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April 2024 Newsletter
Sunday School
9 AM
Sunday Worship
10 AM
Sunday Fellowship
11 AM
Worship services will continue to be live streamed on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. You can either use the Facebook Link or the YouTube Link to see the live feed, or even worship a little later if you need to. Use the buttons below to choose which link fits your needs best.
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Easter Brunch-Sunday March 31st 9 AM
We will have our annual Easter Breakfast on Sunday March 31st before worship. There will be a sign-up in the fellowship Hall for people to volunteer to bring food. Those who are bringing food are invited to have it to the church by 8:45 AM that morning so we can begin serving and eating by 9 am. Contact Karen Rawson with any questions. We look forward to seeing you there!
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“Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted;
but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:30-31
“While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. ‘This’, he said, ‘is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’”
Acts 1:4-5
The first command the Risen Jesus gives his followers is to go to Jerusalem and wait. That is what the followers of Jesus are to do between Easter and Pentecost – wait for God’s promised Holy Spirit. It is hard to wait, as we discover in other seasons of the church. Indeed, we don’t like waiting. We want to act. We want to bring about something. However, it is in waiting that the church is incubated. It is not in the acts of the apostles that things happen, rather it is in the acts of God that the church is given life in power. In this series we will explore what it means for the church to be a waiting church; not necessarily an inactive church, but a church always at the ready to respond to what God is up to in the world.
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April 7
Second Sunday of Easter
Whose Acts are They Anyway?
Acts 1:1-11
April 14
Third Sunday of Easter
We Have Seen the Lord!
Genesis 18:1-15
April 21
Fourth Sunday of Easter
Just Be It
Matthew 6:24-34
April 28
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Youth Sunday
May 5
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Waiting is the Hardest (but Most Important) Part
Genesis 30:14-24
May 12
Seventh Sunday of Easter
Waiting Brings Life
Isaiah 40:18-31
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Remaining 2024 Council Meeting Dates
April 28th
May 26th
June 30th
July 28th
August 25th
September 29th
October 27th
November 24th
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Pastor's Ponderings
When you read this article we will be in that in-between time – Holy Saturday. In the biblical story – all four gospels – there is no mention of what happens. Holy Saturday is a period or the blank space on the page between one chapter and another (between Matthew 27 & 28, Mark 15 & 16, Luke 23 & 24– well, Luke does have a line “On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment”, and John 19 & 20).
In the darkness of Holy Saturday I want to offer you a pondering about the death of Jesus. Namely this: the cross is not enough.
Every year around this time, many of the religious magazines and blogs that I come across, and often even the secular ones, focus on the story of Jesus’ death…the cross. The titles are like, “Why the Cross?” or “Why Did Jesus Die?” and at times there are more colorful titles. I suppose it does make sense, given that it is Holy Week.
In the myriad of articles I have read, there has been one sentence that has stuck out for me (from one of those colorfully entitled articles) and I shared it with you in my sermon on Sunday, but it continues to turn over in my mind, so I am sharing it again, “We are not saved by the crucifixion, we are damned by it – or we could have been.”
The crucifixion of Jesus, by itself, is not enough in the Christian story. Let me put it another way: it is not enough for us to say “Jesus died for us.” While those words may be accurate, they are inadequate.
See, the death of Jesus and our understandings of it are dependent upon the life of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus. It is a whole package.
Jesus wasn’t a random guy crucified by the Roman authorities about whom God said, “Okay, that one will do.” Jesus had a life and in his living he challenged us, all of us, to live as God made us to live: to become servant, to seek peace, to let go of self, to live for justice (even if it means dying for justice). His life was challenging enough (and compelling enough) that some left everything to follow him and some sought to kill him. Jesus’ life is redemptive to us!
In the same way, the cross is not the end of the story. Without the resurrection, Jesus is just another of the multitudes of casualties in Roman occupied Israel. Or, he is just another prophet of justice who gets, as Albert Schweitzer describes it, crushed by the wheels of history. Jesus’ resurrection is redemptive to us!
However, I would also say that one cannot remove the cross as God’s activity for salvation either. If Jesus died, say, from a heart attack, the life and the resurrection have would have a completely different context, and perhaps no relevance (other than to be an amazing event). No, human rejection of Jesus is an important part of the story and of God’s saving work! The cross is vital and tells us something about ourselves and the lengths we are willing to go to have life on our own terms. It also tells us something about God and the lengths God will go to show us love. By God’s
actions, that which should have damned us is redemptive to us.
As we move through Holy Saturday and into Easter Sunday it is my prayer that God will strengthen us as we pass from light into darkness with Jesus that our hearts and our wills will remain faithful, and that we will be found with those who keep watch that we might greet the morning of the resurrection and know the joy of Easter.
Shalom,
Pastor Owen
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Registration for Summer Camp coming Friday March 1st!
It's finally time to sign up for everyone's favorite week of summer. There are so many great opportunities ranging from an amazing camp experience on holy ground to Adventures around Iowa or even a high school mission trip to Chicago!
Any questions? More details are also offered on the website where you will sign up describing each opportunity in more detail. There is an opportunity for everyone. www.newtonccc.org/scsessions
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Rev. Joshua Patty, Regional Minister, is hosting several Listening & Visioning sessions for the region in March, April, and May. The region will be considering some important questions: What does it mean to be Disciples Together in 2024? What are we doing? What are our priorities?
If you would like more information on these sessions please click on the photo!
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Easter Special Offering: Disciples Mission Fund
Easter was early this year but we didn’t want to forget our Special Easter Offering for Disciples Mission Fund. In the month of April, we will be collecting Special Offerings that go directly to the General Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
The Easter Offering, received on April 14-20, 2024, supports several of the general ministries of the Christian Church. Your gift supports college students in leadership development programs, global mission partners, health and social service ministries, the formation of new congregations, support for pastors and chaplains, and so much more.
Your gift has the power to change lives around the world. Give online now or through your Sunday Morning Offering. Thank you.
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Hospitality Needs for Hosting CDS Workshop April 12-13
Ankeny Christian Church is privileged to host the Children’s Disaster Workshop on Friday, April 12, from 4:30 p.m. to Saturday, April 13 at 5:30 p.m. As of today, we will have 12 trainees from Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa (2 men and 10 women). The workshop is divided into modules covering:
• Types and phases of disaster
• Childrens’ needs after a disaster
• Responding to children in a healing manner
• Using play to begin emotional recovery
• Setup and operation of CDS Centers
• Self care on site and after returning home
• A shelter simulation
The Red Cross and Salvation Army are providing meals and cots for the shelter simulation. Hy-Vee has been asked to provide snacks for the breaks. Church volunteers are needed to pick people up at the airport, return people to the airport, offer various items of hospitality, photograph people, help with set up and take down of equipment, technical support. If you can help out with something, please either sign up here:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090849ABAA22A75-48811481-sign
or on the sign up board in the Fellowship Hall.
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Tone Chimes
Rehearsals: April 7, 14, 21, 28
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Kudos and Celebrations
- Arnie Porath for stepping in as property chair.
- Members of the property team: Paul and Linda Lamont, John Sayre, Christine Stoffa, Arnie and Colleen Porath
- Those who decorated the sanctuary for the Lenten season: Pat Fliger, Judy Johnson, Marlys Lapham
- Members of the Connection Team for their consistency and the work they do behind the scenes: Pat Morton, Georgene Raver, Pat Warner, Shelby Skinner, Judy Johnson, Colleen Porath
- Members of the Stewardship and finance Team: David Rawson (chair), Curt Narwold, Mike St. Clair, Patrice Sayre, Daette Lambert
- Lori Krase-Cayton for organizing the bowling outing the youth sponsored. About 26 people attended this great activity.
- Lori Krase-Cayton for the Ash Wednesday fund-raising activity (supper before the service) that resulted in $1000 raised for the youth mission trip.
- Mary St. Clair for suggesting joining trivia night with a group of people from the church. The group split into two groups-women and men. The women won!
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April Birthdays
4/2 Lucie Bentley
4/3 Angie Olson
4/8 Kiersten Mann
Tom Murphy
4/9 Mike Hunter
4/10 Hannah Wehofer
4/12 Curtis Gage
Jerry Van Den Berg
4/13 Eleke Ukpabi
4/16 Teagan Bentley
4/17 Emma St. Clair
4/19 Sherry Johnson
4/21 Bob Buckroyd
Marjeane Hunter
4/24 Curt Narwold
4/25 Pat Warner
4/26 Vinnie Widaman
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April Anniversaries
4/13 Frank & Sherri Prowant
4/30 Judy & Nate Shelburg
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If you would like to continue (or begin) to contribute to the work of the church financially, you can mail in a check to 2506 SW 3rd Street Ankeny, Iowa 50023 or you can give online by clicking the link below. There you can set up one time or recurring donations. | |
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Current Office Staff:
Pastor Owen Cayton, Senior Minister
pastorocayton@gmail.com
Nathan Green, Music Director
nategreenaccdoc@gmail.com
Kasey Romano, Office Manager
ankenyccdoc@gmail.com
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2024 Leadership
Officers:
- President: Darin Leach
- President Elect: Open
- Past President, Chair Personnel Committee: Eleke Ukpabi
- Secretary: Angela Johnson
- Treasurer: Jackie Black
- Member at Large: Pat Warner
- Check Writer: John Lee
- Chair of PRC: Karen Fausch
- PRC Members: Frank Prowant, Dorothy Mathis, Karen Fausch, Mike St. Clair, Shanon Buckroyd, and Rob Duffy
- Nominating Committee: Lori Leach, Judy Krase, Lisa Duffy
Current Committee Chairs:
- Christian Education: Open
- Stewardship & Finance: David Rawson
- Property: Arnie Porath
- Worship: Karen Fausch
- Social Life: Team Party Squad
- Missions: Chuck Fausch
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Ankeny Christian Church
2506 SW 3rd Street
Ankeny, Iowa 50023
515-964-1083
ankenyccdoc@gmail.com
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