GOOD STEWARDSHIP

During the last month or two of the calendar year, we hear in church about Stewardship, with the encouragement to us all to be Good Stewards. We often think, at those times, of stewardship having to do with how much money we will give to the church – of pledges and offerings and budgets.

            But there are many other forms of good stewardship too: How will we use our time wisely in the service of our church? How will we use the gifts and talents God has given us in the service of our church – musical gifts, leadership gifts, teaching and discussion gifts among them.

            And another form of good stewardship is good stewardship of our church building.  We try to practice good stewardship of our building  in a couple of ways: One is to take good care of our building. We have had a long line of dedicated Property Committee Chairpersons and Members practicing this care; and church members who pitch in when needed; and custodians who have cared, who have been motivated by more than a paycheck in their diligence.

            Another way to try to practice good stewardship of our building is to make sure our building is used. Many churches spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on establishing a building, and maintaining it, and paying for its utilities – only to see it used for only an hour or two on Sunday, standing vacant the rest of the week. We have been able to develop, over time, relationships with a variety of groups so that our building is used throughout the week, and can be of benefit to the community. Right now we have meeting in our building:
            -Boy Scouts – Sundays at 4:00

            -Cub Scouts – two groups, divided by age, Monday and Thursday early eves.

            -TOPS Weight Loss – Tuesdays at 5:00

            -Women’s Bible Study – Tuesdays at 9:30 A.M.

            -Women’s Book Study – Tuesdays at 11 A.M

            -Women’s Bible Study – Thursdays at 11 A.M

            God gives us gifts like the gift of this beautiful building so that we can use them to serve our community, and we seem to be doing a fine job of offering our building to benefit our community right now. Let’s keep up the good work!

 –Rodger

 Sanctuary choir news  

     A New Year’s resolution for the choir? A motto for 2025? How about: “Keep on Keepin’ on!” Is it easy to get tired and discouraged? You bet – but we gotta “Keep on Keepin’ on!” Would I like to barricade the roads (and skies) to Florida and Pennsylvania? You bet I would – but we gotta “Keep on Keepin’ on!”

     So how do we do it? One hymn, one anthem, one singer, and one listener at a time.  So please give us your support as we “Keep on Keepin’ on” in this New Year.

     We hope you were blessed by our Christmas music. We were grateful to Paul Lynch for singing with us on Christmas Eve and continuing our “O Holy Night” tradition.

      Check out the words to #579 in our hymnal. I find them inspiring. In the meantime, join me as I “Keep on Keepin’ on!”    

         –Susan

Happy January birthday! 

  3    Heidi McVicker

  7    John Kreckman

10    Brian O’Bannon

11    Samantha (Turner) Elliott

12    Sara (Jewell) Mood

13    Alan Russell

14    Robert Sprague

        Becher Blair

15    Michael Simmons

18    Elizabeth Sallee  

21    Matt Jones

23    John Robson

27    Jeff Hodge

Happy January Anniversary!

16       Tom & Ginny Bradshaw

HAPPY FEBRUARY BIRTHDAY!

1          Eric Bradham

3          Layla Sisneros

6          Bruce Willis

7          Ginni Bradshaw

9          Melanie Spung

            Sean Blair

16       Levi Ray       

17       Chris Benefiel

18       Ruth Anthony

20       Cole Hodge

23       Lou Ballard

25       Maurice Johnson, Jr.

Happy February Anniversary!

11       Jim & Kay McCullouch

14       Kevin & Jeanette Levellie

(their 50^th this year!)

The lovely poinsettias in our sanctuary were given

in Memory or Honor of:

• In Memory of Mr. & Mrs. Donald R. Ewart, Sue Ann Ewart Peters, Mr. Glen Brower; & Mrs. Arthur Benson, Annita Boerema, and Mr. & Mrs. Dwight Parkinson

from Jerry and Mabel Benson and family

• In Memory of Reva & Harry Benefiel, George, Glenna, Rick, & Jim Veith

from Steve and Debbie Benefiel

• In Memory of our parents, Jim & Dona Baumann and Jack & Ruth Etta Howrey

from Robert and Janet Howrey

• In Honor of the wonderful people of Paris Presbyterian Church

from Revs. Rodger Allen & Laurie Williams

• In Memory of Pam Piper-Griffiths, Bob Rhoads & all my loved ones

from Betty Piper

• In Honor of Rodger and Laurie, for their years of love, service, and faithfulness

 to Paris Presbyterian and the community      from Jeanette Levellie

• In Memory of Orris & Marjorie Kimball, Kenneth & Evelyn Griffin, and

Stephanie Kimball and Melany Waggoner from Alvin & Juanita Kimball

• In Memory of Elizabeth & Donald Feutz and Bettie & John R. Blair, Jr.

from Jane and Steve Blair

• In Memory of Wayne & Lois Jones and Hugh & Lois Cross from Larry Jones

 and Carol Jones

• In Honor of Beth Ruff from Ruth Anthony

• In Memory of our parents Charles & Genevieve Willis and Bill & Gloria Hebermehl

 from Tom and Joanna Hebermehl

• In Memory of Lloyd & Frances Lindsey, David Lindsey, Russell & Genevieve Gough from the Ken Gough Family

• In Honor of our children and grandchildren: Todd/Stephanie, Brae, & Ethan Bergdolt & Lisa & Mel McCollough

from Barbara & Terry Bergdolt

• In Memory of Marilyn McCorkle and Martha McGuire

from Brian & Charla McGuire

• In Memory of Kenneth and Rosemary Stephens from Mary Anna Ludington

• In Memory of Paul, Howard, Ruth & Donald Ruff and Janet Jebe

from Beth Ruff

THE CHRISTIAN CALENDAR

            As described in the December newsletter, Christmas is a season in the Christian calendar, not just a day, and runs until January 6. The season is followed by two special days on the Christian worship calendar:

Epiphany is January 6, and is usually observed in the church on the Sunday before, or closest to, the 6^th.  The word “epiphany” literally means a revelation, appearance, or showing—specifically, here, a revealing of who God is, a revealing that Jesus is God. 

In the churches of Western Europe and the Americas, the event revealing Jesus as God that is usually considered is the coming of the Magi to see Jesus. The appearance of these special visitors, coming from a great distance, with their valuable gifts, following a sign in the heavens (Matthew 2:1-11), “showed” that this was a special child indeed.

In the Eastern Church, this day is also often set aside to look at the baptism of Jesus, which included a voice from the heavens and the Spirit of God looking like a dove (Matthew 3:14-17); and the turning of water into wine (John 2:1-11)—both of which “show” or “reveal” Jesus’ identity as God.

Baptism of the Lord Sunday is the Sunday following January 6. This event, described in all four gospels, not only reveals who Jesus is, but also begins his public ministry and reminds each of us of our own baptism and incorporation into the community of God, the Church.  After this Sunday, we are back in “Ordinary Time” until we come to the season of Lent.

We Need Your Help with Per Capita: We encourage you to pay your per capita this year, in addition to your pledge. Per capita is the annual per member “dues” our church pays to the larger governing bodies of the Presbyterian Church—Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly—to allow their mission work to take place.

Thanks to several steps our Presbytery of Southeast Illinois has taken to reduce its expenses, the per capita amount for 2025 stays at $40, which is down from the $42 prior to 2022.

If you are willing and able, please help out our church budget by paying your per capita. You may write a check to “The Presbyterian Church” and indicate ‘per capita’ on the memo line. There is a blue envelope in the offering boxes for this purpose, and additional blue envelopes are available on the table by the Koinonia Kafe. Thank you.

On February 9th, before/during/after worship, we will invite you to help out the Edgar County Food Pantry by giving to our special offering “Souper Bowl of Caring.” All donations will go to the Food Pantry. Pick the Super Bowl football team you think will win, or want to win, and put your donation into the soup pot with that team’s name on it. If you won’t be here on the 9th, make your check payable to “The Presbyterian Church” and in the memo line put “Souper Bowl of Caring.”

THANK YOU

“Dear Members of Paris Presbyterian Church,

   Your recent monetary donations to Paris’ ‘Helping Hands Soup Kitchen’ is allowing for the seeding of a ministry that now feeds approximately 75-100+ individuals a day (Monday – Friday).

   More importantly, your gift is ‘transforming’ our small town. At our tables, on any given day, people from all walks of life (rich and poor. . . old and young) are sharing in conversation, laughter. . . and of course, food! Helping Hands Soup Kitchen is reflective of our “community at its finest.” It is an experience where all divisiveness is set aside and a shared sense of our humanity is celebrated.

   As a show of our appreciation, we extend an invitation to you to join us for lunch and experience firsthand the ‘harvest’ wrought by your generosity. Our hours of operation are

Monday through Friday 11 – 12:30.

Blessings,

Helping Hands Soup Kitchen

PO Box 103, Paris, IL 61944

THANK YOU

   We were contacted in December by former church member Emily Gibson Soelter, who still treasured a Christmas tree ornament with our church picture on it,  which she had received in the year 2000. Unfortunately it broke this year. Here are excerpts from her thank you card, after we were able to send her a replacement:

   “Thank you so much for ‘walking the extra mile’ to find the church’s 2000 Christmas ornament. I appreciate it so much!

   “I am enclosing a check to cover the postage to mail the box, plus a donation to the church in celebration of your 200^th anniversary of sharing God’s love in the Paris Community.

   “The love, support, and sense of community I experienced growing up in the Paris Presbyterian Church were the basis for the faith I hold today. LOVE is always what I experienced in word and deed there. My best friends attended there. My parents’ best friends were there – thus I had many extra sets of parents who surrounded me with their love and their faith. From Bible School, the “Cradle Roll” nursery, youth group, choir, youth  mission trips to St. Louis, barn square dances at the Lindsey’s farm. . . my life was filled with the foundational goodness of people who loved God and each other.

  Blessings to all of you, Emily Gibson Soelter”

THANK YOU

“Dear Partner in God’s Ministry,

   On behalf of Ministry Engagement and Support, please allow me to express our appreciation to you for your gracious and faithful support this Fall. We give thanks because of your sharing in the gospel.

Lauren N. Rogers

Ministry Engagement Advisor

Office of Ministry Engagement

and Support

     Presbyterian Church (USA)”