April 27, 2008

Sunday
8:00 a.m. Worship/Chapel
8:45 a.m. Coffee Fellowship/Apple Cellar
9:30 a.m. Worship/Sanctuary
Church School for Children
10:30 a.m. Coffee Fellowship/Calvin Hall
10:45 a.m. Annual Meeting/Sanctuary
11:00 a.m. Worship/Sanctuary
12:00 a.m. Coffee Fellowship/Narthex
4:30 p.m. SKIPY/Calvin Hall
6:00 p.m. Senior Highs/Calvin Hall

Tuesday 2:00 p.m. 4-part harmony group/Fireside Room
7:00 p.m. Women’s Book Group/Kathy Campbell’s
Wednesday 1:00 p.m. Contemplative Prayer/Fireside Room
7:00 p.m. Life and Teachings of Jesus/Fireside Rm
Thursday 1:00 p.m. Presbyterian Women/Calvin Hall
4:30 p.m. Dancing Group/Calvin Hall
Saturday 9:00 a.m. Hiking Group
Coffee Fellowship will be hosted today by:
10:30 Julie and Jim Ormand
The Election Portion of our Annual Meeting
will be held today at 10:45 in the Sanctuary. The Church Nominating Committee will nominate Richard Gaulke and Larry Blake as Elders for the class of 2011. They will also nominate Alice Welton to serve as a Deacon for the unexpired term, Class of 2009. The Nominating Committee intends to present a full-slate of 4 Elders. Nominations can also be made from the floor. Please secure the nominee’s willingness to serve in advance.
Office Manager, Linda Brewer,
will be on vacation from May 1 through May 26. This may impact you in 2 ways. On Sunday mornings you will find the bulletin in a more informal format. And, during the week, church office hours will be from 9:00 a.m. to noon only, Monday thru Friday. The office phones will be answered by our faithful office volunteers during these hours. If you have questions only Linda can answer (i.e. about your giving record), or questions that can wait for a while – please save them for Linda’s return at the end of May.



The sign-up sheet for greeters
for the Contemporary Service at 9:30 am, the Traditional Service at 11:00 am or the Combined Service at 10:00 am is getting lonely in the Narthex. Please sign up to welcome people as they arrive. This job takes about 20 minutes and it is fun to greet friends and meet new folks. Thank you.
Pentecost is on Mother's Day, May 11.
At Pentecost, we acknowledge the coming of the Holy Spirit, which transforms human life and all of creation. Through our participation in the Pentecost Offering, we send forth God's powerful, curative love to children at risk, youth, and young adults. This year's Offering theme, "Send forth your spirit!", is from Psalm 104:30. The passage describes the glory of a creation that is filled with God's holy and life-giving spirit. The Pentecost Offering is a tangible way to demonstrate the Spirit within us! It gives us the opportunity to use 40% of the amount we receive to minister in our own community on behalf of children at risk. 60% of the Pentecost Offering supports, guides and nurtures the faith of Presbyterian young people, calls forth a new generation of church leadership, and advocates for children at risk on a national level.
Attention Gardeners –
The Gardening Small Group will be bringing plants to church on Sundays April 27th and May 4th. We have lots of tomato and pepper plants plus a few eggplant and members of the squash family for you to choose from. The youth groups have been a great help during our process of planting and transplanting so we are delighted to designate all donations to the youth mission trips.
The Mother's Day NetWorker cards
will be available after each worship service today. The suggested donation of $10 provides an insecticide treated anti-malaria net for a pregnant woman or new mother in Africa as well as instructions on its use from a community health worker. The donor receives a card which may be given to someone you are honoring this Mother's Day. If $10 isn't in your budget, any amount will be welcome. For more information call Shirley Patton, 482-2161.
Attention Singers and Music Lovers!
The 4-part harmony group has begun rehearsals! We are meeting every Tuesday at 2pm in the Fireside Room. If you are experienced at singing soprano, alto, tenor, or bass, and are interested in providing musical offerings for the congregation, please join us!

Presbytery Disaster Assistance-New Orleans.
Once again our Presbytery is organizing a trip to New Orleans to help with the rebuilding process. This year it will be October 4th to October 11th. They would like to know how many are going by June 1st. If you would like more information, please contact George or Donna Converse at 482-5628 or converse@sou.edu. Thanks.
Habitat for Humanity -- Apostle Build.
Our church is partnering with the 1st Congregational Church, Medford, to help build a Habitat House in Central Point. We should help on 3 Saturdays. The dates and jobs proposed are: May 17th - roofing, August 9th - painting, and September 27th - landscaping and cleanup. Of course, schedules sometimes change so the jobs may change. We'd like about 5-6 people for each of these Saturdays. Please let us know as soon as possible if you'd be interested in any of these dates, especially May 17th. There will be a sign-up sheet in the narthex.

Attention Hikers!
We have scheduled our annual trek to the top of one of the Table Rocks......This year, our hike will be on Lower Table Rock on Saturday, May 3rd. Jeff Lalande, archaeologist and historian for the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, will discuss the role of the Table Rocks in the culture and legends of the Takelma Indians, as well as some history of the Table Rock area during the "Indian Wars" of the 1850s. We have 10 spots reserved for this special hike. We will carpool to the trailhead from the parking lot at 9 am. Bring a lunch, water, sunscreen and long pants (plenty of poison oak). We should be back in Ashland between 3 and 4 pm. Please contact Barbie Breneiser to reserve a space. Note: We have reserved 10 of 30 available spots, so there will be others with us on this hike. barbiebren@jeffnet.org or 326-5599.
Handbell Concert
May 3 - 8pm Ashland Middle School Large Gym
The closing concert of the Siskiyou Summit Handbell Conference is the culmination of the hard work of 250 ringers working under the direction of Cathy Moklebust to perfect their skills and musicality as Handbell Musicians. The concert is open to the public, and will include arrangements for handbells of secular and sacred works rung by Massed Handbell Choirs, Solo Handbell Choirs, Ensembles and Solo Ringers. A percussion ensemble from Southern Oregon University will accompany the handbell choirs on some of the pieces and perform a work for Percussion Ensemble alone. Donations gladly accepted. For more information contact Diane Barnes at 541-488-5905.

PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN
will hold their regularly scheduled monthly meeting Thursday, May 1 at 1:00 in Calvin Hall. All of the women in our congregation are most cordially invited to attend. We are fortunate to have as our program one of our favorite storytellers, and book reviewers (as well as one of our favorite people). Esther Merriman will be reviewing the book "Three Cups of Tea". This biography is a fascinating book that gives us insights into the lives of the people of Pakistan. Greg Mortenson did great things with his life, which he gave up in order to serve others. The book tells of his life in Pakistan, his travels into the Himalayan mountains and the challenges he faced while dealing with each separate tribal chief in order to make this one man’s mission possible. That was to promote peace, which he did, one school at a time. As always, we will begin by enjoying fellowship and dessert.
WOMEN’S BOOK GROUP – April 29, 2008
– The next meeting of the Women’s Book Group will be on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. at Kathy Campbell’s home, 785 Beach Street, Ashland. The book we will discuss is "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield. Please join us for a lively and friendly gathering! Snacks and beverages will be provided. For more information please contact Kathy Campbell at 482-2819.
SOAP – Senior and Older Adult Program
Our senior program committee is offering rides to people who need them – going to and from the doctor, to the hospital or to church. If you need a ride, please call at least one day ahead of time. Call Ilse Forney 488-1399 or Janice van Hee 482-3074. Or call the church office, 482-3536, and Linda will refer you. We need more volunteer drivers, if you can help, call Ilse or Janice. Transportation is for folks who are able to get in and out of a passenger car.