What’s Happening in the Weekday Preschool?

Take a look at the “Gallery” under the Preschool Link on our APC website – www.ardmorepres.org. These pictures show happy children enjoying a wide variety of activities.

Family Fun Day, our annual fund-raising event, was a giant success. Games, prizes, face painting, food, entertainment for children and a silent auction for adults raised over $6,000 to be used for new preschool equipment – i.e. recent Rainbow Room improvements, a new merry-go-round on the playground and special programs. Our parents are amazing, creative and supportive.

Preschoolers hopped in a Hop-A-Thon for Muscular Dystrophy. Lessons on differences, disabilities and judging by people’s appearances were incorporated. We raised $800 for MDA.

The 3 and 5 day classes traveled to Rolling Hill Park for a River Ramble, which included wading in Mill Creek exploring stream life. This nature walk is presented by the education staff of Lower Merion Conservancy.

Safari Parties, a live animal presentation enthralled the 3 and 5 day children as they saw at close range 15-29 different animals – reptiles, birds, amphibians and mammals. They gently petted most of the animals and the brave ones wore a live python.

We followed the complete life-cycle of the butterfly and released them on the church lawn.

A program on Burn Prevention and Safety was presented by the Burn Foundation of
Philadelphia.

An appreciation All-School Picnic was held at South Ardmore Park. Teachers and parents were acknowledged and honored in a fun community event.

See you in September,
Anne Foote

Morgan Schreiner 1945-2010

From the Philadelphia Inquirer...

Morgan Reese Schreiner of Wynnewood, PA, died on Thurs., May 6, 2010 at the age of 64. Beloved husband of Sarah M. Schreiner and devoted father of Benjamin M. and Catherine M. Schreiner. He is also survived by his sister, Marybeth Bynon.

His Memorial Service will be held on Mon., May 10, 1:00 P.M. in the Sanctuary of the First Presbyterian Church of Ardmore, Corner of Montgomery Ave. and Millcreek Rd., Ardmore, PA.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly suggests that contributions be made in his memory to Presbyterian Children's Village, 452 S. Roberts Rd., Rosemont, PA 19010 www.pcv.org

From "A Declaration of Faith of the Presbyterian Church USA" (1977)...

Death will be destroyed. In the death of Jesus Christ God’s way in the world seemed finally defeated. But death was no match for God. The resurrection of Jesus was God’s victory over death. Death often seems to prove that life is not worth living, that our best efforts and deepest affections go for nothing. We do not yet see the end of death. But Christ has been raised from the dead, transformed and yet the same person. In his resurrection is the promise of ours. We are convinced the life God wills for each of us is stronger than the death that destroys us. The glory of that life exceeds our imagination but we know we shall be with Christ. So we treat death as a broken power. Its ultimate defeat is certain. In the face of death we grieve. Yet in hope we celebrate life. No life ends so tragically that its meaning and value are destroyed. Nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

2010 Confirmation Retreat

The 2010 Confirmation Class finished their requirements with a two-day retreat, May 7-8, on the shore at Sea Isle City in New Jersey. A big thanks to the adult leaders, Scott, Nan and James. We also thank Sally for lending us her house on the shore. We had a great time, and the youth showed that they had learned a lot over the 12 week class.

Some excerpts from the work of the youth...

"Holy Father, thank you for giving us joy and laughter, and help us to feel these gifts throughout our lives."

"Dear God, let us break away from merely practicing and let us apply our faith to the real world. Help us to succeed in your name. Amen."

"Dear God, help guide me to make you number one in our lives. Help us to put nothing else before you. Amen."

"God, Sometimes it's hard to be always the good friend. Help us to make the right choices."

"Lord, help me to be brave enough but also to be meek like your son, Jesus. Amen."

"Dear Father, we pray that you will guide us to victory. We choose the path of faith over drugs to show our love and trust in you. We do not share you, Lord. You need to be first in our lives. Use your strength to help us always make the right decision for you. Amen."

Service of Healing & Wholeness May 16th

Each Sunday we include in our worship service the Prayers of the People. As believers, we know that the world is not as God created it to be, that it is broken because of the effect of sin. We too experience that brokenness in our lives and in our relationships. However, we believe that in Jesus, God has begun the work of restoring all creation, of bringing healing and wholeness.

On May 16, at 3:00 pm, we will have a service of healing and wholeness. This will be a worship service that will focus on prayer for healing and wholeness in every part of our lives through the laying on of hands and anointing with oil. In so doing, we will join a long line of Christians throughout history who have responded to God’s Word in this way.

Spring Adult Sunday School Classes

Please join us for our new Sunday School offerings, "The Book of Confessions" and "Dreams of God's Faithfulness", starting May 9th.

THE BOOK OF CONFESSIONS
Sunday, 9:00 am in the Blue Room

Each Sunday as part of our Worship Service we respond to the reading, singing, and preaching of God’s Word in our Affirmation of Faith, the public declaration of what we believe. Most of us are familiar with The Apostle’s Creed, but you may have noticed that this is not the only creed we use to affirm our faith. We often use sections of other creeds and confessions of faith. These beliefs are rooted in Scripture and represent the church’s desire ever since the days of the early church to articulate what we believe Scripture teaches.

Join us in studying the eleven creeds and confessions of faith that make up our Book of Confessions as we seek to learn how the church has wrestled with the truths of Scripture and how they have sought to apply them in their particular cultural and historical context.

DREAMS OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
The Life of Joseph: Genesis 37‐50 ‐
Sunday 9:00 am in the Mill Creek Room

Joseph was a dreamer. Ultimately, his dreams would bring about the redemption of his people. In the meantime, they were a source of trouble. Join us for eight weeks as we explore a story of arrogance, jealousy, deceit, political intrigue, sexual tension and redemption. Joseph’s narrative from the book of Genesis is a messy story, but it speaks about God’s actions in a messy world. As Joseph learns, we also learn the difficulty of being chosen by God.

Pastor's Pen: Sleepers Awake!

Matthew 25:1‐13

Every morning, people arise ready to face a new day. They make the coffee, read the newspaper and make their morning jog before the darkness turns to light. Then there are the rest of us. The morning comes as an unwelcome intrusion into our rest. When the alarm sounds, we amazingly complete complex mathematical calculations to determine if we have time for ten more minutes of sleep. Even the most chipper morning person that I know occasionally reaches for the snooze bar. Simply put, waking up is hard to do.

At least once a year, we change alarm clocks in our house. We get accustomed to the bells and whistles of one and need another. Thankfully, there are plenty of inventors who are not content to let sleeping dogs lie. I read recently about a clock which launches three puzzle pieces into the air when the alarm sounds. The sleeper must locate the pieces and place them in the correct order before the snooze bar will end the annoying sound.

Why do we have so much trouble awaking? The difficulty has something to do with being so busy. All of us have become productivity mavens over the years, learning to do more with less time. Personally, that’s not my main problem. I’m like that little kid who doesn’t want to go to bed. I think I might miss something exciting. I greedily hold onto yesterday, trying to stretch it out.

Some of us do the same thing in our spiritual lives. We want the love of God. We desire a life motivated by hope. We have experienced the grace found in Jesus Christ. However, we still hold onto our former desires and priorities. We are not ready to be transformed. We cling to old behaviors and attitudes not consistent with our new lives in Christ. When the call comes on Easter morning, we reach for the snooze bar, exhausted.

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This does not mean that we add a religious category to an already busy “to do” list. Instead our list becomes transformed. We leave behind those things unpleasing to our Savior, and we do everything from this day forward to the glory of God in Jesus Christ.

Quarterly Reports and Saving Quarters

Numbers are not ministries. Numbers, such as attendance or budget dollars, do not determine the faithfulness of a congregation. Numbers are tools. They help us evaluate our priorities and our impact. The primary function of the numbers is descriptive, and we believe that those descriptions are helpful to the entire congregation.

This month we are providing even more numbers than in the last newsletter. The statistics for our first quarter of 2010 are available. Reading through the numbers, you will probably notice that we are ahead in our income. This is primarily from several annual one‐time payments.

Income and expenses remain a bit ahead of what has been budgeted. The reader will notice that expenses relating to Worship and Music are higher than expected. This is related to hiring guest musicians for Easter. These expenses are seasonal, and the budget will come into balance in the later months.

Meanwhile, your staff is saving the church money. Recently, Pearlie Diesinger noticed that we spend a lot of money on paper. With worship folders, newsletters, and educational materials, the Ardmore Presbyterian Church acts as a small publishing house. Examining our printing costs, Pearlie has found some substantial savings.

Over the years, we have used a very special paper for our worship folders. The company that produces it must cut it to meet our specifications. It has a great quality, but each page cost us 29¢. Our paper expenses were huge, especially for something that was used for only an hour each week. Stacks of orphan worship folders in the recycling bins were stacks of money. Pearlie found a substitute which maintains high quality but costs only 3¢ a page. We save over a quarter each worship folder. At the end of the year, the quarters add up to thousands of dollars in savings.

Every person who gives to the church gives out of finite funds. We desire to be responsible with those funds in order that God may be praised even more.