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Dear First Pres Family, As we turn the calendar to 2014 we bring with us a lot of hopes, dreams, expectations and goals that come with entering a new year. This is a time of year when we take a moment to stop and reflect on all that’s come before as we focus on what we want to change, modify and accomplish in the year ahead. In 2013, as a church, we focused on worship. Through a series of messages, articles and gatherings we considered what it means to be a people of worship. We considered how we worship God, how worship looks in different contexts and how to focus our worship differently. I greatly appreciated all the calls, letters and notes you offered as we considered worship. It was a meaningful and fascinating exploration for me, and I hope that it was for you as well. As we enter 2014, as a church we will shift our focus for the coming year. While worship will always remain an essential part of the Christian life and an essential part of First Pres, this year we want to focus on how God is calling us to minister to the city. The pastors, staff and Session at First Pres have spent a good deal of time thinking and praying about this, and we want the focus for 2014 to be the Year of the City. In preparation for this we held a series of discernment gatherings in November and December, and we’re excited to explore this topic more fully together with you in the coming year. I will present my first message on this idea on Sunday, January 19. I hope that it will be a time when we can shift our focus and consider how God is calling First Pres — which has long been in the heart of Colorado Springs — to be a church that ministers to this city. This issue really kick-starts that idea. Junior McGarrahan, who so fully explored the idea of worship in 2013, offers thoughts on how worship connects with ministering to the city through Scripture. In addition, a key focus last fall was the idea of Impact on the Kingdom of God. In the center spread of this month’s issue you’ll find stories of how people of First Pres have been called by God to make an Impact in Colorado Springs. I hope this inspires you to consider how you, too, are being called to make an impact in the city we call home. Finally, our archivist and historian, Dale McClure, shares the story of the first elder at First Pres, Edward Copley, and how he felt called by God to invest in Colorado Springs. As we move through this year I’m excited to hear your stories of how God is calling you to minister to Colorado Springs and exploring what it means for First Pres to be a part of God’s work in our city. In Christ, Graham Baird Senior Pastor First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs

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JANUARY 2014 contents The Year of the City . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Eunice McGarrahan Impact in Colorado Springs . . . . . . . 6 Barbara Irwin, Caty Rozema, Caitlyn Beans and Brooke Zeller

Refocused by Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Matt Fox Peace and Prosperity . . . . . . . . . . 9 Dale McClure

Contributing Writers: Caitlyn Beans, Matt Fox, Barbara Irwin, Dale McClure, Eunice McGarrahan, Caty Rozema, Brooke Zeller Contributing Editors: Matthew Fox, Alison Murray Graphic Design: Beryl Glass Proofreading Team: Mary Bauman, Deb Berwick, Christine Dellacroce, Betty Haney, Daisy Jackson, Marty Kelley, Karen Kunstle, Linda Pung All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, © 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. First Pres Magazine January 2014, Volume Six, © First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs, CO. Published by First Presbyterian Church, a non-profit organization. To contact First Pres Magazine: 719-884-6175 or 219 E. Bijou Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80903-1392 or magazine@first-pres.org. Printed in the U.S.A.

e were created in Eden, a garden whose very name means delight. We managed, however, to get ourselves tossed out of Eden and ever since we have been longing to return. We take vacations in places that we hope will mimic paradise. They never do. We hope our retirement will be free of the frenzy of work and the city. But the more we try to recapture Eden, the longer we head in the wrong direction. That old country song “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” contains some truth – God never promised to take us back to Eden. He promised to restore us to Himself. He promised to restore us to a newness of life, and, He promised to restore us into a rich fellowship not only with Him but also with one another. Those are divine intentions that cannot be thwarted, but God is going to do it in His way. We are not going back to Eden, but we are going someplace. We are going to the heavenly city that is described in the book of Revelation. A city?! Many of us moved to Colorado to get away from the grittiness and intensity of city life. We want to be out in our edenic surroundings as much as possible. I know I do. So why is the trajectory of life for the people of God a city? Cities appear throughout scripture. Cities are what humans build. Cities are

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where Cain found God’s gracious refuge. Cities are built without reference to God and are destroyed. The stories of Babel and Jericho, even Jerusalem tell us that. The prophet Isaiah tells us that life in God’s city, Jerusalem, will be a light that will draw all the nations to the Lord. Cities are where the Gospel took root and spread. The saints of the faith who are commended in Hebrews 11 are commended precisely because they were looking for a city not made by human hands. They believed the promise that God would provide a city. In fact, Abraham left one city in hope of a different and better city. He trusted that the Lord not only would build it but also guide him toward it. First Presbyterian is right in the center of a city. So cities, and this city in particular, matter to us. We have just finished the Year of Worship and are moving now into a Year of the City. This is a very natural and good progression in our life together. As we reflected on worship this past year, we realized that worship is so much more than what we do on Sunday mornings. Worship involves the whole of our life and tangibly bears witness to what we consider most important in our lives. Worship is where we recalibrate our spiritual gyroscope so that our lives are taken up with the things that matter to the Lord.

By Eunice McGarrahan You recall that in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5: 23-24) This brief image is powerful in describing how worship can reshape our thinking, making us aware that something is wrong outside of our worship. That new way of thinking motivates us to move out into a specific situation to do what we can to make it right. But we don’t stay out there. We return to worship for the constant “renewing of our minds.” (Romans 12:1-2) The Year of Worship and the Year of the City are not separate emphases. They are, rather, interdependent themes. They are integrally and intimately related. In worship, we praise the Lord together. We confess our sin together. We hear the word together. We have fellowship together. We enter as individual persons, each precious to God, but we worship and are transformed together. And as we live for Jesus in the city, we can begin to see it through the lens that has been crafted in worship. We can see the energy, creativity and variety that God has given the city. We can see where the city gathers in celebration and sadness. We can

see where hope tries to shine and where community comes together. But we can also see where the hungers and yearnings that are a result of our rebellion in Eden lead to emptiness and darkness in the city. Worship tells us about the true city towards which we are headed. It is a place where frenzy is replaced with peace, darkness with light, and death with life. It is a place of goodness, truth and beauty and that is something that our hearts want to embrace and experience. Worship points us to the heavenly city so that we can point our city in the direction of Jesus. There is something interesting about all those Old Testament saints mentioned in Hebrews who put their hopes in God’s promise of a heavenly city. None of them received it. What was the reason? According to Hebrews 11:40, it is because God wants us to enter that city all at the same time – together. When our hearts are shaped in worship by this vision for the city of God, then our hearts also long to bring others with us. Those others are outside the doors of worship – in the city. For many reasons, we may think that the Lord cannot use us here, in this city, but God certainly cannot use us where we are not. This is where we are. Eunice McGarrahan is the lead Parish Associate at First Pres.

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IMPACT IN In August 2013 we unveiled a new vision statement for First Pres — To Prepare All Generations to Impact Lives For Christ. As we moved through the fall, we focused on how God is calling us to make an Impact for the Kingdom of God. On these pages are personal stories from the people of First Pres describing how God has called them to make an Impact for the Kingdom in Colorado Springs. As we move through the Year of the City, consider how God is calling you to make an Impact on His Kingdom.

Walking alongside families in need By Barbara Irwin

I signed up to take the Family Mentoring Alliance training without knowing anything about the program. But soon I learned that mentoring teams walk alongside families to help them move out of homelessness. After the training, I was asked if I would like to be on a team of five. We received the information regarding our potential mentee. We met weekly and, being well equipped from our training, we were able to walk beside our mentee. We went through her budget that she had prepared and discussed job opportunities. We helped figure out what housing options she could afford and after several weeks she found the perfect house for her and her son. First Pres helps families in this situation through the missions budget, which provides up to $1,200 per family for first month’s rent and deposit. This has been an incredible experience as we bonded with our mentee. What an amazing young woman she is. She has goals and ambition. She has a love for the Lord, and has been led by Him through her journey. She gives thanks every day for the blessings that she has been given. It was a privilege and honor to be a part of the mentoring team. God works in 6 | www.first-pres.org 1/14

wonderful ways and trusting Him is a comfort and joy. I encourage all to take this training and be a part of watching what God does in our lives. I assure you that you will get more from it than you feel you give.

Finding God in the kitchen By Caty Rozema

God has a sense of humor. I know this because there is no other explanation for placing me — a woman who can barely set a dinner table without burning something — in a kitchen several times a month to cook for 20 youth. God is also gracious. I know this because every time I begin to cook — sweaty with anxiety about mutilating whatever ingredients I’d decided to combine that week — at least one, if not a handful, of eager youth shows up to save me. They calm my cooking nerves while we shred chicken and slice fruit. They tell me about their days, their stories and their dreams. Sometimes they break my heart over dirty dishes. Their honesty is brutal and beautiful, and I praise God that I get to be a part of it. It is in the kitchen of Urban Peak, cooking with the youth who live there, that I see God. Perhaps I see God at Urban Peak because hearing the stories of lost, desperate and struggling youth puts me in check, and I

COLORADO SPRINGS realize how blessed I am. I certainly see God in the kids’ kindness and grace. I believe that God is so prevalent there because when I am at Urban Peak it’s not about me. I forget myself in the eyes of the remarkable kids I get to serve with. What an amazing gift to be able to lose ourselves in the joy of where we are, no matter where that is. God reveals himself to me in miles-wide canyons, spectacular sunsets and mountain peaks. He reveals himself in equally powerful ways in a youth shelter kitchen.

Drawing inspiration from the story of others By Caitlyn Beans

This summer at Story Form was amazing because you hear other people’s stories. Stories of how God has used them. One week you would hear about a man who gave it all up to be a missionary in India; another week you would hear about a wife and her relationship with her husband. It is amazing to hear how God uses people anywhere, everywhere and any way He wants. Listening to these stories was listening to God’s stories. Listening to the way God has impacted people at First Pres inspired me to make an impact by sharing the way God has moved in my life through volunteering with CASA and my work for Griffith Centers for Children, a non-profit group home for boys. I am excited at how God is going to teach me and use my voice. It is going to involve me saying hello to strangers. Speaking to friends can be scary, but speaking to a complete stranger will be intimidating, I have to remember what it says in Ephesians 6:10, “Finally be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.”

God breaking In

By Brooke Zeller I have the privilege of teaching kindergarten in the Harrison School District. My class is special because it is completely made up of students who are learning English for the very first time. Although almost all of my students were born in the United States, their parents are immigrants. My job is to welcome my kindergarten students to school for the first time, and in doing so I also have the chance to reach out a hand of welcome to their immigrant parents. One mom told me a story of when she was welcomed as a stranger. She found herself a single mother, recently arrived from El Salvador, taking care of an infant son who was quite sick with a respiratory infection, in the middle of a Colorado blizzard. So, with the tenacity and fierceness that only mothers possess, she bundled up her son and herself and began walking in the snow to Peak Vista medical clinic because, at that time, she had no other way of getting there. As she was walking, an African American woman pulled up next to her and offered her a ride. This woman saw a stranger and invited her into her car. Even though the two women could not speak each others language, the African American woman offered the young mother her phone number, communicating though gestures that she should call if she ever found herself in need again. To me, this is beautiful. The stranger is welcomed and the Kingdom is breaking in.

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REFOCUSED BY FIRE

By Matt Fox

ulie Newton knew God brought her to the Flying W Ranch neighborhood for a reason. She moved to Colorado Springs from Tacoma and spent three months exploring the city before deciding where to live. She found a house she loved, but it didn’t look like it would work out. Then it came open for rent, and she was able to become the tenant. It was in a neighborhood she loved and she knew that it was where God wanted her to be. “After all my searching it was my favorite neighborhood,” she said. “I felt like I was really led to that neighborhood.” Then the Waldo Canyon Fire came in June 2012. After returning from a triathlon, she was worn out when she collected some belongings during a mandatory evacuation. It was only later, when the fire swept over the mountain and consumed the house she was renting, that Julie realized there were so many things she hadn’t had the time or energy to grab. Standing there as the fire department prepared to sift through the ashes where her home once stood, she saw a teacup sitting atop the rubble. It survived the blaze and the collapse of the structure, and it was the only one of the possessions she’d collected over a lifetime of living in different locations that remained. For Julie, the teacup — which endured two separate times of being tested by fire during its fabrication process — was emblematic of what God was trying to teach her. She turned to 1 Peter 1:6, “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.” In the months since, an experience that could have been devastating has had a powerfully positive impact on the way Julie looks at life. She’s embraced what God has taught her about what’s really important in life — not the possessions we collect but the connections we make. “I learned most that ultimately my connection with God and fellow man, my community, is most important, and that only through pursuit of Him will I discover what His earthly calling for the rest of my life is to be,” she said. Matthew Fox is the Manager of Communication at First Pres.

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Peace  Prosperity

By Dale McClure

hen Edward Copley, his wife and his daughter arrived in Colorado Springs they gazed out onto the open prairie. There was nothing there; nothing but a deserted sheep pen, a strip of dirt on which the Indians used to race their ponies and a lot of dry dead grass. Not exactly the paradise they had imagined. There were no houses to buy, no hotels, no rooms to rent. Until they built their home at 413 South Tejon they lived in a tent — portable housing from a manufacturer in Chicago, Illinois. The Copleys were there when General Palmer, his financial backers and a handful of tourists drove the first stake in the ground at Pikes Peak and Cascade avenues. Amid a lot

of shouting and hats being thrown into the air, the City of Colorado Springs was established on July 31, 1871, and the building boom began. By September of that year, the rhythms of saw and hammer could be heard all over as the town took shape. Homes and public buildings were going up quickly. One of those buildings was Foot’s Hall, which was a large room over a drug store at Cascade and Colorado where much of the town happenings occurred. It served as a dance hall, courtroom and general meeting place for other public events, including church services. That is where the Copleys met Henry Gage. Gage was a circuit-riding preacher hired by Sheldon Jackson to pastor the newly

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formed church in Old Colorado City and preach at several stations up and down the Front Range from Monument all the way to Pueblo. In the town, folks were saying that there was to be a Gospel meeting in Foot’s Hall on Sunday afternoon. The date was September 10, 1871. When the Copleys entered the hall they saw wooden planks resting on nail kegs to sit upon and a small table in front, with a tea towel on it for a pulpit. Mrs. Copley noticed that she was the only woman in the room, but she was not surprised. In most of the frontier towns women were a very small minority. There were several hymns, sung unaccompanied, a pastoral prayer and then Mr. Gage preached. Carrie Copley, who was only a child at the time, wrote about that service many years later; “I knew that my mother would quiz me about the sermon after we got home, so I concentrated intently. I tried and I tried but I could not understand a word of what the man said.” In spite of Carrie’s inability to comprehend, Gage was pleased with the response from the adults. After that initial meeting he preached in Colorado Springs every second Sunday, and the Copleys were among his strongest supporters. A year later, on August 21, 1872, Sheldon Jackson — PCUSA Superintendent of Missions for Colorado — and Gage organized the First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs. Eight people, including Mr. and Mrs. Copley, became charter members. Edward Copley was installed as the first elder.

Before long a church building began. As Gage was only employed for half time, he volunteered many hours of his personal time to the work of construction. Ed Copley did the same, working right beside him. In Sheldon Jackson’s newsletter, published in Denver, he described Copley as Gage’s “chief mechanic.” E. Copley, as he was usually identified in the newspapers of the day, was an entrepreneur dealing with mining ventures of all kinds. He was the treasurer of the Silver Wing Mining and Reduction Co. and the manager of the Colorado Springs Mining Agency, and the Aumego Mine in Ruby Camp was owned by Copley and two other men who would also become elders at First Pres. There were other enterprises in which he was involved, and most were successful. He built a hotel at Lake Moraine for the tourists who were hiking Pikes Peak. The Gazette called it “commodious” and continued their description with, “The spot chosen is a very romantic one and a few days of much interest might be spent there, irrespective altogether of the ascent of the peak.” He built the weather station atop Pikes Peak, maintained the telegraph line from there to his hotel and then into the town and, his observations eventually made it to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. His father was a moderately famous author and Edward was his selling agent in Colorado Springs. A later newspaper named Mrs. Copley as the one to see for Josiah Copley’s books.

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“Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you. Pray to the Lord for it, for if it prospers you will prosper too.”

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Edward Copley felt that as a Christian he had a responsibility to the city in which he lived. He was elected a trustee to the city and was an election judge for many years. He served on several municipal boards. He was the chairman of a committee to create new roads. He thought the county should have a library so he donated money for that purpose and then sat on the committee to maintain the library. He was involved in much of the city politics and was respected for his views. Whatever the Copleys did was news. Their goings-about were frequently printed in the newspapers. Such things as Mrs. Copley taking her Sunday school class to their lake house made the papers. When Copley’s father came for a visit it was reported in the Gazette. And when Edward Copley went with George Summers, another charter member of First Pres, into the mountains to search for prospective mining properties, that was followed quite closely by everyone. The citizens of Colorado Springs knew that Edward Copley was honest and fair. They knew that he lived by a moral code that was

ethical and right. If Edward Copley backed a political candidate for public office, residents knew how to vote. If investors were looking for mining property to buy, they went to Edward Copley. The people of Colorado Springs knew any enterprise that Edward Copley was involved in was a good deal. So what can we learn from this man who seemed to have his fingers in every pie? I am reminded of a message from the prophet Jeremiah. God’s people had been led into exile; they lived in Babylon and hated it. In so many words God said to them: Stop the complaining; this is where I have brought you, so settle down and make it your home. “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you. Pray to the Lord for it, for if it prospers, you will prosper too.” Jer. 29:7 That is exactly what Edward Copley did. As an elder at First Pres, as a businessman, as a public servant and as a citizen he worked to make Colorado Springs a better place. And we are better off for it. Dale McClure is the archivist and historian for First Pres.

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