Howdy folks!
It’s hard to believe that we’re already through the month of July and heading into “back to school” time. This has been a great summer at City Road and I hope and pray that you are finding signs of God’s presence in worship, in our outreach projects, and in your classes and small groups.
Here are a few updates for the week:
- We’re excited to be partnering with the Greenbrier UMC for their church wide retreat at Beersheba Springs Assembly on October 13-15, 2017. The theme for the weekend is “The Spirit Poured Out — Visions Seen and Dreams Dreamed (from Acts 2:17, and Joel 2:28). Please call Linda Fletcher at (615) 973-5317 for more information or email her at riverhaven@comcast.net. We are needing your reservations for this as soon as possible.
- Our 15forward group had a great outreach project at Christian Cooperative Ministries yesterday, helping to stock the shelves and organize food for distribution. This coming Sunday, July 6, they will be hosting the first Sunday Night Vibes worship experience at 5 p.m. with our friends from the Dalewood/Aldersgate UMC. Sean Stanfield, the new pastor at Dalewood/Aldersgate, will be sharing. We will also be gathering this Wednesday at 2 p.m. to setup the youth room and practice the praise band for this service.
- Speaking of our youth area, we held a contest to come up with a new name for the 3rd flood space, and Jacob Moore came up with “The Penthouse.” When you see us referring to The Penthouse know that we’re talking about the youth/young adult area.
- Be watching later in the week for information on our Worship Outside the Walls (WOW!) Sunday on August 27, 2017. We WILL all gather that Sunday at 9 a.m. for breakfast and a time of worship, and will then go forth to share God’s love with our neighbors and the world.
- Here are a couple of prayer updates:
- Bob Pasinger had hip replacement surgery this morning, and we’ve gotten word that he came through the surgery well.
- Joslyn Creech asks for prayers as she starts chemotherapy for Hodgkins Lymphoma.
I was blessed this morning to have an extended conversation with Barry Jones and Randy Chance about where we are currently as a church and where we are headed. The conversation was wide ranging and challenging as we talked and prayed about God’s direction for our congregation. I shared with them my belief that God is indeed at work in our midst, and that while we certainly have our challenges, we also have several assets upon which to build for the future. None of us believe that God is done with us yet, and we want to invite all to think creatively about how we will respond to the challenge of growing in Christ and sharing God’s love here in Madison in 2017. We’re hoping to host some further brainstorming sessions and if you’d like to be part of the conversation drop me an email at jvoorhees@cityroadchapel.org.
One last thing. I announced on Sunday that we are setting up an SMS phone text messaging service for updates and prayer requests related to our church. If you would like to be included on this list please send an email to me with your name, email address, and cell phone number. We currently have about 18 folks on the list and we’d love to add you as well.
God’s blessings and peace be upon you all this week,
Jay