Highlights Inside

Responding With Love, page 2

AmeriCorps Team Open House, page 2

Jon Troast Concert, page 3

Advent Evening Study Group, page 4

Oak Hill News

No. 11 NOVEMBER 2015 Volume 65 Making disciples for Jesus Christ.

“I will give thanks to the Lord

with my whole heart; I will tell

of all your wonderful deeds.” –Psalm 9:1

Last month, three of our members stood up in wor-ship and told you why and how they felt called to serve and give to God through Oak Hill Presbyteri-an Church. Then, a letter went out, and we all thought and prayed and wrote down our inspira-tions, our dreams and our pledges on little blue cards, blessed them and shared them with this church.

And yes, this will help us plan for the budget, and yes this helps us all to be thoughtful about how we are spending our money, time, and talents, but also, I just love hearing your dreams for our church. That question on that little blue card is one I ask people all the time- what is your dream for this faith com-munity, for this neighborhood, for your family? Be-cause that dream, it speaks to our passion. And we are blessed to be a people full of passion.

Our dreams for Oak Hill included… “to be a warm, inclusive, safe place where the word

of God is lived out.”

“to see Oak Hill thrive as a neighborhood church.”

“to continue to grow and thrive”

“all to receive Jesus Christ into their hearts”

“increased membership/attendance”

“the continuation and expansion of the love and dis-

cipleship of all the congregation”

“to offer refuge to migrant families , to grow within

the community”

“a growing sense of mission in which all Oak Hill’s

people can be involved”

“continue to reach out to the community with love +

service”

As we enter this season of giving thanks, let us be thankful for the passions and dreams God has placed on our hearts for this congregation, for our church family, and for our community. I pray that God will inspire us all to creatively work towards these dreams and to live out our passions together, as in-spired by Christ. May we be so bold. May we be so blessed.

In Peace and Joy,

Pastor Erin

OAK HILL NEWS – NOVEMBER 2015 2

Responding With Love to the

Churches Burned in St. Louis

As you’ve seen in the news, 7 churches were vandal-ized by arson in September in St Louis. Please keep the members, pastors, staff and neighbors of New Life Missionary Baptist Church, St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, Ebeneezer Lutheran Church, New Northside Missionary Baptist Church, Shrine of St. Joseph, Bethel Nondenominational Church and New Testament Church of Christ in your prayers as they do the work of cleaning, healing, repairing and re-building.

Oak Hill Pres is helping out by responding with prayers... and chairs. We have loaned 115 of our folding chairs to New Life MBC to use as they will worship outside these next two weeks, due to the significant damage to their building. Thank you to

Rick Soles, Lisa and Mark Thompson, Kris,

Richard and Ronnell Crawford and DeShawn

Hess for loading and hauling all those chairs!

Our Presbytery also applied for and received a grant from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to contribute to these congregations’ rebuilding expenses.

MISSION COMMITTEE

November 15 Open House!

Come meet the Americorps Volunteers! We're hon-ored to be hosting a group of Americorps volunteers at AMEN House from Nov. 1 – Dec. 16. The group will be working with Energy Care St. Louis www.energycare.org providing winterization im-provements to people in need in St. Louis City and County. The group will be learning and practicing their craft at the AMEN House. This week they winterized the AMEN House and it is already feeling warmer over there! Join us at an Open House, following worship on Sun-day, November 15 to learn about their work and meet the volunteers. And, of course, refreshments will be provided! For more information about the Open House or about the AmeriCorps team at AMEN House, con-tact Donna Cook.

The Great Oak Hill Pizza and Human

Foosball Third Tuesday

TGS Neighborhood Youth Night!

Don't miss it! Tuesday, November 17, 2015. 6:30 - 8:30 PM come meet the neighborhood kids and join in a game of Foosball, foot pool, Yahtzee, Connect Four, or Giant checkers with plungers and crowns! Crazy? You bet! Fun? Indeed! Bring a snack to share if you can. Can't make it but want to help out? Drop of 2 liter beverages, snacks, Capri Sun Packs, cookies, veggies, water or make a donation of $5 to "sponsor a pizza". Mark your donations with "Human Foosball ". We had a great turn out for October, the neighbors are excited about the program and so are we! See you there. Con-tact Donna Cook with any questions.

OAK HILL NEWS – NOVEMBER 2015 3

MORE MISSION COMMITTEE

CONCERT!

Come join us for a night of fellowship, music and fun as the Mission Committee welcomes singer-songwriter, Jon Troast on Friday, November 13, 2015 at 7:00 PM. A free will offering will be collected to support our mission projects, including the neighbor-hood foosball outreach. Jon has performed at Oak Hill before on April 18, 2009, you can learn more about Jon and listen to some of his music at www.jontroast.com.

Here is a review about Jon’s music from Music review.net “With the combination of crafty lyr-ics and exceptional musical accompaniment, Jon Troast has the potential of becoming the next greatest discovery in the music world. Jon’s musical influences appear to span a wide range including folk, rock, coun-try, pop, alternative and Christian. He is easily compa-rable to James Taylor and John Mayer and yet, stands on his own two feet effortlessly.” Hope to see you there!

Message from the Isaiah 58 Buddies!

The Buddies are all excited as we plan the January menu because—we will be celebrating a New Year!! 2016! Can you believe it? Of course, there is still a lot of time left to enjoy in 2015, but it’s fun to look for-ward and dream up delicious foods to celebrate the incoming New Year. This year, the Buddies thought about some of our favorite foods from the South. In particular, black eyed peas. For centuries, even in the days of the Phar-oah, black eyed peas have been a symbol of good luck and fortune. The superstition went something like this: since black eyed peas were inexpensive and modest, anyone who ate them was showing humility. Many believed that this humility would save them from the wrath of the heavens for any vanity they might have. Well, for certain, there is good fortune in their scrump-tious flavor! Especially when cooked with ham. (Actu-ally, black eyed peas are not really peas or a beans; they are lentils.) The Buddies hope you’ll cook some up for yourself on New Year’s Eve. We certainly plan to! November

1st Sunday - Canned chicken

2nd

Sunday - Stove top dressing mix (boxed)

3rd

Sunday - Corn muffin mix (boxed)

4th

Sunday - Green beans (canned)

5th

Sunday - Pumpkin pie filling (canned)

December

1st Sunday - Chicken and dumplings (canned)

2nd

Sunday - Carrots (canned)

3rd

Sunday - Crackers

4th

Sunday - Hot chocolate (instant packages)

January

1st Sunday – Ham (canned)

2nd

Sunday – Black eyed peas (canned)

3rd

Sunday – Any kind of “greens,” like spinach,

collard greens, or mustard greens (canned)

4th

Sunday – Applesauce (canned or plastic)

5th

Sunday – Cornbread mix (boxed)

As always, it's helpful (but not required) to have tab top openers on cans. Our friends at Isaiah 58 are so grateful for your generous sharing of food. Questions? Ask Valery Welch!

OAK HILL NEWS – NOVEMBER 2015 4

EVANGELISM AND MEMBERSHIP

COMMITTEE

A BIG THANK YOU to all who came out and

made Halloween such a fun night at Oak Hill! We gave out ALL the candy (160 bags!!) and heard some truly terrible jokes (and a few good ones too). What a fun night to be in the neighborhood!

WORSHIP AND CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

COMMITTEE

Advent Devotionals and Evening Study Group

Advent Devotionals will be available in the sanctu-ary beginning on Sunday, Nov. 29th. The Worship & Christian Education committee has chosen a booklet called Proclaiming the Good News of God’s Peace: Reflections on the Belhar Confession, pub-lished by the Presbyterian Peacemaking Commis-sion. The 15-member General Assembly Special Committee unanimously recommended the addition of this confession to the PC(USA) Book of Confes-sions, and Presbyteries voted affirmatively for that action. The final step will be a vote at the 222nd General Assembly held next year in Portland, Ore.

With the rash of gun and racial violence seen throughout the country in 2015, the Belhar Confes-

sion seemed to be especially relevant this year. There will be an Adult Study Class based on the de-votionals held on Thursday nights during Advent. Look for more details soon.

The following information is from www.pcusa.org/news/2015/9/22/2015-advent-devotional-reflections-belhar-confessi/:

Cliff Kirkpatrick, co-moderator of the General As-sembly Special Committee on the Belhar Confes-sion, Professor of World Christianity and Ecumeni-cal Studies at the Louisville Presbyterian Theologi-cal Seminar and Stated Clerk of the General Assem-bly of the PC(USA) Emeritus, shared his thoughts on why the Belhar Confession makes a good back-drop for Advent devotional messaging.

“During Advent we wait for the coming of ‘the Word become flesh’ (John 1:14) in the birth of Jesus Christ and in his ministry of love justice and peace,” says Kirkpatrick. “Through these Advent devotions we engage in the age-old practice of praying, study-ing and preparing our hearts for Jesus and his minis-try. Like the coming of Jesus in a manger in Bethle-hem, the Belhar Confession comes to us from those on the margins in our time—from the so-called “colored” church in South Africa, oppressed by the violence and discrimination of apartheid yet pointing us to the good news of Jesus Christ and challenging us to follow his way of unity, reconciliation and jus-tice.”

“It’s truly providential that the Belhar Confes-sion is coming to prom-inence at the very time we need it most,” he says. “With the resur-gence of racism and racial violence in our society and church, having this voice call-ing us to repent and build a community around unity, reconciliation and justice is something we need badly in the PC(USA). These themes are important for us as we deal with way too much divi-sion in our church.

OAK HILL NEWS – NOVEMBER 2015 5

Sunday School

There will be a new Advent-themed Adult Sunday School class beginning November 29. Sunday School classes begin at 9:30 a.m. each Sunday. The Children and Youth class will begin a new Bible sto-ry and Ms. Susan has already begun teaching the songs for the Children’s Christmas performance in December.

Scottish Heritage Service

The roots of Presbyterianism can be traced to Scot-land, and Oak Hill will celebrate our faith’s Scottish heritage on Sunday, Nov. 22. Matt McMullin, who is proud of his Scottish heritage (and his kilts) will serve as the beadle (a lay person who assists the minister). We will feature Scottish hymns during the service. If you have a kilt, wear it to church, and bring your tartan plaids!

Nursery Workers Needed

Please let Kim McMullin or Lisa Thompson know if you would like to work in the church nursery during service. We need help about once every two months. Helpers are required to have a Family Care and Safety Registry screening on file before working.

SESSION HIGHLIGHTS

The following actions were reported or approved by Session in their October 14, 2015, Stated Scheduled Meeting:

The average worship attendance in September was 57.

Membership as September 30, 2015 is 121.

Financial Report for September & Year-to-Date 2015

September 2015 Total

Income

Budgeted $15,872.83 $141,606.00

Actual $10,223.66 $136,418.90

Expenses

Budgeted $15,042.19 $140,119.75

Actual $17,210.70 $140,877.37

Session approved Pastor Erin’s vacation for 11/24-11/29.

PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN

Women of the congregation are invited to become a part of Presbyterian Women, Circle 3. We will be meeting in the Theleos Room on the first Thursday of the month at 10:00 a.m. Please bring a sandwich for lunch. Salad, chips and dessert will be provided. Join us for fellowship and projects as we plan and prepare for our annual Cookie Sale in December.

Presbyterian Women are continuing to save pull tabs from soda cans for Ronald McDonald houses, and Box Tops for Education for St. Margaret of Scotland School, attended by some Oak Hill children. We are no longer saving greeting cards, but will be saving empty pill bottles with labels and glue removed for the Malawi Project, which sends recycled prescrip-tion containers to Malawi for use in rural hospitals and village areas. (Malawi is the eighth poorest na-tion on earth). Please place items in the three-drawer cabinets outside the kitchen and in the nar-thex. We appreciate your support of our projects!

BOOK CLUB

Book club will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday,

October 13, at the Barrow residence, 6570 Oleatha, to watch the movie “Because of Winn-Dixie.” Please bring your own dinner. We are always looking for new members. Please feel free to join us!

ARTS AND CRAFTS CLUB

Craft Night

Craft Night is on a break this month as instead we’ll be gathering for the Jon Troast concert! Join us for the music on Nov. 13th and then next month we’ll all get back to the craft action!

OAK HILL NEWS – NOVEMBER 2015 6

UNDER THE OAK TREE

The next Presbytery Gathering will be held on Saturday Nov. 14th at 10am at First Presbyterian Church in Edwardsville. Elders Donna Cook and Lisa Thompson have been elected by the session to attend with Pastor Erin.

PCUSA Special Offerings Christmas Cards Did you know that you can order your Christmas Cards through the church? The Special Offerings pro-gram of the PCUSA sells Christmas cards with the proceeds benefiting our world mission, programs for youth, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and so many other ministries of the PCUSA. Click here for more information about these special cards: https://marketplace.mimeo.com/pcusa#name=13

LECTIONARY FOR OCTOBER

Sunday, November 1

Isaiah 25:6-9 Psalm 24:1-10 Revelation 21:1-6a John 11:32-44

Sunday, November 8

Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17 Psalm 127:1-5 Hebrews 9:24-28 Mark 12:38-44

Sunday, November 15

1 Samuel 1:4-20 1 Samuel 2:1-10 Hebrews 10:11-25 Mark 13:1-8

Sunday, November 22

2 Samuel 23:1-7 Psalm 132:1-18 Revelation 1:4b-8 John 18: 33-37

Thursday, November 26 Thanksgiving

Day

Joel 2:21-27 Psalm 126: 1-6 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Matthew 6 25-33

Sunday, November 29 First Sunday of

Advent

Jeremiah 33:14-16 Psalm 25:1-10 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 Luke 21:25-36

Meet That Member

Meet Toby Eckert!

Toby is a life- long Oak Hiller who currently serves as a ruling elder and chair of the Membership and Evangelism Committee as well as serving the state of Missouri as “a boss type for Vocational Rehabili-tation which provides services to people with disa-bilities in their efforts to become employed.” Toby is married to Victor and they have two children, Paige and Victor.

When did you join Oak Hill? My parents were married here, so I’ve been attending Oak Hill all my life.

Why did join Oak Hill as a member? I joined as a member at 14 because my mom was in charge of the confirmation class.

Why do you stay at Oak Hill? I remember sitting in the sanctuary, all by myself, sometime after col-lege, and some random, little-old-church-lady came up to me and talked to me and asked me how I was doing, and you know… you just know you’re home. Also, I come from a family of “doers.” And there’s lots to do. I do bells. I do choir. I do dishes.

What are some of your favorite Oak Hill memo-

ries? Eating M&Ms in the choir loft as a teenager. And, well, I did get married here….

What is one dream you have for Oak Hill?

For people to find rest.

OAK HILL NEWS – NOVEMBER 2015 7

SCENES FROM OAK HILL

Blessing of the Animals

Youth Puppet Show

Halloween Candy Packing

Oak Hill News Oak Hill Presbyterian Church,

4111 Connecticut Street St. Louis, Missouri 63116-3926

(314) 664-5525

www.oakhillpcusa.org

office@oakhillpcusa.org

We are a welcoming congregation where visitors are always expected!

Christian Education – 9:30 a.m.

Service of Worship – 10:30 a.m.

Nursery Care – 10:30 a.m.

The ministers of Oak Hill Church are its members,

assisted by:

Rev. Erin Counihan

Pastor

Rev. Dr. Alan Meyers

Parish Associate

Ms. Susan Brown

Minister of Music

Ms. Carole Adams

Secretary

Articles for publication in the

Oak Hill News need to be

submitted in writing to the church office by the 3rd Monday of each month.