HYDE PARK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - February 2021 Church Mouse
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HYDE PARK
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
February 2021 Church Mouse
Dear HPPC Family,
During the pandemic, I have started painting. Mostly watercolors, but also pencil and acrylics. I absolutely
love it. It has enhanced my prayer life. It gives me a creative outlet. It often keeps me humble. As I have
started to collect different pieces I have done, I was looking for some way to store them. I went onto my
favorite art store’s website and found some special notebooks called an “Artists’ Portfolio.” I hesitated. “I’m
not really an artist,” I thought to myself. This got me thinking about identity. If I am not an artist and think
of myself only as a person who occasionally paints or draws, can I ever produce something I value as art?
We have passed Christmas and epiphany where we come to know the identity of Jesus Christ. Our Sunday
scriptures have taken us into the time of Jesus’ early ministry. Who was this man who taught and preached
and healed with authority? We hear call stories and begin to hear different names for this new radical
minister: Emmanuel (God with us), Christ, Lord, Master, Logos (the Word), Light of the World, Son of God,
Son of Man, Good Shepherd, Messiah, Rabbi, Teacher, Friend and many more. If I were to ask you to make
a list of names that you could be called, what would be among your list? Friend, aunt/uncle, grandparent,
spouse/partner, parent, healer, seeker of justice, comedian, actor, helper, instigator, baker, athlete, follower
of Christ? This is a short sample of a much longer list that is ripe with possibilities for each of us.
Perhaps this is a good exercise as we head into Lent on March 21st. Who are we? What is our identity? And
who is Jesus Christ who calls us to follow?
During the season of Lent we are invited to embrace an intentional way of life. We are invited to consider
how we experience the wilderness. What is our wilderness…what is our temptation? Is it facing an illness
or the death of a loved one…the loss of a job or an overwhelming sense of loneliness…fighting an addiction
or battling along in a lifetime of recovery…wondering what your purpose is…trying desperately to hear
God’s call…feeling overwhelmed…over scheduled…stressed…lost…or simply trying to be faithful and
God-centered in a culture that is not? What is your wilderness? Where is your faith tested?
Rev. Michael Lindvall wrote, “Our core human temptation is the same as the sum of the ones Jesus faced in
the wilderness and on the night before his death. The eternal temptation is always to forget who you are
and let the world define you, to forget who you are and let your job define you, to forget who you are and
let money define you, to forget who you are and let clothes, or smarts, or looks, or addiction, or sex define
you.”
So, let’s get ready for a Lenten journey where we remember who we are and whose we are: beloved,
creative, beautiful, and enough.
May God bless you today and always,
Emily (a spouse, mother, pastor, friend, daughter, sister, artist, beloved child of God and follower of Jesus, sharer of love)
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY
1 2 3 4 5 6
Angela National
Singavarapu’s Cancer Day
Birthday Groundhog Give Kids a
Day Smile Day
National
Freedom Day
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Worship Sara Tapsak’s Karen
10:30 a.m. Food Pantry Laffere’s Beth Gray’s Chinese New
Birthday Birthday Birthday Year
Super Bowl
Sunday
14 15 16 17 19 20
Keith Alan
Worship National Love
10:30 a.m. President’s Food Pantry Geer’s Your Pet Day
Day Birthday
Valentine’s Ash Wednesday
Day
Lent begins
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
Worship
10:30 a.m.
Food Pantry
Session
Nico Zalle’s
Birthday
28
Worship
10:30 a.m.
See whether to expect an Let those special to you know A day for repentance and
additional six weeks of winter how much you care on the beginning of Lent
on Groundhog Day Valentine’s Day Ash Wednesday
FEBRUARY 2ND FEBRUARY 14TH FEBRUARY 17
Church Happenings
Session Highlights
1. There was a negative balance at the end of the year due to our paying the benevolences
and no Holiday Market.
2. The offering overall was up in 2020.
3. The special offerings were up as well.
4. The budget for 2021 was discussed. It was agreed to give both Juan and Emily a raise in their
salaries.
5. Emily will be out February 14th. Alan will preach in her place.
6. Emily would like to do something at the church for Ash Wednesday, February 17th.
More details to come.
7. George will oversee finance for the upcoming year and Henry will oversee stewardship.
8. Esther sent our 15 cards in December. Thank you, Esther.
9. The cameras at the church seem to be working as there has been no more vandalism.
Highlights from the Annual Congregational Meeting
1. The budget was received by the congregation with answers to questions asked.
2. Despite not meeting in person, attendance of our Zoom worship was up.
3. We lost two members in the past year: Triana Aleman and Terry Nelson.
4. We gained four members: Sarah Harrison, Ben Kercheval, Deb Miller, and Henry Owen.
5. Reports were received from each committee chair.
Updates Needed Please
We need to update our current directory. If you have moved, changed phone number or email in
the past year and half, if the information we have for you is incorrect, or you are a new member
and not in the directory at all, please let us know so that we can update our information. We also
would like to have your birthday and anniversary dates please so that we can celebrate with you.
You may email the information to karfre@aol.com. Thanks in advance.
Monthly Giving
Report
Financial Report
2020 Year End Report
Income: $55,540.14
Expenses: $54,393.00
Total: $1,146.24
This is after paying all benevolences
January 2021
Income: $4148.00
Expenses: $6635.70
Total: $2487.70
Thank you for your generous contributions as we continue to build for our future.
Food Pantry
As you give thanks for God’s many blessings, please remember those who are
hungry and in need. Your thoughtful donations are greatly appreciated as we
provide groceries to our neighbors.
We always need volunteers to work at the Food Pantry on Tuesday from 11:00
a.m. to 1:00 p.m. If you are able to do so, please contact Emily at
revemilyowen@gmail.com.
Between January 5th & January 26th, 21 people received groceries.
“Truly I tell you, ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of
mine, you did for me.’” Matthew 25:4
Two Ways to Support the Ministry of Hyde Park Presbyterian at No
Additional Cost to You
Amazon Smile
You can support the ministry of Hyde Park Presbyterian with every purchase you make on Amazon! Make
Hyde Park Pres your “Amazon Smile” charity of choice and Amazon will donate a small portion of purchases
at no extra cost to you! Spend a few minutes setting it up now to donate all year. Visit the church website
hydeparkaustin.org and click on the Amazon Smile banner on the right-hand side of the homepage.
https://smile.amazon.com/ch/74-1942301
Randalls Good Neighbor Program
Do you already shop at Randalls? Randalls will donate to Hyde Park Pres when you shop using your Rewards
Club Card/phone number. Take the time to set it up once and you are done! Here is how to link your club
card:
• Link your club card account number to Hyde Park Presbyterian’s organizational account number 2470
by visiting the Customer Service desk in your local store. OR
• Complete the Good Neighbor Program form attached and take it to your local store.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Group Spiritual Direction
Last fall, I attended a three-day workshop offered by Shalem Institute on Group Spiritual
Direction. I have participated in many other forms of Group Spiritual Direction, but this one
was vastly different. It was developed by Sister Rose Mary Dougherty, a founding member of
Shalem, about fifty years ago. That three-day workshop was transformative for me, so much so
that I would like to share it with others.
Intercessory Prayer lies at the heart of this form of group spiritual direction and proceeds
from the belief that God continuously guides us in love, that filaments of God’s love and grace
weave in and through our lives. Using this form of prayer, we commit to joining our lives with
other members of the group to discern how God’s love is revealing itself in our lives. Sister
Rose Mary says, “When … (others) enter this prayerful stance with us, then together we might
see what we were unable to see alone. “As we practice this prayer form, we are enabled to “make
decisions compatible with who we are … (we) become open to responsible love.”
The Shalem form of group spiritual direction can be transformative. It can be a womb of new
life for the participants. Three conditions are essential for it to be so. Participants are asked
to:
*commit themselves to an honest relationship with God;
*participate wholeheartedly in the group process through prayerful listening and
response;
*open their spiritual journeys for consideration by others.
When a group can give itself to the process over a period of time,
and when individuals take seriously the responsibility to pray for one another
within and outside their times together, transformation occurs.
The group becomes a spiritual community where the uniqueness of desire for God
and the commonality of that desire is celebrated,
and where people want to be present to God for one another in the fullness of that desire.
That desire for God becomes the ground for their discernment.
Together and alone, they continue to examine choices for responsible love.
Are you interested in participating in this group with Linda Bourianoff? The group will meet on Zoom. If
you are interested, please contact Emily Owen at revemilyowen@gmail.com so we can find a time that
works for everyone. Let us know if you have questions. This is sure to be a bright light for all who
participate.
Scriptures of Love
“God is love. Whoever lives in love, lives in God.” ---1 John 4:1
“We love because he first loved us.” --- 1 John 4:19
“And all above, put on love which binds everything in perfect harmony.”
--- Colossians 3:14
“And now these three things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
---1 Corinthians 13:13
“For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who
believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” --- 1 John 3:16
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness…”
--- Galatians 5:22
“Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant or rude.”
---1 Corinthians 13:4
“Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth.” ---1 Corinthians 13:6
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” ---1 John 4:8
“Let all that you do be done in love.” ---1 Corinthians 16:14
“Nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God.”
--- Romans 8:38
3913 Avenue B, Austin, TX 78751 (512) 459-7747 www.hydeparkaustin.org
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