First Presbyterian Church January 2025
Pastor Walter's Annual Report Thoughts
Sometimes it can be hard to maintain a hopeful outlook once the New Year starts. The credit card bills for the holidays are always more than we expect. The news is no longer about Christmas cheer, but about crime, violence, and politics to name just a few. In the life of our church, a new year also means that an Annual Meeting is coming up on Sunday, February 2nd, 2025.
The average person at an Annual Meeting skims through most of that information in hopes of getting home fairly quickly. As long as the budget is balanced and things seem to be going fairly well, then the meeting is mostly a formality. However, that packet of papers is also a theological reflection on what we have done and who we have been in the past year, for which we should feel grateful. Even the budget itself is an unwrapped gift to God of what we hope to do and to be in the year ahead. I do not know yet what those reports will say, but I will make some educated guesses so that you can catch a glimpse of what is to come.
Christian Education/Youth will lift up that we had good Sunday School attendance this year, and we had a great Christmas pageant among other programs for the kids. I heard that the Council of Churches’ Vacation Bible School went well, though I was unexpectedly in the hospital when it happened. Pastor Darrel Brown coordinated it, and he, Pastor Bob Searle and Diane Walker alternated doing the Bible lessons. The Council of Churches Christmas Eve service had its best attendance in years, and we had beautiful organ music from Terry VanFleet. Beth Clingerman led the Christmas joint choir, and we have continued to be blessed by the “pop up choir” on a monthly basis.
The Session report will have our official member rolls, which will remind us of some of our church family and friends who passed away in 2024: Gene Augustine, Bill Cahoon, Henry Felker, Joyce Granger, Edith Hutchings, Scott Kelley, Verne Mills, Eleanor Stevenson, and Judy Tatum. They will be missed. (I was more than a little concerned that my name would be on that list, too, but I was blessed to have a successful heart valve replacement.) On a positive note, we have received Will and Tiffiny Cahoon, Kayla DeMay, Carol Douglass, Darlene Everett, Lisa Everett, and Lita Lenz as new members. I baptized four adults and three children.
So here’s the bottom line: We kept going despite all the other craziness of the last few years. May we approach this New Year with thanksgiving and hope in this spirit.
Rev. Walter Stuber
First Presbyterian Church
11988 W. Main St., Wolcott, NY 14590
585-217-6030 stuberman1@yahoo.com
www.wolcottpresbyterian.com
Nominating Committee Meeting
The Nominating Committee will meet following worship on Sunday, January 5. Committee members are John Gingerich, David VanFleet, Cheryl Gilbert, Sue Mitchell, Tom Johnson, Dan Kilmer, Noah Gingerich, and alternate Dolores Gingerich.
Quilting Group
The Quilting Group will begin meeting weekly again starting on January 9.
2024 Christmas
Thank you so much to everyone who helped in any way. This year we helped families, children received gifts, and elderly received a food bag.
Financial Report
ontact Walter For numbers
Congratulations!
Congratulations and best wishes to Mary Lou Lockwood on her retirement from Bob’s Supermarket!
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, January 15: Reports due for the Annual Meeting
Sunday, February 2: Annual meeting following the church service
January Anniversaries
Lee & Linda Bastian1/25/69
Roger & Myrna Voelker1/21/61
January Birthdays
Pastor Walter Stuber1/24
Carol Douglass1/9
Terri Fitzmaurice1/6
Vaughn Fursman1/20
Tanner Urban1/12
Sharon Roberts1/22
Wendy Sipes1/30
Karen Tyler1/6
Eric VanFleet1/20
Roger Voelker1/11
ArleneYoungman1/9