March 4, 2021

the H e ral d
Volume XXXXXVII
No 3

Lenten Series – March 7, 14, 21 @ 6:00 p.m.

All Lenten series Sunday evening events are being held
on Zoom.

Lenten Study Series: Matthew 25

Who: Sponsored by the Mission Committee, with guests from the community
What: Study of Jesus' words in Matthew 25 concerning feeding the hungry,
Inside this issue:
welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and freeing the
imprisoned.
Pastor’s Writings 2 When: 6:00pm each Sunday 2/21-3/21 live via Zoom (with the chance to inter-
act with our guests); and anytime afterwards via our YouTube channel. We
Christian Educator/ 3 expect these meetings to last an hour or less.
Deacons Where: Wherever you're comfy!
4
Why: Central Presbyterian is a "Matthew 25” congregation. This initiative
New Christian
comes from the Presbyterian Church (USA) and involves study and action on
Educator/birthdays
the themes of combating poverty and racism.
Easter flower Mis- 5 Also, the five-year strategic plan the session approved contains the goal of in-
sion News creasing Central's hands-on engagement with our surrounding communi-
ty. The Mission Committee sees the Matthew 25 initiative as one potential
Youth News/Lent 6 way to accomplish this goal.
devotion/Deacons
news

Calendar 7 Palm Sunday will be celebrated during the March 28 worship

Maundy Thursday service will be held in our sanctuary beginning
Church Happenings 8
at 7:00 p.m. on April 1
Good Friday service is at Central at noon on April 2
Easter Sunday service is at the UTE Shelter in Deming Park
beginning at 10:30 a.m. on April 4
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the He ral d

Special Meeting of the Congregation March 14

A called meeting of the congregation will be held

following worship. Its agenda will be limited to two
or possibly three items:
1. Approval of the terms of call of Pastor Rig-
gins. (This should have happened during the 1/24 annual meeting but he overlooked
it on the agenda.)
2. Election of Sinwon Racop as a deacon.
3. (Possibly) election of at-large members of the Nominating Committee

We will ordain and install our new classes of elders and deacons during worship on
Sunday, March 7.

Easter Morning Worship will be at the Ute

Shelter in Deming Park beginning at 10:30
a.m. The session made this decision in the
hope that more of our members and friends
might feel comfortable gathering outdoors.
Join us there!!

Cheryl Moles leads a devotion time on Zoom each week of Lent

using the book "The Cup of Our Life" by Joyce Rupp. It is not nec-
essary to purchase the book. You will need to select a cup or mug
that has special meaning to you to bring to the meeting. There will
be 2 identical meetings a week. One on Monday evenings at
7:30pm and the other on Wednesday mornings at 9:30am. Each
time should last one hour. You are welcome to attend one or both
sessions and any or all weeks. Watch your inbox for the zoom link.
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CHRISTIAN EDUCATION REPORT - Cheryl Moles, Christian Educator

Sunday Morning Childcare is now available each week for children age 3 years and younger. Our
attendants are on duty from 10:15 to the end of the service. They do a health check when they ar-
rive. Parents need to sign a form on the first day of returning stating that you understand our health
guidelines and that it is best for children showing any symptoms of illness (other than allergies) to
not attend. Please use the north entrance (Larry Bird St.) door to leave your child in room 101 and
the back stairway to the sanctuary. Sanitation procedures are in place for the room and toys.

At home Sunday School lessons are available on the Church Family at Central Presbyterian
Church Facebook Group or by email.

Children's Worship now meets every Sunday. Children ages 4 years to 1st graders are wel-
come to leave the sanctuary with Mrs. Moles following the Children's Moment to attend an age ap-
propriate worship. Children will remain seated with their families during the Children's Moment.
Parents will determine if their child(ren) attend. Children's Worship will be in the lounge, room 200.
The furniture is rearranged to allow more space for distancing. Masks will be required. Parents need
to pick up their child(ren) from the lounge or the CW group will try to meet parents in the 2nd
floor ramp hallway. Children will not be taken downstairs.

Sunday Morning Coffee Fellowship by Zoom from 9:30 - 10:00 am. We can see each
other's smiling (morning) faces and check in with each other before worship. This is casual, but your
appearance on camera must be appropriate.
The Zoom link will be sent on Saturday.

Applications for the Surrell Scholarship will go online mid-March with a deadline of April
18. This is a book scholarship available for those that will be traditional or non-traditional college
students for the 2020-2021 school year that are active in the life of CPC.

Registration is open for Pyoca Summer Church Camp. For more details, go to
pyoca.org. Central does provide scholarships for campers.
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New Director of Christian Education/Communications Coordinator Named

And she is our own Ellie Templeton! In mid-March she will start working five hours per week as
our Communications Coordinator. Her Christian Education work will not start until about a week
before our current director, Cheryl Moles, retires on June 30. From that time forward Ellie will
work in both capacities thirty hours per week total.

We will celebrate Cheryl's excellent work throughout her remaining months on our staff. But we
would be remiss not to thank her especially in this initial notice. Well done, good and faithful serv-
ant!

Under the guidance of the Personnel Committee, Pastor Mike Riggins and elder Corrine Foree, rep-
resenting the Christian Nurture Commission, conducted the search for our new staff mem-
ber. Postings on line and word of mouth yielded sixteen candidates. Three of them represented a
clear "First Tier" in terms of skills, personality, credentials, experience and--above all--a real faith in
Jesus Christ. Mike and Corrine conducted interviews with each of these three. All made strong
cases for themselves. Discerning whom to offer the position to required thought, extensive discus-
sion and prayer. In the end, the two-person team agreed: Ellie was and is our number one choice.

Ellie is a "cradle Christian", having grown up attending Methodist churches here in Terre Haute. She
has always believed in God and happily joined a congregation through the confirmation pro-
cess. When she and Richard got married and had a family they began a search for a church that
would offer them and their children the ministry they wanted. Happily for us, friends already here
at Central invited them to try us. (And THAT is how the church grows! Personal invitations! But
we digress.)

Now Ellie has the opportunity to assume the reins of a program already hitting on all cylinders. As
she said to us in her interview, "I'm excited to be able to give others what my husband and I, and
our girls, have been given." Please join in welcoming her into this new calling.

1—Megan Harder
6—Sally Rubey
12– Jack Ragle
14—Anna Spydell
16—Diane Giltner, Min Seo
17—Peter Christ, Caroline Christ
19—Henry Darke
20—Simone Clime, Susan Powers, Shirley Slutz
21—Christopher Moulton, AnnaBeth Spencer
23—Ridge Holder
25—Brad Bough, Allen Holder
29—Michael Mardis
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Flowers for Easter

It has been the custom of Central Presbyterian Church to provide
plants for Easter to decorate our sanctuary. Since the Easter
morning service will be held in Deming Park at UTE Shelter, we
will not be ordering plants this year.

We would like to invite those members and friends to provide

plants to decorate around the worship area at Deming Park. If you
choose to do so, you may bring a plant (lily, daffodil, tulip or hyacinth) to the park
with you as attend worship. You will be responsible for placing the plant to deco-
rate the worship area and for picking it up after the service. Let’s make the worship
space a beautiful area in which to worship the risen Christ this Easter.

From Your Mission Committee

MATTHEW 25: THE 21 DAY RACIAL JUSTICE CHALLENGE: There is a growing aware-
ness among Presbyterians that racism is a crisis and must be addressed. The PC(USA) is strongly com-
mitted to the struggle for racial justice, and the Matthew 25 Initiative calls us to work as a congrega-
tion to eliminate Systemic Racism, an issue that we've been discussing in our Sunday evening Lenten
series.

The 21-Day Racial Justice Challenge invites us to do something every day to raise awareness
about the perniciousness of racism and encourage action in response to that awareness. To find the
daily readings and activities:
visit https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/matthew-25/racism/
or Google "PCUSA 21 day challenge"
or check into our Facebook group "Church Family at Central Presbyterian" for a daily link
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ONE YEAR OF THE PANDEMIC

One year ago we were beginning a worldwide pandemic that has given us frustration, un-
knowns, loss, and grief but also times of gratitude and growth. As a church and a community
we will acknowledge this historic year of our lives on Sunday, March 21. An outside fellowship
time between 11:30 am to 12:30 pm following worship for those that attend in-person wor-
ship and those that want to come for this event will be held in the parking lot and front side-
walk area. Please invite any friends that would benefit from fellowship and remembrance.
Dress appropriately for the weather to spend some time 1) in the company of others, 2) for
personal remembrances of grief and gratitude, 3) reflecting on growth following a dormant
time and 4) giving cheer to our neighboring community.

On Saturday February 20, the Deacons had a group Zoom meeting. We wel-
comed in Ridge Holder, Mary Horneker, and Kirsten Ford.
We said our thank-yous and good-byes to Isabelle Conner, Murray Pate,
Kristen Darke, and Donna Garrison.
Then we had our own meeting. We spoke of people that we know for whom we wanted to
pray. We also had our own COVID stories and vaccination tales. We look forward to being to-
gether in person.

Highpoint Youth is continuing its "NEXT STEPS" series, lessons focusing on taking the next
steps closer to our Christ during this Lenten season. As a part of our Service Mission, our
youth will be volunteering at United Campus Ministries Chili Fest held on Sunday, March 7.
Highpoint Youth has decided to meet in person starting March 14; our youth are looking
forward to our in-person Youth Nights.
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March 2021
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 Cup of Our 2 3Cup of Our 4 5 6

Lives Devotion Lives Devotion
on Zoom 7:30 on Zoom 9:30

7 Worship 8Cup of Our 9 10Cup of Our 11 Reopening 12 13

10:30 Lives Devotion
Chili fundraiser Lives Devotion on Zoom 9:30 Task Force 5:00
111:00– 2:00 on Zoom 7:30 Staff 11:15
Lenten series Deacons 5:00
on Zoom 6:30
Session 7:00

14Worship 15Cup of Our 16 Committee/ 17Cup of Our 18 19 20

10:30
Congregational Lives Devotion Commission Lives Devotion
meeting 11:45 on Zoom 7:30 meetings on Zoom 9:30
Lenten series
on Zoom 6:30 Youth Design
Team 4:00

21Worship 22Cup of Our 23 24Cup of Our 25 26 27

10:30 Lives Devotion Lives Devotion
Pandemic gath- on Zoom 7:30 on Zoom 9:30
ering 11:30
Lenten series
on Zoom 6:30

28 Herald 29Cup of Our 30 31Cup of Our

deadline Lives Devotion Lives Devotion
on Zoom 7:30 on Zoom 9:30
Worship 10:30
Personnel 12:30
 The Herald
Central Presbyterian Church
125 North Seventh Street Sunday School for all ages 9:30 a.m.
Terre Haute, IN 47807 Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m.

Phone: 812-232-5049 Rev. Mike Riggins, Pastor

Fax: 812-232-5040 Cheryl Moles, Christian Educator
Email: CPCOffice@thcpc.org
Sarah Kelsheimer, Church Secretary

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Church Happenings

Women’s Book Club

The Women’s Book Club will Don’t forget to “Spring Forward” on

Saturday, March 13
be meeting in April in the
before you go to bed.
church lounge. The book to Daylight savings time begins on
be discussed is Station Eleven March 14
Next Herald
by Emily St. John Mandel.
Deadline —
March 28, 2021