June Newsletter Article

Below please find my June Newsletter Article.

Remember to...

Be a blessing to someone today!
Pastor Roy

Pastor's Pondering

Well, June is set to start off with a bang! We have our 'Second Annual Celebrate You' event scheduled for June 9th, this was such a great time last year and I know you all are looking forward to this year's celebration!  We will have our first 'Outdoor Worship' service for the summer on June 10th and after worship, the Men's group will be serving up a great Lunch, the meal deal is only $7.00, make sure to tell all your friends and family to come and join us for worship and a great meal!  Other events and going on's are: The 4-H will be using Fellowship Hall for a couple of Tuesdays (June 12 & 19), the Patterson family will be using Fellowship Hall on June 16th for a memorial lunch for Eva Alice Patterson, we have Western Days of course and with that worship in the square on June 24th, (remember worship will not be held here at Woodlawn), and our VBS starts on June 24th and goes through the 28th. In the middle of all of this, Gail and I will be traveling to South Dakota for a Family Reunion and then I will be performing a wedding for Miranda Menke and Andrew Steinkamp over at the Union Church on June 30th.  Also, we'll be starting to have the 'Hot Dog Cart' at the Farmers Market this year which kicks off on June 12th.  The Farmers Market is every Tuesday from 4 to 6 pm, if you would like to work one of the shifts please contact Kim Anderson. Also starting in June (June 14th) we're adding a 'Light Dinner' before one of the Thursday Night Worship Services each month (Starting in July it will be the 4th Thursday of each month) this meal will be at 6 pm and called “Supper then Service”.  This meal will be financed by a wonderful and generous anonymous donor.  A big anonymous thank you to them!

The Thursday night Worship services have been going along very well, and I am quite pleased with the progress thus far. If you haven't had a chance to catch one of our services... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR... 7 pm every Thursday night, invite a friend who can't make worship on Sundays to come along with you! I've been pleased that these services have thus far had several folks attend that don't normally come on Sunday mornings... Praise God!  I should also thank Jordan & Kelsey Beidler for all the help they render during these services.  Jordan has served as our Worship Leader for all but one service (thank you, Bill Hungate, for pitching in) and Kelsey has run the Powerpoint for most of the services (thank you Scott Crandall and Gail Karlen for filling in).  A big thank you to all who've helped with these services and thank you to all who've been attending!

Even with all this going on and the before mentioned quick trip that we're planning to Reliance, SD in the middle of it all... I don't plan to miss any worship services in June.  I will be taking some vacation time this year just to warn everyone but those dates won't be until July and then again in September.  I'll announce those times in my 'July' Newsletter Article.  If anyone is interested in 'dog-sitting', let Gail or I know as the “girls” won't be able to travel with us and will have to be boarded.

This past month the Men's group met and elected officers for the first time in years (if ever).  The new President is Clyde Westcott, the Vice President is Jeff Frank, Secretary is yours truly, and Treasurer is Lonnie Daisy.  Thank you all for taking the reins and working to revitalize the Men's group.  The Men have a number of projects and ideas in the works, the first one is the Cookout coming up on the 10th that I mentioned above, also they will be working on repairs to the porch on the Parsonage and putting spacers under the pews in the Chapel.  Watch for more projects and events to come!  If you know of anyone that has a need that the men's group could help out with (minor repairs, etc) let either Clyde or Jeff know what is going on and they'll pass it along to get the men involved.  Thank you for helping us find new ministries and projects.

Last Friday, Gary Dooley and I traveled to Fort Dodge to take in a seminar about Human Trafficking.  It was a very informative and eye-opening session and I thank Gary for going with me and driving. Thank you for everything Gary!

With Jeff Frank's leadership, we're hard at work promoting the 3rd Annual Free Christian Concert, our “Son Celebration” which will be held on July 21st this year and starts at 6 pm.  We really have a great line-up scheduled and the entire Concert Committee is looking forward to this event! Make sure to pass the word around and if you'd like to post any Concert Posters in and around the local area (we have Lake City covered) talk to me as I have the Posters in my office.  They are very SHARP and certain to get attention, please help us in any and all ways to promote this wonderful event!  It will be held here on the back lawn and we'll be looking for manpower to handle the concessions, parking, and other tasks.  Talk to Jeff Frank or myself if you're able to pitch in!

We've been 'live-streaming' all of our worship services (both Sunday & Thursday) on Facebook, and we've had a great response.  Unfortunately, every so often there are technical difficulties and the stream gets broken or lost. But, all and all it's been a great tool for us to reach out and minister to those who are unable to make it to Church or even to reach out and allow folks completely outside of our area to spend some time in worship and celebration of our Lord and Savior... what a blessing this is... Praise God!

With all the things we've got planned for June and beyond we can absolutely use everyone's help. Even if that help is just the ability to pass the word around about all the things we're doing and all the events scheduled. Your excitement is what is needed to keep our projects and outreach going. Also, if you have an idea for a new project or program (or thoughts on re-starting something that was done before) please come and talk to me or tell one of the Church or Christian Council members to bring it to the Councils.  With all your help we can find new ways and re-evaluate old ways to reach and teach God's children here in Lake City and beyond.  Thank you all for all that you've done, are doing, and will do in the future.  I truly count myself among those most richly blessed to be here with you all.  God bless you each and everyone and remember to...

Be a blessing to someone today!  Pastor Roy