Fall Sermon Series and Small Groups: On Sunday August 25, we will start a sermon series called "Fruitfulness on the Frontline: Making a Difference Where You Are."  This will be an 8-week series that will encourage and challenge us to see how we are missionaries right where we are.  

There is a DVD and small group curriculum (that you can download for free!) that goes along with it. To learn more: https://www.licc.org.uk/ourresources/fruitfulness.  Please let Helen Harrison Ham know if you have questions:  [email protected] .

The TALK: An Open Discussion About Parenting Today 

Join us on Wednesday Nights (Beginning August 28) from 6:30 - 7:30 pm in the Light House Cafe.  
We've all wished that our children came with an instruction manual or handbook. Parenting is wonderful, but also extremely difficult. It only seems to get harder in an age of rapidly changing technology, new pressures, and emerging dangers. We are all trying to figure it out! God may not have given us all the instructions, but He did give us community. The old African proverb "It takes a village to raise a child" is very true. We need all the help we can get, and it is time to pool our collective knowledge and wrestle with these big topics together!

 

This Fall we are offering a new opportunity for parents to have discussions around the big topics of our day. We are calling it "The TALK". Yes, we will likely discuss the birds and the bees in today's highly sexualized culture, but we are going to talk about much more. This is not a class or a lecture. There will be no workbook. What we will have is some battle worn parents, some coffee and drinks, and some open conversations about the things that really matter to today's parents. Come talk and join the discussion!

• Sample the quality of Stephen Minister training firsthand
• Develop grief ministry skills you can put to use right away

• Explore the life-changing value of this ministry
• Discover how to bring Stephen Ministry to your congregation

• Learn to integrate faith into everyday caring and relating
• Experience the Christ-centered nature of Stephen Ministry

• Pastors and church staff
• Lay leaders and decision makers
• Caregivers and Caregiving teams

Memory Café:   (August 29, the last Thursday of the month) 10:30-11:30 am in the Light House Atrium) provides a gathering place for friends with Alzheimer's (or other dementias), along with their caregivers and families, to relax and enjoy socialization, refreshments, discussion and Christ-centered encouragement. Contact Jennifer Dever:    [email protected]  or 359-7770 if you are interested in volunteering or attending.

Mother's Morning Out - Fall Registration:  A time of rest for parents and grandparents, and a time of learning and fun for little ones! Mother's Morning Out is for children ages 3-24 months. Begins September 10. We offer flexible one, two and three day options Tuesday through Thursday in both Fall and Spring.  To see the full brochure, click here.  Your child will have the opportunity to grow in a loving Christian environment through art, music and play. Register for the next semester  here . We would love to hear from you, you can contact Sara at: [email protected].

Purchase Now for Operation Christmas Child - the best school supply sales are during the next few weeks! Donations of school supplies-pencils, packs of 24 crayons, pencils and erasers for the shoe boxes will be collected and kept for the packing party in November. Donations can be dropped off at the front desk with Lori Lowman's name  or given directly to her! Questions, contact Lori Lowman: [email protected].  

The Compassionate Care Meals Ministry provides meals to our families when they are going through the loss of a loved one. This ministry is in need of additional members.  If this is an area you could help with, please call Renee' at 359-7770 or email [email protected] .                   

Looking for a Few Good Women! 

The Sistercare Ministry provides dinner for 20-25 women and their children to the West Columbia shelter. If you are willing to furnish one dish, once a month for this vital ministry, please contact Stacey Rowlette, 803-312-5570,  [email protected].

 

Drive Thru Prayer:  (September 17, 3rd Tuesday of the month) 7 :15-8:15 am, SGPC  Parking Lot.  Join together as we love and support community members in need of prayer. We will need prayer warriors, enthusiastic sign holders and traffic directors. In August, we had 13 volunteers and 14 cars stopped by for prayer.  To Volunteer, contact Loretta Gobbel at 319-4608 or Pete Eckert at 608-9835 or email  [email protected] .

Flower Ministry: The presence of flowers in the Sanctuary on Sunday mornings brings added beauty and Glory to God during worship. There is a notebook available on the podium in the Narthex to sign-up to provide flowers or you can contact Robin Wilkes at: 803-530-7603. Also, Robin will deliver the flowers to the nursing home of your choice if you do not have plans for them after the service.  

We would like to encourage members to donate flowers in memory or celebration of family milestones.

Amazon Smile: During t he second quarter of 2019, we received $55 towards DF3 from Amazon!  Did you know that when shopping Amazon they will make a donation to Saxe Gotha that will go towards Debt Free in Three, with no additional cost to you? The only requirement is to go through smile.amazon.com instead of Amazon.com and choose Saxe Gotha as your charity of choice. AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same service, but with each purchase you help reduce the debt.

Lexington One Backpack Program:

Nailbenders : Meet at 8:00 am (September 14, 2nd Saturday of the month) at the Chick-fil-A at 5560 Sunset Blvd, then leave from there to assist individuals in need.  Everyone is welcome to help! Contact Keith Hall with questions:  [email protected] .

F.I.S.H Teams:  8/25: Team 1, 9/1: Team 2, 9/8: Team 3, 9/15: Team 4, 9/22: Team 5, 9/29: Team 6.

Tips for Giving By Text:  

Saxe Gotha's Text Giving #: 803-302-3499

• If you text a monetary value, the funds are attributed to the church's default fund.

• If you text a monetary value + a fund name, the funds will be attributed to that fund name.

• You can also text the following: "Funds" (will  give you a list of fund names), "Help" (to get assistance with gifting via text), or  "Reset" (will remove saved credit card information).