The Mission Committee is happy to say we are off to an exciting start for 2015! 

We will be presenting a film series Prophetic Voices: Speaking Hope to the World beginning Friday, March 13th!  The first movie is a documentary on the life of Bishop Romero.  Tom and Dianne Wilson will be joining us for discussion and refreshments after the movie.  

In April/May we plan to have a collection of travel soaps, shampoos etc.  We had this drive last year and it was so well received we thought we would do it again.  This year the donations will go to Abby's House at or around Mother's Day. 

In June we will be sponsoring a St. Francis Build Day with Habitat for Humanity, date yet to be determined, but we will be working on the first ever Veterans Build. 

Of course we continue our ongoing community missions of Mustard Seed, (the 2nd Wed of each month), Dismas Farm Dinners (the 4th Wed of each month) and Hope for Housing shopping card sales the 2nd and 4th weekends of each month. 

We are looking forward to a great year and invite/encourage those interested in getting more involved with our missions to contact Kathy or Dick. 

Perhaps you are interested in supporting Mission projects but not in serving on a committee. If so, we have many opportunities to do so over the course of the year. You are encouraged to add your name to our list - either by putting your name on the sign-up sheet in the Narthex or by contacting either Kathy or Dick.

Dick Welch - welch96@charter.net

Kathy Diehl - khdiehl@charter.net

The Men's Ministry

We learned about a home owner (Martha) on Piehl St. in Worcester through the outreach worker at Holden's Senior Center. The daughter of home owner had reached out to the senior center looking for assistance and thought they might know of local resources.  I have worked with Paula Early at the Holden Senior Center to assist several families and individuals. I met with Martha and learned that she was a sweet woman in her mid-seventies that had fallen recently.  She needed a walker to get around and was essentially trapped in her house.  She was most frustrated by the fact that it kept her from attending services at Chaffin's Congregational Church. It was clear that she needed a handicap access ramp. The great news was that she had a large stack of lumber on hand from a deck that had been removed from the back of her house. It provided most of the lumber needed to build the ramp.  What we needed next was a large group of volunteers to build it. I reached out to our Men's Ministry regulars and to our brothers at Immanuel Lutheran Church. Together we arrived with approximately 15 men and built the ramp in about 10 hours. The joyful and grateful look in her eyes as she made her way down the ramp was an awesome sight. She said she was sure that God had sent angels to help her. It was a very rewarding project that had a great impact on Martha's life. 

Click here to see pictures.

The winter is a difficult time to find work to do and we struggle to find individuals to help. The scope of the projects we have been doing have been large of late.  We really want to be able to help folks with some of the smaller jobs around their homes that they struggle with. We were without work for our February gathering and saw the opportunity to support St. Francis by removing snow from the roof over the offices. With all the news about roof's collapsing we knew it needed to be addressed. Five of us got on the roof and shoveled snow that was upwards of 4' deep in places.

Our mission is simple - To serve those who aren't able to keep up with tasks around the house and who have insufficient means to cope on their own.  Our projects have been as simple as moving some heavy furniture to the garage for a couple in Holden so they could sell it in a garage sale. Help us to help our brothers and sisters in the community. Let us know if you, or someone you know, needs a hand.

Bryan Diehl - diehl4@charter.net 

Youth Group 

Our Youth Group will be participating this weekend - Saturday & Sunday, March 7 & 8, in World Vision's 30 Hour Famine. Several kids will be fasting 30 hours to raise awareness of hunger in Africa and around the world.

A donation page is set-up on the website www.30hourfamine.org where folks can contribute to our cause. Once there, click on the orange "Donate" tab at top right. On the next screen, scroll down below "Help a Hungry Child Today" and click the "Find Now" tab for event dates in 2015. On the next screen, scroll below "Make a Donation" and enter my name (Greg McGurin) in the search area. Then, scroll below "Fundraiser Search" and you should see our team page. Click the "Donate Now" tab and scroll down to select a donation amount. A $35 gift is enough to feed one child for a full month.

Every $35 raised helps feed a child for up to one month. We are hoping to raise $425 to feed one child for a full year. 

Church School Newsletters: Family Connections

Youth Group: Schedule

Sermon Archives: Sermons

Senior's Birthdays:  Birthday list

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