iHOPE

Suicide Prevention: A Next Step

Would you know what to say to someone you thought was contemplating suicide? Would you know what NOT to say?

Would you know how to offer hope and refer that person to other resources? Would you know who to call?

We have been concerned about suicide in our community. We sponsored a Suicide Prevention Forum. Almost 60 people from the congregation and community showed up to learn about the scope of the problem. Afterwards, the common question was, "What else can we do to help prevent suicide?" On Sunday, April 15, we have an answer.

QPR

We are hosting a suicide prevention workshop called, "QPR". The initials represent the three parts of the training:  Question, Persuade & Refer. The initials also call to mind the "CPR" training that many of us have taken. Just as having many people trained with CPR techniques have saved lives, QPR can play a critical role at a critical time.

Details

The class will be led by Mike Arnold, Director of the Douglas County Suicide Prevention Alliance. It will take place on Sunday, April 15 from Noon to 2:00 pm. Materials will be provided and lunch is included (thanks to 'At Your Service'!). There is no cost for the workshop, but pre-registration is necessary.  You can register a couple of ways:

• You can email me directly (link is at the bottom right of this page)
• If you are coming through our Weekly Update, you'll see an email link there, too.
• There will be a spot on the Connection Cards in worship the next couple weeks.
• If you are in the office during the week, let us know then.
• Phones work, too! Call the church and even in off-hours, you can leave your name and contact info.

Suicide is one of those things that breaks the heart of a community. Fortunately, there are things we can do to make a difference. QPR is part of the answer.

 

 

It's Time to Talk

There has been a problem that has been haunting us, lately.   We don’t know what to do about it and we hardly know how to talk about it.

The problem is: too many of our kids are dying. Sometimes it is by suicide. Sometimes it is at-risk behaviors that seem, well...suicidal. Call it what you want, but too many of our kids are dying, and we want to know what we can to do about it.

That is what was at the heart of the event we are hosting at New Hope next week:  It is a Suicide Prevention Forum and it will be held on Wednesday, March 14 from 6:30-8:00 pm.  Leslie Clemensen has gathered some of the best folks in Douglas County to talk to us about what is going on and how to be part of the solution.  

This is going to be a great event about an important topic. I hope you can be there.

Finding "New Hope" on Facebook

Who knew it would be so hard to find New Hope on Facebook? 

It was easy to set up a page- so easy that there are dozens of New Hope Presbyterian Church pages on Facebook. The most unexpected was "New Hope Presbyterian Church" in North Pole, Alaska (fill in your own snappy punchline here!). Getting ourselves noticed on Facebook was going to be harder than we thought!

Why Have a Facebook Page?

If we want to connect with people, one of the best ways is to bump into them where they are- and right now, that's Facebook. If you add all the people around the world who are on Facebook, it would be the fourth largest country- and growing. Many of our own members are already on FB. Our Men's Group has had their own page for awhile. It seemed like it was time to have a place where the whole congregation could gather, post pictures and share some of the things going on with their other friends.

Finding "New Hope"

With the help of Justin Walk and Mike Massine, we figured out a way for folks to find us. We needed 25 people to "like" us before we could get our own Facebook address. I sent out a bunch of invites and within an hour, we had more than enough (that alone should tell us about the popularity of Facebook). As of this writing, we are already over 40. We now have our own address! If you are looking for us on Facebook, simply type:  NewHopePresbyterianChurch (no spaces). That should get you to our page. Our link on the web will be www.facebook.com/NewHopePresbyterianChurch. Or, you could just click here: NewHopePresbyterianChurch

Now That We Have a Page, What Do We Do With It?

We want to make our Facebook page one more way to connect people to New Hope and to one another. If you haven't done so already, I encourage you to "Like" us (sounds so needy, doesn't it?). Once you do, you'll get updates about what is going on. But the beauty of Facebook is it allows everyone to contribute. Have a picture of an event at New Hope?  Post it. Find something you like?  Share it.

Here's a question:  What kinds of things would you like to see on our new Facebook page? Let me know here- or go to the page and post your ideas there.  How can we use this tool to help more people find God's "New Hope"?