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May 2023 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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“I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” – John 11:25-26
“I will rise when He calls my name: No more sorrow, no more pain. I will rise on eagles’ wings, before my God fall on my knees, and rise. I will rise” – Chris Tomlin
The Easter Season is a time of celebrating all the ways in which resurrection is possible in our lives. Jesus calls us from the graves of those things that keep us down as individuals and as humanity. Jesus calls us to Arise! In this season, we will worship the Risen One and explore the ways we are called to “Arise!”
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Sunday, May 7
Arise! to Justice
Psalm 146
Sunday, May 14
Arise! to Serve
Ezekiel 34:1-7a
Sunday, May 21
Arise! to Shalom
Jonah 4:1-11 (A telling of Mark Twain’s “The War Prayer”)
Sunday, May 28
Pentecost Sunday
(New Series: Faithful)
Acts 2:1-21
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One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, "Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!"
- Luke 14:15
“In faith and memory here we sing the wonders of his love, and thus anticipate by faith the heavenly feast above.”
Vs. 3 “In Memory of the Savior’s Love”
Words by Thomas Cotterill
Celebrating is an important thing! Just like it is built into the foundation of Israel, as I talked about last week, it is also what we are moving toward. In the New Testament the Kingdom of God is imagined as a
great banquet; a celebration feast! Plus, celebrating is just so much fun!!!
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So, we continue our Easter celebration. We set aside celebrations big and small. We celebrate accomplishments, work, fun, and each other.
Since the last newsletter we have begun Pastor’s Class. We celebrate these 3 young people on their journey of discipleship. We celebrate their mentors who are giving of their time and their selves and sharing their faith. The conversations have been wonderful!
We celebrate the Ankeny Christian Childcare and our work with them. This past month Patrice, Georgene, Karen, and I had the joy and
privilege to share music with the children as a part of International Week of
the Child. It was wonderful to see the smiles on their faces and hear the
music they made with us.
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In the midst of all that has happened God is still at work here at Ankeny Christian Church. We still have lots to celebrate! We are still active, still lively, still Positive People Doing God’s Work. Just look at all that has happened and all that we’ve done in the past couple months. We had our Big Sunday filled with “Mountain Top Revelations”. We sang, worshipped, played, engaged in mission, and shared a meal together. We decorated cookies and cards, and prepared welcome kits for Mosaic – an organization that works with developmentally challenged adults. And, in case you haven’t noticed, our youth have been engaged in fellowship, learning, and mission as well!
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We celebrate the Christian Conference Center which will, in the next month in a half or so, begin welcoming campers, counselors, and directors to Holy Ground. Several of us went out last weekend to help get the
grounds ready to go: Clay, Christina, Elian, Lori, Steve, Darin, Kayla, Marlys, Bev, Judy, Jeremy, Cathy, Wesley, Odin, and I – Oh and Zoe will spend the summer out there as an intern; another celebration. We made repairs, painted, filed, cleaned, organized, and we ate, talked, and laughed along with our work.
We have a lot to celebrate! God is faithful! We are alive and doing
vital ministry. Let’s celebrate!
What are you celebrating right now?
Shalom,
Pastor Owen
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Care Connections
Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, graduations, weddings, showers, baptisms, births, Memorial Day, sympathy, birthdays….the list goes on and on of special days (or just because) when you might need a beautiful card to send to someone. And have you priced those beautiful cards lately? Yikes! Well, do we have a DEAL for you! Shelby S. AND Judy J. have created well over 200 cards recently and are offering them to
you on behalf of Care Connections for the whole month of May (until they run out) entirely FREE! Starting Sunday, May 7, there will be a table set up in the fellowship hall where the cards will be on display. We are encouraging EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD to choose a card and then send it to someone who has made a significant difference in your life; alternatively, send a note for a special occasion, a death, just to say “thank you”, “get well”, “I appreciate you” or “You made my day when…”
Postage for cards that do not require special handling by the post office are $ .63. Cards that sport more elaborate decoration require a butterfly stamp which costs $1.03 because they have to be hand-stamped. Both forms of postage will be available to you May 7 for a free-will donation. We are excited to offer this way for you to connect with each other, family, friends and others in the community to whom you choose to send a card. Reach out and touch…..SOMEONE TODAY DESERVES TO HEAR FROM YOU!
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GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is being held this year in Louisville, KY this August. This is, usually, a bi-annual gathering of our denomination. However, the last in person. Assembly was the one held here in Des Moines in 2019. We look forward to being with our siblings in Christ from the US, Canada, and around the globe in August this year. If you are interested in attending, please contact Pastor Owen. Ankeny Christian Church is allowed delegates to the Assembly to vote on vital issues facing the church. (Plus you get to meet great people, experience great worship and preaching, and learn a lot in workshops.)
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Tone Chimes Rehearsals
Tone Chimes is now done rehearsing until fall.
Thank you all and enjoy your summer!
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CHAOS Needs Your Help!
CHAOS is preparing for a mission trip to Chicago this summer and needs your help! On Sunday, May 7, the youth group will host a pancake breakfast accepting freewill donations to go towards reducing participant costs for this mission trip. Please come eat pancakes and leave whatever size donation you are comfortable with to help the youth make this trip!
We also will be partnering with a couple of agencies that accept donations for our service work. One of those programs is Bundled Blessings, supported by the church where we will be staying. We'll be helping to package diapers for those in need. They accept diaper donations of any size or brand.
Another agenda we will be assisting is called Cradles to Crayons. This organization is focused on ending children's clothing insecurity. There, we will be sorting donations and getting them ready for distribution. The donations they are currently needing include: Short & Long Sleeved T-Shirts Sizes 2T-Adult Medium; Baby Pajamas Girls Sizes 0-24 Months and Boys Sizes 6-24 Months; and NEW Underwear Boys and Girls Sizes 2T-18/20/Adult Medium.
We will have a donation box set up outside the sanctuary and would love your help in supporting these organizations!
Seeking Donations:
Freewill Offering at Pancake Breakfast
Packages of diapers of any size or brand
Short & Long Sleeved T-Shirts Sizes 2T-Adult Medium
Baby Pajamas Girls Sizes 0-24 Months and Boys Sizes 6-24 Months
NEW Underwear Boys and Girls Sizes 2T-18/20/Adult Medium.
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STATE FAIR OPPORTUNITY
How would you like a free ticket to the State Fair? Or, better yet, how
would you like free parking at the State Fair? The Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) in the Upper Midwest has, for many years, led a hymn
sing in the old church there on the fairgrounds. As a part of that, there is a
children’s moment. There is a need for people willing to lead the children’s
moment. Here’s the really cool part – you don’t even have to come up with
the material for the children’s moment…it is already picked out. All you
have to do is show up, do the children’s moment, then you have the rest of
the day to enjoy the fair! You can’t beat a deal like that. If you are
interested, please let pastor Owen or Georgene know and they can get you
connected!
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Special Offering for the Month of May
As Pastor Owen has announced, sign-ups for summer camps at our Christian Conference Center have begun. Your Missions Committee has decided to make our Conference Center near Newton the focus of our special offering for the month of May. Over the long weekend of April 21-23, workdays were held for the purpose of getting the facility ready for the upcoming camping season. Ankeny Christian Church had fifteen people helping with a part of the workday efforts. The staff of the Conference Center has provided us with a ‘wish list’ which identifies some of the items needed for the upcoming season. Missions Committee members have reviewed the list and have selected a couple items to challenge the congregation to fund through the special offering. The first item is a new ADA battery to operate the lift at the swimming pool so ALL campers can enjoy being in the pool. The cost of the new battery is $400. A second item has to do with trees.
Some unhealthy trees had to be cut down and need to be replaced. The new tree saplings cost about $300 each. Once we have reached the cost of the new battery, we will then purchase trees with donations received beyond $400. The Missions Committee budget line item for Local Missions will be used to round up the total given that exceeds $400 so that we can reach the cost of a tree or trees, as donations received allow. Let’s do this for our campers!! Thank you.
Missions Committee
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ACCC Appreciation Dinner
We are privileged to be affiliated with Ankeny Christian Childcare Center, a mission our church started over 25 years ago. As the Childcare Center works with families to help children grow in spirit, mind and body, we know that by working as a team, we are even better.
Please join us at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, May 22 in our Fellowship Hall for the 2nd Annual Appreciation Dinner to thank the staff and their families of the Ankeny Christian Childcare Center. They will be our guests; we will provide the meal. The meat will be provided, please bring a dish to share. Sign-up sheets will be available soon.
Any questions, contact Patrice Sayre at sayrepm@gmail.com.
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Office Update
Please send any photos you may take while out and about at Church events either on the facebook pages or to the office, ankenyccdoc@gmail.com. We would really like to showcase what we are doing as a faith community on our website as well!
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Summer Camp Registration is open!! Click the photo above to be taken to the webpage for sign up! | |
CAMPERS AND COUNSELORS WANTED!!!
Camp changes lives!
Many people who have attended church camp at the Christian Conference Center can tell you from experience that it is truly “Holy Ground”. Though often it is difficult to express in words sometimes. What is the mix – is it the fun, the learning, the close quarters, the being-away-from-it-all, the amazing staff, the environment, the beauty, the…you name it? Is it the blend? Is it the intensity? Certainly it is a mixture of many factors. Just as certainly, it is that we are attentive to the Holy Spirit moving among us. It changes lives.
In order for the young people to have these life changing experiences, the camp needs adults to care for, guide, and engage. Here’s the cool thing – you don’t have to feel that you are an expert in faith or child development or really anything. You can just be a willing Spirit ready to walk with and learn and care for the campers and your fellow counselors. (There is even air conditioning for most of the camps!!!) So, if you want to change lives this summer, see Owen or Lori about counseling for camp! There are plenty of opportunities!! (And, that’s not all – it’s free for counselors!)
Campers – don’t forget, Ankeny Christian Church will pay half your registration fee. If you register online, indicate that ACC will be paying half and you will save a little money!!
Early Bird deadline is May 1, 2023.
Links:
Camp Schedule and Descriptions
https://www.uppermidwestcc.org/summer-camp or
https://www.newtonccc.org/scsessions
Camp Registration
https://docgeneralassembly.regfox.com/umw-summer-camp-2023
Senior Retreat Registration
https://docgeneralassembly.regfox.com/umw-senior-retreat-2023
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May Birthdays
5/2 Mason Hanley
5/7 Cheryl Jass
5/9 Madison Mann
5/14 Martha DeVries
Karen Fausch
5/15 Kayla Harris
5/31 Frances Johnson
Paul Lamont
Zach Narwold
Patrice Sayre
Maya St. Clair
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May Anniversaries
5/14 Lisa & Tyler Vroegh
5/20 Dan & Pat Fliger
5/21 Karla & David Rice
5/25 Paul & Linda Lamont
5/30 Sherry & Ken Johnson
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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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2023 Leadership
Officers:
- President: Eleke Ukpabi
- President Elect: Open
- Past President, Chair Personnel Committee: David Rawson
- Treasurer: Jackie Black
- Member at Large: Pat Warner
- Check Writer: John Lee
- Chair of PRC: Darin Leach
- PRC Members: Darin Leach, Randy Wehofer, Frank Prowant, Dorothy Mathis, Karen Fausch, and Mike St. Clair
- Nominating Committee: Rob Duffy, Lori Leach, Judy Krase
Current Committee Chairs:
- Christian Education: Cathy Helmke
- Stewardship & Finance: Open
- Property: Tom Murphy
- Worship: Open
- Social Life: Open
- Evangelism: Open
- Missions: Open
- Endowment: Dorothy Mathis
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Reminder: If you are not feeling well, please stay home and participate in worship online. The COVID task force would also like to encourage all of those who are eligible to get vaccinated. | |
Ankeny Christian Church
2506 SW 3rd Street
Ankeny, Iowa 50023
515-964-1083
ankenyccdoc@gmail.com
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