Countdown to Advent

We are well on our way to completing the Welcome Center!  The wall construction is done, the wall is painted, the lettering for the wording that will go on the wall has arrived, and the cabinets are scheduled for installation on the 10th!!  Plans are underway for new and orderly information to be placed in the Center.  The TV is bought and ready for installation.  We hope to have a video ready for the opening!

We are working to prepare the facilities for the new schedule too.  We have completed a project in Gibson Hall to remove mold that had formed on the ceiling and upper walls from condensation and the windows and lighting were cleaned.  The front of the Sanctuary building is looking GREAT!  They seem to be on schedule with only a few minor obstacles so far.  We are trying to spruce up the facilities as best we can so that they will also look welcoming.  Please help us – If you notice trash, please pick it up.  If you notice something that needs attention, please let me, Sharon or Bob know.  Sometimes, we just don’t know about things unless you tell us.

The transition is getting close!!  It’s all very exciting!

      --- Sandra Wood

From Our New Illumination Worship Leader

Diverse Experiences in Worship

It was April of this year, and a group of some of my closest friends were on our way to Norman, Oklahoma to see Hillsong United. On the drive up, we all were pumped about what we thought we would experience that night. When we finally arrived we could barely contain ourselves. The vibe in the room was electric. Now, I had heard all of Hillsong United‟s songs, I have all their albums, I have watched videos of them leading worship, but nothing compares to being in the space with thousands of passionate worshipers singing with one voice to God.

About half way through the night they played a song entitled “With Everything,” which happens to be my favorite song. Ever. When the piano started, I looked at my buddy and said, “Here we go.” The last part of the song starts soft and then builds with layers upon layers of sound. At the pinnacle there is an abrupt stop, and then an explosion of sound bursts from the nothingness of silence. We stood with thousands screaming, “Woah!” until our lungs gave out, from being in awe of God.

Who would have thought that simple lyric could bring such a powerful presence of God?

                 -- Tyler Kemp

Wecome!!

      I am SO happy to update you on the plans for our new Welcome Center!  Although we are blessed with great facilities, there are many entrances to our building and it is extremely confusing and overwhelming for visitors to our campus on Sunday mornings.  For many years we’ve been talking about the idea of a Welcome Center…a central place for information and hospitality and it looks like our dream is going to become God’s reality! 

      The new Welcome Center will be located in the hallway that goes straight through from the Sanctuary entrance to Wesley Hall.  After the initial idea was developed, we starting praying for a designer and one of our members recommended Lisa Leggett of The Closet Factory.  She came up with a beautiful and modern design plan, Sandra Wood and I came up with a budget, and all we needed was some financing to make it happen!  Low and behold, God provided!  The United Methodist Women have graciously offered to underwrite the project and we have also received another anonymous donation.  How awesome is that? 

      It had been our hope that we would have the Welcome Center up and running on the first Sunday of our new schedule, November 28^th, and it looks like God is going to make that happen!  Workers are putting up sheetrock this week and The Friends in Faith Sunday School class is going to help paint the wall.  Then on November 10^th the cabinetry and display shelves will be installed.  It will also feature a large flat-screen TV to show videos and power-point displays to promote ministries in the church.  Joe Roitz, our Communication Director, and I have been working on logos and branding ideas for the brochures and we will be using the graphics:  Seeking…Serving…Sharing… from our Mission Statement on the wall and brochures. 

      All we need now is YOU!!!  We can’t have a Welcome Center without people to welcome!  The Evangelism Ministry Team will be in charge of volunteers for the Welcome Center on Sunday mornings who will work about once every 8 weeks for a one-hour shift.  I will be leading a training for all WC volunteers and greeters from every worship service on Sunday, November 14^th, at 10:45 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. in Gibson Hall.  If you are interested in being part of this welcoming ministry, contact me at crussell@lakewood-umc.org or call the church. 

               -- Rev. Cindy Henry Russell

The Welcome Center!

Thanks to the generosity of the UMW and of Kin and Jan Taylor, we are ordering the cabinets for the Welcome Center on Tuesday morning!  Hiring someone to do the sheetrock work is next on the agenda.  Friends in Faith have volunteered to paint.  We are well on our way to this new ministry area.  Cindy has been working with Joe on developing a cohesive presentation format for the information to be distributed from the Welcome Center.  This should help make the area attractive and easier to find information too.  More to come soon – I’m getting really excited about this!

           --- Sandra Wood

An Experience Like No Other

This is an excerpt of an essay Dewey Dykes of Central United Methodist of Fayetteville wrote remembering a meaningful Mount Eagle OMP camp experience.   In some ways, it was just a simple song.  You can feel from his words that it was much more intimate for everyone there.

Nobody on staff knew how to play guitar, and we were scrambling to find someone that was not a camper so that family groups could sit together during worship.  I called Travis Schmitt, who I had been on staff with the previous summer, and he agreed to drive from Van Buren to the camp to lead worship for us that night.  He was a life saver.  We decided to have worship outside that night on a bluff that overlooks a river below.  Once dark, we moved from sharing in the dining hall outside to the bluff, and Travis began singing and leading the camp in worship.  It was calm, warm summer night; a bit humid, but nothing too bad.  We were surrounded by trees, with a light wind.  

One of the things that I admire about Travis was the simple, no frills way that he would lead camp worship.  With no pretension, he went about the business of worshipping in a way that I can only hope to someday emulate.  On his final song before the end of worship, he began the song “I Lay Me Down”.  It’s a slow song that builds and builds over the course of the time that you sing it, that normally reaches its crescendo with Travis reaching deep down into himself and bringing forth a voice that nobody could possibly expect.  Countless times during worship, the entire camp would be so caught off guard by the absolute beauty of his cry “...and freedom is now the cry of my heart...” that the only thing to do was to simply wonder at the beauty of worship and its ability to move within people.  Something was different about the night at Mt. Eagle, though.  As the song started, the wind picked up a bit.  As we sang and grew louder, the wind picked up more, and by the time the song reached the point that Travis began his loudest point, the wind was whipping around us, tremendously loud.  It grew louder and louder and louder until the song stopped, and as soon as Travis muted his strings the wind died completely.  

It was an experience like no other I have had in my entire life, and completely changed the way in which I look at worship.  I saw it as the very Earth crying out in worship to the Lord, as it is suggested in Luke 19 when Jesus says that even the “...stones will cry out.”

It’s hard to believe, but it’s budget time for next year.  With all the new things going on, there are new areas with budget needs and old areas are being revised.  I’m in the process of preparing the budget request worksheets for all the ministry areas to complete.  These should be ready & distributed this week, and they are due back on November 1.

  - Sandra Wood

Prepare for the Unexpected

It was supposed to be a Spring River float trip with high-school-aged male youth from Lakewood.  Like many events Mark Lasater nudged, no shoved, me into, there were many surprises.  It had never occurred to me that we should have a worship service while sitting around the morning campfire as the sun was rising over the river.  Holding hands in prayer and discussing where we saw God in that amazing moment seem so unnatural and uncomfortable to me… until I reflected on it the next week.

I’ve also been far outside my comfort zone indoors. For example, Richard helped serve communion at the first Lakewood OMP camp where we went to Theressa Hoover UMC and worshipped with the drug and alcohol abuse clients.  Another time, we shared as a camp a meaningful experience sitting in the narthex of our church.  The 70 were packed tightly together as we focused on a single candle.  I had a chance to share with my own son the symbolic love of Christ by washing his hands and he washing mine on another occasion.

Sanctuaries, of course, have been a huge part of my most meaningful worship.  Try taking your shoes off and walking down the center carpet of our own church with only the lights of our incredible sanctuary cross lighting your steps.  It will certainly remind you as to why we come together as a body of Christ.  This summer our Lakewood OMP camp and Rev. Cindy Russell had the honor to share communion with the pastors and some membership of the King Solomon Baptist church in Dark Hollow, 5 minutes from our home church.  We did something that we have all done as Methodists hundreds of times.  We shared an act of community.  We also offered a chance for the youth to share prayer with any of the ministers present.  The healing presence of God was thick in the air.  In that one very diverse moment, we were one in Christ.

All of these worship situations shared some important characteristics.  As participants we were highly engaged.   We were all very aware of each other.  It felt extremely intimate even when more than a hundred participated.  However, the defining worship moment was never the same.  Sometimes it was the location. Other times the music, message, communion, or even the entry or exit from worship spoke to me most.  Every time I would push through the uncomfortable feelings and somehow opened my heart and mind to the moment.  I now seek these opportunities in worship.  I don’t want to miss them and I pray as we move forward that we entice others to experience similar but different moments of meaningful worship.  I pray we will be prepared for the unexpected.

   -- Hank Godwin

Hanging On For The Ride

I am so excited about the things that are happening in our midst. I feel a great wave of God’s love building all around Lakewood United Methodist Church. The light of Christ is expanding in major ways. Certainly the new service schedule is part of that wave. Our vision of “birthing new expressions of the Christian faith for emerging generations” is taking form. Rev. Andrea Allen certainly brings new energy and enthusiasm! What a breath of fresh air!

This Sunday we will be looking at the Faith Development component. Again, exciting things are taking shape under Rev. Cindy Henry Russell’s leadership. New energy is building in a new wave of possibilities for spiritual growth in Sunday School classes, new faith sharing groups, new studies and strengthening of the fellowship bond among all of us. Cindy’s vast experience and capable guidance will take us to a new level in Faith Development involvement.

In addition, our Missions Team is looking at the following agenda for their meeting on Sunday:

    * Upcoming M&M dinners on Wed starting Sept 22. through Oct13
    * Need to find a driver for the 4th Thursday for Meals on Wheels.
    * MFSA breakfast at Lakewood Oct 9. we need a few people to help serve.
    * Broadway Bridge project. We have now helped King Solomon Church get started with their own night and Lamont has more outreach ideas.
    * Our House. Tracy Johnson and I are now teaching 2 classes for residents of Our House, one Financial Management class and one cooking class at the Family House. Our House provides shelter and education for the working Homeless. Check out their Web site here: http://www.ourhouseshelter.org/about/index.html.
    * UMCOR Kits and ingathering in November.
    * Literacy Council
    * Lakewood Elementary, still looking for someone to work with Lakewood Elementary.
    * Habitat for Humanity, no dates scheduled but I will check on construction in North Little Rock.
    * Weekend Work Day. Bob and I were talking about possibly helping a neighbor who needs a little OMP style help with his house.
    * Foreign Missions. Discuss supporting the Savutos and possibly sponsoring or partnering with a foreign mission.
    * Discuss new ways to Expand the Light!

Way to go Michael O’Conner and Mission Team! Accomplishing all of this certainly expands the light.

Men’s Fraternity begins Wed. 22nd at 6:00 a.m.

Beth Moore Bible Study is meeting in 2 sessions this year! (9:30 a.m. and 6:15 p.m. on Wednesdays.

There are so many things emerging with new and renewed energy. Someone once said that exciting churches “just see what God is doing, catch the wave and ride!”

 I am excited and hanging on for the ride!

From an Administrative Point of View

From an administrative point of view, the transition is another major project to tackle between now and year end.  The transition planning takes place during a busy time  – it’s budget season and stewardship campaign time.  In addition, there are several projects for SPPRC and Trustees going on that are unrelated to the transition.  It will all be accomplished, but there is much to do. 

Some of the things I have to consider for the transition include:  How do the changes effect job descriptions, scheduling of support staff and custodial staff, room assignments, janitorial and kitchen supplies?  Who will be responsible for seeing that the offering is secured and turned in for each service?   Is there building maintenance and sprucing up that needs to take place before we publicize heavily for new people?  What vendors will be used for the new Welcome Center and how long will it take to complete?  There are many things to take care of! 

    -- Sandra Wood

Only Three Months!

Sometimes it’s easy to look at the calendar and panic!  When I think that Advent is only 3 months away, it’s easy for me to get overwhelmed.  There’s a lot to do, but there is also a lot of excitement around here.  I’ve found that it’s easiest to take things one step at a time…you can go anywhere by putting one step in front of the other!  A lot of the new worship teams are starting to organize and meet.  The good news is that we’ve divided up the responsibilities so that too much doesn’t fall on any one person or group. 

Sunday, September 12th, is going to be TEAM Sunday!  We’re asking everyone to wear team gear from your favorite team to promote the fact that we’re signing up all these new teams.  (PS…GO Hogs!!!) 

Right now I’m working with Sandra Wood on plans for a Welcome Center in the hallway between Wesley Hall and the Sanctuary.  We’ve been getting quotes and ideas.  Our hope is that we’ll have a centrally-located place for new people to get information and sign up for groups, etc.  We’re also planning an orientation meeting for ALL of the Sunday School classes on Sunday, September 19th.  Don’t forget the prayer board in the Builders Chapel.  Thank goodness God’s in charge!