ePulse Second Presbyterian Church

Preschool Registration Going On Now

It’s preschool registration time at 2PC! If you are interested in enrolling your child in preschool, please contact Marijane Galvan at 828.6297, or visit the preschool page of our website.

Summer Internships Available

The Children’s Ministry is looking for summer interns to support Vacation Bible School, summer camp and summer Sunday programming. Contact Tammy at tammy.haggard@secondpres.info for further details and an application. Application deadline is April 15.

Housing for Interns

2PC will be welcoming a seminary intern this summer and a Children’s Ministry intern this fall, and housing with a 2PC family is part of the compensation. If you have extra room and are interested in housing an intern either this summer (mid-May to mid-August 2009) or next year (August 2009 to July 2010) please contact Andrea Kladder at andrea.kladder@secondpres.info.

Tech Volunteers Needed

2PC is looking for several volunteers to help the Technical Arts Team on Sunday mornings. Duties include running slides that accompany both 9am and 11am services. Volunteers interested in the position must be available from 7am-12pm on their assigned Sundays. Please contact Pete if you are interested at pete.davitt@secondpres.info or 828.6297.

All Church Lenten Study Begins (3/1)

2PC’s all church Lenten study starts this Sunday! If you signed up to be a part of this study, please head to Grace Hall at 10am. Coffee and donuts will be waiting for you!

Serving on Saturdays (3/14)

If you aren’t able to go on a mission trip, don’t worry! Get involved in 2PC’s local mission work by being a part of Serving On Saturdays (SOS.) This month, SOS will be helping the Salvation Army prepare for their upcoming food drive. Meet at 2PC at 8am and be done by 11:30am. Come have fun and give back to your community!

Prairie Thunder Game for Jr. High Students (3/15)

All jr. high students are invited to a free (please bring money for concessions) Prairie Thunder hockey game. We will meet at 2PC at 3:30pm on March 15, and pick-up time is 6:30pm at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum. Please contact Josh at josh.erickson@secondpres.info or 828.6297 with questions. Come spend a fun evening out with your friends!

merge 20s/30s Third Degree (3/19)

Meet at Dean and Andrea Kladder’s home (609 E. Monroe, Bloomington) for dinner and discussion of hot topics about the Christian faith. No answers guarenteed. We will meet from 6-7:30pm on March 19. Contact Andrea with questions at andrea.kladder@secondpres.info.

Youth Spring Break Mission Trip (3/20-27)

Get ready for a week of bonding, service, study and being a blessing to others. All junior high and high school students are invited to sign-up for a mission trip to Pyoca Camp (www.camppyoca.org/) in Brownstown, IN. We will be helping those at Camp Pyoca prepare for a summer of ministry, cleaning up from the winter and assisting in small construction projects. The cost is $240 and a $100 deposit and registration form are due no later than March 11. Scholarship assistance is also available. There are a limited number of spots available, so get your deposit in as soon as possible! Contact Josh Erickson with questions at josh.erickson@secondpres.info.

Organ Concert (3/22)

Stephen Buzard will be giving a free organ concert at 2PC on Sunday, March 22 at 3pm. The concert will include selections by Mendelssohn, Vierne and Shubert. Also, we hope that you will come for the concert and stay for the 4pm Emilio Gravez Benefit Supper immediately following.

Emilio Gravez Benefit Supper (3/22)

Emilio is a 4-year-old diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma. He has undergone radiation, chemotherapy, surgery and a bone marrow transplant. 2PC will be holding a benefit dinner for Emilio on March 22 from 4-7pm. There will also be a silent auction and a bake sale. Tickets are $6 and all proceeds from the supper, silent auction and bake sale will go to Emilio’s family. Tickets are available at the door or at 2PC. Please contact Keith Marshall with questions at k-imarshall@comcast.net.

JOY Fellowship Comedy Show (3/29)

Just Older Youth (JOY) Fellowship is seeking theatre lovers! On Sunday, March 29, JOY will be attending a matinee performance of Cash on Delivery at Conklin’s Barn II Dinner Theatre in Goodfield. The cost is $47.75 and includes the price of the ticket, bus fare and buffet. Payment is due by March 20. We will leave 2PC at 11:15am and return to 2PC by 4:15pm that afternoon. Pick up a trip flyer at the Welcome Center or front desk.

Sunday Dinner

Sunday Dinner, a new monthly tradition at 2PC, is happening Sunday, March 1 from 11am-1:15pm.

Tickets for this event are $6 with $2 of the money being used to fund tickets for our community partners. There is also a $22 maximum cost for families. Tickets are available at the Welcome Center until 10:30am and are then available by the serving lines in F100B.

Sunday Dinners are designed to bring members closer to one and other, and as an opportunity for those already attending 2PC to invite friends looking for a church home.

2PC also invites its community partners to the meal in order to strengthen those relationships. That is why next month, this event will change its title from Sunday Dinner to Community Outreach Dinner (COD.)

By changing the title of the event, we hope to encourage members to go out into the community to invite friends and neighbors to 2PC. This is a fun, non-stressful way to introduce people to 2PC and a wonderful outreach tool for everyone in the congregation.

We hope that you will stop by to see what Sunday Dinner is all about and to socialize with members and newcomers alike. This is a great way to meet people and make a difference in someone’s life!

Blessed to Be a Blessing in Ethiopia

Many of you may remember Rev. Harold Kurtz, the retired missionary who preached at 2PC last summer when he was invited to Bloomington by the Western Avenue Community Center. Harold and his wife were career missionaries in Ethiopia for the PCUSA before Harold took on the challenge of leading Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship. This group’s efforts are directed toward unreached people (those who live in areas where the good news of Jesus Christ’s love for the world has not yet been proclaimed.)

After his visit last year, Harold invited me to Ethiopia to see what God is doing there, and to determine whether 2PC may want to invest in a partnership with the local church that has developed there. Unfortunately, the timing for this trip was not good. It is difficult for pastors to be out of town in September when the church year kicks off!

Providentially, Harold’s daughter Caroline is leading a similar trip that begins on Tuesday, March 3, and I will be representing 2PC on this trip. I leave this Tuesday, and will return on Sunday evening, March 15th. Although I am the only one from Second Pres making the trip, the team will include pastors and laity from PCUSA churches in Boise, ID and Tucson, AZ.

The itinerary is rigorous—we will be visiting churches, schools, and other ministry centers throughout Ethiopia. Although we will land in the capital, Addis Ababa, we will spend most of our time in the outlying areas. I am very excited to see what God is up to through the body of Christ there, and I am eager to explore what kind of partnership 2PC may develop with the indigenous church.

The trip is about my learning what God is doing in Ethiopia and is not about telling the indigenous people about the way that they should be doing things. I am quite confident that I will see God’s faithfulness in ways that are difficult to imagine here in Bloomington-Normal. I look forward to seeing how God blesses 2PC through my experiences there, and will be ready to share what I’ve learned upon my return. Then, under the leadership of the mission committee and the session, together we will decide how we can share God’s blessings back with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Ethiopia.

Please pray for my journey, and for God’s work throughout his church. I will be praying for you, and look forward to giving you a full report when I return!

Dr. Charles B. Hardwick