 A Christ Centered Sense of Direction |
The First Presbyterian Church 403 Washington Street, Watertown, NY 13601 Rev. Dr. Fred G. Garry, Senior Pastor Tel: 315/782-1750 Fax: 315/782-2360 |
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What's New Mission News Don't forget your donations for the Food Pantry at the Watertown Urban Mission. Place your donated non-perishable items in the baskets in the narthex or in Fellowship Hall any Sunday this month. Our goal is to match the $500 worth of cans already purchased by the deacons. A $1000 grant from the outreach council allowed us to "can" our elders and deacons whose terms expired in January. The need is great. Also remember Urban Mission can always use volunteers at the Thrift Store or the Food Pantry. A donation of as little as an hour of time can make a difference for our community. The Urban Mission also accepts donations of furniture. They can arrange for a truck to pick up larger items at your home. See John Stirling for details. We have a knitting group that meets on the fourth Monday evening of each month at 7pm. They are working diligently to knit wool caps for our Fort Drum troops stationed in Afghanistan. The specific instructions as to the type of yarn, needles and the pattern were provided by the USO. An initial goal was set for 200 caps. Thanks to an article in the Watertown Daily Times in early April and another in November, there has been an outpouring of donations and willing knitters. However, the need is great as there will be 21,000 troops deployed. If you would like to make a contribution to defray the cost of the yarn and special needles, please make your check out to Presbyterian Women and mail it to the church, attn: Mary Sanford. For any questions about the project, please contact Linda Piddock. The Piecemakers mission sewing group will meet on Monday, March 1st and April 5th from 9am - noon in Fellowship Hall. Bring a sandwich for lunch. All skill levels are needed including beginners who can cut pieces or iron fabric. There will be a concert to benefit Haiti projects on Monday, March 22nd at 7pm. The Fredonia Chamber Singers will perform. No admission will be charged but a free will offering will be taken to purchase supplies to make more baby and hygiene kits for Church World Service. We will be hosting the singers in members homes so see Sara Gleason if you can host at least 2 students. Our final dollar dinner of the season will be on Sunday, March 28th from 5-6pm. Takeouts are available. We served almost 350 meals of meatloaf in February. Wow. The Women of Grace Widows' Fund current newsletter has been posted here. Note: the newsletter is quite large and can take some time to download. Please consider making a donation to this worthy cause. Our Christmas Eve offering once again was dedicated to this mission project of the Watertown and Canton First Presbyterian Churches. The youth mission trip this year will be to the state of Campeche in the Yucatan peninsula area of Mexico. They will leave on April 12th and return on the 19th. They will work with villagers to put a roof on a Presbyterian pastor's house. The team members are Jim and Kathy Reichhart, Ken Reed, Eric Kendrew, John Langone, Brett Holberg, Mitesh Panwala, Collin Devline, Emily Tinsley, Brynne Sturge, Sarah Riendeau, Zoe Garry and Logan Barnard. Our prayers go with them as they perform this important work to grow the church in this area of Mexico. Other Events The Presbytery of Northern NY meeting will be held at First Presbyterian on Tuesday, March 23rd from 10am-4pm. We welcome clergy and lay representatives from churches stretching from Sackets Harbor to Plattsburgh. Our Maundy Thursday service will be held in the sanctuary on Thursday, April 1st at 7:30pm. This service will include Communion. Our Lenten series this year will present a series of documentary films with the theme "From Me to We". The films will be shown in Fellowship Hall from 4-6pm on Saturday evenings, beginning on February 27th and going through March. Each documentary will have a church member with some knowledge or experience with the subject being presented to lead the discussion. A soup and sandwich supper will be offered. See Kim Collins if you wish to volunteer to provide the soup for the evening. The Wednesday morning Bible Study is continuing at 9:30am with a study of the minor epistles including Jude and I, II and III John . This group is led by Rev. Gail Parsons, parish associate. Books for this study are available through the church office for $6. Regular classes for Sunday school for children in grades K-2, 3-4 and 5-6 resumed on Sunday, September 13th. The children are dismissed to class following the children's sermon portion of the worship service. Please note that Sunday school classes will not be held on the first Sunday of each month, so that the children and teachers can participate in Communion each month. Our youth groups are continuing to meet. The mid high group meets at 6:30pm on the first, third and fifth Sundays of each month through June. This group is geared toward students in grades 7 and 8. The senior high group meets at 6:30pm on most Sunday evenings through June. The senior high group will not meet on February 14th. The adult Bible Study held on the second and fourth Monday of each month, will meet again on March 8th to continue their study of the letter of Paul. They will meet at the home of Bob and Niki Krenzel. You may contact the church office for directions. Rehearsals for our children's vocal and handbell choirs resumed on September 27th. The grade 3&4 handbells meet at 9:30am, while the older youth handbell group practices from 11:15 to 11:45am on Sunday mornings. The cherub choir has their rehearsal from 11:15-11:45am while the older youth practice from 11:45-noon. The adult handbell choir rehearsal are held on Thursdays at 6pm in the sanctuary. Newcomers are encouraged to check any of these groups out. |