Penny War

Have you noticed the change wagons around the church? The Child Enrichment Center and Children’s Ministries are having their 2nd Annual Alabama verses Auburn Penny War. This year the funds will go to upgrading the Playground. Presently, Auburn is in the hole. You might ask how a team gets in the hole. Pennies score for your team. Silver change and dollar bills in your team’s bucket are a penalty against your team. For example, someone put a $20 dollar bill in the Alabama bucket in the office. That means $20.00 of pennies will have to be taken out of Alabama and put in the Referee’s bucket. So there are two ways to help your team. Put pennies in your teams bucket and other change and bills in the other teams bucket.

Last year, Alabama won, but the real winner was the Church. 72,500 pennies were raised and that went toward the pay off Principle on our Debt. This year, it seems that some Big Ten involvement has joined with Auburn. I understand one particular Big Ten supporter has been collecting money to help Auburn. So Bama fans, you have your work cut out. You know you don’t want to see Orange in the pulpit the Sunday before the real Alabama-Auburn game.

Church Facilites - Place of Ministry

September 23, 2009

Church Facilities – Place of Ministry

One of my images of the Church is the “Training Facilities” to the Body Christ. We gather in the Church facilities to worship Christ and to grow as disciples.

When many of us think about church, our mind goes to Sunday when the Church gathers for worship and learning. Some of us also think about Wednesday evening when a couple of hundred gather for G.R.O.W. opportunities. But these facilities are the place of many more ministries of which you may not be aware.

I’ve been thinking about all the ministries that took place on the campus this past weekend, September 18, 19 and 20th. Here are some of which I’m aware:

Friday, the Open Door Sunday School Class provided a meal in the Fellowship Hall for the Land family, before Mary Land’s memorial service.
Friday and Saturday, pictures were being taken for our next Pictorial Directory. If you have not registered to have your picture taken, contact the office. We have had a great response, so some additional dates in October have been opened.
Friday evening the Chapel was the site of a wedding for some of our church family.
Friday evening the Fellowship Hall and Family Ministry Building were used for a Youth Fifth Quarter. In spite of bad weather that caused football games to be delayed and even canceled, 110 youth came to Fifth Quarter. A variety of activities were offered, food, of course and two of our youth (Haley Brown and Gregory Payne) shared their testimonies.
Saturday, a Prayer Vigil was held in the Chapel from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Saturday Morning the Sanctuary was used for the visitation and Memorial Service for Charles Scroggins. Then the Fellowship Class provided a meal in the Fellowship Hall for the Scroggins Family.
Saturday evening we hosted a Volunteer’s in Mission group from Ohio. This was not their first time to stay with us on their way to the Gulf Coast where they were helping people who are still recovering from the Hurricanes of the last few years. We tend to forget that recovery on the Gulf Coast is still taking place following the destruction of Katrina.
Sunday began with worship teams rehearsals, the Prayer Walk and preparations for hospitality.
The Volunteer’s in Mission Team from Ohio worshipped with us at the 8:30 service, where we had prayer for them.
We had new members join in two of our three Sunday morning services.
On Sunday afternoon we hosted a training for Girl Scout Leaders in the Fellowship Hall.
On Sunday evening there were rehearsals for youth choir, Sonrise Team and Ladies ensemble.
Youth Small Groups and an Adult Living the Good Life group meet.
The weekend closed with the Evening Grow Service.

This was not a typical weekend, but not totally out of the ordinary either. The facilities here are used seven days a week to provide a variety of ministries. All of these ministries take place because of those who honor God by bringing their tithe to the storehouse.

The Fellowship Hall had to be cleaned and reset four times during this past weekend. The gym had to be set up for Crossfire Worship on Saturday, instead of Friday, due to Fifth Quarter. When you arrived Sunday morning, you found the facilities looking good and ready for fellowship, worship and study. This does not happen by accident. This variety of ministry happens because of dedicated custodians and committed volunteers who labor to have things looking good each week. And it happens because of persons who bring their tithe to the storehouse.