The Stillwater: Christian

The Stillwater
It is the mission of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Stillwater to be the church of Jesus Christ in the world. We do so by developing DISCIPLESHIP, Enabling OUTREACH, and embodying COMMUNITY in our lives together.
Christian
Volume 2013 | April 30
Welcome Center Hosts Needed
Annual CWF May Luncheon, May 8 Lunch served at noon, Fashion Show at 1:00pm Lunch will be catered by Hello! Catering and the menu is Poppy Seed Chicken Salad Casserole, Strawberry Spinach Salad, Croissant, and White Texas Sheet Cake. Due to the great response to last years program, we are having a Style Show provided by Elite Repeat. Tickets are $7 each and may be purchased in the office or from Pat Ward or Jodelle Stout. Thank you to those who have volunteered to serve at Welcome Center Hosts. We now have the year covered, except for July and November. If you are willing to serve in this capacity as an individual or as a Sunday School class to help in this task for either July or November, please contact Diana Watkins (405.614.2848 or diana.watkins@okstate.edu). Thank you!
Be The Church Week Completed

To everyone who volunteered, we are so grateful for your cheerful presence and hard work! We really cannot thank you enough for your time, expertise, and commitment in making this year's projects successful. Also, we owe a very special debt of gratitude to our Team Leaders, Keri & Kyle Bruce, Mary Anne Grimsley, John Leonard, Laura Sharp, Terry Varnell, Diana & Wade Watkins, and Chuck & Susan Willoughby. Without your hard work, leadership, and organizational skills BTC Week would simply not be possible and several of these projects, which required some Sonny Apman repairs experience would still be begging for completion! a cabinet at Here are the projects completed last week by our volunteers: Mission of Hope Payne County Youth Services, painted fixed fence, and stained a door and frame. Humane Society, walked dogs; at Walk n Wag walked dogs and worked booths. Life Center, cleaned the oven and shampooed the carpets. Wings of Hope, they cleaned windows and planted flowers. Habitat ReStore, they are planting flowers Mission of Hope, painted, repaired cabinets, and prepared lunch for the residents. Many prepared and delivered goody bags to those working on site each day. A slide show providing an overview of the week's work will be shown in church on May 19th. In the meantime, What a great experience to work with all of you! Hats off to you from your coordinators, Carolyn Hert & Sharon Wright Thank You Notes Received My family and I would like to express our gratitude to the members and friends of First Christian Church for your generosity. We are grateful not only for the celebration and gifts (which were many and wonderful!) at our 5th anniversary with you all, but also for the ongoing care and love you give us regularly. We are truly blessed to be a part of this congregation. It is my privilege to serve as your pastor! I also want to say thank you for the cards given to me that lifted up ways that my ministry has made a difference to many of you. It is good to hear those things and I am grateful and humbled! Shalom, Pastor Owen Wonderful People, I would like to express my appreciation to the Goad family and the youth of this church! I found myself in a situation I could not have handled without the support of Amy [Goad], Sondra [Ladd], and Leila [Beeby]. With the youth to the rescue again! I have been affiliated with this church for several years with Bill, Connie and Angela, now with precious Owen, Lori and their growing Nature Lovers. Teaching handson Horticulture and Critter classes with the younger ones, volunteering and just being a part of something good! Everyone has been so great, thanks...this is my favorite church because you guys do care. Crystal Cork
Have you wondered about the beautiful draped banners in the Sanctuary? Volunteers have been adding a colorful banner each week of Easter to help us celebrate the season.
Mowers Needed! Sign up in the office to help with the church property.
Mark Your Calendar

May 8 CWF May Luncheon May 11 CMF Breakfast May 26 Senior Sunday
Join us this Sunday for Owen Caytons Message, Joyous in the Light: A Joy Complete! based on Joel 2:21-27 and John 16:19-24 Traditional 9:00am Sunday School 10:10 Contemporary 11:10
Owen Cayton, Senior Minister
The Care and Feeding of A Candle
pastor@fcc-stillwater.org
Sondra Ladd, Children/Youth Ministry Director youth@fcc-stillwater.org
CH ILDR EN & YO UTH MI NISTR Y NEWS
We, as the church, find ourselves in the Easter season. Together we celebrate life, new-life and resurrection. Around Easter this year, it seems that I have been doing, participating in, or attending a fair number of funerals. In our faith, the Easter witness and funerals are connected to one another. So, I have been thinking about this connection and have a few thoughts to share First and foremost, a funeral is a celebration of life. It is a worship service in which we praise God for the gift of life. This doesnt necessarily mean that we are dancing in the aisles, and certainly our praise and gratitude can be somber. However, a funeral is an opportunity for us to acknowledge that life is both gift and good. Second, there is some particularity to our celebration. Not only are we celebrating the gift of life in general, we are celebrating the gift of a particular life. Together we hold before God the memory of a person who has shared life with us and we express that our lives would be diminished had this person never been given to us. We may also express our sense of loss that this person is gone from us in certain ways, but that too is connected to our gratitude to God for their life. So, we share stories and memories; we describe this person we have known: who they were and what made up their life and relationships. Finally, at a funeral the church bears witness to the gospel. At moments of death we proclaim our defiant witness of resurrection. This is not us saying glibly, They are in a better place now. It is a more powerful witness that death does not have the final say on our life and destiny before God. It is that witness that says we are more than our memories, more than our abilities (or lack thereof) to hold intact all of our relationships, and even more than our moments of rightness or wrongness. Thus, we can celebrate all the more the gift of life and we can remember completely the one who has died with all the stuff they got right and all they got wrong. More than that, we can express our hope and our comfort to one another. There are certainly other things that happen at a funeral. Often we offer specific comfort to the family: if the death has been particularly tragic, sudden, or drawn out and marked with suffering. Sometimes the funeral can be a first step in the grief process for family and friends. The funeral may even provide the opportunity to tie up loose ends or to take care of unfinished business saying goodbye or expressing anger or regret if those seem appropriate at the time. The funeral can be one of the most beautiful, engaging, and faithful acts of worship we as people of faith can perform. Next time I would like to offer some observations about elements that I think make for good funerals. Shalom, Pastor Owen The Stillwater Christian is a weekly publication of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The deadline for articles each week is 1pm Monday. Tracy Freeman, Editor editor@fcc-stillwater.org Church Office Phone: 405.372.7722 Fax: 405.372.7726 Find The Stillwater Christian and more information at www.fcc-stillwater.org Send prayer requests and general email to office@fcc-stillwater.org
Vacation Week for the Ladds! Rick and Sondra will return from vacation on May 1st. May 1st Deadlines There are several May 1st deadlines. FINAL PAYMENTS FOR JAMAICA MISSION TRIP DRY GULCH FINAL PAYMENTS, AND MISSION EL RENO. Questions about balances? Contact Leola in the office. All checks need to be made to FCC and submitted to the church office. Payments have already been made, so its very important to meet all deadlines. May 5th Meetings Graduates Meeting, May 5th at 5:30pm. All FCC 2013 grads from SHS and area high schools are asked to meet in the youth room at 5:30 on Sunday, May 5th (parents are encouraged to attend) to discuss plans for the Senior service, Sunday, May 26th. We hope to take a group photo and are asking the grads to wear jeans and a white shirt. Please bring approximately 15 pictures for the photo slideshow to be presented during the service. Jamaica Mission meeting at 6:30 in the youth room. We will be distributing release forms, discussing policies and expectations and covering transportation needs. It is very important that EVERYONE attend this meeting. If you are unable to attend; then you must set up a meeting with Sondra (between 5/2 and 5/5.) No SMS or SJH breakfasts through May 1st. BTC Thank You Note Dear Members of FCC, Thank you for including the Life Center in your plans for Be The Church. We appreciate all of the support and concern that the members of this church give to the Center. On behalf of the family, board, and staffthank you for your continuing interest and support. This church always goes above and beyond for the community and we are proud to be a part of your mission. Jacqui Lutterbie, Center Director, and participants.
Facts & Figures for April 28, 2013

Attendance (106 & 122)...228 Sunday School......102 General Fund Receipts.$5,032.00 Capital Fund Receipts..$465.00 Loose Offering/Sunday School...$289.00 Project Funds Receipts.$7,167.18 Facts & Figures as of March 31, 2013 YTD Budget Receipts......$115,327.92 YTD Budget Expenses.....$115,114.32 Net Receipts over Expenses.213.60 Presented by Kay Smith, Treasurer, dkwsmith@suddenlink.net
Happy Birthday to: 5/1 Wilma Human, Alan Tipps 5/2 Taigan Clark, Lexie Crocket 5/4 Elvona Springer, Rob Whiteley 5/5 Ila Whitsel, Linda Evans 5/6 Shayla Freeman, Sara Peters, Bill Varnum 5/7 Samantha Edwards

The Stillwater: Christian

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Stillwater: Christian

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Stillwater: Christian

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Stillwater

Be The Church Week Completed

Mark Your Calendar

Owen Cayton, Senior Minister

The Care and Feeding of A Candle

Sondra Ladd, Children/Youth Ministry Director youth@fcc-stillwater.org

CH ILDR EN & YO UTH MI NISTR Y NEWS

Facts & Figures for April 28, 2013

You might also like