|
Growing Deep Roots to Share God's Love
|
|
|
|
News and Notes
March 30, 2017
|
|
Politics. We’re going there…..sort of. Politics isn’t simply about national policy, it is how we behave in the public realm, how we deal with one another. This Sunday we’ll consider the example Daniel provides and the instruction Paul gives us regarding how to treat others when things get tense. Most importantly we find the reminder that there is a larger picture at play. Join us as we wrap up our sermon series.
|
|
|
"Where Two or More Are Gathered..."
In the Courtroom
April 9
Palm Sunday
"Have We Seen This Before?" Part 1
It's Just Another Parade
April 16
Easter
"Have We Seen This Before?" Part 2
It's Just Another Dead Guy
April 23
Launch of "Christianity and World Religions"
Atheism, Agnostics, and Free Thinkers
|
|
|
In this Edition, You Won't Want to Miss These Stories!
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Holy Week and Easter Services
|
|
|
|
|
April 9
Palm Sunday Palm Procession, All Services
April 13
Maundy Thursday Service, 6:30 p.m.
April 14
Good Friday Family Worship Service: Tenebrae Service of Shadows, 6:30 p.m.
April 15
April 16
Easter Sunday, Worship Services 6:30, 9:00, 10:15 and 11:30 a.m.
April 18
April 30
May 7
Creekwood VBS Volunteer Training, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m., Creekwood Worship Center (Option 1)
May 8
Creekwood Church Council Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Worship Center, Open to All
May 20
Change the World Weekend, Creekwood Mission Events, Additional Details to Follow
May 21
Creekwood VBS Volunteer Training, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m., Creekwood Worship Center (Option 2)
|
|
Deep Roots Building Campaign Update
There may not be a concrete truck in the parking lot (yet), but there is lots going on with the Growing Roots campaign. The project’s pledged three-year total is now $1,740,000, and we’ve already collected $367,533. As you know, the project scope includes a 9,000 sf Ministry Center just west of the sanctuary.
We’re pleased to report the Building Committee has chosen Nelson Morgan to serve as architect. In about ten weeks, we expect complete drawings and specs we’ll be able to use for construction bidding.
With this addition to our facilities, we’re anticipating the freeing up of six group meeting spaces currently tied up in the Worship Center. Additionally, the new Ministry Center will enable the gathering of a large Sunday school class (i.e. 100-150 member class) as well as other large confluences. The facility will expand Creekwood’s Sunday morning Children’s Ministry capabilities and will open up too many new VBS opportunities to list. It will enable us to offer additional programming and expand the scope of our Special Needs Ministry.
As part of the project, with the children transitioned to the Ministry Center, future plans include renovating the current Children’s Center to provide Creekwood and community youth with a safe, fun place to study, learn, worship and fellowship.
You might have the same question we have, “How soon can you start???” Well, we’re currently projecting groundbreaking to take place this fall.
We invite you to join us in prayer for the faithful volunteers working to take this project to the next stage, and for the professionals crafting the plans for facilities to enable us to continue to do God’s work. Would you like to support our growth? Click here to complete a pledge card, and here to make a donation.
|
|
Communion Offering
The communion offering this week will go to support summer food bags for students at Harper Elementary and children served during the summer by ACO. We will use the money to buy bulk items to stuff the bags during Change the World Weekend May 21-22.
|
|
Holy Week & Easter Services
We hope you'll plan to join us for our Holy Week and Easter services, and we encourage you to invite a friend.
April 9, Palm Sunday, All Three Services
Each service will begin with a procession of palms by Creekwood children. The ceremony commemorates Jesus' triumphant entry in to Jerusalem the week before his Resurrection.
April 13, Maundy Thursday Service, 6:30 p.m.
We invite you to join us for a special Maundy Thursday service, where we will share a traditional Passover meal—a Seder. “Seder” translates to “order” and we will honor the fixed sequence of this service, which ritualistically and beautifully celebrates the deliverance of the Israelites in ancient Egypt.
We hope this will serve as a special remembrance of Jesus’ own meal, as we remember the freedom that will ultimately be brought through resurrection.
April 14, Good Friday Tenebrae Service of Shadows, 6:30 p.m.
Educational and inspirational, we will depict, via shadows, the holy events and key players in Jesus' crucifixion. This is a family-friendly presentation. Childcare will be provided for those 4 years of age and under.
April 16, Easter Sunday Services
6:30 a.m. Sunrise Service, Deck of Creekwood Student Center*
9:00 a.m. Traditional Worship Service
10:15 a.m. Contemporary Worship Service
11:30 a.m. Contemporary Worship Service**
*If the weather is nice and you are able, may we suggest you park at the Worship Center and walk over to the Student Center via the pebble path behind the Children's Center. We do have limited parking at the Student Center.
**We are blessed to receive many guests Easter morning, and often at the 10:15 worship hour. If you normally attend our 10:15 a.m. Sunday service, but have flexibility, we encourage you to join us at 11:30 a.m.
|
|
|
Hear from Pastor David in the video below.
|
|
Volunteer at the Spring Festival & Egg Hunt And Make Some New Friends
The Creekwood Easter Egg Hunt and Spring Festival will take place Saturday, April 15, 9 a.m. to noon. We've still got a number of really fun volunteer opportunities available! Want to sit under a tree and read to children? Like to dye eggs with kiddos? Always wanted to swirl/twirl the cotton candy on that cardboard cone? Looking to put your painting skills to use on little faces?
We've got something for everyone and we need your help to make this outreach event a true success.
Click here
for a list of volunteer opportunities and to sign up online.
|
|
Need A Hand?
Some passionate Creekwood handymen and women have organized a new mission: The Creekwood Community Helpers. The stated purpose of the mission is to help the Creekwood UMC family and community with minor home maintenance and repairs. All services are free, and examples include:
- Installation of exterior handrails & grab bars
- Minor plumbing
- Minor general repair
- A/C and/or heater filter replacement
- Smoke alarm or CO2 battery replacement
- Caulking, repair of door locks and light bulb replacement
Learn more and request your needed assistance here.
|
|
|
We're Hiring!!!
Summer plans? We've got two great internship opportunities!
We're actively searching for a Student Ministry Summer Intern to assist and support Creekwood Student Ministries (CSM) with weekly programming, summer camps, mission
trips and other special events. This is a salaried position that will run from May 21 - August 20. Check out the details here. Resumes are due no later than Friday, April 21.
|
|
We're also seeking a
Missions Ministry Summer Intern
to support Creekwood mission efforts, with an emphasis on summer family serving opportunities and youth mission trips. This, too, is a salaried position which will run from May 21 through August 20.
Learn more about both positions, including whom to contact to apply, here.
Join us in serving Him this summer.
|
|
Mission Ministry Statement
Creekwood UMC is passionate about building the Kingdom of God by serving families and children in need. We strive to develop long-term relationships with the people and organizations we partner with, both locally and globally. Our goal is to make a high-impact, positive experience within the area and through the lives of all involved.
|
|
Want to get out and enjoy the beautiful spring weather AND support our mission partner Family Promise? Consider coming out for the
17th Annual Fun-Raiser for Homelessness on April 8 at 7:30 a.m., 7951 Collin McKinney Parkway next to McKinney Veteran's Memorial! This event will include a 5k/10k for runners and 1k/5k for families, pets, etc. Learn more and register at
3emckinney.com/run-for-cover/ .
|
|
Interested in seeing the Zoe program in action?
There are spaces on upcoming Zoe trips of hope:
- Rwanda – June 21 - 29, 2017
- Kenya – June 28 - July 7, 2017
If interested, contact Elena Ballam at
elena@zoehelps.org.
Lyndsey Lessner is also leading a trip to Rwanda in October. The date is yet to be determined but we will get the dates out as soon as we have them. If you are thinking about going on the October trip, or have questions, please contact Lyndsey Lessner at
lyndsey@zoehelps.org
.
Invitation to Double Your Impact with ZOE
Creekwood and friends of Creekwood have been so generous in supporting the Zoe program and the energy and support of this program continues to grow! Zoe has presented a new opportunity for support we want to pass along for anyone who wants to join in or go above-and-beyond what we are already doing as a church or as individuals. If you know someone outside of our church that may be interested in supporting Zoe, please feel free to pass this along to them as well.
A ZOE supporter is offering to fund a ZOE working group of 60 to 100 orphans and vulnerable children over their three-year journey out of extreme poverty for every working group partnered by someone else. This is an offer to
match up to 20 working groups, and means as many as 4,000 additional children may have a chance to sustainably escape from extreme poverty.
There are three ways you can be a part of this extraordinary opportunity:
- From March 15 through May 31, any church, Sunday School, group or individual pledging a partnership with a ZOE working group of 60 to 100 children at $8,000 per year for three years will be matched with another working group. When you partner with one group, twice that number of children come into the program!
- If a full working group partnership is not possible, you have the option of pledging to fund a half-partnership at $4,000 per year, for three years. Either you can recruit a partner or ZOE will find another half partner for you. If we are able to fund the whole partnership before the May 31 deadline then it will be included in the match, and enables two whole working groups to be formed.
- ZOE is excited to offer a crowdfunding option. For $35 per month for three years, anyone can be part of funding a working group of ZOE children. To join now, go to: fundraise.zoehelps.org/SPRING. Once 20 people commit to this sponsorship, a whole group will be funded. Groups completely funded before May 31 also qualify for the match of an additional group. You can partner individually, or if you think you can find 20 people to participate with you, ZOE can organize a fundraising web page tailored to your group. Sign up to start your own page at fundraise.zoehelps.org/Empower-a-Group. What a wonderful way to encourage friends and family to be part of changing a young person’s life forever.
Contact Lyndsey Lessner at
lyndsey@zoehelps.org
to learn more or to make a commitment to help in any of these ways.
|
|
You're Invited to a New Study Starting This Sunday
The Identification Sunday school class, which meets at 9:15 a.m., will start a 6-week study beginning this Sunday, April 2, in room 106/107.
Hand-me downs are usually thought of as “second-rate,” but Jim and Jennifer Cowart’s Hand Me Downs offers a six-session small group study showing us that our heritage—what we leave behind—is central to who we are as Christians. The aim is to help you replace self-destructive, addictive behaviors with new, healthy habits so that your legacy is one of spiritual and mental integrity.
You are invited to join this group for this special study. It is a great way to get to know a Sunday school class. For more information, contact Sara Genrich.
|
|
Find Local Grief Support Events Here
|
|
Mission Possible Kids
The agents will be on an Easter mission this Sunday. They will be stuffing eggs for our upcoming community egg hunt, one of our largest community outreach events.
When: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
What: Agents are asked to bring a couple of bags of individually wrapped candy (we have plenty of plastic eggs). Pizza lunch will be provided.
Where: Creekwood Children's Center
Bring a friend, agents!
|
|
VBS JUNE 5-9, 2017
All but rising 5th through 6th grade VBS registration is full. Click here to request to be added to our waiting list, or to request a spot for your rising 5th or 6th grader.
We do have spots for the children of all volunteers, and we still need volunteers. Click here to sign up to volunteer and then receive a registration link for your child(ren).
Click here to simply volunteer. All volunteers will be subject to a background check and required to complete brief online training. (Youth volunteers must have completed 6th grade.)
|
|
|
|
|
Another Summer Opportunity!
Cross Cheer is coming to Creekwood two times this summer: June 12-16 and July 17-21. Designed for those 4 - 10 years of age, the Cross Cheer camps teach young girls the fundamentals of of cheerleading in a Christ-centered atmosphere. Learn more and register
here
. Early bird pricing through June 1st.
|
|
|
Join Our Children's eNewsletter Distribution List
Have an infant through 4th grader and not currently receiving our weekly Children's Ministries' newsletter, Explorers' Times? Please
email us
to be added to our distribution list.
Student Ministries
|
|
Sunday school is held each Sunday from 10:15 - 11:15 a.m.
5th - 6th graders will meet in the tile room of the Children's Center. 7th - 8th graders meet in the garage of the Student Center and 9th -12th graders meet in the Student Center.
The Rise
is held in the Student Center on Sundays, from 5 - 7 p.m. All 7th through 12th graders (and beyond) are welcome to these evenings of worship, fellowship and fun. Meals are provided; a $5 donation is encouraged.
If you are looking to help our awesome Student Ministry by providing a meal, or part of a meal, for The Rise, click here to pick a date and sign up. We promise you'll have fun feeding and visiting with our students.
|
Club 56
, designed for our 5th and 6th graders, meets once a month for fellowship and mission. Here's what's coming up.
- April 23, Club 56 is going ice skating at the Allen Event Center from 1:00 - 3:30 p.m. (Groupon currently has a coupon--check it out!) Families are welcome.
Please RSVP to
Donna Bartholomew
if your child will be attending this event. This is a great activity to invite a friend to Creekwood!
|
|
Junior High Small Group meets on Wednesdays, 7 - 8:00 p.m. Contact Donna Bartholomew for more information.
Sr. High Small Group meets at the Edwards house on Wednesday nights from 7 - 8:30. Contact Jared Phares for more information.
Let's stay in touch.
Students and parents wanting to stay up to date with current activities, events and services, please text @elevatecu to 81010.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
