Carol Buckhout Editor   

Congregational Meeting:

There will be a called Congregational Meeting Sunday, August 14, following worship for the purpose of electing Elders, Deacons and the next Nominating Committee and to vote on a bylaws change which would allow session to vote on emergency actions via e-mail. Please plan to attend.

New Fall Schedule at CSPC and Sunday School News:

Beginning Sunday, September 11, CSPC will offer two worship services. Experiential worship will be at 8:30 AM. Classic worship will be at a new time, 11:11 AM. While the Experiential service will feel more contemporary and the Classic service be more traditional, the sermon will be the same at both services. Session is working on ways to incorporate new and meaningful elements in both services.

Sunday School classes for all ages will begin at 9:45. The new Sunday schedule was set up to allow some transition time between both worship services and Sunday School.

Help Make it Happen!

CSPC needs some volunteers to make our Sunday schedule successful. If you would like to teach one of the adults topics classes, the elementary or primary class, lead the high school class for a month or serve as a confirmation mentor, please contact Terry David (360-0108) or Karen Ginn (341-8271).

Sunday School Opportunities

People of all ages have learning opportunities on Sunday mornings at CSPC. And, in each, there is fun and fellowship along with Christian learning.

The nursery will be staffed for children from infancy through age 2. A pre-school class will be offered for children ages three to five years. School-aged learners will have classes divided into primary grades (K-grade 2); elementary (grades 3-5), middle school (grades 6-8) and high school (grades 9-12).

Middle School and Confirmation

This year, the middle school class will follow a curriculum that prepares them for confirmation. As in recent years, students exploring confirmation will also have the opportunity to work with an adult mentor; this year the mentoring will be in addition to the Sunday morning sessions. The mentors and students will work in pairs and in the larger group on activities that supplement and enrich the confirmation lessons taught during Sunday School.

High School Class

This year’s high school Sunday School class will be led by a number of CSPC adults who will serve as class facilitators for one month at a time. Rotating leaders will allow high school youth to interact with a greater number of members.

Learning Options for Adults

Adults (college age and older) can opt for a Bible study class or a class covering topics in Christianity.

Giving Thanks for Joyful Noise:

Thanks to all the volunteers who helped make Joyful Noise a success. It was a great week for the children who attended and 19 of them had no previous connection with CSPC.

Happy Birthday, CSPC!

CSPC turned 113 years old on July 14, 2011!  The “Union Sabbath School” was an all denominational Sunday School held in a one room schoolhouse located near the Crescent Springs Hardware Store that began sometime before 1892. Out of that group and with the support of our mother church, The Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, CSPC was formed officially on July 14^th, 1898 with 38 members.  The original church was dedicated in 1901, the same year the first minister was called.   

The Rev. Randy Schafer has been at the helm at CSPC since August 2010. The last two ministers served the longest.  The Rev. H. Michael Brewer’s served a little more than 28 years leaving in 2007 and his immediate predecessor, The Rev. Ernest Krueger, stayed 21 years!  

The little stone sanctuary (now the gathering room) was built first in the shape of a Maltese cross by local stonemasons using stone dragged by horses from the farm of Joseph Eubanks.  The “annex” which consisted of what is now the secretary’s office, the pastor’s office, restroom and the choir room was built in 1903 for a cost of $2,029 in order to provide room to hold Sunday School classes.  A small wooden bell tower sat separate in the yard until June 1938 when the stone belfry was added to the sanctuary.  The cost of the new belfry was $489.68.  City water and a water heater were installed June 7, 1940.  There were tennis courts in lieu of a parking lot until 1946 and the parking lot was not paved until the 60s.  An education building which contained Sunday School rooms on the upper floor and a fellowship hall, with a fully functional kitchen, were finished in 1956.  The manse was built at around the same time. The buildings were maintained and renovated over the years until 1996 when the new sanctuary, also in the shape of a Maltese cross was completed.  A large, unfinished, fellowship space is below the new sanctuary. 

-contributed by Janet Stadtmiller