Burns Flat Cumberland Presbyterian Church

Update Provided to the Board of Missions, Red River Presbytery

March 2009

Burns Flat Cumberland Presbyterian Church

Box 8

Burns Flat, Oklahoma 73624

20 March 2009

Grace and peace to you!

We the session of the Burns Flat Cumberland Presbyterian Church are
thankful for you and for the work that your committee does to fulfill
the mission of the church in the Red River Presbytery.

We are always delighted to share what is going on in God’s grace here
in Western Oklahoma.  I hope that you will find the following
sufficient to update you on what is happening in our church prior to
the adjourned meeting of Red River Presbytery.

As always, you are in our prayers.  Most of what follows can be summed
up in our church motto:  God’s Love in Action.  Even in the issues in
which we have had some difficulty, we present them in faith, hope, and
love.

Update Follows

Retreat for Elders.  The year began with a Retreat for all Elders, an event that we have
held for the past 4 years.  This year we made a special effort not
only to invite all elders to attend, but to encourage them.
Previously, only the elders serving on the session and those going off
the session attended.  We hope to continue this practice and
eventually have all elders in attendance for this special event.
While only elders serving on the current session voted; all prayed,
offered guidance, and assumed more leadership for the year to come.
Highlights from this event follow:

Retreat Highlights and Action Items

Before convening the session, all elders took assigned portions of the
prayer list and went into the sanctuary to pray for those on the list
and others that were on their hearts.  Following these prayers, elders
moved about the sanctuary sitting in different locations and praying
for those that came to mind.

Tom provided the opening devotion from Matthew 25:12-30.  He offered
the parable of the talents with the following acronym for
consideration:  TURN.

    Trusted.  These were trusted servants that the Master knew.  Each
was given according to his ability
    Urgency.  The two servants that produced a return for their master
went at once.  They valued not only the talent they had been given,
but the time as well.
    Return.  Each of the first two produced a good return on his
Master’s investment.  We are to produce good fruit for our Master.
    No Fear.  While we are told that the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom; we are not to live in fear.  Fear does not govern
us.  God did not give us a timid spirit. God want us to live without
fear of anything in this world.  Fear of God liberates us from fear of
anything in the world.  Two servants acted boldly and received the
best possible reward—words from their master saying, Well Done Good
and Faithful Servant!  One acted out of fear and did not please his
Master.

Tom reminded us that one day God will ask those that led his church,
‘what did you do with what I gave you?’

The session elected Junior Delp as Moderator Pro Tempore for 2009 and
designated Rick Ellis as the Elder to administer the Sacrament of the
Lord’s Supper (Constitution 4.6).  Tom will draft a letter for Gene
Reeve’s signature to Red River Presbytery (BOM) for approval of
administering this Sacrament.  The Lord’s Supper will be scheduled
every other month on the last Sunday of the month.

Vacation Bible School remainded a top priority for the session.  VBS
was moved to 13-17 July so as not to conflict with summer sports, and
the budget was increased to $600.  This is expected to remain an
evening event to build upon last year’s success with this venue.

There was a strong desire to increase our level of visitation.  Tom
will announce from the pulpit and include in the bulletin the
formation of a visitation team.  Many in our congregation have good
visitation skills and a desire to serve in this way.  Rodney was
assigned as the elder with oversight of this team.  After this first
year’s effort, the team may be moved to the purview of one of the
committees (missions).

Spreading the gospel was considered as something that needed added
emphasis.  The session believed that we had enough programs that
touched people in the community and that we really just needed to
develop personal relationships with those that don’t know Christ so as
to better lead them to Christ.  Tom will also look for ways to spread
the good news in print.  The session also decided to price the cost of
a better sign to maximize our location.  Rick Ellis will price and
report on message-capable signs by the March session meeting.

We decided to again hold a revival in April.  Rodney will invite Jeff
Gale—a minister from St Matthews Church that has been popular with the
youth at camps.  Tom will exercise oversight for the revival. [See
separate notes on Revival]

The session also agreed to be very proactive in quashing any rumors
that portrayed the session as unapproachable.  All elders agreed to be
especially attentive to discussions along these lines.  The session
has always welcomed ideas, concerns, exploration of alternatives, and
other participation in its meetings, but somehow perceptions to the
contrary have surfaced from time to time.  All agreed to let as many
people know as possible that the session is about leading through
obedience to God and love for one another.  Tom will also make
recurring announcements from the Pulpit.

Junior Delp was designated as the elder responsible for organizing
ushers.  He will find people to make sure the ushers know who they are
and are ready at the proper time.

The session also discussed being punctual.  We have such a short time
on this earth and such a short time for worship and education on
Sundays and Wednesdays, that we must be good stewards of the time we
have.  All elders will make special efforts to set a good example in
this area and to encourage all to be punctual as well.

The session also honored Tom’s request to delay the commissioning of
the Technology Workgroup until April so as to give the Worship
Committee time to submit its recommendations and the session to act
upon them.  [The kick off date for this is now 25 April 2009]

The session also agreed that all of the elders of the church and their
families should meet once or twice a year for fellowship.  A games
night was suggested as the first such meeting.

The session also decided to maintain one serving elder on each
standing committee.  Elders are not required to chair the committees
and in fact, it is preferable that these leadership opportunities be
reserved for others.  This required some realignment.  The current
assignments are:

Worship -    Rodney Chilton
Missions -    Rick Reeves
Fellowship -    Gerald
Christian Ed -    Junior Delp
Bldg & Grds-    Rick Ellis

The session approved a 2009 budget of $113,670 and directed that the
budget and the amount needed per Sunday be posted on the bulletin
board but not in the sanctuary.

The session adjourned with prayers at the altar.

--End Retreat Highlights—


GENERAL UPDATE

AA.  We continue to host the local New Leaf chapter of Alcoholics
Anonymous.  The group using the 12-Step recovery process and the
session agreed to give them a space in the fellowship hall to display
the 12 Steps and the 12 Traditions of AA.  The group averages about 5
per week.

Attendance has hovered at 100 consistently for these first few months
of 2009.  Among those coming to services now are several that we have
touched with our food ministries.  Other new attendees have come upon
the invitation of other members.  We are reaching out.

BABES.  Lynn Ferrari began a fitness program for women this spring.
The group meets Monday Evenings for two hours.  This is a program of
not only physical fitness, but spiritual fitness and group
accountability.  As of this report, 173 pounds was lost in this group.
The group enjoys sharing success stories, encouraging each other,
videos, exercise, and has incentives for every member.  The group
plans to continue through the summer.

Boy Scouts.  The church continues as sponsor for the local chapter of
the Boy Scouts.  The troop continues to meet in our building on a
regular basis.  We also support the troop by use of our van and
trailer for special events.

Church Information Pamphlet.  We realize that it is a huge challenge
for some people to walk through our doors.  Perhaps they have never
been to church, hand a bad experience somewhere, or it has just been
so long that they feel they can’t go back; however, we continue to
invite.  One way that we can help people see who we are before they
arrive is through a church information pamphlet.  We hope this simple
handout lets people know that we are not waiting to judge them, but to
love them.  Our prayer is that people will see that we are a church
that is alive and take that step to come celebrate life in Christ with
us.  (Pamphlet Attached)

First Light Flyers.  The First Light Service is our contemporary
service and the most likely venue to bring those reluctant to come to
into a church into our church.  Immediately following Easter Sunday,
we will launch a poster campaign in the high traffic spots in our
community.  We are appealing to those that don’t know what to wear,
how their children will be received, if they have to have something
for an offering, and other barriers that keep them in a comfort zone
we can best describe as lost.

Food Pantry.  Our food ministry has been very active this year.  Many
more families are having trouble making ends meet.  Some families we
help with bills via the ministerial alliance, but all that come
through our doors we offer to help with food.  We take up a special
food offering the first Sunday of each month.  The children bring
forth the offering during children’s church and we ask God to bless
this special offering.  We give food out every week and our shelves
have never been empty.  God has blessed this ministry.

Ministerial Alliance.  We continue to actively participate in the
Ministerial Alliance.  We have scheduled our community Easter Service
on 10 April 2009 (Good Friday), have scheduled Holy Week Services at
noon on the 6th-8th, and have also taken on the project of promoting
the National Day of Prayer this year on May 7th.  The alliance is
alive and we believe looks much like the church that Christ
intended—where denominational differences are not stumbling blocks to
love and worship.

Newsletters.  We continue to publish a monthly church newsletter.  Tom
does the electronic version.  Peggy Davis takes this version and makes
it into a MS Publisher document for a hard copy newsletter.  Liz
Leinau mails approximately 45 hard copy newsletters out as a personal
ministry.  Additionally, Tom has taken on the job of editing and
publishing the community newsletter.  This give us more touchpoints in
the community and serves as a means to announce special events:  VBS,
Promise Keepers, people that need local jobs, and ministerial alliance
events.  Hard copy circulation for this publication is 275.  There is
also an online version of the newsletter which is hosted on our church
website.

Promise Keepers.  Attendance has grown this spring from the 10 that
went to last summer’s conference to as many as 24.  This good news is
even better as we now have people attending our Promise Keepers
meetings from three of the churches in town.  This is a new, but
growing ministry for our small community.  Rick Ellis was elected as
the local PK president for 2009.  We are still waiting on the 2009 PK
conference schedule.  Some may attend the husband and wife conference
in Boulder, Colorado at the end of July.

PAS Update.  Tom has completed all assignments for all 9 SES courses
and all assignments for the 3 additional courses he took as part of
the fall offerings.  Ellie Scrudder is working with Dr. Jay Brown to
provide Tom one additional course either before the spring (adjourned)
meeting in Clinton, Oklahoma.  Details are still being coordinated.
Tom enrolled in 9 courses for the 2009 summer session.

Revival.  Jeff Gehle of the St. Matthew CPC in Burleson, Texas
accepted our invitation to speak at our revival this spring.  Revival
dates are 27, 28, 29 April 2009.  We will invite our sister churches
in Mangum and Clinton to attend as well as advertising this special
event in Western Oklahoma media.

Van Ministry.  We have also begun and sustained a van ministry.  Rick
Ellis coordinates the pick up of families without transportation and
the drivers to run the route.  Currently, we pick up between 8:30 a.m.
and 8:50 a.m. and make return trips after the traditional service is
concluded, generally just after noon.

Wednesday Night Programs.

    F-4 continues through the 29th of April.  We have varied the mix of
activities this year.  In addition to the meal that begins at six and
the classes that begin at seven, Kathy Stegall has taken on the role
of children’s shepherd.  For the past few years, our younger children
had too much unsupervised time between the meal and the classes.
Adults were involved in clean up and wanted as much fellowship time as
possible, so having directed, enjoyable activities between 6:30 p.m.
and 7:00 p.m. for these elementary aged children was just the answer.
They have positive direction and accountability has improved.  While
most families come to this event intact, many children are “dropped
off” by parents that generally do not attend the church.  This
shepherd role has allowed us to keep all of our young ones productive,
safe, and supervised while they are here each Wednesday.

    We have also modified two of our Wednesdays in that after the meal,
we do not have classes, but sing for the educational hour.  This has
given the congregation a chance to sing old favorites, learn new
music, and enjoy each other’s company while we make our joyful noises
unto the Lord.

    Choir Practice.  Every third Wednesday from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. we
have leading choir practice.  This is concurrent with clean up and the
shepherding of the younger children.  Choir practice had been
something that had not been done for over a decade save the occasional
cantata practice every few years.  With schedules so hectic these
days, this parallel activity has proved sustainable.

    Our adult education this spring has again returned to men’s bible
study and women’s bible study.  The men are studying Paul and his
letters.  The women are studying Proverbs.

    One additional modification will be made to our Wednesday night
program.  The last Wednesday is normally scheduled as a meal and time
of fellowship only.  This year, the third day of our revival will
follow the meal on the 29th of April.

Whosoever Will.  Last August we started something that had not been
done for some time in this congregation—summer education for adults.
VBS was a great success, but adults (includes senior youth) need
continuing Christian Education as well.  Last August, Tom led a
Wednesday Night Series call Breaking Away from Busy Burdened. This
year, we are planning Wednesday meetings in June and August to cover
the Confession of Faith and CPC Polity respectively.  May has always
been a hectic month, but we are considering a study of the Five
Practices of Fruitful Congregations on the Five Fridays in May 2009.

Worship Review.  The Worship Committee completed a Session Directed
Review of our worship.  This was a challenging process and we
discovered that we were not immune to what has affectionately been
dubbed “worship wars” throughout this country.  Through much prayer,
deliberation, tears, more prayer, and surrender to God; the worship
committee recommended only a single change from our current worship.
That change was to move the passing of the peace from the beginning of
worship to the end of the call for worship.  The passing of the peace
was moved to the very beginning of the service—actually before the
Introit—because we are a congregation that likes each other and we got
carried away with this activity.  Fellowship overcame worship.

    The change back to what had previously gotten a little out of
control was with the direction of all involved in leading worship to
assist the congregation in returning to worship at the end of the
passing of the peace.  This has worked well so far.  This was not just
a formality.  Many people that came to our church one Sunday and then
returned again told us that they could feel our love.  The passing of
the peace was a big part of this for many newcomers.

    The issues of contemporary and traditional music proved not to be
much of an issue at all.  Of those that attend the contemporary
service, about 80% remain for Sunday school and the traditional
service.  In effect, we have held a blended service for the past
couple of years.  It runs from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (noon) with a
break in the middle for education and fellowship.  This works well for
us.

    The real truth-teller for our worship and fellowship considerations
is that at the end of the traditional service, Tom often stands by the
door for 5 minutes before the first person or family is ready to
leave.  It often takes us 15 minutes or more for most people to leave
the sanctuary.  We like each other and think that is a good thing.

Youth.  Our Jr-Sr High youth continue to be active.  They lead worship
on 5th Sundays.  We also have fellowship meals on these Sundays.
Since our last report, the youth went on a two-day mission trip to
Oklahoma City.  They worked at Feed The Children for one day and at
the Jesus House—a homeless shelter—for the second day.  Both were good
service projects and both were eye-opening education for our youth.
The youth also attended Winter Retreat, some young ladies attended the
revolve tour, and parts of the group have attended other Christian
events as well.

Our very young seem to be the group that is growing the most.  Often,
25 children will come forward for Children’s Church.  These children
display the joy that we should all have.  In one service in which we
took up a food offering, one of our very young men came running into
the sanctuary from the foyer where the food had been dropped off.  He
was holding a single can above his head and was proclaiming with pure
excitement, “I’ve got corn.”  If there was ever a ready-made model for
how we should enter worship, this was it.  These children preach a
message of joy every Sunday!

Difficulties:  An Elder to Serve the Lord’s Supper.  The approval
process for having an elder selected by the session approved by
Presbytery is unclear at best.  Proceeding along previous lines—that
were within all known references-- we submitted our request to the
chairman of the Board of Missions only to discover that our current
moderator directs that it go through his committee on the clergy.
None of these guidelines are promulgated.  Randy Hardisty has promised
us that guidelines such as he described will be formalized and made
known to all.  We can jump through whatever hoops may be required, but
we jump quicker and much more effectively if we know what the hoops
are in advance.  Our Confession of Faith as well as our hearts tell us
that the Lord’s Supper is a sacrament that each congregation should
celebrate regularly and every Christian should receive frequently (COF
5.27).  This process needs to work much better.  Approval of the Lay
Clergy Amendment will help in the long term, but does not help our
2009 efforts.

Your help is appreciated in addressing this recurring need among many
congregations with a defined, workable process in which the church
government is the epitome of what it is supposed to be—an aid to the
church performing its mission (Preamble to our Constitution).  Please
move to resolve this issue among the various committees with all
deliberate speed so that those who have entrusted us with leadership
will be fully served in this essential part of worship.

We also want to add a note of thanks to Dale Nease.   He has responded
to our needs on more than one occasion so that our congregation
receives this all important sacrament.  Last month, he responded on
very short notice.  We do appreciate the care that Dale gives to us.

We conclude with prayers that our meeting in Clinton next month will
produce good fruit for the Lord and that all will proceed from this
meeting as a light unto the world.  Thank you for all that you do in
the service of our Lord and Master!

For the Session,

Gene Reeves
Session Clerk

cc:  Clifton Key
        Dale Nease
        Post (Session Read Board)
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Cumberland Presbyterian Church

Burns Flat, Oklahoma

God's Love in Action