This Week: December 19, 2020

EVERYONE SUNDAY WORSHIP We are continuing to assess the safety of our worshippers on a week to week basis. We are still REQUIRING all attendees to wear masks or cloth face coverings over the nose and mouth while in the church building. If you are uncomfortable with this, we understand and ask that you attend worship online. To help ensure we hold our worship services safely, we ask that you reserve a seat for you and childcare online at pcpc.org/reserve-seat.

If you or anyone in your party have had COVID-like symptoms in the past 7 days, we ask that you please worship online with us at pcpc.org/live.

In order to comply with IRS regulations, Thursday, December 31, is the deadline for donations to be receipted for 2020. Other than offerings given in worship or online, you may mail checks postmarked by Thursday, December 31. Due to the construction, we will not have any provision for hand delivered donations when the church offices are closed. For stock donation instructions, contact Cheli Conejo (cheli.conejo@pcpc.org) by noon Wednesday, December 30. Please note that mutual fund donations can take up to one month to process. Thank you for your generosity in supporting all that God is doing at PCPC.

VOL. XXXI, NO. 25 | DECEMBER 19, 2020 PARK CITIES PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH TRICIA COTHRAN, EDITOR 4124 OAK LAWN AVENUE DALLAS, TX 75219-3152

pcpc.org/give Did you know that you can text to give? From your mobile device, text the word “give” to 214-997-9973. You will receive a text message with a onetime link to set-up your account. Click the link and follow the instructions to set-up all future gifts. All donations made through text to give will be included with your church giving record. Thank you for your gift!

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES Thursday, December 24 at 2:00, 4:00, & 7:00 p.m.

Who will you invite to celebrate with us the advent of Jesus Christ! The Christmas Eve Family Services, where we encourage families to bring children of all ages, are at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., and the Christmas Eve Evening Service is at 7:00 p.m. Please reserve your seat in advance.

These services will live stream at pcpc.org/live.

Reserve your seat at pcpc.org/events.

214-224-2500 pcpc.org facebook.com/parkcitiespca twitter.com/parkcitiespca

THISWEEK@PCPC

YEAR END GIVING

EXTEND UPDATE

THISWEEK@PCPC

VOL. XXXI, NO. 25 | DECEMBER 19, 2020

As PCPC’s EXTEND Capital Campaign comes to a close and our construction nears completion, we are exceedingly grateful for how generously you have shared in the vision for our long-awaited New Doors to become the magnificent reality it now is. We look forward to opening our new doors to you as soon as the campus is ready, and we can safely gather. To hear from Mark Davis and see more of the new space, go to extend.pcpc.org/updates.

OUR FAMILY

marriages

• Anna Spears Harrington and William Tyler “Ty” Middlebrooks on November 21, 2020.

• Meredith Leigh Scudder and Scott Alexander Scheffler on December 4, 2020.

births

by Robby Higginbottom, Connections Pastor

If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. Seriously, if I told you in the summer of 2019 what was going to happen in 2020, you would’ve looked at me like I had three heads.

A highly contagious virus will spread worldwide.

There will be tens of millions of confirmed cases and many more that go undiscovered. At different times, cities, states, and even countries will be in lock down. Families, schools, sports, businesses, governments, and churches will all be affected.

Graduations, vacations, and weddings will be canceled or postponed. The majority of us will know someone who suffered with the virus. For most Americans, this pandemic will begin in the spring and continue through the end of the year.

Reality is often stranger than fiction. If 2020 were a novel, what genre would it be?! Through this extraordinary time, the Lord has been at work. As much of life has grinded to a halt, we’ve seen the opportunity to cultivate what we’ve neglected. We’ve sought to re-center our lives on what matters most. We’ve spent more time playing with the kids, being outside, calling our friends, and checking on our neighbors. We’ve thought about work/life balance and the noisy flood of content streaming in from our devices. The Lord has pruned away a lot this year, and it has been painful for all of us. It feels right to say that it’s okay not to be okay.

More than ever, we know the importance of the people who are with us. I think of my wife, Ann, and everything we’ve walked through this year. Where would I be without her? I think of my sons, Will and John, and how much time we’ve spent talking, laughing, playing, and wrestling. I think of my parents, my sister’s family, Ann’s family, and the neighbors on our street. Where would we be without the people who have been with us? In the

darker moments of 2020, there is something powerful about knowing that we’re not alone. Ann is with me, the boys are with me, and the rest of our “quarantine crew” is standing by.

So what does this have to do with Christmas? For Isaiah’s readers and for us, the promise of a virgin conceiving and bearing a Son is stranger than fiction. But the problem of sin and how it separates us from God is bigger than COVID-19. What did the Lord see when He looked down upon the world and the people that He made? He saw sheep without a shepherd, sinners without a Savior, humans without hope and without Him. There was no vaccine that the Lord could send from afar. There was no personal protective equipment that could shield Him from the consequences of drawing near to us. No, He would come Himself…in person…as Immanuel, God with us. He would not practice social distancing, though we deserved it. He would associate with sinners, so that He could one day save them by dying on the cross in their place. He would become like us, so that we could become like Him…and be with Him forever.

In the darker moments of our lives, there is something powerful about knowing that we’re not alone. That’s what Christmas is ultimately about: the coming of Christ, who is God with us. Every year, we tend to forget, and so every year, we return to the waiting, the watching, and the wonder. And we pray that these rhythms will form us in the image of Jesus Christ. How will we enter into the story again this year? If the Lord has told us that He is Immanuel, will we believe Him?

• Eliza Joy Obenchain, daughter of Tommy & Hannah Obenchain (Park Cities Bradfield Elementary Parish) on November. 30, 2020.

deaths

• David Doyle (CC#25), husband of Phyllis Ford (CC#25) on November 24, 2020.

sympathies

• Jay & Beth Hohfeler (Far North Dallas Parish) on the loss of his brother-in-law, Kate Hohfeler (Far North Dallas Parish) on the loss of her uncle, Maggie Hohfeler (Far North Dallas Parish) on the loss of her uncle, Jack & Molly Vaughn (Love Field Parish) on the loss of her uncle, David Chorjel, on November 18, 2020.

• Jeffrey & Lindsay Fein (Lake Highland Parish) on the loss of his father, Avery & Emma Fein (Lake Highland Parish) on the loss of their grandfather, Michael Fein, on December 2, 2020.

• Dary & Lindy Stone (Park Cities Hyer Elementary Parish) on the loss of her father, Dr. Royce Laycock, on December 2, 2020.

• Brad & Elizabeth Thurman (Richardson Parish) on the loss of her father, Bradley, Ryan & Will Thurman (Richardson Parish) on the loss of their grandfather, William “Bill” Rogers, on December 4, 2020.

• David & Marcy McDonald (Far Northeast Parish) on the loss of her mother, Anna & Micah McDonald (Far Northeast Parish) on the loss of their grandmother, Randal McDonald (Northeast Dallas Parish) on the loss of his grandmother, Dave McDonald Jr. & Yulma McDonald (Far Northeast Parish) on the loss of his grandmother, Ashley, Emily, Ian, & Melanie McDonald (Far Northeast Parish) on the loss of their great-grandmother, Doris Ann Macurak, on December 5, 2020.

• Worth & Dana Williams (Love Field Parish) on the loss of her father, Spencer & Whitney Rowell (Love Field Parish) on the loss of her grandfather, Stella & Charlotte Rowell (Love Field Parish) on the loss of their great-grandfather, Alvin Leaman, December 5, 2020.

general fund

budget

2020/2021 operating budget July 1—December 6, 2020 budget July 1—December 6, 2020 giving Budget Variance

$13,500,000 $4,965,193 $3,954,222 –$1,010,971