Connect for the Night

What does “exile” feel like, look like,

taste like or sound like?

What does “homecoming” feel like,

look like, taste like or sound like?

These are a couple of the questions

The Rev. Dr. Mick Burns would like us

to reflect on during this Summer’s

Connect Study.

The following is an excerpt from the study developed by Mick.

For many of us, living in this demanding, time-filled life of the

Washington, D.C. metro area can be a joy to be sure; but, it can

be just as challenging as it is delightful. While exile is the setting

for the promise of “Homecoming” in our study passage from the

prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:1-9), most of us are not exiles. We

may have friends or acquaintances who have been forced to flee

their homes in another country due to famine, political unrest or

war. I do not want, in any way, to minimize the pain and suffer-

ing of the many exiles we see in our world today. However, the

reality is that many of us have found ourselves far away from

family due to the reality of our regional economy and career

tracks. Many come to the D.C. metro area because they are as-

signed by the military or work for the Federal government and

have left extended family far away. This is why our “church”

family here at Providence takes on an even more vital role in our

lives of faith. All of us need to be connected to “family” and es-

pecially to the “family of God.”

Summer Connect Groups will meet one evening in July and August for

a meal, fellowship and this brief study. Contact the office for details. We

hope you can join in!

Inside this issue:

New Members 2

Prayers for … 2

Creation Celebration 3

Spotlight on Mission 4

Youth Corner 5

Adult Ministry 6

For Kids (& beyond!) 7

SUMMER 2016

Providence Presbyterian Church

Good News

Page 2 Good News

New Members

Prayers for … (as of June 5, 2016)

Deployed Overseas

MAJ Ian Jarvis, USA, friend of Susan & Liz McCannell

LtCol Christopher Beasley, USMC, nephew of David & Brenda Kepley

1LT Geoffrey Ranowsky, USA, nephew of David & Kathi Ranowsky

LCDR Kevin Burel, USN

LT Andrew Tom, USN, nephew of Roger & Laura Baker

Dean Salpini, USAID1, in Pakistan, husband of Joy Salpini

1 US Agency for International Development

Rachel Jankowski, Peace Corps, daughter of Ron & Lynn Jankowski

Continuing Care Edwin Spar

Josiah Lanier, 10 years old former upward Basketball player

Jane McClellan

Carol Shubinski, daughter of the later

Eleanor Shubinski-Mosser

Nancy Evans, sister of Sara Bennett

Garnet McCall, mother of Bruce McCall

Bill Sapp, brother of Walter Sapp

Kitty Snead, mother of Ned Snead

Shirley Strang

Please join us in welcoming our newest members who were received at worship in April and May.

Katie Shafer, originally from Michigan, arrived in the Fairfax area last August from North Caroli-na. She is a School Counselor with the Falls Church City Public Schools. In her free time, she likes to swim, kayak, cross-stitch and read. Katie joins Providence by

Letter of Transfer from North Raleigh Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, NC.

Jim Trefil, who is from Chica-go, has been in the Fairfax area for 30 years. He is a professor at George Mason University. His outside interests include music (especially opera), foot-

ball (during the season), and working out. Jim joins Providence by Reaffirmation of Faith. His wife, Wanda O’Brien-Trefil, will also be fully engaged in the worship and work of Providence. Wanda was born in England and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. A retired teacher, she has been in the Fairfax area for 13 years. Wanda enjoys piano, accompanying, sing-ing and theater. Jim and Wanda both sing in The Sanctuary Choir.

Jeanie Watson, a Dallas, Texas native, came to the Fairfax area 19 years ago. She does financial analysis for HITT. Outside of work, Jeanie enjoys movies, reading, walking and volunteering. She joins Providence by Profession of Faith. Jeanie has two daughters, Hudson & Parker Dizon, ages 15 and 12.

Continued on page 5

Creation Celebration Sunday On April 17, Providence cele-

brated its 4th annual Creation

Celebration Sunday. We used to

call this our “Earth Day” celebra-

tion, but the team decided to re-

name the event to put it more in

line with our Reformed tradition.

After all, the first verse of the

Bible starts: “In the beginning

when God created the heavens

and the earth….” Also the

Apostle’s Creed, the very first

confession in our Presbyterian

Book of Confessions, begins with

this affirmation: “I believe in

God the Father Almighty, maker

of heaven and earth….” So in

celebrating the Creation we are

drawing attention to God’s crea-

tive powers; God created all that

was, all that is, and all that will

ever be.

During the worship service,

Mick provided an inspiring mes-

sage about how we should praise

God for God’s works, which

can be seen in the Creation. The

Sanctuary Choir echoed the

theme in a beautiful rendition of

“For the Beauty of the Earth”

by John Rutter. David Kepley

reported to the congregation on

the results of the annual Envi-

ronmental Audit that the Earth

Care Team must present to the

Presbyterian Church (USA) to

continue to be considered an offi-

cial Earth Care Congregation.

During program year 2015-16

Providence scored 456 points for

our activities over that period in

worship, education, outreach,

and facilities.* We only needed

50 points to be renewed. This

speaks well of both the staff and

the Session, who have all been

extremely supportive of our

efforts to make Providence a

terrific earth care steward.

We were also blessed to have

a number of artists from our

Providence family share with us

their visions of God’s magnifi-

cent creation that Sunday. The

following artists shared their

work with us: Harvey Doerksen,

Joan Hood, Nancy Jones, David

Kepley, Fred Krebs, Emma

McRobbie, Jenn McRobbie, Jim

Ralston, and Frank van Fleet.

In addition you may have

noticed that we brought some

live trees into the Commons

Area as a reminder that nature is

part of our sacred space. The

trees were loaned to us by Burke

Nursery.

Finally the Adult Ministries

Committee offered a four-week

class that featured portions of

Ken Burns’ magnificent docu-

mentary of the history of the

national parks.

Thanks be to God for this

wonderful celebration of the

God’s Creation!

Earth Care Team

Page 3 Good News

*For more on the points, see http://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/environment/earth-care-congregations

Nancy Jones Emma McRobbie

Spotlight on Mission

Rebuilding Together

On April 30, several members of Providence’s congregation were part of an ACCA team lending a hand to a group home on Terrace Drive in Annandale operated by Community Living Alternatives (CLA) to make many much-needed repairs to their home. The CLA mission is to en-hance the quality of life for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Home Manager and staff operate the home and assist the two male residents wo are on the autism spectrum to live in a home atmosphere.

This ACCA team also included Ravensworth Baptist Church, John Calvin Presbyterian Church, and Holy Spirit Catholic Church. The Queen of Apostles provided lunch.

The tasks completed include:

Patching walls and painting the entire interior of the house.

Rebuilding the support structure and railings of the front porch.

Cleaning out gutters, downspouts and drains to take water away from the house.

Spreading gravel in muddy areas by the driveway.

Repairing kitchen cabinets and hardware.

Moving outlets in the kitchen and replacing them with GFI units for safety.

Repairing floor and wall tiles in the basement.

Adding reinforcement to the basement stairs handrail.

Repairing bathroom sinks and walls.

Repairing fence gates.

Pruning, removing vines and dead branches, and picking up yard debris.

Providence volunteers: Charles Brewer, Diane & Bill Grothman, Hank Schlenker, Harry Pontius, Angie (Safety Coordinator) & Bruce Urbon, Rev. Mick Burns, Brian Frantz, and Woody & Judy Woodburn, Coordinators for Providence.

Page 4 Good News

Page 5 Good News

Happy summer!

As we all go our separate ways for camps, vacations, and family reunions you may think the Providence Youth are hibernating (you’d be right!). Summer is a great answer to the busyness of the school year but it’s not an empty season. In addition to random summer events, here are some things that I’ll be up to this summer that you may not see:

Planning fall retreats, mission projects and Bible studies

Reading lots of books

Putting together a parent/youth communication resource

Creating a parent Sunday school class (or two!)

Finalizing the ‘16-’17 calendar

Meeting with potential volunteers

Finding out who is in town and up for a spontaneous adventure!

A summer spent wisely is a huge help and head-start for the school year, so please keep me in your prayers as I make the most of this low-activity time of year.

Also, I’m happy to report that I have officially earned my Certificate in Youth and Theology from the Prince-ton Institute for Youth Ministry! I learned a lot, and I’m so happy to have it wrapped up! I’m open to sugges-tions on ways to celebrate!

Enjoying the “down” time,

Mary Ellen

Kent & Julia Christensen have been in the Fairfax area 30 and 26 years, respectively. Kent, who is from Eaton, Colorado, is a Budget Analyst at the Congres-sional Budget Office. He enjoys hiking, biking and following the Washington Nationals. Julia,

from Bethany, Connecticut, also works at the CBO as a Budget Analyst in Public Policy. Her interests include singing, playing piano and guitar (with plans to learn banjo), traveling with family, and hik-ing — Kent and Julia climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in 1999! Julia is also a Girl Scout leader and is involved in overseas missions and Third World Develop-ment. Kent joins Providence by Reaffirmation of Faith; Julia comes to us by Letter of Transfer from Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, DC. They have twin children, Amber and Jeremy.

And on May 15, Confirmation Sunday, we welcomed

eight new confirmands:

Vaughn Burvis, 7th grade, Frost Middle School, Parents: Erik & Helen

Amber & Jeremy Christensen, 7th grade, Glasgow Middle School, Parents: Kent & Julia

Zack Dutke, 7th grade, Lake Braddock Secondary School, Parents: Jack & Kathy

Kyle Garvis, 7th grade, Frost Middle School, Parents: Kent & Heidi

Luke Miller, 7th grade, Langston Hughes Middle School, Parents: Jason & Julie

Nick Parker, 7th grade, Frost Middle School, Parents: Greg & Cori

Celia Vander Ploeg Fallon, 7th grade, Frost Middle School, Parents: Colin & Melinda

New Members, continued from page 2

Adult Ministry Fall Adult Ministry Bible Study Set amid the intensely modern and cosmopolitan world of Corinth, where philosophy and mystery abound, Paul’s first letter to that church speaks clearly to us still today.

So many foundational scripture passages, familiar to most by reference to chapter and verse alone, are found in this first letter to the Corinthians. The “Love Chapter,” “the body is a temple,” “the body requires a variety of members,” and the words of institution for the Lord’s Supper may immediately spring to mind. No Bible study group should miss spending time with Paul as he instructs this troublesome congregation on how to “walk the talk” as well as tackling hot button topics that remain with the church today: the role of women in the church, sexual purity, marriage and divorce.

Paul offers concrete examples of how a believer’s thoughts are affected by genuine faith in Christ. Having the “mind of Christ” affects the way we value ourselves, others, and the world in which we live. It does not gener-ate selfishness, fear, or factionalism. The mind of Christ radiates humility and peace — individually and corporately.

At this Bible study to run on Monday evenings beginning in September, we will cover these timely topics. Look for more details as we get closer to this fall.

◌ A Different Word

◌ Paul and the Corinthian Christians

◌ A Call for Peace and Unity

◌ What Wisdom is the Cross!

◌ Sharing the Mind of Christ

◌ Imitating Christ

◌ Restoring the Church's Integrity

◌ Sexuality and the Church

◌ Responsible Freedom

◌ Seeking Good for Others

◌ Reclaiming Right Worship

◌ Reclaiming Humility and Love

◌ The Risen Crucified Christ

◌ Love in Action

ALSO …

We have a suggestion for Summer study and reflection: visit the Adult Library in Room 209 for books about the Bible, theology, the Church, PC(USA), personal growth, family issues …. If the room is locked, swing by the

Admin Wing during business hours for a key.

Page 6 Good News

For Kids (and beyond!)

Page 7 Good News

Flat Jesus

You may be planning to be

away this summer. But you

can still stay connected with

Providence.

You are invited to bring Flat

Jesus with you on your summer

adventures, taking selfies of

where you’ve been, even if

it’s only as far as your back

yard.

Here’s what you do:

Cut out this image of Flat

Jesus and glue him to a more

rigid surface, like cardboard

or foam board.

Be creative! Decorate Jesus.

Start taking pictures with

Flat Jesus and send them to

office@providencechurch.org.

Submissions will be posted on

our Facebook page. Or you

can post them on your own

social media account using

#ProvidenceFlatJesus.

And remember —

God doesn’t take a break

from you, so don’t take a

break from God.

Providence Presbyterian Church

9019 Little River Turnpike

Fairfax, VA 22031

Sun days

Com mun ion / F i rs t Sun day: Ch i ld ren in wor sh i p

Trad i t i ona l , 1 0 :00 am, Sanc t ua ry

Con t empo ra ry , 11 :15 a m, Tay l o r Ha l l

10 :00 & 11 :1 5 am (exc ep t 1s t Sunday )

Summe r S unday F i lms

Sig n u p f or VBC!

To register children and to volunteer go to: http://www.providencechurch.org/children/home/

vacation-bible-camp/

( for up-to-date information see

www.providencechurch.org/events/calendar/)

P ro v i d e n c e P re s b y t e r i a n C h u rc h

9 0 1 9 L i t t l e R i v e r T u rn p i k e

F a i r f a x , V A 2 2 0 3 1

7 0 3 - 9 7 8 - 3 9 3 4 O f f i c e

w w w . p r o v i d e n c e c h u rc h . o rg

The Rev. Dr. Michael P. Burns, Pastor

On Sabbatical

The Rev. Mary E. Rodgers, Associate Pastor

Mary El len Moss, Director of Youth Ministry

Shannon Somers, Director of Chi ldren’s Ministry

Lee Faber, Faci l i t ies Manager

Joe Moss, F inancia l Manager

Kathy Knorr , Communicat ions Coordinator

Terry Stoneberg, Director of Music

Jane Kaye, Organist

Rick Thiele, Music Leader & Tech. Coordinator

Gene Kaye, Director of Providence Singers

Car los Guzman, Sexton

Good News Edi tor : Kathy Knorr

Summer 2016

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