Announcements - 7/4/2010

PICNIC AFTER CHURCH THIS SUNDAY

Our 1^st Sunday of the month fellowship meal after church this Sunday will be a picnic in the park down the street to the right. Come one and all. Bring your own lunch and something to share with others.

MATT AND RACHEL

We wish Matt and Rachel Parks and their children Abigail and Caleb God's greatest blessings as they begin a new chapter of their lives in New York City. Matt will be working as Assistant Provost at The King's College where he will also be teaching Political Science. Come help load up the moving van this Monday July 5^th at 8am as the Parks Family begins their move to their wonderful new apartment in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens. We thank God for this family, and look to hear great things as they continue to serve Him in a new location.

LOOKING FOR DAILY WORSHIPERS

Would you like to be a part of some or all of the EPC weekday morning worship services? Would it help if they were held at a different location or time? Please talk to Pastor Magee as we begin to make plans for the future. You can also read the Bible messages from those services at www.epcblog.blogspot.com.

WORSHIP AND ANNOUNCEMENTS – NEW PROCEDURES

In order to aid in the preparation for worship each Sunday morning, we are going to minimize the number of announcements before the service. We hope that this will allow our congregation to be seated during the playing of music, to perhaps take advantage of the devotional aids on the back of the bulletin, and then to be welcomed by our Pastor as we begin the service. If there are to be occasional announcements, they must be processed first through one of the Deacons. Thank you!

A SUMMER OF PRAYERFUL PREPARATION – OFFICER NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN

The elders have announced that they have opened up nominations for the offices of elder and deacon. The last day for nominations will be Sunday, August 22^nd. Pastor Magee will continue teaching about the requirements and duties connected to these biblical offices this Sunday in Adult Sunday School. Nominations should be given in writing to one of the current officers of the church.

What are Elders and Deacons? Elders have the special role of spiritual oversight of the members of the congregation. Nominate those men you would seek out for spiritual advice who are able to teach, and who are recognized as good men both inside and outside the congregation. Deacons are to be men of trusted character who provide leadership in service. They free up the elders from any important ministry tasks that would distract the elders from the spiritual nurture of the church. We urge you to prayerfully consider Acts 6, 1 Timothy 3, and Titus 1 before making a nomination. If you need help in this process, please do not hesitate to contact one of the elders or deacons for assistance.

Armes Update

We have been supporting Stan and Donna Armes in Port Elizabeth, South Africa for eleven years. They are with MTW, and Stan comes from an amazing heritage of missionary service for several generations. They have previously served in church planting work in Kenya, but during their time in SA, Stan has been teaching Pastors at a Bible Institute. Donna has a nursing background. Together they have been addressing issues of AIDS and divorce through their church.

They now embark on a new project – developing a church-based curriculum and ministry to address the very high divorce rate in Port Elizabeth. Current ministries are too western to work in the townships where they serve. This is a great new opportunity for them as Stan leaves his work at the seminary and they serve together, helping those who face marital challenges. Their work will be translated into the local language.

This Sunday we will be praying for the Armes that the Lord will guide and empower them:
to research and write material that will speak to the felt needs of the people,
to find competent and committed translators,
to test the material before they can move on to training,
to find pastors who are willing for them to come to their churches,
to find people who are willing to pray for them in this endeavor.

Portland Church

These just in from Pastor Doug Warren at our Portland Church:

Please join us in praising God for these answered prayers:

1.We have a new office space on a main street going into Portland that will allow our staff to have a place to work and also provide a meeting place for small groups and ministry outreach.
2.God continues to bring visitors to the worship service and we have been thrilled with some new families returning and expressing interest in serving Christ with CTR.
3.We have a group of communicants going through a class and study guide in preparation for their first communion.

Please continue to boldly ask God for the following:
1.Wisdom for our elders and deacons as they spend time this summer seeking the Lord’s guidance and clarified direction.
2.Good attendance and significant fruit from our two summer camps. Explorer Camp is July 19-23 and VBS is August 2- 6. Both are being held at Lyseth Elementary School.
3.Physical healing and relief for several in our congregation struggling with disease and sleep disorder.