First Christian Church of East Moline February 2018

Transcription

1 0 A new small group: The Abundant Life League! Donate to the church via our Easter season lily ministry Helmets of Hope ministry expands Annual chili challenge coming soon May Day Mariachi! How could you NOT be curious? Mealsite ministry training Worship ministries training FCCEM s 100 th anniversary fast approaching A Rise Up, Church! update First Christian Church of East Moline February 2018

2 There s something called The Pizza Games, a competition among pizzaiaolos in such competitions as freestyle acrobatic dough tossing, fastest dough, largest dough stretch, fastest pizza box folding, and the pizza triathlon. On one of those TV channels you land on only by mistake or rapid-fire survey, I happened to catch a profile of one of the Pizza Games competitors. As he and his dough danced across the stage, the crowd cheered frantically. He rolled what must have been a 16" unbaked pizza crust on edge across his chest and behind his neck, from one shoulder to the other. He tossed it high, and while the dough completed its leap, the competitor danced and contorted his body in preparation for reunion with his companion. People from around the world gather to celebrate artistry and to watch people play with pizza dough... I didn t know. The far more familiar games currently occurring, of course, are the Olympic Winter Games, this year being held in South Korea. In those, the competitions are more familiar - skiing, skating, hockey, snowboarding, et al. - but the end result is the same - people compete against each other to see who s best. There are lots of games in the world. Spelling bees, science fairs, essay and poetry contests, robot competitions, not to mention the host of traditional sports whose culminating event is an event or tournament to crown that season s champion (it WAS a great Super Bowl, wasn t it?) We live in a competitive world. My goodness, churches compete against each for the attention and participation of people who search for church homes. Who has the best worship? the most welcoming people? the most varied ministries for kids and teens? Which of these churches is the one that best suits our family s needs? I don t know that Jesus was thinking about competition when he told his disciples that he was sending them out into the world as sheep among wolves, but the fit is not that awkward. There are forces in the world against which we who follow Jesus must compete, forces the writer of the letter to the Ephesians called evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, mighty powers in this dark world and evil spirits in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6.12, NLT) I m not as comfortable ascribing sources to the competitions we face daily as I am describing our challenges when we face them.! Jesus called us to humility when the natural human instinct seem to be to draw attention to achievements. That s a hard competition to win.! Jesus called us to forgiveness when it s so easy to hold grudges and to allow the past to dictate how we live in the present.! Jesus called us to compassion when it s simpler and closer to home to provide first for ourselves and our own, offering the crumbs and remnants of our harvests to people outside our personal orbits. [COLUMN CONTINUES, INSIDE BACK PAGE] Jesus called us to forgiveness when it s so easy to hold grudges and AND FROM BILL... (cont)! Jesus called us to the truth in an era when among our society s most prominent disputes is the discernment of truth among allegations of fake news. We who follow Jesus ARE in competitions, but ours are not games that award success with medals or certificates. Our competitions pit us against another kind of life, a life emptied of hope and possibility - a life devoid of life. Stay in the game! We re recruiting our 100th anniversary planning team We about twenty months away from our congregation s 100th anniversary (October 19, 2019). To direct the celebration of our centennial, we re forming a team that will decide and direct the various ways we thank God and inform the public of this milestone achievement. In addition to the event(s) we will hold on centennial weekend in 2019 (our 100th happens to arrive on a Saturday), we hope to celebrate throughout our 100th year, which starts in October of this year. YOU are welcome to serve on our centennial team. You don t have to be a long-term member of the church to serve (though if you are, you d make a GREAT addition, so think about it!). For that matter, you don t even have to be a member at all. You simply need a heart for our church and for our celebration of our first 100 years. The first meeting of the FCCEM Centennial Team will be held Wednesday, April 4, at 6:30 p.m. Mark the date then join us as we look ahead. Time to plan your donations to this year s rummage sale An annual fundraiser that provides critical financial resources for our ministries is our rummage sale. So now is the time to collect the items you re willing to donate. We re collecting them in lower level classroom in the middle of the hallway.several people expressed their willingness to help plan, set-up, and/or work this year s sale. Those folks, and whoever else wants to help, are welcome to pitch in. We ll hold the first planning team meeting on Thursday, March 1, at 6:30 p.m. The meeting shouldn t take long as we decide the broad elements of the sale s structure. The early meeting date will allow us plenty of time to plan advertising and to recruit people for the various teams we ll need to make the event another great success. Rummage sales are fun for lots of people. We invite you to be part of the effort.

3 Announcing the Abundant Life League Jesus offered us abundant life (John 10.10). Surely his offer had important spiritual dimensions, but life is more than what goes on in our hearts. We re also biological machines that eat - sometimes healthy, sometimes not - move - sometimes, but many times not - and complex personalities comprised of life experiences, relationships, and a haphazard collection of surprises. The founding idea of our new small group - The Abundant Life League (ALL) - is that we need to address those other dimensions of our lives in order to experience the full measure of the abundant life Jesus promised. So the group will focus on several aspects of healthy living: diet, exercise, relationships, time management, and others. Part accountability group, part inspiration society, ALL will help you bring out the best in yourself AND allow you to help others do the same for themselves. At first, the group will meet monthly (third Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m.) which means the first meeting is set for March 21. Jesus didn t limit his promise of abundant life to people of a certain age range or fitness level. Come find your abundance! Announcing May Day Mariachi! The next large-scale fund raiser for our Helmets of Hope ministry to veterans will be an event we ll call May Day Mariachi. On May 1 we will welcome the Glenview Middle School mariachi bands to our worship center for a concert that will be open to the public (the band is led by Rich Clark, son of Walt & Eula Mae Clark). We ll collect a freewill offering. Reserve Tuesday evening, May 1 (7:00 p.m.) on your calendar so that you can join us for a fun and festive fundraiser on behalf of the signature ministry of our congregation. Rise Up, Church! campaign at halfway point Our Rise Up, Church! campaign began September 1 of last year as a way to pay for new exterior doors into fellowship hall, a ramp onto The Pointe (the refurbished picnic table area on the eastside knoll) new lighting, additional signage, and a new sidewalk leading to the eastside entrance, among other things. At the moment, we have received $4,500 of our $10,000 goal, and in pledges are about $1,300 short of the campaign s goal. Work will begin this spring, however. We will celebrate your support! It s chili challenge time! In the first two months of the year, we hold wonderful food events. In January, our multicultural potluck entices people to prepare food representing their own or others ethnic heritage (this year, the potluck welcomed dishes from Italy, France, China, England, and Mexico) and in February, the annual Chili Challenge (Saturday, February 24, 5:00 p.m.) invites participants to prepare a chili to share with the crowd. In its first years, the Challenge culminated in a secret ballot to determine the winner. In recent years, we ve moved away from voting so as to focus on the enjoyment of the evening. If you don t feel like preparing a chili, feel free to bring condiments (ketchup, mustard, etc) or hot dogs and buns, or some other side dish/dessert. In addition, feel free to bring just yourself and your household as we remember our potluck rule: Bring food to share if you can; if you can t bring food, come anyway, because God ALWAYS provides. Helmets of Hope begins blanket collection As an expansion of our ministry to veterans, we re now collecting full and queen size blankets which will be given to our Helmets of Hope partners, or to other veteran support groups for distribution to vets in need. Donated blankets do NOT have to be new - just clean and usable by the vets who will receive them. Because blankets can be used year-round, we ll welcome your blanket donation at any time this year. [NOTE: Helmets of Hope is a ministry that provides essential household supplies to veterans who have moved off the streets and into housing of their own with the help of VA housing subsidies.] Worship ministries training event coming soon We praise God for the people new to our Sunday morning worship ministries - welcome team, communion preparation, offering/communion tray distribution, communion prayers, and LifeSounds - who expressed their willingness to serve on this year s ministry claim form. To make sure everyone is on the same page regarding and who s and how s of the various ministries, we will hold a single session training event on Wednesday, February 28, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Whether you re a returning veteran of your ministries or this is your first year, please attend this event to improve our Sunday morning ministries, and to enhance the sense that our Sunday morning worship is a team operation. (NOTE: If there s a worship ministry you d like to contribute to, but didn t sign up for, JOIN US at this training. We ll find a way for you to help!) Make sure you stay in touch with the commitments you made in your ministry claim form! Every newsletter offers SOMETHING you can do!

4 Attendance DATE Sunday Groups Sunday Worship January January February February Finances Income $4, Expenses $6, Needed for 2017 Budget $4, Prayer Matters Recent Concerns Bev Hartman - corrective back surgery scheduled for February 21 Marty Long - home following hospitalization for pneumonia Maurine Unzel - a collection of gastro-intestinal concerns The raft of people in our community and around the nation experiencing flu symptoms Homebound Ethel Dawson th St Ct, East Moline Serving in March - Welcome Team - - Multimedia Operator - Shari Coley Dawn Dumoulin - Praying at the Table - - Presenting LifeSounds - Maurine Unzel Shari Coley - Preparing Communion - - Serving Communion - Don Hubeler Shari Coley, Donna Hubeler - Providing Childcare - Deb Langley NOTE: You can help with any of these Sunday morning ministries! Contact the church office to make yourself available. A Birthday in March Maurine Unzel Betty Keener Paula Clark NOTE: We can t tell people about your birthday or anniversary unless you tell us. Contact the church office with your information Meal site ministry is underway for yet another year For many years our church has served on the rotation of churches who provide the Churches United meal site hosted at Mt Zion Missionary Baptist Church in East Moline. Currently, we prepare and serve the meal on the second Monday of even-numbered months. Since we have people new to the ministry this year, we ve scheduled a singlesession training event for Monday, March 12, at 6:30 p.m. which will give us plenty of time to introduce the ministry to those new to it, and to connect those folks to those who have served before. We encourage EVERYONE willing to prepare (church pays for the food) and/or serve the meal to attend this training. We ll answer your questions and create our bi-monthly rotation that will guide the ministry for the rest of the year.

5 Easter Season Ministry 2018 As part of our annual Easter celebration, we purchase two lilies for display on the worship center platform. Donations in excess of the cost of the lilies support the general ministries of our church. Please consider this form to be your invitation to contribute to contribute to our church as you honor the people of your life. We will publish a list of donors and those honored/remembered in Sunday worship flyers and in the April newsletter. Please complete and return this form with your donation by Thursday, March 29. (Detach at the dotted line and place in an offering tray, or leave it in the church office. Please include cash or a check made out to First Christian Church, using the memo line to identify it as an Easter season gift. Thank you.) This page is intentionally blank Complete, Detach, and Return by Wednesday, March 29, 2018 I wish to contribute $ toward this year s Easter season ministry (Please include this form with your donation; donations of any amount are welcome and appreciated. Checks should be made out to First Christian Church.) This donation is from: It honors/remembers: