John Calvin Presbyterian Church

MONTHLY FOOD PANTRY DONATION: Each month we are asking you to Donate one or two items to the food pantry. This month we are asking for canned fruit, fruit snacks, and applesauce.

TABLECLOTH DINNER: Join us for our next Tablecloth Dinner at Mr. Ed’s in Kenner, 910 W. Esplanade on Tuesday, May 14th at 6:30 PM. 

Creation Care Reading Recommendations: Inhabiting Eden: Christians, the Bible, and the Ecological Crisis By Patricia K. Tull.

In this thoughtful study, respected Old Testament scholar Patricia K. Tull explores the Scriptures for guidance on today’s ecological crisis. Tull looks to the Bible for what it can tell us about our relationships, not just to the earth itself, but also to plant and animal life, to each other, to descendants who will inherit the planet from us, and to our Creator. She offers candid discussions on many current ecological problems that humans contribute to. Each chapter concludes with discussion questions and a practical exercise, making it ideal for both group and individual study. This important book provides a biblical basis for thinking about our world differently and prompts us to consider changing our own actions.

HYMNS and BEER: Join us at 7:00 PM on April 25th at Blue Ruin Speakeasy, 3224 Metairie Rd, Metairie, LA 70001 for Hymns and Beers. We will be celebrating this amazing Earth God created and which we have been entrusted to care for. Proceeds from this event will be split between the musician and Glass Half Full. 

GARAGE SALE: We are planning a garage and bake sale for the end of May. The sale will take place on Friday, May 31st and Saturday, June 1st. This is a fundraiser to help with church expenses and budget. 

As you do your Spring cleaning, please keep the church in mind as a place to donate your quality furnishings, clothes, appliances, tools, kitchenware, books, games, and knickknacks. Large furniture, computers, and some other electronics can not be accepted. Please do not start bringing your items to the church until after service on May 26th. Donations can then be placed in the Fellowship Hall. 

Fresh homemade baked goods are a wonderful addition to the sale and can be brought to the Fellowship Hall starting on Thursday, May 30th. Please help us spread the word by informing your friends and neighbors.

MONTHLY FOOD PANTRY DONATION: Each month we are asking you to Donate one or two items to the food pantry. This month we are asking for canned fruit, fruit snacks, and applesauce.

Creation Care Reading Recommendations: 50 Ways to Help Save the Earth, Revised Edition: How You and Your Church Can Make a Difference by Rebecca Barnes. Rebecca Barnes outlines fifty ways in which you, your congregation, and your local community can help fight global warming and enjoy participation in a vital part of Christian discipleship. In 50 Ways to Help Save the Earth, Revised Edition, she makes a clear connection, in a practical and unintimidating way, between stewardship of the earth and living one’s faith.

This easy-to-follow book consists of seven chapters on topics related to global climate change: “Energy,” “Food and Agriculture,” “Transportation,” “Water,” “People,” “Other Species,” and “Wilderness and Land.” Each chapter begins with a statement on how the content relates to global warming, followed by action items ranging from individual efforts to activities that encourage the involvement of the congregation and wider communities.

HYMNS and BEER: Join us at 7:00 PM on April 25th at Blue Ruin Speakeasy, 3224 Metairie Rd, Metairie, LA 70001 for Hymns and Beers. We will be celebrating this amazing Earth God created and which we have been entrusted to care for. Proceeds from this event will be split between the musician and Glass Half Full. 

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL: Join us for adult Sunday School, from 9:15 AM – 10:15 AM in the church library, as we continue our faith journey and share the importance of God in our daily lives. In our current six-session study, we are talking about our relationship with God, the importance of prayer, how prayer matters, and how we can use prayer to discern God’s will. 

MONTHLY FOOD PANTRY DONATION: Each month we are asking you to Donate one or two items to the food pantry. This month we are asking for canned fruit, fruit snacks, and applesauce.

Creation Care Reading Recommendations: Making Peace with the Land: God’s Call to Reconcile with Creation (Resources for Reconciliation) God is reconciling all things in heaven and on earth. We are alienated not only from one another but also from the land that sustains us. Our ecosystems are increasingly damaged, and human bodies are likewise degraded. Most of us have little understanding of how our energy is derived or our food is produced, and many of our current industrialized practices are both unhealthy for our bodies and unsustainable for the planet. Agriculturalist Fred Bahnson and theologian Norman Wirzba declare that in Christ, God reconciles all bodies into a peaceful, life-promoting relationship with one another. Because human beings are incarnated in material, bodily existence, we are necessarily interdependent with plants and animals, land and sea, heaven and earth. The good news is that redemption is cosmic, with implications for agriculture and ecology, from farm to dinner table. Bahnson and Wirzba describe communities that model cooperative practices of relational life, with local food production, eucharistic eating, and delight in God’s provision. Reconciling with the land is a rich framework for a new way of life. Read this book to start down the path to restoring shalom and experiencing Jesus’ kingdom of shared abundance, where neighbors are fed and all receive enough.

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL: Join us for adult Sunday School, from 9:15 AM – 10:15 AM in the church library, as we continue our faith journey and share the importance of God in our daily lives. In our current six-session study, we are talking about our relationship with God, the importance of prayer, how prayer matters, and how we can use prayer to discern God’s will. 

CALENDAR:

4/8 – 10:00 AM – Staff Meeting 

        12:15 PM – Playschool Committee Meeting 

         6:30 PM – Outreach Committee Meeting 

4/11 – 10:00 AM – Game Day 

4/14 – 9:15 AM – Adult Sunday School 

          10:15  AM – Choir Warm-up 

          10:30 AM – Worship Service – Bible Builds during Children’s Church 

          11:45 AM – Choir Practice 

           6:30 PM – Christian Education Committee Meeting 

Announcements: 

MONTHLY FOOD PANTRY DONATION: Each month we are asking you to Donate one or two items to the food pantry. For April we are asking for canned fruit, fruit snacks, and applesauce. 

Easter Devotional: A Savior Is Risen An Easter Devotional By Zondervan. Do less. Connect more. This beautiful 40-day devotional for the Lenten and Easter season offers biblical reflections and full-color springtime photography to take you from burnout to burning a little brighter as you celebrate new life, fresh starts, and everyday redemptions.

OFFICE HOURS: The office will be closed from April 1st through April 7th. If you need assistance please call and leave a message or email Louise or Pastor Aaron. We respond as soon as we are able. 

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL: Beginning Sunday, April 7th., the adult class will focus on Prayer, Does It Make Any Difference? In this six-session study, we will talk about our relationship with God, the importance of prayer, how prayer matters, and how we can use prayer to discern God’s will. Adult class is held from 9:15 AM – 10:15 AM in the church library. Join us as we continue our faith journey and share the importance of God in our daily lives.

ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING OFFERING: Today we will be taking up a special offering for one great hour of sharing. Please consider making a donation using the provided envelope or online to this wonderful program. 

5:00 PM – Special Music Kelly Cuppett

OFFICE HOURS: The office will be closed from April 1st through April 7th. If you need assistance please call and leave a message or email Louise or Pastor Aaron. We respond as soon as we are able. 

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL: Session 3 of OTDE will finish on Easter Sunday. However stay tuned for more information on our next exciting class taught by Linda Lowry. The new class will start in April and take us through May. The adults will take a break for the Summer and start up again with another installment of Off the Deep End in the fall. 

SPECIAL MUSIC OFFERING: Today we will be taking up a special offering for our wonderful music program. Please consider making a donation using the provided envelope. 

EASTER EGG HUNT: We will have our community Easter Egg hunt on March 16th. We need donations of Candy and candy-filled eggs. Please bring your donations to Louise in the office by Thursday the 14th.

ANNUAL MEETING: Join us for our annual meeting on March 10th during the Worship service. 

TABLE CLOTH DINNER: Join us for the next tablecloth dinner on March 12th at 6:30 PM at Outback Steakhouse. Sign up and let us know if you would like a ride

MONTHLY FOOD PANTRY DONATION: Each month we are asking you to Donate one or two items to the food pantry. This month we are asking for juice, juice boxes, and shelf stable milk. 

BOOKS FOR WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH: In Our Own Voices: Four Centuries of American Women’s Religious Writing By Rosemary Skinner Keller and Rosemary Radford Ruether (PCUSA STORE) Drawing from primary source documents such as diaries, letters, speeches, sermons, essays, and books from seventeenth-century colonial settlements in North America to today, this volume recovers the contributions of women to American religion. With its breadth and richness of sources it will be of interest and use to feminists, church historians, and students.

GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER VIGIL: We cannot experience the glory of Easter if we do not first experience the pain of Maundy Thursday, the loss of Good Friday, and the sadness of Holy Saturday. Setting aside a specific time in church to wait and pray with Jesus, to reflect on the events that led up to his death and resurrection, to speak to God and seek his guidance and listen to his heart, is essential to preparing our hearts for the Joy of Easter. To that end, we will be hosting a Prayer Vigil on Good Friday, March 29th. We hope to have an all-day vigil with at least two people in the sanctuary throughout the day. Please take a moment to consider what time you would like to come in and pray. Use the signup sheet in the Bulletin, or sheet in the Narthex, to let us know when you would like to come in and pray. If you are not ready to sign up don’t worry there will be several more chances and even if you are not able to sign up please plan to drop in on Good Friday. 

EASTER EGG HUNT: We are hoping to provide the community Easter Egg hunt again this year. However, before we start to advertise this event we would like to get our volunteers in place. We are looking for people to staff the craft tables (easy crafts no art skills needed), snack table, help with bunny pictures, and hide Easter Eggs. Please let Louise know ASAP if you are available to help on March 16th from 8:00 AM – 11:30 AM. 

EASTER EGG HUNT: We are hoping to provide the community Easter Egg hunt again this year. However, before we start to advertise this event we would like to get our volunteers in place. We are looking for people to staff the craft tables (easy crafts no art skills needed), snack table, help with bunny pictures, and hide Easter Eggs. Please let Louise know ASAP if you are available to help on March 16th from 8:00 AM – 11:30 AM.

PROGRAM OF HOPE:  Join us to make Sandwiches on Tuesday at 2:45 PM and to serve at POH on Wednesday at 8:00 AM. See Sue, Richard, or Sharon for more details.

TABLE CLOTH DINNER: Join us for the next tablecloth dinner on March 12th at 6:30 PM at Outback Steakhouse. Sign upp and let us know if you would like a ride.  

MONTHLY FOOD PANTRY DONATION: Each month we are asking you to Donate one or two items to the food pantry. This month we are asking for Diapers of all sizes (both adult and child), feminine products, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and hair products. 

BOOKS FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH: As we enter black history month now is a great time to recommit ourselves to understanding and supporting the call for racial Justice and Healing. This month we will be recommending books that can help us on that journey. All books are available on the PCUSA store. Creating a Culture of Repair: Taking Action on the Road to Reparations BY Robert Turner. The inequality remains even after laws and policies have been corrected. Calculating and implementing financial reparations will require large-scale government action, which can feel out of reach or overwhelming for the average person. Robert Turner provides an accessible guide for individuals and groups wanting to influence significant institutional action while also acting on their own to repair the effects of racial injustice in our communities, churches, and spheres of influence. Dividing into categories of individual, social, institutional, and spiritual repair, Turner offers the longest list of reparations currently published, with more than one hundred actions readers can begin practicing and advocating for to help balance economic injustice, undo hurtful decisions from decades past, and rally public support for bold and principled legislation.

GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER VIGIL: We cannot experience the glory of Easter if we do not first experience the pain of Maundy Thursday, the loss of Good Friday, and the sadness of Holy Saturday. Setting aside a specific time in church to wait and pray with Jesus, to reflect on the events that led up to his death and resurrection, to speak to God and seek his guidance and listen to his heart, is essential to preparing our hearts for the Joy of Easter. To that end, we will be hosting a Prayer Vigil on Good Friday, March 29th. We hope to have an all-day vigil with at least two people in the sanctuary throughout the day. Please take a moment to consider what time you would like to come in and pray. Use the signup sheet in the Bulletin, or sheet in the Narthex, to let us know when you would like to come in and pray. If you are not ready to sign up don’t worry there will be several more chances and even if you are not able to sign up please plan to drop in on Good Friday. 

ANNUAL MEETING: Join us on March 10th during the Worship service for our annual meeting. 

SESSION MEMBERS: Class of 2024: Jeremy Moore, Sue Crawford, Briana Mayfield, Cameron Mayfield. Class of 2025: Beverly Kennedy, Andrew Nolan, Sandy Cranfill. Class of 2026: Joan Albright. Others: Louise Ochart (Staff), Kelly Cuppett (staff), Ragina Isham (Insurance/Staff Committee Volunteer), Linda Lowry (Deacon), Bill Bottomley (Treasurer)

CALENDAR:

2/26- 1:00 PM – Staff Meeting

2/27 – 2:45 PM – Sandwich-Making 

2/28 – 8:00 AM – Program of Hope

          6:30 PM – Cantata Rehearsal

2/29 –  6:00 PM – Sailboat Church Zoom Book Study Chapters 5 and 6

3/2 – Playschool Arts and Fun Fair 

3/3 -9:15 AM – Adult Sunday School 

        10:15 AM – Choir Warm-up 

        10:30 AM – Worship Service with Children’s Church 

        11:45 AM – Choir Rehearsal

Anchored in the Current illuminates how Thurman’s life and wisdom lead these influential names on the ancient quest to connect with the Ultimate, all while discovering the contemporary need to seek racial justice and sharpening the minds and faith of those who come after us. 

TABLE CLOTH DINNER: Join us for the next table cloth dinner on March 12th at 6:30 PM. More information to follow. Sign-up and let us know if you would like a ride  

MONTHLY FOOD PANTRY DONATION: Each month we are asking you to Donate one or two items to the food pantry. This month we are asking for Dippers of all sizes (both adult and child), feminine products, tooth Brushes, tooth paste, soap, and hair products.