The Messenger Newsletter

Sunday, February, 15 at 12:00 noon
The Annual Congregational Meeting will be held on Sunday, February 15, at 12:00 p.m. following worship service.

The purpose of the meeting is to: 1) receive the 2004 Annual Report; 2) elect two members to a one year term on the Nominating Committee.

All nominations will be received from the floor, none will be forthcoming from the Session,  Nominees must be members of the congregation and must have agreed to serve if elected.  No member of the current Session is eligible for nomination.  In the event more than two nominations are received, the election will be by ballot.

Current members of the Nominating Committee are:  John Brown, Chair, Session, Class of 2004; Hollis Jacobie, Session, Class of 2005; Dan Wadley, Session, Class of 2006; Carol Greenman, Presbyterian Women; Chris Jacobie, Youth.

Things are Happening
As of this writing, the Property Development Committee reports that at last the building permits have been obtained from the City of Dallas.

In addition to this, the draft copies of the construction are currently being reviewed by the contractor, the architect and the Property Development committee.  Barring anything unforeseen, this document should be ready for execution very soon.

Mycon (the building contractor) and the committee have almost completed their review of the value engineering proposals in the committee's continuing effort to cut down on the costs.  One of the major concerns in this regard has been the review of the mechanical plans to assure that in the long run, we will end up with the best system for our needs.

LHPC's New Director of Music
Peyton Strouth assumed the position of Director of Music Ministries on January 1.  He plans to enter the Master of Sacred Music program at SMU.  A native Virginian, Peyton holds a degree, with emphases in music and vocal performance, from West Virginia Wesleyan College.  There he served as chapel choir director and assistant to the choral conductor.  Peyton has also served as Director of Music at Cave Spring United Methodist Church in Roanoke, VA.  We welcome Peyton to Lake Highlands Presbyterian Church.

Thank you! Thank you!
Over the past year many of you have made contributions to the CDC's collection of soup labels.  Perhaps you have wondered about the labels and what has been done with them.

So far, you might say we are "banking" them with the Campbell soup people.  The whole system is a great deal like the old green stamp program — so many labels earn you so many points; "X" number of points enable you to "purchase" an item from their catalog of merchandise.  CDC is working toward the "purchase" of additional playground equipment.  So, if you are looking for something material to appear, it won't happen for a while.  Our target is 2,000 points.  To date we have about 1,500.

Your support in this program has been wonderful and we are truly grateful.  Be aware, though, it's not just Campbell Soup labels that are viable currency.  Also included are labels from Swanson, V8, Prego, Pepperidge Farm, Franco American and Pace products.

It's a Part of Our Heritage
This month we celebrate the 194th anniversary of the founding of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  On February 4, 1820, three Presbyterian ministers, Finis Ewing, Samuel King and Samuel McAdoo, met at McAdoo's home in Dickson County, Tennessee.  The reorganized Cumberland Presbytery after it had been dissolved by the synod.  Their intent was to establish a vehicle by which to address the concerns before the General Assembly, the highest governing body in the Presbyterian Church.  They never succeeded, and so a new denomination came into being within the Presbyterian/Reformed family of churches.

These three ministers and others served on the then American frontier.  For instance, the last Anglo death in the area by a Native American had happened a mere decade before.  (I have no idea when the last Native American death at the hands of an Anglo occurred; Anglos were less scrupulous record keepers about such things.

The issues surrounding the dissolution of the original Cumberland Presbytery and its reorganization in 1810 reached back to the 1700's.  There were two, both related to the population explosion on the frontier and how the church could best respond.  One was to accept ministers who could not subscribe to the old doctrine of predestination, which had been a hallmark for Scots Presbyterians.  (It isn't the belief that God determines what happens.  Predestination is about God's having arbitrarily chosen who would be saved through Jesus Christ.)  The rejection of predestination as an essential belief of the church had its strongest advocates on the frontier.  The other issue was a temporary expedient of education for new ministers through a tutorial system, such as was practiced at the time in medicine and law.  The early Cumberland Presbyterian ministers were not in sympathy with adhering to predestination and were supporters of the tutorial system of education.  However, both issues were controversial among frontier Presbyterians.

From it's organization, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church spread westward with the young nation.  With the exception of western Pennsylvania, it never made inroads into the Eastern seaboard states - until now.  Mission probes and new church developments are being established from the northeastern states to the West Coast.

Today the Cumberland Presbyterian Church is an international church, with congregations and presbyteries in the U.S., Liberia, Colombia, Hong Kong and Japan.  One predominantly Native American presbytery, Choctaw, is in southeastern Oklahoma.

--Robert E Shelton

LHPC youth are joining forces with the youth from Eastminster Presbyterian for 24 hours of Mission Mania.  They will be working on all sorts of mission projects and volunteering at the North Texas Food Bank and Family Gateway.  The youth need your help with donations listed below:  Hand towels, washcloths, combs, metal nail files, bath size bars of soap, toothbrushes, 6-7 ounce tubes of toothpaste, band-aids, and one gallon zip lock bags.

Donations can be placed in the marked box at the ARC.  Monetary donations are also being accepted to help pay for the expenses.  Thank you!

The January Blood Drive was held on Wednesday, January 14 at Lake Highlands Presbyterian Church.  There were 21 Blood Donors, of which 12 were affiliated with LHPC.

The following persons generously gave blood to Carter Blood Care:  Don Kern, Nadine Maxwell, Geri McCleskey, Pete Puckett, Bruce Wittrig, Jack Martin, Tom Kriehn, Chuck Ramsay, Martha Boyd, Jeff Higgins, Ray Sandefur, and Kay Wyne.

Thank you to everyone who worked the Blood Drive or gave blood.  We are looking forward to another Blood Drive in July.

--L.V. & Pat Massengale

The Provocative Propositions
Appreciative Inquiry (AI) begins with the assumption that in every organization something works and is "good."  This is a different beginning point from the older models for planning, that weaknesses are to be identified and corrected.  AI has been successfully used in education, business and government, now it has been adapted for use in the church.

Maybe some definitions would be helpful:
Appreciative (adjective): recognition of worth.
Inquiry (noun):  a close examination in search of information or truth.

The identification of what works and is "good" begins with telling stories.  Many of you have shared your faith stories, and thank you for doing so.  They will be made available later, so that we can all share them.  (Some of you have yet to tell yours.  You will still have the opportunity, since AI is an ongoing process.)

The AI Leadership Team has looked closely at the many stories gathered.  Certain themes—or provocative propositions—emerge.  It's time for more definitions:  Provocative (Adjective):  to evoke or stir to feelings or action.
Propositions (noun):  statements containing fixed truth-values.

Our AI Team has drawn up a set of provocative propositions, based upon the stories you have shared, and they have been accepted by the session.  Below each proposition is a series of words or phrases that the Team identifies as among our current strengths related to that proposition.

Relationships

In a world of distractions and superficial relationships, we provide a diverse community that sustains all people through a deep, meaningful relationship with Christ and each other.
	Prayer Cherish Joyous Bible Study	Embrace Nurture Enrich Faith	Purpose Worship Fellowship Focus

Children

We provide the foundation, fellowship, and teaching from which our youth and children develop Christ-centered lives of integrity and faithfulness.
	Protection Teaching	Encouraging Nurturing	Honoring

Community

We live out God's love for all people by sharing our physical and human resources with our community.  We work together for the enrichment of life.
	Embracing Global Perspective	Inclusive Trans-cultural

Worship

The worship of God id the highest human achievement.  Our worship is centered upon God, emotionally expressive, intellectually challenging, and varied in its elements so that we know ourselves in the presence of God.
	Challenges Epic Provokes to Action	Offer Solace Heals the Spirit Trans-cultural	Open our Hearts Timeless Boundless

Faith

God carries us through all the unexpected crises of this world.  We are to each other a connection to the unchangeable truth of God's constant love and quiet, undeniable presence.
	Prayer Faith	Embrace Nurture

The provocative propositions are conclusions of who we are, what we value and how we should plan for the future, based upon the stories we have told.

Also notice that each proposition is consistent with our previously adopted mission and vision statement:

Mission:  Jesus told us, "Go...and make disciples."

Vision:  Serving God together by reaching out, loving, caring and inspiring spiritual and personal growth.

Please place a copy of the propositions where you can refer to them often, study them carefully and pray that God will use them to show us the shape of our future ministries.

Women's News



January Youth News



A Note of Thanks . . .



Gifts for December 2003



In Life and Death We Belong To God. .



Welcome New Members



LHPC December Visitors

Richard Ireland, Chris Early, Doug Van Wey, Jeff Higgins, Iris Ziegler, Kevin, Stefani, madison, Dylan & Mackenzie Wood, Wendell & DeeDee Moore, Brian, Donna & Matthew Leslie, Jenann Leslie, Dorothy & Roland Mackey, Sharon Stupp, Matt Yturri, Corina, Greg, Jennifer & Kimberly Clocan, Roy & Vivian Sayler, Ashley Vernon, Sarah Jones, Chuck & Ann Overton, Dave Berkowitz, Neal & Deborah Berkowitz, Barbara Alexander, Rachel Glass, Dixie Edwards, Don & Kathy Durham, Jennifer Morgan, Nadine Maxwell, Pete, Ann Marie, Brandt & Emma Swanson, B.J. Rhoads

How many of these people have you met? How many do you know?

The following meeting dates have been announced by the two presbyteries-Red River Presbytery of CPC and Grace Presbytery of PC(USA).  Anyone who wishes to attend is welcome; commissioners and/or alternates are elected by session.  If you are interested in serving in this capacity, please contact John Brown, Class of 2004.

Red River Presbytery

Congratulations to Paul & Cari Logan on the birth of a son, on January 7, 2004.