Pancake Breakfast

Join us for our April 9th pancake breakfast in Community Hall.  Pancakes will be served between 9:15 and 10:45.  In addition to the delicious pancakes, there will be sausage, scrambled eggs, homemade biscuits and gravy, beverages and even Krispy Kreme donuts.  Advance ticket sales($5 per person, $12 per family) will help the committee know how many to prepare for, so plan to buy your tickets early. 

 Social Concerns Committee Update   

 2005 was a busy year of church activities sponsored by your Social

Concerns Committee.  Church members generously supported:

 

  *Dinner/Radio Show for Habitat for Humanity

  *Crop Walk

  *Weekly Canned Food Drives for Respond Now

  *Christmas in July for South Suburban Women’s Shelter

  *Blood Drives

  *Giving Tree for needy families

 

Budgeted 2005 monies were dispersed to local organizations that assist with homelessness, emergency food and financial needs, addiction, building homes, community centers, and shelters for abused women and their families.

Your Social Concerns Committee meets one Sunday every other month after the 11:00 service.  The next meeting will be in May.  New members and ideas are always welcome.  Join us for 2006.  Contact:  Elizabeth Webb at (708) 206-0913.  

April 1, 2006….

 

St. Paul Community Church Calls first ordained Pastor from Mars.

                 After much time of discussion at church council last month, church elders decided to take a bold new step in preparing for the future of St. Paul Community Church.  Pastor Derek said, “it is only a matter of time before we find intelligent life on neighboring planets”.  Rev. Webop is the first extraterrestrial minister ever ordained by the U.C.C.  A denominational spokesperson for the U.C.C. commented that “the U.C.C. is always working to cross barriers of race, age, sex, and now species.  It seemed only right that we not discriminate a candidate for ordination based on their type of species.”  There are several advantages to calling Rev. Webop to be our new pastor at St. Paul.  His 140 arms speed out the distribution of the elements at communion and the fact that he glows in the dark should help cut down on electric bills when he is working those late night hours at the church in the dark.  This is a big step for St. Paul Community Church calling a Martian Pastor.  It is just one of the many steps St. Paul is taking to attract new visitors to the church.

 Is Church Elder really Elvis?   Church records say yes.

                For years it has been talked about in certain gossip circles if one of the church’s members was really Elvis.  Suspicions first arrived when Jerry, the church custodian, came in early one morning and smelled a fried Peanut butter and Banana sandwich.  The next clue came when he was vacuuming in the sanctuary and discovered a rhinestone bead on the floor next to a pew in the back of the sanctuary.  “I knew these two incidences had to be inter-connected” said Jerry Kokas.  After speaking to Beverly Hughes (church secretary) and consulting with Miriam Bramschreiber (renown St. Paul historian), investigators were able to determine that Elvis is alive and actively attending St. Paul Community Church.  Due to confidentiality of churchrecords the pseudo name of Elvis can not be revealed.

 Is St. Paul Community Church really Haunted?

                For years it has been talked about whether or not St. Paul has a spirit other then the Holy Spirit dwelling inside the church building.  There have been more than a dozen reports of spooky activities taking place within the church late at night.  In 2000 a church youth and his band were practicing in the church basement one night preparing for an upcoming concert.  Just as he was packing up his drum set to leave a voice in the room yelled “get out”, but there was no one else in the room.  In 2002 a church member was preparing for Gramercy and setting up video equipment in the church balcony. When he opened the door to the balcony he claims he saw a man, semi-transparent,sitting in the balcony reading a newspaper.

            St. Paul has taken preventive steps to keep people from wandering areas of the building that they shouldn’t be in late at night.  Every door in the church building is locked with a different lock and key to make sure the building is totally secure.  Buildings and Grounds Committee is not sure what to do with a visitor that appears to be able to walk through walls.  Currently the committee is consulting with an outside group named “Ghost Busters” to determine the best course of action for limiting where apparitions can float in the building.  Obviously we want to protect our church records which contain sensitive information like what is Elvis’ pseudo-name.

Letter from Pastor Derek

 

Dear Members and Friends:

 It is exciting to have Pastor David be part of St. Paul Community Church this past month.  He is highly qualified for the position and brings a lot of good energy and solid spiritual direction with him.  It has beenbeneficial for me with my In-Care process to work with him and learn from his years of experience.  I am thankful for his ministry at St. Paul.  Working with an interim minister can be a very fruitful and productive time in the life of a congregation.  It is a time to explore new ideas and develop new methods of ministry in order to become effective witnesses of Jesus Christ.  Over the last 30 years the community surrounding St. Paul Community Church has been growing and transforming.  In 2003 the Future Task Force of the Church explored how St. Paul as a congregation can reach out and share the Good News of Jesus Christ to the surrounding community.  It was an exciting time to be part of that task force committee seeking to discern a new direction for St. Paul Community Church.  A clear plan was developed for the direction of St. Paul in becoming a strong and more effective church in carrying out the purpose for which this congregation exists.   I hope that with the guidance and expertise of those serving St. Paul as Interim Ministers will help us continue to look forward and plan for the future of this congregation.

Starting in March the Sunday School has begun a new semester and a new style of Christian Education.  Christian Education has adopted a popular model of Sunday School called the rotational model.   We have gone to a two classroom model.  Each week student will go to a different classroom and do crafts that connect with the lesson of the week.  Our current curriculum is focused on the Beatitudes found in Matthew chapter 5.  Each week, students learn one of the eight Beatitudes and makes a craft that connects with a particular Beatitude.  The Sunday School students seem to be learning well with this new model and are excited to participate with Sunday School.  It is the goal of Christian Education to start a rotational schedule the fall for teachers.  Instead of teaching for 12 weeksemesters we are asking teachers to pick a week like the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, or 5^th Sunday of the month to be the designated teacher of the week.   The new model of Sunday School allows a lot more freedom for teachers to be creative in designing crafts and projects that connect with the lessons.

        The youth groups are growing.  In March we had 5 new students join PACT and 6 new students join the Jr. High youth group.  We average about 15 students a week at both youth groups.  It is exciting to see this growth take place in the church.  St. Paul Community Church has an excellent youth program and it is growing stronger every day.

        Christian Education is looking at developing new adult Christian Education programs.  Several ideas have been suggested.  In the gathering area on the table by the elevator is a suggestion box.  Christian Education wants to be able to offer adult education programs that meet the needs of our community.  We would greatly appreciate your ideas and suggestions of what type of education programs you are interested in.  Our goal in starting these new adult education programs is to be able to minister to our community.  I use the term community because congregation is too small of a term.  As Pastor Mark use to say, “why are we here, what are we all about?”  We as a church exist to share the Gospel, the Good News found in Jesus Christ, and to carry on the work and ministry of Christ in the world.  We exist to serve this community.  Community Church is not a denomination; it is a philosophy of ministry for churches that seek to engage the community they are a part of.

 

                                                                                                                                                        Derek

      April 18th

      Supper Club

Supper Club this month, is April 18th at 6:15 p.m. 

Supper Club will meet at Irons Oaks on Western Ave. just south of Vollmer Road.  It’s a time filled with food, friends and fun. This month’s Supper Club program will be presented by Dave Guritz on Iron Oaks.  Check the Sunday  bulletins for information regarding contacts, reservations and what type of dish to bring. 

 President’s Letter

Leadership is a very important factor to the success of any local church. As we began the 2006 there were a number of open Council positions. I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to the dedicated people who have stepped forward to fill those positions of leadership. I have been impressed with their ideas and the dedication that they have brought to the task. They have joined the other members of Council in serving St. Paul Church with energy, intelligence, imagination and love. It is my hope that you, the congregation, will accept their leadership, respect their decisions and support them in their work.

 Clerk-Susan Sullivan

Christian Education- Linda Schmidt

Membership- Bobbie DiMock

 As you know, Council has been engaged in the process of reviewing profiles and has interviewed two candidates for interim Pastor. We will continue to review profiles and interview candidates until we have sampled a variety of individuals and find the right fit for us. Council is committed to doing the hard work it takes to bring someone with the training and skills to help us become a better, stronger church.  

In the meantime, being exposed to a variety of pastors provides us with a fresh perspective, a way of looking at things anew. We are being asked to look beyond “the way we’ve always done it” to different approaches. We are invited to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds”. Some things may make us uncomfortable at first, because change is difficult, but each change presents an opportunity for us to grow. It gives us a chance to evaluate what is really important and helps us develop ideas of the kind of church we want to be. As I have before, I ask for your prayers and patience as we move through this time of transition.

 In partnership with Christ,                                                                                                                                                                                        Jim                                                                                                                                      

Sunday Worship Services

8:30 am & 11:00 am

Sunday School

11:00 am

Nursery

11:00 am - 12:00 noon

     

We have started a Recycling Program for Paper.  There is a special dumpster on the north side of the church. 

We want all your:  newspaper, magazines, office & school paper, shopping catalogs, and mail.  Please do not include:  cardboard, colored paper, or phone books,

This is a fundraising program, the more we recycle, the more money we receive!  So please ask your friends to help us too.  

In an effort to cut costs and “think green”, we are going to start e-mailing the Voice.  Also The Voice is on our website.  If you would like to receive the Voice via e-mail, please e-mail us at stpaulcc@ameritech.net.  If you would rather pick up your copy of the Voice versus it being mailed to you, please contact our secretary Bev at 708-798-0700 or the above e-mail address.  If you are receiving  the Voice and do not wish to any longer, please contact us via e-mail, phone or letter. Thank you! 

Please bring in Betty Crocker labels, Campbell Soup coupons, old cell phones, eye glasses, and used greeting cards   There are boxes in the office to deposit these items.