The Trumpet

Firelands Presbyterian Church

2626 East Harbor Road
Port Clinton, Ohio 43452
419-734-6211
Fax 419-734-5411
www.firelandschurch.org

Rev. Mark Cooper, Pastor

Dave Moore, Clerk of Session
Susan Larcey and Kay McIntosh, Musicians
Darrell Brand, Treasurer
Rachel Johnson,
Preschool Director
Janine Dress,
Administrative Assistant
Mark Owen, Custodian

Table of Contents
Mission Statement................................. 2
Thank Yous .................................... 2 & 3
News & Notes ....................................... 3

January 2017 Volume 34 Issue 1

Musical Art
Series
Gavin
George,
Piano.
Sunday
January 15
at 3:30 PM
12-year-old Ohio
native performs to
international acclaim. Following the concert, there will
be a reception for the audience to meet the artists.
Tickets are available at the door for $15 ($12 for
Firelands members); students are admitted free of
charge.

Firelands Family Friday Feast

January 20 at 6 PM
Its a New Year! Come and treat yourselves to a night
out with your church family. We will meet at 1812 Food
& Spirits now on Sand Road and our organizers are
Dottie & Harold Douglass and Joyce DellaSantina
Please sign up on the sheet on the gathering table.
Mark Your Calendars for Februarys 17th dinner at Mon
Ami.

Pastors Page ........................................ 4

Stated Session Highlights ....................... 5
Birthdays & Monthly Prayer List .............. 6
Calendar .............................................. 7
Ministry Schedule .................................. 8
Musical Arts 2015-2016 Season .............. 9

Congregational Meeting
January 15
Immediately following the service a congregational
meeting will be held to discuss and vote on the new
Food Pantry Mission Statement.

Janine Will be on Vacation

January 23 February 6
I have added the Sunday Ministers for the first Sunday
in February. I will be printing the Trumpet on Monday
February 6, please have all articles to me by then. For
all other things call Pastor Mark 281-782-3376.

January 2016

Page 2

New Food Pantry Mission

Statement
An important meeting was held at Firelands Presbyterian
Church on November 29. Those attending were
members of the Mission Committee as well as church
members who are currently involved in the church Food
Pantry as food purchasers and food packers. All those
who attended are currently concerned with the
stewardship of our Emergency Food Pantry and sought
to find a common vision for its future. There was
discussion of the change from the United Way to
Transitional Housing as the contact point that links those
needing food to our church. The group also discussed
the funds available for the Food Pantry and how those
funds and all of the donated items in the Food Pantry
closet can be distributed to best serve those in need.
With past history also in mind, a Food Pantry Mission
Statement was created by those in attendance. This
Mission Statement was reviewed and amended by
Session members at their December meeting. It is
included here for the Congregation to approve at the
January 15 Congregational Meeting.
Firelands Presbyterian Church Food Pantry Mission
Statement as amended by Session on Dec. 13,
2016
To assist people in Ottawa County by providing
access to food and personal care items and by
donating to, and collaborating with, other nonprofit organizations supplying food to those who
are in need.

Thank Yous
To my Firelands family,
Thank you so much for the Wal-Mart gift card and your
generous gift. It will help with my vacation in Florida. I
really do enjoy working for you all!
Janine
Dear Friends,
Thank You so much fore the gift card. I do appreciate
your thinking of me. Although my musical contribution
to Firelands is a job, I always feel like Im playing for
friends and family in a home. Thank you for that.
Susan

Advent Blessings:
We are thankful for all those who helped create a warm
and worshipful Advent season here at Firelands:

Thank you for all who helped decorate the

church for the season under the direction of
Sally Wahler.

Thank you to Anita Fisher who created new

paraments for the communion table and the
Bible, as well as the cart covering for the new
television.

Thank you to all who donated poinsettias in

honor and memory of friends and family.

Thank you to the choir members who rehearsed

and sang during the season.

Thank you to Connie Brand, Marilyn Umlauf ,

Sally Wahler and Alison Falls who planned and
participated in the service of the Longest Night.

Thank you to Nila McCullough and all the

families and friends who participated in lighting
the Advent Wreath.

As usual we are thankful for Pastor Mark, Janine

Dress, Susan Larcey and our special musicians;
Holly Larcey and Brian Shifflet
The Worship and Music Committee

Finance and Stewardship Committee Says

Thank-You
Your Finance and Stewardship Committee says ThankYou!!! Our stewardship pledge drive for our 2017
administrative year at our Firelands Church is a great
success. After some 15 years of a continued downfall in
our pledging and budgeting process we experienced an
approximate 12% increase in our pledge drive and thus
has allowed us to recommend to Session a 0 balance
budget of $135,000.00. Session approved this
recommendation at their December 13th meeting.
We will be able to continue our church program and at
the same time continue our community mission work.
Several financial actions that assisted in achieving this 0
balance budget were: Pastor Mark and Administrative
Secretary Janine declined to take salary increases, the
mission bed program accepted a cut in their funding as
did Bistro 163. Thank-you to these four financial actions
of kindness and concern.
We have need in near future to conduct a building and
grounds Capital campaign to replace our building roof
and repave our parking lot. At such time as we move
forward on these two issues it will look very favorably

January 2016

Page 3

having a 0 balance budget. These are not immediate

needs but will need to be addressed in some short
period of time. Do we initiate the capital campaign by
collecting 1/3 of the funds prior to seeking a loan? There
are several options that will be studied by Session to
deal with maintaining our building and property.
At some point in time we need to start the search for a
Pastor. Pastor Mark, who is doing an excellent job, is a
retired pastor and he and Jill want to eventually retire to
Texas. With every ones help and the grace of God we
will continue to meet our financial needs. The Finance
and Stewardship Committee welcomes anybody who
would like to discuss our financial information further.
God Bless,
Bill Sharp, Chair

Internet Outreach
Our Firelands Presbyterian Church web site,
www.firelandschurch.org, has been consulted by 113 users so
far during the month of December. 55% of viewers were looking
at our web site for the first time, and an average of 2.9 pages
were viewed in each session, with each session lasting an
average of 2.19 minutes. The pages most commonly visited this
month include contact us, preschool and about us. Overall this
year in 2016, a total of 1800 visitors to our web site conducted
2416 sessions. 73% of all visitors this year have been seeing
our web site for the first time.
The Firelands Presbyterian Church Facebook page has
published current news of our church activities during the month
of December. Entries that reached the most people include:

Bistro 163 Free December Community Meal 69

people
Salvation Army Bell Ringers 160 people
Mitten Tree and Holiday Bureau Donations - 48 people
Service of the Longest Night Announcement 227
people
News Herald Article about Service of the Longest Night
150 people

New Corrected Address for Irene

Wilson
Irene moved last fall. Her address is:
Irene Wilson
1500 Weaver Dr.
Granville, Oh 43023

Bistro 163 Has a Successful

2016!

The fifth free community

meal at Bistro 163 took
place on Monday, December
12th, featuring Chef Stacy
Maples Brunswick beef
stew. Once again, the
Firelands Folk Musicians
entertained, and 12 year old
Tyler Hejhal played his cello.

Bistro Needs
Volunteers
The volunteer ranks at Bistro 163 have been depleted
by the departure of many snowbirds, so if you are
here during the winter months and have some time to
contribute to our community, please call the bistro at
419.734.9887, or send an email message to
volunteer@bistro163.org.

Bistro Free Community Dinner

January 9, 2017
BISTRO 163 is hosting a free public dinner on Monday,
January 9 at 1848 E Perry Street in Port Clinton.
Serving hours are from 5:00 - 7:00 PM.
This is a free public dinner, open to all neighbors. Chef
Stacy and our volunteers will be serving up a delicious
meal. See you there!

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep has been blessed in Dec.
2016 with a grant of $6,000 from the Portage Resale
Center. St. John Lutheran Church has also once again
designated their Christmas offerings to be given to the
Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep project. The St. John
congregation gifted the bed mission with over a dozen
sets of new bedding for the children of Ottawa County.
These will be used as we provide beds and bedding to
help with the ongoing need of these families. We are
very blessed to have the wonderful partnership with the
folks from St. John who are supporting this mission with
contributions and by helping with the delivery of beds
each month. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep received
more needed support in December as we learned that

January 2016

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Pastors Page

This is the time of year when we think about making changes, such as New Years resolutions. Well, at least we used
to, some of us anyway. The simple truth is that after making them and breaking them long enough and often enough
most of us give up on them. If that is the case, maybe we should reconsider the whole idea of New Years resolutions.
They can be very helpful in helping us set goals and develop plans for accomplishing those goals.
Perhaps one reason we dont often follow through on our resolutions is that we dont have sufficient reason to follow
through on them. The resolutions will not produce something we consider worth the effort. That might hold true even
for seemingly worthwhile things such as losing weight. Maybe we know we should and maybe we know we would be
much better off if we did, but we really dont think we would be enough better off for all the effort. In other words, its
just not sufficiently worth it to us.
I wonder if it might make a difference if our resolutions were not so self-centered. In other words, we resolve to do
things that we think would improve our own lives in some way, when in fact we feel pretty good about how are lives
are already. I wonder what might happen if we were to resolve to do something that might improve someone elses
life, that might make the world a better place somehow. It doesnt have to be huge, and there is certainly enough
need in the world we could find some place where we could make things different. Maybe we could volunteer at a
homeless shelter, or at an animal shelter, or at the hospital. Maybe we could set aside a certain portion of our
monthly budget and creatively search for places where we could make a difference by giving away a little money now
and then. I could keep going with this, but Im sure we all have the ability to dream and think of places where we
could make a difference, even in small ways.
What if we all did that resolved to do something to make the world a better place, even in ways that might at first
seem insignificant? I wonder if it might be easier for us to keep resolutions like that, and I wonder if we might actually
improve the quality of life on this planet in some way. I also wonder if we might end up feeling better ourselves for
having done something like that.
Its worth a try, dont you think?

Mark

January 2016

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SESSION HIGHLIGHTS FOR TRUMPET

IN RE DECEMBER 13, 2016, STATED MEETING
1. Our financial status for the late-third and to-date fourth quarters of 2016 is much improved
such that the current end-of-year projection likely will not require us to draw on much, if any,
of the $8,000 subsidy budgeted for 2016. Further details, including a final accounting, will be
given in due course.
2. Our annual pledge drive (2017) was very successful, for which we thank both Bill Sharp and
his stewardship committee and the congregation for responding favorably to the ongoing
needs and ministries of the Church. As a result of this happy development, session was able
to approve a balanced 2017 Budget of $135,000notably the first increase in ten (10) years.
3. Our mission committee, after careful consideration and prayer, including consultation with
several members involved in our food pantry mission, moved that session adopt (to which
motion session agreed subject to the congregations consideration and approval), a food
pantry mission statement, as follows:
To assist people in Ottawa County by providing access to food and personal care
items and by donating to, and collaborating with, other non-profit organizations
supplying food to those who are in need.
Session called a special meeting of the congregation for Sunday, January 15, 2017, to present
this matter to the congregation for consideration and approval.
4. Our preschool is both well-run (and self-sustaining and cost-effective) and meaningful
to the children and community it serves. We applaud its director Rachel Johnson and staff
for their ongoing pursuit of excellence. Session approved a 2017 Preschool Budget of
$85,489.

Please Pay Per Capita

The Finance and Stewardship Committee is again asking the membership of Firelands Church to please consider
donating $ 30.00 per member to help us cover our required per capita offering for our Presbyterian denomination. The
denomination break down is: General Assembly $ 7.50, Synod of the Covenant $ 3.25 and Maumee Valley Presbytery
$ 19.25 for a total of $30.00.
Your serious consideration towards this asking will be greatly appreciated and greatly help with our financial budget
here at Firelands Church. You can place your donation in your Sunday offering envelope, be sure to mark your
envelope accordingly or you can leave your donation at the church office or mail it there again making your intention
on or in your envelope.
Membership and Friends again thank-you for your financial commitment for 2107.
God Bless, Bill Sharp, Chair
Finance and Stewardship
the Gift of Light project gave $302.70 from their tree decorating contest in downtown Port Clinton. Thanks to all who
are helping with this mission project.

January 2016

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January Celebrations

Richard Dietz

Bill Umlauf

16

Pat and Bill Sharp

27

John Madison

Karen McCollough

21

Bob and Maxine Wilson

31

John Rogers

10

Patricia Anderson

22

Sally Walter

11

Merissa Jagucki

25

Tyler Gogolek

14

Jim Layton

26

Bob Wilson

16

Marsha Bordner

26

Heather Stouffer

Is your birthday or anniversary

missing or incorrect? Contact the
office so we can make the
changes to the list!

28

Ongoing Prayer Concerns

For those receiving medical treatment or therapy, or undergoing medical tests:
Debbie Ballinger, Jenatha Boose, June Gahris, Harold, Kim Hudson, Craig Kaiser, Arlene Kakareka, Stephen
Kessler, Angjuli Lele, Judy McCollough, John McLaughlin, Ele McLaughlin, Simon Mercurio, Michael, Jordan Moore,
John Rick, Sarah, Sue, Jack Schmidt, Justin Waugh, Ann Wagnitz.
For those facing the infirmities of age:
Carolyn Doane, Tom Gahris, Clara Maag, Shirley Ohles, Jamie Petty, Betty Rodwancy, Bob Rodwancy,
Gordan Wahlers, and Irene Wilson
For those seeking freedom, security, and hope:
Bobby, Justin, Sara, Val, and CASA Families
For those in the service of our country:
SMGT Jeff Bundy, Steven Coffin, FBI; Brant Crandall, USA; Cole Daniel, USCG; Mathew Devries, USAF;
Stu Gliwa, USMC; Aaron Haynes, USA; Andrew Hogue, USA, Ted Livingstine, USMC; Sanju Shinde, USMC;
For those in mission for our Lord:
Our missionaries in the Middle East; Phillip and Elizabeth Prasad in India;

The National Presbyterian Church of Mexico, Berea Presbytery;

The Rev. Hazael Compuzano, Dios es Amor congregation in Mexico City;
The Christian Community of Restoration and Renewal(CCRR) in Maumee Valley Presbytery.
To add or delete someone from this list, please contact Janine Dress in the church office.

January 2016

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Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

11

12

13

14

18

19

20

21

Preschool Begins

New Years Day

10:30 Worship

10

9:15 Sunday
School

4:30 MAS
Committee

7 Session

10:30 Worship

5:00 Bistro 163

Community
Dinner
7 Knitwits

15

16

17

9:15 Sunday
School

6 Firelands Family
Friday Feast @
1812 Resturant

10:30 Worship
11:45
Congregational
Meeting
3:30 MAS Concert

22

23

24

25

9:15 Sunday
School
10:30 Worship

Janine on Vacation

29

30

31

9:15 Sunday
School
10:30 Worship

Janine on Vacation

Notes:

26

27

28

January 2016

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Dont Forget Your Time to Serve!

Monthly

Ministry
Deacon of the Month
Communion Steward

Names
Joyce DellaSantina
Karen Vardyan

Jan. 1

Greeter(s)

Moores

Reader
Communion Assistant
Servers
Nursery Volunteer
Pianist

Jim Wagnitz
Ernie McCullough
KarenCoffin, Nila McCullough, Bob Reynolds, Dave Moore
Janet Gray-Moore
Susan Larcey

Greeter(s)
Reader
Communion Assistant
Servers

Bob Reynolds
Ed Bettendorf
Bill Sharp

Jan. 8

Nursery Volunteer
Pianist

Marilyn Umlauf, Marsha Bordner, Dave & Sally Wahlers

Heather Stouffer
Susan Larcey

Jan 15

Greeter(s)
Reader
Communion Assistant
Servers
Nursery Volunteer
Pianist

Heather Stouffer
Susan Rogers
Karen Coffin
Jay Viery, Bill Sharp, Ed Bettendorf, Alison Falls
Lily Stouffer
Susan Larcey

Jan 22

Greeter(s)
Reader
Communion Assistant
Servers
Nursery Volunteer
Pianist

OMalleys
Karen Coffin
Nila McCullough
Joyce DellaSantina, Ernie McCullough, Dave Wahlers, Dick Coffin
Anne OMalley
Susan Larcey

Jan 29

Greeter(s)
Reader
Communion Assistant
Servers
Nursery Volunteer
Pianist

Alison Falls
Marta Vielhaber
Bob Black
Dave Moore, Susan Rogers, Jim Wagnitz, Ed Betttendorf
Susan Rogers
Susan Larcey

Feb 5

Greeter(s)
Reader
Communion Assistant
Servers
Nursery Volunteer

Heather Stouffer
Ernie McCullough
Heather Stouffer
Alison Falls, Jay Viery, Bob Reynolds, Bob Black
Nila McCullough

January 2016

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The Musical Art Series / Port Clinton, OH

2016 2017 Season
Sunday, October 9, 2016
3:30 PM

Sunday, November 20, 2016

3:30 PM

Saturday, December 10, 2016

7:30 PM

STEVE & LISA BALL

Exploring music & stories of the American Civil War
Sponsored by Neidecker, Leveck & Crosser

YIDDISHE CUP KLEZMER BAND

Be Klezmerized by Eastern European folk/jazz
Sponsored by Frederick Agency, Inc.

MOSA STRING QUARTET

CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC
We salute talented musicians at this annual concert
Sponsored by Bassetts Market,
Stouffer Family & Catawba Island Club

Sunday, January 15, 2017

3:30 PM
Sunday, March 12, 2017
3:30 PM

Sunday, April 23, 2017

3:30 PM

GAVIN GEORGE PIANO

12 year-old Ohio native performs to international acclaim

AUSTRALIAN CLASSICAL GUITAR

Dynamic Duo from Down Under
Sponsored by Dubberts Outdrive Service,
1812 Food & Spirits
Otterbein North Shore

EARL E. WARNKE MEMORIAL CONCERT

CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA BRASS TRIO
Factory Seconds but second to none
Sponsored by Crown Battery,
Miller Boat Line

Sunday May 7, 2017

3:30 PM

Saturday, June 10, 2017

7:30 PM

CLEVELAND BLUEGRASS ORCHESTRA

The classics go down home
Sponsored by Jet Express,
Arbys
Shumaker Loop & Kendrick and Jack Hilbert

THE HIRED HANDS

Celtic harps, fiddle, concertina & penny whistle
Sponsored by Dr. Jay M. Mann in memory of Margaret N. Mann

All concerts at Firelands Presbyterian Church, 2626 East Harbor Rd., Port Clinton, OH
Tickets $15 at the door; students and children admitted free.
For information or season tickets, call 419-734-6211, go to WWW.MUSICALARTSPORTCLINTON.COM,
or find us on Facebook (The Musical Arts Series/Port Clinton).