Thursday, January 31, 2008

"CHOSEN" Life Group

Our Life Group, led by Leon Rennells, consists of people that are empty-nesters, used to be empty-nesters, and/or are soon-to-be empty-nesters. Jean Imholte dubbed our group the “CHOSEN” (Couples Helping Others Survive Empty-Nesthood)! – but we certainly welcome anyone at any stage of life.

This session, we are meeting on Tuesday evenings at 6:00 p.m. Currently, we are alternating our weekly meeting place between Ed & Candy Sanders’ home in Kelso and Rick & Jean Imholte’s home in Longview. We share dinner together (a very important part of our evening!); and then we discuss the previous weekend’s message.

Although we all have grown-up children out on their own, our end of the evening prayer time seems to revolve heavily around their needs, more than any other topic.

Leon (our “captain!”) is very organized and cognizant of the time and makes every effort to keep us on track – which is much appreciated, especially by those that have an early morning schedule the next day.

But for being involved in a Life Group, we would not have had the great opportunity to really get acquainted with other people that we attend church with and that are at a similar stage in life. It has been a blessing and an honor to come to know our co-life groupers. We welcome couples and singles alike and invite anyone that would even like to come and just share a meal with us to please do so.

Candy Sanders

Life After Fifty Updates

Here are some announcements related to LAF, and a couple of offers and reminders for all.


1. Life After 50
February 4th 6 PM Potluck
McRaes will show slides of hiking in the Scottish Highlands.
A new "what to bring" list is avaalable. Contact Noel with any questions.
If at any time, you have something else you want to bring, that is fine.
This is just a general guideline.


2. February 19 LAF movie night
Tuesday evening 6:30pm "End of the Spear"
Bring popcorn and finger food to share if you want.


3. Take a hike
The McRaes invite you to come out for a hike on the trails of their property.
They have 40 acres in Rose Valley and walk on the trails almost everyday.
You may come almost any day -- just give a call.
There are even some places for a weiner roast or hike-in picnic as weather improves.


4. Check out the church family webiste at East Hills Alliance church on a regular basis for on-going information.


5. Noel McRae has an large discipleship related blog that can be searched.


6. Men's Bible study
Third Saturday of the month - 7:30am.
Feb 16.
For this time together read 1 Timothy and come prepared to share your insights, questions and encouragements from this letter.



Hope you can join this group for one or all of the events. It is a great time to share life, stories and laughter.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Annual Celebration Scheduled for January 27th

The Next Step


Have you ever been to an annual meeting that seemed to take all year? Well, we are intentional about making our annual meetings a true CELEBRATION! What's different about it?

First of all, everyone is invited. You don't need to be a member to attend and enjoy this Celebration. There is a business meeting included in the celebration with a members only vote, but we try to move it as quickly as possible, and the information and voting process is open to everyone.

Secondly, there is food involved. This year our Annual Celebration is a pot-luck lunch following the Sunday service. Bring a dish to share if you have time, and if you forget, enjoy the bounty that others will provide.

Thirdly, we are gathering together to Celebrate what God has done in our church body over the last year. We will celebrate salvations, baptisms, various ministries that have been going on throughout the year, and we will look ahead to what "The Next Step" for our church is. There will even be some discussion on the sanctuary remodel that will be taking place in the next few months. God is moving! Let's celebrate what He has done, and anticipate what He is going to do in this next year. We hope to see you there.

If you would like to look at copy of our annual reports and financial information before the meeting, stop by the office between 9 and 3 this week to pick up a copy. All of this information will also be available at the meeting on Sunday.