Jul 23 2010
What a great day of worship we had last Sunday! Attendance was near 300 and I believe it was the best I’ve ever done, publicly or privately, in expressing our unique purpose as a church: to create a community where people can see and then become deeply committed followers of Jesus.
I really feel good about the clarity of last week’s message and how everyone in the congregation seemed to really “get it.” Of course, I deeply appreciate all the comments and feedback I got on both connect-cards and through Facebook as well as the emails I received. Thanks! This helped me feel even more confident that such was the case.
It was also wonderfully nostalgic to have Todd and Anna back with us to lead worship for this first Sunday in the RESET series (and with them, their youngest daughter Courtney). Todd, let me express the general consensus of all that you truly have a gift.
Thanks as well to Richard who was Todd’s right-hand-man for those first three plus years of our existence. Of course, to everyone who regularly contributes to the worship ministries of COAH, please know, we as the congregation feel so blessed by your efforts, your talents, and especially your heart as you lead us each week. Thank you!
The icing on the cake last Sunday was that we also had a wonderful update concerning our More Than Enough Capital Campaign by our Campaign Team Leader and Stewardship Chair, Cosby Clark and with him George Kaufman, who with his wife Megan Kaufman serves as our Lay Leaders (non-clergy spiritual leaders).
They presented a “MTE Thermometer” which showed all the money that had been saved prior to and given to date from our campaign as well as a brief “construction outline.” It will be out front in our Welcome Area for the duration. Another MTE campaign update will be shared this week as part of the Mission Moment. Good stuff.
**Also available this Sunday will be copies of approximately 20 Frequently Asked Questions regarding the campaign and their corresponding answers.
This week we continue our RESET series with a message about our Mission. Mission is action. Mission is movement. Mission is purpose set in specific direction.
I know for many this will be their last chance to get away before school gets started. That said, it’s also common for us this weekend to start having visitors, so this means those of us that aren’t going out of town need to step it up a bit and make sure we’re there ready and excited to show any new folks what COAH is all about.
A couple of more things in this e-note and that is it for this week.
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#1 Next Saturday (July 31st) and the Saturday after that (August 7th) are our annual Water & Coke Give-Away’s. It’s a powerful and easy way to express God’s love.
The July 31st give away will be at J.J. Bielo Park. (12 – 1pm)
The August 7th one will be right there in front of Johnston at the intersection of E. Cherokee and Arnold Mill (1pm – 2pm).
We need about 10 – 12 people each week.
#2 Report from GIVE A KID A CHANCE (from Nancy Bowling, Project Leader).
I wanted to take a moment to tell you how much I appreciate the support that the members of City On A Hill UMC have shown for the Give A Kid A Chance Mission.
I was overwhelmed by the support of over 80 people from our congregation! WOW! We had almost 40 people "adopt" 70 backpacks and fill them with supplies. Our congregation donated 4 truckloads of clothes!
Since, my husband, Clint and I are the clothing coordinators for Give A Kid A Chance, we were in charge of storing and sorting all 375 39-gallon bags of clothes. We could NOT have done it without the help of so many hard working servants of COAH who worked in our garage all day, several days. THANK YOU!
COAH servants came out of the woodwork to help stuff backpacks and to set up at both locations. One whole small group chose to spend their meeting time helping set up on Friday evening at the Cherokee Recreation Center! Now that's dedication!
This year we helped almost 2700 children! We loved watching the smiles of the children. One little girl just stood in front of the stuffed animal table. We thought something was wrong so we asked her mother if we could help. She said that her daughter had never had a stuffed animal so she wanted to be careful making her choice! We told her that she could take more than one and she was thrilled. The smile on her face as she sported her new "Tinkerbelle" backpack and clutched her new stuffed animals melted us all!
Moments like these make me so proud to be a member of City On A Hill!
Blessings to You All,
Nancy Bowling
Nancy, we appreciate your leadership.
That’s it. See you Sunday as we continue to RESET the Purpose, Mission, and Vision of COAH!
Chris