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September 2023 Newsletter
Sunday School (Starts September 10)
9:15 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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September 10
The Story of Ruth
Ruth Chapters 1-4
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FAITH BIGGER THAN A BUMPER STICKER: A JOURNEY TO DEEPEN OUR FAITH! | |
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God, Improv, and the Art of Living
Things in life don’t always go according to plan. Often plans get completely derailed, life hands us a set of unexpected circumstances and says, “here, you go!” leaving us to rely on our smarts, our communities, our faith, and whatever else we can find. In other words, we improvise. Sometimes we even find that in those improvisations there are gifts of grace, life, and energy! Through this series we observe the way the divine moves with us in those moments of improvisation. God is always with us working with us, through us, and around us in all the circumstances of life to create, sustain, and redeem.
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September 17
"Say Yes. Say And"
Isaiah 1:10-20
September 24
"Pay Attention"
Luke 8:40-56
October 1
"Play Well with Others"
Philippians 2:1-13
October 8
"The Next Right Thing"
Matthew 14:13-21
October 15
"Embrace Ambiguity"
Exodus 32:1-14; Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23
October 22
"Love Mystery, Live Beauty"
Exodus 3:1-15
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Pastor's Ponderings
“Within these simple things there lie the height and depth of human life: our pain and tears, our thoughts and toils, our hopes and fears, our joy and strife.”
-“We Place upon Your Table, Lord”
#417 in the Chalice Hymnal, vs. 2
“…[God] has made known to us the mystery of [God’s] will, according to [God’s] good pleasure that [God] set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
-Ephesians 1:9-10
“I don’t know about you, but I want more than contentment. I want the full scale of emotions. Imagine watching a movie for 2 hours where everything was content. You’d be watching grass grow.”
-Katie Leigh
https://shopmodernmagic.com/happiness-vs-wholeness/
I was standing in our bedroom, leaning against the dresser, in tears as I spoke with Lori. I’d had a weird dream or something – one of those dreams that seemed real the moment you arrived at consciousness but can’t quite remember what it was. All I remember is my first thoughts upon awakening were, “Have I been a good parent? Are my children happy? But, what about that time I…yelled when I shouldn’t have? Came down too hard? Didn’t play with them when I should have?”
It seems that my grief has had its way with me recently – especially in my dreams. Not that I should be surprised, with my two older boys ‘leaving the nest’ in some sense, and having to put our beloved dog, Sunny, to sleep. “I didn’t sign up for this!” I protested to my wife, who listened as she always does with wisdom, compassion, and grace.
The thing is, I did sign up for it…for the grief; the ache and sadness I am experiencing right now. When we went and picked Sunny up from the Animal Shelter in Stillwater, OK, we knew that, even under the best of circumstances, we would have to say goodbye to her long before we were ready to do so. We knew when we decided to have children that, even under the best of circumstances, our children would leave someday. And let’s be honest here, we knew (and know right now, too!) that them leaving is a good thing, even if it is hard!
So, I did completely sign up for this…for this ache and sadness that I feel right now. And here’s the deal: I wouldn’t trade it back! Not in a million years would I give up the last 11 years with Sunny who brought so much joy and companionship to our lives. Not in a million years would I give up the last 19 and 21 (almost) years with Tai and Tovi and all they have added to my life, even if it took away this ache or this grief.
I can’t help but wonder if we put too much emphasis on happiness. Shoot, it is even written into the foundational DNA of our nation: “…endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” (from the Declaration of Independence). Then, we have failed to appropriately emphasize experiencing wholeness! By emphasizing happiness over wholeness, we have often created, rather than a circumstance where people are generally happier, a fear of sadness and an avoidance of suffering.
The thing is, as Brené Brown reminds us, “You can’t numb those hard feelings without numbing the other affects, our emotions. You cannot selectively numb.” (The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings of Authenticity, Connections and Courage) Wholeness is remembering that we are …well… whole beings, with a wide range of emotions and experiences and all of it contributes to who we are! It is all of this: ‘the height and depth of human life’ that we offer to God, that unfolds before God, with which God continues to restore and reshape us; it is all this that is a part of the ‘all
things’ that God gathers up into Christ Jesus. Whole is, I believe, what God desires us to be.
Shalom,
Pastor Owen
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2023 Love Lunches Wrap-Up
Thank you! Thank you to those who volunteered time and energy to help this year’s Love Lunches program in person. Also, thank you to those who contributed financially to the Love Lunches special offering during the month of June. The offering contributed $870 toward the cost of the meals provided throughout the summer. If you did both, a ‘special’ thank you to you. Statistically, we had a great summer as compared to last year. During the summer of 2022, our west side site
served 1991 meals as compared to the 2797 meals we served this year – an increase of 41%. The number of meals served to children increased from 1409 in 2022 to 1972 in 2023 – an increase of 40%. The number of adult meals increased from 572 in 2022 to 825 in 2023 – an increase of 45%. The number of days served varied slightly between the two summers, but the combined daily average for 2022 was 45 meals as compared to 67 meals for 2023, an increase of almost 50%.
ACC is one of the churches responsible for the west side Love Lunches site. It is located in Sunset Park. This summer, we were the ‘lead’ church for a total of eight days. We were responsible for seeing all fifteen work slots were filled each of those days. This we did with the help of the ACC people who signed up in addition to others from the community who signed up via Sign-Up Genius. For our eight days that meant we had 120 slots to fill. A few people filled a slot each of the eight days, a few filled just one slot during the eight days and others filled a slot a number of days in between. If we look at who filled the 120 slots, 73 slots were filled by 21 different ACC people and 47 slots were filled by 25 others from the community outside of ACC. A special thank you to Georgene Raver who was our food prep leader and park serving leader for each of the eight days. Also, a special thank you to Gwen Stafne who helped serve the meal each of the eight days.
-Missions Committee
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CHAOS and Mayhem Kicking Off!
Our fall 2023 youth group season kicked off with a family ice cream party last Sunday. Our regular groups will begin on Sunday, Sept. 10. Mayhem is designed for kids in Kindergarten through 5th grade and will be on Sunday nights from 5:30-6:30. Mayhem regular meetings include games, crafts, and other activities that help our grade school youth develop and understand their faith. CHAOS is designed for youth in 6th-12th grades and meets on Sunday nights from 6:30-8. CHAOS meetings always include games, but then also cycle through service activities, study, and more. Check out our flyer to see the CHAOS fall plan and be sure to make note of special dates such as the Fall Lock-In! As always, new friends are always welcome!
CHAOS Fall Service Project - We Need Your Help!
CHAOS plans to provide care packages to our college students again this year. It's a really lengthy list - we'll be sending out 22 care packages! So we would love your help in putting together goodies to send to them. If you are able to provide a donation, please place it in the basket outside of the sanctuary doors. If you would prefer to donate funds, we will use any received to purchase items needed to fill up the care packages. Good donationes might include:
- Stress relievers/fidget toys
- Lip balm
- Lotion
- Nice Pens
- Snacks - crackers, candy, granola bars
- Gum or mints
- Drink flavor packets
- Fuzzy Socks
- Journals
- Rooms Sprays
- Gift Cards (Starbucks, Walmart, Casey's Duncan, etc)
We'll be collecting donations until Oct. 1. On the 1st, we'll be putting the packages together and shipping them off.
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Nominating Process
The nominating committee will begin working soon on the leadership of the church for 2024. Please be in prayer about where your gifts might be used to build up the church for our work together in the world.
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Fall Book/Bible Studies
Karen Fausch will be leading a fall Book/Bible study on “Thrive” by Jennifer Cowart which is based on the book of James. We will be looking at six traits of mature Christians to help us during the rough times and lift us up in the good times. The study will begin Wednesday, October 4 and run for 6 weeks, the time is 10:00 to 11:30 at the church. If you wish to participate, please contact Karen Fausch and a book will be ordered for you.
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Pastor Owen will be leading a fall book study on "God, Improv, and the Art of Living" by Mary Ann McKibben Dana, which is also the theme of our first Fall worship series. The study will begin Sunday, September 10 at 6:30 p.m. and run for 7 weeks. A couple extra books were ordered, so you can still join the study. Contact Pastor Owen if you are interested. | |
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Fall Women's Retreat
September 22-24, 2023
Lake Koronis Assembly Grounds
Paynesville, MN
Keynote Speaker: Melissa Guthrie, Greensboro NC (Hometown Marshalltown, IA)
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A reference of our theme for the weekend: Colors of Hope, Melissa Guthrie, Editor
Chaplain: Deb Murphy, First Christian: Minneapolis, MN
Registration:
Pine Lodge - $160
Sunrise - $210, 2-4 people
Sunrise - $260, Single
Invite a friend!! Scholarships available
Interested in helping? Have a gift to share? Contract your Retreat Coordinators:
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2023 All Congregational Gathering October 23, 2023
Christian Conference Center Newton, Iowa
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Missions Committee
Finally, it is football season! It is time for the ACC annual Food Bowl. Fortunately, we will not be playing football in the sanctuary Sunday mornings. What we will be doing is raising money to fight hunger in the Ankeny area while we express best wishes for our favorite Iowa collegiate teams. A scoreboard in the sanctuary will chart the votes received by each team (University of Iowa, Drake University, Iowa State University or the University of Northern Iowa). Vote for your favorite team by donating either in the collection plate or online. Each dollar received will be charted as a vote for your designated team. Be sure to indicate your preference of a team or teams as you wish. Undesignated donations will be credited to the school with the fewest recorded votes on the scoreboard prior to that day. There is no limit to the amount or how often you may “vote”. Proceeds from this monthlong season will be donated to the Ankeny Service Center food distribution program. A donation of $1410 was made in 2022 when the University of Iowa was the ACC champion. Future Mission committee events include Meals from the Heartland Sept 2nd (details available in this Newsletter), Shoe Hike in October, Silent Auction in November and Gifts to and from Ankeny Christian in December. For questions and/or suggestions of these or any other Mission activities, contact Chuck Fausch, committee chair. Thank You in advance for your support of these activities as well as e-mail the general support of Ankeny Christian Church.
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Kudos and Celebrations!!!
- Owen Cayton for continuing the commitment to mentoring sessions
- Carla, Arnie, Shanon and everyone for leading worship while Owen was at General Assembly
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Tone Chimes
Chimers! It's time to rehearse again. I have some new music and am anxious to see everyone again after our long hiatus! Tone Chime rehearsals will begin Sunday, September 24 at 5:30 p.m. There is no need for anyone to hang back envying all the fun we have making music together as a choir. We are always looking for additional members who can read music and join our group. We also like to keep a few volunteers who might be willing to sub once in awhile for members who might have a date conflict. If you have an interest at all, please feel free to talk to me or just come to our first rehearsal September 24th. See you then! Georgene Raver, Director
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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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September Birthdays
9/3 Tami Covarrubias
Angela Johnson
9/4 William Harris
9/5 Coyer Kalvig
Laithan Kalvig
Madilyn Moellers
Maya Schroeder
9/6 Tanya Cox
9/8 Adam Olson
9/9 Dennis Chapman
9/10 Marlys Lapham
Corbin Widaman
9/14 Deanna Clingan-Fischer
9/15 Lynn Worley
9/19 Randy Wehofer
9/20 Wesley Helmke
9/22 Sally Hanley
Susan Hanley
Amy Shelton
Kingston Ukpabi
9/23 Jodi Murphy
9/24 Logan Olson
Zola Parker
Emily Porath
9/27 Lori Reynolds
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September Anniversaries
9/1 Mike & Laura Dolley
9/5 Darin & Lori Leach
9/6 Lynn & Teresa Worley
Jon & Jennifer Hauschildt
9/17 Adam & Angie Olson
9/20 Curt & Megan Narwold
9/28 Larry & Nancy Squier
9/29 Jason-Paul & Amy Channels
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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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Ankeny Christian Church
2506 SW 3rd Street
Ankeny, Iowa 50023
515-964-1083
ankenyccdoc@gmail.com
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