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BAPTISMSunday, June 8, 2008: July8-10 Sports Camp August17 Family Night in the Park September12-13 Women of Faith Conf October5 Love Feast November2 Church Council Mtg December24 Christmas Eve Serv If you do not see your event in the list, be sure to visit www.bvcob.com to see if it is listed on the official church calendar. Be sure to submit all calendar additions and corrections to the church secretary. Forms are available in the secretary's office and in the Member's Area of the church website. *** Back to Top *** |
Strawberry Festival & Talent Night
Saturday, June 7 at 6 PM
We have a congregation that has been blessed with a multitude of great talents and we want YOU to share them with us at this year’s Strawberry Festival. Sharing can include any sort of talent from musical abilities to rope tying to handmade crafts or collections.
If you’re too nervous to share by yourself, get a friend or two who would be willing to participate with you.
Bring your favorite strawberry dish to share with everyone as well.
We are anticipating another great evening that you won’t want to miss. Please SIGN-UP ON THE TALENT SHEET in the narthex under the special events area.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Jan Kline
Special Events Coordinator
Building For Ministry
The conceptual building plans that have been developed are currently in the Narthex above the coat racks. The plans along with construction and financial milestones will soon be displayed together so the congregation can see progress being made from both a financial and project perspective.
The Capital Campaign netted pledges of $37,000 in one time gifts and $1,100 in weekly support. We encourage all of you whether you made a pledge or not to consider your role in ministry expansion and to support the Building for Ministry project. Church ministry is currently limited in many ways. Two pressing examples include crowded Sunday school rooms and the inability to have several activities such as two different children/youth events at the same time.
Plans are being worked on to raise funds with an emphasis on allowing you to support the project in ways that add value to our church family experience and which go beyond you're simply putting money in the offering plate. One example will be the Weis Gift card program that many other groups have done and will soon be available for you to support the Building for Ministry project. More details will follow but it's an easy way to assist the church without any cost to you!
Stay tuned for further updates as we continue to move forward.
Steve Richard
From Our Youth Pastor,
Special events with a purpose are our intended goals for the upcoming months in youth ministry. As leaders, we know you love to have fun, but we also know the importance of building a relationship with Christ. As events unfold such as the annual canoe/float trip on June 1st at 2 pm, our desire is to show Christ through our lives.
Looking for ways to grow in your walk, check out a cell group. Cell leaders like Jonathan Bastian, Jamie Keister, and Eric Hofmann would be thrilled to see you there. See the youth table for more information on cells.
Teen Week is right around the corner. June 9th through the 13th we will spend time discussing hot topics in youth culture. The event will be held each evening 6 - 8:30 pm. Come prepared for God to transform your lives in areas such as sexual abuse, cutting, addictions, parent relations, and media impact. Friday will feature a band known as Road to Nowhere with worship each evening by the Ignite worship leader and company. See what God has in store for you this week.
Creation is June 24th - 29th. If you have signed up and have not turned in your $45 and forms, please do so quickly. We look forward to a safe and rewarding time this year.
More summer events include Fear Factor and WGRC Day at Knoebels. A Junior High All Nighter is in the planning as well for the near future.
Take a look around you and notice the majesty and splendor of the God of the Universe. It's inspiring to see creation at work. Slow your pace and observe in the coming days how intricately God has made each thing.
Blessings and peace,
Pastor Matt
Sunday School: Are You Alive and Well?
This summer we are planning another unified quarter. It will start in June and run through August. During the quarter we will all be studying "Signs of Life" by David Jeremiah. Diane Heintzelman and Tracy Solomon have collaborated to take this devotional and make it Sunday school friendly. A special thank you to them for all their hard work. Also a big thanks to all who agreed to be discussion leaders.
We will be gathering as a large group and breaking up into 8 smaller groups. Each group will have a discussion leader. There will be a discussion leader assigned to the young adults so they can make connections this summer. Look for sign-ups in the narthex.
"The book Signs of Life not only provides a solidly biblical overview of what believing in Jesus does in a person's life but also addresses the real message for today's churches - get out of the pews and do the gospel. This study of biblical reflections and personal challenges is a tour de force of life on a journey with Jesus. By all means, take this journey if you can." - Chuck Colson Founder, Prison Fellowship
Brian Keister
Brethren Disaster Relief
The Church of the Brethren has given a total of $40,000 in two grants--an initial grant of $5,000 and a follow up grant of $35,000--for relief efforts in Myanmar following Cyclone Nargis. The grants support the work of Church World Service (CWS) and its partners in Myanmar, and are given from the denomination's Emergency Disaster Fund. The money supports relief work being carried out by local groups to provide safe water and temporary shelters, with a more detailed long term response being planned by CWS.
A grant of $30,000 for disaster relief following the China earthquake is in process, also from the Emergency Disaster Fund. This grant will support a larger coordinated response through CWS, with long-time partner Amity Foundation as the primary implementing agency in China.
Our Annual Disaster Auction sponsored by the Southern and Atlantic Northeast Districts help to fund the Emergency Disaster Fund. Watch your mail box for information on this year's auction coming up in September.
If you as an individual would like to contribute to the Church of the Brethren disaster relief work, you can do so by sending donations to the Emergency Disaster Fund, 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120.
Mission Ministry Team Leader
Jake Myer
Arizona Mission
August 2-8, 2008
Interested in a mission where evangelism is the main ingredient? Well, then the Arizona Mission is for you!! We will be spreading the Gospel through Vacation Bible School on the reservation in the morning and in the town of Holbrook in the evening. Please see Vicki ASAP if you are interested or for more information.
Vicki Bastian
From the Pastor
"Your Word, Oh Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens."
Psalms 119:89
Back on April 20th, we celebrated our Denomination's 300th anniversary by studying the impact of the Bible on our church. A survey was handed out challenging us to renew our commitment to studying the Bible. A total of 94 people responded.
The following are the top ten responses with the number of individuals who made that particular commitment:
- 15 Read one chapter daily in the Gospels
- 14 Memorize several verses each month
- 18 Read through the Psalms
- 17 Read the Bible with my spouse
- 18 Study Scriptures I've not read before, using Bible helps
- 21 Read the Bible with a child
- 25 Regularly apply Bible insights from reading
- 28 Read the Bible a minimum of 10 minutes 2-3 times each week
- 29 Study the Bible 5-10 minutes each day
- 36 Pray before and during my Bible reading
Peace,
Pastor Randy
Every job is a self portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence.
~ Anonymous
The month of May is half way over and we're just coming off the heels of the Mother/Daughter Banquet. What a blessing to God that all the Mothers and Daughters could come and enjoy the wonderful meal the men spent hours preparing. Our speaker, Judy Smitley from Harrisburg did such a great job portraying "The Shunammite Woman" (II Kings 4:8-37). If you're not familiar with her, visit that Bible story and find out about her! She's just another example of one of God's servants!
A quick reminder if you haven't gotten your money in for the Women of Faith Conference, to do so as soon as possible...it'll be a wonderful experience if you've never gone.
The Ladies Time Out at Applebees have gone great! There's been a great mixture of gals coming out...so keep your eyes and ears open for the dates...they're usually on Tuesday or Thursday nights.
The only other things on the agenda are the Garden Party at the Phelps's, for which I haven't set a date, and if your men are going to the Father/Son quoit pitching contest they'll be needing some "covered dishes" to help them keep their endurance up for all that "pitching"!
I thank everyone for their encouraging words and hope to keep the Women's Ministry alive and well at the Buffalo Valley Church of the Brethren.
Your Sister in Christ
Melanie Yoder
The Christians who have turned the world upside down have been men and women with vision in their hearts and the Bible in their hands. ~ T.B. Maston
Camp Eder
There is still some time to register for summer camp at Camp Eder! You'll be glad you did! Remember the church pays a significant portion of your tuition!
Note: Due to Creation being the originally scheduled week, Junior High and Senior High camps have been changed to WEEK 7! That's the week Pastor Matt will be there. Check your calendar to see if you can go July 27 - August 1. If you can, GREAT! Get signed up!
If you have questions or are interested in going to Camp, contact Fay Richard ASAP!
Fay A. Richard
Missionary Sunday
Have you ever wondered where and how our outreach monies from the Mission's Budget are being used and spent? Mark your calendar for Sunday morning, June 29. We will be having an Alleluia Hour with an emphasis on Missions.
Several of our current Missionaries we support have committed to come and share with the congregation their Mission. Betsy Staudt Willet with Intervarsity and Shawn Hoffmaster with Central Pa Youth Ministries will be with us. Steve & Brenda Hostetter with Oak Hills Fellowship will have a report to share if their schedule does not allow their attendance.
We will also be sharing information and reports from some of our short term mission trips as well as information from our District and Denomination.
Mission Ministry Team Leader
Jake Myer
GUESS WHO'S COMING TO A PICNIC?
Hopefully you are! On Sunday, July 13 plan to participate in Buffalo Valley's annual Guess Who's Coming to a Picnic. This is a time where 2, 3 or more families gather together at a specified location for a picnic.
If you choose to be a HOST, you decide the picnic location and prepare the meat for the number of guests that will be coming, but you will not know who will be coming. If you choose to be a GUEST, you will be asked to bring a beverage, covered dish or dessert and on the day of the picnic, you will be given directions to your destination. That way, everyone will be guessing until the last minute who will be coming or where you will be going for a picnic.
This event is great for getting to know people in our church family in a smaller group setting. More information, reservation forms and reservation deadlines will be coming soon.
Jan Kline
Special Events Coordinator
Thank You
We want to thank Fay Richard for providing us with the Family or Person of the Month section of the Lamplighter each month. This month as in the past she has featured the graduates for our congregation. She has been diligently tracking down people and their information for a number of years. This is another example of the many people who work behind the scenes at our church to make things happen.
Thank you,
Jeff & Vicki Bastian
WHERE IS IT ALL GOING? (Meat Canning)
Back in March you may recall that 10 members from Buffalo Valley traveled to Lancaster County to help with the annual meat canning project. In 6 hours our group along with another group canned 6,000 cans of chicken. As per the report from the District Meat Canning Committee, 81,590 pounds of chicken or 44,304 cans of chicken were canned in the 8 days.
One third of the chicken will be shipped by our denominational offices to Sierre Leone. One third was left at Christian Aid Ministries, where the canning process took place, for their distribution to needy countries. The other third will be divided between the Southern Pa and Mid-Atlantic Districts for distribution to various congregations and agencies within the Districts to help local people in need.
Mission Ministry Team Leader
Jake Myer
A Blog?
Did you know that IGNITE Ministries has a Blog? Check it out at www.ignitemifflinburg.com.
LARGE PRINT AVAILABLE - If you or someone you know would like to receive The Lamplighter as a large print version, please contact Jeff and Vicki Bastian.