John grew up in Lansing, MI, received his undergraduate degree from Albion College and his M.B.A. in accounting from the University of Michigan. He served two years in the Ann Arbor National Guard unit which was called to active duty during the Berlin Crisis in 1961. He then returned to public accounting as a CPA in Detroit.  

 

   After accepting a partnership position with a Petoskey accounting firm, John quickly became active in community projects. He was a founding member of the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation, Past-president of the Little Traverse Conservancy, served over 20 years as Chair of the Petoskey Zoning Board of Appeals, and is currently Treasurer and Chairman of the Finance and Facilities Committee for the North Central Michigan College Board of Trustees. He has filmed most of the Petoskey High School football games since the 1980's when his sons played ball and can still be found in the filming booth on fall Friday evenings. John is an ordained Ruling Elder of the Petoskey Presbyterian Church, serving as treasurer for several terms.
 

He retired as partner in Smith, Fought, Bunker and Clark, CPA, as CFO for Great Lakes Energy, however, continues to serve as a consultant for several non-profits and as treasurer for Mackinac Presbytery.

 

For recreation, John became an avid sailor, is a frustrated tennis player, and enjoys bike riding. He and his wife, Jean, have resided in Petoskey for over 40 years, where they raised their daughter, three sons, and family pets (dogs, a cat, plus assorted rodents.)

 

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With the retirement of our Office Manager next month, please change your email for the presbytery office to:

 

Click on links below to read newsletters from some of our congregation that send their publications to the presbytery office electronically. (If your church newsletter is not linked here, contact the presbytery office to ask how you may be included)

  

Alpena 

Bellaire 

Beulah 

Big Bay 

Escanaba 
Florence 

Gaylord 

Harbor Springs 

Houghton 

Marquette 
Northern Lakes Community Church 

Petoskey
Pickford 

Rogers City 

Sault Ste. Marie
Traverse City  

 

 Administrative Personnel Association of the PCUSA web site

POAMN Network News; a Resource Guide for Older Adult Ministries 

'Did April Showers Bring May Flowers?"   

 

 

May is always a different month than all of the others, particularly for those of us who live north of the 45th parallel.  We can have freezing temperatures, even snow, and seasonally warm weather which entices plants to spring up, and broaden their branches and blooms.

 

 

Weather is unpredictable but the pilgrims who settled in the early 1600's wrote about what they were incurring when they planted their first crops.  April showers did not bring May flowers nor were the crops successful because they experienced a very long dry spell.  It was hard for them to survive.

Psalms 65 10 says, "You drench the plowed ground with rain, melting the clods and leveling ridges.  You soften the earth with showers and bless its abundant crops."

If we too experience dry spells, we pray for rain and yet when we wake up on a rainy day when it is dark and overcast, what does it do to our mood?  On a real rainy day maybe you would like to nestle back under the covers, and sleep a little while longer.  This means you are not as excited about the day as when you first awakened.

A rainy day is not the storms of life that some of us face on many occasions such as financial difficulties, trouble in a relationship, health, or work stress levels.  How do these dark clouds play a part in your life?  The storms of life come in many shapes and forms.  These may include family, career, health, and other catastrophic conditions.

This past February we heard about catastrophic storms hitting our southern states and traveling up the coastline dropping unexpected tons of snow on unprepared motorists and neighborhoods.

John 16:33 says, "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.  Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world."  Jesus has overcome the world!  He is the one who holds you in or out of the storms.  Jesus will always be there for each and every one of us because he is in control.

We know that rain brings a revitalization to the soil.  Ground that was once arid and cracked becomes soft and lush when April showers begin to fall.  A much needed rain is found in every storm, even if the weather man fails to predict it.  
                                                                                                            
 Even the rains of life can bring us nourishment.  Let's examine the softening of life's rains.  I know last year at Presbytery Point with campers galore, we experienced tornado  type of winds, and the rain came down, along with some trees being uprooted, doing several thousand dollars worth of damage to buildings at our hidden treasure.  Everyone witnessed and survived the storm because there was stillness and a realization that God is in charge. He is in charge of the weather as well as life's storms.

There is a benefit to rain and we all hope for the April showers that bring May flowers.  The ultimate realization is God's presence in our lives.  Joel says the rains are an expression of his grace, and his love.  Only Jesus could withstand the storm of our sins, and he did this willingly.

Jesus has given us new life and he loved us very much.  Don't be afraid to splash around this day, for we have been enriched through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Don't forget to register for the May 17, 2014 Presbytery Meeting!  Register online at www.presbymac.org.