Dear Friends,
I will be away on vacation until July 27. It is a “staycation” for the most part, but we will have the Rev. Danita Anderson of St. Thomas United Methodist Church on call for pastoral care. Our office and our Clerk have her phone number. In case of an emergency, a serious illness, or death, though, please call me.
During the next three weeks please think about what it means to be church. Each week I will give you a scripture reference to consider, mediate on, and pray about. God’s grace keeps us all. Take it from here.
Love, Wendy
To think about this week: The summer is usually packed with weddings. What does it mean to you that as a group, the church is “The Bride of Christ?” This metaphor speaks of God’s great love for the church. (Mark 2:18-20; John 3:29; Romans 7:1-4; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:22-33; Revelation 19:7; 21:2).
Announcements:
The Progressive Dinner “Italiano” will be Saturday, August 15, starting at 5:00 p.m. Please sign-up in the narthex; the sheet posted there will give you further information. (The earlier sign-up was just to measure interest. Everyone is welcome to participate in the dinner; the more the merrier!) Final plans will be made at the beginning of August.
Youth, if you haven’t seen these events on Facebook, take a look!
For the Youth Mission Team-Seminole, there’s a BBQ get-together at Wendy and Blair’s at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 15.
For all youth, a day at Great America on Friday, August 14, followed by a lock-in at church.
Get on facebook and/or talk to Blair for info on all of these.
And adults, SPY needs your help. We need drivers and sponsors for the trip to Great America on Friday, August 14. And we need sponsors for a lock-in to be held at the church that night. Please contact Blair if you can help.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game! It’s time again for Southminster’s annual Kane County Cougar baseball outing! It’s time for good food, good fun, and Jake the Frisbee Catching Dog! All this can be found on Monday, August 24, at 6:30 p.m. And best of all, the tickets are only $5.00! So, sign up for tickets promptly! Watch for a sign-up sheet in the narthex. We have only 20 tickets, so get your name on the list promptly. If there are other questions, call Caroline Linde at 630-469-9482.
VBS is Almost Here!
Check out our Southminster VBS logo designed by our very own Peter Davidson. A huge thank you to Peter for his hard work and commitment to this project! The logo will be proudly displayed on our VBS t-shirts, daily newsletters and other VBS communication to parents and the community. (If your email program doesn’t display the logo here, scroll down to the bottom of the message and click on the attached .jpg image file.)
VBS Registration: There are only three weeks before our 2009 Vacation Bible School! It’s time to register – we want to see you at “Crocodile Dock” July 27-31 from 6:00-8:30 p.m. Click here to go to our web site and download the information and registration forms, or call the church office, or check the bulletin board in the narthex. A registration form was also included with the July Dialogs.
Items Needed: In order to keep the costs of VBS down, we welcome any donations you may be interested in purchasing or borrowing. The July Dialog has a complete list of these items. Please visit the CE bulletin board and take one or more of the color-coded fire-flies and return the item(s) to the church office by the date noted. The children will also be collecting school supplies for the PRC for their VBS mission project. Visit the VBS link on our website for a list of these items. Please contact Laura Baer at 630-469-9149 or at smpcce@ameritech.net with any questions and thank you for your generosity and willingness to help!
And more from Christian Ed.:
Fall Planning in the works: By now you have probably heard about an exciting idea to augment Christian education, called “Second Helpings.” Please check out the C.E. bulletin board for more information. In addition, we would like to get your feedback. For your convenience, we will have a drop-box in the narthex during the month of July.
A new school year means we need new teachers! We still need teachers for Sunday School starting in September—men as well as women. There is an opening in middle school, and room for additional teachers in each of the grades, as well as substitutes. We have a pre-printed curriculum, which makes planning a whole lot easier. The more teachers we recruit the more scheduling flexibility there will be. Would you please prayerfully consider serving our children in this important ministry.
Soles4Souls: Remember we will be asking you to leave your soles in church on August 16. Either plan to leave the shoes you are wearing that Sunday or bring another pair of shoes to donate to needy souls. See the July “Dialog” for more information about this mission project.
The Deacons would like to offer Valet Parking year round. Would you be willing to help? Please sign up at the bulletin board at the entrance of the church. We also ask that those of us who are more able bodied please park at the back of the lot, leaving room for those who would be blessed by parking closer.
Family Camp Fun! Want to make this summer a memorable one with filled with worship, community, and fun? The Presbyterian camp at Saugatuck, MI is close to home and offers all this, and more. The Family Week Camp, July 19-25, still has openings. Can’t fit an entire week into the family’s schedule? Check out the Family Camp Kick-off the Week, August 1-4, or the Family Camp Short Week, August 4-7. Call 1-800-728-1164 for more information or visit the camp web site and register online.
