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April 2025 Newsletter
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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O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.
- Psalm 139:1-6
Music and singing are universal. Further, they express the height and depth of the human experience, from silliness, to anguish, to joy, to sadness, to celebration, to despair, to companionship, to betrayal and really everything in between. They can soothe us, encourage us, name our hopes and desires, give us energy and life, help us remember, and resonate with us. Just like the Psalms of old did for the people Israel and later the church, so our modern secular music continues to do the same for people of faith and people outside of faith. For Lent we will let our music, ancient and modern, help us express our humanity before God as we journey to and through the cross to Easter!
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March 30 (Lent 4)
Can't Stop the Feeling
Psalm 148
April 6 (Lent 5)
Pray For You
Psalm 137
April 13
(Palm Sunday)
Hell or High Water
Psalm 22
April 17
(Maundy Thursday)
In the Air Tonight
Psalm 23
April 20
(Easter Sunday)
Good to Be Alive (Halleluiah!)
Psalm 118
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2025 Church Council Meeting Schedule
Sunday, April 27 @ 11:30 AM
Sunday, May 18 @ 5:30 PM
Sunday, June 29 @ 5:30 PM
Sunday, August 24 @ 5:30 PM
Sunday, September 28 @ 11:30 AM
Sunday, October 26 @ 11:30 AM
Sunday, November 23 @ 11:30 AM
Sunday, December 14 – Congregational Meeting
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Pastor's Ponderings
“But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.”
- Mark 4:38-39
“So let go, my soul, and trust in him. The waves and wind still know his name.”
- Kristene DiMarco
“It Is Well”
“Now I’ve turned and I’m facing the light, and I’m living life with all my might. I know being with you is the best: love God and your neighbor, be at rest!”
- Bobby McFerrin
“Rest/Yes Indeed”
The first three months of the year have been crazy – in the world and for me personally. I know that so many people feel the storms of life surrounding them. I also know that I have been distracted from the storms of the world by the storms that surrounded me in my mom’s illness, final days, and death. What are we to do when we find ourselves caught in storms?
There are a couple different responses that seem polar opposites reflected by the song lyrics above: one is to let go and trust, the other is to act in ways that demonstrate love to God and neighbor (which, to Jesus, includes the enemy).
Maybe such things, however, are not opposite. In fact, the gospel of Luke, according to Luke Timothy Johnson, places stories of Jesus next to each other to demonstrate that things that seem opposite often go hand in hand. For example, the story of Mary and Martha where Jesus says Mary gets it right because she sits and listens, is followed in Luke’s gospel by the parable of the Good Samaritan at the end of which Jesus says, “go and do likewise.”
I think resting, listening, and trusting go hand in hand with acting in love for God and neighbor. You can’t really have one without the other. Together they are faithful responses.
When mom died there was, of course, sadness. There were moments of sitting and listening, moments of tears, moments of remembering her, and moments of remembering the promises of God. There were also things to do, things that were not interruptions to the sitting and listening, but vital to it: there were pictures to be looked through, food to prepare (or order), errands to run, decisions to make, people to be contacted and so forth. Sitting and listening and going and doing were all necessary in the storm.
This moment in our nation’s history (as every moment?) is a moment for sitting and listening and for going and doing. We can take care and trust that God is with us and that, as the saying goes, “everything will be fine in the end, if it’s not fine, it’s not the end.” We can also, as I said in January, work to show our love for God and neighbor by taking care of each other, caring for the vulnerable, standing against policies and procedures that prop up the powerful and harm the most vulnerable (we should do that no matter who is in charge).
In the chaos of life it is vital that we trust and that we act to love God and neighbor. May we continue to serve God in faithful ways.
Shalom,
Pastor Owen
| | Wednesday Morning Book Study! | | |
Missions Committee
The Easter Offering, received in April, 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 to the Easter Offering is part of God’s enduring love…
Love that creates…
- Bible studies that challenge and inspire
- Opportunities for clergy to gather in prayer
- Spiritual care for those in prison
- Resources for mental health and trauma care
Love that inspires…
- Visionary leadership that calls us to imagine new ways of being church.
- New congregations that worship in a variety of languages and worship styles
- Ministries of compassion and care
Love that makes a difference…
- Global ministry partners who work for justice, reconciliation and peace
- Colleges, universities and theological institutions that nurture Christian leaders who are transforming church, society and the world
- Collaborative response in the wake of disaster
- support for congregational service ministries that serve hungry neighbors
Your gift to the Easter special offering benefits general ministries, allowing us to do more together than we can alone. More ministry. More impact. More of God’s love in the world.
Bless you for your generosity to Disciples Mission!
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Easter Breakfast
We will have our annual Easter Breakfast on Sunday, April 20th, before worship. There is a sign-up in the fellowship Hall for people to volunteer to bring food. Those who are providing food are invited to bring it to the church by 8:45 AM that morning, so we can begin serving and eating by 9:00 AM. Please get in touch with Karen Rawson with any questions. We look forward to seeing you there!
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YES, YOU CAN …Reminder !!!
The fund raiser of donating cans and bottles for redemption to benefit the Ankeny Service Center will be the month of May, 2025. Cans and bottles may be dropped off at the Ankeny Bottle and Can redemption center at 1317 SW Ordnance Tuesday through Friday 10:00 AM-4 Pm and Saturday 9 AM-2PM. The center is closed Sunday and Monday. Proceeds from all designated donations will be donated to the Service Center at the end of the month. Only donations received during May will be available for the ASC. This is not your last notice, but a good time to start collecting the cans and bottles. If you suggest your friends and neighbors participate, it would also be appreciated. Thanks for your support.
Missions Committee
| | Click on the photo to be taken to the registration page! Early Bird Registration ends May 1st | | |
Tone Chimes Rehearsals
April 6th
April 13th
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The work of repentance is the work of transformation; the work of change. It is challenging but doable work about which Rabbi Danya Ruttenburg invites us into conversation. It is also work that at some point all of us need to do because, not only have we all been harmed, but we have all done harm. Join us for this faithful and helpful conversation around the work of repentance and repair on Sunday evenings at 6:30.
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Kudos and Celebrations
- Those who stepped in for the worship service the Sunday Pastor Owen was ill.
- Those sharing their experiences during message time: Georgene Raver, Randy Wehofer, Shanon Buckroyd, and Eleke Ukpabi
- Those who picked up extra parts of the service: Darin Leach, Lori Leach, Mary St. Clair, and Judy Krase
- Those who helped plan the Lent Worship Series: Nate Shelburg, Judy Shelburg, Karen Rawson along with Nathan G, Lori Krase-Cayton, Karen Fausch, and Pastor Owen
- Those who worked on teh restrooms and meet Tuesday morning to maintain the church facility: Patrice and John Sayre, Christine Stoffa, Gary Black, Linda and Paul Lamont, and Colleen And Arnie Porath
- Choir and Tone Chimes for providing music during the worship services.
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April Birthdays
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
4/24 Curt Narwold
4/25 Pat Warner
4/26 Vinnie Widaman
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April Anniversaries
4/13 Frank & Sheri Prowant
4/30 Nate & Judy Shelburg
| | 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. | | |
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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2025 Leadership
Officers:
- President: Randy Wehofer
- President Elect: Open
- Past President, Chair Personnel Committee: Darin Leach
- Secretary: Angela Johnson
- Treasurer: Curt Narwold
- Member at Large: Pat Warner
- Check Writer: John Lee
- Chair of PRC: Karen Fausch
- PRC Members: Karen Fausch; Mike St. Clair; Shanon Buckroyd; Roby Duffy; Karen Rawson; Dan Fliger
- Nominating Committee: Judy Krase, Lisa Duffy, John Sayre
Current Committee Chairs:
- Christian Education: Lori Krase-Cayton and Mary St. Clair
- Stewardship & Finance: David Rawson
- Property: Arnie Porath
- Worship: Karen Fausch
- Social Life: Team Party Squad
- Missions: Chuck Fausch
- Evangelism: Open
- Endowment: Judy Krase
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Ankeny Christian Church
2506 SW 3rd Street
Ankeny, Iowa 50023
515-964-1083
ankenyccdoc@gmail.com
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