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Seven small Churches and one Chapel serving... Winchester, Frederick & Shenandoah Counties, VA & Hardy Co., WV
Presbyterian Parish of the
Valleys
7152 Middle Road, Middletown, VA 22645 - Telephone: (540) 869-2456
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Links
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance - PDA
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Christmas Cantata 2011 |
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From Our Church
People
consider many things
when visiting churches.
And those seeking opportunities to serve. What you may be seeking could be dramatically different from the next person - or it could be exactly the same. With open doors and open hearts Our congregation covers many generations, among which are people of every stage of faith. We welcome those seeking God and His truths, regardless of questions, baggage, or plain old life experiences. Whatever you're looking for... you mean something to God. As God's church, you mean something to us. You are always welcome here. We are the church as God intended ...a community of believers who come together to follow the teachings of the Bible and spread the message of God's love. Along the way, we teach and share. We sing and laugh. We roll up our sleeves and get involved. And sometimes, we're quietly still in the presence of God." Save the date ... Feb 22 Parish Wide Ash Wednesday Service, Meal @ Middletown at 6pm March 3 Thank you Luncheon for Roger Weidman at Kac-Ka-Pon Restaurant in Wardensville Dutch treat March 25 Eastern Mennonite HS Touring Choir @ Middletown 4pmMarch 31 Lebanon St Stephens Choir @Middletown Spring Cantatas Apri 5 Maundy Thursday at Mt Hope w/ Communion 7pm, April 6th, Good Friday @ Ivanhoe w/ Communion 7pm
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From the Interim Parish Pastor… “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” John 14:27 Grace to you and peace from God and from our Lord Jesus Christ! When my brother and I were in elementary school my mother became very enamored of the theology of Norman Vincent Peale. She purchased a lot of his little booklets, and her favorite was called Thought Conditioners. It was about 24 pages and each page had two Bible verses and a paragraph meditation about each one. She decided Ron and I should memorize the verses, and offered us a dime for each one we memorized, plus another dime each time we could recite it again on demand. I made out like a bandit. I could memorize just about anything in those days, and remember it forever. I won’t say I paid for my seminary education with those dimes, but I did pretty well. I tell that story because the above verse from John’s Gospel was one of those memory verses, and it’s the one that has had the biggest impact on my life. Coupled with Matthew’s story of the lilies of the field, we are told very clearly that the peace of Christ is what keeps us from undo worry. I, not unlike many of you, have done a fair bit of worrying over the future of the Parish the last couple of years. But one day when I was just sure things couldn’t get a lot worse, I remembered the pact I had made with God years ago when I answered God’s call to ministry. I knew I was not the kind of person who could both do the work of ministry and constantly worry about how it was going to get done. So I told God that I would do the work if he would do the worrying. Over the next 30 years, every time I have had a ministry worry, I would say to God, ”God, this is your ministry and these are your people. You’re going to have to find the solution.” Then I would go back to sleep. All this is to say I’m sleeping better these days. With every issue that’s come up over this past year, I renew my pact with God. I put the worry about the issue in God’s hands – where it belongs – and then I begin to work on whatever it is, and I’m not so worried about the future of the Parish anymore. We have an amazing set of new officers and Parish Council representatives. We also have a complete and hard-working staff. Our Administrative Assistant Pam Williams, the new CPA Nancy Picklap and the Finance Committee are keeping our financial house in order. The Stewardship Committee has a terrific event to sponsor in the spring, and the Music Committee has chosen a very meaningful cantata for our Holy Week Worship. The Pastor Nominating Committee has been commissioned and has begun its work. The Parish is well on its way to the future, and I look forward to following along. Thanks be to God! Yours in Christ, Sally |
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Jessica
| :: Community & Mission | :: Worship | :: Bible Lectionary |
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The
work of the Mission Committee is to create a mission mindset for our
church in everything we do. Serve and tell the story of Jesus Christ to those outside the walls of the church. Matthew 28:19
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A worship service is a celebration. It is a time when we come into God’s presence and praise Him. Each service is filled with music and teaching, joy and insight. We provide many opportunities for people of all ages to experience and celebrate God and a life of faith.
So we can sing it, and tell it, and live it. ...Amen |
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This Easter, we Pray - let us travel this
journey with you. Let us all stay awake while our
Savior prays in the garden of Gethsemane. And let us
all rejoice on His return.
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