Three-congregation Vacation Bible School set Montezuma Church of the Brethren will host Vacation Bible School this year for the kids of Beaver Creek, Montezuma and Dayton Churches of the Brethren. The dates are June 25 through 28, a Monday through Thursday format. Dinner is available each evening at 5:30 p.m., with the program then running from 6 to 8:15 p.m. The theme of this year s VBS is Shipwrecked: Rescued by Jesus. Interactive activities will take the kids from station to station, with each night s activities coordinated by a Bible point. For more information, contact Abby Wampler. Adult leaders are especially welcome to join the team. June brings summer hours on Sundays Beginning June 3 we ll be on summer hours. Everything will be moved up 30 minutes meaning Sunday School starts at 9:15 a.m. and morning worship is at 10:30 a.m. (On First Sundays, breakfast is served at 8:45 a.m.) The early hours give us the opportunity to get in and get out of the building on those hot summer Sunday mornings. Summer hours continue through the last Sunday of August. Father-Son Breakfast set for June 16 Choir takes summer off New members welcomed Outdoor worship set The ladies of the church will be providing a tasty breakfast and short program for all guys who are members or friends of Beaver Creek Church on Saturday, June 16 at 8 a.m. The invitation goes to anyone who is anybody s father or anybody s son. Following the June 3 worship service, the Adult Choir will be taking its customary summer break. In the fall Adrienne Whiteside will be returning as choir director and Deanne Dastoli will be back as accompanist. New voices are always welcome if you re interested, just show up for choir practice on Wednesday nights at 7:30 p.m. beginning in September. During the summer, the Worship Focus Team would like to invite special music from members and friends of the congregation. If you might be interested in doing a song or two during morning worship, please contact Ann Healy. Beaver Creek Church accepted new members by transfer letter and reaffirmation of faith on Pentecost, May 20. The congregation responded with vows of support. Pictured at left are the Whitmore family and Tammy Stine. The Whitmore children (Raelynn, Grayson and Kailey) were dedicated on May 13. In the Church of the Brethren, children may be dedicated at any age. Photo by Douglas Wood On June 10 we will hold our regular Sunday worship service outdoors under the picnic shelter. The Fellowship Team is coordinating a carry-in picnic afterward. Bring lawn chairs, or you may sit on the picnic table benches. Come join us! Worship starts at 10:30 a.m. Sunday School 9:15 a.m. (30 minutes later September through May). Church office 540 828-2767, email secretary@beavercreekchurchva.org, office hours 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday http://beavercreekchurchva.org Twitter: @beavercreekers Facebook: Beaver Creek Church of the Brethren and Beaver Creek COB Youth
Beaver Creek Church of the Brethren-Monthly Calendar Scheduled church events this month: June 3, 8:15 a.m., coffee fellowship with breakfast food June 5, 6:30 p.m., Women s Fellowship Sunset Group June 7-13, Church office closed (vacation) June 16, 8 a.m., Father-Son Breakfast June 13, 6:30 p.m., Worship Focus Team June 21, 7 p.m., Leadership Team June 24, 10:30 a.m., Bread and Cup Communion June 25, Opening night of Vacation Bible School at Montezuma Church of the Brethren (joint with Montezuma and Dayton through June 28) June 30, 7:15 a.m. Men s Fellowship-Thomas House Birthdays this month: 1 Sheldon Simmons 2 Kenny Wheelbarger, B.J. Hess 4 Heather Patterson 5 Alice Over 10 John Jordan 12 Amy Hoover 13 Candy Hulvey 14 Nancy Simmons 17 Sawyer Wilkins 18 Michael Healy 20 Mary G. Miller 22 Heather Over, Waylon Wilkins 25 Joe Mullens 28 Marlin Simmons Beaver Creek Church of the Brethren Leadership Team Meeting April 19, 2018 Present: Theresa Eckard, Candy Hensley, Jeanette Hess, John Hoover, Reba Kline, Joe LaPrade, Amy Saum. Ex-Officio: Bill Wood Deacon Chair, Darlene LaPrade Church Clerk. Absent: Chris Dastoli, Kenny Wheelbarger, Elaine McGann, Donna Miller. Jeanette called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. Jeanette opened with devotions. The minutes from the March meeting were approved. Calendar Roundtable: April 28 Men s Fellowship Chicken BBQ, May 12 Mother/Daughter Banquet @ 6:00 p.m., May 18 - Apple Dumpling Making @ 9:30 a.m., May 20 Deacon Meeting after worship and a carry-in meal, June 25-28 Vacation Bible School @ Montezuma COB, August 10-12 Church Retreat @ Natural Chimneys (J Loop), September 15-16 Spiritual Renewal Services The Treasurer s report was approved. Focus Team Reports: Facilities Team: John reported that Roger Simmons has requested information pertaining to the Facilities Team s budget. The Finance team will get the information to Roger. The team is still getting estimates for the storage shed roof and painting of the church eaves and roof. Christian Ed. Team: Amy reported that the team is working on plans for Graduation Sunday. If anyone knows of someone graduating, please let the team know. Bill reported that there will be a birthday party for Alda Miller on May 6 in the Fellowship Hall after worship. The family has asked Women s Fellowship to help with the food. The congregation is invited to attend. Search Committee Report: A prospective candidate will be interviewed on Monday. Joe reported that $801.00 was raised for Habitat for Humanity from the Pancake Supper. The meeting was adjourned at 7:34 p.m. Next Meeting May 17 Devotions: Candy Hensley Darlene LaPrade Church Clerk
Going on a Journey The quiet voice still speaks to our hearts, Come and see. Follow me. Here are Pastor Elaine s reflections for June: Going on a journey a pilgrimage, a walk, a vacation, graduating, a tour, whatever word you want to use is part of human nature. We like to move and change. We like to walk the same path, see the same things along the way. Yet, inevitably, even if we want the same walkway, we will experience differences. Going on a journey means we travel ways and places that others have traveled before we started our journey. In John s gospel account, after John bore witness to the coming of Jesus, the Light and Life, Jesus is described as walking along the way. John calls out to Jesus. Jesus asks what John wants with him. The disciples who are with John at this time, say, We want to know where you are staying? And Jesus said to these people, Come and see. [John 1:35f] Jesus Come and see theme for his journey continues to play a central role in how John s gospel describes who Jesus is and what Jesus does in his life and ministry. When we follow the way of another person, we soon discover that we reveal a lot about ourselves while learning more about the person whom we are following. Going on a journey challenges us to ask questions, to listen for answers, to entertain new possibilities, and to wake up to God s power of new and re-creation. Going on journeys can be difficult work. We get tired of traveling. We get weary of all the seeing and learning. We often just want to go home again. Jesus never promised that following Him would be simple or certain or comfortable. Jesus never promised that going on God s journey would be restful or without suffering and pain. The Come and see words of Jesus haunt us. Maybe we don t want to come anymore. Maybe we want to live our own lives now. We may not want to spend time with Jesus any more. We may be just too tired and empty. We may want to run our own lives without all this church and discipleship stuff. But the quiet voice still speaks to our hearts, Come and see. Follow me. Elaine Hartman McGann Clockwise from left: Beaver Creek-contributed apple dumplings are ready for wrapping for their trip to the Disaster Auction; members of the Women s Fellowship clean up after the apple dumpling session; and Faye tries out the custom breakfast at the auction. Beaver Creek members contributed to the success of the auction in many different ways. All proceeds benefit disaster ministries, both in the district and through the larger denomination. Photos by Tess Southerly, Bill Wood and Douglas Wood The church office will be closed for vacation June 6-12, reopening June 13
Beaver Creek Church of the Brethren 5651 Beaver Creek Rd. Bridgewater, VA 22812-3378 Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Permit No. 50 Elaine McGann, Interim Pastor Jeanette Hess, 2018 Leadership Team Chair Beaver Creek Church of the Brethren is a loving, caring and authentic fellowship of believers empowered by the Holy Spirit and called to be God s church: to worship, humbly serve others and proclaim Jesus Christ. The red hymnal and amen Save the dates! Retreat August 8 through 10 Beaver Creek bits Following up on a decision by the Worship Focus Team, we have been using some hymns from The Brethren Hymnal (1951), commonly known as the red hymnal. Here are a few points of interest: Our main hymnal remains Hymnal: A Worship Book (1992, the blue hymnal ), and we re not replacing it, only using a few hymns from the red hymnal when they fit the service especially well. Because we own enough copies of the red hymnal, the copyright laws permit us to freely copy its hymns as bulletin inserts which is an easier way to use the hymns than passing out the actual books. Some hymns appear in both hymnals but with a red hymnal version more suited to our congregation. For example, With Happy Voices Singing is in the very difficult-to-reach key of D for most singers as presented in the blue hymnal. The red hymnal brings it down a whole step to the more comfortable key of C. The blue hymnal is very sparing in the use of amen at the end of hymns, as hymn experts consider appropriate. In the mid 20 th century, amen was added to many hymns routinely, and so amen occurs at the end of red hymnal versions. The word translated amen occurs in the Old Testament and New Testament in the original languages means let it be so, a prayer that what we sing in the hymn will be true. To date, reaction to these hymns has been quite positive. The worship team welcomes feedback on music selections and is committed to providing, in consultation with the pastor, a variety of music for our worship experience. All Church Retreat is set for Natural Chimneys August 8-10. We have reserved a block of sites and large picnic shelter in the J Loop. Overnight campers with RVs or tents are welcome both Friday and Saturday. Those not inclined to spend the night are welcome at day activities, including swimming, campfires, and hiking around the Chimneys. A catered picnic is set for Saturday followed by informal vespers. The retreat wraps up in time for regular Sunday services back at Beaver Creek. Coffee fellowship time with breakfast is at 8:45 a.m. June 3. The storage shed at the parsonage was recently re-roofed. The Facilities Team also reports that estimates have been received for some exterior element painting on the church building. Pastor Elaine reaches the one-year mark of her interim service on June 1, and was enthusiastically endorsed by the Leadership Team at its May meeting to continue her service as we search for a new full-time pastor. Men s Fellowship meets at 7:15 a.m. June 30 at Thomas House-Dayton.