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August
2010 Calendar
Click
here for the Current
Smyrna Calendar.
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Stitch Club Picnic
Smyrna’s Stitch Club brought family and friends to join the
FCE for a picnic at historic Wilhoit Springs south of Molalla.
Much changed since the glory days of the carriage trade, it has
recently become a county park. Improvements to the spring head
have been made, plantings and pathways have been completed,
making this a pleasant place for a picnic.
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Smyrna Vacation
Bible School
Click here to
see photos of this summer's vacation bible school.
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Bernadette Yoder
Bernadette Yoder and her family celebrated her sister Lanie’s
25th wedding anniversary and mother's day at PTA Resort at San
Fabian Philippines.
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Camp Adams Sunday, July 25, 2010
The Camp Adams Weekend
overnight culminated in a worship service and potluck picnic.
In Memory of
William “Bill” Francis Sperb
October 29, 1924—July 3, 2010
 William
Francis Sperb was born in Hood River, Oregon on October 29, 1924 to
Frank and Emma Pearl Sperb. He was the youngest of four children. His
family moved to Canby in 1933 where he attended school and graduated
from Canby High School in 1942.
That same year, Bill joined the U. S. Navy and
served his country extensively in the Pacific Theater as an Aviation
Radioman.
At the end of the war in 1945, his service to
his country completed, he returned to Canby and married Lois Harms the
following year. They divorced in 1965.
Bill worked as a janitor for the Ninety-One
School District, and after his retirement, he pursued his interests as
an avid flower gardener. He loved sharing the beauty of his flowers with
his many friends at the Top-O-Hill Restaurant.
On July 2, 1990, he married Genevieve (Jackson)
Gottwald. He was a member of Smyrna church and a longtime member of the
Canby American Legion.
He is survived by his wife, Genevieve “Jackie”
of Aurora; sister, LouAnn of Salem; brother, Chuck of Temekula, CA;
sons, Guy “Spud” Sperb of Aurora, David Archer of Canby, Kelly Archer of
Half Moon Bay, CA; daughter, Melody Moore of Shadow Hills, CA; six
grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Hardworking, caring and kind, Bill Sperb died
peacefully in his home due to complications of a stroke and heart
failure with members of his family at his bedside on July 3, 2010.
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Many of the names on the prayer
list come from a list of people that the Diaconate sends cards
to every month. Some are get well cards, others are simply
“thinking of you” cards. If you know anyone who should be on the
prayer list in the Behold, please let Jeannie or Elaine know. If
they would enjoy receiving cards let someone in the Diaconate
know.
“Thinking of
you”:
Jack Kieling,
Mickey Hester
Healing and better health:
Healing and
better health:
Jackie Sperb, Dan Fisher, Arlene Peterson, Ethel and Ernie Henderson,
Frank and Pat Peterson
Sympathy and support for:
Bill Sperb’s
family and his wife, Jackie, as they mourn his death. Jude Strader and
family, grieving the death of her mother, Helen Kappler.
Many of the names on the prayer list come from a list of people
the Diaconate sends cards to every month. Some are get well cards,
others are simply “thinking of you” cards. If you know anyone who
should be on the prayer list in the Behold, please let Jeannie or
Elaine know. If they would enjoy receiving cards let someone in the
Diaconate
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Mission Statement
Smyrna United
Church of Christ is striving to be:
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A place of peace where we teach the word of God and the story of God’s
love. |
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A spiritual haven where we accept and care for all humanity in an
outreach of grace. |
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A lighthouse of God’s light, where worship, teaching, learning and
spiritual growth take place in community powered by thought and action. |
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A Christian people, working for God’s realm in ecumenical
harmony with other people of faith and conviction.
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Please let us know if you
want to be removed from the Behold!! mailing list.
You may also choose to
view a very colorful version at our church website,
www.smyrnaucc.org . If you would prefer it to
the printed edition, we can arrange that too. You will be
reminded each month when a new Behold!! is available.
Contact
smyrnaucc@canby.com
or
beholdemail@smyrnaucc.org
Announcements are
available on our website each week as well.
In order to avoid an
interruption, let us know if you have a change of address. |
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.jpg) Summer
When I left Chicago and started driving out West, I thought to
myself, “I’ve got the whole summer in front of me! What an amazing
summer it will be!” That was only a few short weeks ago, and it is
already time to look ahead again, this time saying to myself, “Eek! I’ve
only got a month left!”
It has, truly, been an amazing summer so far, and I only expect it to
get better. I have been learning about being the minister of a church,
not only from my role in the official “pastoral” position, but also from
the work YOU have been doing as ministers of this church.
You all have been showing me, in no uncertain terms, that ministry is
a team effort. If there were only one minister of Smyrna, we would fail
miserably as a church of God. No matter how good a Pastor is, no Pastor
is good enough to carry the ministry of a church on his or her shoulders
- not I, not Dave, not even Paul of the New Testament. Dave, I, and
Paul, are all ministers of the church in a more official, recognized
position, but our ministry would fail if it were not for the ministry
that the whole church of God does – the whole church being each and
every person who proclaims the love and good news of Christ. That’s each
and every person who proclaims the love and good news of Christ. That’s
YOU!
At Smyrna, each of you has a role in the ministry of this church, as
well as in the larger Church of the world. In worship on Sunday
mornings, we see this when we all come together to worship as a whole,
not just as individuals. We recognize that we are actors in the ministry
of the church when we actively participate in worship on Sunday mornings
with our fellow ministers. Our voices join together in collective Call
to Worship readings, in our Invocation prayer, in singing hymns and the
Congregational Blessing (On Eagle’s Wings) together, and in praying our
Prayer of Dedication and Lord’s Prayer together. We hear individual
voices of the congregation when congregants read the Scripture lesson
for the day, and when we share announcements, joys, and concerns with
each other, making sure that each voice can be heard by each member of
the congregation with the handheld microphone that we pass around.
Each section of the Sunday bulletin has some kind of participatory
role in it. Either you are speaking, or listening, or acting. You are
participants, and you are ministers – the ministry of the church would
not exist without you. Thank you for being a minister.
As we continue with this summer, remember that being a minister is
not just about Sunday morning. Sunday worship empowers us to be
ministers in the rest of our lives. It shows us that we are a part of a
larger group, and we will never be alone in our ministry. There are
other ministers out there backing us up, and God is 100% behind it all.
Go out into the world and claim your ministry!
In love and
peace, Katherine
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Music Director Sought for Smyrna
 Smyrna
is now accepting resumes for the position of Music Director. We
are looking for someone who will director the senior choir, the
hand bell choir and start a children’s choir. The person chosen
for the position will need to select the Sunday service hymns
and rehearse with the choirs helping all the groups to learn new
types of music. We anticipate the position requires 5-6 hours
per week. Compensation will be commensurate with experience.
Resumes can be submitted to symrnaucc@canby.com. Our church
is located 8 miles south of Canby. |
Scotch Guard
Scotchguarding the new
chairs. How many supervisors does it take?
"Smyrna"
Missions in Africa
Rev. Dave’s Notes from Africa . . ..
This summer Rev. Dave is a non paid consultant with the international
relief agency CARE. His work is to build relationships between Village
Savings and Loans that CARE has been promoting and local banks. He will
be in Ghana for most of the summer.
Click
here to read his blogs about his experiences.
Dave eating Fufu
Ryan Yoder in Cameroon ...
Ryan Yoder has begun his commitment to the Peace Corp
in Cameroon.
You can
read about his experiences by clicking here.
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More Grads to Congratulate!
Two of Arlene Peterson’s grandchildren have reached one
milestone and are headed toward future goals:
| Rachael Peterson graduated from Willamette University in
Salem OR |
| Justin Peterson graduated from Souderton High, in
Pennsylvania and will attend Embry Riddle Aeronautical
University in Florida |
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Life Time
Term Explained
On the first day, God created the dog and said: 'Sit
all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes
in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of
twenty years.' The dog said: 'That's a long time to be
barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the
other ten?' So God agreed.
On the second day, God created the monkey and said:
'Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this,
I'll give you a twenty-year life span.' The monkey said:
'Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to
perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?'
And God agreed.
On the third day, God created the cow and said:
'You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and
suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the
farmer's family. For this, I will give you a life span of
sixty years.' The cow said: 'That's kind of a tough life
you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll
give back the other forty?' And God agreed again.
On the fourth day, God created man and said:
'Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll
give you twenty years.' But man said: 'Only twenty years?
Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave
back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave
back; that makes eighty, okay?' 'Okay,' said God, 'You
asked for it.'
So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play
and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the
sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey
tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten
years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.
Life has now been explained to you. |
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THE HOLE IN
OUR GOSPEL – Summer Salad Supper Series
 Please
join us! – for a four-week discussion series based on Richard
Stearns’s (President of World Vision) book The Hole in Our
Gospel.
We will gather at 6:00 pm every Wednesday in August – that’s
August 4, August 11, August 18, and August 25 – for dinner,
fellowship, and conversation on a topic that is of utmost
importance in our lives because we are Christians – finding and
acting on the WHOLE gospel of Jesus. Everyone is welcome – bring
your friends!
From the book’s cover description: “Is Something Missing from
Our Understanding of the Gospel? Two thousand years ago, twelve
people changed the world. Rich Stearns believes it can happen
again. ‘Imagine a world in which two billion Christians embrace
the whole gospel – each doing a part to complete God’s stunning
vision of a reclaimed and redeemed world, the kingdom of God
among us. Picture armies of compassion stationed in every corner
of our world, doing small things with great love. Can you
imagine this different vision for our world?’ “In The Hole in
Our Gospel, Stearns urges readers to ask the question, What if?
What if all followers of Jesus looked beyond the walls of their
churches and worked together in reclaiming the world for
Christ’s kingdom? What if we actually demonstrated God’s love
for the world instead of just talking about it? What if we
embraced the whole gospel of loving God and loving our neighbors
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