Highlights of OPS and NOW Meetings



Members of the Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church community gathered for a fellowship meal August 14, followed by meetings of the OPS and NOW committees.

OPS Committee—This group oversees the nuts-and-bolts, day to day operations of the church, including building and grounds, maintenance, stewardship campaign, budget development, investments, online giving, personnel and payroll, AV, marketing and social media, insurance, and church policy. August 14 actions included:

• Discussed items on a list of deferred maintenance needs to address. These include fixing the water issue in the sanctuary building (final bid going to Session for approval) and paint removal and repainting on outside of church buildings (still in bid stage).
• Discussed the search for a volunteer to replace Jack Marcum as church treasurer.

NOW Committee—This group guides programmatic work of the congregation, activities formerly coordinated by the Nurture, Outreach, and Worship Committees (including music and worship, Christian formation, earth care, gun violence prevention, garden ministry, mission beyond church walls). August 14 actions included:

• Discussed various ways of using inclusive/expansive language in worship. Asked Session to revisit this topic.
• Approved draft of a new opening paragraph in the bulletin welcoming visitors.
• Agreed to recommend to Session that CHPC host a joint Build-a-Bed event December 7–8, continuing our partnership with First Christian Church.
• Agreed to recommend that Session approve a $1,000 grant to Spirit of Sophia and invite CHPC members to contribute to that amount. The grant would affirm our continuing partnership with Spirit of Sophia and help them raise enough money to receive a $30,000 matching grant from PC(USA) 1001 New Worshiping Communities.
• Celebrated the signing of written agreements for collaboration with Sustainable Agriculture of Louisville (Stephen Bartlett) and the Jefferson County Master Gardner Association (JCMGA). Affirmed plans for a “Meet the Gardeners” reception following worship September 8.

Mark your calendar for the next meeting of NOW/OPS: Wednesday, September 11, opening with dinner at 6 p.m.

Need Reimbursement for a Church-Related Purchase?      

Have you ever purchased something for the church and wanted reimbursement? You may recall that, prior to COVID, you would complete a payment voucher form (on a blue half-sheet) available in the church office and submit it to the treasurer, who would then write you a reimbursement check. 

We will again be requesting payment vouchers to help the treasurer’s recordkeeping. Paper copies of the form are available in the church office and the narthex. Or go to the church website, open the menu for “Our Life Together” and scroll down to “Resources”; click on “Resources” to open a page where you can download a payment voucher. 

You can leave completed forms in the treasurer’s mailbox in the church office, or give them directly to the treasurer (Jack Marcum).  

Meet the Gardeners September 8!

Interested in learning more about the Master Gardeners and their work on the grounds of our church? Please plan to attend worship on Sunday, September 8, followed by a “Meet the Gardeners” reception in Henry Young Fellowship Hall. This will also be an opportunity to welcome and celebrate our new Music Director, Aaron Davidson, who begins his work with us September 8.

Beautiful changes are already noticeable in the weeks since the CHPC Session and the Jefferson County Master Gardener Association (JCMGA) voted to enter a partnership. These skilled gardeners, including CHPC member Claudia Foulkes, have been busy planting, weeding, and sprucing up areas, beginning in front of the church. They bring energy and ideas that fit with CHPC’s mission, including a facelift for the church’s meditation garden, a commitment to caring for the earth, and garden-centered activities for children and families.

Come meet some of the gardeners on September 8 and help us shape a vision for this exciting collaboration.

Welcome to New Music Director

The CHPC Personnel Committee is pleased to announce that Aaron Davidson has accepted the offer to be our new Music Director. Please join in welcoming Aaron when he begins his work with us on Sunday, September 8. Those serving on the Personnel Committee (part of the OPS Committee) are Tami Recob, Marsha Berry, Barbara Hedspeth, and Andrea Trautwein.

“I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve as Music Director at Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church,” Aaron says. “I am passionate about using music to enhance worship and create a meaningful spiritual experience for the congregation.”

Aaron received a piano scholarship to attend the University of Kentucky and graduated in 2010 with a B.A. in Music / Liberal Arts. While attending UK, he served as the piano accompanist for the UK Men’s Choir and the UK Chorale and performed with musicians from a diverse array of music genres.



“I am excited to collaborate with our choir and worship team and contribute to the church’s music ministry,” Aaron says. “My goal is to help foster a deep sense of community and connection through the power of music.”

When Women Pray

Presbyterian Women’s 21st Annual Prayer Service

Commemorating 9/11

Saturday, September 7. 2024

10:30 a.m. Fellowship

11:00 a.m. Service

Together we remember. Together we offer hopeful prayers for the future.

Special Guest Speaker Dr. Veda Pendleton

Author, Advocate, Consultant, Educator, Presbyterian Elder

&

Featuring the Pewee Valley Men’s Quartet

Pewee Valley Presbyterian Church’119 Central Avenue

Pewee Valley, KY

Donations to benefit Briargate Presbyterian Church’s “Welcome Table”.

All are welcome to attend! 

CHPC members are invited to join Spirit of Sophia in the Gathering Room of CHPC for this experiential book study in September. PLEASE do not let cost keep you from signing up! Scholarships are available. Just email Dana Walker at dana@spiritofsophia.org and let her know what amount is in line with your budget. Desired maximum is 14 participants. To learn more and register: https://spiritofsophia.org/the-love-of-thousands/

Did You Know?

What Presbyterians Believe about Ecumenism (Relations with Other Religious Traditions)

We can think of ecumenism in three ways: official, everyday, and “wider ecumenism.” Each points to the reconciliation for which Jesus prays.

• Official ecumenism. In 2013, after years of discussion, Catholic and Reformed Protestant Christians in the U.S. signed a historic agreement affirming “mutual recognition of baptism.” This significant step in official ecumenical agreement embodies the conviction that at least in baptism, there are no divisions.
• Everyday ecumenism. At Columbia Seminary, where I teach, Baptists, Methodists, Anglicans, Pentecostals, nondenominational Christians, and Presbyterians study theology together. Students learn that theology itself is dialogue. Every day, students learn to listen respectfully to other Christians across time and space (and across the classroom) who interpret the gospel differently. In the process, they learn to voice their interpretations of sin and salvation, cross and resurrection, with courage, but without shutting down their fellow students. This too is ecumenical dialogue.
• Wider ecumenism. Increasingly, Christian leaders are seeking common understanding not only within Christianity, but also with other religious traditions. This is especially vital in these dayswhen emphasis on Christian unity can unwittingly contribute to prejudice against Muslims (for example, in proposed differential treatment of Muslim and Christian refugees from Syria). If narrow definitions of ecumenism work against Christ’s call to care for vulnerable people anywhere, then we need to widen our definition.

In a divided and angry world, we need ecumenism more than ever. Jesus’ prayer “that all may be one” still summons us to reach across divides and offer bread to our neighbors — across the aisle, across the room, across the globe.

—Excerpts from an article by Martha Moore-Keish, the J.B. Green Professor of Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary, in Presbyterians Today (August/September 2017)

https://www.presbyterianmission.org/story/0817-wpb/

Prayer and Action for Middle East

Please join us for prayer each Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Zoom. Email Soni Castleberry at soni.castleberry@gmail.com to get the link for the week and to be added to our group email list for regular communication.

The Thursday morning prayer group invites you to sign a letter to Representative Morgan McGarvey. This is the second letter we have written, this time at the request of the Louisville Ceasefire Coalition.

Click on the link to read and sign.

https://mailchi.mp/2646671e4236/mcgarvey-letter

Church Treasurer Position

Jack Marcum, CHPC’s treasurer, will be retiring from this position by the end of the year. We are currently seeking someone interested in this volunteer position. For more information, please contact the church office at office@crescenthill.church or at 502-893-5381.