Category Archives: St. Peter’s Church

Be the Best Bean Counter You Can Be!

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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!)

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

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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

 

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

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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

This Week at St. Peter’s Church of Coupland – World Communion Sunday

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Submitted by Pastor Frank Dietz:

The first Sunday of October has traditionally been known as World Communion Sunday. What that has meant is that ecumenically, those churches that do not observe the Sacrament every week, or whenever the people gather, will join in “worldwide” Holy Communion.

At St. Peter’s on the hill in Coupland, we’ll break bread symbolically with others globally by having a basket of breads representing neighbors around the world. The bread that remains will nurture fellowship following the service outside beyond the doors.

A hand-carved plaque of the Lord's Prayer provides inspiration to visitors to St. Peter's sanctuary.

A hand-carved plaque of the Lord’s Prayer provides inspiration to visitors to St. Peter’s sanctuary.

 

During the service the “Neighbors in Need” special offering will be received. It’s a special gift about justice and deep neighborliness. This may best be expressed when a homeless fellow has come into posession of a large roll and sits beside a fellow traveller and gives him half. How, by what means, with what frequency do we find that our Table sustenance enables us with spirit and care to share half of the loaf that has become ours?

Come and practice a measure of neighborliness! Do come sing with us about the God who has “the whole world in His hands!”

This Week at St. Peter’s Church of Coupland – New Directions

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Submitted by Pastor Frank Dietz:

The final September Sunday brings us a guest in worship and at a festive mission shrimp boil (rsvp’s required but all are welcome!). Back Bay Mission is an outreach ministry rooted in long historical efforts of our United Church of Christ and predecessor Evangelical and Reformed Church. Images and stories abound from this ministry right at the heart (Biloxi, Mississippi) of Katrina before and after. This is an amazing story of efforts through the generations and how a missional effort at outreach reinvents and transforms itself for new and shifting challenges.

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One of the hand-carved plaques in the sanctuary.

The shrimp boil will cover costs and serve to support a young intern scholarship program that often shapes young lives and career choices impacting a generation of mercy, justice and service. A worthy mission, indeed! The visiting pastor and BBM board member, Rev. Scott Martin and the service will take cues from Micah 6: “What does the LORD require?”

Readings:

Psalm 91: 1-6, 144-16

Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

1 Timothy 6:6-19′

Luke 16:19-31

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

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Submitted by Pastor Frank Dietz:

Cosmos—–the biggest picture and stretch for us to feel both miniscule and great, depending on one’s take. Interesting that Hebrew scripture helps us be in touch, sensing the urgency of the “toju wabohu” (Hebrew for primordial chaos in Genesis 1 as well as other creation texts) and takes us beyond the anxiety of the “water boundaries” explored on 1 September. The biggest picture we can grasp and yes, little old me!

Readings:

Psalm 148

Proverbs 8:22-31

Colossians 1:15-20

John 6:41-51

Some of the beautiful stained glass artwork in the sanctuary.

Some of the beautiful stained glass artwork in the sanctuary.