January 27, 2012

The Women's Retreat is coming Saturday, March 10 from 9:00am - 4:00pm at Deer Creek Shores Presbyterian Church in Cumming. Rev. Emily Wright of Roswell Presbyterian Church will be our speaker. Online registration will begin February 1 and the fee will be $30. Light continental breakfast, lunch and snacks will be served. 

Come join us as we will be Celebrating - 25 Years of APC Women!

Ancient Figures, Modern Faith - Ryan Bonfiglio's lecture series, Sunday mornings in the theater at 9:45am, continues through February 5.

For many protestants today, ancient figures such as prophets, priests, kings, and sages are often seen as relics of the distant past, strange artifacts of the Old Testament that seem hardly relevant to modern faith. Yet, such characterizations tend to overlook the central role concepts related to prophets, priests, kings, and sages have played both in Biblical theology and the Reformed tradition.

In fact, John Calvin famously described the work of Christ - and thus the vocation of the Church - in terms of the threefold office of prophet, priest, and king. This four-week study will attempt to uncover whom these ancient figures were and how they were understood in the ancient world in order to recover why they still can and should matter in the life and mission of the church today. All are welcome to join us for this series.

Thanks to the community's generosity, North Fulton Community Charities helped 3,500 people with holiday celebrations (gifts and meals). Thank you!  APC continues to collect non-perishable food items and personal hygiene items in the large yellow bins in the hallway.  Those donations are delivered weekly to help our neighbors in need.

Closing Offices or Relocating?  North Fulton Community Charities has a Family Enrichment Program that is looking for furnishings.  As NFCC prepares to move into a new building where the enrichment program will be held, they are looking for training room furnishings, office and reception area furniture.  If you know of someone who is closing an office or relocating an office, and may consider donating items for our training center, please contact Eden Purdy, epurdy@nfcchelp.org for a list of needed items or more information. 

Kenya - APC member Walter Dean will lead a mission trip to Kenya from June 1 - June 11, 2012.  We will be visiting Habitat Aid Initiative (www.habitataid.org) projects in the Western Province of Kenya and meeting community leaders and beneficiaries, including APC's water project accomplished through 2011 VBS donations. Habitat Aid works in health services, education, agriculture, water and sanitation and for gender equality. We will worship at Presbyterian churches and end our time by visiting the Masai Mara Game Park. Trip cost is $2,975 plus airfare to Kenya. The trip is for adults and youth age 14 and up accompanied by a parent. Contact Walter Dean at info@habitataid.org or 678-519-9845.

Haiti - We are hoping to offer a mission trip to the Island of La Gonave, Haiti this fall (Proposed October 27 to November 3). The intent of this trip is to build understanding, participate in a health fair for children and do building repairs. The trip is still in the planning stages but with Session's approval, the trip will be led by APC member Sydney Schneider; the estimated cost: $1,300. This is a trip for adults and youth age 14 and older if accompanied by one parent.

Contact sydschneider@comcast.net.   

Interested in learning to play the guitar?  Ollie Wagner offers beginner guitar lessons to children (age 7 and older) on Wednesdays from 4:30 - 5:15pm and follows the Fun Wednesday dinner schedule. If you have a guitar, you may bring it.  APC also has some that you may borrow.  Instructions are in a group setting and held in the choir room (next to the sanctuary). Please direct any questions or interest to ollie@alpharettapres.com. There are no fees or charges for this music ministry.

Anyone who would like to donate a used acoustic guitar (full or children's size) to APC should contact Ollie Wagner. We need a few extra guitars to share with the children taking lessons.

This Sunday is "Dayschool Sunday." We look forward to welcoming many of our Dayschool students and their families to worship at APC. Nancy Fain, Dayschool Director, will share an update of the Dayschool year as we celebrate their ministry of the church.

FW Dinner Reservations 

You can now make your Fun Wednesday Dinner reservations on-line. Go to www.alpharettapres.com/dinner and follow the directions to make your dinner reservations. Please make your reservations in advance as stated in the example on the website. If you are not making your reservations on-line, you may fill out the reservation cards on the table in the church lobby. 

APC Career Transition Program - Recently the unemployment rate in Metro Atlanta dropped from 10.2% to 9.9 %. When individuals are no longer job hunting, as well as those who seek full-time jobs are counted, the real rate of unemployment is a conservative figure of 15%. Since 2007, Georgia has lost 360,000 positions, so the state now has approximately the same number of jobs that existed in 1999. Elder Bill Harris leads efforts at APC to address the employment concerns and needs your help.  We are trying to get a handle on how many of our members are unemployed and underemployed and whether or not they participate in the Career Transition Group at APC. If you would like employment assistance, please email Bill at w.m.harris@att.net.

If you work for or lead an organization, we would appreciate any information on positions that might represent opportunities that become available or contact names that would ensure a more effective outreach. We need our employed professionals and executives to reach out and make information available that will give a competitive edge to members of our congregation who are endeavoring to gain a sense of the real jobs and hidden market versus Internet postings. In the Lobby, the Career Transition Bulletin Board is now up and running. Please email Bill with any assistance you can offer as we renew our commitment to serve our members, veterans and the community in this challenging and prolonged Recession.

The Session

Class of 2012                                     Class of 2013                                        Class of 2014

Dianne Berry-Children's Ministry            George Bancroft-Property                Scott Doll-Membership/Youth Ministry

Michelle Burton-Youth Ministry              Jodie Barger-Children's Ministry        Molly Elkind-Worship

Morris Estes-Finance                             Lynn Danson-Fellowship/Mission     Stu Laubenstein-Personnel

Jim Gray-Clerk of Session/CE                Pat Dennis-Open Arms                      Anne Mahone-Dayschool/LRP

John Shevlin-Mission                             Stacy Guy-Commitment/Commun.      Charles Moriarty-Property/CE

Jessie Prigge-Youth Ministry                 Nancy Hill-Personnel/Nominating        Sarah Provow-Open Arms/Commitment

Amy Rogers-Communications               Jan Hughey-LRP/Finance                   Ferrell White-Worship/Fellowship

Jean Williams-Nominating/Membership  Kylie Vacko-Open Arms

Deacon Care Teams

Hospitality - John Hicks, 678-513-4570, hicksjc@bellsouth.net

Companion Care - Carolyn Dillon, 770-751-3799, csdillon@bellsouth.net

Hospital & Recovery - Paul McChesney, 678-234-8471, paulsmcchesney@gmail.com

Sympathy & Celebrations, Steve Ludlow, 770-722-5473, ludlowst@comcast.net 

Find us on Facebook!  That's right Alpharetta Presbyterian Church has a facebook page!  You can "like" APC at http://facebook.com/alpharettapres.  Look for the latest information about activities and missions of the church!