our church. To encourage and enable them to participate in worship in a meaningful way, they then meet with Paddy to prepare for worship and they stay in the service until after the sermon. They leave during the last part of the service to meet with Paddy and to discuss the sermon. Rebecca, Alicia, Eilidh, and Tristan during church school for kids under 11.

Nursery - We also have a nursery for the little ones.

Why teach our kids about God? - Submitted by: Annalize Booy
All of us were quite rattled by the horrible car accident recently where 2 teens died. Such a tragedy is certainly any parents worst nightmare. Friends of ours were also horribly assaulted in their home 2 weeks ago. Again a situation you hope you never have to face. Speaking to our friends I realized the comfort we have as Christians when she said: and then I only think about our earthly convenience and do not focus on the life after this one. Child psychologists tell us that the most formative years of a childs life is from birth to seven, with maybe a few years of grace after. We should therefore ensure adequate teaching and modeling of Christian values in these early years.

thought Im going to die now and I remembered my friend Petro who only has weeks left due to her cancer, and I thought I will be waiting there for Petro when she arrives... And also when a boy who lost a sibling said: at least I will see her in heaven again
In todays world we are so focused on our immediate earthly existence (and so under the impression of political correctness) that we tend to forget that faith is indeed a matter of life and death. We

My only comfort in life and in death is that I belong to my Savior Jesus Christ.
Heidelberg Catechism

Memorial Fund

- Submitted by: Bob Garvin

This special fund was established several years ago to receive monetary gifts given in memory of family members and friends. Often in obituary notices we read, in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be given to.... Our Memorial Fund receives such gifts. The donors receive a note of thanks and receipt. The family in due course receives a letter sharing with them the names of people who gave memorial gifts. There is a Memorial Book in the display case in the Narthex. This records the people remembered and the projects made possible by the fund. There is also a section in the book to record bequests given to our congregation. The accumulated funds are used for specific memorial projects such as the power point projector and new communion ware. We encourage our people to use this fund as a suitable way of remembering friends and loved ones.

Did you know that our congregation has a Memorial Fund?

Treasurers Notes - Submitted by: Larry Eastwood

January and February are interesting and busy months for treasurers of charities. Everyone knows the T4 slip and tax receipts must go out but following the annual general meeting the accepted budget must be entered into the computer so we can track our expenditures during the year. Also, the dreaded Charities Report must be submitted to the Canada Revenue Agency (three little words designed to strike terror into anyone). Im happy to say that all that is complete. As well the church books have been completely converted to a computerized system using Simply Accounting. The offering envelopes are tracked on a great program called Offering Helper, which has now been updated to the Plus Version. The Plus Version has additional features which will allow the creation of a more complete congregational database. Various groups have been requesting up to date contact lists and finally we will have one. The budget will be challenging this year. We are actually running a deficit budget, similar to the provincial and federal governments. Unlike them, however, we planned for this and will be drawing down the reserved fund established for the Youth Minister. By the end of 2012 it will no doubt be depleted and so in 2013 we should be looking at funding 100% of our operating expenses from offerings, rent and various fund raising activities. Finally, I want to say that any time anyone has a question please do not hesitate to call, email or speak to me. If you have a bill that needs to be paid, put all the information on it (your name! your phone number! and what activity/group it was for) and slide it into the Treasurers mail slot. My contact information is Lawrence.Eastwood@gmail.com . During the day Im at 604 244-5211 and in the evening 604 2720727. Thanks everyone, for making this transition as easy as possible. Particular thanks to Gerard for his support.

Larry offering his services was truly God-sent! Since he has been the treasurer at Richmond Presbyterian Church for many years, he knew exactly what needed to be done. Due to his knowledge and experience, what could have been a disaster ended in not only all expectations being met on time, but an upgraded, improved system on top of that. Larry has invested countless hours since he started this task and there is just not enough words to thank him for what he has done.
With the unexpected passing of Jean Grundman,

who was our treasurer for more than ten years, we suddenly found ourselves in a huge dilemma. Not only was there no one else involved in the churchs bookkeeping, it was also only 2 weeks before the annual meeting and only a few weeks until the end of the financial year (with all the accompanying responsibilities).

We are increasingly indebted by the Eastwoods unselfish service to our congregation. Not only has Larry volunteered numerous hours to get this done, every week Paddy is also committing many more hours than what she is paid for via the parttime youth ministers position. HPC is also not the only organization benefitting from their selfless commitment! They are an inspiration to us all!

Not in my pew, you dont!

- Submitted by: R. Dorne Cornish

Lorraine and I were visiting a rather large church for the first time and arrived early. We found a place to sit on a center aisle pew about 10 rows from the front. There was not one person in front of us and there were empty pews for several rows back. We had just settled in when a lady stopped by our row and looked at us. We exchanged good mornings but she made no attempt to sit, just stood there, looking back up the aisle. A few minutes passed and then she waved, at the same time speaking in a loud voice, yoohoo, I am up here, we are one row closer to the front this morning. and beckoned another lady to join her. I turned to Lorraine and said quietly we are sitting in her pew. That was our welcome to First Presbyterian Church in Daytona Beach. Which raises the question: How welcoming are we to newcomers to the church who have come to join in the worship service? How accommodating are we? Scripture is pretty clear on how we should extend hospitality to strangers (Romans 12:13b) and warns us to not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2) I am sure no one would want to offend an angel! Jesus too issued an invitation: Come to me, all that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28). Well, that sounds pretty good and I am sure we agree that all should come to Jesus and have faith in him. That is, as long as they dont intrude on my/our space and can find someplace to sit where they wont disturb anyone! On one occasion, after Jesus had been teaching the disciples about his imminent death and resurrection, the mother of the sons of Zebedee, asked him for a special favor for her sons (mothers are like that). What do you want? Jesus asked, and she replied Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom. Jesus doesnt mince words. You dont know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink? The boys quickly, unthinkingly, answered: We are able. (Ah, the rashness of youth!). Jesus replied (somewhat quietly I think) You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father. (Matthew 20:20-23) Well, that is pretty clear. There are no reserved seats in the kingdom of heaven, and, I suspect, there are no reserved seats in the church either however much we might think and act like there is.

Library Corner - Marla van Hilten & Gayle Howard

If you cannot read all your books, at any rate handle, or as it were, fondle them ~~~ peer into them, let them fall open where they will, read from the first sentence that arrests the eye, set them back on the shelves with your own hands, arrange them on your own plan so that you at least know where they are. Let them be your friends; let them at any rate be your acquaintances. ~~~ Winston Churchill
Churchill, with very little formal education, knew the value of books and so educated himself by reading. We have purchased many new titles over the past year, along with some DVDs, both instructional and entertaining, for your enjoyment and edification.

Heavenly Father Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with the homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children. Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who cant make change correctly is a worried 19 year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans next semester. Remind us. Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares. Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she just got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together. Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love. Amen (Prayer forwarded by Bob Garvin)