Sharon (Morning Sun, Iowa) RPC

Bryan Schneider, pastor

Our congregation has much to be thankful for, including people seeking solid, biblical teaching and opportunities for growth and fellowship. God has brought several new families and couples to our congregation over the past year. Church membership among adults without a Reformed background is growing, and many children now grace our weekly worship services.

Pastor Schneider’s sermon focus over the past year has been on the Gospel of Mark. Each sermon covers just a few verses at a time, yet there has been a rich amount of teaching and learning from each one.

Prayer has been heavily emphasized. Part of our weekly worship service includes an extended prayer. Praises and petitions are lifted on behalf of our congregants, a different Midwest Presbytery congregation each week, seminary students, the Global Missions Board, and various foreign missions throughout the world.

These prayer requests are printed in the weekly bulletin to remind our faithful to refer to them throughout the week. Each family also has access to a calendar to pray for a different congregational family or individual throughout the month.

Opportunities for fellowship and biblical instruction are offered beyond worship services and Sunday school. An adult Bible study group and a women’s group meet biweekly. A Saturday men’s breakfast, a first Sunday fellowship lunch, a homeschool group, and a psalm sing (from March through October) meet monthly.

Coffee and Devotions, along with weekly sermons, continue to be shared online through the sharonrpc.org website and the Sharon RP Church page on Facebook.

In addition to vacation Bible school each June, a newer July tradition is an annual conference to reach out to our surrounding communities. The focus of the 2023 conference was parenting.

God continues to be gracious to our small, but growing, rural church.

—Terri Hutcheson, correspondent

Hazleton Area, Pa., RPC

Paul Brace, pastor

On May 24, Pastor Paul Brace of Hazleton Area, Pa., RPC celebrated the 20th anniversary of his ordination as a teaching elder and minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pastor Brace was ordained by the Presbytery of the Alleghenies in Rimersburg, Pa., RPC in 2003. He has been with Hazleton RPC for 14 years.

Hazleton RPC thanks God for the past 20 years of Paul’s faithful ministry, and prays for many more years of continued ministry of the gospel, if the Lord wills.

—Jeremy Nelson, correspondent

Orlando, Fla., RPC

Nathan Eshelman, pastor

Choices Women’s Clinic garnered $535,000 in donations after their annual Walk for Life in April. Orlando RPC raised $40,000 toward that effort, making it possible for Choices to open another new clinic, mortgage free, in Kissimmee, Fla.

Ten people joined the church on Sunday, May 21. We welcomed Thea Rourke, Joshua Joyner, Marina Silva, Magaly Dias de Souza, and Stephen and Samantha McCaskell and their baptized children: Micah, Salomon, Ezra, and Aden.

—Louise M. Turmenne, correspondent

In Memory of Edward Forest

1927–2023

My husband, Ray, and I moved to Florida from Connecticut in 1979. We began attending Orlando RPC in 1982. Ed and Jean Forest were among those who greeted and welcomed us warmly from the start.

Ed was the senior elder at the time and very enthusiastic when it came to his duties on behalf of the pastor and the congregation.

We were drawn toward Ed and Jean from the moment we started attending this church. They made us feel like a part of their family, so when the church put together some Bible study classes for different ages, we joined Ed and Jean’s adult Bible study class. It was a perfect fit for us, even though we were slightly younger than most. They not only taught line by line of the text chosen, they taught word for word, carefully dissecting all they could out of each verse. It was a deliciously deep study with lots of roundtable discussion and prayer. Though I’d been a Christian for over 10 years, it was the first time I prayed in public. My nerves were jumping, but I made it through with their encouragement.

Ed and Jean were so gracious and understanding. Just being around them made one feel comfortable and secure. They both were genuinely thoughtful and kindhearted. They were tremendous servants of the Lord, and Jean was a loving support for Ed. Ed had such an uplifting spirit, and he was quick to laugh and join in all lighthearted fun. He had a marvelous sense of humor.

Ed made our transition into this congregation effortless, as so many others have as well. He will always be a “giant of the faith” to us and an example of what we all aim to become, for our own betterment and for God’s honor and glory.

—Louise M. Turmenne