July Sermon Series
Disciples Are Neighbors (The Gospel According to Mr. Rogers)

Fred Rogers, an ordained Presbyterian pastor, offered the world around him many timeless truths of God’s love and grace through the medium of television. Many of his most enduring lessons are built around the importance of neighbors…ideas taken straight from the Gospel-witness of Jesus and his concern and care for neighbors…that everyone is our neighbor and has value; that being a neighbor requires active giving to and receiving from others; that God has created us to exist in community, rather than isolated individualism. Even though Mr. Rogers has been dead for several years, he left an extensive body of printed and video material that can be utilized in talking about neighbors. Texts of commencement addresses and other speeches can be found on the web. A collection of his quotes organized by his wife after his death, The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember, is a
useful resource as well.

Join us for worship this summer!

Our Sunday summer schedule:

8:30 a.m. Arise! Unplugged worship in the Tree of Life Chapel

10:00 a.m. Traditional worship in the Sanctuary
 

By-Laws Informational Meeting

An important interim-time task for church leaders is a review of the congregation’s by-laws. Through this review, the Session determined that First Presbyterian’s by-laws needed updating. Clerk of Session, Lisa Ward, interim pastor, Bill Smutz, and Nancy Droesch, volunteer, have redrafted the church’s by-laws for the congregation’s consideration to be in line with the current needs of the church under the guidance of the Book of Order.

At its July meeting, the First Presbyterian Church Session voted to send an updated set of church by-laws to the congregation for approval. Session also called a Special Meeting of the Congregation for Sunday, August 28 at 9:30 a.m. to consider the updated by-laws as well as elect church officers to begin terms in 2023. An official call for this meeting will come in August, but please put this information on your calendar now.

In preparation for the August 28 Special Meeting of the Congregation, there will be a by-laws Information Meeting on Sunday, August 7 from 9:00-9:50 a.m. in Fellowship Hall. The purpose of this gathering is to offer background and context on the proposed by-laws updates and to answer questions those gathered may have. Copies of the proposed updated by-laws will be distributed soon. Please keep an eye out for the proposed by-laws, read them, and become part of the conversation! 

Pastor Nominating Committee Update

Your Pastor Nominating Committee has been hard at work in the past few months, getting to know each other, getting organized, and being educated on our task. Our PNC Co-Chairs have been elected, Ron Evens and Sue Hosack, leading team members Tom Edelstein, Ivy Hartman, Bennett Lasater, Mark Robinson, and Lucy Tidwell. Interim Pastor Bill Smutz is our advisor and will provide invaluable guidance and support for the committee throughout our journey.

The first task before us in the Call Process is the preparation of a Ministry Information Form, which is kind of like a job description but follows a format prescribed by the presbytery and will ultimately be posted on the PCUSA web site as an “opportunity” for interested individuals. Our goal is to have this completed by end of summer or early fall.

It is our pleasure and honor to represent the congregation of First Pres as your PNC, and we will do our best to keep you informed on our progress. We very much want your input and welcome any questions, concerns, or referrals (yes!) you may have. Feel free to reach out to any PNC member or send an email to pastorsearch@kirkwoodpres.org. Click on the Pastor Search button on the church’s web site for additional information.

Mission Committee members are busy arranging a mission trip to western Kentucky from October 30-November 5 to help rebuild after a catastrophic storm in 2021. You might not recall the specifics of the storm, as there have been too many disasters of all kinds. To refresh your memory, in December, 2021, a violent, long-track tornado moved through Western Kentucky, causing catastrophic damage and taking 57 lives. Residents are now in the rebuilding phase. This area is a 3-hour drive from St. Louis, which means it's convenient even if you can only come for part of the week. We will be working with Hopkins County Emergency Management and with Habitat for Humanity. They promise there will be plenty of work for all skill levels. If you're interested, just pencil in that week and watch for more details this summer.

If you have questions, email Liz McCane (lizmccane@gmail.com) or Georgina Sikorski (gwsikorski@gmail.com).