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February Calendar

FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER

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Please remember those

listed below in prayer:

Denise Fenton
Steve Shaw
Marion Williams (Margaret Chitwood’s brother)
Donna Bixler
Fran Knoot
Cathy Dahm (Diane Green’s friend)
Allan Rouw (Claudia Cubit's husband)
Bess Uitermarkt
Randy Fisher (Amy Molyneux/Mary Fowler's brother)
Pauline Coop (Linda Forsythe's mother)
Dennis Glassford (Audrianna Wilke's father)
Jerry Wolf
Pauline Blake
Richard Gile

Military

William Augspurger,

grandson of Nolen & Linda Forsythe

Jason Crile, Tara Crile's husband,

Paul & Brenda Callahan's son-in-law

Kelly Lane, granddaughter of Phyllis Lane

From The Pastor

It seems like yesterday we were celebrating the birth of Jesus, and now, Ash Wednesday (February 22) and the season of Lent are about to begin. Although the middle of February is typically reserved for feelings of love and romance, this year we are called to contemplate our unfaithfulness to God and God’s people. We are to think about the ways in which we have not loved and obeyed God. We are to reflect on our mortality— “from dust you came to dust you shall return.”

This is not to say that this time in the church calendar is meant to be morbid and depressing, but reflective and compelling. We spend time reflecting on this so that we are prepared to receive the life that God has given us in Christ. And so, during the time in between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, we journey down our forty-day road of Lent. We will be focusing our sermon series throughout Lent on what it truly means to follow Jesus and examine the ways we have fallen out of step with him. We will also see the ways in which Jesus invites us to return to following him through sacrifice, selflessness, and hope.

May God bless our contemplation throughout the Lenten season while we reflect on God’s love for us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

As always, I look forward to seeing you, especially in worship.

Pastor Robert

2023 Elders/Diaconate

Elders

1-yr term:

Randy Pleima - Board Chair

Nolen Forsythe

Carol Huffman - Elders Secretary

Jone Molyneux - Elders Vice Chair

Julie Spears - Board Secretary

2-yr term:

Kim Gile

RD Keep - Elders Chair

Kirk Shepard

Rhonda Taylor - Board Vice Chair

Diaconate

1-yr term:

Bryan Butler

Carole Comstock

Amanda Foster

Veronica Grim

Karen Keep - Board Treasurer

Angie Landers

Sone Scott

2-yr term:

Matt Denburger

Diane Hicks

Nick Louderback

Jeremiah Zaldarriaga

Installation of Elders

Elders were installed during worship on January 15, 2023.

Left to right: Kirk Shepard, Kim Gile, Rhonda Taylor, Nolen Forsythe, RD Keep,

Carol Huffman, Jone Molyneux, Randy Pleima, and Julie Spears

Church Office Closures

The Church office follows the OCSD weather closings so be sure to verify the office is open if you plan to make a trip during inclement weather!

Financial Summary

$12,134.53	1/1/2022 Checking Balance
$262,888.00	Giving
$3,906.10	Miscellaneous Income
($268,672.65)	Expenses
($1,878.55)	Difference
$10,000.00	Transfer from Savings
$20,255.98	12/31/2022 Checking Balance

Stewardship Note

The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9:11, “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God”. Indeed thanks be to God for your continued and faithful generosity! With substantial giving in the month of December, we were able to nearly erase a $20,000 deficit. We finished our 2022 budget year with a slight deficit of $1,880. Many additional checks were received in December. Giving back a portion was what God has blessed us with is an act of worship. Let us continue to practice acts of generosity this year to support the ministry of our church.

A BIG thank you to Jon Butler for the wonderful coffee station cabinet and to Bryan Butler for his help installing it!

Church Library News

We hope you are enjoying these winter days by checking out books and taking puzzles to fill the hours of longer days. We have lots of great puzzles on display in the west room.

We counted 425 books that had been taken out during last year. We know that some of you pass the books around in your family so we have more readers than this number. Thanks to all of you for using the church library.

We are adding several new books to the cart. A couple are Christmas oriented. Colleen Coble's two stories in one, "All is Calm, All is Bright" are mysteries, and Jennifer Beckstrand's "First Christmas in Huckleberry" is set in Wisconsin in 1952 about two Amish "misfits". The latest by Beverly Lewis, "The Orchard" about a young girl's concern about her brother's talk of leaving the Amish life and joining the army. Robin Hatcher's book, "Like the Wind" is a story of a divorced woman whose daughter was placed in boarding school by the father who is killed in a car accident and the daughter is sent back to live with her. The daughter blames the mother for what has happened. Will they find peace? "Beneath The Bending Skies" by Jane Kirkpatrick is about a young girl whose father is very demanding. As she is considering being a nun, will she realize that someone far greater than her father is in control of her life or would God's work supersede the commandment "to honor thy father"? Shelley Shepard Gray's new Apple Creek series book 1 "Happily Ever After" is about a young girl that is the town's "wallflower" who finds herself answering a letter found in the mailbox. Who and what will this bring about? Beth Wiseman's new series, Amish Bookstore has two books, 1) "Bookseller's Promise" and 2) "The Story of Love". We can't forget book seven of the Amanda Flower's Candy Shop Mysteries, "Peanut Butter Panic." This series is fun and fast reading about a New York chocolatier that returns to Ohio to help her grandmother run the family Amish candy shop. She is always finding herself involved in murders.

We hope that you are enjoying the books that we offer! If you have any ideas of books that you would like for us to get in the library, please let one of us know.

Have a great month!!! Barb, Janet, Marilyn, & Donna

The DWF 3^rd Wednesday lunch is planned for February 15th at 11:30 AM. Please contact Carol Peterson for more information.

Estimate for Phase 2 New Roof	$33,247.00
Money raised	$19,794.25
% raised	59.54%
Money paid
Additional expenses

Roof fund donations

Our Service Personnel

William Augspurger

3D Intel BN Unit 356

FPO AP 96385-5606

LTC Jason E. Crile

PSC 808 Box 412

FPO AE 09618-0412 USA

Kelly Del Rio Lane

NOOSM

PSC 851 Box 68230

FPO AE 09834

Men's Ministry

Join us every Tuesday at 1 pm in the Fellowship Hall for Men's Dominoes.

On behalf of Church Women United in Iowa (and Mahaska County), tabs from aluminum cans of all sizes are being collected to provide personal items for human trafficking survivors who are recovering in 3 safe houses in Iowa. Please bring donations in zipper storage bags and drop off in the basket.