Minutes for Stewardship 2019
Given by members of the Stewardship Committee
Gina Ikenberry (October 6)
Click here to listen
When Pastor Dean asked me to think about being on the Stewardship Committee this year, and to possibly speak for the “Minute for Mission” my first instinct was to say, “NO!” I have a fear of public speaking, and I think gets worse every year. But, then Dean pulled at my heartstrings. He said, “Talk about what the church means to YOU.” That’s when I gave his request serious thought, because this church has meant a lot to John and me over the years. All three of our kids were baptized right here. Many of you were even here to witness it. All of our kids started their preschool years here at Stay & Play. Then, as our kids grew, they went to Sunday school, then LOGOS and our oldest two went through Chrysalis. In many ways this place has been like a second home to our family.
I recently asked my kids what their first thoughts were when I said SCPC. Our 14-yr old said, “It’s a place I could go if I ever felt lost. It’s a place where I know people would support me – no know matter what.”
Our oldest said she was grateful for the friendships that have been made as a result of this church – through youth group, and years of Sunday school. That reminded me of Confirmation Sunday, when so many of our church-family came up and laid hands on the kids, showing their love and support to all of them.
Our story is NOT unique. We are just one of hundreds of families in this church – who have had wonderful and experiences here.
Our church helps those in their darkest hours, those who are suffering, or enduring hardships. It helps those who feel lost and need help being found. But it also is there for renewal, for personal growth, and to help spread love in our families, our larger church community and beyond.
In the bigger picture, this church is remarkable in ways where it reaches out to help others… Some easy examples that come to mind are our involvement in Out of the Cold, Christmas in July, the Community Christmas Dinner, and most recently our involvement with Hekima School in Kenya. These things make me so proud to belong to this church.
Everyone in this sanctuary could probably come up here and share an example of how this church has helped them, or made a positive impact in their lives. We hope that you reflect on your own personal experiences here as you consider how you can support the church in the coming year.
Click here to listen
When Pastor Dean asked me to think about being on the Stewardship Committee this year, and to possibly speak for the “Minute for Mission” my first instinct was to say, “NO!” I have a fear of public speaking, and I think gets worse every year. But, then Dean pulled at my heartstrings. He said, “Talk about what the church means to YOU.” That’s when I gave his request serious thought, because this church has meant a lot to John and me over the years. All three of our kids were baptized right here. Many of you were even here to witness it. All of our kids started their preschool years here at Stay & Play. Then, as our kids grew, they went to Sunday school, then LOGOS and our oldest two went through Chrysalis. In many ways this place has been like a second home to our family.
I recently asked my kids what their first thoughts were when I said SCPC. Our 14-yr old said, “It’s a place I could go if I ever felt lost. It’s a place where I know people would support me – no know matter what.”
Our oldest said she was grateful for the friendships that have been made as a result of this church – through youth group, and years of Sunday school. That reminded me of Confirmation Sunday, when so many of our church-family came up and laid hands on the kids, showing their love and support to all of them.
Our story is NOT unique. We are just one of hundreds of families in this church – who have had wonderful and experiences here.
Our church helps those in their darkest hours, those who are suffering, or enduring hardships. It helps those who feel lost and need help being found. But it also is there for renewal, for personal growth, and to help spread love in our families, our larger church community and beyond.
In the bigger picture, this church is remarkable in ways where it reaches out to help others… Some easy examples that come to mind are our involvement in Out of the Cold, Christmas in July, the Community Christmas Dinner, and most recently our involvement with Hekima School in Kenya. These things make me so proud to belong to this church.
Everyone in this sanctuary could probably come up here and share an example of how this church has helped them, or made a positive impact in their lives. We hope that you reflect on your own personal experiences here as you consider how you can support the church in the coming year.
Phil Spangler (October 20)
Click here to listen
One of my all-time favorite songs is a country love song called, “Something That We Do” written by Clint Black and Skip Ewing. I learned it a long time ago and play it often. If you get a chance sometime, google it and listen to it.
That song and those words, “Something That We Do” reflects my love for Susan but also parallels my relationship with the church throughout my life.
I don’t remember going to church when I was younger since my family lived oversees and I just don’t think we went. Then when we came back to the states, we moved every 6 months or so. but when I turned 10 or 11, we settled down in the suburbs of DC and joined a large Methodist church.
I hated church! I hated going to church. I remember complaining and badgering my mother, constantly asking why we had to go to church and she would always say “its just something that we do so get over it.” We were always made to sit in the front of the church, and because I had the attention span of a two-year-old, it was hard for me to sit still. It still is! The one saving grace was that if we were good, right before the sermon my father would pull out a pack of lifesavers. You remember the ones with red, orange, green and yellow? That seemed to shut me up for a bit. Now, if you sit in the row that Susan and I sit in every week, you will find that right before the sermon we have that same ritual of passing lifesavers down the row.
I went to Sunday School at that church, got active in the junior high and senior high youth groups, joined the choir, went on mission trips and just got very involved in the many activities that the church had to offer. That’s about the same time I learned to write and perform music in front of people. I would play in church, coffee houses, weddings, anywhere someone would listen. I became a confident young man for the first time in my life. I truly believe that those years molded me into who I am today. Church went from something that we do to something I wanted to do.
I got married in that church in 1979, had 3 children, and in 1987 we moved to State College. I started looking for a church that we could join because I wanted my children to have those same experiences that I had as a youth. in November of 1987 I went to a service at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. True story, you can google it. 5 days after going to that service, the sanctuary burned down. I figured that was a pretty good sign or omen not to go back. I continued looking at other congregations throughout the area and in the spring of 1988, I decided to try State College Presbyterian Church. I sat in one of the back pews where I could hide and read the bulletin. One of the announcements said, “come join our church softball team”. Well, because I loved and played baseball and softball all my life, I did. Jerry Sawyer was on that team and he would remember. We were terrible! But I made a lot of friends and that’s where my SCPC story begins.
I started getting involved with this church right away and in the early 90’s I got a call from some guy named John Robison who asked me to be a deacon. I had no idea what a deacon was because I grew up Methodist and they don’t have deacons, but he made it sound glamorous, so of course I said yes, and the rest is history. I have been an active deacon on and off for the last 27 years.
Fast forward a bit. I went through a divorce and was grateful that I had a lot of support from the church staff and my church family. fast forward again. I met Susan in this church and we married in this sanctuary 21 years ago. Many of you were at the wedding and reception.
Willingly Susan and I have given so much of ourselves to this church and have been on numerous committees and involved with many activities as in LOGOS table parents, cooking crews which seemed to go on forever, mission projects, and the list goes on and on. It’s just “something that we do”.
But what we both know and understand is that there is no amount of money that could ever repay the many blessings, lessons, and relationships that we have gained through this church.
Now, I have to admit, until Dean asked me to be on the stewardship committee this year, I had no idea of how many activities and programs we have going on in this church day in and day out through the year. If you just look at the colored chart that the stewardship committee sent out recently, you will have noticed there are more than 60 activities and programs listed, and they all need to be overseen by only a handful of church staff. we are incredibly understaffed here and do not have the resources to hire more. This year, Susan and I will be upping our pledge dramatically because of this need and we hope that you will consider this also.
Susan and I could not be more proud of our 5 incredible loving children, now young adults. Every one of them went through the SCPC Sunday School program, LOGOS, chrysalis, and FISH and have been involved with many church mission trips, choirs, and activities over the years. These programs have made a major impact on their lives by molding them into the people they are today. These programs and especially FISH, helped us blend the most wonderful family anyone could ask for.
But what Susan and I are most proud of is that with the help and support of these programs, every one of our children is unconditionally accepting and respectful towards all people – no matter the race, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or circumstance of life. No money can buy this and no money can repay this gift that we have been given.
These words and actions are something that our children believe, Susan and I believe, and thank God our church believes. It is and should be……“something that we do”.
Click here to listen
One of my all-time favorite songs is a country love song called, “Something That We Do” written by Clint Black and Skip Ewing. I learned it a long time ago and play it often. If you get a chance sometime, google it and listen to it.
That song and those words, “Something That We Do” reflects my love for Susan but also parallels my relationship with the church throughout my life.
I don’t remember going to church when I was younger since my family lived oversees and I just don’t think we went. Then when we came back to the states, we moved every 6 months or so. but when I turned 10 or 11, we settled down in the suburbs of DC and joined a large Methodist church.
I hated church! I hated going to church. I remember complaining and badgering my mother, constantly asking why we had to go to church and she would always say “its just something that we do so get over it.” We were always made to sit in the front of the church, and because I had the attention span of a two-year-old, it was hard for me to sit still. It still is! The one saving grace was that if we were good, right before the sermon my father would pull out a pack of lifesavers. You remember the ones with red, orange, green and yellow? That seemed to shut me up for a bit. Now, if you sit in the row that Susan and I sit in every week, you will find that right before the sermon we have that same ritual of passing lifesavers down the row.
I went to Sunday School at that church, got active in the junior high and senior high youth groups, joined the choir, went on mission trips and just got very involved in the many activities that the church had to offer. That’s about the same time I learned to write and perform music in front of people. I would play in church, coffee houses, weddings, anywhere someone would listen. I became a confident young man for the first time in my life. I truly believe that those years molded me into who I am today. Church went from something that we do to something I wanted to do.
I got married in that church in 1979, had 3 children, and in 1987 we moved to State College. I started looking for a church that we could join because I wanted my children to have those same experiences that I had as a youth. in November of 1987 I went to a service at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. True story, you can google it. 5 days after going to that service, the sanctuary burned down. I figured that was a pretty good sign or omen not to go back. I continued looking at other congregations throughout the area and in the spring of 1988, I decided to try State College Presbyterian Church. I sat in one of the back pews where I could hide and read the bulletin. One of the announcements said, “come join our church softball team”. Well, because I loved and played baseball and softball all my life, I did. Jerry Sawyer was on that team and he would remember. We were terrible! But I made a lot of friends and that’s where my SCPC story begins.
I started getting involved with this church right away and in the early 90’s I got a call from some guy named John Robison who asked me to be a deacon. I had no idea what a deacon was because I grew up Methodist and they don’t have deacons, but he made it sound glamorous, so of course I said yes, and the rest is history. I have been an active deacon on and off for the last 27 years.
Fast forward a bit. I went through a divorce and was grateful that I had a lot of support from the church staff and my church family. fast forward again. I met Susan in this church and we married in this sanctuary 21 years ago. Many of you were at the wedding and reception.
Willingly Susan and I have given so much of ourselves to this church and have been on numerous committees and involved with many activities as in LOGOS table parents, cooking crews which seemed to go on forever, mission projects, and the list goes on and on. It’s just “something that we do”.
But what we both know and understand is that there is no amount of money that could ever repay the many blessings, lessons, and relationships that we have gained through this church.
Now, I have to admit, until Dean asked me to be on the stewardship committee this year, I had no idea of how many activities and programs we have going on in this church day in and day out through the year. If you just look at the colored chart that the stewardship committee sent out recently, you will have noticed there are more than 60 activities and programs listed, and they all need to be overseen by only a handful of church staff. we are incredibly understaffed here and do not have the resources to hire more. This year, Susan and I will be upping our pledge dramatically because of this need and we hope that you will consider this also.
Susan and I could not be more proud of our 5 incredible loving children, now young adults. Every one of them went through the SCPC Sunday School program, LOGOS, chrysalis, and FISH and have been involved with many church mission trips, choirs, and activities over the years. These programs have made a major impact on their lives by molding them into the people they are today. These programs and especially FISH, helped us blend the most wonderful family anyone could ask for.
But what Susan and I are most proud of is that with the help and support of these programs, every one of our children is unconditionally accepting and respectful towards all people – no matter the race, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or circumstance of life. No money can buy this and no money can repay this gift that we have been given.
These words and actions are something that our children believe, Susan and I believe, and thank God our church believes. It is and should be……“something that we do”.
Liz Holtzinger (October 27)
Click here to listen
Humor me for just a moment…I want you to think of one of the most meaningful conversations you’ve had over the past ten years…where did that conversation take place?
When I’ve posed this question to my students, they never answer “it was in a classroom.” I’d imagine this to be true for most people—the most meaningful conversations usually happen in the most obscure places and sometimes under really interesting contexts.
For me, one of the most meaningful conversations I’ve had in the past ten years happened during a congregational meeting a couple of years ago. In anticipation of Diana Malcom retiring from college ministry, we were trying to look ahead and to determine how we could recommit ourselves to ministry with college age and young adults.
From the pulpit, Pastor Dean asked us a question: what kind of relationship (if any) did you have with the church during college and what difference did it make it in your life?
He encouraged us to share our answers with the person seated next to me.
Seated next to me was Dick Wolf. With Dick, I shared my family history, having grown up in the Presbyterian church in Altoona. When I was young, going to church was just “something that you do,” just like what Phil shared with us last week.
Once I hit college, though, my relationship with God unraveled.
When I came to here to go to school, I was angry. I didn’t want to be at Penn State. And more than that, I was angry at God. See—life wasn’t working out the way I thought it should, and I was blaming God for it. I thought He had left me.
I had done all the “right things” when I was a kid— I was a good kid, and I went to church, went to Bible study, was active in Youth Group, tithed, went to retreats at Camp Blue Diamond, and I prayed for forgiveness of my sins, I played in the bell choir, I even taught Sunday School—ALL of it…and then it just didn’t seem that life was going the way it should, and it was God’s fault.
I didn’t know how to stop being angry, and I didn’t know how to stop blaming God.
As an adult living in State College after graduation, my anger lessened for my college wounds were healing, yet I still didn’t have a church family. I had set foot into this church, for my friend Trish was getting married here. It was hotter than hell that day; the AC was broken, and my dress, soaked with sweat, stuck to the pew back, pulling off some of its varnish as I leaned forward. My dress was ruined, but I remember thinking, “This place is beautiful. If ever I were to come back to church, I’d come here.” That was over 20 years ago. I didn’t come back.
Six years ago, I needed God. Desperately. I needed God, for I had just experienced the most overwhelming loss: my husband had died unexpectedly at the age of 45. I was 41. My grief was complicated—I had a mix of grief, guilt, shame, and relief…and I didn’t know what to do with it.
So I did what anyone does when they don’t know the answer: I Googled it. J
I typed in “Grief Support Groups State College.”
“Life After Loss—A group for the bereaved” turned up. And it was being offered at the State College Presbyterian Church.
It sounded like it could be interesting, yet I could not find more information…and furthermore, I did not want to go…alone.
And so I trudged along, by myself, trying to find my way…
It was five years ago when I met my current partner, Greg. Shortly into our courtship, Greg was eager for me to meet his family. And even though it seemed “too soon” to be meeting family, I had a really good feeling about Greg; I just got a good vibe from him, and he just felt like “home” to me. So I agreed to meet his family, and it would turn out that his father would be Dick Wolf.
Dick and I hit it off, straight out of the gate, and he’d shared with me that he was a 30-year member of the State College Presbyterian Church.
It was as though the stars had aligned.
I was raised in the Presbyterian church;
I was no longer angry at God—I needed and wanted God in my life, I just didn’t know where to go—and I didn’t want to come to church alone.
And then there was my friend’s wedding that was RIGHT HERE, right in this very building…
and during one of the lowest periods of my life, a Google search pointed me in the direction of this church…
and now I had this incredibly supportive person in my life who just so happened to have an amazing father who was a member of this church and who would just so happen to invite me to join him here in the sixth row at 9:00 AM on Sundays.
I accepted.
I eventually became a member and am now serving on the Stewardship Committee.
Funny how life works out, right?
My mother always says, “The Lord works in mysterious ways.”
It took me nearly 25 years to get here.
And I wonder: for how many others in this community might it take 25 years to get here?
What if they never get here?
We can’t let that happen.
Because at this church, we really DO have something for everyone; yet if the people we seek to serve do not know of our programs, then we cannot do the work that God has called us to do.
What if our church could more aggressively promote our unique and exceptionally helpful programs through the various communications channels that are now available to us?
What if our church had more of a presence on social media? What if we could use those platforms to get the word out to college students that we have a program that was made—just for them?
How many more college students who might be just like I was—angry at God…how many more of them might we be able to wrap in the arms of our church that was built with love?
And what if we could more widely communicate to our State College grieving community that we have a Life After Loss program? How many more might be wrapped in the arms of our church that was built with love?
I am so blessed to have been invited here by Dick. He—and all of you—welcomed me to this church, this church that was built with love.
Yet not everyone has a Dick Wolf in their lives. And not everyone knows about you and what this church offers our community.
And they aren’t going to know until we are able to more effectively fund the church’s communication efforts.
An effective communications campaign is going to cost money.
It will cost money to learn how to use the various communications channels;
it will cost money to create the content for the campaign;
it will cost money to push the campaign out into the public realm.
Your pledge of stewardship is a commitment to communicating God’s love—His outreach—to our community.
Your commitment is an investment in the college student who is lost, confused, and searching for meaning.
It is an investment in the grieving widow who cries herself to sleep at night and looks to Google for the answers instead of God.
It is an investment in spreading the Good News about the State College Presbyterian Church.
It is an investment toward bringing others closer to God.
Next Sunday, we dedicate our pledges to God. In doing so, we will be providing an opportunity for others—who are just like you and just like me—to be wrapped in the arms of our church, the church we built with love.
Click here to listen
Humor me for just a moment…I want you to think of one of the most meaningful conversations you’ve had over the past ten years…where did that conversation take place?
When I’ve posed this question to my students, they never answer “it was in a classroom.” I’d imagine this to be true for most people—the most meaningful conversations usually happen in the most obscure places and sometimes under really interesting contexts.
For me, one of the most meaningful conversations I’ve had in the past ten years happened during a congregational meeting a couple of years ago. In anticipation of Diana Malcom retiring from college ministry, we were trying to look ahead and to determine how we could recommit ourselves to ministry with college age and young adults.
From the pulpit, Pastor Dean asked us a question: what kind of relationship (if any) did you have with the church during college and what difference did it make it in your life?
He encouraged us to share our answers with the person seated next to me.
Seated next to me was Dick Wolf. With Dick, I shared my family history, having grown up in the Presbyterian church in Altoona. When I was young, going to church was just “something that you do,” just like what Phil shared with us last week.
Once I hit college, though, my relationship with God unraveled.
When I came to here to go to school, I was angry. I didn’t want to be at Penn State. And more than that, I was angry at God. See—life wasn’t working out the way I thought it should, and I was blaming God for it. I thought He had left me.
I had done all the “right things” when I was a kid— I was a good kid, and I went to church, went to Bible study, was active in Youth Group, tithed, went to retreats at Camp Blue Diamond, and I prayed for forgiveness of my sins, I played in the bell choir, I even taught Sunday School—ALL of it…and then it just didn’t seem that life was going the way it should, and it was God’s fault.
I didn’t know how to stop being angry, and I didn’t know how to stop blaming God.
As an adult living in State College after graduation, my anger lessened for my college wounds were healing, yet I still didn’t have a church family. I had set foot into this church, for my friend Trish was getting married here. It was hotter than hell that day; the AC was broken, and my dress, soaked with sweat, stuck to the pew back, pulling off some of its varnish as I leaned forward. My dress was ruined, but I remember thinking, “This place is beautiful. If ever I were to come back to church, I’d come here.” That was over 20 years ago. I didn’t come back.
Six years ago, I needed God. Desperately. I needed God, for I had just experienced the most overwhelming loss: my husband had died unexpectedly at the age of 45. I was 41. My grief was complicated—I had a mix of grief, guilt, shame, and relief…and I didn’t know what to do with it.
So I did what anyone does when they don’t know the answer: I Googled it. J
I typed in “Grief Support Groups State College.”
“Life After Loss—A group for the bereaved” turned up. And it was being offered at the State College Presbyterian Church.
It sounded like it could be interesting, yet I could not find more information…and furthermore, I did not want to go…alone.
And so I trudged along, by myself, trying to find my way…
It was five years ago when I met my current partner, Greg. Shortly into our courtship, Greg was eager for me to meet his family. And even though it seemed “too soon” to be meeting family, I had a really good feeling about Greg; I just got a good vibe from him, and he just felt like “home” to me. So I agreed to meet his family, and it would turn out that his father would be Dick Wolf.
Dick and I hit it off, straight out of the gate, and he’d shared with me that he was a 30-year member of the State College Presbyterian Church.
It was as though the stars had aligned.
I was raised in the Presbyterian church;
I was no longer angry at God—I needed and wanted God in my life, I just didn’t know where to go—and I didn’t want to come to church alone.
And then there was my friend’s wedding that was RIGHT HERE, right in this very building…
and during one of the lowest periods of my life, a Google search pointed me in the direction of this church…
and now I had this incredibly supportive person in my life who just so happened to have an amazing father who was a member of this church and who would just so happen to invite me to join him here in the sixth row at 9:00 AM on Sundays.
I accepted.
I eventually became a member and am now serving on the Stewardship Committee.
Funny how life works out, right?
My mother always says, “The Lord works in mysterious ways.”
It took me nearly 25 years to get here.
And I wonder: for how many others in this community might it take 25 years to get here?
What if they never get here?
We can’t let that happen.
Because at this church, we really DO have something for everyone; yet if the people we seek to serve do not know of our programs, then we cannot do the work that God has called us to do.
What if our church could more aggressively promote our unique and exceptionally helpful programs through the various communications channels that are now available to us?
What if our church had more of a presence on social media? What if we could use those platforms to get the word out to college students that we have a program that was made—just for them?
How many more college students who might be just like I was—angry at God…how many more of them might we be able to wrap in the arms of our church that was built with love?
And what if we could more widely communicate to our State College grieving community that we have a Life After Loss program? How many more might be wrapped in the arms of our church that was built with love?
I am so blessed to have been invited here by Dick. He—and all of you—welcomed me to this church, this church that was built with love.
Yet not everyone has a Dick Wolf in their lives. And not everyone knows about you and what this church offers our community.
And they aren’t going to know until we are able to more effectively fund the church’s communication efforts.
An effective communications campaign is going to cost money.
It will cost money to learn how to use the various communications channels;
it will cost money to create the content for the campaign;
it will cost money to push the campaign out into the public realm.
Your pledge of stewardship is a commitment to communicating God’s love—His outreach—to our community.
Your commitment is an investment in the college student who is lost, confused, and searching for meaning.
It is an investment in the grieving widow who cries herself to sleep at night and looks to Google for the answers instead of God.
It is an investment in spreading the Good News about the State College Presbyterian Church.
It is an investment toward bringing others closer to God.
Next Sunday, we dedicate our pledges to God. In doing so, we will be providing an opportunity for others—who are just like you and just like me—to be wrapped in the arms of our church, the church we built with love.
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State College Presbyterian Church
132 West Beaver Avenue State College, PA 16801 Phone: 814-238-2422 Fax: 814-238-3524 email: [email protected] Program Year Sunday Worship In the Sanctuary at 9:30 am, followed by our Exploration Hour - face masks are optional Summer Sunday Worship (Memorial Day Weekend - Labor Day Weekend) TBD In the Sanctuary followed by Coffee Hour (outdoors as weather permits) - face masks are optional Live-Streamed Worship ~ An email is sent out on Saturdays (to those on our mailing list) with a link to our live-stream of the worship service on YouTube at 9:30 am on Sundays. If you would like to join our mailing list, please click here Stay and Play Preschool 814-237-1154 [email protected] Church Office Hours:
Monday - Thursday: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Friday: 9:00 am - noon |
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