News of the Pews

Archival News

The following is a draft manuscript of the presentations made in worship on Oct. 4 by Ed Davis and Fran Young, with additional comments from the pastor. The text was written by Ed; he and Fran used it as a speaking outline.

First let me thank you all for your generous support of the capital needs of the church.

Our church continues to grow and our demographics are changing. We are becoming a younger church, and with that comes the need to provide programs that support these changes. Last Wednesday evening we had at least 20-25 youngsters here for children’s programs. And if you look at the babies we have now, we are truly growing our congregation internally.

Your response and pledges have allowed us to proceed with the design of the addition that we need right now, and we on the capital campaign side of the effort have been busy investigating the funding avenues for the construction with local banks.

We are now nearing the completion of the design and are near to the time when we need to seek a construction loan so that we can proceed with a bidding process. One of the criteria that will be evaluated in that process is our current cash flow into the capital fund. It will need to be as much or more than the projected monthly debt payment. Each week you see the contributions to the capital fund in the bulletin and we have averaged $1800 per week since the beginning of this year. During our most recent committee meeting we had a proposal from a bank to review and based on that proposal we would need $2,500 per week to meet the monthly payment requirement. As you can see we are below that amount by $700 per week and we need to improve in this area so that the bank will have a favorable opinion of our ability to pay for the loan and be willing to finance our project. This will also allow us to build the capital reserve that we will need to begin the project.

I would ask you to prayerfully consider the possibility of advancing contributions you may have pledged on an annual basis. (If we are already at the maximum we can hope to receive, we will have to delay the project until we can accrue enough in the capital reserves to off set the lack of cash flow.)

We again thank you for your support of this church and its programs and I thank God for all of you.

Ed Davis has been nominated by Carolina Beach Presbyterian Church, and endorsed by its session, as Presbyterian Man of the Year, in recognition of his tireless commitment to the church, his generous giving of time and talents, and his able leadership in several areas crucial to our church’s ministry.

Ed is an elder currently serving his first term as a member of the session, in which capacity he is serving his third year as the moderator of our Buildings & Grounds committee. He is a member of the Presbytery of Coastal Carolina’s Communications Committee, and in his capacity as an elder on session has served as presbytery delegate from our church.

Bringing to bear a lifetime of professional expertise and experience, Ed has been instrumental in originating, inspiring, and moving forward the process of this church’s much-needed building expansion. In 2008, he sacrificed countless hours and enormous energy in passionately chairing the capital campaign committee which has allowed this faithful process to take root.

He is a devoted teacher and member of his Sunday School class. With his wife, Sylvia, his abiding interest in the excellence of our nursery, and the care of its children, is exemplary.

In all of his ministry, Ed demonstrates a deep and generous faithfulness to God’s word, and an abiding awareness of God’s call on his life.

After years of faithfulness expressed in various surroundings, Ed proudly and humbly received the sacrament of baptism as an adult in Carolina Beach Presbyterian Church, the first church of which he has formally become a member. The faithfulness of that decision is evident in Ed’s deep and devoted involvement in the whole life of the church, in all its programs and ministries—education, worship, fellowship, stewardship, mission. He is a deeply dedicated servant of God, a worthy representative of the Presbyterian Church, and an enormously faithful example for all who worship and serve alongside him.

When the current Presbyterian Man of the Year, Harry Slusser, was asked privately his opinion of the possibility of Ed being named as his successor, Harry instantly responded, “If Ed isn’t the Presbyterian Man of the Year, I don’t know what that term means.”

The Presbyterian Men and the Session of Carolina Beach Presbyterian Church are proud to recognize Ed Davis as the Presbyterian Man of the Year.

The Capital Campaign Sub-Committee for the expansion of our building is hard at work preparing for a fall campaign to raise funds for the project. We have retained the services of a consultant from Presbyterian Church Financial Campaign Services, the Rev. L. Edwin (Ed) Martin. We have a plan developed by our consultant and have formed committees to carry out the various tasks associated with a capital campaign. The chairs are contacting church members to fill positions. You may have been contacted, or may be contacted in the near future!

Campaign Sub-committee Co-Moderators – Ed Davis and Fran Young

Promotion Committee – George Rose

Advanced Gifts Committee – Harrison Clark and Mark McLamb

Visiting Stewards Committee – Bettie Slusser and Jason Clamme

Finance Committee – Debi Taylor

Support Committee – Sally Hillbeck

Prayer Committee – Clara Hare

Hospitality Committee – Faye Smith

Fulfillment Committee – Cindy Snead

Undertaking this project will require the focus and commitment that are appropriate for God’s service. Watch for a series of mailings in September-October. And—if we may be so bold—we will ask every church member to plan on an after-church dinner on October 19. Rides will be made available for anyone who needs one. It is not inappropriate to change plans or schedule around that date in order to be here. Commitments will be received the following Sunday.

The focus of our efforts is to provide the physical facilities that are necessary to carry out the mission of this church now and in the future. We need your prayerful consideration and support. As we move forward with this project and the need to make personal commitments, let us always remember that this is not for our glory, but for the glory of God—and will only be accomplished if it is God’s will.

—Ed Davis and Keith Grogg