A little over four years ago, a family from California was welcomed into our midst: Mitch, Trudy, Mandy and Beth Teemley. Mitch had been brought on as Director of Programming to help spearhead the implementation of a new vision for our church.

What a resumé he had! Mitch had been a

• Nationally-known church and conference speaker for 25 years
• Communications instructor at Azusa Pacific University, Biola University, and Concordia University. His classes were top-rated “must-take” courses
• Elder and Chairman at Faith Community Church, Santa Ana, California for ten years. He had been offered a role as pastor, but had accepted the position at CHPC instead.
• Founder and Leader of the Performing Artists Fellowship at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, California (20,000 member church) for six years, leading weekly Bible studies and frequent seminars
  Guitarist, singer, songwriter, a recording artist for Maranatha! Music, Word Records
• Member of the Christian sketch comedy groups Isaac Air Freight and Mitch & Allen with 7 videos, 22 albums, many of them bestsellers
• and more

During his time here, Mitch encouraged the development and use of the arts. He was responsible for creating worship services that reflected the themes of the series - from slides to dramas, videos to props, new music to posters. He also sought to develop others’ artistry and started groups for writers, composers, and actors.

He also freely shared his gifts with us. Mitch preached, wrote scripts and music, sang and acted. Through it all he expressed his love for God and his desire to gift others with a similar relationship.

Special thanks are also due to Mitch’s family: Trudy, Mandy and Beth. Trudy has blessed many people with her gentle, gracious, cheerful presence. She has contributed to our congregation and the outreaches at CHPC as a member of the Chancel Choir, an actress, a graphic designer (for Connections among other projects), an event planner, decorator and Prayer Pal. Mandy has acted in quite a few dramas over the past four years (even writing a couple of them), read Scripture for services, occasionally sang with the worship team, directed the family-oriented Christmas Eve service, and worked in day Mini-camp. Beth painted the “Set the Captives Free” piece that’s still hanging in the Barnabas stairwell along with other projects, did “live” (and on-camera) art during one of the services, worked in the Swim Ministry and summer camps. Both Mandy and Beth have taught Sunday School.

Now, due to a budget shortfall, Mitch is moving on. It is time for us to say, “Thank you” and “Farewell” to him and his lovely family.

Next Sunday, March 29, there will be a reception for the Teemley’s in the Fireside Room between services.

If you would like to fill out a card with your thanks, they are available in the Atrium on the circular table. Please put them in a basket by the Front Desk.

Michelle Hemsath wears many hats at CHPC. She is Director of Child Care, Administrative Assistant for Care and Counseling, Administrative Assistant for Facilities, and Wedding Coordinator.

Busy as she is, she is always ready to help others, and would really appreciate your help as well. Here are Michelle’s Top 10 Ways that she can help you, and that you can help her.

Contact Michelle at 541-5676, ext. 163 or mhemsath@chpc.org

CHPC is getting a new neighbor. A $3.8 million-dollar, 12,000 sq. ft. fire station for College Hill’s Engine Company 51 is being built just across the street on Llanfair and Hamilton.

Ground was broken for the station on a frigid day. Even so, the six-degree weather didn’t prevent a crowd of firefighters, dignitaries and College Hill citizens from attending the ceremony.

The firehouse will be a state-of-the-art LEED-certified building with a “green” roof and other energy efficient features. The building was designed by Moody Nolan, and will be built by The Quandel Group, Inc. with landscape architecture by Groundwork Design Collaborative, LLC. It is part of a Facility Replacement Project managed by the city’s Department of Public Services. Ribbon cutting is expected in spring 2010.

The current firehouse on Marlowe was built about 100 years ago as a police station and was converted to a firehouse in the 1920s. It was described by one firefighter as “cozy,” not only for the firefighters who live there but for the current equipment that is housed there. The station handles almost 3000 calls a year, about 90% of which are medical emergencies.

See more architectural renderings and photos of construction here.

It is fun and inspiring to be part of a choir singing to the glory of God. In a recent interview with 25-year-old Becky Warren, Nancy Shryock asked her how she feels about it:

Nancy: Becky, how did you get interested in joining the choir in the first place?

Becky: My mom joined the choir around the time when I was in kindergarten. I grew up at CHPC all through school and college around the choir. So, to say the least I had a bit of exposure to the choir throughout my life. I loved singing in the high school choir, but the college choir I was in required a bit too much for my education major load to handle. My first year of teaching left me with no time for myself. I missed singing in a choir really!

Nancy:Why did you join the choir?

Becky: I was asked in college if I would join the choir, but I didn’t have time because of field experience and class work. I do actually like to sing in a choir, so I thought when I have time I will try it! I didn’t have time my first year of teaching, but when I finished my first year, I joined! I had been around the choir my whole life and they seemed like such a good group. They really supported each other! I really wanted to be a part of this close group. They prayed for me when I was in college, and they all knew my name all the way through school. I was only a family member of the choir!

Nancy:What were some misconceptions you had about the choir before you joined?

Becky: My age (I am 25) was a big factor. I knew no one else was my age in the choir. But I decided to try and tell them “no commitment.” After two weeks of “no commitment,” I had fully joined and was loving it!

Nancy: Now that you are in the choir—what makes you stay?

Becky:

1. Fun
2. Great people
3. Support
4. No long hours! (7 to 9 on Thursday evenings, then 8:15 a.m. to end of first service on Sunday.)
5. No great ability in music (besides singing!)
6. A Thursday evening to look forward to...every week!

As CHPC and Winton Hills Community Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) continue to explore the possibility of a merger, a joint Merger Exploration Team has been formed. The Team’s guiding principles are open and honest dialog, trust (as to motives), respect, confidentiality, and transparency.

The team is comprised of eight people, four from WHCP and four from CHPC. Pastors Chip and Drew are two of the members. Frank Baker, Lynn Carlin and Jason McSwain are the other three representatives from our church. The team exists to help the sessions and congregations of both churches explore such questions as:

• Who is this other congregation? • What would be the benefits and costs of a merger? • How would a merger impact each church’s vision, ministries, membership, long-term future, finances, and organizational structure? • What processes would two unique congregations need to successfully blend into one new congregation? • What would success look like?

The Exploration Team sees itself filling several roles:

• Listening - providing reality checks to the decision process as it moves along,
  personal conversations, and anonymous feedback
• Communicating facts and how the process is progressing
• Developing strategies for the proposed blending including identifying strengths, weaknesses,
  opportunities, and threats inherent in a merger; development of new shared identity; giving
  recommendations to Session for blending each area of structure and activity. Some of these recommendations may be direct and specific. Others may be used in a process that will result in a broadly held consensus.
• Developing events that support the decision timeline, such as “getting to know each other” events and the period of prayer and fasting

Feeling tired, overwhelmed, needing to spend quality time with the Lord or connecting with other women? If so, join us for the multi-generational Women’s Retreat at CHPC on Friday and Saturday, March 6th and 7th. The theme for this year’s retreat is Women at the Well. It will be a wonderful time to be refreshed by God’s Word.

Our speaker, Sadell Bradley, is an experienced retreat leader and a dynamic teacher. Her desire is to see people set free by the ministry of the Word and the Holy Spirit. We are excited to experience how God will work through her and her team.

The cost for the retreat is only $15. Invite friends, Bible study groups and family to join you. Register early by completing a registration form (found on Main Street and in the literature racks). Alternatively, call or email the Care Ministry at 541-5676, ext. 163 or mhemsath@chpc.org. Child care is available for children up to six years of age. The cost of registration is $20 after March 1. Sign up early!

Merry Christmas from your friends and family at College Hill Presbyterian Church! This year rather than send you a box of gifts as we have in the past, we have collected an offering and wish to provide you with a gift certificate or card if possible. Amazon.com has a good system where you can order online using a gift certificate. First, we will purchase the gift certificate online with our credit card. Then Amazon notifies you by email of the gift and the amount giving you a code number. Then when you order, you provide the code number to pay for your purchase and the gift will be credited to your account.

May God bless you as you celebrate this special season.

“Chappie” Chapman, Parish Associate
College Hill Presbyterian Church

Jesus is Real. He meant what he said. And this has implications for how you live your life.

As we continue the conversation about reconciliation, our focus is going to shift from concentrating on one another to being in a reconciled relationship with Jesus.

Our next series - called RESET - will lead us to look again or maybe for the first time at just how serious we are about following Jesus with our whole life. It’s an all-city church journey like Consumed last year.

Get in a small group. Maybe you want to be in a group with Winton Hills church. This is a great time to get to know them by exploring Jesus together. Maybe you have a friend who has been interested in looking at Jesus. This is a perfect time to invite them to church or to a small group or both!

It will be excellent. It will be real. It will all be about Jesus. The Small Group Team is recruiting hosts and encouraging small groups to participate. Let’s all together RESET our walk with Jesus so that we will be walking closer with him together.

For more information check out the web site http://www.resetjourney.com or call the church at 541-5676.