Westminster Presbyterian Church 2155 University Ave. Dubuque, IA 52001 563-583-1729 www.wpcdbq.org loren@wpcdbq.org

A pastor friend of mine exclaimed a couple of days ago, “This is the lentiest lent that I have ever lented!” I’m not sure if I would have phrased it exactly like that, but I certainly see his point! Lent is a time when we can choose to give up something so that we may use the time that we would have given to that thing in prayer and service to God instead. This year, circumstances have led to all of us being forced to give up not just one thing, but many things. We’ve lost the freedom to shake hands, to stand face-to-face, to worship together, to watch a movie in the theater or go out to eat…we’ve even lost the freedom to go buy a couch if we want to!

Of all of the freedoms lost, the ones that get to me the most are the ones that mean we cannot be together. I’m lucky to have Becky with me, which means that I haven’t had to spend hours by myself. I think she’s even coming around to recognize that she’s lucky to have me around as well. Seriously though, I think this is the most difficult part of this for me. Even though I have not lost a job and with, currently, no loved ones or friends diag-nosed with this illness, I still feel a sense of loss. I grieve. Whether you know it or not, you are likely in the grieving process as well.

Grieving over loss is, in my opinion, something that we Americans do not do very well. We’d rather “not cry” or “just keep moving” instead of sharing that we are hurting. Well, let me be the first to say that I am hurting. I miss the good old days of February 2020, and I grieve their loss. I’ve been through all the classic signs of grief: denial (if I just go quickly into the store, I’ll be fine), anger (see Becky for details on that one if you’d like), depression (certainly not clinical, but I find myself sighing a lot more than normal), bargaining (if I run this one errand, then I won’t go anywhere for two days), and acceptance (fine, I’ll just sit here and watch the 1988 World Series again).

Here’s the thing. As hard as it is to admit it, all of these feelings are perfectly normal. You’ll find yourself going through each of these feelings multiple times as we continue to suffer this loss. Basically, it’s just the way we work as humans. Loss affects us. So, it’s OK if it is affecting you. If you don’t have someone to complain or vent to about this, give me a call. I can even setup a Zoom meeting so we can pretend to be face-to-face. But, regardless, know that all loss affects every one of us, none of us are immune. Allow yourself or those around you to be angry some, and watch out for the bargaining and denial, they can be dangerous in this particular time of loss.

Oh…one more thing on the subject of loss. One of the most profound realizations that I ever made was that when the disciples went to sleep Friday and Saturday night of what we know as Holy Week, they were in the depths of suffering a loss of the magnitude that we will never imagine. I thank God for giving them the strength to make it through those days between crucifixion and resurrection. The loss and grief must have been unbearable. We are blessed that although we have and we will suffer loss, it will never be a loss that big. Jesus Christ is alive and will continue to live throughout our lifetimes on this earth, and then forever and ever afterwards as well. And we’ll be with him. That’s a beautiful part of the story of Easter this year. It is the story not just of resurrection, but of the removal of grief and loss.

Session News &

Announcements

2

Youth News 3

Church News 4

One Great Hour of

Sharing

2

Thank You from Master

Gardeners

4

Green Team Award &

Press Release

5

Worship Scripture 6

Inside this issue:

“Lentiest Lent” by Pastor Loren Shellabarger

April 2020 Volume XX Issue 4

FROM YOUR

WESTMINSTER

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH FOUNDATION:

Be a WILLing Christian.

Remember ...

Westminster Presbyterian

Church in your WILL.

- Determined to worship online only following government guidelines

- Decided not to purchase Easter Lilies this year

- Purchased a subscription to Zoom Video Conferencing to be used by the church

- Turned on an online giving option previously approved for the congregation

- Agreed to keep the church office open while watching closely for symptoms

- Agreed to continue to pay church staff if they develop symptoms or we need to "shelter in place"

- Agreed to discourage use of the church for rentals, but exceptions can be made by the Pastor (individual use, etc.)

- Agreed to temporarily set aside a financial procedure that did not allow two staff members to count weekly offerings. This will allow offerings to be counted and deposited, and church members do not have to travel to the church

- Agreed to continue the capital campaign

- Agreed to leave the Bell Choir tables setup on the chancel each week once in person worship resumes

- In a called meeting on March 23, the Session agreed to a plan to continue paying our bills if the church office has to close

FOR DAILY UPDATES: Pastor Loren is publishing daily videos that review a daily lectionary passage and give you the latest updates on what’s happening at Westminster. Go to the Church website to see these videos. http://wpcdbq.org or on Facebook. This will be our primary form of communication for now.

ONLINE GIVING – Westminster now has the option of online giving via the church website. http://wpcdbq.org Oth-erwise, we encourage you to mail your weekly offerings to the church office.

BUILDING ON THE SURE FOUNDATION – You should have received the Capital Campaign Letter and Pledge Card in the mail recently. Please prayerfully consider how you can best provide for the future of our beloved building, provid-ed for us and blessed by God.

THE RUMMAGE SALE AND BOOK EXCHANGE are postponed to a later date. To be determined.

THE FOUNDATION GRANTS have been postponed to later in the year.

THE “WAM” SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPING group has been busy and will continue to work as long as we are allowed to be outside and about! The SL team are doing the planting themselves and we welcome you and your shovel. See Lisa MacNaughton or Doug Cheever if you need to borrow one! They are social distancing, too.

ALL OTHER WAM GROUPS ARE CANCELLED FOR THE TIME BEING

Session News

Volume XX Issue 4 Page 2

Announcements

One Great Hour of Sharing Easter offering

Through the annual One Great Hour of Sharing offering, we become the household of God. We extend shelter to those who have no place to stay, offer compassion to those who have pain - be it physical, emotional or spiritual - and we set a feast, with God, for those who lack access to enough food to eat. God’s household filled with love and everyone is welcome.

Westminster will be taking this special OGHS offering through Easter (April 12). Your support of OGHS will help our neighbors in need with natural disaster relief as well as alleviating systematic causes of poverty. This Lenten season, join with Presbyterians worldwide in answering God’s call. Please give generously to OGHS. If we all do a little, it adds up to a lot! Please mail your offering to Westminster, 2155 University Ave. Dubuque 52001 and write OGHS on the memo line. Thank you.

Page 3 HOTLINE

Youth Faith Formation News

On-line registration will be available later. If you would like to help with VBS see Lisa Fast.

This summer there will be a Youth Mission trip to

Kenosha, WI the last week of July for 7-12 graders.

Seven people have signed up. If your child would like to

join us see Lisa Fast soon! Space is limited.

STAY CONNECTED

Rise & Shine Families-

Even though we may not be able to worship together in

person we can still stay connected with one another!

How you ask?

Facebook, email, Zoom and

any other way we can think of.

After all it is the year 2020. We’ve got this!

Page 4

Financial Stewardship through March 31, 2020

Year-to-Date Operating Budget $ 98,000 2020 Expenses 94,000 2020 Income 124,000 Income over Expenses 30,000

Thank you for your financial stewardship! To God be the Glory!

Church News

The Sympathy of the Congregation is extended to

the family and friends of:

• Tom French, member

• Ruth Potter, member

• Sally Ryan, member

• Ruth Donner, member

• Mary Arnold, mother of Barbara Heitzman

Thank You!

The Dubuque County Master Gardeners would like to extend a few words of gratitude for partnering with us on hosting the Landscape Pruning Work-shop on Saturday, February 29. It was a spectacu-lar event and we lucked out with some great weath-er! By sharing your beautiful campus, we were able to educate many community members on proper pruning techniques as well as give a few trees and shrubs some care. We had some really great compli-ments that included "a really well organized event", "I didn't know that wouldn't kill a plant", and "this was fun, I learned a lot too". It is the great learning oppor-tunities that your campus has shared with the commu-nity that we were able to make the mission of teaching others a really positive and enjoyable experi-ence. Thanks for your generosity one more time!

Have a spectacular spring season,

Ray Kruse, Master Gardener Coordinator on behalf of the Dubuque County Master Gardeners.

Westminster Office Hours (lunch times vary)

Monday 9:00 am – 2:00 pm Tuesday 9:00 am – 2:00 pm Wednesday 9:00 am – 2:00 pm Thursday 9:00 am – 2:00 pm Friday No covered office hours Saturday No covered office hours Sunday No covered office hours * Occasionally Mary Kay will be out of the office & other

staff will attempt to cover to the best of their ability.

Now Collecting in the Narthex

Donations of travel sized bottles of shampoo,

conditioner, soap, and lotion are being collected and

given to Opening Doors. Drop offs can be placed in

the labeled boxes, on the bookshelf, in the Narthex.

There are recycling boxes for used batteries and

label free pill bottles as well.

2020 Census

We still need people to be Census Takers in the City of Dubuque and the County of Dubuque. We don't want to miss anyone since this will effect us for ten years. The wage is $21 per hour. Mileage is $.575 cents a mile. It will last about 8 weeks. It is 15 - 20 hours a week. Everything is being pushed back with the census for now so I don't have a start date. The census people doing the hiring will give out that information. Thank you for your help in this im-portant matter.

Linda M Stovall, Recruiting Assistant

Des Moines/2558/Chicago

U.S. Census Bureau

M: 563-581-7582

Census.gov l @uscensusbureau

Shape your future. START HERE>2020census.gov

AS OF NOW:

The Church Office is OPEN following its regularly

scheduled office hours if possible.

(Could change quickly if changes in government mandates happen.)

If Sunday Worship is online only Please go to our Website at wpcdbq.org

or watch on Facebook.

Volume XX Issue 4 Page 5 April Calendar—TBD

To Westminster’s Green Team

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: March 25, 2020 Press Contact: Rev. Dr. Loren Shellabarger Telephone: (972) 567-3223 Email: loren@wpcdbq.org

Westminster Presbyterian Church is Certified as an Earth Care Congregation by the Presbyterian Church (USA)

Dubuque, Iowa – Westminster Presbyterian Church has been certified as an “Earth Care Congregation” by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) through February 2021. This honor speaks to the great commitment that the church has made to caring for God’s creation. To become an Earth Care Congregation, the congregation affirmed an Earth Care Pledge to integrate envi-ronmental practices and thinking into their worship, education, facilities, and outreach. The nomination for the designation was submitted by Westminster’s Green Team with approval of the church’s Session (governing body). The Earth Care Congregation certification is designed to recognize churches that make the commitment to take seriously God’s charge to “till and keep” the garden. Started in 2010 by the PC(USA), the goal of this program is to inspire churches to care for God’s earth in a holistic way, through integrating earth care into all aspects of their church life. The Earth Care Congregation certification honors churches that make that commitment and encourages others to follow their example. “It is exciting that Westminster is one of the 264 churches that chose to dedicate themselves to intentional care of God’s earth this year. In a time of much uncertainty and worry about the future, this congregation’s activities and commitment brings hope to their community. Westminster and its Green Team will inspire oth-ers to respond intentionally to God’s call to care for the earth,” says Jessica Maudlin, Associate for Sustaina-ble Living and Earth Care Concerns for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). For more information about Westminster Presbyterian’s earth care program contact Tom Stovall, WPC Green Team Moderator, at tomstov@aol.com or (563) 581-7220.

Worship Format in person or online to be determined.

April 5 - Palm Sunday - Online Only Rev. Dr. Loren Shellabarger April 9– Maundy Thursday Service at 7 p.m. Online Only April 10- Good Friday Service at 7 p.m. Online Only

April 12 - Easter - TBD Rev. Dr. Loren Shellabarger

April 19 - Earth Day - TBD Rev. Dr. Loren Shellabarger Theme: The Earth’s Stewards

April 26 - TBD Rev. Dr. Loren Shellabarger

Worship at Westminster

9:30 a.m. EVERY Sunday

NONPROFIT ORG

US POSTAGE

PAID

DUBUQUE, IA

PERMIT NO. 577

Westminster Presbyterian Church

2155 University Ave

Dubuque, IA 52001

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Contact Information:

2155 University Ave. Dubuque, IA 52001 563-583-1729

Join us for

Worship at

Bethany Home

April 19 at 1:30 p.m.

To be Determined

Due to COVID 19 and ONLINE

WORSHIP ONLY… we are not

ordering Lillies. You may still

donate to Deacon’s Fund in honor

of or in memory of someone.

Please write in memo line on

check. Thank you.