Youth Choir, Pizza & Preview

Dear APC Youth Choir and Parents,

Summer days are waning, and a new program year is almost here!

Youth Choir Pizza and Preview happens in one week--Wed, Sep 5 at 5:00 p.m.  We'll take about 40 min. to sing through some great music for the year, including my newest arrangement of "I Saw You" by Ken Medema (composer of "The Tree Song").

Then we'll pause for a meal of pizza and veggies.  After the meal, we'll have about 50 minutes for an Introduction to Youth Ringers with Maggie Montgomery!  We hope you will try this new group.

During 2012-13 this new handbell choir will meet for three five-week segments, starting Wed, Sep 12, 6:30-7:00 p.m.  At the end of each segment, Youth Ringers will play a modest piece in worship.  You do not have to be a member of Youth Choir to try Youth Ringers, so please encourage your non-singing friends to try it!

Regular Youth Choir rehearsals begin after church Sun, Sep 16 at 11:45 a.m.

This is the year for the biennial musical.  It's "The Tale of Three Trees" on Sun, February 10 at Noon (dress rehearsal the previous morning).

Our exchange dates with Trinity-Arlington are:

• Sunday, April 7 at APC
• Sunday, April 14 at Trinity PC-Arlington

I'm excited about a great new year ahead!  Please e-mail back or call if you have any questions.

Gary Garletts

Pastor's Pen: Homecoming 2012

“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.   But when I got to twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he’d learned in seven years.”  --Mark Twain

In this famous quote by Mark Twain, we learn one of the problems of coming home.  Home changes while we are gone, or more likely, we change.  There is great comfort coming home.  The familiar sights, sounds and even the smells can evoke feelings of security and refuge.  Nonetheless, like a college student coming home for the first time, we realize that we no longer satisfied with the way things were.  We can’t simply go back to the old curfews and old rules. 

In the journey of faith, there is something similar.  As much as we might long for an idyllic moment in our past, our relationship to God won’t exactly be the same as before.  We change.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing.  In the Scriptures, God doesn’t plant us naked back in the old Eden.  Instead, there is a new heaven and a new earth.  Coming home means taking part in a new reality.  We are transformed. 

After a summer of vacations and trips, Homecoming at Ardmore Presbyterian Church signals the start of our fall programs.  We ease back into our familiar pews and into the usual routines.  However, I wonder if we should be satisfied with what has happened in the past.  Perhaps, we should treat Homecoming as an invitation.  We can participate in a deeper faith, a stronger community, and a more vibrant witness. 

Some might mistake this invitation as an expanding encroachment on your time.  They believe that the church wants you to be busier like school activities and your favorite non-profit want you to be busier.  Instead, the church invites us to maturity.  If your relationship to God hasn’t shown signs of growth in the past few years, it is time for a reexamination.  Maybe, it is time for a change.

Homecoming is an exciting time in the life of the church.  I pray that coming home will be an opportunity for spiritual growth for you and your family. 

Grace & Peace,

James Hodsden

Labels for Education

 

Labels for Education :
"Get Free Stuff for Your School"

Dear Parents/Guardians and friends of APC Weekday Preschool:

The APC Weekday Preschool is now participating in the Labels for Education® program. My name is Jen Migliaccio and I am the Labels for Education coordinator for our school. Through the program, we can collect UPCs and beverage caps from participating products to earn points that can be redeemed for FREE educational merchandise!

Our goal year is to collect points that we can redeem for teaching resources. It's easy to help-simply save UPCs and beverage caps from participating products and drop them off in the box in the church.

If you have questions, or would like to help with our Labels for Education collection drive, please contact the church office at 610-642-6650 or via email at preschool@ardmorepres.org.

Thank you for your support. Together with the Labels for Education program-we can build a better school for our children.

Sincerely,

Jen Migliaccio

Ardmore Presbyterian Weekday Preschool

To see a complete list of participating products and point values, please visit LabelsForEducation.com.