Every month will include a different focus; every quarter will bring a new activity; every season will provide more challenge to increase your understanding of Mission, deepen your commitment to Mission, develop your capacity for Mission stewardship.
Youth, Food and Frisbee Golf!
Along with Plymouth Presbyterian and St. Edwards the Confessor, Plymouth Creek youth are invited to a cookout and Frisbee golf outing on July 15th, from 5:30-7:30 PM. We will meet up at Parker's Lake Park, do some grilling, meet some new folk from other churches, and then go toss 'the bee' around a bit. The churches will provide meat and food for grilling (Pastor Shane will probably be wearing an apron!); please plan to bring a side dish or some drinks, as well as a Frisbee to 'golf' with. If you're planning to come, let us know what you're bringing. And if you have any questions, or need to arrange a ride to and from, call Pastor Shane.
Vacation Bible School
August 7-9
This year our VBS theme will be “Hunger No More”. The children will discuss the issue of hunger throughout the world and what we can do to combat it. The weekend will include a mission trip to Feed My Starving Children on Sat. August 9 for children in 3rd grade or above. For more information or to register, please go to pccc.pbworks.com/Vacation-Bible-School-2009, look for materials in the Narthex, or call the church office to have a registration form mailed to you.
Pick-up Notes
The choir will performing songs throughout the summer in addition to solo performances. These “pick-up” performances will consist of choir members that are able to attend on the scheduled Sunday. Rehearsals will take place after worship on the Sunday prior to the performance. The first pick-up rehearsal will be on July 19 for the July 26 service.
Food Packaging Event
Saturday Aug. 8
11:30 AM -1:30 PM
Come join our VBS youth at this FMSC event. We have 24 spots to fill so we need you! If you will be able to attend, please sign-up on the sheet in the narthex or contact the church office at secretary@plymouthcreek.org or 763-559-1469
Second Quarter Response Fund Report
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Dear Friends,
The Compassion Response Fund is an allocation the Week of Compassion Advisory Committee makes each year to enable WoC to respond quickly to requests for emergencies, disasters and other urgent and unexpected needs as they arise. For 2009 the WoC Committee has allocated $600,000 for the Response Fund; it is the single largest item in the WoC program budget. In addition to what is budgeted for the Response Fund, WoC receives designated gifts for the Fund and for specific disasters, countries and situations that further enhance our capacity to respond to emergency needs and appeals. To date WoC has made a disaster response on average of once every 2.2 days.
Below is a brief report of grants from the Compassion Response Fund and other designated disaster response accounts. Contributions for the Response Fund are needed and welcomed and will be used 100% for emergency response to humanitarian needs in the world.
Africa: [112,992]
$6 K - Angola, relief to flood-affected
$6 K - Chad, assistance to IDPs & refugees
$40 K - Darfur/Sudan, emergency relief
$6 K - DR Congo, severe storms
$6 K - DR Congo, crisis
$21 K - Kenya, famine relief
$6 K - Liberia, hunger relief
$6 K - Somalia, assistance to IDPs
$6 K - Zambia, food relief
$4,900 - Zimbabwe, food security
$1,250 - Zimbabwe, aid for medical clinic
$3,842 - Zimbabwe, water wells
Southern Asia: [90,750]
$10 K - Afghanistan, medical care
$6 K - Afghanistan, drought & food insecurity
$5 K - Bangladesh, cyclone relief
$5 K - Cambodia-Thailand, border crisis
$25 K - Indonesia, post-tsunami & earthquake rehabilitation
$2,500 - India, flood rehabilitation
$13 K - Myanmar, ongoing cyclone relief
$12 K - Pakistan, humanitarian crisis
$12,250 - Sri Lanka, assistance to conflict-displaced
East Asia and the Pacific: [11,250]
$5 K - Australia, bushfires
$5 K - China, northern Mindanao floods
$1,250 - Philippines, typhoon
Latin America and the Caribbean: [28,347]
$3,847 - Chaco Region, water project
$5 K - Costa Rica, flood relief
$7,500 - Costa Rica, earthquake relief
$1 K - Dominican Republic, fire
$5 K - Honduras, water project
$6 K - Honduras, earthquake relief
Middle East and Europe: [47 K]
$7 K - Bosnia, long-term recovery
$23 K - Gaza, humanitarian assistance
$6 K - Iraq, assistance to IDPs & refugees
$11 K - Republic of Georgia, post-conflict relief & recovery
General: [24 K]
$24 K - 2009 Rapid Response Fund
Domestic: [124,519]
$1 K - Arkansas, house fire
$1 K - Arkansas, ice storm relief
$6 K - Arizona, emergency water needs
$4 K - Florida, flood recovery
$5 K - Florida, long-term disaster recovery
$5 K - Florida, long-term hurricane recovery
$3,500 - Georgia, emergency heating
$6,500 - Illinois, hurricane
$2,500 - Indiana, flood recovery
$9 K - Kentucky, ice storm relief
$1 K - Kentucky, tornado recovery
$3 K - Kentucky, work in Appalachia
$11 K - Louisiana, long-term hurricane recovery
$10 K - Louisiana, ecumenical build
$500 - Missouri, tornado recovery
$1,500 - Oklahoma, wildfire recovery
$2,500 - South Carolina, wildfire recovery
$3 K - Tennessee, tornado relief
$30 K - Tennessee, hurricane recovery (evacuees)
$250 - Texas, house fire
$1,769 - Texas, hurricane recovery
$1 K - Texas, tornado recovery
$6 K - U.S., 2008 spring storms
$7 K - U.S., 2009 spring storms & floods
$500 - Virginia, trauma counseling
$2 K - West Virginia, flood relief
Save the Date!
2009 School for Congregational Learning
August 29, 2009
Spirit
Past, Present, & Future
Valley Southwoods Freshman High School,
West Des Moines, Iowa
Inspiring Worship
Intuitive Keynote Speaker – Rev. Dr. Richard Hamm Executive Administrator, Christian Churches Together
Insightful Celebration
Invigorating Workshops (Including one led by Pastor Shane)
~Friday August 28th Kickoff~
6:00 PM Picnic ~West Des Moines Christian Church
Reenactment ~ Signing of the Declaration & Address
by Rev. John Bolen
Unbinding the Gospel Update
A few months back, the congregation voted to explore the Unbinding the Gospel process that Rev. Isaac and the Board laid out in a series of meetings and newsletter articles. The purpose was to encourage the congregation to learn together, understanding more deeply and courageously the topics of faith sharing and prayer. It’s an exciting idea, and we look forward to where God will lead us in that venture.
Since that vote, it has become clear that the timeline proposed to the church was a bit too ambitious, given current demands on people’s time and the plans we’d made already regarding this year of “Open-Armed Adventure.” So we’ve listened to people’s ideas and concerns, prayed for clearer discernment, and have come to a new conclusion about a more empowering ‘way forward.’
This Summer, beginning on July 12th, Rev. Isaac will lead an Adult Sunday School on the book Unbinding the Gospel. Through July and August, we invite people who are intrigued by the study to join us as we read and reflect together. This is similar to our previous proposal, but with two significant changes. 1) If you chose to join us this summer, we are not asking that you commit to leading another small group sometime in the future. We are still looking forward to a congregation-wide study of these resources (perhaps next Lent), but we’ve learned that some are hesitant about committing to leadership at this time. We don’t want that, however, to get in the way of your experiencing some good fruits, so come just prepared to learn and to share. 2) Because the timing of the study and our current situation, we feel it would be unwise to force a congregation-wide study before we’re ready. So we will not plan for a Fall E-vent, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going forward. Instead, we want to take a little more time for the ideas to sink in and work their way through the congregation, and be carefully attentive to the reality of who we are at this time. Look for further announcements as the process moves forward, in a more organic fashion.
So what do you think? Will you attend Summer School, and open yourself to learning more about your faith, and sharing that faith? Living in deeper intimacy with God through prayer? If you can’t make every session because of summer schedules, that’s just fine, don’t let that stop you. Because this could very well be an unforgettable summer adventure!
2009 Honeywell Concert Band Schedule
Jeremae Francis, Director
Jul. 26 – Sun. 7 PM – Centennial Lakes, 7701 France Ave. S, Edina, MN
Aug. 9 – Sun. 7 PM – Como Park Pavilion, St. Paul, MN
Aug. 11 – Tue. 7:30 PM – Lake Harriet Band Shell, 4135 W. Lake Harriet Pkwy, Minneapolis, MN
Pastor's Pen - Click here to read Pastor Shane's latest letter 
