FEBRUARY 2012 NEWSLETTER
I have been blamed for liking change just a bit too much, but have you ever considered that there may well be good that can come from change within a church. Over the course of the 29 years that I have served churches, I have had a lot of time to consider the effects of differing things on the life of the church. Sometimes the members of a church are their own worst enemy when it comes to achieving success in the vocation of Jesus call. One of my favorite Idioms is; “It is difficult to see the picture, when you’re standing inside the frame.” (R. S. Trapp); and sometimes it just takes someone new to point out what we are a part of for us to balance our actions for success.
The Bible in Daniel 5 gives us some history into this type of observation when Belshazzar was given the warning, “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN”, and did not understand its meaning. But, Israelites who saw it realized its message as a word play forecasting doom. Hence, Daniel’s observation that the “writing was on the wall”. What would you think if we were presented with information that leads us to new goals for our body of believers, and we did not see it because we felt attached to the belief that the church is constant in “its” needs?
Two idioms that have a distinct similarity may help us to resolve our dilemma. The first: Positive thinking leads to positive results. Is a modern business model that offers the follower to be more productive and have more possibilities? It seems to carry some cultural trust and validity, as a modern business model, that offers the follower to more productivity and possibilities. It seems to carry some cultural trust and validity, as it netted 18.9 million Google results. What I am suggesting is the notion that I sense a negative under-current in some of the conversations we have with regard to our goals. Second, “You can catch more bees with honey, than with vinegar.” So, if the first idiom has some truth to it, would it be likely that a more positive tone would be attractive to others.
Therefore, with the premises of my philosophical argument constructed, I can now present a conclusion. The goal of Christian Education as we reconstruct our team is to focus on the needs of the congregation, as they have been indicated by “written on the wall.” We have attempted upon attempt to do the historic thing; Sunday school for children; while the evidence is a lack of participation from those who are being presented this opportunity. I propose that the new goal, while continuing Sunday school for children (including VBS), we place our attention on the needs that are within our congregation: adult education, couples education and young adult education. I believe we can have positive experiences with these to build upon, gaining excitement around the established hive, which should lead to an attraction for others. Oh, the sweet smell of positive success. We can focus then on the things that are working (positively), instead of a lack of participation, leadership or programs that currently drain our energies (the negative). Then we will be singing with Johnny Mercer, Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive:
Gather 'round me, everybody
Gather 'round me, while I preach some
Feel a sermon coming on here
The topic will be sin
And that's what I'm agin'
If you wanna hear my story
Then settle back and just sit tight
While I start reviewing
The attitude of doing right
You got to ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive
E-lim-i-nate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with mister inbetween
You got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
And have faith, or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
To illustrate my last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark,
What did they do, just when everything looked so dark?
Man, they said, we better
Ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive
E-lim-i-nate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with mister inbetween
No don't mess with mister inbetween
You got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
And have faith, or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
You got to ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive
E-lim-i-nate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with mister inbetween
No don't mess with mister inbetween
Blessed by God,
Rev. Lance
THE PRAYER LIST
Entered Church Triumphant:
Jimmie Grimes
Gene Lackore
Lillian Richter
Members and Friends in the Military:
Mark Carlock (Joe & Karen Femali’s son)
SSGT Jason Stohlquist (Serving at AFB in Minot, ND)
SPC Andy Zabinski (nephew of Earl & Sherry Mark- wounded in Afghanistan)
FEBRUARY BIRTHDAY’S
Brittany Cass …………………1
Curtis Casey ………………… 2
Jason Stohlquist ……………...2
Carter Ball ………..………….. 3
Marion Zarndt…………………5
Alicia Wascher ……………….7
Trudy Jurs…………………….8
Carl Jensen Jr. ……..……….10
Jeremy Piske………………..16
Donald Glasgow…………….18
Nancy Hufty…………………18
Lois “Boots” Parisek …….….22
Al Schmidt……………………22
Ann MacVeagh………………23
Kim Shields ………………….25
Lorraine Roth ………………..26
Happy Birthday!
Please let us know your birthday so
we can add it to our list.
WOMEN'S CIRCLE MEETING - The first meeting for women's circle this year is March 12th. It will be at the home of Sharon Elder, 11376 Stonewater Crossing at 7:00 pm. We invite all women of the church to attend.
RUMMAGE STORAGE!! SPRING RUMMAGE SALE DATES!
Women's Circle will be having our annual spring rummage sale in April. The dates for this year’s rummage sale are April 19th, 20th, and the 21st. If you have any items that you would like to donate before April we are using rooms in the lower level of the church to store them. You can bring them anytime that is convenient for you. If you need help getting the items to church please call Jan Crabill in February or Jan and Nancy Pope in March. We thank you for your past help and we are hoping that our Spring Sale will be as good as or better than our fall rummage sale. Women's Circle last year donated $10,000 to the bold fund. We will have a sign-up sheet later for everyone’s help.
Women’s Bible Study is in the works. If you are interested or would like more information, please call or e-mail Sue Frihart at 815-568-3235 or sfrihart@yahoo.com.
Valentine Cabaret – Friday, February 10th – Appetizers at 6:00 pm – Ham Dinner at 7:00 pm – Tickets ($12.00 ea.) available between services on Sunday, January 29th and February 5th or call Lorraine Roth at 847-515-3517 and tickets available in the church office.
I wanted to thank everyone for their kindness, care and compassion after dad was called into the Eternal Kingdom. The prayers, cards and conversations have been a great encouragement to Jill and me. You each have truly been a blessing to us during this sad event. We are both on the way to renewed faithfulness and peace, in large part to the support we have and are continuing to receive. We feel wholly blessed, Thank you. Rev. Lance and Jill
MISSION NEWS
Our Mission for December was The Christmas Fund (UCC - Veterans of the Cross), we collected $862.00.
This year, the Outreach Missions Committee has decided to reduce the number of charity commitments in hopes that members of our congregation will feel more able to support our own capital campaign. Mission envelopes may be used In January, for Family Health Partnerships, April, for P.A.D.S, July, for Grafton Township Food Pantry, and October, for Turning Point.
With the reduction of financial commitments each month, we are pursuing other mission and volunteer opportunities to impact worthy causes outside of our church. This past year, Annette Leffelman organized our participation in the soup kitchen at the Church of the Brethren in Elgin, the mission committee also organized an outing to help PADS start a garden and we continued the tradition of the annual Pioneer Christmas Wishlist. This year, the committee is researching how to go about attending a greater mission trip this summer, and finally we are excited to find ways to assist our active duty and returning Veterans.
The United Church of Christ denomination will still continue to submit an envelope in our Sunday bulletin for the following purposes: March, “One Great Hour of Sharing”, May, “Strengthen the Church”, Sept, Neighbors in Need, and Dec, Christmas Fund.
Upcoming Events & News
Valentine Cabaret – Friday, February 10th starting at 6:00 pm
Ash Wednesday Service – February 22nd at 7:00 pm
Three Simple Questions – Lenten Book Study starting February 29th at 6:00 pm