Ministry Highlights
 

June 2008

     June is normally a month where things tend to slow down in the church.  School is out so lots of families use this month to get away on vacation to rest in the beauty of God’s creation or to spend time with family and friends who live miles away.  A number of our ministries tend to transition to a summer mode where the activities are tailored to accommodate the vacation schedules of those who serve and are being served.  It’s also a time when preparations are being made for a renewed effort in the fall in being about our Lord’s business.

   This June you’re going to find some things that are actually gearing up rather than slowing down.  Check out some things below that you won’t want to miss.

v         Meet and Greet Paul Humphreys our new DCE intern.  This Sunday we are saying goodbye and “God Bless” to Barrett as he heads back north to finish his last year of schooling at Concordia University in St. Paul, MN.  How blessed we are to have had him here this past year.  Please join us for the farewell luncheon and roast.  Later this month you will also have an opportunity to meet and greet our new DCE intern.  His name is Paul Humphreys and he is from Concordia University in Austin, TX.  Paul is excited to come to First Lutheran and should be here to stay sometime after July 1 when he finishes one last class.

v         Outward Focused Church Workshop:  Our congregation will be hosting an Outward Focused Church Workshop for those churches in Arkansas that want to grow by reaching their community.  The speaker for this conference sponsored by our District is the Rev. David Cooke of Placerville, CA, my Revitalization coach.  He will lead the morning session on outreach ideas for congregations.  After lunch all participants will take part in a net-fishing event by handing out bottles of water downtown and at the ballfields or putting out door hangers advertising our VBS in July.  Please consider coming to this powerful event.  I will be preaching a sermon series leading up to this event called “Fully Engaged.”  We want to be a church that is fully engaged in reaching our city!!!!

v         Two Parenting Seminars:  In partnership with Community Counseling Services we will be hosting two parenting seminars this month.  One for parents of teenagers will be held on Saturday, June 7th , at 4:00 p.m. in the family life center.  The other one for parents of preschoolers will be held Sunday, June 22nd , at 4:00 p.m. in the family life center.  We want to be a church that helps to build strong families.  To coincide with these two events I will be starting a new sermon series on Building Strong Families” on June 29th.  Invite friends and neighbors to join you for these free seminars and for the sermon series to begin at the end of this month.

        As always, if you have questions or concerns, please call or come see me.  You can also stop by to share a victory or word of encouragement too!  My door is always open!

                                                                                Pastor Jon