Family vacation newsletter
Author: Ashish Sahu

FCCH
Congregational
Chronicle
February
2024

Page	What's There	Page	What's There
2	From the Pastor's Desk	15	Sweet Scenes from January
3	Thank you, Sheryl Mendenhall	16	Black History Month
4-8	Meet your 2024 Council Members	17	January Council Meeting Highlights
9	February Forums	18	Sunday School Celebration & Thankfulness
10	Sabbatical Summary	19	Resource Page: Groups, Birthdays, attendance
11	Artist on Display Clare W. Sahling
12	Circle of Friends
13 - 14	Upcoming Events of Note

Dear FCCH
This month we begin the season of Lent, our journey together towards
Easter. Our theme this year is Sabbath, and there will be several ways in which to participate.
First, on Wednesday, February 14, we will begin with “Fat
Tuesday” with a delicious pancake supper at 5:00. At 6:00,
we will make the transition down the hallway to our sacred
space to have an Ash Wednesday Imposition of Glitter Ashes.
It’s a beautiful way to begin our journey.
The daily devotional we have chosen this year is called
“Wendell Berry and the Sabbath Poetry of Lent” from our good friend at the SALT project. We will have printed guides for each of you. All of the poetry is from Berry’s book, “This Day”, which is worth purchasing, in my
opinion. The poems can also be found online, and we
are also going create a way to make them available for
those less tech-y.
Beginning the week of February 27, Mark and I will lead a four part book study on Wayne Muller’s gorgeous book, “Sabbath: Restoring the Sacred Rhythm of Rest.” We both have had this book for years, and we were talking about how we keep returning to it. We want to share this gem with you. You can sign up for this book study through the office—we are offering it on Tuesdays at 11 am or
Wednesdays at 5 pm.
Looking forward to seeing you on the journey!
Love and peace,
Karla

Our outgoing Church Moderator - Sheryl Mendenhall

Sheryl,
Thank you for the leadership, encouragement, and
presence you’ve given to us as Church Moderator.
May you continue to inspire us for many years to come!”

This is my final Article and let me say how very proud I am of our Congregants and the leadership within our church family at every level.
My firm belief is that our Creator is always at work within our membership to show love to every one of our brothers and sisters and all of creation. May we never stray from loving each person as God loves us. Note...the emphasis here is upon how the
Creator loves his creation, not just love per se, but how we are loved. A tall order?
It was what was called for when the command to love was given. In my heart of hearts, I truly feel that high bar is one that can and should energize all mankind to rise up and be better, be more
determined to stop hunger, stop homelessness, stop abuse, stop hatred, stop abuse of our world, stop finding people of any ilk expendable, stop...just stop, and imagine the eyes upon us of our Creator God…see in those eyes the love there and the longing for all mankind to understand, seek and do.
My thanks to all for your wonderful support and examples you set for me personally and for our wonderous church ministry. God bless us all. Sheryl

Sheryl was presented a commemorative plate at the
Congregational Meeting on Sunday, Jan 28th

Picture courtesy of Lin Stogner
alfandellie@gmail.com

Meet Your 2024 Council Members

Bob McLendon
Moderator

Email: captainbob.bm@gmail.com
Phone: 828-206-8312
Role of Ministry: Elected position by Church Membership. The Moderator oversees all church ministries and ad hoc committees.
The Moderator serves as Chair Person for the Church Council and annual membership
meeting of the church.
Short Bio: Career in university administration at 6 universities in Southeastern US.

Bill Shaffer
Assistant Moderator

Email: WDSiii333@gmail.com
Phone: 614-570-7990
Role of Ministry: Elected position by Church
Membership. Serves with Moderator in overseeing all church ministries and ad hoc committees. Serves as Chair Person of Church in absence of Moderator
Short Bio: Louisiana- West Point - army in Germany - conscientious objector - Tennessee - Atlanta - architect - Ann Twiggs - Ohio -
Hendersonville

Pictures courtesy of Dawn Kucera
dawnkucera@mac.com

Meet Your 2024 Council Members

Phil Taylor
Treasurer

Email - pntaylor1234@yahoo.com
Phone - 484-505-9626
Ministry Description: The church treasurer is
responsible for the care and custody of the current
operating funds of the Church ... subject to the
supervision of the Ministry of Financial Resources
Short Bio: I've been a member of FCUCC since
December, 2012, and have previously served as
Moderator and Assistant Moderator.

Mark Fagerlin
Finance

Email: mfagerlin@gmail.com
Phone: 828-595-4334
Ministry Description: The Ministry of Financial
Resources is responsible for the financial planning,
execution and integrity of all things financial.
Short Bio: I received a Masters degree in Physics with a specialty in Radio Astronomy which led me to a
career involved with various aerospace and defense programs.

Pictures courtesy of Dawn Kucera
dawnkucera@mac.com

Meet Your 2024 Council Members

Bruce Mills
Minister to the Larger Community

Email: bmills9@att.net
Phone: 813-748-9886
Ministry Description: The Ministry to the larger community oversees and assists in the coordination of the church’s outreach to our surrounding communities. It involves overseeing the work of our Service & Giving Team and our Peace Building and Justice Team. This ministry makes our church unique in terms of the impact which we have on Hendersonville and surrounding areas. It demonstrates that we not only talk the talk, but we also walk the walk…..in a very real and impactful way.
Short Bio: Bruce has a Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling and spent the majority of this career in the field of rehabilitating injured workers. He also held positions as a Medical Social Worker and Project Director of a Hotline/Crisis Intervention Service. He distinguished himself by being named an
Outstanding Professional Member of the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals in 2004, and he was also awarded the “J.C.Penney Golden Rule Award” for community service.

Diane Rose
Minister to Members and Friends

Email: dianerose617@gmail.com
Phone: 951-543-2771
Ministry Description: This ministry of members and friends contains all the activities and events within the church to nourish our community. It contains coffee hour, meditation groups, book studies, prayer shawls, small group ministry, friendship suppers, spiritual
formation groups, church retreats and more. This is a fluid ministry as needs and interests emerge and ebb in the church.
Short Bio: I am a mother, grandmother, and Special Education teacher originally from Massachusetts, but have lived in Japan and California before moving to NC 5 years ago.

Pictures courtesy of Dawn Kucera
dawnkucera@mac.com

Meet Your 2024 Council Members

Lin Stogner
Clerk

Email: alfandellie@gmail.com
Phone: 828-553-2087
Ministry Description: The Church Clerk is the secretary of the Church and of the Church Council. As such, the Church Clerk is the
official record-keeper of the Church.
Short Bio: Lin retired from Project
Management with Revlon Cosmetics in 2017 and has been a member of this Church for five (5) years.

Linda Laderach
Worship Ministry Facilitator

Email: lladerac@mtholyoke.edu
Ministry Description: Coordinates volunteers related to worship such as acolytes, ushers, and readers.
Short Bio: Attended Indiana University Music School. Taught music at Mt. Holyoke. Loves: violin and jigsaw puzzles.

Meet Your 2024 Council Members

Mindy Myers
Physical Resources

Email: mindy7myers@gmail.com
Phone:
Ministry Description: The amazing volunteers of our Ministry of Physical Resources (MPR) take care of our building & grounds. This includes the Gardens and maintenance such as painting, pest control, HVAC & landscaping contracts plus contacting vendors to do repairs.
Short bio: My husband & I moved to Laurel Park from Durham in 2017. We have 3 children, 6 grandchildren and 2 dogs.

Angie Yates
Personnel & Pastoral Relations

Email: angie.y8s@gmail.com
Phone: 828-329-9236
Ministry Description: PPRM Ministry supports Pastoral Staff, employees and lay volunteers in their service to our church community. Our meetings are a safe space for honest and confidential communication. We support our Pastoral Staff by conducting check ins regarding self care and whole person health. We support their
endeavors such as Karla’s upcoming sabbatical.
Bio: Former Retreat Coordinator at a Christian
Conference Center and temp Admin. work at our church.

Pictures courtesy of Dawn Kucera
dawnkucera@mac.com

February Forums

February 4th: The Racial Justice Team will be asking how we can help make
Hendersonville a more welcoming community for people of color. FCC welcomes everyone, but how can we support people of color to make sure they feel welcome in our community? Come join us to view a couple of short videos and talk about ways we can help build a community that is comfortable for everyone. Our plan is to walk away with a list of ways we can all become even more inclusive and prepare for our upcoming Ashley lecturer, Dr. Meeks, on church and race. We will look forward to seeing you there!
February 11th: "Unpacking the Invisible Backpack” Together we will explore this work by Peggy MacIntosh, American feminist, anti-racism activist, scholar, speaker, and senior research scientist of the Wellesley Centers for Women. She is the founder of the National SEED Project on Inclusive Curriculum (Seeking Educational
Equity and Diversity). In 1989, she wrote her reflection, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible BackPack” based on her experience as a white woman coming to see she’s white in her time and workspace. She compared her own circumstances with some of those of African American women with whom she worked. She is very clear this is her experience and not about the experiences of all white people in all times and places and circumstances. This paper, along with a longer work, pioneered
putting the dimension of privilege into discussions of power, gender, race, class and sexuality in the United States. Both papers rely on personal examples of unearned advantage that McIntosh says she experienced in her lifetime, especially from 1970 to 1988. McIntosh encourages individuals to reflect on and recognize their own unearned advantages and disadvantages as parts of immense and overlapping
systems of power. Forum discussion led by Karla Miller.
February 18th: Meet your FCCH Moderator and Council! Come to Forum, and meet the members of the leadership board of our church, and find out about the
ministries they spearhead, and their vision for FCCH. This will be a time for
dialogue and dreaming.
February 25th: Service and Giving PFLAG and Hendersonville Pride (PFLAG
Hendersonville + Hendersonville Pride share their 2024 event plans and needs,
especially in support of our community’s youth, as we continue our church’s Open & Affirming advocacy for LGBTQ+ people and those who love them.

Sabbatical Summary

 Karla will begin a sabbatical in May of this year; The Sure Foundation (resources for the relationship between pastors and congregations) strongly recommends that
pastors be granted a sabbatical after 5 continuous years of service to a
congregation; Karla’s sabbatical is a part of her Calling Document which was signed when she was called to be the pastor of our church.
 The Lilly Foundation is providing a grant to both Karla and our church in amount of
approximately $59,000.00; a portion of this grant goes to Karla to assist with her
sabbatical plan, and a portion goes to the church to help cover expenses incurred as a result of her sabbatical period.
 The theme of Karla’s sabbatical will be Pilgrimage. As a church, we will also
undertake activities that focus on this theme while Karla is gone.
 Karla will be leading a Book Study after Easter on “The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight
Practices for the Journey Within” by Christine Valters Paintner. It is available on
Amazon.
 Sunday, May 19th , will be her leave taking Sunday, and the theme of the day will be “Blessing the Call and the Journey”.
 Mark will be the Lead Pastor during Karla’s sabbatical.
 Mark and Karla have arranged for guest preachers during the sabbatical period to
include former Ashley Lecturers, John Pavolvitz and Carter Heyward. They will each be guest preachers for two Sundays and will also provide Forum presentations when they preach. The Reverend Joan Saniuk will also preach on Sundays to be
determined. In addition, Mark will preach once per month as he normally does.
 The month of July will once again be a sabbath month and there will be no church
meetings.
 I mentioned two books relevant to the topic of pilgrimage during my sabbatical
update, “Pilgrimage into the Last Third of Life“ by Jane Marie Thibault and Richard L.
Morgan and “Walking in Wonder” by John O’Donahue. Both of these books are
available on Amazon. It is possible that other written resources will be provided as
Karla’s sabbatical approaches.
 Karla will be back in the congregation on Labor Day Sunday, but will not be preaching her first sermon until Sunday, September 8th. For all that our Pastor has given us during the days, weeks and months of the past five years, we want her to have this time for rest, renewal, meditation and reflection so that she can return to us refreshed and with renewed commitment and energy to carry out our beautiful
church’s mission to both its congregation and the wider community.

Articles courtesy of Pat Argue
pkargue@gmail.com

Synopsis courtesy of Bruce Mills
bmills9@icloud.com

Clare W. Sahling
Artist on Display
ch

I have an assortment of degrees from an assortment of universities. For most of my working life, I was an Interiors
Architect, cranking out Construction Documents for too many hotels to count, I was free-lance for most of those years. Thanks to computers
early on, I was able to work in Atlanta remotely from Hendersonville, and that was lovely.
I retired at 70 and needed a Plan B. I signed up for a painting class at BRCC and cried for about 3 years before I started painting anything that was
relatively okay.
I was/am a drama queen with my painting. I now show my work at Season's Restaurant at Highland Lake and
also at the Gallery at Flat Rock. I've participated in various shows and
competitions in the area and even had an article about me in the 'Laurel of Asheville'. With such a late start, I am inordinately proud of making a bit of a 'go' with my second career. My paintings are all oil on canvas with a few exceptions of working on cradled wood.
For prices, email me at sahlingcw@gmail.com; text at 828-768-1241; or visit my website at claresahling.com.

Come by and see Clare’s beautiful paintings located in the Church Hallway as
part of our continuing rotation and display of talent.
Contact Nancy Irving if you would like to participate in sharing you work at n.irving@morrisbb.net

Umi’s for lunch 01.23.24

Article & picturescourtesy of Bruce Mills
bmills9@icloud.com

Upcoming events of note at a glance

5:00 Wednesday, February 14th

6:00 Ash Wednesday Service immediately follows Pancake Supper

New Member Sunday Feb 11th
Contact (karla@fcchendersonville.org) or Jo Freeman (jo@fcchendersonville.org). if you are interested in joining our family.

Ashley Lectures with Dr. Catherine Meeks
Saturday, March 9th, 10 am & 1 pm
&
Sunday, March 10th, 9 am
Dr. Meeks will also preach at our worship. See page 14 for details.

League article courtesy of Marcella Lesher
marcellalesher@gmail.com

Sweet scenes….

Tai Chi Easy class January 29th, 2024

Picture courtesy of Amy Dahan
amydahancan@gmail.com

June
Service & Giving
Volunteer Spotlight
S

Craig working on a project

Pictures courtesy of Lin Stogner
alfandellie@gmail.com

Karla writing her sermon “with a little help from her friend”

Black History Month

Flyers courtesy of Pat Argue
pkargue@gmail.com

January Council Meeting Highlights
ch

Important Note: Council meetings are always open to all FCC Members and Friends. Please notify Moderator Sheryl Mendenhall (outgoing) or Bob McLendon (incoming), if you would like to attend.
 December was a good month for the church financially.
o YTD Total Income $29,610 MORE than budgeted.
o YTD Operating Fund $12,958 MORE than budgeted.
o YTD Net Result $16,652 BETTER than budgeted.
 The Final Budget was approved for presentation to the Congregation for their
approval.
 The Annual Congregational Meeting will be held January 28, 2024.
 The Stewardship Drive was extremely successful! 96% of an enormously aggressive goal was met.
 Mark your calendars!
o Ashley Lecture Series: March 9-10
o Beginning of Lent (Fat Wednesday at FCCH): February 14.
o Easter Sunday: March 31

Notes courtesy of Lin Stogner
alfandellie@gmail.com

December 2023/January 2024 Sunday School Report

Seasons of Celebration and Thankfulness
The Sunday School children celebrated the birth of Jesus and the work of Martin Luther King with several exciting projects. They baked Christmas cookies for coffee hour, made Advent calendars for friends and family, and peanut butter pinecone for the birds. In addition, they sewed fabric bags and created a Martin Luther King Jr. bulletin board for the adults at coffee hour. The children made a brief presentation and invited the adults to add their own thoughts to the bulletin board. 2024 is off to a good start!

Jamie reads to J

CarolAnn and Kaden work on the Martin Luther King bulletin board

James sewed a purple bag and Matthew made a tangelo character.

Roddy and Josie work on Christmas decorations.

Pictures courtesy of Virginia Zemp
zempvirginia@gmail.com

Resource Page

Our Wonderful Groups

Facilitator	Group	Day	Contact
Barbara Rathbun	Bible Study: 1 Verse at a Time	Thursdays, 3:00 pm excepting 3rd Thursdays	bmrathbun@bellsouth.net
Karla Miller	Carolina Village	1st Mon, 1:30 pm	karla@fcchendersonville.org
Mark Acker	Choir Rehearsal	Every Wed 3:15 pm	Mark@fcchendersonville.org
Bob McLendon	Church Council	2nd Wed 10:00 am	captainbob.bm@gmail.com
Krista Kaufman	Circle of Friends - ongoing small groups	Each circle schedules	kristakaufman41@gmail.com
Mark Fagerlin	Ministry of Finance	2nd Tues of each month b4 Council 11:00	mfagerlin@gmail.com
Karla Miller	Sunday Forum	Sunday, 9:00 am	karla@fcchendersonville.org
Larry Johnson & John Fuller	Meditation Group	Every Tuesday, 4:00 pm	naturallarry51@gmail.com fullerjohn@me.com
Mindy Myers	Ministry of Physical Resources	3rd Wed, 10:00 am	mindy7myers@gmail.com
Angie Yates	Personnel and Pastoral / Relations Ministry	1st Thurs, 2:00 pm	angie.y8s@gmail.com
Barbara Rathbun	Prayer Shawls	1st Tues, 10:00 am	bmrathbun@bellsouth.net
Patti Clay	Racial Justice Task Force	3rd Tues, 11:00 am	pclay51@gmail.com
Diane Rose	Service & Giving Ministry	2nd Thurs, 10:00 am	dianerose617@gmail.com
Amy Dahan	Tai Chi Easy	Every Mon, 11 am	amydahancan@gmail.com
Patti Clay	Virtual Circle of Friends	Last Tues of the Month, 2:00 pm	pclay51@gmail.com

Maralee McMillan		02/01
Ginger Zemp		02/02
Ellen Travis		02/03
Carolyn Wilson		02/04
Virginia Erwin		02/04
John Caldemeyer		02/06
Mike & Virginia Erwin		02/06
Ken & Phyllis Whitney		02/08
Kathleen Vard		02/11
Linda Yopps		02/15
Mary Woolsey		02/17
Susan Jahnke		02/20
Jan & Dr. John Caldemeyer		02/22
Joan Jaeger		02/22
Xavier Joseph Cone		02/27
Anne Ogburn		02/28

Date #Attending

7	136
14	138
21	114
28	133

To make you smile / Inspirational Quote of the Month

A thief broke into my house last night...He started searching for money...So I woke up and searched with him.

In his beautiful book, “I Shall Not Want,” Robert Ketchum tells of a Sunday School teacher who asked her group of children if anyone could quote the entire 23rd Psalm. A four-and-a-half-year-old girl was among those who raised their hands.
A bit skeptical, the teacher asked if she could really quote the entire psalm.
The little girl came to the front of the room, faced the class, made a perky little bow, and said, “The Lord is my shepherd, that’s all I want.”
She bowed again and went and sat down.
That may well be the greatest interpretation of the 23rd Psalm ever heard.

“When life knocks you down, try to
land on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up.” – Les Brown

First Congregational Church
1735 Fifth Avenue West
Hendersonville, NC 28739
Phone: (828)692-8630
Email: office@fcchendersonville.org
Staff:
Pastor: Reverend Karla Miller
(karla@fcchendersonville.org
Minister of Music / Pastoral Associate: Mark Acker
(mark@fcchendersonville.org)
Administrator: Jo Freeman
(office@fcchendersonville.org)
Custodian: Dora Littleton

We are here for you!!

Seasons of Celebration and Thankfulness

The Sunday School children celebrated the birth of Jesus and the work of Martin Luther King with several exciting projects. They baked Christmas cookies for coffee hour, made Advent calendars for friends and family, and peanut butter pinecone for the birds. In addition, they sewed fabric bags and created a Martin Luther King Jr. bulletin board for the adults at coffee hour. The children made a brief presentation and invited the adults to add their own thoughts to the bulletin board. 2024 is off to a good start!

Ginger

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