Ellen Bentley: Hi, I am this summer’s Jr. and Sr. High intern for CRASH ministries. I have been a member at CHPC for two years and have attended this church my whole life. This coming fall I will be a sophomore at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, majoring in art therapy and psychology with a minor in studio art. I have learned a lot from school this past year and have been working on and improving my own art work.

I am so excited to see what is in store this summer for our youth group. I feel so blessed to be able to help lead the youth group that I once was a part of. I am also looking forward to helping lead our youth group on our summer mission trip to Budapest, Hungary. I feel that God has a lot in store for our youth group, and I am so blessed to get to watch and be a part of that.

Many of you may already know me, but I also look forward to meeting some new people and youth at our church. So if you see me around church, please feel free to stop me and introduce yourself!

Treehouse sessions concluded at the end of April with a visit from the very entertaining “Mr. Cowpie” and entourage (wife, chicken, guitar, cockatoo and bunnies). The terrific team to tutors and organizers supporting the ministry is now on a much-deserved summer break. Since last October, these fine folks - Cindy Carlson, Bob Corson, Susan Faul, Linda Frisa, Betty Goodman, Doreen Johnson, Fran Kelley, Susan Koch, Carolyn Madison, Lois Oyler, Elsie Sprague, Barry Stare, and Louise Weaver worked and played with first through fourth graders from College Hill Academy. Occasional help was also received from Sally Auble, Joan Becker, Caroline Berleman, and Robin Riechel.

Helping with Treehouse requires a considerable commitment of time and energy. The children get a lot of personal attention, and the staff pours on the encouragement generously - just like syrup on pancakes! You have no doubt heard the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” We at CHPC are involved in that very effort through this ministry. Treehouse Learning Center begins again next October, and will need some new helpers.

Did you know that you can serve the Lord and play Chutes & Ladders simultaneously?
If you’re curious, get in touch with volunteer coordinator Sue Baker(245-2819) and have your questions answered.
And if you know one of this year’s tutors, please give a pat on the back for a job very well done!

• A widespreadand vigorous effort - using a variety of media - has been made to obtain and to share the information necessary to good decision-making.
• Diversity of thought has been respected. There have been and are multiple opportunities to share ideas, questions, concerns and opinions. Part of the Exploration Team’s purpose is to find the answers to every question.

Reflecting the above observations, Lynn Carlin recently responded to concerns posted on CHPC’s Blog:

For WHCC, the advantages of full merger vs. some other partnership would be expansion of ministry capability, preservation of some decision-making authority through a combined session, and preservation of some congregational identity. The WHCC identity would not be preserved and ministry continuation would not be assured if members of WHCC joined CHPC as individuals.

Mergers have been uncommon and abhorred by every denomination until recently. There is not a lot of information, set rules or requirements are few, and guidance is scanty as to how to navigate exploration and merger (if it comes to that). Only recently have denominations and other church resource organizations begun studying questions surrounding merger with any depth. Drew and I attended a good webinar from the Alban Institute on Wednesday. However, every church is different, so every proposal for a joint partnership of any kind will have unique elements. In our case, there is too much research and discussion ahead to wait until we can negotiate and define the kind of partnership CHPC would prefer with WHCC before seeking a blessing to explore from our congregation.

The rationale behind requiring a blessing from both WHCC and CHPC is to keep everyone informed about the exploration process, give the final say to the two congregations, and to help get them and their leaders on the same page. [It] is correct that CHPC’s congregation is not on the same page as WHCC. Why waste the time and energy of exploring if we can say now that we are so far apart that a meeting of the minds and hearts may not occur? The survey helped identify assumptions and differences. The questions and concerns raised via the survey helped the pastors and sessions of both churches to see that CHPC could not immediately commit to explore a full merger. On this basis, CHPC’s session reframed WHCC’s proposal to CHPC as “Can we commit to explore some kind of joint ministry that has yet to be defined?”

While the CHPC family may be familiar with the name Tim Mack - listed in the bulletin weekly while he serves in Iraq - they may not have realized he has a brother whose name has recently been in print as well.

Tim’s older brother Chris, was promoted to the Xavier Men’s Basketball head coaching position on April 15th. Not many of us realize that Chris is the son of long-time CHPC members, Tom and Bonnie Mack. Helmut and Connie Kientz were two who hadn’t made the connection. They wondered why the TV news was interviewing Tom about Chris’ appointment. It wasn’t until the caption, “Tom, Chris’ Dad” appeared underneath Tom’s picture that the Kientz’s put two and two together.

Although Chris now lives in northern Kentucky, he grew up in North College Hill. He was part of the CHPC family attending Sunday School, singing with the “Joyful” choirs, and participating in the One Way Gang.

Dave Barr was one of his mentors, and Bill Koontz was his Youth Director. Many sons and daughters of present and former CHPC members were friends, teammates, and competitors. Chris feels blessed to be able to coach at his alma mater and in his hometown. Tom and Bonnie are excited for Chris and his family and selfishly delighted that their two “grand-girlies” will stay in town.

Please extend your congratulations this morning to Tom and Bonnie!

Following up our Amendment B article on February 22, here is the latest news:

April 27, 2009

LOUISVILLE — Though the formal results await certification by the Office of the General Assembly, all unofficial tallies show that Amendment B — which would replace the current Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) constitutional requirement that church officers live in “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness” with a new section G-6.0106b of The Book of Order — has been defeated.

“It’s all about ME!” Eileen Boyle, one of our super volunteers, sure got that right. The Partners in Ministry brunch after each service on April 26th was all about celebrating each and every person who has given of their time and talents in ministry. It was also about celebrating those who will choose to volunteer in the future.

CHPC staff worked hard to produce a delicious spread centering around assemble-your-own fajitas. The importance of the variety of volunteers was captured by the Tapestry theme as poetically expressed by Chris Miller: