3 Things from Deacons

The Diaconate met on March 21 after worship for their regular monthly meeting. Here are the three things you need to know from that meeting.

• 1) Holy Week begins with our Palm/Passion Sunday Worship Service on March 28. We will have a palm procession led by our youth and our choir and a dramatic reading of the Passion Story. On Maundy Thursday (April 1) we will have a Soup Supper at 6PM and a candlelit Worship Service at 7PM. Then on Easter Sunday (April 4) we will meet for breakfast in the Fellowship Hall at 9AM followed by worship (with communion) at 10AM with an Easter Egg Hunt in the church yard after worship. Please join us!
  
• 2) The Easter Breakfast will be provided by the Deacons. Here is the menu: Bagels and Cream Cheese, Sweet Rolls, Fresh Fruit, Juice, Milk, Coffee, and Tea.
  
• 3) At their request, starting next Sunday we will keep the Search Committee on our weekly prayer list. We will lift them up as a group in our "Prayers for the People" each Sunday during worship, and at the Tuesday Noon Prayer Group we will pray for the Search Committee Members individually by name as well. So please keep the Search Committee on your prayer list -- Mary, Madison, Jan, Ted, Ruth Ann, and Jill.

Three Things from Diaconate

The Deacons met on Sunday December 13 immediately after worship. Here are the three things you need to know about that meeting:

1. We went over plans for the Christmas Eve Candlelit Worship Service. Worship will begin at 7:30 PM and it will be a traditional service of Lessons and Carols, where we will hear once more and all over again the story of Jesus' birth in combination with beautiful music and congregational singing. Please join us for this special time of worship.
   
   
2. Laity Sunday will be on January 31 and will use "God is Still Speaking..." as the theme. See Cindy or Jane if you would like to participate!
   
   
3. Rev. Brian is collecting "hamster stories." After raffling off a sermon as part of the 2009 Community Turkey Drive, Ted Shepherd's name was pulled out of the hat (actually, out of the collection plate!). And true to his promise, Ted requested a sermon about hamsters. His exact words, "Hamsters. Absolutely. Hamsters." The January date of the hamster sermon is still to be determined, but stay tuned for that announcement!
   

Three Things from the Diaconate

The Deacons met on Sunday May 17, 2009 immediately following worship. Here are the three things you need to know from that meeting:

1) We discussed recent Conference-wide events (including the Annual Meeting and the Church Growth and Revitalization Listening Session) with the church members who participated. They were very good events that opened people's eyes to the excitement in the Conference and the resources that are available to the church. There was a broad consensus that we would like to participate in these kinds of events in the future and a particular hope that more folks from the church will take part.

2) As the choir takes their annual summer hiatus we discussed the changes in the weekly Order of Service, including arrangements for Special Music and the customary approach to the Summer Hymn Sing. Start thinking about your favorite hymns now and be ready to request them!

3) In housekeeping news: The newly elected Deacons will be invited to their first meeting of the Diaconate starting next month. Then in July we will hold elections for Officers of the Diaconate.

Deacons Three Things You Should Know

The Diaconate Board met on Sunday March15. Here are the three things you should know from that meeting:

1) April 5th will be Palm/Passion Sunday. We will walk through the entire story of Mark's telling of the Passion of Christ. PLEASE NOTE: Even though this is a first Sunday we will not be celebrating communion during worship, but will instead break bread together on...

2) ...Maundy Thursday. Our Maundy Thursday events will include the Soup Supper at 6PM (organized by the Church Council, see the sign-up sheet in the Fellowship Hall) and Tenebrae Worship Service at 7PM which will include a full service of communion.

3) Easter Sunday is April 12th and the Deacons will provide an Easter Breakfast here at the church starting at 8:30 AM that morning, leading us to the celebration of Christ's Resurrection and God's gift of life with worship at 10AM.

Three Things You Need to Know from the Deacons

The Diaconate met on Sunday January 18, 2009 immediately following a wonderful Laity Sunday worship service that highlighted our church's history.

Here are the three things you need to know about that meeting:

1) The Season of Lent will be here before you know it! And the Deacons and I had a wonderful discussion about the traditions and customs of the Encanto Community Church during this holy season. Ash Wednesday is February 25th and we will have our traditional soup supper at 6PM followed by a worship service at 7PM. We also discussed plans for Palm Sunday (April 5), Maundy Thursday (April 9), and Easter Sunday (April 12). My birthday on April 13 was not discussed, but feel free to add that date to your calendar too!

2) A small group of Deacons (Jan and Betty) agreed to help me revise and revamp our Wedding Guidelines and procedures. A new working document will be brought to the February Deacon's Meeting.

3) In wrapping up January as "Church History Month" at Encanto Community Church we discussed plans for the next step, which involves "Filling in the Gaps Sunday". During a Sunday in February (date still to be determined) we will take intentional time during Coffee Hour to walk from sheet to sheet in the Fellowship Hall, look over all the wonderful pieces that are a part of each decade's history here at the church, and ask ourselves, "What did we forget? What is missing?" Then we will fill in those gaps and write in those details on our History sheets. Look forward to hearing more about it, and keep in filling in those sheets until then!

Three Things from the Deacon's Meeting

Time to kick-off a new running feature on the blog: The Three Things You Need to Know From...

As I attend different meetings in the life of the church, this running feature will keep you informed on what is going on at Encanto Community Church. I'll do my best to add a post just like this one for every single committee meeting that I attend in the life of the church. And I'll try to post it no later than one day after the meeting!

So without further ado, The Three Things You Need to Know From The Deacon's Meeting!
1) We have made plans and begun assigning parts for the Christmas Eve Worship Service, which will be held at 7:30 PM on Wednesday December 24th in our sanctuary. Won't you please joins us!

2) It will be a service of lessons and carols, with different Deacons reading the scriptural story of Christ's birth and we as the congregation joining our voices with the choirs of angels (and the Encanto Community Church Choir...our local batch of the angelic chorus!) to sing our glad tidings and songs of praise. So really, please join us!

3) Laity Sunday will January 18th and Cindy and Jane will be heading up that service.

Tonight the Trustees and the Church Council will meet, so I'll give you a similar 3-point recap tomorrow of those important meetings in the life of the congregation.