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Webster Groves Presbyterian Church 45 West Lockwood Avenue

St. Louis, MO 63119 314-962-9210 | www.wgpc.org

Our Mission: We seek to live Christ’s love,

welcome all people and joyfully serve God.

2 A Word from Our Pastor

2 Sunday Services

3 Meet Our Newest Members!

4 Mission Outreach

4 Give-A-Meal-A-Month

5 ECC

5 Staff Notes

6 Fellowship

7 Environmental Stewardship

7 Thanks and Notes

8 Joys & Concerns

STAFF Contacts

What’s INSIDE

A publication of Webster Groves Presbyterian Church

July 2018 volume 66 number 7

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Rev. Zumwinkel [email protected] x3201

Rev. Dreitcer [email protected] x3203

Rev. Dr. Andrews [email protected] x3210

John Rawlings 314-477-4889

Cherstin Byers [email protected] x3205

Robin Cannon [email protected] x3105

Barbara Gaugh [email protected] x3202

Beth Kazlauskas [email protected] x3208

Brian Kuhn [email protected] x3204

Joyce Kimmons [email protected] x3207

Shawn Portell [email protected] x3211

Jan Scheurer [email protected] x3206

Main Phone Number: 314-962-9210

At VBS we had a blast “on the river”—now it’s time for the whole church to join in on the fun. So come enjoy some time on the river with

your church family!

Mark your calendars for the first All Church Current River float on Saturday, September 8th. This is a weekend event (Friday evening, September 7th until Sunday noon, September 9th) with camping or lodging at Echo Bluff State Park. We will use kayaks and canoes on the river. If you’d like to join us but prefer to stay off the water, you are more than welcome to spend the day on shore hiking, napping, reading, or relaxing! We will worship together on Sunday morning before heading home. Come join us for as much or as little of the weekend as you would like! For more information or to sign up contact Betsy Wacker [email protected] or 314

974 9905.

Find Rest on the River

Discernment Team Update The Discernment Team is entering the final stages of its work. The team members spent time in June sifting through all the reports from all of the interviews and group meetings as well as the notes and e-mails from members of the congrega-tion. Then they held a retreat at the church as a team to compare notes. The next

step is a retreat in July to continue that work.

A key question has been "What is our identity as a church?" Some themes in-cluded being a warm and welcoming congregation, a mission oriented church, envi-ronmentally conscious, spiritual, a place of connection within the congregation and especially with the community, a place where solid Christian education takes place

and a desire to become more diverse.

The above characteristics of who we are will drive the direction of where to use the Meyer gift. Key areas expressed were: mission with an emphasis on social and justice issues, first floor and building renovation and redesign, financial sta-bility (endowment), and a few miscellaneous ideas. Anyone with questions, please feel free to speak with one of the pastors or mem-bers of the discernment team: Sandy Buschmann, Greg Falk, Bill Schwartz, Denise

Thomas, Carrie Rao, Deke Karzon, John Wagner.

mailto:[email protected]













Sunday Services July 1

Summer Series: Ruth

One Worship Service at 9:30am

July 8

Communion

Summer Series: Ruth


July 15

Summer Series: Ruth


July 22

Summer Series: The Ten Commandments


July 29

Summer Series: The Ten Commandments


wgpc.org | volume 66 | number 7

Happy 4th of July! Church offices will be closed.

Looking for a great parking spot for the Webster 4th of July parade? The church lot will be open, and all are welcome to sit on the front steps & lawn and watch the parade pass by.

Dear Friends in Christ, The meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA in St. Lou-is has come and gone. I'm thankful! I'm thankful for the chance to participate as an observer and be witness to how many ways in which our denomination is active in the world spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. Wandering through the exhibit hall helped make this concrete for me. I am thankful for GA junkies. These are people who are passionate about the church, its polity, its procedure and poli-cies, as well as its mission to be faithful to God's call. I am also thankful to be part of denomination that does not bow to the empire but consistently and per-sistently works to make the world a bet-ter place for all of God's children as God calls us to do! I am most thankful to be part of WGPC! Our church stepped up with over 100 volunteers who gave of their time and talent. Being in the crowd of 2500 Presbyterians often felt like being in Fellowship Hall there were so many WGPC folks everywhere you looked!! Many of you also agreed to be

prayer partners by praying for a list of folks at the convention all week long. In addition your faithful stewardship allowed us to also step up financially to help our presby-tery fulfill its duty in hosting this enormous event. All week long I had people express how thankful they are for how our church kept saying "yes"! Lastly, many of you have wondered how the Bail Project offering went. The goal was to raise $10,000 and free 45 peo-ple. After hundreds marched from the convention center to the St. Louis Justice Center, our stated clerk, J. Herbert Nel-son, presented a check for over $47,000! Many more folks were going to be set free to return to their families than originally hoped. It was a beautiful enact-ment of the healing love of Jesus Christ! It's good to be a Presbyterian! It's exciting to be part of the WGPC faith communi-ty! It's a holy blessing to be a disciple of Jesus Christ!! See you in church! Peace, -Ed

A Word from Our Pastor

Summer Worship Over the summer we’ll meet in the middle at a relaxed Sanctuary service at 9:30am, sometimes accompanied by the Informal worship band and sometimes accompanied by our drop-in summer choir. We’ll return to two

services on August 19.

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Calling All Coffee Lovers! Coffee Lovers! On Sunday mornings head to Fellowship Hall and try a cup of the new coffee that we are serving. This coffee comes to us from a new company in St. Louis called Switch Coffee Collective. Switch’s tagline is “Remarkable Coffee. Stronger Communities.” and their goal is to work with marginalized members of soci-ety seeking to find dignity in employment and switch the trajectory of their lives. They will be partnering with Mis-sion: St. Louis to provide jobs for people in North City, including those who were formerly incarcerated. We hope you enjoy the coffee and the opportunity to help build up our community! For more information about Switch check them out at switchcoffee.co and to learn about Mission: St. Louis vis-it www.missionstl.org.

http://switchcoffee.co/

http://www.missionstl.org/

George and Betsy Gowan joined the church the same day George’s granddaughter was confirmed!

Meet Our Newest Members!

July 2018 | wgpc.org WGPConnector

Newer Member Cookout A cookout to honor our newer members will be held on Saturday, July 28, at 5:00pm. This party will be hosted by Marilee and Craig Campbell at their home (#6 Country-side Ln., 63131). All Deacons and El-ders are encour-aged to attend! Please RSVP to Marilee (314-394-0400 or [email protected]) and let us know if you can bring a salad, dessert

or side dish. Newer members will be sent invitations.

Jordan and Jessica Gatewood joined along with their children Clara and Alex. They’re looking forward to getting involved in children’s ministries and in the new advocacy team!

Greg and Jessie Austermann joined with their sons Carter and Hud-son. Joining was extra special for the Austermann family, as Jessie, Carter, and Hudson were all baptized together!

Nicaragua Trip Postponed


Every year since 2000, our

presbytery has sent a delegation

to visit with our partners in Plan

Grande #2 Nicaragua. Members

of our congregation have been

active in most of those trips.

Along with the community of

PG2, we’ve eagerly anticipated

our annual July “reunion” when

we can share our lives, faith and

cultures with each other. It is with great sadness that our annual mission trip has

been postponed until the violent civil unrest in that country subsides.

Since mid-April the country has been experienced anti-government protests which

have been met with violence resulting in over 200 deaths to date. While there is

currently no violence in the immediate area of Plan Grande #2, the situation

around Managua and the areas we would need to travel through are unsafe and

impassible due to roadblocks that have been established. Following the news

there is not easy as the media in the US is not covering the story regularly. We’re

monitoring social media and international news sites, as well as getting occasional

reports from our partners in Plan Grande #2 and from staff at CEPAD. The

situation there is tragic and at this moment, shows no signs of a clear, peaceful

resolution.

We will be working to raise some additional funds to support the staff and

programs of CEPAD during this difficult time. In the meantime, please pray for the

staff of CEPAD, our partners in PG2, our PCUSA Mission Co-worker Tracey King-

Ortega and her family, and especially the people of Nicaragua.

Contact Harriet Hall if you would like more information about how you can help.

Join Us in New Orleans! JOIN US IN NEW ORLEANS If you would like to experience the joy that comes from serving others, we hope you will join us the week of October 29-November 3 to volunteer in New Orle-ans with St. Charles Avenue Presbyter-ian Church and Habitat for Humanity. The cost to volunteer is $225 for the RHI-NO fee plus a housing fee of $94 per night per room. That cost will vary based upon how many people (maximum of four) want to share a room. The RHINO fee includes four lunches and three dinners, a t-shirt and program administration. A deposit of $75 per person is due July 15, although late reservations will be ac-cepted as space allows. The remaining balance will be due September 15. Please contact Diana Likely 314- 961-0848 or [email protected] for more in-formation.

Give-A-Meal-A-Month July Menu

● Canned chicken

● Brown or white rice

● Canned black beans

● Canned corn

● Canned pineapple (lite or in juice)

Additional needs: School

supplies

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Feets & Seats Collection

Right now many of us are enjoying the slower pace of summertime, but before we know it kids will be head-ing back to school. If you would like to help students in St. Louis city feel more comfortable when school starts, please join us in our Feets & Seats socks and underwear collec-tion. We are collecting new socks and underwear for boys and girls ages 5-18 to share with the clients of Isaiah 58 Ministries. We are also accepting new and gently used khaki pants and polo shirts (blue, red or white) for student uniforms. Dona-tions can be left in the white basket near the Give-A-Meal-A-Month cabi-net in Fellowship Hall through Wednesday, July 11th .



Shawn Portell accepts appointment as Music Director of the St. Louis Metro Singers Formerly assistant director of the chorus, Shawn Portell, Director of Music Ministries/Organist at Webster Groves Presbyterian, has recently accepted the appointment of Music Director of the St. Louis Metro Singers. One of the largest community choruses in St. Louis, the chorus consist of 90 singers from St. Louis City and County, St. Charles County, and neighboring communities. It is quite an honor for him to be chosen as their new director, continuing a line of prominent conductors dating back to 1950 when the chorus was founded under the name of The Cosmopolitan Singers by Dr. Helen Louise Graves. Since its beginning, the Chorus has entertained audiences at a variety of functions and locations, including annual seasonal concerts at Southwest Baptist Church, St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, and in Columbia, Illinois, for the Dorothy Weinel Eppinger Foundation. The St. Louis Metro Singers’ annual Christmas concert at Southwest Baptist Church is traditionally recorded by KMOX radio and aired on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The Chorus’ annual spring/summer fund-raising concert has played to capacity audiences. The Chorus has also performed with the St. Louis Symphony and the Compton Heights Concert Band. The chorus is open to all through audition and its members represent varied ages and diverse backgrounds, but all have a common desire – to share their love of choral music with people throughout the St. Louis metropolitan and surrounding areas. Shawn will continue his regular duties at Webster Groves Presbyterian. Congratulations, Shawn!

Job Opening at WGPC We are currently searching for an outgoing, friendly person to fill the position of Connections Coordinator at WGPC! It is a part time position (about 25 hours per week), responsible for social media, newsletter communications, and website maintenance, as well as welcoming visitors and members to worship and other church activities, and connecting visitors and new members to current members, events and mission opportunities. If you know someone who might be interested in this type of work, please advise them to contact Carrie Rao on the Personnel Commission! Please note that WGPC members are not eligible for this position.

KIDS’ DAY OUT at WGPC

K.D.O. OPENS: Wednesday, August 15 & 22, 2018 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon (no lunch)

K.D.O. REGULAR HOURS BEGIN: Wednesday, August 29, 2018

9:00 AM - 12:30 PM

$25.00 Registration Fee $10/hour

Wednesdays only

FLEXIBLE DAILY SCHEDULE

9:00 AM Welcome & Play

10:00 AM Snack

10:30-11:30 AM Outdoor Play -or- 10:45-11:30 AM Activity Room

12:30 PM Good-bye Hug

Kids’ Day Out is an outreach program sponsored by Webster Groves Presbyterian Church for children and parents of the com-munity. The concept behind Kids’ Day Out is to provide an oppor-tunity for children to have a fun experience while their parents are away. The key ingredients to our program are: loving and experi-enced adults to care for them, an opportunity to interact with friends and siblings, and an interesting and safe place in which to explore God’s world. For those children who are ready, group ex-periences such as signing songs, listening to stories, doing simple crafts, and outdoor playtime are provided. Children are accepted from 10 months to six years. This is NOT a daycare program. Thank you for considering our program. If you have any questions please contact Robin Cannon, director (314-962-9210 ext. 3105).


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Summer Choir @ Webster Groves Presbyterian – July 15 and August 12 Singers of all ages are needed for our annual summer sings on July 15 and August 12. No experience is needed as we sing familiar arrangements of

hymn and songs. Rehearsals on both dates are at 9:00 before the 9:30 worship service in the Choir Room on the second floor. Join us!

Summer Choir—Fun for Everyone!

Presbyterian Women’s fall Horizon Bible Study will be God's Promise: I am with you. The Bible study will be a journey through scripture. We will trace the repetition of God's most frequent promise. Our focus will be on the manifestations of God's promise, the actual speaking of the promise. We will explore God's words "I will be with you" (or "I am with you") as they wend their way through scripture. All are welcome! If you are interested, please contact Carol Jones. The study costs

$10 and will be available in July.

Third Wednesday Book Study individuals will each read their own book over the summer and give a short summary on our first meeting in September. It will be a way to multiply the exposure to a wide variety of book offerings. If you’d like to join, read a book this summer and contact Jan Phillips ([email protected]) for information about the September meeting!

PW Fall Bible Study 3rd Wednesday Book Study

Did you know that there might be a tax advantage to directing part of your IRA’s minimum required distribution (RMD) to WGPC? This is called a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). These are the key abbreviations to remember –

RMD, QCD, WGPC.

Under the new tax law those taking RMDs can get a tax break even without itemizing by giving to charity. These tax law changes mean it’s less likely that you will itemize your deductions, instead opting to claim

the higher standard deduction.

If you’re 70 ½ or older and fortunate not to need all your RMD for current living expenses, you can donate up to $100,000 ($200,000 for a married couple filing jointly) from your IRA directly to charity. The contribution counts toward your RMD and isn’t included in your adjusted gross income (AGI), which may make you eligible for tax breaks linked to AGI and reduce or eliminate taxes on

Social Security benefits.

Even for those who itemize deductions, donating part of your RMD to your church could reduce your federal and state income tax bill significantly; however, you cannot additionally claim a charitable contribution tax deduction on a

charitable distribution from your IRA.

Please consult your tax or financial advisor to find out if this way of contributing to WGPC makes sense

for you.

Make Your Generosity Work

For You

Would you like to enjoy some time on the river with the women of your church family? The Annual All Women Current River Float Trip is July 19th! This is an all-day event from 7am to 9.00pm. Girls under 18 welcome with their mother/guardian. We use canoes or kayaks, not rafts. For more information or to sign up contact Betsy Wacker [email protected] or 314 974 9905.

Women’s Annual Float Trip

Disciples Bible Study Please join the Disciples Bible Study group for our summer book study and get to-gether. We are reading Jodi Picoult’s book, “Small Great Things”. It’s now available in paperback at some Target stores, at The Novel Neighbor, Left Bank Books and Amazon has a few used copies. We will meet in the church Parlor on Thursday, Au-gust 16, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. for discussion and fellowship. Bring something to munch if you can, but it’s not a requirement. All are welcome. For questions contact Diane McCullough, 314-773-4195 or [email protected].


Thanks!


A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped out with General Assembly. From the Welcome Reception to worship, WGPCers were behind the scenes and working hard. Your hospitality, generosity, and dedica-tion made this a truly wonderful GA. You lived out profound examples of the kin-dom of God!

Thank you to all our VBS volun-teers! In the kitchen, in crafts, in science, games, Bible, decorations, music, and so much more—we could not have done it without you!!

Pastor Hannah

Keeping in Touch

Janet & Geoff Hamill’s new

address:

41 Steep Point Pl

P.O. Box 269

Deer Harbor, WA 98243

CELTIC/AGAPE JOB OPPORTUNITY

Three season part time job for Celtic or Agape helping little old lady with gar-

den. Job includes weeding, dig-ging, trimming, etc. $15 per hour. Contact Diana Likely (314) 6-08-0293 or [email protected].

The National Mall in Washington has an exhibit on an international tour displaying plastic trash and its pollution to the seas. As a teaching moment, plastic bags take about 20 years to disintegrate. Plastic fishing line takes 600 years to break down. Approximately 850 shipping containers full of plastic are dumped into the ocean every day. The exhibit states that 9% of our plastic is recycled and much of the rest goes into the ocean. You will also recall the enormous amount of plastic straws used by us. Julia Schnetzer, a marine microbiologist says, "The ocean is our life source. Fifty percent of the

oxygen we breathe is produced by tiny phytoplankton. When the ocean dies, so do we. We need to take care of it."

This summer, our children are invited into the joy of giving with the rest of the congregation! During the Scripture Conversation each Sunday, the children are invited to bring up their own offering to place in the water glass, which we then put on the communion table to be dedicated with the rest of the offering later in the ser-vice. Why a water glass? Because this offering is going toward water filters for families in Flint, Michigan (and other U.S. cities in need of clean water). Each water filter costs $50, and not only provides a family with clean water, but will keep an estimated 300 plastic water bot-tles out of local landfills each year! We’ve already raised money for one water fil-ter—now we’re waiting to see how much many more we can buy!

Children’s Summer Offering

Plastic is a concern. Recently an article in the Post Dispatch stated that the United States consumption of plastic straws laid end to end would encircle the earth 2.5 times daily. That use is enormous. One helpful thought is to reject plastic straws at restaurants, on cruises, or other places they are given. Perhaps it would slow down the addition to that Texas size glob of plastic amassed in the ocean. Applause, applause to our congregation for resorting to biodegradable wooden coffee stirrers!!

Environmental Stewardship: Words on Water


Joys & Concerns

In Memoriam—Our sympathy and prayers go to the following families of: Rena Hale who died June 2—Services were held in our Sanctuary on June 6 John Powell who died June 6—Services were held in our Chapel on June 14 Doris Smith who died June 17—Services will be held in July in Ohio. Tina Homeier who died June 27—Services will be held on July 3 at 11:00am in our Sanctuary. A Memorial Service for Bob Miles who died May 20, will be held at Laclede Groves Chapel on July 14 at 2:00pm.

In Sympathy—Our sympathy and prayers go the following families of a lost family member: The Rev. Nancy Wagner and John on the death of her father Herschel E. O’Shaunessy, who died May 31. Services were held in Columbus, IN. Martha and Jeff Veldhuizen and the death of her father, and Sarah and Clara Marie on the death of their grandfather, on June 4. Services were held in Kansas City. Congratulations to John Cannon V, the son of Robin and John Cannon IV, and Annalise Berlinger, were married on June 2 in Madison, Wis-consin.


The Webster Presbyterian (USPS 671-120) is published, monthly from January 1 to December 31, each year by the Webster Groves Presbyterian Church, 45 West Lock-wood Avenue, Webster Groves, MO 63119. Periodicals postage paid at St. Louis, MO. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Webster Presbyterian, 45 West Lock-wood Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63119.

THE CONNECTOR • • •

Webster Groves Presbyterian Church 45 West Lockwood Avenue

Webster Groves, MO 63119-2931 (314) 962-9210 • Fax (314) 962-9214

www.wgpc.org

Periodicals Postage Paid at

St. Louis, MO

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