September 2018

Newsletter of The Hill United Presbyterian Church Butler, PA

“Giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” - Ephesians 5: 20

Rev. Dr. William Jackson

SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP

Elder Louise Evans
10:30 A.M.—Worship Service
11:30 A.M.—Coffee and Fellowship Time in the Fellowship Hall
Jenny Martin, Choir Director

Nancy Slezak, Memorial Handbell

Director and Organist

Kathleen Davis

Elean Heist, Administrative Assistant

and Financial Secretary
Elean.hillup@zoominternet.net

Lyn Goehring, Treasurer

John D. Whittington

Camp Crestfield Campers’ Presentation

501 Second Street

Butler, Pennsylvania 16001
724-287-5427
E-mail: hillup@zoominternet.net
www.hillup.org
 WORSHIP SCHEDULE
SUNDAY MORNING
WORSHIP SERVICES
10:30 - 11:30 A.M.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2018
15th Sunday After Pentecost
Lord’s Supper - by Intinction

Sermon: “GIGO - Gospel In, Gospel Out”

Pastor Karl Kennedy

Scripture: James 1: 17-27; Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23

SEPTEMBER 9, 2018
16th Sunday After Pentecost

Sermon: “Love One Another”

Rev. Leigh Benish

Scripture: Matthew 22: 34-40; 1 John 4: 7-16a

SEPTEMBER 16, 2018

17th Sunday After Pentecost

Sermon: “Thankful For Plan B”

Rev. Dr. William Jackson

Scripture: I Thessalonians 5: 16-22

SEPTEMBER 23, 2018
18th Sunday After Pentecost

Sermon: “Praying: Honest To God”

Rev. Dr. William Jackson

Scripture: Lamentations 3: 7-23

SEPTEMBER 30, 2018
19th Sunday After Pentecost

Sermon: “Full Dream Ahead”

Rev. Dr. William Jackson

Scripture: Joel 2: 28; Acts 2

There will be a meeting of the congregation on Sunday, September 9, 2018 beginning with worship to hear the
candidate for pastor and act on the call.

Louise Evans William Jackson

Clerk of Session Interim Pastor

Rev. Leigh Benish received her Master of Divinity degree from the University
of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa and her Bachelor’s Degree
in Religion and History from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Although
she is a native of the Midwest, Leigh has been serving as Associate Pastor at
Grace Presbyterian Church in Temple, Texas since
October 2013. She has a passion for working with
children, engaging in service, and crafting and
leading creative and meaningful worship services.
While it will be a change, Leigh is excited about her move to serving
as a solo pastor. Leigh shares her life with her husband, David
(who she met in middle school youth group) and their 3-year-old
son, Gabriel.

Dear Friends at Hill,

When the Apostle Paul called Timothy to share in the ministry with him, the only thing he
was concerned about was Timothy’s qualifications and skills. Listen to what Paul Said:

“Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in
love, in faith, in purity.” - I Timothy 4: 12

When Leigh Benish comes before us as a candidate on September 9th, the only things we
are asked to consider are her qualifications “in speech, and conduct, in faith, in purity”, and
only that. Let none of us “despise her youth or her gender” but only her potential as our pastor
based on all her experience, skills, talent, and commitment to the Lord, Jesus Christ.

Please keep praying for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we consider this call. May God
bless Hill U.P. Church with ever good and pleasant gift of faith, hope, and love.

Sincerely,

Bill Jackson
Interim II

P.S. Please try to keep current on your pledge payments for the summer, either in person
or by mail. There are two benefits. (1) You will not get behind in your pledge and (2) it will
help maintain the church’s budget cash flow during the summer.

The next newsletter deadline is

SEPTEMBER 15, 2018!
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Dear Friends in Christ,

Our journey began with our commissioning in July of 2017 and has at last ended with a call to Leigh A.
Benish to be the solo pastor of our congregation. September 9, 2018 will be the appearance of Leigh to
preach and lead worship before our congregation.

Statistically, we had 36 meetings, during which we shared scripture, devotions, and prayers. Over this
period, we also were assigned another PNC member as a prayer partner. The prayers of our
congregation were greatly appreciated. Our main task was to read and discern the viability of Personal
Information Forms(PIFs) or resumes. When a pastor is seeking a new call, they would complete a PIF
and send it electronically to Presbyterian headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky to be added to a pool of
prospective pastors which churches could then consider. Based on the criteria, put together with the
input from meetings and surveys by our congregation, the Beaver-Butler Executive Presbyter, Alan
Adams, would dip into this pool and provide about 30 PIFs at a time. Copies of each PIF (four to eight
pages in length) were provided for our PNC. We read each PIF by ourselves and then picked our top
five candidates. It was amazing that when we got together, the agreement of the top candidates was
exceedingly close. Not just for the first batch, but for all later batches.

After considering several dozen PIFs, we found a few good candidates. At this point, we would only
consider a phone contact if we were in 100% agreement. We called several men and women. Some
had already accepted a call, others were not interested in Western Pennsylvania, while others were not
as we expected. Holy Spirit had not yet spoken to us. We continued our march to a final result. For
the seventh batch, we prayerfully changed our criteria from five to ten years experience to two to five
years of pastoral experience. This is when some things began to open up. Our personal choices
continued to be remarkably similar. There were many more preferred men and women candidates. As
we journeyed on we interviewed two women and two men by phone. We interviewed Leigh in person
as well as a West African, now an American citizen candidate. God was speaking louder to us. No
doubt Leigh was led to Hill church as the PNC was led to Leigh. Thanks be to God.

In total we received 312 PIFs. Of these 58% were male and 42% were female. 10% were people of
color. 43% were 60 or older. The youngest was 29 and the oldest was an 85 year old working a new
church development in Nevada.

We did many reference checks. Several of these persons prayed over the phone with us. Alan Adams
always did a “red flag” check when we planned to interview someone. This was to find out if there
were any difficulties in the sending Presbytery.

The “red flag” check from the Executive Presbyter of Grace Presbytery in Texas was very affirming of
Leigh’s skills, pastoral abilities, and love of guiding others in their Christian journey. Reverend Thom
Lamb, Head of Staff at Grace Presbyterian Church in Temple Texas, said that Leigh is absolutely ready
to be a solo pastor. In Beaver Butler Presbytery, our Ministry and Vocation Committee found her to be
exceedingly capable and a person of deep belief. Your Pastoral Nominating Committee certainly
affirms all that these professionals have said and more. You will find that Leigh has a warm and loving
Christian spirit. She also brings her husband, David, a strong Christian, as well as a professional
accountant, and their three-year old son, Gabe.

In Christ’s love,
Hill UP Church Pastor Nominating Committee

Susan Catanzarito Barbara Graham Lauren McElhaney Marsh Miller

Nancy Daugherty James Ihlenfeld Alan Milanovich Diane Olenic

4
 BIBLE READING S
FOR SEPTEMBER
Date Morning Evening
1 Ps. 135, 136 I. Co. 12
4th - Megan McElhaney and 2 Ps. 137, 138, 139 I. Co. 13
Benjamin Jacox 3 Ps. 140, 141, 142 I. Co. 14: 1-20
4 Ps. 143, 144, 145 I. Co. 14: 21-40
9th - Carolyn Reimold , Suzzanne 5 Ps. 146, 147 I. Co. 15: 1-28
Freeze, and Mary Lee Resnick 6 Ps. 148, 149, 150 I. Co. 15: 29-58
7 Prov. 1, 2 I. Co. 16
11th - Gregory Heist and 8 Prov. 3, 4, 5 II. Co. 1
Jordan Hinkle 9
10
Prov. 6, 7
Prov. 8, 9
II. Co. 2
II. Co. 3
14th - Mary Beth McQuistion and 11 Prov. 10, 11, 12 II. Co. 4
12 Prov. 13, 14, 15 II. Co. 5
Lena Provident 13 Prov. 16, 17, 18 II. Co. 6
15th - Jan Hoover 14 Prov. 19, 20, 21 II. Co. 7
15 Prov. 22, 23, 24 II. Co. 8
17th - Barb Kamerer, Shawna 16 Prov. 25, 26 II. Co. 9
Osniak, Shanea Raabe, and 17 Prov. 27, 28, 29 II. Co. 10
18 Prov. 30, 31 II. Co. 11:1-15
Alex Bell 19 Eccl. 1, 2, 3 II. Co. 11:16-33
21st - Larry Nevel 20 Eccl. 4, 5, 6 II. Co. 12
21 Eccl. 7, 8, 9 II. Co. 13
24th - Jesse Kretzer, Alan Milanovich, 22 Eccl. 10, 11, 12 Gal. 1
and Josh Reeger 23 Song 1, 2, 3 Gal. 2
24 Song 4, 5 Gal. 3
27th - Sheryl Neely 25 Song 6, 7, 8 Gal. 4
26 Isa. 1, 2 Gal. 5
28th - Boden Lenyk and 27 Isa. 3, 4 Gal. 6
Chad Provident 28 Isa. 5, 6 Eph. 1
29 Isa. 7, 8 Eph. 2
30th - Jon Anderson 30 Isa. 9, 10 Eph. 3

On August 8, fifteen volunteers served Community Dinner to seventy eight

guests. This month, the menu was meatball sandwiches, tossed salad,
watermelon, cheese sticks, and cake. The dedication of our volunteers to this
important ministry is much appreciated by those who come to enjoy the
meal. To find out how you can help, call Barb or Jim Kamerer at 724.283.2248.

Session Notes WORSHIP

ATTENDANCE
The Session met on August 13, 2018 for its regular monthly meeting. IN JULY AND AUGUST
Reported:
**The Beaver Butler Presbytery examined Rev. Leigh Benish and agreed, pending Sunday
anticipated call as pastor to Hill Church to receive her as a member of the Presbytery,
and to concur with the pastoral call. 7/1 83
**Received a letter of thanks from the City of Butler for the church's donation of
$1,000 in lieu of taxes. 7/8 79
The following actions were taken: 7/15 68
**Approved that the local portion (25%) of the Peace and Global Witness offering
be given to Fishbone Ministries in Butler. 7/22 61
** To call a congregational meeting on September 9, 2018 as part of worship with
the candidate Rev. Leigh Benish to preach, and the vote to elect a new pastor to be taken 7/29 67
by written ballot. 8/5 64
** Approved Session minutes for June 11, 2018 and July 8, 2018.
Respectfully submitted, 8/12 76
Louise Evans
8/19 46
5
 I / We will attend:
Name(s)_____________________________________
#Adults_______ #Children 10 and under _____
# of Gluten Free ________

DEADLINE FOR RESERVATIONS: Sunday, Sept. 23rd

Our Deacons are hosting a Fall Luncheon on September 30th during Fellowship Hour.
Please fill out the reservation form in and turn it in to Elean in our Church Office or put it
in the collection plate on or before September 23rd. We look forward to seeing you there!

Reservation form
SENIOR NIGHT OUT
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2018 at 5:30 P.M.

I / We will attend Senior Night Out:

Name(s)_______________________________________
#Attending _________ # Gluten Free _________
Ride Needed? _________ # Dairy Free _________
Donations accepted
DEADLINE for RESERVATIONS: Wednesday, September 12th.
Senior Night Out will be held on September 17th at 5:30 p.m. The meal will be catered by Simply Catered
and will be oven baked chicken, oven baked vegetables, red potatoes with parsley, tossed salad, rolls, and
a dessert. This ministry is for those ages 50 and over to enjoy fellowship, a catered dinner, and a special
program. Please mark your calendars and use the reservation form above! Put your reservation form in
the collection plate or turn it in to Elean in our Church Office on or before Wednesday, September 12th.
Bells, etc., in the Overflow room are from the collection of Pam Chaff. Her husband, Andy, has offered them to
all of us for a small donation to the handbell program. There is a sign on the wall above them. Make any
selection you choose and then please make a small donation in the silver box on the table.

The Lift is operational. There are three stops: Level 1–Fellowship Hall; Level 2-Second Street entrance;
Level 3-Sanctuary Level. Lift Capacity is 750 lbs. or one wheelchair with occupant + one attendant.
Questions? Please see a member of the Administration Committee.

6
 The Weekend Power Pack Program helps children at Dassa McKinney Elementary
School get the nutritious and easy-to-prepare foods they need for the weekends. Good
nutrition helps children return to school on Mondays ready to participate and learn.

Please help by donating the following non-perishable food items from September 24th
through October 6th. (please no glass containers & double check expiration dates):
 Tuna & Chicken (canned or pouches)  Individual Packages of Crackers, Graham
 Tuna or Chicken Salad Kits Crackers, Peanut Butter or Cheese Crack-
 Peanut Butter er Sandwiches
 Shelf Stable Milk Boxes  Individual Bags of Pretzels or Popcorn
 Pudding Cups  Granola Bars
 Trail Mix, Nuts, or Sunflower Seeds  Cereal (individual bowls or boxes)
 Raisins or Dried Fruit  Instant Oatmeal Bowls or Packets
 Single Servings of Macaroni & Cheese  Canned Vegetables (with tops that pull
 Canned Chef Boyardee Meals (with tops off)
that pull off)  Applesauce Cups or Squeeze Pouches
 Ramen Noodles or Cup A Noodles  Fruit Cups or Canned Fruit (with tops that
 Microwavable Instant Rice pull off)
 Microwaveable Soup Cups or Canned Soup  100% Juice Boxes or Pouches
(with tops that pull off)  Hormel Compleats Meals
 Fruit Snacks
Monetary donations are also accepted. Please make your check out to Hill U.P. Church with Weekend
Power Pack Program in the memo section.

The Beaver-Butler Presbyterian Women’s Fall Gathering will be held on September 29th at
the Buffalo Sarver Church. Please see Bea Welch for additional information.

There will be a PWCT meeting will be held on September 11th following Women’s Bible
Study.

Presbyterian Women’s Thank Offering Sunday will be held on Sunday, October 14th.

Presbyterian Women will be hosting a Fall Luncheon on Saturday, October 20th.

Mark your calendars so you don’t miss these upcoming events!

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 IN
We’re back! Yes, it’s that time of year- Wednesdays on the Hill kicks off promptly at 5:00 pm on September 12.
This year our theme is The Journey Home for grades 1 and up. Join us on the Journey to the Promised Land
with God’s people and learn about the insights they get on the trip that still help God’s people today. Preschool
folks are meeting many Bible Heroes this fall and they not only have their grown-up friends back with them, a
certain furry puppet friend is returning too.

We’re starting every night with Silly Songs led by our teens then skits, music with Mrs. Jenny, great games, food
prepared by our faithful kitchen crew and awesome small group times. Teens have some special opportunities
this year too- trips, community service, mission work and special events.

Our Mission Project this Fall is Pennies for Paper. Bring your pennies (nickels, dimes and quarters welcome too)
to help purchase paper products for Fishbone Ministries here in Butler. Be there every Wednesday through
November 12! (Well, except for Halloween. We’ll all be busy that night.)

A huge thank you to all who helped with the Wild Wednesday events that we led at Memorial Park in
cooperation with St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. A special shout out to Steve who manned the grill like a
master chef. It was a wonderful group of volunteers and the weather cooperated beautifully. We had so much
fun!

Sex, drama, violence! No, it’s not the new TV season. It’s the Tuesday Morning Bible Study for women.
Well, not them exactly. It’s the texts we will be studying September through December. We’re looking
into two books that detail the lives of a couple amazing Biblical women- Ruth and Esther. Every Tuesday
starting September 11 at 9:30 AM. Excellent company and always great food at coffee break. Our long
postponed trip to Kelso Bible Museum will be scheduled that first week. (They were undergoing some
renovations this summer and we all wanted to avoid the chaos that is the orange barrel season on Route
28.)

NEWS FROM GHANA

Greetings to all the members on the Hill,

On the 30th of July the Leadership of E.P. Church, Ghana traveled to Kpalime in the Republic of Togo to
hold their Joint Synod Meeting. The number of people who made the journey was 65. We can recall that the
two Churches were founded by the North German Missionary Society in 1847. Since 1922 when the two
churches began to be led by its indigenous people, they decided to hold such meetings once in every 3 years.
At that meeting it was decided that:

1. We can exchange workers and pulpits

2. Establish deeper friendship such as receiving groups like the choirs etc.
3. The unity between the churches should never be broken
4. Sharing gifts when that is possible.

The meeting ended on 1st August and we returned the same day, though the distance covered from Ho to
Kpalime was about 60 Kilometers it took us about 3 hours. The challenge was that we had to cross the
border to another country and the police and the army are stationed at vantage positions. We speak a
common language, the Ewe, but we have been divided during the colonial era since. This division is a
colonial legacy we still carry. The line was drawn in such a way that even townships have been divided into
two. We are happy to hold such meetings despite the challenges.
Blessings,
Koku.
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 VOLUNTEERS FOR
SEPTEMBER 2018
CHURCH
USHER GREETERS COUNTING OPENER/ COFFEE
LITURGIST ACOLYTE
TEAM BEFORE ELDERS POWER- HOUR
POINT
Alan None - Due
Deacon Rev. Dr.
SEPT. Ladies’ Milanovich Ben Alan To
Gregory William
2 Team Huba Milanovich Labor Day
Heist Leroy Edinger Jackson
Holiday
Tom Graham Deacon
SEPT. Ladies’ Seth Tom Nurture
Bea Welch Barb
9 Team Mike Freeze Heist Graham Committee
Graham

Deacon Anne Miller Elder Deacon

SEPT. Men’s Caroline Anne
Karen Dale Terre Kyle
16 Team Freeze Miller
Bryson Anderson Patterson Nevel

Ruth Scott Deacon

SEPT. Men’s Audrey Bella Pete Volunteer
Pete Patti
23 Team Nossokoff Heist McElhaney Needed
McElhaney Donaldson
Deacon Pat Brennen Elder
SEPT. Combined Juliet Louise Deacons’ 5th
Mark Becky
30 Teams Gerry Graham Miller Evans Sunday
Hall Plymale
Communion Team – Team C
Newsletter Team in SEPTEMBER (for October) – Team C (Audrey, Bea, and Shirley)
Sunday morning ride service driver for SEPTEMBER - Gregory Heist (724-996-6050)
PULPIT FLOWERS
SEPTEMBER 2 SEPTEMBER 9 SEPTEMBER 16 SEPTEMBER 23 SEPTEMBER 30
Donated in loving Donated with love in
Donated with love Donated in loving Donated in loving
memory of Ben and memory of
in honor of our memory of memory of her
Betty Lou Dickey Dr. and Mrs. Ralph
Daddy’s birthday Wayne Hoover parents, Clara and
from Dave and Diane Wymer
by Sam, Seth, Bella, and loved ones by Wesley Rowles,
Olenic and Ashley and and Rev. Sam Gamble
and Beau Heist. Jan Hoover. by Carolyn Street.
Amanda Holmes. by Carolyn Stutz.

PEW GREETERS
Hill Church for many years was known as “The Glad Hand Church.” The Nurture Committee
wants to continue this tradition. Pew Greeters will now welcome visitors, encourage them to
sign the guest registry, and invite them to Fellowship Hour on Sunday.
MIDDLE SECTION—BRADY STREET SECTION PEARL ST. SECTION—OVERFLOW AREA
SEPTEMBER 2 Sharon Montag, 724-285-3231 Karen Shultz, 724-283-2413
SEPTEMBER 9 Nancy Daugherty, 724-285-1013 Janet Edinger, 724-282-7782
SEPTEMBER 16 Lois Minich, 724-283-1875 Volunteer Needed
SEPTEMBER 23 Volunteer Needed Volunteer Needed
SEPTEMBER 30 Anne Miller, 724-282-2072 Kim Selfridge, 724-285-9017
 SUN TUES THUR SAT

1
11am - AA Meeting

15th Sunday After

Pentecost
2 Lord’s Supper by 3 4 5 6 7 8
Intinction
7:00pm - Deacons’ Mtg. 8:00am - Women’s 9:00am - Hill Quilters 11:00am - AA Meeting
10:30am - Worship Pastor Fellowship Breakfast at
Karl Kennedy Preaching Mac’s Café
9:30am - Willing Workers
6:00pm - Choir

16th Sunday After

Pentecost
9 Congregational 10 11 12 13 14 15
Meeting
6:45pm - Session Mtg. 9:30-11:00am - Women’s 8:00am - Women’s 11:00am - AA Meeting
9:30am - Community Bible Study Fellowship Breakfast at
Lunches 11:00am - PWCT Mac’s Café
10:30am - Worship Rev. 5:00pm - Community
Leigh Benish Preaching Dinner
11:30am - Fellowship 5:00pm - Wednesdays
On The Hill
7:00pm - Choir

17th Sunday

2018
After
“So let us not grow 16 Pentecost 17 18 19 20 21 22
8:00am - Women’s
10:30am - Worship Rev. Dr. 5:30pm - Senior Night 9:30-11:00am - Women’s Fellowship Breakfast at 11:00am - AA Meeting
weary in doing William Jackson Preaching Out Bible Study Mac’s Café
11:30am - Fellowship 1:00pm - Betsy 9:30am - Willing Workers
what is right, for we McCormick Circle 12:30pm - Mary Lou
Boyer Circle
5:00pm - Wednesdays
will reap at harvest On The Hill
7:00pm - Choir
time, if we do not 18th Sunday
After
Pentecost
give up. So then, 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
whenever we have 10:30am - Worship Rev. Dr. 9:30-11:00am - Women’s 8:00am - Women’s 11:00am - AA Meeting
William Jackson Preaching Bible Study Fellowship Breakfast at
an opportunity, let11:30am - Fellowship Mac’s Café
5:00pm - Wednesdays On
The Hill
us work for the good 7:00pm - Choir

of all, and 19th Sunday

After
Pentecost
especially for those 30
Deacons’ 5th Sunday
of the family of 10:30am - Worship Rev. Dr.
faith.” William Jackson Preaching
11:30am - Deacons’
Luncheon
Galatians 4: 28

September
Cut out the picture and Bible verse and use it as your bookmark for your Bible for the month of September!