From Pastor Carl s Desk By Pastor Carl Billings

Transcription

1 April 2018 From Pastor Carl s Desk By Pastor Carl Billings Easter Potpourri Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3 This Newsletter article is a potpourri of blessing. This is a vital time for us as a congregation and I have several important pieces of information to share. So my newsletter article for this month is a collection of news items. EASTER: Of course the first thing I want to do is to wish you a blessed Easter. Whatever you are facing this spring, Easter is God s promise that he has and will bless us with every spiritual blessing just like it says in the above verse in Ephesians. I hope you have a very blessed Easter season. NEW WEDNESDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY: Speaking of Ephesians, the Wednesday Morning will be starting a new series on April 4th at 9:30am. We will be studying Paul s prison letters which includes his letters to the Ephesians. PASTORAL CARE PHONE LINE: We no longer have an extra number for the 24 hour pastoral care line. If you have an emergency pastoral care need after office hours, please dial the main church number and press 9. You will be forwarded to the Pastor or staff member s cell phone who is on duty to handle emergencies at that time. Dial: press 9 GIVING: I want to offer my thanks to all of you who have stepped up your giving over the past couple of months. We are so blessed to have seen an increase in offerings in March. However, despite the increase, we are still not at a point where we can reinstate staff. But please do not be discouraged, we are headed in the right direction. Please know that both the Stewardship Team and Council are monitoring our giving very closely and hoping that we will see the consistent growth that we need to be able to restore staff hours and compensation. SUNDAY MORNING SCHEDULE CHANGE: After reviewing the results of the congregational survey, speaking with members of our congregation and prayerfully considering our next steps, we have decided to change our Sunday morning schedule beginning Sunday, June 3rd. I have more information for you on page 3, detailing what the survey showed us and how we hope the changes will grow our ministry to young families. Please be sure to read that. The new schedule will be as follows: STARTING JUNE 3, 2018: 8:30am: 10:00am: Traditional Service Contemporary service Children and youth will begin in the service for the opening worship time and be dismissed to Sunday School classes after the children s sermon. Let me end this newsletter article as I began it. I wish each of you a very blessed Easter. April 2018 page 1

2 IN THIS ISSUE Pastor Carl 1 Contact Information 2 Vision Statement & Values 2 New Sunday Schedule 3 Pastor La 4 Council President 5 Children s Ministry 6 Youth Ministry 7 Opportunities to Grow 8 Women s Ministry 9 Men s Ministry 9 Amazing Grays 9 Community Care Groups 9 Financials & Business 9 April Calendar 10 Have an announcement for the bulletin or newsletter? Please Patsy Cesare, Administrative Assistant at Patsy.Cesare@discoverchurchnetwork.org Bulletin Deadline: Noon on Wednesdays Newsletter Deadline: Noon on the 3rd Friday CHURCH CONTACT INFORMATION Discover Church st Avenue North Brooklyn Park, MN Office Phone: info@discoverchurchnetwork.org Website: discoverchurchnetwork.org After Hours Emergency Pastoral Care Phone: press 9 Church Office hours: Monday Thursday: 9AM-3PM Friday: 9AM Noon Staff Pastor Carl Billings, Senior Pastor: Ext Pastor La Andriamihaja, Associate Pastor: Ext Pastor Jonathan Brandon, Youth Pastor: Ext Christy Grigor, Children s Director: Ext Joe Gerber, Worship Director: Ext Jessica Kuhn, Business Manager: Ext Patsy Cesare, Administrative Assistant: Ext Bud Larson, Custodian Discover Church Vision Statement: Believe, Belong, Bless Discover Church Mission Statement: Inviting all people to discover their full life in Christ Discover Church Values Discipleship is a Priority Inspired by the Living Word Spirit Charged Culture of Forgiveness Ordinary People Serving an Extraordinary God Vision for World Mission Ethnically Diverse Rooted in Our Communities Reaching Out April 2018 Page 2

3 NEW SUNDAY MORNING SCHEDULE BEGINS SUNDAY, JUNE 3rd I want to thank everyone for taking the survey this February on our Sunday morning schedule. We had 193 people share their input and the staff and Council carefully reviewed all the data. The results showed that the opinions, needs ands preferences of our congregation were spread pretty evenly across the various options. While many things were not made clear, several things were made crystal clear: Young families prefer some version of a one hour format with children s Sunday School and the second service running simultaneously. In general, people prefer a later start to the early service: 8:30am instead of 8:00am People missed fellowship time between the services and seeing people from other services. With that as the starting point, the staff and Council decided to make the following changes beginning on June 3rd: The traditional service will begin at 8:30am The contemporary service will begin at 10:00am Moving these two services closer together will provide a fellowship time between the services. We will no longer have the 9:15am Education Hour At the 10:00am service, the children and youth will start in worship with their families. Youth will be dismissed right before the children s sermon and children will be dismissed to their Sunday School classrooms right after the children s sermon. At least once a quarter, on a Communion Sunday, we will have Worship Together Sunday with youth and communion-aged children staying for the entire service. On the other communion Sundays throughout the year, children and youth will be served communion in their classrooms. This fall, we will start a Sunday evening class for adults that will mirror the Wednesday morning Bible Study. This will offer people who still want an adult education offering at a new time an opportunity to have one. While there is no perfect solution, I believe this new schedule responds to the unintended consequences of our old format, builds on strengths we have discovered over the last eighteen months, as well as responding to general opinion of the congregation. Please continue to pray that this new schedule will help us achieve our mission statement of Inviting all people to discover their full life in Christ. Pastor Carl NEW SUNDAY MORNING SCHEDULE NEW SCHEDULE STARTS SUNDAY, JUNE 3RD 8:30am: Traditional Service 10:00am: Contemporary service Children and youth will begin in the service for the opening worship time and be dismissed to Sunday School classes after the children s sermon. April 2018 page 3

4 From Pastor La s Desk Pastor La Andriamihaja What does Easter mean to you? Such a question reminds me of the sort of queries that my teachers would ask of us for a five hundred words essay assignment when I was growing up. It s right up there with questions like, What is the meaning of Christmas? What did you do last summer? or What do you want to be when you grow up? I didn t mind then and I don t mind today answering such questions because, as some of you who have attended my Sunday morning Education Hour know, I like questions where there are no wrong answers. So, what would your answers be to the question, What does Easter mean to YOU? in ten words or less. Well, for me, as someone who was born in the Southern hemisphere of our planet (in Madagascar), was baptized as a Christian, and grew up among people who worshiped the spirits of the Ancestors and believed in certain stones, rocks, trees, water, and animals as their gods, I knew from an early age what Easter means to me. So in ten words or less, Easter means that we serve a Living God. And the promise for all who believe, serve and follow the Living God, through Christ, is life life eternal. How? Well, the logic is simple: Only a living being can give life, and because HE lives well, you know what that means for you, right? May this Easter season rejuvenate your faith in God s love for you; may this Easter season enliven your love and passion for those in your life; and may this Easter season help you celebrate the good news that God s love for you is everlasting and as big and wide as the universe, and then some. But above all, may this Easter season remind you, especially in those tough times, that you believe in, that you serve, and are a child of the Living God. Happy and joyous Easter to you and yours Pastor La DISCOVER CHURCH WILL NOW HAVE RECYCLING PICKUP STARTING IN APRIL We are excited to announce that we now have recycling pickup at the church! You will notice blue recycling bins in the foyer, education wing entry, kitchen and office. You can recycle paper, cardboard, plastic, glass and aluminum in any of these bins. There will be a separate recycling dumpster next to our trash dumpsters where these blue bins can be emptied for pick up starting in early April. April 2018 Page 4

5 Church Council President Jason Waldron Dear Discover Church Family, We wanted to give you an update on some of the things that the council has been working on so far this year. On Saturday February 24th, the staff and council spent the day here at the church for a working retreat. We spent the day working together to plan and pray for the future of Discover Church. Through this time of planning, we determined that there are three main areas that we will be focusing on this year. These areas of focus were directly informed by our annual meeting and town hall meeting that we had prior to this planning retreat. The areas that we will be focusing on this year are: Serving Our Community Welcoming and Inviting Revenue Streams The council and the staff have formed work groups to address each of these focus areas and we would like to invite the congregation to participate as well. If you would like to lend your time, talents, and ideas to any of these areas please get in touch with myself or someone on council so that we can get you plugged in. I also want to give you an update on our financial situation. You may recall that in order to meet our 2018 budget, we need to bring in $16,400 in offerings each week. When we not only meet that need, but consistently exceed it by about $1,500 per week, we will be able to reverse the staffing changes, including reinstating Pastor La to full time. We asked you to examine your finances and prayerfully consider increasing your giving to support these goals. Thank you to everyone who has already responded! We are so blessed to have seen an increase in offerings over the last several weeks! We pray that we will maintain the increase consistently and be able to restore our staff. We have published this chart several times over the last couple of months, but I think it s worth showing you one more time. Our goal is to take in $1,500 per week above our regular budget amount. This chart shows how that increase could be divided by giving units. For example, if 200 people gave $8 extra per week or $32 extra per month, we would meet the goal and so on. Please prayerfully consider what God is asking your family to give. As always, I give thanks for this church family and for our shared desire to invite ALL people to Discover their full life in Christ. I m looking forward to how God continues to use our church to let His light shine in our community. Jason Waldron Church Council President April 2018 page 5

6 Children and Family Ministries Christy Grigor, Director EXCITING NEW SCHEDULE CHANGES COMING IN JUNE Recently we surveyed our congregation to find out how we can best minister to them. The staff and council have been praying over these surveys and have decided to make a change in our Sunday morning Worship schedule! Starting June 3rd, there will be an 8:30am traditional service, a fellowship time at 9:30am and a 10:00am contemporary service that invites children to be a part of the worship as always. Children will be dismissed to their classes after the Children s Sermon and will have Sunday school until 11:15am. The Nursery (6 weeks to age 3) will be available starting at 10 am. Please refer to Pastor Carl s article on page 3 of this this Newsletter for more details! Family Swimming Night Friday, April 20 Join us at the Brooklyn Center Community Center on Friday, April 20 for swimming from 6-8 pm with free pizza from 8-9 pm in the upper observation area outside of the exercise room. Flotation devices, air mattresses, beach balls, etc are allowed. Please see the Children s Ministry Information Table for information! Cost is as follows: Ages 0-14 and 62+: $4 without water slide or $5 with slide Ages 15-61: $5 without water slide or $6 with slide Vacation Bible School! This year our VBS will be the week of August 6 th from 9 to Noon! If you would like to help please contact Christy Grigor! The youth helpers will be meeting each first Wednesday of the month at 6 pm in the Conference Room (Except July.) If your 6th-12th grader would like to grow in their leadership skills and minister the Gospel of Jesus to kids please contact me! I will add any willing people to my group to relay information about meetings! VBS Meetings: Wednesdays April 4, May 2, June 6, July 11 Mercy Me Concert: Friday, April 13 Family Swimming Night: Friday, April 20 New Worship Schedule Begins: Sunday, June 3rd Wild Mountain 2018: Friday, July 20 Vacation Bible School: August 6-10 NEW SCHEDULE STARTS SUNDAY, JUNE 3RD 8:30am: Traditional Service 10:00am: Contemporary service Children and youth begin in the service for the opening worship time & are dismissed to Sunday School classes after the children s sermon. Classroom for Children s Ministry Each Sunday through May during the 9:15-10:15 Education Hour we have the following classes: Nursery (ages 6 weeks to 3) 3 year old class 4 year to Kindergarten class Boy s 1 st through 4 th Grade Girl s 1 st through 4 th Grade Boy s 5 th and 6 th Grade Girl s 5 th and 6 th Grade Through May at the Family Worship Service we have the following childcare options: Family Childcare 6 weeks to age 5 is in the last class on the right of the Education Wing On the Way for grades Kindergarten to 2 nd Grade in Faith Hall and dismissed after the children s sermon Children grades 3-6 are encouraged to stay in the service for the sermon and can fill out worksheets to earn prizes from our Great Salvation Institute prize cart that is open each 3 rd Sunday of the Month. For more information about Children s Ministry contact Christy Grigor in the church office at or by at Christy.Grigor@discoverchurchnetwork.org April 2018 Page 6

7 Youth Ministries Pastor Jonathan Brandon, Director MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR GRADUATION SUNDAY JUNE 3, 2018 MORE INFO COMING SOON Wednesday Night Small Groups Small groups are for 7-12 grade youth on Wednesday nights from 6:30-8:30pm. We have a time for fun and fellowship and then break into groups and focus on sharing life experiences, diving deeper into God s Word and a time of prayer. Come check it out next Wednesday! MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR AFFIRMATION OF BAPTISM SERVICE SUNDAY, MAY 20TH AT THE 10:30AM SERVICE All 9th grade confirmands will be given detailed information at the April 8th Journey meeting. Please see Pastor Jon for more details. April 1: April 4: April 6: April 8: May 20: June 3: June 3: June 17-22: July 15-20: Easter Pancake Breakfast Wednesday Small Groups Return Friday Night Live Journey Confirmation Confirmation Sunday Graduation Sunday New Sunday Morning Schedule Begins Milwaukee Mission Trip Houston Mission Trip The Journey Confirmation program will meet on Sunday, April 8 from 6:30-8:00pm in the youth room. All 7-9 graders are invited. Friday Night Live is a monthly fun and fellowship event for 7th-12th graders. It s free! Invite your friends. Join us on Friday, April 6th from 7-9pm! For more information about the Youth Ministry at Discover Church, contact Pastor Jonathan at jon.brandon@discoverchurchnetwork.org or (763) April 2018 page 7

8 Opportunities to Learn and Grow All Church Prayer Three opportunities to pray for our church, families and community. Saturday, April 7 at 9:00am Thursday, April 12 at 6:00pm Thursday, April 26 at 6:00pm ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAYS 9:15am April Series: Grace and Shame Have you ever wondered if God cares about shame? Is shame ever good? Does God shame us? Can shame be forgiven? Christy Grigor will teach a class on grace and shame that will answer these questions and more on Sundays April 8, 15 & 22. This class will be interactive and lead in small groups! May Series: Missions Partners In May our Adult Education Hour will feature a different one of our mission partner organizations each week. Come learn more about what God is doing through these amazing missionaries and how Discover s support is helping their ministries. April 29: Ruth Singh and Guyanese Outreach May 6: Tom Lindstrom and China Outreach Ministries May 13: Mark Marxhausen and International Ministerial Fellowship May 20: Chuck Liesch and Wycliff Bible Translators May 27: Billy Graham tribute FREE THRIVENT WORKSHOP 5 KEYS TO RETIRING FEARLESSLY WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18 AT 7:00pm After working hard each week to get to TGIF, retirement may be in sight. Discover five keys to unlocking a retirement that s free from worry, where you can have full confidence in your ability to achieve your goals. The workshop will be presented by Thrivent Financial Representative Brett Koopman in the chapel on April 18 at 7:00pm. Reserve your place by calling NEW WEDNESDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY SERIES ON PAUL S PRISON LETTER Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3 So begins Paul s Letter to the Ephesians. It is one of his prison letters. While Paul was in prison awaiting his trial before the Emperor, he longed to teach, encourage and build up the congregations that he had established. He could not be there in person, so he did the next best thing. He used the social media of the day, which was his friends and disciples traveling to the congregations with letters from Paul. It wasn t quite as fast as Facebook but it was much more profound. Paul s prison letters deal with important issues of everyday Christian life. Issues such as: How do you protect yourself from evil? How does God want to use me? What does it mean to be saved by grace? How should a husband and wife treat each other? What is the church? In short, how do you live your life as a follower of Christ? Join us for a new series on Paul s Prison Letters lead by Pastor Carl on Wednesdays at 9:30am. We have a pot luck lunch together after the study on the first Wednesday of the month this month s is April 4th. SACRED STRETCHES EXERCISE CLASS Pamela Billings is leading a Sacred Stretches exercise class on Thursday nights from 7-8pm. This class combines breathing techniques, Scripture meditation, stretches and postures. It is the intentional practice of connecting our entire being, body, mind and spirit with God. Bring an exercise mat if you have one. No experience needed. You need to sign a waiver to participate. A free will offering will be taken. For more information contact Pamela at LIFE AFTER LOSS This grief group meets on the last Sunday of each month in the Conference Room at 10:30am and deals with all kinds of loss, including death of a loved one, illness, divorce, and job loss to name a few. Call Nancy at or Bob at with questions. Next Meeting: April 29 April 2018 Page 8

9 Amazing Grays Feed My Starving Children: We will pack meals with FMSC on Monday, April 9 at 9:15am. Lunch to follow. Lunch At Malones: Join us for lunch at Malones, Elm Creek Blvd N, Maple Grove on Thursday, April 19th at 11:00am. For more information contact Elaine Sorensen at or Carol Pahl at Women s Ministry Women s Conference Canceled: The Brave Love conference that was scheduled for April has been canceled due a family emergency for the speaker. If you purchased tickets, you will get a full refund. For more info go to arisewomen.org. Women of Glory : We meet on Thursdays at 7:00pm studying the book "4 Keys To Hearing God's Voice. Please note: we will not meet on April 5. For more info contact Barb Erickson at pflu65@gmail.com or Jean Hansen at Men s Ministry Thursday Night : All men are invited to join us on Thursday nights at 7:00pm for a Bible study, prayer and fellowship. For more info contact Chad Murray at or chadderinmn@gmail.com. Weekly Prayer Meeting: Every Saturday morning at 9:00am. All men are invited. Community Care Groups Prayer Shawls: Know of someone who is having surgery or has other physical or spiritual needs and would appreciate a prayer shawl? These shawls are made with loving care and prayed over for the recipients. Contact Barbara Horn at or contact the church office for more information. Meal Ministry: Help us bless our members with meals in the event of a new baby, illness or death. It doesn't matter if you cook or buy a meal, because when you provide a meal for a family, you are showing them Christ's love. If you would like to be contacted when there is a need or if you know of someone who could use meals Contact saralbrandon@gmail.com. Business and Financials ELECTRONIC GIVING The Simply Giving Program is an auto-withdrawl program. You determine what amount and how often you want to give and your contribution will be automatically transferred from your account to Discover Church. Go to discoverchurchnetwork.org and click on give to set this up, or call the church office for help. Discover Church gives 10% of our yearly income to support missions in our community and around the world. These are the missions and ministries we are supporting in 2018: STEWARDSHIP UPDATE Financial Report through March 25, Annual Budget $852,561 Year-to-Date Offerings $201,446 Year-to-Date Actual Spending $200,108 Year-to-Date Variance $1,338 International Student Fellowship, Howard & Marie Hanson Discover Church Dorcas Quilting Ministry Youth With A Mission (YWAM), Todd & Vicki Hedgepeth Wycliff Bible Translators, Chuck & Cheryl Liesch China Outreach Ministries, Tom & Kathy Lindstrom Guyanese Outreach, Ruth Singh South America Missions (SAM), Greg Dahl North India Community Outreach, Dinesh Chand Hope Lutheran School in Madagascar Madagascar Seminary Resolved Ministries, Vicki Epper Hospitality House Youth Development in Minneapolis Brooklyn Avenues Teen Homeless Shelter in Brooklyn Park Street Level Ministries in Minneapolis Disaster Relief, various locations International Ministerial Fellowship (IMF), Pastor Mark Marxhausen April 2018 page 9

10 April 2018 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 EASTER SUNDAY Worship: 8:00am 9:30am 11:00am Pancake Brk: 7:30am-11:00am 2 CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED 9:00am Quilting 3 4 9:30am 11:00am Bible Study Pot Luck 6:00pm VBS Planning 6:30pm Youth Small Groups 5 7:00pm Men s 7:00pm Sacred Stretches 6 7:00pm Youth Friday Night Live 7 9:00am All Church Prayer 8 8:00am Worship 9:15am Ed. Hour 10:30am Worship 6:30pm Youth Journey 9 9:15am Amazing Grays FMSC 10 6:00pm Stewardship Committee 7:00pm Church Council 11 9:30am 6:30pm Youth Small Groups 12 6:00pm All Church Prayer 6:30pm Quilting 7:00pm Men s 7:00pm Women s 7:00pm Sacred Stretches :00am Men s Prayer Mtg 15 8:00am Worship 9:15am Ed. Hour 10:30am Worship 16 9:00am Quilting :30am 6:30pm Youth Small Groups 7:00pm Thrivent Workshop 19 11:00am AG Lunch 7:00pm Men s 7:00pm Women s 7:00pm Sacred Stretches 20 6:00pm Family Swim Night 21 9:00am Men s Prayer Mtg 22 8:00am Worship 9:15am Ed. Hour 10:30am Worship :30am 6:30pm Youth Small Groups 26 6:00pm All Church Prayer 7:00pm Men s 7:00pm Women s 7:00pm Sacred Stretches :00am Men s Prayer Mtg 29 8:00am Worship 9:15am Ed. Hour 10:30am Worship 10:30am Life After Loss 30 9:00am Quilting LONG RANGE DATES: May 20: Confirmation Sunday June 3: Graduation Sunday June 3: New Sunday Morning Schedule Begins June 17-22: Youth Millwaukee Mission Trip June 24: Outdoor Worship & Baptism Service July 15-20: Houston Mission Trip August 6-10: Vacation Bible School August 19: Outdoor Worship & Church Picnic September 9: Rally Day April 2018 Page 10