The Link
The Weekly E-Newsletter of Disciples Christian Church
October 29, 2009
In This Issue
- Updated Prayer Requests
- Trunk or Treat
- DCC is committed to keeping
you healthy …
- Communion at DCC
- Men’s Bible Study
- All Saints Sunday
- Adam’s Animals Tag Tying
- Gospel Gang
- Music Notes
- Mike’s Kids
Updated
Prayer Requests
- Jan Mueller’s mother, Sue R., passed away on Saturday,
October 25.
- Ty Young has been traveling this week – Laura is praying for
his safe return on Friday.
- Linda Gulick’s mother had successful surgery
yesterday to remove a malignant lymph node.
- Don S., Kristina Nordyke’s cousin will have brain surgery.
The prayer requests in The
Link each week are recent updates. A list of ongoing prayer requests
appears in our worship bulletin each Sunday.
Trunk
or Treat
Trunk
or Treat will take place THIS
Saturday, October 31 from 12—3 pm. The
Evangelism team is hoping for a great turnout from DCC members to help out with
the activities of that day, whether it’s decorating your trunk, manning
another’s trunk (while they are volunteering in another area), donating a cake
for the cake walk, or helping with a booth or decorations.
If
you’re able and willing to help out, please contact someone on the Evangelism
team: Mike Bell, Sonny Emine, Fred &
Nancy Hall, Bob & Dudley Nesmith, and David & Kristina Nordyke.
DCC is
committed to keeping you healthy …
With the onset of H1N1 in addition to other seasonal
illnesses, DCC along with a denominational directive has committed to helping
to keep our members and friends healthy.
Thanks to Chuck and Nancy Bertschi several wall mounted hand sanitizers
have been installed around the church including the atrium wall as you enter the
building, the fellowship hall near the double doors, the copy/work room near
Jan’s office, and in the entryway to Bright Beginnings Preschool. We will also be installing a hand sanitizer
in the Narthex.
Hand sanitizers are
a great way to help in preventing the spread of germs, but to be most effective
people need to use them. Simply press
the dispenser once or twice and rub your hands thoroughly. The foam sanitizer will absorb into your skin
or simply evaporate. So please USE these
sanitizers when entering the building and of course before handling food and
drinks and after coughing or sneezing.
Note however that these sanitizers are not meant to replace good ole
hand washing (20 seconds with warm soapy water) but are meant to be used in
conjunction with it. Remember, as health
care workers have said, use some common sense and be mindful of those around
you. And remember if you’re sick, stay
home, I’m pretty sure God won’t mindJ
Communion at DCC
As you may have noticed there have been some recent changes to the worship
service, particularly in regards to communion.
We consider it a privilege, honor and responsibility to worship together
each Sunday, offering prayer and praise, studying God’s Word and sharing a
common meal just to name a few things.
Communion has been and continues to be a central tenant to Disciples
worship and DCC strives to recognize this in our worship practices. The Worship Team spent many hours this summer
and fall reviewing our order of worship and after careful consideration made
the decision to move the Lord’s Supper to the central position of our worship
service.
Additionally the way in which
communion is served and taken is slightly different.
In the past the minister would break the loaf of bread and then separate
it onto the trays along with the small wafers and gluten free wafers. Communion by intinction was also offered on
the 1st and 3rd Sundays and consisted of the minister
breaking the loaf of bread and pouring the cup and inviting congregants to
participate by tearing off a piece of bread and dipping it in a common
cup.
However after moving back to the sanctuary for worship
there were several comments about some people having difficulty picking up the
small square wafers on the communion plate and a greater sense of concern for
sharing a common loaf and cup with the onset of H1N1. With that in mind we thought of purchasing
larger wafers but they were round and we thought they would be easily confused
with the round gluten free wafers. And
eliminating bread from the trays was a concern for some congregants.
That said here’s what we came up with. I will symbolically break a loaf (a round flat bread) at the communion table and symbolically
pour the cup as we’ve always done.
However I will not put pieces of this loaf on the communion plates. Instead the deacons will place pre-cubed
pieces of a regular loaf of bread on the communion plates and I will add the
dish of gluten free wafers in their dish to the plates. Communion will be served as usual. As for intinction we will do this the last
Sunday of the month and refer to this as “coming forward” to receive communion
as we’re not really dipping into a common cup.
Congregants will be asked to come forward. However instead of tearing off and dipping from
a common loaf and cup, you will be asked to choose between a piece of pre-cubed
bread or the gluten free wafers and then picking up a cup of juice which can
then be placed in an empty tray held by one of the deacons.
I hope this helps to eliminate any confusion regarding the
practice of communion at DCC, further we hope that these changes will help to
stop the spread of germs among participants.
Consistency is important so we will do communion this way at least
through December of 2009 and may reevaluate after that. Remember that the way in which communion is
offered and received isn’t nearly as important as the meaning behind it and the
meaning it takes on in our lives as recipients of it. Like much of what we do in “church” communion
is symbolic and is representative of the body and blood of Jesus Christ given
for us and, within the Disciples tradition, is open to a wide diversity of
believers who would come to the table.
Communion reminds us of our humanity but more so the eternal love and
grace of God.
Men’s
Bible Study
Calling
all men! Come join us at IHOP (
All
Saints Sunday, November 1
|
Like previous years,
we will set aside time the first Sunday in November in worship to read the
names of family members and friends who have died in the past 12 months. As each name is read, a bell tolls and a rose
is carried to the altar to represent that person whose memory lives on. All Saint's Sunday is a celebration of life and a time for healing. Together as a church family we give thanks to God for those who have shared the journey with us and blessed our lives. |
|
|
Adam’s
Animals Tag Tying
The Adam's
Animals Annual Delivery is coming up soon. Please join us to tie tags on
huggable animals Monday, Nov 2nd and Tuesday, Nov 3rd at the Hurst House,
The last
Sunday to drop off stuffed animals at DCC for this year's big delivery
will be Nov 8th. Thank you for all your support!
Gospel
Gang
Fred
Hall
Yes, it’s a great time to check
out the Gospel Gang. We’re beginning a
several week look at Christianity: The
ABC’s of the Faith. What do most
Christians include in their understanding of the gospel? That’s what we’ll be looking at. Put on your specs and come look with us: the GOSPEL GANG, 9:30 am, SUNDAY.
Music
Notes
Laura Young
Merry Christmas!
Well, not quite yet, but in order to have a Merry Christmas, the Chancel
and Handbell Choirs have already begun rehearsing for a special musical
presentation in Advent.
Please mark your calendars and plan to join to us “Joyful,
Joyful!” during worship on Sunday, December 13th!
Chancel Choir is rehearsing from
6:30 – 7:30 pm on Wednesday nights and 9 – 9:25 am on Sunday mornings.
Handbell Choir is rehearsing
immediately after worship on Sunday afternoons.
Members of the musical groups AND
members of the congregation are invited to let Laura Young know if you would
like to present a solo or volunteer for a narrator part on December 13th. Thank you!
Mike’s Kids
Mike’s Kids is an annual program
that is supported by the North Texas Area of Disciples Christian Churches, the
Christian Men’s Fellowship, and the Southwest Good Samaritans Ministries. This program supports children who have been
abandoned or forced out of their homeland to a new country. As Christmas season fast approaches, it is
time to begin filling banana boxes with clothing (appropriate for South Texas)
and child-sized underwear (new), toys (new or gently used), food, etc. for
Mike’s Kids in
Many local church groups, youth
and other have supported Rev. Feliberto Pereira in this mission to help the poorest
of the poor. In 2008, a total of 1,263
banana boxes, full of new or gently used clothes and toys were delivered to the
Valley.
The boxes should be delivered to
DCC around November 9. We are a
collection point for this program. The
filled boxes will be picked up on Monday, December 14, so you have 4-5 weeks to
bring in your donations.
All Disciples Men are invited to
the 2009 Mikes’ Kids Kickoff taking place on Saturday, November 7 at First
Christian church in
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
Rev. David Nordyke, Senior Pastor
Laura Young, Music Director
Linda Gulick, Preschool Director
Julie Chen, Pianist
Jan Carter, Administrative Assistant
Dave Gillen, Webmaster (frenchygrey@gmail.com)
Email: theoffice@dccplano.com
Phone: 972-398-2240