2011 Annual Report

Wyalusing Presbyterian Church

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

JANUARY 1, 2011 - active members = 182

inactive member = 20

DECEMBER 31, 2011 184 ACTIVE MEMBERS

20 INACTIVE MEMBERS

NEW MEMBERS

1. 528 DAVID W. JONES January 24, 2011

2. 529 NANCY G. JONES January 24, 2011

3. 530 KATY STODDARD July 24, 2011

4. 531 NATHAN STODDARD July 24, 2011

INACTIVE MEMBERS:

DECEASED:

DECEASED (INACTIVE):

REMOVED FROM ROLE

REMOVED FROM ROLE (INACTIVE):

TRANSFERRED (ACTIVE):

1. 472 DAVID BUCK to Sugar Run PC January 24, 2011

2. 473 MELODY BUCK to Sugar Run PC January 24, 2011

TRANSFERRED (INACTIVE)

BAPTISMS: (* - adult)

MARIE ELISE SCARBOROUGH June 12, 2011

PATRICIA ANN SCARBOROUGH June 12, 2011

WILLIAM CODY SCARBOROUGH, JR June 12, 2011

FRANCIS WYATT SCARBOROUGH June 12, 2011

CAROL CATHERINE SCARBOROUGH June 12, 2011

SHELBY NONNEMACHER June 26, 2011 *

MADISON BLAKE NONNEMACHER June 26, 2011

KAITLYN MARIE, NONNEMACHER June 26, 2011

TAYLOR LOGAN RILEY NONNEMACHER June 26, 2011

#530 KATY STODDARD July 24, 2011 *

CALEB ALLEN STODDARD July 24, 2011

JOSHUA JOSEPH STADDARD July 24, 2011

CALEB JOHN PETLOCK October 2, 2011

WEDDINGS:

#479 CAMERON SMITH & KAELA BROWN March 19, 2011

#77A JOHN HOWARD & BARBARA MURPHY April 12, 2011

#482 ERIKA COOK & TOM LARRABEE June 11, 2011

RACHEL MOYERS & DEREK OTIS August 13, 2011

ERIN IRISH & TIMOTHY MOSIER October 1, 2011

2011 average attendance = 75 (52 services including Christmas Eve)

Maundy Thursday – 38 Ash Wednesday – 24 Easter Sunrise – 40

Combined service Sept.11 (flood) – 40 Community Thanksgiving - 21

[average attendance for 2008 = 72; 2009 = 73; 2010 = 73]

Pastor’s 2011 Annual Report

Rev. Barry R. Ballard

January 29, 2012

2011 marked our 15^th year together as we continued to serve as a beacon of light to the Wyalusing community. What an eventful year! The flood is surely the biggest event that we dealt with, but not the only remarkable happening. We are living through changes brought about by the gas companies, both good and bad. Karen and I will mark 2011 as the year that we achieved our Doctor of Ministry degrees from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. We continue to be grateful for WPC’s help and support as we furthered our education. Kirstyn and Wesley both advanced at school. Both really loved performing in Aida, the school musical, with Kirstyn securing the lead role and Wesley getting to die dramatically on stage. In the fall, they were both in Marching Band, and Kirstyn got to be the drum major. I really feel that all of this is possible because all of you have continued to welcome us as part of your church family. Because of you, our children will call Wyalusing their hometown. Here is a report of my 2012 activities:

Here are some ways that we served in 2012:

1. Sunday Morning Worship:

During the winter and spring, we worked our way through the life of Christ, utilizing texts from all four Gospels, and following the Scripture passages used in Sunday School. In the summer and fall, we carefully walked through Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians.
Administered the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper nearly monthly, usually on the first Sunday of the month, with some exceptions for Maundy Thursday and Christmas Eve.
Continued to lead worship and special services with respect for WPC traditions, as well as introducing some modern worship styles within the traditional framework.

2. Continued regular visitation of homebound and hospitalized members and friends of the church.

3. Christian Education participation:

Taught the Adult Sunday School Class utilizing the Faithweaver Series by Group publishing along with the rest of our Sunday School classes.
Helped with Sunday School openings each week.
Assisted Karen Ballard with youth groups along with Brendon and Kerry Hitchcock. We took five members of the Youth Group on a mission trip to Washington, DC through an organization called the Center for Student Missions.

4. Church Administration:

Continued the ongoing development of church leadership along with the church officers under the guidance of our Vision Statement.
Moderated Session.
Met with the Deacons when possible. Otherwise, email was a great way to stay in touch.

5. Weddings and Funerals

6. Weddings: Erika Cook and Tom Larabee; Rachel Moyer and Derek Otis; Tim Mosher and Erin Irish.

7. Funerals for members Emerson L. Cobb, Vivienne Dettrick, Jody Miller, Joanne Bortner.

8. Presbytery Work

Attended the Fellowship of Presbyterians gathering in August, and coordinated the Fellowship of Presbyterians for the Lackawanna Presbytery.
At Presbytery’s request, I took over as Moderator for the Sugar Run Presbyterian Church, preaching there about once/month, and moderating their Session five times/year.
Mentor to David Reichard, Commissioned Lay Pastor of the Rushville Presbyterian Church.
Regularly attended meetings of the Lackawanna Presbytery.
Spiritual Director for the Junior Sports Camp at Camp Lackawanna.

9. Ecumenical work:

Weekly prayer meetings centered around global and local needs.
Participation in the Thanksgiving Eve Service.
Participation in the community Vacation Bible School with special thanks to Shannon Lord.
Maintained friendly and collegial relationship with clergy in town.
Youth Group continues to welcome people from other churches (and no church). By the end of 2011, we had more young people from outside of WPC than from our own church.

10. Scotland Link

In September, the church hosted a group from Hawick, Scotland.
I was able to attend several events with the group and other members of the church.
I continue to believe that this link is a special privilege for our church and encourage all members to consider how they can participate.

11. Continuing Education:

As mentioned above, Karen and I completed our Doctor of Ministry courses, graduating in May from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

I will continue to work hard as your pastor in 2012, seeking God’s leading for the direction of WPC, praying for your continued spiritual growth, and striving to meet your pastoral needs.

REPORTS BY COMMITTEES & ORGANIZATIONS

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Doug Brown, Pat Hoffman, David Hindman, John Petlock

See green sheets prepared by church treasurer, Marilyn Ross.

- Thank you, Marilyn Ross, Pat Hoffman, Gwen McMicken and Peg Thompson for

your faithful service overseeing the finances of Wyalusing Presbyterian Church.

(prepared by D. Black)

Boy Scout Troop 96 --- no report

Buildings & Grounds Committee Trustee John Petlock, Team Leader

2010

*Women’s Restroom near the kitchen has been remodeled

*Men’s Restroom near the kitchen is in the process of being

remodeled

*Kitchen project is complete with the addition of CFL (compact

fluorescent light) bulbs

*Switches and receptacles throughout the church have been

numbered to matched to their breaker location for easy

identification

*Light and receptacles have been installed in the double door

area in the rear of the church

*Gutters have been cleaned

*New timer installed for church sign

*Signed a gas lease with Chesapeake

*New thermostats throughout the church that have the ability

to program each day of the week (Old ones had a Mon.- Fri

setting and a Sat.- Sun setting)

*Sound system upgrade is complete

*Cabinet for sound system made by Gary Neiley

*New furnace with a stainless steel chimney liner

[2011 MAJOR PROJECTS: Remodel Wesley’s room in the manse; Air conditioning for the church]

John Petlock /Trustee 2011

2011 CLERK OF SESSION’S REPORT Lynn Petlock

The 2011 Session was made up of five women and three men. The following were the teams and their session elders:

Missions/Evangelism Meg Moodley

Pam Quentin

Personnel Mary Eberlin

Lew Reinhart

Building and Grounds Robert Cook

Worship/Music Tiffani Warner

Stewardship/Membership Lin Heath

Christian Education Sue Kilmer

Ending her first term is Sue Kilmer and Lin Heath. Lew is finishing his second term. Lin will stay on to serve his second term. We are grateful for Lew and Sue’s service and dedication and happy that Lin decided to stay on for a second term. We welcome Linda Neiley, Becky Neiley and Ken Mapes on board and we will wait and see what new and exciting things they bring to our Session.

Please pray for the Session as we work for you, the Wyalusing Presbyterian Church. Remember them and all the leaders of the church in your prayers as they strive to serve and glorify God.

(See all the good work done in the individual reports from each team)

DEACONS YEAR END REPORT 2010

Continued sending care packages to our college students during each of their semesters
Sent care packages to people serving in our military
Took care packages to our those who need a bit of tender, loving, care at Easter & Christmas
Continued to set up volunteers to greet, usher, & work in the nursery
Visits members & friends who were in the hospital or were simply in need of a bit of cheer
Organized meals for those who were sick and for families with new babies – thanks for everyone who helps out with this!
Assistance to some people who were in need of help getting to/from hospital appointments, etc
Purchased grieving packets to help those who have lost someone they loved (a set of 4 small books to be distributed to the person/family at certain times over the first year of losing a loved one)
Made a stronger effort to stay in contact with military/TLC/college students by sending cards to a group every month with a goal of each person receiving some type of greeting (card/package/etc) at least 4 times during the year.
Sent a variety of cards to various people as the need arose.
Presented newly baptized members with crosses made by Gary Neiley

Class of 2010 – Allyson Smith, Becky Neiley, Anne Gamble

Class of 2011 - Karen Smalser, Debi Cook, Carmen Eberlin

Class of 2012 – Diana Petlock, Karen Bond, Peg Tyler

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION TEAM (compiled by Elder Susan Kilmer, team leader)

2011 was a busy year for the Christian Education team, as you can see below. In addition to the events and activities listed, the church also continued to receive a weekly email update containing prayer requests, dates to note, information, and a devotion. The church also participated in a church-wide devotional during Advent entitled "God is in the Manger" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Library (submitted by Shannon Lord)

2011 was a pretty quiet year for the library. We had a little bit of a face lift as we weeded out some of the pieces that were a little worse for the wear or outdated. There seems to be people browsing through every now and then, noticeably in the Church References where you can find the Creeds, and other Presbyterian information.

We also added a large amount of new pieces, we had a lot of great donations come in especially in the music department which has seemed to be a great way for people to grab something uplifting. We have at least one CD go out every week or two.

We look forward to 2012 and are making a goal to GET OUT THERE MORE! We hope to increase the music library and to add some new shelving units along with a couple more updates.

Sunday School January - June 2011 (submitted by Linda Neiley)

We finished up the SS year (with a theme of 'High on the Heifer Project') with 73 youth members using the Faith Weaver materials. The average weekly attendance was 75, with a high on Friend Day of 115. For friends' day, the group went swimming at the Towanda Area High School pool. Children's Day was a Noah's ark skit that was written by the high school class followed by a picnic at the borough park.

September-December 2011 (submitted by Shannon Lord)

The year started off with a burst of energy, our theme this year was Superheroes. Each month focuses on a new Hero and encourages the kids to help others. We collected toys for 125 children from the Children’s Home in Binghamton again this year, which were graciously received. We have been collecting money for different projects as a monthly mission, our collection for Hezekiah’s Hands was very supportive and we look forward to making other great donations charitable groups to “help people” like the superheroes do and to show the kids what they can do to help others. Attendance seems to hold steady around 50 plus the Adult class and we hope that Friends' Day in February will increase that a little more. The Faith Weaver curriculum we are using keeps every class on the same lesson, which we hope encourages the family to discuss together throughout the week.

Vacation Bible School (submitted by Shannon Lord)

VBS 2011 was another good week. We used the Panda Mania curriculum which was great. The youth that attended seemed very receptive to the material and seemed to take a lot home. We had some great local missions come in to talk about the things they do in the communities around us, next year there will only be one, like years prior. Barry lead great openings and music sessions, Deb Minturn supervised craft, Ken Mapes took on Recreation and Penny Rahm carried out the bible lessons.

Attendance was a little lower than previous years and some discussions have been made as to the timing of VBS and to consider changing to an evening VBS to accommodate working parents and to potentially gain more teachers.

Youth Group (submitted by Barry Ballard)

The Youth Group continued to meet weekly on Sunday evenings at 5:00 during the school year. Karen and Barry Ballard provided leadership, assisted by Brendon and Kerry Hitchcock. Each meeting provides fellowship and fun, a Bible lesson oriented for teens and the challenges they face, and some good food.

During the summer, five of the youth went on a mission trip to Washington, D.C. with the mission organization The Center for Student Missions. This marks the fourth mission trip with Center for Student Missions that we have taken. The young missionaries were Kirstyn and Wesley Ballard, Jake Minturn, Kyle Nowland, and Lisa Saxe. In preparation for this event, the Youth Group raised money through various sales, special dinners, and recycling cans.

The Youth Group enjoyed some fun events, too. We went skiing on Presidents' Day weekend, attended the Superbowl event in Elmira, and played lots of Ultimate Frisbee.

The Youth Group represented WPC at the Wyalusing Arts Festival in October, both selling chocolate covered pretzels to help with mission trip expenses and helping give away free bags of popcorn.

The Youth Group continued to draw people from other churches, including the Wyalusing United

Director of Music Diana Black

SENIOR CHOIR – Senior Choir members practiced Wednesday evenings 7:30 to 8:30 and sang an anthem and the service music in the form of prayer responses and benedictions the 3 Sundays of each month, January through May and September through December. In addition to a varied selection of anthems throughout the year the Senior Choir also presented special music for the Maundy Thursday Communion Service..

Our choir members are down to five, but they still make a great sound: Lin Heath, Pat Hoffman, Gwen McMicken, Caryl Snyder and Scott Snyder. Thank you, choir, for your great hearts, your great voices and your great dedication to our church. New voices would surely be made welcome

· SPECIAL MUSIC - Whenever a 5^th Sunday in the month occurred we sought out special music. Tiffany Warner, Worship Committee chair, did a great job in obtaining outstanding musicians to fill this niche. The children of the Sunday school were invited to sing on the Sunday following a communion service.

The Worship Committee also organized the special music for summer of 2011 while the senior choir took a well deserved rest

· Thank you to the “Pats” – Brown and Hoffman - for “sub-ing” at the piano While the organ is used most of the time for worship services, occasionally the piano or the Clavinola are used; on a typical Sunday in addition to leading the choir, there is a prelude, a hymn appropriate for the “silent prayer” in preparation for worship, 3 or 4 hymns*, the Gloria Patri, the Doxology, an offertory, 2 or 3-fold amens and other responses as needed and a postlude – on Communion Sundays there are also two quiet pieces of music played while the elements are served.

Please share your ideas regarding the music program at WPC. Suggestions are always welcome. Praise God for the gift of music!

*Please note: the pastor always chooses the hymns!

FAMILY EVENT COORDINATOR (submitted by Debbie Minturn)

Happy 2012 everyone! May you all have a safe, healthy, and great new year. I had some challenges this year as far as events went - events had to be cancelled due to weather, and participation was low at others, but we'll keep trying. The following is a list of events in 2011.

April 2nd     Karaoke night - 24 in attendance
April 30th    Family service day (to pick up trash around the borough park) - 6 in attendance
May 15th    Women's brunch - cancelled because we were having breakfast with the men the

                    following week (kind of the same thing)
June 4th      Ice cream social/Movie night - 44 in attendance (28 stayed for whole thing)
June 17th    Flashlight tag/Male bonding - 11 in attendance
July 11th     Nay Aug Park outing - 18 in attendance
Aug. 4th      Lake Jean outing - cancelled due to rain
Aug.           Fireman's parade float - thanks to Toni McCarty and helpers
Aug. 27th    River float - cancelled due to lack of planning and river was too low
Sept. 17th   Game night - 12 in attendance (flooding from previous week affected attendance)
Oct. 15th    Harvest party @ Minturn's - cancelled due to rain
Nov. 12th   Pie making - cancelled to help Ruth Parsons
Nov. 13th   Pie selling fundraiser - see above
Dec. 10th    Babysitting by youth group - 9 kids in attendance

Thank you to all who helped plan, set up, clean up, and attend these events.

I am also curious in your opinion as to whether or not we should continue to have these events. If it really is something people are not interested in, or you think I need to change something, I welcome your input.

FELLOWSHIP sub-COMMITTEE There was no designated leader for this team in 2011 but the following women of the church served on kitchen committees throughout the year:

Caryl Snyder, Gwen McMicken, Pat Hoffman, Kathy Trowbridge, Fran Hindman, Melissa Nowland, Sheri McHenry, Peg Thompson, Pat Brown, Ruth Brown, Jean Reinhart, Edie Ermisch, Lynn Petlock, Linda Neiley, Sue Kilmer, Becky Neiley, Anne Gamble, Debbie Minturn Barb Hugo, Lorna Snyder, Mary Eberlin, Allyson Smith, Toni McCarty, Marilyn Ross, Sylvia Ballard and Bonnie Reichard.

Besides covering funerals and additional special needs, other times of fellowship included:

· Dinner following the congregational meeting on January 30, 2011

· Friend Day – February13, 2011

· Fat Tuesday Pancake Supper – March 8, 2011

· Coffee Hour to recognize Sr. Hi grads & Barry’s Doctorate! – May 22, 2011

· Thanksgiving Dinner – November 20, 2011

· Christmas Party, December 4, 2011

and

· Men’s Breakfasts on the last Sundays of each month in 2011

Some of these events were instituted by the Session, some by the Deacon and, some through the Sunday School; but all were thoroughly enjoyed by the whole congregation!

(prepared by D. Black)

MISSION & OUTREACH TEAM , 2011 Elders Meg Moodley & Pam Quentin

January

· 2011 Officers Retreat at Camp Lackawanna

· Met with Sherri Schreier (former team leader) to learn about our new responsibilities

February

· Asked for Special Food Offering for TACO, spaghetti, cereal, soap

March

· Discussed Church Website. Many pages were outdated and/or obsolete. Talk with Kelly Cole to make needed additions and updates.

April

· One Great Hour of Sharing

June

· Pentecost Offering

· Hezekiah’s Hands Offering

· Volunteered for Hezekiah’s Hands

July

· Worked with Karen Ballard to help with monies for youth missionary trip

September

· Met with Youth Group to teach and make pillow cases to raise money for Youth Group.

· Sold pillow cases at town Fall Festival

October

· Peacemaking Offering

· Worked with Lin Heath on “Time and Talent” sheet

November

· Passed out hot chocolate during the town Christmas tree lighting

December

· Christmas Joy Offering

· Gave $300 to Hezekiah’s Hands for flood relief

· Gave $64 to TACO

TOTAL MISSION GIVING $12,805.38 (Total given to local missions $ 6,846.04)

Regular mission giving: Presbytery of Lackawanna (2009 General Assembly giving) $4,400.00

PERSONNEL COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT Mary Eberlin Personnel Team

Team in process of re-organizing. Helpful suggestions offered at the church leaders’ retreat.
No information available from previous years’ teams for training and expectations of new personnel.
Met with Barry to discuss organization of team and options for formal training of Church Officers.
Reviewed material in current Church Library for training information.
Revisited long and short term goals from retreat.
Researched Book of Order for guidelines for personnel team.
Found some online information for new officer training to use as reapplication.
Downloaded copy of “Guidelines for Session Personnel Committees” by Presbyterian Church USA.
Checked for forms used to solicit information for feedback.
Met with individual employees to discuss job descriptions.
Held Pastor Appreciation Sunday with coffee hour following service.
Assembled a form for personal feedback for pastor evaluation.
Met with budget committee to develop budget for 2012.
Sexton job control copy is unavailable. Met with Lynn to tour entire church to develop a new list of responsibilities for sexton and other general cleaning needed.
Participated in Deacon visitations to Bill and Marleah Stevens at home and Rev. Parsons at the Skilled Nursing Facility in Towanda.
Collected and collated data from feedback requests.

PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN (prepared by Diana Black)

In 2011 the Presbyterian Women of the Wyalusing Presbyterian Church continued the Horizon Bible Study group. The study group met monthly and and in June completed the Horizon Bible Study “Journey Through Revelation: Apocalyptic Hope for Today”; in September the study group began their current study: “Confessing the Beatitudes.” The study group meets the third Friday of each month at 10:30 a.m. in the choir room. There is always room for one more!

The study group contributes to the Least Coin Project of Presbyterian Women (USA). Monies are used for mission work worldwide.

PRESBYTERIAN YOUNG ADULTS

The Presbyterian Young Adults group met monthly during 2011. Becky Neiley and Adam Petlock continued as co-leaders of the group with Lisa Mapes as the treasurer. The group has anywhere from 20-35+ people present each month. The group took the initiative to get their own checking account in order to take care of their money to help the church. The group raised the funds and did the work to redo the quiet room in the vestibule. The men did some work to help out in the bathrooms that were being redone by the kitchen. The group held a chicken BBQ to raise funds to do their projects. Another fundraiser was the Letters from Santa with a Christian theme. The group purchased six lightweight tables for use by anyone in the church. All are six feet long. Two tables fold in half for easy transport, and the other four have legs that fold up under. The group has taken over the care for the two cabins and the bathhouse that our church sponsors at Camp Lackawanna.

STEWARDSHIP/MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE Elder Lin Heath , Committee Chair

Throughout the past year, the committee concentrated on the annual Stewardship Drive.

WORSHIP AND MUSIC COMMITTEE Tiffany Warner, team leader

Team members: Pastor Barry Ballard; Music Director, Diana Black

The purpose of the worship committee is to organize the services, find pulpit supply, provide music when needed, set up communion, and work with other committees when needed.

*Served Communion 11 times in 2011 (Easter and Christmas were served intiction style)

*There were six pulpit supplies this year (The Gideon’s, Denny Vermilya, Representative from

Hezekiah’s Hands, Representative from the Endless Mountain Pregnancy Association,

David Howard, John Dabback)

*Provided special music when the choir was off and during the summer

*Celebrated Advent by having families present each candle during the Advent season.