"In the beginning it was without form....no shape at all"...... Suddenly on the corner of Park and Independence it popped up - a structure of stone and glass with a cross installed on the top. Doors were there on front and back. The back opened first, the front opened last. Then it appeared: "open for business" ... Disciples Christian Church. The church that is invitational - making opportunities for you to "come," even through a cup of coffee. Connecting to others is good news for us. Having the opportunity to tell someone of DCC and Jesus Christ could be easy sitting at a coffee table.

On Tuesday, February 6, a new chapter begins at DCC, as we open our doors to Plano Senior High School students. Every Tuesday and Thursday from 3-6 pm they will have the opportunity to come "hang out" in Holy Grounds Coffee Shop. We will be serving coffee, hot chocolate, sodas and light snacks. At least two DCC volunteers will be staffing the cafe every time we are open.

Thank you!

I want to give my sincere thanks to the congregation for the extremely pleasant surprise of a Christmas bonus. It was very generous, and very much appreciated. I have truly enjoyed my first year as your Music Director here at DCC.

I also want to thank all of the Youth Choir members and Chancel Choir members for their great work preparing for the Christmas music. The Cantata was an ambitious undertaking, which all of you did beautifully, and the music for the rest of the season was wonderful as well. The Youth Choir picked a very difficult piece and pulled it off nicely on Christmas Eve, in addition to doing a marvelous job of planning and leading the morning worship. Thank you also to our youngest members and visitors who sang and rang jingle bells to invite everyone in to morning worship on December 24. You did such a great job inviting people in that we had our best morning attendance of the season!

The Chancel Choir has resumed rehearsals following our Christmas break. We are meeting in the sanctuary from 6:30-7:30 pm on Wednesdays and 8:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings before Sunday School. If you have thought about singing with us, and are undecided, why not come upstairs after Family Night and try us out for an hour? There is no obligation to join forever, but you might have a great time and find it impossible to resist! If you have any questions about the music program, please contact Laura Young at 972-744-9941.

Concert opportunities:

Cello Recital - Ty Young will be performing a cello recital at 3 pm on Sunday, January 21, at First Christian Church of Plano (813 East 15th St.) in their "3 at 3" recital series. Michele Sargent will accompany on piano. The recital is free and open to the public.

Plano Symphony Orchestra - Dear Congregation of Disciples Christian Church,
A perfect morning outing for your church, neighborhood or activity group in February or March 2007 would be a concert performance by the Plano Symphony Orchestra including an exclusive back stage tour of the Eisemann Center. In support of the Symphony's youth educational program which brings classical music into the hearts of area 4th grade students, this special opportunity is being offered to you at a greatly discounted rate. Click here for a description of the concert and special offer.

The recent ice storm we experienced forced us all to slow down a bit. The one message that kept ringing through the weather updates was to slow down, don’t get in a hurry, plan ahead and take time to get where you are going! Good advice for our physical well being as one ventured out in the storm and also for our spiritual well being as one prepares to go into the world to weather the storms of life! I encourage you to follow that advice as you meditate on God’s Word.

Preparing for the week ahead, I listened to a web cast of a sermon given by Rev. Fred Craddock, a well known and beloved Disciples minister, and biblical scholar and teacher about opening our ears to hear God. One of the scriptures his message highlighted was from Romans 10. I invite you to meditate on Romans 10:8-17. Those of us at church Sunday had an opportunity to exercise that sense of hearing when the ice storm arrived and the lights in the sanctuary went out. In the dark we listened for God’s word to us through Brian’s sermon and shared in communion. Huddled together, we heard the words shared by our Savior with his disciples during the Last Supper. Together we were reassured by the God who loves us through Jesus Christ who came that we may be saved. I pray you will have a blessed week! I hope to see you at church on Sunday and hear how God got your attention this week! God’s Blessings be with you,
Donna

Service Opportunity - The youth are sponsoring a canned good drive January 14 – February 4 (Souper Bowl of Caring Sunday). Bring your canned goods anytime during the month and we will dedicate them February 4 as we join churches around the nation in our efforts to help end hunger in our community. Let’s work together to help refill the shelves at Plano Food Pantry!

Activity to be rescheduled! ... Due to the ice we will be rescheduling a day to go bowling together. Come to Sunday School at 9:30 am this week as we look at another date to plan our next get together!

COMING SOON! CYF Midwinter Retreat in Athens, Texas – January 26-28 ... This spiritual retreat is for high school youth grades 9-12. CHI RHO Midwinter is February 9-11 ... This spiritual retreat is for youth grades 6-8. Registration forms are due now to reserve your place! These events are the most important weekends to reserve to come to know other Disciples youth and grow closer to God together!

Words cannot express enough my heartfelt thanks for the generous gift you shared with me this Christmas. What a precious gift you have already given to me inviting me in and welcoming me to serve with you in ministry. My greatest joy has been getting to know each of you. May God richly bless each of you in this New Year!

Serendipity, the name of the new event, is the second and fourth Wednesday of every month in Holy Grounds Coffee Shop at 5:30 p.m. Join us on January 24, and please bring a salad, bread or dessert to go with soup.

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 Greeters for each Sunday.

Also, there is a place to submit prayer requests and a new feature called "DCC TV," which includes the videos from the "Let's Grow" campaign.