Speaking to the Church in Corinth, Paul writes, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow” (1 Cor. 3:6-7). Just as the church in Corinth had many members and various ministers, there have been many people who have labored in ministry at First United over the years, but one thing is certain: God has given the growth. As we have seen both numerical growth in our church as well as spiritual growth as evidenced by transformed lives, 1 Cor. 3:6-7 has been on my mind. Many of us labor in the church, but the glory for the growth belongs to the Lord. As the Psalmist wrote, “The Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes” (Ps. 118:23).

About a year ago, as the Leadership Council began to take notice of sustained numerical growth on Sunday mornings, we began discussing what we need to do to be faithful managers of the growth that God has given. After all, “To whom much is given, much will be demanded” (Lk. 12:48). At the annual meeting on January 15th, I presented “Deep and Wide: A Plan for First United in 2012”, which is the culmination of the Leadership Council discussions pertaining to growth. The plan detailed action points pertaining to shepherding, space, and staff at First United in the coming year.

Shepherding: With a growing number of people attending First United, the shepherding needs have increased. (i.e. visitation, counseling, follow-up, encouragement, leader- ship development, oversight, mediation). The model that is presented repeatedly in the Bible

is that the church is to be led by a plurality of shepherds (see Ex. 18, Acts 6, 1 Tim. 2). The Leadership Council, therefore, has discussed intentional ways of becoming more involved in the lives of congregants as spiritual shepherds through prayer and visitation.

Space: While we can currently still fit everyone in the sanctuary, it has become evident that there are some Sundays when we are pretty close to full. Further, the nursery, parking, and Sunday school space is nearing capacity. After looking through various options, the Leadership Council has decided that the wisest course for our church is to plan on going to two services beginning in September of 2012. This change is one that in many respects we did not want

to have to make because we know that the culture of the church will change, and Sunday mornings will be different. Yet, we are convinced that it is the best use of our resources and

also allows us room for future growth. Because we value an intergenerational gathering, both services will be planned identically and children’s services will be offered at each service. Also, our current plan is to have Sunday school and coffee fellowship between the services to give the opportunity for people to see members of the Body who are attending the other service. In addition to going to two services, we will manage our space concerns by forming a Steering Committee to plan modifications to the building that will maximize our current space for Sunday school, storage, fellowship space and other building renovations that will help us to facilitate having more people in the building.

February Church Calendar1 EPG School Administors’ meeting 8-4 conference room

12 Bridal Shower 1-4 pm Fellowship Hall

15 EPG School Administors’ meeting 8-4 conference room Missions Team Meeting 5:30 pm Finance Team Meeting 6:30 pm

24-26 Jr. High at Ice Camp25 Girl Scout Father-Daughter Dance Family Center

27 Kindergarten screening 1-6 pm

Volleyball Monday 6:00 pm See Kris Bridgers for info

Youth GroupsJr. High - Sunday 5:00 - 6:30 pmSr. High - Wednesday at 7:30 pm Sunday Worship ServicesMorning Worship 9 am - 10 amChildren’s Church 9 am - 10 am 1st & 3rd SundaySunday School 10:30 am - 11:15 am

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Andy’s Letter • First United News • Spotlight on Joplin MO Service Trip Milestones • Attendance • First U News • Church Calendar

February 2012Andy Huette, Sr. Pastor Brett Monge, Jr. High Youth Director 407 W Seventh Street, PO Box 280, Gridley, IL 61744 309-747-2299 www.1stu.org

Dear Church Family,

57th Annual Pancake & Sausage Day - January 28, 2012

continued inside on page 3

A Plan for First United Church in 2012

Thanks for helping to make our 57th Annual Pancake & Sausage Day a success. Our proceeds for 2012 netted around $2400. (In 2011, the proceeds netted $1835). All proceeds will assist our Jr. and Sr. High Youth Groups with their trips in 2012.

Pancake Day StatsWe served 550 people.

Our guests ate:1000 pancakes

1280 ounces of applesauce 1908 ounces of peaches

1408 ounces of syrup330 lbs. of sausage (1650 links)

We sold an additional 260 lbs. of frozen sausage.

Our Core Values Open Bibles One Another Beautiful Feet Spiritual Growth Authentic Worship

Spotlight on . . . Joplin, Missouri Service Trip

2 3

Attendance & Offering1/1 180 $4,044 1/8 358 $7,283 1/15 247 $4,188 1/22 297 $7,8141/29 287 $4,996

February MilestonesBirthdays

7 Will Wenger 8 Steven Barnhart 8 Randi Palmer 8 Grace Stanhouse10 Dennis Stauter13 Frankie Finck17 Samuel Stauter19 Nathaniel Meiss21 Alisa Ihlenfeldt26 Bill Foor29 Jenel Liggett

Anniversaries25 Dan & Carrie Dixon

A little over 8 months ago, life completely changed for thousands of people living in Joplin, MO. It was late afternoon on May 22nd, 2011 when a devastating EF5 tornado bulled its way through this town of 50,000 people. 160 lives were lost and nearly 7000 homes destroyed in less than 15 minutes. Though much progress has been made, the people of Joplin still need help with the on-going cleanup and rebuilding.

Sunday School Offering Offering Kids Fed1/1 $ 30.84 103 1/8 $ 55.40 185 1/15 No Sunday School 1/22 $ 22.68 761/29 $ 38.95 124

Baby DedicationsOn Sanctity of Life Sunday, January 22, we held dedications for children

and babies. Five children were dedicated with parents and the Church Body committing to raise the children in the truth of God’s Word.

Harper Deckard, daughter of Cory and Stephenie DeckardMercy Huette, daughter of Andy and Abby HuetteSilas Huette, daughter of Andy and Abby HuetteLukas Krug, son of Jessica KieferAudrey Roth, daughter of Bill and Becky Roth

In March, First United will team with Grace Fellowship of El Paso and take a service trip to Joplin to continue the clean-up and rebuilding ef-forts.

We will work under the direction of organizations working in Joplin since May.

The trip is open to fami-lies and individuals. If you are interested, please contact Denny Foor or Keri Hany.

Do we have your family’s birthdays and anniversaries? If not, please complete an Attendee Info form available on the cabinet at the front entry. Give the completed form to Keri Hany.

Staff: We will also begin the process of searching for an associate pastor. There are many pastoral needs and opportunities which currently go unmet. We will begin praying for and looking for a teammate for me in ministry with some complementary gifts and shared vision for the church.

There were more specifics to the Deep and Wide plan which were shared at the annual meeting, but space prohibits further detail here. Please know that a Leadership Council member would be happy to answer any further questions that you may have.

I’d like to end, as I did at the annual meeting, asking you to do two things this year as these changes are made. First, please pray. We are in unchartered waters as a church, and it is both a cause for excitement and for caution. Pray that God will give the Leadership Council wisdom, pray for unity in the church, pray for the right hire to be made, and pray that these changes will bear great fruit in Gridley and in the world. Secondly, seek to be optimistic and encouraging through these changes. Change is uncomfortable, but necessary. For example, it will initially feel strange in September when the sanctuary looks much emptier in two services. But we must remember the reason these changes are necessary: God has given us growth. We don’t have to change; we get to. It will be tempting to lament the days gone by, when we used to know everyone and everything seemed simpler, but God has given growth and we must prove faithful to seek His wisdom and to adapt to what He has given for the sake of His kingdom.

Let us be a people who are “eager to maintain unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3) trusting that he can “do more than we ask or imagine” (Eph. 3:20).

Grace and Peace,Andy

From left to right: Abby,Mercy, Silas and Andy Huette; Bill, Audrey and Becky Roth; Jessica Keifer and Luke; Stephenie, Harper, Reese, Caden, and Cory Deckard

Dates: We will leave on Friday, March 23 and return home on Tuesday, March 27.Travel: There is no planned group departure. Each team mem- ber is responsible for his/her own transportation. However, we will attempt to form car pools. Lodging: We will stay at the Drury Inn in Joplin. Families can room together. We will attempt to group individuals to keep room costs down.Meals: Breakfast and late afternoon snacks are free at the Drury. Lunch will be dutch treat.Cost: Arrangements are being made for the lodging to be covered. Everyone will be responsible for their own meals not eaten at the Drury Inn.

Andy’s letter continued from front page

Shannon & Katie, Middle East *“We live incarnationally among Palestinian Muslims. We build bridges of trust and share our faith with and invite our friends to follow Jesus.”

Austin & Anna, North Africa *“We lead a team that is in the early stages of church-planting among the unreached ‘cousins’ of Topaz. Our long-term vision is to have three different teams located in the three distinct regions of Topaz focusing on making disciples in the gateway cities of each region.

Brian Johnson, Dominican Republic/Haiti“I educate pastors and other church leaders in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and I provide educational resources for them and for our missionary staff.

Bill Allison, Cadre Ministries, Chillicothe, IL“Our obsession is to come alongside churches to encourage and equip them to love God, love people, and make disciplemakers.”

Lifesong for Orphans, Gridley, ILLifesong’s mission is to bring joy and purpose to orphans. They have schools and orphanages in Zambia, Honduras, Liberia, India, Ukraine, Ethiopia, and Cote d’Ivoire.

* Last names and locations are not printed for security reasons.

First United provides monthly financial support for missionaries around the world. Following are our missionaries and their “jobs” on the mission field.

Beautiful Feet Around the WorldThe new CLC has met and elected

officers and ministry team liaisons. The liaison provides direction for the teams and helps with communication between all teams and the CLC.

Steve Barnhart was elected as the chairperson; Larry Hoyt as secretary, and Dick Stanhouse as vice-chairman.

The CLC team assignments:Missions: Denny FoorLocal Outreach: Dick StanhouseChristian Ed: Dave ZellerFinance: Matt WengerWorship: Larry HoytLittle Lambs: Steve Barnhart

CLC Officers & Liaisons

Book ExchangeInterested in reading another book from the recent book study? Please see Heidi Welsch to loan a book for others to read or to borrow from someone else.

The book titles are: Forgotten God, Francis ChanCounterfeit Gods, Tim KellerGive Them Grace, Elyse Fitzpatrick Radical, David Platt

It takes about 7-1/2 hours to drive from Gridley to Joplin.

Little Lambs EnrollmentEnrollment is now open for the Little Lambs

2012-2013 school year. Classes are available for 3, 4, and 5 years old. Please contact Stacy Ludy at 747-2778 to put your child’s name on the enrollment list.

Information is also available on our website: www.1stu.org.

“God gives riches to the Church for the sake of reaching nations.” —John Piper