The Stillwater

It is the mission of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Stillwater to be the church of Jesus Christ in the world. We do so by developing DISCIPLESHIP, Enabling OUTREACH, and embodying COMMUNITY in our lives together.

Christian
Volume 2013 | June 11

Our efforts at FCC to help our communitys children go back to school ready to learn and with confidence is working! Thanks to everyone who has donated to our effort, by check or by clipping money to the clothesline in the sanctuary. We have raised $1,371.00 bringing our current total to $1,996.00 toward our goal of $4,500! We have accomplished 44.4% of our goal! Way to go FCC! It is exciting to be a part of a larger community effort to help the communitys kids! We also have the Block Party/Application Sign up Events and Clothing Distribution Days coming up. We need 5 or 6 people at each of these events. Can you help? Please call Leila Beeby or the church office to volunteer. Whispering Hills Apartments - June 22, 6-9pm Chapel Ridge Apartments - June 29, 6-9pm Clothing Distribution Day at Salvation Arm - Aug 9 and 10

Service for Juanita Smith at FCC on Tuesday, June 11th

We were saddened to learn of the passing of Nita Smith on June 6th. Her service was held at FCC on Tuesday, June 11th at 10am. You may view her obituary at www.pmcfh.com.

Blessed Are The Saints of Past

First Christian Church has been blessed by those who came before us providing financial support, spiritual leadership, our building, and our history. Once a month in this newsletter, we will highlight an endowment fund that provides regular income to benefit many of our ministries. Please keep the FCC managed endowment trust in mind as you make plans for your future financial gifts and asset allocations. Today we honor the Ola Bilyeu Endowment, a restricted endowment fund. Ola Bilyeu designated a portion of her estate as an endowment to provide the HamBilyeu scholarship. It assists students pursuing higher education as a religious vocation. Over the past four years, this endowment has generated over $1753 for religious studies. Additionally, FCC receives periodic oil and gas lease payments from the Ola Bilyeu Estate which have funded $1500 in ministerial education expenses during the past two years.

PROGRESS

Mark Your Calendar

June 16 Elders Meeting June 20 Official Board Meeting June 22-July 7 Jamaica Mission Trips June 30 Red Cross Blood Drive

Please join us to celebrate

MARY ELIZABETH CRISWELLS

Jamaica Donations Being Accepted Our Jamaica Mission team is collecting items to take with us to Jamaica; things that are nearly impossible to purchase in bulk in Jamaica and cost nearly triple the US price. Please bring items to the FCC youth room this week. Needs Are: Back packs, 24 box crayons, colored pencils, composition notebooks, rulers, glue sticks, liquid glue, small white dry erase boards, geometric sets, protractors, and calculators.

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Birthday
Saturday, June 29th 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm First Christian Church Your presence is her gift

Join us this Sunday for Owen Caytons Message, based on 1 Kings 21:1-10, 15-21a and Luke 7:36-8:3 Traditional 9:00am Sunday School 10:10 Contemporary 11:10

Snapshots from Sondra

There are 72 participants in the Jamaica Mission Trip; 38 going to Week One, June 22-30 and 34 going on Week Two, June 30-July 6th. This is our first ever multigenerational trip. We have elementary, middle school, junior high, high school and college students, parents and grandparents. While many of us know one another, there are several unfamiliar faces. Yet for our week in Jamaica, we will be a team. A team representing First Christian Church in Stillwater. On Sunday evening our Jamaica Mission team held a packing and team building event. Group One met for their team building activities first; both teams worked together to pack supplies in the luggage provided by members of FCC and we concluded with team building activities for Group two. I was impressed as the teams work towards strategies to accomplish their goals and the different approaches of each group. They went about things in a totally different way, and yet each accomplished basically the same result. There were those who stood out as leaders and others who listened and followed directions. There were lots of different ideas, expressed in a variety of ways, and each team found solutions that worked best for them. Our groups have been asked to bring school supplies (as noted in the announcements). Group One has received their agenda and will be working at the Green Life Farm. Theyll be constructing the Childrens Village, painting the home for two child sponsorship participants, doing mind stimulation at the infirmary, cleaning, clearing and building a beach area and taking infirmary residents to the beach. Group Two will most likely be following up and working to complete these projects. We are taking a large group of people to Jamaica and as you can see, we will be working to accomplish a large amount of work. I have NO DOUBT these experiences are going to be life-changing for both the participants and our congregation. There are more than 70 individuals going to Jamaica; this is OUR CHURCH BODY working together in unity, in spite of different ideas of how to do things, to accomplish ONE PURPOSE: to share the love of Jesus. I have told our participants this will happen in a variety of ways - at the airport, on the plane, in restaurants, in Jamaica, or right here at FCC. YOU are a part of this trip if you donated luggage or school supplies, volunteered to pray for a participant, are a participant, or supported our fundraising events. We go with the intention of being a blessing, but most often we find that we are the ones who are blessed. EXPECT TO HEAR AMAZING STORIES ABOUT THE WORK WE, AS A BODY OF CHRIST, HAVE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH JAMAICA MISSION 2013. The Stillwater Christian is a weekly publication of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The deadline for articles each week is 1pm Monday. Tracy Freeman, Editor editor@fcc-stillwater.org Church Office Phone: 405.372.7722 Fax: 405.372.7726 Find The Stillwater Christian and more information at www.fcc-stillwater.org Send prayer requests and general email to office@fcc-stillwater.org

Sondra Ladd, Children/Youth Ministry Director youth@fcc-stillwater.org Return from Dry Gulch We are back from an amazing week at Dry Gulch. 26 children along with Rick and Sondra participated in camp June 3-8th. The camp theme was Walk by Faith. I did my best to keep parents and others updated on our daily activities by posting pictures and updates on my facebook page. Thank you to each of you who prayed for us throughout the week. Please know your prayers were answered in amazing ways. We had safe travels both to and from camp. The kids made lots of new friends and had great cabin leaders. The activities were amazing. A constant theme throughout the week seemed to be taking on new challenges and facing fears. When I got home I saw the following facebook post by Amanda Lancaster; her daughter Macy attended camp with us: After picking Macy up from being at Dry Gulch for 6 days, I asked her what her most favorite thing to do was? Keep in mind, Dry Gulch is full of every imaginable activity a child could dream of. Macy's response to my question was "Chapel." Thank you Sondra Ladd for allowing Macy to be a part of your group. She came home with new friends, unforgettable memories to last a lifetime, and most importantly, a stronger understanding and closer relationship with our Lord. You may not know Amanda or Macy but you, according to her, YOU helped give her a stronger understanding and closer relationship with our Lord. The thank you was directed to me but FCC-Stillwater should receive the credit. Please know that this is one of many positive reports. These experiences plant seeds with the potential to develop into a mighty harvest at the right time. As a congregation we must continue to work to provide these types of experiences for as many as possible. Kids Own Worship Held Weekly It meets each week during the Contemporary Service. We are watching Old Testament stories (along with Ricks infamous popcorn). This weeks special feature is: David and Goliath.

CH ILDR EN & YO UTH MI NISTR Y NEWS

Facts & Figures for June 9, 2013

Attendance(114 and 109).........223 Sunday School......95 General Fund Receipts......$5,950.00 Capital Fund Receipts.......$610.00 Loose Offering/Sunday School.$517.00 Project Funds Receipts......$3,279.39 Preliminary Facts & Figures as of May 31, 2013 YTD Budget Receipts....$196, 617.52 YTD Budget Expenses...$184,829.29 Net Receipts over Expenses...$11,788.23 Presented by Kay Smith, Treasurer, dkwsmith@suddenlink.net

Happy Birthday to: 6/5 Kim Hall, Pat McNally 6/7 Beckie Rogers 6/8 Sydney Bailey, Carolyn Baird 6/9 John Jobe, June King, Matt Nance 6/10 Carolyn Gray Happy Anniversary to: 6/7 Bill and Judie Varnum 6/9 Bill and Leona Herald 6/10 Bill and Jane Defee, Matt and Shannon Hiner, Merl and Betty Miller 6/11 Michael and Janet Varnum