Exodus For Followers Of Jesus

Dr. Bradley D. Smith Pastor Dr. Mark E. Durrett Associate Pastor Rev. Lynn A. Grandsire Associate Pastor Rev. Jeffrey S. Smith Associate Pastor Dr. James I. St. John Parish Associate Rev. Jonathan S. Wagner Associate Pastor Mr. Croskeys Royall Director of Childrens Ministries Mrs. Fredna Lee Director of Music Ministries Mr. William L. Collins, Jr. Business Administrator
Our Missionaries: Rev. & Mrs. Donald Marsden-Virginia/Russia Steven & Natalie Hall - Alaska Sarah Snapp - Bolivia Rev. John McCall - Taiwan Steve & Kathy Amar - Virginia/Muslims in the US George & Anne Harper - Philippines Cindy Correll - Port au Prince, Haiti Dr. John and Gwenda Fletcher - Congo

From Wilderness To Wonder

STAFF

EASTMINSTeR UPDATe
803-256-1654 / www.eastminsterpres.org
Volume 37 Number 36 November 10, 2013

Eastminster Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina

Dear Eastminster Family, This Sunday is Dedication Sunday. To encourage you to be deliberate in planning your response to Gods blessings in your life and so that our church family can plan wisely for the coming year, would you please submit an estimate of your 2014 giving this Sunday? By way of encouragement and example, our current officers and officers-elect are pledging early. While their self-imposed deadline for pledging has not yet arrived, eighty percent of the officers have already pledged with over threequarters of them increasing their pledge from last year. What makes this commitment most impressive is that all of these people also supported our recent capital campaign. Eastminsters operating budget funds the ministry and mission of the church. While our recent capital campaign will bring needed enhancements to the physical plant, it is the operating budget that enables the teaching, preaching, feeding, giving, pastoral care, and everything else youve seen snapshots of in the Day in the Life of Eastminster photos. Knowing this, and recognizing the privilege of joining in Christs work, the men and women elected as servant-leaders are stepping up their giving. I give thanks for their witness and encourage you to follow their lead. In ancient times, Gods people would take the first fruits of each seasons harvest and commit them to the Lord. Giving this offering provided a tangible way for the people to remember that all we have ultimately comes from the hand of God. This repeated act of giving beyond themselves also reminded the Israelites of their unique identity as Gods chosen people. As followers of Jesus Christ, you and I are people who are blessed so that we will be a blessing- to God and to Gods world. Individually we may feel like our offering is not very much, but the aggregate impact of our responding together adds up. Every member of this church has made vows promising to support our Lords work in the world and through this church. Giving for Christs work is one way to keep your word. Giving for Christs work together, as a church family, testifies to the world that we are people of The Word. Please submit an estimate of your 2014 giving by submitting a pledge card or completing the Stewardship Pledge Form found on the left-hand side (Quick Links) of www.eastminsterpres.org. In joy,

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10
9:00 & 11:15 a.m. - Sanctuary 11:15 a.m. Jubilee Dr. Bradley D. Smith Seeds Exodus 30:11-14

Brad

DAILY CALENDAR
SUNDAY, nOvEMBER 10
8:00 Celebration Choir Rehearsal 9:00 Worship & Childrens Church Jubilee Band Practice 10:00 Sunday School First Step Class Generation Change Jubilee Band Practice 10:05 Chancel Choir Rehearsal 11:15 Worship & Childrens Church Jubilee Worship 1:30 Youth Basketball Practices 2:00 Cub Scouts Girl Scouts 3:00 Girl Scouts 5:00 Sunday@5 Elementary Program Middle School Sr. Highs Childcare PEACE Service 6:00 Brad Sherrill

MOnday, nOvEMBER 11

7:00 Mens Prayer Breakfast 9:00 Count Team Fifty Plus Exercise Class 10:00 Senior Fitness Circle #1 Circle #3 10:30 Music Club Circle #2 12:00 Worship & Music 2:00 Pastors Mtg. CHAMPS Tutoring 2:30 Program Staff Mtg. 3:30 Staff Mtg. Youth Basketball Practices 5:30 Yoga Cub Scouts Mens B/B League Stephen Ministry Leaders Mtg. 6:00 Stephen Ministry Mtg. EDS Parent Mtg. 6:30 BSF Coaches Mtg. 7:00 Sr. High Girls D-Group Brad Sherrill

On November 24, Eastminster will do their small part in feeding the hungry with an afternoon and evening of missional activities for the whole church to fight hunger in our community and internationally during the Thanksgiving season. Option #1: Beginning at 4:00 p.m. church volunteers will deliver preassembled Thanksgiving meals to Bradley Elementary households the school has identified. This option is limited, so if you want to sign up, register now! (Note that you can join the people working on Option 2 once you have finished this if you wish.) Option #2: From 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. church volunteers will assemble 20,000 shelf-stable meals meant for international distribution coordinated by the Stop HUnger Now organization. (Minimum age requirement is 5 years old. Childcare for children infant - 4K is offered beginning at 4:00 p.m.) A donation of $10.00 would help pay for the meals locally or internationally. This is also Double Peanut Butter Sunday - please bring canned goods and peanut butter for Harvest Hope! The Evangelism Committee is looking for at least 10 families to open up their homes and their tables on Thanksgiving Day to international college students who will remain on campus during their Thanksgiving break. We have the opportunity to extend the love of Christ and the good news to at least two students in our own homes, by simply inviting them to be a part of our family Thanksgiving meal this year. If you are interested in this wonderful and easy opportunity to extend Christs love, please contact Dina Boorda: dboorda@robinsonlaw. com or Jeff Smith: jsmith@eastminsterpres.org for more information. You are cordially invited to the 33rd Annual Thanksgiving Souper, Thursday, November 21, 5:30 7:30 p.m. in Thompson Hall. Tickets are $2 for adults and $1 for children, and may be obtained at the Womens Shelter or at the door. Come enjoy the fellowship and a simple meal of a bowl of Chick-Fil-A soup and crackers!

Thanks LIVING Night November 24

Invite International Students . . . to YOUR Thanksgiving this year!

TUESDAY, nOvEMBER 12
9:00 10:00 11:45 12:00 12:30 1:00 3:00 3:30 4:00 5:00 5:30 6:00 6:30 7:00

Womens Shelter Souper

Drop-In Nursery Senior Fitness Tuesday Lunch NED Mtg. Property Mtg. Bradley Lunch Buddies Foot Care Ministry Exercising for Arthritis Youth B/B Practice Grief Groups Tai Chi CHAMPS Steering Committee Zumba Fitness Handbell Rehearsal Coaches Mtg. Zumba Fitness Scottish Country Dance

NO Thanksgiving Plans? This Thanksgiving Feast Is For YOU!

9:00 Fifty Plus Exercise Class Drop In Nursery 9:25 EDS Chapel 9:30 Prayer Shawl Ministry Staff Insurance Orientation 11:00 Exodus Bible Study 12:00 Communicatins Committee 3:15 Brownies 3:30 Youth Basketball Practice 5:15 WE@EPC Dinner 5:45 Childcare 6:00 Circle #6 6:15 Officer Training WE@EPC Classes Womens Divorce Care Grief Group Angel/Junior Choir Rehearsal 7:00 Sr. High Boys D-Group 7:15 Chancel Choir Rehearsal

WEDNESDAY, nOvEMBER 13

Please join the Fellowship Committee for a Thanksgiving Feast on Sunday, November 24, at 1:00 p.m. in the CLC game room. It is an intergenerational event for members who are not traveling or eating elsewhere on Thanksgiving to share a meal. Last Names: A-G bring either a salad or vegetable; H-R bring either rice, pasta, or potato dish; and S-Z bring a dessert. Please bring enough to feed 10 people. The meat and drinks are being provided by the church. Please register (Name; Phone Number; E-Mail; Food Item; Number and Names in Party) by Monday, November 18, 2013. Registration forms will be located in the Narthex on Sunday morning, and in the Church receptionists area each day. Fill out a form and leave it in the adjacent basket or sign up electronically in the E-News.

THURSDAY, nOvEMBER 14

7:00 Middle School Prayer Breakfast 9:00 Drop-In Nursery 10:00 Senior Fitness 3:00 Exercising for Arthritis 3:30 Youth Basketball Practices 5:00 Yoga 6:00 Evangelism Committee 7:00 Zumba Fitness 7:30 Jubilee Band Practice

The Flower Guild is accepting memorials and honoraria which will cover the cost of decorating the sanctuary and other areas of the church with live wreaths, greenery and poinsettias for Christmas. Please enclose the wording you would like to have printed in the Christmas bulletins with a check for $17.00 made out to Eastminster Flower Guild for each listing. Checks and enclosed information should be mailed to the church or placed in the Flower Guild box in the workroom. The deadline is Friday, December 6. Go ahead, send in your check today! If you cant sleep, dont count sheep. Talk to the Shepherd.

Christmas Memorials and Honoraria

FRIDAY, nOvEMBER 15

9:00 Fifty Plus Exercise Class 11:00 Support Staff Mfg. 3:30 Youth Basketball Practices

SATURDAY, nOvEMBER 16
7:00 9:00 BSF Leader Mtg. CHAMPS Activity

Eastminster supports SEND missionaries Steven and Natalie Hall, who work with native people and residents in Alaska. They visited a couple of years ago, and are on home leave this year, based out of Greenville, SC. We are excited to be able to host them again while they are so close. They will be with us on Sunday, Nov. 24, in Thompson Hall from 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. Please let your class members know, and encourage them to give the Halls a warm welcome, while they tell us of their ministry.

Combined Adult Sunday School Class, November 24

CARE & CONCERN

EPC Prayer List Part of what it means to be a Family of Faith is to be in prayer for one another. Contact the church office at 256-1654 to be included on this Prayer List. EPC Special Concerns Boots Fuller, Remer Waguespack, Dr. Mary Tobin, Bill McInnis, Peggy Lewis, those serving in our military, Stephen Ministers & their care receivers and all those in need of Gods special care. Hospitalized this week Jo Cartwright Births Congratulations and love to:

The youth will be heading to Winterplace, West Virginia, for two nights at the Glade Springs Resort. In addition to lodging, the trip includes lift tickets, ski rental, ski lessons and all meals (except traveling). The trip is $290.00 per person, and the registration and payment are due by Monday, December 9. The students will be taking a charter bus. If you need information or a registration form, contact Tricia, tmccormick@eastminsterpres.org or 256-1654. Eastminster will prepare the food and serve the folks at the Transitions Center on Thursday, November 21. If you would like to help with the food or to help serve the meal and interact with the individuals at Transitions, contact Laura Long, laurapricelong@att.net. For this meal we need bananas, pound cake, and especially pasta salad.

Youth Ski Trip (Jr. & Sr. High) - February 7 - 9, 2014

Katie Alice & Drew Walker, on the birth of their son, Andrew Bryant Walker, Jr., November 2, 2013. Gary & Meredith Housman, on the birth of their daughter, Riley Katherine Housman, November 2, 2013. Grandparents, Jean & Milton Moore.
Deaths Congregational love and sympathy are extended to:

Transitions Meal - November 21

Presbyterian Women Circles

CiRcLE #1 - November 11, 10:00 a.m. in the Adult Reception Hall CiRcLE #2- November 11, 10:30 a.m. home of Edith Strasburger CiRcLE #3- November 11, 10:00 a.m. home of Sharon Derham CiRcLE #6- November 13, 6:00 p.m. CLC room 265

Rochelle & David Caton, on the death of her grandmother, Eva Weber, October 28, 2013. Great grandson, Jackson McKim. Frank & Sarah Brown, on the death of his father, Frank (Jack) Brown, November 4, 2013.
On weekends a minister is on call. If you have a crisis which one of the ministers needs to know about, phone 256-1654 and leave a message. A minister will return your call.

FRIDAY - A DAY IN THE LIFE OF EASTMINSTER!

Youth Basketball Game

Stephen Ministers Planning Meeting

Organ Tuning Dont miss out! Send your information to share with the congregation to tcarter@eastminsterpres.org. Please have your information in by Wednesday, November 13, to be shared in our next newsletter on November 24, 2013.

Deadline for UPDATE

EDS Snack Time

A C Flora Football Team Meal

Eastminster Presbyterian Church 3200 Trenholm Road Columbia, South Carolina 29204

Nonprofit Org. US POSTAGE PAID Columbia, SC PERMIT No. 27

Update for November 10, 2013

Our speaker is Dr. Robert Fuller, pastor and head of staff at Fairview Presbyterian Church in North Augusta. Go Tell It on the Mountain The Story Behind the Story is the theme this year at the Blue Ridge Assembly in North Carolina spotlighting Bobs insights (along with his guitar skills). We will have the return of our own terrific Appalachian Band. The retreat grants us incredible opportunities for fellowship while helping prepare all of us for Advent. Call Mary 256-1654 or email mbaldauf@eastminsterpres.org to sign up.

Advent Retreat - December 6 - 8: Have You Signed Up?

SeRVinG On SUndaY November 10

OFFICERS PRAYER: Deacon Clay Robinson DEACONS: Scott Verzyl, Tiffany Beitz Elder Emma Bryson (Jubilee) Deacon Jeff Burden (Jubilee) PEACE SERvicE Deacon Lisa Dunbar, Alec Chaplin Elder Madison Dye, Steve Draffin ushERs: Bill Coggins & Randy Liggitt GREETERS: (9:00) Judy & Parks Small Jane Shuler, Buzz Smythe Chuck & Hannah Stiles (11:15) Craig & Judy Stoneburner Marilyn Stradtman Tracy Stursberg Suzie Wattenbarger Frances & Mark Stuckey INFANT ROOM - CLC 115 (9:00) Jessica & Gregg Sharp (11:15) Will & Alice Whiteside TODDLER ROOM - CLC 117 (9:00) Ashby & OHara Howard (11:15) Anna & Justin Fleming 2-K ROOM - CLC 119 (9:00) Ned & Kerry Boykin (11:15) Brad & Jennie Bradley CHILDRENS CHURCH 101 - 3K (9:00) Kelly Galvarino (11:15) Dean & Courtenay Givens CHILDRENS CHURCH 103 - 4K (9:00) Josh & Nicki Wilson (11:15) Bryce & Elizabeth Bigger CHILDRENS CHURCH 106 - 5K (9:00) Staff (11:15) Staff

Plan Ahead for Christmas Donations . . .

OpERatiOn ChRistMas ChiLd is HERE! Shoe boxes are located in the Christian Education Building lobby during the week and in the Narthex or Thompson Hall on Sunday. Pick up one with the instructions on how to package. If you have any questions, please contact Harper James at harperajames@ yahoo.com or (803) 238-2502. Shoe boxes need to be returned to the church no later than Friday, November 21. sOcks in a BOX is returning this year with Kent Liggitt and Mary Curtis Twitty collecting new pairs of white tube socks to be donated to those in need. Please place your donation in the designated boxes located around the church and in the CE building lobby. Donations will be accepted through November 25. Thank you for supporting this project!

For our loved ones . . .

In memory of Gale Rigby Kennedy, given by David F. McInnis. In memory of Guy Lewis, given by Mrs. Gee Gee Donnelly, Avis B. Oleary. In memory of Roy Benton, given by Gwynne Masline Chadwick. In memory of Josh Kahle, given by Kat & Kenny Rowland.

. . . CHAMPS is an acronym for Communities Helping, Assisting, Motivating Promising Students. The CHAMPS budget of $27,320 annually is used to motivate and challenge promising high school students into continuing their education and becoming responsible community members. In May, 2013, 4 of our CHAMPS students graduated high school and are attending college! Way to go students!! Doretha Evans, Director of CHAMPS

Did you know . . .