The
April/May 2012
From the Pastor: Almost There
We are holding a campaign
to raise some money for the church. Why
are we doing this? Because we are almost
there, that’s why. Thanks to God’s
continuing work among us, we are almost there.
When I came to
We have an important
ministry. Through the Spirit of God
alive among us, the church does really good things for people who live in the
neighborhood around the church. And that
is why the church has grown so much.
That is why it was so crowded around here on Easter Sunday. People have come to
We are very nearly
self-sustaining. Each year, giving to
the church has increased. Four years
ago, I figured that, if giving increased by 15% a year for the next seven
years, the church would be self-sustaining; it would no longer need to rely on
its investments to fund its operations and would even have a little bit of its
investments left over. I had no idea how
that would be possible. I mean, that’s a
lot to ask. But the average increase in
giving for the last four years has been right about 15%. That is incredible. It would be remarkable in good economic
times, but to see such increases in times like these is just simply incredible. Surely God is at work among us.
So we are getting pretty
close to being self-sustaining. We
aren’t quite there yet, but we’re pretty close.
The problem is that we lost a pretty good chunk of our investments when
the market collapsed a few years ago.
This means we need a boost. We
need $80,000. That will insure that the
church can operate for at least two more years which, I figure, is enough time
for us to become self-sustaining. It
will also allow us to make repairs to the church’s sidewalk and driveway that
are required by the county.
We have come so very
far. We really have. We are almost there. Please pray about what you can give to our
“Building Our Future” Capital Campaign.
Commitment Sunday will be May 20.
On that day we will make our commitments to the campaign. Celebration Sunday will be May 27, Pentecost
Sunday. On Pentecost we will announce
the results of our campaign.
Why are we doing
this? Because we are
almost there. We are almost
there.
And God is
with us every step of the way.
Pastor Neal
Building Our Future Begins
God called
Abraham to step out into the future trusting in God. In Genesis 12: 1-3, we read that God told
Abraham to leave his homeland and to go to a land that God will show him. There, in that land, God would bless Abraham.
As God called Abraham, so God calls us,
the people of
We took a
step into that future this past Sunday, April 29. This past Sunday we launched our Building Our
Future campaign to raise $80,000 for our church. That amount will allow us to cover the gap in
our church budget through at least 2015 and so enable us to become a truly
self-sustaining church, alive in faith and hope.
We have been
working with a gap in the budget for four years now and, because of your
increased giving to the church, that gap has been narrowing every single
year. We are making incredible
progress. But, when the stock market
collapsed a few years ago, we lost about $80,000 of the church’s investments,
upon which we have been relying for at least these four years. There is enough remaining to last one more
year. If we make our campaign’s goal, we
would have enough to cover our budget gap for at least two more years after
that. And, if
And it is
worth it. What God does for people
through us and our church is worth every penny.
It is priceless. The
The campaign
begins on April 29. Commitment Sunday,
when we will make our pledges to the campaign, is May 20. Celebration Sunday is May 27, which is also
Pentecost Sunday. On Pentecost Sunday,
we will announce the results of our campaign.
Our giving to
the Building Our Future Campaign is over-and-above giving. It is to be over-and-above what we usually
give to the church.
We are
looking to raise the money in two years.
This means that you can spread your giving out over those two
years. You may give weekly, monthly,
annually, or even in one lump sum.
Not all of us are able to give
more than we already give. But all of us
can pray. As we all look to the future,
we can all look to God. We can all pray
for Cottage Way Christian Church and its ministry.
Baby Dedications on May 6
During our worship on May 6, we
will have Service of Dedication for Katie Jorgensen’s two children, for Joshua
Lee and for her newborn, Isabella Faith.
We are very happy to have these two beautiful children in our church’s
life and to pray for them and help teach them about God’s love. We are happy to have Katie and Rick here,
too, and to support them as parents.
Mother’s Day Celebration
on Sunday, May 13
Sunday, May 13, is
Mother’s Day. We want to celebrate and
give thanks to God for our mothers. Just
prior to worship at 11 AM, we’ll have special awards for the newest mother, most
children in worship, most grandchildren, etc.
Then, after worship, there will be gifts for all the moms, plus a
special reception to honor them.
Give your mom a great gift – bring her to church on Mother’s Day!
Honoring Our Veterans on Sunday,
May 27
At the
beginning of worship on Memorial Day Sunday, May 27, we’ll honor our veterans
with a special flag presentation by our Boy Scouts, a prayer, and song. We’ll also distribute a special memorial
folder listing the congregation’s veterans, both living and deceased. A draft of our list of the congregation’s
veterans will be distributed on the previous Sundays, May 13 and May 20, so
that you can make any additions or corrections that are needed prior to our
service on May 27.
Please join us as we
honor those who have served.
Celebrating Our Birthday and
Our Future on Sunday, May 27!
May 27 is also Pentecost
Sunday — a BIG DAY in the life of our church and every Christian
church. It celebrates the day that the
Christian church itself was born nearly 2000 years ago, when God sent the Holy
Spirit to the community of Jesus’ followers (see Acts 2:1-21). It’s an especially wonderful day for us here
at
On Sunday May 27, please wear red if you can —
a symbol of the way God “fires us up” for God’s ministry of love in Jesus. Join us at 10:45 AM for a special worship
service. Then stay for our CELEBRATION
PARTY after worship. We’ll have (free) sandwiches, birthday cake,
and punch, plus games and prizes for all the children. Come, celebrate with us!
We Welcome Our Newest Member
We are so pleased to welcome Dorothy Campini as a member of our fellowship. Dorothy has been around here a quite a bit
the last year or so and we are happy that she has placed her membership at
Christian Ed. & Youth
Committee Makes Big Plans
The Christian Education and Youth Committee,
co-chaired by Roxann Higgins and Randi Jones, celebrates the booming growth of our children’s Sunday
school classes and is also glad to note the popularity of our new Children’s
Church among kids and adults alike.
We’re also making all kinds of great plans for the spring and summer! Some of our plans include the following:
Youth Group Nachos Fundraiser on Sunday, May 6,
after worship
Your free will donation will help our children and
youth go to Church Camp.
Birthday Party for the Church & Celebration Sunday:
Sunday, May 27 noon
The Christian Education + Youth Committee will provide
a free light lunch for our
church’s Birthday Party and the Celebration of “Building Our Future.”. Join us for this (free) lunch as we celebrate
the birth – and the growing future! – of the church.
Children’s Car Wash: Sunday, June 3, after worship
Get your car sparkling clean – and help our kids
get to Church Camp, too! Tell your
friends to bring their cars, too!
Kids Leave for Church Camp: Sunday, June 24
We’ll have a special blessing in worship for all
our kids who will be leaving today for a week of church camp – thanks to all of
you!
Church Yard Sale on
Saturday, August 4 and Sunday, August 5
Once again, we’re planning a big yard sale in
August! We hope everyone will save
their yard sale items for us until Friday, August 3, then bring them to the
church or let us know where to pick them up.
All proceeds will benefit the church.
Thank you!
The Christian Education & Youth Committee meets after worship on the first
Sunday of every month to make plans for programs and events related to
Christian education and to families and children. We’d love to have you join us with your
suggestions and ideas!
It’s Time to Register for Camp!
Camp registration forms
are available from Pastor Neal.
Scholarships are available through the Region and forms for these
scholarships are also available from Pastor Neal. Please fill these forms out as soon as
possible and return them to Pastor Neal!
The sooner we get the scholarship forms filled out, the more
likely we will be able to get those scholarships! The cost of camp this year is $400. Junior Camp and Chi Rho Camp will be help June 24-30 and CYF Camp will
be July 1-7. For more information, talk
with Pastor Neal.
B.I.G. Kids’ Class Seeks
Canned Goods for Food Pantry
Our 2nd-5th grade Sunday School class, led by Carlene Lockling,
would like to thank all of you for your donations to our food pantry
drive. Because people are still getting
hungry, we’d like to continue our drive.
Please bring canned food items to our Sunday School
classroom. Our B.I.G.
(“Believe In God”) Kids — and the hungry people — thank you!
Music & Choir Notes
Adult Choir Swells to New Fullness: In the past month or so, our adult choir has grown
to 22+ members —
more than anyone can ever remember.
And they are sounding SO WONDERFUL!
Our Easter Sunday anthem, “He is Risen/ He is
Exalted/ Majesty” seemed to have the heavenly hosts singing along. Wow, and thank you, Lord! We’re now working on some new songs for
summer, several with a lots of rhythm and rock. We’d love to have you, too! Just come any Wednesday from 7 to 8 PM and
you’re in!
Evening Taizé Services Fill Us With God’s Peace: Our six evening worship services during the season
of Lent were truly beautiful, filling all of us with a deep sense of God’s
presence and God’s peace. Many thanks to John Rohrmann, our
extraordinary classical guitarist, for his wonderful music.
Gospel Jazz Group Returns: It’s great to have Jerry Ford back playing
for us in worship. Jerry’s jazz trumpet, harmonica, and banjo add
so much to our Sunday mornings! All are
welcome to join the gospel jazz group.
Practice is Wednesdays at 6 PM.
The Children’s Choir will be singing nearly every
Sunday in May, including several of their favorites: Father Abraham, Arky Arky, and His Banner Over Me. We practice
after worship on Sundays. Children of
all ages — from toddlers to teens — are welcome!
The Praise Team sings contemporary Christian
songs every Sunday. Come and join your
voice, and your spirit, in joyful praise to God every Wednesday at 6:30 PM!
he Praise Team sings contemporary
Christian songs with guitar and other music every Sunday. You are SO welcome to join us. We practice on Wednesdays from 6:30-7:00 PM
and before worship on Sunday mornings.
Children’s Church Schedule;
Helpers Needed
Children’s Church is a time during worship when
our children go back to Room 7 for their own worship and a craft. It’s a big hit with our children and
their families! Right now, we don’t have enough volunteer helpers to offer
Children’s Church every week. So, until
we get more helpers, the Christian Education & Youth Committee is
attempting to offer Children’s Church about twice a month, as follows:
Date Leader(s) Special Occasion
June 3 Karen Jones/Kaleea
Jones
June 17 Karen Jones/Heaven Larsen Father’s Day
July 1 Randi Jones/Frances Williams
July 15 Randi Jones
July 29 Randi Jones
August 12 Roxann Higgins/Frances
Williams
August 26 Frances Williams
September 9 _________________________ Grandparents’ Day
September 23 _________________________
Would you please consider
volunteering to help lead Children’s Church once or twice a year? It’s fun and easy to do – we provide all the materials
and extra helpers, too. Please let
Pastor Neal or Roxann or Randi know if you can
help. They would be delighted to
hear from you!
Block Party Planned for June 23
The
The idea is
for
If you would like to help with
this project or if you have a really great idea for a booth, talk with Pastor
Neal or with Roxann Higgins.
Elder Emeriti to Be Honored
Four people
were named as Emeritus Elders by the Church Board earlier this year. We honor those who have faithfully served our
church as Elders for many terms. We honor
them by naming them Emeritus Elders, which means that they are Elders for
life. They can remain as active Elders
or they may retire.
During our
worship on May 20, we will honor the four recently named as Emeritus
Elders. Those four are Bill Lockling, Alice Jean Howard, Irene Phillips, and Erick
Leonard. We will also honor Jonathan
Taylor who was named Elder Emeritus a couple of years ago. These will be given lapel pins that Sunday
and we will display the plaque that hangs in the narthex with their names added
to it.
We thank these who have served us
so well and for so long. We are happy to
honor them in this way.
From the Church Mouse
Well, it was
another big, big Easter Sunday here at the church. It was crowded! You don’t know what it’s like trying to
scamper from here to there in the Social Hall with all of those big feet
stomping around everywhere you go.
Little feet, too. We had a lot of
kids running around again this year.
There was a bunch for the Easter Egg Hunt and even more for the
Children’s Moment during worship.
And there was
sure plenty eat. I am grateful—and I am
sure you are, too—to our Worship Committee, who brought fruit and pastries and
egg casseroles for the breakfast. And
then, just before worship, some neighbors from around the corner who come here
once in awhile came by with two trays of brownies, some of those little
cupcakes, and a big cake. They had to go
somewhere else that morning and couldn’t stay, but they wanted to give
something to the people of the church on Easter. I thought that was really nice and we thank
Amy and her family.
The worship
on Easter Sunday was beautiful. And the
choir sounded so good, I can’t think of words to describe it. There were so many voices. Singing praise to Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, they sounded like an angel choir. There were at least 120 people here for
Easter worship. Maybe
more. And after worship, everyone
got an Easter present from Carol, John, Betty, and Eugene. They gave everyone a special bag of Easter
candy. I thought that was really nice,
too.
Easter was a
really good day. Everyone seemed so
happy. And that makes me happy.
People are
pretty excited about the cookbook the church is putting together. Be sure to put your recipes in the box on the
counter in the Social Hall. I think I’m
going to put in my favorite recipe. You
don’t think mice have recipes? Sure they
do. I’m putting in my recipe for cheese
balls. “Very carefully remove cheese
from mouse trap. Roll cheese into real
little balls. Then eat them. May be served with cracker
crumbs, if available on the kitchen floor.”
I squeezed
under the door to the storage room upstairs off the cry room one day not long
ago. I couldn’t believe it! All of my favorite hiding places . . . Well,
they were all gone! Someone cleaned the
place up. And I know who, too. It was the youth group. It was all the kids in the church and their
parents. And they had help,
too, from Carlene and Roxann. Bill was there. And he didn’t stop them. I couldn’t believe it. Maybe it does look a whole lot better, but
now I’m going to have to find some new hiding places. For crying out loud!
Please
continue to pray for Roxann’s grandson and all of Roxann’s family. I
understand that Jesse Whistler has been in the hospital. Pray for Jesses. And Natalee Jones
broke her leg and ended up in the hospital.
She need surgery. She should be up and about soon, but keep Natalee in your prayers.
And I hear GiGi is having a rough time. Pray for GiGi.
Well, that’s
all for this time around.
C. Mouse