Peacemakers,
Remember no worship with Peace on Sunday morning, because the college has their annual event.
For all 75 of you coming to our Saturday night Greek Dinner, celebrating the ministries of Peace, at 5:30 at Northminster Presbyterian, corner of Lockwood Ridge and University, please remember to bring a bottle of tea, lemonade, or water, and some ice. We will have two minute celebrations from our Ministry team leaders, a 2010 budget, some Greek dancing, and loads of fun together, feasting on gratitude and Greek dishes!
I know your hearts and prayers are with the suffering people of Haiti, as are mine. We will take time at the dinner to pray and to collect an offering for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA)in Haiti,100% of which will flow to the needy in Haiti. Gerry Palmer is volunteering with the Agape Flights out of Venice to help Haiti. They request our prayers. Church of the Palms is collecting Hope in a Box gifts for the children of Haiti. What everyone of us can do is pray and send money to PDA, as the logistics of getting materials to Haiti is challenging.
Peace is now among the nearly 11,000 Stephen Ministry congregations in the USA. Stephen Ministers are trained to provide Christian compassion to those in and beyond the congregation who need extra support in times of grief, illness, or other losses or difficulties. Please read more about this ministry and consider how God be calling you to support this ministry. See the attachment. (written by Gretchen)
Some dates for your Jan-Feb calendar (this may not be comprehensive):
Jan 17 7:30 Stewardship Team and 7:30 Evangelism Team
Jan 19 2:00 Building Vision Retreat Planning Team
Jan 19 7:30 Session Meeting (open to all)
Jan 20 8:00 Worship Team
Jan 21 7:30 Acts 16:5 Vision Team
Feb 1 Sisters of Peace
Feb 4 Fellowship Team
Feb 6 Peace’s Souper Bowl Service Blitz at Beth-El
Feb 6 Adults Night Out at Shirey’s
Feb 9 Property and Building Vision Team
Feb 11 Administration Team
Feb 16 Fat Tuesday Pancakes in the Park
Feb 18? Session Meeting
Feb 19 Movie Night at Deiberts
Feb 24 Youth and Children Ministry Team
Feb 27 Building Vision Retreat – Whole Congregation – We want your input!!
Thanks from the Mission Team for 2009 gifts to Beth-El of 85 backpacks, 16 bikes with helmets, $230 gift cards, 1210 volunteer hours (9 people/wk), nearly $10,000, and tons of food. Thanks for 404 volunteer hours and $1000 to Family Promise last year. Plus 1268 pounds of food and $320 to the Manatee County Food Bank. Peace is a generous congregation. We gave away over $9400 in 2009 to the four denominational offerings and the special appeal for Beth-El and Cedarkirk last year. That’s amazing for a church of our size!
Peace to the whole earth!
Elizabeth
See attachment below:
Stephen Ministry is Coming to Peace
Peace has joined almost 11,000 congregations that are enrolled in Stephen Ministry. Most of these are in the United States and Canada, but Stephen Ministry reaches around the world and across more than 150 Christian denominations.
Have you ever experienced a caring Christian friend who was trained to listen as you work through one of life’s predictable rough patches, and then pray with you, all on a weekly basis? We will all face illness, relocation, job loss, grief, parent care; just look at our prayer list! Stephen Ministers are trained to provide regular non-professional compassionate care that supplements our excellent pastoral care.
Peace will be sending one or two people to Orlando for a week in June to be trained as Stephen Leaders. They will come back and offer the 50 hours of training to a class at Peace. Our dream is that eventually everyone will have this training because it so closely dovetails our vision statement. Stephen Ministry makes God known by strengthening our faith (it is distinctively Christian), thereby helping us to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. It will help to build our community of faith as we care more deeply for one another. We will grow in our ability to care effectively for the needs of others, even reaching out beyond our own congregation.
You are an essential part of this new ministry. Please pray for it. Prayerfully consider whether God is calling you to use your gifts as a leader, or to be trained as a Stephen Minister. Your financial support will help us to send people to the Leadership Training Course.
Emily Miller has already been trained as a Stephen Minister, and Gretchen Frueh as a Stephen Leader. Perhaps there are others already here who have had this training in other churches. We would like to know. And for more information, please speak to Elizabeth, Emily or Gretchen.
