Yard sale preview pics

Preparing for the 1-4 p.m. Sunday, June 30 yard sale, in the Education Building.

Theological education training graduation

Yard sale

A yard sale to benefit our Guatemala Mission Partnership is on after all – and coming up very quickly – Sunday, June 30,  1-4 pm.

We thought we would take this year off but then the Frankfort Avenue Business Association called for a neighborhood-wide yard sale. With that kind of free publicity, we decided to jump on-board. After all, Food Trucks and a mini-Farmers’ Market on the lawn next door at the St. Joseph’s Children’s Home should help ensure a lot of potential shoppers in the neighborhood.

Can we count on you to help in at least one of these four ways?

• Send an email or  Facebook post this week with the  message below and /or the attached flyer:

My church, Crescent Hill Presbyterian, 142 Crescent Ave. (just west of Frankfort and Stilz Avenues) is having a yard sale Sunday, June 30, 1-4 pm  to benefit our mission partnership with Guatemala’s Q'eqchi' Estoreno Presbytery.  Would you help us by passing word to co-workers, friends and family, donating some goods of your own or coming to shop? We’ll take gently-used furniture, children's toys, games, sporting equipment (no heavy exercise equipment), craft items, books, tools, household goods and decorations, and other items. No clothing please. Donations can be brought to the back building of the church the day before from 10 am – 2 pm. Or, call Soni at 417-6481 for other options. We will appreciate anything you can do to help make our sale successful!

• Bring donations to church this Sunday the 23^rd and take them to the “Green Underground” next to the prayer room in the basement of the sanctuary building. Or, bring them Saturday the 29^th, 10 am – 2 pm, to the Fireside Room in the back building.
• Volunteers are needed Saturday the 29^th, 10 am – 2 pm, to help sort, carry, place and price items. Volunteers also needed after church on the 30^th through about 5 pm to staff the yard sale, clean up and take away leftover items. No experience necessary for any task.  On the job training provided J  Call Soni Castleberry at 417-6481.
• After church on the 30^th, check out the great deals at our yard sale.  Your purchases support CHPC’s Guatemala Mission Partnership.  

Thanks so much for anything you can do to help with our yard sale efforts. Although the church budget supports some of the costs of  theological education for our Guatemalan partners and communication expenses, additional funds  are always needed to maintain and expand our partnership.

 

 - Soni

Busy week

This week, in Guatemala, five Estoreño Presbytery representatives were slated to visit Coban for theological training sponsored by the national Presbyterian seminary in Guatemala and the Guatemalan national church, along with a presbytery-wide vigil slated this Friday for El Estor's Familia de Noe church, where vigilants will pray for Crescent Hill church, among other things. 

At the same time, back in Louisville, Perry informed Estoreño partners and Crescent Hill folks that $1,000 the church's Guatemala mission task force had earmarked for Crescent Hill-Estoreño communication and theological education had in fact been transmitted to the presbytery.  And Soni informed the church by e-mail that a mini-yard sale, to raise funds for Guatemala mission, would take place, as part of the last-weekend-of-June Frankfort Avenue all-neighborhood yard sale.  Crescent Hill's part would take place from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 30 (see "Yard sale").

- Perry

Strange news

As if things haven't gotten strange enough in Guatemala, days before the June Crescent Hill Guatemala mission gathering the U.S. government had former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo (2000-2004; pictured above) extradited to the United States to face money laundering charges.

 - Perry

Gathering graphics

 

June gathering notes

Decisions and dates were made and set by a group of Crescent Hill folks gathered to talk about Guatemala mission on Saturday, June 1.

The group OKed a version of a Crescent Hill-Estoreño Presbytery partnership extension/ partnership plan and agreed to ask the session to concur at its summer meeting (with Soni shepherding it through).  Half a dozen of those there agreed to help out from 4:00 p.m. onward with parking during the Saturday, August 10 St. Joseph’s picnic, including Perry developing some new signs.  The group also agreed to spearhead the church’s participation in the Sunday, June 29 Frankfort Avenue, all-neighborhood yard sale by having a much less organized than usual yard sale somewhere in the Education Building (perhaps in the old chapel/Youth Room/new library) after church.  Soni agreed to spearhead communicating with members about the possibilities for volunteering and contributing items by bringing them to the old Youth Room in the sanctuary building lower level.  Pricing and set-up would probably be Saturday afternoon and/or Sunday AM.  The official event starts at 11:00 a.m. but our version of it wouldn’t start until after worship.  Some signage/volunteers to draw folks from off Frankfort Avenue would probably be necessary.  A cache of contributions already sits in the lower level room, but more – including more from the folks most interested in Guatemala mission – would be useful.

Two other dates the group discussed were:  Saturday, July 13:  the next monthly Guatemala gathering and conversation with presbytery partners, at Brad, Soni, Kara, and Hilda’s at   No time set yet.  Time will have to be firmed up with partners, also for the church calendar (Perry will contact partners about a good time).  Friday, August 2 was discussed (again, without a time) as a good night (following up on momentum from the deacons’ suppers) for a Guatemala night, with Guatemalan food (perhaps with some leadership from Nora), some testimonials/updates (as well as table exhibits) during supper (a la the supper with Gerardo, Macaria, and Ramiro) and some scrapbooking after supper (with scrapbooks and photos and perhaps other memorabilia).  Contributions of photos from those at the meeting (Ian also?) and ideas about how to organize the scrapbooks, as well as personal outreach to those in the congregation especially interested in scrapbooking, those who have been somewhat involved in the partnership in the past, and other people (as well as general publicity, for example, in the July and August newsletters) would need to take place.  The group also talked about possibly trying to arrange a live presentation – again by Facebook video chat – to be projected on the new Fellowship Hall screen – the group broached it with some Guatemala partners.  Doug will follow up on the technical end, about whether this might really be possible and how.  Soni may follow up to insure the Fellowship Hall venue is available and with some of the publicity.  The group also talked about the possible focus on “Theological Education Sunday” (September 18) on Estoreño Presbytery’s theological education program and Crescent Hill’s (past and possibly future) involvement in it.

Dates also filled the discussion with Guatemala partners.  On the call were Gerardo, Benjamin, Ramiro, Pablo, Raul Contreras, and some youth and young adult leaders who had just returned, early Saturday morning, from a trip to San Carlos El Porvenir (near Puerto Barrios), where the church’s Monte Sinai church is (the church farthest from El Estor).  The two groups talked about the monthly vigils the presbytery holds – between 7:30 p.m. and 12 midnight – with worship and preaching and then prayers led by different committees of the presbytery: including prayers for various church leaders and – when it is the International Relations Committee’s turn - prayers for Crescent Hill church.  Friday, June 21 will be the next such vigil, at the Familia de Noe church pastored by Benjamin.  The Guatemalans have sent Crescent Hill a schedule of these vigils, and they agreed to send a schedule of what takes place in these vigils.  The possibility of a small group of Crescent Hill folks getting together for prayer during each of the vigils was discussed.  Doug explained that Crescent Hill’s pastor (Jane, who was also there) would be going on a sabbatical this summer and asked that the Guatemalans pray for her and also about the tornados in Oklahoma and suggested that the Guatemalans pray for Oklahomans affected.  In addition to the young men talking about their recent San Carlos trip, the Guatemalans talked some about two ongoing theological education initiatives.  A group of five from the presbytery will return to the next installment of the Coban-based Q’eqchi’ language theological education training later this month (Monday, June 17-Wednesday, June 19), and the Estoreño Presbytery El Estor theological training, which Gerardo and Pablo had led earlier this year, is set to continue, with another installment, also later this month (dates?).  The Guatemalans mentioned (following up on written reports last month) that they have used funds Crescent Hill earlier to help finance some of these theological education endeavors.  Pending a double check on available funds, the Crescent Hill group talked later about trying to send $500 or $1,000 of the $1,000 line item in the church budget to the presbytery, a bit for communication and the rest for theological education (which ever part or parts of the theological education program the presbytery chose to support with that).  Other summer fund-raising (like from the Frankfort Avenue yard sale and St. Joe’s parking) would go towards future trips or projects.  Perry will follow up with the wire transfer and thorough communication with the presbytery.

Just to recap on the dates:

Monday, June 17-Wednesday, June 19:  Theological training trip to Coban

Friday, June 21 evening:  Estereño Presbytery vigil at the Familia de Noe church

  
Sunday, June 29 after church:  Frankfort Avenue all-neighborhood yard sale

Saturday, July 13 morning:  Guatemala mission gathering at Soni et al.’s

Friday, July 26 evening:  Estereño Presbytery vigil at the Peniel church in Boqueron

Friday, August 2 evening:  Guatemala scrapbooking, etc. night in the Education Building

Saturday, August 10 afternoon/evening:  St. Joe’s parking

Friday, August 23 evening:  Estoreño Presbytery vigil at the Hijo de Dios Viviente church in La Guitarra

Sunday, September 18:  Celebrate Theological Education Sunday

 - Perry