Welcome
to Montpelier Presbyterian Church

Join us for worship Sundays 11:00

Prayer
Lord, I wish to glide on the winds of your Spirit as effortlessly as the seagull floating in the sky but I am too earthbound to and my take off is too shaky. I just don’t have the faith it takes to fly today, but I don’t want to wait until tomorrow, so lift me on your wings, O Spirit of God

About Us

Mission Statement: Montpelier Presbyterian Church is a loving family of God who welcomes everyone to join us as we worship our Lord Jesus Christ and celebrate his grace given to us all. We are learning together how to live out our faith by working to meet the needs of our community and our world.

We are a part of the Presbyterian Church (USA). We believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior and God’s only begotten Son who died on the cross to save us by HIs grace and was raised from the dead to prove to us God’s power over sin and death. We believe the Bible to be the sacred Word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit. We believe in the Trinity of God the Father, Jesus Christ His Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God in three persons. To find more about our beliefs please go to pcusa.org.

What you can expect on Sunday morning: You will be greeted at the front door and receive a warm welcome and a service bulletin. Coffee hour is before church at 10:30 in the church library right off the sanctuary.

Our worship service is traditional with

prayers,
both traditional and modern hymns,
scripture readings
a children’s sermon complete with coloring and puzzle pages
a sermon based on that day’s readings with an emphasis on living out our faith in our every day lives.

We do not take up an offering although there are plates available on our communion table in the front of the sanctuary..

Dress is casual and there’s even a rocking chair in the back of the sanctuary if one is needed.

You’ll find information on our Bible study and children’s Sunday School under Faith Development.

What our members say: “A great group of sweet folks who care and reach out whenever there’s a need…” Will M.

“I’ve been a member for 53 years. It’s home to me. Pastor Pat always finds ways to keep us engrossed in the Bible to strengthen our faith.” Debbie N.

“I’ve been a member for less than a year, but one of the things I like about it is the sense of intimacy.” Leigh-Ann M.

Our Pastor: The Rev. Dr. Patricia Ramsden is known to us all as Pastor Pat. She is in her fourth year as our part-time pastor and lives in Scotia Village in Laurinburg. She has been ordained for over 36 years and has always served small churches rediscovering who God was calling them to be. Among all her other duties at the church she also teaches our adult Bible study on Sunday mornings. She is single and loves her garden and HGTV as well as storytelling and acting. Before entering the ministry she was an Associate Professor of English and Drama and an academic dean in the University of Kentucky Community College system. She is the author of two books: The Power Of Their Voices and For Such A One As I.

Community Ministries

Blessing Pantry: Our blessing pantry box is located near the rear of the church building. It is open 24/7 and there are no forms to fill out, no questions asked. It operates on the principle of take what you need; leave what you can and is based on Jesus' teaching in MT 25.

Scholarship Fund: Founded in 2007, the estate of Johnsie Patterson McFadden from Wagram, NC set up a scholarship fund through Montpelier Presbyterian Church to be given to any Scotland County High School Graduate to further their education with preference given to those associated with the congregation. This year we gave 11 scholarships to deserving students. Contact the church for more information on this program and how to apply.

Partnership With Wagram Public Schools We reach out to students in need through an annual collection of gloves, scarves, hats, and socks as well as providing backpacks stuffed with needed school supplies. We serve as classroom readers as well. We show our support for teachers and staff throughout the year in a variety of ways.

Special Offerings Throughout the year we collect special denominational offerings such as the One Great Hour of Sharing, the Pentecost Offering and the Joy Gift Offering.

Spring Hill Cemetery Memorial Fund. “Blessed are thy who mourn for they shall be comforted. “. Mt 5:4 Our church, in partnership with the Spring Hill Baptist Church, owns and maintains the local cemetery. The Memorial Fund goes to support the upkeep. For more information on making a donation or buying a plot, please contact the church office.

Donations to the church may be mailed to P.O. Box 407 Wagram, NC 28396. If you’d like the donation to go to a particular cause, please note that on the memo line of your check.

News & Events

July 13 2:00pm Messy Un-Church

July 14 & 28 at 5:30pm Golf Meet up Deercroft Pro Shop

Montpelier Messenger

Montpelier Presbyterian Church P.O. Box 407, Wagram, NC 28396 910-369-2259

Pastor: Rev. Dr. Patricia Ramsden 269-362-1332

Editor: Barbara Holloway 910-318-3757

(email) hollowaybarbara064@gmail.com

No. 7 Vol. 55 July 2025

Mission Statement: We are a small church of caring people in the Presbyterian tradition who are seeking to be faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ as God’s children by: worshipping God, loving one another, and welcoming others.

Celebrating and Sharing God’s Love for 173 Years

Pastor’s Pen: As we celebrate the birth of our nation, let us give thanks to the Lord for all our country means to us:

Almighty God, giver of all good things, we give You thanks for the majesty and beauty of our country.

We thank You for the torch of liberty which has been lit in our beloved land. It has drawn people from every nation by its promise.

We thank You for the men and women who have sacrificed to make this country strong and who sacrifice still. They are models for us, though we often fall short of the vision they fought for and fight for even today.

We thank You for the faith we have inherited in all its rich variety and the freedom to worship as we please.

Help us, Lord, to finish the good work You have begun in this country we call home. Grant that we will not rest upon our past but march boldly into the future. May we be not just proud Americans but faithful disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ who gave us through His grace the gift of true freedom. In His precious name we pray. Amen

See you in church! Pastor Pat

Pastor Pat will be on vacation July 21 through August 4.

Session will not hold a regular meeting in July.

Our Blessing Pantry is up and runnng! While we still support Church Community Services in special ways, our food donations are now going to our own blessing pantry to help those in Wagram for whom Laurinburg is difficult to get to. We no longer need egg cartons! However, we would appreciate your bringing non-perishable items and either leaving them in the food wagon in the sanctuary or putting them directly in the blessing pantry at the side of the church. Some suggested items are:

Peanut butter & crackers canned spaghetti/pasta

canned meats canned vegetables

canned fruit soup

Cans with pop tops are preferred - and remember school is out so foods kids can use for breakfast and lunch are good.

If you’d like for us to do your shopping for you, just make a check out to MPC and write food on the memo line or pick up a gift card at your favorite grocery store and give it to either Betsy Brown or Pat Ramsden and we’ll use it to buy what is needed.

Thanks to Roger Ammons and Harold Harrington for building our blessing pantry!

We welcome Nathan McKay to our membership! Nathan is the son of Neill McKay who also attends our church. Nathan said he wanted to join our congregation because “it felt like home.” He is a student at Pembroke studying cybersecurity and in addition to being an avid reader he also enjoys playing the drums.

Our special offering for Church Community Services collected $650 for emergency assistance with utilities and rent! This offering will help meet extra requests for assistance because of the closing of Saint Andrews University. Combined with our regular mission donation, we were able to deliver a check for $1,000! Thank you for your generosity and your willingness to help others in need.

Our Pentecost Offering to reach young people and to help children at risk has collected $100. 40% of this offering stays with our congregation and will be used for our work with Wagram Elementary School.

Our golf meetup this month will be July 14 & 28. We meet at the Deercroft Pro Shop at 5:30 and it’s $20 for nine holes. Afterwards we meet at Beth and Roger Ammons for a 19th hole get together. Come join us for golf or the get together afterwards and bring a friend. You don’t need to be a pro - or a golfer at all - to have fun with this group!

We will be making a mission work trip to Spruce Pine, NC Sept. 28 through Oct. 4 to help the area recover from the disaster left behind by Hurricane Helene. The cost of the trip for room and board for the week will be $225 per person. You do NOT need to have any construction experience. There will be plenty of clean up work to do that doesn’t require experience at all. You can sign up to go on the trip in the church library or email Pastor Pat at pastormp269@gmail.com. If there is an area of work you’d like to do, please indicate it - like landscaping, painting, minor home repair, etc. This is one way we can help others whose homes and towns have suffered catastrophe close to home.

Mission Statement: The session has been working on updating our church mission statement since January and would like your input, suggestions, comments on the new statement by July 20 before making it official. You can give your comments to any session member: Ben Ammons, Roger Ammons, Betsy Brown, Sissy Cooley, Jeff McKay, or Debbie Neverve. The new statement reads as follows:

Montpelier Presbyterian Church is a loving family of God who welcomes everyone to join us as we worship our Lord Jesus Christ and celebrate his grace given to us all. We are learning together how to live out our faith by working to meet the needs of our community and our world.

The children’s Sunday School is on summer break. The adult class is still meeting until July 27 when they will go on break until Sept. 7.

Thanks to Holly Brown who has joined our kindness circle. If you know of anyone with a special need or who could use a card, or a call, please let Pastor Pat or Betsy or Holly Brown know.

Our income for May was $7,386. Expenses were $5,267. While our budget is currently in the black, we know our major expenses such as insurance come at the end of the year, so session has decided to put $6,000 in an escrow account toward insurance and adding $1,000 a month hereafter, so we can have a more realistic picture of where we will be at the end of the year when insurance comes due. We anticipate that bill being around $12,000.

Messy Un-church! Sunday July 13 at 2:00 we will be starting something new! It’s a messy un-church designed for everyone! We will start by putting together a building project designed for small and big hands donated to us by Lowe’s in Laurinburg. We’ll tell a parable by Jesus that goes along with the project and then have a snack. It will be fun and messy! We plan to have a messy un-church project once a month and we want to thank Holly Brown for kick starting us in July.

Please check out our Facebook page or group at Montpelier presbyterian church and share the announcements, prayers and weekly GraceNotes with your friends. All you need do is click the share button! .

Coming in August!

Saturday August 9 the Men’s breakfast will start again at 8:00! This isn’t just for the men of the church - it’s for all men so invite your friends!
We will be starting Sweet Talk at the local ice cream shop Kountry Kream. It will meet once a month on the first Thursday at 2:00 and we’ll be talking about life and faith. Again, this is not just for church folk but for anyone and everyone!
As school starts up so does our work with Wagram Elementary School. Stay tuned for details as to how you can help students in need!
Adult Bible study will be on summer break in August.
Our new student intern Alex Bryant will be with us beginning August 31.
Sign up for our MIssion Trip to western North Carolina Sept. 28 - Oct. 4! Sign up sheets are in the library.

On July 4, 1776 the Declaration Of Independence for the thirteen colonies, which became the United States of America was proclaimed. It began with these words:

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness….”

Let us not forget the principles our country was founded on and that men and women have died - and are willing to die for.

Loving God, on this Independence Day, we give thanks for the blessings and freedoms we enjoy in this nation. We remember the sacrifices made to secure our independence and acknowledge that our freedom is a gift to be cherished. We pray for unity and peace within our country, and for the continued pursuit of justice and equality for all. May we always strive to live in accordance with the values upon which our nation was founded. We ask for your guidance as we navigate the challenges of our time, and for your blessings on our families and our nation. Amen

Sermons

Run Your Race Pastor Pat Ramsden

Would you give up your one shot at Olympic gold—your moment under the world’s brightest lights—just because it falls on a Sunday?

Most people wouldn’t even hesitate. The answer would be a resounding *no*. After all, it's the Olympics. The pinnacle of athletic dreams. Glory for your country, honor for your name, history waiting to be made. But Eric Liddell, (who you just saw on the screen from the movies Chariots of Fire,) was never most people. I was reminded of his story again when I read it on Facebook.

It seemed the contemporary story that went along with the story of the saints from our passage from Hebrews - the story of saints from the past and saints of the present who inspire us to run our own races:

“ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles us. ANd let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus.”

Born in China to Scottish missionaries and raised with deep-rooted convictions, Liddell wasn’t just a fast man—he was a man of unshakable faith. A rising star in rugby and an elite sprinter in the 100m and 200m dash, he had every reason to feel destined for gold at the 1924 Paris Olympics. That is, until he boarded the boat to France and opened the event schedule.

His heart sank. The 100m heats—his signature race—were scheduled for a Sunday. For Eric, Sunday wasn’t just a day off. It was the Lord’s day, a sacred time he refused to break for sport, no matter how high the stakes. With the eyes of a nation upon him, he quietly stepped aside from the 100 meters. The media, the public, and even his teammates were baffled. But Liddell stood firm.

Instead, he pivoted to the 400 meters—an event he had barely trained for. No one expected much. The world thought he had forfeited greatness.

Then, the gun fired.

With a fierce, almost otherworldly burst, Liddell ran not like a man chasing victory, but like someone set free. Arms flailing with his signature awkward stride, he surged ahead—leaving behind not just competitors, but every doubter and every headline questioning his faith.

He didn’t just win. He dominated. Olympic gold. World record. All in a race he wasn’t even supposed to run.

But that was only part of his story.

After Paris, Liddell walked away from the fame, the fanfare, and everything the world wanted to offer him. He returned to the land where he was born—China—this time not as an athlete, but as a missionary. As bombs fell and war loomed, he didn’t flee. Instead, he stayed with the people. He taught children, healed wounds, and brought light where hope had been extinguished.

When World War II swept through Asia, the Japanese military imprisoned Liddell in a brutal internment camp. Most would have lost themselves in despair. But not Eric.

Inside the grim fences of that camp, Liddell became the heart of the prison. He organized sports games, taught lessons, mended broken spirits, and filled the days with laughter and life, especially for the children. He taught them how to throw a ball and how to dream again. In a place built to break the human spirit, he became its strongest source of light.

Then came a quiet, agonizing choice.

British officials had secured his release—one that would let him see his wife and daughters again. But Eric gave his freedom away to a pregnant woman. No fanfare. No spotlight. Just another quiet act of unimaginable grace. He would never see his family again.

Weeks before the war ended, Eric Liddell died from a brain tumor. But even in his final moments, he was reportedly at peace. His last words? “It’s complete surrender.”

Today, a statue stands in China where he died—not just as a tribute to an Olympian, but to a man whose sacrifice moved the world.

His legacy isn’t stitched into medals or record books. It lives in the stories people still whisper about him, the movies and books that try to capture a soul that seemed almost too good for this world. When news of his death broke, the grief didn’t stop at Scotland’s shores. Across continents and cultures, hearts mourned a man they’d never met but somehow knew.

Eric Liddell wasn't just a runner. He was a runner *with purpose*. He didn’t just race to win—he raced to glorify something higher. And when the world gave him gold, he gave it away for something greater.

As a runner, the thought of stepping back from a race—let alone an Olympic one—is nearly impossible to grasp. The rush of victory, the roar of the crowd, the pride of your nation—it’s everything he trained for. But Eric reminds us that sometimes, the greatest victories aren’t won on the track. They’re earned in the quiet moments when no one is watching—when you choose principle over praise, faith over fame.

He may have started as just a sprinter. But Eric Liddell finished as a symbol of what it truly means to be human. He ran the race of faith, and he ran it until the very end, for his crown was not the crown of wordly victory. It was the crown of faith, the crown of the King of Glory for whom he ran.

We each must run our own race of faith, overcoming our own obstacles along the way. And we must run it with the perseverance of faith, jumping over any hurdles that may stand in our way until we pray like Stacy Sanchez,

“Lord, I don't want to be faint-hearted. Make me strong. Make me faith-hearted.” Let us like Paul, in the letter to the Philippians, be able to say at the end of our lives,: “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but so the world would be saved through Him. John 3: 16-17

See You In Worship Sundays 11:00

San Pedro

Never forget how much God loves you!