April 19, 2009

THE WEEKLY CALENDAR

Today (3rd Sunday):

10:00am: Morning Worship

6:00pm: SNL at UNITY TONIGHT!

Monday:

4:45pm: Worship Planning

7:30pm: Fellowship Team Meeting

Wednesday:

7:00pm: Men's Jail Ministry

7:00pm: 7th - 12th Youth Group

Next Sunday (4th Sunday):

8:30am: Temple Prayers

9:00am: Sunday School 3rd - 12th

10:00am: Worship

Children ages 3-preK and K-1 will be invited  by announcement to go to Children's Church!

7:30pm: SNL at The Rock on 8^th

Mark Your Calendars!

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner!: Its back by popular demand! Sunday, May 3^rd!

Open House Bridal Shower: You are invited to an Open House Bridal Shower honoring, Hilary Marcus, Bride-elect of Joel Boonstra on Saturday, May 2nd, from 10:00am - 12:00noon at the 1st CRC Fellowship hall. Hilary & Joel are registered at Target & Herberger's.

Unity Church Announcements

Sunday Evening Worship Celebration: The Unity Church Council has approved a scheduled evening service once each month on the THIRD SUNDAY with a main focus on prayer and praise. Plan to come out TONIGHT for a time to share your prayer concerns and praise, spend time in worship LED BY MEMBERS OF OUR YOUTH GROUP, and hear some thoughts on fasting.  The service will begin at 6:00 PM.

Jon Schroeder Family Benefit: There will be a benefit dinner (carry-out available) and a silent auction held on Sunday, April 26, 2009 from 11:00am - 2:00pm at the Renville Community Center in Renville, MN.  The freewill offering benefit is for the family of Jon Schroeder who passed away March 31 from a rare lung disease. This benefit will help Stacie (Vreeman) Schroeder and her children with expenses. There will be "Cards by Reese" available for purchase that day also and orders can be placed in the event of a sellout.  If anyone would be willing to volunteer your time to helping with the benefit or if you are willing to donate items to the silent auction please contact Roger & Mary Ahrenholz. Everyone is welcome!

Cards by Reese: If you are interested in purchasing Cards by Reese you can email your order to cardsbyreese@gmail.com, call the church office and place your order or go to cardsbyreese.com. You can purchase cards in a pack of 6 for $11.00.

Building Report: We hope to get the auditorium, café area, and hallways painted in the next few weeks if possible.  Hopefully there will be a wedding reception in church in less than four weeks so the goal is to get these areas painted and carpeted by then.  If you have not signed up to paint and are willing to do so, please inform Phil and give him your e-mail address so he can notify you when painting sessions are scheduled.

When we finalized the order for pews a couple of weeks ago the delivery date was estimated to be the end of June. We now have been given the good news that the actual delivery date will be May 11 with installation completed by May 15.   This will be followed by the installation of the audio/video equipment.  We are now hoping that everything will be completed before the end of May.   It is anticipated that the final coat of stucco will be applied this week, the painters have been making good progress, the carpenters are finishing their work in the auditorium, and our volunteers have been working hard on the existing building renovations. 

Originally we presented a need of $50,000 for renovation expenses.  We prioritized a list of items to be done with an approximate cost of each.  We found that some items will cost less than estimated and others have been eliminated so the total needed has been reduced to $37,000.   The congregation generously responded to our request for funds in the amount of approximately $33,000 which allows us to accomplish everything on our list except for new carpeting in the old classrooms.  We still need approximately $4,000 if we are to carpet these rooms, so if you have not given, or would be willing to give a little more please write a check to the church building fund and mark it "renovations".   We truly appreciate the generosity of the congregation these last couple of months, both in volunteer time and monetary contributions!

We have received three applications for the position of custodian (today is the deadline to apply).  We hope to possibly make a decision this week as to which applicant will receive the job.

Pictures Needed!: Work has begun on the Dedication/Anniversary celebration that will take place in August.  We are looking for pictures that you might have of events that have taken place over the past 25 years.  We are looking specifically for pictures that cover the last 15 years.  Please contact Mary A if you have any pictures that you would like to share.

Unity's Newsletter: Unity will be putting out the next newsletter on Sunday, May 17th! Please submit to the office your birth announcements, engagement announcements, wedding announcements and any other special announcements you would like to see in the newsletter! Parents of Seniors (High School and College!) please submit your graduates information, (Photo, graduation date, open houses, future plans, activities they were involved with in school) (College graduates what are your plans after graduation? Work, more school?)

National Day of Prayer: The National Day of Prayer is Thursday, May 7. You are invited to begin this day by joining many others from this area at a Prayer Breakfast at the Holiday Inn in Willmar, starting at 6:30am.  Breakfast will be served until 7:00am.  Following breakfast, the guest speaker will be Pastor Jon V. Anderson, sharing reflections on his recent trip to Israel and Palestine. The morning will also include moments of prayer and worship. Cost is just $10. Tickets are available through our church office. The breakfast is hosted by the Willmar Mayor's office and the Willmar Area Ministerial Association.

Meals for the Homeless!: Solid Rock Youth will be assembling meals for homeless youth and young adults on Wednesday, April 22.  If you would like to make a donation toward the cost of the food and packaging, please contact Kirk Vander Pol or the church office.

Community Announcements

Animal Crackers in my Soup!: The Encounter team from 1st CRC of Prinsburg is having a Soup Supper Wednesday, April 22nd in the church basement from 5:00PM to 7:00PM!  They are raising money for their mission's trip to Flagstaf , AZ where they will be running a Safari themed VBS!  They will also have a silent auction for hiring a student to come and help you for an afternoon.  Each of their talents will be on display for you to read and bid on one! Come and join us for some Soup on Safari!!

Marriage Encounter ~ Engaged Encounter: Spring into the full potential of your marriage! Attend the April 25 ~ 26 Marriage Encounter. Weekends are held at the Dakota Ridge Hotel on 35E and Yankee Doodle in Eagan. Visit www.marriages.org for a listing of retreats or call 651-454-3238.

Camp G.K. Bear: 2009 Camp Date and Location are Saturday, May 2, 2009 10:0 am - 3:00 pm at St. Mary's Church 713 12the Street SW Willmar, MN. For more information or to register call: The Grief Center 320-230-4714. Also see the flyer and registration form on the bulletin board by the mailboxes.

Hillsong London: Will be at Willmar Evangelical Free (1305 19th Ave SW) on Thursday, April 23rd! The concert will begin at 7:00 pm, doors will open at 6:30pm.Tickets can be purchased online at www.praisefm.org/events.cfm by phone at 800-658-2229, or at the following locations until 3pm April 22nd: Good News Book Store in Willmar, and The Mustard Seed in Alexandria. $10 in advance, $12 at the door (1 hour before concert). Join them for a great night of Praise and worship!

"Voices of the 60's": The Prairie Arts Chorale will present "Voices of the 60s-A Magical Musical Tour". Concert dates and locations are as follows:

Prinsburg-Saturday, April 25, 7:30pm

Redwood Falls-Friday, May 1, 7:30pm

New London-Saturday, May 2, 7:30pm

Marshall-Sunday, May 3, 4:00pm

*** For ticket information, contact Paul Knapper at 320-329-3949

New 2 You Thrift Store: The New 2 You Thrift Store (next to Napa in Willmar) is looking for volunteers to help with tagging, sorting, and basic store functions.  You can work one day a week, ½ day, every other week, or every day if you want!  There are many different volunteer positions that you can choose from.  We need the young, old, and everyone in between-both men and women.  If this is something that you can do, please contact Becky at the store 320 231-1850 from 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. or at 320 220-0164 after hours.  We would love to have you come and help. Bring your friends!

CMCS Fine Arts Festival: Central Minnesota Christian School has rescheduled the Fine Arts Festival for Tuesday, April 21, at 6:30-7:15 in the high school gym.  Come and view works done by the hard working art, Spanish, history,  and science students.  The High School Spring concert will follow immediately after the Fine Arts night in the high school gym. The concert will focus on God's Faithfulness with songs such as "He's Never Failed Me" and "He Has Always Been Faithful".  There will be performances by concert choir and concert band as well as solos and ensembles with excellent and superior ratings from the contest in Benson on March 28.  Come and be blessed!

The Prairie Arts Chorale will present "Voices of the 60s - a Magical Musical Tour": Saturday, April 25, 7:30pm at CMCS in Prinsburg Featuring music of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel, the Mamas and the Papas, the Association, the Motown sound, and many other 60s favorites. Tickets:  $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Tickets are available at Warren's, Cash Wise, Whitney Music, and from local Chorale members: Gar Jasper, Paul Knapper, and David & Claudia Zylstra

NEW LIFE TREATMENT CENTER ANNUAL HORSE-RIDE-A-THON:  The board and staff of New Life Treatment Center announce the Annual Horse-Ride-a-Thon.  Horses with riders and horse drawn rigs will begin their trek from Pipestone County Fairgrounds and proceed to their destination at the Center in Woodstock. The date is Saturday, May 16, 2009, beginning at 10:00 a.m. 

The Horse Ride-a-Thon has been greatly enjoyed by all who participate and attend.  If any rider or buggy or wagon drivers would like to join the caravan, regardless of fund raising efforts, we welcome you to join.  There is no "entry fee" or minimum amount that any person must raise, all riders are welcome.  The proceeds for the Horse Ride-a-Thon will be used to cover costs of improving a patio area for our female residents and for additional medical equipment.  Awards and prizes will be presented in recognition of various categories.