ATTENTION, ALL SNOW-TUBERS:  Meet today at 1:00 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room for our trip to Winterplace.  Eat lunch before you come!  Questions?  See Ginny Taylor-Troutman.

ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE THIS WEEK:  The beginning of this year’s season of Lent will be observed at CPC with an Ash Wednesday worship service in our Sanctuary at 7:00 p.m. this Wednesday, February 22.  A nursery will be provided for infants and toddlers.  As in past years, the Ash Wednesday service will include imposition of ashes.  Worshippers will have the option of coming to the front of the Sanctuary where the sign of the cross will be marked with ashes on their foreheads, while the traditional words are repeated, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  Everyone is encouraged to come to this special service.

SR. HIGH YOUTH RETREAT:  Please keep in your thoughts and prayers our youth, chaperones, and retreat leaders who will be at the Peaks Presbytery Senior High Youth Retreat at Camp Bethel this coming weekend.  Sr. Highs attending from CPC include Kate Feuchtenberger, Michaela Goldammer, Jason Hamed, Emily Sutphin, and Rachel Sutphin.  Chaperones are Drew and Beth Newman.  CPC’s Jesse McMullen is on the Presbytery Youth Council retreat planning team, and the retreat Key-noters are Ginny Taylor-Troutman and her husband, Andrew.

CONGRATULATIONS TO JENNIFER MAKIN:  At yesterday’s meeting of the Presbytery of the Peaks, Jennifer was officially commissioned to serve our church as Commissioned Ruling Elder (CRE) for Spiritual Development and Wholeness through Wellspring at CPC.  Previously known as the Commissioned Lay Pastor (CLP) Program, the CRE training program is a three-year series of courses provided by the presbytery for Elders who feel called to serve churches in a formally recognized way.  Most of the time, Commissioned Ruling Elders function in a pastor role (often in small churches that are unable to call full-time ordained ministers), but they can also be commissioned by the presbytery to a variety of other validated ministries.  At CPC, Jennifer will continue her work through Wellspring as in the past, and her commissioning as a CRE will further highlight the importance of her role and Wellspring’s ministry in our midst. 

LOOKING AHEAD

• Spaghetti Luncheon after worship, Sunday, March 4:  Fundraiser for Montreat Youth Conference participants.  We have a large group of young people going to Montreat this summer, so please come, enjoy the meal, and share generously.   Thanks!
• Community Lenten Lunch & Worship Series:  The Christiansburg Ministerial Association invites you to participate in this year’s Lenten Lunch & Worship Series on the Fridays of Lent.  Each Friday starting at 11:30 a.m., a simple lunch will be served by the host church.  This will be followed by a worship service starting at 12:20 and ending by 12:55 p.m.  There is no charge for the lunch, but donations will be accepted and used toward the ministries of the Ministerial Association.  The schedule of locations for this year’s series is:

                 March 2:          Our Saviour Lutheran Church (1845 Cambria Street)

                 March 9:  St. Thomas Episcopal Church (103 E. Main Street)

                 March 16:     Asbury United Methodist Church (500 Stuart Street)

                 March 23:     Christiansburg Presbyterian Church

                 March 30:     St. Paul United Methodist Church (220 W. Main Street)

CPC’S PAC TEAM (Presbyterians Against Cancer) has started work for the 2012 Relay for Life.  Sign up to join us in our fight against cancer.  You can register online at www.mcrelay.org.  All donations go to the American Cancer Society to end cancer in our lifetime.  Check with Paul Poff or any PAC Team member for more information.  Last year we raised over $2,600.  Help us to exceed that amount this year.

THE JANUARY-MARCH “THESE DAYS” DEVOTIONAL BOOKLETS are available in the literature racks adjacent to the Sanctuary doors.  Please help yourself to a complimentary copy.

WINTER WEATHER REMINDER:  In the event of extreme winter weather conditions, any decision to cancel Sunday School and/or worship will be made by 8:00 a.m. on the Sunday involved and will be recorded as an outgoing announcement on the church’s main telephone number answering machine, 382-2802.  Cancellation news will also be forwarded to local television stations for public announcement.

UPDATE ON THE TIN SHOP RENOVATION:  Please continue to support this project.  We want to rally around our youth and provide them the facilities and programs that will allow us to have a thriving program.  We ask that you prayerfully consider making a generous gift to support our youth and the Tin Shop renovation program.  Make checks payable to CPC, and designate them for the “Tin Shop.”  Thank you!

Goal = $35,000      Contributions to date = $32,727       Percentage of goal received = 93.5%

DON’T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO BE A BIBLE SCRIBE!  Please see the special display in the main hallway to discover how to join CPC and three other Presbyterian churches in celebrating the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible.

OTHER WAYS TO WORSHIP AT CPC

• CPC’s Prayer Chapel:  Open daily during regular office hours (9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.), other times when the building is open, and by appointment.  A quiet space for individual prayer and meditation, located on the ground floor of the church, next to the Multi-Purpose Room.  Prayer books, a prayer journal, music selections, and art are provided for individual use.
• Wellspring at CPC:  A ministry of spiritual development and wholeness.  Provides on-going resources in healing and renewal; training and education in religious experience, spiritual disciplines, and practices; relaxation, pain and stress relief; sensitivity awareness; and therapeutic healing through massage, guided imagery, aromatherapy, and healing touch.  Questions?  Speak to Jennifer Makin, or leave a message at the church office (382-2802) or at Wellspring (382-6510).
• Stretching Body and Spirit ~ A Christian Way of Yoga:  Each Monday, 5:30-7:00 p.m., in the Fellowship Hall.  A gentle hatha yoga workout, coupled with meditative Christian chants and prayer, that invites participants to explore the role of the body in Christian spiritual formation.  For anyone of middle school age and older.  No yoga experience is necessary; beginners are welcome.  Please wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing, and bring a yoga mat if you have one (extra mats are available).  Questions?  Speak to Don Makin (382-2802). 

W