In the Life of Our Congregation  

Attendance

August 11       151
August 18       140
August 25       158
September 1    158
September 8     204

Visitors

Rich, Amanda, Rachel, Alyssa and Abigail Lauth; Dave and Jane Fulton; David and Gladys Snyder; Ruth Maughan; Dr. Amy McMillan; Beth

Rivers; Laura VanNoord; Mavita Dishon; Bob and Kathy Birkholz;

Dorothy Gay; Alex Burkhart

Lucas Kenneth Hartwell, born to Bradley and Lyndsay, great grandson to Joyce Hartwell

Concerns

Jack Richardson, Loren Scribner, Dorothy Hart, Phil Kennedy, Judi

Clemons

Deaths

Former member, Arnie Van Zanten; David Flynn, brother of Michael;

Michael Cialkowski, father of Cyndi Jenkins

Check out what's happening nationally:

   Did you have a favorite teacher or mentor that influenced your life? Well, we have an opportunity for you to give back. Tutors have donated their time and efforts helping students in southwest Detroit and you can too! 

   This year's goal is to have enough tutors for a one-on-one relationship with each of the children. If you can commit to a few hours every Monday afternoon during the school year, the rewards will be plentiful.
   Ten returning and four new tutors were commissioned on September 8th. Mary Sue Sickafus has been the driving force with 23 years of service, followed by Judy Middlestat with 16 years of service. They would not be tutoring for so long if it wasn't rewarding to see the benefits to the children they serve. Our other tutors are just as dedicated and chalking up years of service as well. Please thank the tutors that faithfully represent GIPC, as they serve on our behalf: Sandy Bettinger, Dianne Bridges, Flora Case, Marge Conley, Pam Frucci, Carole Poleski, Sara Speer and Anita Teresko. New tutors for this year are Cheryl Beuther, Vicki DesJardins, Carolyn Maricq, and Jim Parker.
   The tutoring program began in October 1990 with volunteers from Southwest United Presbyterian Church in southwest Detroit. The purpose of the program was to help children with homework, music and art. It began with about a dozen volunteers and grew over the years to about 30 tutors and 30 children. Funding was provided by the Louisa

St. Clair Chapter of the DAR. The final year of that program was 2007 when several tutors decided that 17 years was long enough.
   A few of the volunteer tutors moved on to the Delray Community Center to continue their hands-on work with children. Over the years, many of our Christmas families were selected by our tutors who had a relationship with the families they served. 
   In 2012, an opportunity to return to the Southwest Church was created and we served Harms School in southwest Detroit. Fourteen first grade students were tutored every week by 12 tutors. Nine of these tutors were from GIPC. The program this year will include first and second graders as well as an English as a Second Language class offered to the parents. Volunteers are needed in both areas. New tutors may still join this dedicated group and more men are needed.
   GIPC thanks our tutors for the dedicated work they do and the care they give their students in our name. 

   Bring a friend or come alone. From September through May, we meet at GIPC from 4-6 pm (note time is different from summer hours) to play dominoes (Mexican Trains), Euchre, Bridge and other games. You can find us in Fellowship Hall. Bring a snack if you would like; we'll provide

lemonade. Family dinners follow for $4 per person.

Come for games...

   Stay for dinner at 6:00 pm.

Questions, suggestions and comments about the York Connection can be sent to Ilona Macek at jimacek@aol.com
or call her at 734-675-2384.

   The Peacemaking Offering of the P.C.U.S.A. will be received during the month of October at Grosse Ile Presbyterian Church. It is one of four special offerings taken each year. Your contributions will assist the many ministries of our denomination which aim at pursuing peace and

seeking justice. Twenty-five percent of the amount received is retained by our church to aid in local peacemaking efforts.

   This year the local portion will be forwarded to Freedom House, for which we are collecting paper goods this month.  Watch for further details in the October 1 Spire.

   Also remember to place your donations of paper towels, Kleenex, and toilet paper to Freedom House in the containers in the breezeway between September 15th and the 29th. Thank you in advance for your generosity!

 The Rise of Christianity: The First One Hundred Years - a study of the historical and cultural world from which Jesus of Nazareth and Saul of Tarsus emerged - a seven-week series will be presented at Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church.

  Beginning September 15, Kirk in the Hills will offer an in-depth study to learn about the Judaism of the first century, how it shaped Jesus and Paul and what happened as Christianity began to root and to grow. The series also will look at the Greco-Roman culture out of which the Church grew. The series will provide new tools for thinking about the

New Testament writings and the convictions that animated them. That means a more informed faith with which to consider and to act on the amazing and complex challenges of today.

   Classes are Sundays, September 15 through October 27
from 10:10 am. to 11:00 am. in the Refectory and Wednesdays, September 18 through October 30 from
6:30 - 8:00 p.m. in the St. Andrew's Room. The Rev. Dr. Loren Scribner will present Paul v. Those Little Books in the Back on October 30th.

  The Rev. Carol Tate, Associate Pastor at Kirk in the Hills, says, "Most of us know about Jesus and then about now. What happened in between is a fog. If we had better understood the social, cultural, and political contexts of the time out which the Christian scriptures sprang, history might have looked different. The Church has not always been

faithful to Jesus."

   The series features a variety of presentations by distinguished scholars from the surrounding community and across the country including Oakland University, Michigan State, University of Michigan, Austin Theological Seminary and Emory University. The Rev. Dr. Luke Timothy

Johnson, leading New Testament Scholar, will be among one of the scholars in this series. For schedule and class descriptions go to: http://kirkinthehills.org.

   This series is open to the public and offered free of charge. Participants may attend each lecture and event offered or pick and choose based on the speaker and topic. Childcare is available through preregistration only.

   Kirk in the Hills is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA) called to deepen faith, serve others
and foster fellowship.

   The Kirk is located at 1340 W. Long Lake Rd. in

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. For more information, please contact:
Rev. Carol A. Tate
Kirk in the Hills
Phone: (248) 626-2515, ext. 117
Email: amc@kirkinthehills.org
 

 
   Joan Lockard, moderator of the Presbyterian Women of the Presbytery of Detroit, will be the guest of Mary/Martha Circle on September 17. She has vowed to circulate around the Presbytery and visit as many Presbyterian Women's groups as she can during her two-year term of office. Women of our church who would like to join the circle for our Bible study, fellowship, and a chance to meet our moderator, please come at noon on September 17. We meet in the Fireplace Room. Please bring a bag lunch. Coffee and tea will be provided.

   The cluster meeting was a fun kick-off for the 2013-14 year of gatherings. The Presbyterian Women of the Presbytery of Detroit (PWPD) usually plan monthly gatherings starting in September but have changed the format the last two years. Clusters meet in smaller groups of churches in nearby congregations so the women can get to know each other better. On September 4, all six clusters met at the Southfield Covenant Presbyterian Church and were entertained by a motivational speaker with a message all women would enjoy. She had a beautiful voice and sang several religious songs composed by her mother, also a musician who writes music for her church. Renee Warman first had us tape a cardboard on the backs of another woman in front of us and then asked us to get up, circulate, and write an encouraging word on the cards about that woman. About one half an hour later we read the comments written on our backs. She emphasized how encouraging words serve us so much better in a world where there are too many negatives. I was surprised by how kind the comments were on my card and plopped them into what I call my "joy" jar.  (Actually, it's a folder with happy thoughts that I look at whenever I'm in the dumps.) Dianne Bridges was the only other woman to attend from our church but the message along with a table full of breakfast treats and fruit provided by the women of the church all added up to a pleasant way to kick-off the PWPD 2013-14 year.
 

  The next  PWPD Gathering is at Second Mile Center in Detroit on Wednesday, October 2 beginning at 9:45 am. with a hymn sing. After a short business meeting, the program will feature a missionary working in Sudan as a regional health and development consultant with the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan. Lunch will be served following the program for only $8.

   Second Mile center is an amazing mission project in a rough neighborhood in Detroit which has been financially paid for by a legacy left by a former active PWPD member who left almost $1 million to found a center that would provide religious education and a safe haven for both children and families in Detroit. Former PWPD moderator Ruth Azar is their director and through the past few years has turned an abandoned former church into an active center serving the people of the area. The youth have mastered mime and song as well as studying the Bible and have shared their talents with congregations in both Michigan and Ohio. Healthy meals are served there every week. 
   They're also requesting back packs for school supplies for the children who come to the center as well as a bag of non-perishable food to help families at Thanksgiving. For more information or if you'd like to ride along in our van to Second Mile Center, see or call me at 671-0170.
 

- Pamela A. Frucci,