First Christian Circular
Volume 2, Issue 4
April 2011
The Pastor’s Heart
The elders have been studying a pamphlet by Christian Schwarz, the director of the Institute for Natural Church Development, entitled, “the ABC’s of Natural Church Development.” In Schwarz’s research of more than 1000 churches across 5 continents, he has come to this conclusion: “Everything that we need to see the church grow has already been provided by God.” But if this is true, why weren’t all the 1000+ churches that Schwarz studied growing? Why do some churches grow while some churches are in decline, and some even die?
To answer this question, Schwarz tells the story of a cart full of round wheels being pushed on square wheels:
The round wheels represent people with a variety of spiritual gifts which God provides to each of His churches. The square wheels represent the people who are actually in the leadership positions of the church (like the committee chairpersons), but who do not have the spiritually gifts for the positions they are in. The secret, says Schultz, is to get the round wheels in the right places—to get the spiritually gifted people into the positions in church where they can use their gifts. People with the spiritual gift of hospitality should be on the membership committee, for example; people with the spiritual gift of teaching should be on the Christian Education committee.
Our church’s fiscal year ends in June. For our new fiscal year, the nominating committee and church leaders will choose some new elders, new deacons, new committee chairpersons, and new committee members. Please pray that God would guide us to put the people who are spiritually gifted in the right spots. Ministry is fun when you are operating not in your own strength, but in the power of the Holy Spirit in using your Spirit-given gift! And when everyone in our church is operating in their Spirit-given gifts, our cart is really going to roll!
Bible Trivia Question
Congratulations to Shirley Slaughter, Jan Hall, and Eleanor Moore for getting last month's Bible trivia question right! The question was,
"When the fast current of the Nile River swept baby Moses downstream in the papyrus basket, who was watching over him?"
(If you are curious what the answer is, read Exodus 2:4
This month's trivia question:
When our church goes on a mission trip to Nashville, TN, from June 25-July 2 of year, we will spray bleach water on the studs of the houses that have been flooded, to kill any black mold. How did they deal with the problem of black mold, or “defiling mold,” in the time of Moses?
If you know the answer, please send it to me and with the verse where you found the answer. I'll make a note of all who answered correctly in next month's newsletter! Pastor Jon (269) 845-0416 jondenhouter@gmail.com
Membership Committee
Barb Wegner
Pastor and I have been sending cards to those who missed two or more Sunday and thank you notes for attending cards to those who visited. I was very pleased that this week, Marie Beck and I took over. She is so good at preparing communications and I thank her for her help. Perhaps this will be a way to relieve pastor of some duties. Friday March 4th we are having a get acquainted dinner at Marie Beck's house. This project has brought fun and fellowship. Marie provides her house and some of the food as does Pauline Smith and myself. Respectfully submitted Barbara Wegner
Worship Committee
Jon Phillips
1. Meeting was attended by Jon Phillips, Bill Beck, Marcella Peterson, Ted Wallace, Sheryl Benkert, and Pastor Jon. 2. Songs have been chosen for March. 3. Letter arrived from Souls Harbor. They are eagerly looking forward to joining us again this fall. 4. A. A couple of people have requested that we project the music on the screen during service as well as the lyrics to the songs. We have looked into the possibility of doing this and the cost is prohibitive. The good programs cost too much and the cheaper programs are just poor quality scans of sheet music. In either case, the song choices are very limited. B. What we can do is be more deliberate and (for the songs that are in our books) show the page numbers in the bulletin, on the screen, or have the praise team announce them. 5. We will be including Michiana Church of Christ in our Easter Sunrise Service. Pastor Jon will arrange with their Pastor the joint preaching, and we will have them bring a few “side dishes” for the breakfast such as sausage, juice, fruit, etc. It will be at 7:30am here at our church. 6. Kelly Beck will be our default preacher on Sunday evenings. Pastor Jon or an Elder might still give a sermon if God leads then to do so. 7. Lay leader Elder has got to remember to begin the service with a chance to greet our neighbors. 8. Also, take the chance between The Greeting and Joys and Concerns to draw people’s attention to a couple of important points in the bulletin, such as church attendance the week before. 9. Finally, Bill Beck pointed out that church attendance has been down over the last few months. This affects every aspect of church activities and worship. We need to be aware of those who have not been able to make it to church and reach out to them with love and assistance.10. Our next meeting is the 31st of this month.
Respectfully submitted by: Jonathan Phillips
Nurture Committee
Virginia True
No Meeting was held in February. February activities: On February 13th we had a potluck. Pastor Jon’s birthday was celebrated with cards, cake and a short skit. Food and fun in the fellowship hall is always a blessing for us to spend this time together. Thanks to all who helped make this a memorable day. NO funeral/dinners for the month. March events: In celebration of Shauuna Lafferty’s baptism we will have a potluck in her honor on March 27th. Next Meeting: March 24th 7 PM. April events to be discussed/planed are a breakfast/brunch for Easter Sunday between the two services. We invite anyone to come who’d like to offer suggestions, help and prepare for this special fellowship as we celebrated the resurrection and life of the Lord we love, serve and give thanks for his ultimate gift. Sincerely Virginia True
Property Committee
Jim Dodd
Things that have been done: 1) Place to hang up clothes Sheryl’s Room. 2) Fix trim on doorway to nursery. 3) Turn door handle around on class room door. 4) E-mail from Jeremy to fix trim on office window that had fell off. Other things we talked about: 1) Ice hanging from roof on church. 2) New holder in prayer room. 3) Max had a list of things to repair or fix in the office. 4) Who should have keys to the office and the church? 5) Redoing the entrance to the church. (Start in about a week or so) 6) Talked about starting the new bathroom (Get am est. for coast). 7) Talk about the things we would like to do the first Sat. of April. Things we would like to work on April 2, 2011. Spring Clean up Day: 1) Put up motion light. 2) Fix Stairway in balcony. 3) Change water line to baptism tank. 4) Clean all closets and corners. 5) Wash all windows. 6) Rake yard. 7) Find storage place for tables and chair. 8) Polish pews. 9) Get lawn mower and weed eater and blower ready for the season. (New plugs, oil, sharpen blade, new gas) 10) Fix where ice hangs down from roof of church. 11) Wrap trim around windows and doors on office. 12) outside of office needs to be power washed. 13) Siding on east side of church needs fixed. 14) Crown molding is falling down in different areas in church. 15) paints downstairs in fellowship hall. 16) Repair flash molding around chimney on office. 17) Good general house cleaning. Next meeting is March 30th, 2011 at 7 PM.
Property Chair - Jim Dodd
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