January 2006
The Pastor’s Column
By Rodney Newman
Blessings Abounding!
At our recent Charge Conference, our Lay Leader, Evelyn Phyffer, gave the annual review of our ministries. She used as her biblical text Acts 3:1-10 when Peter and John invite the beggar to “Look at us.” This statement was not said out of pride, rather, it was a witness to what God had done for them and their initiative to share that with others. I believe this captures the spirit of our ministry as well.
In seeing our entire ministry summarized at one time in this report, I was overwhelmed by the scope of our outreach and filled with gratitude for what God is doing among us. What follows is an abbreviated version of Evelyn’s testimony. Copies of the full report are available at the church and we will mail or email you a copy upon request.
Look At Us
By Evelyn Phyffer
As you read and hear about Crown Heights, we pray that you will be encouraged and inspired to continue your walk with Christ by joining us in one of our ministries. Acts 3: 1-10 recalls the story of Peter and John ministering to the lame beggar. After being asked for money, the scripture says that Peter and John looked straight at the beggar and Peter said, “Look at us!” The beggar watched them closely because he expected to get something from them. So we, the people of God who worship at Crown Heights, invite you to “Look at Us!”
Worship In accordance with our declared commitment to “traditional worship done with lots of energy”, we strive to organize our Sunday morning worship services along a traditional liturgical structure with the goal of making them familiar and predictable while at the same time, dynamic, stimulating, and friendly to visitors who may be experiencing worship at Crown Heights for the first time.
Look at us
· as we introduced a revised order of worship in September, including a more pronounced greeting time, personal bidding prayers and a prayer of confession in place of a pastoral prayer, and the addition of a musical time of reflection following the sermon.
· as in addition to the Sunday morning worship services, we also have special services for Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Advent, as well as celebrating other special Sundays on the church calendar such as Laity Sunday and World Communion Day.
· our ushers as they greet you with smiles and words of welcome and thanksgiving that you have been led to worship with us.
Mission Our mission opportunities offer believers many hands-on experiences, time for spiritual growth and challenges to believers to get involved and make a Christian difference.
Look at us in our neighborhood
· as we serve our third year with the Whiz Kids weekly after school tutoring program in conjunction with Mayflower Congregational Church for 25 neighborhood children from Putnam Heights Elementary School.
· as we prepare and deliver Mobile Meals each week to 25 shut-in adults
· as we join with Wesley United Methodist Church in Project Transformation.
Look at us in our city
· as we serve in Skyline Urban Ministries’ many missions through donations of food, clothes, meals served to the homeless at Saturday Night Alive, back-to-school clothes drive and Angel Tree Christmas gifts. The October Can Food Drive for Skyline increased from 1860 cans donated in 2004 to 2005 cans donated in 2005.
· as we help to build a Habitat for Humanity home for a deserving family.
· as we provide transportation through our van ministry to residents of our community who are living with disabilities, providing them with the opportunity to attend worship services in our community.
Look at us in our nation
· through our faithful payment of our apportionments and special donations in time of crisis, as we join with other congregations in expanding our mission and ministries throughout our nation and our world.
Look at us in the world
· as we share the love of God in ways that make a Christian difference by leading and serving on VIM teams in England, Mexico and Ghana.
· as we raise funds to support special mission needs through a flea market in the spring and the Pumpkin Patch in the fall, which is a mission ministry of United Methodist Women.
· as we present A Taste of Missions lunch on Round-up Sunday in September featuring foods from around the world where members of our church family are in mission.
The mission ministry team allows the Crown Heights family to become doers of the Word and not just hearers.
Education The mission of the education ministry is to educate, motivate and equip the family of believers at Crown Heights in matters of faith.
Look at us
· in four adult Sunday School classes, each of which fulfills its mission in different formats with guided studies.
· as we educate our children and youth in matters of faith through three children’s classes and one youth class, emphasizing such topics as discipleship, stewardship, worship, and Christian leadership.
· as we continue in the summer with a weeklong, Bible-based music camp and Vacation Bible School.
· as we welcomed The Reverend Dr. Myron McCoy, President of Saint Paul School of Theology, for our Holland Lectures.
· as we enjoyed an all-church retreat at Hardt Lodge at Canyon Camp in May.
· as we emphasized our mission outreach through a variety of speakers from the Conference and Conference agencies during the August Sunday School Lecture series.
Care The mission of the care ministry is to assist each other in times of need. It is the desire of the care ministry to reach out and touch each other through small groups as well as to the larger church family.
Look at us
· as we care for one another through Sunday School classes, the music ministry, UMYF fellowship times and UMW circles.
· as we call, email, write and make personal visits with each other, just to “keep in touch” or in times of special needs.
· as we pray for each other, our world leaders, the environment, and those serving God throughout the world.
· in The Trumpet, our monthly newsletter, as we share the good news from our pastor in his monthly column, from other church ministry teams regarding how they are fulfilling our overall mission, and from our church staff with dates of celebrations and upcoming events in our church family and in the life of our church.
· as we opened our hearts, our minds, our doors and our hands to two mission teams; one from Schaumburg, Illinois and one from Winfield, Kansas.
· as we open our doors to a Narcotics Anonymous Support Group two nights each week.
Fellowship The mission of the fellowship ministry is to provide church-sponsored activities throughout the year. Faith, shared with other believers, creates bonds that link us together.
Look at us
· on “Souper Bowl Sunday” in January when the aroma of homemade soups, side dishes and desserts prepared by volunteers provide a great after-worship lunch. Over 100 cans of food were collected for our food pantry on this Sunday.
· as we arranged a reception for the Holland Lectures to provide an opportunity for further questions and discussion.
· as we join with the education ministry team in providing two evening meals for children, parents, and servant volunteers at Vacation Bible School.
·
as we help with the Advent Festival and as we prepare and
serve Christmas Dinner for our Whiz Kids program, times when we gather
together for meals.
Children and Youth Ministry Our ministry to children and youth is a faith-focused ministry dedicated to educating and equipping them for lives of service and discipleship.
Look at us
· as we said goodbye to Mary Altizer as she continues her ministry at Epworth UMC in Chickasha and as we welcomed Mike Slack as Director of Youth Ministries and Jenifer Thompson as Director of Children’s Ministries.
· as our children and youth continue to be active partners in our worship, serving as liturgists, acolytes, sharing their musical talents by singing and playing musical instruments, and receiving 3rd grade Bibles.
· as the Children’s Council joined with other ministries of the church in the Advent Festival and the Easter Egg Hunt at Easter.
· as our youth serve at various mission sites throughout our community, state, nation and world and as they fellowship together several times each year for special events.
Music The mission of our music ministry is to lead and support our services of praise and worship with Spirit-led songs of praise, joy and thanksgiving to be sung by the congregation, choir, individuals and small group selections, and instrumentals.
Look at us
· when two special Sunday musical celebrations are shared during Lent and a cantata during Advent and as special musicians share their God-given talents throughout the year.
· during joyous, Sunday music celebrations including the July revival, Blues Sunday, and Gospel music Sunday.
· as Mariann Searle was recognized for providing ten years of faithful service as our church musician.
Administrative Ministry
Look at us!
· as the Trustees at Crown Heights consider the preservation of property as they replaced the lighting on the sides of the sanctuary and oversaw the installation of a sprinkler system at the church.
· as we held three workdays at the church, two sponsored by the Trustees and one by the Children’s Council.
· as the Endowment Trustees brought attention to its mission through new brochures which were distributed during a special emphasis Sunday followed by lunch.
Thank You
for your Financial Support
A few months ago, our Finance Committee presented the congregation with a call to increase our giving to strengthen our financial position – and you responded. Of the 74 households returning an estimate of giving card for 2005 and 2006, 39 increased their amount, 15 of these by 20% or more. This, in addition to 15 new responses, gives us an overall increase of 9.45% from 2005. This puts us very close to our goals. We appreciate your continued faithfulness to this church and its ministry.
Music Ministry
by George Massey
Christmas Cantata
Congratulations to the Chancel Choir, Children's Choir, and Chancel Orchestra for your superb work for our annual Christmas Cantata, Agnus Dei. As always, we received numerous positive comments. Let's all try to take time and thank Celeste Rippeto the next time you see her at church!
Chancel Choir Spring Dates
Choir members will receive a detailed calendar for January through June, but I want to alert you to a few important dates now: April 2 (Time Change!!!), April 9 (Palm Sunday Lenten Cantata – with rehearsal on April 8 from 10:00-12:30 p.m.) and our glorious Easter Services (8:30 and 11:00 a.m. on April 16).
Weather Alerting System: The information whether we are canceling a Wednesday evening rehearsal on my voice mail outgoing message by 5:00 p.m. on any given Wednesday.
ON BEHALF OF THE ENTIRE MUSIC MINISTRY, WE WISH YOU A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
This Month in Worship
During the first month of 2006, our pastor will continue looking at the early life and ministry of Jesus in his sermons from the Gospel of Mark. This is considered by many to be the first of the four Gospels written. It has a sense of urgency and fast-paced action and understands the ministry of Jesus as a struggle against the destructive forces at work in our world. It promises to be an interesting journey. We welcome you to any and all of these services.
Sermon Titles & Texts
Jan 1 Writing in New Calendars
Revelation 21:1-6
Epiphany of our Lord
Jan 8 Do You Reject the Spiritual Forces of Wickedness?
Mark 1:4-11
Baptism of Jesus
Jan 15 The Way It’s Always Been
Mark 1:35-45
Second Sunday after the Epiphany
Jan 22 A New Sheriff in Town
Mark 2:13-22
Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Jan 29 Strong Arming the Strong Man
Mark 3:20-31
Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Children’s Ministry
by Jenifer Thompson
Children’s Sunday School
The children are still learning about
Christmas Around the World
Bible Verse: Mathew 2:11
Acolyte Schedule for January
Jan 8 Jacob Wallace & Mitchel Williams
Jan 15 Jonathan Higgins & Jordan Rice
Jan 22 Sam Endicott & Zach Armstrong
Jan 29 Carus Newman & Jonathan Higgins
Children’s Moment Presenters
Jan 8 Julie Williams
Jan 15 Jan Zisman
Jan 22 Lee Endicott
Jan 29 Jenifer Thompson
Nursery Volunteers
Check the bulletin board in the children’s are
Church Officers for 2006
Chairperson Admin. Council Roxie McKnight
Lay Leader Julie Williams
Lay Member Annual Conf. Bob Anthony
Council Secretary Ann Thompson
Staff-Parish Relations Bill McKnight
Finance Committee Lee Endicott
Church Treasurer Jack Thompson
Worship Team Chair Elizabeth Anthony
Mission Team Chair Bruce Pitts
Hospitality Team Chair Marsha Funk
Weddings
Jimmy Epperson & Loralea Knox were married on December 14.
Kate Walton and Tony Lott were joined in marriage on December 31.
New Member
We welcome Gereld Payne who joined Crown Heights UMC by transfer on Christmas Day.
In Our Prayers
Carmen Bahr
Carole Higgins
Memorial Gifts
In memory of Charles E. & Mary Earnheart
Donna Kay Earnheart
In memory of John W. & Anne P. Mullins