The Crossroad A Monthly Publication of the Spring Green Community Church

Transcription

1 Volume 7, Issue 8 August, 2010 In This Issue The Crossroad A Monthly Publication of the Spring Green Community Church P. 2 Board Updates P. 3 Children s Church, Update P. 4 Craft Nights P. 5 Ministry Updates P. 6 Calendar P. 7 Serving in August P. 8 Events/ Financial P. 9 Birthdays/ Anniversaries WANTED: MORE INTRODUCERS LIKE ANDREW by Roy Anderson, Interim Pastor Pete and Sally, I d like you to meet Tim and Cynthia. They re new here and maybe you could introduce them to some others and help them feel at home. And so it goes: What are your names again, please Where are you from? Do you have children? How are they adjusting to a new school? I can remember when we moved, too the tears and the fears And so it starts. Names, phone numbers, addresses, -- a willingness to get involved, and at the same time without being pushy, just genuine friendliness. And the result is a new friendship and that s beautiful and adds so much meaning to life! It has been encouraging to see a few new faces in church lately and I have appreciated the friendliness that our own people have expressed towards visitors. But, this article is just a reminder that making guests feel at home will be an on-going responsibility and so it may be helpful to reinforce the importance of our welcome mat. In John 4, we learn that Jesus asked the Bad Samaritan (Wiersbe s phrase) for a drink of water. This simple, but unusual, break with the culture of that day marked the beginning of a great evangelistic opportunity. As the chapter ends (4:42), we note the testimony of other Samaritans: We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard Him for ourselves and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world. Wow!! Such amazing results that started with just a simple request for a favor! However a friendship starts -- through a deliberate introduction, doing a favor, or asking for a favor a new friendship or an opportunity to share Christ often starts rather casually. Yes, even regarding the most important relationship of all, friendship with Jesus Christ, didn t that start out rather insignificantly? Most people who become believers do not receive Christ the first time they hear about Him. (If you are a Christian, how many times did you hear about salvation through Christ before you accepted him as your Lord and Savior?) But, however it comes about, some kind of introduction was the beginning of a series of conversations that culminated in a personal reception of Christ into their lives - and then a wonderful on-going inner and outer transformation. But, you might be thinking, That sounds too easy. Perhaps. But, would you say that an introduction of one of your friends to someone else is really hard? Even when we fumble our words and names, as I have often done, most of the time people like to meet new people. And isn t it fun when we see that little introduction grow into a very meaningful relationship! One of the twelve apostles, Andrew, has been nicknamed, the introducer. Why? Well, though he was not known as somebody special, he made a few introductions that resulted in some very, very special people! Do you remember how the great Apostle Peter came to know Jesus? Yes, it was his little brother Andrew who made the introduction. See John 1: Someone has said that the hardest band instrument to play is second fiddle. Note this: Andrew played it and he played it well! Six out of thirteen times in the gospels, he is referred to simply as Simon Peter s brother. Probably Andrew didn t think much about it, but we know how important his introductions were. And in the feeding of the 5000, do you know who it was that simply said to Jesus: Here s a boy with five small barley loaves and two fish? How did you guess? Yes, that was Andrew. And see John 12 for his role as the introducer of Jesus to some foreigners who wanted to meet Him. As you can see introducers are very important in the kingdom of God. As humble servants, they enjoy playing second fiddle playing their part and then often fading out of the picture looking for another opportunity to make another introduction. Hey, what about you? Why not prayerfully turn on your imagination and start introducing others to our church, or to a small group study, or inviting new-comers to some down-home hospitality or maybe even more directly, introducing them to Jesus Himself? May these few ideas stimulate all of us to become more conscientious introducers introducers directly or indirectly, to our Lord Jesus Christ!! Amen.

2 Page 2 OUR BUSY BROTHER BOB By: Blair Anderson As we all know, Bob LeCount is probably one of the busiest guys in our fellowship. It s hard to think of a ministry in which Bob has not played some role. He s also had a lot of major events in his life in recent months. His mother died a year and a half ago and in the last year his older brother and twin sister both died six months apart. And, last February he had major back surgery. And, lest we forget, he s supposed to be retired (right, Marian?). As a result of all those things, and his need to take some time to process all that, Bob has decided to step away from some of his responsibilities. Most importantly, he is stepping down as an elder, and from his role on the Church Board. While Mike and I will miss him there, we have encouraged him to take care of himself after all he has experienced in his life recently. He has also identified some other leadership roles and responsibilities that he ll step away from so that he can focus on those to which he feels most called. Included in the activities he ll continue are the Director of the Community Food Pantry, visitation in the fellowship, and various men s ministry efforts. Don t think you ll be seeing much less of Bob, but do keep him in your prayers as he processes and works through all the big changes that have taken place in his life. Thanks, Bob! We love you!..faith is not believing God can, faith is KNOWING God WILL! Pastoral Search Committee Update By: Tobie Seguin Greetings again from the search committee! Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement you have given to us as we continue to seek God s will for our church. You are a vital part of this process and we want you to know that your prayers and patience are greatly appreciated! I want to share with you a bit more of the process we are going through and how far we have progressed. As you can tell by our installments in the newsletter, we are a hard-working committee. What you might not know is that to date we have reviewed over 110 resumes! From these resumes, we narrowed the list down to less than twenty candidates who exceeded our set criteria. Our next step was to send out a questionnaire for the candidates to complete and return with their answers along with any questions that they might have. By the time you read this, we will have answered the candidates questions and reviewed all of the candidates replies to the questionnaire. From this data, we will be determining which candidates will continue on in our process and which ones will not. There are still many necessary steps to take as we move forward including: continued dialog with the best candidates, listening to their prerecorded sermons, phone interviews, etc. This period will be filled with much prayer and petition, using all of the information gained during the interview process, along with the Holy Spirit s guidance, to discern God s will. The final steps will include the committee presenting the man we feel God has in mind for us to the Elder Board and will culminate with a congregational vote. As you can see, even though we have made great strides, there is much to be done yet, but equally importantly, we would like you to see that you are as much a part of this process as your search committee. The final decision will be made by all of us so it is important that everyone in our fellowship continues to inquire of the Lord as to His will for our pastor. There is no I in team and there is no committee in congregation, well not enough m s, t s, or e s (a little search committee humor). Our prayer as we move forward and find out more about the men that God has brought before us, is to not only review their resumes, questionnaires, etc. but to continually be on our knees before God seeking His will, inquiring of the Lord for wisdom and discernment as we seek to find our pastor. Please continue with us in this prayer. Thank you.

3 Children s Church Update Alexis Seguin, Children s Church Coordinator Page 3 Important Dates: August 15 Respond-by date for new and continuing volunteers (see below) August 29 Summer Semester Grand Finale: special musical presentation by our Children s Church kids during the service Sept 5 Labor Day- No Children s Church Sept 12 Fall Semester begins! It is hard to believe that the Summer semester of Children s Church is already two-thirds of the way through. There must be some truth to that old adage that time flies when you are having fun! And fun is indeed a major part of Children s Church, with active, youth-friendly worship, an engaging Bible lesson, hands-on crafts, and games. But, it is much more than that. While it is indeed a lot of fun for all of us, it is nevertheless serious business. We know that the years of 4-14 are the window of opportunity for reaching a child for Christ. After that, his worldview, spiritual beliefs, and moral views will have been shaped and his chance of making a commitment will be only 15%. We also face a society that is increasingly uneducated spiritually and anti-faith. The volunteers and children in Children s Church have spent this summer on an adventure learning who God really is. Each week our children have learned about a different key characteristic of God. Bit by bit, we hope to build a true image of God in the hearts and minds of our children. How different from the vague misconceptions of God that they get from the media and that many of us were brought up on: a whitebearded guy who spends his days hanging out in the clouds listening to the angels play harps; someone who got things started in motion, but isn t really involved anymore; an angry punishing taskmaster; a benevolent force who we can ignore most of the time, but can turn to whenever we need or want something. These are common, but untrue images of God. The true God is so much more worthy of worship! Please keep our willing volunteers in your prayers that God would use them in a powerful way in the lives of these young children. Our volunteers face some special challenges in leading Children s Church that add an edge of excitement to our work. Although we have 21 children registered (plus the occasional visitor), the number of actual children varies greatly. The average number attending on any particular week is 9.5, with a low of 5 and a high of 16. We use a multi-age formatted curriculum- very important since the ages of children attending range from 4 to 15. Telling a story or explaining a lesson so that it is understandable to a 5 year old and yet challenging to a young teenager takes a combination of intuition, flexibility, and the Holy Spirit! Probably the most challenging thing is the wide variety of spiritual maturity and knowledge. There are children in the class who have already accepted Jesus as their savior and study the Bible diligently on their own accord, and in the same class, there are children who haven t even heard the most basic of Bible stories much less heard the gospel presented. In each lesson, we try to provide applications for believers at all levels of maturity as well as for the nonbelievers. Because we know that our teaching here in church is much less likely to be effective if it is not reinforced by parents outside of church, parent take-home letters (prepared by the coordinator) are sent home each week to encourage participation and discussion throughout the week. Some parents of our children are not themselves believers or church attenders. In these cases, we pray that their children may bring the message home to their parents and that their hearts will be opened to the truth of Jesus saving grace. I thank God for our volunteers who are giving of their time and hearts to reach out to the children of our church and community. In order that all our volunteers can remain spiritually healthy through regular church attendance, any individual volunteer generally serves only once monthly. This requires a large number of volunteers for each semester and we have been blessed with a stellar team! All of the volunteers have defined roles and work from a detailed curriculum. The Lead Teacher leads the children in worship and presents the lesson. The Discovery Time Leader uses the games and crafts to stimulate further discussion of the key points from the lesson. The Shepherd helps to keep the children focused and watches for children who appear scared, upset or confused and in need of some one-on-one attention. Nancy Accola, our Resource Team Leader, prepares all the materials for the activities ahead of time and has them ready in the classroom when the leaders arrive. Children s Church is truly a team effort! As Fall approaches, I am hoping that most of our volunteers will continue into the next semester. However, some may need to focus their energies on other major life realities, serving opportunities, or on a temporary contemplative break from service. Even if my wildest prayers were fulfilled, and every volunteer remained for the coming semester, we are still in need of On Call Substitutes. Finally, we would love to start the Big Blue Bus program running to allow children to attend whose parents are unable to bring them. This would require an additional 4-5 rotating volunteers. If you think you might be interested in serving (or are planning on continuing to serve) either as a Lead Teacher, Discovery Time Leader, Shepherd, or On Call Substitute, please contact me by August 15 either in person, by at maseguin@charter.net, by phone at , or by filling out a Volunteer Interest Form (at the information desk) and placing it in the offertory box.

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5 Page 5 By Rose Ellen Schneider Our ninth cycle of GriefShare will start on Tuesday, Aug. 24, at 7 p.m. in the church library. If you, or anyone you know, are grieving the loss of a loved one, please consider coming to GriefShare. Griefshare is a grief education and support group that meets for 15 weeks in the Fall. Our curriculum is a 13 week video series with lots of time to talk about what those attending are experiencing in their grief journey. We also have a special program, Surviving the Holidays, which is open to the public. We always close each cycle with a memorial service. If you, or someone you know, is interested in attending, please contact Rita Marit , Amy Mellor , Rose Ellen Schneider , or Lee Weiand or pick a brochure in the narthex area. We would love to have others join us in this much needed ministry. Food Pantry Served 87 Families in July! Thanks to all who assist in serving. Prayer Shawl Ministry If anyone is interested in making prayer shawls, please contact Rose Ellen Schneider or Kathy Kieler There are a few currently on hand if someone needs one. Otherwise, people who need yarn may contact Rose Ellen at or by rschneid3@verizon.net, because a lot of yarn has been donated to the ministry. LIBRARY NEWS Over 100 new titles have been added to the library this month. There are lots of new romance fiction books which make great light reading for these warm days of summer. There were several books on marriage and parenting. Included are books by authors Lucado, Swindoll, Robertson, Barbara Johnson, Dobson, and Graham. All books have been donated to the library by various people. Please check them out. They are on the library table. Please put your name on the card that is in the book and leave the card on the computer desk. Happy reading!

6 Page 6 SU/TD = Set-up/ Tear-down Online Perpetual Calendar Continually Updated For the latest information, check the church website at and click on online Calendar

7 Serving Christ in August Nursery Page 7 August 1 - Marcia Creasey and Ossian Sharp August 8 - Nancy Accola and Jenna Wahl August 15 - Sue Glass and Madeline Miller August 22 - Jan Anderson and Laura Meinholz August 29 - Marian LeCount and Hannah Gruber God Bless these hands that serve! It is when we forget ourselves that we do things that will be remembered. August 8, 2010 is the last day for collection! Do you have used denim jeans? I will not have a box in the lobby, so please put your jeans in a bag and label it Amy Mellor and I will pick them up on Sundays. I have 60 pair right now and would like to get 100! Thank you for your help. Amy Mellor

8 Page 8 Upcoming Events and Dates to Remember August 2-6, 9 a.m.-12 noon - Vacation Bible School August Church Camp Out at White Mound Park Monday, August 16, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. -Food Pantry distribution. Monday, August 16, 4:30-6:30 p.m.- Food Pantry distribution. Tuesday, August 24, 7:00 p.m. - New session of GriefShare begins Friday, August p.m.- Craft Night Weekly Giving for June/July 2010 Praise God from whom all blessings flow! June 27- General Fund - $2, Benevolence - $ Food Pantry - $1, July 4 - General Fund - $3, Benevolence - $45.00 Food Pantry - $ July 11 - General Fund - $2, Benevolence - $3.00 Food Pantry - $17.00 July 18 - General Fund - $2, Benevolence - $ Food Pantry - $ July 25 - General Fund -??? Together we make a difference.

9 Page 9 August Birthdays 8-5 Hailey Gruber 8-6 Emma Puskala 8-8 Ann Dodsworth 8-10 Maureen Enerson 8-11 TyGina Booker 8-12 Jamie Rogers 8-12 Hannah Gruber 8-15 Cayden Robson 8-17 Andrew Pardee 8-18 David Cry 8-18 Jason Sprecher 8-20 Linda Huff 8-21 Darcy Richardson 8-21 Elsie Polk 8-23 Laura Meinholz 8-24 Neal Welsh 8-25 Fay Cozine 8-29 Elizabeth Gieck 8-31 Emily Hottman August Anniversaries 8-2 Greg & Terri Pardee 8-4 Neal & Jeanie Welsh 8-12 Denny & Shirley Coppernoll 8-16 Blair & Jan Anderson 8-20 Paul & Julie Kardatzke 8-20 Mark & Pernecia Koller 8-24 Lyell & Viola Lamont 8-30 Jim & Susan Glass