September 2002
For this reason, since the day we
heard about you, we have
not stopped praying for you and asking God to
fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and
understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a
life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit
in
every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.
(Colossians 1:9, 10 NIV)
Dear People of God,
I pray that you all had an opportunity to find
rest and recreation over the past months and I thank you all for your
faithfulness to God and the church. We were able to come through the
summer without falling behind on the everyday obligations to keep the
church running. Summer is about over, and soon we will be back to our fall
schedule. Church School begins on September 8, and the choir returns to
share their gifts of music.
I am very grateful for the response to our request
for a committee to develop a Wednesday Night at All Saints’ program for
all ages. Just to clear up any confusion the Wednesday program is not
meant to replace any of the existing programs such as the Tuesday morning
Bible study, or the men’s and women’s groups. It is an opportunity for the
whole family to come to church and take part in various activities and to
offer adult education classes without the constraints of the Sunday
schedule. We realize too that everyone is not able to participate in
everything, so we are trying to create more opportunities grow in the
knowledge of God. We selected Wednesday nights mainly because Groff and
Fletcher Halls are obligated to other groups on other nights.
On Wednesday nights there will be three six-week
classes to choose from that will be repeated if there is interest. We will
offer a study of the book of Genesis led by me, Religions of the World,
led by Mervin King, and Secrets of the Vine, led by Janet Stenner. We also
will have crafts for the children, a study hall with tutoring for children
with homework, and activities for youth. Our evening will begin with
refreshments in Groff Hall at 6:30 and we will dismiss for our classes
promptly at 7:00
Another opportunity for spiritual growth is
through prayer, and I am pleased to announce that what was formally an
unused room in Groff Hall has been beautifully transformed into a room set
aside exclusively for prayer. The new prayer room will be a place where
individuals or small groups can go to pray at any time. Prayer is the
foundation from which all aspects of our Christian life grow. You will be
hearing more about the difference between a church that prays and a
praying church. The hope is that every group and meeting begins and end
with prayer and that everything we do is a prayer to our Lord.
Last fall about eighteen people came to classes
with the desire to learn about, and prepare themselves for the ministry of
healing prayer. The new prayer room will be open after each service for
the purpose of laying on of hands for healing. We hope to begin this new
ministry this fall. We also wish to continue supporting our prayer chain
for concerns that arise as well as those who have dedicated themselves to
praying for God’s will for the church.
The coming months will be very busy and I pray
that God will be in the center of all we do. As the saying goes, "See Ya
in Church".
Fr. David
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