The
Good News
September 2004
Teen Alpha Coming To St.Francis
No bible study wednesday evening
In addition to Teen Alpha, St.
Francis will again offer the regular Alpha course for adults on
Thursday evenings beginning Sept. 16th at 6:00 PM, also at the
church. If you haven’t taken advantage of this great course, you are fast
becoming one of a minority at St. Francis.
The adult course is open to your
friends too! This is a great experience
to bring people to if you know they’re searching for a deeper understanding of
God and the Christian Faith, or just feeling lost in life.
The course is free and open to
everyone. A light supper is provided
each week and participants are asked to make a donation toward the cost of
food.
Registration forms are available at the church or you can call Debbie at the office, 243-2404.
(TOP)
--From Fr. John
A special, warm welcome to our
new families at St. Francis! Some of
our newest families have been the most active in inviting others to church, and
we are blessed by their enthusiasm! I continue
and renew my challenge to ALL our members, “Bring someone new to church with
you this week!”
(Top)
Teen Alpha is coming to St.
Francis
We are excited to offer a special
Teen Alpha program designed especially for high school and
college aged young people on Sunday evenings beginning September 12th,
at 6:30 PM at St. Francis.
“Alpha is an exciting 10-week
introduction to the Christian Faith that has appealed to young people around
the world,” Fr. John Spencer says. “Alpha
is offered in over 100 countries and appeals to people from all backgrounds and
all faiths. Teen Alpha will
help young people explore questions they have about life, who Jesus Christ is,
and whether Christianity can really make any difference in their lives.” Young people who
are members of St. Francis are especially encouraged to bring friends from
school or the neighborhood. Help them
find Christ working in their lives! All
parish youth should have received a registration brochure. If not, call the office.
A light supper is provided each
week and participants are asked to make a
donation toward the cost of food.
For additional info, call Debbie at the church office,
243-2404.
Church school classes for all ages resume Sunday, Sept. 12, at 9:00
AM, between the masses. Fr. John
encourages you ALL to take part. Some of
you don’t yet know what you’re missing! The adult study group will continue
with several interesting segments this year.
Watch the bulletin and bulletin board. There will be a class for the
teens as well, in addition to the evening Teen Alpha program. But if you have to choose one, choose Alpha!
As a special treat, beginning on Sunday October 3rd, and
continuing the next two Sundays, Walter and Edythe Derbyshire, former
missionaries, will show slides and tell us about their experiences as Episcopal
Missionaries in the jungles of Liberia, West Africa.
(Top)
No Bible Study Wednesday Evenings
This fall we’ll continue to have Evening Prayer and Eucharist on
Wednesday evenings, but we won’t hold Bible Study on those evenings until the
Alpha courses are done. Fr. John and
others involved in Outreach will be using Wednesday evenings to call on new and
prospective members of St. Francis.
Once Alpha is concluded, we’ll
resume the regular Bible study. If you
would like to take part but can’t make Wednesdays, let the office know and we
can consider moving the study to a different night.
Thanks Are Due…
Our
new SIGN is in place! Thanks to Mark Gamage
and Mission and Outreach for their support of this project, and to the St.
Francis/St. John’s Bishop’s Committee that funded it! Just try to miss us now…
What else is new and different?
Have you noticed the CROSS out
front? Thanks to Ted Becker for
retrieving and refurbishing the cross from the old St. Francis and special
thanks to Bill Holmes for creating the large cross backing, planting it in the
ground, and running the light!
Have you noticed how the chair
kneelers now work much better? A VERY
SPECIAL thanks to Bill Holmes—again! —for hours and hours of tedium in
re-designing and re-engineering the kneelers so they fold up so nicely.
THANKS to
Betty, Chuck and Diane Casey for once again hosting our annual outdoor
Eucharist and parish picnic at their farm near Lacon. It was a beautiful day, and great time of worship and fellowship.
Have you noticed new
landscaping going in? Thanks to our
WONDDERFUL landlord, Dan Cloud, who continues at his own expense to enhance and
improve our churchyard. We hope soon to
have a sitting area near the back of the church so we can enjoy more Son-shine!
Hungry? Not for long! Thanks to Ron Nielson for donating the gas BBQ for St. Francis,
and to Alex Cannon who helped him find it and haul it from Galesburg.
Music to our ears! Thanks to Wayne Brodkorb for filling our
musical lapses. We are in your debt,
Wayne.
And Who Else Is
On the Way??
Special greetings and thanks to all our visitors who keep showing
up and to all the wonderful voices who keep inviting them! Keep it up.
God loves cheerful Saints!
Finally,
thanks to Mr. Bob Dageforde, a member of St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Diocesan
Arts and Architecture Committee who has already started working with us to
conceive a design for the NEW ST. FRANCIS!
Wow. So much is happening it’s getting harder and harder just to keep up with the “thank you’s.” What a wonderful problem to have!
Is Your Pledge Current?
In the doldrums-days of summer,
everything goes slower. Ironically,
church pledges sometime flow like molasses in January here in the midst of
August. With travel, vacations, and
all, we sometimes forget that the church’s bills come due every month just like
our own.
If you’re not up
to date on your pledge, help us out by dropping a check in the offering this
week, or if you’re away by dropping one in the mail. Thanks for your faithful
stewardship on behalf of the work and ministries of St. Francis and St. Johns!
Diocesan Study Guide Regarding
the Network
If you missed the Sunday morning
discussions of the recently published Diocesan Study Guide, copies are
available at the office. The guide
answer the many questions currently being asked about the state of the Episcopal
Church in relation to the rest of the Anglican Communion, the fallout from last
summer’s General Convention, the Diocese of Quincy membership in the new
Anglican Communion Network, and how “realignment” of churches and dioceses is
proceeding around the US.
It’s important
in this turbulent time in the life of the Church that every one of us be
well-informed and have our questions answered.
If you missed the discussions, please read the Study Guide and seek out
one of the clergy for help with your questions.
Also available at the office are
copies of a letter from Bishop Ackerman and from Fr. Bill Knapp, President of
the Standing Committee, which details the process we went through in ratifying
diocesan membership in the Network.
Satan called a worldwide convention of demons. In his opening address he said, “ We can’t
keep Christians from going to church.
We can’t keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can’t even keep them from forming an
intimate relationship with their savior.
Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is
broken.” So let them go to their
churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, but steal their time, so
they don’t have time to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ. This is what I want you to do”, said the
devil: “ Distract them from gaining
hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their
day!” How shall we do this?” his demons shouted. “Keep them busy in the
nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their mind,” he
answered. “Tempt them to spend, spend,
spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow.
Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work
6 – 7 days each week, 10 – 12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty
lifestyles. Keep them from spending
time with their children. As their
families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of
work! Over-stimulate their minds so
that they cannot hear that still small voice.
Entice them to play the radio, or cassette player whenever they
drive. To keep the TV, VCR, CD’s and
their PC’s going constantly and see to it that every store and restaurant in
the world plays non-biblical music constantly.
This will jam their minds and break their union with Christ. Fill the coffee table with magazines and
newspapers. Pound their minds with the
news 24 hours a day. Invade their
driving moments with billboards. Flood
their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every
kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false
hopes. Give them Santa Claus to
distract them and teach them the real meaning of Christmas. Give them an Easter bunny so they won’t talk about his resurrection and power over
sin and death. Even in their
recreation, let them be excessive. Have
them return from their recreation exhausted.
Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God’s
creation. Send them to amusement parks,
sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead. Keep them busy, busy, busy!
And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and
small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences. Crowd their lives with so many good causes
they have no time to seek power form Jesus.
Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their
health and family for the good of the cause.
It will work! It will work!!” It
was quite a plan! The demons went
eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busier and
more rushed, going here and their.
Having little time for their God or their families. Having no time to tell others about the
power of Jesus to change lives. I guess
the question is, has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the judge! Does “ busy “ mean:
B – eing U –
nder S – atan’s Y – oke!
(Top)
“In the dark? Follow the Son”
“ Dusty Bibles lead to Dirty Lives”
“Free trip to heaven. Details inside!”
“No God, no peace.
Know God, know peace.”
“Searching for a new look? Have your faith lifted here!”
“How will you spend eternity? Smoking or Nonsmoking?”
“CHURCH CAR PARK – FOR MEMBERS ONLY TRESPASSERS WILL BE BAPTIZED!”
(Top)
Snail
Mail:
Emergencies: 309-645-9949
Email: office@saintfrancischurch.net
St.
Francis Office: 309-243-2404
Fax: 309-243-2404
Fr. John Spencer: 309-274-3952
Fr.
Louis Mahue: 309-691-6125 Fr. Jim
Marshall: 309-364-3330