Living in Victory with undying Hope Hey Everyone! I hope you're having a good Wednesday. It's been a crazy week, and sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the world and lose perspective. Always remember our hope is in Christ and our hope does not disappoint (Romans 5:5). Of course, we love people and work to Make Life Better for everyone around us. Let us exhort each other to help those in need, pray faithfully, make wise decisions and resist fear. I want to share that my dad, you may know him as Pastor Bob, is currently experiencing flu-like symptoms. He has tested negative for influenza type A and B. We are waiting results on the coronavirus test (that will take 3-5 days). There are no serious medical complications, but he feels very icky -- please pray for his quick recovery. You may have seen my text, email or Facebook post by now that indicates we are moving to an online-based service temporarily. If you have not seen any of those...We are moving to an online-based service temporarily. We want to do our best to promote the health of the community, with evidence of community spread emerging in Ohio, we are moving to an online focus to minimize the potential spread of contamination. Everyone is encouraged to join the service through Facebook on Sunday. The only people who will be at church are those required to run the service, our "Production Team." That includes speakers/presenters, band members, video and sound operators. There will also be select personnel to support those ministries (ie, very limited child care). If you are not sure whether you should be at the facility or not, please contact Pastor Katie, Mike Sare or Dwight Farmer. We do not know how long the emphasis will remain on on-line services. This is a fluid situation and we will reference published public health and medical guidelines. Thank you for your flexibility during this time. Blessings on You and Your Family, Kristie Practical Helps In this time of trial as our community is unexpectedly impacted, it is incumbent on the church to help offer the love and hope of Jesus.
There are several programs we would like to implement and we need volunteers to help lead and staff these initiatives:
If you have additional ideas about how we can bless the community, please share them! To get involved talk to one of the pastors.
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The Leadership Gathering is tomorrow after the service.
This is the best chance to simultaneously build relationships with other attenders, the pastors and coordinate The River mission -- taking God to our community. Please encourage people to stay for the Fellowship Lunch after the 10 am Gathering. We are enjoying Kellie's Chipotle tomorrow. Everyone is invited for lunch, whether or not they stay for the Leadership Gathering. Prayer begins a 9:30 am -- please help set the tone for the morning. Press In begins immediately afterward. It was moved from the end of the service to before the service to help facilitate our Small Gatherings at the end of the service. If you have information you would like to share with the church or post on the website, please stop in the office before or after the service. You can also email [email protected]. Have a blessed weekend! New Members classes have started up again at The River!
The New Members program has introduced a new format, with different sets of classes, from the initial New Members class to advanced topics. This is a great way to learn more about the mission of the River, how you can be involved and develop a deeper relationship with the pastors. New Members classes are led primarily by Pastors Katie Sare and Al Myers. If you would like to attend New Members, please get in touch with Katie or Al. Please feel free to refer your River friends to them also -- SHARE THE INTEL -- so they can start the New Members path too. Membership at the River is required to lead a small group or a ministry to ensure unity of vision and purpose. The classes are being scheduled to be flexible and will occur on an ongoing basis. The next set of classes will be announced soon! The River has a fantastic group of people that love each other and work hard to be there as a support. Fellowship on Sunday mornings is a phenomenal thing!
Sunday mornings after the service is also a great time to focus on praise and worship and getting closer to God. There is a true opportunity to seek healing, encourage, deep spiritual restoration and greater intimacy with our Lord and Savior. While not everyone has the opportunity to remain for Press In after the service, we want to work hard at creating an atmosphere conducive to peace and worship for those who take advantage of that extra time. Part of that atmosphere is moving conversations out of the sanctuary and downstairs so the buzz does not distract from the atmosphere of spiritual reverence. This means, as committed attenders, we have to be situationally aware and help guide people who want to talk out of the sanctuary to help create the best environment possible for Press In. Instead of remaining in the sanctuary to talk, ask your conversation partners to move downstairs where you can continue and help polish off the snacks. It's very easy to think, "It's only one conversation for a couple minutes, it won't make any distraction at all." Which, in general, is very true. But when conversation after conversation is compounded, it creates a distracting buzz. The goal of this post is not to discourage fellowship, the River is completely pro fellowship and sharing and relationship building! We just want to intentionally create an atmosphere that blesses people who want to go a little deeper in their worship during Press In. When the band starts to play their instruments, please take the opportunity to help move conversations out of the sanctuary. Nicely explain that you'd love to keep talking to that person(s), but at a place that will not interrupt the Press In crowd. Sometimes, it's just very hard to concentrate on the spiritual when the physical is buzzing around. There are great places to talk in the youth center or on the patio, and fellowship is a crucial part of the River, so everyone should keeping talking to old friends and new guests on Sunday. However, I believe we can do both Press In and Fellowship with excellence by utilizing different areas of the building. Thank you, for helping to facilitate Press In and effective Fellowship. You are the core of the River and an AMAZING group of people. I'm excited to keep working for excellence at your side. Father's Day is tomorrow -- still time left for any last minute shopping that needs to be done! We will have candy bars as a special present for all the Dads. Remember to give your children a "hint" for the type of candy bar you would like.
The upcoming summer weeks are busy, but a very good busy! The Harvest Network National Assembly is coming up June 25-27th. Several River members and pastors will be in attendance, please pray for them and all the other Harvest Network members. The next Leadership Gathering is July 14th. This is a great place to get more involved with activities and people at the River. It is for everyone, whether you're in active leadership or not. It's a low pressure environment where you can meet the pastors and learn more about the River vision over the next months. No commitment is required, just hang around and listen; input is encouraged. Please help us keep food in the Youth Center. We are trying to have inviting snacks on Sunday mornings, but we need to keep food off the carpet. If you see children trying to escape from the Youth Center with snacks in their hands, please direct them back to the Youth Center room. If food is being taken outside, please have an adult handle it until outside the building. This way we can keep the carpet nice and facilitate an inviting atmosphere. Pre-Gathering Prayer at 9:30 AM tomorrow morning. Sunday is going to be a great day!
Pastor Al is preaching tomorrow at the River Barn. Pastor Bob and much of the family has already left for New York. Please pray for a safe, fun trip. Please help to leave the church nicer than you found it when you leave tomorrow. This blesses people who use it through the week and the cleaning crew. We are going to have a new small group starting on Monday, June 10th for women (18+). This is going to be a support group format to help women develop relationships and foundational structures within the River family. Sunday morning prayer starts at 9:30 am, please try to be ready to pray at 9:25 am. Reminder: Announcements are now at 9:50 am, before the service starts. Our June Leadership Gathering is tomorrow after the service. We are going to be talking about how to use the Breeze database. Breeze is for EVERYONE at the River (even if you have never heard of it before now). Please bring a pad of paper and a pen to take notes.
First, is the Fellowship Meal. Please encourage people to stay for lunch. We want to have a large group. If you see new-ish guests, please make them feel welcome and accepted. It's our community responsibility to welcome people into the fellowship. There is always a lot of clean up to be done after the meal, please consider taking a few minutes after the Leadership Gathering to help tidy up the church. As a head's up...there's a NEW ORDER OF SERVICE that starts tomorrow. We are going to be doing the announcements at about 9:50 am BEFORE the gathering starts. There will not be announcements during the Gathering. Let's start off tomorrow strong with a crowd at 9:30 prayer. Hey everyone! We're getting ready for a GREAT WEEKEND at the River.
We have several big topics this week. 1. RIVER PICNIC AFTER CHURCH 2. SCHEDULING IN BREEZE 3. WOMEN'S GAME AFTERNOON PICNIC -- the church picnic is this Sunday. Please help to make it an inviting atmosphere for everyone to stay and enjoy fellowship. Invite people to stay for lunch, help set up/tear down, look for opportunities to talk to guests and make them feel welcome. More food is always good (well, very often good)...if it fits your schedule, please bring a picnic dish to share so we have lots of food. BREEZE -- please remember to use BREEZE to schedule your sections if you lead a ministry. We are trying to increase our excellence in communication and this means taking full advantage of our communications tools. Breeze offers great capabilities and we really need to all be on board and enthusiastic for this change. If you need Breeze access or more rights, please see Kristie. GAME DAY -- Becky Burton is hosting the Women's Game Get Together this Saturday, it starts at 4 pm. We are going to have snacks/appetizers, but not a full fledged dinner. Last game night was a lot of fun and several of us (including me) learned a new card game. If you need more information please call/text Kristie at 740-815-4530. This is a great, low-key event for inviting people from outside the church. Upcoming Events/Matters... Next week - Leadership Gathering with special Breeze tutorial Next week (tentatively) - 42 N out of Delaware closed for two weeks JUNE 6 - Men's Advance If you have info you'd like to be published to the River Leaders or church, please email/text it to [email protected] or 740-815-4530. We're really excited for Mother's Day tomorrow - it's a BIG SUNDAY at The River. Please be at church by 9:30 am for the pre-gathering PRAYER.
Each mom will get a gift of chocolate and a perennial flower. I've heard reports of the lilies planted from last year's Mother's Day already coming back in some gardens. This is a great day to invite moms you know (that don't already have a church) to visit The River. Pastor Katie has a special Mother's Day message she has been writing. We need to make sure that our Hospitality and Safety teams are all up and efficient tomorrow. If you have a job or think you may have a job, please contact your C3 leader if you will not be able to make it. Several people have volunteered to bake special Mother's Day pastries, if you would like to bring some pastries too, you're more than welcome, or just take the day off -- no pressure. |
AuthorWelcome to the Leadership Comm page. We will use this area to help facilitate the flow of information vertically and laterally. If you have anything to share with the leadership group, please text/email one of the pastors or Kristie. Archives
March 2020
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