My family and I have safely made it home from vacation. It was a glorious time and I am thankful for all the amazing people that stepped up while I was on vacation especially Rev. Sarah Dorrance, Holly Phillips, Jeremiah Welty, Chet Phillips, Judy Coleman, and Karen Wivell. I needed a time away of rest and relaxation for my soul and my body. I would like to say I am fully recharged but during the time away I realized just how depleted I was. I am slowly easing back into things and trying to get back up to speed because ministry awaits. One of the things that often happens during a break is you reflect and try to "reset". For me personally it means trying to get back to my workout routine that stopped when the gyms closed last year when COVID struck. I had gotten used to waking up and going to the gym everyday, it was a habit I had formed and so it just happened whether I was in the mood to exercise or not. Once a routine is stopped it is very hard to get started again and so a year and a half later I am trying to get back into it. I have attempted this many times before with limited success but it will not stop me from trying again. Jiggity-jig.
The same thing can happen in churches too. There are ministries that we as a church have done in the past that because of lack of resources and other circumstances we stopped doing. Some of these past ministries maybe had reached the end of there effectiveness and life cycle. Yet, there are other ministries that we need to get back in the habit of offering. This next month we are trying to reboot our ministries for families and children. This is a Herculean task that will require all of us to step up where our body and resources allow us to. Jiggity-jig.
There will be many opportunities for you to help and here is just a quick highlight of some the ministry opportunities.
We will be having a Free Family Fun Night on September 11th starting at 5:30pm. The goal is to get the word out to as many families as possible about this event that will include food, activities for the kids, and a 7:30pm double feature drive-in movie. At this event we will let families know that they are invited to our Round-Up Sunday that will happen on September 19th. We will need people to help lead activities, help with cooking and serving food, and just being a welcoming presence to those that come to the Promised Land for the event.
What is Round Up Sunday? It will be a Sunday where we are encouraging you to invite friends, family, neighbors, strangers on the street, and anyone else to come to worship with us. It will be cowboy themed so people can wear cowboy attire that Sunday as a fun way to invite people to enjoy church and worship. AND on that Sunday we will start the "reset" of our children's Sunday school, Nursery, and Youth Group!!! We will need people to sign up to help Trudy Price to lead the one room school house for pre-School through 8th grade. We will need people to sign up to be in the nursery (ages 3 and under) for any parents/caregivers that have children who want to go to Adult Sunday school. We will also need people to sign-up to be in the nursery (ages 3 and under) during the 10:30am service. We will need help for Children's Church that will happen during part of the 10:30 service for children in 6th grade and under. Bridget Leahy, Karleigh, and Teresa Aulthouse will be leading it up (and have created an amazing outline of worship) but will need people to support the ministry by helping to watch over the kiddos and support the kids when they need some special attention. AND that night we will be kicking off Youth Group and Holly will need many, many people to support this ministry. She is willing to give it the push start but will need many others to help keep it going. Jiggity-jig.
We have put advertisements in the paper but to be honest many people in that age group do not look too closely at our local newspapers AND we can't afford to get it into every paper that covers the area we provide ministry to. And yes, we have put events on Facebook, but many people don't see it unless you say you are going and invite them. That means we need to get the word out and that will not be easy since many of our church family don't have lots of people in that age group that they talk with regularly. Yet, the church has done this in the past and we can start reaching people for Christ through these ministries and we must do it. We have created posters that you can take to as many places as you can and then start thinking of who you can invite to church that does not have a church family. I know that we might have gotten out of the practice of doing this but the church long ago knew how to do it and they knew it was part of their calling as a follower of Christ to do so. We must get back into the routine of inviting people to be part of the body of Christ. Jiggity-jig.
Please know that in addition to all this we are still focusing on other ministries to care for our Older and Mature members. Oldies and Goodies will be starting back up with the leadership of Dottie Davis and the Cramers but they will need help as we try to do more than just have a meal but plan outings and trips. We will have a scaled down version of the Concert on the Hill on September 18th at the Promised Land. We will need help serving food to people before the Hyssongs lead a time of Christian music and ministry. And while they are trying to reach everyone we know that many older and more mature people are attracted to their music and ministry. That night we will be inviting everyone who comes to attend church the next day for Round-Up Sunday. Jiggity-jig.
All of this will require us to push ourselves to fulfill the calling that Christ has put upon our lives. It will not be easy and honestly we may have to try many times to figure out how to achieve the goal of reaching people for Christ and helping them to realize they need God and the Church in their lives. Yet just like me not giving up on trying to get back into my exercise routine even after several failed attempts we must not give up. We must strive for the goal and even when the goal is not attained we must "reset" and try again. It is too important for us not to.
Jiggity-jig,
PH
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