North Decatur Presbyterian Church

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North Decatur Presbyterian Church
Called to serve, work for peace and justice and share God's love with all people.

First, I want to thank everyone for such a warm welcome into the family here at NDPC. You have been wonderful to our family, helping us with practical support and emotional and spiritual support, too. We thank God for you.
This Sunday at North Decatur, we will be marking Thanksgiving, returning thanks to God, from whom all of our blessings flow. Scripture for this Sunday is Psalm 100. Our children will be hosting a bake sale to benefit the Heifer Project, so bring your cash and a list of people for whom you would like to do something “sweet.” Our annual Advent celebration, with warm food and craft-making for adults and children, begins at 6 PM Sunday evening.
Finally, thank you for doing your part in our stewardship campaign this year. We are doing well–thank you for your faithfulness! If you haven’t pledged yet for 2011, please pray over what you can share with our community this coming year.
See you Sunday,

UP COMING ACTIVITIES AND VOLUNTEER NEEDS
Sunday, Nov. 7: Celebration of NDPC’s birthday and David and Beth’s first Sunday Come for lunch after worship. We need people to bake chicken tettrazini (recipe will be provided) and bring salads, as well as people to set up and clean up. Birthday cake will be provided. Please contact Jon Colgrove to let him know what you can do. J_Colgrove@MSN.com

Sunday, Nov. 21: Advent Festival 6:00 pm. Come for crafts and fellowship in preparation for Advent. Menu will be chili and bread. We need 7 people to make chili and 3 people to make vegetarian chili. Recipe will be provided. Please let Deedee Murphy know if you can help set up, cook and/or clean up for this fun evening. ddmm54@comcast.net.

Wednesday, Dec. 1, 6:00-7:30: Please join the community fellowship committee members in decorating the Fellowship Hall for the Advent season! We will put up trees, decorations, lights and garlands, and create a beautiful setting for us all to enjoy during the Alternative Gift Market and throughout December. We will order pizza and have cut up veggies for a casual dinner for all our helpers. Please contact Becky Evans at beckyevans@mindspring.com to let her know if you are coming, and let her know if you are a vegetarian. We’ll put on some Christmas tunes to add to the spirit! Thanks so much!

Sunday, Dec. 12: Christmas reception after the concert Bring your most festive Christmas finger foods to our annual Christmas party. Contact Doug Reynics to help set up or clean up DFir@aol.com.

Sunday, Dec. 26: Sunday School Potluck breakfast On the Sunday following Christmas our Sunday School classes combine for a fellowship breakfast. Contact Ginny Slack at vaslack@hotmail.com.

Cooking with our new cookbook Come to the Table, to be precise. It’s full of great recipes from our congregation collected by me and my wife Nancy. Our watercolor artist Woody Hickcox painted the cover art, and our Liturgical Writer’s Group, led by Wade Medlock and Kelly Craigmile, wrote a wonderful dedication prayer. It’s a labor of love you’ll love to cook with.

Adult Bible Study: Covenant
Adult Bible Course: “The Covenant of Life: God’s Search for Communion”
Description: From beginning to end, the Bible is filled with the language of covenant. We will look at various models of covenant in the Bible in order to discern the various ways God remains in relationship to us and all creation. No additional book is required
Leader: Dr. Bill Brown Location: The Parlor
Dr Brown, a noted author and lecturer, is a professor at Columbia Theological Seminary in Old Testament
Liturgical Writers Group
The Liturgical Writers Group will approach the end of its first year with continuing writing exploration exercises by Kelly Craigmile and crafting of liturgical elements for use in worship led by Wade Medlock. The group meets Sunday morning at 9:30 in the Den. We welcome newcomers! No book needed. Paper and Pencils are provided or you may bring your own notebook or journal.
Leaders: Wade Medlock and Kelly Craigmile Location: The Den
Wade is a journalism graduate of Georgia State University. He began his radio news career at WGST in Atlanta in 1967, co-founded the Georgia Radio Network in 1972, returned to WGST in 1983, served as news director from 1985-89, and returned to news reporting until 1999 His wife Sherrill and he joined NDPC in 2004. Kelly Craigmile has a B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of California at Santa Cruz and an M.A. in Creative and Professional Writing from the University of Minnesota. She was the first recipient of the Paul Bowles Fellowship in Fiction at Georgia State University. Currently making a living as an executive recruiting consultant, Kelly taught writing for eight years at various colleges and universities throughout the country..
Palestine at the time of Jesus
This discussion based class will focus on the country of Palestine at the time of Jesus.
We are looking at the historical world in that time. Participants will not need to buy a book, but if they would like they can research Palestine 2100 years ago. We will discuss what the every day life was like as best we can relate.
Leaders: John Pribbenow and Sandi Payne Location: The AA Room
John has an M.Div. with a concentration in the New Testament and Sandi has been teaching in the public school system for over 15 years.

Dear NDPC Member,
We, the Pastor Nominating Committee, began this search process by calling on you to define priorities for what you wanted in our next pastor. You told us to look for dynamic preaching, leadership with a strong commitment to social justice, strengths in building a multi-generational community, someone we could trust and with whom we could connect, someone who would love us and take care of our pastoral needs, someone with healthy boundaries. We took your guidance as our marching orders and set out to find the person who most closely matched that profile.
We, as a group and individually, believe that we have found all that and more in David Lewicki and Beth Waltemath. We believe that they are called by God to serve as co- pastors of NDPC, and we look forward to our shared ministry together in the years to come. On the next pages you will find biographical data and statements of faith from each candidate, along with a set of informative questions and answers.
Thank you for your prayers, your trust in us and your patience as we have conducted this search.
Pastor Nominating Committee

Read more on our site about our Beth and David, our new Co-Pastors:
An Introduction by Beth

Youth Ministry at NDPC seeks to give youth a well rounded experience in church life. The Sunday Morning Sunday School class at 9:30 am for grades 6-12 is MOVIES THAT MATTER, a look at Biblical issues, current affairs, personal values and the human condition through current films.
The youth also attend Sunday evening gatherings that include supper and separate programs for middle and high school youth. The programs consist of fellowship, Bible Study, Service, and Worship and begin at 6:30 pm.
For more information contact Paul Osborne at 404-636-1429 or email at paul@ndpc.org

Come join us for four Sundays in September as we celebrate and renew our commitment to God’s Creation.
WORSHIP11:00 am Sundays

Sept 5: Kate Mosley, Ezekiel 47:1-12, “Water, Water Everywhere!”
Sept 12: Alice Hickcox, Numbers 14, “Wilderness and Promised Land”
Sept 19: Bill Brown, Job 38-41, “Where Job and the Wild Things Are”
Sept 26: Stan Saunders, Matthew 24: 32-44, “Watching for the End of the World”

September 12, directly following 11:00 worship, join NDPC Nicaragua mission trip participants to hear about this eco-adventure and their work installing a biodigestor.

Adult/Youth Sunday SchoolAug 29 – Oct 17, Sundays 9:30 am – Explore God’s Creation through walks, meditation, journaling, poetry and photography. Reflect on the wilderness around us and what it can mean for our lives as Christians.
“Tapped Out” Sunday EveningSept 26, 6:30 pm
Enjoy fellowship over a potluck dinner (environmentally-friendly dishes encouraged!) followed by a presentation from the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. All ages–and visitors–are welcome! Please contact the church office if you need childcare (404-636-1429).
GREENING NDPCAs a part of our celebration of God’s good Creation during this season, the Creation Care Committee is working with Atlanta Audubon to make the wooded area behind the sanctuary building a certified wildlife habitat. For more information or to volunteer, please contact the church office.

As we search for substantive ways to help in the wake of the immense earthquake that devastated Haiti, the Presbyterian Church (USA) has created a page on the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance response in Haiti with links to updated reports and directions for donating through through PDA. The site has updated a number of times as this post was prepared, so check there regularly for newer information on PDA’s ongoing response to the crisis.
The home page for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has a prayer for Haiti and includes an iniitial report on PDA’s response. An excerpt:

PDA is rushing an initial $100,000 from One Great Hour of Sharing and designated funds to help provide immediate emergency relief to the affected people. Funds are being sent through our ecumenical and local partners working in Haiti.

You can read more in-depth information from PDA here: their Situation Report – Haiti.
Learn about other relief efforts and more ways to help and donate (while making sure your donations go to a legitimate aid group) at this page of links and resources.

Biblical scholars tell us that this story fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah coming not only for the Jews but also for all the Nations. The story of these Wisemen (probably astronomers) leaving their homes in three distant places and following the star to the Christ child gives us an example of persistence and devotion much like the Disciples show when Jesus says to them “Follow me.” When the star stops over the place where the Christ Child is, the Wisemen “open their treasure chests” and give their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh… the very finest gifts they had to bring.
One Epiphany tradition is a home blessing and dedication. The letters
C, M, B are written in chalk on the lintel of the front door. These letters stand for Christus Mansionem Benedicat (Christ, bless this home) and are reminders of the commitment to follow Christ’s leading throughout the year.
PRAYER: God help us to rededicate our lives to you and to follow the light of Jesus with determination like the Wisemen who followed His star. Amen.

North Decatur Presbyterian Church is called by God to be a community of faith and worship, dedicated to Christian Education and nurture so that we may go into the world to serve, work for peace and justice and share God's love with all people.

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