March 8, 2023 – Newsletter

Congregational Meeting Sunday March 19 following 10 am Worship.
Agenda includes presentation from the Visioning Committee, the 2023 Budget and the Pastor’s Terms of Call. Please plan to attend in person.

Saturday Morning, Mar. 18th, 9 am – Noon
Join us Saturday morning for some much-needed lawn and outside maintenance. Bryan Alspach will be coordinating the tasks. Contact Bryan directly for assignments to get HPPC ready for Holy Week services.

Donate & Dedicate Easter Lilies for our Sanctuary
Remember someone at Easter with an Easter lily given “In Honor of” or “In Memory of” to be included in the Easter Bulletin. You may take your lily home after the service. Look for the Lily Order form at Church and include your payment with the form (if you’re a paper person), or better yet, reserve, pay and write the dedication on Church Center.

Special Fellowship Dinner & End 68 program Tonight!
Please join us on Wednesday evening for a special meal of lentils, salad, bread and dessert. No charge or reservations needed. The lentils were packed by families at Berkeley Prep and are part of what the children in End 68 Hours of Hunger get each week. (HPPC has packed these meals twice in previous years.) Help End 68 by bringing in your food as well as helping process other donations.
Some prizes are also involved!If you can’t attend but want to help, ask neighbors & friends to help fill a bag:
Individually wrapped snacks
Instant oatmeal, grits, rice, mashed potatoes
Canned fruit, chicken or tuna
Compleats Microwave Meals (turkey, chicken).
We hope HPPC can get at least 75 bags filled! Bring to our church on Wednesday, March 8 from 5:50 to 8:00 pm. You can “drive through” to donate.
Registration for End 68 March 8 not necessary, but helpful.

In Person Worship at 10 am; also Live Streamed.
At 10:00 am, Click To View Online Worship Service, or watch it later.
The Lenten Sermon Series “Reflections on Amazing Grace” continues this week.
Sunday School for all ages after worship.

Children gather in the Chapel for songs before going to their classes. An amazing Lenten Devotions Booklet for children is available for families to take home. Miss Ilma will use these themes during Sunday school. The children have already made some pretty special bracelets.“How Sweet the Sound” will be our weekly guide for adult Sunday school, tying in with the Sermon Series. Meets in the Learning Center.

“Strangers Who Would be Friends: Lessons From the Last Supper” This class will be led by Thompson Plyler* via Zoom from New York. The class will be a hybrid in-person/remote course, March 12th through March 26th at 11am. All are welcome to attend in person, or they may message Harriet Plyler on Facebook for the zoom link to join in online.   Click to join Zoom  PW: mermaid

The class will be moderated by Harriet, and will also be recorded so it can posted on the website and FB so that anyone enjoying the “Amazing Grace” class will not have to miss it or choose between the two.

In this in-depth study of the Last Supper, the series will examine Christian love as demonstrated by the apostles (washing of feet, sharing of food, discussion of what matters, and reference relationships in later texts),  love in moments of extreme adversity (through the lens of Judas, Peter and John), Christian tradition as dictated by Jesus’s instructions during breaking of bread and drinking of wine, and examination of the concept of glorifying God.*Thompson was raised in HPPC and is a former Marine, stand-up comic, date coach, trainer of the women of the NY Fire Department, and now computer code developer and teacher for Amazon. He’s also been an active member of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NY for over a decade.

– Last Fall, over 50 members of HPPC participated in a survey conducted by Leighton Ford Ministries, which illuminated areas for our future focus.
– In November, Focus Groups were held with 25 church members participating to gain more  in-depth feedback from members.
– In January and again in February, a group of elders and session members met over two days each month with our consultant Rich Hurst. More details will be shared at the Congregational Meeting on March 19th.

The HPPC Session met for its monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 28. 
Here is a summary of the business conducted:

— Approved Sunday, March 19th as the date for the upcoming Congregational Meeting following worship.
— Approved the 2023 Budget, which will be presented at the congregational meeting, along with the pastor’s terms of call.  A special Vision Committee update will also be shared.
— Heard a joint report from the Ad-Hoc Preschool Task Force and the Administrative Committee regarding the interest of two separate local private schools regarding interest in renting space in our building.  The Session voted to give the task force and committee the authority to pursue negotiations and explore opportunities with both entities moving forward.  Once they have formal proposals, they will present for approval to the Session.
— Voted to elect Harriet Plyler as a new member of the HPPC Corporation.
— Voted to elect Guy Bryant as a new member of the HPPC Foundation.
— The Communications Committee is planning to launch a social media campaign to help draw new visitors to our church.
— The Personnel Committee announced that Sarah Friesen, who has been graciously serving as our Administrative Assistant in the church office, has given us her resignation.  Her last day will be April 21, 2023.  The committee will begin searching for a replacement.  Much thanks to Sarah for her dedication and hard work over the past year!
— The Building and Property Committee announced that the roof replacement is complete.  We celebrate God’s goodness!  Soon we will have an elevator company come to assess the repair or replacement needs for our elevator.  We are also looking into repairing or replacing the sprinkler system in the church’s front lawn.