If you prefer to print the newsletter, you may download it here: Printable October 2022. Here is also a printable October calendar: 10 2022 Calendar
pastor’s perspective
By Dave Hendrickson, Lead Pastor
Repeat after me, “I am a missionary.”
October is typically known as harvest month. It’s the time when farmers (whether professional or backyard enthusiasts) go out and reap the fruit (or vegetable) of their labors. On some church calendars, October is also known as Missions month. It’s the month churches recognize all the different mission organizations or people they support. And as much as I want to make sure we, as Longview Community Church, continue to support missional opportunities locally, nationally, and internationally, I want to remind all of us that we are all on mission.
In Matthew 28, and then again in Acts 1, Jesus tells his disciples to “be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” “making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” Unfortunately, as the church has grown, organized, and institutionalized over the centuries, missions has become something that has to be done within the church. But as one missionary put it, “The church doesn’t do mission, the church is mission.”
Do you see the difference? Missions isn’t something the church produces; it is foundational to who we are. As followers of Jesus, we are sent out on mission. But some might be thinking, “Aren’t missionaries those who are called to go to strange lands and share the good news of Jesus?” Yes, there are some called to do that, but according to the writer of Hebrews (13:14), “this world is not our home.” Peter says, “I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” (I Peter 2:11-12). So yes, all disciples of Jesus are
missionaries.
So, how is LvCC on mission? First, as a church LvCC gives 9% of our member contributions to support missional organizations and people, locally, nationally, and internationally. In 2021, that came close to $52,000. This past summer several of our members served at Royal Family Kids Camp. They were able to share their lives and stories about Jesus with children in the foster care system. The missions committee made and served around 300 sandwiches at an event at Archie Anderson Park. LvCC also writes handwritten cards to the Longview Police Department regularly thanking them and sharing hope with them. On Monday evenings there’s a group from LvCC who prepare, deliver, and serve dinner at the homeless camp. Several of them also go into the camp to pray and check in on the residents. As these relationships continue to grow, we will hopefully see some of them at church on a Sunday morning!
Looking to the future, I want to invite you to think and pray about participating in upcoming missional opportunities.
July 23 – 28, 2023: Royal Family Kids Camp
You can either help locally by registering and preparing with the logistics of camp, or you can be a counsellor who goes to camp for the week to love and serve the foster children.
August 6 –12, 2023: Mission to Abeco Bahamas
We are planning to go and help with hurricane Dorian (2019) relief. The island is still recovering after taking a direct hit. We will be doing construction and children/youth work.
So as we enter the month of harvest, let us also remember to be on mission/harvest for the Lord. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38)
community corner
“who is my neighbor?”
By Caleb Strom, Discipleship and Community Life Pastor
When Jesus was wandering about conducting his ministry, he was asked a simple, yet extreme question that was really meant to trap him. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” he was questioned. Through dialogue with this individual who wished to entrap Jesus into saying something sacrilegious, we find that the response by Jesus is to love God with our whole being, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. The man, discontented with Jesus’ response, asks in return “Well who exactly is my neighbor?”
Many of us know the parable that follows of the Good Samaritan. If you wish to read the story you can find it in Luke 4:25-37. Whenever I read this story I am reminded of a story that was told to me by my Grandfather. My Grandfather had just finished seminary and was to be the new pastor of a church. While he and my Grandmother were on their way to this new church that they were going to be ministering to, their tire decided it no longer wanted to function as a tire and proceeded to leave them stuck on the side of the road. To some of you, this is an easy fix and you have all the tools necessary to get this remedied in a rather timely fashion. However, to us Strom men anything that needs fixed in a timely fashion never does, and there is a reason I am a third generation minister and not in any trade-related career! As he and my Grandmother proceeded to be stuck on the side of the road, they saw many people passing them by, not offering any aid. There was one vehicle that particularly stood out to my Grandparents in this scenario. The car pulled towards them, the driver poked their head out of the window and proceeded to explain “We would love to help you, but if we did we would be late to church!” and then drove off!
Living in community means more than just having coffee after church and intermingling with other church-goers. Living as a true community of followers of Christ we are to love our neighbors. And who are our neighbors? They are the people around us, at the grocery store, stuck with a flat tire on the side of the road, living in the homeless camp, and even our geographical neighbors. Every person you see is a neighbor that has been made in the image of God.
And we are called to love them, as much as we love God and ourselves. My question to you all is thus: Are you willing to be late to church if it means loving your neighbor?
as seen in september…
There was a lot going on around the church during the month of September! Here are a few photo highlights!
elder meeting highlights
Sarah Rundell opened the meeting in a time of devotions and asked the Elders to share how they’ve noticed God lately. After several shared, Sarah then shared from the book “1000 Gifts” by Ann Voskamp about the meaning and significance of true communion. They continued in a time of prayer.
Jaime Boaglio reviewed the August financial report. He shared that giving was up in August and August ended in the black by $1100, however the YTD giving is still down $20,000. Properties was higher than normal because of the annual elevator inspection. $900 from the Elder Board line item was for Caleb’s computer. Randy asked about the funds still showing in the Annex fund, but Jaime explained that had since been used because of the payment for the condensate lines work. A $1785 charge to the Properties designated fund was to replace the stolen copper pipe from the Chapel A/C unit.
Randy Sundberg gave an update on Properties projects. He noted a change order for $18,400 to deal with leaks from the steam lines. There was also damage to the floors from the leak, so he is going to make a claim to insurance to cover those costs. The sanctuary ramp railing repair is almost done. The city continues to work on the sidewalks and have been good to work with. Randy continues to work on a long range plan and will be working with Garrett to prepare a budget for next year.
Sarah Rundell reported that the Bylaws Revisions team has continued to meet regularly. They have made good progress with the “easy” things so far.
Dave shared about the Bahamas International Mission Trip scheduled for August 6-12. The plan for the trip will be to help the church there rebuild homes after the hurricane a couple years ago, and help with soccer camp and/or VBS.
Dave notified the Elders that he will be missing two communion Sundays in a row because he will be on vacation those weeks and suggested to the Elders that anyone in leadership could lead communion. The Elders agreed to lead in communion during Dave’s absence.
Dave asked the Elders for their feedback about the prayer stations on September 18. They remarked that they loved it, were impressed with the number of people who participated and the number of prayer cards given, that it was moving to watch it online, and it was good to see everyone up and moving around. Sarah also shared that the recent prayer retreat at the Ross home was a lovely time. She said there were four teaching sessions, and then they prayed in pairs rather than solitarily as has been done in the past. They are hoping to schedule prayer retreats on a more regular basis.
The next Elders business meeting will be Tuesday, October 18 at 7pm in the Journey Room.
thank you, paul!
The last Monday of September was Paul Googin’s last official day preparing meals for the homeless camp. Paul was instrumental with implementing the “M25:35” meal program during the early days of COVID. From that, he formed a team to take meals to the homeless camp and also to go into the camp to build relationships with and pray for the residents. Dan Durben has led the prayer ministry along with Jay and Laura, and Matt, Ella, Jane and John are regular servers, but they always welcome other helpers! We appreciate all that Paul has done and wish him well as he becomes fully retired! Matt and John will take over cooking duties. If you would like to help with this ministry, contact Dan Durben at 215-527-8229.
By Nathaniel Duscha, Youth Pastor
We are officially one month into the school year! We are well into our usual routine of meeting on Sunday nights down in the youth room and it has been a blast! We spent the first month of the school year going through the book of Hebrews and discussing our faith and the things that help us grow in our faith and put our faith into action. For the month of October, we will be taking a look at the first four chapters of 2 Timothy and discuss the relationship between Paul and Timothy and how we can apply the things that Paul teaches Timothy to our relationships. If you would like more information on this month’s teaching series, all of the curriculum through December comes out in the LvCC Youth update emails each week. Go to Youth Emails to sign up to receive our weekly emails!
We have a youth worship night coming up next month! On Wednesday, November 9th we will be gathering with the other youth groups in our community to spend a night in worship together. We are meeting from 7:00-8:15 pm at Father’s House Church. This will be an awesome time to gather together and worship as a community. This event is open to all youth students! Anyone in grades 6-12 are welcome to come!
If you have any questions about this event or anything else going on in the youth ministry, please feel free to contact me!
By Patty Howland, Women’s Ministry Team Leader
Several women had a fun evening last month at the Women Together event “A Night in Tuscany”. We had a great Italian potluck and then watched a movie together while lounging on the couches in the Youth Room! The next quarterly Women Together event, open to women of all ages, is planned for Friday, January 27 and will be “Bunco and Dessert”. More details to follow but put it on your calendar today!
While you’re marking your calendar, also make note of the IF: Gathering Simulcast conference we will be hosting on March 3-4, 2023! This will be a local event at our church and we are looking into the possibility of inviting other area churches to join us. The Women’s Ministry team decided to alternate the Women’s Retreat with a local event every other year to make it easier for more women to attend. The next Women’s Retreat will be in the spring of 2024. Be watching in the December newsletter for more details about cost, speakers and topics of the simulcast, and plan to join us!
The Women’s Fellowship is looking for someone to head up the Christmas Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, December 3. They also need someone to organize a bake sale the same day. You will be provided with the history of what to do and how many to serve, along with suggested helpers for cooking and serving. Please call Elizabeth Jacobsen, Leader of Women’s Fellowship, at 360-577-1059 or Shannon Inman at 360-747-3633 for more information or to volunteer.
this and that
Trunk or Treat is coming! Plans are being made for the community outreach event “Trunk or Treat” on October 31! It will be from 5-7pm along Kessler and Washington as last year, and possibly wrapping into the Chapel parking lot if we have enough cars. There will be a photo booth, and free hotdogs, water and candy! We need people to donate LOTS of candy (we estimated over 1000 children came through last year!) and we also need people to volunteer to decorate the trunk of their vehicle and then distribute candy. You may bring candy donations to the tub in the Lobby on Sunday or near the Office during the week. If you would like to provide a trunk, please register using this link Trunk Sign Up
During the month of October, it’s Octoburger at the Community House on Broadway! They use up to 6 pounds of hamburger per day. Donations may be taken directly to Community House at 11th and Broadway any day throughout the month, or you may bring it to the church freezer and we will be sure it gets taken over there. Thank you in advance for your generous support of this ministry!
There will be a Choir (men and women) singing during the Baptism and Testimonies worship service on Oct. 30. Rehearsals will be on Thursday, Oct 20 and 27 from 7-8pm. Patty Howland will be directing. Please call the Church Office to let Patty know that you plan to sing.
SAM (Senior Adult Ministry) will be having a Games and Pizza Day on Wednesday, October 12 from 12-3pm in the Chapel. There is no cost for the event, but please sign up at the Welcome Center in the Lobby or during Fellowship Time after church.
There will be a Memorial Service for George Peabody on Oct 22 at 2pm in the Sanctuary followed by a reception in the Fellowship Hall.
Friday Fellowship Adult Group There is a new fellowship group starting up in October! It is open to adults of all ages (parents get a sitter and join us for a night out!). We will be meeting for an ethnic potluck followed by watching narrated travel slideshows from countries around the world. Patty Howland’s grandmother was an avid traveler and Patty inherited all of her slideshows. While the slides are 50+ years old, many of the buildings and tourist attractions look the same today! The group will usually meet on the second Friday of the month from 6-8:30pm in the Fellowship Hall with the first meeting on October 14. The first country being “visited” is South Pacific Isles. A schedule for future months is listed in the Digital Announcements and will be available at the first gathering. Bring a main dish, salad, side or dessert from the South Pacific Isles and join us!
The Ruth circle is collecting children’s coats, shoes, hats, gloves, underwear and clothing for Kessler Elementary. Many of the students live under the poverty level and need clothing. If you would like to help, you may put items in the FISH boxes located throughout the church. Contact Peggy Reibe at 360-636-5097 with questions.
90+ Birthdays This Month
To honor our most senior members and attenders, we will be listing their birthdays each month using the records in our database. If you or someone you know is 90+ years of age and has an upcoming birthday, please contact the Church Office by the 20th of the prior month so we may be sure to include it!
Oct 9 Clarence Blaine 90
Oct 18 Dave Grocott 93
OCTOBER MISSIONS FOCUS:
OCTOBURGER
at Community House on Broadway
AUGUST FINANCIALS
YTD CONTRIBUTIONS: $312,475
YTD EXPENSE: $353.856
DIFFERENCE: -$20,583