THE KEYS ST. PETER S UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST GRANT PARK, IL February 2015 1
SPECIAL CONTREGATIONAL MEETING SUNDAY, FEB 8, 2015 The Church Council has called a Special Congregational Meeting on Sunday, Feb 8 immediately following the worship service. This meeting is called to vote on the Accessibility Project. A Question and Answer session about the Accessibility Project will be held Sunday, Feb 1, immediately following the worship service. GRANT PARK SENIORS MEETING The Grant Park Seniors will meet on Monday, February 16th from 1:00 3:00 PM at the Community Center, Dixie Highway in Grant Park. FARMERS AND FRIENDS Farmers and Friends, a support group for men whose spouses have died, will meet at the USA Restaurant in Grant Park at 12:30 pm on Wednesday, February 18th. YOU RE INVITED FOR COFFEE BEFORE WORSHIP! Shari Ohm and her helpers host a coffee bar in the Sunday school entrance area each Sunday morning from 9:00 am 10:15 am. You re invited have a cup of coffee before worship. Proceeds will go to the Board of Christian Education. 2
FEBRUARY MISSION GIVING Our Churches Wider Mission (OCWM) or Basic Support Our contributions, sent to the Illinois Conference office, support God s mission in Illinois, nationally, and globally. 71% of our contribution stays in Illinois to carry out the mission of the Illinois Conference. 29% of our contribution goes to the national setting of the UCC to support ministry that reaches from our church to people in need throughout the world. Chicago United Eden; CUE Seminaries of the United Church of Christ The mission of the seminaries includes preparing new leadership for our churches, nurturing and supporting current leaders, and maintaining and adding to the tradition of theological scholarship in the UCC. DO YOU KNOW? Do you know that even if you aren t on Facebook, you can see many of the pictures that are posted on the internet on our church webpage? Go to the church webpage at www.stpetersgp.org. Click on the Event Photos tab on the left side of the homepage. In keeping with our Safe Church Policy, you will be asked for a password after clicking on the tab. Call the church office, (815) 465-6191, for the password. ARE YOU WONDERING? Do you wonder who posts information on our church Facebook page? The answer is simple. Jen Mussman, our Facebook guru. Jen posts information she receives from the announcement page, the church calendar, and from you! Email Jen at jennifermussman@gmail.com with the latest information about your group or event. She ll post it. Then, we will all be informed! 3
ARE YOU FRIENDS WITH ST. PETER S UCC, GRANT PARK? Are you friends with St. Peter s UCC on Facebook? If not, you might want to be. 196 people are currently friends with St. Peter s! To become a friend, go to St. Peters UCC Grant Park and click the Like icon. You will then be friends and receive all of the latest information about St. Peter s. HAVE YOU HEARD?? Many times you, the members and friends of St. Peter s United Church of Christ, learn of events, illnesses, and deaths before we do in the office. Please contact the church office (815.465.6191) with the information you learn about. THANK YOU DALLAS WILCOX We extend a huge Thank You to Dallas and his family for cleaning the carpets and stripping the floors in our church. They went above and beyond in completing the work his bid called for. Dallas owns Central Building Maintenance (708.357.0390) ARE YOU INTERESTED IN JOINING OUR CHURCH? If you are interested in joining our church, please contact Pastor Doug. We will have a 45 minute new members class in February or March for those interested in joining our church. 4
ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE, - WEDNESDAY, FEB 18 AT 7:00 PM Our Ash Wednesday service will be held in our sanctuary on Feb 18 at 7:00 PM. Holy Communion will be celebrated during the service. 5
WEEKLY LENTEN SERVICES FEB 25 MAR 25 AT 7:00 PM Our weekly Lenten Services will be in Fellowship Hall at 7:00 PM Wednesday nights, Feb 25 Mar 25. Coffee will be served by the Worship Committee. Special music will be a part of the service. We will be using Watching the Disciples, Learning from Their Mistakes by Mary Jane Gorman for our Lenten Study. Please join us when you can. ELECTRONIC GIVING TO THE CHURCH THROUGH VANCO SERVICES Electronic Giving enables every household or individual to make their church offering using Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). You may already be using EFT to pay some bills. There is no cost to you for this new giving option. The church will be charged an initial fee of 50 cents to set up your account and a 25 cent fee for each donation. If you are currently giving on a weekly basis, you will no longer need to write 52 checks a year or prepare 52 envelopes if you use Vanco. And when travel, illness, or other circumstances prevent you from attending services, this program will allow your offerings to continue on an uninterrupted basis. Giving options are Weekly (Mondays), Semi-Monthly (1 st and 15 th of the month), or Monthly (on the 1 st ). Please contact the church office (815.465.6191) if you are interested in participating in this program. Thank you for considering this new giving opportunity. 6
THE PASTOR S NOTE Reflection on Faith by Christine Chakoian August, 2014 Faith isn t some long list of beliefs you have to go along with; faith isn t a possession you have to check for constantly, like your wallet, to make sure you still have it with you. Faith is more like a companion, a friend a steady voice reassuring you when you re anxious, cheering for you when you re wavering, cautioning you when you re tempted, reviving you when you re weary. Faith is that trust that no matter what might happen in the ups and downs of life, you re never facing all your trials alone for the Lord himself is the one whispering in your ear holding your hand through the dark nights of your grief and fears, and waiting with you in the morning when joy rises like the sun. We talk about faith. Christine describes what faith is to me. What does faith mean to you? Pastor Doug CONGRATULATIONS TYLER SCHROEDER AND TIFFANY! Their daughter, Aria Marie, was born Tue, Jan 13 th, weighing 6 pounds 7 ounces, 20 ½ inches long. CONGRATULATIONS MEGAN PILBEAM AND MITCH! Their son, Myles James, was born Sat, Jan 17 th, weighing 7 pounds 6 ounces, 21 inches long. 7
THANK YOU Thank you for the cards, prayers, and thoughts at the time of my Dad s passing. Tom Morris Family A huge thanks you to all our church family and friends. Your prayers, visits, food, phone calls, and over 80 cards have given Del and I the support we needed. Along with our children s help, and Pastor Doug s prayers, and a strong determination, Del was able to move to a fast recovery. God Bless you all, Del & Ione PRAYER CONCERNS Warren Wessman - cancer, Sue (Friend of Wally & Tonita Reifsteck) cancer, Kim Nolte (Friend of Kim Sherwood) cancer, Jean Halloway (friend of Ethel & Clifford Zimmerman) cancer, Cynthia Gerdez (friend of Margret Chesterfield) cancer, Ione Hebert (friend of Ethel and Clifford Zimmerman) chronic back pain Nancy Adas (Mother of Marge Myers) Alzheimer s, Richard Schnell,& Dorothy Schnell (Father-in-Law & Motherin-Law of Bruce [Alyce] Heldt) Alzheimer s & ALS, Emma Lou Lemon Stage 4 lung cancer, Donna Hamilton (Mother of Mark Hamilton) Stage 3 Ovarian Cancer, Verne Kochel (father of Dawn Schroeder) heart issues Gloria Frakes (sister of Evelyn Bond) kidney failure Cheryl Heldt (widow of Byron Heldt) recovering from automobile accident Susie Crocker (mother of Chrissy Hamann) Heart (now home) Christopher Paez - (husband of Jamie Bakhaus Paez) Leukemia, and all of God s children seeking comfort, peace, and love. 8
UPDATE ON CHRIS PAEZ From Jamie s post on CaringBridge Tue, Jan 27: And we are back and all settled in at RUSH. We arrived yesterday AM and Christopher started his chemo around 5 pm. He will be getting Cytarabine (chemo medication) every 12 hours on day 1, 3 & 5. This means that he will receive his last chemo dose on Saturday at 5am and he will still be discharged that day. Chris & Jamie s address is 260 S Jefferson, Bradley, IL 60915 FEBRUARY BIRTHDAY LIST These birthdays are compiled from church membership records. Please call to our attention any omissions or corrections Tom Wieghaus 1 Jill Claussen 16 Kristine Koehn 2 Sarah Senesac 16 Max Markland 3 Jacob Dickson 18 Dornita Hamann 5 John Loitz 19 Will Schneider 5 Nancy Marcotte 19 Richard Hengl 6 Caleb Benson 22 Bruce Buttle 8 Adam Jacobson 24 Krysta Farina 9 Michael Bergman 25 Dan Holm 9 Connor Claussen 26 Carsen Ackley 11 Kyle Heldt 26 John Lewke 13 Steven Lawrence 28 Mike Dillman 14 Daren Lehnert 28 Kevin Mussman 15 9
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS NOT ABLE TO ATTEND CHURCH ON A REGULAR BASIS Mrs. Louise Sievers Mr. Clarence Heldt 891 Exeter Turn Heritage Woods Rm 191 Unit C2 355 Diversatech Dr. Bourbonnais, IL 60914 Manteno, IL 60950 Mrs. Pauline Mitchell Mrs. Geraldine Hamann 84 N. Franklin St. Riverside Senior Life Momence, IL 60954 85 East Burn Rd, Apt. 5 Bourbonnais, IL 60914 Mrs. Doris Laking North 8163 Maplewood Rd. Wittenberg, WI 54499 CONTACT INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS SERVING IN THE MILITARY Mark & Krysta Farina Austin Langlois PCS 9 Box 1709 6111 Randall Ave APO, AE 09123-0018 Bldg. 220, Box 54 FE Warren AFB, WY 82005 LCpl Lopez, Jessica R. PSC 557 Box 2031 FPO, AP 96379-2301 HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR ADDRESS? Has your house address, email address, or phone number changed? Please contact the Church Office to advise us of the change 10
FEBRUARY 2015 CALENDAR OF EVENTS 1 9:00 am Sunday School and Adult Education Class 10:30 am Worship Service Communion 11:30 am Question & Answer time about Accessibility 3 7:00 pm Christian Ed 4 7:00 pm Adult Choir 8 9:00 am Sunday School and Adult Education Class 10:30 am Worship Service 11:30 am Special Congregational Meeting (Accessibility) 10 10:30 am Worship Service at Beecher Manor 11 7:00 pm Adult Choir 15 9:00 am Sunday School and Adult Education Class 10:30 am Worship Service 5:30 pm Ladies Dartball Night 16 1:00-3:00 pm Grant Park Seniors 18 7:00 pm Ash Wednesday Worship Service-Communion 8:00 pm Adult Choir 20 5:00 9:00 pm Grant Park Fire Department Fish Fry 22 9:00 am Sunday School and Adult Education Class 10:30 am Worship Service 24 7:00 pm Church Council 25 7:00 pm Lenten Service 8:00 pm Adult Choir 11
ST. PETER S UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 310 N. MEADOW ST. P.O. BOX 220 GRANT PARK, IL 60940 Church Office/Parsonage Phone: (815) 465-6191 Pastor s Cell Phone: (815) 342-8927 Church Email Addresses: stpetersgp@sbcglobal.net and stpetersgp@gmail.com Church Website: www.stpetersgp.org Facebook: St. Peters UCC Grant Park STAFF Rev. Doug Zimmerman, Pastor Marcia Langlois, Office Administrator Beverly Junker, Financial Secretary Ann Smith, Senior Choir Director Kathy Ekhoff, Junior Choir Director Judy Schneider and Shari Ohm, Organists Christine Garbaciak, Custodian Elizabeth Rodriguez and Sharon Buchler, Youth Advisors CHURCH COUNCIL Beverly Junker, President Karen Brunello Vice President Kathy Ekhoff, Secretary Josh Hamann, Treasurer; Dave Schroeder, Assistant Treasurer Ed Bush, Pam Lawrence Jim Hamann, Bruce Heldt No Matter Who You Are or Where you Are on Life s Journey, You Are Welcome Here 12