The Link
The Weekly E-Newsletter of Disciples Christian Church
December 20, 2007
In This Issue
- Updated Prayer Requests
- Hope is Born
- Naborly Greeting
- Thanks a lot!
- Music Notes
- Interim Search Team Update
- Congregational Meeting
- We are GLAD you came!
Updated Prayer Requests
- Elaine Keefer is having an angiogram on Friday, December 21.
- Gary Snyder had successful knee replacement surgery on December
19.
- Dorothy Willingham is feeling better and building her strength
with exercise and diet.
- Catherine Gilstrap, friend of the Prewitts, had surgery to remove cancer and it is
thought to be very successful.
- Kimberly Wallace, friend of the Prewitts,
had successful surgery December 17.
She is expected to leave by today.
- Milena Bond, granddaughter of Mary & Gary Carroll, has multiple
disabilities. The family is in the
process of hiring an assistant to help her.
- Tammy Wolfe, daughter-in-law of the Carroll’s, was determined to
not have heart problems but rather problems with her sternum.
- Landon, 1 ½ yrs and best buddy of
Dakota, the Young’s relative, does not have leukemia after all but does
have a rare form of anemia.
He is
doing well for now.
- Bruce Kitchell has completed his treatments
for hepatitis C. He will have his
two-year check up in
- Joanne Pieper, Agnes Pieper’s
daughter-in-law, is out of her coma and undergoing therapy.
- Barbara Peters, Sandy Snyder’s aunt has been
given a short time to live. Also,
her uncle, Rayburn Peters, is dealing with health problems.
- For Disciples Christian
Church during a time of transition.
The prayer
requests in The Link each week are recent updates. A list of ongoing prayer
requests appears in our worship bulletin each Sunday.
Hope is Born
"For to us a child
is born, to us a son is given. And the government will be upon his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace." - Isaiah 9:6
This special season continues this Sunday, December 23. The birth of Christ
is a time for hope, peace, joy and love. It is a time for worship, and it is a
time for wonder. It is a time to remember that long ago, in a manger in
The following is a list of all of the ways that you can experience
the hope of Christ at DCC this Advent:
- Special worship elements: "Hope is Born"
message series; family devotions; special music
- Sunday, December 23 @ 9 am ... All-church Christmas
brunch
- The entire DCC family (and
many guests) will gather at 7:30 pm on Monday, December 24 for a Candlelight Communion Christmas Eve
Service. A Christmas Concert
featuring Julie Chen and other Disciples musicians precedes the service at
7 pm.
- Advent devotional books available in Holy Grounds
Coffee Shop
Naborly
Greeting
I am so honored and pleased to have
the opportunity again to serve in ministry with all of you at Disciples
Christian Church of
I have been in the office three days
this week working with Jan who is such a capable and pleasant Administrative
Assistant. Since she is going to be out
of the office for a week, Laura and I have worked diligently to prepare three
worship services so Jan can get the bulletins and power point slides prepared
before she leaves. I am delighted to
again work with Laura, who was on our staff as children’s choir director at
First Christian,
I was so delighted to visit at Holy
Grounds with Nancy and Fred and the youth on Tuesday. The dozen or so young people seemed to be “at
home” and enjoying themselves here at the church. This is such a wonderful and inspiring new
opportunity sponsored by DCCP. I
congratulate you for establishing that outreach ministry.
Sitting in the pastor’s office, it
is such a joy to hear the voices of the children and teachers in the preschool
program. As I have had the opportunity
to visit with them, I remember and recognize several who were here in
2006. The church, through Linda and her
very capable teachers, continues to offer an outstanding education program for
the children of our community.
I am looking forward to seeing all
of you at the worship services for the next few weeks; help me with your names
by wearing name tags. I will be here
through January 6, and the
God
bless you all,
Thanks a lot!
Dear DCC friends,
I so appreciate your generous and
thoughtful Christmas bonus that you presented to me at worship last
Sunday. Your confidence in me,
especially in this time of transition means so much to me. I learned so much from Brian, especially when
it came to computer work – I hope I will be able to provide worship materials
and a newsletter you will continue to feel really good about. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and
wonderful 2008. I will be out of the
office the week of December 24, but back in on December 31. Love – Jan
Dear DCC members,
Thank you so much for the
Christmas bonus. It was very generous
and is a real blessing to our family right now!
Please know that I truly enjoy and appreciate being with you at DCC. Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Laura Young
Thank you so much to the members
of DCC for my generous bonus. I
appreciate it very much. It has been my
privilege to be the Director of BBPS for the past years. The Bright Beginnings Preschool staff and I
are very thankful to represent DCC. We
look forward to the New Year. May your
208 be happy, healthy, and hopeful.
God bless, Linda Gulick
Music Notes
By Laura Young
Music
Director
Upcoming local concerts:
December
22nd, the Plano Civic Chorus and Plano Symphony Orchestra will present G.F.
Handel's "Messiah" at 8 p.m. at St. Andrew United Methodist Church (
December
24th, 7 p.m. DCC musicians and friends will perform in our annual Christmas
concert, which precedes the 7:30 Candlelight worship. Please come and enjoy a
wide variety of sacred Christmas music with us!
Reminder: Sunday, Dec. 23- 8:30 am the Chancel Choir will rehearse
for our Christmas Eve service and Epiphany.
Monday, Dec. 24 - Chancel
Choir will sing at the Candlelight service. (7 p.m. concert and 7:30 worship)
Sunday, Jan. 30 - Choirs are
on break
Chancel Choir and Handbells will take a break
from Wednesday, Dec. 26th through the beginning of the New Year.
Interim
Search Team Update
By John
Prewitt
For those
who may not have heard, we are fortunate to have Oran Nabors back for a few
weeks as a guest pastor.
On the
longer-term interim search front, the search team has selected interim pastors
to fill in while the search team works to call a permanent senior pastor. You
heard me right, I said pastors (plural).
I would
like to introduce you to Galen and Diane Clark. Both Galen and Diane are
retired Disciples of Christ pastors, and are planning to share the pastoral
duties at DCC. They are somewhat local, from
So, please
join me in welcoming Oran Nabors this coming Sunday, and then in January, Galen
and Diane Clark. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the other
interim search team members, Jeff Hurst and Lois Teed-Gillen.
Congregational Meeting
There
will be a short congregational meeting immediately following worship this Sunday, December 23.
The 2008 DCC budget will be presented for approval. The search team will
have an update on the interim pastor search. Please plan on attending
this important meeting.
We are GLAD you came!
We are blessed with many regular guests who
attend each week and make DCC their church home. "Continuing
Visitors" are those new people who have recently attended two or more
Sundays, or have been attending or visiting DCC regularly.
Continuing Visitors:
Telling the Good News: Online!
If you have not stopped
by the DCC website recently, click
on over. A significant update was made on Monday, November 12. There
are photos of Trunk or Treat. You can access them from snapfish.com. You will
need a username and a password, but it only takes a few seconds to get
registered. There are 19 photos online from our fall festival, which was
Saturday, October 27.
Remember, church leaders can find important documents on the download
page. Additionally, all of Rev. Coats' sermons can be found on the front
page now.
Also, don't forget to visit the
online calendar. It enables you to send yourself reminders of upcoming
events, send invitations to friends and colleagues and download the church
schedule to your personal computer. You can find all of the church activities,
birthdays and anniversaries on that calendar, as well as the scheduled
Elders, Deacons and Connectors for each Sunday.
Also, there is a place to submit
prayer requests.
For website suggestions,
please e-mail the church office.
The
In order to follow Jesus and worship God, we will serve our neighbors. We will
minister to our fellow Christians. We will live and tell the good news of Jesus
Christ in all we do.
Disciples Christian Church Staff
Oran Nabors, Guest Pastor
Laura Young, Music Director
Linda Gulick, Preschool Director
Julie Chen, Pianist
Jan Carter, Administrative Assistant
Carly Geibler, Nursery Attendant
email: theoffice@dccplano.com
phone: 972-398-2240