The Cottage Way Christian News

October 2010

Holiday Bazaar on October 2

It’s coming up fast! Our Holiday Bazaar is on Saturday, October 2, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tell all of your friends and neighbors! Bring the kids.

There will be handmade crafts for sale, baked goods to buy, several raffle items you could win, and food cooking in our kitchen. Come, enjoy yourself, and pick up some holiday decorations and Christmas gifts! It will be a fun day at the church.

Raffle tickets will be on sale soon. Raffle tickets are $1 a piece or you can buy six tickets for $5. And it isn’t too late to get a table. Small, round tables are $20 and a large table is $40. Tables can be reserved by calling the church at 927-9274. You can also donate items for the bake sale.

Many of you have been busy preparing for the Bazaar. We’ve had several craft days here at the church and have made a lot of things to sell. We’ve also had several generous donations for the raffle. Our Bazaar is bound to be a success and a lot of fun! We hope to see you on October 2!

How Many Loaves Do You Have?

The theme for this year’s stewardship season is, “How Many Loaves Do You Have?” Our stewardship season will end with Consecration Day on October 10.

“How many loaves do you have?” is the question Jesus asked his followers as they looked out on a great crowd of hungry people. They gave to Jesus what they had to give. They gave him seven loaves of bread. Jesus took what they had to give. He took that bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it back to them to give to the people. And about four thousand people ate and had plenty to eat.

“How many loaves do you have?” is the question Jesus asks all of us. He asks us, “What do you have to give?” And this is what we have to pray about this stewardship season. What do we have to give to the church? It is a spiritual question. It is between ourselves and God. No one in the church will tell us what we should give.

Jesus takes what we have to give and does some really wonderful things. We have all seen that happen. We have seen Jesus take what we have to give and do some really wonderful things for people here at our church. What has happened among us . . . well, you can’t buy what has happened with money. It is too wonderful. Jesus takes what we give and does something priceless with what we give.

At the end of our worship on October 10, we will use our Estimate of Giving cards to indicate how many loaves we have. We will use those cards to indicate what we have to give to the church in 2011. We will fill out those cards that morning and bring them to the front of our church and place them before God. So please be in worship that Sunday morning.

Our Celebration Dinner will follow our worship. See the article about that dinner in this newsletter.

Celebration Dinner on October 10

Following our worship on Consecration Day, which is October 10, we will have a Celebration Dinner here at the church. After we have brought our Estimate of Giving Cards before God at the end of the service, we will celebrate our giving to the church with a special potluck dinner. At this dinner, the total amount of our pledges to the church for 2011 will be announced.

For the last two years, this dinner has been catered. We are trying something different this year. While the meat and drinks will be provided, we are being asked to bring a side dish or a salad or a dessert to share with others in the church. This years’ Celebration Dinner will be a potluck dinner. It fits with this year’s theme: How Many Loaves Do You Have? What can you bring to our Celebration Dinner? Not only will we celebrate our giving to the church, we will also celebrate how Jesus takes what we give and does wondrous things with it.

We are asked to make reservations for this dinner. On the reservation card, you can indicate what you plan to bring to the dinner. But we want you to come to the dinner even if you aren’t able to bring a dish! You don’t have to bring a big dish and it doesn’t have to be fancy at all. But if you aren’t able to bring something, go ahead and make a reservation come anyway. We want to fill the sanctuary for worship and the social hall for the dinner. We want you to come. Please do!

Halloween Party Coming Up

The Children and Families Team has set this year’s Halloween Party for October 30 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. All everyone is invited! There will be fun Halloween games, prizes, plenty of snacks, and a Halloween costume contest. You don’t have to be a kid to be in the costume contest! Everyone is encouraged to come to the party and to come in a costume. Be watching for more details about the party.

A Thank You from Hannah Gardner

Thank you so much for taking me to church camp! I love it so much. I can’t just pick one thing I liked about church amp. I wish it was an all year thing. But I really like the swimming and the singing because I love both of these things. Thank you SO much!

Love always,

Hannah

San Juan Unified Says Thanks

We received the following thank you note from the San Juan Unified School District:

Dear Members of Cottage Way Christian Church,

Thank you for generously providing student backpacks and school supplies for the homeless and less fortunate students in our school district. This year the California economy poses a great challenge for an increasing number of students living in poverty. Your contribution will allow many students to begin the school year prepared with basic supplies and confidence for the upcoming academic year.

We truly value your partnership with San Juan Unified School District. Thank you for your contribution to Stuff the Bus 2010.

Sincerely,

Melanie Barbeau/Stacy Brown

We Welcome our Newest Member

We are so pleased to welcome David Bell into the fellowship we have here at Cottage Way Christian Church. David came forward to make his confession of faith last Sunday and he will be baptized by Pastor Neal at Arden Christian Church this Sunday, September 26. His baptism will be at 3:00 p.m. and you are more than welcome to come. Arden Christian is located on Eastern Ave. just south of Arden Way.

Pastor Neal to Take a Trip

Yes, we know that that’s hard to believe, but Pastor Neal will actually be going out of town for five days. He has been invited by the Region to attend a meeting of the Regional Ministers of the eight western regions of our denomination. The meeting will be in Las Vegas from October 25 to 29.

He and other western pastors have been invited to attend because these Regional Ministers want to talk to pastors of churches that are being “transformed”. They want to talk to the pastors of churches that are doing really well. Cottage Way Christian Church is one of those churches. So they are flying Pastor Neal to Las Vegas and are putting him up and buying his meals so that he can tell them about our church and why it is we are doing so well.

You can help Pastor Neal. Ask yourself what you think other churches can learn from ours. What can other churches learn from what has happened here at Cottage Way? Then write your answers down. It doesn’t have to be anything long. You can make a few notes or maybe write a paragraph or two. But what you have to say about your church is important to Pastor Neal. It will help him figure out what to say in Las Vegas. Write something down and give it to him before he leaves.

Classic Guitar Lessons

John Rohrman, a member of Cottage Way who plays guitar for us on Sunday mornings, is offering classical guitar lessons. As you know, John is a very accomplished guitarist and has over ten years experience as a public school teacher. He is willing to use his experience as a teacher to teach you what he knows about playing the guitar.

John is willing to take both beginning and intermediate students. The cost is $15 for each full 45 minute session and he will donate what he makes to Cottage Way. For children, he is willing to consider a reduced fee. All classes will be held here at the church. If you are interested, you can call Pastor Neal at the church office or talk with John.

Board Meeting on October 17

There will be a meeting of the Church Board on Sunday, October 17. The meeting will follow our morning worship on that day. It is an important meeting. We will be approving nominations for church offices and a budget for 2011. All members are encouraged to attend this important meeting. Even if you aren’t a member of the Board you can still attend Board meetings; you just aren’t be able to vote.

Sign Up for Coffee Fellowship

Coffee Fellowship after worship is enjoyed by many here at Cottage Way. If you would like to bring cakes or cookies or donuts for our coffee fellowship, there is a sign up sheet on the bulletin board in the social hall. Go ahead and pick a Sunday.

We know that with more and more people coming, bringing things for Coffee Fellowship takes a little more than it once did. Why not “team up” with a friend or two? It would make things easier and more fun. Find someone to do it with you.

From the Church Mouse

Hmmm . . . I see that Pastor Neal’s going to be out of town for a full five days. Now that is news. That’s headline news.

The Children and Families Team had just a wonderful picnic at Howe Park back on September 12. There were at least 30 kids and adults and everyone had a great time. I jumped into that black bag Pastor Neal always carries and he took me over to the park. And he didn’t even know it! Dennis Larsen went over early with his grill to save a spot for us and then he grilled up hamburgers and hot dogs for all to enjoy. Thank you, Dennis! And thanks to everyone else who brought things to eat. It was good to have Heaven’s friend, Lindsey come along. And it was good that Marilyn and her daughter could come by for awhile, too.

Let’s see here. It’s about time all of our wanderers returned to the fold. Melissa and Sharon should be back from the Women’s Retreat at Mission Springs. Kent and Cindy should be back from their trip to Yellowstone. Dennis, Michael, Heaven, and DeAngelo should be back from their little jaunt up to Oregon. We hope they all had a good time. I understand that Betty Carson went from here to Arizona and has ended up in Canada. I understand that she thinks she will be back home soon. I hope so. She’s been gone a long time. And everyone misses her.

And it looks like the sick are on the mend. Betty Tjoelker is now at home and doing better. She hasn’t been home since . . . well, I think it was June. We are glad to hear about Betty. Jack Hay is much better, too. He’ll be back with us on Sundays pretty soon it sounds like. David Moore got out of the hospital and then out of the rehabilitation place and is now home. Good work, David. Connie was in the hospital for a few days with pneumonia, but is home now and doing better. Jess Sullins thinks that, with his new medication, he might be able to come to see us some Sunday morning pretty soon. That would be good. Alice Jean took a bit of a tumble and bumped her head and broke a finger. But she’s looking and feeling much better, much to our relief. And we’ve sure been missing GiGi the last couple weeks and are hoping and praying that she gets better real quick like.

So the church’s wonderful choir has a wonderful new member. Terri Shook has decided to sing with the group. Everyone’s glad about that. Sing pretty, Terri.

Thanks to Courtney Boyce for making all of the delicious chocolate brownies for coffee fellowship on September 12. And Claudia went all out the next Sunday with cookies and ice cream. Thanks, Claudia. And John. The Mouse especially likes ice cream. How did you know?

I saw Erick and Mel and Bill out there in the back of the church cleaning up by the fences and taking care of the flower bed on the north side of the church. It looks good!

I’ll see you on Sunday. You won’t see me, but I’ll see you.

C. Mouse