March 2017 CO N N E C T I N G YO U W I T H C R E AT I V E M I N I S T RY RESOURCES, IDEAS AND PEOPLE
The Playground That Went to Church
Newsletters I
English Oaks, Lodi, California
s your church community focused? Really? Sometimes we throw this phrase around as if we were Pastor Bob and Stephanie Mason serious about helping our neighbors, but a quick look at church board agendas shows whether or not this is really true. Churches are viewed as significant players, when they address local issues and concerns (which often have nothing to do with religion). Such churches would be greatly missed if they were to pack up and leave. What if the mayor of your city knew your pastor on a first-name basis, and the city council viewed your church as a serious partner in community service? Pastor Bob Mason of the English Oaks, Lodi, California, Seventhday Adventist Church, recently decided he wants English Oaks to be more than a nondescript entity that minds its own business and that keeps to itself. We asked Bob what that means.
Editor – Bob, my son recently saw you being interviewed on the Sacramento evening news about an offer the English Oaks Adventist Church was making to the city of Lodi. What is this about? Mason – A local proposition [a city-wide vote] to fund park repairs and upgrades failed. I read an article in the paper that said that play structures that are falling apart are going to have to be taken down instead of upgraded. I immediately thought of the one in our neighborhood park, English Oaks Commons. I had taken my kids there, and I knew that damaged parts of the play structure had already been removed. Finish interview at: www.ChurchSupportServices.org/playground
Paradise Valley Youth Ministry
Stories of Faith I
f a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million! Check out the inventory of short stories featuring Adventists in action throughout the Pacific Union Conference.
nistry
h Mi ley Yout l a V e s i Parad
Visit: vimeo.com/channels/storiesoffaith www.churchsupportservices.org
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