In this issue... First Christian Church June 20, 2014 East Moline, Illinois Volume 39, Number 6

Transcription

1 In this issue...! An all-church picnic! Have you signed up to help us at Pizza Ranch?! A special event for youth!! Steppin Out walks into ministry! Celebrating the life of Lois Danver! Rummage sale is set; now we need your help! Pizza Ranch fund raiser (July 28) sign up season begins! And from Bill... online archive to open next month! Our second-ever digital issue!! This and more in your KNOLL NEWS! First Christian Church June 20, 2014 East Moline, Illinois Volume 39, Number 6 First Christian Church th Street East Moline, IL Published by: First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) fccem@yahoo.com Phone: (309) Editor: Bill Coley

2 And from Bill... I just finished watching some videos of tornadoes and those who chase them. A couple of the videos were shot in the last week, in northeast Nebraska where two sizable funnels touched ground within a few miles of each other and nearly simultaneously. Next was a video shot in a different storm, from the side yard of a family s home as a monster tornado moved in their direction, over the crest of a hillside a couple of miles into a field from the videographer. And the last video I saw was shot from inside the car of two people of Asian descent - or at least people for whom Chinese was a primary language. The first thing apparent to me from the videos was the respect, even awe, expressed by those witnesses to nature s fury. The Nebraska videos came from a group of people who chase dangerous storms for a living, so their respect came couched in a mix of meteorological jargon and personal admiration. Before the storm turned in their direction, the home dwellers expressed verbal high fives to each other over the good fortune of their prized viewing stand. This is cool! said one. But when as it became clear that the storm could visit their property, the family s excitement quickly morphed into fear and dread. Get out! Get out! was the recurring cry from one household member as all of them ran to a vehicle and drove away. Because I don t speak Chinese, I don t know what the car dwellers said to each other as they sat parked by the side of the road watching a Sometimes the most faithful thing we can do in the face of challenge or threat is to pause and praise God s awesomeness by Bill Coley massive storm cloud ramble and rotate a few miles in front of them. But I d characterize the tone of their voices as hushed awe. They spoke in a tone so quiet you d have thought they didn t want the tornado to overhear them. At least during the videos, all of the storm witnesses ended their encounters safely. I imagine they also ended those meetings with a greater appreciation for the power of nature. As a storm chaser wannabee, I like to stand outside as warning storm sirens sound (as they oh-so-politely did the other night around four in the a.m.) and watch the clouds rattle and boom themselves into our neighborhood. In the face of such natural fury I have a greater appreciation for weather especially for the fact that weather is beyond my control. The scary cloud formations that have my attention don t care about and will not respond to my direction. Nature is an arrogant force. But our God is greater. Greater than any storm. Great than any turmoil. Great than any threat. Great than any earthly power, natural or otherwise. Greater than any fear. Greater than any powerlessness that you and I feel in the face of the arrogant and disrespectful forces we confront regularly. Greater. Sometimes the most faithful thing we can do in the face of challenge or threat is to pause and praise God s awesomeness in part to declare adoration for God, but also to offer an intentional put-down of whatever threatens to scare or unnerve us. Praise God! N e w s Y o u C a n U s e And More from Bill... In my 29 years at FCCEM I ve published more than 475 newsletter columns - some profound, some silly, some not good in any respect. As a countdown to my 30th anniversary in July 2015, I will republish some of those old columns each week on our website. Because I m still in the process of reviewing and deciding between all of the columns, I m not certain how many will be released; but it will certainly be no more than two per week. The debut entry in the series will come from the July 10, 1985, Knoll News, my very first column, published just two days after I started (hint: therefore, don t expect anything profound!) Look for the first And from Bill... archive entry to be posted on Tuesday, July 8. Knoll News distribution changes produce big cost savings Our transition to a primarily digital/website delivery of our church newsletter bore financial fruit in its debut last month. We spent $9.31 to mail the May issue; in April, before the change, we spent $ In case you re curious, that s an 84% cost reduction. In addition, because we re printing fewer paper copies each month, the cost of paper and the maintenance agreement on our main church office printer declined significantly as well. The final result of our publishing transition is that we can expect to harvest total annual savings of between $650-$700, enough to pay for our website and more. IMPORTANT: If you know people who used to receive our newsletter, but did not receive the May issue because they never signed up for either the paper or digital version, please tell them to contact the church office if they want to begin receiving it again. Our policy is to send digital copies to as many as possible, but also to mail paper copies to all people actively connected to our church who ask for them. A lower level cleanup in which you can help! For a long time we have known that there is a considerable amount of stuff in storage on the lower level of our building that needs to be pitched. Next week, on a day and at a time that have yet to be determined, a team of volunteers will begin the process of sorting, discarding, and repositioning items currently located in the large dividers in fellowship hall and in the classroom closets. If you have some free time to help with this valuable cleaning project, contact Marsha Jones or Kim Kapple, who will be among the first to know the details of the team s work.

3 N e w s Y o u C a n U s e N e w s Y o u C a n U s e Time to sign up for the Pizza Ranch Our night to serve as the wait and bus staff at the Davenport Pizza Ranch is now less than six weeks away. At the moment we count seven people signed up to help in what should be a fun, active, and rewarding fund raising event. We re looking for 8-10 people. There are two ways you can help. 1) You can be part of our team on Monday, July 28 - either at the welcome table or by helping with service to customers. 2) Or you can come to eat at Pizza Ranch that night, knowing that a portion of your meal cost, all of your tip, and any other special donation you make will help your church. Our first priority is to complete our service team. Sign up at Mission Central or at our website. Celebrating Lois Danver Lois and Art Danver were fixtures in our church, and not just because Art was a plumber. They supported our ministries, participated in our worship, and believed in our cause for decades. Art died in Lois died earlier this month, on June 6. Lois was feisty, curious, well-read, loyal, self-reliant, and grateful for the ways people ministered to her in the years after Art s death. After open heart surgery back in the 90's, she found a new passion in her treadmill; few people, regardless of circumstances, were ever as committed to their personal heath and recuperation as was Lois. In the last several years she wasn t able to join us on Sundays, but she stayed connected to what was going on and to the end believed FCCEM was her church home. Today we celebrate her homecoming among the angels and with her beloved Art. This year's theme park trip: Time to salute the Six Flags! We re a month and a half away from this year s amusement park trip: to Six Flags Great America near Chicago on Saturday, August 2. At the moment we do not have a large enough group to earn the park s group discounted price of $34/ticket. But there are sure to be other discounts available to us, the best one of which we have found so far offers tickets at $41 each. But we re not done looking to create a twenty person group. Sign up at Mission Central or at our website. Be sure to report how many tickets you will need. Invite family, friends, neighbors, etc. Then expect a GREAT day! "We Are Together" in June: A picnic If you receive a paper copy of the newsletter, by the time you read this, we ll be at Phipps-Prairie park in Silvis waiting for you! For our June "We Are Together" event, we're going to that park on 12th St. south of Colona Road in Silvis beginning at noon. With its shelter, grills, electricity, water, restrooms, playground, nature trails, and easy accessibility, the park looks to be a great location for a picnic. We chose this location specifically because we wanted a site accessible to persons of a wide ranges of ages and abilities. Bring food and outdoor games to share if you can (but come anyway if you can't because from much experience we know God ALWAYS provides!) You might also bring a lawn chair, in case we need more, or more comfortable seating. We intend to bring the church s propane grill, so there should be plenty of cooking space. Bug spray might also be a good idea. As we went to press, Saturday s forecast called for a warm day with only a 10% chance of rain. Come out and join us! FCCEM.org continues to promote our congregation fccem.org is the online home for our church. It s the place to go for information about our ministries, to ask questions about or to offer to participate in upcoming events and ministries, and to see images of recent events (be sure to take pictures of your ministry or event so we can tell the world). Your feedback is a crucial dimension of our website s continuing growth and improvement. Anytime you see something on the site that needs to be corrected, or an event that should be publicized or covered, contact the church office. Help us create the best possible website for our church. Step up to Steppin Out! Weekday nights Mondays through Thursdays, beginning at 7:00 p.m. a group of people is meeting at Ben Butterworth Parkway, in the parking area across from the Western Illinois University building to encourage and support each other in their personal fitness regimens. Your walking pace is your walking pace, but is likely to be shared be someone else in the group. Expect to find a partner in the group. If walking is your thing and you enjoy the company of other followers of Jesus, meet down by the riverside weekday nights other than Fridays.

4 U p d a t e s Participation report Here we report weekly participation numbers for worship and our Sunday groups. We look forward to the increases of these numbers as the transformation of our church continues. Date Sunday Worship Sunday Groups Praise- Land May May June n/a June June Financial Situation This month s financial report indicates that we are spending close to the constraints of our congregational budget - which is a good thing - but we are not completely underwriting that budget with our financial offerings - which is not a good thing. As usual in the lives of followers of Jesus, there is work to be done. Serving in July... Welcome Team: PraiseLand Team: Suzie Guthrie The PraiseLand team Communion Prayers: LifeSOUNDS: Bev Hartman Bev Hartman Preparing Communion: Serving Communion: Deb Langley Suzie Guthrie, Deb Langley Providing Childcare: Dawn Sullivan / Nicole Sullivan / Kim Kapple / Deb Langley Finances through May 2014 Income $24, Expenses $27, Were income on pace w/2014 budget $27, Recent Concerns Bob Grove - Rosewood Care Center, rehab visit following fall at home Walt Clark - recuperating at home following fall at home Marguerite McGivern - various medical issues Homebound Ethel Dawson TH St. Ct. East Moline Fran Littlewood - Rosewood Care Ctr - rm 219, Moline Lois Tallman - Ft. Armstrong rd Ave, #611, Rock Island Virginia Thompson th St. Moline Ann White - Illini Restorative Care - rm. 26, Silvis Leaving website comments In two sections of our website, you may add comments to express an opinion or declare your interest in a ministry or event. If you access our site via a desktop browser, you can sign in to comment via an AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, or Facebook account. If you access the site via a mobile device, however smart phone or tablet, for example you will have to have a Facebook account. Thanks for your patience with and adjustments to our site's design. July Birthdays Kim Kapple Bob Grove Ethel Dawson Darry Kannenberg Virginia Thompson Mark Langley Conner Nielsen Olivia Dowell Terri Grove Charlene Cooper Frank Simpson Hurley Sutton July Anniversaries Mark & Deb Langley Bill & Shari Coley Jim & Charlene Cooper REMINDER: We can't tell people about your birthday or anniversary unless you tell us. Contact the church office with your information. Connected ministry on! We ve created a new ministry team which will help us stay connected with each other and our congregation. Connected ministry team members will send notes to people whose apparent disconnection from our Sunday worship began in recent weeks, offer birthday and other wishes, and generally help us stay better connected. While we thank God for the ministry as currently assembled, we re always looking for people who are 1) currently connected to our church, 2) have a heart for the spiritual well being of others, and 3) have a heart for the health and ministry of our church. If that s you, talk to Bill Coley for more information.

5 N e w s Y o u C a n U s e N e w s Y o u C a n U s e "Core and More" Bible study group set for final push to end of Old Testament For nearly three years our Core and More Bible study group has met weekly to explore every chapter of every book of the Old Testament. When the group resumes with the first of two sessions on the book of Daniel - on July 8, after its three week summer break - it will have just eleven more O.T. sessions remaining. You are invited to join the group for those last three months, and to consider seriously the option of joining the group for its New Testament journey that is tentatively scheduled to begin October 7. If you accept the invitation, after about fourteen months you will understand the New Testament (and really the entire Bible) better than ever; we guarantee it. New sermon series highlights O.T. Given the Core and More s remarkable encounter with the Old Testament, perhaps it s fitting that our new sermon series focuses on that oftenneglected part of the Bible. O.T.: Take 2" is a multi-part examination of Old Testament stories many familiar; some not in search of fresh insights and new understanding. In last Sunday s series debut, for example, with the help of the Adam and Eve story in Genesis 3 we highlighted God s holy resistance to competition. In coming weeks, here are some of the stories the series might consider: Noah and the Ark; Abraham and Isaac; Joseph and his brothers; Moses and the burning bush; Moses and his father in law; Gideon and the dew; Samuel and the call; David and Goliath; David and Bathsheba; Elijah and the prophets of Baal; Jonah and the big fish; Daniel in the lion s den Though the exact number of sermons in the series has yet to be decided, you re sure to experience something new and different every Sunday. Plan now to be with us! Pizza Ranch night coming July 28 A second notice of our fund raising night at the Davenport Pizza Ranch restaurant on Monday, July 28, when a team from our church will take over the serving and bussing responsibilities, receiving as compensation all the tips restaurant patrons offer as well as a percentage of the evening s business. Beginning in May look for a sign up sheet at Mission Central on which you will be able to express your willingness to be part of our team for this special one-nightonly event. We ll be looking for a team of 8-10 people who are over the age of 12. Announcing a special youth event As if an August trip to Great America isn t enough, in July we re taking the kids and teens of our church s youth groups on a fun filled outing to Michael s Fun World in Davenport (and inviting the rest of the church to come along). Tentatively scheduled for Saturday, July 12, this outing will include the following activities: 1 race on the go carts 1 game of lazer tag Unlimited play of miniature golf Unlimited play in the three story high jungle zone Unlimited play in all the inflatable: obstacle course, trampoline basketball, jousting, and spacewalk A 16 pitch at-bat in the batting cage We will pay the $20 fee for kids and teens who have been active in the youth groups (all additional activities and other costs to be borne by the youth), but this special rate can be had by all who want to join us. Sign up at Mission Central or at our website. Rummage sale set for August 7-8 We re excited about this year s rummage sale, which will be held Thursday and Friday, August 7 and 8. In recent years these sales have provided much-needed financial support for our ministries and have brought us together in common cause. If you have some time to give to help setup, to work the sale, and/or to help clean up after the sale be sure to sign up at Mission Central or online at our website. Obviously, the more people who help, the more successful, less-taxing a sale we will have. Police-Fire-Rescue appreciation meal coming The United Township Body of Christ, which for more than twenty years has sponsored an annual expression of gratitude for the service provided by area police, fire, and rescue personnel, staff, and volunteers, plans to hold this year s event within the next month or two. After some details are worked out, a sign up sheet at Mission Central or the comment section of the article on our website will be places for you to express your willingness to help with the meal (your options will likely be to help serve the meal and/or to provide a dish for the meal). Look for more information in the weeks ahead.