Monthly Archives: October 2013

Be the Best Bean Counter You Can Be!

I am conducting a series of financial literacy classes with the support of St. Peter’s Church of Coupland. The main topics are budgeting, asset-building, credit & credit repair, and first-time home-buying. Attendees get free copies of Quicken for Windows, while supplies last. The first class will be held on Tuesday, October 22 at 7 PM.

The following article appeared in the October issue of “The Voice on the Hill,” the  newsletter of St. Peter’s Church:

Attention everyone who is interested in taking control of their financial life: HELP IS ON THE WAY!

Mr. Stewart Dale Spencer, M.A. in Developmental and Adult Education, will be offering a Financial Literacy Series beginning with what he calls his “Bean Budget Class (or How to Squeeze More Beans out of Your Budget!)” beginning on Tuesday, October 22nd from 7:00 – 8:30 PM in the downstairs Conference Room at St. Peter’s Church. Stewart has been teaching finances, and many other related subjects, for many years to groups of all levels and will be bringing his expertise to Coupland to share with our community. No need to RSVP, just come ready to learn! There is not a cost associated with the class but donations will be accepted.

Stewart says, “What you don’t know can hurt you. Too many people today have grown up with very little knowledge of how our financial system works. Powerful Money Masters control key elements of the financial game. If you don’t know the rules, you can’t play the game very well. The stakes of this game are high. Your future and that of your children and grandchildren are on the line. Let me help you become a money master in your own right. Learn how to control your expenses, how to better manage your income, how credit works and how you can make yours better, how to build assets on your current income, and the pros and cons of homeownership as well as alternative paths to homeownership.”

 

Kali says, "My P-Pop is teaching me about real money!" (Okay, I made that up. After all, she's only three but someday she will understand. You don't have to wait so long. Come and learn what everyone used to know!)

Kali says, “My P-Pop is teaching me about real money!” (Okay, I made that up. After all, she’s only three but someday she will understand. You don’t have to wait so long. Come and learn what everyone used to know!)

Announcing Play Days at the Playground!

St. Peter’s Church has granted permission to an informal group of local caregivers of young children to have access to the Fellowship Hall so they can get their kids together for regular play time at the church playground. Kids and caregivers will have access to the restroom and be able to use the building for indoor group activities when the weather makes outside activities impractical.

Get out of the house. Meet other caregivers. Let the children play!

Get out of the house. Meet other caregivers. Let the children play!

This activity is not being sponsored by St. Peter’s Church. They are simply allowing the community to have access to the facility. This is not a drop-off service or a Mother’s Day Out type of activity. Caregivers are responsible for their own kids. It’s not much different from parents getting together and taking their kids to the parks in nearby cities except that it’s right here in Coupland!

The initial schedule will be Mondays and Fridays at noon with a bring-your-own picnic lunch followed by play time. The first day will be Monday, October 21. If it’s rainy or cold, don’t despair! We will play indoors. Bring fun indoor games or arts & crafts activities to share. We figure that 2 hours is a good maximum for now. You don’t have to show up right at noon. A keyholder will be there for sure from noon to 2 PM.

The schedule will probably change from time to time according to the season or church activities but it will always be announced in advance. We hope more parents will join. It would be great to be able to add Wednesdays also.

The initial group consists of yours truly, Honey Eiben, and Mary Havens. Even if you don’t have young kids at home, maybe you know someone who does. Please forward this story to them. If you have any questions, post a comment to this story and I will get back to you as soon as possible!

Stewart Dale Spencer

This Week at St. Peter’s Church of Coupland – Acts 29

Submitted by Pastor Frank Dietz:

Window art in the sanctuary.

Window art in the sanctuary.

On 20th, the 3rd Sunday……we’ll explore Acts 29! What would/will it mean to write a next chapter in scripture’s account of the life and witness of the Christian church? Some “clues” about substantive future in faith and faithfulness will mark our worship time together! Perhaps we’ll begin to build consensus around the matter of what the marks of deep, faithful church might mean in a world where God is still speaking, . . . !!!

Readings:

  • Psalm 91:1-2, 11-12
  • 1 Peter: 2:1-10
  • Luke:4:14-22

 

A City on a Hill – Interracial Relations

From “A City on a Hill: A Story of a Community, a Church, a People” by Jewel R. Johnson, Second Edition, 1979, Merchants Press of Taylor, Texas

This is part of a continuing series of stories. If you want to see previous postings in this series, just go to the search bar at the top of the home page and type in: “A City on a Hill”. They will appear in chronological order. There is more than one page of listings.

Publisher’s Note: When the series is complete, we will make a PDF copy of the entire booklet available to download.

Individual pages appear below in the TIFF format. Your browser may not display them automatically, depending upon your security settings. If they don’t open for you, even after you click on them, you can download a PDF copy of this portion of the series by clicking on this link: Interracial Relations

Interracial Relations 1

Interracial Relations 2

 

This Week at St. Peter’s Church of Coupland – Bloom Where You are Planted

Submitted by Charlotte Albert, who is filling in for Pastor Frank Dietz this week:

Desert_Flower_by_Paleos

My sermon title is “Bloom where you are planted”. The sermon scripture is from Jeremiah 29:1, 4 – 7. It’s the story of Jeremiah writing to the people he carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. They are not happy and do not like this new life of hardship. He reminds them, even in the worst of times in our lives, we are to bloom where we are planted. It is a time to put your trust and faith in God as He is always with you. We are to be and do the best we can for God because He has a plan for us and we can learn from the bad times and find the good in it. We can use that time to become a better, stronger person.

Difficult times can lead to prosperous purposes. So often, we view road-blocks and speed bumps as difficulties when they can be there to make us observe better. So, if you are weighted down with weeds in your garden, start pulling them out, one by one, dig around the base of the plant, sprinkle a little fertilizer around the plant, water it, and watch it grow and flower. You will feel the inner glow!

Charlotte Albert, Licensed Minister

St. Peter’s Church of Coupland (UCC)

Readings:

  • Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
  • Psalm 111
  • 2 Timothy 2:8-15
  • Luke 17:11-19

City Council Meeting Highlights for October 10, 2013

L-R: Susan Garry, Barbara Piper, Jack Piper, Karen Marosko, Eldridge Tidwell, Susan Schmidt (September 12, 2013)

L-R: Susan Garry, Barbara Piper, Jack Piper, Karen Marosko, Eldridge Tidwell, Susan Schmidt (September 12, 2013)

In the only meeting scheduled for this month, the Coupland City Council had a light agenda. Three citizens attended the meeting. Eldridge Tidwell was out of town. Here are the highlights:

  • Instead of acquiring a credit card for certain city expenses, Mayor Piper recommended changing the resolution to acquire a prepaid credit card with no more than a $500 balance. This will be used to pay for the city’s website and other occasional, minor expenses. This revised resolution was unanimously approved.
  • There was a discussion regarding the process of making amendments to established city ordinances such as the subdivision ordinance. The Council decided to set a policy of considering amendments to existing ordinances on a quarterly basis beginning with the January meeting. Suggested amendments will be transmitted to the Mayor by the Aldermen. [Publisher’s Note: Presumably, any citizen wanting to suggest an amendment could either bring it up during the Citizen’s Communication portion of the regular Council meetings or persuade one of the Aldermen to submit it to the Mayor.]
  • The Council engaged in a discussion about the possibility of official recognition of local citizens and local events. No formal action was taken but it is likely that you will see some things addressed in the form of the Mayor’s article in the Coupland Herald as well as official proclamations just prior to City Council meetings, probably to include the presentation of special certificates.
  • During the citizen’s communications portion of the meeting, this reporter addressed the Council on the matter of road maintenance. He suggested that the Council put some pressure on the county to finally decide to take care of some road maintenance before leaving it up to the city to take full responsibility. He especially pointed out the deterioration on North Commerce Street caused by the encroachment of vegetation. He also mentioned potholes on Pflugerville-Berkman Road. He suggested making a formal, written request to the county and suggested that if the county did not address the issues in a timely manner, the city would have to take care of the problem areas as soon as possible, before they turn into more costly repairs.

The next meeting will be on Thursday, November 14 at 7 PM at the fire station.