F I R S T U N I... J U L Y 2 0 1 3

FIRST UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
JULY 2013
N A M P A , IDAHO
What is a Christian?
Dear Friends,
Inside this issue:
Financial News
2
Session /Deacon
Highlights
2
Birthdays
3
Announcements
3
Family Camp
3
Thank You
4
Fix Up Fund Update
5
Movie Night
5
Car Wash
5
Camp Sawtooth
Dates
5
PW News
6
Hawaii
6
Just For Kids
7
I was naïve once. I thought in the
beginning of my journey of faith that a
Christian was a Christian. I broke off from
non-believer or atheist or agnostic. I was
not one of those other religions such as
Buddhist, Shintoist, Hindu, Islam, Jewish,
etc. I was a Christian. It is now years later
and I now know I was terribly naïve.
To many people with whom I talk, a
Christian needs a classification name to
truly identify who they are. Each classification identifies some particular part of what
kind of advocacy your name promotes. For
instance, initially I understood I was a Protestant and those others were Catholics.
Then along came the Pentecostals which
was another subgroup. Then I was a Lutheran, a member of the Evangelical Covenant Church and finally a Presbyterian. In
the Presbyterian category I found there
were two “distinct” groups: conservative
and liberal. Then I found subcategories of
the categories called orthodox, fundamentalists, neo-orthodox, evangelicals, and others that are difficult to define.
Then I find out that each one of
these subcategories has some kind of justification as to why they are the “true believers” while those other subcategories are not
or at least highly questionable.
Recently, I read an article
from a theologian I respect who
defined two key terms for me: evangelicals
and ecumenicals—also known as progressives, liberals, or social activists. For him,
one was Christian and the other wasn’t.
A Biblical scholar, Dale Brunner,
writes that evangelicals say that we must
put Christ, his Word, and reconciliation
with God first, and then secondarily, people, the world and reconciliation in society.
Ecumenicals argue for the greater integrity
of the reverse order (or for serving God by
serving others).
If one steps back and looks at this
hair-splitting, we notice there is something
to be said for each position. If I look
through the lenses of the two great commandments then I hear “love God with all
your heart, mind and soul and then love
others as you love yourself.” When one
looks at the Scripture as a whole and Jesus
as the self-sacrificing servant that he was,
we find a paradox: when people put Christ
first (Jesus is Lord), we find that he often
draws us out into the world to consider the
other person first. So, it would seem to
identify with one position—the
Worship Lessons
July 7
July14
July 21
July 28
Exodus 2:1-10
Matthew 5:27-30
Matthew 5:31-37
Matthew 5:38-48
Concerning adultery
Concerning divorce and oaths
Concerning retaliation
(Continued on page 4)
Page 2
Nampa First United Presbyterian Church
Purpose Statement
To bring people together to love and magnify God
through worship, to minister to the needs of all His
children, to fellowship in God's family, to spread the
Good News, and to develop people to Christ-like
maturity for their mission in the world.
General Fund Financial Activity
Budgeted
Actual
Difference
Monthly Receipts
$19,067.17
$20,555.80
$1,488.63
Monthly Expenses
$19,067.17
$13,625.98
$5,441.19
Jan-June Receipts
$114,403.00
$113,618.90
-$784.10
Jan-June Expenses $114,402.89 $111,352.83
$3,050.06
July 22nd
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
9:00am -1:00pm
June 25, 2013
2010 Building Project obligation to the Synod of
the Pacific as of June 18, 2013 is $116,634.38.
Friday is the Pastor’s day off
Office email:
office@firstpresnampa.org
Pastor’s email:
balaams@firstpresnampa.org
Website:
www.firstpresnampa.org
Phone: (208) 466-7061
Fax: (208) 466-7176
Session Highlights





The sanctuary air conditioning is the first priority with the Fix Up
Fund.
Stefanie Crowley discussed her plans for the coming school term.
The Boise Presbytery meeting scheduled for August 17th will be held
at First United Presbyterian Church.
VBS was a lot of fun working with 17 participants.
The next meeting will be on Monday, August 26th.
Respectfully submitted,
Ina Sano, Clerk of Session
Deacons report
Edie Curtin
May 30, 1925-Dec. 4, 2012
Gail Krause
May 10, 1933-June 2, 2013
Karla Krommenhoek
March 18, 1936-June 20, 2013

from June 24th meeting
from June 3rd meeting
Treasurer’s Report — The beginning balance was $1,256.02. Congregation
contributions were $235.00 and a $40 check returned. Expenses were: Hope
House $100.00, Adopt-A-Senior $160.00, and Shelter Meal $128.51. Ending
balance is $1,596.32.
Birthday calls were made. Visitations were done by the Deacons and
Pastor and 12 frozen meals distributed.
 Shelter Meal was served to 48 people at the Salvation Army in May.
 The next meeting is a potluck and business meeting on Monday,
September 9th.

Respectfully submitted,
Kip Winter, Secretary
Page 3
Known July Birthdays
7/01
7/01
7/02
7/02
7/03
7/03
7/04
7/08
7/08
7/08
7/09
7/09
7/09
7/09
7/12
7/13
Jean Stansbury
Derinda Johnson
Alice Kiernan
Kip Winter
Connie Guyer
Jaci Johnson
Joe Kuntz
Francie Hill
Amy Reed
Nida Ryan
Cindy Dion
Nancy Frederiksen
Randy Harano
Sally Moore
Debbie Swanson
Donna Anderson
7/13
7/14
7/15
7/19
7/20
7/21
7/21
7/22
7/22
7/24
7/25
7/25
7/27
7/28
7/30
Dick Kneidl
Fred Christensen
Mike Gussie
Senita Watkins
Ralph Williams
Betty Wilson
Karen Zacharisen
Marvin Huter
Bailey Maritt
Sandi Kurtz
Gary Decoteau
Ashley Guzman
Bob Redding
Melva Keyes
Phil Peterson
Known July
Anniversaries
7/06/66
7/08/72
7/12/97
7/17/04
7/19
7/20/91
7/21/56
7/23/94
7/24/10
7/29/56
Marge Robinson
5208 NE 78th Ave, Unit #12
Vancouver, WA 98662
Edward & Linda Swanson
Ken & Nancy DeLong
Patrick & Rana Bolyard
Steve & Elizabeth Kohtz
Dan & Jeanne Wiebold
Mark & Cindy Larimer
Jerry & Jean Day
Rod & Jonica Johnson
Loren & Nancy Spencer
Ken & Nancy Frederiksen
Brett & Karen Lolley
1956 S. Sandcrest Way
Nampa, ID 83686
Dorlene Gaines
Alpine Meadows Assisted Living
1695 S. Locust Grove Rd.
Meridian, ID 83642
Thomas James Decker was born on
June 10th. He weighed 8 lbs., 11.2 oz.
The proud parents are Taylor Reed and
Brian Decker.
Family Camp
Our annual family camp up at
Camp Sawtooth starts at 4:00pm
on Friday, August 9th through
Tuesday, August 13th at 1:00pm.
You are welcome to join us for
all five days, or if you can just
come for a few days, we would
love to have you there. You can
bring your own camper and use
We want to give a warm welcome to
our new members,
Barbara Hindman and
Bruce Freeman. They
became members of our
congregation on June
16th. We will feature
them in next month’s
newsletter to share a little
bit about both Barbara and Bruce.
the water and electricity hookups, or
you can stay in one of the cabins. The
cost is $9 per person, per night for
lodging and $15 per person for food.
There will be a signup sheet on the back
table in the church to RSVP. You can
send your payment to the church office.
Please call the office if you have any
questions.
Page 4
Thank You - Celebrate Our Community Dinner
Ellen and I would like to thank everyone who
helped with the “Celebrate Our Community Dinner”
on Wednesdays during the 2012-2013 school year.
We had a committee (Sally Moore, Jo Mallard,
Barbara Balance, Barbara Burri, Kitty Renn and
Francie Hill) that met 3-4 times during the year to
make sure all of the details were
covered. These ladies were so
faithful to this ministry. It was
great to have so many helpful,
faithful volunteers. We had
greeters, people who set-up,
servers, people who cleaned up,
and of course, the food preparers,
including the Mormons who
cooked every Wednesday during the month of
February and the Lutherans who cooked the month of
September and a couple of times this spring. We also
had a fun time getting to know each other better. We
couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help. It
was truly an effort from the entire Christian
community.
I would also like to thank Ellen Gussie for
being my co-chair this past year. All fall she kept
To Our Church Family,
Thank you for the calls,
prayers, and visits. Recovery is
going well.
Thank you,
Bob Choat
We are soo blessed!!
saying she wasn’t doing anything and I assured her
that when I had my foot surgery, she would indeed be
doing a lot…and she did! She is a very gracious and
helpful person and was right there all of the time.
Thank you, Ellen!
The committee also talked about how we
could help these people in other ways,
such as at Christmas having bags filled
with items they cannot purchase with
food stamps (soap, shampoo, deodorant,
feminine hygiene products, laundry soap,
etc.)
Next year Jo Mallard has agreed to cochair this committee with me. Jo was
amazing this year in that she led a session
on what/how things needed to be done in order to
stay in compliance with the Health Department and
made up notebooks for all of the committee, as well
as providing recipes that would feed 30-50 people for
the cooks.
As you can see it was a real community effort
and Ellen and I want to send out a big “Thank You”
to each and everyone of you. Peace,
~Debbie Swanson
Thank you so much for your willingness to actively
support the Girl Scouts of Silver Sage. Without
community partners like you, we can’t do what we dodevelop girls who make the world a better place.
~Maureen O’Toole
Chief Executive Officer
Girls Scouts of Silver Sage
What is a Christian?
(Continued from page 1)
evangelical—over against the other –ecumenicals-would be to live out only half the Christian calling.
Our pathway to follow Christ is both narrow
and wide. It is narrow in that we discriminate
against many other religious groupings because we
recognize Christ at the center of our calling. At the
same time our call in the world is not to a narrow
group, but to the world.
I just find this all fascinating and challenging. This is our journey together through the life of
our church.
Warmly,
Page 5
FIFTY YEAR FIX UP FUND
On May 5, 2013 the church initiated the “Fix
Up Fund” to have $100,000 available for building
and property repairs and replacing heating and air
conditioning equipment. As of June 10, 2013 we
have two-year pledges totaling $20,580 !!! With
what was given by the session
from last year’s overage, a
Building Fund CD, and pledges
we have $49,821 or 50% of our
goal!!! So, we are well on our
way to a successful drive.
A concern that the
Building and Grounds Committee has is that the
sanctuary heating and air-conditioning unit has had
maintenance issues the past few years. The unit in
the ceiling at the rear of the sanctuary is 50 years
old!!!! Two other heating and cooling units on the
roof are 21 years old, and beyond their life
expectancy!! Likewise the roof is requiring more
and more sealing each year and is deteriorating
rapidly.
2013 Dates
9th & 10th Grade
June 30 – July 5
3rd & 4th Grade
July 7 – July 10
5th & 6th Grade
July 14 – July 19
7th & 8th Grade
July 21 – July 26
th
th
11 & 12 Grade
July 28 – August 2
You can send a letter to the campers,
cabin parents, camp hosts, and camp
directors Steve & Senita Watkins at the
following address:
Camper’s Name
Camp Sawtooth
HC 64
Box 8290
Ketchum, ID 83340
Logic tells us that the air-conditioning needs
to be replaced BEFORE the roof is resealed. These
two items together are approximately $89,000. We
would like to get both of these repairs completed this
summer or early fall. To do so we would like to have
enough pledges to complete these needed
repairs. If you have not pledged or
contributed to this fund we ask that you
consider making a pledge. Fiscal
responsibility dictates that we have the
funds pledged before we go ahead.
These repairs are something that
needs to be done in the near future. Please
prayerfully consider pledging or contributing to the
FIX UP FUND. Pledge cards are in the pew racks
or on the tables in the Narthex. If you write a check
or enclose cash for this fund please designate that it
is for the “FIX UP FUND” so that it doesn’t get
mixed up with the building addition fund. We thank
you in advance.
~Building & Grounds Committee
Young Life Carwash
Young people and leaders from
Young Life, a parachurch youth
program in our area, will be with us
July 14th to give car washes in the
parking lot after church from
11:30am – 3:00pm. They will
introduce themselves during the
“minute for mission” and be available after church to clean
every last spec of dirt off your car.
Movie Night is July 20th
Bruce and Debbie Swanson will host
the Movie Night in July.
“Quartet” will be the July
movie. Please be sure to
preview the movie beforehand then join the group
for a potluck and discussion of the movie.
It is always a lively conversation and the
rating system demonstrates the varied
tastes of the critics represented. Anyone
and everyone is invited to attend Saturday,
July 20th at 5:30pm.
Page 6
PW Christmas Bazaar
PW Summer Picnic
Christmas. Already? Well, yes,
for Bazaar reservations. Presbyterian
Women will hold a Christmas Bazaar on
Saturday, Nov. 2nd. Again this year, you
can reserve a table to sell their own goods
for $20 total. A $10 fee to hold your
reservation is due on August 1st and is
nonrefundable. The remaining $10 is due
on setup day Friday or at the opening of
the Bazaar on Saturday.
This was a great event last year,
and we are expecting it to grow again this
year. We will also have a soup lunch and
a baked goods sale, including whole pies.
For details and reservations, please call
Pat Baker at 442-0328.
All women of the church are invited
to the PW summer picnic, to be held at 11:30
AM on Tuesday, July 16th at the home of
Barbara Hindman (11907 Plantation Court,
Nampa.) Please bring a potluck dish to
share, and enjoy the fellowship of other
church women. Beverages will be
provided. RSVP to Pat Baker by Sunday,
July 14th at 442-0328. Directions: (from the
church) West on Lake Lowell to Midway.
Turn right to Plantation Court, which is north
of Lone Star and Smith but south of Orchard,
on the east (right) side of Midway. Take the
cul-de-sac to the right end house.
Missing from the Church
Over the years we have had tools and other things
at the church that would disappear for a time and
then reappear… evidently after its usage was
completed. A few months ago one our most
useful items disappeared and has not returned. It
is a dolly that can carry very heavy items. It looks
like a U-Haul dolly which is orange and black. If
you have it, please return it.
You have won a free trip to a Hawaiian luau!
Early Christian missionaries to the Islands may have made some
mistakes. We invite you to come have some fun and explore with us what
effective Discipleship in a modern age might look like.
Save the dates for this Presbytery-wide event, Oct. 11th and 12th.
On Friday evening there will be a family luau dinner at Nampa Presbyterian
Church. The following morning, Saturday, there will be study/discussion
sessions dealing with Discipleship. These will be held at First Presbyterian
of Boise under the direction of Pastor Andrew Kukla .
Check this location next month for more details and make plans to
join us!
Page 7
From Pastor Bruce
Page 7
Dear Children,
You know about habits. A habit is something that is done
repeatedly. We have habits that are good and habits that are not
so good. Burping at the table would probably not be your
mother’s favorite habit for you, but picking up your clothes in
the morning and putting them away could make you a hero.
These that I have mentioned are physical things we do.
There are other habits which might be called optimism and
pessimism. Optimists have the habit of looking at the good that
is going to happen and pessimists anticipate the bad that will
probably happen. These are habits of attitude.
The attitude habit that I want to tell you about regarding
the verse on Moses is that he was endangered of being taken to
be a slave. A slave is not a free person, he or she is in bondage
to someone who owns them. The Hebrew people at the time of
Moses were enslaved by the Egyptian people. Those people
who moved to America in the 1600’s felt enslaved and wanted
to experience an exodus which was a journey to freedom.
There are habits of thoughts. Our forefathers and mothers
“thought” freedom was possible. We see their belief in freedom
in the sermons in their church sermons and things such as the
Liberty Bell that were important to them. This belief has been
part of the beliefs of our country since the beginning.
This thought or belief was the hope of the common
people in Jesus’ day. They wanted to be free of the oppression
of Rome. They hoped Jesus was the one who could free them.
He did.
Believing Jesus can set us free as Moses set the
Hebrew people free is a great thing to believe.
Bible Verse of the Month
Thinking of you,
Moses was keeping the sheep of
his father-in-law Jethro, the priest
of Midian; he led his flock beyond
the wilderness, and came to Horeb,
the mountain of God. Exodus 3:1
Page 8
Known July Birthdays
7/2 Cameron Cihgoyenetche
7/3 Kedrick Stellway
7/7 Brady Dion
7/8 Colton Johnson
7/13 Kieran Johnson
7/15 Hailey Gepford
7/20 Caitlyn Hamilton
7/23 Jake Hamilton
7/23 Connor Johnson
7/25 Nate Johnson
7/27 Alison Lolley
7/27 Amber Zacharisen
7/28 Andrew Foreman
7/30 Keffrey Stellway
7/31 Haggon Isaacson
Nursery Update
Bible Quiz
During Israel’s 40-year sojourn in the desert, where did
the Lord turn bitter water sweet so the people could drink
it?
A. Egypt
B. Mt. Sinai
C. Canaan
D. Marah
There will not
be any nursery
service for the
month of
August due to
the low nursery attendance in the
summer. If you are available to help
in the nursery on an “as needed”
basis in August in case we have a
need for a nursery attendant, please
contact the office to sign up for a
particular August Sunday.
Answer: D (See Exodus 15:23-25.)
Community Shelter Meal
10:00a Fit & Fall-proof
7:00p Boy Scouts
7:00p Young Life meeting
22
10:00a Fit & Fall-proof
7:00p Boy Scouts
29
10:00a Fit & Fall-proof
8:45a Adult Sunday School
10:00a Worship
11:30a Young Life Car Wash
21
8:45a Adult Sunday School
10:00a Worship
28
8:45a Adult Sunday School
10:00a Worship
Link Deadline
15
14
8
30
6:00p Outreach Committee
31
24
6:00p Girl Scouts
23
17
12:00p PW Potluck at
Barbara Hindman’s
Home
10
16
9
7:45p Softball game
8:00a Mentoring Network
10:00a Fit & Fall-proof
7:00p Boy Scouts
Communion
3
2
Wed
10:00a Fit & Fall-proof
7:00p Boy Scouts
Tue
1
Mon
8:45a Adult Sunday School
10:00a Worship
7
Sun
Office Closed
10:00p Fit & Fall-proof
25
10:00a Fit & Fall-proof
18
10:00a Fit & Fall-proof
11
4
Thu
26
19
12
5
Fri
27
5:30p Movie Night
Quartet
20
3:00p Taylor Reed &
Brian Decker
Wedding reception
13
6
Sat
FIRST UNITED
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
400 Lake Lowell Avenue
Nampa, ID 83686-6617
PASTOR: Bruce D. Swanson
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Nampa, ID 83651
Permit No. 180
If this publication is no
longer needed, please
notify the church office.
June 2 ................................................. 174
June 9 ................................................. 140
June 16 ............................................... 130
June 23 ............................................... 137