Pilgrims Progress May 2012

PILGRIM’S PROGRESS

Voice of the Pilgrim Presbyterian Church
Vinita, Oklahoma
May, 2012

A Pastoral Letter from the Sidelines

Dear friends,

There is a lot of gloom and doom talk regarding the future of our Presbyterian Church, but that is not going to trump the vision and enthusiasm evident in Pilgrim Presbyterian Church!


Well do I remember our first meeting. Toni Moore, then chairperson of the Worship Committee, invited me to preach at a Sunday service in April 2005 - 7 years ago! There were eleven people in the congregation that morning. After the service, Jim Ratcliff approached me, and in a persuasive way said “we need you.”


Session took a risk and invited me “an old man” to be your “temporary supply pastor”. I accepted and I’m glad I did.
Working together, faith in action has infused new life into our beloved Church. Session, Deacons and our Committee of Mission and Outreach, chaired by Joyce Dishman, deserve much credit for renewal. Through the efforts of the Rev. Judy Hendedrson we are participating in mission in far away Malawi, Africa.


Brian Dishman and Jewell Morgan get kudos for making possible an outreach ministry, “Off Site-On Line”, which connects Pilgrim Church with hundreds of people each week.


Our “Monday at Ten” fellowship at Burroughs Manor, and the Deacons monthly sponsored “Bingo” afternoon at the Manor, have both been well received by our good friends next door. And, what a joy to see how many of you have supported our ecumenical relations with St. John’s Episcopal Church and the Salvation Army.


The Christian life is one of “good tidings of great joy.” You’ve got it. Don’t lose it. There are many challenges ahead. I only wish I could be with you as you meet them in a positive, exciting way.


Bless you and thank you for your kindness and support, especially in this past year, which has been a tough one for me.


With fond regards, always,


Richard

ON THE PRAYER LIST

Please remember the following individuals in your daily prayers:

Richard Evans – Our minister

Dilys Evans – Richard's daughter

Mary Draper – Church member

Melba Shelton - Church member

Shirley Spaulding - Church member

John and Louise Gullett – Janie's parents 

Patricia Hemphill – Friend of the Church

Larry Skaggs – Friend of Todd Mariner

Bill Montgomery - Friend of Toni’s 

Men and women serving in the military forces, and their families

 CHURCH OFFICERS     

Session Members

(Class of ’12) Joyce Dishman, Wally Olson, Jim Shelton

(Class of '13) Keith Cresap, Sue Ratcliff, Fred York

(Class of ’14) Sarah Bruce, Kitty Brown, Irene Conine

Deacons

(Class of ’12) Jim Dishman, Dianne Rapp

(Class of '13) Jeanne Cowley, Jan Clark-Haney, Toni Moore

(Class of ’14) Liz Logan, Shirley Spaulding 

Church Trustees

Wally Olson 2012

Keith Cresap 2013

Kitty Brown 2014 

Church email: pilgrimpresby@sbcglobal.net 

17 Lawrence Noggle

20 Jan Clark-Haney

26 Jim Ratcliff

28 Mark Curnutte 

Birthday Sunday is celebrated on the 2nd Sunday of the month.

Birthday Sunday Assignments:

May - Sarah Bruce

June - Shirley Rapp

July - Sue Ratcliff

August - Jan Clark

September - Janie York

October - Linda Burger

November - Toni Moore

December - Jeanne Cowley

(Bring cake & check on juice for children) 

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 Melba Shelton’s address is 821 N. Foreman #115

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Graduation Celebrations !

May 13 was the celebration of Vinita High School graduates Caitlyn Spurgeon and Madison Kroll. We are especially proud of these two young ladies.

Caitlyn was crowned Basketball queen and Madison was crowned Football queen this past year.

Caitlyn Spurgeon is the daughter of John and Cindy (Cresap) Spurgeon. Her activities and honors include: being named to the All-State basketball team, becoming Vinita’s all time leading scorer in basketball, track, cross country, NHS and Senior Rotarian. She was also Valedictorian of her class.

Madison Kroll is the daughter of Chris and Julie (York) Osborn. Madison is a model in addition to being a football and track trainer. She works for the Linda Layman Agency, where she models and teaches. Recently she was offered a contract from Cing Deux Un, a modeling agency in Tokyo, Japan. Her plans after high school aren’t completely set in stone but for the moment she is thinking about going to Japan, where she will probably model all the time and if she likes it will sign a contract. She is excited about seeing that part of the world. She stated that if she doesn’t like it she will come back home and go to college. 

Excerpt from a letter from General Presbyter, Greg Coulter:

“I am challenging each congregation in this presbytery to do something, anything, just one thing new between now and the end of the year which advances the gospel message in your community. It has to be something you haven’t done before and it has to reach out to someone who isn’t already attending your church.

Have some fun; experiment; trust in the Holy Spirit to bless and multiply your efforts. Then let me know what you did and how it worked out!”

Grace and Peace,

Greg 

Deacons:

• The Deacon's met on Sunday April 15th. Everyone was present but Jan. 
• We made plans to celebrate Mother's day and our graduates on May 13th. Madison Kroll and Caitlyn Spurgeon will be honored as well as all the Mother's. Cake and punch will be served after church.
• We also talked about our July Pot Luck dinner. More on that meal after our May meeting. 
• Bingo at Burroughs will play in May and June and then take a break until Sept. The residents really enjoy seeing some new faces and playing bingo is taken very serious. In April we had two bingo on blackout, first time that has happened. Jewell, Liz, Toni and Diane were the bingo helpers. Next bingo is May 19th.

Ministers for May/June

6 - Nancy Covington

13 - Craig Kilgour

20 - Greg Coulter

27 - Craig Kilgour

June 3 - Ken Bailey

Tearful Farewells:

Chris and Julie (York) Osborn have accepted teaching positions in Hennessey, Oklahoma. Chris will be the Athletic Director and Julie will teach elementary school. The family will be sorely missed.