The Stained Glass Voice
February 2012
Grace and Peace to you,
In a couple of weeks we’ll celebrate Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day is a special day when we tell friends, family members, and sweethearts how much we love them. Some people do that by sending Valentine cards. Others may send a box of candy, or flowers. Here’s a story about a woman who didn’t get the gift she expected.
A woman woke up one morning, turned to her husband and said, "Honey, I just had a dream that you bought me a new gold necklace. What do you think it means?" He answered, "I don't know, but Valentine's Day is coming soon. Then you'll know." A few nights later, she again woke up after having a dream. She said, "This time, I dreamed you gave me a pearl necklace. What do you think it means?"
"You'll know on Valentines' Day," he replied. The morning of Valentine's Day, she again woke up telling him about her dream: "This time I dreamed that you brought me a diamond necklace. What do you think it means?" "Honey, be patient," he said. "You'll know tonight." That evening, the husband came home with a package and gave it to his wife. Delighted, she opened it, and found a book titled The Meaning of Dreams.
On Valentine’s Day we can show our love for others by giving gifts, but there are many things we can do to show our love for others each and every day. When someone is sick, a visit from a friend might do them as much good as a dose of medicine. When someone is sad or having a bad day, a smile and a friendly "hello" will brighten their day. A simple act of kindness can say a lot more than a Valentine.
Jesus was always kind and helpful to the people he met. One day he was in the home of Simon Peter. Peter's mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever. Jesus went into the room where she was and took her by the hand and helped her out of bed. When Jesus touched her, the fever left her immediately. Later that evening people brought everyone who was sick and those who were demon-possessed so that Jesus could heal them. The Bible says that the whole town was gathered around outside the door. Jesus healed the sick and drove out evil spirits. Jesus showed his love by caring for those who needed his healing touch.
As we celebrate Valentine Day, let's remember that we show others we care, not just by sending cards and candy, but by showing acts of kindness each and every day - just like Jesus did.

Shalom,

Pastor Phyllis

Session will meet February 8, 2012 at 7:00 PM. at the church.
Session Members:

Barbara Ball
Christian Education
129 Westview Dr
Knoxville IL 61448
289-8279
beebee_705@hotmail.com

Tammy Boggs
Building & Maintenance
1530 Beecher Ave
Galesburg IL 61401
342-3448

Peg Bivens ( Clerk)
Personnel
201 S Timber
Knoxville IL 61448
289-4137 (work)
peg@leag.biz

Deb Beardsley
Mission & Stewardship
210 W Sunnyview Ave
Knoxville IL 61448
289-6954

C.L. Palmer
Worship
1441 Knox Station Road
Knoxville IL 61448
289-4672
palmer1@centurytel.net

Julie Shaver
Evangelism & Membership
PO Box 594
Galesburg, IL 61448
309 343-5973

Treasurers
Barbara Ball& Harold Selman

Pastor Phyllis Sterr
1040 Erma Drive
Knoxville IL 61448
Home: 309 289-6248
Cell: 309 368-5604
Email: sterr@grics.net

Happy Birthday !
…happy birthday, happy birthday, may God bless you !

February
Heather Smith
Dennis Dean
Laura Beardsley
Suzanne Reed Braden
Jack Ball
Jacob Rosene
Gina Beardsley
Wayne Allen Beardsley
Peg Bivens
Judy Zarn
Lea Brownless Morris
Linda Eck
Nathan Rouland
March

Julian Inniss
David Jenkins
Patty Rainey Sullivan
Vance Swope
John Beardsley
Grayson Palmer

Our Prayers

We send forth our prayers for members, family, and friends who are struggling and in need of support. We continue to lift up : Don Trowbridge. Hertha Mathers , Jill Gibbs, Fred Apsey & Yvonne Apsey ,
Bob Washabaugh. Also in need of healing and comfort are Norma Evans ( mother of Barb Ball) and Pat Bivens,( mother in law of Peg Bivens), Lorene Brownless , and Harold Selman, recuperating now from heart surgery. We pray for Rick Barber, now under hospice care for Glenna West, awaiting a kidney transplant, and for John Presley, newly diagnosed with cancer, and Janet Derham, after her hospitalization for a heart condition .

Quilts of Valor
This group meets at the church each Tuesday, throughout the day, and welcomes new members to the group at any time. Contact Sharon Larson, Jane Smith, or Linda Palmer for more information.

This ministry continues to grow and the members are grateful for their “special angels” who contribute supplies and the postage to mail the quilts.

The receiving military post has asked to have the quilts sent oftener, in smaller quantities, because storage room is at a minimum in the field hospitals.

Christian Ed

Youth
This class will conclude its study of other religions the end of this month.
A new leader is needed for the March-April spring term . The class meets each Sunday during the latter half of worship. Please contact Chirstian Ed Chairman Barbara Ball for more in formation.

Adults
The adult class is nearly finished working their way through book A Man After God’s Own Heart and will soon be starting a new study which will be led by Jack Ball. Newcomers are always welcome.

Worship Assistants

Deb Beardsley has scheduled communion servers, greeters, liturgists, and minute for mission interpretation for the coming year. Members had expressed their areas of interest and willingness to serve last year during the members’ survey and this list was a helpful tool when working up the schedule. Thank you to Deb for her work in scheduling and thank you in advance to our members for assisting with worship in this way. . The list will be posted the list at the rear of the sanctuary.
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If you’ve a yen to travel..

You are invited to join the Galesburg Presbyterian Church on a Presbyterian Heritage Tour to Scotland in the summer of 2012. Contact Linda Hinrichs for more information 309 342-6090.

2012 Per Capita
The per Capita assessment of 2012 will be $28
This is the amount each congregation pays, per member, to fund the administrative expenses at the Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly level.

Economy Corner

The Economy Corner resale shop was able to transfer $3,300 to the general fund of the church in January. This was made possible by a team of dedicated volunteers and the many gently used items that were donated. Linda Palmer, Mary Dawson, Connie Dawson Dahl and Deanie Jenkins kept the resale shop in operation this past summer during the absence of Rose Burgess, Lorene Brownless helped when she could. When Mary And Connie left for Florida, Ila Clark and Sharon Larson have volunteered weekly. Jane Smith is a willing helper as needed. Harold Jenkins has been wonderful to run errands and clean the shop. Besides helping with church expenses, the Economy Corner provides a valuable community service. Please continue to support it with your donations and visit the shopThursdays from 10am to 2 pm

Christmas Food Baskets

Chairmen Linda Palmer and Jane Smith report statistics from the 2011 program- 62 families, which included 211 people, were served by the Knoxville Christmas Food Basket outreach. 37 of the household had children ( a total of 82 ).

November was Tithing Month. The session discussed possible recipients and will designate a local person or project to receive our tithing gift of $258.40 at the February meeting. Please contact a member of the session if you have a recipient to be considered.

Beth Moore Series
Knoxville United Methodist Church is sponsoring another Beth Moore Bible study which begins Feb 7, 2012. “Believing God: Experiencing a Fresh Explosion of Faith”. Morning and evening sessions are offered. For more information contact the church at 289-6311

Our Military

Joe Beardsley send thanks from himself and his unit for the “care package” we sent off at Christmas time. Hearing from home always boosts the spirits of our military personnel. We are starting another box the be sent again at Easter. Contact Deb Beardsley if you need ideas of items to contribute.

Beardsley, Joseph
TRG6-1-2
APO AE 09354

New Elders

We welcomed Julie Shaver to service as a new elder, and Barb Ball to continuing her term of service on the session at ordination and installation during worship on January 29

Thank you to Alice Thurman who completed her term on the session.

177th Annual Congregational Meeting

Was held following worship on January 22 with 15 members present. Annual reports were received from Treasurer Barb Ball, Financial Secretary Linda Palmer, and Building & Maintenance Chairman Tammy Boggs. Clerk Peg Bivens reported the current membership at 62. Elected as Elders were Barb Ball and Julie Shaver. Elected to the Nominating Committee were Ginny Kasser, Alice Thurman, Deanie Jenkins, Sharon Larson and Tammy Boggs. At the suggestion of the session, the congregation discussed forming a committee to decorate the sanctuary for advent and Barb Ball volunteered to chair the new committee for 2012. The meeting adjourned at 12:00 noon.

“Phone Tree” update

We are revamping our old “phone tree” and will use an e-format as much as possible when needing to contact our members with matters of urgency. We have some emails for our newsletter data base but need additional addresses to create this new e-tree. Please contact Peg Bivens, peg@leag.biz or Pastor Phyllis Sterr, sterr@grics.net with your information.

2012 Special Offerings

The session authorized special offering collections for the 2012 year in additional to our regular gifts and tithes: One Great Hour of Sharing (during Lent) Peacingmaking (October) Christmas Joy and World Mission. World Mission is new for us this year and will be used in support of the work being done in Africa by the Rev Carolyn Weber.

Looking Toward Lent

Ash Wednesday
February 22
Distribution of Ashes
Service at 6:30 PM

Holy Week 2012

Palm Sunday April 1
Adorn sanctuary with Palms

Maundy Thursday April 5
Seder Meal 6:00 PM

Good Friday April 6
Evening Worship 7:00PM

Easter Sunday April 8
Potluck Breakfast 9:30
Worship at 11:00AM

New Banner
Our east sanctuary wall is now sporting the hand- crafted cross banner sent to us as a gift from mission worker Rev Carolyn Weber. It’s a beautiful adornment and a reminder of our support of this mission. Thank you to Sharon Larson and George Sterr for getting the banner hung.

Building and Maintenance
Snow Shovelers
We haven’t had much snow this winter, but we do thank whoever came and shoveled what did fall. The results of your work were noticed and appreciated.
Chairman Tammy Boggs reported that routine maintenance had been performed at the building during the last year. There are some projects of a larger nature that will need to be tackled as funding permits.

Vacation Bible School

The session heartily approved co-op efforts again this year with First Christian Church for Vacation Bible School this summer. Contact Barb Ball if you are interested in serving on the planning committee or would be willing to help as a volunteer.

Knoxville Food Pantry
We have an ongoing collection for this mission in our community.
Janet Derham shared some statistics with us last month:
2011 saw an increase in both families and the number of people served , 1179 people and 345 familes compared to 889 people and 281 families in 2010.