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February 10, 2012 

Empty Bowls, Full Hearts

Empty Bowl

Empty Bowls

Last month CPC partnered with the Carroll County Empty Soup Bowl Project to get ready for their upcoming event. 35 Presbyterians got their hands dirty creating a dazzling array of pottery bowls.

Potter Helen Helwig organized the program and our own potters and craftspeople, Randy Ayers, Penny Ayers, Amelia Huxley (and Ioan) rolled clay and helped us create our own masterpieces.

Dianne Cox made a delicious pot of soup for lunch and we ate it till the ladel scraped the bottom of the pot.

If you missed out on bowl making, you can still catch the Empty Bowls event at the Carroll County Ag Center on Feb 26th. Local restaurants will be serving up specialty soups in hand made bowls. Come enjoy live music and hot soup. The fun starts at 11:00.  Tickets are just 10 bucks.  All proceeds go to help finance the Carroll County soup kitchen.

For more information about the Feb event:

http://carrollcountyemptybowls.com/joom/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=4

February 7, 2012 

Lifekeys: Reflecting on the Experience

Lifekeys Book CoverIn the spring of 2011, I participated in a group program called LifeKeys, facilitated by Rebekah Carpenter and Jared Price. About 12 of us met once a week in the Old Manse at Carrollton Presbyterian Church. We formed a tightly knit group based on trust and the mutual desire to investigate ourselves.

I had long hoped for a way to know what God has planned for me and expects of me. (I know I’m not the only who feels that way.) I wanted to know not only what to do, but how and when to do it. Even though I was doing well, I knew I could do better; I was missing something.

At times, I thought maybe I tried too hard, prayed too fervently, yearned too selfishly. Other times, I was sure I didn’t do enough, was too lazy, perhaps undeserving. Whatever else I was doing, I was also growing ever more anxious about what felt like a long period of stagnation. And, I was lonely and didn’t know what to do to solve that dilemma since I was new to Carrollton. I was confused about the role I play in other people’s lives. Also, I lacked confidence in myself, and I felt ineffective and inadequate in regards to my job and career.

So, the offer to enroll in LifeKeys – a course with the tag line, ‘Discover Yourself,’ – seemed a providential opportunity. However, I couldn’t have predicted – or even hoped for – the affirmative influence of the course and its positive and lasting effects.

The friends I made through LifeKeys, the people to whom I now feel bonded, were part of God’s answer to my prayers to find my path, to hear a calling and respond. I met people who affirm my strengths and shore up my weaknesses. I’m rarely lonely any more, and if I am, there’s someone to call.

I was empowered in my career by the realization, through LifeKeys, that the skills and passions I have are gifts from God. He wants me to use them; He made me good at what I do. My career puts me in the role of support rather than management or leadership. I used to think my contributions in the workplace were trivial, but I learned to value what I do. Those in leadership and management roles depend on me to aid them in their success. I did not appreciate that desire to serve in myself before LifeKeys.

January 27, 2012 

The Power of We

Survey Checkmark GraphicWhat do you think?  For the past few months, that’s been an important question we’ve been asking at CPC.   Thanks to all who participated in the Carrollton Presbyterian Church, “Your Opinion Counts: Planning our future together – The Power of We” assessment.We had an amazing response– over two thirds of people who were asked to participate took time to fill out the thirty-minute member survey.  To make sure everyone had a voice, Mary Woodfin, our Christian Educator, also developed a survey that included our kids and youth.In the near future, we’ll be getting data back from the survey.  Then our Session and Strategic Planning Committee will use it to help steer our direction and make CPC’s 2012, as well as the years ahead, a time for change and a time for nurturing new relationships in both church and community.  Thanks again to everyone who participated.  Your thoughtful and prayerful opinions, along with the grace of God, will help guide CPC into the future.
January 24, 2012 

New Look

A Heart in the CityIf you’re reading this, you’ve noticed that the CPC website has got a new look.  We’re hoping it will be easy to navigate.  We’ll also be posting lots of great stuff for you to discover and enjoy.

There is so much going on in the church – so many disciples doing good work. If you are involved in a ministry that you feel passionate about – if you are part of a class that just rocks your world – if you’ve found a place where you can inhale OR exhale the love of God, let us know about it. We’d love to get pictures and thoughts to post here on the website.

November 1, 2011 

Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans

Kirkin' o' the Tartans on the Square in Carrollton

Kirkin' o' the Tartans on the Square in Carrollton

In the swirl of pipes and the beating of the drum, CPC brings a time-honored Scottish tradition to town- the “Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans.”

The Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans is a ceremony based on Scottish history and legend. After Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Scottish forces were defeated by the English at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, a British act was passed that forbade the Scots from wearing tartan. In fact, orders were given for British troops to shoot, on sight, any person dressed in Highland garb.

Tartan was the hand woven plaid material that was worn by the occupants of that rugged country. It not only provided warmth, its different designs and colors represented the wearer’s family connections. Forbidding the display of the tartan was like cutting them off from their community. But the stubborn Scotts prevailed, secretly carrying a scrap of the cloth hidden in their clothing when they went to Kirk (church). The minister slipped a blessing (a Kirkin’) into the service for those tartans and the families they represented.

After fifty years, the Act was repealed, and the Church of Scotland celebrated with a Service of Family Covenant, where the tartan of each family was offered as a covenant expression for the Lord’s blessing.

Every October, Carrollton’s own Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans recalls that tradition, beginning at the Square and continuing to Carrollton Presbyterian Church, where the actual service takes place under the gothic arches of the historic sanctuary.

Jan Stewart Tolbert, the pastor at Carrollton Presbyterian Church says this about the Kirkin’ o’ the Tartan, “This part of the country was settled in great part by people from the British Isles . . .Scotland, Ireland, England. This service is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate that heritage that so many of us here share.”