Mailing address: PO Box 490, Maysville, KY, 41056. 

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Rev. Jim Dougans has been called to serve as seated pastor at First 


Presbyterian Church in Maysville.


Pastor Jim will be commissioned on Sunday, February 10, 2019 during 


the morning worship service. Representatives of the Presbytery of 


Transylvania will be present. A reception will follow the service in the 


fellowship hall. Please plan to attend. Thank you!



Grandparenting in 2019

by Pastor Jim Dougans


How are you doing on your resolutions for 2019? Perhaps you had a resolution fizzle in January. If so, may I suggest a new resolution: to be the best grandparent you can be. Or if you are not a grandparent, to help the grandparents in your life to be the best grandparents they can be.  According to Arthur Kornhaber, M.D., president and founder of the Foundation for Grandparenting and the nation's foremost expert on grandparenting issues, there are eleven roles grandparents play in a family. I am obliged to ParentingWeekly.com for this list.


The eleven roles are:

  • Ancestor — a link to past generations and a living example of survival and resilience.
  • Buddy — a trusted pal and confidante.
  • Hero — an inspiration and even a rescuer in times of need.
  • Historian — a witness to the value of belonging to the family unit.
  • Mentor — a cheerleader who boosts dreams, growth, and self-worth.
  • Nurturer — an emotional and social safety net, especially when the family is in crisis.
  • Role Model — an example of how to behave, interact, and care for others.
  • Spiritual Guide — a compass for developing morality, principles, and beliefs.
  • Student — a willingness to learn from the younger generation and empower their leadership.
  • Teacher — an experienced instructor sharing knowledge, skills, and life lessons.
  • Wizard — a friend who enjoys imaginative play and turning the simplest tasks into something magical.


These roles are dynamic, meaning they will change and grow as you and your

grandchild(ren) do so too, and you may find yourself playing many different roles

throughout the years.


Of the 11 roles grandparents play, five rise to the top of my list.


Mentor

This goes beyond just teaching your grandchild a subject - you are a cheerleader inspiring her imagination

and her dreams, nurturing her spirit, and encouraging her intellectual growth while giving her a sense of self-worth. Grandparents are especially effective as teachers

because their unconditional love makes the grandchild feel safe and comfortable and loved for who they are, not how they perform.


Role Model

Your actions can teach your grandchildren how they should behave in society, care for themselves, and how they should aspire to be as future parents and grandparents themselves. Your influence can also help create a positive perception of older people in general. Your relationship with your children can also serve as a model for your grandchildren's relationships with their own parents and children.


Spiritual Guide

Your role as a spiritual guide to your grandchildren can help teach them to value and achieve spiritual rewards such as love, tolerance, compassion, reverence, joy, peace, gentleness, faith and kindness. Because you are not responsible for their daily well-being, you can focus on their spiritual, moral growth and development. By acting in a moral, ethical, and honest manner you set an example for your grandchildren to emulate.


Student

While it's true you have many valuable things to teach your grandchild, don't forget that you have many valuable lessons to learn about and from them. You can be a student of grandparenting by joining grandparenting groups, reading grandparenting books and magazines, and taking classes, but also by listening to what your grandchildren have to teach you. They can teach you to keep up with new inventions and ideas to help keep you growing and changing, which is key to remaining vibrant and youthful. Your grandchildren will also get a sense of empowerment and self-worth by teaching you new things and sharing a bit of their life and culture with you.


Wizard

Your role as a wizard provides your grandchild with a playful, imaginative alternative to their task-oriented daily life. You can indulge your grandchild's fantasies because you don't have to worry about the daily discipline. Imaginative play is essential for young children - particularly around four and five years old – and enhances their intellectual and verbal skills and emotional balance later in life. The simplest tasks can take

on a magical quality to a young child, with a little wizardly help from grandma or grandpa!


Which roles top your list?


Let’s all of us, grandparents and non-grandparents, seek to model our leader Jesus the Christ: to be loving, forgiving and merciful as he was loving, forgiving and merciful. May it be so in 2019.


Blessings,

Pastor Jim



The Church as Mosaic


A mosaic consists of thousands of little stones. Some are blue, some are

green, some are yellow, some are gold. When we bring our faces close to

the mosaic, we can admire the beauty of each stone. But as we step back

from it, we can see that all these little stones reveal to us a beautiful picture,

telling a story none of the stones can tell by itself.

That is what our life in the church is about. Each of us is like a little stone,

but together we reveal the face of God to the world. Nobody can say: “I

make God visible.” But others who see us together can say: “They make

God visible.” Christian community is where humility and glory touch.

—Henri J. M. Nouwen



Neighborly Love


As an ordained minister, Fred Rogers harnessed the power of television to tell children they were loved —and to show them how to love others. In “You Are Special , he writes, “When we love a person, we accept him or her exactly as is: the lovely with the unlovely, the strong along with the fearful, the true mixed in with the façade, and of course, the only way we can do it is by accepting ourselves that way.”

In a review of the touching documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” a writer for Variety notes: “Rogers’ real secret was...that the call to love your neighbor as yourself isn’t a slogan to hang in your kitchen with flowers around it — it’s a decision you make at every moment, to view every man, woman and child on earth as your neighbor. If you don’t see and feel that, and act on it, then you’re just another narcissist with a kitchen slogan.”

Last October, when a synagogue shooting shattered the peace of Rogers’ real-life former neighborhood, residents of all religions embraced one another as neighbors. Afterward, the Fred Rogers Center stated, “We long for a day when there is no more tragedy born from hatred.”

Affectionately Yours


St. Valentine, a Roman priest, was martyred in 270 A.D. for loving Jesus. Some

sources say he performed weddings after the emperor banned them; others say he rescued Christians from Roman prisons. Two centuries later, the pope declared February 14th, St. Valentine’s Day.

According to the legend, the priest signed his letters “Your Valentine.” Later, Christians

followed suit to honor him. By the mid-1700s, friends and sweethearts exchanged

heart-shaped trinkets or sent handwritten notes of affection on February 14th.






Office closed on Monday, February 18th

for President’s Day.

Mid-Winter Dinner


The Mid-Winter Dinner will be held on Sunday, February 17th with gathering at 5:00 p.m. Dinner will be served at 5:30. All members are welcome to come and enjoy a hearty meal and fellowship. Guests are welcome. Any men that would like to help please contact Dan Crum come to the church kitchen at 3:00 p.m. There are sign-up sheets in the Fellowship Hall and on the table in the back of the sanctuary for those wishing to attend. Please put the number of people in your group. Thanks!


   

The Session will meet on Monday, 


February 25th at 5:30 p.m.

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Position Announcement


 Outreach Director sought for First Presbyterian Church, Maysville, KY. The Outreach Director will develop an outreach to Maysville and Mason County. The person in this position needs a strong grounding in the Christian faith. A college degree in a related field preferred. This is a fulltime position, with a salary $35,000 plus benefits.


For the position description call (606) 564-3639. To apply send a cover letter and resume by March 30, 2019 to pastor_firstpres@maysvilleky.net, attention Pastor Jim Dougans.


Our facebook site is: www.facebook.com/maysvillepcusa.org


Per Capita for 2019 is $38.44. Please write “per capita” on the memo line of your check. Thank you!


Souper Bowl Sunday: February 3rd is Souper Bowl Sunday. Please bring cans of soup, peanut butter, box of crackers or anything that will go with soup that is non-perishable. These will be taken to the Food Bank. Thanks!


TYGs: The TYGs will go ice skating at Fountain Square in Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon, February 16th. They will go bowling on Sunday afternoon, February 24th at a local bowling alley, perhaps Aberdeen or Flemingsburg.


Curious Conversations: Would you like to learn more about First Presbyterian Church, its ministry and mission? Do you know how to answer your friends if they ask you what it means to be a Presbyterian? We will discuss these questions and more at “Curious Conversations” on Sunday, February 17 and Sunday, February 24, 2019 at 9:30 a.m. in the pastor’s office. Curious Conversations is open to long-standing members, new members and those interested in becoming members. Please let Pastor Jim Dougans know if you plan to attend: pastor firstpres@maysvilleky.net or 606-564-3639.


Worship Service Cancellation Due to Bad Weather: “First Presbyterian Church will almost always hold a worship service on Sunday morning. The worship service will be cancelled when there is a Level Three Snow Emergency declared where only emergency personnel are to use the roads. On weekdays the church office and all church programs will also be cancelled when a Level Three Snow Emergency is in effect. During other storm conditions church members are advised to use caution and best judgment when determining whether to travel to church.”




CLICK ON PUZZLE TO PRINT

There is a basket on the table in the back of the sanctuary with note cards, envelopes, pens, labels and
stamps. These cards will go to people on the prayer list and the homebound.

 If you know someone’s address on this list please give it to Gwen in the office so she can make labels with their name and address for your convenience. Thanks!

Over 200 families are served by the Mason County

Food Bank each month. Please keep bringing nonperishable

food donations each week to our basket in

Fellowship Hall. Please also consider a financial

contribution to Limestone Ministries, Inc. and/or the

Mason County Food Bank, because despite regular food donations

from area churches, food still needs to be purchased each month.

Mason County Food Bank is the only one available since the Calvary

Baptist Food Bank closed. Any non-perishable item will be accepted,

but the most needed items are: spaghetti sauce, boxed spaghetti,

macaroni & cheese dinners, dried beans, saltine crackers, cornbread

mix, peanut butter, oats, cereal, canned soup, canned vegetables, and

canned fruit. Cash donations are welcome also! If you write a check,

please make it payable to the First Presbyterian Church and put

‘FOOD BANK’ on the memo line. Or you can send funds directly to the Mason County Food Bank,                                                                  located at 1679 Forest Avenue, Maysville, KY 41056.

Click on Calendar to Print

Policy for Worship Service Cancellation Due to Bad Weather:  “First Presbyterian Church will almost always hold a worship service on Sunday morning.  The worship service will be cancelled when there is a Level Three Snow Emergency declared where only personnel are to use the roads.  On weekdays the church office and all church programs will also be cancelled when Level Three Snow Emergency is in effect.  During other storm conditions church members are advised to use caution and best judgment when determining whether to travel to church.”