The Steeple Times October 2022

STEEPLE TIMES

A quartely newsletter by First Presbyterian Church of Tyler, Texas

Planted:

Skorkowsky’s Legacy

Cultivating cypress trees on Lake Palestine one sapling at a time

Saying ‘I Do’: Wedding Team unveiled

New wedding ministry at FPC Tyler helps brides create their perfect day

Inside:

-Articles by the Revs. Baskin and McLean along with Music Director Weston Jennings

-Events of Summer 2022 -New Members

Welcoming change at FPCT | Rev. Dr. Baskin

There have been lots of changes since we put out our first issue of the newly redesigned Stee ple Times. Staffing limitations since last October’s issue came out limited our abil ity to produce new issues. So, it almost goes without saying, the most important changes in the life of the church since our last Steeple Times has been the addition of two new key staff members.

In June, we brought a new associate pastor on board. Brendan McLean landed in Tyler at the beginning of June and immediately began to make an impact. Brendan is among the friendliest, funniest, and most out going people I have ever known. He knows no strangers and has a knack for making people feel welcome. His first major task was to plan and put on a Vacation Bible School within his first two months. As you can see in this issue of Steeple Times , VBS was a huge hit with our kids. One thing I learned during that week is that Brendan qualifies as what I call a “kid magnet.” He has that special gift of being able to get down on the child’s level and in stantly engage them. I saw more than one shy child immediately break into a smile and forget their apprehensions within seconds of meeting Brendan. But engaging with children is not his only gift. Brendan writes

new prayers and calls to worship each week for worship. And he has already proven himself to be a fine preacher. We truly have a rising star in our midst.

Brendan’s responsibilities are broad. His first responsibility is ministry with our church’s children, youth, and their families. He is also broadly responsible for the rest of our Christian Educa tion programs, including adult education. He is our primary staff liaison with the Diaconate, as well as the Mission Committee. In addition, he serves alongside Weston and me in worship leader ship, including preaching on a monthly basis.

Soon after we brought Brendan onto the staff, we hired Britne Hammons as our new, full time Director of Communications. She is responsible for everything related to our inward and outward communications. She produces the weekly worship bulletin, manages the livestream of our services, produces my daily de votionals after I have written and filmed them, and she produces and publishes the Steeple Times. She prepares and sends out the Weekly eNews and produces the monthly In the Loop. She man ages our church’s website. So far, she has combed through it to remove any outdated content, and she has added new content, including a new page for our wedding ministry. You might want to check that out; it's beautifully done. And now she is working on a complete redesign of our website to make it more flexible, easier to navigate and find what you’re looking for.

With these two on board an already strong staff including Weston Jennings, Lyn Odom, Nanci Pollard, Jessie Caldwell, and Bever ly Ricks, we have the tools we need to do great things. I, for one, can’t wait to see what comes next!

May we remember | Rev. McLean

In her collection of essays, Mad ness, Rack, and Honey, the poet Mary Ruefle writes about how she perceives the idea of prayer as something quiet, a voice that wants “to be heard beneath the din, not by the din itself but by one singular other who is part of the din, as when in the middle of a concert we lean to the per son next to us and cup our hand around our mouth.” Indeed, this can be prayer: the whisper to someone else, creating a more private, intimate connection with the other beside us.

When we are desperate, when we find ourselves in emergency situ ations (such as a pandemic) that have upended our plans for the day, the week, or the life, we cry out in a loud voice, possessing

the hope that God our caretaker and the one who loves us uncon ditionally hears us in our suffer ing. However, in these moments, or in moments where we feel that we must speak as if we are whis pering a secret or an intimate thing to a loved one, there may also be an urge to use a quieter voice, a singular conversation to an open ear. This ear, that which belongs to God that we pray to, is an ear that is available to our whis pers and our voicing of our desires to heal, to be better, or to share in a moment of collective joy. Yet, this is also an ear that has a deep desire to hear these whispers that we bring to it.

Prayer is as much about what we are saying and how we want to be heard as it is about how we say it

and the God of love that longs to hear us. The Psalms them selves bear witness to this, the breadth and depth of our human emotion in our expressions to God, through crying out in despair or anger or dancing with joy. May we remember that the capacity we are given by God to feel is something sacred. May we remember that the range of this emotion is also a gift, comforted by the knowledge that God hears our cries and our whispers, our joys and our laments, and everything in between. In our prayer, may we know that, as Mister Rogers says, anything that we feel is mention able.

"Prayer is as much about what we are saying and how we want to be heard as it is about how we say it and the God of love that longs to hear us."

CONTENTS

Bob Skorkowsky has changed the shoreline of Lake Palestine, a decades-long endeavor.

Members

The FPC of Tyler has unveiled a new wedding ministry team, dedicated to making one of the most important days of your life a perfect one.

Growth at FPC of Tyler FPC of Tyler is growing with new members.

“ This was our first Vacation Bible School since COVID-19. I feel like it went exceptionally well.”

-Rev. McLean PG. 8

Autumn marks new beginnings |Weston Jennings

Throughout my life, I have always enjoyed this time of year. With programs beginning again after a refreshing summer break, autumn marks a new beginning and also a time to look ahead. The changing color of the leaves and the cooler air, desperately wel comed after such a hot summer, also go a long way in making autumn the pleasant season that it is.

Here at FPC it’s been wonderful to see all of our musical ensembles and programs start for the fall, and it’s a reminder of the wealth of talented and passionate volun teers who make these groups the treasures they are. Whether it’s fresh faces or new musical challenges, there’s an excitement to what we do, especially in late August and September. Already we are looking ahead to our annual Moravian Lovefeast service, as well as other special days, such as Reformation Sunday and Music Dedi cation Sunday. We’re making plans, scheduling rehearsals, learning notes, and carving out the time needed to make these events special in the life of this community.

"Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love—that makes life and nature harmonize.” ~ George Eliot

The Rev. Dr. Stuart G. Baskin, Pastor | sbaskin@fpctyler.com

The Rev. Brendan McLean, Associate Pastor | bmclean@fpctyler.om Weston Jennings, Director of Music and Organist | wjennings@fpctyler.com Britne Hammons, Director of Communications | bhammons@fpctyler.com

Lyn Odom, Executive Assistant | lodom@fpctyler.com Nanci Pollard, Financial Assistant | npollard@fpctyler.com

Jessie Caldwell, Sexton | Beverly Ricks, Sexton

The Steeple

October 2022, Written, designed and photos by Britne Hammons

SKORKOWSKY’S LEGACY

by Britne Hammons

Inspired by Caddo Lake, First Presbyterian Church of Tyler member Bob Skorkowsky has changed the shoreline of Lake Palestine by planting thousands of cypress trees that he has grown from seedlings. He and his wife, Sherry, moved to Tyler in 1979 and since then, Bob has faithfully answered the call of the cypress.

The water was low, the heat was high, and the steady churning of Bob Skorkowsky’s boat motor provided a constant lull as Bob navigated through Lake Palestine in mid-August. Littered across the lake are fragments of trees who once stood in their full glory, now serving as nothing more than road bumps for the inexperienced boater.

The deep channels are hard to find, but Bob seems to know the lay of the lake. He points out that larger tree stumps usually are on the edges of deeper channels, and he aims his boat right though a clear alley, all the while carrying precious cypress trees to the shores of Lake Palestine. There’s nothing quite like taking in the beauty, savagery and magnitude of a place virtually untouched. Gone is the distraction of cell phones, traffic noise and the presence of other people. This is a place of peace, and for Bob, his legacy.

White herons flocked to the trees as the boat chugged by, dragonflies skimmed the top of the water and nutria scurried into their nests, away from the watchful eyes of Bob as he surveyed the baby cypress trees along the shoreline. It would be easy to get lost in this place, to find yourself turned around and searching for waypoints, but Bob knows a little something about Lake Palestine,

and is truly comfortable in what has now become a part of him, and he a part of it.

The wind ruffles Bob’s hair as the twoseater specially made boat ambles through the murky water, taking its occupants deeper into the far recesses of the lake, where not many have gone before. Bob points out the trees he has planted, some small and many others large, as years of work is evident around every

bend of the shoreline.

Bob has planted thousands of cypress trees along the banks of Lake Palestine, with some now over 20 years of age, continuing a decades-long endeavor to bring something to Lake Palestine that will last a few lifetimes.

Continued on Page 6

Planted

The Spark Visiting Caddo Lake planted the first seed in Bob’s mind to create something that looked like Caddo, and the first thing to do was to grow and plant cypress trees that will be around for more than 1,500 years.

“I guess my motivation was to create something that looked little bit like Caddo Lake and the Big Cypress Bayou. The lake (Lake Palestine) had diminished, and the natural cover had gone away. Caddo Lake is no different.

The channels have vegetation on each side of them so the water you saw was clear. I knew the vegetation on Lake Palestine was going away and it was going to happen, so this was an attempt to recreate what I saw in a natural state,” Bob said.

Every tree planted has been reared by Bob, from germination to planting, Bob does it all.

It was not always an easy task, as Bob stated his first year was “a wash.”

“I remember planting my first set of cypress trees and I only used a canoe at that time. That was a lot of work, and that first year was almost a wash. I’ve learned a lot since then,” Bob recalled.

“I couldn’t get them to grow when I initially started and I talked to some

people who had cypress nurseries in Arkansas and Louisiana and they said in order to get them to germinate, they must be cold. So, I cool them down in a refrigerator. Almost every cypress tree on Lake Palestine has come from me. When the pecans begin to fall in November, the cypress balls will be ready. I will go out and collect a gallon of seeds, a handful off one tree and handful of another and mix them all up. I break them up in a mesh bag, so the individual seeds are there, then put them in a fridge and they go in a vegetable keeper, which means vegetables get displaced. That stimulates the cold weather they must have for the germination process. These trees will be here a long time. A Florida swamp contains 3,000 year old Cypress trees which is the oldest in the United States. Cypress, the giant red wood and sequoia trees are all similar. Biologically, they all look the same until they are 10 to 12 feet tall. They are all long-living trees. When they are cut, they won’t come back for three centuries. That is why it was a crisis to protect the ones within national parks,” Bob said.

Before

Creating lasting legacies is something that Bob seems to have a knack for, as

"They will be here long after me, you or even our grandchildren’s grandchildren are gone."

- Bob Skorkowsky

he is also a highly successful debater.

“Planting the cypress trees was a personal interest but not from academic training. I went into communications and social sciences. I had a couple of majors in college, and one was in communications and the other was in history and then I had two minors which were economics and political science. I had originally planned on going to law school, I didn’t get there. I won a spot on the US Debating team while in college. The United States put a team together every four years and there is a competition to be on the team. I applied to participate in the tournament based on collegiate records. I ended up winning the competition in Chicago. Winning the competition amounted to a three-month tour of 30 British universities. We would go around debating at British universities debating unions. It was a wonderful experience. During that, they hosted the British National Tournament. We were invited to participate and Americans typically don’t do well in British debate competitions. I ended up winning that tournament as well. It was a big deal, as I was the first American to do that. I ended up spending four years as a college debate coach and speech teacher. I never intended to be in education. I left and went into sales and moved to Tyler to open a life insurance agency and that is what I have done for 50 years. You never know where you are going sometimes," Bob said.

Bob and his wife, Sherri, moved to Tyler in 1979 and Bob remembers that the lake was still a new thing for the area. “The lake was pretty new when we moved here. They didn’t cut out any of the vegetation. The trees were left standing and there were trees still growing in the water that had leaves on them. Over a period of years, it began to look like a dead swamp. The lake was a lot richer, and the fishing was better."

Hobbies

Fishing is a favorite pastime of Bob and he even has a fishing tournament named in his honor at Caddo Lake. One could say that the addition of cypress trees on Lake Palestine have improved the fishing quite a bit.

“When it is spring and the lake is up, there are boats all under the trees fishing for crappie and bass. It is a magnet for people that fish there, including me. I have probably spent more hours on that lake than anyone else, because of what I did. You don’t do that in one afternoon,” Bob said.

One afternoon in a boat is not long enough to truly see the impact that this First Presbyterian Church of Tyler member has done for the environment. He has changed a landscape, giving back in a selfless effort that has spanned decades, and he is still going.

Generations to come will be able to see the fruits of his labor.

“They will be here long after me, you or even our grandchildren’s grandchildren are gone. They’re made to do that, to last and grow and provide a growing habitat,” Bob said.

Sherry and Bob Skorkowsky

Bob inspects the cypress trees on Lake Palestine.

It came down to the words ecchymosis and blitzkrieg for the Tyler Junior College team to win the Literacy Council’s 31st annual Spelling Bee held on August 2 at Green Acres Baptist Church Crosswalk Center. The theme for the event was ‘Spelling Through the Decades” and First Presbyterian Church of Tyler members showed up dressed in costumes representing the 1960s ready to support the Rev. Dr. Stuart Baskin and Sally Smith-Garmon along with alternate Mitch Adams. Literacy has long been a staple of the Presbyterian Church, as explained by the Rev. Dr. Baskin.

“The Literacy Council is a jewel in Tyler. It is right up our alley as Presbyterians. We have always been about education and about basic literacy ... For us to support the Literacy Council is right on track for Presbyterians. We also host a significant portion of their program,” stated Dr. Baskin. Dr. Baskin did have a few words to say about next year’s spelling bee. “The teams that were doing well were writing down words, comparing them and then getting up to spell them. That is the secret. This was our first time we have participated in the spelling bee. We will be back for a second year. One thing is guaranteed, we will do better next year,” said Dr. Baskin.

VBS returns to FPC of Tyler

First Presbyterian Church of Tyler resumed Vacation Bible School and had an outstanding response to the event. VBS participants learned about the role of solar power as it sustains life, gives energy, lights the earth, brings warmth, and promotes growth. Each day included a gathering time, a Bible study, solar puzzles and experiments, solar crafts, snacks and solar games, and solar mis sion moments.

MFPC of Tyler takes on the Spelling Bee

" Literacy has long been a staple of the Presbyterian Church.''

-Dr. Baskin

Carroll's honored with 2022 Gertrude Windsor Award

The PATH dinner celebration was held on September 6 at the Green Acres Crosswalk Conference Center.

First Presbyterian Church of Tyler members Claudia and Otis Carroll were recognized for their efforts and were the recipients of the 2022 Gertrude Windsor Award.

Claudia and Otis have a long history of community involvement. Claudia has been active on several boards including the Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler Civic Chorale, TISD Foundation and PATH, where she also served as a volunteer caseworker. Otis is a trial attorney with over 40 years’ experience and a founding partner in Carroll Maloney Henry & Nelson. Claudia and Otis are active members of First Presbyterian Church, with Otis having served as an Elder and Trustee and Claudia having served on many committees. They are parents of three children and grandparents of five.

FPC of Tyler welcomes new members

Into the Fold

First Presbyterian Church of Tyler is growing. In the last few months, 11 people have became members of FPC Tyler. In the photo at left, the Rev. Brendan McLean (far left) and the Rev. Dr. Stuart Baskin (far right) attend a reception in late August to welcome the new members into the congregation in the Hill Room.

a thriving congregation

Not Pictured:

Andrea Wilson with the Carrolls.

M

M

Lilly Kennedy

Charles Kennedy

Patti Echols

Anna Haslett

Nancy LaRue-Westmoreland

Katie Kennedy

Brenda Burton

Susan Hardy Steele Michael Brooke Mike and Cheryl Fox

Weddings at

B

rides have celebrated their spcial day at FPC of Tyler for generations. Now, a new team plans to continue the tradition. Enhancing the wedding ministry strengthens the role of FPCT in helping couples begin their Christian marriage journey together.

First Presbyterian Church of Tyler

A ministry of FPC Tyler

Although FPC of Tyler has historically been known as a beautiful wedding location, the wedding ministry has been enhanced to offer more service to couples at the beginning of their marriage. Four volunteer coordinators have been added to the wedding ministry to support the bridal couple. Wedding Coordinators are FPC members Freida Parker, Beth Shepperd, Cathy Castagno, and Lora Savoie. Wedding Coordinator duties include facilitating the rehearsal and ceremony while making sure that the bride’s vision is fulfilled and FPC wedding guidelines are followed.

A former class room has been repurposed as a Bridal Room for the bride and her attendants prior to the ceremony. The room is directly accessible to the Hill Room if more space is needed for the bridal party. The Bridal Room is painted Imperial White, a soft blush color that compliments the feminine furnishings, new mirrors, and marble make up tables. Wedding Coordinators support the bride by meeting with florists, photographers, and other vendors for deliveries and planning, as well as answering questions and directing activities at the rehearsal and for the ceremony. Wedding Coordinators are also available for the reception if the bride choses to use the Fellowship Hall. From the moment FPC is confirmed as a wedding site, two coordinators are assigned to be available to the bride. FPC Coordinators also work with any contracted outside coordinator. At least four weeks before the ceremony, couples complete a detailed questionnaire about their beliefs and expectations for marriage. Rev. Stuart Baskin uses their answers to guide four pre-marital counseling sessions to prepare the couple to better understand their roles in creating a strong, spiritual union.

Director of Music and Fine Arts Weston Jennings meets with the bride weeks prior to the ceremony to discuss and plan the music.

The Wedding Coordinators

The Sanctuary

The Bridal Room Music at FPCT

230 W. ruSk Street, tyler, tx 75701-1651

return Service requeSted

Church Office:

Hours: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. or by appointment Call: 903-598-6317

Email: Church@fpctyler.com

tO everyOne in the hOme Of:

Emergency Pastoral Care:

First Presbyterian Church of Tyler is a member of the Presbyterian Church and Grace Presbytery, and is a steward of Potter House, a tem porary housing ministry for families seeking medical care in Tyler.