Welcome New Members!

Welcome to our new members...
 

Roger and Jean Naney - Roger grew up in St Louis and graduated from the University of Missouri at Rolla and got his MBA at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. Jean graduated from the University of Kansas and obtained her MEd at the University of Missouri-St Louis. Roger and Jean met in Kansas City and married in 1969. They have two daughters, Kristen McSwain and Shannon Naney and 6 grandchildren. They moved to St Louis in 1974. Roger retired from Sigma Aldrich and Jean retired from St John's Mercy Medical Center (Mercy Hospital). They are coming from Bonhomme Presbyterian Church. 
 

Cristin Mack is a St. Louis native who returned to her hometown a few years ago after living in Denver for more than 15 years. Cristin is an attorney who lives in Glendale with her teenage daughter, Meredith, whom she adores. Cristin spends her free time fixing things that break around her old house and apologizing for her two misbehaved dachshunds, Olive and Scone.
 

Holy Week Worship Services

Maundy Thursday Service
Tree of Life Chapel
April 6, 2023
7:00 pm

Good Friday Choral Performance - “The Seven Last Words of Christ” by Theodore Dubois
Sanctuary
April 7, 2023
12:00 noon

Good Friday evening Taize Service
Tree of Life Chapel
April 7, 2023
6:30 pm

Easter Sunday Services
Tree of Life Chapel
April 9, 2023
8:15 a.m.

Sanctuary
April 9, 2023
11 a.m.

A Lenten Bible Study
Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. during Lent you are invited to a book study, Meeting Jesus at the Table by Cynthia Campbell and Christine Coy Fohr. Each week we will look at a story of Jesus eating with people and what we can learn from these meals. After the class, if you would like, we will go to eat lunch at a restaurant somewhere in Kirkwood. 

The class began on February 22^nd, Ash Wednesday. After class we will go to the Ash Wednesday worship Service and then to lunch. We will not meet on March 1^st. The class will continue on March 8^th through April 5^th. We will meet in the Fireside Room.

Adult Mission Trip Save the Date
Mission Committee members are arranging a second mission trip to Dawson Springs, Kentucky from May 14-20, 2023 to help rebuild homes after a catastrophic tornado in 2021. A group from First Pres worked in the area last fall. You might not recall the specifics of the storm, as there have been so many disasters of all kinds. To refresh your memory, in December, 2021, a violent, long-track tornado moved through Western Kentucky, causing catastrophic damage and taking 57 lives. Residents are still in the rebuilding phase. 
 
This area is about a 3-hour drive from St. Louis, which means it's convenient even if you can only come for part of the week. We will be working with The Call to Build and they promise there will be plenty of work for all skill levels. 
 
Our housing hosts are the congregation from Hanson United Methodist Church, Madisonville, KY.  We will be staying in their church, and they are generously providing housing free of charge, as well as lunches. We will share a dinner with them one evening during the week. We stayed with them last year and they recently sent a thank you note pictured above:

Dear Members of First Presbyterian,
Thank you for your generous gift of $1,000 to help with disaster relief team expenses. We continue to host teams in 2023 on a limited basis.

We so appreciate your help and concern during this difficult time. The rebuilding continues helping so many!

Blessings!
 

We will host an Informational Meeting on Sunday, March 26 at 10:00 in the Fireplace Room. At this meeting, we will share trip details and answer any questions you may have. 
 
If you're interested, just pencil in that week. Please let one of the trip leaders know if you have questions and/or if you plan to join us so that we can count noses. Thanks so much.
 
Liz McCane (lizmccane@gmail.com)  
Georgina Sikorski (gwsikorski@gmail.com)
Linda Jarrett (write4you@sbcglobal.net)
Lucy Tidwell (lucytidwellco@gmail.com)

Christian Concerns Class

Join us on Sunday at 9 a.m. in the Fireside Room or on Zoom for our Christian Concerns Class. Betsy Solomon from the Shepherd's Center will be in the Fireplace Room on March 12 to begin her 4-week Art History Series.

Her topic March 12 will be Piero della Francesca: Early Renaissance Master. The class will also be shown on Zoom for those of you at home. A REMINDER THAT DAYLIGHT SAVINGS BEGINS ON MARCH 12!!!

If you would like more information or the Zoom link, please contact Ann at ann.willie@hotmail.com.

The Zoom link is :

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83836320060?pwd=dytxcWYxZ2NJNFlEaTBmWlVBRkNndz09

Meeting ID: 838 3632 0060

Passcode: 63122

If the link does not open directly, copy it and paste it into your internet Search window and find us there.

Karen Circle

Any woman who might be interested in fellowship and Bible Study in a small group setting, please consider joining our Karen Circle! If you are newer to Kirkwood Pres –
this is a great way to get to know more people.

We meet at church monthly on the following Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in the Gathering Space: 
Wed. Feb. 15, Wed. March 15, Wed. April 19, and Wed. May 17.  
 
This is a relatively new Circle and we’d love to have more peoplejoin!  

If you have any questions, contact any of the following people:
Nancy Hughson, nbhughson@gmail.com
Cynthia LeFort,  cslefort@outlook.com
Sharon Croissant, scrois822@gmail.com
Lucy Tidwell, lucytidwellco@gmail.com

Putting Pen to Paper for Hunger in the USA

Do you sometimes intend to contact your legislators about an issue, but find it hard to follow through? You're not alone. Come raise your voice on behalf of the hungry in our midst by joining in an "Offering of Letters" organized by Bread for the World. The U.S. Farm Bill will be re-approved this Fall of 2023. Our officials in Congress will benefit from hearing from us to prevent cuts to the nutrition budget, which typically accounts for 3/4 of Farm Bill monies.

On Palm Sunday April 2, you are invited to join Bill and Julie Allen Berger anytime from 8 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. in the church parlor to write 2 - 3 brief letters. We'll provide everything you need, along with background info and suggested text which you can personalize.  While hand-written letters get the most attention, you'll have the option of a pre-printed template to which you can add a personal note. We'll have access to names and addresses of your legislators, including email info. We will deliver or mail your letters for you.

Being advocates in the company of your church family is easier than doing this alone. Thanks to the Session and its Missional and Community Elders for co-sponsoring this Lenten opportunity. Rumor has it that letter-writers will find snacks on hand to boost our output!  Please direct any questions to Julie Allen Berger at 314-537-2417 or jab0539@gmail.com.  Hope to see you on April 2.

Afghan Families March 2023 Update

2023 has brought many positive changes to the lives of our two families. One young man will begin a coding class in March, while continuing to work part-time. Our young woman at Affton High School was named “Student of the Month”. One of the women is pursuing job opportunities. All are busy and making progress in their adaption to our American way of life. Our church committee continues to be of assistance in transportation to medical and other appointments, answering questions on a wide variety of topics and giving the families our moral support, however needed.  They are more than appreciative of our assistance. Meanwhile we are learning from them about a different culture and religion. We will help them as their month-long holiday of Ramadan approaches and will celebrate with them at its conclusion. One of our Afghan women will be making Baklava for the Senior High Workcamp Auction. Come and bid on it…it’s guaranteed to be delicious.  

Our families continue to appreciate the gift cards from Target, Wal-Mart, Global Foods, etc. They continue to be concerned about Immigration issues. PLEASE CONSIDER writing to your Congressional Representative and Senators in Washington D.C. and asking for their assistance in passing the Afghan Adjustment Act which will give the refugees a smoother path toward citizenship. Right now both families are worried about being deported BACK to Afghanistan. For a “boiler-plate” letter and addresses of elected officials, contact Sharon Croissant via email (scrois822@gmail.com).

The Father in one of the families remains in Afghanistan in fear for his life. He has a long history of working in the Airline industry as a Flight Engineer and Instructor. If anyone has contacts within the industry and could be helpful in getting a job for the man, please contact Jim Cooper (703-887-2058).

Our Congregation will have the opportunity to meet both families  on MAY 6 as we host a dinner prepared by the Afghan women.  Details will follow shortly.  SAVE THE DATE!

On behalf of both our families, your Committee says “THANK YOU” to our Congregation for your generosity and support!  For further information please contact Tom Edelstein (314-629-5367) or Sharon Croissant (314-909-8136).

P.S. IF anyone has access to 4 tickets to Cardinal Baseball or St. Louis Soccer Games, we have young men who would enjoy that outing.  

Veterans' Personal Hygiene Items
THANK YOU to everyone who participated in this project to give back to veterans!

Book Clubs

We have several active book clubs! Check out the info below!
 

Tuesday Book Club: Tuesday Book Club will be discussing First Mothers, the Women Who Shaped the Presidents by Bonnie Angelo beginning February 14 and for five subsequent Tuesdays at 10 AM. The book reveals the influence, stories, and times of presidential mothers from FDR to Bill Clinton. Interested persons are welcome to join in. For questions, please contact kochkarenp@gmail.com.
 
Wednesday Book Club: The next meeting for the Wednesday book club will be March 29^th (note the date change) at 1:30 over zoom.  We will be discussing The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall. This book traces two married couples whose lives become entangled when the husbands become copastors at a famed NYC congregation in the 1960s. Please contact julia@abreu.net for more information.

History Book Club: The History Book Group meets at 10:30 a.m. on the 4^th Thursday of the month at church. At our upcoming meeting at 10:30 a.m., March 23, at church, we will finish discussing Barbara Tuchman’s A Distant Mirror. It tells the story of how Europe’s 14^th century – a time of plague, distrust of institutions, climate change – echoes in 21^st century Western civilization. All are welcome. For more info, contact: Carlin Scanlan (ccscanlan@swbell.net), or Don Lewis (donlewis610@gmail.com).

Give Online
Have you tried giving online? You can do a onetime gift or set up reoccurring payments and pay with ACH direct from your checking account, via credit card or using GooglePay.
 
Go to https://www.shelbygiving.com/app/giving/kirkwoodpres and follow the prompts, text GIVE to 314-293-4922, or scan the QR code to go directly to our giving portal. If you have any questions, please reach out to accounting@kirkwoodpres.org.