June 27 July 10, 2015 Seeds For Growth ACORN Random Thoughts I enjoy reading! I don't read consistently but get in a groove several times each year. I love reading biographies especially baseball players. I also appreciate reading authors who I have met or heard who are also observers of our culture and how the Gospel can be communicated today. Two writers who are keen observers are Ed Stetzer and Carey Nieuwhof. These men have challenged my thinking about how we do church and some things to consider as we move forward. Oakwood Community Church 11209 Casey Rd Tampa FL 33618-5306 813.969.2303 www.oakwoodfl.org The mission of Oakwood is to... Transform ordinary people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Oakwood is a member of the Evangelical Free Church of America. I had the privilege of hearing Jeff Vanderstelt last week at the EFCA National Conference. He is a pastor in the Seattle area who is doing a good and hard work in a spiritually dark place. Ed, Carey and Jeff all use the term "missional" or "being on mission" in a similar way. The challenge from each is to see ourselves as missionaries living in a culture that is becoming increasingly hostile to the Gospel In Jeff's breakout sessions, I was specifically challenged to look (as a missionary) for those I could befriend so I can share my faith. Not see them as a project but someone to be friends with. Martha and I came away thinking about our need to be more intentional in our neighborhood. As you pray and fast for God to do something in and through us that only He can do, it may be that He is asking you (and me) to go outside our comfort zone and begin a friendship with someone living or working nearby who needs to know Jesus. That may be the first "big thing" He is asking us to do. More thoughts to come in upcoming ACORN articles. We had a great Vacation Bible School for our kindergarten through 5th graders. We got our kids to MOVE when they hear from God. We even had some "interesting" characters show up. Ready Freddy, Spike D. Ball, and others taught the kids the importance of listening to the Lord and also to obey and MOVE. The kids made some wonderful crafts and also made some really good snacks that went along with the lesson of the evening. We also enjoyed supporting the Fish Company, a mission entity working to bless orphans in several countries in Africa. Thanks to Val Brand, Shannon Tremel and the whole volunteer staff for the fun we had all week. That s all I am saying today. Dave Dorsey Inside this issue: Serve The Church & World 2 Prayer Opportunity 3 Financial Update 3 Regards from Brno 4 EFCA Update 4 VBS 2015 5 PowerHouse News 6 Kids Page 97 Calendar 8 Find us on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/occtampa
Page 2 Opportunity to Serve the Church & World Naomi s Daughters is a ministry for single moms that provides clothing to the moms and their children. The Oakwood family, along with others in the community, provides donations of clothing, food and money to keep this ministry moving forward. During the month of July we will be collecting school supplies to help the children of these single moms be ready for the start of school in August. There will be a bin available in the Worship Center lobby for your donations. Please pray that we can continue to reach people in this ministry and show the hands and feet of the Lord to those who come through our doors. Blood Pressure checks Blood pressure checks Sunday, July 5, in the kitchen following the Worship Service. Don t miss this important health screening. Blood Mobile @ Oakwood The Blood Mobile will be at Oakwood on Sunday, July 26 from 9:00 AM 12:00 PM. If you are at least 16 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds, are in good health and haven t donated in the last eight weeks, you are eligible to donate. Will you roll up your sleeves and help us with this worthy cause? TreeHouse News TreeHouse Volunteers needed We have a number of TreeHouse volunteers who give of their time every week to minister to our wonderful children. We like to give this team of workers a break for the summer. Will you give us a hand and teach for a week, a month, or the summer? Please contact Dave Dorsey at 813-969-2303 or dave@oakwoodfl.org if you are interested in volunteering your time. Family Worship in June Just a reminder... On June 28 the Kindergarten through 5 th graders will enjoy being with their parents (that s you) in the main Worship Service. There will be some special times in the service for the kids and also some activities available to keep them engaged. There will be a short children s message each Sunday that will be included in the service. This will let our kids see what it s like in big people worship and give you a great opportunity to talk with your child about the lesson from the day. Dave Dorsey
Page 3 Prayer Opportunity Everyone is invited to join us this Sunday, June 28, as we gather at 6:00 PM in the Worship Center to pray for our two teams going out for ministry from Oakwood in the month of July: PowerHouse Team going to do service projects in Washington, D.C. They will be gone July 3 12. Team Tampa XVI going to the Czech Republic to lead an English Camp. They will be gone July 6 22. Prayer Chain The purpose of Oakwood s E-Prayer Connection is to communicate prayer requests for our fellow Oakwood members, our families, friends, others personally known to us, and the ministries of our church. If you would like to partner in prayer for the needs of our church family, send your full name and email address to ekrex@verizon.net with Prayer Chain Ministry in the subject line. You can also send items to be published for prayer at this same email address. Pictorial Directory We are planning to do a Pictorial Directory for the Oakwood family. This is being done in-house, so you won t have any pressure to purchase pictures we just want to have face recognition photos to be included. Pictures will be taken on Sundays before and after the service. If you are interested in helping with some of the administrative aspects of this project, please contact Martha Dorsey via email at Martha@oakwoodfl.org. Coming soon details on dates for you to sign up for your photo. Online Giving Did you know that you can make financial contributions to Oakwood through our website? You can give one time or set up for recurring donations. Visit www.oakwoodfl.org and click Give Online on the right side of the menu on the home page. Financial Update 2015 Oakwood approved budget through May: $219,041 Oakwood Giving through end of May: $203,905 Amount over or (under) budget: ($15,137) Actual Expenses YTD: $207,615
Page 4 Regards from Brno Pastor Paul received the following letter from Brno Evangelical Fellowship the church that we partner with each year for the English Camp in the Czech Republic: Pastor Paul, I would like to share our joy with partnership with your church as it was expressed in the video message you sent us for the 20th anniversary of our church. Last Sunday during celebration, we projected the video. When seeing your message, we realized how great is Lord's love with this us and that we are not alone in the journey to His Kingdom. We were touched by your prayers and greetings. Thank you for them! During the program, we talked about the English Camps. We asked Colleen to share her stories about making decision to move to the Czech Republic and how God transformed her heart. She also expressed her thanks for the support of Oakwood and Brno EF. She said that these churches are her home churches. Then, Pavel and Lenka Hajkovi shared their story about the first Camp they visited, how they met Christians and how Lord changed their lives. When we asked people, how many of them had been to the Camp at least one time almost three quarters of hands got up. How wonderful! Paul, please, give our thanks and regards to your congregation. We are looking forward to see some of you in few weeks here in Brno. In Christ's love, Petr and Jirka (on behalf of Evangelical Fellowship) EFCA National Conference Paul & Bev Phair and Dave & Martha Dorsey attended the National Conference of the Evangelical Free Church of America last week in San Diego, CA. This was a historic conference as President William (Bill) Hamel retired and Rev. Kevin Kompelien was elected president. Credentialed delegates of the 130th conference business session affirmed the Board of Directors nominee. This election is the culmination of a prayerful and extensive search process initiated in 2014 when former President Bill Hamel announced his retirement. Kompelien began his presidency on June 18, 2015. For the past nine years, Kompelien has been the international leader for the Africa division with ReachGlobal (the international mission of the EFCA) and a senior leader of the mission. A graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (1983), he served over twenty years as pastor of two EFCA churches. In addition, Kompelien served on the North Central District Board chairing the church planting committee and on the Central California District Board (now EFCA West). A native of Thief River Falls, Minn., Kompelien and his wife Becky have been married for 34 years. They have four grown, married children and five grandchildren.
Page 5 VBS 2015 We had a great time at VBS 2015 getting our kids to
Page 6 PowerHouse Schedule June 28 Regular Evening Meeting July 5 No Evening Meeting Students in Washington, D.C. July 12 No Evening Meeting Students returning from Washington, D.C. July 19 PowerHouse Food Bag Ministry & Regular Evening Meeting Important Parent s Meeting If your teen is going on the trip to Washington, D.C., please attend this very important meeting immediately following the Worship Service this Sunday, June 28, in TreeHouse. Cam has important information to communicate regarding the trip. Food Bag Delivery Drivers Needed Our PowerHouse students have a monthly ministry assembling food bags that are distributed to medical clinics in Tampa, Lakeland, Haines City and Winter Haven. We are in need of people who can help with delivery of these food bags, especially to Lakeland, Haines City, and Winter Haven. The food bags are usually assembled on the second Sunday of each month, and need to be delivered on the Monday or Tuesday following assembly. The next delivery time is July 20 or 21. If you can help with delivery or would like more information, please contact Cindy Giannone at (813) 969-4136. Food Bag Ministry Our PowerHouse students have a monthly fundraiser assembling food bags that are distributed to medical clinics in Tampa, Lakeland, Haines City and Winter Haven? These bags are distributed to indigent patients at the clinic to provide some basic food needs of the patients and their family. PowerHouse teens can raise money for summer mission/conference trips by participating in our monthly Food Bag Ministry, typically on the second Sunday of each month. Our next Food Bag prep day is Sunday, July 19 right after the Worship Service. Teens can raise extra funds by helping shop for the food and/or helping with delivery of the food bags to the medical clinics. Shopping for the next fundraiser will be Friday, July 17. Meet at Aldi at Bearss & Florida Ave. at 5:00 PM (or contact Cam Whipple) if you want to help. For more details contact Cindy Giannone at (813) 969-4136.
Page 7 Kids Corner
Oakwood Community Church 11209 Casey Rd Tampa FL 33618-5306 813.969.2303 www.oakwoodfl.org Our Staff Lead Pastor - Dr. Paul B. Phair Director of Ministries - Dave Dorsey Director of Worship Arts - Andrew Reilly Coordinator of Youth Ministry - Dr. Paul B. Phair Coordinator of Children s Ministry - Dave Dorsey Office Manager - Martha Dorsey Secretary Melanie Hoglievina Our Elder Team Mark Beale Edson Bustamante Pete Kluck Paul Phair John Schneider Rob Weyand Our Deacon Team David Conner Larry Giannone Brian Johnson Luke Piazza Gigi Yuen-Reed Mike Wyatt Office hours: Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Worship: Sundays - 10:00 AM Calendar at a Glance June 28 Evening Prayer Time for PowerHouse Missions/Service Team & Czech Team July 3-12 PowerHouse Teens serving in Washington D.C. July 5 Blood Pressure checks following Worship July 6 Church Office closed for Independence Day July 6-22 Team Tampa XVI teaching English Camp in the Czech Republic July 12 Board Meeting following Worship July 14 STW Missions Team Meeting The Oakwood ACORN is a bi-weekly E-newsletter from Oakwood Community Church, published to keep our church family and friends informed about events and people at Oakwood. Articles may be submitted via e-mail to Office@oakwoodfl.org. Article deadlines and publication schedule is: Deadline Publication date News for dates including July 3 July 8 July 11 July 24 July 17 July 22 July 25 Aug 7 Missed a Sunday message? Listen online @ www.oakwoodfl.org/messages/