October 5, 2014

Last Tuesday night about 40 “Elders” of our church gathered to discuss the future of the church and pray together. Elders, in a Presbyterian church, are ordained to be spiritual leaders. We are blessed to have excellent elders here! As we met I was reminded of our mission, which is: Led by the Holy Spirit, Eastminster exists to… Invite into Fellowship Equip for Service Reach out in Support And Serve our World for Jesus Christ It is exciting to see some ways in which our mission is being realized lately. People have been invited into fellowship through your efforts as led by the newly formed Outreach Committee. The Outreach Committee sponsored our fourth of July Celebration that hundreds form the community attended. They also sponsored the recent “Back to Church” Sunday and are providing an “Information Station” from which to be a friendly presence and allow visitors and members the opportunity to pick up church brochures, sermons and other information that helps orient on to the life of Eastminster. They also help sponsor the Discover Eastminster event which will occur next Sunday Morning at 8:45 a.m. in Fellowship Hall. You may register by the card in the bulletin today. Potlucks and after church fellowship over homemade cookies make it easy for us to get to know one another as well. Some ways we are being equipped to serve include the formation of the new Counterpoint Choir where youth grades 7-12 are spreading God’s word through song. Other ways include the three Sunday morning adult education classes that meet at 8:45, Children’s’ and youth fellowships, women’s circles and a new Parenting group. There are other traditional equipping opportunities such as the Brown Bag Bible Bunch… and new ones such as a morning Bible study are about to be launched. Reaching out in support is importantly as we enter the everyday world. Hopefully we all are learning and growing in our serving capacity. Yet we also have times that we need served. The Congregational Care Committee is a foundation for lots of support such as this. They are overseeing the revitalization of the Stephen Ministry which provides one to one care for persons in grief or crisis. The Dorcas Ministry provides support in the form of funeral receptions. His Hands is a group which visits regularly persons who need and desire contact. We also have a Samaritan Fund that helps persons in times of financial need. Finally, there are many ways we serve our world. We have recently doubled our feeding of homeless. We also recently engaged in a Seafarer’s Ministry and have adopted a cruises ship Freedom of the Seas. This summer we supplied students in our community and in El Salvador with school supplies and essentials for living that were desperately needed. There are many other ways we serve in mission and today you may learn about them in a Mission Fair following this service in the courtyard just outside the sanctuary. Please stay and enjoy some fellowship as together we fulfill the mission of Eastminster. I’m proud to be part of a church on the move that cares of people in ways that result in changed lives for Christ! Blessings, Tim