JANUARY 2024
CPC Table Talk
The monthly newsletter of Colesville Presbyterian Church
In This Issue . . . JOY MOVIE NIGHT. . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 1 FROM THE PASTOR . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 2 MISSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 4 NEW MEMBERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 5 JANUARY WORSHIP . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 2 ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL. . . . . . PAGE 3 CLERK’S MESSAGE . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 7 2024 CHURCH OFFICERS. . . . . . . PAGE 6 JANUARY BIRTHDAYS. . . . . . . . . PAGE 8 December 31 Worship CHANGE Please Note: We are NOT holding an in- person service of worship on Sunday, December 31 . Instead, we are providing a family service for you to worship with your family at home which you can access at this link. Pastor Laura is also providing a special video message which will be available on Sunday, December 31 at our CPC YouTube channel. Thank you for your understanding in making this change!
Join us Saturday, January 13 at 7pm for a viewing of “ Mission: Joy” in Fellowship Hall! This is a joyous and meaningful movie featuring His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, their friendship and conversation about cultivating joy in the midst of troubled times. Watch this trailer for more information. “The Book of Joy” Discussion Group On Wednesday nights at 6:30pm via zoom, starting January 10 , Pastor Laura will also be leading a five-week discussion group of the book, “The Book of Joy” which is based on the movie. Here is the link to purchase the book and read more about it. All are welcome! “Mission: Joy” Movie Night
The Monthly Newsletter of Colesville Presbyterian Church
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January 2024 Table Talk
January 7 Epiphany/Communion Officer Ordination and Installation “How Does a Weary World Rejoice? We Follow the Light” Isaiah 60:1-6 Matthew 2:1-12 January 14 Baptism of the Lord “How Does a Weary World Rejoice? We Trust Our Belovedness” January Worship Isaiah 43:1-7 Luke 3:21-22 January 21 Third Sunday after Epiphany “They Believed” Jonah 3:1-5,10 Mark 1:14-20 (Annual Congregational Meeting after Worship) January 28 Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
From the Pastor...
Dear CPC Family,
First off, let me just say how thankful I am for each and every one of you. Your presence here at CPC brings me such great joy! I am deeply grateful to be your Pastor and pray for each of you daily. As we enter a new year together, I pray we are all reminded of the “good news of great joy which shall be for all people: a Savior which is born...in Bethlehem.” This is the “thrill of hope” for a weary world which enables us to rejoice even in the midst of great weariness or sorrow. I pray this hope we have in Christ holds you today and in the coming year as we seek and grow together in faith, in courage, and in love. Please also know that my door is always open if you are ever in need of a shoulder to lean on, a listening ear, or just a good laugh with someone who cares.
“As One with Authority” Deuteronomy 18:15-20 Mark 1:21-28
Happy New Year!
gratefully, Pastor Laura
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The Monthly Newsletter of Colesville Presbyterian Church
January 2024 Table Talk
The Adult Sunday School Class meets every Sunday at 9 am in Room 115. To close out our study of the Nativity of Jesus before we continue with the Holy Spirit class, on January 7 we will look at some details of Jesus’s birth and why they are important. Such things as: Why mention a manger? Why mention swaddling cloths? Why shepherds? Why do we usually not talk about Matthew's account? And a question we never ask: what does Jesus birth have to do with Passover? On January 14th , the class will resume the study: “Come Holy Spirit.” Much of what we think we know about the Holy Spirit is rumor and assumption and sometimes bad Biblical theology. The Holy Spirit is neither “spooky” nor “fearful” nor “ecstatic,” but is meant to be a normal and active part of our Christian life and of our church. Subjects to be covered will depend on where the Holy Spirit leads us: What does it mean to be an “adopted” child of God? What does Baptism and the Holy Spirit have to do with being “fully human?” What is the Baptism with the Holy Spirit? What does it mean to be “Spirit-filled? What about the “gifts” of the Holy Spirit? Adult Sunday School
What does life in the Holy Spirit look like? (or: Does the Holy Spirit make us weird?) Does the Holy Spirit make me a “holy” person? Charlie Robinson will continue to lead the discussion.
Colesville Presbyterian Church 12800 New Hampshire Avenue Silver Spring, MD 20904 Phone: 301-622-4555 Email: Office@colesvillepresbyterian.church www.colesvillepresbyterian.com Rev. Laura Batten-Carbaugh, Pastor
The Monthly Newsletter of Colesville Presbyterian Church
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January 2024 Table Talk
News from Mission Choice Pantry Update The American Heart Association has invited CPC to partner with them in offering customers blood pressure checks each month at the Choice Pantry. They have provided us with monitoring devices, training materials, and information and physician referral resources to share with our customers. We began offering this service at our November pantry. Help for Homeless High Schoolers Each year CPC sends a donation to two area high schools to use for the benefit of homeless students. Here is part of the “thank you” letter from Springbrook High School:
New Staff Emails Starting January 8, 2024 we will switch over the church office email and Darci Pickering’s email to the following new email addresses: For Ruth Delaney and Mary Ellen Cain, our office adminstrators: Office@colesvillepresbyterian.church For Darci Pickering, our church treasurer: Finance@colesvillepresbyterian.church These are new emails for the church; until then you can use the old emails but the official switch will happen January 8 . After the switch, emails will still be forwarded from the old accounts so nothing will get lost. Thank you! Knit One, Pray Too! Needlers display their beautiful knitted and crocheted items which were later donated to the women’s shelter in Rockville.
“Our lead Counselor assists in identifying students and their
individual needs. Your kind donation will be used to assist those students with fees for activities such as senior dues, prom and/or yearbooks, field trip costs, and even for gift cards towards food or incidental expenses as needed. Your support is very important and means a lot to our students. We appreciate you keeping Springbrook in your heart and giving back to help students continue to thrive.“
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The Monthly Newsletter of Colesville Presbyterian Church
January 2024 Table Talk
Welcome New Members Cara Burak-Steinmetz grew up in Silver Spring and at CPC! When she and wife Laura decided to bring faith into their lives as a couple, they watched online services at Cara's parents' church. After Pastor Laura became CPC's pastor, they started watching CPC’s online services and easily decided this would be their church home. Cara is a specialist for technical education. She volunteers as a CPC youth group advisor and at our Manna Choice Pantry once a month. L aura Burak-Steinmetz comes to us via her wife Cara who grew up in our church. When they watched CPC's services online, Laura said that she was drawn to Pastor Laura's messages. She also felt very welcome the first time she attended which had not occurred in other places of worship. Laura is a teacher and is already teaching in our elementary Sunday school class! Her outside interests include dancing, interior design, and tennis. Lawrence Eyong comes to us from the Cameroon via Atlanta, Georgia. While in the Cameroon, military service was his profession and he now works in security at BWI Airport. Lawrence enjoys music and dancing. He heard about CPC from a friend. Welcome, Lawrence! Geraldine Njinda lives in Silver Spring and works in nursing at the VA Hospital. You’ve probably already seen her in the CPC Choir. In addition to her love of music, Geraldine enjoys traveling, cooking, and serving others. Geraldine found CPC online and then visited the church. Her interests include worship, mission, and fellowship. We are delighted to have her joining our congregation and sharing her talents with us. Gerri Smith and her family were CPC members back in the 1960's when she and her husband were youth group advisors. Later on, they moved to Annapolis and enjoyed their lives as sailors. She recently moved to Riderwood and came back to CPC where she is pleased to see so many old friends! Gerri loves playing bridge, gardening, and her beagle. At CPC she volunteers at Smart Sacks and Manna food pantry and she recently made three of the Chrismons for the Sanctuary trees. Almaz Tsehay came to CPC by the way of our website. Our statement that we were "Intentionally integrated" caught her eye and she decided to try it out and loves CPC. Originally from Ethiopia, Almaz went to college in Minnesota and then moved to Maryland for her job as a database developer. She is interested in Fellowship, Mission, and Music and has already helped with communion preparation! Welcome, Almaz!
The Monthly Newsletter of Colesville Presbyterian Church
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January 2024 Table Talk
2024 Church Officers ELDERS Class of 2025 Janey Richards
Per Capita
As determined by Presbytery, the 2024 Per Capita is $48.56 per church member. Per Capita is an apportionment of the expenses of our denomination at the Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly levels. Won’t
Mike Pettey Stella Ndeh Class of 2024 Susan Bentz
T you please contribute your Per Capita? There are blue Per Capita envelopes in your offering envelopes and they will be available in the pews on January 14 ; or please write “Per Capita” in the memo portion of your check. You may also give online on the church website by selecting Per Capita from the Fund dropdown box. Contribution Statements Contribution statements will be available in the North Foyer on January 14 . Please pick up your statement so we may avoid mailing costs. Remaining statements will be mailed January 29. If you would prefer to receive your statement by email, contact Darci Pickering at Finance@colesvillepresbyterian.church. 2024 Offering Envelopes 2024 envelopes are available in the North Foyer for those who requested or had them in 2023. If you would like envelopes, contact Darci at Finance@colesvillepresbyterian.church.
Eric James Ron Kelley Sharon Ludwig Mike Miller Susan Patrick Diane Rogers
DEACONS Class of 2025 Debbie Vandemark Jean Robinson Suzanne Forry Madeline Akoa Marcia Eley Silvia Trumbower Betty Whitney Class of 2024 Barbara Claxton Bea Garner Sten Maulsby Jean Pettey
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The Monthly Newsletter of Colesville Presbyterian Church
January 2024 Table Talk
Updating our Church Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation
At the Annual Meeting on January 21, 2024, the congregation will be asked to approve updated church bylaws and Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation. The current documents are badly out of date and have been revised to reflect current practices. Approval of the updated documents will not change how we currently operate because, while we have changed our way of operating over the past 20 years, we have not changed
the documents that specify how we operate. There are eight major changes to the documents:
1.All elders are now elder trustees. Formerly there were two separate categories. For each elected church office (elders, deacons, and members of the congregation on the Nominating Committee) the number of office holders is now expressed as a range rather than a fixed number. For example, instead of requiring 16 elders we now stipulate between seven and twelve. 2. The length of a term of office for elders and deacons is now stated as two years instead of three. This has been our practice for several years. The total number of continuous years one can serve as deacon or elder remains at six. 3. While the existing bylaws specify the first Sunday in November for the election of officers, the updated bylaws specify a month (October) and allow for a later meeting if the Nominating Committee needs additional time to identify candidates. 4. A section concerning the Bowen Endowment Funds has been added and the duties of the Treasurer amended to state that the Bowen Endowment Funds are not part of the Treasurer’s responsibilities. 5. The president of the corporation is now a member of the congregation rather than the pastor, because, technically, the pastor is not a member of the congregation/corporation. 6. The various approved changes to the original Articles of Incorporation (1967 and subsequent) have been consolidated in the restated articles. 7. The bylaws now specify that the articles of incorporation are to be amended in the same way as the bylaws. 8. A number of minor editing changes were made to update the language (e.g., references to the Book of Order) in both documents. The revised bylaws and amended and restated articles of incorporation have been reviewed and approved by both Session and CPC’s legal counsel. I would like to thank Pastor Laura Batten-Carbaugh, former Pastor D. J. Loscher, Martha Johns, and Ron Kelley for their participation in the lengthy redrafting process. If you would like complete copies of the updated bylaws and/or the Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation, please contact me at mikemiller47@verizon.net.
The Monthly Newsletter of Colesville Presbyterian Church
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January 2024 Table Talk
Upcoming Events...
January Birthdays
Sunday, January 7 10am Ordination and Installation of Elders and Deacons and Communion Wednesday, January 10 6:30pm “The Book of Joy” five-week book study begins via Zoom Saturday, January 13 7pm “Mission: Joy” Movie Night in Fellowship Hall Sunday, January 21 11:15am Annual Congregational Meeting and luncheon Saturday, January 27 9:30am Deacon and Elder Officer Training Wednesday, February 14 7pm Ash Wednesday Service of Worship Saturday, February 24 7pm Intergenerational Movie Night “Up!” in Fellowship Hall
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The Monthly Newsletter of Colesville Presbyterian Church The Monthly Newsletter of Colesville Presbyterian Church
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