Newsletter 04.24.13

April 24, 2013

Church of the Servant Bi-Weekly Newsletter Issue: 13.8

Believe s Belong s Become

May Mission UMCOR Cleaning Buckets

In May, an orange bucket mountain will appear outside the Celebration Center. These 5-gallon buckets present a challenge for us as a congregation. Could we all take one and fill it with cleaning supplies that will be distributed throughout our nation by the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to places that are recovering after hurricanes, fires, tornadoes, and floods?

Each bucket has the same list of specific supplies for filling it. The total cost of the supplies is around $55. This is a great mission project for a family with children, a Sunday school class, small group, or even just one person. What a tremendous gift of solidarity and hope that it will offer when our United Methodist Committee on Relief delivers these to communities in dire situations!

The buckets will be available for check-out beginning Sunday, May 5, and all need to be returned no later than Sunday, May 26. They will then go to our United Methodist Annual Conference, and Volunteers in Mission will deliver then to the headquarters in Louisiana.

United Methodist

Church of the Servant s 14343 North MacArthur, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73142 s (405)721-4141 s www.ChurchoftheServant.com

Rebuilding Together Day Was a Success!

Thank you to the all volunteers that came last Saturday to serve on our annual Rebuilding Together day. Two homes were transformed and many lives were touched as we put our hands to work and opened our hearts to others in service.

One of our teams leaders, Regina Valuikas said, “My homeowner cried when she returned to her home after our transformation day, not because of the work, but because she wouldn’t be seeing us anymore.“ What a testimony – that a day of scraping and painting, deconstruction and construction is more about relationships with a homeowner and each other than it is about the work. The manual work is just the excuse for doing the real work of Christ.

Special Thanks to Clay Cockrill, Shawn Hinkle, and Regina Valuikas for their leadership in preparing for the day!

Blood Drive Sunday, May 5 Give Blood, Feel Good !

• Every two seconds someone needs blood.

OBI manages the life-saving donations from more than 140,000 individuals each year.

• There is no substitute for human blood.

Supplies must be constantly renewed.

• The need for blood donation is constant.

Patients in our hospitals have needs 365 days a year.

The pool of those who are eligible to give is getting smaller, so please consider donating if you are able. Register in advance by Community Hall this Sunday or come by on May 5 and give blood. Save a life!

Skyline Special Fish Appeal Sunday, May 12

Project Transformation Dates Set for July 8-11 and July 15-18

Reading with a child can change a life forever.

Every spring we support the ministry of Clothes for Kids, as through this ministry, Each summer members of Servant read with the children of Oklahoma over 400 children receive a year’s uniforms City who are part of the Project Transformation Ministry of the United Methodfor school. $75 will purchase uniforms for ist Church. This ministry was founded here in the Oklahoma Conference by a child for a year. Please come prepared one of our own members, Pat McGarrity. Many of you volunteer to keep this Sunday, May 12 to ministry alive and vibrant in our city. We need you as well as others who might support this ministry in come as new volunteers to Project Transformation this summer. some way.

The commitment is that each morning of the week you chose, you come from 9:45-noon. As a volunteer, you listen to children read, one child at a time for 30 minutes (4 children total). It is a small commitment that makes a big difference. During those two weeks the church is also responsible for meals for the college interns that run the program. The meals are delivered in the evenings to OCU. It is a great opportunity for a class or small group to serve together one evening.

If you or a class are interested and would like to choose your dates first, please contact Pat McGarrity at patnleroy@yahoo.com or come by the Project Transformation table during May.

Page 2 I SERVANT April 24, 2013

What Happens When We Die? What happens when we die? I want to know, don’t you? The writer of the last book of the bible offers us a vision: “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”

- (Revelation 21:3-4) We read those words at the funerals of friends and family because they are so wonderfully comforting. They lift our heads. They console us in our grief. They make meaning of the brokenness we experience every day.

But some people say it’s just a religious myth and the invention of the pre-enlightened who needed something to assuage the loss of their loved ones. Belief in an afterlife belongs to the flat-earth world where religion controlled the narrative, not science and reason.

Dr. Robert Gorrell Meet Dr. Eben Alexander, a neurobiologist. Alexander was a Harvard-trained neurosurgeon and a religious skeptic. But in November he woke up with splitting headaches that instantly devolved into seizures. An ambulance rushed him to the hospital—the same hospital where he worked. His only communications were screams, and repeated, haunting shrieks for “Help!”

E. coli had attacked his brain in an ultra-rare form of bacterial meningitis. He fell into a coma, and his colleagues gave him a near-zero chance of survival. If he did survive, he’d be a brain-damaged shell of his former self, for life.

The happy ending to this tragedy is that Alexander made a full recovery from his coma—something all of his colleagues admitted was an impossible medical miracle. An afterlife experience during that coma turned a skeptic into a faithful Episcopalian, and a man compelled to offer the world his conversion story through the unique lens of neurobiology.

He penned the book, Proof of Heaven, which sat atop the New York Times Best Sellers list for nonfiction after only four weeks of publication. It is his account not only of his medical miracle, but of the shocking afterlife experience of heaven he had while in his coma.

His brain activity and brain scans fell dark and silent. But in his brain-dead coma, he claims he was in heaven. He was plunged from that place by a spinning orb of white light that emitted an indescribably beautiful melody. The orb of light drew him in and then opened like a portal into an unending valley - ”Below me was countryside. It was green, lush and earthlike.

It was earth ... but at the same time it wasn’t.”

Then a celestial being spoke to him without using words - a message he felt within him more than heard. In it, he sensed these three messages about that eternal place:

“You are loved and cherished, dearly, forever.”, “You have nothing to fear.”, “There is nothing you can do wrong.”

These sweeping images and divine words certainly have some overlap with scriptural notions of heaven, and particularly John’s heavenly vision in Revelation 21-22. But Alexander had no real knowledge of this text. Heaven was a place he previously dismissed as religious nonsense.

But in Alexander’s extreme case, the E. coli infection was spread across his entire cortex - the outermost layer of the brain responsible for all of our higher functioning. Brain scans during his coma showed zero electrical activity in the cortical areas that could access memories, create dreams, or imagine visual and audio sensations.

In other words, Alexander claims that all previous medical explanations for his experience could not apply in his case.

Hospital tests showed those well-held medical conventions had no physiological possibility in his comatose situation.

That scientifically unexplainable afterlife experience convinced him of the existence of heaven and of a loving, personal God. That’s what happens when we die - we meet God!

- Robert

SERVANT April 24, 2013 I Page 3

An Evening with SANDI PATTY

ONLY A FEW TICKETS LEFT! Purchase your tickets today!

Tickets available this Sunday in the Concourse!

Sandi Patty, Oklahoma’s nationally known recording artist will be presenting a concert and conversation at Church of the Servant in Oklahoma City on May 7 at 7:00 p.m. Join us for this very special evening as we get to know the woman behind “The Voice.” Purchase tickets in the church office or online at www.churchoftheservant.com.

No other Christian artist at work today is better suited to sing about life’s journey than Sandi Patty. Still bursting with creative energy and magnetic talent three decades into her career, the Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee with 40 Dove Awards, five Grammy Awards, and an armload of platinum and gold albums has seen professional peaks and personal valleys alike while in the spotlight, all of them tempered by the grace of God.

Special Choir Opportunity!

Would you love to sing in the choir but can’t make the every week commitment? I have an option for you! This year we are doing a wonderful Patriotic Concert and would love to have you be a part of it.

The concert is set for the last Sunday in June in the evening. Rehearsals are beginning and you are invited. We will work on the concert from 7:00-7:30p.m. each Wednesday in the choir rehearsal hall. We would love to have you join us! Questions? Email Chuck at cweatherford@churchoftheservant.com.

Godspell - Coming to Church of the Servant!

Make plans now to attend the Revelation Youth Choir performance of Godspell in the Centrum on Sunday, May 5 at 6:00 p.m. The concert will be preceeded by a Silent Auction. The items will be displayed all day that Sunday for you to bid on. The funds collected from the Silent Auction and Concert will help pay for transportation for this year’s Revelation tour to St Louis in June. As always, thanks for your support!

Page 4 I SERVANT April 24, 2013

INTERFAITH ALLIANCE OF OKLAHOMA INVITATION TO 10th ANNUAL INTERFAITH DAY OF REFLECTION Temple B’nai Israel, 4901 N Pennsylvania Thursday, May 2, 7:00 p.m.

The theme “Under God in a Pluralistic Nation” will be presented by Rabbi Vered Harris, exploring how monotheism applies in a religiously-diverse nation. This will be followed by a panel of speakers, including Ada Hunter, Jim Huff, Kris Ladusau, and Nick Singer.

The roll call of religious traditions will be made under the theme “Let Freedom Ring.” This celebration of the varied religious traditions in Oklahoma and across the Nation will include a key tenet of each body, and a representative of each tradition will ring the bell. Those gathered will respond: Let Freedom Ring!

This event is sponsored by the Interfaith Alliance of Oklahoma in an attempt to celebrate the rich religious diversity to be found in Oklahoma City. For more information, contact Dr. Curtis Nigh at drsnigh2@cox.net or call 478-4420. There is no charge for the event. ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND!

Sporting Clay Shoot Sign-up is Underway

The shoot is scheduled for Saturday May 4 at 9:00 a.m. at Silver Leaf Gun Range in Guthrie. Everyone is invited to be part of the event. Cost is approximately $25 if you furnish your own ammunition and have your own gun. If you need to rent a gun or buy ammunition, you can do that at the gun range for a nominal fee. You will also need safety glasses and ear protection. This is a semi-annual event and it is always enjoyed by those who participate. Sign up this coming Sunday at the Welcome Center or call Tom McGee in the church office, 721-4141.

Servant Foundation Annual Golf Tournament - June 1 Sign-up Begins Sunday, May 12 In the Concourse

This tournament is always a well-attended event and enjoyed by everyone.

The tournament will be held at Fairfax Golf Club. Play will begin at 8:00 Saturday morning with lunch and awards ceremony following. Cost of the tournament is $55 per person which includes your entry fee, cart, range balls, and meal. Hole sponsorships for the tournament can be purchased for $100 per hole. Plan to be part of this year’s tournament, so begin to put together your 4-person scramble team. If you have questions about the tournament, call Tom McGee in the church office, 721-4141.

Now at Earthglow... Beautiful handmade baskets…

Your purchase helps to save a rain forest. Limited number of battery-operated candles are still in stock.

All profits go to missions.

SERVANT April 24, 2013 I Page 5

Get to Know Me...

Confirming my faith in Jesus Christ really meant something to me.

In middle school, I attended Church of the Servant once in a while but I definitely was not as involved as I am now. As all my middle school friends got confirmed, I watched and had no idea what was going on or what that even was.... That’s why I was so proud of my sister, Kammy, for confirming in middle school and enjoying her experience so much.

During my experience of confirmation I got to meet some really great people I had never met before at the church! I got to become friends with the other high schoolers that were getting confirmed, as well as Hurst and Ashlee who are two of the most amazing people I’ve ever met! I’m so glad I decided to get confirmed, even if it is my senior year of high school. Better late than never...right? I’m so thankful for Sang reminding me about it and helping me start my journey as a follower of Christ!

Kyrsten Bené

Confirmation Sunday

If you were here on Confirmation Sunday, you saw a group of 50 Middle School students who love the Lord. We were blessed to have a great group of kids who came every single week to worship and be in small group, all because they wanted to learn more about God and their faith. What a blessing it was to watch their journey as we saw God move in their lives every single week! This special time would not have been possible without the faithful people who helped. Thank you leaders for coming every single week and devoting your time and love to these kids! As a church I encourage you to wrap your arms around the students you see in the pictures, to love on them, and support them as they continue their walk with Christ.

In his love, Jenna Savage Middle School Coordinator

Confirmands Class of 2013

Kenzie Lovelace, Brooke Chesser, Kylie Patrick, Daniel Jauch, Thomas Jauch, Jayden Knight, Seth Pfister, JJ Valentine, Seth Calhoun, Mason Horn, Brayden Lowry, Haden Bollenbach, Hillary Neaves, Josie Knox, Dalton Farmer, Sophia Cazes, Lucia Rutz, Sydney Monkres, Douglas Adair, Garrett McGinnis, Kamryn Bene, Peyton Annett, Ethan Renner, Austin Holland, Sara Schultheis, Daylie DeMario, Colton Humphrey, Drew O’Hara, Madelyn Harrison, Sarah Crain, Colby Graham, Matthew Loftis, Kailee Anderson, Kathryn Purvis, Trevor Bolt, Trevor Mansell, Rachel Sanders, Elise McLendon, Tyler Joy, Isabel Johnson, Landen Logan, Brittany Moehnke, Shelbie Tener, Jordan Brinner, Preston Seibel, Emily Pace, Camron Bartlow, Julianne Henry, Jonathan Foster, Brody Pigg.

Page 6 I SERVANT April 24, 2013

Night Out!

4th- and 5th-grade Girls’ Night Out will be Friday, May 3, 6-9pm. Boys’ Night Out will be Saturday, May 4, 6-9pm. We are asking that RSVPs are made for these times, because we are doing SOMETHING SPECIAL and need more accurate counts. Please RSVP to cbrackenbury@churchoftheservant. com by April 30.

Summer Ball Registration

Summer Baseball and Softball registrations are coming to a close soon. Don’t be left out! The VERY LAST day to register through Church of the Servant is Thursday, May 2.

Paperwork is available at the Welcome Centers or at www. churchoftheservant.com. Don’t delay, sign up today!

BSA Troop 177

Boy Scout Troop 177 has grown substantially over the past 3 years. We started with 4 boys and grew to the 37 boys we have now. Over the years we have learned great life lessons while having fun with friends, doing activities that most teenagers never get to do.

During February, Troop 177 recruited 16 new boys, and this past month we have been focused on getting these new scouts ready for camping. They have also learned the importance of the Boy Scout Motto: “Be Prepared.” They quickly realized it is important to be prepared because you cannot have fun in a scout outing if you are not prepared. So to help our new scouts, our meetings have been focused on teaching them how to pack, how to cook and clean, how to treat their Boy Scout gear, and how to use all of our resources wisely.

For their first campout, we went to Camp George Thomas on March 22. There they learned various boy-led scouting skills like hiking safety, knife safety, and flag etiquette, to name a few. This year it was particularly cold for a March campout, and the boys learned the very important lesson of being prepared for all kinds of weather. Although it was cold, they still had fun and are excited about future campouts.

The growth from boy to man is one of the main goals of the Scouting program. With each campout the boys sharpen their skills, and over time they grow into independent young men.

We are looking forward to our April campout which will be at Slippery Falls in Tishomingo, Oklahoma.

For more information, visit our website at www.BSAtroop177ok. org or follow us on Facebook at BSA Troop 177.

Michael Vallejo Troop 177 Scribe/Bugler/Troop Guide SERVANT April 24, 2013 I Page 7

u Ad and Mary Lou Acers as Ad is hospitalized at Deaconess Hospital.

u Charles and Gene Callaway and Family at the death of Gene’s mother, Katherine Fair.

u Caleb, Shanna, and Korde Allen as Korde recuperates from outpatient surgery.

u Norman Cook and family at the death of his wife, Mary Jane Cook.

u Dennis and Darla Bierig as Dennis’ brother, Rick Bierig, undergoes treatment.

u PJ, Betsy, Coulter and Landon Gaske and Family at the death of PJ’s father, Paul Gaske.

u Bill and Gail Bright as Bill is hospitalized at St. Anthony Hospital.

u Leon and Debbie Gold and Family at the death of Leon’s uncle, Alton Bargar.

u Carl and Patsy Brock as Carl is hospitalized at Mercy Health Center.

u Carol Whittenbaugh at the death of her dog, Baxter.

u Lola Burgtorf as she recuperates from outpatient surgery.

u Kylie Groom and Family at the death of Kylie’s grandfather, Kermit Reed Ellis.

u Marty and Dottie Christensen as their daughter, Teri Shipp, deals with health issues and faces treatment and surgery in Colorado.

u David, Missy, Matthew, and Carter Loftis and Family at the death of David’s grandmother, Anna Martin.

u Larry and Sharon Fanning as Larry recuperates from surgery. u Leon and Debbie Gold as Leon’s aunt, Zoye Downen, deals with health issues. u Ralph and Donna Henley as Ralph recuperates from outpatient surgery. u Judith Malarkey as she deals with health issues. u Kenneth and Taelorshae Manley and Melissa Kincheloe as Kenneth’s grandmother, Gerry Friederich, deals with health issues. u Jackie McDannold as she deals with health issues.

u Sally Noakes and Family at the death of Sally’s father, Billy James Noakes. u Dean and Lainney Smith and Family at the death of Lainney’s sister, Paula Gladney. u Bryan and Brenda Thomason and Family at the death of Brenda’s mother, Iva Wilson.

SERVANT APAWSTLES: u Don and Kay Moore at the death of their dog, Jake. u Joann Pace at the death of her dog, Zachary. u Sarah Chastain at the death of her dog, Louise.

u Jack and Nancy Morgan as Jack is hospitalized at the OU Medical Center Presbyterian Hospital.

u Jack and Jeanette Richardson as Jack deals with health issues. u Bill and Martha Snyder as Bill deals with health issues. u Harry Stults as he deals with health issues and is a resident at Bellevue Health & Rehab Center. u Bill and Mary White as Mary’s uncle, Delbert Fuhrmann, deals with health issues.

u A contribution has been made to The Servant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Mickey Gross by Bill & Jody Humes. u A contribution has been made to The Servant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Mickey Gross by Mary Shaw. u A contribution has been made to The Servant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Mickey Gross by Lawrence Rosa & Sara Rector-Rosa. u A contribution has been made to The Servant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Mickey Gross by Marilyn & Arvon Staats. u A contribution has been made to The Servant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Mickey Gross by Carolyn Beavers. u A contribution has been made to The Servant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Mickey Gross by Kay Lewis. u A contribution has been made to The Servant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Mickey Gross by William & Melba Howard. u A contribution has been made to The Servant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Mickey Gross by Jim & Janice Flurry. u A contribution has been made to The Servant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Mickey Gross by Louise Dunham. u A contribution has been made to The Servant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Mickey Gross by Tom & Della Southern.

u Ray and Mary Meritt as Mary’s mother, Belle Badgwell, deals with health issues.

u David and Kim Myers as their daughter, Patricia Sandefur, deals with health issues.

u A contribution has been made to The Servant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Mickey Gross by Leigh & J.R. Bradley.

u A contribution has been made to The Servant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Mickey Gross by Mary Bogert. u Kevin and Andrea Miller at the birth of their daughter, Annie Kate Miller. The proud brothers are Riley and Asher Miller. u Roger and Marilyn Bailey at the birth of their great grandson, Alexander Jorjadze. The proud parents are Bibi and Abby Jorjadze in Kansas City.

u A contribution has been made to The Servant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Mickey Gross by John & Marian Della Maggiora. u A contribution has been made to The Servant Foundation, Inc. in memory of Mickey Gross by Randy & Gayle Dekker. u A contribution has been made to The Servant Foundation, Inc. in memory of William Weaver by Terry & Peter Weaver. u A contribution has been made to The Servant Foundation, Inc. in memory of J. Frank Gross by Terry & Peter Weaver.