President’s Page
February 2012 Message
Dear Church Family:
It’s February and we all know what that means. Valentine’s Day is upon us. I always wondered about having a special day on the calendar to celebrate a couple’s love and affection for one another. I guess it is nice for a couple, whether just dating for a short time or married for many years, to go out or stay in and spend some quality time with each other. Love should be celebrated in its various forms and I hope having a day like Valentine’s Day will get people to think about what it means to love someone and the fact that true love will last forever in one way or another.
Valentine Soiree- February 11
Speaking of Valentine’s Day and going out on a date . . . why not join us for one of our favorite church events? The Valentine Soiree will take place on Saturday, February 11 in the LCOR fellowship hall. You don’t even need a date. Come by yourself and/or bring a friend. There will be plenty of friendly and familiar faces at the Soiree. Janet is working hard on what I know will be a delicious menu. Please look for updates in the bulletin and ads around the church that will include more details about the event, including exact start time.
Calendar Planning Session
We had a productive calendar planning session on Saturday, January 7. Some of the highlights of the first six months of the year include the following (all days Sunday):
| February 26 | 09:45 AM | Congregational Meeting (annual reports & Nominating Committee) |
| April 8 | 08:30 AM | Easter Breakfast |
| April 8 | 10:00 AM | Combined Easter Service (sanctuary) |
| April 22 | 03:00 PM | Women of the Bible (special presentation in sanctuary) |
| June 10 | Last Day of Sunday School | |
| June 17 | 09:45 AM | Congregational Meeting (Council Elections). Last day of two services |
| June 24 | 10:00 AM | Church Picnic at Fort Clifton in Colonial Heights |
There are of course many other great events and meetings planned by the Youth Group, DCU/Feeding the Homeless, Helping Hands, etc., so please check upcoming editions of the Good News, Sunday bulletins, bulletin boards, our Facebook page and of course our website for updates and more details.
February Congregational Meeting
Our February Congregational Meeting will be held on Sunday, February 26. We will meet at 9:45 AM in the sanctuary. On the agenda are short annual report presentations by Council members and the election of members to the Nominating Committee.
a) Annual Reports – unlike recent years, we will try to have the annual reports available to you no later than February 19 to allow you to review the report before the Congregational Meeting the following Sunday. This means you may review the report and come with any questions that you may have. Please take just one annual report per family. If we have more copies available after everyone has received one, you are of course welcome to take an additional copy.
b) Nominating Committee – This year’s six members presented for election to the Nominating Committee are as follows (in alphabetical order): Hugh Buchanan, Marva Farrington, Jeane Pemberton, Paul Propst, Dan Pulskamp, and Gerrit Smith (chair). Together with Pastor Paul, the Nominating Committee is tasked with preparing a list of candidates for vacant positions, to be voted on at the June Congregational Meeting. Please note that all voting members are eligible to run for a vacant position (including Nominating Committee members) and that you may nominate yourself.
c) 2012 Council Elections – Open positions that voting members of the congregation will be voting on in June are as follows (includes names of members ineligible to run for a particular position this year):
President (1 year term – Gerrit Smith ineligible to run for President again due to term limits)
Vice President (1 year term – Janet Buchanan ineligible to run for Vice President again due to term limits)
Treasurer (1 year term)
Evangelism Committee (3 year term)
Property Committee (2 years left on a 3 year term)
Worship Committee (3 year term).
I hope you will consider running for one of the open positions. If you are contemplating running for an open Committee Chair position and are not currently a member of that Committee, we ask that you join the Committee as soon as possible to gain an understanding of what the Committee does. Also, feel free to ask me or the current Committee Chairs about the upcoming vacancy.
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To me, once you truly love a person or an animal, that love never completely goes away. This may be a provocative statement to some of you and therefore it deserves further explanation. Even if you have been in a loving relationship that ended for whatever reason, I believe the love that was felt (assuming it was “true love”) still lives on inside you. By “love” I mean the strong emotional affection one feels for the other person, the “oneness” some people feel (as in a marriage). I also consider friendship and a concern for the other person as part of my definition of love.
I believe that once you have truly loved a person, a part of you will forever change. Whatever the change is, it has indeed become part of your being and therefore will not alter even if the other person is no longer in your life. Let me illustrate my point by telling you the story of a very special enduring relationship that touched me after reading about it.
Gordon and Norma Yeager were married in 1939. They had two children, a son and a daughter. According to their children, they hated being apart from each other. Unfortunately the Yeagers were involved in a car accident this past October 12 near their home in State Center, Iowa. Ninety-four year old Gordon and ninety year old Norma were taken to the hospital in critical condition.
The Yeagers were placed next to each other in the ICU unit at the Des Moines hospital that they were rushed to after the accident. Their two children, who rushed to the hospital, noticed that they were holding hands as they were in the ICU together. Unfortunately Gordon passed away that same afternoon. But something strange happened. Gordon’s heart monitor was still beeping, despite the fact that he was no longer breathing. Confused about what was going on, their children asked the nurse what was happening. The nurse shared with them that because Norma and Gordon were holding hands, her heart beat was running through him and this was the heart beat that was picked up by the monitor. About an hour after Gordon had passed away, Norma slipped away too, and both heart monitors stopped. Despite the tragic accident, Norma and Gordon’s children felt very blessed that their parents, whose love for one another was so strong that they hated being apart, were able to stay together until the very end. The Yeagers’ story certainly calls into question the phrase “til death do us part.”
Admittedly the Yeagers’ end-of-life story is rather unique, but despite their passing, their love lives on in their children. In fact their children are a living testament of the love that Norma and Gordon shared, and every person who loved and/or was loved by the Yeagers also continues to share the Yeagers’ love, as it has become a part of them. By seeing love as this chain reaction, as this emotion that is internalized forever and in some ways alters (and hopefully improves) who we are as individuals, love becomes a far more powerful emotion and catalyst in all of our lives. Love may be officially celebrated on February 14, but just remember that love is a part of your life and all those that you love, or have loved, every second of every day.
Yours in Christ,
Gerrit
Gerrit B. Smith
LCOR Council President
gerritbsmith@aol.com
(804)896-4492 – (Weekdays 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.)
(804)526-2186 – (Evenings after 6:00 p.m. and Weekends)
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