Corner of W. Main & N. Jackson FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 100 N. Jackson St., Clinton, Illinois

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1 First Christian Church THE KARUSOGRAPH (USPS ) is published monthly by Corner of W. Main & N. Jackson FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 100 N. Jackson St., Clinton, Illinois N. Jackson St. Periodicals postage paid at Clinton, IL. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Clinton, IL The Karusograph First Christian Church, 100 N. Jackson St., Clinton, IL August 2017 Contact Information Phone (217) Fax (217) Office Hours 8am-4:30pm Monday Thursday Greg Taylor Minister of Preaching & Teaching Samuel Green Minister of Modern Worship & Spiritual Formation Cody Monkman Minister of Students Cassandra Benton Minister of Children - Early Childhood cassandra@clintonfcc.com Allison Hitchings Minister of Children - Elementary allison@clintonfcc.com Fcc Block Party Please join us on Sunday, August 27th from 5:00pm - 7:00pm for our 3rd Annual Block Party! This is a great opportunity to invite your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers for a fabulous night of fun and fellowship. This FREE event will feature food, bingo, inflatables, face painting, music and much, much more! You definitely won t want to miss it! Questions? Contact the Church office. Melinda Heinlen Connections & Community melinda@clintonfcc.com Lindsey Moody Connections & Community lindsey@clintonfcc.com Kim Rose Office Manager kim@clintonfcc.com Mandi Ries Ministry Administrative Assistant mandi@clintonfcc.com Jennifer Causer Financial Administrative Assistant financial@clintonfcc.com Volume 59 Issue 8

2 Hard to believe it, but we are rolling quickly toward the end of summer school will be starting, and fall programming at FCC will be in full gear! Where did the summer go? Let me share five updates and announcements about exciting happenings in and around Clinton FCC: #1 Next Steps Step 3 by Mark Behrends: The Next Steps building renovation program was launched in May of 2013 to better protect our children, attract new people to our church, and to enhance our ministries. Through God s provision and your sacrificial over and above giving to the Next Steps program, FCC has been able to complete over $2.5 million worth of remodeling and facility upgrade projects to date, debt free. In the past four years, much has been accomplished. Most noticeable are the new and inviting ministry spaces. In addition to these renovated spaces there have been upgrades made to many of the mechanical and electrical systems to make our building more energy efficient. There have been upgrades in the technology, security systems, and fire safety, and several major maintenance items have been addressed including flat roof replacement, bell tower restoration, and repair of water intrusion issues. Even with all that has been accomplished, there is still more to be done. Work will start immediately on Another Step moving the food pantry and benevolence ministry to the Cable building while creating an inviting, vibrant and exciting space for student ministry in the lower level of our main building. Please look for volunteer opportunities as this project progresses. Much of the moving necessary by shifting ministry locations, as well as minor demolition, will be done by volunteers. Skilled trades will be assigned to local contractors. The target completion date for this step will be Labor Day #2 Sabbath End on Sunday evenings by Susan Klein: Sabbath End will be a time to Worship, Praise, Practice and Pray - at the end of the Sabbath day. We will be meeting on Sunday evenings beginning at 5:00pm and ending around 6:30pm. The Praise and Worship time will be songs much like what is used during 2 nd service worship on Sunday mornings. Out of town Aspen Ridge Care Center 2530 N. Monroe, Decatur, IL Shirley Thompson Good Samaritan W 151st St Room 106 Olathe, KS June Cheatham Evenglow Lodge 215 E Washington Pontiac, IL Bob Adcock Brookdale Desert Ridge 4050 E Bluefield Ave, Room 122 Phoenix, AZ Colleen Stephens Woodside at Friendship Village 1390 N Drake Rd Kalamazoo, MI Dody Thomason Heartland Healthcare Center 520 Broadway Room 192B Normal, IL Terry Havlin Hickory Point Christian Village 565 W Marion Ave Forsyth, IL Norma Hollibaugh Dewitt County Triad Senior Academy These free programs will include presentations on Senior Safety, Family Love Letters, Alzheimer s, Senior Cell Phone Usage, and Entertainment. (Each program covers something different, so you can attend just one or all of them!) Programs are August 8th, 15th, and 22nd from 9:30am-11:30am. Registration is required. Call Local Manor Ct/Liberty Village 1 Park Lane Clinton, IL Theda Adams Donna Arnold Thomas E Bray Tom Bundy Betty Burris Larry Chapman Marie Jackson Gene Jones Betty Kyle Mary Lane Ray Martin Eleanor Mears Wilma Mestinek Al Perring Helen Polley Helen Shelton Georgia Sobolewski Shirley Utterback Allan Webb Hawthorne Inn/Liberty Village (Supportive Living) 1 Park Lane Clinton, IL Mary Burton Audrey Fields Fayetta Isaac Helen Thorp

3 Mobile Food Pantry Dates July 29 (hosted by Rotary) 10:00am - 11:30am at American Legion August 19 (hosted by FCC) 10:00am - 11:30am at American Legion If you are interested in volunteering for these events, please sign up in the office or at the information booth. Volunteers will need to show up at 9:00am. We would love to have you join others from our church as they travel to the Christian Village in Lincoln, IL. We fold laundry, clean tables or just talk with the many residents who reside there. We will leave at 8:30am on Thursday, August 17 and return between 2:30pm - 3:00pm. This ministry is open to anyone, men & women! Don t forget to stop by Coffee at the Crossing on Sunday mornings to get a tasty beverage. All proceeds will benefit Casas por Cristo! Are you a medical professional who attends FCC on a regular basis? We would like to compile a list of medical professionals, including which service they usually attend, to assist us in case of a medical emergency on Sunday mornings. If this is an area where you are available to serve, please contact the church office. Thank you in advance for helping provide the best care for our church family! We need volunteers for the Beth Moore simulcast Living Proof on September 16th. We have several different service opportunities for this event, and we would love to have you! If you are interested in serving, please call Mandi in the church office or Karen Rice at karen@clintonfcc.com. Practice - doing what Christians have done throughout the centuries, including activities such as Liturgy, Lectio Divina, Study of God s Word (Greg s Bible readings), and other recommended reading books. To start, we will be using More Than Meets the Eye by Richard Swenson, Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard, and Spiritual Weapons by Rick Renner. Community Prayer The first Sabbath End gathering will be Sunday, September 10 th. Leadership teams include Susan and Ken Klein, Becky and Dave Glenn, and Rachel and Norman Emery. Questions can be directed to Susan Klein via kpksmk@gmail.com, or text/phone call to #3 Fan the Flame at ISU featuring Michael W Smith: Clinton FCC has been greatly blessed by the ministry of Fan the Flame over the past four years. Fan the Flame s biggest adventure yet will take place on Saturday, September 23rd at Illinois State University s Braden Auditorium featuring Michael W. Smith and benefiting Midwest Food Bank, a wonderful difference-making organization that has blessed FCC for years! Tickets available at: Braden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com or order by phone at For special accommodations, contact Braden Box Office at #4 Bible Study Fellowship Ladies Satellite coming to FCC! We are so excited to announce that Clinton FCC will be hosting a Ladies Satellite gathering for the Bloomington-Normal Bible Study Fellowship on Tuesday evenings beginning in early September! An open house to learn more will take place on Tuesday evening, August 8th from 6:30-8:00pm in the Family Life Center check out this great opportunity ladies! #5 Hymn Sing sponsored by C.A.M.A. August 20th at 3:00pm, the Presbyterian Church of Clinton is hosting a hymn sing. This hymn sing is dedicated to Dixie Montgomery for her 60 years of service as a church organist. I hope to see many of you there! Refreshments will follow the service. Blessings, GT Are you looking for a place to serve? We would love the opportunity to talk to you about some of the ministry volunteer opportunities we have available. Please call the church office for more information!

4 Mark Your Calendars Please mark your calendar for September 16th for the Living Proof simulcast with Beth Moore. This free event will take place from 9:00am - 3:30pm at FCC with an hour break for lunch. You can register for this event by visiting the FCC Facebook page, ing karen@clintonfcc.com, or call Mandi in the church office at You definitely won t want to miss this event, so sign up today! On August 26th, we will have a Girls Overnight Retreat at Little Galilee Christian Camp for Junior High & High School girls. The retreat will start at 7:00pm and end on the 27th at the FCC Block Party. This will be a great opportunity for fellowship and fun! Please be on the lookout for more information. Contact Mandi Ries or Emilee Monkman with any questions! We hope you will join us! Bible Study Fellowship is coming to Clinton! First Christian Church will be hosting a women s satellite discussion group for BSF on Tuesday evenings beginning in September. Please join us on August 8 at 6:30pm for an open house to find out more about Bible Study Fellowship! This is a great opportunity to learn who God is through personal study. You won t want to miss it! Moms & Tots Playgroup will meet on September 1st at 10:00am with a special brunch kick-off in the First Kids area. This is a great opportunity to get to know other moms in the community while your kids play together. Hope to see you there! The FCC church directory is almost complete, and we want to make sure we have all the correct information on file. If you have had any change of information in the last year and have not already notified the church office, please call us today. If you have any questions, please contact Jen Causer in the church office. Well, we are deep into summer, and that means First Kids has been busy! We just wrapped a full week of camp at Little Galilee serving 5 th and 6 th graders. As I write this, we are preparing for another Bible Workshop Kids Edition. We still have plenty of supplies available, so if you want to make a bible for your child or grandchild, please contact either Cassandra or myself (Allison) and we will get you set up! Back to camp, I d like to tell you a story that I shared with the campers on our first night. For me it is a reminder that we have a big, giant, wonderful God who knows us, who knows what we need, and has plans for us that we cannot even comprehend. In 1989, I was going into fifth grade, which meant I was old enough to attend a full week of camp. In the week leading up to camp, I was a nervous wreck. I committed and backed out at least three times. For those who know me now, this may come as a surprise, but as a child I was very shy, timid, and not adventurous at all. Much to my mother s frustration, I finally decided I would go about 7pm on Saturday night (which meant a very last minute trip to Bloomington for supplies). Sunday came, and I was shaking in my sandals it was too hot to be shaking in boots. Every night, I would tell myself only 4 more days, only 3 more days. As the week drew to an end, I realized that I had not only survived but had been changed. I can honestly say that because I stuck out that week of camp, I was completely transformed. I had fallen in love with our Creator. He became real to me in a way that I had never experienced before. The next year, I gave my life to Jesus at camp and was baptized at home the following week. Twenty-eight years later, that shy, timid, not-veryadventurous-at-all girl lead a week of camp as dean. I shared this story with the campers and with you, not to brag about myself, but to glorify God and to show how, if we trust that God is with us, He will use us to do immeasurably more with our lives than we could ever dream. So my question to you now is what is God nudging you to do that you are afraid of?

5 August Birthdays Lynn Higgins ~ 99 yrs August 20th 2020 Sherwood Dr Apt 333 Johnson City, TN Decisions for Christ & His Church Brandon Karr, 107 S Miller St, was baptized at FCC on June 25, 2017 Savoy Schorn, 614 N Monroe St, daughter of Jason and Teresa, was baptized at Little Galilee on June 23, 2017 Kailea Golden, 906 W Washington St, daughter of Terry and Cheri, was baptized at Little Galilee on June 23, 2017 Addie Koritz, 10 Delmar Dr, daughter of Karl and Katy, was baptized at Little Galilee on July 7, 2017 Brenna Hitchings, 5323 State Rt. 10, daughter of Bret and Allison Hitchings, was baptized at Little Galilee on July 7, 2017 Melinda Heinlen and Lindsey Moody joined the FCC staff in February 2017 and are serving in the role of Connections and Community. These roles fit them well due to their passion for connecting people to one another, to the church, and to growing in a relationship with Christ. In their position you will see them leading Welcome Teams, Meet & Greets, connection events, and helping people find ways to plug in at FCC! them at connections@clintonfcc.com to find out more information on connections opportunities. A little bit about Melinda and Lindsey: Small town girl, wife, boy mom, teacher, business owner, friend, leader, and preacher s kid are some of the titles attached to Melinda over the years, past and present. Each of those roles play into Melinda s passion areas... loving God, community, and people! Melinda and her husband, John, first came to FCC in Their very first Sunday here they turned to each other and said, we are HOME! The Heinlens and their son, Jacob, love being part of FCC! In the winter of 2017 Melinda accepted an offer to join the staff and focus on the areas of connections/community! Melinda finds it exciting that she gets to serve God by helping both new and long time attenders find ways to plug in at FCC! Melinda is happiest when spending time with family and friends! Lindsey has vivid memories of attending church in the old sanctuary at FCC. She loved growing up in Clinton, especially living in Weldon Springs State Park. Her husband, Chris, proposed after they completed the Chicago Marathon together, and while they will never run a marathon again, they re enjoying their new adventures together, especially as parents to their children McCoy and Emerson. Lindsey has a passion for fitness, sports, and anything outdoors with family and friends oh, and guacamole! However, her greatest passion is helping lead others to knowing Jesus Christ and His amazing grace. She is thankful for the opportunity FCC provides to connect God s people to each other and to the body of Christ! Send a card to help celebrate a birthday, birth of a new baby, a marriage or send a note to others on the nursing home list. You will make their day!!

6 Sabbath End Beginning September 10th at 5:00pm, please join us for Sabbath End. A time to worship, praise, practice and pray at the of the Sabbath Day. Please be on the lookout this month for a booth in the foyer to sign up or ask questions! You may also contact Susan Klein with any questions, at or at kpksmk@gmail.com Pool and Zipline at Little Galilee! Please join us for an All Church Connection Event on August 13th at Little Galilee. Swimming will be available from 5:00 8:00 p.m. and zipline from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Bring a picnic dinner to stay and hangout, enjoying an evening of fellowship and fun! any questions to connections@clintonfcc.com Fan the Flame featuring Michael W. Smith Please join us on September 23rd at 7:00pm at ISU Braden Auditorium for what will be an amazing concert! Tickets are $17.50, $22.50 and $ Tickets can be purchased from the Braden Box Office, Ticket Master website or by phone, This concert will benefit Midwest Food Bank in Bloomington, IL Area Men s Fellowship College Park Church in Normal, IL Tuesday, August 1st at 7:00pm We hope you will join us for a night of fellowship! We are set to have a great speaker and a wonderful meal. If you are interested in riding the church shuttle please contact the church office for more information at Hymn Sing sponsored by CAMA Dedicated to Dixie Montgomery August 20th at 3:00 pm At the Presbyterian Church Refreshments to follow Men s Reload Reload will meet on August 8th & 22nd at 6:00am in the Family Life Center.* Please join us for some good food and fellowship! *New location May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God (Romans 15:5-7). We ve had a great first half of 2017, with an average of 70 in attendance each month coming together with one voice. That is glorifying God! We praise the Lord for each and every one of you. Make it your goal in the remaining months to invite a friend to come and enjoy YAH, too! At the July YAH meeting, we celebrated our Independence Day through military service recognition to our attendees and those who have had family members serve our country. We joined together in a patriotic sing-a-long, shared special music, and watched moving videos honoring our country. We are thankful to all who have served and continue to serve to keep our country the home of the free and the brave. Our next get together is August 4 at 10:30am. Our theme is A Fiesta and we will have a taco salad bar so you can build it the way you like it plain, mild or spicy. It will be National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day so we will have cookies for dessert. You will not need to bring anything. We will have musical entertainment by Yuke Crazies of Clinton, IL. ***SPECIAL NOTE of CHANGE: Our September Get Together will be on Friday the 8th to avoid the beginning of Labor Day Weekend at normal 10:30am time!*** Excursions: Sign up in the FCC Church Office or at YAH Get Togethers! Wed., August 23, Tempel Lipizzan Stallion Show in Old Mill Creek, IL -- $55. Lunch and Dinner provided. Leave 8:00am/return at 8:00pm. This trip is full. If you want to be put on a waiting list, please call the FCC Office Wed., September 14th, Aikman Wildlife Adventure Park in Arcola, IL. $15 for the trolley wildlife drive-through park. Bring money for brunch at Cracker Barrel and shopping in Arthur. Leave 10:00am/return at 5:30pm. Wed-Fri, October 18-20, Branson -- $300-$345. This cost is based on use of charter bus and occupancy per room and includes 5 shows and 6 meals. We re excited to see the show Moses this year. In order to take a charter bus for this trip, we would need to have a large group sign up during our August 4th Get Together. God is good! Johnny & Marcia Wise ( ) and Roger & Jan Dial