Welcome!
No Adult Bible Study this Sunday 11/24/24
Sunday School 9:30am
Adult Bible Study 9:30am in the Library
Worship Service at 10:30.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance – Ukraine Emergency Appeal: Gifts can be made online, by calling (800)-872-3283, or by check made payable to Presbyterian Church U.S.A. with “DR000156-Ukraine” on the memo line and mail to: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), P.O. Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700.
PRAYER LIST: Jamie Lyman Gingerich, Myrna Voelker, Ellen Elwell, Val Mills, Paula DeMass, Bob Stell, Mike & Linda Douglass, Rosie Wright, Mary Ann Sparnon, Carol Merrell, Edith Hutchings, Shirley Bishop, Tom Johnson, Pete Douglass, Alice Youngman, Jordan Lockwood, Arlene Youngman, Maxine Pankratz, and All MILITARY PERSONNEL SERVING OUR COUNTRY
Sunday services start at 10:30 AM, and Sunday School is before service at 9:30 AM for both children and adults. This vibrant and loving congregation would love for you to stop by one Sunday.
I am on the Committee of Preparation for Ministry (CPM), and this is a presbytery committee that prepares ministerial candidates for ordination. One of the most difficult requirements for seminarians is to write a “faith statement”, which they have to present to the CPM. It is rare for a candidate to be rejected for not being “orthodox” enough, but it is an important milestone in articulating one’s beliefs and faith journey.
I thought it would be an interesting exercise to share with you all my faith statement from when I was a candidate for ordination. My CPM did pass me, though I think they suggested I use fewer “fifty-cent” words in my sermons. I still believe what I wrote back then, and I would be happy to dialogue about it. Here are my basic beliefs about my faith in God.
Walter’s Brief Statement of Faith
Dear Church Family,
I have some good news to share with all of you. My recovery has gone better than expected, and I am officially returning to work this week. I still have to take it easy, so no bear hugs please, as my chest is not fully healed from open heart surgery. You may see me huff and puff more after I go up a flight of stairs, and my stamina is a “bit” less than it was before getting a new heart valve. It is from a pig incidentally, and it should last me good many years if I treat it well.
I was treated more than well by so many of you that sent me cards, emails, phone calls, etc. I believe that prayer makes a difference, and I cannot thank everyone nearly enough for the prayers and get well wishes. I am also grateful for the many people who stepped forward to lead worship in my absence, especially Andy DeMay, John Ray, Chantel Lockwood, and John Gingerich. My absence was definitely not a planned event, and they quickly stepped up to preach and teach on Sunday mornings. The Session, Deacons, and many other volunteers took over my other roles too. For example, I will officiate Bill Cahoon’s Celebration of Life this Saturday at 2 PM, but all the preparations for that will be done by other people, for which I am very grateful.
There are many more thoughts to share from the month I have been on medical disability. Most of them will make their way into my sermons and Sunday School lessons. However I would share with you now a Bible verse I repeated may times while I was in the hospital, Psalm 40:1-3.
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the desolate pit,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
