| 11950 East Reno Ave Midwest City, OK 73130 405-769-2717 A Pastor’s Perspective Our church continues to serve even though we are not able to gather in person for worship and other activities! Today we lift up the faithful servants who continue to provide nutrition to those in need. Each and every Monday, our Mobile Meals crew prepares and delivers meals to 40 people. Those who are continuing to serve those who are vulnerable in our community during this pandemic are: Cooks: Karen and Dean Holt, Susie Howard, Beverly Rubino, Madison Rubino, Beverly Albee, and Julie Avants. Drivers and Delivery: Linda Harris, Sharon Lewis, Denny Harris, Lori and Kylee Spradley, Terry Brewer, Benny Gilbert, Joe Greffin, and Dottie Tucker. A special thanks goes out to all of our Mobile Meals crew, and especially Dottie Tucker for coordinating these servants and taking care of God’s hungry people in our area in this difficult time! —————————————— As we hope for a time in the near future when we can gather together to worship and have other activities, we still seek safety for all and to not have one person become infected with COVID-19 here. We continue to look to the CDC guidelines for opening up our facilities and worshiping together. Those guidelines outline a need for “downward trajectory of documented cases of COVID-19 within a 14-day period”. Our plan is to continue online worship, and have set a goal of live-steaming our service on Pentecost Sunday, May 31! Also, we are looking for other ways to share our worship experiences for those who aren’t able to connect online! In the meantime, remember. The virus did not switch off when our state said it was okay to re-open everything. We should still stay away from large gatherings, and still practice all of the precautions that were recommended to us to prevent COVID-19 transmission. Pray for our world. Call or text people you know, and in all things, remember that we are connected through the love of God and the promise that even in the most difficult times, we are never alone! Peace! Gary Join us each Sunday morning for our online worship service at: https://www.youtube.com/user/FirstCCMWCOK —————————– YOUTH NEWS… We hope everyone enjoyed Mother’s Day! Youth Sunday was special,and Mother’s Day is a perfect time for the youth to provide worship. Doing a virtual service created some different experiences. Some of the kids filmed at home and sent their parts in by email, while others came up to the church for a video session. We are extremely grateful for Gary Mitchell, Matt Moler & Brett Moler, because without them no one would have ever seen the service. Gary’s editing, Matt’s preparation of our slides & Brett’s filming & sound work made virtual youth Sunday possible! We also give a special thanks to Mona Lange, Scott Lange & Beverly Rubino for their assistance with vocals. Gary Mitchell’s guitar accompaniment was wonderful & we are grateful for the beautiful music! Our prelude & postlude were provided by 2 of our youth members as were all of the other parts of the worship service. We hope you got to see the service, but if not the youth will be providing worship again after we are back under one roof. I am so proud of all our kids for their dedication and willingness to provide worship during this difficult time. Our mission trip plan has changed. Our plan was to go out of state and do service projects. However, with the current circumstances, it is impossible to form a plan of where to stay and work. After consulting with the youth, we are going to have a spiritual growth mission experience instead. This will involve tent camping locally, with personal morning & evening devotionals as well as group campfire chats each night. We will be doing some hiking & opening ourselves up to God through prayer, meditation & experiencing nature. I need the congregation’s help with this trip! I ask for your prayers for each of our youth by name over the next 2 months. Prayer is powerful & your collective prayer is the best gift you can give to our youth. Spiritual growth only happens when we seek, and these students are going to be seeking God in a new way through this mission experience. For some of them, the things they will practice will be new to them. New can be intimidating and so can drawing near to God. As you draw near to God, through your prayers for these young people, I pray you will be fully aware of God’s presence with you! I pray this 2 month period will be a great blessing for our entire congregation! Prayer list: Zac, Shelby, Brock, Dylan, Luci, Jacey, Aidan, Colby, Marshall, Addison, Ben, Corbin & Ella In Christian Love & Gratitude, Shauna Becker | |
| Stewardship Update I want to start by saying how much I miss seeing each of you face to face. These are unprecedented challenges that we are facing as individuals and as a church family. Even though we are not passing the plate each week, you all have continued to support our mission and operations. The church is not “closed for business”! We have many vital ministries still working hard – including Mobile Meals, Outreach, ministering to our Congregation, ministering to our Youth, and many others. We are a blessed congregation. Children’s Corner has been closed since mid-March. Since we do not have the tuition income, we have not been able to pay our teachers. Our Nursery Attendants have also not been paid for Sunday mornings while we have been closed. You may have heard on the news about the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). This was passed by Congress to help small businesses continue to pay their employees. Non-Profits were included in this program. Dean Holt worked with our bank to prepare the application. Once our board approved taking this action, and the Trustees signed the paperwork, we were able to receive a PPP Loan on May 1st for $38,200. If we are able to use all of this money to cover our payroll and mortgage interest by June 26th, the entire balance of $38,200 will be forgiven. Because we were able to receive this loan, we were able to pay our Children’s Corner staff on May 1st for their wages since we closed in mid-March. We will also pay our Nursery Attendants for the Sundays we have been closed. We will continue to pay them through June 26th (the deadline for the PPP Loan) what they would be paid if we were open, even if we are not open by then. The PPP Loan proceeds will be used through June 26 to cover our Staff payroll, Children’s Corner payroll, mortgage interest, and utilities. We should be able to provide the details of these payments in order to have the PPP Loan forgiven. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Thank you for your continued support, Julie Moler Stewardship Chair ————————— Giving Through 5/6/2020 Annual Budget $401,555 Weekly Budget $7,722 General Budget & Acct 107 $8,048 Diff to Budget $326 Capital Fund $8,617 Other (not Budget) $625 Total Weekly Giving $17,290 ————————- Giving for April 2020** Annual Budget $401,555 Monthly Budget $33,463 Over/<Short> $(5,195) General Budget & Acct 107 $28,267 Capital Fund $11,069 Mortgage Pmt $10,850 Over/<Short> $ 219 Other (not Budget) $4,733 Total Monthly Giving $44,068 ————————— Giving YTD thru April 2020** Annual Budget $401,551 YTD 4 Months $133,850 Over/<Short> $(39,220) General Budget & Acct 107 $94,631 Capital Fund $37,567 Mortgage Pmt $43,400 Over/<Short> $(5,833) Other (not Budget) $22,160 Total Monthly Giving $154,358 **These are the amounts from our Financial Statements compiled by our outside CPA. Thanks, Julie Moler ————————– Outreach Project for Homeless Students Our Outreach department received a grant from ODF that is to provide food for homeless students. When the coordinator of the homeless food project was contacted we found out that they are providing food to 350 families. Our grant will not go to far trying to feed that many. The Regional Food Bank is assisting with the food products but all of these items must be prepared, beans, canned goods and the like. Her request is for us to provide snack type foods and juice boxes to be added to the food boxes. If you would like to contribute to the project please send a check to church with a note designating your donation for the Homeless Student Ministry, or you may give on-line to Outreach designated giving. This is a way we can continue to minister in our community. Thank-you! ————————- Youth Worship Service Delivery! If you are unable to watch our Sunday morning worship services on a computer, but you have a DVD player, please inform the office. A member of the youth would be happy to deliver a DVD recording of the service to your mail box each week! If you are currently staying with family out of the area, DVDs can be mailed. It’s our hope that every person in our church family will be able to join in worship together each week! God be with you till we meet again. ————————-  Check our YouTube channel mid-week for Music Notes Online! ————————- Here are ways to continue to give your offering during this time of suspended services and activities: To Give online: Log into MyFCC at: fccmwc.org/my-fcc Select Give from the dropdown menu on the top left Follow the instructions to set up a recurring gift or send a one time gift If you have questions, please watch this video https://player.vimeo.com/video/170043827 To mail your check to the church: First Christian Church of Midwest City 11950 E Reno Ave Midwest City, OK 73130 You can also drop your giving envelope in the church mailbox. It is a secure, locked dropbox and is checked daily throughout the week. THANK YOU FOR YOUR FAITHFULNESS! |  First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 11950 E Reno Ave Midwest City OK 73130 405.769.2717 Senior Minister: Rev. Gary Mitchell OFFICE HOURS: Monday – Thursday: 9 am – 4 pm Friday: 9 am – noon During this time of quarantine, please call the office before dropping by to make sure it is open. Thank you! Disciples Around The Web www.disciples.org www.okdisciples.org www.weekofcompassion.org Disciples News Service |
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 In loving memory of Terri Rouse given by Maxine Wheelan —————————- MEMORIALS To the Memorial Fund in memory of Kenneth King – From Carol Hamilton – From David & Vicki Richey To the Memorial Fund – From Maxine Wheelan —————————— All church services and group activities are suspended until further notice. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or needs. Church Office: 769-2717 email: [email protected] Rev. Gary Mitchell cell: 245-8678 email: [email protected] For Youth related events Shauna Becker cell: 820-3178 email: [email protected] For Choir related events Mark Johnson cell: 903-312-3827 email: [email protected] Please contact the church office with new prayer concerns and with updates on those who are listed. Thank you! ——————————— PRAYER CONCERNS Debra Philips (Mamie’s daughter); Wilma Wylie (Jim’s mother); Marilyn King and family; Julie Avants; Paul Pettigrew; Clayton families (Teel); Bev Rubino; Kristy Lowry; Nancy Hall; Mario Castro (Moler); Nancy Mitchell; Malik Givens (J Avants); Shirley Niehoff; Ralph Seabaugh (McKinney); Karen Holland; Faye Miller; Katy Givens; Becky Long; Doug Egerer (M Holt); Tom Jamison; Rev. Lee Nirschl; Lori Lange; Michael DeGennaro (Camp); Angela Bruning (Martin-Davis); Jim Gladney (Moler); Wayne Haney (Moler); Sue Crumrine (Gambill); Sandy Lees; Lori Zang (M Holt); Nancy Williams; Blair Lanning (Avants) *NEW ADDITION Congregation Long-Term Prayer List: Nellis Adams; Julie Avants; Barbara Benge; Katie Benge; Ashley Dean; Gene Gilbert; Tanni Jamison; Lloyd Kitchell; Richard Layman; Lloyd family; Mary Nirschl; George Pettigrew; Kristyn Reid; Vicki Richey; Lane Ross; Millie Sawyer; Wanda Williams; Jim Wylie. Shut-In Prayer List Lola Jean Ashford; Virginia Douthitt; Ken Foust; Dona Harris; Betty Martin; Dr. Gifford McBride; Bill & Robbie McGruder; Bertha Owen; Cole Padgham; Harold Powers; Margaret Scears; Ray & Joyce Shirley; Shirley Tharp; Renata Thomas; Barbara Wilson; Julia Wingate. Family/Friends Long Term Prayer List: Tom Acree (Acree); Jim & Bonnie Brooks (Lloyd); Lori Bonnewell (Bonnewell); Debbie Broome (Philips); Jacob Burkhart (Avants); Jerry Calcote (McGruder); Lisa Coffman (Stanfill); Coleen Crow (Lange); Adrienne DiCarlo (Northcutt); Jere Fisher (Bonnewell); Barbara Fretwell (Reid); JoAnn Fritz (S Updegraff); Jennifer Fulton (Lewis); Johnna Harvey (S Updegraff); Tom Henthorn (Albee); Leo Hickman (Gambill); Betsy Hormel (Wakely); Rev. Lawrence & Mary Howard (M Howard); Sam Howard (Howard); Jim Johnson (Greffin); Rita King; (Brubaker); Gary LaVigna (S Updegraff); Amber Leamy (Niehoff); Misty Leeper (Jamison); Evelyn & Norman Lees (Lees); Rod & Cathy Lees (Lees); Leisinger Family (English); Don Martin (Spradley); Cathy Martinez (Moler); Sue McCormick (Brubaker); David & Diane McEvoy (Walters); Annis Hickman Miller (Gambill); Cathy Miller (Reid); Jordan Mitchell (Miller); Michael Niehoff (Niehoff); Emily Richey (Moler); Kyndra Slechta (Brubaker); Susannah Smith (Lees); Judy Soltis (Lewis); Joel & Jeff Staggs (Walters); Michael & Debbie Stevens (McGruder); Rosa Stock (M Holt); Jim & Betty Temple (Williams); Alton Ray Tidwell (Niehoff); Austin Traylor (Traylor); Lucille Williams (N Williams); Cindy Winkle (Fennell). |
