These past 12 months, Central Presbyterian Church has been blessed to have Mari Lyn Jones as our interim pastor. Today’s service (April 25) marks her last as our interim. Other responsibilities have called her away. Mari Lyn, we are sad to lose you. Your compassionate and loving outreach to our members, through cards, calls, brown bag lunches and midweek mana will be missed. You have been a strong, happy, committed and disciplined leader in a difficult time. You have stood your ground and stuck to your principles and who doesn’t admire those qualities. The effort and thought that you put into your worship services are greatly appreciated and will be remembered. We all enjoyed the visuals. Water pouring from the pitcher into the basin, the use of fabric on the altar representing flowing water, the cut outs of the hands of congregation members connected together symbolizing the laying on of hands, the paper chain you made one link at a time on All Saints Day, each link symbolizing a saint who impacted your life, the invitation to the congregation to add their links to the chain, and most recently, the beginning of a paper quilt made up of church memories from the members. These visuals that you employed inside and outside of the worship services reveal a creative, imaginative and energetic mind, the mind of someone willing to do more than what is asked or expected. Mari Lyn, from whence cometh your energy? The members have brought some thank you cards to present to you on behalf of Central Presbyterian Church. Thank you for your service Mari Lyn. It has been a pleasure abiding with you for the past year.
Harry C. Meissner is a native of Houston, Texas, and graduated from high school there. He attended Texas Tech University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering, but also discerned a call to the gospel ministry. Having grown up in the Southern Baptist Church, he attended seminary at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, receiving a Master of Divinity degree. He united with the Presbyterian Church while in seminary, and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1969 by Trinity Presbytery. He served thirty-seven years in parish ministry, thirty-three of them at Eastminster Presbyterian Church of Dallas, Texas. Service beyond the local parish included numerous committees of Grace Presbytery, including being moderator of Grace Presbytery in 1997 and moderator of the Grace Presbytery Council in 2001. He also was commissioner to the Synod of the Sun several times, served on the Synod of the Sun Council, and has twice been commissioner from Grace Presbytery to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). His special interest in ministry has been in the area of worship and music, including serving as leadership of several regional worship-oriented events. He concluded his service as the moderator of the Church Development Committee of Grace Presbytery at the end of 2020. Mr. Meissner was honorably retired on November 1, 2006…many say unsuccessfully. He has since been in an inadvertent 2 nd career in Interim Ministry, and in March concluded serving his 9 th Interim at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Longview, TX.
Join us Sundays on our Facebook Page
or in person with safety protocols, Sunday, May 9, Mother's Day in the sanctuary.
The staff of Central Presbyterian Church is committed to sharing the love of Jesus Christ and pursuing Christ's mission in the world.
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, ...”
Philippians 4:8 (ESV)
At Central Presbyterian Church, prayer is a vital part of our communication with God. It is also a chance for us to bear each other’s burdens by taking our needs to God. Please email prayer
requests to gfelty@sbcglobal.net
Sunday School classes have not yet resumed, due to COVID concerns, but plans are in the making for resuming classes once we can gather safely.
Fellowship Park, dedicated in loving memory of Ellie Abbott, has been used for several Sunday Worship Services and is popular with our neighborhood children during the week.
Worship at Central Presbyterian Church includes the Community
Garden, faithfully cared for and
maintained by a dedicated group of youth who love to share the harvest with our community.
We pray fervently for our community and our world. Visit our prayer fence at Fellowship Park north of the Church. Add your prayer concerns for us to pray for. Tags and instructions are provided there in the black mailbox.
Our Adult Choir has not been meeting due to COVID restrictions, however our handbell choir has begun practice on a limited schedule. We look forward to rehearsing music in preparation for presenting in our worship services when we are able.
We share locally and globally by supporting ministries of many kinds.
Visit the listings of programs and agencies supported through our budget and with volunteer participation. You will find them in our Archive section link at the bottom of the page.
We will worship in person this Sunday, May 2nd and through our Central Presbyterian Church's Facebook Live
We will post our weekly service plans here and on our Facebook page.
Central Presbyterian Church has been recognized as an Earth Care Congregation based on participation in recycling and missional Food Pantry and Little library projects throughout their community. Detailed information is available from our church office and in our archives, link at bottom of the page.
June 2017 Dear Hunger Action Congregation,
Congratulations and thank you for responding to the biblical call to alleviate hunger and for your work toward ending its causes! You have joined the faithful ranks of churches around the country that respond with compassionate action to end hunger in a country and world that have the potential to feed everyone. Through your local hunger ministry commitment, and now as a recognized PC(USA) Hunger Action Congregation, you march side by side with other Presbyterians committed to alleviating hunger and to addressing the prejudices, practices, and policies that undergird a system that perpetuates hunger and poverty in even this rich country, the United States. We pray God uses this network of Hunger Action Congregations to share best practices, to communicate challenges and celebrations, and to multiply the effect each of us can have in our own neighborhoods to a much broader impact. Because your congregation is active in all six areas of hunger response, we are honored to bestow on you the special designation of Certified Hunger Action Congregation. Accordingly, we are sending you a Certificate to display in your church and to include in web or electronic communications as you wish. We encourage you to write about your covenant and your hunger and poverty work to share with us, your presbytery, and for local media as well. We celebrate your ministry! And we will more formally recognize your congregation, along with the growing number of Hunger Action Congregations around the country, on World Food Day (October 16) during the Churches Week of Action on Food. Together, let us continue to reach out to those who hunger in our own communities, including those who may be sitting near us in our own congregations, and may we respond to larger national and global hunger concerns as well. You can read about the annual Food Week of Action and World Food Day at pcusa.org/foodweek. Find resources about hunger, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, and national and international campaigns that tackle root causes of hunger at pcusa.org/hunger. You can access the most up-to-date information and announcements by liking PHP at facebook.com/presbyhunger. You may also sign up for an e-newsletter that shares about PHP and our broader Compassion, Peace and Justice ministry area within the Presbyterian Church (USA), to hear news about hunger, peacemaking, disaster response, and more. We will contact Hunger Action Congregations quarterly about upcoming trips, resources, opportunities, and important developments. Please also send us your congregation’s updates, stories, or just a hello throughout the year – email php@pcusa.org. We would like to share those updates with other Hunger Action Congregations and Presbyterians around the world, posting them on our blog, sharing snippets through facebook, and connecting you to one another. Blessings on your congregation and your ministries! Rev. Rebecca Barnes Coordinator, Presbyterian Hunger Program, PC(USA)
Central Presbyterian Church
402 N. College Street
Waxahachie, Texas 75165
Phone: (972) 937-2924
E-mail: cpcwax@gmail.com