Ash Wednesday Worship

Ash Wednesday worship will be held tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. at Saint Marys United Methodist Church. The service will include the observance of the Eucharist and the Imposition of Ashes.

THE MICAH 6:8 ASSIGNMENT FOR LENT

Members and friends of First Presbyterian Church, Saint Marys, Georgia are invited to participate in the The Micah 6:8 Assignment during the season Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22. This will serve as a primary focus of our congregation’s Lenten journey, 40 DAYS IN THE WORD.

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)



40 Serving Ideas for 40 Days in the Word

1.Ask the mayor or any of our city council members about our community’s greatest needs and what you can do to address them – please call 510-4000 for contact information

2.Cook a meal for an individual or family who is sick, recovering from surgery, etc. The PW Compassion Committee chair is Seleta London – please call 882-7551

3.Contact the Veterans of Foreign War (VFW) and ask how you can serve veterans in our local community – please call VFW Post 8385 - 729-7933

4.Make cards for seniors in a nursing home or assisted living facility – please call Saint Marys Care Center - 882-4281 – Magnolia Manor – 673-7713 – Coastal Assisted Living – 882-6353

5.Volunteer to support children in our community by joining members of the Saint Marys Kiwanis Club – please call Chris Thurner – 322-8668

6.The leaves are still falling in south Georgia – surprise your neighbors and rake leaves for them!

7.There are numerous non-profit groups in Camden County. One that can always use assistance is Habitat for Humanity – please call – 673-1266

8.The next time you are at Harvey’s, Publix, or Wal Mart, take and extra few minutes to collect shopping carts.

9.Offer to baby sit for someone that you know that would really appreciate dinner and a movie night out!

10.Collect unused personal hygiene items and bring them to church so that we can deliver them to the Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless.

11.Libraries are often in need of volunteers. Call the library – 882-4800

12.Get together with a few friends or neighbors and assemble a new parent’s kit for the arrival of a newborn.

13.Hospice of the Golden Isles in Brunswick always welcomes volunteers. Call today to see what you can do for them in their important care-giving ministry – please call 912-265-4735

14.Talk to your pastor about an after school tutoring program or an after school art/music program – please call the church office – 882-4650

15.Are you a good painter? Call Saint Marys City Hall to see if you can work with local public works employees and assist with any painting that needs to be done, graffiti, park benches, etc – please call – 510-4000

16.Brainstorm with a few others how you might be able to support our local police department or please call the Saint Marys Police Dept. to see what their current needs are – please call 882-4488

17.Write letters for those on our prayer list who serve in the military and are presently deployed

18.School supplies are needed year round in many of our schools. Call the Camden County School Board office to see which school may be in need the most – please call 729-5687

19.Your church does not employ a groundskeeper or sexton. There are daily and weekly maintenance tasks that need attention – please call the church office – 882-4650

20.Bake cookies for the Kairos Prison Ministry – please call Mack Jackson – 576-1819

21.Bring your used prescription bottles to the church and we will deliver them to the homeless shelter

22.Adolescents in our community need the support of adults who can mentor them. Please call the juvenile court in Woodbine – 576-5255

23.Find out how you can volunteer with the Share the Care – a local respite program for families who provide care for victims of Alzheimer’s – please call Diane Torgersen – 576-2134

24.Volunteer at the Helping Hands Food Pantry – Saint Marys United Methodist Church – please call 882-5505

25.Do you know about First Mondays? This volunteer organization assists members of our community with small home repairs and improvements – please call Barbara Conner – 673-8570

26.Plan a trip to Cumberland Island – take a few large garbage bags along and comb the beach for trash and debri

27.Join the Samaritan Shuttle volunteer drivers – and offer to take someone who cannot drive themselves to the grocery store, doctor’s appointment etc. please call – 882-4650

28.Organize a community dog wash. Make it FREE or donate the proceeds to the Humane Society of Camden County - please call -729-7141

29.Find a “blighted” building in town and obtain permission to paint a community mural – please call City Hall – 510-4000

30.Use your computer or social media skills to teach a class or tutor those who want to learn these important skills

31.Organize a clothing drive for a family in need – please call the Camden County Department of Family and Children Services- please call 729-4583

32.Offer to pick up groceries for someone in your neighborhood

33.Make get-well cards for children at Wolfson Children’s Hospital

34.Organize a car wash to help a needy family go on vacation this summer

35.Assist in preparing “survival bags” for the homeless or sign up to help prepare and serve a meal on our next trip – 4 times in 2012 – call Pastor Rick – 882-4650

36.Host a “game night” for youth either in your home or at the church fellowship hall

37.Organize a trip for music lovers and volunteer to drive folks to the Jacksonville Symphony

38.Did you know there is an organization in our community that exists solely to help promote civility? Please call Elaine or Charlotte- 882-7559 - to see how you can volunteer

39.Write that long over-due letter to the living person who has influenced your life the most

40.Throw a party for the boys at the Methodist Home for Children and Youth – please call 882-7770

Youth Group Does It Again!

Great job youth group! You raised $500.00 for the Helping Hands Food Pantry and collected a truckoad of food. Another SOUPER BOWL SUNDAY SUCCESS AT FPC!

A Weekly Newsletter of Saint Marys First Presbyterian Church January 29, 2012

Stewardship Dedication… Today we will dedicate our estimates of giving for the fiscal year 2012-2013 at both worship services. If you have forgotten your pledge card, you will find extras located in the pews. Please do not place your card in the offering plate. Instead, we ask that during the singing of the last hymn today, Today We Are Called to be Disciples, you bring your pledge card offering to the communion table as a symbol of your own discipleship and call from God to be a good and faithful steward of the resources that God has entrusted to you. And remember last week’s message on proportionate giving rendered by Elder Jim Conner, “We can never out give God!”

Congregational Meeting, Supper and Music! An exciting evening is being planned for this evening as we gather to elect church officers, enjoy a wonderful covered dish meal, and celebrate today’s act of stewardship with the music of Tim and Annie Akins! Our good friends Tim and Annie from Saint Simons Presbyterian Church have been here many times and will once again provide a most enjoyable concert.

Learning, Loving and Living the WORD! This Lenten season which begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22nd will be one to remember here at FPC as we dig deeper into God’s Word than ever before! Weekly small group gatherings will highlight the 40 day journey, along with daily commitments, and ideas of how can give of ourselves this Lent as opposed to “giving something up.” We will also be invited to take the 40 Day Challenge: “…to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Bonhoeffer Study Continues… The Wednesday Night Live Adult Study this past week featured the first 30 minutes of the 2000 film Agent of Grace starring Ulrich Tukur as Deitrich Bonhoeffer. We will view the rest of the film this Wednesday, February 1. The group is viewing the film in tandem with Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, a classic exploration of Christian faith in community. This week’s assignment: finish reading chapter 2 which articulates an argument for common worship among Christians, praying the Psalms, and singing together. He also writes about fellowship at the Lord’s Table, a healthy work ethic, and the importance of intercessory prayer. Come and join others in this most interesting account of Christian fellowship identified by Bonhoeffer as not merely a human idea, but rather a “divine spiritual reality.”

Food Pantry Needs… The Helping Hands Food Pantry at Saint Marys United Methodist Church needs YOU! Food donations are down once more and the yet the needs of our community continue to grow. Dry cereal, canned meats, peanut butter, pasta, spaghetti sauce are always welcomed items and disappear from the shelves very quickly. DID YOU KNOW THIS? Saint Marys First Presbyterian Church contributed one third of all of the food donated to the pantry in 2011. Thanks for being caring Presbyterians!

FPC to Host Officer Training Event… Your church will host the District III Officer Training Event on Saturday, February 4, 2012 from 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Jekyll Community Presbyterian Church, Altama Presbyterian Church, First Presbyterian Church Waycross, and First Presbyterian Church Saint Marys will participate. A highlight of this event will be a webinar hosted by Presbyterian Outlook magazine which will discuss the requirement of our new form of government to develop a policy manual for sessions of each congregation within the Presbyterian Church (USA). The group will enjoy lunch at the Spencer House Bed and Breakfast Inn.

SOUPER BOWL OF CARING FEBRUARY 5TH...A simple prayer: "Lord, even as we enjoy the Super Bowl football game, help us be mindful of those who are without a bowl of soup to eat" is inspiring a youth-led movement to help hungry and hurting people around the world.This prayer, delivered by Brad Smith, then a seminary intern serving at Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC, gave birth to an idea. Why not use Super Bowl weekend, a time when people come together for football and fun, to also unify the nation for a higher good: collecting dollars and canned food for the needy? Youth could collect donations at their schools and churches in soup pots, and then send every dollar DIRECTLY to a local charity of THEIR choice. In the weeks leading up to or on Super Bowl Sunday, young people take up a collection (many use a soup pot), asking for one dollar or one item of food for people in need. They give 100% of their donation directly to the local hunger-relief charity of their choice.In 2011, more than 260,000 youth participated in Souper Bowl of Caring, collecting more than $9.5 million in dollars and food for local hunger-relief charities. That's a total of more than $81 million collected since the movement began in 1990! This year's goal is to empower 275,000 young people to collect $11 million for charities in their communities. Help us grow this movement and tackle hunger in America!

New Adult Study on Wednesday Nights!

After his martyrdom at the hands of the Gestapo in 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer continued his witness in the hearts of Christians around the world. His Letters and Papers from Prison became a prized testimony to Christian faith and courage, read by thousands. Now in Life Together we have Pastor Bonhoeffer's experience of Christian community. This story of a unique fellowship in an underground seminary during the Nazi years reads like one of Paul's letters. It gives practical advice on how life together in Christ can be sustained in families and groups. The role of personal prayer, worship in common, everyday work and Christian service is treated in simple, almost biblical, words. Life Together is bread for all who are hungry for the real life of Christian fellowship. Our study of this classic begins TONIGHT after supper at 6:15 p.m.

THIS WEEK AT FPC SAINT MARYS!

Sunday, December 18, 2011
8:45 a.m. Worship
10:00 a.m. Sunday School
11:00 a.m. Worship
5:30 p.m. Youth Group Christmas Party

THIS WEEK AT FPC

Camden County Schools are on break until January - Breakfast Clubs will resume on January 10

Tuesday, December 20
6:30 p.m. Stephen Ministry Supervision Group Meeting - if needed (please call Cathy Douylliez - 882-1209)

Friday, December 23
Church Office will be closed in observance of the Christmas holidays

Saturday, December 24
7:00 p.m. Service of Lessons and Carols
11:30 p.m. The Sacrament of Holy Communion

Doing Christmas Differently

Pastor Rick Douylliez has introduced the Advent Conspiracy to friends for the last few years and the stories are now accumulating of how Christmas is now very different in the lives of many who wanted for so very long to "unravel" the trappings of consumerism but just didn't know where to start. Check it out! Google it and find out for yourself how Christmas can be so very different for you and your family this year and at the same time, really radically change the lives of others for the better!
http://ac.wcrossing.org/

Saint Marys Lights Up the Town!

The first Tuesday after Thanksgiving brings thousands to the streets of historic Saint Marys Georgia to ring in the Christmas season. This year, on Tuesday, November 29 the crowds were as large as ever as our town became once again a glistening wonderland! Saint Marys First Presbyterian Church, a year-round focal point for many photographers across the southeast is a shining beacon throughout the holidays.

2011 Advent and Christmas Calendar

Sunday November 27 - Advent Festival 4:00 p.m. – Fellowship Hall

Hanging of the Greens – 6:30 p.m. - Sanctuary



Tuesday November 29 – Saint Marys Lights up the Town – Parade – 6:00 p.m.



Saturday December 3 – Christmas in the Park – Howard Gilman Memorial Park



Sunday December 4 – Chancel Choir Christmas Cantata – 8:45 and 11:00 a.m.



Monday December 5 – PW Christmas Party – 6:00 p.m. – Hosts: Anne Herring and Julie Banks



Wednesday December 7 – FPC Kingdom Players present: CHRIS-MYTH BUSTERS – 6:00 p.m. - Sanctuary



Saturday December 10 – Saint Marys Tour of Homes – 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.



Tuesday December 13 – Live Nativity – 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. – Orange Hall



Friday December 16 – Annual Christmas Banquet – 6:00 p.m.



Saturday December 24 – Lessons and Carols – 7:00 p.m. Communion – 11:30 p.m.



Sunday December 25 – Christmas Day Worship – 10:30 a.m.



Sunday January 1 – New Years Day Worship and Communion – 10:30 a.m.



Please note that we will have ONE WORSHIP SERVICE ONLY on Sunday December 25th and Sunday January 1 and the time worship is 10:30 a.m.



Please note also that we will CANCEL Sunday School on Dec 25 and Jan 1