Nonprofit Organization US POSTAGE PAID Stillwater, OK Permit No.

280

Facts & Figures for March 4, 2012 Attendance (164 and 164)...........................328 Sunday School........129 General Fund Receipts............$12,031.00 Capital Fund Receipts.......................$1,910.00 Loose Offering/Sunday School.....$621.00 Non-Budget Funds Receipts......$3,233.56 Preliminary Facts & Figures as of Jan. 31, 2012 YTD Budget Receipts...........$34,279.33 YTD Budget Expenses......$41,778.92 Net Receipts over Expenses.......($7,499.59) Presented by Kay Smith, Treasurer, dkwsmith@suddenlink.net

The Stillwater Christian

Volume 2012 In This Issue
Announcements Care and Keeping of a Candle Birthdays & Anniversaries Children & Youth Facts & Figures 1 2 2 3 4

March 6 WNF Session 4 Wednesday Night! Meal at 6 Class at 6:30 Adults: Asian Broccoli & Beef, Egg Rolls, Lo Mein Noodles, Kids: Chicken nuggets w sweet/sour sauce, Egg Roll, Lo Mein Noodles, Cucumbers, Dessert: white cake w/ coconut frosting, almond & fortune cookies Class Choices for this Wednesday night are: Weaving with Marie Hesser, Gospel Sing Along with Ival, Photography with Christy Luper, Mah Jongg, Lenten Scripture/Prayer with elders, Choir

Central Area Churches Praying for Churches This week we are praying for: Hillcrest in OKC

Oklahoma Regional Church Assembly to be Held April 26-28 Make plans now to register and attend the Assembly which will be held at FCC in Duncan. You may call the church office for more information, or visit the Oklahoma Disciples website at www.okdisciples.org for registration and information. Mens Breakfast Please join us Saturday morning at 7:30 for the monthly mens breakfast. Everyone is invited to attend, just let Tom Ikard know youre coming. Our speaker will be Mike Dicks, Professor in Ag Economics and Wes & Lou Watkins Chair of International Trade Development. He will present pictures and information about the an OSU student trip to Sierra Leone over this past Christmas Break. Thank you Road Crew! Thank you to everyone who picked up litter this past Saturday. We had a great turn out and great weather and picked up 6 large bags of trash. Those helping were: Shirley Brownlee, Melinda Webb, Kim Hall, Norm Filtz, Russ Wright, Stephen Luster, Judie Varnum, Nita Kusik, Jim Rutledge, Ron & Judith Elliott. Rev. Dr. Peluso-Verdend to Preach March 18 Gary Peluso-Verdend will be preaching on March 18 while Owen is away on vacation. Gary is president of Phillips Theological Seminary as well as being Associate Professor of Practical Theology. He is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. It will be a fantastic day! For more information about Gary and the seminary you can go to www.ptstulsa.edu. First Christian Church has been blessed by those before us for providing financial support, spiritual leadership, our building, and our history. We honor the Phillips Trust, which was initiated by FCC members who felt the need to support educating those called to ministry. The income earned is distributed yearly to Phillips Theological Seminary. Over the past two years, this endowment has generated nearly $2,250.00 for PTS.
Join us this Sunday for Owen Caytons Message, Our Daily Bread based on John 2:13-22 and 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Traditional 9:00am Sunday School 10:10 Contemporary 11:10

First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Of Stillwater, OK, Inc. 411 W. Mathews Ave. Stillwater, OK 74075-7517

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

There will not be a newsletter during Spring Break, March 20th. Please consider submitting any time sensitive articles early. Thanks! Tracy

The Stillwater Christian is a weekly publication of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The deadline for articles each week is 1pm Monday. Tracy Freeman, Editor editor@fcc-stillwater.org Church Office Phone: 405.372.7722 Fax: 405.372.7726 Find The Stillwater Christian and more information at www.fcc-stillwater.org

Blessed are the Saints of Past, From the Endowment Fund Committee

Send prayer requests and general email to office@fcc-stillwater.org

Owen Cayton, Senior Minister

The Care and Feeding of A Candle

pastor@fcc-stillwater.org

CHILDREN & YOUTH MINISTRY NEWS

Sondra Ladd, Children/Youth Ministry Director youth@fcc-stillwater.org

I have shared with you before that one of our long-standing family traditions is our Sunday evening ritual. On Sunday evenings Lori, Toviel, Mattai, and I share a meal of popcorn, apples, and cheese (though sometimes we embellish and add veggies and dip or summer sausage to the meal) and we sit together as a family and watch a movie. It is something we all look forward to where we can have some down time together from our busy schedules, a moment of rest before the week begins in stride on Monday morning. It is a time we laugh together and cuddle a little bit. On rare occasions we miss a week or two, which is fine; the world keeps moving as it should and the sun still rises on Monday morning. However, after we have missed a couple Sunday evenings in a row, it begins to weigh on us. We miss sharing that time together. We miss the break it provides. We miss that moment that has had a role in shaping us as a family. All of us have rituals. We talk about morning rituals as we get ready for our days; or perhaps evening rituals as we get ready for bed. We have weekly and annual rituals, corporate and individual rituals, as well as secular and religious rituals. Sometimes our rituals are intentional and at others completely unintentional. Rituals are things that we tend to do as a pattern over and over. We shape our rituals, and our rituals in turn shape us. They help us to pattern and order our lives. More than that, though, rituals can serve larger functions to help us remember and anticipate. For example, each year on July 4 we as a country celebrate. It is a corporate, secular celebration in the United States. While there may be many different rituals observed on that day (though I would hazard a guess that the majority of them involve grills and fireworks as their liturgical elements), the ritual celebration of that day helps us remember and anticipate. We remember the beginnings of our nation and the struggle for freedom. We recall particular individuals and sayings from our past that remind us who we are as a people (a diverse people, yes, but we still call ourselves Americans). We also anticipate. We know that freedom is still a struggle not only for us, but also for many around the world. Our celebration is about our freedom and the hope for the freedom of others. We are shaped each year as a nation by this annual ritual. Similarly, our rituals as a church and as faithful individuals shape us. They help us to remember and anticipate not just with our minds, but with our bodies as well. We gather around the table each Sunday to remember and anticipate. We remember all that God has done. We remember Jesus and his life, death and resurrection. We anticipate a day when all will gather around the table and celebrate for the home of God is among mortals. It is an act that shapes us and our faith as the people of God. What is it that shapes you? Is it your calendar? Is it the random events that may happen in a day? Are you shaped by your hunger? Your desire? Are you shaped by your job, your family, your exercise routine? Well, probably. The more important question is, though, are you intentional about your relationship with God shaping your life? Do you practice things over and over again that help your day, your week, your month, your year, even your life be shaped by God? I hope that you will continue to ponder this question along with me through Lent. I hope, also, that as we pray through the Lords Prayer in our sermons and scriptures and worship that this might again become a life shaping prayer for us as a church. Shalom, Owen

Sundays storyteller is Diana Watkins; adult assistant, Amy Goad; youth leaders are Brendan Goad and Caroline Harrist.

Happily Forver After News No Childrens Musical rehearsal March 14th! If your child has a speaking part, please note that rehearsals are each Wednesday at 5:30pm, and everyone is asked to attend. Scenes 1-4 need to be memorized at this time. T-Shirts will be ordered this week, cost is $10 each, make sure you have submitted your fees and payments by March 7th. We also need photos from each child! Each child is asked to submit 3-4 pictures. These may highlight people who make the children feel loved and can include vacation, family, teachers, or friends. Please email them to Sondra at youth@fcc-stillwater.org. Thanks so much, Apple Pie Crew! Thank you to the amazing assembly crew and peope who bought the pies. We made 173 pies and only have 20 left So, if you would like to purchase one, you may do so ASAP. They are $12.00 each and will be available at WNF and Sunday Mornings until sold. Proceeds benefit Summer camps, conferences, and missions. Your waistline may not thank you, but your tummy will! A HUGE THANKS GOES OUT TO SHERI GUMM! Sheri donates her gift of organizational skills to help us make pie making better each time. Her incredibly flexible attitude has made this an event we can look forward to each Spring and Fall. Thank you Sheri! THANKS ALSO TO THE PARENTS AND YOUTH who do whatever needs to be done. You are amazing and I know your efforts pay off this summer. Hope you are looking forward to great things! Heifer Project and Costa Rica Meetings This Sunday At 5:30, Heifer Project Global Challenge participants will meet. Dinner will be served at 6:00pm for whomever would like to join us. At 6:30, Costa Rica participants will meet. EVERYONE planning to attend these events needs to be there.
Happy Birthday to: 3/7 Winston Trench; 3/8 Jane Fuhlendorf, Shirley Smith; 3/9 Mark Thomas, 3/10 Judith Elliott