Newsletter 06.04.14

June 4, 2014 CHURCH OF THE SERVANT Bi-Weekly NEWSLETTER

Issue: 14.11

Join us for Summer Performing Arts Camp!

We invite all children K-5 (as of Fall 2014) to join us as we explore how to show God’s love through performing arts. The camp will take place June 23-26, 9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., with a performance on Thursday evening, June 26 at 6:30 p.m. ... go to page 7 for more information

M other Teresa AND HOW TO BATHE YOUR CAT Memo: HOW TO BATHE YOUR CAT 1. Thoroughly clean toilet.

2. Lift both lids and add shampoo.

3. Find and soothe cat as you carry him to bathroom.

4. In one swift move, place cat in toilet, close both lids and stand on top, so cat cannot escape.

5. The cat will self agitate and produce ample suds.

(Ignore ruckus from inside toilet, cat is enjoying this) 6. Flush toilet 3 or 4 times. This provides power rinse, which is quite effective.

7. Have someone open outside door, stand as far from toilet as possible and quickly lift both lids.

8. Clean cat will rocket out of the toilet and outdoors, where he will air dry.

Sincerely, The Dog You have always got to suspect someone’s motives right?

I love the story Donald J. Shelby tells in Weakness and Power: When Mother Teresa first began her work among the dying on the streets of Calcutta, India, she was obstructed at every turn by government officials and orthodox Hindus, who were suspicious of her motives and used their authority to harass her and to frustrate her efforts. She and her fellow sisters were insulted and threatened with physical violence. One day a shower of stones and bricks rained down on the women as they tried to bring the dying to their humble shelter. Eventually Mother Teresa dropped to her knees Dr. Robert Gorrell before the mob. ‘Kill me!’ she cried in Bengali, her arms outstretched in a gesExecutive Minister ture of crucifixion, ‘And I’ll be in heaven all the sooner.’ The rabble withdrew but soon the harassment increased with even more irrational acts of violence and louder demands were made of officials to expel the foreign nun in her white sari, wearing a cross around the neck.

One morning, Mother Teresa noticed a gathering of people outside the nearby Kali Temple, one of the holy places for Hindus in Calcutta. As she drew closer, she saw a man stretched out on the street with turned-up eyes and a face drained of blood. A triple braid denoted that he For 30 years I have worshipped was of the Brahmin caste, not of the temple priests. No one dared to touch him, for people recognized he was dying from a Kali of stone. But I have met in cholera.

Mother Teresa went to him, bent down, took the body this gentle woman a real Kali, a of the Brahmin in her arms and carried him to her shelter.

Kali of flesh and blood.

Day and night she nursed him, and eventually he recovered.

Over and over again he would say to the people, ‘For 30 years I have worshipped a Kali of stone. But I have met in this gentle woman a real Kali, a Kali of flesh and blood.’ Never again were stones thrown at Mother Teresa and the other sisters.

This summer I challenge you to make a real witness for Christ. Line up your actions with the faith you say you believe. Be in worship. Study the Bible. Pray. And love and serve the people around you as you share Jesus Christ!

- Robert

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June Mission Focus: Bring a Bag of Food for Skyline Food Pantry

Each year Skyline Ministries Food Pantry feeds thousands of families by offering a food pantry where they can shop for groceries several times a year. Church of the Servant collects food throughout the year to help Skyline serve the urban city, but during the summer, we hold a special, focused drive to encourage the whole congregation. This year the children of VBS are challenging the congregation to participate with them in this drive the week of June 8-15. In worship services on June 8, grocery bags will be available to fill and bring back the following Sunday to celebrate, with the children, all the food that has been given. Make sure to be in worship on June 8 to get your grocery bag! Skyline most-needed items: peanut butter, hearty soups, canned meats, canned fruits, dry beans, and dry milk.

Missions UMCOR Health Kits

Thank you for your faithfulness! 452 Health Kits were delivered to VIM at Annual Conference. The kits will be taken to the UMCOR headquarters in Louisiana to be deployed to disaster sights around the country. Thank you for the response and enthusiasm you brought to May’s Mission Opportunity.

Opportunities to Serve Clothes-4-Kids Ministry

Fit a child in a uniform for which Church of the Servant raised funds this year!

Skyline on S.E. 15th Street would gladly accept a donation of your time! Because of the large volume of clients received for this program, we always need volunteers to help the children. This would be a great opportunity for a small group, Sunday school class, or even just a group of friends to serve together.

Help Clothes-4-Kids with: REGISTRATION: June 2 - 26

Shifts Available: Mondays and Wednesdays: 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

Tuesdays and Thursdays: 9:00 a.m.-noon or 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

Description: Interview parents and complete intake forms to determine

children’s clothing and shoe size needed for ordering inventory.

Volunteers need to arrive 15 minutes prior to start of shift for brief training.

DISTRIBUTION: July 14 – July 25

Shifts Available: Mondays-Fridays: 8:30 a.m.-noon, 12:30 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

Description: Personal shopper – personally help a child try on shoes and

school uniforms to ensure a proper fit for each child.

Summer Opportunities to Serve in Mission

It is such a blessing to be able to serve these children so they can attend the first day of school wearing clothes and shoes that are just as spiffy and new as the clothes that all the other children are wearing. Not only are we offering apparel, we are offering confidence and self-esteem to these children. Thank you all for your support and for helping us help children in need in our community! If you would like to volunteer or have questions, contact Melissa Ramey at (405) 632-2644 or mramey@skylineurbanministry.org.

June 1-8 - Pray for Team in Guatemala

Project Transformation Reading With a Child Can Change a Life Forever!

June 16-19 at Chapel Hill

June Mission Focus: Supply Skyline Food Pantry

June 2-26 - Help register children for uniforms at Skyline June 8 - Food Drive for Skyline Pantry June 16-19 - Project Transformation: Reading with Children each morning July and August Mission Focus: Bring school supplies for teachers July 14-25 - Help fit children for uniforms at Skyline

Readers still needed!!! Each summer members from Servant read with the July 16 - Sunday Blood Drive children of Oklahoma City who are part of the Project Transformation Ministry of the United Methodist Church. Many of you volunteer to keep this ministry alive and vibrant in our city. We need you and we need others who might come as new volunteers to Project Transformation this summer. The commitment is that on each morning you choose, you come from 9:30-noon.

As a volunteer, you listen to 4 different children read - one child at a time - for 30 minutes each. It is a small commitment that makes a big difference. Please sign up at the Welcome Center in the next week to help us complete the commitment to have 15 readers there daily, each week.

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Women Save the Date - Annual Girls Night Out “Paint your Art Out” Evening Devotion by Dr. Robyn Goggs Friday, August 22

An evening of instructed painting, fellowship, snacking and sharing!

Cost is $35, and tickets will go on sale in July. Nursery will be available.

Knitting on Tuesdays Noon in 13:2

Whether you have been doing it for years or always wanted to learn, this knitting group invites you to come work on your own project, or contribute to their mission of making washcloths for new babies born into the church. There will be experts there to teach and get you started! Bring your own supplies. For more info, contact Candy Cavaness at 640-2410.

New at Earthglow

By Sweet Spirit Foods: delicious Hot Peppers, Mexican Relish, and Salsa (comes in mild, medium and hot). Sweet Spirit Foods also makes that awesome Sweet Spirit Barbecue Sauce which Earthglow has sold in the past.

These products are made in Oklahoma by the Christian Life Missionary Baptist Church, OKC. Your purchase of these items will support missions from two churches!

Children Children’s Ministries is happy to announce the Attendance Awards for the Spring Semester! These children proved God is #1 in their lives by attending at least 8 out of 10 Sundays! Kylie Perry, Greyson Gebb, Noah Goggs, Rachael Green, Sarah Gilstrap, Ethan Nondorf, Claire Posey, Joey Waugh, Caroline Flurry, Keegan Jacobs, Sarah Jacobs, Xander Stone, and Trent Nondorf (some are pictured at right).

GREAT JOB! We are so very proud of the attendance of our kiddos. Thank you, parents, for helping them see Sunday School attendance as a priority!

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Fridays for Moms Beginning in June Meets in 13:2 at 9:30 Childcare provided

Summer days are wonderful, but get very long with kiddos. Give yourself a couple of hours of refreshment on a Friday morning by joining a caring, vibrant group of moms. They meet all year long, but use the summer to really take care of each other. Sometimes the morning ends with play dates or picnics, but is a great way to connect with other Christian moms caring for kids during the summer.

This session, the group will be doing a book/ video series by Ann VosKamp entitled: One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. Ann asks these questions: Do we find joy in the midst of deadlines, debt, drama, and daily duties? What does the Christ-life really look like when your days are gritty, long---and sometimes even dark? How is God even here?” In One Thousand Gifts, Ann invites you to embrace everyday blessings and embark on the transformative spiritual discipline of chronicling God’s gifts. It’s only in this expressing of gratitude for the life we already have, that we discover the life we’ve always wanted... a life we can take, give thanks for, and break for others. We come to feel and know the impossible right down in our bones: we are wildly loved --- by God. Contact Nicole Baldwin at 613-3887 for more details of the summer study.

Grief Support Group Begins June 5

Are you grieving the loss of a loved one? If so, we invite you to come to a grief support group, which will meet from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. each Thursday, beginning June 5 and continuing through August 21. We’ll meet in South Adult room 6 (classrooms behind the Centrum auditorium). There will be discussion and sharing, and we’ll view a video each time.

Whether it’s been a long time since your loss, or if your grief is new, we think you’ll find this group helpful. Rev. Tim Travers and Don Ellis will lead this Grief Share group. To sign up, call Vicki Roberds at 728-4738 or send her an email at vroberds@churchoftheservant.com. If you’d like to purchase a workbook for $16, you can pick it up at the first session.

“Getting the Love You Want” Workshop

Drs. Linda and Curtis Nigh announce their upcoming “Getting the Love You Want” workshop, which will be held Friday and Saturday, September 5 and 6, 2014.

The “Getting the Love You Want” workshop is designed for couples in all stages of their relationship from contemplating marriage through retirement and beyond. The workshop will focus on fostering awareness, building skills for communicating and resolving conflicts, strengthening couple commitment, and re-romanticizing the relationship through very practical and strategic behaviors.

Over a thousand couples have gone through the “Getting the Love You Want” workshop presented by Drs. Linda and Curtis Nigh in the past thirty-plus years.

Although it’s still a few months away, it’s not too early to start thinking about your marriage and planning to attend the 2014 workshop. Again, it will be Friday, September 5 from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. and Saturday, September 6 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Nigh home. Brochures are available at the Welcome Center, or call the Nigh clinic at 848-2181 for more information.

Adult Faith in Reel Time Philomena

Friday, June 27, 7:00 p.m.

Dame Judy Dench once again gives us a golden performance as she pulls us into the story of Philomena, a based-in-truth story of one mother’s search for her lost son.

Falling pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena was sent to the convent of Roscrea to be looked after as a “fallen woman”. When her baby was only a toddler, he was taken away by the nuns for adoption in America.

Philomena spent the next fifty years searching for him in vain.

Then she met Martin Sixsmith, a world-weary political journalist who happened to be intrigued by her story. Together they set off for America on a journey that would not only reveal the extraordinary story of Philomena’s son, but also create an unexpectedly close bond between them.

The film is a compelling narrative of human love and loss and ultimately celebrates life. It is both funny and sad and concerns two very different people, at different stages of their lives, who help each other and show that there is laughter even in the darkest places.

The book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee was published in 2009. It acted as a catalyst for thousands of adopted Irish children and their ‘shamed’ mothers to come forward to tell their stories. Many are still searching for their lost families.

Join us on Friday, June 27 at 7:00 p.m. in the Centrum as Faith in Reel Time presents Philomena.

Sign up at the Welcome Center or call the church office, 721-4141.

Have You Thought About Buying Space In The Church’s Columbarium?

Memorial Day often brings to mind for families and individuals the question of where they would like to be buried when they die and the need to plan for that event. One of the options for church members is to have their cremated remains placed in the church’s columbarium.

What is a columbarium? A columbarium is a structure with niches that individuals can obtain for the inurnment of cremated remains of loved ones.

The columbarium is located just behind the west wall of the church courtyard. It is beautifully designed and a very private and serene setting. Space in the columbarium can be purchased for one or two individual’s remains at a cost of $1,500 or others can be purchased for up to four individual’s remains for $2,500.

If cremation is something you are considering, then think about the possibility of having your cremated remains placed in the church columbarium. If you have not been in the columbarium, please feel free to visit it. It is always open during normal church hours.

Information about the columbarium can be found in the columbarium itself, or at the Welcome Center, or by contacting Tom McGee or Becky Kittrell in the church office at 721-4141.

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Our Life Together

Our Prayers

Our Prayers continued...

u Gary Adair and Karen Steele-Adair and Carol Whittenbaugh as their sister, Cindy Gilliam, recuperates from surgery and is hospitalized at the OU Medical Center Presbyterian Hospital. u Bryan, Karen, Peyton, and Brayden Annett as Peyton recuperates from surgery. u Russal and Phyllis Brawley as Phyllis recuperates from surgery. u C.J. Frederick as C.J. recuperates from surgery and is hospitalized at McBride Orthopedic Hospital. u Bob and Jo Gentry as Jo deals with health issues and is hospitalized at OK Heart Hospital. u Dave and Pat Hansen as Pat deals with health issues and undergoes treatment. u Denene Harper as Denene’s nephew, Ben Snider, recuperates from surgery. u Fred and Marguerite Holloway as Fred recuperates from injuries following an automobile accident. u Pat Marrs as Pat recuperates from an illness. u Ryan, Rebecca, Micah, and Ezra McGee as Rebecca’s sister, Carrie Couch, deals with health issues and undergoes treatment. u Pat Norton as her friend, Virginia Lawrenz, faces surgery at Mercy Health Center. u Larry and Linda Nowlin as Linda’ mother, Fran Tysor, deals with health issues. u Jo Ann Pace as Jo Ann deals with health issues and faces surgery.

u Tom, Tonya, and Anna Beth Pogue as Tom recuperates from outpatient surgery.

Our Sympathy

u Family and Friends at the death of Gladys Crawford.

u Jerry and Ezell Potter as Ezell deals with health issues and is hospitalized at the OU Medical Center Edmond Hospital.

u Jim, Rachel, Jacob, and Regan Gillespie and Family at the death of Rachel’s grandmother, Opal Smith.

u Arvon and Marilyn Staats as Arvon deals with health issues.

u David and Sandy Jensen and Family at the death of Sandy’s mother, Nellie McBride.

u Bob and Jeanne Stonsifer as Bob deals with health issues.

u Paul Warr and Family at the death of Paul’s wife, Winnie Warr.

u Tim, Jacki, Zack, and Zoe Travers as Tim’s sister, Jane Dailey, recuperates from surgery.

u Sandy Weber and Family at the death of Sandy’s husband, Jerry Weber.

u Dan and Susie Waring as Dan’s father, Robert Waring, recuperates from surgery and is hospitalized at Mercy Health Center. u Susan Williams as Susan recuperates from surgery at Mercy Health Center Women’s Center. u Linda Wright as Linda deals with health issues and is hospitalized at Valir Rehab

CARE MINISTRIES

When a family is faced with an illness or crisis, it is sometimes difficult to remember to inform Care Ministries of that special situation. As a church family, all of us can help. If you know of a member who would benefit from our specialized care or our prayers through Care Ministries, call Care Ministries at 728-4738 or 728-4735.

Blessing and Healing Service June 8, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Celebrating Memories u A contribution has been made to Church of the Servant Youth Music Ministry in honor of Mark N. Kennedy by Don & Doris Cline. u A contribution has been made to Church of the Servant Sr. Minister’s Discretionary Fund in honor of Pat Estep by Susie Lillard.

Celebrating

u Congratulations to Matt Beckham and Anna Karim who were married May 10, 2014 in Cancun. Matt is the son of Ed and Cecilia Beckham.

Are you dealing with a difficult illness or some other challenge to your physical health? Or are you dealing with suffering in a different way—on the level of your spirit or emotions? If you are hurting in some way, we invite you to take part in a special worship service of blessing and healing. Even if you are not undergoing a difficult time in your life, this is an excellent event to attend. It will provide you with a meaningful opportunity to offer up heart-felt prayers for our brothers and sisters in Christ, whether their needs are of body, mind, or spirit. This worship service will be held on Sunday, June 8, 6:30-8:00 p.m. in Chapel of the Cross at Church of the Servant. All persons are invited - children, youth, adults, church members, as well as people in the community. Feel free to invite a friend or family member. Our goal is that you will go home feeling loved by God, inspired by the people of God, closer to Jesus Christ, and touched by the power of hope. Come and see what blessings God has in store for you!

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Servant Performing Arts Camp

Music

Last summer’s Servant Performing Arts Camp, God of This City, ministered to 45 children K-5. The adapted script’s story centered on what the children could do to make a difference in Oklahoma City. In the wake of the 2013 tornado that destroyed Plaza Towers Elementary, Camp director and choreographer Paul and Brooke Gebb decided to challenge the kids to embark on a community mission project. During the final performance, a packed house collected money and books for the elementary school. Church of the Servant was proud to collect over 176 books and $350, which was donated to Plaza Towers Library.

This summer’s Performing Arts Camp is entitled I Am a Friend of God. The children will learn what it means to show God’s love to their friends and will include songs from both the adapted musical and this summer’s VBS Weird Animals. We invite all children K-5 (as of Fall 2014) to join us as we explore how to show God’s love through performing arts. The camp will take place June 23-26, 9:30 a.m. -12 p.m., with a performance on Thursday evening, June 26 at 6:30 p.m. Camp is led, once again, by Paul Gebb, Director of Children’s Choirs and Brooke Gebb, Worship Arts Coordinator. Registration forms can be downloaded by clicking on the I Am a Friend of God link on the COS homepage. Registration ends June 12. For more information or questions, contact pgebb@churchoftheservant.com. Stay tuned to find out more about the COS Summer Performing Arts Camp mission project.

Marvin Matthews will be our guest musician July 13 in our 8:15, 9:15 and 10:45 services of worship. This is Marvin’s second visit to Servant, so you know you are in for a treat!

Make plans to hear this extraordinary Christian singer.

You will be blessed!

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Church of the Servant

14343 N MacArthur Blvd Oklahoma City, OK 73142-9725

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