August Newsletter Article, Pastor Roy Karlen

Here is my article for the August Newsletter, I'm sorry that I'm so slow on putting this on my blog page.

Be a blessing to someone today!

Roy

The Pastor's Ponderings:

It's really hard to believe that I'm sitting here working on the newsletter article for the AUGUST newsletter... where has the year gone already? August is always a busy month for the Karlen household, it brings with it Gail's birthday, our son Creath's birthday, and then right around the corner in the first few days of September comes our daughter Maddie's birthday. All of these birthdays fall within a period of two and a half weeks, so it's an expensive time of the year for Gail and I. But, it's always been one of our favorite times, these birthdays remind us all of the great blessing that we have with our family. It's easy to get lost in the stress and forget the blessings, but each of us has so much to be thankful for with each new day; let us never forget to lift up a word or song of praise for God's good gifts, which are given daily. Praise God!

As you all know, the congregation met on July 16th and voted overwhelmingly to approve the merger with First Baptist Church. Those gathered also voted on a new set of By-Laws for Woodlawn Christian Church to accommodate the new merger and our now dual affiliation with the Disciples of Christ and the American Baptist Church. Bill Hungate was selected to sit as a member of the Church Council until the Annual meeting in December when new officers will be elected. Minnie Huster was appointed to be an additional At-Large Member on the Christian Council and will also serve until the Annual Meeting. Let's all make sure to be as welcoming and excited as possible to have all these wonderful Baptist souls here worshiping and in fellowship with us! Praise God!!

This past Sunday was our first worship service as one congregation and if you missed it, you missed a great service. Not because of the sermon mind you... But rather because Kathy Holm has agreed to be our Song Leader here at Woodlawn (she as most know led the singing at First Baptist for many years) and her mother Clarice O'Tool played the piano for us. We had 83 souls in worship and with Kathy's strong voice leading us, well, it was just wonderful to hear the singing. I really can't tell you all how happy I was during worship. Make plans to get to Church this Sunday, there is a wonderful new sense of spirit and it's just a joy-filled experience! Praise God!!!

This coming Sunday, July 30th, we will be starting a new session in our Adult Sunday School class. We will be starting a study of the Gospel of John, even if you miss the first session please feel free to start coming if you have any interest. The Adult class goes from 9:00 am to 9:50 am every Sunday morning. We have been meeting in the Chapel but will be meeting in the Courtyard Room for the next few weeks. Please come and join us!

Also, this coming Sunday, July 30th, the Sunday Night Group will start a new session on the book of Galatians. Galatians is one of my favorite letters from Apostle Paul and we'll be studying it for the next few weeks. The Sunday Night Group meets at 6 pm in Fellowship Hall. We always have a meal, prayer time, sing a few songs, and then have a lesson or perhaps watch a video. If you're free and have an interest, please come on down to the Church at 6 pm and join us! And again, even if you miss the first night (or any other session) come on over anyway. We'd love to see you all there!

The members of the Church Council, Christian Council, and the Elders will also be starting a new study in August. All three groups will be meeting together to complete a study of the program entitled “Catch, a Church-wide Program for Invitational Evangelism”. This program will be done in six sessions, each of approximately an hour in length. The class dates (all on Tuesday nights) are August 15th, August 29th, September 5th, September 19th, October 10th, and October 24th. The sessions will start at 6:30 pm and be held here at the Church in Fellowship Hall. The program is about becoming (or improving upon) a church that 'fishes for people', it's a lesson on evangelism put out by a Methodist Church in Kansas City. If anyone who isn't a member of either Council or an Elder would be interested in taking the class, please let me (Pastor Roy) know. There is a Participants book for the class so I need to know at least approximately how many are going to be attending. But, even if you're just curious, please come to the first session to see if you're interested, I can always photocopy from another book until we can get one purchased for you.

Make sure you've marked your calendars for the concert on September 16th! And make sure you're telling all your friends and relations to make plans to be here for the concert! This year it will be on the Church grounds and we'll also have a full concession stand so folks can just come on over to hear the music (WHICH IS FREE!) and purchase their supper here. Tell everyone to bring along a lawn chair and to be ready to hear some wonderful Christian Music!

This week has been VBS here at Woodlawn and it's been a great week for certain. The kids have been very good this year and the program has worked very well, Ryan Daisy has been a big hit during the nightly skits. Good job Ryan! Janet Daisy and Jodi Frank have done another great job with preparing and pulling off another VBS program. I can't begin to list all of those who've helped with VBS this year but THANK YOU to each and every one of you. Without all of your assistance and hard work, we couldn't pull this very important program off each year. Thank you to everyone!

Well, I need to wrap up this long article, so I'll just close with this...

Be a blessing to someone today! (and every day!)

In Christ,

Pastor Roy