January 20, 2022: E-News Updates
Hi EPC Friends and Members,
Here's my "3-2-1" for this week...
3 EPC Happenings
- I'm starting a Drop-In Bible Study! So far the top two times people would like to meet are 12-1 (so a drop in lunchtime study) or 4:30 - 5:30 pm (in the evening) -- This Study will be on zoom, and it'll use an inductive method where we read the text and ask "what does this text say" "what does this text mean" and "what does this text ask me to do" or "how should I live because of it" -- It'll be one hour long and will be a combination of teaching from me and discussion/feedback about the questions. We'll start with the book of Mark. If you're interested, let me know which day and time you prefer! I'll announce the study next week and we'll start in February!
- Congregational Meeting is happening on January 30th during our normal worship service. Please see the official notice in these e-notes!
- Do you have the January blahs? Are you quarantining? Want to talk and say hi? I'd love to chat, and I love it when people just SHOW UP on my calendar, like magic! You can sign up for 30 minutes or 60 minutes and we can just shoot the breeze! If you click the calendar and there's no time that works for you, just send me an email! My calendar link is HERE.
2 Interesting Links
- Have you been playing WORDLE? It's such a simple and fun game and I love the STORY BEHIND IT.
- I return to Psalm 145 over and over again. HERE'S a musical version I love.
1 Thought
In More Matter: Essays and Criticism, John Updike shares an essay titled "The Cold."
"Cold is an absence, an absence of heat, and yet it feels like a presence — a vigorous, hostilely active presence in the air that presses upon your naked face and that makes your fingers and toes ache within their mittens and boots. Cold is always working, it seems — busy freezing water in the ponds and rivers, knitting intricate six-sided snowflakes by the billions, finding cracks around the walls and windows of your house, forcing furnaces in the cellar to roar away. Cold fights you — it doesn't want your automobile engine to ignite in the morning, and once your car is on the highway it clogs its path with snow and slush. A whole secondary world of dirt, of sand and salt, is called into being by the cold, and an expansive and troublesome array of wearing apparel — mufflers, earmuffs, wool-lined boots and gloves, parkas, leggings, long underwear, and knitted face-masks."
— from Winter
Don't fight with the cold and allow it to deplete all of your energies. It is very easy to make winter into a terrorist out to bring us harm. When your furnace breaks down or your car doesn't start in the morning, talk kindly to it. Let go of your idea of controlling the day or villainizing the season. Just go with what shows up — with the ice, the snow, and the cold.
There you have it! Our 3-2-1 for the week. See you Sunday!
It's not the same without you there,
Pastor Traci
The Annual Meeting of Elmhurst Presbyterian Church will be held on Sunday, January 30th, during our regular worship service. During our meeting, we will have the opportunity to give thanks to God for God's goodness and mercy in 2021 and we'll look forward to the year to come. We will attend to all of the business of our congregation, including receiving reports from the Session, the Pastor's Terms of Call, and other business from the floor. Changes to the bylaws will be presented as well. These changes can be found HERE. Proposed the changes regarding the Board of Trustees and changes to the bylaws are presented by the Session and that the change in quorum is being proposed by the Secretary of the meeting of the Congregation at the recommendation of the Presbytery of Chicago.
Want to attend online? We will be using this Zoom Link to live stream the service and allow participation in the voting portion of the annual meeting. Have questions about attending online? Contact Kaleigh.
Due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, we are encouraging all folks who can to worship with EPC via livestream this Sunday at your discretion. We will make every effort to ensure you feel included with us. You can access the live stream here!
Join us this Sunday as we continue our new Sermon Series on "The Books of John." We will be exploring the 3 shorter books of John that you find in the back of the Bible. These books contain deep wisdom and they provide a lot of great thoughts for Christians to consider. They are pretty short, so be sure you read along with us! We'll be continuing in 1 John this week with Chapter 2.
Our first leadership breakfast for 2022 will be Sunday, January 30th at 9:30 AM. All committees and teams are meeting. If you'd like to serve a committee and you're not sure which one to serve, please come to the breakfast! We'll have someone standing by to tell you what the committees are and where you might best fit. If you would prefer to attend on Zoom, please use the EPC Zoom Link.
We are in the process of updating our directory and we need your help! Please contact our Office Administrator, Cristi by phone or email to update your info. The deadline for this is March 1, but the sooner the better!
An update to our Afghan Family Support: The family of 11 was able to get Afghan passports, visas to safety in Pakistan, and a flight to Islamabad, Pakistan. Thanks to your contributions, we are able to help them with housing expenses in Pakistan while they wait for paperwork to be processed. Please consider making a contribution by giving online, text to give, or placing a donation in the offering plate noting “Afghan Family Support.”
Make a Donation to Afghan Family Support
There's no Sunday School this week! All kids are invited to worship with their families. Be sure you check out the coloring sheet below!
Click here for a Coloring Sheet!
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