From Your Pastor
Brian Lays
Dear Riversiders:
I hope you all are well as the new year begins! I miss seeing you at Church, but I am enjoying and deeply grateful for this precious time with my growing family.
We are kicking off the new year with our “Be the Church” initiative, which is a congregation-wide visitation effort. In the months ahead, you will receive a call from a member of our congregation who will request the opportunity to visit with you. The primary goal of the initiative is to connect with all our members and friends to hear about what is on their hearts and minds concerning our faith community. We are seeking to better understand how to bring vibrancy to our new core values of Belonging, Connecting, and Transforming. If you haven’t heard about these core values yet, here is a snapshot:
Belonging:
“Our common Lord Jesus Christ binds us together in love as one family, but He does not work alone. We pursue familial unity by listening generously, honoring differences of perspective and experience, and humbly opening our hearts and hands to one another.”
Connecting:
“We believe faith is as much a communal practice as an individual one. Therefore, we intentionally create ways to connect and care for one another.”
Transforming:
“We believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings new life by transforming hearts and minds. Therefore, we come together in worship to be shaped by the liturgy, music, and proclamation of God’s Word.”
I hope you’ll take this opportunity to connect with a fellow Riversider, whether you are active in the church at the moment or not. We aren’t there to recruit you to join a ministry, and we certainly aren’t here to raise money. We simply want to connect and hear from each one of our members about whatever is on their hearts in terms of Riverside.
Christmas Eve at Riverside
Montreat College Conference
Reflections by our College Students
Montreat College Conference, January 2-5, 2025 - worshiping, reconnecting, playing, praying, discussing, wondering, sharing meals, experiencing snow, and holding space. It was all oh so very good! We were so grateful for the opportunity to spend a few days in the mountains with RPC’s college students before their spring semester began.
Share a memory from Montreat College Conference....
Looking out the window and seeing snow during worship. It was a surprise to us all, and we had so much fun walking, throwing snowballs, and making snow angels.
- Evelyn Brown
The day it snowed! It was so beautiful and a wonderful day! Another takeaway from the conference was when Gail [Rev. Gail Henderson-Belsito] said sometimes we need someone to hold onto hope for us and we need to hold hope for someone else sometimes. - Olivia Meux
The idea of hope in a dark world. And the snow was amazing! - Jessica Shipp
The snow days, the holy meditations workshop, and playing games in Assembly Inn. - Davis Meux
Basketball League in the Family Life Center
by Julia Davis
Last Saturday was an exciting and long-awaited milestone for Riverside Presbyterian Church and Day School. The Mary Lou Davis Family Life Center opened its doors to our church basketball league. It was a day full of excitement, laughter, cheering, and of course many baskets on the new basketball goals.
The Riverside Presbyterian Basketball League was established in 2000 by Roger Maness and provides children in the greater Jacksonville area with an opportunity to learn individual and team basketball skills, while providing the boys and girls with opportunities in a Christian environment to demonstrate leadership, service, fair play, confidence, and self-esteem both on and off the court.
The league is very grateful to the RPC/RPDS community for all the effort and dedication that was needed for this to become a reality. The addition of the Mary Lou Davis Family Life Center for our basketball league is literally gamechanging and will provide our league a home gym, for both games and practices, for many years to come.
If you are free one Saturday in the next few weeks, please feel free to come see the Family Life Center in action, while watching some exciting basketball games!
Matthew 25 Book Nook
Excellent Reading in Bittinger Hall
We are grateful for the commentary provided by Carl Zacheis. Visit the Matthew 25 Book Nook in Bittinger Hall to read these titles and more!
His Truth Is Marching On John Lewis and the Power of Hope
By Jon Meacham
The Warmth of Other Suns The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration
By Isabel Wilkerson
Meacham covers the relatively limited portion of John Lewis’s life when he was actively on the scene of the Freedom Riders, Voting Rights Act, etc. What really is memorable about John Lewis and this book was the entire subject of passive resistance. Lewis and his supporters literally practiced and trained for passive resistance. Then the reports of attacks and resistance became very real as described by Meacham. This description had a big impact on me because passive resistance is precisely what Christ did.
Meals on Wheels
This is the story of a search for a better life from 1915 to 1970. Wilkerson chronicles the movement of black citizens from the horrors of the Jim Crow South to Northern and Western cities. While the movement was accelerated by the availability of jobs, clearly it was the desire to move Northward for a better life. This book was the winner of seven major book awards. Don’t miss the pages of critical praise before beginning the book.
THANK YOU to all of the volunteers and staff that have made this such a positive ministry here at Riverside Presbyterian Church.
16,357 meals delivered 950 Volunteers
2,166 volunteer hours
Caring Tree: Thank You!
by Jo Pratt-Dannals
Once again you have shown love to our neighborhood children by providing over 450 gifts to more than 200 children in our local schools. Your generosity has been appreciated and deeply felt by the families of West Riverside, Central Riverside, and Ruth Upson who received your gifts for Caring Tree.
Here are quotes from some of the parents’ letters we received:
“Thank you for the great things you have provided for my family. Every year you all have been a blessing to my family, and I cannot thank you all enough. I hope this holiday season brings joy to you all! And again, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
“God bless you! We appreciate everything you are doing for our family and really needed it this year. Now my children will have something they wanted to open because of you! We love you.”
Another response from one of the school counselors:
“While I was not surprised by the appreciation shown by the parents picking up the bags of gifts for their children, I was deeply moved by the tears in the eyes of the fathers who picked up gifts. It truly touched me.”
Again, thank you, Riversiders for showing your love and care to our neighborhood children. Peace to you in 2025.
Coffee, Clergy, and Conversation
On November 13, 2024, several clergy from different faith traditions in Jacksonville gathered in Bittinger Hall for an interfaith dialogue around the practice of prayer in their worship services and in their personal lives. Imam Lateef Majied (Jacksonville Masjid of Al-Islam), Apostle / Pastor Regina Jackson (Restoration of Truth Ministries), Hazzan Jesse Holzer (Jacksonville Jewish Center), and Pastor Dana Riley (Riverside Presbyterian Church) were panelists.
Thanksgiving Dinner at RPA
Thanksgiving Dinner for residents of the Riverside Presbyterian Apartments was provided and staffed by RPC members, with special thanks to Susie Morrow for her leadership.
New A/C Unit
Installed
On December 10, 2024, the brand new air conditioning unit was installed for both the Education Building and the Sanctuary. The outdated unit was removed from the Education Building roof to make way for the upgrade. Thanks to the funds generously raised over the summer, this much-needed improvement has happened. We can’t wait for a refreshingly cool summer in 2025!
1. Choose native plants - When choosing plants and trees for your yard, look for flora native to your area. Native trees and plants provide food and habitat for birds, butterflies, and other beneficial local wildlife, and are acclimated to local rainfall amounts and climate. Once established, native plants require very little maintenance because they are naturally resistant to local pests and disease. Because they do not need fertilizers, pesticides, or supplemental watering, they are easy and inexpensive to maintain and are environmentally friendly. To search for native plants by area: www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder
2. Plant ground cover instead of grass - Ground cover has many advantages over grassed lawns. Ground cover hugs the ground and requires little to no mowing, no additional watering, and no pesticides or herbicides. For shady areas, moss makes a beautiful lawn. Moss is green even in the high heat of summer and feels wonderful under bare feet. Clover is an excellent groundcover for lawns in full sun. It stays green during times of drought, is sweet smelling, feels soft and cushiony underfoot, and helps to prevent soil compaction. If you wish to provide a habitat for bees, you can allow your clover lawn to bloom to attract them. If not, don’t worry, just give your clover lawn an occasional mowing to promote growth. Creeping native perennials may also be used for groundcover lawns, many of which smell wonderful, need little maintenance, and feel soft underfoot.
Service Opportunities Looking for a way to serve?
• Sunday Morning Usher
• Call to Worship Liturgist
• Flower Delivery Team
• Deliver a MealTrain
• Drive Meals on Wheels
• College Secret Pal
• Serve in the Kitchen
• Serve / Cook Dinner at Sulzbacher
• Volunteer at the Front Desk in the Office
• And More!
Caroline
849 Park Street
Jacksonville, FL 32204-3394
Address Service Requested
THE MESSENGER (USPS 466-960) is published bi-monthly by the Riverside Presbyterian Church, 849 Park Street, Jax. FL 32204-3394 (904) 355-4585
Periodicals Postage Paid at Southside Blvd. Business Mail Entry Unit. Jax. FL 32216-9651
POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to THE MESSENGER 849 Park Street; Jax., FL 32204-3394
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