Vol. XXII, No. 1 • Park Cities Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church in America) • FEBRUARY 201 1
“In Him you also are being built together
Remember the 2020 Vision? On August 25, 2007, the PCPC Session adopted the vision to plant 100 churches by the year 2020—50 in the U.S. and 50 worldwide. Guess what? The goal was reached in 2010! We praise God that He was pleased to meet the goal 10 years early. See pages 8 and 9 for more.
into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” —Ephesians 2:22
Arts Festival celebrates Nativity’s glory
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Real option brings real blessings
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Intentional memorymaking at family camp
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Caring by and for the caregivers
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Can you box up a blessing?
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What do you call 1,000 volunteers, 4 hours, 5,000 cardboard boxes, 4 assembly lines, 3 18-wheelers, 5 forklifts, over 100,000 food items, and one impromptu karaoke session performed by Julian Russell? Anarchy? Despite the outward appearance—no. Chaos? Maybe a little. God working in and through His people for His glory? Absolutely! It’s called the 2010 Christmas Boxes of Blessing event!
The vision becomes an early reality 8 Taking the water of life to a thirsty land
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Local church plant moves into international mode 10 Growing the gospel in the new environment 11 Unwrapping the joy of Christmas giving 12 Christmas worship crowd swells at UGM 13 Circling up in the elementary wing
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Littlest worshippers getting the story
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Youth leadership takes on a new look 15
Ben and Audrey Herd make candy canes to include in the boxes with the gospel story.
While Julian Russell’s caroling alone might have made the event worth attending, the morning of Saturday, December 11, was truly a wonderful example of God continued on page 2
Boxing up a blessing
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working to extend His Kingdom through His people. At 9:00 that morning, over 1,000 volunteers of all ages arrived at the BCW Food Products warehouse near Love Field to pack 5,000 boxes with enough food to feed a family of four for a week. Families from PCPC worked side-by-side with volunteers from partner ministries such as Voice of Hope, Mercy Street, Exodus Ministry and West Dallas Community School. Volunteers arriving at the warehouse were greeted by the sight of a vast room with four assembly lines neatly arranged in a row. On both sides of each of the lines stood pallets piled high with towering stacks of food: bags of rice, cans of beans, containers of oil, sacks of sugar, cartons of macaroni and cheese, bags of corn meal, and on and on—more than 20 individual food items. In the front of the room stood tables at which children made pipe cleaner candy canes that were placed into each box, and adults wrote notes of encouragement to employees of each of the partner ministries.
the boxes, taped them, and stacked them on pallets in groups of 40 to be delivered to our ministry partners. In total, the volunteers from PCPC and the partner ministries assembled and filled 5,000 boxes in less than four hours. These boxes were delivered to Voice of Hope, the Salvation Army, Dallas Leadership Foundation, Golden Gate Missionary Baptist Church, Mercy Street, Interfaith Housing Coalition, Advocates for Community Transformation, PCPC Seniors, PCPC ESL, Young Life West Dallas, West Dallas Community Church, Union Gospel Mission, the Salesmanship Club, Holy Trinity Center, and Exodus Ministry.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” ‑Ephesians 2:10
So, back to the original question: Can you box up a blessing? The answer is simple and profound. When God works in and through His people for His glory, His blessings are multiplied exponentially for all who are touched by Him—not only the recipients of the Christmas boxes, but also everyone who volunteers. —Pete Flowers Below, Pete Flowers, committee member, with Campbell Williams (holding little Campbell), who began the annual event and donates food and the use of his warehouse
Workers at one end of the lines assembled the cardboard boxes, which were then rolled down the line as volunteers manned stations where food items were placed in the boxes. At the end of each line, the children’s candy canes and card with a Christmas message written by Pete Deison were placed in the top of the boxes. Volunteers then closed
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Following PCPC’s Arts Festival, held in November, 2010, the following letter from a participating artist was written to its founding pastor, Pete Deison. December 2010 Dear Pete, The PCPC Arts Festival was so wonderful to participate in that I wanted to write you. Thank you for founding the festival and envisioning what it could become at our church. I know that new traditions are difficult to establish and to communicate to others, and I admire your vision and courage to begin the Arts Festival where it was new concept and unprecedented. As a participating artist, I have had the experience of being involved with an extremely professional event where every aspect was coordinated in a timely,
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lovely, organized fashion. The website was helpful, the drop-off was efficient, the Facebook page was a great way to spread the word to friends, the program was nice; and thanks for the nice offers to pray for all the artists. Also the olive wood Mary and Child statue that was the gift for receiving a ribbon is so pretty and means a lot to me. It is rare to strike a balance between godly humility and artistic excellence— where an event can be both professional and spiritually profound—yet the Arts Festival extended both traits, and I hope that showing that combination of “in the world and not of it” can be one of the lasting marks of the festival to my friends at PCPC and the ones I invited who attended but do not go to church. The Arts Festival compliments the other missionary outreaches of PCPC—to West Dallas, to foreign countries— and witnesses to Dallas’s art community. So many of my family relations loved coming to see Anna’s and my paintings and glass piece; but also
our friends who enjoy creating art came and loved the variation on theme. One friend who is half Iranian, half English came and liked touring the show, and he actually walked into PCPC when he normally would never have reason to walk in a church! The Arts Festival also gave a sense of PCPC joining the conversation with national and global Christian artists. Redeemer in NYC has art displays (curated, yet smaller) as part of their workforce ministries along with law, finance, etc., and it takes so little time for artists to start communicating between cities and praying for one another. My friends at Redeemer were excited about PCPC’s Arts Festival. You were so wonderful to bring Mako Fujimura in as a judge and speaker. So, thank you for starting and holding the Arts Festival! It meant a lot to me personally. Happy New Year 2011! Erika Huddleston Above, all of the winning artists Left, Holy Family, by Eliseo Garcia, a gold ribbon winner, has been donated to PCPC and is on display in Oak Lawn West.
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ADOPTION: The Reality of the Blessing Conference coming to PCPC
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Thirteen-year-old Abby was pregnant. Her boyfriend talked her into going to an Oklahoma City clinic for an abortion the next day. But before that happened, Abby’s mother intervened, put her in the car, and whisked her across the state to a Christian school dedicated to children in crisis. Her mother left her there in the care of a pastor and his wife. When Abby was seven months pregnant, she was browsing a stack of profiles of married couples looking to adopt. When she came across Melissa’s and my profile, she chose us to adopt her child. Jackson, our son, turned three this January. He is our gift from God, through Abby, and a living testimony of how God providentially builds forever families through adoption. But why did Abby choose us? During her stay with her house parents, she had seen the love of Christ displayed toward her, responded to that love and placed her trust in Christ. Along with this personal change, her criteria changed for what she desired in parents who would adopt her child. Now, the most important attribute to her was that they be Christians.
Above, (l to r) the Shull family; Ella, Vera, and Emma Spicer; the Porter family Right, the Lafferty family Next page, left, the Hanson family Right, the Renwick family
Our adoption story is a story of rescue—Jackson, Abby, Melissa, and I were all rescued. Our church family is filled with such stories. In 2004, God worked to save a little girl with Down syndrome from a life of abuse and starvation. The five-yearold was soon to be in a Russian mental institution where she would be tied to a bed and deprived of human contact.
“We are truly humbled to have Vera, now 11, as our beloved daughter,” said Jill Spicer.“ What a blessing to have been used in such a powerful way and to have had a front row seat for God’s miraculous intervention.”
If you’ve seen the Spicer throng, you’ve witnessed a microcosm of the citizens who will one day populate the new heaven and earth, those “from every tribe and tongue and people and nation” whom Christ purchased for God with His blood (Rev. 5:9). Reid and Ellen Porter returned three years ago from a trip to Guatemala with Caleb. “Through Caleb’s adoption,” said Ellen, “we are able to live out the way God rescues us through adoption each and every day. And, in God’s divine wisdom, He orchestrated it to where Caleb and his brother Bennett, our biological son, are only seven months apart. They are so close in age that they are practically twins — and best friends too!” At PCPC’s Christmas Eve service, Patrick Lafferty proudly held up his and Christy’s nine-month-old, black son and garnered laughter from the
When John and Jill Spicer arrive at PCPC on Sunday mornings, they open the van door and out spills the Spicer family — a beautiful representation of the invisible church worldwide. They have eight children, ranging from ages six to 15, five of them adopted: two from Russia, two from China and one from Colombia. In addition to pursuing kids across the globe, they have sought out children with special needs.
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standing-room-only assembly when he said, “See the resemblance?” Their new blessing was on display that night. There is a reality behind blessings of adoption, like little Jedidiah, that goes unseen on the surface. “Fear gripped us when we first laid our eyes on Jedidiah,” Patrick wrote in an “Every Thought Captive” devotional.“ Lately, as we consider how he has blessed our family even in the short time we’ve had him, we are often stunned into silence at the thought that we ever hesitated. We cannot see the future, but we do know this: love takes risks because Christ risked all for love. “To say yes to adoption was to invite all manner of change,” said Patrick. “We would have all the responsibilities of caring for an infant foisted upon us afresh. We would be introducing, so to speak, an unknown quantity into our family, the consequences of which were unforeseeable. What we had been given the opportunity to do in adopting this little boy was precisely what God took the opportunity to do for all those who now call Him Father.” All of us who know God as Father are family. We call each other brother and sister because He has rescued each of us through adoption into the eternal family of God. George Hanson was adopted as an infant by a Christian family who then moved to Florida. Four years ago, at age 38, he was reunited with his birth mother when he located her in New Jersey. Interestingly, he discovered that, after placing him for adoption in 1967, she and his birth father married following his return from Vietnam in 1970. They had three more children together, and it turns out that George’s biological family—his parents and siblings unknown to him for nearly four decades—are also believers in Christ. Though separated by thousands of miles, all were graciously and proviPCPC WITNESS
dentially drawn to the Lord and quickened to new life in Him. “For me,” said George, “being adopted has illustrated and continually reminded me of the unconditional love and care that my Father
had for me. It has also provided me with a deeper understanding of being adopted into His eternal family. Just as I had no ability to fathom the implications, consider the options, or help in the resolution to my situation as an infant, the same held true in my salvation.” My wife, Melissa, has experienced adoption both as an adoptive parent and as an adoptee. In the last three years, we have adopted our sons, Jackson and Cooper, and Melissa was adopted herself as an infant. “Adoption has given me perspective,” Melissa said, “of what a gift God has given me in the family that He chose for me. From what I know about my birth family, God rescued me from a difficult situation. He placed me in a loving family and, beyond that, brought me into His family by His eternal plan.”
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“Our journey to adoption is a story of rescue and blessing. God so graciously rescued us from our own sense of self sufficiency and into full reliance on Him as He beautifully unfolded His plan of adoption for our lives. We are forever grateful for the incredible blessing our Heavenly Father gave us in our son, Luke.” —Reid and Steven Renwick
In the handful of stories shared here, varied as they are, perhaps you’ve sensed what’s common—the providential hand of God building and molding families as His people adopt orphans into their homes and into the covenantal community of the church. In the most practical sense, this is fulfilling the Great Commission—making disciples of all nations and teaching them to observe all that Christ has commanded us (Matthew 28:19–20). Are you or someone you know considering the blessed reality of adoption? Come to PCPC’s adoption conference to hear from Patrick Lafferty and other adoptive parents, be informed with a biblical perspective of adoption, be encouraged by stories of rescue, and visit with experts from adoption agencies. —Greg Shull
Adoption: The Reality of the Blessing February 18–19 PCPC Fellowship Hall $45 per family Register at pcpc.org. For more information, contact Betty Montague, 214-224-2683 or betty.montague@pcpc.org FEBRUARY 2011
Going camping...
(l to r) Whit and Will Mabus; J.J., Jackson, and Janey Beth Pennington at camp in 2010
as a family
important things without other distractions we often have at home or even at other vacation spots. The cabins are great, and each has a porch with a wonderful view and rocking chairs or swing—perfect for quiet reading or lots of conversation. (I know, we have older kids!) We also loved being with younger families and getting to know them better, playing and laughing as we did funny skits and camp activities with them. One day we took an incredible hike that is one of my most treasured memories. This vacation was a gift from God for us.” —Leslie Newman
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This summer PCPC will host its second Family Camp at Sky Ranch Ute Trail. PCPC will supply the speakers and have the entire camp reserved for two sessions, July 24–30 and July 31–August 6. The camp is located in the garden spot of Colorado just outside Lake City. These days it is more and more challenging for families to find time to be together without the distractions of busy schedules, media, school, and multiple activities. PCPC Family Camp is the perfect opportunity for families to have intentional and memorable moments together while exploring the great outdoors and learning more about the Lord. Each family will enjoy a private cabin, three meals a day, a dedicated staff, and an incredible array of activities that will allow the perfect mix of great biblical teaching and lots of free time to enjoy a beautiful setting together as a family. Outdoor activities include horseback riding, white water rafting, fishing, crafts, and more.
(l to r) Jeff, Kiki, J.J., and Jackson Pennington ready for the zip line
Here is what some families who attended last summer’s camp have to say about their experience: “Even though our family was the oldest; family camp was just right for each one of us. We had a blast! We liked the time to be with our own family, giving us that now more rare opportunity to be together and talk about
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“Seeing our church family in the most beautiful scenery in the world, with excellent time for children, overall family, Bible study, and fun meant the world to my family. We would not have traded that time for anything. It was wonderful—especially to share it with our church family. I hope we sell out this year rapidly and a lot more families from our church can experience this wonderful time and place.” —George Seay Go to www.pcpc.org to learn more about the camp and how to register. PCPC WITNESS
About five years ago, the 60+ Community was approached by a PCPC member who suggested we create a caregiver support group. After some thought and prayer, we determined this might fill a need in our body. Here is just one of the many stories we have had the privilege of hearing and praying for in this ministry. Pam Dunn eloquently and lovingly testifies to the joy, sorrow, and challenges of caring for an elderly parent as well as the grace, mercy, and faithfulness of God in the midst of it.
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This caregiver support group is a very special group of shared wisdom, support, encouragement, direction, and information, not to mention heartfelt prayer—all valuable to each of us at different times and seasons of our caregiving. For that, I am grateful to God. I received a call on March 22, 2010, to come quickly to the healthcare facility where my mother, Dorothy Finger, lives due to advanced Alzheimer’s. She was also very sick with pneumonia. Although she can speak, she cannot tell you she is sick, nor does she understand sick. She cannot communicate her feelings, know what is on her plate at mealtime, or recognize her daughters. Our dilemma was: do we keep her at her home, The Plaza at Edgemere, or send her to the hospital? The Edgemere staff is her family. They speak her language, and she understands and responds to them. She feels secure and is at peace. At the hospital she would be among strangers who would not speak her language or understand her advanced Alzheimer’s. She would be fearful of their tests and needles and would try to get up and leave every five minutes.
Caregiver Support Group
Caring for those we love
day Jesus met us in some way (as we decided to keep her home with her Edgemere family of staff). God sent us professionals to care for mother and advise us, and they were believing professionals.
Every morning He met me through His Word and appeared in our day according to the Word I had read that morning. Friends guided us in choosing scriptures to read to her and music to play in her room. Staff would come rushing in to check on her before their shift. We saw how much these people were mother’s family. They knew her so well, and she knew them better than she knew my sister and me. What peace that brought us and our mom, even in her mental state. Jesus also met us in the quietness of our hearts as we looked and listened to Him. He encouraged us to pray for healing and to surrender how it happened and what it would look like. At one point it appeared the pneumonia would take her. I expected a call in the middle of the night on March 24. Was my heart ready? It was at peace. When I walked in early Thursday morning, my mother was sitting in her chair, dressed, with her lipstick on, in good spirits, fever free, cough free, breathing clearly— pneumonia free.
My sister and I raced to God and asked Him to show us how to abide in Him (John 15) as we ventured through this particular challenge. We felt very inadequate and empty and also very responsible and concerned for our mother physically and spiritually.
By the end of the week my devotional scripture was Job 37:14: “Pay attention to this Job. Stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God.” In our Bible study that same week, we were studying a scripture about a new song. I have a song. It does not have notes, but it is a song unique to this experience: “As I look back at last week Oh Lord, and all that went on with mother’s pneumonia, it almost took her; however, Your everlasting arms, Oh Lord, held us up, carried us, and even hugged us (through many people). Your arms carried and sustained Mother. As her Great Physician, You gave instruction, guided staff, doctors, and nurses, and tenderly but powerfully touched Mother and healed her, strengthened her, and loved her. Thank you, Lord, that we have more time to share Christ with her and love her with the love of Christ.” It has been an amazing privilege to meet so many dear ladies, hear their stories, and see spiritual, physical, and practical needs met. We communicate primarily via e-mail for prayer requests, praise reports, and special needs. The 60 + Community offers a monthly luncheon to pray, share, laugh, and often cry together. We are blessed to have PCPC member Angela Thomas, founder of Caring with Grace, offer her expertise and support. Contact me at jane.beasley@pcpc.org or 214-224-2771 if you have needs as a caregiver. We would love to know you and pray for you in whatever caregiver circumstance the Lord has placed you in. It can be a long and hard journey. It is good to bear one another’s burdens. —Jane Beasley
God showed up all week long as we abided, poured out our hearts, and begged for wisdom. Every PCPC WITNESS
To God be the glory, great things He has done!
Pam Dunn with her mom, Dorothy Finger
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On August 25, 1997,
after much research, careful discussion and much prayer, the PCPC Session committed to the following ambitious and very exciting vision: to plant 100 strategically located churches, many with Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) chapters, by the year 2020—50 in the U.S. and 50 worldwide. We are pleased to announce that God has so blessed this effort that as of January
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. —Acts 1:8
Jerusalem and Judea: Fifty churches in the U.S.
A voluntary association, the Southwest Church Planting Network (SWCPN), was formed as a joint subcommittee in the PCA presbyteries in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma to create a movement among PCA churches for strategically expanding Christ’s Kingdom by planting reformed, evangelical churches and RUF chapters. Today, 65
THE 2020 VISION 2011, 103 churches have been started—50 in the U.S. and 53 internationally! Plus, 12 RUF chapters have been started in connection with the U.S. church plants. The 2020 Vision was a major commitment for our still newly formed church as the Session committed not only significant funding resources, but people resources to develop and oversee the effort over the years leading to 2020. PCPC’s Session has never wavered from this major goal of the church. The original vision was developed by Skip Ryan, Brad Bradley, and myself. Brad and I, as ruling elders, were charged with developing detailed plans, structure, and accountability for the coming years of effort. This has been accomplished through PCPC’s Mission to North America and World Missions Ministries, which have focused on church planting as the best method for Kingdom growth. I became PCPC’s Senior Director of Missions and Church Planting. Brad was the first Executive Director of the Southwest Church Planting Network, the major framework for U.S. church planting. Its focus is helping the PCA start churches in the Western U.S. Another PCPC ruling elder, Bill Thomas, is now the Network’s Executive Director. So, what does the 2020 Vision look like? FEBRUARY FEBRUARY 2011 2011
PCA churches are active in the Network. PCPC has planted five daughter churches directly.
Samaria and the ends of the earth: Fifty churches outside the U.S. This portion of the 2020 Vision, the PCPC World 50, falls under PCPC’s World Missions Ministries and World Missions team. PCPC partners with a missions agency (usually Mission to the World, the PCA’s missions agency) and indigenous pastors/leaders to plant these international churches.
PCPC has developed areas of emphasis that usually target countries with a population that is less than 1% evangelical. All World 50 church planters are nationals and all funds in the World 50 go to nationals or indigenous work. Please check out PCPC’s website for more about the 2020 Vision, including progress, lists of churches, RUF, and links to much more information about how God is using PCPC to grow His Kingdom in Dallas, the Southwest and the world. God willing, we’re not through yet! How does 200 sound? 8
—Curt Dobbs PCPC PCPC WITNESS WITNESS
The 2020 VISION: 50 churches internationally
Church planting through irrigation True Word and deed ministry in a communist country brings water of life
(Church planter Keo, whose home country is being withheld for security reasons, told the following story to Curt Dobbs, which he relates here.)
“I must arrest you, Keo, when we return to our home
country. It is my duty to keep our province untainted by Western Christian thoughts!” The provincial Minister of Religious Affairs was relentless as he talked about the inevitable punishment that would follow Keo’s decision to make his Christian faith public knowledge at the meeting both were attending in another country. The meeting was about irrigation and water wells, skills that Keo had learned and used in his village. Although Keo, a faithful church planter who had been working in his village for three years, was aware of this possible fate, he was not ashamed of the power of God unto salvation. For he and Pastor Kamph (his supervisor) had prayed about his attending the seminar that might open him up to the scrutiny of the Communist party and could lead to prison. It was at this seminar where others would probably come and ask him about his background and his beliefs, where the Lord would give him opportunities to share his story and the true purpose for all his hard work in his home country—but this could also lead to severe punishment. They knew the dangers, but God gave His direction to go! And now, after three years of biblical training and after working in the village to develop relationships and begin to share the gospel, Keo was going from planter to prisoner. Meanwhile, when the provincial governor learned the news of Keo’s impending imprisonment, he promptly spoke with the Minister of Religious Affairs. “Minister, in our [Communist] country, there are many questions for which we have no answers, and our
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province is very poor and we have problems growing our own food. Keo is a skilled worker, and our country, especially our province, is in dire need of his expertise in agricultural irrigation and water wells. We need him! You will allow Keo to continue his work even though he is a Christian. I will have him help the villagers develop their water wells and irrigation, and he can even instruct at the local schools. Furthermore, appoint him to your local Committee of Religious Affairs and make him the Christian representative. That is my final word.” Keo’s eyes lit up when the Religious Affairs Minister (not very happily) gave him the news. Keo rushed to call Pastor Kamph. “Keo—I thought you were in prison! What happened?” asked the pastor. The good news ran through the pastor’s ears like the sweet sounds of a summer’s day. He knew the Lord would be faithful. He knew there was a purpose in sending Keo to the meeting even though there would be danger. The Lord, whom few in their country even acknowledged, had once again intervened where human intervention dared not go. Today, this village church has 50-75 members. Church planters in this country typically go to villages that do not have a Christian church and try to establish themselves. Since it is a Communist country, the local government doesn’t approve of this, so the church planters have to be very careful. When PCPC started its work here, one-third of village pastors who tried to evangelize these villages and plant churches usually went to prison for three to five years. Now, to protect themselves and maintain a cover, they start working and helping in some way (e.g., irrigation) to establish relationships. They demonstrate true Word and deed ministry.
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The 2020 VISION: 50 churches in the U.S.
Cristo Rey
A unique multicultural church in Dallas, planted and pastored by Joshua Geiger, is a joint ministry of the Southwest Church Planting Network (SCPN), North Texas Presbytery, and PCPC.
It is hard for me to believe that I am now in my ninth
year of ministry in Dallas! There have been many twists and turns along the way. I remember several times in the early years when I began the worship service with just three people in the room—myself, the worship leader, and one other. There were discouraging days when I wondered if we were going to make it. There are still difficult days. But, more and more, there are tremendously joyous days. It is encouraging to look back and see what the Lord has done:
• We now average 115 people from four different continents in our worship services. • 45 of our 80 members (and over 60% of our Hispanic adults) joined by profession of faith! • Our first Hispanic intern graduated from seminary and is preparing to launch another Spanish-language ministry in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. • Two other Hispanic members are enrolled at Redeemer Seminary as part of our efforts to train future Hispanic leaders for Christ’s church. In December, we closed on a church building at 3353 W. Northwest Highway. This purchase, made possible through the generous giving of God’s people at Cristo Rey, PCPC, and other local congregations, will provide a permanent home for our congregation. The new building gives us space to expand our ministry and a highly visible presence in the community we are seeking to reach. As I write this, we are preparing to move in some time in the second half of January. We are marveling and rejoicing at God’s faithfulness to us in providing this facility! We also recognize that with this gift, the Lord is calling us to grow and be stretched in new ways. Among the opportunities set before us are: Ministry to single mothers Over the last nine months, the Lord has brought to us many single mothers. One of them came to us through a VBS outreach at a local park. After just a few weeks of worshipping with us, she brought a friend, a mother of four who had been widowed just two weeks before. It has been a joy to see both of these women come to faith in Christ. They are regularly participating in our women’s Bible study and they are growing! They speak often of the joy that they are finding in walking with Christ, even in the midst of very hard circumstances. Other mothers have also been coming to us. Some are caught in addiction. Some are struggling to hold together families deeply wounded by divorce or abandonment. Almost all of them are financially stressed. This is challenging ministry! Pray for Jesus to do His redeeming work in these families! FEBRUARY 2011 2011 FEBRUARY
Ministry to immigrants We have always been blessed to have a ministry among immigrants, but lately it is more intense as life for immigrants has become more difficult. They are finding themselves caught between the violence and economic decline on the Mexico side of the border and the increasing hostility towards immigrants and more stringent immigration enforcement on the U.S. side. As daily life becomes more difficult, the sparkling Josh Geiger perfroms a wedding (with a very veneer of many interested observer participating as well). idols people serve is stripped away, and we have the opportunity to present the true hope that is only found in Jesus. These difficulties also put tremendous stress on marriages, families, and individuals, and some turn to sinful ways of coping. Pray for God to give us grace to share Christ boldly and wisdom to counsel those who come to us. Cristo Rey will serve as a key base for a new growing ministry, The Hispanic Leadership Initiative, an agency of the SWCPN which is dedicated to preparing Hispanic pastors and leaders and starting new Hispanic churches in Texas. Cristo Rey is becoming an international ministry. We now have several African families, and in the last six months the Lord has been bringing many Brazilian families to us. Recently we sang a worship song in Portuguese! We are also blessed to have several Anglo families as members. We rejoice that the Lord is bringing these families to us and that our church body is reflecting more and more what the church in glory will one day be. Pray that God will give us grace to love one another well! Please join us in giving thanks to God for all that He has done and for providing this new facility. Please continue praying for us! Please know that we thank God for your partnership in this work. And please come join us for a service in February at 10:00 am any Sunday. —Josh Geiger pastorjosue@sbcglobal.net
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As PCPC continues, by God’s grace, to extend His Kingdom through 2020 and beyond, we will encounter new conditions. Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, who spoke at PCPC on January 26, outlines some of these conditions in his blog of February 10, 2010 (www.redeemercitytocity.com/blogs/). We must all seek the face of God for the answers to the questions he raises.
The BIG issues facing the Western church 1. The opportunity for extensive culture-making U.S. In an interview, sociologist Peter Berger
in the
observed that in the U.S. evangelicals are shifting from being largely a blue-collar constituency to becoming a college-educated population. His question is—Will Christians going into the arts, business, government, the media, and film a) assimilate to the existing baseline cultural narratives so they become in their views and values the same as other secular professionals and elites, or b) will they seal off and privatize their faith from their work so that, effectively, they do not do their work in any distinctive way, or c) will they do enough new Christian “culture-making” in their fields to change things? (See http://www.virginia.edu/iasc/HHR_Archives/AfterSecularization/8.12PBerger.pdf)
2. The rise of Islam. How do Christians relate to Muslims when we live side-by-side in the same society? The record in places like Africa and the Middle East is not encouraging! This is more of an issue for the western church in Europe than in the U.S., but it is going to be a growing concern in America as well. How can Christians be at the very same time a) good neighbors, seeking their good whether they convert or not, and still b) attractively and effectively invite Muslims to consider the gospel?
3. The new non-western global Christianity. The
demographic center of Christian gravity has already shifted from the West to Asia, Latin America, and Africa. The rising urban churches of China may be particularly influential in the future. But the West still has the educational institutions, the money, and a great deal of power. What should the relationship of the older western churches be to the new non-western church? How can we use our assets to serve them in ways that are not paternalistic? How can we learn from them in more than perfunctory ways?
4. The
growing cultural remoteness of the
gospel.
The basic concepts of the gospel—sin, guilt, and accountability before God, the sacrifice of the cross, human nature, afterlife—are becoming culturally strange in the West for the first time in 1500 years. As Lesslie PCPCWITNESS WITNESS PCPC
Newbigin has written, it is time now to “think like a missionary”—to formulate ways of communicating the gospel that both confront and engage our increasingly non-Christian western culture. How do we make the gospel culturally accessible without compromising it? How can we communicate it and live it in a way that is comprehensible to people who lack the basic “mental furniture” to even understand the essential truths of the Bible?
5. The end of prosperity? With the economic melt-
down, the question is—will housing values, endowments, profits, salaries, and investments go back to growing at the same rates as they have for the last 25 years, or will growth be relatively flat for many years to come? If so, how does the western church, which has become habituated to giving out of fast-increasing assets, adjust in the way it carries out ministry? For example, American ministry is now highly professionalized—church staffs are far larger than they were two generations ago, when a church of 1,000 was only expected to have, perhaps, two pastors and a couple of other part-time staff. Today such a church would have probably eight to ten full-time staff members. Also, how should the stewardship message adjust? If discretionary assets are one-half of what they were, more risky, sacrificial giving will be necessary to do even less ministry than we have been doing. On top of this, if we experience even one significant act of nuclear or bio-terrorism in the U.S. or Europe, we may have to throw out all the basic assumptions about social and economic progress we have been working off for the last 65 years. In the first half of the 20th century, we had two World Wars and a Depression. Is the church ready for that? How could it be? What does that mean?
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ESL Christmas gathering
A taste of the heavenly party to come
a similar program at her church in Sue and Dick Senzig had never been Waco. I contacted Kathy Dunn and involved with ESL prior to the comvolunteered our help with the distribumitment they made this December tion of the food boxes. In her respondin response to a request for help they ing e-mail Kathy asked if we would saw in the Urban Ministries brochure. also like to help with the Christmas They simply volunteered their services party, and we agreed. I also offered to via e-mail, and instantly they began use my modest ability at the piano if it to bless the ministry. At the ESL Christwould be of help. Kathy welcomed my mas party, Sue shared her musical accompanying the children in their gifts by playing Christmas songs in carol singing and thought it might be the background, giving voice to the nice to have some Christmas backgrand piano and adding a festive air. She also accompanied the children’s carol singing, “It was a led by Winsome Thomas, Sue and Dick Senzig Kid-Care Coordinator. privilege Dick made himself useful pouring soft drinks for the to be even overflow crowd of guests.
a small part of it.”
Before being drafted to help with the Christmas party, the Senzigs had originally volunteered to help with the distribution of food boxes to the ESL community. While a number of the ESL students needed some assistance for themselves, many of the students showed up to work with the church Christmas Basket Project on December 11. They helped assemble boxes and take them to neighbors in need. The next week Dick and Sue helped distribute the boxes to the students who had signed up for them.
Sue and Dick Senzig, like so many others in our church, are worthy examples of Christians who are actively listening to the Lord to sense His call for them to serve others. —Kathy Dunn
Sue’s Perspective
We first started talking about giving the Lord our time as well as our money after reading on the back page of the bulletin another PCPC family’s story about helping during the holidays. After reading through the various opportunities in the Urban Ministries service brochure, I was drawn to the ESL program because my sister directs
ground music during the dinner. It was great fun for me to select and prepare music for others to hear—something I hadn’t had the opportunity to do in quite some time. It was very fulfilling for me to contribute to their Christmas celebration. We were also pleased to help distribute the Christmas boxes. I got a huge hug from one of the students and later learned how much her family really needed the box right then. It was very rewarding to see our small effort bring such joy.
Dick’s Perspective
Last year we were not involved in any of PCPC’s many Christmas outreach ministries, but this year we determined
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to join in one of the efforts. In the New Creations class, we had heard Doug and Myrna Dunn speak enthusiastically about their involvement in the ESL program. That resonated with us because Sue’s sister is a professor of Spanish at Baylor. So when the opportunity to help with the ESL Christmas party and food distribution came up, we signed up. The party was terrific! You should have heard the mariachi band from a local high school playing in Fellowship Hall! Everybody got into the act with clapping, singing, and conga lines snaking around the tables. It was especially fun to see all the families and watch the many children play together. What a wonderful expression of God’s love from PCPC to these families, and it was a privilege to be even a small part of it. For me, the highlight of the evening came as the party was ending. I went to the grand piano and started to close it up when I noticed a shy little boy, perhaps five years old watching my every move. I sat down on the piano stool and waved him closer. I played a few notes with one finger and encouraged him to try it. With a twinkle in his eye he cautiously crept a bit closer, but was obviously not sure about this big grayhaired man. So I played a few more notes, talked to him, and again beckoned him to try. Clearly he wanted to but was afraid. Finally, I held out my hand and he placed his little hand in mine. I took his hand and guided it to the keyboard and helped him play a couple of notes. His expression of joy and delight was all the thanks I needed for being there that night! We never know how God will use us to bring even a brief moment of Jesus’ love to another.
PCPC WITNESS
Christmas Day at Calvert Place
Volunteers at Calvert Place
Disciples from Calvert Place joined
with other disciples from several churches to worship God and enjoy fellowship on Christmas Day. Seven families who came to be with the Calvert Place men read the first Christmas Day story from Luke and sang carols together in celebration of Jesus’ birth and our abundant riches in Christ. Testimonies from several of the disciples reminded us all of old ways and self left behind for the joy of knowing Him who left His riches behind to become our Savior. Favorite memories included the large number of children who came with their
families and joined in the worship and fellowship. There were almost 40 family members who joined with the Calvert disciples in the Christmas Day celebration. In addition to PCPC members, there were families from several other area churches. One family expressed their experience this way: “The faces and heartfelt testimonies behind those faces are what I will always remember; the humility that honors God; the transparency of their stories of rescue; their unquenchable joy from knowing their sins are forgiven; the memory of their open hands and
hearts to strangers, welcoming us to worship with them in their home. Another said the testimonies were, “a powerful message for our teenage boys to hear,” Finally, another family expressed the morning worship this way: “It was a worshipful and grace-filled event.” Gifts for the disciples were provided by members of PCPC along with several of the families. Included were shirts and socks for each disciple along with a DOPP kit. —John Monroe
Disciples from Calvert Place
WITNESS PCPC WITNESS
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What’s the story...
C
in our children’s ministry?
“Can I ask a question?” said the preschooler, “What’s the story?” I had just presented the lesson on the Trinity to a roomful of two- and three-year-olds and had to chuckle out loud in reply. Apparently, at least one child was hoping for something more concrete, like Noah’s Ark. This is the challenge and excitement of Cherub Church.
Never heard of Cherub/Kinder Church? Imagine the Christmas Eve family worship service. A little chaotic. A little loud. Eager children. Open hearts. That once-a-year service is a much larger scale version of our weekly Cherub/Kinder Church. Cherub (two-and three-year-olds) and Kinder (four-year-olds through kinder-
A new wall in the elementary wing
garten) Church happen every Sunday. The goal is to create an atmosphere that mimics the larger service in the Sanctuary to help prepare children for eventual family worship. Leaders present music that includes a hymn of the month selected by Colin Howland, catechisms, prayer, tithe, and a short lesson that follows the classroom curriculum. The worship teams—comprised of Jennifer and Aaron Davidson, Pete and Ashley Flowers, Melanie and Paul Jackson, and Rick Mabus—lead on a rotating basis. They enjoy the challenge of keeping the children focused and centered on God’s truths, straight from scripture. There is an occasional puppet or two as well as various props, aimed to capture their fleeting attention. So, “What is the story?” Come by Room 122 any Sunday morning at 9:30 am to find out! I guarantee you will leave invigorated, witnessing the many shapes, sizes, and smiles of children as they unite under the glorious realm of God’s truths. —Jennifer Davidson
A new year always ignites a desire to grow and change. As with any real change, it is the moving and work of the Holy Spirit in us to bring glory to the Father. The Holy Spirit has been doing just that in the hearts and lives of the Young Families Ministry staff, leaders, and children on many levels the past several years. To be purposeful, it has been our desire to give a specific identity to the ministry that reminds our children who and whose they are.
Somebody has an answer for leader Pete Flowers at Kinder church.
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9 This scripture inspired the crown symbol used in our new logo and throughout the hallways. It is our prayer that the children grow in their understanding of what it means to be in Christ and live as a royal son or daughter of the King! We are very thankful to all those that the Lord has used to help implement His vision. Dan Stewart kicked off a progression of beautiful additions by building a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. Brenda Bogart gave her talent to create the larger-thanlife crown murals in the nursery/preschool and elementary hallways. They are two among many contributors working toward the implementation of the overall goal. The Young Families Ministry continues to push forward with new and exciting elements to enhance the children’s spiritual growth. Watch for more aesthetic changes this spring, starting with a special unveiling in the elementary department planned for February. Be encouraged and come visit! —Children’s Ministry Staff FEBRUARY 2011 PCPC WITNESS 14
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Youth leaders charged with new and creative ministry roles
At its November meeting, the Session called Brent Baker to serve as PCPC’s new Director of Youth Ministry. This title, however, will be short-lived. After completing his Masters of Divinity at Redeemer Seminary in May, Brent will be ordained at PCPC and will then become Pastor to Youth.
(l to r) Robby Higginbottom, Ben Leonard, Brent Baker
Brent’s effective ministry to our PCPC families began in 2005 when he first joined our youth ministry as an intern under Mark Davis’s leadership, who was serving as our youth pastor at the time. Three years ago, Brent was asked to lead our Elementary Ministry for our first through fourth grade children. Affectionately known to our elementary kids as Leo, Sonny, Dr. Thrppgew, and Mojo, Brent diligently sought to teach our children how to know and enjoy the Lord. It was at first a difficult decision for the search committee to pursue Brent for this new responsibility, because his ministry was so effective with our kids on Sunday mornings as well as Vacation Bible School. Yet the committee believed the Lord was leading them to Brent. Brent has been married to his wife Alison for one year, and they are excited about what the Lord has in store for them in their life of ministry together. Brent shared with the Session how encouraged he was when he and Alison met with the search committee and he was able to hear her express her joy in seeing how Brent’s gifts are well-suited and recognizes this as the Lord’s calling on his life. “For a few months Alison and I discussed this position and listened for the Lord’s voice through prayer and conversation with each other,” said Brent. “Through that journey together, I began to think about ministry more clearly than I had previously and discovered a growing desire to shepherd the youth staff and students at our church and in our community.” Brent joins a great team of youth interns already well engaged in connecting with our youth, which he will continue to shepherd spiritually and direct in their ministries. Brent’s major responsibilities also include teaching our youth on Sunday mornings, discipleship through Bible studies and counseling, overseeing the youth ministry events and trips, recruitment of ministry volunteers, and communication with parents. “From the day Brent arrived as an intern in the high school ministry, he could connect with kids, earn their respect, and effectively communicate biblical truth in a winsome way, says search PCPC WITNESS
committee member David Newman. “After having served in ministry for almost six years in our church and having completed most of his seminary degree, Brent has the personal depth, experience, heart, and skills to direct the ministry and disciple our staff of interns.”
More exciting changes in youth leadership
With one opportunity, two more follow. Our youth ministry has been well served by both Robby Higginbottom, our High School Ministry Leader, and Ben Leonard, our Middle School Ministry Leader. They each will be assuming new ministry roles. Search committee member Kit Case commented, “We evaluated outside candidates and soon discovered that we have within our church three exceptional men who are godly, faithful, authentic, and who have tremendous gifts at teaching, leading, and loving our kids to the Lord.” In January, Robby Higginbottom became PCPC’s new Director of College Ministry. We have not had a formal college ministry in some time, yet the need is great to continue to relate to our students away on campuses around the country and when they return to Dallas for breaks. The beauty of Robby assuming this new role is that he already knows most of our students well because of his years of PCPC youth ministry. Some of Robby’s time will continue to be devoted to our youth, so that the relationships formed there can carry through when they leave for college. He will also engage with our young adults, so a bridge can be created for our graduating college students to find a new place to belong when they return. We are so excited for Robby, continued on next page
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Youth leaders
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along with his wife, Ann, who serves in our Women’s Ministry, to continue in fruitful ministry at PCPC. Yet another remarkable outcome from these changes is the role that Ben Leonard will assume—Director of Youth Mission. This position is unlike other youth ministry roles and is born out of Mark Davis’s vision to see youth ministry become even more effective. Mark says, “Our youth have everything to live with, but nothing to live for.” Well, Ben’s role is now to help them discover purpose through serving the Lord through missions, working closely with Curt Dobbs and Jerry Gibson in PCPC’s missions ministry. Ben will be leading the development of a new ministry that provides opportunities for groups of our youth to engage in local and foreign missions projects over the four years they are part of PCPC’s youth ministry. It’s a new and exciting concept, warranting much prayer and encouragement. Ben and his wife Emily are also busy raising their two young boys, Hudson and Coleman.
pcpc Vol. XXII, No. 1 • FEBRUARY 2011 Park Cities Presbyterian Church 4124 Oak Lawn Avenue Dallas, Texas 75219 www.pcpc.org
“I am also excited for Robby’s and Ben’s new roles,” says David Newman. Robby has been used by the Lord as the glue that has held our high school ministry together through several recent transitions. His ability to disciple kids coupled with
Periodical Postage Paid at Dallas, Texas
the relational capital that he has established through years of ministry makes his new role a great fit. Ben has been an exceptional Middle School Director and this new role captures his passion and gifts.” —Jeff Barber
Top row (l to r): Mike Haberkorn, Brent Baker, Bryan Newman middle row: Ben Leonard, Josh Keller, Jenni Goebel, Carrie Jussely, Lily Riemer First row: Robby Higginbottom, Amy Westervelt, Haley Morgan, Miranda Murphy, Mary Haberkorn