From Our Interim Pastor

IN OUR PRAYERS:

Keep these friends in your prayers:

Willard and Edith Wakeman (parents of Jean O'Connell) Sarah Jane Soika, Jane Baer, John Reller, Stacy Winn, Betty Barnhart, Evelyn Black, Diane Young, Denny Carlson, Cathy Fey, Marilyn Rettig, Brian Hitsman.

Lord in Your Mercy, Hear Our Prayers

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We give thanks for the life of Adele McLaren who died December 2nd.  Please remember her children in prayer for comfort at this time.

JOYS

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Another Joy,

Listening to the Oxford Brass play a mean,

"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch!"

(no arsenic sauce here!)

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THANK YOU

to Charles Watson for making the platform for the pews, so that our wise men and camels could advance in the sanctuary during advent.   We appreciate your willingness and quickness in getting the job done!

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THANK YOU

to Ken Hormell for donating the wreaths for the front doors of our church to honor and remember his wife Sandy, who died from ALS in 2004.  The wreaths arrived from Maine with a wonderful pine fragrance and if you look closely, some Maine blueberries in the wreath.

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A BIG THANK YOU to the group of Oxford Presbyterians who decorated the Hatton Center at Safe Haven Farms for Christmas.  The Farmers, Staff, and Parents had a wonderful Christmas Party and everyone enjoyed the beautiful ambiance.

 

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Thank you to everyone who bought a poinsettia. Wasn't the sanctuary beautiful?  Especially when you think about all the love that is represented by each and every poinsettia.  The Deacons are most grateful for the flowers that were donated to the Deacon's Angels. They helped brighten the homes of our angels. 

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Thank you to everyone who made a donation to the Specia l Music Fund. Our choir presents us with special music each Sunday, but the fund allows some extras too.  What a blessing to have so much talent!

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A BIG thank you to everyone who added so much to the success of the Cookie and Craft Sale.  Whether you were a worker, baker, crafter or buyer, you contributed in an enormous way to helping raise an unofficial total of $1,100 for the mission fund of the Oxford Presbyterian Women.

God Bless,

Diane Young and Deanna Maxwell

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THANK YOU to our newly elected church officers (some folks are new to their roles, and some folks are kindly returning for 3 more years of service). We are so grateful to you.

Trustees:  Lisa Brunckhorst, Bill King

Elders: Mary Jane Roberts, Robert Smith, Jeff Smith, Tip Zeigler, Janet Zeigler

Deacons: Matt Lykins, Jean O'Connell, Danny Cross, Breanne Parks, Connie Everhart

 

Angel Report: Deacons' Angels are those members who are home bound. Numbers are unavailable, but know that the Deacons tended their angels with love and care.

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THANK YOU to someone who has donated the extremely generous amount of $500 for the Deacons to use to purchase food for the Choice Pantry!! This helps so many people in so many ways.  And, because the money is donated to the Deacons, we can earn Kroger reward money as we purchase food for the pantry.  Don't you just love a win win win situation.  THANK YOU!

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Do you know someone who needs a Prayer Shawl? Shawls are given for comfort in times of illness or grief, as well as for celebration in times of joy.  If you have a friend or relative to whom you would like to give a Prayer Shawl, please call Cornelia Browne.

What Your Session Did In December

1.  The Transition Team is using "A Road Map for the Interim Journey" to formulate a plan that will discover what the mission of OPC will be in the future and to find a candidate for the pastor's position that will fit that vision.  We are a different church than we were 17 years ago.

2.   The budget for 2015 was passed.

3.   An updated funeral policy was approved.

4.   OPW has plans in place to raise an additional $50,000 that will augment the money earned from a grant that provided $100,000 to the Bethesda Christian Community Center in Barranquilla, Colombia. This will fulfill the amount needed to buy land and complete the project.

5.  A candidate for the position of Interim Associate Pastor has been interviewed and currently is being vetted for the position.

6.   CCNS will be in operation for the 2015-16 school year, contingent on enrollment and the availability of a credentialed teacher.

SPECIAL SPEAKER FOR MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY

Troy Jackson, Ph.D.

Director, AMOS Project

Troy Jackson is the executive director of the AMOS Project, a faith-based organizing effort in Cincinnati fighting for racial justice. He is the co-founder and director of Ohio Prophetic Voices, a movement of faith leaders and clergy engaged in a biblically rooted struggle for economic and racial justice. Jackson served on staff of University Christian Church (UCC) in Cincinnati for nearly 19 years, and served as the congregation's Lead Pastor from 1996-2013. Under Jackson's leadership, UCC established Rohs Street Café, a seven-day-a-week community coffee shop committed to community engagement, the arts, and social justice.

Jackson has been involved in Community Organizing over the past seven years, first as a volunteer leader, and more recently as a faith organizer in Cincinnati and Ohio. He continues to work for a pathway for citizenship for the undocumented and for an end to mass incarceration. In 2011, Jackson served as faith outreach director for the highly successful We Are Ohio campaign that led to the repeal of Ohio Senate Bill 5 by a 61-39 margin.

Troy is a co-author of the forthcoming Forgive Us: Confessions of a Compromised Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014), which explores the historic sins of the American Church

Troy earned his M.Div. at Princeton Theological Seminary and received a Ph.D. in United States history from the University of Kentucky.  Troy's book Becoming King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Making of a National Leader (The University Press of Kentucky, 2008) explores the critical role the grassroots Montgomery Movement played in the development of King. Troy's other publications include his work as an editor on The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Volume VI: Advocate of the Social Gospel (September 1948-March 1963) [Berkeley, University of California Press, 2007). Troy is also a regular blogger with Huffington Post and on Sojourners' "God's Politics Blog." Troy lives in Cincinnati with his wife Amanda and their three children, Jacob, Emma and Ellie.

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FOOD AND ITEMS NEEDED: COMMUNITY MEAL ON

DECEMBER 31

Being Presbyterian sometimes brings its challenges, like hosting a community meal on New Year's Eve. But rather than cancel, we would like to push ahead with a nice meal for those who might miss out on a nice evening, or at least the beginnings of one.

 Along with a good warm meal (specifics to be announced), we would also like to start up a more substantial dry goods program. Danny Cross has been our sole effort behind this drive, so to boost the availability of items (and their amount), we are hoping more church members could contribute diapers, toilet paper, toothpaste, canned food, tissues, and other things of this nature.

If you can help out this New Year's Eve, please contact Bill Fisher at 524-4504 fisherwf@miamioh.edu.

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NEEDED:  A PLACE TO SLEEP

This year Judy & Glenn Rymer's, Prue & Steve Dana, and Ellen Buerk have graciously provided bed and breakfast for MU parents and others.  But we need more help, especially for commencement weekend in May.  If you are interested in helping out then, or other weekends, please contact Karen Shearer at 523-5934 or the church office.  You charge the people $100 per room per night and then that money is given back to our church.  Thanks to all who have helped in the past.

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NEWS FROM CCNS

ccns has once again participated in the train display fundraiser. Over $2,000, after expenses, was raised for the nursery school and the children. Special thanks to the parents who donated baked goods for the bake sale, LaRosa's for providing lunch for all of the volunteers and Ned Holzer for once again opening his home and private train display to benefit CCNS and Multiple Sclerosis.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY

Bird Tales©

What is Bird Tales© and how to get involved

Bird Tales© is a volunteer driven, intergenerational program that incorporates sight, sound, and touch to connect people living with dementia to nature and encourage social interaction. The program uses bird models and bird cards and other materials to foster interactions with nature and others. To learn more about Bird Tales© and how to get involved, please contact Jenn Dibert via email or telephone! DISCLAIMER: You don't have to be bird savvy or know anything about birds to become a volunteer!

CONTACT ME!

Jenn Dibert Scripps Gerontology Center, Miami University 396 Upham Hall Oxford, OH. 45056

Cell: (937) 206-7915 Office: (513) 529-2914 dibertjl@miamioh.edu

Hours: At minimum, 1 hour per week starting on the week of February 16^th. 

Volunteer must agree to at least 11 hours of service during Spring Semester 2014-15 at one of the following sites.
        

Monday 2:00-3:00 PM (2/16-5/11) @ Oxford Adult Day Center (ADS)
        

Wednesday 2:00-3:00 PM (2/18-5/13) @ Liberty Nursing Center of Oxford (LNCO)
        

Thursday 3:00-4:00 PM (2/19-5/14) @ The Knolls of Oxford (TKO)

Training: Volunteers are required to attend 2 training classes prior to volunteering.  These classes will take place during the first two weeks of the academic semester and are offered on two separate days.  If you aren't able to attend one of the classes, there will be make up classes the week before Bird Tales© starts.
Week 1           

• Wednesday 1/28: 5:00-6:30PM
• Friday 1/30: 1:00-2:30PM

Week 2           

• Wednesday 2/04: 5:00-6:30PM
• Friday 2/06: 1:00-2:30PM                 

Week 3           

• Wednesday 2/11: 5:00-6:30PM
• Friday 2/13: 1:00-2:30PM

**Training is a must before working with the program, however the aforementioned dates and times are mainly for students.  I can be flexible in training community volunteers and family members.**

TAX INFORMATION

A friendly reminder from Jean Hitsman:

To ensure the deductibility of your church contributions, do not file your 2014 income tax return until you have received a written acknowledgement of your contributions from the church.  Some of your contributions may not be tax-deductible if you file your tax return before receiving a written acknowledgement of your contributions from the church.

Oxford Presbyterian Church Staff

web page: www.oxfordpresbychurch.org

Telephone: 513-523-6364

Fax: 513-523-8215

Seminary Building: 513-523-7411

Interim Pastor: Pastor Hart

Music Director: Kent Peterson

Organist: Lynn Jacobs

Pastor Emeritus: Dr. Joseph R. Hookey

Parish Associates: Dr. Bruce Bueschel, Rev. Diane Ziegler

Administrative Assistant:

Elaine Patterson: office@oxfordpresbychurch.org

Financial Secretary:

Jean Hitsman: finance@oxfordpresbychurch.org

Director/Teacher C.C.N.S.:

Sarah Mapel: 207-3630

Newsletter Editor:

Nancy Moeckel, moeckenj@muohio.edu

OFFICERS OF OPC

SESSION

Class of 2017:

Mary Jane Roberts, Jeff Smith, Robert Smith, Janet Zeigler, Tip Ziegler

Class of 2015:

Carol Burkhalter, Diane Young, Brent Bader, Jenny Bailer, Mary Jo McFadden

Class of 2016:

Pam Deahl, Lynn Cronk, Pat Gifford, Tom Poetter, Rich Drewes

Answer to the Question of the Month:

Tea and then beer.

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This is the second in a series of reflections about ministry in the 21^st Century by Dan Anderson-Little.  Dan and his wife Linda live in St. Louis, Missouri where they are starting a new church called Living Waters.  Dan visited Oxford Presbyterian Church in October for with a focus on the 21^st Century Frontier of Mission.  His latest story begins below:

I recently found this excerpt about Rev. Henry Little (my great-great-great-grandfather and Oxford's Pastor from 1831-1833) in an autobiography by Dr. D.W. Fisher, President of Hanover College in the mid-19th Century:

One of my first trips after I had entered on my office was to a meeting of the Synod of Southern Indiana at Greensburg. We made the journey across the country in a "spring wagon" furnished by the Rev. Charles H. Little, then a pastor at New Albany, and in company with his father, Rev. Dr. Henry Little, the wonderful old pioneer preacher, and one or two others. We had an amusing experience on the way. We stopped at a hotel to water our horses, and a man so intoxicated that he could barely maintain an upright position by leaning against the wall, began to express his opinion of each of us, and not always in very flattering terms. Dr. Little tried to quiet his foolish babblings, by asking the man whether he did not recognize him. "Oh! yes," said he, "you are good old Dr. Little. All the religion I ever had I got from you." We joked the doctor a good deal as we drove along concerning his convert; and he turned it all very well by saying that the poor fellow looked like a convert that he, and not divine grace, had made.

Three things strike me about this passage that can help us in our ministry in the 21st Century.

First, we who are called by God to be light and salt in the world can expect to be on the move. Fisher, as a college president, had to travel far and wide to promote the mission of higher education.  He couldn't wait for the curious and potential funders to come to him. Henry Little couldn't wait either.  He knew he was called to preach the gospel wherever and whenever people were, and so he went by wagon, by horse, by train, by steamboat and by foot.  The same is true of the church today. In my work as a church planter, I meet so many people who are desperate for good news in their life--but it would never occur to them to enter a church to hear that good news. Instead, we must seek them out. It is important to welcome people when they come to our churches, but most of our welcoming will happen out in the world.

Second, humor is critical. When we take ourselves too seriously, when we fear failure, we risk losing our joy and our endurance. Henry knew that saving souls was serious business.  But he also knew that things didn't always work out as he had hoped--like the drunken convert they met on the road.  And when things didn't work out, he didn't sulk or stop trying, but made light of the situation and moved on.

And finally, this story reminds us that all ministry and all evangelism is God's work.  We can share how Jesus has made all the difference in our lives, we can love and serve others, but we can't make others believe, we, by ourselves, can't produce transformation in others. That is God's work.  Our witness and work is important, but God is the one who does the real work.  This realization comes as a great relief to me--I therefore don't need to measure my work by the number of "converts that I made" but rather by the number of conversations that I had, by the number of people I introduced to Jesus.  

It's easy to think of our spiritual forefathers as a uniformly serious and cheerless lot.  But they were not; and their humor and trust in God gives us courage for our ministry today.