News and Events

Something to Chew On, Issue II

December 8, 2015 By

Most of us are familiar with the image of a glass half empty or a glass half

full. Imagine yourselves and First Christian Church in the light of either one of

these images.

A glass half empty conveys the thoughts of hopelessness, despair, pessimism,

and failure. Why should I or we invest our time, our energy, and our effort into

something that seems to be gradually draining out? How much more can we draw

or take from that half empty glass until it is truly empty?

On the other hand, a glass half full conveys the thoughts of hope, growing

energy and passion, optimism with a future to embrace. Why shouldn’t I or we

become excited and hopeful for what is yet to come?

We are in the midst of the season of Advent, a season that is filled with hope

and excitement and acceptance of God’s blessed gift of love to us, His Son and our

Savior. God never embraced the image of a glass half empty and He seeks for us

to model in our individual lives, in our work, and most certainly within the body of

Christ, his church that same image.

There is a moment when Jesus was teaching the crowds in his Sermon on the

Mount in which he embodied the image of not only a glass half full, but also a glass

that was overflowing. Read Matthew 6:25-34 and truly drink in the truth of those

words.

Will you be that glass half empty or that glass half full?

Pastor Nik

Filed Under: News, Something to Chew on

Something to Chew on, Issue I

December 1, 2015 By

This is the first installment of weekly emails in which I will share some simple

thoughts to help guide us through our time of transition. I will not seek to give

answers. Rather, I seek only to stir your thoughts as together we seek to discern

where and how God is calling us to move. By the way, I choose not to call this a

“blog”.

Since Advent has begun, let us focus on its meaning and value. Advent is a

time of preparation and being ready for the coming of our Lord and Savior. No, it is

not about decorating or shopping, or some of the other activities that we might

associate with Christmas. Yes, those things may occur, but it is about preparation

and the readiness of one’s heart and spirit to receive the greatest gift that we have

been given, God’s Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

May I suggest this as a time for daily prayer, remembering, reading, and

reflecting upon many of the scriptures that point to the coming of a Savior. I

suggest readings such as Isaiah 40:3-5, Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 11:1-5, Isaiah 53:1-9,

Jeremiah 33:14-16. You may be aware of other appropriate readings that you can

add to this list.

What does it truly mean to prepare? I am not going to give you a hard and

quick answer. Preparation may vary for every one of us during the season of

Advent. For some, it may be a quiet listening. What is God saying to you, in what

ways is God stirring your heart? For others, it may be a joyful expectation and

anticipation like a child who can’t wait to open those gifts under the tree. For still

others, it may stir memories of Christmases past that no longer occur because of

changes in family structures that may have occurred.

Whatever the situation may be for you, keep your focus upon the gift that has

been given and that we celebrate again, Jesus Christ.

 

Pastor Nik

Filed Under: News, Something to Chew on

Nik’s Nook- November 2015

November 17, 2015 By

Oh, how the time passes quickly when you are having

fun. And I can honestly say that your graciousness, welcome,

and continuing helpfulness have contributed to my experience

of enjoyment.

We had our first congregational gathering to respond to

some questions that our Transition Team helped to draft

regarding our heritage. Your Transition Team will be meeting

in several weeks to discuss those responses and begin to make

plans for the next steps in this transition process with you.

I have had the opportunity to listen to a many of you

regarding your concerns as well as hopes. As a result of this

listening, in a few weeks I will begin sending out a weekly email

message entitled “From My Plate to Your Plate, Something to

Chew On”.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I am sure

that most of you will be gathering some time that week with

family and friends to celebrate and to sincerely count your

many blessings.

Just after Thanksgiving begins the wonderful season of

Advent. This year, I plan to lead you in a different direction.

Instead of the themes of hope, peace, joy, and love; we will

celebrate the first Sunday of Advent as Prophecy Sunday. The

second Sunday will be celebrated as Bethlehem Sunday. The

third Sunday will be celebrated as the Shepherd’s Sunday, and

the fourth Sunday will be celebrated as the Angel’s Sunday. All

of this culminates with Christmas Eve and sharing in candlelight

communion.

Join us for all of the variety of celebrations that are

coming up. Be encouragers of others to share in our many

activities. Continually lift one another in prayer.

I look forward to our continuing journey.

In the love of Christ,

Pastor Nik

Filed Under: News and Events, Uncategorized

Transition Team Update

October 19, 2015 By

By the time you are reading this, we have had our first

congregational meeting related to discerning who we are and how

we got to where we are. This is important for us to know and to

discover where we want to go. We had a wonderful carry-in lunch

after worship on the 18th. Several of you stayed to participate and

thank you to those who were not able to stay, but got information to

us for the meeting. It is important that we all have a voice in this

process. If you did not get your feedback turned in, there will be

question sheets on the table in the Narthex that you can fill in and

return to the office. There will be newsprint sheets hanging about

the building. These will be used to note special events and

happenings in the church. Please feel free to update these as things

come to mind. We are looking for all major events that stand out in

your mind. Not all of these events were positive at the time, but they

are part of who we are and we need to catalogue them. Please be

sure to drop off any question forms to the office and add to the

timeline of notable events.

Respectfully, Your Transition Team

Filed Under: News and Events

An Elder Moment

October 19, 2015 By

As we continue to walk together down this path in a time of

change, the Elders ask that you keep all of our church held up

in prayer. The Elders are working with Pastor Nik to focus on

spiritual discernment during this process related to change.

Thank you to Martin Schaefer for joining the Elder team.

Martin is replacing Mike Simpson who has stepped down as

Elder due to scheduling conflicts.

To help with worship scheduling, the Elders took on filling the

duties of Worship Leaders. We are scheduled till the end of

2015. We know that there are several in the congregation who

are able and enjoy participating in worship in this capacity.

Scheduling for the 2016 calendar is happening. If you would

like to serve as Worship Leader or have any questions about

what it entails, please let Ginger Alley, Tina Yarber, the office

or any of the Elders know. We will get you added to the coming

schedule. We are all here to serve each other and support each

other. If you have prayer needs/concerns or hospital/home

bound visit requests, please inform any of the Elders or the

church office, so that we can continue to share God’s love with

you during these special times of need.

In His Service,

Cliff Thompson, Elder Chair

Filed Under: News and Events

Nik’s Nook

October 19, 2015 By

From this time forward, my monthly newsletter

article will be “Nik’s Nook”. It has been an honor and

a privilege for me to begin service as your Intentional

Interim Pastor. You have graciously welcomed me and

I am gradually becoming familiar with who is who.

The name tags that members wear on Sundays helps

tremendously.

By the time that you read this, we will have had

our first congregational gathering hosted by the

Transition Team to take a closer look at our heritage.

You see, I consider the congregation’s heritage like

the congregation’s DNA. Our heritage beginning with

our Lord and Savior helps to determine who we are

and from there to have some direction in where we

hope to be.

For your information, I am usually here

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of each week. I

usually arrive in the office around 10 a.m. and leave

between 5 and 6 p.m. Most days up until about 1

p.m., you will be able to find me in the office. From 2

p.m. until 5:30 p.m. I may be in the office or out

making pastoral calls.

I count on you to keep me informed of pastoral

concerns and needs. Of course, you are always

welcome to stop by for a chat.

I look forward to our continuing work in

ministry together as we strive to discern who God is

calling to be your next settled pastor.

 

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Nik

Filed Under: News and Events

Pastor Nik Donges, Interim Pastor

October 5, 2015 By

Reverend Nik Donges started32a97ea ministry with us as interim pastor in September 2015. Nik is a Graduate of Ashland University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Music and Lexington Theological Seminary with a Masters of Divinity in Homiletics and Christian Education.

Recently Pastor Nik served as Senior Minister and Retired from Anderson Hills Christian Church and  has served as Interim Minister in Wilmington and Hebron, Ohio.

Pastor Nik  is a trained interim minister by the Interim Minestry Network

Nik Lives in Amelia with his wife of 50 years, Eunice. In his free time he is the principle Oboe for the Cincinnati Civic Orchestra.

 

To hear some of Pastor Nik’s messages with us, Go to our sermons page.

 

Contact Pastor Nik at: pastornik@fuse.net

Filed Under: News, worship

An Elder Moment

September 5, 2015 By

We welcome Pastor Nik as our Interim Minister.

He has been with us for two weeks now and is settling

in as our Pastoral leader. He will be meeting with our

transition team very soon in order to get the ball

rolling on what we need to prepare ourselves for

matching up with a search for our Settled Pastor. As

we are getting familiar with each other, please take

the time to reach out to Pastor Nik and introduce

yourself. One awesome way to do this is to offer to

take Pastor Nik out for lunch. This could be after

worship on Sunday or during the week if your

schedule permits. We encourage all of our members

to participate in this time of conversation for Pastor

Nik to get to know us better.

As worship evolves over our time with Pastor

Nik, please be sure to let us know what is working and

what is not. We will do our best to accommodate

what we can for changes. Talk to an Elder or our

Worship team leaders; Ginger Alley and Tina Yarber.

We extend our sympathies to the family of Nell

Teater. There was a wonderful celebration moment of

her life. Please keep all of her family in prayer for this

time of transition.

Pace, Passion, and Purpose!

Cliff Thompson. Elder Chair

Filed Under: Events, News

AN ELDER MOMENT

August 18, 2015 By

The Elders have been dutifully fulfilling the task

of finding an Interim Pastor for us. This has been a

labor of love and an opportunity to learn more about

each other in the process. Thank you to all the

members of our church that have shared their

comments and feelings about the candidates that we

presented to you. It was not an easy decision. Due to

a few differentiating factors, Rev. Nick Donges was

called as our Interim Minister. Rev. Donges will have

standing office hours as well as making hospital calls

and taking care of any special service needs in the

congregation. Rev. Donges will help guide us through

the process that we need to complete to prepare our

church as a candidate for a new minister.

The Elders will be establishing a Transition

Team. We hope to have this team in place prior to

Rev. Donges coming on board, so that they are ready

to start. If you are approached for this team, please

prayerfully consider taking on this role. It is your

opportunity to serve your church as well as being a

part of helping to create the future of the church that

you will pass on to the next generation.

As we continue through this process, the Elders

will strive to keep everyone informed of the process

and the progress. This is a time for us all to pull

together and surround each other with love and

support.

Pace, Purpose and Passion!

Cliff Thompson & Mike Simpson, Elder Chairsc

Filed Under: Events, News, Uncategorized

?? WHAT IS NORMAL ??

July 23, 2015 By

As we have entered into a time of transition, some

things remain the same, some things will change, and some

things may still be there but appear quite different. Our

worship service is not exempt. We have different folks giving

the message (for now). We have new deacons and elders for

the 2015-2016 year. As we strive to keep everything going, I’m

sure that there will be things that are, inadvertently, omitted

or missed. For this we apologize in advance.

As we go forward, please work with us. If there is

something that you would like to recommend, please do so. If

we miss something during worship, let us know. If there is

something new that you feel might add to the worship

experience, please tell us that as well. However, I ask that you

do not tell us your ideas, but please put them in writing; send a

note, an email or give us a handwritten note. (Charlotte often

says that some things she tells me goes in one ear only to fall

right out of the other ear.) Sundays are very busy times these

days as we go forward in the absence of a pastor. Therefore, I

ask that you forward your written communiques to Cliff or me.

We promise to do our best to try to keep things running

smoothly.

I also want to update you on the work of the elders in

searching for an interim pastor. The elders have interviewed a

candidate and another interview is scheduled. We will keep

you apprised of progress.

As we are having a number of different individuals

deliver our message, we all need to express our thanks to

Rachel Eve. She is doing an excellent job of putting all of our

music together for services.

 

Thanks for your help in keeping the ship afloat.

Larry L. Steele

Moderator

Filed Under: Events
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